" A ship with supplies for Gaza will dock at el-Arish in Egypt, officials say, after Israeli pressure to stop the vessel breaking its Gaza blockade. The Moldovan-flagged ship chartered by a charity run by the son of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, left a Greek port on Saturday. Israel asked for help from the UN, and had talks with Greece and Moldova. But organisers insist they will go to Gaza. An Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound ship in May killed nine Turkish activists. Israel insisted its troops were defending themselves but the raid sparked international condemnation. Israel recently eased its blockade, allowing in almost all consumer goods but maintaining a ""blacklist"" of some items. Israel says its blockade of the Palestinian territory is needed to prevent the supply of weapons to the Hamas militant group which controls Gaza. The Amalthea, renamed Hope for the mission, set off from the Greek port of Lavrio, loaded with about 2,000 tonnes of food, cooking oil, medicines and pre-fabricated houses. It has been chartered by the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation. Its chairman is Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. The organisation said the 92m (302ft) vessel would also carry ""a number of supporters who are keen on expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people""."
" Often acts and directs stories involving an individual who is persecuted, and fights for justice Has often portrayed a widower, in films such as Mad Max (the sequels), Lethal Weapon film series, Braveheart, The Patriot, Signs, and Edge of Darkness. Often portrays men who seek revenge for the murder of family or friends Ranked #12 in Empire (UK) magazine's ""The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time"" list. [October 1997] Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the ""50 Most Beautiful People"" in the world. Educated at University of New South Wales, Australia. Chosen by People magazine as one of the ""50 Most Beautiful People"" in the world. Chosen by People magazine as one of the ""50 Most Beautiful People"" in the world. Awarded the AO (Officer of the Order of Australia), Australia's highest honor, in mid-1997. He took up acting only because his sister submitted an application behind his back. The night before an audition, he got into a fight, and his face was badly beaten, an accident that won him the role."
" Cast member Mel Gibson (R) and Oksana Grigorieva attend the premiere of the film ''Edge of Darkness'' in Los Angeles January 26, 2010. Earlier this week, the agency's Patrick Whitesell informed the actors' representatives that he would no longer be represented by the agency. Gibson's longtime agent, Ed Limato, died July 3, and a funeral will take place in New York next week. William Morris Endeavor (WME) partner Ari Emanuel had previously expressed hostility toward Gibson after the actor made anti-Semitic remarks and made remarks implying skepticism about the Holocaust. An agency source said the only reason the agency had represented Gibson in the first place was his association with Limato. ""Mel was really important to Ed,"" an agency source said. ""He was with him for 32 years and I think Ed saw him as a son."" But he added, ""The world knows how Ari feels and he has never changed that opinion."" Gibson's troubles have only increased in recent weeks with allegations of bigoted tirades and reports that he is under investigation for assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Several studio executives have said in the wake of these disclosures that they consider the troubled actor too untouchable in the industry. ""I'd rather get engaged to Lindsay Lohan than have anything to do with him,"" one studio chief said. A spokesman for Gibson could not be reached for comment."
" (Adds details)  TEHRAN, June 20 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber was killed and two people were wounded in Tehran on Saturday, near the shrine of Iran's revolutionary founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported.  ""A suicide bomber was killed at the northern wing of Imam Khomeini's shrine. Two people were injured,"" Fars said.  It did not explain the exact circumstances.  Iranian riot police used teargas elsewhere in Tehran to disperse demonstrators protesting against a disputed presidential election, a witness said. (Editing by Jon Boyle)"
" Tehran - Iran's Guardian Council is ready to recount up to 10 percent of the ballot boxes randomly in last week's presidential election, state television reported on Saturday. ""The Guardian Council is ready to recount randomly up to 10 percent of ballot boxes in last week's disputed presidential election,"" the council's spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodai was quoted as saying. ""The Guardian Council is not legally obliged,"" Kadkhodai said, ""we will recount the votes in the presence of the three (defeated) candidates."" Whenever the examination and the recount is finished the council will announce its final decision, he added. He also said that Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi still have time to express their opinions until Wednesday. Only Iran's former Revolutionary Guards Chief Mohsen Rezaei attended a special meeting of the Guardians Council with presidential candidates on Saturday, the official IRNA news agency reported. Iran's former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi and former Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi failed to attend the meeting without giving any reason. The Spokesman of the Guardian Council Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei said on Wednesday that candidates of Iran's recent presidential election were invited to its upcoming meeting session which is to be held within the next few days. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has ordered Iran's Guardian Council, the top legislative body, to investigate the claims of ""fraud"" in the recent presidential election."
" TEHRAN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's former Prime Minister, defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi renewed his call on Saturday for cancellation of last week's disputed presidential election. In a letter to Iran's Guardian Council which was published on his campaign website, Mousavi cited ""irregularities in election"" as the reason for a nationwide cancellation of the election result. Mousavi said in the letter that the wise Iranian nation would never believe the inequity and irregularity in the election. ""I will continue my steps to make the truth and the rights of the great Iranian people clear in the range of Constitution and current laws,"" Mousavi said. Mousavi cited several allegations of irregularities in the election which gave incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory, saying that they were ""part of the truth and fraudulent conduct."" Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that the Iranian nation needs calm and patience, rejecting any vote rigging in the recent presidential election. Khamenei also urged the candidates to lodge any complaints about the election through legal channels. On June 13, Iran's Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli said Ahmadinejad won 62.63 percent of the total ballots on the June 12 presidential vote, while his main rival Mousavi got 33.75 percent. After the official declaration, Mousavi protested ""strongly"" the ""obvious"" violations in Iran's presidential election, and also appealed to the Guardian Council for a cancellation of the election result. Mousavi's supporters have participated in massive rallies in Tehran and other cities over the past days."
" The family of disgraced UK TV presenter Jimmy Savile made its first public statement Saturday since a slew of claims of sexual abuse of under-age girls destroyed the reputation of a man they had regarded as a hero. Savile's nephew, Roger Foster, had defended his late uncle -- who hosted shows watched and heard by a generation of young Britons -- in a newspaper interview before the allegations emerged in a TV documentary a month ago. But as those few claims snowballed into hundreds, the family had to face up to the horrific truth: that the man they were so proud of as a media star and indefatigable charity fundraiser had a far darker side to his past. A statement released Saturday by Foster spells out the family's anguish -- and their deep sympathy for as many as 300 victims preyed on by Savile. The documentary made them aware of ""allegations of a darker side to him that we knew nothing about,"" Foster says -- and the claims swiftly began to overwhelm the family. ""I watched the program in horror and could not believe that these allegations were about our uncle. This wasn't the man we knew and loved,"" he says. ""We began to have doubts as to our own feeling towards our uncle. How could the person we thought we knew and loved do such a thing? ""Why would a man who raised so much money for charity, who gave so much of his own time and energy for others risk it all doing indecent criminal acts? How could anyone live their life doing the 'most good and most evil' at the same time?"" The family took the ""difficult"" decision to remove Savile's headstone, only placed on his grave a couple of weeks earlier, as they feared it could become a target for spiraling public outrage and so disrupt the peace of the cemetery for others. ""A vilification of his name, his achievements and everything he stood for followed. People are moving as quickly as possible to disassociate themselves from him,"" Foster continues. ""We recognize that even our own despair and sadness does not compare to that felt by the victims. Our thoughts and our prayers are with those who have suffered from every kind of abuse over so many years and we offer our deepest sympathy in what must have been a terrible time for all of them."
" Tehran: Iran's Guardian Council will recount 10 percent of the ballot boxes in last week's disputed presidential election, the state television reported Saturday. ""The Guardian Council is ready to recount randomly up to 10 percent of the ballot boxes in last week's disputed presidential election,"" council's spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodai said. ""We will recount the votes in the presence of the three (defeated) candidates,"" he said, adding that whenever the recount is completed the council will announce its final decision. Witnesses report fierce clashes on Tehran streets Iran's former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezaei, one of the defeated candidates in the June 12 election, Saturday attended a special meeting of the Guardians Council, the state media reported. Two other defeated candidates, former prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi, were also invited but did not attend the meeting. Kadkhodai said Moussavi and Karroubi still have time to express their opinions until Wednesday. Earlier, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had ordered the Guardian Council, an influential body that wields considerable power in the Islamic Republic, to investigate the claims of ""fraud"" in the presidential election. For more International news | For more Political news | For more Offbeat news"
" A row has been rumbling since the strikes in early May   Failure by US forces to follow their own rules was the ""likely"" cause of civilian deaths in Afghan airstrikes last month, a US military report says. US officials looked at seven strikes on Taliban targets in Farah province on 4 May, and concluded that three had not complied with military guidelines. The report accepts that at least 26 civilians died, but acknowledges that the real figure could be much higher. The Afghan government has said 140 civilians were killed in the strikes. Washington and Kabul have been at loggerheads for weeks over the number of civilians killed in the incident. The report's conclusions are couched in caveats, but by releasing it late on a Friday afternoon the Pentagon has underlined its embarrassment at what may be the worst case of civilian deaths since coalition forces entered the country in 2001. As well as acknowledging that there was a failure to follow strict military guidelines, the report recommends unspecified steps to be taken to refine that guidance and urges a greater engagement in the public relations battle.   It states that the coalition should be ""first with the truth"". Yet the report also calls into question whether the true number of civilian deaths, in this incident, will ever be known. It sticks with the US military's initial estimate of 26, but describes a report by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, which speaks of at least 86 civilian casualties, as ""balanced"" and ""thorough"". The US report defends the Farah operation, saying the use of force ""was an appropriate means to destroy that enemy threat"". ""However, the inability to discern the presence of civilians and avoid and/or minimise accompanying collateral damage resulted in the unintended consequence of civilian casualties,"" the report says. It says the final three strikes of the engagement, which took place after dark, did not adhere to ""specific guidance"" in the controlling directive. ""Not applying all of that guidance likely resulted in civilian casualties,"" the report says. It concedes that the precise number of civilians killed in the attack may never be known because many victims were buried before the investigation started. The document makes a number of recommendations to reduce the likelihood of civilian deaths. It says lines of communication must be improved, new guidelines should be introduced and personnel need to be retrained. Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan, is currently reviewing US rules in relation to airstrikes. He said last month that US forces should use them only if the lives of Nato personnel or American troops were clearly at risk. Both Nato and US have have insisted that avoiding civilian casualties is their priority in all battles."
" The nephew of Jimmy Savile says the sex abuse scandal surrounding the late TV presenter has been ""devastating"". Roger Foster said he had not believed the allegations at first, but so many had surfaced he was now ""convinced that the vast majority of them are true"". He said he could not understand how his uncle, who did so much charity work, ""could have such a dark side to him"". Police believe the BBC presenter and DJ could have abused as many as 300 people over a 40-year-period. Police have launched a criminal investigation into Savile, who died last year aged 84. Separately, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales is trying to have Savile's papal knighthood posthumously removed. Allegations of sexual abuse have continued to mount up since claims were first made public in an ITV documentary at the beginning of October. ""I said at the time of his funeral that he was my friend, my mentor and my uncle - he was very much like a father to me,"" Mr Foster told BBC News. ""I was horrified when I saw the original programme. As the weeks have gone by, and the various allegations have come out, the number of allegations have been so great that I now believe that the vast majority of them are true."" The scandal had been ""totally devastating"", said Mr Foster."
" The US military said it had targeted what it called an al-Qaeda cell leader in an air strike near Karabilah, on the border with Syria. Also on Monday, the US military reported that six US soldiers were killed in two separate incidents. The US military last week reported its 2,000th fatality in Iraq since the invasion of the country. Four US servicemen died on Monday when their patrol hit an improvised explosive device in Yusufiya, in the south-west of Baghdad. Later on Monday, two other soldiers were killed by an improvised bomb north of the capital. US officials insisted that the raid near Qaim, it was a precision strike designed to avoid civilian casualties. But doctors at a hospital in the nearby town of Qaim said there were more than 30 dead, including women and children. A doctor in the area said that bodies were still being pulled out of the buildings hit in the strike hours later, and one local tribal leader has insisted that the there were no insurgents in the area, the Reuters news agency has reported. US and Iraqi officials say operations in western Iraq are aimed at blocking what is believed to be the main supply route from Syria for the insurgents. In other violence in Iraq on Monday:"
" Silvio Berlusconi, one of George Bush's closest allies, says he repeatedly tried to talk the US president out of invading Iraq, in comments to be broadcast today. In the television interview, which goes out on the day the Italian prime minister flies to Washington to meet Mr Bush, Mr Berlusconi says he even enlisted the help of the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gadafy, in behind-the-scenes efforts to stop America going to war. ""I have never been convinced war was the best way to succeed in making a country democratic and extract it from an albeit bloody dictatorship,"" he says. ""I tried on several occasions to convince the American president not to wage war."" His version of events, recounted in an interview with the La7 private TV station, with excerpts reported by the Apcom and Ansa news agencies at the weekend, was backed by his deputy, Gianfranco Fini, leader of the former neo-fascist party, who said: ""We tried right up to the end to persuade Bush and Blair not to launch a military attack."" Mr Berlusconi said one of the ""other ways and other solutions"" he had tried was a ""joint action"" with Colonel Gadafy, whose country is a former Italian colony. Coming after Lewis Libby's indictment capped a crisis week for the Bush administration, Mr Berlusconi's remarks will be seen by many in Washington as treacherous. Italy's prime minister is standing for re-election in just over five months and polls indicate that his support for Mr Bush is a major handicap. He became closely identified with Mr Bush soon after coming to office in 2001 and avoided criticism of US policy in the run-up to the war. In March 2003 he told parliament the use of force against Iraq was legitimate and Italy could not abandon the Americans ""in their fight against terrorism"". Yesterday Mr Berlusconi's aides played down the remarks, pointing to two earlier occasions on which he had alluded to ""doubts"" and ""reservations"" about the invasion. Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by the Berlusconi family, quoted the prime minister as saying in November 2003 he had ""expressed disagreement with Bush on the military action in Iraq"". His latest remarks were nevertheless at odds with public perceptions of his stance and astonished his political rivals. ""What's going on?"" asked Romano Prodi, the leader of the centre-left. ""Has he finally realised the war was wrong? Well, let him say so. He told Bush? Well, it means he doesn't count for anything at all."" Though Italian troops did not take part in the invasion of Iraq they have played a prominent role since. Italy's 3,000-strong contingent is the third largest in the US-led coalition. Mr Berlusconi has repeatedly indicated that he intends to reduce Italy's presence, and an initial withdrawal of 300 soldiers took place in September. But at least one opposition politician suggested the prime minister might have been trying in advance to limit damage to his administration from the ""CIA-gate"" scandal. The document at the origin of the affair, which indicated that Saddam Hussein's regime tried to buy uranium in Africa, was allegedly forged by an Italian with links to the intelligence services."
" Former pop star Gary Glitter has been arrested on suspicion of sex offences by police investigating Jimmy Savile abuse claims. He was released on bail until mid-December, after being questioned at a London police station. Glitter, 68, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was jailed in Vietnam in 2006 for child sex offences. Police are investigating allegations TV star Savile sexually abused some 300 young people over a 40-year period. Met Police confirmed officers from Operation Yewtree had ""arrested a man in his 60s in connection with the investigation"". ""The man, from London, was arrested at approximately 0715 on suspicion of sexual offences. The individual falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'Savile and others'."" Scotland Yard has said it is following about 400 lines of inquiry as part of the operation - which is looking into claims Savile, who died last year aged 84, abused hundreds of young girls and some boys. Police described former BBC DJ Savile as a ""predatory sex offender"". Karin Ward - a former pupil at Duncroft approved school for girls in Surrey - told the BBC she had once seen singer Glitter having sex with a schoolgirl in Savile's dressing room at the BBC. Glitter has denied the allegations. Glitter is the first person to be arrested in connection with the Met's Savile abuse inquiry."
" Republican candidate Jon Huntsman will drop out of the presidential race on Monday and endorse front-runner Mitt Romney, a senior official with the former Utah governor's campaign told CNN. Huntsman finished third in last week's New Hampshire primary, a state in which he had staked his entire campaign, behind Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. ""Governor Huntsman did not want to stand in the way of the candidate best prepared to beat Barack Obama and turn our economy around. That's Mitt Romney,"" the official said. The former governor and U.S. ambassador to China made headlines when he decided to take his campaign to compete in the South Carolina primary, where he struggled to build support. An American Research Group poll released Friday showed Huntsman with just 1% of likely GOP primary voters in the state. ""Jon Huntsman made a basic calculation here, let's be honest. If you look at the polling, he's doing miserable in South Carolina. He's not going to win the state next Saturday and so if he wants to run in 2016 ... this is a chance ... to try to get a little bit of goodwill in the party, a little bit of leverage,"" said CNN Chief National Correspondent John King. Despite his low polling numbers, South Carolina's largest newspaper, The State, endorsed Huntsman earlier on Sunday. The paper's editorial board stated that while Romney is ""more appealing"" than the rest of the GOP field, Huntsman is ""more principled, has a far more impressive resume and offers a significantly more important message."" The board praised what it called the ""essential values that drive his candidacy: honor and old-fashioned decency and pragmatism."" R.C. Hammond, the spokesman for candidate Newt Gingrich, said that with Huntsman dropping out, ""we are one step closer to a bold Reagan conservative winning the GOP nomination."""
" Jon Huntsman is to end his campaign to win the Republican presidential nomination, US press reports say. He finished third in last week's New Hampshire primary and had been struggling ahead of this week's South Carolina primary. Mr Huntsman had hoped for an upset in New Hampshire but polled only 17%. He will announce his withdrawal in South Carolina on Monday and endorse front-runner Mitt Romney, campaign officials said. Primaries and caucuses will be held in every US state over the next few months to vote on a Republican candidate before the eventual winner is crowned at the party convention in August. Mr Huntsman, 51, is a former governor of Utah and served as President Barack Obama's first ambassador to China. A fluent Chinese speaker, in the early 1990s he became the youngest head of a US diplomatic mission for a century when he was appointed ambassador in Singapore. But his campaign for the Republican nomination failed to gain momentum, hardly registering in national opinions polls with only 1% or 2%. ""The governor and his family, at this point in the race, decided it was time for Republicans to rally around a candidate who could beat Barack Obama and turn around the economy,"" campaign manager Matt David told the New York Times. His withdrawal comes after he gained the endorsement of South Carolina's largest newspaper The State, which said that he and Mr Romney were the ""two sensible, experienced grown-ups in the race'', but that Mr Huntsman was ""more principled"" and offered ""a significantly more important message''."
" Policemen stand guard as a Russian Air Force aerobatic team performs at the Moscow International Air Show in Zhukovsky, August 23, 2009. Polish fighter aircraft delivered a hijacked airliner to their Russian counterparts above the two countries' shared border, simulating the level of cooperation they are aiming for in case of attack. After a 'struggle' in the cockpit of the hijacked plane, in which terrorists were overpowered but the plane's navigation system damaged, the aircraft was guided back to Poland by the Russian fighters. The showpiece exercises, which both sides say are the first of their kind, are taking place at a time when Russia and NATO are struggling to resolve disagreements over Western plans for a European missile defense system. ""We organized these exercises bearing in mind the joint threats we share as Russia and NATO -- in this case we are looking at the kind of terrorism that developed and came out of Afghanistan,"" said Yuri Gorlach, an official in the Russian Foreign Ministry's department on European cooperation. Moscow regularly cites the presence of al Qaeda in a growing insurgency in Russia's restive North Caucasus, where Islamist militants aim to carve out an Islamic state. Analysts say al Qaeda is trying to expand its presence in Russia after popular revolts in North Africa and the Middle East have undercut their support in those regions. The four-day exercise, Operation Vigilant Skies 2011, will end on June 9 after NATO and Russian fighters carry out similar drills above the Black Sea and the border area between Norway and Russia. ""These exercises demonstrate the series of practical steps taken between Russia and NATO within the framework of the fight against international terrorism,"" said NATO representative Istvan Talla. The only major air attack carried out in or above Russia in recent years was the almost simultaneous detonation of bombs aboard two Russian passenger planes in August 2004, killing all 90 people aboard the two aircraft. Authorities said two Chechen women were the bombers."
" Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is calling on Muslims to kidnap Westerners, citing the success in the abduction of American aid worker Warren Weinstein in Pakistan. In a two-part, more than two-hour video posted on jihadist websites, al-Zawahiri called for the abductions as part of a vow not to ""spare any efforts"" to free Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. ""God the great and almighty granted us success to capture the Jewish American Warren Weinstein,"" al-Zawahiri said in the video posted Wednesday, according to the terror monitoring group SITE Intelligence. ""We are seeking, by the help of God, to capture others and to incite Muslims to capture the citizens of the countries that are fighting Muslims in order to release our captives."" Also in the video, al-Zawahiri called for Sharia law to be instituted in Egypt, and he questioned Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy for his stances on a number of issues, including Israel. ""I call on every free and honorable (person) in Egypt to participate in every protest against the Israeli Embassy, against the peace treaty with Israel, against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, and against every siege of Gaza,"" al-Zawahiri said. ""Islamic movements and masses must be at the forefront of those protests and the first to sacrifice for their sake."" The video is the latest in a series released by al-Zawahiri, who was al Qaeda's No. 2 leader under Osama bin Laden. He took over leadership in June 2011 following bin Laden's death, according to statements posted on jihadist websites. In the latest video, al-Zawahiri apologized to Abdel-Rahman, dubbed ""the blind sheikh,"" for his imprisonment. The Egyptian-born Abdel-Rahman was convicted in 1995 of conspiracy. He is serving a life sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the August 2011 abduction of Weinstein from his home in the Pakistani city of Lahore."
" Missiles destroyed the jeep carrying the two men as it travelled through the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza on Tuesday. At least five other Palestinians were also wounded in the strike. Israeli warplanes have attacked cars carrying Palestinian militants in northern Gaza twice in the past week. Hassan Madhun, a senior member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an offshoot of the mainstream Fatah party, was killed by the strike. The Israeli army confirmed they had targeted Madhun, who they believe was involved in the double suicide bombing that killed 10 Israelis in the port of Ashdod in March. The second casualty was Fawzi Abu al-Qara, a leader of Hamas's military wing, the Izz al-Din Qassam brigades, in Jabaliya. A spokesman for Hamas said Israel would ""pay a heavy price for their crimes"". ""This is an open war,"" Mushir al-Masri told the AFP news agency. The BBC's correspondent in Gaza, Alan Johnston, believes the killing of the Hamas leader may be significant, because the group may now be drawn into a bout of violence it has so far avoided."
" Pakistan 139 for 2 (Afridi 54*, Akmal 37) beat Sri Lanka 138 for 6 (Sangakkara 64*, Mathews 35*, Razzaq 3-20) by eight wickets  Scorecard and ball-by-ball details It wasn't the edge-of-the-seat final that would have signed off the ICC World Twenty20 in style, but that won't matter to Pakistan who gave their nation a something to savour amid troubled times. From the moment Tillakaratne Dilshan, the tournament's top-scorer, fell in the opening over Pakistan had a grip on the match. Shahid Afridi, who emerged as their trump card, guided his team home in the 19th over with an unbeaten 54, and it was left to Younis Khan to raise the trophy in what he later announced would be his final Twenty20 international, in front of a sea of delirious Pakistan supporters. Pakistan won't be playing at home for the foreseeable future, but the following they have had at this event has reinforced the notion that England can be a surrogate home. The masses were cheering from early on as Abdul Razzaq - a great individual comeback-story among the team's resurgence - claimed three key wickets in his opening burst to leave Sri Lanka on 32 for 4. They never looked back despite the best efforts of Kumar Sangakkara. Occasionally the tension rose as the required rate climbed, but each time Afridi was on hand with one of his most mature innings. He hit consecutive balls from Muttiah Muralitharan for six and four in the 14th over, a calculated assault against a key bowler. The destination of the trophy was sealed when he swung a huge six over midwicket off Isuru Udana in the 18th over - the moment when Sangakkara gambled on one of his weaker bowling links - and followed that with another boundary off a high full toss. Shoaib Malik played his part with 24 off 22 balls in a match-winning stand of 76 after Kamran Akmal had given early impetus to the top-order. The batsmen knew they didn't have to take many risks and played Ajantha Mendis better than any other team as he went for his most expensive spell of the tournament. Pakistan's rise from rank outsiders to champions is an extraordinary display for a team that had to beat Netherlands by a significant margin to even stay in the event during the group stages. However, they have peaked at the right time and couldn't have produced a more complete performance for a final. They fell five runs short two years ago at Johannesburg, but this time there was no mistake. Sri Lanka, who have been the model of consistency, were caught off guard by aggressive tactics. In a stirring atmosphere, Pakistan were on top of their game from the start as 17-year-old Mohammad Aamer belied his inexperience with a tone-setting opening over. In a clear plan he bowled short at Dilshan who was distinctly discomforted by the approach. Against the fifth ball Dilshan tried to take the initiative with a scoop over short fine-leg, but only managed to pick out the man on the edge of the circle. He had middled virtually all his attempts at the shot during the tournament and what a time for it to go wrong. With the tournament's leading run-scorer heading off Pakistan were buoyed and Sri Lanka shaken. Jehan Mubarak was promoted to No. 3, but he couldn't survive the second over when he came down the pitch and got a leading edge into the covers to give Razzaq his first. Sri Lanka briefly rallied as Sanath Jaysuriya suggested he could marshal a turnaround. Favouring the leg side he swung Razzaq for six with a forceful short-arm pull and collected four more next ball, but it was a short-lived response when an inside edge crashed into the stumps. Razzaq was flat on his face at the moment of dismissal after slipping in his follow-through but it was Sri Lanka who were feeling unsteady."
" Projections, by public broadcaster NHK, showed his coalition had surpassed the 241 seats needed to retain control of the 480-seat House of Representatives. But the final total was 275 - 12 below their current strength. The opposition Democratic Party (DPJ) looked like making major gains, boosting its seats from 137 to more than 170. Surveys indicated turnout was behind the last lower house elections in 2000. Mr Koizumi was seeking a second term in office to complete the economic reforms he began more than two years ago. His Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had faced a strong challenge from the DPJ. The party's leaders accepted the early outlook was tough. ""As the largest party, we should be striving to achieve a single-party majority,"" said LDP secretary-general Shinzo Abe. ""But if the three parties of the ruling coalition achieve a majority, I will take that as a sign of having won the public's trust."" This was the first test of Mr Koizumi's economic reforms since he came to power more than two years ago."
" The data, which appears in a survey compiled in answer to questions from US Congressional staff, gives no figure for Iraqis killed in US-led operations. Nor does it appear to differentiate between civilians and security forces. UK-based peace activists estimated this summer that civilian deaths alone since March 2003 had reached nearly 25,000. Basing its count on media reports, the Iraq Body Count group estimated that about 37% of these deaths were caused by US-led forces and added that, overall, more than 42,000 Iraqi civilians were injured. Pentagon spokesman Greg Hicks said the figures released by his department should be regarded as ""a kind of a snapshot"". ""The defence department doesn't maintain a comprehensive or authoritative count of Iraqi casualties,"" he told reporters. The US military reported its 2,000th fatality from the Iraq conflict last week."
" At least six people were killed and 15 injured Friday night after a cruise ship ran aground near the Italian island of Giglio, Italy's ANSA news agency reported early Saturday. The Costa Concordia, owned by Genoa-based Costa Cruises, ran aground on a sand bank just off the island, located off of Italy's western coast, ANSA reported. The incident occurred during dinnertime, witness Luciano Castro told ANSA. The ship was carrying around 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members at the time, according to the cruise line's blog. Evacuation efforts were apparently complicated by the position of the listing ship, according to Costa's blog post. Some passengers fell into the frigid waters during rescue, the news agency reported. As many as 300 people were still on the ship early Saturday waiting to be evacuated, ANSA reported, citing rescuers' estimates. ""The company is working with the utmost care to give maximum support,"" Costa said in the blog statement. The Concordia, built in 2006, was on a Mediterranean cruise from Rome with stops in Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari and Palermo, according to the cruise line. It was unclear how far into the cruise the grounding occurred. Most of the passengers on board were Italian, as well as some French and German citizens. Another Costa ship was involved in a deadly 2010 accident when the Costa Europa crashed into a pier in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh during stormy weather, killing three crew members."
" Two car bombings in Damascus have killed at least 10 people, Syrian state media report, on the fourth day of a supposed ceasefire. Women and children were among the victims of the two attacks in the south of the city, state TV reported. Earlier, activists said government jets had bombed the city's Harasta district. UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who brokered the truce over the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, said he regretted that both sides were not complying with it. ""The situation is bad and getting worse,"" he told reporters in Moscow after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. But Mr Brahimi nevertheless insisted that he would not be discouraged by the apparent failure of his initiative, which he had hoped would allow a political process to develop and lead to a permanent end to hostilities. ""It will not discourage us because Syria is very important and the people of Syria deserve our support and interest,"" he added. ""We think this civil war must end... and the new Syria has to be built by all its sons."" Mr Lavrov said that the opposition's allies in the West and in the Middle East should realise that without dialogue with the Syrian government no solution would be found. At least 110 people - including 39 civilians, 34 rebel fighters and 35 security forces personnel - were killed on Sunday, according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group. State media said a ""terrorist group"" had detonated a car bomb outside a bakery in Jaramana, a predominantly Christian and Druze area of the capital."
" The captain of the cruise ship that capsized on Friday, killing at least 11 people, has admitted making a navigation mistake, Italian media say. Captain Francesco Schettino told investigators he had ""ordered the turn too late"" as the luxury ship sailed close to an island, according to a leaked interrogation transcript. The Costa Concordia ran aground with about 4,200 people on board. More than 20 are still missing but the search for survivors has been halted. According to the leaked transcript quoted by Italian media, Capt Schettino said the route of the Costa Concordia on the first day of its Mediterranean cruise had been decided as it left the port of Civitavecchia, near Rome, on Friday. The captain reportedly told the investigating judge in the city of Grosseto that he had decided to sail close to Giglio to salute a former captain who had a home on the Tuscan island. ""I was navigating by sight because I knew the depths well and I had done this manoeuvre three or four times,"" he reportedly said. ""But this time I ordered the turn too late and I ended up in water that was too shallow. I don't know why it happened."" The ship's owners, Costa Crociere, said earlier this week that the change of route had not been authorised. On Tuesday, Capt Schettino's lawyer said his client had told the judge that lives had been saved thanks to the manoeuvre he made after the ship hit rocks."
" Italy says it will go to the International Court of Justice in The Hague ito contest Brazil's decision not to extradite an Italian fugitive. Battisti was released from prison in Brazil following the court's decision. The former left-wing rebel escaped from an Italian jail in 1981, while awaiting trial for four murders in the 1970s. He has always denied the charges. He was convicted of murder in absentia in 1990, but the 56-year-old insists he is the victim of political persecution in Italy. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva denied Italy's extradition request a day before he left office in January - a move that caused outrage in Italy, which withdrew its ambassador. Silvio Berlusconi said Brazil's decision on the extradition request ""denies justice to the Italian people and in particular to Battisti's victims"". Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said: ""Italy plans to activate immediately every possible judicial mechanism... in particular through the Hague international court."" He said Italy would ""seek to overturn the decision that it holds is not in accordance with... the requirements of international law"". The nine Supreme Court judges voted 6-3 to confirm ex-President Lula's decision to deny the extradition. They ruled that the decision complied with a bilateral treaty, and that Italy did not have have the legal standing to challenge the former president's decision."
" Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has appeared before the country's Supreme Court in contempt proceedings, to defend his record. The court initiated the hearing over Mr Gilani's refusal to ask Swiss officials to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari. If found guilty of contempt he could be banned from holding public office. A stand-off between the government, the judiciary and the military threatens to topple Mr Gilani's government. After a hearing lasting little more than an hour the case was adjourned until 1 February. Mr Gilani smiled and waved as he arrived at the Supreme Court, accompanied by his legal team and senior cabinet ministers. Continue reading the main story The courtroom and the media gallery were jam-packed as Prime Minister Gilani made his appearance, backed by some of his ministers and leaders of party allies. He delivered his statement as the judges listened cautiously. They heard him out in silence and there were no interruptions. Mr Gilani stood his ground, arguing that he was acting in line with the constitution, but he was dignified and respectful towards the judges. One judge even said it was a great day as the prime minister had ""submitted to the majesty of the law"", and ""we should be proud of this"". But there are no clear signs this marks a thaw in the recent political face-off between Mr Gilani's government and the judiciary, which many believe is backed by the military. The government has managed to buy some time and seems be trying to involve the court in lengthier, more complicated discussions. In a lengthy opening statement to the seven judges, he spoke of his respect for the court and the Pakistani constitution. He said he had not intended to defy the court but that he believed Mr Zardari had presidential immunity from prosecution. ""I have discussed this with my friends and experts, and they all agree that he has got complete immunity,"" Mr Gilani said."
" Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has undergone ""successful"" surgery in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he is being treated for bomb blast wounds, officials said. Saleh's injuries from last week's blast at his compound are extensive, including burns over 40 percent of his body, the official Saba news agency said. The source of the explosion that killed several guards and the mosque's imam and injured several other government officials remains unknown, al-Arabiya reported Thursday. Initial reports indicated Saleh suffered burns on his face, neck and arms when the blast struck at the palace mosque during prayers. However, diplomats said burns also covered some of his back and some reports indicated a shard of wood punctured a lung, The New York Times reported. ""His face was quite charred,"" a Western official said anonymously. ""The burns are serious; he is not as well as his aides are portraying it."" Saleh was flown to Riyadh Saturday with about a dozen political supporters including the speaker of Parliament, the leader of the Shura council, and two deputy prime ministers, including Sadiq Ameen Abu Ras, who lost a leg in the blast, al-Arabiya reported."
" ABU DHABI, June 9 (Reuters) - Turkey has established a $100 million fund to support Libya's rebel Transitional National Council, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday. ""There is a real need for humanitarian access as well as for the natural needs of Libya like schools, hospitals and all those facilities,"" Davutoglu said. Davutoglu was speaking to reporters at a summit of Western and Arab countries backing Libya's rebels and aimed at preparing for a political structure after the departure of leader Muammar Gaddafi from power."
" Nine people have been killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen on an Afghan wedding party, officials say. Gunmen opened fire on two houses in Dur Baba district in Nangarhar province where a family was sleeping. Among the dead were the groom, his father and of his brother, District Governor Hamesha Gul told the BBC. Mr Gul, a cousin of the groom, said that guests and relatives were in the area to celebrate the marriage. No-one has admitted carrying out the attack. He said the gunmen identified one of the men in the wedding party as an ""American spy"". Nine people were injured in addition to those killed. Officials say two groups of insurgents opened fire as guests and relatives were asleep. They say that all those killed were male civilians. Mr Gul said that insurgents targeted his cousins because of his affiliation with the Afghan government, citing an earlier attack on Wednesday when insurgents burned the house, vehicles and wooden beds of a villager who had hosted him for lunch. The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says that Mr Gul is a strong anti-Taliban figure with powerful connections among local tribes. Our correspondent says that the attack is one of series in which the insurgents have targeted such figures. The district of Dur Baba lies on the border with Pakistan and has long been a key smuggling route for weapons, drugs and electronic goods into Pakistan."
" BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade appealed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Thursday to step down, and offered to help ease his former ally's exit from power. ""It is in your own interest and the interest of all the Libyan people that you leave power in Libya and never dream of coming back to power,"" Wade said during a visit to the rebel-held eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. ""I can be one of those who help you pull out of political life and the sooner you leave the better, to save the lives of Libyans,"" Wade said. It was his first visit to the rebels' stronghold since he recognised their National Transitional Council as Libya's ""legitimate opposition"" in May and said the council should work towards a free and democratic Libya. Wade was speaking at a news conference alongside Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the council's chairman and figurehead of the revolt against Gaddafi. Asked later to clarify if Wade meant his government would offer Gaddafi asylum, Senegalese Foreign Minister Madicke Niang told reporters: ""We are demanding that Gaddafi leave power as soon as time allows it... When we are sure that this is his will, we can negotiate on where Gaddafi can stay after he leaves power."" Gaddafi has vowed to stay put in Libya and fight on despite renewed heavy NATO bombardment of military sites and his Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital Tripoli. Wade sees himself as one of Africa's elder statesmen and has long sought to mediate in the continent's crises, including Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Mauritania and Sudan."
" Rick Perry on Thursday dropped his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, throwing his support behind former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. ""I have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path forward for me in the 2012 campaign,"" Perry said at a press conference in North Charleston, South Carolina. ""I know when it's time to make a strategic retreat."" Perry said the 2012 campaign has ""never been about the candidates"" but about defeating President Obama and replacing him ""with a conservative leader who will bring about real change."" He called Gingrich ""a conservative visionary who can transform our country."" Gingrich appears to be gaining momentum in South Carolina, and Perry's endorsement could give the former speaker a critical boost just two days ahead of the Palmetto state primary. A senior campaign aide said Gingrich's staff had begun reaching out to Perry's campaign ""aggressively"" in recent days. Gingrich himself had suggested on the campaign trail that it would be helpful for him if Perry were to drop out. Still, Gingrich's campaign has its hurdles. The candidate has come under scrutiny for his multiple marriages and past infidelity, and now his second wife, Marianne Gingrich, is saying the GOP presidential candidate wanted an ""open marriage."" Is Newt Gingrich's surge for real? What do South Carolina voters want? In a December debate, Perry said that marital fidelity is ""important""to the presidential race, adding that ""he's always kind of been of the opinion that if you cheat on your wife, you'll cheat on your business partner."" Today, Perry noted that he and Gingrich have ""had our differences... and Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?"" ""The fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek God, and I believe in the power of redemption,"" he continued. ""I have no question Newt has the heart of a conservative reformer."""
" An Israeli military investigation has concluded that flawed intelligence and poor planning led to the lethal interception of a flotilla of ships attempting to break the blockade of Gaza. The 150-page report does not blame the commandos who opened fire, killing nine Turkish activists, after being confronted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators during the raid. Declassified sections of the report were released today after the full document was delivered yesterday to the Israeli military's chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi. The investigation, led by Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel's National Security Council, pointed to flaws in intelligence gathering ahead of the operation and a lack of co-ordination between military and intelligence bodies, and said preparations for the takeover of the ships had been inadequate. It criticised the ""battle guidelines"" issued to the naval commandos who boarded the Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, on which the activists were killed, the reports say. The inquiry said the navy had failed sufficiently to anticipate the possibility that activists on board the ships could resist a takeover. Israel insists that a hardcore of Islamic militants on the Mavi Marmara planned a violent confrontation and were armed with knives and staves. It says the activists were killed by commandos in self-defence. The flotilla's organisers dispute this, saying the Israeli military used unnecessary and disproportionate force against a peaceful mission. The attack on the flotilla, six weeks ago today, caused a wave of international condemnation and a serious breach of diplomatic relations between Israel and its regional ally Turkey. It also drew global attention to Israel's blockade of Gaza, which has been strictly enforced for three yearsand has resulted in humanitarian hardship and the crippling of the territory's economy. Israel has since agreed to ease the blockade. The remit of the Eiland inquiry was restricted to the military and intelligence planning of the operation. Its report will be submitted to a broader inquiry set up by the Israeli government, the Turkel commission, which is not expected to reach its conclusions for months."
" Britain and France are stepping up pressure for a UN Security Council vote condemning the Syrian government's suppression of months of unrest. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said it was ""inconceivable that the UN remains silent"" in the face of worsening violence. Britain plans to present a draft resolution later on Wednesday. But unlike the case of Libya, the draft does not suggest military action against Damascus or sanctions. In Syria, scores of residents of the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour are fleeing ahead of an expected military assault, after the government said 120 security forces personnel had been killed there. The BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says there are no reports of action in Jisr al-Shughour itself yet, but that troop movements and preparations have been reported. Continue reading the main story Syrian state television has been paving the way for the expected counterattack in Jisr al-Shughour. It said there was a ""popular consensus"" that the army should go in, and bolstered that with interviews in the street with people praising the army and condemning the ""armed gangs"" who the government insists massacred the soldiers and police in Jisr al-Shughour on Monday. It has been showing grisly footage of some of the bodies, and conducting interviews in hospital with wounded survivors, recounting how they were ambushed and shot by large numbers of armed men. While the government mobilises its information campaign in support of the expected crackdown, thousands of protesters have been holding late-night demonstrations and vigils in towns and villages in all parts of the country, chanting slogans of support for Jisr al-Shughour and calling for the regime to go. Some activists are said to have erected barriers of rocks, tree trunks and burning tyres on the main approach road to try to block the advance of security forces. In a separate development, Syria's ambassador to France has denied reports in the French media that she had resigned. Appearing on French TV, Lamia Chakkour said a telephone interview in which she was reported to have quit was part of a campaign of misinformation against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad."
" An Israeli military inquiry into the naval raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla says commandos were under-prepared and mistakes were made at a senior level. The report says the operation suffered from flawed intelligence-gathering and inadequate planning. But it also praised the commandos involved and found the use of force had been the only way to stop the flotilla. Eight Turks and one Turkish-American died in the naval raid in international waters, which provoked a major outcry. The report criticised the operation's planners for not having a back-up plan in the event of violence. But it also said the mission had not been a failure and did not recommend any dismissals. It said there had been a lack of co-ordination between military and intelligence bodies, and preparations for the 31 May takeover of the ships had been inadequate. Continue reading the main story This Israeli military investigation confirms things went badly wrong when troops stormed the Mavi Marmara, but largely exonerates the naval commandos. However, its findings that serious mistakes were made confirm that questions also need to be asked of Israel's political leaders, who approved the operation. The Eiland report is not the only investigation. A former Supreme Court judge, Jacob Turkel, is conducting an inquiry into the legality of the operation. The UN Human Rights Council may well launch its own study, though Israel does not trust this organisation and may well refuse to have anything to do with it. Pressure is on Israel to make its investigation credible. Justice Turkel is seeking to give his inquiry real investigative teeth. Here he may well be backed by the Israeli courts. This though may still not satisfy the Turks who have nailed their colours to a fully-fledged international inquiry. As they dropped from helicopters on to the deck of one vessel, the Mavi Marmara, Israeli forces were met with a violent reception, from some of those on board who were armed with clubs and knives and at least one gun, found the report. Presenting the findings to media in Tel Aviv, retired general Giora Eiland, who chaired the investigating panel, had both criticism and praise."
" Burma has told the military to halt all offensives in ethnic minority conflict zones, a top official said Tuesday, as the regime pursues peace deals with guerrillas as part of wider reforms. This file photo shows Myanmar soldiers during a military parade in Naypyidaw, in 2010. Myanmar has told the military to halt all offensives in ethnic minority conflict zones, a top official said, but admitted that the order was sometimes proving hard to implement. The army-backed government, which last year replaced the long-ruling junta, on Thursday signed a ceasefire with Karen rebels in the eastern border region, raising hopes of an end to one of the world's oldest civil conflicts."
" Fifa boss Sepp Blatter has rejected criticism of the 2010 World Cup which has centred on the quality of football on offer and too many empty seats. ""Every World Cup has its own history and its own culture,"" he told 5 live's Sportsweek in an exclusive interview. ""It was a World Cup in a new continent with new culture and therefore it must be analysed on different levels. ""If you look at the enthusiasm in South Africa and the TV audiences around the world then it was a special World Cup."" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Speaking ahead of Sunday's World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands - the climax to the first World Cup held on African soil - Blatter insisted the world's governing body could not be blamed for those games that had been unattractive to watch. ""It was a very attractive World Cup and for me it was also a very emotional World Cup,"" said the 74-year-old. The attendance at some matches has also drawn criticism, but Blatter blamed those problems on the poor uptake of hospitality tickets. ""We have had empty seats yes, but not empty stadia. Don't forget, 95% of all tickets have been sold. ""There were two cities where we had in two matches not the expected attendances but otherwise if you have seen in some stadia empty seats it came from hospitality. ""There has not been the same enthusiasm for hospitality seats as we have seen in other World Cups."" Responding to allegations the Nigeria team could have been vulnerable to match-fixing - a problem Fifa was warned of ahead of the tournament - Blatter maintained that the tournament had been ""clean"". ""There was not one single alarm on match fixing. Not one single alarm in the early warning system also controlled through Interpol."" Blatter, who became the eighth Fifa president in 1998, was keen to talk up the 2010 World Cup's legacy benefits, arguing the tournament had helped improve the South African economy and its transport infrastructure. Cameroon supporters thank Sepp Blatter for the World Cup ""I just came back from humanitarian activity, visiting Winnie Mandela in Soweto and she said this World Cup made us proud,"" he said. However Fifa's president was more circumspect when it came to the performance of the African teams at the 2010 World Cup after only Ghana made it past the group stages. ""You cannot direct or manage a national team when you change the coach who is technically responsible two or three months before the competition. ""This has happened in two or three of the associations - Ivory Coast, South Africa and Nigeria - and therefore it would be a miracle if they go through. ""Nigeria was near to going through and with a little bit of luck we would have had Ghana in the semi-finals,"" added Blatter, referring to Asamoah Gyan's extra-time penalty miss. Fifa's head refused to talk about calls to introduce goal-line technology following Frank Lampard's strike in the match against Germany not being given despite television evidence showing it clearly crossed the line , but he did make special mention of the vuvuzela, the blaring horn that became the World Cup's soundtrack. ""We have survived finally the vuvuzelas, everybody has,"" quipped Blatter. ""It is not only the South African way, all the visitors have started to buy the vuvuzelas and on Sunday in the final there will not be even 50% South African people in the stadium but everybody will have these vuvuzelas."""
" The Control Risks Group said the UK's role in the Iraq war and big Muslim population meant there was a ""serious possibility"" of a suicide bomb. Its 2004 RiskMap report on security in 195 countries raised the risk rating for London from ""low"" to ""medium"". The rest of Britain - not seen as a political target - remained ""low"" risk. ""London has become the pre-eminent terrorist target in Western Europe,"" said research director Jake Stratton. Previously the Muslim extremist threat had been ""vague, undefined war against the West"", he said. ""But in the last year Britain has reinforced its position in the eyes of the Islamic world as the major ally of the US."" Mr Stratton said that while the US remained at risk from terrorists, there were several targets across the country which reduced the risk to each individual city. The involvement of two British Islamic extremists in a suicide bombing mission in Israel earlier this year also indicated that there were militants operating in the UK, the study said. A suicide bombing remained the most likely method of attack, whether it be in the form of a single terrorist wearing an explosive device or a truck packed with explosives, Mr Stratton said. He added: ""It's very simple to set up and very difficult to guard against. It is vital that we do everything possible to combat the threat."""
" Vancouver needed a big game from Roberto Luongo . It got one.The Canucks had to find a way to solve Tim Thomas . They did.If they can figure out how to win in Boston, the Stanley Cup will be theirs for the first time in the franchise's four-decade history. Maxim Lapierre scored early in the third period and the highly criticized, much-maligned Luongo did the rest. He capped his second 1-0 shutout of the Stanley Cup Final with 31 saves in Game 5 on Friday, two nights after getting pulled by coach Alain Vigneault for a second straight forgettable game in Boston.The Canucks were outscored 12-1 in Games 3 and 4 at TD Garden, but they head back to Boston with a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and can celebrate on the Bruins' home ice with a win in Game 6 on Monday (8 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, RDS).The home team is 5-0 in the series. That also happened last year, but Chicago won the Cup by winning Game 6 in Philadelphia.""It's the Stanley Cup Final, nobody said it was going to be easy,"" Lapierre said. ""We just had to regroup and bounce back, and this is what we did. We were patient with the game plan and we got our break.""They earned that break early in the third period by making the smart play to solve Bruins goalie Tim Thomas , whose shutout streak stood at 106 minutes and seven seconds after two periods.The Canucks finally took advantage of how aggressively high Thomas plays in the crease and wound up scoring 4:35 into the third period because the Bruins' goalie couldn't get back in time. Kevin Bieksa 's shot-pass from the right point went off the end boards and the puck popped out to Lapierre on the other side. Thomas was challenging the shooter at the lip of the crease as he always does -- except that this time he was burned because Lapierre, standing on the goal line to the left of the net, found the puck on his stick and banked a shot off Thomas and in as the goalie was scrambling back to the net.The Canucks had tried that play earlier in the game and it didn't work. It was in their game plan to go back to it again.""He's coming out far so the only way to make him pay is to put pucks off the boards and hope they bounce into the slot,"" Bieksa said. ""I'm trying just to put it off the wall and hope it got a bounce. Obviously (I'm) not a geometry whiz, so I'm not sure exactly where but I was hoping it would bounce somewhere in front of the net. It bounced to our stick.""Thomas said Lapierre didn't shoot it cleanly. If he did, he would have had a better chance to get back to it.""The way it was, it bounced off my stomach and was a couple inches over the line before I could get a handle on it,"" Thomas said.Luongo took a verbal jab at Thomas when he was asked the difficulty of saving the Lapierre shot.""It's not hard if you're playing in the paint,"" he said. ""It's an easy save for me, but if you're wandering out and aggressive like he does, that's going to happen.""After showing the Canucks celebrating the goal on the ice, CBC cut to its cameras showing upwards of 100,000 people going bonkers in the streets of Vancouver. The city closed down the area near the CBC building in downtown and invited fans to come watch the game on a big screen.As you might imagine, they were bouncing up and down when Lapierre ricocheted the puck off Thomas, snapping the goalie's shutout streak at 110:42.The celebration also killed off some of the tension that permeated through the area all day.The Canucks left town with a 2-0 series lead and their fans sleeping off a long Saturday night of celebrating. They came home even in the series after getting crushed in two games at TD Garden.Luongo was under fire. The Sedins were being targeted for their ineffectiveness. Ryan Kesler was being called a no-show.Now the celebration is on again, the tension relieved. A win in Boston and they'll be planning a parade.""We play in a hockey market; we get criticized and scrutinized more than anybody I think, but that's what makes us professionals,"" Kesler said. ""We deal with it. We're a tight-knit group in here and we have each other's backs. We're a family and I don't think there is a guy in here for one second saying that we didn't believe in Lu because we all believed in him.""More importantly, Luongo believed in himself, so much so that he had the guts to take a stroll along the city's seawall after the team's pre-game meal Friday. He didn't care that he was being criticized or being called a goat in his hometown; he just put his headphones on under his hoodie sweatshirt and breathed in the fresh air without even worrying if anybody was saying anything to him.""I just focused on the journey and everything I need to do to be ready for the game,"" Luongo said. ""That's what gets me prepared.""Luongo was at his best Friday.He had 12 saves through 20 minutes, none better than the two he made on Patrice Bergeron during the third of Boston's three failed power plays in the first period. Luongo adjusted to stop Bergeron's deflection of Dennis Seidenberg 's point shot and then had position to stone the Bruins' center on the rebound from the slot.The Bruins never had another chance like it, and their power play went 0-for-4.""We knew right away early that we had some chances on the power play and we didn't do the job,"" Bergeron said. ""It's plain and simple.""Bruins coach Claude Julien gave Luongo credit, but added that the Bruins didn't make it hard on him like they did in Games 3 and 4.""They were the better team,"" Julien said. ""We have to acknowledge that, because if we don't we're not going to be a better team next game.""There's reason to believe they can be. The Bruins not only thrashed Luongo and the Canucks twice in their own building earlier this week, but they're used to going the distance in a series.Boston won Game 7 against Montreal in the first round and did the same against Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference Finals. The difference is that they had the 3-2 lead in both series and knew Game 7 would be at home. Game 7, if the Bruins get there, will be back in the Pacific Northwest.""I don't think we're a team that's done anything the easy way,"" Julien said. ""We've been in two Game 7s. Our goal right now is to create another one."""
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" Syrian security Friday forcefully dispersed thousands of protesters who took to the streets in several cities to defy a crackdown against anti-government demonstrations.    More than 2,000 students were protesting in the university city in Aleppo. Security forces and government militia, known as Shabiha, tried to disperse them by force, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria online group said, DPA reported.    Security stormed some students' rooms and arrested some of the demonstrators.    Broadcaster Al Jazeera reported that security fired shots in the air to disperse protesters in the southern city of Daraa.    Thousands were demonstrating in the cities of Deir al-Zour, Lattakia and Ras Al-Ain, demanding the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, activists wrote online.  "
" The African Union (AU) has called for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to step down. The leader of the AU's mediation team on Libya, Mauritania's President Abdel Aziz, said Gaddafi's departure has become necessary as ""he can longer lead Libya"". It was the first time a head of state on the AU panel, which has made several trips to Libya to try to negotiate a settlement to the conflict, has made such a direct public reference to the departure of the Libyan leader."
" Author Salman Rushdie has withdrawn from India's biggest literary festival, saying that he feared assassination after influential Muslim clerics protested against his participation. The author had been due to speak at the Jaipur literature festival. He said he had been told by sources that assassins ""may be on the way to Jaipur to kill me"". Salman Rushdie sparked anger in the Muslim world with his book The Satanic Verses, which many see as blasphemous. He lived in hiding for many years after Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for his execution. The author had been scheduled to speak on the opening day of the five-day Jaipur event which began on Friday, but earlier this week organisers said his schedule had changed and took his name off the list of speakers. ""I have now been informed by intelligence sources in Maharashtra and Rajasthan that paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld may be on their way to Jaipur to 'eliminate' me,"" Salman Rushdie said in a statement read out at the festival. ""While I have some doubts about the accuracy of this intelligence, it would be irresponsible of me to come to the festival in such circumstances; irresponsible to my family, to the festival audience and to my fellow writers,"" he added. ""I will therefore not travel to Jaipur as planned."" The writer later tweeted that he was ""very sad not to be at Jaipur"" and that he would speak at the festival over a video link."
" Underwater robots have successfully removed a leaking cap on BP's blown-out Gulf of Mexico oil well, the first stage in fitting a tighter cap. However, many thousands of barrels of oil will now flow freely until the new cap is fitted, an operation that could take four to seven days. BP also said there was no guarantee of success at such a depth. A fleet of 400 skimmers is in place to try to minimise the effects of increased oil loss. The company has two other operations ongoing. One will deploy a larger surface vessel to collect oil, the other is drilling two wells to intercept the leak, which it is hoped will provide a permanent solution. The larger ship, Helix Producer, could be in place to collect leaking oil as early as Sunday. BP says the first of the relief wells will be finished in the first half of August. The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in April killed 11 people. President Barack Obama has called the leak the biggest environmental disaster in US history. BP's submersible robots removed the current containment cap from the ocean floor at 1737GMT on Saturday but it will be several days at best before the new cap is in place. A fleet of 400 skimmers is in place to try to minimise the effects of increased oil loss during the operation, BP said."
" ISLAMABAD, June 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 14 primary school children were killed as a school van fell into a canal early Friday morning in northeast Pakistan, reported local Urdu TV channel ARY. The accident took place at about 6:30 a.m. local time when a Suzuki school van carrying 17 kids aged below 15 fell off a bridge into the Jhelum canal in the Ali Baig town on its way from Bhimber district to Mirpur district in Azad Jammu Kashmir. Three kids and the driver survived by swimming to the shore themselves while the other 14 kids were drowned. The rescue team have recovered seven bodies while the other seven are still missing nearly 12 hours after the tragedy. The three kids who survived the accident said the driver was to blame as he was driving too fast."
" Sami Khedira nodded in a late winner as Germany saw off the spirited challenge of Uruguay in Port Elizabeth to finish in third place for the second World Cup running. It seemed the three-time champions were set for a comfortable evening when Thomas Mueller capped a period of dominance with a straightforward finish after Fernando Muslera spilled a long-range drive from Bastian Schweinsteiger. Uruguay forced their way back into proceedings through Edinson Cavani before Diego Forlan put them ahead with an acrobatic volley shortly after half-time. But more poor goalkeeping from Muslera allowed Marcell Jansen to equalise and Khedira then capitalised on Uruguay's failure to clear a Mesut Ozil corner to ensure Germany would end their tournament on a happy note. The third-place play-off is often billed as a match that no team wants to play - but this encounter made a mockery of any such suggestion. Uruguay exceeded all expectations in reaching the last four and, with a parade through the streets of Montevideo and a date with President Jose Mujica planned for Monday, they were desperate to finish their campaign on a high. Germany, meanwhile, are a hugely talented young squad who will be together for some years and viewed the meeting with La Celeste as another stepping stone in their development. Oscar Tabarez's men signalled their intent by restoring fit-again captain Diego Lugano and star striker Luis Suarez, suspended for the last-four defeat by the Netherlands, to the starting line-up. Although Germany made five changes from the side beaten by Spain, Philipp Lahm and Lukas Podolski were suffering from a virus, Miroslav Klose had a bad back and coach Joachim Loew was still able to name an enviable line-up. And it was clear from the opening exchanges that this was no friendly as Mueller saw a strike ruled out for handball, Dennis Aogo escaped with a caution for a terrible studs-up challenge on Diego Perez and Forlan curled a free-kick just over."
" NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- When the entire Internet gets angry, Congress takes notice. Both the House and the Senate on Friday backed away from a pair of controversial anti-piracy bills, tossing them into limbo and throwing doubt on their future viability. The Senate had been scheduled to hold a proceedural vote next week on whether to take up the Protect IP Act (PIPA) -- a bill that once had widespread, bipartisan support. But on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was postponing the vote ""in light of recent events."" Meanwhile, the House of Representatives said it is putting on hold its version of the bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The House will ""postpone consideration of the legislation until there is wider agreement on a solution,"" House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith said in a written statement. The moves came after several lawmakers flipped their position on the bills in the wake of widespread online and offline protests against them. Tech companies, who largely oppose the bills, mobilized their users this week to contact representatives and speak out against the legislation. Sites including Wikipedia and Reddit launched site blackouts on January 18, while protesters hit the streets in New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) drew more than 7 million signatures for an anti-SOPA and PIPA petition that it linked on its highly trafficked homepage. The tide turned soon after the protest, and both bills lost some of their Congressional backers. ""I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns,"" Smith said Friday in a prepared statement. ""It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves."" PIPA and SOPA aim to crack down on copyright infringement by restricting access and services to sites that host or facilitate the trading of pirated content. (Click here for our explainer: What SOPA is and why it matters.) Backed by media companies, including CNNMoney parent Time Warner, the bills initially seemed on the fast track to passage. PIPA was approved unanimously by a Senate committee in May. But when the House took up its own version of the bill, SOPA, tech companies began lobbying heavily in opposition -- an effort that culminated in this week's demonstrations."
" A breakaway group from Burma's pro-democracy party the National League for Democracy (NLD) has been registered to run in elections due later this year. The National Democratic Force's decision to run in the controversial elections has put it at odds with other supporters of the NLD. Traditional pro-democracy leaders, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, refused to register the NLD for the poll. As a result, the party was disbanded by the military authorities. Critics say the elections - Burma's first in 20 years - are a sham designed to cement nearly 50 years of military rule. The NLD won a landslide victory in Burma's last elections in 1990, but the country's military rulers have refused to hand over power. Ms Suu Kyi, 65, has spent most of the last two decades in some form of detention and she is currently under house arrest despite strong international pressure. Through her lawyer she has expressed dissatisfaction over the formation of the new breakaway party, led by Khin Maung Swe. NLD supporters have accused the National Democratic Force of stealing their party symbol - a bamboo hat - in order to win votes. But Khin Maung Swe said his party's symbol is not the same because it has two stars above the hat. He said the party will continue the ""struggle for democracy""."
" The Syrian army has moved against the town of Jisr al-Shughour where the government says 120 security personnel were killed earlier this week. Heavy gunfire has been reported in the area. The expected action has prompted a flow of refugees to nearby Turkey. Elsewhere in Syria, anti-government activists say at least 22 people have been killed by security forces. Tanks are also reported to have shelled Maarat al-Numan in the north with ""dozens"" killed or wounded. State TV said police stations in the town had been attacked by gunmen. Turkey says more than 2,000 Syrians have crossed the border seeking refuge from the anticipated crackdown in Jisr al-Shughour. Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Syria is committing ""atrocities"", in remarks quoted by Turkish media. Syria's government has blamed the deaths in the town on armed groups, but there are reports of a mutiny among security forces. Syrian state TV said armed men had prepared defences and set fire to crops and trees around Jisr al-Shughour in order to slow the army's advance. Activist websites have carried reports from people in the area saying there was heavy gunfire in a village where barricades of burning tyres had been set up to block the road to the town."
" Swedish police documents on the Julian Assange sex cases have been leaked online. More than one hundred pages of interview transcripts, photographs and other evidence relating to sexual assault claims made by two Swedish women appeared on the internet this week. The documents raise key questions for both sides about the allegations including whether one of the WikiLeaks founder's Swedish lovers was asleep during intercourse. Those answers will determine whether rape was committed under Swedish law. The 39-year-old Australian denies any wrongdoing in separate encounters with two Swedish women last summer, and is fighting Swedish attempts to have him extradited from Britain to face questioning in the cases. He will appear in court in London on Monday and Tuesday in that extradition case. In leaked police documents that emerged this week on the Internet, the Swedish woman accusing Assange of rape woke up as he was having sex with her, but let him continue even though she knew he wasn't wearing a condom. She says she insisted that Assange wear a condom when they had sex in her apartment in the Swedish city of Enkoping on Aug. 16, and that he reluctantly agreed. The incident labeled as rape happened the next morning, when the woman claims she was woken up by Assange having unprotected sex with her. 'She immediately asked: 'Are you wearing anything?' and he answered 'You,'' according to a police summary of her deposition. 'She said to him 'You better don't have HIV' and he answered 'Of course not.' She felt it was too late. He was already inside her and she let him continue.' Waiting game: Mr Assange, pictured inside a police vehicle last December, faces extradition to Sweden for questioning in a sex case Having sex with a sleeping person can be considered rape in Sweden, but the details in the leaked transcript could explain why different prosecutors have made different assessments of the incident. One Stockholm prosecutor threw out the rape case altogether. A more senior prosecutor later reinstated it, and asked for Assange's extradition from Britain so she could question him in the case."
" The prospect of the defamation action comes as the 39-year-old Australian is due appear in court in south-east London this morning to fight extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about allegations of sexual assault against two women. Mr Assange's battle to overturn a European arrest warrant issued by the Swedish authorities will enter a crucial phase at Belmarsh magistrates' court when a judge begins hearing two days of evidence. Mr Assange's lawyers are expected to argue the Swedish prosecutors have incorrectly filed the case and that the proceedings are politically motivated. The Australian may retain the support of those who see his case as a line in the sand in the fight for greater transparency in government and commerce. But cracks are appearing in his relationships with established media. Mr Assange is understood to be angry at claims in a book published by The Guardian which chronicles the events leading up to the publication of thousands of secret American diplomatic documents. The Australian is believed to be upset at a claim that he initially refused to remove the names of informants mentioned in Afghan war documents, allegedly saying they would ""deserve it"" if they were killed as a result of the leaks. Last week, the WikiLeaks Twitter account, which is understood to be written by Mr Assange, posted a message which read: ""The Guardian book serialisation contains malicious libels. We will be taking action."" Guardian News & Media, the publisher of The Guardian, said it had not received any official notification of action against it by Mr Assange. A spokeswoman added: ""The irony of an organisation dedicated to the free and open flow of information threatening to sue a newspaper will be lost on no one."" Mr Assange, who is living at the Norfolk country home of a supporter after being released on bail during the court proceedings, is unlikely to hear before March whether his attempt to fight the extradition request has been successful. Subsequent appeals to the High Court by either side are likely, meaning Mr Assange will probably remain in Britain for a number of months."
" LONDON: Julian Assange's defence team is to argue that he cannot be given a fair trial in Sweden because all rape cases are heard in secret - and justice cannot be seen to be done. But senior legal sources in London have warned that the chances of success may be slim as 95 per cent of European arrest warrants, the legal tool that is being used to try to return the WikiLeaks founder to Sweden to face allegations of sex crimes, are eventually granted. On the eve of the extradition hearing in London, the Herald was told that the crux of the defence team's argument was the open justice principle being a fundamental feature of the rule of law - and that unless justice could be seen to be done it could not be done at all. Sweden's tradition of secret trials for sex offences will be placed under the microscope as will inconsistencies in the evidence provided to Swedish police by his accusers. The two-day appeal against the warrant begins in Belmarsh Magistrates Court, London, today, just 48 hours after the police file, ostensibly provided in confidence to Mr Assange's legal team by the Swedes, was leaked online. It appears to raise questions for both sides on the case. It says the Swedish woman who accuses Mr Assange of rape woke up as he was having sex with her. She let him continue, it says, even though she knew he was not wearing a condom. In Sweden, having sex with someone who is asleep can be deemed rape, but the detail given in the leaked transcript may explain why different prosecutors in the country have reached different conclusions on the matter. Mr Assange is also accused of sexual molestation and unlawful coercion against another woman with whom he had sex in the same week. According to the leaked documents she accused him of deliberately damaging a condom when they were having consensual sex, something he has denied. Mr Assange's legal team made clear during the first hearing last month that it would fight the extradition on several fronts, including legal opinion from a Swedish expert that the accusations were unlikely to lead to charges let alone conviction. The WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief has since been confined to a secluded country estate and electronic surveillance after conditional bail was granted but will be allowed to sleep in London during the hearings to avoid the long drive to the south London court complex. The defence, led by the human rights advocate Geoffrey Robertson, QC, is also expected to hone in on the secrecy provisions and contrast them with several occasions when supporters of Mr Assange's two accusers have attacked him publicly. The team, with Assange's long-time solicitors, Mark Stephens and Jennifer Robinson, will press further the serious weaknesses in the evidence provided by the two female accusers and the lack of justice in allowing their case to be made behind closed doors."
" A call to boycott the Commonwealth Games in Delhi because of fears of terrorism, made by Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser, has been rejected. Ms Fraser told an Australian newspaper her greatest fear was that India was not ready to prevent a repeat of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. Australia's Commonwealth Games chief said her remarks were ill-informed. And after inspecting venues, the head of the Commonwealth Games Federation said security in Delhi was ""top class"". ""Security has been on top of the agenda ever since we started preparations,"" Mike Fennell told reporters following a two-day visit to the Indian capital. ""We held a security briefing for the participating nations at the end of July and I am happy to say there was an endorsement of the measures being taken by Indian authorities,"" he added. ""I don't think Ms Fraser knows what is happening in India."" Mr Fennell said the federation had employed private security consultants to provide it with continuous reports on the security arrangements, and that its staff would be there to assist full-time during the Games. He also said work at all 17 of the competition venues in Delhi was for all practical purposes complete, but warned that there remained a ""long list of details that need to be done"". In particular, Mr Fennell raised concerns over the standard of hygiene and sanitation as well as work that needed to be completed at the athletes' village."
" Umar Patek allegedly built the bombs used in the suicide attacks on Bali nightclubs that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, in 2002. Patek, an Indonesian national, had a $US1 million ($985,000) bounty on his head when he was captured in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad on January 25, four months before Osama bin Laden was killed there in a US commando raid. Indonesia sent a plane yesterday to pick up the 41-year-old Patek from a Pakistani air force base just outside the capital, Islamabad, said a Pakistani intelligence official. The extradition was confirmed by senior Pakistani security and government officials. Patek arrived in Jakarta this morning, an Indonesian anti-terrorism official said. Indonesian anti-terrorism chief Ansyaad Mbai told The Associated Press yesterday that Patek would stand trial in Indonesia. Indonesian officials say Patek has confessed to playing a role in the 2002 Bali bombings, but have nevertheless expressed concern over whether they will be able to ensure a conviction. One potential problem is that he may not be able to be tried under anti-terror laws passed after the Bali blasts because they cannot be applied retroactively. Patek's arrest in Abbottabad has raised questions over whether he was in the town to meet bin Laden, something that would challenge theories that the al-Qaeda chief was cut off from his followers. US officials have said his arrest in Abbottabad was a coincidence."
" Prime Minister David Cameron has promised vigorous and wide-ranging measures to restore order and prevent riots erupting again on Britain's streets - including taking gang-fighting tips from American cities. Cameron told MPs there would be no ""culture of fear"" on Britain's streets, as police raided houses to round up more suspects from four days of rioting and looting in London and other English cities. He said the government was ""acting decisively"" to restore order after the riots, which shocked the country and the world. ""We will not allow a culture of fear to exist on our streets,"" Cameron said. ""We will not let a violent few beat us."" MPs were summoned back from their summer holidays for an emergency session of parliament on the riots as government and police worked to regain control, both on the streets and in the court of public opinion. Calm prevailed in London overnight, with a highly visible police presence watching over the capital but tensions remained high throughout the country. Cameron promised tough measures to stop further violence and said ""nothing should be off the table,"" including water cannons and plastic bullets. He said riot-hit businesses would receive help to get back on their feet, and promised to look to the United States for help in fighting the street gangs he blamed for helping spark Britain's riots. Cameron told MPs that he would look to cities like Boston for inspiration, and mentioned former Los Angeles and New York Police Chief Bill Bratton as a person who could help offer advice."
" LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks opened to sharp losses Thursday as Wall Street staged another sell-off, spurred by fears of spreading European sovereign-debt troubles. The Nikkei Stock Average NIK, +1.12% gave up 2%to 8,858.26, while the Topix fell 1.7% to 763.32. Shares of tech firms and others sensitive to foreign-exchange movement were among the loss leaders, as the U.S. dollar languished well below the 77-yen level. Sony Corp. 6758, +1.54% SNE, -2.27% dropped 3.6%, Renesas Electronics Corp. 6723, +0.00% RNECY, -0.31% tumbled 4.6%, and Advantest Corp. 6857, +0.82% ADTTF, -23.34% fell 4.2%. Concerns about European debt contagion weighed on financials, which had sold off heavily in the U.S. session. Nomura Holdings Inc. 8604, -1.30% NRSCF, +0.69% was trading 2.2% lower, while Daiwa Securities Group Inc. 8601, -0.07% DSECF, -5.31% lost 2.3% of its value."
" A suicide car bomber killed at least 13 people in Baghdad today, as Iraq's interim president cited the decision to disband Saddam's army and key ministries as a contributing factor to the violence over the last 18 months. The explosion took place at the entrance to the Green Zone, the vast fortified complex that houses in the interim Iraqi government and the British and US embassies. ""We had stopped in the car when all we felt was a car explode next to us,"" one injured Iraqi civilian at the city's Yarmuk hospital told Reuters. Ghazi al-Yawar, who became interim president in June, told the BBC that Washington and London had made ""a big mistake"" in the first months of the occupation. He said that the US-led administration should have screened out individuals from the former regime who were implicated in abuses rather than dismissing people wholesale. ""Dissolving the ministry of defence and ministry of the interior was a big mistake at that time,"" he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. ""We could have screened people out, instead of screening people in and this could have saved us a lot of hassle and a lot of problems."" Efforts by US-led forces to establish a new Iraqi police service and army have so far failed to create a security structure capable of maintaining order in the country. Eight US marines died in combat yesterday in western Iraq, and in the southern city of Basra insurgents fired mortar shells at the British consulate but caused no casualties, a spokeswoman said. Mr Yawar, speaking a year to the day after Saddam was captured by US troops from a underground bolthole near his childhood home, said Iraqis could not have toppled the dictator alone, but the future now depended on Iraq having ""100% efficient"" forces of its own so foreign troops could withdraw."
" As some consolation for his quarter-final exit from the Australian Open, Nadal was named World Sportsman of the Year at a glitzy ceremony in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi. And Spain's World Cup winning footballers were named Team of the Year. An emotional Nadal described the award as the ""most important award in world sport."" Nadal had a remarkable 2010, winning the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open and setting up the chance to capture a Rafa Slam by winning the Australian Open. The fairy story didn't quite come true, with Nadal suffering a hamstring injury early in his quarter-final clash with compatriot David Ferrer and losing in straight sets. But he had already proved himself one of the greatest players of all time and done enough to impress the Laureus judges, who voted for him ahead of US basketballer Kobe Bryant, soccer stars Andres Iniesta of Spain and Lionel Messi of Argentina, Filippino boxer Manny Pacquiao and German Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel. The Team of the Year Award to Spain recognises a World Cup victory a long-time coming. Although Spain is one of the powerhouses of world football, it had never won a World Cup until its 1-0 triumph over The Netherlands in South Africa. The Spaniards, playing attractive football and moving the ball in intricate patterns, beat the rugged Dutch in extra time, with Iniesta scoring the winning goal. Australia's two nominees at last night's awards missed out. Four-time world surfing champion Stephanie Gilmore was pipped by her male counterpart Kelly Slater, who won his 10th title last year. ""Ten beats four by about six,"" Gilmore said, who won the award last year. And the World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability, where swimmer Matt Cowdrey was a nominee, was won by German visually impaired skier Verena Bentele. Another skier, American Lindsay Vonn, won the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year after a stellar 12 months in which she secured her third straight skiing World Cup and the Olympic downhill gold medal. Brilliant young golfer Martin Kaymer of Germany, who came from almost nowhere to win the US PGA Championship and push Tiger Woods out of the world No 2 ranking, was presented with the World Breakthrough of the Year Award. The Comeback of the Year Award went to colourful Italian Moto GP rider Valentino Rossi, the seven-times motorcycle world champion who returned to the track just 41 days after breaking his leg."
" The world tennis number one Rafael Nadal has been named world sportsman of the year at the Laureus Sports Awards in Abu Dhabi. The American skier Lindsay Vonn picked up the women's award while the Spanish football side won the team award. Nadal won 3 grand slam title last year to be given the awad ahead of footballers Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta, basketballer Kobe Bryant and Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel. Vonn, who won her third straight World Cup and the Olympic downhill title in 2010 overcame a trio of women's tennis players Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki as well as athletics stars Jessica Ennis and Blanka Vlasic for the sportswoman prize. Spain's World Cup winning football team made it a double for the Iberians by beating Mark Webber's Red Bull Racing Formula One outfit and the All Blacks for the world team of the year honour. Surfer Kelly Slater's 10th world championship won the world action sportsperson gong.... the New Zealand freestyle motocross rider Levi Sherwood was a finalist in that category."
" Sporadic violence has broken out in several cities around England, although London stayed largely quiet overnight. There was unrest in cities including Manchester, Salford, Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham, with shops being looted and set alight. Three men died when they were hit by a car in Birmingham - locals claimed they were protecting their neighbourhood. Greater Manchester Police's assistant chief constable said officers had faced ""unprecedented levels of violence"". London Mayor Boris Johnson urged the government to reconsider its plans to cut police numbers, saying the argument had been ""substantially weakened"" by the riots. GMP's ACC Garry Shewan said he had seen ""the most sickening scenes"" of his career, and said the force had been overwhelmed. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning he said GMP was ""absolutely intent"" on bringing the rioters to justice and officers were already studying CCTV. ""Hundreds and hundreds of people, we have your image, we have your face, we have your acts of wanton criminality on film. We are coming for you, from today and no matter how long it takes, we will arrest those people responsible,"" he said. Some 113 people have been arrested so far over the trouble in Manchester and Salford, where hundreds of youths looted shops and set fire to cars and buildings. In the West Midlands, 109 have been arrested and 23 charged following scenes of disorder in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich - where vehicles were set on fire."
" Are you there? Send your videos, stories and photos to CNN iReport. London (CNN) -- After four nights of violence, an eerie calm descended Wednesday and continued into Thursday in Britain, where a massive police presence backed by strong words from the prime minister and vigilante efforts appeared to be having their intended effect. ""A fightback is under way,"" Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday after meeting with his crisis-response committee. Cameron said police have been authorized to use whatever means necessary to combat ""despicable violence,"" with plastic bullets permitted and plans in place for water cannon to be available if needed. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street on Wednesday, Cameron said those involved in the unrest would be held accountable, and he stressed that the ""pockets of our society that are not just broken, but are frankly sick,"" must regain a sense of personal responsibility. It was ""all too clear we have a big problem with gangs,"" he said, adding that authorities would not ""let any phony concerns about human rights"" prevent police from trying to identify suspects. For a second consecutive night, 16,000 police blanketed London's streets Wednesday into Thursday. Some residents weren't depending on them: In West London, young Sikhs stood guard outside their temple. North of the city, in Enfield, local residents chased after suspected looters. Riot police faced off not with looters but with local residents whose anger verged on mob violence. Such efforts were not always appreciated by police. ""My officers need to focus on rioters and looters, not those vigilantes,"" said Steve Kavanagh, deputy assistant for the London Metropolitan Police. ""The ones that help us are the community representatives who go and speak to people from their community and get them away and get them home, not people who threaten violence on anyone coming into their community."" Police said residents could help them by identifying photographs of looting suspects on Facebook pages like catchalooter."
" Police from Scotland have been sent to England to help combat riots and disorder in cities across the country. A total of 250 riot-trained officers have been sent as part of the mutual aid scheme between the countries. First Minister Alex Salmond said there was an obligation to help, but Scotland would not be left unprotected, with more than 17,000 police officers available for duty. Clear-up operations have been taking place in cities in England. On Tuesday night, unrest spread to Manchester, Salford, Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham, with shops being looted and set alight. Acpos said Scottish officers were helping their colleagues in the Midlands and north of England. Spokesman David Steele said equipment and vehicles, as well as extra manpower, were being sent from all eight of Scotland's forces. Mr Steele said: ""The situation is being constantly monitored between Acpos and colleagues in England and any further assistance required will be given careful consideration."" Acpos president, Chief Constable Kevin Smith, said: ""While the current situation in England is unprecedented, the sharing of resources is not, as we have seen in the past through events such as G8. ""I would like to make it clear that the vast majority of our 17,000 plus officers remain in Scotland and we are very much in 'business as usual' mode."
" At least seven people have been killed in twin bombings in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, police say. In the first incident, four police officers and a child were killed when a remote-controlled bomb exploded near a police vehicle in the Lahori Gate area. Later, a woman suicide bomber killed herself and another woman, possibly her companion, by detonating her jacket. She was trying to target the police checkpoint about 400m from the spot where the police vehicle was hit. Militant attacks in Pakistan have risen sharply since May, when US commandos killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Since then, a paramilitary academy, a naval base, government buildings, a police station and a US consulate convoy have been attacked. In the first attack on Thursday morning, the explosive device was hidden in a handcart parked at the roadside and detonated remotely when police approached, police officer Ijaz Khan told reporters. Their vehicle was transporting over two dozen policemen from Kotwali police station in the eastern part of the city to the Police Lines near the city centre, he said. The vehicle was wrecked in the blast and a group of schoolboys were at the site when the bomb exploded. A 12-year-old boy was among those killed. At least 21 people, including 17 policemen, were injured in the blast."
 Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter at @KitchenNews.
" We'll be live-blogging the Super Bowl until the final second ticks off. Follow along below and refresh this page frequently as USA TODAY's Tom Weir provides live updates and analysis of Super Bowl XLV You also can contribute to the discussion in the comments section at the bottom of this page. USA TODAY's Reid Cherner and Arin Karimian will be interacting with readers as the game goes on. 10:18: Roger Goodell just said Green Bay is the ""smallest city in the country."" I think he meant smallest city in the NFL. 10:06: Final snap . . . and we're done. The Lombardi Trophy is going back to Green Bay, and Aaron Rodgers is the obvious MVP: 24-for-39 for 304 yards. 10:06: Just :46 left. GB will run it out. The Gatorade already has been dumped on Mike McCarthy. 10:05: Game over. High pass to Mike Wallace, and he can't hang on. No flag, and the replay backs up the officials. 10:04: On third and 5, Ben overthrows Wallace. Match point? 10:02: On first down from his 13 Roethlisberger hits Heath Miller for 15 yards . . . Then Hines Ward gets Pitt another 4. 9:59: Flag on the kickoff. Personal foul Keyaron Fox shoves Pitt deep in its territory. We're at the 2-minute warning. 9:56: Incomplete to Nelson on third down. Anthony Madison defends, and GB kicks the short FG. Green Bay up 31-25, with just 2:07 left. Remember, Pitt has nly one timeout left. Rogers has 304 passing yards, BTW."
" (CNN) -- Tribal fighters took control of a top Yemeni city on Tuesday, a setback for an embattled government whose wounded president is hospitalized in Saudi Arabia. More than 400 tribal gunmen took over Taiz in southwest Yemen, witnesses there said. Government forces have been regrouping in an effort to re-enter the city. Yemen's government has faced international criticism for excessive use of force against anti-regime protesters and the deaths of anti-government demonstrators in Taiz. Are you in Yemen? Share your photos and videos from the scene, but please stay safe. Meanwhile, President Ali Abdullah Saleh was in Saudi Arabia Tuesday, recovering from burns over 40% of his body and a collapsed lung, a U.S. government official briefed on the matter said. Whether he will return to Yemen remained uncertain. Saleh was wounded Friday in an attack at his presidential compound. An Arab diplomatic source with knowledge of Saleh's condition said one shrapnel wound was 7 centimeters (2.75 inches) deep. Fighting between government and tribal forces has been raging in the capital of Sanaa, where thousands of anti-government protesters have been pressuring Saleh to give up power since January. And there has been unrest elsewhere. At least 15 people were killed in Abyan Monday night and Tuesday morning in clashes between Islamic militants and security forces, according to a security source in Abyan. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has a presence in the southern province of Abyan, a U.S. official said. It's also home to an Islamic militant movement that has targeted government troops in recent days."
" Palestinian suspected of car theft shot to death during chase in Gush Etzion settlement bloc (Haaretz) U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)"
" Saleh was initially said to have received a shrapnel wound, and his vice president was quoted on Monday as saying the president would return to Yemen within days from Saudi Arabia where he is being treated. The Yemeni official reiterated comments by a U.S. official, saying Saleh was in a more serious condition with burns over roughly 40 percent of his body. Britain called on Tuesday for an orderly transition of power from Saleh. Around 4,000 demonstrators in Sanaa, who have been calling for Saleh to step down for five months, called for a ""million-man march"" for him to stay in Saudi Arabia, where he has been treated for injuries since an attack on Friday. Saleh, 69, was wounded on Friday when rockets struck his Sanaa palace, killing seven people and wounding senior officials and advisers in what his officials said was an assassination attempt. He is being treated in a Riyadh hospital. Saudi officials say it is up to Saleh whether he returns home or not, but they and their Western allies may want to revive a Gulf-brokered transition deal under which the Yemeni leader would quit in return for immunity from prosecution. ""The Saudis, as well as the U.S. and European Union, are pushing hard for him to stay in Saudi Arabia, as they view the prospect of his return as a catastrophe. ""Prior to his departure, the country was slipping inexorably into a civil war. However, his removal has suddenly opened a diplomatic window to restart the seemingly failed GCC-mediated proposal. It seems Saudi Arabia and other interested parties are unwilling to allow Saleh to derail it this time."" ""The transition seems to be on track as per the GCC initiative. There will be many obstacles down the road, but without Saleh's destructive presence, we can overcome them,"" said Yemeni political analyst Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani. ""In the medium term, Yemen's biggest challenge is economic -- already the poorest country in the Middle East, it is running out of oil and water, and unless it can find alternative drivers of growth an economic collapse is entirely feasible,"" he said."
" LONDON - Syrian President Bashar Assad is losing legitimacy and should reform or quit, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Tuesday, in the toughest language Britain has used during 12 weeks of protests in Syria. Hague said Britain was trying to win support at the United Nations for a Security Council resolution condemning repression in Syria and exploring the potential for further European Union sanctions on Syria if the violence continued. RELATED: Syrian TV: 'Militia' kills 120 security men in north 'Violence breaks out in refugee camp in Syria, 14 killed' ""President Assad is losing legitimacy and should reform or step aside,"" Hague told parliament. Until now, in contrast with Libya where Britain is demanding that leader Muammar Gaddafi leave power, Britain has condemned the crackdown in Syria while calling for Assad to reform. The change in tone is in line with the language used by US President Barack Obama who said last month that Assad could lead a transition to democracy or ""get out of the way"".Hague said some Arab nations were encouraging Assad to reform, ""although it may be too late for that now"".Syrian troops with tanks moved on Tuesday toward a town where the government has vowed to quell a revolt after accusing gunmen of killing scores of security men.Rights groups say security forces, troops and gunmen loyal to Assad have killed 1,100 civilians since protests erupted in the southern city of Deraa on March 18.Hague said Syrian authorities were using live fire against protesters and blocking UN efforts to get help to people.The UN Security Council is considering a draft resolution condemning Syria which was circulated to its 15 members by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal last month.Veto powers Russia and China dislike the idea of council involvement in what they see as a domestic issue. ""We are working to persuade other countries that the Security Council has a responsibility to speak out,"" Hague said."
" Update: Since this article was written, Amina Abdallah was revealed to be a fictional character. Tom MacMaster, widely reported to be a 40-year-old American studying for a Masters degree at Edinburgh University, claimed to be the sole author of the Gay Girl in Damascus blog.CNN has not been allowed into Syria to cover the unrest and draws from social media and interviews with witnesses on the ground -- which CNN makes careful efforts to verify -- to inform its reporting. (CNN) -- A woman whose outspoken ""Gay Girl in Damascus"" blog has made her an unlikely icon of the Syrian uprising has allegedly been abducted. Relatives of Amina Abdallah, an English teacher seen as a prominent opposition voice thanks to international media exposure, said she was bundled into a car by suspected security agents on Monday. The disappearance of Abdallah, who holds dual American and Syrian citizenship, has prompted thousands to join online campaigns on both Facebook and Twitter demanding her release. A post on Abdallah's website written by a woman who introduced herself as her cousin said the blogger had been grabbed by armed men on her way to a meeting. ""Amina was seized by three men in their early 20s,"" Rania Ismail wrote. ""One of the men then put his hand over Amina's mouth and they hustled her into a red Dacia Logan."" The claims made on the blog could not immediately be verified. CNN has attempted to contact Abdallah's family but has so far received no response. Calls to officials in Damascus and at Syria's embassy in London went unanswered. Abdallah's disappearance came as Syrian officials vowed to step up action against protesters it blamed for the deaths of dozens of security forces. Violence in three months of anti-government protests has killed an estimated 1,200 civilians. Ismail wrote that Abdallah, who has used her blog to challenge taboos in the conservative country where homosexuality is illegal but unofficially tolerated, had feared she would be abducted. Abdallah, 35, had previously written about how her father prevented security agents from arresting her for being an Islamic extremist and a foreign agent."
" Paris (CNN) -- Syria's ambassador to France, Lamia Shakkour, denied Tuesday that she has resigned her post, declaring late in the day that she would remain in her job until President Bashar al-Assad no longer wants her to remain in it. ""At no moment have I thought about doing anything other than serving my country,"" she told CNN affiliate BFM in an interview carried out in front of a picture of Assad at the Syrian Embassy in Paris. Shakkour's status had been in doubt since the afternoon, when the television network France 24 broadcast a telephone interview from a woman it identified as Shakkour. During the interview, the woman said she was resigning because of violence in Syria. ""I cannot support the cycle of extreme violence ... ignore the young men, women and children who have died,"" she said. But that interview was quickly followed by another telephone interview, broadcast on Syrian state TV, in which a woman also identifying herself as Shakkour denied having resigned, saying, ""I am an integral part of this nation."" The woman in the Syrian interview said she plans to sue the French news channel and give the proceeds to the children of ""martyrs."" That threat was repeated in Shakkour's BFM interview, which was carried out on camera. ""I am filing a complaint to the French tribunal and also to the international tribunal, and there will probably be some measures against France 24,"" she said. Shakkour denounced what she said was France 24's misrepresentation of her. ""It was a lie,"" she said. ""I accuse them of misinterpretation, false information, misuse of my identity and passing messages under my name."" Shakkour accused the network of following an agenda. ""It's part of a campaign of misinformation by France 24, since the beginning of March, in which it gives voice only to dissidents of Syria and it falsifies videos."" In an interview with CNN carried out after the two dueling telephone interviews but before the BFM on-camera interview, France 24's deputy editorial director, Renee Kaplan, called the situation ""very puzzling."""
" Residents of the Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour are said to be fleeing ahead of an expected military assault, after the government said 120 security forces personnel had been killed there. Residents still in the town have set up checkpoints to monitor any security operations, witnesses say. The government says it will act ""with force"" to combat ""armed gangs"" that it blames for the recent killings. Activists say the cause of the deaths is unclear, and may involve a mutiny. They insist that the uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is peaceful. Following the alleged deaths among the security forces, residents of Jisr al-Shughour posted messages on Facebook saying they feared a slaughter. They called on people to block roads into the town with burning tyres, rocks and tree trunks. Syrian army tanks and troop carriers backed by helicopters were reported to be on the move. Travellers between Lattakia and Aleppo told the BBC that Jisr al-Shughour residents had erected checkpoints to monitor any security operations being prepared. ""Today the army started moving in on Jisr al-Shughour from various places, such as the [army] centre in Homs and others from an eastern centre in the Ariha region,"" a witness told BBC Arabic. ""A lot of our people here have started fleeing, some fled for Turkey and others fled to [neighbouring] regions. We are extremely scared of bloodbaths in Jisr al-Shughour."""
" SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is apparently trying to assassinate South Korea's defense chief known for his hard-line stance against Pyongyang, government sources here said Wednesday.A source said Seoul has ""received intelligence"" that North Korea is after Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin.""The defense minister is a key official and we're always keeping close tabs on his security,"" one source said. ""When he has to leave the office for functions and other commitments, we do take extra care.""Another source said the military and intelligence officials are trying to determine the number of would-be assassins, and whether they are North Korean agents sent by Pyongyang or foreign nationals who entered the South from a third country under a North Korean order. The source said the assassins could also be North Korean agents already stationed in the South.Kim has been reportedly escorted by armed military police officers in plain clothes when venturing outside his office.Since assuming the post last December, Kim has taken tough stance on North Korea for its deadly provocations in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans. The former Army general has called on South Korean forces to respond immediately to future North Korean provocations.North Korea has frequently balked at Kim's remarks and its state media has dubbed him an ""anti-North Korea confrontation maniac"" and a ""traitor.""(END)"
" ARLINGTON, Texas -- Aaron Rodgers now has one achievement Brett Favre never got: A Super Bowl MVP award. Rodgers was honored as the most outstanding player in the Green Bay Packers' 31-25 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday. He connected on 24-of-39 passes for 304 yards and three TD passes without committing a turnover. Rodgers equaled Favre in Super Bowl titles (one), and brought the Lombardi Trophy back to its legendary home, Green Bay. Rodgers drew thunderous roars form the Cowboys Stadium crowd when he hoisted the trophy and flashed his trademark mock-wrestling belt on the midfield dais. ""This is a great group of men we put together,"" Rodgers said of the sixth-seeded Packers who needed to win on the regular season's final day even to earn a playoff berth. ""It's great to be able to share it with them."""
" Brazil has held its first presidential online debate, with the three main candidates answering questions from each other and from the public. Dilma Rousseff, Jose Serra and Marina Silva tackled a range of subjects during the two-hour debate. Live streaming of the event was carried by dozens of websites and also could be followed on Twitter and Facebook. Campaigning has moved up a gear for the 3 October election, with daily election advertising on TV and radio. The debate, organised by Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper and the UOL web portal, was held in Sao Paulo in front of an audience of several hundred people. It was made possible after Brazil amended its electoral law in 2009 to allow a debate to take place without being transmitted on TV. It was split into six blocs, with the candidates responding to questions from each other, then to selected video questions from members of the public and finally to questions from journalists. The candidates, Dilma Rousseff from the governing Workers Party (PT), Jose Serra from the Social Democratic Party (PSDB) and the Green Party's Marina Silva tackled subjects ranging from abortion, to political alliances, to campaign donations from private companies. Health and education also emerged as key themes. Internet use has grown rapidly in Brazil in recent years. Earlier this month market research firm Comscore said Brazil, along with Indonesia and Venezuela, led the surge in global use of Twitter."
" Military-ruled Myanmar Thursday announced restrictions on campaigning for November's general election that it said were to assure the polls are 'free and fair'. Candidates wishing to address the public must apply for permission at least seven days in advance, according to the 13-point regulations issued by the Union Election Commission and published in newspapers Thursday. Candidates are prohibited from causing any disturbances in public places and disrupting traffic, the regulations said. 'It is hereby announced that candidates and election representatives are to honour this notification in assembling, giving public talks and distributing publications for their candidates to win in the elections to ensure that the multi-party democracy general elections due to be held in 2010 are free and fair,' the notification said. The election, the country's first in 20 years, is to be held Nov 7. More than 40 parties have been permitted to contest the polls. They have until Aug 30 to submit their list of candidates. Approved parties include the pro-government Union Solidarity and Development Party, the junta-founded National Unity Party and the National Democratic Force (NDF), a breakaway faction of Myanmar's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, which is boycotting the polls. On Thursday, the NDF opened an office in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city. 'I think we will field over 100 candidates nationwide,' NDF chairman Khin Maung Swe said. Myanmar's junta recently announced the creation of 330 political constituencies. Myanmar last held a general election in 1990, which the NLD won by a landslide, but the ruling military junta has blocked the NLD from power. Few observers expected the polls to bring drastic changes to Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962. A clause in the new constitution allows the military control over any future elected government by making the upper house of the National Parliament a partially junta-appointed body with veto power over legislation."
" * Warnings militants may exploit chaos  * Eight million still desperate for food, clean water  * Kerry in disbelief over flood damage (Recasts with Kerry and Zardari)  By Alistair Scrutton  ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and a senior U.S. senator warned on Thursday that Taliban insurgents are trying to exploit rising anger over the country's worst floods to promote their cause.  More than four million Pakistanis have been made homeless by nearly three weeks of floods, the United Nations said on Thursday, making the critical task of securing greater amounts of aid more urgent.  Eight million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and many may not care where they get it.  The floods began washing away villages and destroying roads and bridges just after the government had made progress in stabilising the country through offensives against Taliban.  Islamist charities, some with suspected links to militant groups, stepped in to help victims, possibly boosting their image at the expense of the U.S.-backed government, which is still accused of being lax nearly three weeks into the crisis.  U.S. Senator John Kerry, who visited flood-hit areas with Zardari, said action must be taken to prevent anyone from exploiting frustrations."
" Human Rights Watch says government-controlled health services in Egypt have been pressured into playing down the number of casualties during anti-government protests. The group has documented the deaths of 297 people, but says the final toll is likely to be significantly higher. Human Rights Watch says the vast majority of the deaths in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez were on January 28 and 29 as a result of live gunfire as riot police fought running battles with protesters. A significant proportion came as a result of rubber bullets fired at too close a range and from teargas canisters fired into the crowds at very close range. Human Rights Watch says the actual number of deaths is likely to be an underestimate because the organisation had only included those deaths it had verified itself at key hospitals in the three major cities."
" Two carriages from a passenger train have been swept into a river in southern China after floods destroyed a bridge. The accident happened in Guanghan, in Sichuan province. Officials said the bridge began collapsing as the train passed over it. Passengers were evacuated minutes before a section of bridge fell, taking the two carriages with it. The carriages were then swept 200m (220 yards) downstream, media reports said. Dining car supervisor Wang Baoning told China Central Television that the two carriages were left hanging over the water because they were still connected to the rest of the train. One of the carriages fell into the river less than two minutes after the passengers were safely out, he said. ""No one was injured, though some were frightened,"" a spokesman for the Guanghan city government told AFP news agency. The long-distance train was travelling from Xi'an to Kunming. China has been devastated by flooding caused by unusually heavy summer rains in recent weeks. In Yunnan province, rescuers are still searching for about 90 people feared trapped under a mudslide that hit the town of Puladi early on Wednesday."
" (Recasts with no casualties)  BEIJING, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Two train carriages fell into a river in southwestern China on Thursday after floods destroyed a bridge, but the passengers had been evacuated before the accident happened, state television said.  The carriages were swept 200 metres (655 ft) down a river in Guanghan, Sichuan province, leaving the rest of the carriages sitting on the undamaged part of the bridge, the report said.  There were no reports of injuries or death, it added.  Large parts of China have been hit by torrential rains and mudslides this year, killing more than 2,000 people. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard)"
" CHENGDU, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Two train carriages plunged into a river after floods destroyed a bridge section of a railway line in southwest China's Sichuan Province Thursday. No casualties had been reported and no one was missing as all the passengers had been ordered off the train before it derailed at about 3:20 p.m. on the Shitingjiang Bridge in Guanghan, rescuers and railway authorities said. ""The conductor became aware of the danger just before the train reached the bridge. He made an emergency stop and got all passengers off safely,"" a solider involved in the rescue operation told Xinhua by phone. ""We haven't found anyone missing,"" he said. A fire-fighter at the site told Xinhua that the two carriages had been swept 200 meters down the river, and two piers were destroyed by floods after torrential rains. A report carried by local news website newssc.org said the train had 18 carriages -- two in the Shitingjiang River, seven on the bridge and the others were safe on the track. The train was traveling from Xi'an, capital of northwestern Shaanxi Province, to Kunming, capital of southwestern Yunnan Province. It was carrying about 1,300 passengers. The railway line links Chengdu, capital of Sichuan and Baoji in Shaanxi. Heavy rains have pounded Sichuan this summer, triggering floods and landslides. The province faced more rains in the coming days, according to meteorological authorities."
" Residents count the cost of ongoing protests and mourn those who died in the clashes. As protests continue, Egyptians have started to count the cost of the uprising - and many are mourning those who have died in the clashes. Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from the capital Cairo."
" BP has been given 24 hours to answer questions on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the US government's incident commander said. Adm Thad Allen sent a letter to the oil giant's managing director saying the company must hand over ""detailed plans and timelines"" on stopping the leak. The information is needed before BP is allowed to change caps on the oil well. Meanwhile, a court has rejected the government's bid to restore an offshore deepwater oil drilling moratorium. The federal appeals court in Louisiana denied the Obama administration's request that a lower court's June order lifting the six-month moratorium be stayed pending appeal. The three-judge panel wrote that the government had ""made no showing that there is any likelihood that drilling activities will be resumed pending appeal"". Further hearings on the issue are expected. The ruling came as BP said its operation to drill a new relief well to stop the Deepwater Horizon leak was ahead of schedule. The new cap BP intends to install should make a more secure seal over the wellhead. The company also plans to connect a third containment ship to capture more oil."
" Human rights activists have accused Kenya of secretly sending four terror suspects to Uganda after the World Cup bomb blasts in Ugandan capital Kampala. Kenya's Muslim Human Rights Forum said this was a violation of Kenyan law. The group's chairman, Al-Amin Kimathi, also said FBI agents interrogated three of the suspects illegally. The US embassy said the US was aiding the investigation but did not comment on the role of the FBI. Nairobi has so far not commented on the affair. The four suspects were arrested in different locations in Kenya following the twin bomb blasts that killed more than 70 people as large crowds watched the World Cup final on TV in Uganda's capital on 11 July. Al-Shabab, a Somali Islamist group, said it carried out the attacks in revenge for Uganda's role in sending troops to Somalia as part of the African Union's mission to support the besieged government. This week Uganda's chief prosecutor said 32 people had been charged in connection with the attacks. Among the defendants are Ugandans, Kenyans, Somalis and a Pakistani. Lawyer Mbugua Mureithi, who represents the Kenyan suspects' families, told the AP news agency that no attempts were made in Kenya to follow extradition procedures. ""Even more disturbing is that Uganda has not made a formal request to extradite the four nationals to Uganda,"" he said."
" he ranking Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, plans to ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a county prosecutor in Ohio today to explore ""inappropriate and likely illegal election tampering"" in at least one and perhaps several Ohio counties. The request for an investigation, made in a letter that was also provided to The New York Times, includes accounts from at least two county employees, but is based largely on a sworn affidavit provided by the Hocking County deputy director of elections, Sherole Eaton. Among other things, Ms. Eaton says in her affidavit that a representative of Triad Governmental Systems, the Ohio firm that created and maintains the vote-counting software in dozens of Ohio counties, made several adjustments to the Hocking County tabulator last Friday, in advance of the state's recount, which is taking place this week. Ohio recount rules require that only 3 percent of a county's votes be tallied by hand, and typically one or more whole precincts are selected and combined to get the 3 percent sample. After the hand count, the sample is fed into the tabulator. If there is no discrepancy, the remaining ballots can be counted by the machine. Otherwise, a hand recount must be done for the whole county. Ms. Eaton contends that the Triad employee asked which precinct Hocking County planned to count as its representative 3 percent, and, upon being told, made further adjustments to the machine. County officials decided to use a different precinct when the recount was done yesterday. No discrepancies were found. ""This is pretty outrageous,"" Mr. Conyers said. ""We want to pursue it as vigorously as we can."" But Brett Rapp, the president of Triad, said that although it would be unusual for an employee to ask about a specific precinct, preparing the machines for a recount was standard procedure and was done in all 41 counties where Triad handles vote counts. He added that he welcomed any investigation. ""I've been doing this since 1985, and in all my experience this is the first time that we have had any complaints whatsoever,"" Mr. Rapp said."
" The Lede is a blog that remixes national and international news stories -- adding information gleaned from the Web or gathered through original reporting -- to supplement articles in The New York Times and draw readers in to the global conversation about the news taking place online. Readers are encouraged to take part in the blogging by using the comments threads to suggest links to relevant material elsewhere on the Web or by submitting eyewitness accounts, photographs or video of news events. Read more."
" See a breakdown of U.S. and coalition casualties. Mosul, Iraq (CNN) -- The last U.S. brigade combat team in Iraq has left the country, a move that helps U.S. President Barack Obama reach his goal of 50,000 troops in the country by September 1. Their departure leaves about 56,000 U.S. troops in the country, according to the U.S. military. Capt. Christopher Ophardt, spokesman for the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, said the last of the 4,000 members of the unit crossed the border into Kuwait early Thursday. A few hundred members stayed behind to finish administrative and logistical duties but will fly out of Baghdad later Thursday, Ophardt said. Much of the brigade departed more than a day ago, but the announcement was delayed for security reasons. Tell us how the Iraq War has affected your life Their departure comes more than seven years after U.S. combat forces entered, though their departure does not signify the end of all U.S. combat forces in the country. Another 6,000 U.S. troops must leave Iraq to meet Obama's deadline for the end of U.S. combat operations in the country and the beginning of Operation New Dawn, in which the remaining U.S. forces are expected to switch to an advise-and-assist role. A public information officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, said it will take a few weeks for all of the 4-2's members to return home. ""It is one flight at a time,"" she said. ""We are expecting most of them to be home by mid-September."""
" A small settlement in the desert, Bir al-Ghanam is also the closest point the rebels have come to Muammar Gaddafi's stronghold in the capital, lending it a strategic role in the rebels' six-month campaign to end Gaddafi's rule. Taking the town -- which lies on a highway leading north to the Mediterranean coast and on to Tripoli -- would break weeks of stalemate during which rebels have been unable to make big advances despite NATO air strikes on government forces. ""This is exactly what happened in Bir al-Ghanam, which is back in the hands of the honorable and brave local tribes ... and under the legitimate control of the government of Libya,"" he told a news conference in Tripoli. He said in the past 24 hours rebel forces had, in fact, pushed about 10 km (6 miles) northeast of Bir al-Ghanam, and were now planning to push towards the coastal town of Zawiyah. Zawiyah, which lies 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, has been the scene of two uprisings which were smashed by Gaddafi's security forces. A large contingent of the rebels fighting around Bir al-Ghanam are from Zawiyah. Most analysts say Gaddafi will eventually be forced to relinquish power if NATO states and their rebel allies maintain the pressure on him by starving him of weapons, fuel and cash and attacking his forces. However, some alliance members are unsettled by how long the Libyan campaign is dragging on and how much it is costing, especially at a time of economic uncertainty. If NATO wavers, this could give Gaddafi an opportunity to hold on to power. For now though, there is no sign of a let-up in the air campaign, led by French and British warplanes. A Reuters reporter in Tripoli said there were multiple strikes overnight in the southeast of the city. In a separate operation on Sunday, British Apache attack helicopters took off from a warship in the Mediterranean Sea and fired Hellfire missiles at military vehicles in Al-Watyah, the site of a government air base 170 km south-west of Tripoli, spokesman Major General Nick Pope said in a statement. Because of the blackouts, many residents have no air conditioning during the peak summer heat and no refrigeration as they prepare for evening meals during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan."
" The Israeli shelling came hours after Palestinian militants fired a rocket into the southern Israeli town of Sderot. There were no reports of casualties in either of the incidents. The Islamic Jihad group had earlier vowed to avenge Sunday's killing of its top West Bank leader by Israeli troops. The group fired several rockets into Israel on Monday. Israel responded with air strikes on targets in Gaza, wounding five people and damaging two buildings. The military said it launched the air strike to prevent further attacks by Palestinian militants. The other major Palestinian militant group, Hamas, says it is observing an eight-month-old informal ceasefire. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat had earlier warned that the Israeli raid in the West Bank could upset the truce."
" More than 40 people have been arrested after rioting saw police attacked, buildings looted and vehicles set alight in Tottenham, north London. Twenty-six officers and three others were hurt in the violence which erupted after a protest over the fatal shooting by police of Mark Duggan on Thursday. Residents surveyed the damage after homes were looted and shops burnt down. The Metropolitan Police warned over ""ill-informed speculation"" on social networking sites of further problems. All injured officers have now left hospital, the force said. The people arrested remain in custody for offences including violent disorder, burglary and theft. Meanwhile, the family of Mr Duggan said they were ""not condoning"" the violence that erupted. ""Please don't make this about my brother's life, he was a good man,"" his brother Shaun Hall said. BBC crime reporter Ben Ando said there were rumours in the community that a teenage girl who was part of the peaceful protest had been in a kind of confrontation with police. He said: ""That appears to be the flashpoint. That was the moment at around about just after eight o'clock when it seemed that elements in the crowd decided to pick on two police cars. They were then set on fire."""
" (CNN) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been discharged from a military hospital in Saudi Arabia after being severely wounded in June, a Saudi Foreign Ministry spokesman said Sunday, but it was not clear when he would return to Yemen. Saleh left the hospital on Saturday and will be staying in Riyadh, hosted by the Saudi government, Foreign Ministry spokesman Osama Nogali told CNN. Saleh suffered severe burns and shrapnel wounds during an assassination attempt in June amid a tribal revolt against his 32-year rule. Yemen's largest opposition bloc has vowed to prevent him from returning. Saleh's vice president, Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, has been running the government since then. Protests against Saleh began in January, following the successful uprising in Tunisia that triggered region-wide reform movements. The protests led to open street battles after Saleh balked at a deal with the opposition that would have eased him out of office within a month."
" Saudi Arabia has said it is recalling its ambassador from Damascus in protest against Syria's deadly crackdown on anti-government demonstrators. A statement from King Abdullah said the violence was ""unacceptable"" and called for it to stop before it was too late. It came hours after the Arab League issued its first official statement, strongly condemning the violence. On Sunday, more than 80 people died as the army launched assaults in eastern and central Syria, activists said. They said at least 50 died when soldiers, backed by scores of tanks and armoured vehicles, stormed Deir al-Zour during the dawn call to prayer. A man living in the city told the BBC the tanks had been withdrawn from the eastern city, but that residents feared they would come back. Twenty-six others were killed in Hula, near the city of Homs, including a 10-year-old boy. Deaths were also reported in Idlib in the north-west. The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist group that documents and organises protests, said that after sunset, thousands of protesters poured onto the streets in towns and cities, including Damascus and its suburbs, Homs, Aleppo, and Latakia on the Mediterranean coast. Activists say at least 1,700 civilians have been killed and tens of thousands arrested since the uprising began in mid-March. Continue reading the main story By Arab diplomatic standards, it was a highly dramatic intervention by the Saudi monarch. A statement from him was read out on al-Arabiya, saying the kingdom had taken an historic decision despite all the support it had given Syria in the past. It is by far the clearest and toughest regional position Syria has met, and it comes from one of the most influential Arab powers. Another major force in the region, Turkey, is stepping up the pressure too. Its foreign minister is due in Damascus on Tuesday with a tough message for President Assad. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has asked the Turkish minister to press the regime to pull its troops back to barracks. But so far, there is no sign of that happening. Damascus has said its critics are ignoring the killings and destruction by what it calls ""armed terrorist gangs"", and also ignoring the reform programme that the regime has launched in a bid to defuse the crisis. It says it needs more time. But time seems to be running out, as the country slips daily closer to the spectre of a sectarian civil war that has set the regional alarm bells ringing."
" The Arab League on Sunday called on the Syrian authorities to ""immediately"" stop the violence that has rocked the country since mid-March, in the pan-Arab body's first official statement on the unrest. League Secretary General Nabil Al Arabi ""calls on the Syrian authorities to bring an end immediately to acts of violence and campaigns by the security forces against civilians,"" the statement said. Meanwhile, at least 57 Syrian civilians were killed in armoured military assaults by President Bashar Al Assad's forces on Sunday to crush a five-month uprising against his rule, a grassroots activists' organisation said. Among them were 38 in the eastern city of Deir Al Zor and 13 in the Houla Plain, 30 km (19 miles) north of the city of Homs, which were stormed by tanks and armoured vehicles early on Sunday, the Syrian Revolution Coordinating Union said. ""These are preliminary figures. The numbers of casualties are escalating by the hour,"" activist Suhair Al Atassi, a SRCU member, told Reuters by phone from Damascus."
" CAIRO, Aug 7 (KUNA) -- Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi called Sunday on Syrian authorities to put a stop to its acts of violence and security raids on its own people, and to take necessary measures to maintain national unity and protect civilians.  ""There is still an opportunity for President Bashar Al-Assad to respond to the will of the Syrian people and their legitimate demands of freedom, change and political reform,"" Al-Arabi said in a press statement.  The Arab League chief expressed increasing anxiety and extreme disdain at the collapse of security in Syria as a result of the heightened military operations and violence in Hama, Deir Al-Zour and other parts of the country, which have led to the death of dozens of civilians and the destruction of many publically and privately-owned buildings.  ""The Arab League charter rejects foreign interference in Arab affairs, and ensures the safety and security, and political stability of its member countries,"" he stressed.  He also urged Syrian authorities to work towards a comprehensive national dialogue, noting the Arab League keenness to support such a task.  ""This is the only solution, which outlines a peaceful transition to a stage of stability that paves the way for a program of political reform,"" he added.  Al-Arabi also called on the Syrian government to form an independent legal team, to investigate the violent happenings and ""breaches of human rights"". (end) mfm.sd KUNA 071755 Aug 11NNNN"
" At least 50 people have died after the Syrian army stormed Deir al-Zour, the largest city in the east and a scene of frequent protests, activists say. Scores of tanks and armoured vehicles are reported to have entered several areas of the city after a heavy bombardment that began before dawn. At least 26 other people have been killed in Homs province and six in Idlib in the north-west, activists say. ""Syria is on the path to reform,"" he was quoted as telling Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour by the state news agency, Sana. ""To deal with outlaws who cut off roads, seal towns and terrorise residents is a duty of the state, which must defend security and protect the lives of civilians,"" he added. Activists say at least 1,650 civilians have been killed and tens of thousands arrested since the uprising began in mid-March. Access to Syria has been severely restricted for international journalists and it is rarely possible to verify accounts by witnesses and activists. Mr Assad is facing mounting condemnation and pressure from outside the country. Continue reading the main story Residents of the city of Deir al-Zour had been expecting a military operation and many of them had fled in the last week. Deir al-Zour is the second city to see huge protests. Almost 400,000 people are said to have been taking to the streets every Friday. This is something the regime won't tolerate. After similar demonstrations in Hama, the authorities seem to be warning the rest of the country by attacking another city which dares to challenge the power of President Assad. Pressure from the United Nations and the international community doesn't seem to he having an effect. The crackdown has expanded to include prominent opposition figures like former political prisoner Walid al-Bunni who was detained along with his two sons. A sign that things could get even worse in coming days. In its first comments about the unrest, the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council condemned the ""excessive use of force"" and called for an ""immediate end to the violence""."
" PARIS, June 19 (Reuters) - Air France will compensate through its insurers the families of the victims of a June 1 crash in which 228 people died, the company's chief executive said on Friday. Flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic after flying into stormy weather. The causes of the crash are not known. Brazilian and French ships are still searching the ocean for debris and bodies. ""For now we are going to concentrate on the first advance that will be paid for each victim, approximately 17,500 euros ($24,420),"" Air France (AIRF.PA) CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said on RTL radio. ""The lawyers of our insurers in every country are talking to the victims' families to try and organise this advance payment."" Gourgeon presented the payments as a compassionate gesture from the airline, not an admission of liability. Passengers from 32 nationalities died in the crash of the Airbus 330. Among them were 61 French people and 58 Brazilians. Pierre-Jean Vandoorne, an ambassador appointed by the French government to liaise with the families of victims of the crash, told reporters the payments were ""a first batch of aid"". ""If I'm correctly informed, it is the insurance company AXA (AXAF.PA) which is in charge of relations between Air France and the families of the victims on this particular aspect of the consequences of the accident,"" he told a news conference. ""As far as I am aware this (compensation) will not represent an obstacle to any civil suits,"" he said in response to a question on whether accepting the money would mean that relatives would forfeit their right to sue Air France later. Responding to a reporter who asked whether the Air France insurance contract meant that families would receive compensation of approximately 100,000 euros per victim, he said: ""Yes, it's roughly in that ballpark."""
" Surrey Police submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service containing references to four potential offences, including an allegation of indecent assault on a young girl at a children's home, but it was dropped due to a lack of evidence. David Cameron told MPs it was essential that lessons were learned from the scandal of Savile's decades of sexual abuse. Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, he said: ""The Director of Public Prosecutions has confirmed that his principal legal adviser will again review the papers from the time when a case was put to the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) for prosecution. ""The Director of Public Prosecutions specifically is going to consider what more can be done to alert relevant authorities where there are concerns that a prosecution is not taken forward. ""The Government will do everything it can do, other institutions must do what they can do, to make sure that we learn the lesson of this and it can never happen again."" Mr Starmer said the evidence was considered by prosecutors, but because the alleged victims would not support police action, it was decided not to proceed. As the number of allegations against Savile has snowballed, Mr Starmer asked the chief Crown prosecutor for the South East, Roger Coe-Salazar, to look at the files again. He concluded the correct decision was taken, although the files will again be reviewed ""out of an abundance of caution"". Mr Cameron also told MPs the BBC had ""serious questions"" to answer about how Savile got away with the abuse for so long, adding that he did not rule out ""further steps"" in addition to the two inquiries into the Corporation already under way. Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry welcomed the DPP's decision, but said any review should be conducted by independent inspectors, rather than the CPS itself. She said: ""It is deeply disappointing that the CPS was presented with evidence of a clear pattern of sexual assaults by Savile and decided not to act."""
" The Cuban display includes images of Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, and the word ""fascists"". Cuba complained earlier this week to the US mission about its decorations which included a reference to 75 Cuban dissidents jailed last year. The US says the decorations will remain in place until the end of the holidays. Cuba's most senior US diplomat, James Cason, said earlier this week any action taken by Cuba against US personnel or the US mission in Havana would not affect his government's determination to draw attention to human rights. The display at the US interests section A large figure 75 is picked out in neon, inside a large circle. Fourteen dissidents have been freed since the arrests took place in March 2003, in a major clampdown on political dissent."
" WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A question asked in Kuwait last week set off a political firestorm in Washington this week. It's a political Play of the Week, on delayed response. It all started with this question, asked by a soldier at a town hall forum with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Kuwait. ""Now why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles, and why don't we have those resources readily available to us?"" Army Spc. Thomas Wilson asked. His question was met with cheers and whoops. Mr. Secretary? ""You go to war with the army you have,"" Rumsfeld replied. ""That soldier and those men and women there deserved a far better answer from their secretary of defense than a flippant comment,"" Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska, said on ""Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."" The controversy escalated quickly into a full-fledged attack on Rumsfeld. ""No CEO in America would retain a manager with so clear a record of failure, and neither should President Bush,"" House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said. And not just from Democrats. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, said Rumsfeld should be replaced sometime in the next year. Conservative editor William Kristol wrote in the Washington Post, ""These soldiers deserve a better defense secretary than the one we have."""
" SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- South and North Korea ended preliminary military talks Wednesday without an agreement as the North refused to apologize and admit its responsibility for deadly provocations last year, officials said.""The talks ended as of around 2:40 p.m., and no agreement was reached,"" Kim Min-seok, a spokesman for the South's Defense Ministry, said, adding the two sides even failed to set a date for future preliminary talks.The preliminary talks, the first inter-Korean contact since the North's deadly bombardment of a South Korean island last November, were aimed at setting the date, agenda and place of higher-level military talks for discussions on ways to lessen military tensions gripping the Korean Peninsula.""The talks failed to narrow differences over the agenda for a high-level meeting,"" the spokesman said.Kim said the North's representatives ""unilaterally walked out of a meeting room.""The two sides had held the preliminary talks at the border village of Panmunjom since Tuesday, but haggled over the agenda and other key terms of higher-level talks.North Korea has not bent on two preconditions set by South Korea to upgrade the level of the military talks -- an explicit apology for the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island and the torpedo attack on a warship last March as well as a promise to not carry out more provocations.North Korean representatives refused to acknowledge Pyongyang's involvement in the sinking of the Cheonan warship or apologize for the Nov. 23 bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island, according to officials involved in the preliminary talks.Instead, North Korea demanded South Korea discuss a comprehensive agenda of easing military tensions as well as the two incidents at a higher-level meeting, which South Korean officials saw as a tactic to hold subsequent talks without meeting the South's preconditions.Tensions persist on the Korean Peninsula after the North's artillery strike on Yeonpyeong Island killed two marines and two civilians. The bombardment came after a multinational investigation concluded that North Korea torpedoed a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors.North Korea has so far denied any involvement in the torpedo attack of the Cheonan warship. The communist regime has also claimed that its artillery attack on Yeonpyeong was legitimate because the South provoked it first by holding a live-fire drill near the island with some shells falling on the North's side.(END)"
" At least four militants have been killed and several other people injured in Israeli air strikes in Gaza. The Israeli military said it targeted those behind the firing of more than 70 rockets into southern Israel since midnight, injuring five people. Schools have closed on both sides of the border for fear of more attacks. The violence comes as the EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, visits the region to try to revive the stalled Middle East peace process. She was scheduled to meet Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Her talks with Defence Minister Ehud Barak were cancelled on Wednesday so he could tour the border with Gaza. On Thursday, Baroness Ashton will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad. ""This is a critical time for the wider Middle East,"" she said. Hamas, which governs Gaza, is not even part of the peace process, which has seen little US engagement since direct negotiations collapsed two years ago, reports the BBC's Jon Donnison in Gaza City. Continue reading the main story Across Gaza and parts of southern Israel, many awoke to the thud of explosions. Another escalation in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants. Unusually Hamas's military wing said it was involved in firing dozens of rockets and mortars into Israel. It came after one of it members was killed in an Israeli attack targeting militants on Monday. Hamas, which is in power in Gaza, has is the past tried to rein in rocket fire from by other militant groups. But it is under public pressure to be seen to be resisting Israel, especially if its members or civilians are killed. Both sides say they are responding to the other. As usual civilians are paying a price. It is thought neither Hamas nor Israel want a major escalation. After previous rounds of violence, it has been the Egyptian government that has intervened to try and mediate a truce. Such ceasefires though do not usually hold for long. It is a reminder that this long-running conflict has not gone away. Our correspondent says the thud of explosions across Gaza and parts of southern Israel at dawn on Wednesday were a reminder that the conflict has not gone away."
" The threat of terrorism against the US homeland is in some aspects ""at its most heightened state"" since the 9/11 attacks, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said. ""The terrorist threat facing our country has evolved significantly,"" she told members of Congress. The US faced new threats by groups already inside the country, inspired by al-Qaeda, she said. Ms Napolitano warned that attacks could be carried out with little warning. Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked individuals have attempted a number of recent attacks against the US, including a Nigerian who tried to blow up an aircraft with explosives hidden in his underwear, and an Afghan-born man who plotted to attack the New York subway. State and local law enforcement officials are increasingly needed to combat terror, and the federal government must focus on supporting their efforts to secure communities, Ms Napolitano said in testimony to the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee. There is an increased reliance by foreign militant groups on recruiting individuals from the US, she added. ""As I have said before, we cannot guarantee that there will never be another terrorist attack, and we cannot seal our country under a glass dome,"" she said. ""However, we continue to do everything we can to reduce the risk of terrorism in our nation."" The country's counterterrorism response currently includes local ""fusion centres"" aimed at facilitating intelligence-sharing, a nationwide reporting initiative for suspicious acts and the ""If you see something, say something"" campaign created to ""foster public vigilance"", Ms Napolitano said."
" Ireland's vote is vital for the future of the EU treaty EU leaders have agreed a deal they hope will secure the Lisbon Treaty a ""Yes"" vote in a second Irish referendum. Ireland won legally-binding assurances that Lisbon would not affect Irish policies on military neutrality, taxes and abortion, diplomats said. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said leaders had agreed to Irish demands that the guarantees would be given the status of a treaty ""protocol"". But he stressed it would not affect the other 26 member countries. The leaders have also agreed in principle to a new framework of rules to oversee the EU's financial sector. On Thursday they backed Jose Manuel Barroso for a new term as president of the European Commission. Speaking at the end of the summit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the agreed protocol was ""specific to Ireland"". Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. ""The protocol status is no different from any other clarifications in other states,"" he said. He said the new protocol would ""only be subject to ratification at the time of the next accession treaty"". He did not give further details, but it is thought it will likely be attached to Croatia's EU accession treaty. The Lisbon treaty has been ratified in most EU countries and the second Irish referendum - expected to be in October - was the biggest remaining hurdle. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen had said fears that the EU might be able to override Irish policies were among the factors that prompted voters to reject the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum last year. This decision will not necessitate any re-ratification of the treaty   Supporters of the treaty - a complex set of institutional changes aimed at making the enlarged EU more efficient - were keen to avoid any new round of referendums on it, after years of negotiations. Sweden, the incoming holder of the EU presidency, was anxious to move forward over Lisbon, especially as Britain's Conservative Party has pledged to hold a referendum on the treaty if elected to government. Opponents of the treaty see it as part of a federalist agenda aimed at weakening national sovereignty. The EU leaders also backed a framework for enhanced oversight of the financial sector, after the UK won key concessions to the plans. The UK had opposed proposals to give a new oversight body the ability to order national governments to use taxpayer money to bail out failing banks. ""Stronger cross-border supervision is in our interests,"" Gordon Brown said. ""UK taxpayers will be protected. The City of London will stand to benefit from this"". Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The draft summit conclusions say the European Council - the assembly of EU leaders - ""stresses that decisions taken by the European Supervisory Authorities should not impinge in any way on the fiscal responsibilities of member states"". The leaders want the European Commission to deliver detailed proposals for the new supervisory bodies by early autumn, so that the new framework will be in place next year. In another concession to the UK, a new European Systemic Risk Board will not automatically be chaired by the head of the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB will still elect the chair, but the new body will not be controlled by the 16-nation eurozone. The board's job will be to spot any threats to financial stability across the EU. On Thursday, the leaders unanimously nominated the conservative Jose Manuel Barroso for a second term as EU Commission president. He had no rival - and even had backing from some centre-left leaders. His nomination now needs the approval of the European Parliament next month."
" Speaking in Cairo, Mr Brahimi said: ""After the visit I made to Damascus, there is agreement from the Syrian government for a ceasefire during the Eid."" The holiday starts on Thursday and lasts three or four days. Mr Brahimi, a mediator appointed by the United Nations and League, did not specify the precise time period. The rebel Free Syrian Army said it would cease fire if the government forces stop shooting first. ""The FSA will stop firing if the regime stops,"" said FSA military council chief General Mustafa al-Sheikh, speaking to AFP by telephone from Turkey in reference to a proposal by international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. However, he said the ""regime has lied many times before. It is impossible that the regime will implement the truce, even if it says it will."" Mr Assad is fighting an insurgency that grew out of street protests 19 months ago and has escalated into a civil war in which 30,000 people have been killed. His overstretched army has lost swathes of territory and relies on air power to keep rebels at bay. ""If this humble initiative succeeds, we hope that we can build on it in order to discuss a longer and more effective ceasefire and this has to be part of a comprehensive political process,"" he said. Syria's foreign ministry later said that a final decision about a ceasefire would be taken on Thursday. ""The army command is studying the cessation of military operations during the Eid holiday, and the final decision will be taken tomorrow,"" a ministry statement said."
" It has been established the parrot had bird flu H5 - but it was unclear where it caught it. The bird came from South America, and was held with 216 birds from Taiwan. As the death was in quarantine, the UK's disease-free status is unchanged. Experts said detecting the virus showed the quarantine system was successful. Meanwhile, the EU is banning Croatian poultry imports after H5 was found. As well as in Asia, so far bird flu - in some cases the H5N1 strain - has been found in Romania, Greece and most recently, Croatia, as well as in a nearby area of Turkey. It is thought it was carried to those countries by wild birds migrating from Asia. The parrot - which was being held in a bio-secure unit at an undisclosed location - is the first confirmed case of bird flu in Britain since 1992. The bird, from Surinam, was part of a mixed consignment of 148 parrots and ""soft bills"" that arrived on 16 September. All the birds in the quarantine unit have been culled, said the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and people who had contact with them are receiving antiviral treatment as a precaution. UK chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds said the incident had shown the importance of the UK's quarantine system."
" Britain's first case of bird flu was undergoing further tests today to see if the parrot involved contains the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus which can be lethal to humans. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed yesterday that a form of the ""highly pathogenic"" H5 virus had been found in a bird being held in UK quarantine. The parrot, which was imported from South America, arrived in this country last month and died a couple of days ago. It was part of a mixed consignment of 148 parrots and ""soft bills"" - birds that eat soft food - that arrived from Suriname, South America on September 16. It was being held with 216 birds from Taiwan. More than 300 birds being held in a biosecure quarantine unit at an undisclosed location have all now been humanely culled. Despite the confirmed case of bird flu, Britain retains its disease-free status because the virus was identified in imported birds during quarantine. The UK's Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds said: ""This incident showed the importance of the UK's quarantine system. ""We have had similar incidents in the past where disease has been discovered but successfully contained as a result of our quarantine arrangements."" Defra stressed it was ""very difficult"" for humans to contract avian influenza but all those who came in contact with the culled consignment have been given antiviral treatment."
" A jury has failed to reach a verdict in the retrial of a policeman accused of racially abusing a suspect days after the riots in London last year. PC Alex MacFarlane, 53, denied causing racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress to Mauro Demetrio on 11 August 2011. Southwark Crown Court heard Mr Demetrio believed he was stopped on suspicion of drug-driving because he was black. Prosecutors said they would not be seeking a third trial. Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told the judge it was ""not in the public interest"" for another trial to take place. ""May I therefore offer no evidence against Mr MacFarlane,"" he said. Richard Atchley, defending, said the officer would now face disciplinary proceedings. The five women and seven men, who had been told they could return a majority decision, could not agree on a verdict. The retrial was ordered after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the case last week. In April, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) ordered Mr MacFarlane be charged after it reviewed an earlier decision not to prosecute."
" Nine deaths occurred in Santiago de Cuba province and two bodies were recovered in Guantanamo state, national media reported, citing civil defense authorities. Cuban President Raul Castro will travel Friday to Santiago de Cuba, the country's second largest city, to survey the damage. More than 3,000 buildings were damaged in eastern Cuba, state television reported. ""I lost an upstairs room and part of my roof. There are trees down all over the place. Everyone is in shock. We have never had a storm hit like this,"" said a woman named Dulce, a doctor in the city of Santiago. Residents in Santiago spent Thursday assessing the extent of the damage. There was no electricity, and very few people had working phones, Dulce said. Heavy rain in Cuba brings with it potential health risks. Flooding over the summer in Granma province contaminated wells, leading to a cholera outbreak, the first Cuba had experienced in a century. The same province was hit hard by Sandy. In the Bahamas, as Olivia Jorjani and her mother were trying to watch the World Series game between power outages, tree branches in Nassau started to break and fall, and parking lots began to flood. It was just a matter of time before the lights went out again, and ""then we will play gin by candlelight,"" the iReporter said from her home on New Providence Island. Bahamians and their guests hunkered down Thursday night as Sandy, a Category 2 hurricane, tore through the islands with 100 mph wind and the potential for up to 12 inches of rain. New Yorker John Trudden was staying at Club Med on San Salvador Island, celebrating a friend's birthday with 10 buddies."
" HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong shares crumbled early Tuesday, sending the benchmark indexes more than 6% lower in opening trades after a heavy toll on Wall Street overnight in the wake of Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. debt. The Hang Seng Index HSI, -0.02% slumped 6.9%, or 1,413.19 points, to 19,077.38, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gave up 7.5% to 10,282.69. The tumble sent the benchmark index into a so-called bear territory, with losses totaling more than 23% from its Nov. 8 high of 24,988.57. All Hang Seng Index constituents were deep in negative territory, with the resources sector among the worst hit. Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. ACH, -0.72% 2600, -2.06% dived 9.7% and Cnooc Ltd. 0883, +0.77% CEO, -0.59% plunged 10.9%. Heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC HSI, -0.02% alone contributed a loss of more than 200 points for the benchmark index, with its 8.2% slump. China's Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -0.33% fell 2.9% to 2,452.35."
" SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's financial authorities vowed Tuesday to take measures to stabilize the local financial markets if necessary, urging market players to remain calm.The pledge came as the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and its executive body the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) held an emergency meeting to address the market rout sparked by last week's U.S. rating downgrade.""We will draw up necessary market-stabilizing steps after monitoring financial market situations,"" the FSC said in a statement.The financial watchdog also called for market participants to stay calm, saying the recent market turmoil would have a limited impact on the local economy, given the country's sound fiscal status and large foreign reserves.Financial authorities plan to continue to hold such meetings before the daily market opening until the financial market regains its stability, it said.Tuesday's meeting came as the Seoul financial markets were jolted by investors' panic selling driven by the U.S. credit downgrade.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) has fallen more than 16 percent since Aug. 2, gripped by fears about a double-dip recession.The KOSPI plunged as much as 5.71 percent at one point in the morning session, falling below the 1,800-point level. It tumbled 3.82 percent to a 10-month low of 1,869.45 on Monday on panic selling.The local currency has depreciated to the dollar for the sixth straight session as global recovery woes revived investors' appetite for safe assets. The Korean won has lost about 3 percent to the greenback since Aug. 2Global credit rating agency Standard & Poor's cut the U.S. credit rating by one notch to ""AA+"" from a top-tier ""AAA"" on Friday, sending global financial markets into a tailspin.The Group of 20 leading economies pledged on Monday to cooperate closely to tackle market instability, saying that they will take ""all necessary initiatives"" to support the world's financial stability. But it was not enough to soothe investors' fears about a potential global double-dip downturn.(END)"
" SYDNEY, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Australia's two biggest home lenders cut interest rates on fixed mortgages on Tuesday, fuelling market expectations of an official rate cut to counter the gloom on world markets and knocking the local currency lower. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) , the nation's biggest home lender, slashed its fixed mortgage rate by up to 60 basis points and rival Westpac trimmed its three-year fixed mortgage rate by 20 basis points. The two banks, which control more than 40 percent of Australian home lending, made their move against the backdrop of sliding share markets and fears of a double-dip U.S. recession and another global economic slowdown. The CBA's announcement, which preceded Westpac, knocked almost half a cent off the already-battered Australian dollar , reinforcing market assumptions that the Australian central bank would be forced to abandon its tightening bias and instead opt for a near-term rate cut to support the economy. ""The banks are responding to the fall in long-term interest rates as the yield curve has inverted after expectations of an interest rate rise gave way to a cut,"" said banking analyst John Buonaccorsi, of RBS Equities. ""The other banks might well follow but that doesn't mean they will cut their variable rate just yet. The fixed rate market is small , probably under 10 percent."" The vast majority of domestic banks' home-loan assets are on variable rates, which are finely tuned to the overnight cash rate targeted by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Banks seldom adjust variable rates ahead of any change in the cash rate. Over the next 12 months, the money market is pricing in almost 160 basis points of cuts to the 4.75 percent cash rate. Australia, a major exporter of minerals and farm grains, is geared heavily to China, the world's fastest growing major economy. Its fortunes are also tied to commodity prices, many of which have slumped along with world share markets this week. CBA, which faces stiff competition from local rivals, especially National Australia Bank , said its new fixed rates for loans from one to 5 years would now range from 6.59 to 6.99 percent."
" They were walking through a cocoa plantation near the city of Poso in central Sulawesi province when they were attacked. This is an area that has a long history of religious violence between Muslims and Christians. A government-brokered truce has only partially succeeded in reducing the number of incidents in recent years. Police say the heads were found some distance from the bodies. It is unclear what was behind the attack, but the girls attended a private Christian school and one of the heads was left outside a church leading to speculation that it might have had a religious motive. Central Sulawesi and Poso in particular was the scene of bitter fighting between Muslims and Christians in 2001 and 2002. More than 1,000 people were killed before a government-brokered truce. Although the violence has been subdued, it has never gone away completely. A bomb in May in the nearby town of Tentena, which is predominantly Christian, killed 22 people and injured over 30. The fighting four years ago drew Islamic militants from all over Indonesia and many have never gone home."
" Two near-simultaneous blasts took place in markets in central and south Delhi, crowded with people shopping ahead of religious festivals next week. The third blast occurred in the area of Govindpuri which is in the southern part of the city. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed ""terrorists"" for the blasts and said he would not tolerate militant violence. No-one has yet admitted carrying out the explosions. Officials say more than 50 people are confirmed dead. At least 80 more are being treated in hospital, 10 of whom are in critical condition. Most of those killed died in the blast at the southern Sarojini Nagar market, they say. A number also reportedly died in the first explosion, minutes before, in the crowded central neighbourhood of Paharganj, an area close to Delhi's main railway station and popular with Western backpackers. Some reports say the Govindpuri blast was a bus bomb and that three people died, although this could not be confirmed. Prime Minister Singh cut short his visit to the north-east to return to Delhi, urging people to remain calm. In a brief televised address, he said: ""These are dastardly acts of terrorism. We are resolute in our commitment to fighting terrorism in all forms."""
" Rescue workers have been searching for people trapped in carriages amid fears the death toll could rise further. Initial reports suggest an irrigation tank burst, causing a bridge to collapse, derailing seven carriages. The crash occurred early on Saturday south of Hyderabad, the state capital of Andhra Pradesh. Heavy rains have killed more than 100 people in south India this week. The Delta Express crashed near the town of Veligonda in Nalgonda district, about 30km (18 miles) south of Hyderabad. Seven of the 14 coaches and the engine of the train were derailed and at least three coaches fell into the flood waters. Divers from the air force and navy used blow torches to cut through the wreckage to free the scores of people still feared trapped. Some survivors were clinging to luggage racks and ceiling fans. Hundreds of passengers have been rescued so far but television pictures also showed bodies of men, women and children laid out on the banks. After surveying the site of the crash, India's junior railway minister, R Velu, told a news conference in Hyderabad that ""little could have been done to avoid the accident"". The BBC's Omer Farooq, who is at the scene, says many of the victims were holidaymakers travelling to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, which takes place on Tuesday."
" Mrs May, who has been in contact with other senior politicians and police leaders while overseas, will return to London for further talks with Metropolitan Police Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin and other officers. More than 100 people have been arrested after a series of ""copycat"" riots broke out across several boroughs in north, south and east London following earlier trouble in Tottenham, north London. Mrs May warned that those responsible ""will be made to face the consequences of their actions"", saying: ""Londoners have made clear that there are no excuses for violence, and I call on all members of local communities to work constructively with the police to help them bring these criminals to justice."" The fresh violence came after a peaceful protest in Tottenham on Saturday, which followed the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan, 29, on Thursday. The looting across London was carried out by ""small and mobile"" groups, Scotland Yard said. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh admitted on Radio 4 that there were too few officers in Tottenham on Saturday night. But he blamed Twitter for fuelling looting and violence, saying: ""Social media and other methods have been used to organise these levels of greed and criminality."" Scotland Yard said at least nine officers were injured, including three who were taken to hospital after being hit by a fast-moving vehicle at 12.45am. Police said 16 people have been charged with offences in relation to the disorder, including burglary, theft and violent disorder. Mr Duggan's family said they ""are not condoning"" the riots and looting, while Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg condemned Sunday night's ""needless, opportunistic theft and violence"". He said it had ""absolutely nothing to do with the death of Mark Duggan"". The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has launched an inquiry into the shooting. It said it could not comment on reports that initial tests suggest a bullet found lodged in a police radio after Mr Duggan's death was police issue. In a statement, London Mayor Boris Johnson said the scenes were ""utterly appalling"". He said: ""I understand the need for urgent answers into the shooting incident that resulted in the death of a young local man, and I've sought reassurances that the IPCC are doing exactly that. But let's be clear - these acts of sheer criminality across London are nothing to do with this incident and must stop now."""
" The vehicle exploded on a busy street in Howaider, about 60km (35 miles) from the capital, near a mosque and market. More than 30 people were wounded in the blast, hospital officials said, which came at dusk as people prepared to break the day-long Ramadan fast. Meanwhile US President George Bush paid tribute to US troops killed in Iraq, as eight were reported dead in 48 hours. Two soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad and a third by a landmine in the town of Beiji, north of the capital, the US military said, in addition to five killed on Friday. More than 2,000 US soldiers have now died in Iraq. The attack in Howaider, near the provincial capital Baquba, came a day after a deadline for political parties to register for parliamentary elections in December. Giving his weekly radio address, President George Bush paid tribute to the US soldiers killed and promised that Iraq's elections would create an ally against terrorism. ""The best way to honour the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission and win the war on terror,"" he said. In what was his third speech on Iraq this week, Mr Bush also focused on Iraqi voters' approval of the country's new constitution and the upcoming elections. ""The success of the new Iraqi government is critical to winning the war on terror and protecting the American people,"" he said."
" Rioting erupted in Birmingham, with a police station set on fire and stores looted in what police described as ""mindless thuggery"". Trouble flared around the station in Holyhead Road, Handsworth, and also involved police cars being targeted. Shops damaged in the city centre included a McDonald's restaurant and an Armani store at the Mailbox centre. About 130 were arrested, some of which Chief Constable Chris Sims described as ""astonishingly young"". There were 700 to 800 people on the streets last night outnumbering police two to one, the West Midlands Police chief added. More than 400 officers will be on duty on Tuesday evening with shifts extended from eight to 12 hours. Thirteen people out of 28 injured on Monday night seen by crews went to hospitals, the ambulance service said. Several premises were attacked with shop windows smashed and property stolen in various locations in the centre as well as some surrounding areas. A heavy police presence was seen in the city from late afternoon. Some shops in the city centre closed early. BBC reporter Grant Sherlock said the window of Mills City Express store, in Colmore Row, was smashed by youths wielding a bin."
" PM David Cameron says every action will be taken to restore order, with contingency plans for water cannon to be available at 24 hours' notice It is relatively peaceful across England on Wednesday night after rioting in several cities on Tuesday and in London the previous three nights Three men, aged 31, 30 and 21, died when they were hit by a car in Birmingham as they protected property MPs and peers recalled to Parliament for Thursday to debate riots PM says police have legal backing to use any tactics necessary, including using baton rounds Three courts in London will stay open Wednesday night to deal with the number of people charged"
" The UK economy emerged from recession in the three months from July to September, helped by the Olympic Games. The economy grew by 1.0%, according to official gross domestic product figures (GDP), which measure the value of everything produced in the country. The Office for National Statistics said that Olympic ticket sales had added 0.2 percentage points to the figures. The figures are welcome news for business and ministers, said the BBC's economics editor Stephanie Flanders. ""The positive 'surprise' in these figures is largely to be found in the service sector, which is estimated to have grown by 1.3% in the third quarter, after shrinking by 0.1% in the three months before,"" she said. The data also exceeded expectations from economists, who had predicted an increase of 0.6% in the quarter. The economy had been in recession for the previous nine months and has still not recovered the levels of output seen before the financial crisis in 2008. The ONS said that beyond the effect of ticket sales, it was hard to put an exact figure on the Olympic effect, although it cited increased hotel and restaurant activity in London as well as strength from employment agencies. The GDP figures were also enhanced by comparison with the previous three months, because the second quarter had an extra public holiday as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June, as well as unusually bad weather, which reduced growth. ""There is still a long way to go, but these figures show we are on the right track,"" said Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne."
" The Australian share market has dropped again following its recovery from earlier losses after Standard and Poor's downgrading of the US credit rating. Australian stocks plunged 2.91 percent on Monday after Standard & Poor's fuelled global economic jitters by cutting the US credit rating for the first time in history. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 plummeted 119.3 points to 3,986.1 after the ratings agency docked the United States from AAA to AA+ with a negative outlook. It followed the market crashing 4.0 percent on Friday -- its biggest one-day loss since the height of the global financial crisis -- and 7.2 percent in total last week. ""Today's price action has been a direct reaction -- some would say, overreaction -- to S&P's weekend downgrading of the US credit rating to AA+ from AAA,"" said IG Markets analyst Ben Potter. ""There has definitely been an element of 'sell first, ask questions later' in today's trading behaviour. No one really wants to wait around and see how the US market reacts tonight."" The Australian dollar was also lower, losing more than one US cent to 103.24 US cents, from 104.42 cents on Friday."
" European markets lost early momentum and most were trading sharply lower amid mounting fears over the American markets' opening, when traders will have their first chance to respond to Standard & Poor's decision to lower its triple-A rating for the US. Investors remain worried about the state of the world economy and policymakers' ability to deal with the European debt crisis, said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital. ""Investors are concerned about a rising risk of global recession, credit downgrades especially now in the eurozone, such as France, the threat of a major bank bust and a global liquidity trap as investors stay in cash,"" Mr MacKinnon said. Those concerns trumped any relief European markets gained from the sharp fall in Italian and Spanish bond yields after the European Central Bank said it would buy the two countries' bonds to help them avoid devastating defaults.The yield on Italy's 10-year bonds fell by 0.66 of a percentage point to 5.32 per cent while Spain's tumbled by 0.82 of a percentage point to 5.22 per cent.In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down by 1.7 per cent at 5160 while France's CAC-40 fell by two per cent to 3214. Germany's DAX was 2.3 per cent lower at 6096.Sentiment in Europe has not been helped at all by the expected sell-off at the US opening - Dow futures were down by 2.1 per cent at 11,167 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell by 2.4 per cent to 1168.Policymakers around the world, many on holiday, are trying to come up with a strategy to shore up market worries over the global economy and the levels of debt in the US and Europe. The developments come as the Australian stock market dropped 2.91 per cent today despite an early rally that appeared to initially contain the losses, before the big miners and banks led the bourse down. Today is the fifth consecutive trading session that has been dominated by red ink, with today's $33 billion in losses coming on the back of a $53 billion loss on Friday. Big banks and big miners were among the worst hit by investors. CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said the losses were broad based, with materials stocks faring the worst. BHP Billiton was down $1.52, or 3.99 per cent, at $36.60 while fellow mining giant Rio Tinto was down $3.37, or 4.68 per cent, at $68.63. Mr McCarthy said investor confidence had been battered by a stream of negative news but that the sell off had been overdone."
" 1 of 9. A crowd gathers in front of damaged buildings after a car bomb exploded at Daf al-Shok district, in Damascus October 26, 2012, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. State television said the ""terrorist car bomb"" had killed five people and wounded 32, according to ""preliminary figures"". Opposition activists said the bomb had gone off near a makeshift children's playground built for the Eid al-Adha holiday in the southern Daf al-Shok district of the capital. Fighting erupted around Syria earlier as both sides violated the Eid al-Adha ceasefire arranged by international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. Violence was less intense than usual and activists reported no air strikes, but dozens of people were killed including 26 troops, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the bloodshed in the country. The Syrian military said it had responded to attacks by insurgents on army positions, in line with its announcement on Thursday that it would cease military activity during the four-day holiday but reserved the right to react to rebel actions. Brahimi's ceasefire appeal had won widespread international support, including from Russia, China and Iran, President Assad's main foreign allies. The U.N.-Arab League envoy had hoped to build on the truce to calm a 19-month-old conflict that has killed an estimated 32,000 people and worsened instability in the Middle East. Violence appeared to wane in some areas, but truce breaches by both sides swiftly marred Syrians' hopes of celebrating Eid al-Adha, the climax of the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca, in peace. ""We are not celebrating Eid here,"" said a woman in a besieged Syrian town near the Turkish border, speaking above the noise of incessant gunfire and shelling. ""No one is in the mood to celebrate. Everyone is just glad they are alive."""
" Most of those killed were Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr. Two Iraqi policemen were also killed and others wounded. A spokesman for the militiamen said they were ambushed as they went with police to aid a comrade kidnapped by Sunni militants near Baghdad. Some reports said the clash resulted from tensions between the communities. Whether it involves insurgents or not, it is clearly a case of Sunnis fighting Shias - an alarming development in a country where the fear of civil war is increasingly coming to the fore, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad. The battle took place in the town of Nahrawan, some 15 miles (25km) south-east of Baghdad. Amer al-Husseini, an aide to Moqtada Sadr, told the Associated Press news agency that the militiamen raided a house to free the hostage and captured two militants but were ambushed leaving Nahrawan. Interior Ministry special forces later went in to seal off the area. The town has a mixed Sunni and Shia population, and some Arabic television stations said the clashes came against a background of tensions between the two communities. Sunni-based militant Islamic insurgents in Iraq are openly waging a war against the Shia community, says our correspondent. There has also been a growing phenomenon of Sunni citizens being abducted and killed in quite large groups, either as communal revenge or perhaps to aggravate sectarian tensions, he adds."
" JINAN, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- More than 100,000 people were evacuated in east China's Shandong Province on Monday as tropical storm Muifa continues to move along the country's eastern coast. More than 20,000 fishing boats were called back to harbor by early Monday morning, local authorities said. According to the provincial meteorological observatory, the storm, which weakened from a powerful typhoon on Sunday, has unleashed torrential rains in the coastal areas of Shandong, soaking as many as 85 counties and villages with precipitation levels of 50 to 100 mm. The storm was located about 100 km southeast of the province and was moving north at a speed of 25 km per hour as of 6 a.m. Monday. Muifa, the ninth typhoon to hit China this year, swirled into the East China Sea on Friday morning. It is predicted to land somewhere between north China's Liaoning Province and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday. A total of 756 temporary shelters have been set up in Liaoning's border city of Dandong, according to the Liaoning flood control and drought relief headquarters. The shelters are capable of accommodating over 1 million people, the headquarters said. Six thousand military personnel are prepared to conduct rescue and repair work after the storm has passed, the headquarters said. In the neighboring province of Jilin, the storm is expected to bring high winds and heavy rains, said Wang Xiaoming, head of the provincial meteorological observatory. Local governments have been ordered to take precautions against any natural disasters that might occur as a result of the storm, he said."
" Brutal selling sent the major markets down between 5% and 7% today in the wake of Standard & Poor's downgrades and fears about the economy. In a bid to reassure investors earlier, President Obama said that the nation's problems are ""eminently solvable"" and that he hopes for a ""renewed sense of urgency"" to tackle the debt. Update at 5:05 p.m. ET: Final numbers: Dow closed at 10,809.85, a loss of 634.76 points, or 5.55%. The S$P 500 ended at 1,119.46, a drop of 79.92 points, or 6.66%. (Uh-oh, the ""devil's number"" ...) The Nasdaq finished at 2,357.89, a daily loss of 174.72 points, or 6.9%. Update at 4:12 p.m. ET: Keep in mind that hedge funds and other investors that had bet against the markets and were ""short"" made big money today. And remember that for every seller there was a buyer. Update at 4 p.m. ET: At the close, the Dow was down 633 points, 5.5%; the Nasdaq lost 6.9% (175 points) and the S&P was 6.6% in the red (80 points). Look for slight revisions in those totals as the final tallies are calculated. Update at 3:58 p.m. ET: Two-minute warning: Dow down almost 600 points, 5.2%. The Nasdaq and S&P continue to trade at losses of more than 6%. Update at 3:54 p.m. ET: Gold futures closed the day at $1,713 an ounce, but in after-hours trading, December gold has hit a historic high of $1,723.40. Update at 3:50 p.m. ET: With just 10 minutes to go, selling has driven the Dow down more than 600 points again, or 5%. The Nasdaq and S&P are both off more than 6%. Update at 3:46 p.m. ET: Crude oil closed at $81.31 a barrel, a drop of $5.57."
 Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter at @KitchenNews.
" The virus, also known as avian flu, was discovered in wild swans found dead at a pond in eastern Croatia last week. After tests in the UK, it was confirmed to be the H5N1 strain that has killed at least 60 people in Asia since 2003. Officials are braced for an outbreak of the lethal strain in the EU, after it was recently discovered in Turkey, Romania and Russia. Veterinary expert Vladimir Savic repeated a plea to Croatian poultry producers to ""take this seriously"" and keep their animals indoors. ""The situation is serious for the whole of Europe until a strategy is found, so I cannot say for how long the poultry will have to be kept indoors,"" he said, the Reuters news agency reported. Six dead swans were found in the nature park of Zdenci, some 200km (124 miles) east of the capital, Zagreb, last week. Experts later found more than 10 dead swans, believed to have belonged to the same flock, in a nearby fish pond. The Croatian authorities have since disinfected and quarantined areas around the sites and killed tens of thousands of poultry in the area. A EU spokesman said a precautionary ban on imports of live poultry, wild birds and feathers from Croatia, imposed over the weekend, remained in force. The EU announced on Tuesday that it would ban imports of live wild birds and impose stricter rules on the private ownership of pet birds, after a parrot died of the H5N1 strain while in quarantine in the UK."
" UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday renewed his appeal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop the violence against civillians after reports of a new military crackdown just a day earlier. Ban, speaking to reporters in northeast Japan, said that he had delivered a strong message to Assad in a phone conversation on Saturday ahead of his report on Syria to the Security Council due on Aug. 10. ""I hope he takes that situation very seriously and takes necessary measures respecting the will of the people,"" the UN Secretary General said when asked about latest signs that Assad continued to defy international pressure. (Reuters)"
" The activist hacker group known as Anonymous appears to have vandalized the website of the Syrian Ministry of Defense. Visitors to the website early Monday morning were greeted with the green, white and black stripes and red stars of the Syrian flag. After a few moments, the Anonymous logo appears in the middle of the flag, above the following text in English and Arabic: To the Syrian people: The world stands with you against the brutal regime of Bashar Al-Assad. Know that time and history are on your side - tyrants use violence because they have nothing else, and the more violent they are, the more fragile they become. We salute your determination to be non-violent in the face of the regime's brutality, and admire your willingness to pursue justice, not mere revenge. All tyrants will fall, and thanks to your bravery Bashar Al-Assad is next. To the Syrian military: You are responsible for protecting the Syrian people, and anyone who orders you to kill women, children, and the elderly deserves to be tried for treason. No outside enemy could do as much damage to Syria as Bashar Al-Assad has done. Defend your country - rise up against the regime! - Anonymous A member of Anonymous who was involved in the attack on the Ministry website told The Huffington Post Monday morning that the action was part of a broader effort by the loosely-affiliated group to focus on political targets. ""There are various things in the works - pretty much anything standing in the way of democratic governance, human rights, and the rule of law is in the crosshairs,"" the hacker said. ""That includes everybody from the Koch brothers to Mahmoud Ahmedinejad."" He went on, ""The [Ministry of Defense] was targeted because it represents the Syrian military, which is the key moving part in the ongoing uprising there. If the military turns against the regime, the regime is toast."" Anonymous had previously announced that they would begin targeting the websites of Syrian embassies around the world but today's attack was the first to target an official government website in the country, according to PC Magazine. Much of Anonymous's previous work has centered on large corporations, like Visa and Sony, but in June the organization announced it was joining forces with the politically oriented hacker group LulzSec, to focus more on government websites, reports the LA Times. ""There are absolutely plans to take other sites and do similarly targeted actions,"" the hacker said. ""Any regime that's engaged in obviously heinous bullshit is fair game. Killing unarmed civilians absolutely qualifies as heinous bullshit. The hacker group has recently attacked the websites of a number of high-profile institutions. Earlier in the weekend, the group announced it had stolen sensitive data from around 70 U.S. law enforcement agencies, primarily rural police departments. The incident occurs as Syrian forces continue a series of brutal raids on protesters. The violent crackdown has left more than 1,700 dead. In July, President Barack Obama condemned the Syrian regime, saying he is ""appalled"" by the ""horrifying"" reports of violence."
" NEW DELHI, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said India must try to make peace with Pakistan provided Islamabad take strong measures to fight terrorists operation from its soil against India. ""I have spoken before also about my vision of a cooperative sub-continent and the vital interest people of the sub-continent have in peace. For this, we must try again to make peace with Pakistan. But for this, it is essential that strong and effective steps are taken by Pakistan against the enemies of peace,"" Singh told local media after finishing his visit to Russia. In the Russian Ural city Yekaterinburgh, Singh attended earlier this week the summit meetings of BRIC countries and Shanghai Cooperation Organization, at the backdrop of which he also met Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari for the first time since last November's Mumbai terror attacks. The two leaders promised to continue the process of dialogue onthe issue of terrorism by their foreign ministers and to meet again next month at a summit of non-aligned movement countries in Egypt."
" - For full coverage of Afghanistan, click on [ID:nSP102615]  By Sayed Salahuddin  KABUL, June 16 (Reuters) - Opponents facing an uphill battle to unseat Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Aug. 20 elections rallied supporters and sent them out into the streets to put up posters on Tuesday, the official start of campaigning.  Karzai, widely seen as weak and vulnerable earlier this year, has consolidated his authority in recent weeks, persuading some of his leading opponents not to run, winning endorsements from others and leaving the remaining opposition divided.  A newly published opinion survey from last month by a U.S.-based group gave him a wide lead, despite growing public concern about deteriorating security and government corruption.  Forty-one candidates are standing in the second direct vote for a president in Afghan history, seen as crucial in a country which has been at war for decades and faces a spreading Taliban insurgency despite rising numbers of foreign troops.  Candidates include officials and ministers from past and present governments, a former Taliban commander sitting now in the parliament, and two women.  Their supporters began hanging colourful posters on walls and attaching them to vehicle windshields in Kabul and in some provinces on Tuesday as part of the start of the campaign.  Karzai, who has led Afghanistan since the Taliban's ouster in 2001 and won the first presidential poll in 2004, was in Russia attending a summit of regional leaders.  The start of his campaign was announced by Deen Mohammad, a tribal leader from eastern Afghanistan, who resigned as governor of Kabul to oversee Karzai's re-election bid."
" He said he hoped MPs ""do not rue the day"" they rejected his call to allow police to detain terror suspects for up to 90 days without charging them. MPs voted against by 322 votes to 291, with 49 Labour MPs rebelling, but later backed a proposal to extend the detention time limit to 28 days. Following the defeat MPs backed by 323 to 290 votes a Labour backbench MP's proposal to extend the detention time limit to 28 days, from the current 14 days. Mr Blair, who is planning to quit as prime minister before the next election, has said he will serve a full third term. But Mr Howard said the vote had ""so diminished"" Mr Blair's authority that he should quit now. And Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said Mr Blair would be seen as a ""lame duck"" leader unless he realised he could not behave in a ""quasi-dictatorial way"". ""If he doesn't, then increasingly his premiership is becoming a John Major premiership, at the mercy of events, at the mercy of opposition, not just from other political parties but from within his own,"" said Mr Kennedy. But Mr Blair told the BBC he did not believe the vote would affect his position as prime minister. ""I don't think it is a matter of my authority - of course I would have preferred to have won rather than lost,"" he said. He said the police had told him the case for the 90-day detention proposal was ""vital"" and ""compelling""."
" Authorities in Iran have banned foreign media from covering 'unauthorised' rallies, a day after seven people died in protests over the disputed presidential election. The culture ministry has instructed foreign media to 'avoid participation or news coverage of gatherings which do not have the interior ministry permit,' in an apparent reference to rallies for defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. But the ban also applied to a counter-demonstration this afternoon, which has been given the backing of the Tehran government. The rally in support of President Ahmadinejad took place in central Tehran. Mr Mousavi's supporters gathered at the same location later in the evening. Mr Mousavi had urged supporters not to turn up for their own rally to avoid clashes, but a local reporter said it turned into a 'massive' demonstration. The march is believed to have passed off without major incident as the crowd marched through the city in silence. In effect, foreign journalists are being confined to their bureaus and barred from reporting on the streets, in a measure 'designed for their own protection'. Television crews say some recordings of clashes between demonstrators and security forces have been seized and foreign journalists who travelled to Iran for last Friday's election have been told to leave when their visas run out. As tension mounts over the disputed election results, Iran's top legislative body revealed it will recount disputed ballot boxes from last week's presidential election, won by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."
" Sydney, Australia (CNN) -- Ash clouds from a Chilean volcano prompted numerous flight cancellations in Australia and New Zealand on Sunday, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. The Australian Volcanic Ash Advisory Center issued briefings to the aviation industry to allow them to make decisions on safe air routes. Australia's national carrier Qantas has canceled all flights to and from New Zealand, as well as the Australian state of Tasmania. Qantas also announced that all Sunday night flights to and from Melbourne have also been canceled. In addition, Qantas's affiliate Jetstar has canceled more than 60 flights, leaving thousands of travelers stranded in airports in both countries. Read more on the grounding of flights Qantas issued a statement saying it will continue to monitor the movement of the ash cloud and its impact on operations. Virgin Australia said it would cancel two flights to New Zealand on Sunday, but would accommodate passengers in hotels, and will try to book them on flights Monday. How do airlines assess the hazard? Air New Zealand took a different approach, saying it does not expect delays or cancellations, and will adjust flight routes and altitudes as required."
" (Adds details, background)  TEHRAN, June 16 (Reuters) - Iranian state television said on Tuesday seven people had been killed near the site of a rally in Tehran.  Iran's English-language Press TV carried a breaking news headline citing radio as saying ""Seven people killed near illegal Tehran rally.""  It did not specify if the dead were opposition supporters or others.  It also said several people were wounded when ""thugs"" tried to attack a military post.  Tens of thousands of supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi defied a government ban on Monday to demonstrate in downtown Tehran against the official result of last Friday's presidential election, which showed hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a landslide.  An Iranian photographer said Islamic militiamen killed one man during Monday's march when people in the crowd attacked a station of the Basij religious militia. (Editing by Angus MacSwan)"
" Iran's powerful Guardian Council says it is ready to recount disputed votes from Friday's presidential poll. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election is being contested by rival Mir Hossein Mousavi and other moderate candidates, who are seeking a rerun. The BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran says they may not accept the recount offer. Several people died in a protest on Monday and Mr Mousavi urged followers not to take part in a rally planned for Tuesday, amid fears of new violence. ""This headquarters calls on people to avoid the trap of planned clashes,"" a Mousavi spokesman told AFP news agency. The authorities announced tough new restrictions on foreign media, requiring journalists to obtain explicit permission before covering any story. Journalists have also been banned from attending or reporting on any unauthorised demonstration. Our correspondent says they are the most sweeping restrictions he has ever encountered reporting anywhere. The march was due to have taken place in Tehran's Vali Asr Square at the same time as a demonstration there by supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The more I see this announcement about being willing to recount ballots, the more I think it is just a political ruse to try and wrong-foot the opposition. They have offered a recount, but they have not said who is going to carry it out. Maybe the same people who did the election count to start with. In any case, the opposition says there were so many other irregularities, that a recount alone would not satisfy them. For example, many more ballot papers were issued than counted, they say. Some people did not get enough ballot papers so they could not vote in areas loyal to the opposition. Polling stations were closed early, and so on and so forth. Thousands of the president's followers have converged there in a show of strength, cramming into tree-lined boulevards, some waving the national flag, as well as ones of orange, yellow and green. The Guardian Council - Iran's top legislative body - said votes would be recounted in areas contested by the losing candidates. But a spokesman for the council told state television it would not annul the election - as moderate candidates have demanded. The opposition says millions of ballots may have gone astray. Monday's protest involved hundreds of thousands of people and was one of the largest since the Iranian revolution 30 years ago. A report on state radio said ""thugs"" staged an attack at the end of the ""illegal"" rally as people were heading home ""peacefully"". ""Several thugs wanted to attack a military post and vandalise public property in the vicinity of Azadi Square,"" the radio said, referring to the site of the protest. ""Unfortunately seven people were killed and several others wounded in the incident."" Hospital officials later put the number of dead at eight. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Dozens of people have been arrested since the protests began. Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a close aide of ex-President Mohammad Khatami, was detained at his home in Tehran on Tuesday. Those detained also include prominent journalist and academic Ahmad Zeidabadi. His wife says he was picked up in the middle of the night on Saturday. Iran's most powerful body, currently controlled by conservatives Includes six theologians picked by Supreme Leader and six jurists approved by parliament Half the members change every three years Approves bills passed by parliament and can veto them if deemed inconsistent with the constitution or Islamic law The council can also bar candidates from standing in elections Iranians use video to tell story ""There is no explanation from the authorities about why he was arrested or where he is,"" she told the BBC. Meanwhile, Iranian state television said the ""main agents"" behind the unrest had been detained, and guns and explosives seized. There are reports of fresh demonstrations at Tehran University - one of the main centres of tension in recent days. About 120 university lecturers have resigned. The powerful Speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani, has condemned an attack by police and militia on a student dormitory. Iranian media quoted him as saying: ""The interior minister is responsible in this regard."" Unrest has been reported in other parts of Iran. One of Mr Mousavi's websites said a student had died on Monday in clashes with hardliners in the southern city of Shiraz. Our correspondent says the authorities appear to be weakening in their support for President Ahmadinejad. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered an inquiry into the allegations of vote-rigging. The authorities' handling of the protests has drawn international criticism. EU foreign ministers expressed ""serious concern"" and called for an inquiry into the conduct of the election. US President Barack Obama said he was ""deeply troubled"" by the violence in Iran. Meanwhile, President Ahmadinejad arrived in Russia on Tuesday. He told a regional summit that the ""age of empires"" had ended, but made no mention of the protests."
" Witnesses said the explosion in the city centre could be heard from several miles away. Al-Qaeda in Iraq said in an internet posting that it was responsible. Meanwhile police said they had found the bodies of 27 people, who had apparently been tied up and shot, near the border with Iran. In the Baghdad attack, a man with explosives strapped to his body walked into a restaurant close to the Palestine Hotel in the city centre shortly before 1000 (0700 GMT) and blew himself up. The BBC's correspondent there, Jim Muir, described the scene as utter carnage. The bomb was not one of the biggest bombs yet seen in Baghdad, but it was particularly lethal because it exploded in a confined space, he said. The restaurant is popular with Iraqi police officers and security guards. A statement on an Islamist website often used by al-Qaeda in Iraq said: ""[One of] our martyrs' brigade embedded himself among the infidel police and security forces in the restaurant."" A statement purporting to be from the same group had earlier said it carried out the bomb attacks which killed at least 57 people in three hotels in Jordan's capital, Amman, on Wednesday. Only an hour after the Baghdad attack another suicide bomber drove his car into the middle of a group of men queuing at a recruiting centre for the Iraqi army in Tikrit, killing at least six people and injuring 13."
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" SANAA, June 12 (Reuters) - Talks to resolve Yemen's political crisis have failed after the deputy to wounded President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to speak with groups demanding he cede power immediately, opposition figures said. Saleh, forced to seek medical treatment in Saudi Arabia for wounds suffered in an attack on his palace nine days ago, has has refused to leave office despite nearly six months of street protests and many diplomatic attempts to remove him. The ensuing political paralysis and long-standing conflicts with Islamist insurgents, separatists and rebel tribesmen, has fanned Western and regional fears of Yemen collapsing into chaos and giving al Qaeda a stronghold alongside oil shipping routes. A member of the group of opposition parties demanding Saleh transfer power now said international efforts to broker an agreement to that end had collapsed because the acting leader, Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, would not talk to them. ""The American and European efforts for a dialogue between opposition parties and the ruling party has failed. The vice-president has refused to deal with or meet opposition parties,"" Mohammed al-Mutawakkil said. ""He justifies that by saying he is preoccupied with dealing with the fuel crisis and the ceasefire, as well as the security situation in the provinces."" A ceasefire has held in Sanaa since Saleh left a week ago, after more than 200 people were killed and thousands fled during two weeks of clashes between his loyalists and the forces of tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar, who backs the protesters. The capital, however, is all but paralysed by shortages of fuel and electricity, and violence in a southern province -- whose capital Islamist gunmen seized last month -- has worsened. Yemen's army killed 21 al Qaeda members in the southern province of Abyan on Saturday, 18 of them in Zinjibar, the provincial capital that fell. Ten soldiers were killed in fighting there and another city, Lawdar, state media said. Yemen's health ministry said it would send 10,000 tonnes of medical supplies to people who have fled Zinjibar, including some 10,000 in the southern port of Aden."
" The police were fired at on their way to Kandahar, the local governor said. In nearby Uruzgan province, militants beheaded two civilians. Four rebels were killed in a clash with US and Afghan forces, the US military said. In Paktia, US forces also killed an Afghan soldier who shot at them. More than 1,400 people have died in violence in Afghanistan this year. Two US soldiers received minor injuries when the Afghan soldier opened fire on them at a base near the northern town of Gardez, a US military spokesman said. There was also heavy fighting overnight between suspected Taleban members and US forces in Kunar province near the Pakistan border, local authorities said. The attack on the police convoy, in which two vehicles were reportedly destroyed by rockets, took place on Wednesday. It was the latest in a series to target the country's fledgling police force. ""Seven police were killed on the spot and two are missing,"" Governor Mohammad Khan told the AFP news agency. A spokesman for the Taleban, Qari Yousuf, said they carried out the attack. It was not clear if the clash in Uruzgan's Deh Rawood district, which the US said left four militants dead, was linked to the ambush in Kandahar province."
" Suicide bombers killed at least 33 people and injured 19 in an attack on a Baghdad restaurant today, Iraqi police officials said. The explosion in the city's central business district could be heard several kilometres away, witnesses said. The restaurant was known to be popular with police and security forces. Major Abdel Hussein Minsef said two bombers came into the restaurant and detonated bombs strapped to their bodies. The attack left seven officers and 26 civilians dead. Other reports said that one suicide bomber carrying a bag of explosives carried out the attack. In a separate attack, a suicide bomber killed at least seven people outside a recruiting station for the Iraqi army in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, north of Baghdad. ""A suicide car bomber detonated his device in the middle of a group of men outside the station, killing seven,"" Captain Adnan Ali said. The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, is expected to arrive in Iraq today for a meeting with the Iraqi prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. The attacks came the day after two suicide car bombers killed at least six people and injured in a mainly Shia area in the north-east of Baghdad. On the Syrian border, some 320km (200 miles) west of Baghdad, US and Iraqi forces have been carrying out a major operation in the town of Husaybah. US officials say the town has become a major transit point for foreign fighters and weapons entering Iraq."
" But he warned an immediate withdrawal of multinational forces rather than a gradual one would be a ""catastrophe"" for Iraq and would lead to civil war. He told ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby programme Iraqis did not want foreign troops to remain indefinitely. ""Within one year....Iraqi troops will be ready to replace British forces in the south,"" he said. Defence Secretary John Reid told the BBC a pull-out beginning next year was a possibility. But he added: ""I've always said we will stay there until the job is done. The job will be done when we can achieve the handover to the Iraqi forces themselves. We are training them, they are becoming more capable and it's quite possible that in the course of the next year that's a process which could begin."" The head of the British Army, General Sir Mike Jackson, said Mr Talabani's prediction of a British departure by the end of 2006 was ""well within the range of what is realistically possible"", but ""it's a question of achieving the right conditions"". He told BBC1's Sunday AM programme: ""We need to be careful about timetables and end dates. It is much talked about, but it is not the best way of looking at this."" Gen Jackson said he was ""quite encouraged"" by a visit last month to Iraq. While accepting that the security situation was ""rather less than anyone would wish"", he stressed that incidents were largely confined to four of Iraq's 18 provinces. The BBC News website's world affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds, said: ""The significance of what Mr Talabani has said is he has put a target date where nobody had dared to do so before. However this remains a hope not a policy."""
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Supporters of Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi have held another big rally in northern Tehran. Hours before, thousands of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's supporters staged their own protest in the city centre. The opposition rally went ahead despite an official offer of a partial recount of the poll, which returned Mr Ahmadinejad to power. Tough new restrictions have been imposed on foreign media reporting. The curbs came amid apparent surprise and concern among the authorities at the scale of popular defiance over Friday's official election results, correspondents say. In a way we've reached a bit of a deadlock. The government can't work out how to deal with the unprecedented demonstrations. But the opposition is disorganised, it has no co-ordination, no strategy. And the demonstrators, despite the radical nature of what they are doing, don't fully perceive the way in which they are threatening the foundations of Islamic Republic. This has gone way beyond disputed elections. I don't think the offer of a recount will have much effect. They haven't said who would do the recount, what about irregularities on election day? Nothing less than a full re-run of the election would satisfy the opposition. I can't see how government would offer that. The Supreme Leader has staked so much on the results of this election, it would be a massive u-turn. President Ahmadinejad was declared the easy victor of the presidential poll on Saturday, with results giving him 63% of votes against 34% for Mr Mousavi. The powerful Guardian Council says it is ready to recount some votes from the poll. A spokesman for the Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhoda'i, told the state broadcaster Irin that the council had met representatives of the presidential candidates and would look into their allegations. But opposition candidates have demanded a full re-run of the election. On Tuesday evening, Ayatollah Khamenei - who has backed the Guardian Council's recount - called for ""tolerance"" and ""patience"" during a TV address on Tuesday evening. But he also referred to Mr Ahmadinejad as the country's elected president - apparently prejudging the recount, said correspondents. Anger at the official result saw hundreds of thousands of Mr Mousavi's supporters take to the streets on Monday - in a rally the size of which correspondents said not been seen in Tehran since the 1979 revolution. A witness told the BBC that Tuesday's rally was even bigger than Monday's - though this cannot be independently confirmed - and the state Press TV also described it as large. Witnesses described demonstrators walking in near silence towards state TV headquarters - apparently anxious not to be depicted as hooligans by authorities. Thousands of Ahmadinejad supporters also rallied in Tehran Thousands of supporters of President Ahmadinejad staged their own rally in Vali Asr Square in central Tehran - some bussed in from the provinces, correspondents say. The latest opposition rally comes despite a Mousavi spokesman urging supporters not to take part in another demonstration on Tuesday, amid fears of new violence. Iran's police chief, Gen Ahmadi Moqaddam, has warned action will be taken against any unauthorised protest, and ""will quell any unrest"". Hospital officials say eight people died in violence which erupted at the end of Monday's rally, which authorities blamed on ""thugs"". Since then, the authorities have imposed tough new restrictions on foreign journalists operating in Tehran - the most sweeping restrictions our correspondent in Tehran, Jon Leyne, says he has ever faced. They must now obtain explicit permission before leaving the office to cover any story. Journalists have also been banned from attending or reporting on any ""unauthorised"" demonstration - and it is unclear which if any of the protests are formally authorised. Some telephone, SMS and internet services have also been restricted, prompting some protesters to turn to the internet messaging service Twitter to communicate. Iran's most powerful body, currently controlled by conservatives Includes six theologians picked by Supreme Leader and six jurists approved by parliament Half the members change every three years Approves bills passed by parliament and can veto them if deemed inconsistent with the constitution or Islamic law The council can also bar candidates from standing in elections Iranians use video to tell story The importance of such new means of communication was highlighted by a US official on Tuesday. The official said the state department contacted Twitter over the weekend to urge it to delay a planned upgrade that could have cut daytime service to Iranians. Dozens of people have been arrested since the protests began - including Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a close aide of ex-President Mohammad Khatami, and journalist and academic Ahmad Zeidabadi. On Tuesday, lawyer Abdolfatah Soltani of the Human Rights Defenders' Centre was arrested, a colleague told AFP news agency. The centre is led by Iranian Nobel peace prizewinner Shirin Ebadi. Unrest has also been reported in other Iranian cities including Mashhad, Isfahan and Shiraz. In Isfahan, a demonstrator, Arash, told the BBC that the religious police initially tried to quash a protest using tear gas and throwing stones, but that they had retreated as the size of the crowd grew. ""Then people headed towards a building where the religious police are based, because they were angry that the religious police had attacked them with stones. ""So people set their bikes on fire. They started shouting slogans like 'death to the dictator', and they were inviting the army and the police to join the real people,"" he told the BBC. It's young people themselves who are organising these protests... It's just word of mouth and a feeling of anger that gets people out on the streets   Arash added that it was a sense of disillusionment with Iranian politics that was driving the protests. ""It's young people themselves who are organising these protests... It's just word of mouth and a feeling of anger that gets people out on the streets."" In Washington, President Barack Obama again expressed ""deep concern"" at events in Iran, but said it would not be helpful if the US was seen to be ""meddling"". Earlier, EU foreign ministers expressed ""serious concern"" and called for an inquiry into the conduct of the election. But the Iranian authorities have bristled over the criticism. On Tuesday the Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Czech charge d'affaires in Tehran to complain over the EU's ""rude and interfering"" remarks. Meanwhile, President Ahmadinejad arrived in Russia on Tuesday. He told a regional summit that the ""age of empires"" had ended, but made no mention of the protests. Are you in Iran? What do you think of the current situation? If you have any information you would like to share with the BBC you can do so using the form below: Send your pictures and video to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here. At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" It is the first confirmed case in the Gulf of the virus that has devastated poultry stocks and killed more than 62 people in Asia. Tests on a migratory wild flamingo found last week on a southern Kuwaiti beach showed it had the H5N1 strain. A falcon found in a shipment at Kuwait Airport had the milder H5N2 strain. Mohammed al-Mihana, the deputy director general of the Public Authority for Agriculture and Fish Resources (PAAFR),said the flamingo was destroyed by the authorities and did not die of the virus. Although Mr Mihana insisted the virus had not been allowed to spread, Kuwait has allocated $5.4m to purchase anti-viral drugs for its residents. Officials in the Gulf state say they will continue to monitor farms, bird markets, and locations where birds stop when migrating from Asia to Africa. Last month, Kuwait banned wild bird imports and all poultry from Asian states. The World Health Organisation said that it had expected the virus to reach the region sooner rather than later. ""The Middle East and Africa are on the flyways [of migratory birds], and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has said that they expected to see H5N1 in those areas,"" WHO spokesman Dick Thompson told Reuters."
" The Newsnight editor responsible for dropping a report into claims Jimmy Savile sexually abused people is stepping aside, the BBC has said. Peter Rippon's move is for the duration of an inquiry into Newsnight's handling of the planned report last year. Earlier this month, in a blog, Mr Rippon explained the editorial reasons behind his decision to axe the report. The BBC has now issued a correction, calling the blog ""inaccurate or incomplete in some respects"". The Metropolitan Police have launched a criminal inquiry into the allegations against Savile. They have described the former BBC presenter and DJ, who died in October 2011 aged 84, as a predatory sex offender. They believe he may have sexually abused many people, including young girls, over a 40-year period, sometimes on BBC premises. In other developments on Monday: Continue reading the main story How much trouble is the BBC in? Its world affairs editor John Simpson sparked headlines this morning when he said it was the biggest crisis he could remember in 50 years. Some thought that over the top, pointing out that the corporation lost both its chairman and director-general after the Hutton Report in 2004. But now things have got worse. The BBC has had to admit there were errors in the Newsnight editor's explanation of why he dropped its Jimmy Savile investigation. The one silver lining is that it's Panorama, one of the BBC's own news programmes, that has brought the errors to light. But that may be small comfort for George Entwistle, as he faces MPs tomorrow to explain the BBC's handling of the crisis. Mr Entwistle has announced two BBC inquiries regarding the sex abuse claims. The first is looking into whether there were any failings in the BBC's management of the Newsnight investigation, which was not broadcast for editorial reasons. It is being led by former head of Sky News Nick Pollard and is expected to report in December."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The Indian historical film Jodhaa Akbar, about a Muslim-Hindu relationship, has dominated an Indian film awards ceremony, with six prizes. At the gala event in Macau, China, it won best picture, best actor for Hrithik Roshan and best director for Ashutosh Gowariker. The best actress award went to former Miss World Priyanka Chopra for her role in Fashion. Jodhaa Akbar also won awards for best song lyrics, best music direction for Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman, and best male playback singer - an award for performers who record soundtracks for on-screen actors. The movie tells the tale of a Mughal king and his love for a Hindu princess. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan - actress of the decade - performed at the event The best supporting actor award was won by Arjun Rampal for Rock On!!, a movie about the reunion of an Indian band. At the ceremony, which lasted seven hours, Kangana Ranaut won best supporting actress for Fashion. While the female star of Jodhaa Akbar - Aishwarya Rai Bachchan - did not win for best actress, she did win best actress of the decade and outstanding achievement in international cinema. She described the atmosphere at the event, which was attended by 8,000 people, as ""electrifying and fantastic"". Gowariker's Oscar-nominated 2001 film Lagaan, about Indian villagers who play their British colonial rulers in cricket to decide the fate of their taxes, was named film of the decade. Indian screen legend Amitabh Bachchan presented the lifetime achievement award to veteran actor Rajesh Khanna, who received a standing ovation from the audience of thousands. ""The word superstar in the Indian film industry was for the first time coined for him,"" Bachchan said. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Other awards included male star of the decade for Shah Rukh Khan, and director of the decade for Rakesh Rohan. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the IIFA awards, which organisers estimate will be seen by 500 million people around the world when it is televised later this month. The awards were the culmination of a three-day event, including film and music launches, a celebrity fashion show, a global business forum and a performance by Cirque du Soleil. The awards began in 2000 when the first ceremony was held in London at the Millennium Dome."
" A bomb blast has killed at least seven people at a market in the north-western Pakistani town of Dera Ismail Khan. Many more people were wounded in the blast, reports said. ""It seems the bomb was planted. At the moment, we have at least seven dead and 50 wounded,"" government official Syed Mohsin Shah told Reuters news agency. In February, 25 people were killed in a bomb attack on a funeral procession in the town, near Pakistan's restive tribal belt. The market attack comes amid a government offensive against Taliban militants in Pakistan's north-western provinces in which three people are believed to have been killed. Another bomb attack in January killed five people in the town. Dera Ismail Khan has also been the scene of a number of deadly attacks targeted at the local Shia population since 2007. In a separate development, Pakistani authorities are investigating reports of a suspected US military drone attack in south Waziristan near the border with Afghanistan. The area is known as a main stronghold of the Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, whose movement has acknowledged responsibility for a number of the recent suicide bombings in Pakistan, the BBC's Mike Woolridge, in Islamabad, said. Are you in Dera Ismail Khan? Did you witness the blast?"
" Syrian troops have moved closer to the Turkish border as they sweep through villages north of Jisr al-Shughour, rounding up hundreds of people they claim are linked to armed gangs. Turkey was on Monday assembling a fifth refugee camp in its southern border towns, but with the number of Syrians who have crossed the boundary topping 7,000, these camps may not be sufficient to deal with the fast-increasing number of people in need of help. ""There are 7,000 people across the border, more and more women and children are coming towards the barbed wires,"" said Abu Ali, one of those who left Jisr al-Shughour. ""Jisr is finished, it is razed,"" he told Associated Press. Several thousand more Syrians remain within sight of the Turkish border fence but appear to be trying to wait out the crisis in the hope that they can return to their properties in their home town. Many have brought with them livestock and worldly possessions that they would have to leave behind if they crossed the frontier. Residents who fled the army onslaught on Jisr al-Shughour said soldiers were pursuing a scorched-earth policy, pouring petrol on farmlands and setting them alight. All men who had stayed behind aged between 18-40 were being arrested, reports said. Strident international criticism over the Jisr al-Shughour operation, which appears to have been sparked by a large mutiny of soldiers on 5 June, has done nothing to quell the violence in the north. Damascus continues to claim it is fighting armed gangs backed by foreign powers who ambushed regime forces, killing 120 of them, then stayed behind to fight the advance by thousands of troops and up to 200 tanks and artillery pieces. The Turkish prime minister, Recap Tayyip Erdogan, has joined the condemnation of Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, but has not moved to change the historically close ties between the countries. Analysts in Beirut said a turning point for Ankara may come if the uprising in northern Syria spreads to Kurds in the country's north-west, who share a border with south-east Turkey, where Kurdish rebels have fought a protracted insurgency against the government. Assad has not accepted Erdogan's calls over the past week, according to reports from the Turkish capital. Nor has he been prepared to deal with the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. However, Assad did find time to congratulate the Lebanese president, Michel Suleiman, and the prime minister-elect, Najib Miqati, for forming a cabinet after five months of wrangling within Lebanon's feuding political groups. The mooted new government got off to a bad start, with several key players including a Druze leader and a Hezbollah official, suggesting Lebanon faces more troubled days alongside its dominant neighbour to the east."
" TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 jolted northeastern Japan off Fukushima prefecture on Friday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, although no damage was reported and a tsunami advisory for the area was lifted after no waves were sighted. Some highways were closed and high-speed bullet trains were halted after the quake, public broadcaster NHK said. A 50 cm (20 inch) tsunami advisory was issued for the coastal areas of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures that were severely damaged by the massive March 11 quake and tsunami, but was lifted about 35 minutes later. Tokyo Electric Power Co said no abnormalities had been found at radiation monitoring posts at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, about 240 km (150 miles) northeast of Tokyo, or the nearby Daini plant, and that cooling operations at the damaged reactors were continuing. Tohoku Electric Power said there were no abnormalities at its Onagawa nuclear power plant, which has been shut since the March disaster. The focus of the tremor was off the coast of Fukushima, 20 km below the earth's surface, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. On March 11, the northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest on record in Japan, and a massive tsunami that triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The disaster left about 20,400 dead or missing."
" Disaster-weary Japan has been rattled by another strong quake, which measured at a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, triggered a tsunami warning and sent people diving for cover. The Friday quake struck the Pacific seabed not far from the epicentre of the March 11 quake-tsunami disaster that killed more than 20,000 people and triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl 25 years ago. Sirens again wailed along the devastated northeast coast, where people have been terrified by hundreds of aftershocks over the past five months, and the quake also caused buildings to sway across Tokyo. The tremor struck at a depth of 20 kilometres off the Pacific coast, 80 kilometres southeast of Miyagi prefecture, at 2.36pm local time (15:36 AEST), according to a preliminary report from the meteorological agency. The agency issued a 50-centimetre tsunami warning but called it off after only very small waves were seen lapping at the coast. The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), quickly said there were no reports of fresh damage or abnormalities after the latest quake. TEPCO spokeswoman Ai Tanaka told AFP that emergency workers were briefly evacuated but that ""there is no abnormality in our cooling operations at the plant. Radiation gauges did not show any abnormal change either."" The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a destructive widespread tsunami in the broader Pacific Ocean. In the coastal city of Ishinomaki, where more than 4000 people were killed in the March 11 disaster, tsunami sirens wailed, buildings shook strongly and some office workers dived for cover under their desks. An hour after the quake there were no reports of injuries or damage."
" All Ordinaries tumbles 4.4pc after rout on US sharemarket Investors raced for safe-have gold and bonds as they faced the spectre of a double-dip recession in the US and Europe, and strong corporate profit results on the domestic front were eclipsed. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 149.3 points, or 3.51 per cent, at 4101.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index tumbled 147.5 points (4.41 per cent) at 4171.9. On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was 139 points lower at 4080 with 58,833 contracts traded. Asian shares were sharply lower, and South Korea's benchmark closed more than 6 per cent lower. Exporter stocks in many markets tumbled on concerns about weakening demand. Investors scurried to the safe-haven gold and yen, sending the yellow metal surging to an all-time high and the Japanese currency just under its record high. A rout on Wall Street rattled investors in Asia, and ""it is difficult for risk assets to make any sort of sustained run at the moment given the fear that another 5 per cent decline on Wall Street could happen literally any day"", said Tim Waterer, a senior forex dealer at CMC Markets. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 76 points in screen trade by mid-afternoon AEST. Spot gold was recently at its new record high of $US1841.70 per troy ounce, up $US16.80 from New York overnight. ""People are generally nervous and the knee-jerk reaction this morning in Asia was to buy,"" said Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Commodity Broking Services."
" (CNN) -- A tropical storm formed in the Caribbean Friday and is expected to move across the coast of Belize Saturday afternoon or night. Tropical Storm Harvey has maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, with higher gusts, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. The storm is forecast to strengthen somewhat before its center reaches Belize. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the coast of Belize and for the Bay Islands of Honduras, which Harvey is predicted to pass near late Friday. A warning is also in effect for the southeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, from Punta Gruesa south to Chetumal, in Mexico. A tropical storm watch is in effect for the coast of Guatemala and for parts of the coast of Honduras. A warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected within 36 hours, while a watch means that storm conditions are possible within 48 hours. As of 8 p.m. ET, Harvey was about 130 miles east of Isla Roatan, Honduras, heading west at 9 mph. The storm is predicted to dump 3 to 5 inches of rain across Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula, with up to 8 inches possible in some places. A storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 1 to 3 feet above normal tide levels along the coast near and to the north of where Harvey makes landfall."
" Thousands of Iranians have staged a protest rally against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, defying a government ban. AFP news agency reported that defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi appeared at the rally. He wants the election results annulled, alleging fraud. Other reports said marchers had clashed with Ahmadinejad supporters. Mr Ahmadinejad claims that the election result was not rigged, saying the ballot was free and healthy. Following two days of unrest, the interior ministry warned on Monday what it called ""seditious elements"" that ""any disrupter of public security would be dealt with according to the law."" Mr Mousavi's campaign initially announced that the event had been called off, but his website later said he and Mehdi Karroubi, another defeated reformist candidate, would address the crowd. AFP says the demonstrators gathered in central Tehran chanting: ""Mousavi we support you!"" I urge you, Iranian nation, to continue your nationwide protests in a peaceful and legal way   Reuters reported that marchers clashed with supporters of President Ahmadinejad riding motorcycles. The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Tehran, says he understands plain-clothed militias have been authorised to use live ammunition for the first time. Ahead of the rally, correspondents said life appeared to be returning to normal in central Tehran. Shops were open and there was little evidence of the weekend's unrest. However, there was a small demonstration attended by Mr Mousavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard at Tehran University. She said the campaign was continuing, and urged people to go onto their roofs shouting ""God is great"". Reports said paramilitaries were trying to break up the demonstration, and that students had taken cover in a mosque. The campus has been a focus of unrest in recent days. Overnight police and militias raided dormitories, arresting dozens of students. President Ahmadinejad reportedly cancelled a trip to Moscow, where he was due to attend a regional summit on Monday About 200 relatives of detained demonstrators took part in a protest outside Tehran's Revolutionary Tribunal calling for their release, AFP reported EU foreign ministers expressed ""serious concern"" and called for an inquiry into the conduct of the election. On Sunday Mr Mousavi's website carried a statement saying he had formally called on Iran's Guardian Council ,which must certify the counting, to annul the election. He added: ""I urge you, Iranian nation, to continue your nationwide protests in a peaceful and legal way."" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Another defeated candidate, Mohsen Rezaie, also officially contested the results. The Guardian Council said it would rule on both complaints within 10 days. Late on Sunday Mr Mousavi met Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to pursue his case against the results of Friday's election. Mr Khamanei's office said he had told the candidate that ""complaints should be followed through legal channels"" and urged Mr Mousavi to ""follow the issue calmly"". More than 100 opposition figures arrested, including the brother of ex-reformist President Khatami. BBC says ""heavy electronic jamming"" from inside Iran disrupts its Persian TV service Iranian newspapers do not carry reports of the violence Sunday saw clashes between the police and anti-Ahmadinejad protesters in several parts of Tehran for a second day. Police hit protesters with batons and charged them on motorbikes. Mousavi supporters cried ""death to the dictator"" into the evening. Scores of people are reported to have been arrested. Mr Ahmadinejad dismissed the unrest as ""passions after a soccer match"". Foreign powers have expressed concern about the election. On Sunday, Vice-President Joe Biden said: ""It sure looks like the way they're suppressing speech, the way they're suppressing crowds, the way in which people are being treated, that there's some real doubt."" German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he had summoned the Iranian ambassador to explain the election. ""There are a lot of reports about electoral fraud,"" he said. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said: ""I am sorry that instead of openness there has been a somewhat brutal reaction."" But Mr Ahmadinejad was congratulated by the presidents of Iraq, Afghanistan and Venezuela."
" Most of the country is already short of petrol. Recent rises in world oil prices may be bringing Uzbekistan's oil problem to a crisis. But as so often in Uzbekistan, the authorities have pulled a veil of secrecy over what is happening in the oil business. While motorists throughout the country have been queuing for scarce petrol for weeks, the government insists that nothing is wrong. Only the capital, Tashkent, is usually protected from what appears to be a worsening fuel crisis. Private businessmen involved in the oil industry say a major cause is the government's insistence that Uzbekistan should be self-sufficient in oil. While it has oil reserves, mostly in the west, they are not sufficient for the country's needs. But critics say officials exaggerate production figures to suggest they are. New technology could boost production, they say, but instead, cost-cutting and poor management have led to the rapid exhaustion of oil fields. Many Uzbek oil experts have left to work in Kazakhstan or Russia. Economists say Uzbek oil production is falling by about 20% a year, so the current deficit can only get worse. Uzbekistan needs to import oil, but the government cannot afford to, especially at current high world prices, and will not admit it needs to."
" ALI MOORE, PRESENTER: Tens of thousands of homes in Christchurch are without power tonight after a series of earthquakes rocked the city. Ten people were injured in the powerful tremors. Residents panicked and rushed onto the streets fearing a repeat of the earthquake disaster in February.New Zealand correspondent Dominique Schwartz reports from Christchurch.DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ, REPORTER: The people of Christchurch were once again running from buildings and dodging debris as another series of quakes rocked the city.VOX POP: It's just really tiring. I think that's what it is: it's just really exhausting. And then you sit here in town and you wonder if the house is standing.VOX POP II: This quake was like (draws head back), and it just kept rolling like - I've only felt one other quake that rolled like a - like you were on a ship or something. That was freaky.DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: A 5.5 magnitude quake struck early in the afternoon then a magnitude six an hour and a half later.Buildings in the CBD already damaged in previous quakes took another hit.VOX POP III: I just said to my colleagues New Zealand should decide whether it's an ash cloud or an earthquake; I can't deal with both.DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: Amateur video and CCTV footage captured the effects of the quakes as people ran from shops onto the street.Shopping malls and offices were evacuated. Power was cut to 50,000 homes and businesses and roads became grid-locked as thousands of residents fled the inner city.VOX POP IV: I'm pretty shaken up, actually. I mean, it's a pretty traumatic time for everyone.VOX POP V: There's bricks over the road, down the streets and stuff again, so it's weaving around them to get out.DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: Houses south of the city were left precariously perched after fresh rock-falls.In the eastern suburbs, the ground shook so much it turned to liquid. Burst water mains added to the flooding.JOHN KEY, NZ PRIME MINISTER: For the people of Christchurch, I'm sure they just want this to end. Quite frankly, I'm sure they were over all of this and they want the sense of normality to return, and I think we can all feel their frustration. But they have got to know that we stand beside them, that we are totally committed to re-building the city.BOB PARKER, MAYOR OF CHRISTCHURCH: Oh, look, everybody is tired. You know, I mean, we've been through more than just about anyone should ever have to even contemplate going through.DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: A coronial inquest into a building collapse which killed 116 in the February earthquake was interrupted by today's quakes. Families who lost loved ones just months ago forced to flee the building.VOX POP VI: Terrible reminders.VOX POP VII: We all go numb for a period of minutes or so.DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: An emergency operations centre has been set up here on the edge of the CBD, and residents are being told to prepare for a long night with the possibility of more aftershocks.Dominique Schwartz, Lateline. Do you have a comment or a story idea? Get in touch with the Lateline team by clicking here."
" (CNN) -- A former police officer who is white was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thursday in the killing of an unarmed black man in Oakland, California. The verdict was announced in Los Angeles, where the trial was held, shortly after 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET). Johannes Mehserle, who was a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer at the time of the incident, was accused of shooting 22-year-old Oscar Grant on an Oakland train platform on January 1, 2009. Mehserle could have been found not guilty, guilty of second-degree murder or guilty of voluntary manslaughter -- or guilty of involuntary manslaughter, as the jury decided. The trial was moved from Alameda County to Los Angeles due to pre-trial publicity. Mehserle, wearing a gray suit, blue shirt and red tie, showed no emotion during the reading of the verdict. The former officer did not saying anything to Superior Court Judge Robert Perry or attorneys. About a dozen Los Angeles County deputies escorted the handcuffed defendant out of the courtroom after the verdict was announced. Outside the courtroom after the verdict, Grant family members expressed outrage at the verdict. ""My son was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered. My son was murdered,"" said Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson. ""The system has let us down but God will never ever let us down,"" she said. Johnson and other speakers said African-Americans have too long been the victims of police abuse and a biased judicial system. She said Mehserle wasn't found accountable. ""We couldn't get even six hours of deliberations,"" said Johnson, who claimed jurors weren't fair."
" BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor: The whole idea of spies seems a little dated, going back to when Russia was the USSR and was the arch Cold War enemy of the US. But there they were, those Russian spies arrested a few days back, discovered living in America , having blended into American society . Tonight they're en route out of here, and they're part of a spy swap, 10 of them being exchanged for people in Russia accused of spying for the US. We start off tonight with our justice correspondent Pete Williams in our Washington newsroom. Pete , good evening. PETE WILLIAMS reporting: Brian , there's never been anything quite like this, from arrest to guilty plea to expulsion from the country in just 11 days. It's the legal system driven to hyperspeed by a US desire to improve relations with Russia . Assembled quickly in a federal courthouse in New York City , all 10 admitted that, while they pretended to be just the folks next door, they were actually sent here to be secret agents for Russia . One by one, they spoke their true Russian names , then pleaded guilty to being unregistered foreign agents. The government dropped a second charge of money laundering. The judge accepted their pleas and sentenced them to time served, less than two weeks, freeing the government to send them to Russia in a Cold War -style prisoner exchange, all 10 for four people in Russia , along with their families, accused of spying for the US. P. WILLIAMS: The lawyer for one of the 10, Anna Chapman , said it's a good deal for her. Mr. ROBERT BAUM (Lawyer for Anna Chapman): She is happy to be out of jail. The thought that she would have continued under those conditions of confinement for six months or more while awaiting a trial was something that she was not prepared to do. P. WILLIAMS: And a good deal for the US government , says the attorney general. Mr. ERIC HOLDER (Attorney General): Well, we wanted to make sure that we did this as quickly as we could so that we didn't have any kind of ongoing negative impact between the good relationship that is developing between the United States and Russia . P. WILLIAMS: The US was willing to make the swap, officials say, because the 10 did not steal any valuable secrets, so prosecutors could not push for harsh punishment with long prison sentences. A former FBI counterintelligence official says it's a plus to get people like Igor Sutyagin , a Russian accused of spying for the US and sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison camp. Mr. JOHN SLATTERY (Former FBI Official): We've demonstrated to these individuals, who may have worked for us on the other side , that we take care of our people if they're going to do that for us. P. WILLIAMS: Some intelligence experts consider it a good trade, getting something valuable in return for expelling 10 impostors. Mr. DAVID WISE (Intelligence Expert): What do you do with Anna Chapman , who's like a character out of "" From Russia with Love ,"" the James Bond film ? And, you know, throwing them in jail might not be advantageous to relations with Moscow and Washington ."
" Ten people accused of espionage for Russia in a case that has gripped America have pleaded guilty in New York to spying for a foreign country. Money-laundering charges were dropped. Correspondents suggest the guilty plea may facilitate a Cold War-style prisoner exchange. The judge ordered the immediate deportation of the 10. The mother of suspect Anna Chapman has said she expects her to fly home to Russia on Friday. US and Russian officials have not confirmed or denied that assertion. The 10 pleaded guilty to ""conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign country"". Continue reading the main story The 10 agents appeared sombre in court. Two of the accused, married couples, comforted each other, holding hands and smiling. There was a glimpse of the life that awaits the 10 when they are immediately returned to the country they tried to provide information to. The lawyer for one, Vicky Pelaez, said Russian officials had promised her a lifetime monthly payment of $2,000, free housing, and all-expenses-paid visits from her children. It is unclear if the other nine people were given a similar deal. It was the first time they had all appeared in public together since being arrested last month. An 11th suspect went missing after being released on bail in Cyprus, where he had been staying. Prosecutors said the accused had posed as ordinary citizens, some living together as couples for years, and were ordered by Russia's External Intelligence Service (SVR) to infiltrate policymaking circles and collect information."
" Germany has recognised Libya's rebels as ""the legitimate representatives of the Libyan people"". ""We want a free Libya, in peace and democracy without [Muammar] Gaddafi,"" Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in the rebel stronghold Benghazi. About a dozen states have recognised the National Transitional Council. Germany came under criticism for its refusal to back a UN Security Council resolution authorising Nato action to protect Libyan civilians. The NTC emerged from the forces which began a revolt against Colonel Gaddafi's rule on 16 February. After months of bloody conflict, Col Gaddafi remains in control of the capital Tripoli while the rebels hold Benghazi and much of the east. His government said on Monday it had repulsed an attempt by rebels to take the western town of Zawiya, just 30km (18 miles) from Tripoli. The town was under rebel control at the start of the revolt but troops backed by tanks recaptured it after two weeks of heavy fighting. The three-hour visit by Mr Westerwelle and his colleague, Economic Co-operation and Development Minister Dirk Niebel, was the first by German officials to rebel-controlled territory. Speaking alongside rebel foreign minister Ali Issawi, Mr Westerwelle said: ""We share the same goal: Libya without Gaddafi."
" (CNN) -- Yemen's vice president met with opposition parties Monday in Sanaa, as the nation's state news agency said President Ali Abdullah Saleh's health is improving. The meeting between Vice President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi and the opposition was the first of its kind since Hadi became acting president. Saleh and other senior officials were injured June 3 in an attack on the mosque at the presidential palace and are being treated in Saudi Arabia. Yemen has been consumed by unrest for months as protesters have demanded an end to Saleh's rule. In recent weeks, government troops have battled both anti-government tribal forces and Islamic militants, including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. A six-nation Gulf Arab alliance, the Gulf Cooperation Council, has tried to broker a government-opposition agreement that would lead to Saleh's departure, but that effort so far has been unsuccessful. Mohammed Qahtan, spokesman for the Joint Meeting Parties, Yemen's largest opposition bloc, said Monday that the meeting between Hadi and the opposition were fruitful. A number of meetings are needed to ensure Saleh's power transfer, he said, and those will take place over the next couple of weeks. Hadi was cooperative, opposition officials said, and was willing to reach an agreement. Hasan Zaid with the opposition Haq Party, who was among those meeting with Hadi, said that ""when the opposition discussed the GCC proposal, the VP seemed insistent that it is the only solution that can transfer power in Yemen peacefully and safely."" Both sides agreed to meet again to take more steps toward ending Saleh's rule and beginning a transition period, he said. ""The VP said it is not his duty to sign the GCC proposal, and since Saleh has already agreed to sign it, there is no reason for him to sign it,"" Zaid said. Government officials previously have insisted that while talks can take place, no deal would be finalized until Saleh returns to Yemen. Tareq Shami, spokesman for the ruling General People Congress party, was not at the meeting but said, ""Everyone wants to end the crisis in Yemen and the ruling party is being very cooperative."" He said Hadi insisted both sides end the media war and open channels for a political agreement."
" German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle made a surprise visit to the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Monday, where he announced that Germany now officially recognized the National Transitional Council (NTC). ""The NTC is the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people,"" Westerwelle told reporters after meeting council officials. ""We want a free Libya, in peace and democracy without [leader] Moammar Gadhafi."" Westerwelle, accompanied by Development Minister Dirk Niebel, made the unexpected stop in Libya while on the way to a planned trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Germany becomes the 13th nation to recognize the NTC following Australia, Britain, France, Gambia, Italy, Jordan, Malta, Qatar, Senegal, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. ""[Westerwelle] said that he came here to support the Libyan revolution, to support the national council. They believe it is the legitimate representation of the Libyan people,"" NTC vice chairman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told news agency Reuters after meeting the German delegation. ""It is a very a big step and we appreciate it,"" Ghoga added. The German ministers traveled directly to NTC headquarters to meet with its head, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, for talks. Prior to their departure, Westerwelle again urged strongman Moammar Gadhafi to give up power. ""The people of Libya want a peaceful and free future without Gadhafi. This is also our goal. The dictator is on the wrong side of history,"" he said. Westerwelle also defended his country's resistence to use military force, saying Germany was ""not neutral"" but stood ""on the side of democracy and freedom."" He said Germany was ""respected [by other countries] because we do a lot of humanitarian work."" Germany abstained on March 17 from a UN Security Council resolution backing intervention in Libya and chose not to join the NATO-led air war in support of the rebels. In the meantime, however, German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere has said his country would consider sending peacekeeping troops if and when Gadhafi lost power."
" Violence has broken out in Senegal after the country's top court ruled that President Abdoulaye Wade can run for a third term in office next month. Protesters set buildings and barricades on fire in the capital. A policeman was killed in the unrest, officials say. The court also barred Senegal's best-known music star Youssou N'Dour - an opponent of Mr Wade - from standing. Mr Wade, 85, appeared on television to call for calm, describing the protests as ""displays of petulance"". The president has already served two terms in office, but the constitution has been amended since he was last elected and he argued that the change did not apply retrospectively. The opposition had earlier warned it would hold street protests if Mr Wade's candidacy was approved, and crowds had gathered in the capital Dakar to await the ruling. After the decision by the constitutional court, youths set fire to tyres and threw stones at riot police, who responded by firing tear gas. Reports from the central town of Kaolack said the local headquarters of Mr Wade's party had been burned down. Unrest was also reported in Thies and Mbour, near Dakar. The authorities earlier said the protests would be tolerated in spite of an official ban on demonstrations."
" Gaza's unemployment rate was among the world's highest, at 45.2% in late 2010, the UN has found, as Israel's blockade of the territory enters its fifth year. Real wages meanwhile fell by more than a third, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said. Its report says that private businesses have been hardest hit by the continuing ban on virtually all exports. Israel tightened sanctions on Gaza in 2006 after militants captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The blockade was tightened again a year later when Hamas ousted rival Palestinian organisation Fatah from the territory. UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said of the report in a statement: ""These are disturbing trends and the refugees, who make up two-thirds of Gaza's 1.5 million population, were the worst hit."" The unemployment figure, for the second half of 2010, was a slight improvement on the 45.7% jobless rate during the same period in 2009. Continue reading the main story One of the things you notice in Gaza is the tremendous number of people just sitting around apparently with time on their hands - smoking, chatting, shading themselves from the June sun. This week I met a young man, Rami, a graduate with a degree and two masters degrees but still with no job. By no means a supporter of Hamas, he told me had no reason for optimism. Israel imposed the blockade to weaken and put pressure on Hamas, which it calls a terror organisation. But as the blockade enters its fifth year, one of the key findings of this UN report is that the Hamas-run public sector is one of the only areas of the economy that is growing. Hamas employs tens of thousands of people here. Private businesses have largely been crippled by the ban on virtually all exports and the fact that Gazans just don't have the money to spend. But it was an increase from the first half of 2010, when a temporary building boom boosted jobs. The UN report says while private businesses have suffered most, the Hamas-run public sector is one of the few areas where there has been economic growth, with the government employing tens of thousands of people."
" Four former and current Sun journalists and a police officer arrested over alleged payments made to police by journalists have been released on bail. Scotland Yard said the men, aged 29 to 57, were arrested at addresses in London and Essex. The 29-year-old, a serving officer in the Metropolitan Police's Territorial Policing Command, was arrested at his work - a central London police station. News Corporation said it had provided information to the police. The offices of the Sun's parent company News International in Wapping have been searched. The BBC understands the arrested journalists are ex-deputy editor Fergus Shanahan, ex-managing editor Graham Dudman, crime editor Mike Sullivan and head of news Chris Pharo. The Met said the arrests, part of Operation Elveden, were prompted by information given to police by News Corporation. A News International source told the BBC it was an effort aimed at ""draining the swamp"" so as to restore journalistic integrity at News International titles. News Corporation and its management and standards committee (MSC) issued a statement following the arrests saying it had made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated. ""It commissioned the management and standards committee to undertake a review of all News International titles, regardless of cost, and to proactively co-operate with law enforcement and other authorities if potentially relevant information arose at those titles."
" Researchers identified new species of pancake batfishes, a flat fish rarely seen because of the dark depths they favor. They are named for the clumsy way they ""walk"" along the sea bottom, like a bat crawling. ""One of the fishes that we describe is completely restricted to the oil spill area,"" John Sparks of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, said in a statement released on Thursday. ""If we are still finding new species of fishes in the Gulf, imagine how much diversity, especially microdiversity, is out there that we do not know about."" Writing in the Journal of Fish Biology, Sparks and his colleagues named the species as Halieutichthys intermedius and H. bispinosus. A third already known species called H. aculeatus also only lives in waters affected by the spill, they said. Pancake batfishes have round, flat bodies with giant heads and mouths they can thrust forward. They use arm-like fins to drag themselves along the bottom and a modified dorsal fin excretes fluid to lure prey. Sparks said the three species had been considered just one species, but his team found distinct differences. ""These discoveries underscore the potential loss of undocumented biodiversity that a disaster of this scale may portend,"" he said. BP aims to plug the well late this month or in August. The well has pumped millions of gallons (liters) of oil into the Gulf, coating shorelines and animals and having as yet unknown effects on creatures living in deep waters. It threatens to devastate the Gulf region's multibillion-dollar fishing and tourist industries."
" Leaders of the Thailand anti-government protests that brought part of Bangkok to a standstill earlier this year have appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges. The 17 so-called red-shirts are also accused of inciting violence and threatening officials. At least 90 people were killed during 10 weeks of protests and clashes. It comes as emergency rule was lifted in three provinces. It remains in force in seven areas including Bangkok. The 17 men, who were chained at the ankles, denied all charges against them in a preliminary hearing at Bangkok Criminal Court. The next hearing was set for 27 September. They could face the death penalty if found guilty of terrorism. The state of emergency, which was first imposed in April, officially bans gatherings of more than five people and grants the security forces sweeping powers to censor media and detain suspects without charge for up to 30 days. Gradually the government has been lifting the special provisions in provinces where, in its view, the security situation has stabilised. That now includes three provinces in the north and north-east, where the anti-government protest movement has its roots. Some Western governments and several human rights groups have expressed concern about the continued use of the law."
" Prime Minister John Key has announced there will not be a state of emergency declared in Christchurch after taking his first look at the damage caused by the latest round of earthquakes to hit the beleaguered city. Addressing the media after his first look at the city, the Prime Minister said he had spoken with Christchurch mayor Bob Parker and they were confident a state of emergency was not required. Meanwhile, the Canterbury district Health Board has confirmed that one elderly rest home resident has died as a result of the quakes and the Education Minister has confirmed that most Christchurch schools will reopen soon. An elderly rest home resident has died after yesterday's earthquakes. Canterbury District Health Board spokeswoman Amy Milne today said the board had been notified an aged care resident's death was connected to an earthquake. Geoff Hipkins, chief executive of aged care provider Oceania, confirmed to Radio New Zealand that a man died in one of its Christchurch rest homes. The man fell during the 6.3 magnitude quake and became unconscious. Mr Hipkins said the man was seen by a doctor and seemed to recover, but died during the night. He could give no other details, as the man's family was being told. Most Christchurch schools were not significantly damaged by yesterday's aftershocks and should be able to reopen in the next two days, Education Minister Anne Tolley says."
" JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli court on Wednesday rejected a request by a Palestinian woman from the Gaza Strip to study in the Israeli-occupied West Bank despite Israel's recent moves to relax the Gaza blockade. Three justices found for the Israeli Defense Ministry's view that Fatima Sharif, 29, a Gaza human rights attorney, ""failed to meet the criteria"" for an exit permit to entitle her to travel to the land-locked West Bank, where Palestinians seek a state. Sharif had planned to pursue a master's degree in human rights and democracy at Bir Zeit University near the West Bank town of Ramallah, where Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's headquarters are located. ""We were not persuaded that in the current political and security situation, that personal circumstances would justify any intervention in the decision,"" the justices wrote. Human rights activists say Sharif is one of thousands of Palestinians unable to cross to the West Bank from Gaza due to longstanding Israeli restrictions tightened since Hamas Islamists who reject Israel's existence seized Gaza in 2007. Israel's cabinet eased a Gaza blockade last month, allowing in most civilian goods while keeping out items seen as enabling the manufacture of weaponry, a decision prompted by a world outcry after nine were killed on a Gaza aid flotilla in May. The Israeli decision did not lift restrictions that bar most Gazans from leaving the territory by crossing through Israel, but pledged to streamline the process of issuing such permits, a Defense ministry statement to the court said. Israeli exit restrictions for Gaza's 1.5 million people have only been lifted in humanitarian cases such as medical emergencies. Many Palestinians from Gaza also access the outside world through the territory's border crossing with Egypt. Sharif, who earned her law degree in Gaza, told Reuters she has not left the territory via Israel for years. ""I feel like I'm living in a cage. Somebody is holding the key,"" she said."
" The emergency decree has been in place since April, giving security forces broad power to deal with anti-government protests that spiraled into the worst political violence in modern Thai history and left 91 people dead and nearly 2,000 wounded. Security and government officials have continually warned of potential unrest in Bangkok and some provinces as reason to keep the decree in place, despite pressure from rights groups, businesses and tour operators to revoke it. ""While there are still rumblings in these provinces, the premier views that existing law is enough to maintain order there,"" Panitan Wattanayagorn, deputy secretary-general to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, told Reuters after a cabinet meeting. The intractable, five-year crisis in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy has eased off since May 19, when troops engaged in six days of bloody confrontations forcibly dispersed thousands of ""red shirt"" protesters demanding new elections. The Thai stock market is up 17 percent this year at a two-year high, despite large foreign selling during the unrest, while the government and economists have forecast growth of up to 8 percent this year. Foreign inflows helped lift the baht to a 28-month high last week and consumer confidence rose sharply in July, showing the effects of the political violence were short-lived. However, reconciliation among powerful groups remains elusive and many Thais expect tensions to resurface in future. The provinces where the decree were lifted included one in the northeast and two popular tourist destinations in the north, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Tourism accounts for six percent of Thailand's economy and employs 1.8 million people directly. The state of emergency bans political gatherings of more than five people and gives the government powers to impose curfew and censor media and detain suspects without charge for 30 days. Areas still under emergency rule are three provinces in the northeast, deemed hotbeds of anti-government activism, as well as Bangkok and its surrounding areas, which would allow security forces to block would-be demonstrators from entering the city."
" Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- At least two suicide bombers attacked the British Council in the Afghan capital Friday, killing at least three people, including two police officers, officials said. Five people were also injured in the attack inside the heavy-guarded Kabul neighborhood, a strike that coincides with the 92nd anniversary of Afghan independence from Great Britain. The first militant drove a vehicle packed with explosives toward the Council's main security gate before detonating the device, according to Afghan police spokesman Hashamap Stanikzai. The second man then attempted to enter the compound wearing a vest filled with explosives. He also detonated himself, Stanikzai said. Gunfire could be heard throughout the incident, and military helicopter circled overhead, said Muhammad Zahir, a police spokesman. The British Council is located in the same complex as the British Embassy in downtown Kabul. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, the group's spokesman said. The attack occurred not far from the Intercontinental Hotel, the scene of another insurgent attack in June against a high-profile western target."
" 1 of 9. A wounded Afghan policeman is carried away from the site of an attack on offices belonging to the British Council in Kabul August 19, 2011. A suicide bomber in car blew himself up in front of the gate of the British Council in Kabul before dawn, and another car packed with explosives detonated moments later while four attackers, three of them men clad in the all-enveloping burqa cloak worn by Afghan women, stormed the compound, police said. Scores of Afghan and NATO troops surrounded a compound strewn with wooden and metal debris while two helicopters hovered on watch above as the fighting progressed over at least eight hours, interspersed by a total of eight blasts. Toward the end of the siege, one of the attackers holed himself up in the bulletproof basement of the shattered building. There was only one option left to get him out, authorities said: blow him up. A Reuters witness heard two big blasts in close succession near the siege's end, around 1 p.m. Kabul time (4:30 a.m. EDT). ""Eight members of the Afghan national police and one foreign soldier were killed,"" Mohammad Zahir, head of criminal investigations for the Kabul police, told Reuters. He said he was not able to confirm the nationality of the foreign soldier. NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed a foreign soldier died in the attack but did not identify the nationality. A ministry of interior statement later said at least 22 people were wounded in the attack on the British Council, a state-funded agency running cultural and English language programs. It is not part of the British embassy in Kabul's diplomatic zone. Two British teachers and one South African were inside the compound during the attack, but were later rescued by an elite Afghan unit, British Ambassador to Afghanistan Sir William Patey told a press conference. ""This was a dastardly, cowardly attack designed to attack British interests, but ultimately ending in the deaths of many Afghans and we regret the death of the Afghans,"" Patey said, adding that the attack was over."
" Gunmen have stormed the British Council office in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least 12 people and taking over the compound for hours. A suicide car bomb destroyed the compound wall and a number of heavily armed men forced their way inside. After several hours of gunfire and blasts, the UK's ambassador in Kabul said all the gunmen had been killed. The Taliban said the attack marked the anniversary of Afghanistan's independence from the UK in 1919. There has been some confusion about the number of people killed in the Kabul attacks. At least eight Afghan policemen and a New Zealand special forces soldier were killed, officials from both countries said. Three security guards also died, the Afghan interior ministry told the BBC. UK Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the ""cowardly attack"", saying he had spoken to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key to thank him for the role the country's special forces had played in defending the compound. The US secretary of state called the attack ""vicious"" and said the country offered its condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed and injured. ""Brutal attacks such as these will not lessen our resolve or our commitment to Afghanistan and the region,"" Hillary Clinton said in a statement. ""The United States will continue to support the Afghan people and to assist the Afghan government, security forces, and civil society as they rebuild after decades of war,"" she added."
" A courageous passerby was sprayed in the face with a fire extinguisher while trying to stop yobs from looting a phone shop. A CCTV clip showing the attack in Battersea has been released in a bid to encourage the passerby - and any witnesses - to contact police. The footage was shown last night on a BBC Crimewatch Special featuring the violence and disorder across London. It shows an innocent member of the public outside the Carphone Warehouse shop near Clapham Junction at about 10.20pm on Monday, August 8. He bravely tries to stop a gang of thugs from smashing the shop window further but they attack him with a fire extinguisher, spraying it directly in his face. Anyone with information should call the Operation Withern incident room on 020 8345 4142 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."
" Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Opposition activists formed a human chain outside one of the entrances to Tahrir Square on Saturday afternoon to prevent two Egyptian military tanks from crossing through barricades into what has effectively become an anti-Mubarak enclave in the heart of the Egyptian capital. An eyewitness said scuffles broke out after an army general asked demonstrators to take down their makeshift barricades of corrugated steel and debris, which were built up during 48 hours of bloody fighting with regime supporters next to Cairo's landmark Egyptian Museum. ""This general went through the barricades, they [the soldiers] knocked down some barricades on the way to the museum, which caused some panic and scuffling,"" said photographer Ron Haviv. ""When he did it all chaos broke loose."" Haviv said that initial tension was defused after Gen. Hassan Al Roweni began negotiating with medics who have established a first aid station for wounded combatants just behind the first line of barriers. ""He is still talking to doctors at the clinic,"" Haviv said. ""He is asking them to remove the clinic."" Military guards in red berets struggled to hold back the enthusiastic crowd as many Egyptians tried to embrace and kiss the general amid chants of ""The military and the people are one hand."" Over the past week, Tahrir Square has been transformed from a bustling urban center into a fortified campground inhabited by thousands of well-organized anti-Mubarak demonstrators. It includes sidewalk first aid clinics and stations for charging cell phones, and the protesters respond to threats by blowing whistles and clanging metal rods. The alarm prompts scores of men to race to the entrances to the square, where rocks for stone-throwing are stockpiled in preparation for possible battles. Eyewitnesses said Roweni's visit appeared aimed at trying to persuade demonstrators to reopen the square to ordinary traffic. The officer took to the stage erected at the north end of the square for several minutes and made an unsuccessful attempt to appeal to the demonstrators. ""You can all express your views and opinions freely, but I ask you to put the security of Egypt first,"" Roweni announced through a loudspeaker system."
" SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Mazda Motor Corp. 7261, -3.14% MZDAF, -1.36% has indicated that overseas recalls related to power-steering flaws in its cars will likely rise to 514,000, according to a report published Wednesday. The Nikkei business daily reported that Mazda has already filed applications to recall 215,000 vehicles in the U.S., and nearly 11,000 in China, and it may expand the move to Europe and Australia. The recalls target the Axela and Premacy, manufactured in Japan from 2007 to 2009, the Nikkei reported. In some markets, those models are known as the Mazda3 and the Mazda5, respectively."
" The Lede is a blog that remixes national and international news stories -- adding information gleaned from the Web or gathered through original reporting -- to supplement articles in The New York Times and draw readers in to the global conversation about the news taking place online. Readers are encouraged to take part in the blogging by using the comments threads to suggest links to relevant material elsewhere on the Web or by submitting eyewitness accounts, photographs or video of news events. Read more."
" A man who opened fire at a beauty spa in the US state of Wisconsin killed three women, including his wife, and injured four others on Sunday. Radcliffe Haughton, 45, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the Azana Salon & Spa in Brookfield, where his wife, Zina, had worked. He had recently been given a restraining order after being accused of slashing his wife's car tyres. Of the four women injured, one remained in critical condition on Monday. A Wisconsin medical examiner confirmed Mrs Haughton as one of the three victims on Monday. The others were identified as 35-year-old Cary Robuck and 38-year-old Maelyn Lind. The shooting began around 11:15 (15:15 GMT) on Sunday. A quick-reaction Swat team and hostage negotiators were sent to the scene, in addition to FBI agents. Police searched the surrounding area, ordering customers at a nearby mall to stay inside. Brookfield Police Chief Dan Tushaus said the first officers on the scene found the building full of smoke from a fire believed to have been set by Haughton. Areas near the spa in Brookfield, including a shopping centre and hospital, were locked down, as police searched for the gunman. He was eventually found in one of the spa's locked rooms. The White House issued a statement saying Barack and Michelle Obama's thoughts and prayers were with the victims of ""this horrible shooting"" and their families."
" The 80-year-old won an absolute majority of 543 votes out of a possible 1,009 after a fourth round of voting. Mr Napolitano was the chosen candidate of incoming PM Romano Prodi, but faced opposition from the conservatives. Mr Prodi has decided on his key cabinet positions and says he will be ready to govern within several days. Mr Napolitano is the country's 11th post-war president and a well-respected figure from the Democrats of the Left, the biggest party in Mr Prodi's coalition, says the BBC's Christian Fraser in Rome. Mr Prodi, who narrowly won parliamentary elections last month, says Mr Napolitano will be sworn in next Monday and that he will be given a mandate for his new government that Wednesday. This probably means that the week after, they will have a vote of confidence in both houses for Mr Prodi's new government, our correspondent says. Members of the electoral college of legislators and regional representatives who elected Mr Napolitano rose to applaud him as he reached the majority of votes needed for election - well above the minimum 506 necessary. ""I am very satisfied, because the number of votes was the most we expected. I believe that the centre-right opposition has lost a chance to join us, because Napolitano will be the president of all Italians,"" Mr Prodi said. Italy's head of state - basically a figurehead - is elected by 1,010 grand electors, including MPs from both houses and representatives of 20 local regional governments. Mr Napolitano, a life senator, was interior minister in Mr Prodi's 1996 government, which are largely the reasons outgoing PM Silvio Berlusconi has refused to endorse his candidacy."
" KABUL (Reuters) - Archaeologists in Afghanistan, where Taliban Islamists are fighting the Western-backed government, have uncovered Buddhist-era remains in an area south of Kabul, an official said on Tuesday. ""There is a temple, stupas, beautiful rooms, big and small statues, two with the length of seven and nine meters, colourful frescos ornamented with gold and some coins,"" said Mohammad Nader Rasouli, head of the Afghan Archaeological Department. ""Some of the relics date back to the fifth century (AD). We have come across signs that there are items maybe going back to the era before Christ or prehistory,"" he said. ""We need foreign assistance to preserve these and their expertise to help us with further excavations."" The excavation site extends over 12 km (7.5 miles) in the Aynak region of Logar province just south of Kabul, where China is mining copper ore as part of its multi-billion dollar investments in the Central Asian country. Rasouli said the mining work had not harmed the sites -- which were known but had not been examined in detail -- but smugglers managed to loot and destroy some relics before the government excavation work began last year. Government and foreign troops are battling an insurgency led by the radical Taliban movement which destroyed Buddhist statues at Bamyan during its five-year control of the mountainous country from 1996 to 2001, viewing the monuments as an affront to Islam. Many antiquities and historical sites were destroyed or pillaged during decades of civil war and foreign interventions. Now almost entirely Muslim, Afghanistan has seen eras in its long history when other faiths such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism were widely practised. Rasouli said the government did not have the resources to move the relics from the remote area, which has seen some clashes during the insurgency, but hoped to build a museum there instead."
" MPs from the new centre-left coalition could not agree with opponents on a compromise, and no candidate managed to win the necessary two-thirds of votes. Mr Ciampi, 85, is stepping down after seven years in office. Only when the president is elected can centre-left leader Romano Prodi - who narrowly won the elections last month - start to form his new government. The first three ballots in the vote for president require a two-thirds majority. Thereafter only a simple majority is needed. A fourth round is expected to be held on Wednesday. Mr Prodi said his bloc, with a slim parliamentary majority, would force through his candidate, Giorgio Napolitano. ""We have simply decided all together to vote for Napolitano,"" he said after meeting his senior allies. Italy's head of state - basically a figurehead - is elected by 1,010 Grand Electors, including MPs from both houses and representatives of 20 local regional governments. Mr Prodi put forward at the last minute a compromise choice - the 80-year-old life senator Mr Napolitano, a former communist. Mr Napolitano replaced Mr Prodi's previous candidate, Massimo D'Alema, another former prime minister and leader of Italy's largest left-wing party, the Democrats of the Left."
" British troops in the Sangin area of Afghanistan's Helmand province are to be replaced by US forces, the UK's Defence Secretary Liam Fox has said. The UK has suffered its heaviest losses in the area, with 99 deaths since 2001. About 1,000 Royal Marines are expected to leave and be redeployed to central Helmand by the end of 2010. The military insists the move is a redeployment, now there are more US troops on the ground, but the Taliban are certain to portray it as a defeat. Last month Britain handed over command in Helmand to a US general. Maj Gen Richard Mills, of the US Marine Corps, assumed control of all Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) troops in Helmand on 1 June. Dr Fox told MPs UK forces had made ""good progress"" in Sangin, but the move would enable Britain to provide ""more manpower and greater focus"" on Helmand's busy central belt, leaving the north and south to the US. ""The result will be a coherent and equitable division of the main populated areas of Helmand between three brigade-sized forces, with the US in the north and the south, and the UK-led Task Force Helmand, alongside our outstanding Danish and Estonian allies, in the central population belt,"" he told the Commons. About 300 logistic and security troops - from the Theatre Reserve Battalion stationed in Cyprus - would be sent to Helmand to help with the redeployment, he said. The Theatre Reserve Battalion for Afghanistan is currently provided by the 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment."
" Syrian gunboats firing heavy machine guns pounded impoverished districts of Latakia on Sunday, killing at least 21 people in a renewed assault on the Mediterranean coastal city, activists said. As the gunships blasted waterfront districts, ground troops backed by tanks and security agents stormed several neighborhoods. The sharp crackle of machine-gun fire and loud explosions could be heard across the city. The intense operations in Latakia, a key port city once known as a summer tourist draw, are part of a brutal government crackdown on several Syrian cities meant to root out protesters demanding the ouster of President Bashar Assad. Latakia has a potentially explosive sectarian mix. Sunnis, which are a majority in Syria, live in the city's urban core, while Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, populates villages on the city's outskirts, along with small minorities of Christians, ethnic Turks and other groups. The attacks on predominantly Sunni areas of Latakia, a city with a population of more than 600,000, raised concerns of sectarian bloodshed in a country that has already seen an alarming rise in sectarian tensions since the start of the uprisings. On Saturday, at least 20 tanks and armored personnel carriers rolled into the city's al-Ramel district amid intense gunfire that sent many residents fleeing the area. Activists said at least two people were killed. The al-Ramel neighborhood has seen large anti-Assad protests since the uprising against the regime began in mid-March. On Friday, as many as 10,000 people took to the streets there on Friday, calling for Assad's ouster. After their initial assault on the city Saturday, Syrian security forces stormed several districts in Latakia again on Sunday. At least 21 people have died in the shooting. The death toll was confirmed by the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the activist network the Local Coordination Committees. The activists say most of the deaths occurred in the al-Ramel and Skantouri neighborhoods of Latakia. Both groups said gunboats in the Mediterranean are taking part in the offensive, firing heavy machine guns at al-Ramel. A large number of people were wounded as a result of the indiscriminate firing on houses, they said."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been re-elected as president of Iran in a resounding victory, the interior minister says. He won some 62.6% of the vote in an election marked by a high turnout of 85%, official figures show. Supporters of pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi have cried foul and clashed with riot police in Tehran, despite a ban on public protests. Iran's Supreme Leader congratulated Mr Ahmadinejad on his win, and urged his rivals against ""provocations"". In a statement, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the high turnout and described the count as a ""real celebration"" and called for calm in the aftermath of the result. A crowd of about 3,000 attacked the police, some of whom were on motorbikes, which they set on fire. The sky was thick with black smoke. Police attacked the crowd with sticks and maybe teargas. I didn't expect to see people turning on the secret police. We were filming when we were surrounded by angry secret policemen. The crowd turned on them and chased them off. I suspect we are not looking at a revolution but there is serious anger. It all depends on how the government responds - if they use violence, that could inflame the situation. ""Enemies may want to spoil the sweetness of this event... with some kind of ill-intentioned provocations,"" the ayatollah said. Mr Mousavi has also claimed victory, calling the result a ""dangerous charade"", as his supporters vowed to appeal for a re-run. But observers say this would have little chance of success. Riot police have used batons against a crowd of about 3,000 supporters of Mr Mousavi, some of whom were wearing his campaign colour of green and chanting ""Down with the dictator"", news agencies say. Correspondents say this is the worst public violence for a decade in Tehran. Four police motorbikes were set on fire near the interior ministry, the BBC's John Simpson in Tehran says. The authorities had earlier sealed off Mr Mousavi's campaign HQ, preventing his supporters from holding a news conference. Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli said that any demonstrations needed official permission, and none had been given. The AFP news agency quoted a senior police official as saying: ""The time of dancing and shouting is over."" One opposition newspaper has been closed down and BBC websites also appear to have been blocked by the Iranian authorities. Mr Mousavi was hoping to prevent Mr Ahmadinejad winning more than 50% of the vote, in order to force a run-off election. However, Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli said his share of the vote was 33.75%. Mr Mousavi, a former prime minister, dismissed the election result as deeply flawed. ""I personally strongly protest the many obvious violations and I'm warning I will not surrender to this dangerous charade,"" the Reuters news agency reported him as saying. ""The result of such performance by some officials will jeopardise the pillars of the Islamic Republic and will establish tyranny."" Mr Mousavi had said there was a shortage of ballot papers and alleged that millions of people had been denied the right to vote. His election monitors were not allowed enough access to polling stations, he added, saying he would deal seriously with any irregularities. The head of the Committee to Protect the People's Votes, a group set up by all three opposition candidates, said the group would not accept the result, alleging fraud. They have asked Iran's Guardian Council - a powerful body controlled by conservative clerics - to cancel the results and re-run the elections. A second opposition candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, declared the results ""illegitimate and unacceptable"". Our correspondent says the result has been greeted with surprise and with deep scepticism by many Iranians. The figures, if they are to be believed, show Mr Ahmadinejad winning strongly even in the heartland of Mr Mousavi, the main opposition contender. The scale of Mr Ahmadinejad's win means that many people who voted for a reformist candidate in the previous presidential election four years ago have apparently switched their votes to Mr Ahmadinejad, he adds. BBC Iranian affairs analyst Sadeq Saba says the result means that hope for peaceful reform in Iran may die for a long time. There had been a surge of interest in Iran's presidential election, with unprecedented live television debates between the candidates and rallies attended by thousands. There were long queues at polling stations, with turnout 85%. Remnants of the campaign are already being removed Four candidates contested the election, with Mohsen Razai and Mehdi Karroubi only registering about 1% of the vote each. President Ahmadinejad draws support mainly from the urban poor and rural areas, while his rivals have support among the middle classes and the educated urban population. Iran is ruled under a system known as Velayat-e Faqih, or ""Rule by the Supreme Jurist"", who is currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It was adopted by an overwhelming majority in 1979 following the Islamic revolution which overthrew the autocratic Western-backed Shah. But the constitution also stipulates that the people are the source of power and the country holds phased presidential and parliamentary elections every four years. All candidates are vetted by the powerful conservative-controlled Guardian Council, which also has the power to veto legislation it deems inconsistent with revolutionary principles. What do think of the election results so far? How important are the elections for Iran's future? You can send us your views using the form below: The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" 1 of 12. A rebel fighter raises his arms as a convoy of residents flee fighting between rebels and government forces loyal to Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi near the coastal town of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, August 14, 2011. The swift rebel advance on the town of Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, will deal a psychological blow to Gaddafi's supporters and severs the coastal highway to Tunisia that keeps the capital supplied with food and fuel. There was no sign Tripoli was under immediate threat from a rebel attack: heavily armed pro-Gaddafi forces still lie between Zawiyah and the capital. Previous rebel advances have often been reversed, despite help from NATO warplanes. But rebel forces are in their strongest position since the uprising against 41 years of Gaddafi's rule began in February. They now control the coast both east and west of Tripoli, while to the north is the Mediterranean and a NATO naval blockade and there is fighting to the south. ""I hope we can go and attack Tripoli in a few days,"" said Legun, a taxi driver turned anti-Gaddafi fighter. ""Now that we have Zawiyah, we can free Libya,"" he said. In a day of action across a swathe of northwest Libya, rebels said they had seized the town of Surman, next door to Zawiyah, there was fighting in the town of Garyan that controls the southern access to Tripoli, and shooting could be heard near the main Libyan-Tunisian border crossing. Moussa Ibrahim, a spokesman for Gaddafi's government, said Zawiyah and Garyan were ""under our full control."" He said however there were small pockets of fighting in two other locations in the area around Tripoli. The coastal highway between Tripoli and Tunisia had not been blocked by the fighting, Ibrahim said in a telephone interview, but foreigners were not being allowed to use the route for now ""to save them from any bullets here or there."" Rebels from the Western Mountains region to the south dashed forward into Zawiyah late on Saturday, encountering little sustained resistance from Gaddafi's forces. Near Zawiyah's central market early on Sunday, about 50 rebel fighters were milling around and triumphantly shouting ""Allahu Akbar!"" or ""God is greatest."""
" Bankers are bracing for chaos in dealing rooms with foreign investors and local businessmen fleeing the Egyptian pound after street protests paralyzed much of the economy and dried up important sources of foreign exchange. Armored personnel carriers stood guard at intersections where soldiers had erected sandbag barriers, as buses dropped employees off at large state banks. Outside the banks, dozens of customers were waiting to enter when they open for public business at 10:00 a.m. ""We have to have some order around here. People are anxious to get paid and pull money out. It has been almost two weeks and life is at a standstill,"" said Metwali Sha'ban, a volunteer making a list of customers to organize who would enter first. With the political crisis still unresolved, banks may see panicky withdrawals of cash by Egyptians worried that access to their deposits could be restricted again. Banks and ATM machines in downtown Cairo have attracted long queues of customers anxious to withdraw money before banks close after a shortened working day at 1:30 p.m. ""I have been visiting several bank branches downtown since nine in the morning,"" said Soad Mohamed, 62, who wanted to cash in her pension. ""Every bank I go to, they tell me, the bank is closed. I have one more hour to go before banks close again, and I still have not been able to withdraw the amount of money I need."" Banks may also be nervous to trade with each other in the domestic money markets, a source of funding for them. Some 341 bank branches, including 152 in Cairo, are opening across the country. In Tahrir Square, the focal point of nearly two weeks of protests against President Hosni Mubarak, soldiers were opening the doors of the main government administrative building, the Mugamma."
" Pyongyang has recently carried out nuclear tests and rocket launches North Korea said it will ""weaponise"" its plutonium stocks amid threats to take military action over United Nations sanctions, state media said. Pyongyang has for the first time confirmed it is seeking to enrich uranium in efforts to develop nuclear weapons, it said. North Korea would view any US-led attempts to ""blockade"" it as an ""act of war"", the Associated Press (AP) said. It follows a toughening of UN sanctions against the communist state. The warning from North Korea's foreign ministry was carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Saturday. On Friday, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to impose tougher sanctions on communist North Korea, after its nuclear test on 25 May. The North also tested a rocket thought to be capable of carrying a warhead, though Pyongyang said it was designed to carry a satellite. The UN sanctions include the inspection of North Korean ships, a wider ban on arms sales and other financial measures. The US deputy ambassador at the UN, Rosemary DiCarlo, said the new vote was a strong and united response to North Korea's ""unacceptable behaviour"". The North Korean foreign ministry statement said: ""Firstly, all plutonium to be extracted will be weaponised. One third of used fuel rods have so far been reprocessed. ""Secondly, we will start uranium enrichment,"" the statement added. The BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul said the admission that Pyongyang was trying to enrich uranium was worrying, as the processing could take place in a smaller reactor and was easier to hide. Korea analyst Aidan Foster Carter told the BBC Pyongyang's process was ""out of control"" and that nothing seemed able to persuade North Korea to stop its nuclear ambitions - neither sanctions nor financial incentives. He said the nuclear stand-off may be part of internal ructions as Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong-il decides which of his three sons will take over from him. North Korea is thought to possess enough reprocessed plutonium for between six and eight nuclear weapons. However, analysts say Pyongyang has not yet mastered the technology to make a nuclear warhead small enough to place on a missile. Pyongyang has stated its nuclear weapons programme is purely a defensive measure to protect it against a US attack. Washington has said it does not intend to attack the North, and is concerned Pyongyang's nuclear knowledge could be passed to other states."
" For years, Lance Armstrong carried a growing burden of doping accusations up increasingly steep hills, accumulating fans, wealth and respect along the way. In one day, the renowned cyclist and cancer survivor lost a major endorsement deal with Nike -- once worth millions of dollars -- and the chairmanship of the cancer charity he founded 15 years ago. While stepping down as chairman of Livestrong was Armstrong's idea, losing Nike's support wasn't. Nike, which initially stood by Armstrong, dropped him Wednesday with a terse statement citing what it called ""seemingly insurmountable evidence"" that he participated in doping. Hours later, brewery giant Anheuser-Busch followed suit, saying it will let Armstrong's contract expire at the end of the year. Nike and Anheuser-Busch said they still plan to support Livestrong and its initiatives. The American Cancer Society, which has had a long relationship with Armstrong, said only that it would continue to collaborate with Livestrong. Armstrong walked away as chairman of the Livestrong cancer charity ""to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career,"" according to a statement posted to the group's website. He will remain on the charity's board of directors, but he will turn over the reins to founding chairman Jeff Garvey. The move comes a week after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency detailed what it called ""overwhelming"" evidence of Armstrong's involvement as a professional cyclist in ""the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program."" The seven-time Tour de France winner has consistently denied the claims, and legions of fans and corporate supporters had backed him -- until now."
" A third person has been charged with murdering three men who were hit by a car while protecting businesses during disorder in Birmingham. Haroon Jahan, 21, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, died after the incident in Winson Green. Adam King, 23, from Kings Norton, Birmingham, was charged with three counts of murder on Sunday. A 17-year-old boy and a man, aged 26, have already appeared in court charged with murdering the three men. Joshua Donald, from Kelsall Croft, Ladywood, and the teenager from Winson Green, who cannot be named, appeared before magistrates earlier. They will appear at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday. Mr King will appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Monday. The three men were killed in the early hours of Wednesday. A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said a 27-year-old man has been bailed pending further inquiries. A 16-year-old boy was released on bail on Saturday and a 32-year-old man was bailed last week. Police investigating the matter said a third car thought to have been involved in the incident had been recovered."
" * Aircraft bomb stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Mehsud  * U.S. officials see Pakistani operation in South Waziristan * President Zardari vows ""war to the end""  By Augustine Anthony  ISLAMABAD, June 13 (Reuters) - Pakistani warplanes struck a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud on Saturday, hours after President Asif Ali Zardari vowed to wage war against militancy ""to the end"".  U.S. officials, thankful that their nuclear-armed ally has gone on the offensive to stop the Taliban tide sweeping across the northwest, said they believed an operation had begun against Mehsud's forces in the South Waziristan, at the southeast extremity of the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.  ""We will continue this war to the end,"" Zardari said in a televised address to the nation broadcast in the early hours of Saturday morning.  Under pressure in their sanctuaries, Islamist militants have responded with a wave of bomb attacks in Pakistani cities, including one on Tuesday that killed nine people and devastated the top hotel in Peshawar, the main city in the northwest.  In the past few days the Pakistani military has expanded its theatre of operations, and launched strikes on Taliban fighters across the northwest, most notably in Bannu district at the gateway to the Waziristan region, where according to the military more than 130 militants have been killed since Tuesday.  The military says around 1,300 militants have been killed in Swat and adjoining areas since the army swung into action in late April. Independent casualty estimates were unavailable.  Rising violence has raised fears for Pakistan's stability and for the safety of its nuclear arsenal but the offensive in Swat has reassured the United States, which needs its Muslim ally's support to defeat al Qaeda and stabilise neighboring Afghanistan."
" Senegal have been disqualified from the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations after a riot forced the abandonment of Saturday's home tie with Ivory Coast. It is not yet clear whether the Confederation of African Football will take further action against Senegal. The match in Dakar was called off after 74 minutes, with Ivory Coast 2-0 up on the night and 6-2 ahead on aggregate. Caf has officially confirmed the result as a 2-0 win for Ivory Coast, sending them through to next year's tournament. Senegal manager Ferdinand Coly said on Sunday that ""Senegal will accept the sanctions"". He also apologised to Ivory Coast. Trouble flared after striker Didier Drogba scored his side's second goal from the penalty spot. Visiting supporters were forced to leap down on to the pitch to escape as violence erupted, with home fans throwing missiles, stones, bottles and firecrackers. Ivorian players took refuge in the centre circle while the security forces used tear gas to disperse the rioting fans. The match was suspended for 40 minutes while police tried to restore order but the referee was forced to call off the second-leg, final-round qualifier. Caf says its decision to ban Senegal is in accordance with the provisions of article 16 paragraph 20 of their regulations of the competition, which states:"
" Prime Minister David Cameron is to consult US ""supercop"" Bill Bratton on how to deal with city rioting. Mr Bratton, the former New York and Los Angeles police chief, is credited with dramatically reducing crime after the 1992 riots in LA. The burning buildings, looting, and clashes with police in Britain this week have brought back some vivid memories in Los Angeles. In 1992, riots sparked by a row over racism spread across the city and for six days the fires burned and the violence raged. Until a week ago they were the defining images of urban rioting etched on the public memory here and around the world. Now David Cameron is turning to the man who is credited with restoring law and order in the city - former LAPD chief Bill Bratton - dubbed a ""US Supercop"" by the British newspapers. Mr Bratton, having earlier served as the head of the NYPD in New York, took over the LAPD a decade after the 1992 riots. At one point he was apparently being considered for the job as Britain's top policeman, the new Commissioner of London's Metropolitan police. ""Looking at the pictures coming out of London really brings back memories of what happened here in Los Angeles 20 years ago,"" said Commander Andrew Smith, then a Los Angeles Police Department street officer. He showed me a photograph taken on the day violence erupted in 1992 - a little faded but clearly showing him standing in the middle of the road holding a shotgun upright in one hand, burning buildings all around him. ""I see a lot of parallels with the behaviour of the rioters in London - they did the same things here then - and we learned a lot of lessons."
" Two people have been charged with the murder of three men who were hit by a car while guarding shops from looters in Birmingham. Haroon Jahan, 21, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, died on Wednesday in Winson Green. A 17-year-old male from Winson Green and Joshua Donald, 26, from Ladywood, have been charged with three counts of murder each. The pair are due to appear before Birmingham magistrates on Sunday. A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said a 16-year-old boy and a 32-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder had been bailed pending further inquiries. Two other men aged 23 and 27 who were arrested on Friday remain in police custody. Earlier, Tariq Jahan, father of Haroon Jahan, thanked people for their condolences. ""I have received much mail internationally,"" he said. Mr Ali and Mr Musavir's uncle, Abdullah Khan, 58, said his nephews were ""hard-working young men"". He said: ""I remember talking to Shazad a few days before and he was looking forward to the birth of his first child in a few months, but that was not meant to be."
" THE debate over whether Darren Lockyer should be rugby league's next Immortal is irrelevant, because he would have to be retired for five years before being considered anyway. But that wouldn't bother the champion five-eighth, because he would be much more concerned about winning tonight than worrying about his place in history. And the Brisbane five-eighth and captain would never accept his teammates trying to ''win it for 'Locky''' on the occasion of his NRL record 350th first-grade game, against North Queensland at Dairy Farmers Stadium, because that would come at the risk of them losing focus on what they actually have to do to win. After the Broncos arrived in Townsville last night, their coach, Anthony Griffin, told the Herald the week of preparation had gone exactly as he would have liked, adding: ''The players are all well aware it's Darren's 350th, and that it's a milestone to celebrate, but the main focus has been on the team. We've still got a football game to try to win, and they haven't lost focus on what they've got to do. ''[Johnathan] Thurston and [Matt] Scott are back for the Cowboys, and in a way that has had a good effect for us because it reminds you of how hard the Cowboys are going to be to beat up here. The Cowboys have a great side, and they're at full strength.'' The push for Lockyer to be declared the next Immortal gets bigger all the time, as he continues to record achievement after achievement in his final year before retirement. Former Canterbury great Terry Lamb, who, along with ex-Manly star Steve Menzies, shared the record of 349 games, said in a Brisbane newspaper report during the week that Lockyer had ''earned the right to be an Immortal, absolutely''. And yesterday, in an interview on the Sports News First website, Wayne Bennett, who coached Lockyer for the bulk of his career at Brisbane, made it clear the veteran of 17 years of first grade had to be ranked on the top shelf. ''You will never replace him,'' Bennett said. ''He is like the other greats, Wally [Lewis] and 'Alfie' [Allan Langer] and these guys, they leave a legacy, and the legacy they leave is that young boys across the country are running around wanting to be like Darren. ''And the more Darren Lockyer types we have in rugby league, the better we will be for it, because as great a player as he has been - and he is one of the finest to lace on a boot - the thing I love is just the manner in which he has carried himself. ''Before Darren Lockyer there was debate over who should be Australian captain - Gorden [Tallis] or 'Joey' [Andrew Johns]. When Darren came along that ended. There's been no debate, and he has been absolutely outstanding with what he has done for the Kangaroos jumper.'' Rugby League Week magazine created the Immortals concept, and named Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, John Raper and Bob Fulton as the original four in 1981. Wally Lewis and Graeme Langlands were added to the list in 1999, and Arthur Beetson in 2003. It is anticipated that another Immortal or two will be named next year, or at the latest in 2013."
" Israeli forces wounded two Palestinian workers in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, emergency services spokesman said.  The two Palestinians were collecting gravel near Gaza City's eastern border with Israel when Israeli soldiers shot them, Adham Abu Selmiya said.  Since February 2010, two Palestinian civilians were killed and 117 others were wounded by Israeli fire near the enclave's border with Israel, where Israel allocated a 300-meter-wide buffer zone. Source: Xinhua"
" The Department of Health is to appoint a former barrister to oversee its investigation into Sir Jimmy Savile, the prime minister's spokesman said. He said Kate Lampard would ""ensure rigour and consistency"" in probes at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Leeds General Infirmary, Broadmoor and inside the Department of Health (DoH). Police say Savile, who rose to fame in the 60s, may have sexually abused 60 people over a period of six decades. The BBC is also holding two inquiries. Savile, who presented Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It and was a former Radio 1 DJ, died last October aged 84. Scotland Yard, which is co-ordinating the investigation into Savile's alleged offences, has said it is following up 340 lines of inquiry. Police believe the alleged offences could date from 1959 to 2006. On the hospitals' probe, the PM's spokesman said that Ms Lampard, the former deputy chairman of the Financial Ombudsman Service, had been appointed by the DoH to keep a check on the three investigations. The NHS investigation comes amid growing allegations that Savile sexually abused children at the three hospitals which he had raised funds for. The DoH had already said it would investigate its own conduct in appointing Savile to lead a ""taskforce"" overseeing the management of high-security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor in 1988."
" (CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that a critical phase in the transfer of security authority from international to domestic forces would begin March 21, a precursor to a planned full handover three years hence. Karzai made the announcement during a speech at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of diplomatic and military leaders from Western and other nations. ""We are determined to demonstrate Afghan leadership and ownership of the transition process,"" he said. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in an interview conducted with conference organizers and posted on its website, explained this move next month marks the start of ""a gradual transition to lead Afghan responsibility -- province by province, district by district."" Thus, Afghans may take over full control in some locales relatively soon, while the process may take much longer elsewhere. ""I'm very optimistic about this timetable leading to Afghan (security) responsibility all over Afghanistan by May 2014,"" said Rasmussen. ""But I have to add, that obviously this development will depend on conditions on the ground."" During his speech, Karzai credited the influx of 70,000 international forces in 2010 for improving the situation and helping Afghan security forces. He frequently mentioned the fight against the al Qaeda terror group, but did not mention the Taliban -- which was ousted from power in 2001, for harboring al Qaeda, and has been behind many attacks since. ""We have regained the initiative,"" Karzai said. ""Security in the country is better than it was a year before, and the year before that."" In a letter to troops late last month, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus voiced a similar sentiment, saying the surge ""inflicted enormous losses"" on militants and weakened terror networks. It came at a steep price: Last year was the deadliest for coalition and U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war began. There were 708 such troops killed, of which 498 were American service members. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said insurgents were now on the defensive in Afghanistan, and pointed specifically to progress in Kabul, where one-fifth of the Afghan population lives. Still, he cautioned that past success doesn't guarantee a smooth road ahead. ""In sum, 2010 was a year of significant, hard-fought accomplishments,"" Petraeus wrote. ""The year ahead is likely to be a tough one, too."""
" Are you there? Send your pictures, video to iReport. Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave a live audio address early Monday, urging supporters in Tripoli to ""be ready to fight to liberate our pure and good land."" The address, which was also aired on Libyan state television, came hours after rebels claimed advances in a number of cities in western Libya, including al-Zawiya, the region's third-largest. The government has denied the rebel claims. ""You are hearing from me even under shelling. There will be an end to the shelling, end to the (opposition), end to a defeated NATO, end to the donkeys in the Gulf and the Libyan people will remain,"" Gadhafi said. ""(Go) to the front always, to the fights, to the weapons, to the battles to liberate Libya inch by inch from the traitors and NATO. Be ready to fight to liberate our pure and good land."" Rebel forces were fighting Gadhafi's troops Sunday for control of several western areas including al-Zawiya, which serves as a critical supply line to the west, rebels claimed Sunday. Western rebel spokesman Col. Jumma Ibrahim said Sunday that rebel forces control most of the city. Rebel field commander Adel al-Zintani told CNN his forces were ""clearing the city of Gadhafi forces. There are minor clashes going on inside al-Zawiya,"" adding: ""The situation is under control, but it will take some time to clear."" Ibrahim said Sunday that rebels now claim a number of areas of the city including several neighborhoods, roads and a coastal area. Rebels are not in control of a stretch from al-Zawiya to Tunis, he said, but fighting is ongoing. In a televised press conference Sunday, Musa Ibrahim, a government spokesman, denied the claims and said government forces have managed to halt rebel attacks in al-Zawiya."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. There has been a huge turnout for Iran's closely-fought election as incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seeks a second term in office. Long queues have been reported at polling stations, and voting has been extended by at least four hours. President Ahmadinejad, a hardliner, faces a strong challenge from reformist former PM Mir Hossein Mousavi in a campaign dominated by the economy. Both candidates claimed victory in the first round as polls closed. Mr Mousavi said he was the ""definite winner"" and alleged that there had been widespread irregularities. But almost immedietely afterwards, President Ahmadinejad announced that he had won. The election is being watched closely around the world for signs of a possible shift in Tehran's attitude. US President Barack Obama said he was ""excited"" about what was happening in Iran, which showed change was possible. ""Ultimately the election is for the Iranians to decide,"" he said. ""You're seeing people looking at new possibilities. And whoever ends up winning the election in Iran, the fact that there's been a robust debate hopefully will help advance our ability to engage them in new ways."" If no candidate gets 50% in the first round, the two front-runners will face a run-off vote.  There were queues snaking round the block from many polling stations. The crowds gathered outside, in segregated lines. Even as they waited to vote, they continued the spontaneous debate that's been sweeping Iran in the last week. At one polling station, some voters came up to me, nervous that the government might be trying to defraud the election. They were worried that a bus being used as a mobile polling station was not as well monitored as the main polling centre. But for the most part election day has continued the good humour of recent days. One Ahmadinejad supporter, a woman in the long black religious chador, made a point of shaking hands with another woman wearing the green colours of the opposition contender, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. There has been a surge of interest recently in Iran's presidential election, with unprecedented live television debates between the candidates and rallies attended by thousands. Mr Daneshjoo has said the turnout could exceed the 1997 election, in which reformist Mohammad Khatami was elected. State-run Irna TV said more than five million people cast their vote in the first four hours of voting. The country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and both the leading candidates voted early in the day, calling on Iranians to exercise their right to choose the country's next president. ""I recommend them to just vote based on their own views and decisions,"" Ayatollah Khamenei said as he voted. ""God willing, the best and the most deserving person will be elected as the head of the executive body for a four-year period."" Mr Ahmadinejad thanked the people of Iran ""for their goodness, for their greatness, for their selflessness, their sacrifices, and for their forgiveness"". Mr Mousavi said simply: ""God willing, with the nationwide participation of the public, we will see better and more beautiful days."" Four candidates are contesting the election, with Mohsen Razai and Mehdi Karroubi trailing the two main contenders. In his final TV appearance before the election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused his opponents of conspiring with Israelis to falsify documents and graphs to discredit him. President to serve maximum of two consecutive four-year terms (or three non-consecutive) Second round held between top two if no candidate wins majority His rivals boycotted the chance to appear on TV with him, after apparently not being offered equal airtime. The result will be watched closely outside Iran - in the US, Israel, and European capitals - for any hint of a possible shift in the country's attitude to the rest of the world, BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says. The timing of the election is also crucial, as the US push for a new policy of engagement with Tehran cannot really get going until the outcome of the election is clear, our correspondent adds. The live TV debates unleashed enthusiasm among the country's young population. BBC Iranian affairs analyst Sadeq Saba says most of them appear to be supporting the moderate candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi. President Ahmadinejad draws support mainly from the urban poor and rural areas, while his rivals have huge support among the middle classes and the educated urban population. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Iranian women have also shown great interest in the election and it appears many of them will be voting for the moderate candidates who have promised them more social freedoms, our analyst says. The votes in regions with national and religious minorities are also important, as they normally vote for reformist candidates. Mr Mousavi is an ethnic Azeri and is expected to do well in his province, as is Mahdi Karrubi in his native Lorestan province. Iran is ruled under a system known as Velayat-e Faqih, or ""Rule by the Supreme Jurist"", who is currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It was adopted by an overwhelming majority in 1979 following the Islamic revolution which overthrew the autocratic Western-backed Shah. But the constitution also stipulates that the people are the source of power and the country holds phased presidential and parliamentary elections every four years. All candidates are vetted by the powerful conservative-controlled Guardian Council, which also has the power to veto legislation it deems inconsistent with revolutionary principles. Are you in voting in Iran? How important are the elections for Iran's future? You can send us your views using the form below: The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" (CNN) -- Two of Syria's neighbors joined growing international calls Monday for Damascus to halt its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters -- calls that came even as the violence itself continued. In Jordan, the state-run Petra News Agency reported that Prime Minister Marouf Al Bakhit had urged his Syrian counterpart, Adel Safar, ""to immediately halt military operations, implement speedy reform and spare the blood of the Syrian people, expressing the kingdom's rejection and regret over the continued killing and escalation in neighboring Syria."" Al Bakhit told Safar in a telephone call that ""such scenes"" must stop, adding that ""hope still exists on the ability of our brothers in Syria to achieve this end."" ""We in Jordan await tangible and urgent measures in the near future,"" he said. Similar sentiments were voiced in Ankara by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu after his recent visit to Damascus. He told reporters in a televised news conference he had asked that the Syrian military end operations immediately, withdraw from cities and meet the democratic demands of the people. ""Syrian people should know that we are on their side with regard to their legitimate democratic rights,"" he said. ""We hope our voice is heard and these operations are stopped."" In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Turkish President Abdullah Gul met Monday with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and both ""underscored the significance of halting the violence the Syrian administration is resorting to against people,"" Gul's office said in a statement. Last week, King Abdullah called for an end to the bloodshed in Syria and recalled the Saudi ambassador from Damascus. Bahrain and Kuwait also have recalled their ambassadors from Syria and called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to end the crackdowns. The United States has stopped short of explicit calls for al-Assad to step down, but Washington has said Syria would be better off without him. The United States slapped sanctions on Syria's largest mobile phone company and a bank, while calling for an oil and gas embargo."
" Two men from Cheshire have been jailed for four years each for using Facebook to incite disorder during riots in England last week. Jordan Blackshaw, 21, of Vale Road, Marston and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, of Richmond Avenue, Warrington, were jailed at Chester Crown Court. The Recorder of Chester, Judge Elgan Edwards praised the swift actions of Cheshire Police. He said he hoped the sentences would act as a deterrent to others. Both men pleaded guilty under sections 44 and 46 of the Serious Crime Act to intentionally encouraging another to assist the commission of an indictable offence. The Crown Prosecution Service said Blackshaw had created a Facebook event called ""Smash d[o]wn in Northwich Town"", intended for the receipt of the ""Mob Hill Massive Northwich Lootin'"". The page went on to specify a meeting time and place of 9 August, between 13:00 and 16:00 BST, ""behind maccies"" - thought to be the McDonald's restaurant in Northwich town centre. Blackshaw also added the first comment on his page, writing: ""We'll need to get this kickin off all over."" Police were alerted to Sutcliffe-Keenan's page when members of the public raised concerns on 9 August. The page invited people to ""riot"" on 10 August between 19:00 BST and 22:00 BST."
" A fourth person has been charged with murdering three men who were hit by a car during riots in Birmingham. Haroon Jahan, 21, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, were killed in Winson Green on 10 August. A 30-year-old man from Birmingham is due at the city's magistrates' court on Thursday morning. Three men, aged 17, 23 and 26, have appeared at crown court. A further three males aged 16, 27 and 32 have been bailed pending further inquiries. Joshua Donald, 26, Adam King, 23, and a 17-year-old who cannot be named were charged with murder at a preliminary hearing at Birmingham Crown Court. They were remanded in custody to appear at the same court on 9 December. Mr Donald, of Kelsall Croft, Ladywood, and the youth, from Edgbaston, appeared by videolink. Mr King, of no fixed address, was in the dock. The bodies of the three men who were hit by a car on Dudley Road in the early hours have now been released by a coroner for burial. An open air prayer event has been organised in Summerfield Park in the Winson Green area of Birmingham for Thursday."
" Libyan army units have launched a full-scale assault against the town of Bani Walid, accusing it of being controlled by supporters of the former dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Fierce fighting has raged in the town for two days, with the army reporting 44 wounded and five dead. There are no reliable casualty figures from inside Bani Walid itself. ""We started to enter Bani Walid, we are not far away from the centre,"" said army spokesman Mohammed al-Gandus. ""There was a big battle between Bani Walid people and our army."" Army commanders on Thursday night portrayed the fighting as the final battle against Gaddafi hardliners, who they say have made the town their home, fearing arrest and execution if they are captured. ""A lot of people who supported Gaddafi are hiding now in Bani Walid. We have a list of names,"" said Gandus. ""They are fighting very well because they know they are going to die soon."" There were conflicting claims about the battle last night, with army units claiming to have captured the airport and main hospital, leaving defending forces controlling only the town centre. ""The airport has been captured and we are fighting around a large porcelain factory,"" said Gandus. But Ibrahim Warfali, a Bani Walid lawyer inside the town contacted by telephone, insisted the defenders were holding their ground. ""They have not entered the city, we are going to celebrate a great victory,"" he said. At Kilometre 60, a crossroads where army forces have established a perimeter, tanks and pickup trucks mounting anti-aircraft guns drove westwards towards the town. The onslaught follows a blockade of the town by pro-government forces after a militiaman from Misrata, credited with the capture last year of Gaddafi, died last month, allegedly from wounds inflicted by Bani Walid militants."
" The BBC is hopeful that a special edition of Panorama looking into Jimmy Savile will be broadcast on Monday. BBC1 chiefs are preparing to drop the planned edition of the investigative programme on Monday to slot in the Savile programme, with staff working all weekend to deliver it in time. They are said to be determined to ensure there are no delays following criticism over a proposed Newsnight investigation into the late TV presenter that was shelved late last year. The BBC has consistently denied the report was dropped because it would have been at odds with celebratory tribute programmes which were also in the pipeline, although an independent inquiry is being launched to look into the issue, led by former Sky News executive Nick Pollard. BBC1 boss Danny Cohen is aiming to broadcast the programme on Monday if the production team can deliver it by then, and may consider moving other programmes, such as drama New Tricks, if the programme runs longer than the half-hour 8.30pm slot in the schedule. Tom Giles, editor of Panorama, said: ''We are working hard to ensure that the programme is ready as soon as possible.'' The published schedule has an investigation into gambling, presented by Sophie Raworth, pencilled in for this Monday. But contributors to the programme had been told that the intention is for the Savile investigation to be shown instead. There have been suggestions that the BBC was looking to show the programme after director-general George Entwistle appears before MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Tuesday morning. But a BBC source said that was not the case, saying: ''It's our absolute intention to get this show out on Monday. It's purely down to whether it is delivered in time.''"
" Scotland Yard said it had identified 200 potential victims of the late BBC presenter and other people. The Met said some ""living people"" were being investigated but gave no names. Cdr Peter Spindler said a ""staggering"" number of victims had come forward. The NSPCC children's charity said Savile may have been ""one of the most prolific sex offenders"" it had come across. Scotland Yard said the investigation - dubbed Operation Yewtree - moved from an assessment to a criminal investigation after detectives established there are lines of inquiry involving ""living people that require formal investigation"". Of the 200 victims, the Met said the ""vast majority"" were victims of Savile and were abused as children, but that the figure also included victims of alleged abuse ""by other individuals"". The force would not say how many living people were under investigation. Savile died on 29 October 2011, at the age of 84. The police involvement was sparked after ITV broadcast an investigation in Savile's behaviour called Exposure, the Other Side of Jimmy Savile on 3 October, 2012. In it, several women alleged he sexually abused them when they were under age. Other alleged victims then came forward after the broadcast. Cdr Spindler said the response from the public had been ""astounding"". He added: ""We are dealing with alleged abuse on an unprecedented scale. The profile of this operation has empowered a staggering number of victims to come forward to report the sexual exploitation which occurred during their childhood."
" A view shows the site of an explosion at central Damascus February 21, 2013, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. Syrian television showed charred and bloodied bodies strewn across the street after the blast, which it described as a suicide bombing by ""terrorists"" battling President Bashar al-Assad. It said 53 people were killed. Central Damascus has been relatively insulated from almost two years of unrest and civil war in which around 70,000 people have been killed across the country, but the bloodshed has shattered suburbs around the capital. Rebels who control districts to the south and east of Damascus have attacked Assad's power base for nearly a month and struck with devastating bombs over the last year. The al Qaeda-linked rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra, which claimed responsibility for several of those bombs, says it carried out 17 attacks around Damascus in the first half of February, including at least seven bombings. Activists said most of the victims of Thursday's attack in the city's Mazraa district were civilians, including children, possibly from a school behind the Baath building. Opposition activists reported further explosions elsewhere in the city after the explosion which struck shortly before 11 a.m. (0900 GMT). One resident in the heart of the capital heard three or four projectiles whistling through the sky, followed by explosions. At least one of them landed in a public garden in the Abu Rummaneh district, she said, but no one was hurt. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence via a network of sources inside Syria, said the Mazraa car bomb was detonated at a checkpoint close to the Baath Party building, located about 200 meters (660 feet) from the Russian embassy. It said 56 people were killed, of which at least 15 were from Syria's security forces and the rest civilians. Eight other people were killed by a car bomb in the Barzeh district of northeast Damascus, one of several explosions which followed the Mazraa attack."
" Brazilian searchers found confirmed debris from the plane on Saturday More bodies have been recovered from the Atlantic in the area where a French jet disappeared last week, bringing the total number to 17, officials say. Dozens of pieces of debris from the Air France plane were also picked up by Brazilian and French ships. They were found some 1,000km (600 miles) north-east of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha islands where the Airbus disappeared with 228 people. Meanwhile, the investigation is looking into faulty speed sensors on the plane. Brazilian and French ships recovered 15 bodies on Sunday - six days after the crash. Two bodies had been retrieved on Saturday. Brazilian officials say four of the bodies are of men and four are of women. There is no word on the others. See a map of the plane's route The remains will be taken by ship to the nearby archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, before being moved to the Brazilian city of Recife, where a temporary mortuary has been established. Relatives of those on board the AF 447 flight have already provided DNA to help in the identification process. A Brazilian navy spokesman said search crews were working despite poor weather. He said about 100 objects had been spotted in the crash zone, including seats with the Air France logo and oxygen masks. Some have spoken of ""a sea of debris"", the BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo reports. A total of six ships and 14 planes from France and Brazil are involved in the operation. The investigation is increasingly focusing on the aircraft's speed sensors, which had been providing inconsistent data in the minutes before it disappeared in turbulent weather. 2 June: First debris spotted from the air includes an airline seat. Brazilian defence minister says debris is from missing plane 3 June: More debris spotted, including a 7m-wide chunk of metal. Fuel slick seen on ocean surface 4 June: Buoys and pallet recovered from ocean said to be from plane. Officials later retract statement 6 June: First two bodies, plus suitcase and backpack found, along with seat thought to be from the plane Air France has said it is stepping up the process of replacing speed monitors on board its Airbus planes. The company said it had first noticed problems with speed monitors a year ago and began replacing them a few weeks before the accident. But investigators said it was too soon to say if problems with the sensors were in any way responsible. On Saturday, the Brazilian navy recovered the first confirmed debris from the plane, including a briefcase containing a ticket for Flight 447. Other debris linked to the flight included a blue seat and a backpack containing a computer. The remains were found not far from where the last signal from the plane was received on Monday, and were taken to the islands of Fernando de Noronha to be examined by experts. The search for the plane's flight data recorders - or black boxes - continues."
" Air France said it began noticing sensor problems in May 2008 Air France has said it is accelerating replacement of speed monitors on Airbus planes following the disappearance of a jet over the Atlantic six days ago. It said it had noticed problems arising from icing on the monitors last year and had begun changing them in April. There has been speculation that faulty data on the old-type sensors may have caused the crash of the Rio de Janeiro-Paris flight with 228 people on board. Brazil says two bodies from the missing plane have been recovered. See a map of the plane's route Items - including a case with a ticket for the flight - were also picked up on Saturday - some 800km (500 miles) north-east of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha islands where the AF Flight 447 disappeared in turbulent weather. Investigators say that sensors on board the missing Airbus 330 were providing ""inconsistent data"" in the minutes before it went missing. 2 June: First debris spotted from the air includes an airline seat. Brazilian defence minister says debris is from missing plane 3 June: More debris spotted, including a 7m-wide chunk of metal. Fuel slick seen on ocean surface 4 June: Buoys and pallet recovered from ocean said to be from plane. Officials later retract statement 6 June: First two bodies, plus suitcase and backpack found, along with seat thought to be from the plane On Saturday, Air France said that in May 2008 it had begun noticing ""incidents of loss of airspeed information during cruise flight"" on its A330s and A340s jets - although only a ""small number"" of incidents had been reported. The airline said it then contacted Airbus, who sent a recommendation to replace the monitors. However, Air France stressed that the manufacturers had not made this a safety requirement. The statement said that ""without prejudging a link with the causes of the accident, Air France has accelerated this [replacement]programme"". It added that this did not necessarily mean the aircraft was not safe to fly. The statement came as the Brazilian air force announced that two male bodies and debris from the Air France plane had been recovered. Air force spokesman Jorge Amaral said objects linked to passengers known to be on the flight were also found. Those included a suitcase with an Air France ticket and a backpack with a computer inside. ""It was confirmed with Air France that the ticket number corresponds to a passenger on the flight,"" Col Amaral said. A blue seat was also found, and Air France is checking the serial number to see whether it came from the flight. The remains were found not far from where the last signal from the plane was received, and taken to the islands of Fernando de Noronha. Experts on human remains are on their way to examine the find. The items were the first to be definitely linked to the plane, nearly six days after the crash. But the BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo says the authorities are adopting a cautious approach after previous reports of debris being found proved false. Correspondents say that much of the search effort so far has been focused on finding flight data recorders, which have sonar beacons - or ""pingers"" - attached to them. But French officials say there was no guarantee the beacons were still attached to the flight recorders, and they may have been separated in the impact of the crash. A French submarine is being sent to join in the search. It has sonar equipment that could help locate the airliner's flight data recorders. The US is also sending specialised listening equipment."
" 1 of 15. A Brazilian Navy helicopter works to recover objects they believe to be debris from Air France flight AF447, in this handout photo taken from a plane patrolling the open Atlantic Ocean some 745 miles (1,200 km) northeast of Recife, June 6, 2009. Six bodies have now been recovered from the plane, following the discovery of two unidentified males on Saturday, five days after the Airbus A330 crashed on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris killing all 228 people on board. Investigators are considering the possibility that the speed sensors on Flight 447 may have iced up, and Air France said late on Saturday it was accelerating the replacement of speed sensors on all its Airbus long-haul planes. Brazil's navy said on Sunday it had retrieved three more bodies and France said a helicopter operating from one of its naval frigates had recovered another body from the world's worst air disaster since 2001. ""Hundreds of items are being found and being stored until we know where they should go,"" Brazilian Air Force spokesman Henry Munhoz told reporters in the northeastern city of Recife, where the bodies and debris will eventually be brought. Several other corpses spotted on Sunday by Brazilian Air Force planes are expected to be picked up later in the day, search officials said. Brazilian network Globo reported on its website that a refrigerated truck used to store corpses was waiting on the islands of Fernando de Noronha, 230 miles (370 km) off the coast of Brazil. Twelve Brazilian planes, one equipped with radar equipment that can detect material in the water, two French planes, one French ship and five Brazilian navy ships are searching the area about 680 miles (1,100 km) northeast of Brazil's coast. France has also sent a nuclear-powered submarine that should arrive on Wednesday to search for the black box flight data recorders that will be crucial to understanding why the modern plane fell from the sky as it passed storms on Monday. The Emeraude is equipped with powerful sonars to help detect the black box's beacons that stay active for 30 days."
" A massive car bomb explosion in the Syrian capital, Damascus, has killed at least 53 people and injured another 200, reports say. Syria blamed ""terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda"" for the blast, which hit a central district near the headquarters of Syria's ruling Baath Party. The violence comes as Russia and the Arab League say they want to broker direct government-opposition talks. No group has yet admitted the attack. The Syrian foreign ministry blamed the bombing on ""armed terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda that receive financial and logistic help from abroad"". The militant Islamist al-Nusra Front previously said it had carried out many of the bombings that have rocked Syria since the uprising began in March 2011. Meanwhile Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the war as ""a road to nowhere"". The opposition Syrian National Coalition is holding a two-day meeting in Egypt to discuss a framework for a possible solution. Also on Thursday, the UN and Arab League envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, agreed to remain in office through the rest of 2013, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told the Associated Press. Mr Brahimi's contract was due to expire on Friday. The UN has estimated up to 70,000 people have died in the conflict in the past two years."
" 1 of 3. An Afghan man rides on his bicycle past a poster of President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, September 12, 2009. A disputed result would prove difficult for U.S. President Barack Obama, who is considering deploying more troops and who set out broad goals on Wednesday for boosting the ability of Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight militancy. Afghan election authorities issued complete preliminary results showing Karzai received 54.6 percent of the vote last month. His main challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, got 27.8 percent. The results are not final until approved by a separate election fraud watchdog, which has called for a recount of about 10 percent of polling stations. But a campaign spokesman for Karzai said the result made it almost impossible that any probe could overturn the outcome. Only a ""miracle"" for his opponents could prevent Karzai winning, Waheed Omar said. A spokesman for Abdullah had no immediate reaction. A final result pending the fraud probe could be weeks away, prolonging a state of political limbo that has led to fears of instability and concern among Western donors that a future government may lack a clear mandate. A European Union election observer mission said it believed as many as 1.5 million votes -- including 1.1 million cast for Karzai -- were ""suspicious"". ""Any claim for any count or of victory will be premature and not credible,"" the head of the EU mission, Philippe Morillon, told Reuters. Karzai's campaign called the EU mission's statement ""irresponsible"" and said only the official, U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission was empowered to find fraud."
" Three missiles have crashed into residential areas of Syria's northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 12 civilians, activists say. Video footage posted online claims to show the aftermath, with people carrying away the wounded and a wide area reduced to rubble. Activists say families are buried under the rubble in one neighbourhood. Meanwhile, opposition politicians say they have agreed to form a government for rebel-held areas. Umbrella group the Syrian National Coalition, meeting in Cairo, said it would meet again in Istanbul on 2 March to name a prime minister. The UN estimates that about 70,000 people have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime began in March 2011. The reasons for the latest attack are unclear, and it is also not clear who launched the missiles. Earlier this week, activists accused the government forces of targeting other areas of Aleppo with Russian-made Scud-type missiles. Video footage allegedly of the latest incident shows chaotic scenes, but the darkness of the images makes it difficult to identify the type or size of the rockets. An activist called Baraa al-Youssef told Reuters news agency that 30 homes had been destroyed by one of the rockets."
" New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is being held in a Shanghai hotel, after a passenger on his flight from the US fell ill with suspected swine flu. Mr Nagin's office confirmed the quarantine of the mayor, his wife Seletha, and a security guard. They were on a 10-day trip to China and Australia aimed at promoting business to his city. The World Health Organization says the flu strain, found in 64 countries, is most prevalent in North America. New Orleans city officials told US media the Nagins had no symptoms and were being held as a precaution only. They were seated during their flight near a passenger who showed ""signs and symptoms of an influenza-like illness suspected to be of the H1N1 subtype"". There was no word on how long the Nagins would be held. They were to travel next to Australia. Chinese health authorities confirmed eight cases of H1N1 swine flu on Sunday, bringing total confirmed infections on the mainland to 80. There have been no reports of deaths from H1N1 flu in China. Among nearly 19,000 infections worldwide, 117 people have died."
" 1 of 2. People search for survivors under rubble after what activists said was a Scud missile hit in Aleppo's Tariq al-Bab neighbourhood February 22, 2013. ""There are families buried under the rubble,"" said an activist called Baraa al-Youssef, speaking by Skype after visiting the scene in his Ard al-Hamra neighborhood. ""Nothing can describe it, it's a horrible sight."" Video footage posted by several activists showed a burning building and people carrying the wounded to cars to be ferried to hospital. It was hard to gauge the scale of the damage in the night-time footage but rubble was clearly visible on the ground. Rami Abdulrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three explosions shook Aleppo and reported at least 29 people had been killed. Another 150 were wounded, he said, and the final death toll was likely to be higher. Youssef said 30 houses were destroyed by a single rocket. On Tuesday activists said at least 20 people were killed when a large missile of the same type as Russian-made Scuds hit the rebel-held district of Jabal Badro."
" At least four people were killed Friday as thousands of Islamists took to the streets and clashed with police across Bangladesh including in the capital Dhaka, police and officials said. Police fired bullets and tear gas shells while the rioters exploded a series of hand-made bombs. Demonstrators fought pitched battles with police, demanding punishment of bloggers who they accused of maligning Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. The bloggers, who have had an active role in the ongoing campaign at Dhaka's Shahbagh Square to ban Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami party and who support the death penalty for those guilty of wartime crimes from more than four decades ago, denied the accusations and said that the Islamist groups were smearing hate campaign against them. Police and witnesses said thousands of people in support of a call given by a coalition of 12 Islamic parties came out of the mosques after Friday's ""juma prayer"" and attacked police and journalists. They ransacked venues in different parts of the country where support for the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and support for the death penalty were demanded. The attacks came a day after protesters at Shahbagh Square suspended an around-the-clock sit-in after 17 days. Bangladesh minister for home affairs Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir said fundamentalists were using mosques and carried out violence in the name of Islam. State Minister for Law Quamrul Islam blamed Jamaat for ""orchestrating the countrywide violence"". The Shahbagh sit-in began on February 5, when an International War Crimes Tribunal sentenced Abdul Quader Mollah, a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, to life in prison on war-crimes charges -- including murder -- that date back to the country's war of independence in 1971. The Shahbagh protesters, many of them students, demanded that Mollah's penalty be changed to death. The protests turned deadly outside Shahbagh over the past three weeks as over a dozen people were killed after Jamaat-e-Islami enforced a series of general strikes across Bangladesh, clashing with police and ruling-party supporters."
" Thirteen Chadian soldiers and 65 Islamist insurgents have been killed in heavy fighting in a remote part of northern Mali, Chad's military says. It says Friday's clashes occurred in the Ifoghas mountains, where many militants are believed to be hiding. Last month France led an operation to help oust Islamists who seized the vast northern region of Mali in 2012. The US military says it has deployed surveillance drones in Niger to gather information on the Islamist militants. The intelligence collected by a 100-strong contingent of US personnel from across the border is being shared with French troops in Mali, who are assisting thousands of troops from African states. Islamist rebels are believed to have retreated to the Ifoghas mountains - a desert area in the Kidal region near the border with Algeria - after being forced from northern population centres in recent weeks. In a statement issued late on Friday, the Chadian army said it had ""destroyed five vehicles and killed 65 jihadists"", adding that 13 of its soldiers had been killed and another five wounded. Earlier this month, some 1,800 Chadian soldiers began patrolling the city of Kidal. Chad has pledged to send 2,000 troops to Mali as part of the African-led mission. Fighting between Islamist insurgents and Malian troops - backed by French soldiers - also continued in the central city of Gao."
" Guide to groups in the European Parliament These results are projections of new group totals made by BBC analysts on the basis of country results as of 8 June. The final group seat totals will be confirmed at the first session of the new parliament on 14 July. 2004 seats are notional to allow a direct comparison with the 2009 results. This is an adjustment to allow results from 2004, in which 785 MEPs were elected, to be shown on the revised 736-seat 2009 parliament."
" N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Thirteen Chadian soldiers were killed in fighting in northern Mali on Friday, the heaviest casualties sustained by French and African troops since the launch of a military campaign against Islamist rebels there six weeks ago, Chad's army said. Chadian troops killed 65 al Qaeda-linked fighters in the clashes that began before midday in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains near Mali's northern border with Algeria. ""The provisional toll is ... on the enemy's side, five vehicles destroyed and 65 terrorists killed. We deplore the deaths of 13 of our valiant soldiers,"" said a statement from the army general staff read on state radio. France intervened in its former West African colony last month to stop a southward offensive by Islamist rebels who seized control of the north last April. Troops from neighboring African nations - including 2,000 soldiers from Chad - have since deployed to Mali and are meant to take over leadership of the operation when French forces begin a planned withdrawal next month. But continuing violence since the Islamists were driven from major urban areas highlights the risk of French and African forces becoming entangled in a messy guerrilla war as they try to help Mali's weak army counter bombings and armed raids."
" A senior Irish Catholic bishop has said Roman Catholics can vote ""Yes"" to the Lisbon Treaty ""in good conscience"". The EU treaty does not affect the legal position of abortion in the Republic of Ireland, Bishop Noel Treanor said. Ireland's rejection of the treaty in a referendum last year was attributed in part to voters' concern that Lisbon might soften Irish anti-abortion laws. A second Irish referendum will take place on 2 October. Nearly all the 27 EU member states have ratified Lisbon. Rev Noel Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor, told an Irish parliamentary committee on Wednesday that ""a Catholic can, without reserve and in good conscience, vote Yes for the Lisbon Treaty"". ""There are no grounds to justify a No vote in the Lisbon Treaty on the basis of specifically religious or ethical concerns. ""The Lisbon Treaty does not alter the legal position of abortion in Ireland. This is further assured by the legal guarantees (which will become protocols) secured by the Irish government,"" he said. Bishop Treanor told the committee he had represented the Irish Bishops' Conference in Brussels for almost 20 years and was speaking with the support of Catholic primate Cardinal Sean Brady. Since the last referendum the EU has provided legally binding ""guarantees"" that Lisbon will not affect Irish sovereignty over taxation, ""family"" issues - such as abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage - and the traditional Irish state neutrality. Polls suggest most Irish voters will back the treaty second time round."
" 1 of 8. U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington February 22, 2013. Abe had firm words for China in a policy speech to a top Washington think-tank, but also tempered his remarks by saying he had no desire to escalate a row over islets in the East China Sea that Tokyo controls and Beijing claims. ""No nation should make any miscalculation about firmness of our resolve. No one should ever doubt the robustness of the Japan-U.S. alliance,"" he told the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ""At the same time, I have absolutely no intention to climb up the escalation ladder,"" Abe said in a speech in English. After meeting U.S. President Barack Obama on his first trip to Washington since taking office in December in a rare comeback to Japan's top job, he said he told Obama that Tokyo would handle the islands issue ""in a calm manner."" ""We will continue to do so and we have always done so,"" he said through a translator, while sitting next to Obama in the White House Oval Office. Tension surged in 2012, raising fears of an unintended military incident near the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Washington says the islets fall under a U.S.-Japan security pact, but it is eager to avoid a clash in the region. Abe said he and Obama ""agreed that we have to work together to maintain the freedom of the seas and also that we would have to create a region which is governed based not on force but based on an international law."" Abe, whose troubled first term ended after just one year when he abruptly quit in 2007, has vowed to revive Japan's economy with a mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, big spending, and structural reform. The hawkish leader is also boosting Japan's defense spending for the first time in 11 years. ""Japan is not, and will never be, a tier-two country,"" Abe said in his speech. ""So today ... I make a pledge. I will bring back a strong Japan, strong enough to do even more good for the betterment of the world."""
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A suicide bomb attack on a luxury hotel in the north-west Pakistani city of Peshawar, has killed 15 people and injured at least 60. Gunmen stormed the outer security barrier at the Pearl Continental Hotel before blowing up a vehicle containing, police say, 500kg of explosives. Two foreign citizens - both UN workers - were killed and several were injured. A series of bombs have hit cities, including Peshawar, since a government crackdown on Taliban militants. The PC is a well-known landmark in Peshawar. Often used by foreigners but also by Pakistani officials and businessmen, it is known for good Western as well as local food and 5-star service. All factors which may have contributed to its becoming a target. When I visited recently, there was a whole series of security checks. First of vehicles, as they drove in, past heavy concrete barriers. Then of people, screened by metal detectors and bag searches. But suicide bombers and gunmen are hard to stop. There are clear echoes of the devastating assault on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad last September. Security in Peshawar has worsened dramatically in the last year. Many of those who can afford to move have taken their families to Islamabad or beyond - abandoning a city now becoming consumed by fear and violence. Peshawar, the main city in the country's north-west, is not far from the Swat valley, where the government offensive has been concentrated. Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani swiftly condemned the attack but the blast hardly comes as a surprise, says the BBC's Chris Morris, in Islamabad. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday night's attack on what is the most prominent hotel in Peshawar, our correspondent says most people will assume it to be the work of the Taliban. A symbol of Peshawar's contact with the rest of the world, a place where government officials and foreign dignitaries are accustomed to staying, has been attacked, he adds. The attack killed a Serbian UN refugee agency worker and a Unicef worker from the Philippines. The injured include a British man and a German national, Peshawar district coordination officer Sahibzada Anis said. At least a dozen UN employees were staying at the hotel at the time of the explosion. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke of ""a heinous terrorist attack which no cause can justify"". Eyewitnesses told the BBC News website the blast could be seen up to 5km (3 miles) away. The blast left a large crater and parts of the hotel were destroyed. I saw the red light from there blowing and then I heard a huge sound   Three men riding in a truck approached the main gate of the hotel and opened fire at security guards before driving inside, police official Liaqat Ali told AP, quoting witness accounts. ""They drove the vehicle inside the hotel gates and blew it up on reaching close to the hotel building,"" he added. Ali Khan, a hotel waiter, said he had been working when the attack happened. ""I was in the Chinese restaurant when we heard firing and then a blast,"" he told Reuters news agency. ""It was totally dark and people started shouting and running."" An injured man, Jawad Chaudhry, said he had been in his room on the ground floor when he heard gunshots, then a big bang. ""The floor under my feet shook,"" he said. ""I thought the roof was falling on me. I ran out. I saw everybody running in panic. There was blood and pieces of glass everywhere."" Musa Khan, a BBC News website reader in Peshawar, said he was far away when the blast happened but could tell it was ""huge"". ""I was in the university lawn with my friends,"" he said. ""I saw the red light from there blowing and then I heard a huge sound."" Another Peshawar reader, Imran, said window panes 5km away had been shattered while a third, Samee Uddin, reported gunshots and then a ""huge cloud of smoke [which] could be seen from more than 3km away"". The Pearl Continental, usually just called the PC, is a well-known landmark in Peshawar, often used by foreigners, Pakistani officials and businessmen. Correspondents say it runs a series of security checks, first of vehicles as they drive in past heavy concrete barriers, then of people who are screened by metal detectors and bag searches. Government forces launched an offensive earlier this year to crush a Taliban-led uprising in the Swat valley aimed at enforcing Sharia law. Taliban leaders have promised to launch revenge attacks on major Pakistani cities and claimed a bombing in Lahore last month which left at least 28 people dead. A devastating suicide bomb attack on the Islamabad Marriott hotel last September killed at least 53 people and injured more than 266. Fidayeen-e-Islam, a little-known Pakistani militant group, told the BBC it had carried out the attack with the aim of stopping US interference in Pakistan. Are you in the area? Have you been affected by this incident, or have you seen or heard anything? Send your comments or pictures using the form below. The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published."
" Thousands of ethnic Karen have fled to Thailand in recent days Thailand has sent heavily-armed troops to reinforce positions along the Burma border after an influx of ethnic Karen refugees fleeing an army offensive. More than 4,000 people have fled Burma for Thailand in the largest influx of refugees in the area for a decade. Karen rebels have been fighting the central government for 60 years, in the world's longest-running civil war. Over the last three years the Burmese military has driven the rebels back to a few small bases along the border. The long war along Burma's forested eastern border has caused immense human suffering, with an estimated 500,000 ethnic Karen forced from their homes. Most of those who fled into Thailand over the past week had already been displaced, and were living at a camp inside Burma when it was repeatedly shelled by Burmese army mortars. Fighters from the Karen National Union (KNU) say they are holding their ground - but they are heavily outnumbered by the joint forces of the Burmese army and a Karen splinter group which is allied to the government. The KNU has steadily retreated over the decades, from its position of greatest strength right after Burma's independence in 1948 when it came close to capturing Rangoon, to its situation today, with just a few bases along the border. Its strength has been sapped recently by a string of defections, and by the assassination of its most charismatic leader in Thailand last year. The Thai government has tried to start a dialogue between the two sides this year, so far with little success. The 4,000 new arrivals will join around 100,000 other Karen who have sought shelter in Thailand. Most are confined to squalid camps, which the Thai authorities do not allow them to leave. Some have lived in these camps for more than a decade."
" Search crews have now recovered 41 bodies from an area in the Atlantic where an Air France passenger plane went down over a week ago. Three young Irish doctors were among the 228 people on board the aircraft when it plunged into the sea in unexplained circumstances, four hours into a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. A French military submarine is due in the crash zone, around 1,100km off Brazil's northeast coast, to search for the plane's flight data recorder, which may contain vital clues. Two French tugboats are also to be equipped with hi-tech underwater locators that could pick up signals from the black box, believed to lie on the seabed up to 6,000m below. A French research vessel is also expected to arrive in the area tomorrow, carrying deep-sea mini-subs that could be used to recover the black boxes. No distress call was received from the pilots of the doomed plane, but there was a series of 24 data alerts sent by the plane in its final minutes. Those showed the cockpit was getting faulty airspeed readings and autopilot was suddenly disengaged. Those have focused suspicions on the plane's exterior airspeed sensors, which some suspect may have iced over at high altitude, leaving pilots unable to know how fast they were going. Plane-maker Airbus and Air France say older probes have been problematic on other Airbus A330s and A340s."
" Garda liaison officers have been providing assistance to the families of the three Irish doctors who were among the 228 people who died in the Air France crash in the Atlantic Ocean. Today, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy announced that two forensic specialists from the Garda Technical Bureau are being sent to Brazil to assist in the investigation and the identification of bodies recovered. Mr Murphy said: 'My thoughts and sympathies have been with the families of Dr Aisling Butler, Dr Jane Deasy and Dr Eithne Walls, who were passengers on the Air France flight.' Detective Sergeant Jarlath Lennon and Detective Inspector Joseph Kinsella will travel to Brazil in the next few days. Both are experienced in disaster victim identification and Inspector Kinsella previously worked in Thailand following the tsunami in December 2004 and was instrumental in establishing a fingerprint database to assist in identification. Meanwhile, Air France's managing director has said he is 'not convinced' that faulty speed monitors caused the Airbus jet to crash into the Atlantic, but said the airline would replace them anyway. Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said it was for the official French accident inquiry to make statements on the loss of flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. He nevertheless confirmed reports from worried pilots unions' that Air France has stepped up an existing programme to replace and modernise the speed monitors in all its A330 and A340 long-haul jets. A similar Airbus jetliner made an emergency landing last night following a cockpit fire over the Pacific. The Airbus A330, operated by Australian airline Jetstar, was on a flight to Queensland from Japan when a fire broke out in the cockpit."
" Minister for Health Mary Harney has said she is satisfied Ireland is completely prepared for a swine flu pandemic. She said that preparations had been in train for years. 'The announcement of pandemic level six by the WHO does not alter the current advice to citizens,' the Minister added. The chief medical officer of the Department of Health, Dr Tony Holohan said the number of cases of influenza A(H1N1) in Ireland remains at 12. This evening, the World Health Organisation formally declared that the swine flu outbreak was now a pandemic. It raised its alert level from level five to level six at a news conference in Geneva. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan stressed that the pandemic was moderate and that the WHO was not recommending closing borders. She urged no restriction on the movement of people, goods and services. The declaration comes amid growing evidence that the virus, which originated in Mexico two months ago, is now being widely transmitted between humans in Asia and Europe as well as the Americas. The move triggers heightened health measures in the WHO's 193 member states as authorities brace for the worldwide spread of the virus that has so far only caused mild illness in most cases."
" (CNN) -- More than 1,000 people have died in Syria since the conflict there started in mid-March, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday, a grim milestone that reflects his alarm over the ""escalation of violence"" in the authoritarian Arab country. The unrest, which started percolating in the southern city of Daraa and then spread to the rest of the country, claimed more lives Friday in Hama, the city known for a 1982 government massacre against the civilian population. At least 34 were killed Friday and many more were wounded, according to Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an entity in regular touch with activists in the country. He said all of the deaths came from indiscriminate gunfire toward demonstrators, reviving memories of the decades-old crackdown. One witness, a dentist, told CNN he was taking part in the demonstrations when marchers were ""surprised"" by the military and the shabiha, armed pro-regime elements, opened fire in what he called an ""intense"" situation. The witness provided the names of nine slain people, whose bodies were seized by pro-regime people, and estimated the number of casualties at around 100. Another witness there reported at least one demonstration in which tens of thousands of people took to the streets. The witness said people were heading toward a square in the center of town and chanted, ""Freedom, freedom! National unity! Christians and Muslims are one! Leave, leave"" and, ""The people want the fall of the regime."" That same witness later reported small demonstrations in some areas, with protesters burning tires amid intermittent gunfire. Rahman said the wounded were being treated in private clinics, and while he's unclear about the situation at the city's main hospital, he said the medics he was talking to were in tears."
" It has been quite the roller coaster ride for some of our local favorites in the NBA so far this season. There have been new teams, injuries, sporadic minutes, trades and even a player being waived just before his contract would have been guaranteed. It hasn't been all bad though as there have also been some impressive performances and some dominating moments for players on some of the league's best teams."
" Campaigning in Iran's presidential election has ended after three weeks of mass rallies and increasingly acrimonious political rhetoric. Iranians will head to the polls on Friday to choose between the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and three rivals. They are Mohsen Razai, Mehdi Karroubi and the man seen by most observers as main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi. There has been ferocious criticism between candidates, hurling insults and strictures about fraud and dishonesty. In his final TV appearance, Mr Ahmadinejad accused his opponents of conspiring with Israelis to falsify documents and graphs to discredit him. His rivals boycotted the chance to appear on TV, after apparently not being offered equal airtime. Earlier former president and leading cleric Hashemi Rafsanjani urged Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - who has the final say in all the country's most important affairs state - to rein in Mr Ahmadinejad. If one candidate fails to win a 50% majority in Friday's vote there will be a run-off between the two front-runners a week later. Such insults and accusations against the government are a return to Hitler's methods, to repeat lies and accusations... until everyone believes those lies   The BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran says the campaign at first appeared to be relatively dull, but there has been an amazing surge of enthusiasm at rallies since the first of several TV debates. Speaking to thousands of supporters in Tehran in the last hours of campaigning, President Ahmadinejad accused rivals of lying about the state of the economy and using smear tactics against him. ""Such insults and accusations against the government are a return to Hitler's methods, to repeat lies and accusations... until everyone believes those lies,"" he said, quoted by local media. Iranians would ""send them to the bottom of history"", he added. Supporters of Mr Mousavi have decked themselves in green for campaigning Later the president appeared on state TV to respond to Mr Mousavi and another candidate, Mohsen Rezai, who used graphs to criticise his handling of the economy. He said they had used what he called ""Zionist entities"", meaning Israeli companies, to falsify information and undermine his government. Our correspondent says this is bound to outrage Mr Ahmadinejad's rivals, who had little chance to respond right at the end of the campaign. Iran is ruled under a system known as Velayat-e Faqih, or ""Rule by the Supreme Jurist"", who is currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It was adopted by an overwhelming majority in 1979 following the Islamic revolution which overthrew the autocratic Western-backed Shah. But the constitution also stipulates that the people are the source of power and the country holds phased presidential and parliamentary elections every four years. All candidates are vetted by the powerful conservative-controlled Guardian Council, which also has the power to veto legislation it deems inconsistent with revolutionary principles."
" (CNN) -- Hours after surviving the shelling of a mosque at his presidential palace that killed a Muslim preacher and several guards, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Friday insisted he is in good health and blamed ""gangsters"" for the attack. The president sustained a slight injury to the head in the Sanaa attack and he is fine, a senior government official told CNN. Prime Minister Ali Mujawar, the parliament speaker, the deputy prime minister, and the Sanaa governor were among seven injured, government spokesman Tareq al-Shami said. It was not clear if that figure included Saleh. A Yemeni official who asked not to be named told CNN that Saleh was in the mosque when two ""projectiles"" were fired during Friday prayers. He confirmed the death of Sheikh Ali Mohsen al-Matari and said four bodyguards also died. Yemen's official news agency SABA, citing a source in Saleh's office, said three guards and the sheikh were killed. In his televised speech Friday night, the president said the attack occurred as talks were taking place between him and affiliates of Sadeq al-Ahmar, the head of the Hashed tribe whose break with Saleh has been followed by spiraling violence. Protesters upset over what they regard as political oppression and government corruption have poured into the impoverished country's streets for months to demand that Saleh step down. A deal to make that happen, brokered by the regional Gulf Cooperation Council, recently broke down. Fears of all-out civil war in Yemen have spiked since, as government forces and people alleged to be Hashed tribesmen slugged it out in the capital. Their weapons have included missiles, according to witnesses. Eyewitnesses, residents and government officials say Hashed tribesmen carried out Friday's attack on the presidential palace. But the spokesman for Sadeq al-Ahmar denied it. ""The Hashed tribesmen were not behind these attacks on the presidential palace and if they were, they would not deny it,"" according to Abdulqawi al-Qaisi. In his speech, the president said those behind Friday's attacks were not connected with the youth-led movement in Sanaa's Change Square. Rather, he said that ""gangsters"" perpetrated the strike as part of their bid to overthrow his government and destroy Yemen's economic achievements. ""I salute the armed forces everywhere and the courageous security forces who are keen on combating the attacks by a criminal gang that is acting outside of the law and is not affiliated with the youth's revolution present in Change Square,"" Saleh said."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global flu pandemic after holding an emergency meeting. It means the swine flu virus is spreading in at least two regions of the world with rising cases being seen in the UK, Australia, Japan and Chile. WHO chief Dr Margaret Chan said the move did not mean the virus was causing more severe illness or more deaths. The swine flu (H1N1) virus first emerged in Mexico in April and has since spread to 74 countries. We have evidence to suggest we are seeing the first pandemic of the 21st Century   Official reports say there have been nearly 30,000 cases globally and 141 deaths, with figures rising daily. Hong Kong said it was closing all its nurseries and primary schools for two weeks following 12 school cases. It is the first flu pandemic in 40 years - the last in 1968 killed about one million people. However, the current pandemic seems to be moderate and causing mild illness in most people. Most cases are occurring in young working age adults and a third to a half of complications are presenting in otherwise healthy people. Dr Chan said: ""We have evidence to suggest we are seeing the first pandemic of the 21st Century. ""Moving to pandemic phase six does not imply we will see increased in deaths or serious cases."" She added it was important to get the right balance between complacency and vigilance and that pandemic strategies would vary between countries depending on their specific situation. It is global and fulfilling the requirements of a pandemic   And the WHO does not recommend closure of borders or any restrictions on the movement of people, goods or services. But the picture could change very quickly. ""No other pandemic has been detected so early or watched so closely,"" Dr Chan said. ""Let me stress: this is a formal statement about the geographical spread of the disease. It is not in itself a cause for alarm,"" he said. He warned that in the developing world the consequences of the virus could be more serious, and that the southern hemisphere was now entering the flu season. One factor which has prompted the move to a level six pandemic was that in the southern hemisphere, the virus seems to be crowding out normal seasonal influenza. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The move was not prompted by the situation in any one country but the reports that it had spread in several parts of the world, officials said. The BBC's Imogen Foulkes, in Geneva, says that while the number of cases has made the declaration inevitable, the WHO will have to manage the global anxiety the declaration of a pandemic will generate. Experts have warned that poorer nations, especially those in the southern hemisphere now heading into their winter season, face the greatest risk from the flu pandemic. There have been more than 800 cases in the UK with some areas of Scotland being particularly hard hit. The government has been stockpiling antivirals such as Tamiflu and has ordered vaccine, some doses of which could be available by October. It is a new version of the H1N1 strain which caused the 1918 flu pandemic Current treatments do work, but as yet there is no vaccine Good personal hygiene, such as washing hands, covering nose when sneezing advised What comes next in flu fight England's chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson said the WHO declaration of a pandemic would not significantly change the way the UK was dealing with swine flu at the moment. But he added there could be some minor changes to who received antivirals. ""The declaration of a pandemic per se doesn't make a big difference to the way we are handling the outbreaks we have. ""We are going to continue to investigate every case that occurs and treat their contacts with antivirals even though they may not be ill. ""The difference is that the Health Protection Agency has learnt a lot about approaching this question of antiviral prophylaxis and they are going to be treating the closer contacts of the cases, rather than the more far-flung contacts, because they feel that that is supported by what they know so far about how the disease is transmitting. He added: ""These flu viruses can change their pattern of attack, so when we come into the flu season in the autumn and winter in this country, when we expect a big surge of cases, we need to watch very carefully to see if the character of the virus is changing."" There is concern that the virus might mutate in the southern hemisphere over its winter and become more virulent, but there's no sign of that yet   Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said a move to level six means that countries need to be ready to implement pandemic plans immediately but the UK was already operating at a ""heightened state of readiness"". But it could affect the speed at which the UK gets pandemic vaccine supplies but that had been factored into pandemic planning. Flu expert Professor John Oxford said people should not panic as the outbreak was milder than others seen in the past century. ""It is global and fulfilling the requirements of a pandemic but I don't think anyone should worry because nothing drastic has happened between yesterday and today."""
" Tests of a giant tanker refitted to scoop up oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico have been inconclusive because of high seas, operators said. The tests were supposed to be completed on Monday. But Bob Grantham, spokesman of ship owner, TMT Shipping Offshore, said that there would now be an additional testing period. If it works, the so-called ""super skimmer"" could boost efforts to clean up the BP oil spill. The Taiwanese vessel - called ""A Whale"" - is designed to vacuum up oily water, separate the oil and return the water to the sea. Mr Grantham told Reuters news agency: ""After an initial 48-hour testing period results remain inconclusive in light of the rough sea state we are encountering. ""Therefore, working in close coordination with the US Coast Guard, we will be undertaking an additional testing period to make operational and technological adjustments aimed at improving skimming effectiveness given the actual conditions we are encountering in the Gulf,"" he said. He noted that smaller skimming vessels were also struggling to operate in the conditions. Oil has been gushing from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico since 22 April, after BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and later sank. Crude oil has been leaking at a rate of between 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day, according to US scientists."
" BP's costs for the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill climbed nearly half a billion dollars in the past week, to $3.12 billion, for cleanup, containment, relief well drilling and damage claims. The London-based energy giant announced Monday that it's made more than 47,000 payments, totaling almost $147 million, to individuals, businesses and governments affected by the spill, which began April 20. Its tally does not include the $20 billion escrow account that it agreed to set up June 16, at President Obama's insistence. While BP continues drilling relief wells, considered the best chance of plugging its leaking Macondo well, a giant oil-skimming Taiwanese vessel known as ""A Whale"" was tested over the weekend in a 25 square mile area north of the leaking Macondo well. If all goes well, the converted cargo ship could help with cleanup. Initial results from tests are expected Monday, said Bob Grantham, spokesman for shipping firm TNT that owns the vessel, reports CNN. The network says the ship, which swallows water with oil then separates it, can skim about 21 million gallons of oil a day -- about 250 times as much as the current Gulf skimmers. Those skimmers, which had been idled for three days because of Hurricane Alex, were on the water along the Louisiana coast over the weekend, reports the Associated Press, adding Coast Guard officials are waiting for the weather to improve before sending them out elsewhere. AP reports beach cleanup crews were making progress on new oil that washed ashore because of Alex."
" The new commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, Gen David Petraeus, says he will not be bound by a 2011 target date to start withdrawing US troops. Speaking on NBC television, Gen Petraeus said he reserved the right to tell President Obama whether the pull-out date was too early. He was speaking after US forces endured their deadliest month in July since the Afghan conflict began in 2001. Gen Petraeus said the Afghan mission was tough and would remain so. President Barack Obama set 2011 as a target date to begin withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan at the same time as he approved the deployment of 30,000 extra troops in December 2009. ""The president has been clear... this is the date when the process begins which is conditions-based,"" Gen Petraeus said. ""As conditions permit, we transition to our Afghan counterparts in the security forces and government, and that allows a responsible draw-down of our forces."" But Gen Petraeus said progress in Afghanistan only began this spring, when those troops arrived on the ground. The general took over command of international forces in Afghanistan last month. His predecessor, Gen Stanley McChrystal, was sacked after he made disparaging remarks about the Obama administration in a magazine article."
" New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) -- Tar balls linked to the worst oil spill in U.S. history have reached into Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain and hit the beaches near Galveston, Texas, authorities in those states reported on day 77 of the disaster. Easterly winds and high waves that hindered skimmers drove blobs of weathered oil up into the eastern end of the lake, which sits north of New Orleans, said Anne Rheams, executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. She estimated the amount of oil that has reached the lake at less than 100 barrels, with no hydrocarbon smell. ""They are about the size of a silver dollar, maybe a little bigger, kind of dispersed in long intervals. It's not as dense as it could be, so we're thankful for that,"" she said. The Coast Guard reported over the weekend that a shift in weather patterns could send more oil toward sensitive shores in Mississippi and Louisiana, and bad weather over the past few days has significantly hampered cleanup efforts. Rheams said that pattern was expected to persist for at least three more days. Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft said Friday that the prospect of oil reaching up into Lake Pontchartrain ""is where I'm losing the most sleep right now."" ""I'm going to look, and if I see even sheen, I'm going to push to make sure that we're moving every and all available resources to respond to this particular area,"" he said. Tar balls had previously been spotted in Rigolets Pass, which connects the lake with Mississippi Sound. Officials in Orleans and St. Tammany parishes have been using heavy booms, barges and skimmers to defend Pontchartrain since the early days of the disaster, but Rheams said high waves and strong easterly and southeasterly winds have complicated the effort. ""The main thing is that they are an indicator that it could be coming more so this way,"" she said. State officials closed a swath of the southern part of the 630-square-mile lake to fishing following the discovery, but there was no sign of an impact on wildlife as of Monday, Rheams said. And in Texas, about 400 miles west of the ruptured offshore well at the heart of the spill, Coast Guard Capt. Marcus Woodring said the total volume of tar balls found over the weekend amounted to about five gallons. And while authorities weren't sure how they made it that far, tests confirmed that at least the first batch collected came from the Deepwater Horizon spill off Louisiana, he said."
" Ikea has withdrawn meatballs from sale in 14 European countries after tests in the Czech Republic found traces of horsemeat in a batch made in Sweden. Meatballs from the same batch had been sold in many states, including the UK, France and Portugal, the retailer said. Swiss food giant Nestle meanwhile said it had found horse DNA in meat from the Spanish supplier, Servocar. The discoveries come as EU agriculture ministers meet for talks expected to focus on the growing horsemeat scandal. Since the first horsemeat was discovered in frozen meals and burgers in the UK and Ireland last month, traces have been found in meat products across Europe. Ikea's announcement on Monday came after the Czech State Veterinary Administration said horsemeat had been found in 1kg (2.2lb) packs of meatballs manufactured in Sweden and shipped to the Czech Republic for sale in Ikea stores there. A total of 760kg (1,675lb) of the meatballs have been intercepted and stopped from reaching Czech shelves, according to the Associated Press. Horsemeat had also been found in beef burgers imported from Poland, the Czech State Veterinary Administration said. In a posting on its Swedish Facebook page, Ikea first confirmed it was halting all sales of meatballs at its stores in the country. Later, the company announced that meatballs from the affected batch of meatballs had also been sent to Ikea stores in Slovakia, Hungary, France, the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and the Republic of Ireland."
" Japan's metrological agency reports that an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 has hit north of Tokyo, causing buildings in the capital city to sway for upwards of 30 seconds. The agency said the quake hit at 4:23 p.m. (0723 UTC) Monday in the northern part of Tochigi prefecture, about 120 kilometers from Tokyo. The quake struck at a depth of about 10 kilometers. The agency said no damage or injuries were reported and there was no tsunami warning issued."
" Buried chemicals on U.S. military base removed from S. Korea SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- Chemicals that were buried at a U.S. military base in South Korea in the 1970s were excavated and removed from the South for apparent disposal, a U.S. commander told the South's environment minister, ministry officials said Thursday.South Korea and the U.S. have launched a joint investigation into claims by retired American soldiers that they had helped dump large amounts of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange in 1978 inside Camp Carroll in Chilgok, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul."
" Typhoon Washi survivors rest in a makeshift shelter on New Year's day, near a car swept by rampaging floodwaters, in the southern Philippines city of Iligan on Mindanao island January 1, 2012. The earthquake measured 4 in central Tokyo, Fukushima and their surrounding areas on the Japanese intensity scale, which measures ground motion, according to Japan Meteorological Agency, which uses a different measuring system than the U.S. Geological Survey. A spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power said there were no reports of any abnormalities at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plan following the quake. Some high-speed train services in northern Japan were suspended after the earthquake, but soon resumed operations, Kyodo news reported. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake, at a depth of nearly 217 miles, was recorded off Japan's southeastern Izu islands on Sunday at 0527 GMT, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has not issued a tsunami warning following the earthquake located south-southwest of Hachijo-jima in the Izu islands. Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest quake in Japan on record, and a massive tsunami, which triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years since Chernobyl. The disaster left up to 23,000 dead or missing."
" SRINAGAR, India-controlled Kashmir, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- A man Sunday hurled a shoe at India-controlled Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during the Indian Independence Day function amid tight security arrangements, officials said. The shoe was hurled at Abdullah in highly guarded Bakshi stadium, the venue for Indian Independence day celebrations in Srinagar, the summer capital of India-controlled Kashmir. ""The shoe was hurled at the Omar Abdullah from the third row of VVIP lounge at the time when he was unfurling the Indian flag at the ceremony and was about to take the salute. The man also waved a black flag and shouted 'we want freedom'. However, the shoe thrower was immediately whisked away by policemen from the venue,"" said a police official, requesting not to be named. Police officials said the shoe thrower has been identified as police officer of region's police force. The act has come as an embarrassment for the security establishment. Television channels quoted Abdullah as saying ""throw shoes, not stones"". Local government in India-controlled Kashmir held the main Indian Independence Day function amid strict curfew across major towns including Srinagar city. The function was attended by local pro-India politicians, the top civil and police officials. Authorities had imposed severe restrictions around the Bhakshi stadium and deployed sharp shooters on the rooftops of houses around the venue to ward of any militant attack. Hundreds of police and paramilitary troopers were deployed in the Srinagar city to prevent the protest demonstrations. For the past two months, public protests are going across the region against New Delhi's rule and killing of civilians. Two people were killed on Saturday in police and paramilitary firing on protesters, taking the death toll of civilians to 57 since June 11."
" The Syrian opposition has agreed to attend an international summit in Rome, after the US and UK ""promised specific aid"" to the Syrian people. The group had previously announced it would boycott the talks because of ""the world's silence"" over the violence. US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Minister William Hague earlier confirmed there would be more support for Syria's opposition. Mr Kerry was in London as part of his first foreign trip since taking office. The Syrian opposition's announcement came amid reports of a deadly explosion and heavy fighting in an eastern part of the Syrian capital, Damascus. It also emerged on Monday that a member of the UN peacekeeping force monitoring the ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian troops in the demilitarised Golan Heights was missing. ""We can confirm that a staff member is not accounted for and we are in touch with the relevant parties to determine what has happened,"" UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey told the Associated Press. After meeting Mr Hague and British Prime Minister David Cameron, Mr Kerry called Syrian Opposition Council President Moaz Al-Khatib and encouraged him to join the Rome talks on Thursday. No further details have been released about the conversation. But on Monday evening, Mr al-Khatib said in a Facebook post that his group would fly to Italy."
" Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan exchanged lists of their nuclear sites Sunday in accordance with a 1988 agreement that prohibits the neighboring countries from attacking the locations, officials in Islamabad said. Pakistan's foreign ministry confirmed that it turned in its list to the Indian High Commission, and received the same from New Delhi. There was no immediate comment from Indian officials. Both countries recently returned to talks on conventional and nuclear weapons, Indian officials have said. No major developments were expected from the high-level talks, which were held in Islamabad last week. The discussions were aimed at building confidence between the two nuclear powers, according to a December statement from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Dialogue will help the countries understand each other's nuclear doctrine, Pakistan's state-run news agency cited foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit as saying. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since the partition of the Asian subcontinent in 1947. Two of them were over Kashmir, which is claimed by both countries. In 2004, the nations agreed to negotiations that cover eight issues, including Kashmir, terrorism and Pakistan's concerns over river dams on the Indian side of the border, which it sees as a threat to its water supplies. Earlier this year, New Delhi and Islamabad agreed to resume peace talks frozen by the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. India blamed Pakistani militants for the strike on its financial capital, which killed more than 160 people. In July, both nations vowed they would not allow their relationship to slide backward again."
" FOUR people have been killed and more than 20 injured when a homemade bomb was detonated during a fight at a Buddhist festival in northeast Thailand. Monday's explosion killed two policemen and two revellers at a concert to celebrate Makha Bhucha Day at a pagoda in Maha Sarakham province, local district police chief Kritchai Sreumsri told AFP. He said police officers responding to a fight near the celebrations were chasing a man who was apparently carrying a homemade device when it exploded. More than 20 people, including the man being chased, were injured in the blast at the town of Nadoon. Makha Bhucha Day honours the teachings of Lord Buddha on the full moon day."
" A policeman hurled a shoe towards Chief Minister Omar Abdullah when he was taking salute at the official Independence Day function at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar. The policeman was sitting in the VIP gallery behind the Chief Minister. Police say that the policeman had been suspended earlier and a criminal case is pending against him but fail to answer how a suspended policeman managed to reach into the VIP gallery. Eyewitnesses say that when Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was taking salute after unfurling the Tri-colour, a policeman sitting in the VIP gallery behind Abdullah hurled his shoe towards him. The shoe, however, missed the target and fell on the ground. The policeman also waved a black flag and raised pro-freedom slogans. The policeman, who hurled show on Abdullah, has been identified as Abdul Ahad Jan of North Kashmir's Bandipore town. He was whisked away by the security guards immediately. Police says that Jan was suspended as a criminal case is pending against him but they are unable to answer that how Jan managed to enter the Bakshi stadium and get a set in the VIP enclosure. There is strict scrutiny of all the people, who enter the Bakshi stadium and people with valid passes only are allowed inside the VIP enclosures. Fifteen policemen including four officers were suspended by the Jammu and Kashmir Government in connection with a shoe being hurled at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah by a suspended head constable today at the Independence Day function. Official sources said the policemen four of whom who were of sub-inspector rank faced the action pending an inquiry for lax security arrangements which enabled the constable Abdul Ahad Jahan to enter the highly-secured Bakshi Stadium. Jahan, who was in the VIP enclosure behind the rows where Omar was taking salute from marching contingents after unfurling the national flag, was overpowered by security men and has been arrested. Please read our before posting comments TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s)."
" Turkey will sever diplomatic ties with Israel unless it apologizes over the Commando raid on a convoy to Gaza in which nine Turks died , Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying Monday. ""Relations will be broken"" unless Israel apologizes or accepts the conclusions of an international inquiry into the May 31 attack on the Gaza-bound flotilla, he told Monday's edition of the Hurriyet newspaper. Turkey has until now called for an international probe into the raid but in a break with that position, Davutoglu did not reject the creation of Israel's own commission to investigate the raid. ""If this commission concludes that the raid was unjust and if they apologize, that will be sufficient,"" he said, although he insisted that Turkey wanted compensation from the Jewish state. Despite Davutoglu's meeting with Israeli Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the Turkish stance remains firm. ""We showed them the way out. If they apologize as a result of the probe that they are carrying out themselves, this will be sufficient. But of course, we must first see this."" The Turkish foreign minister went on to say, ""They are aware of our demands. If they do not agree to apologize, they must agree to an international inquiry."" Davutoglu said he wants ties between Turkey and Israel to be restored to the way they were before the raid. He said his country would like to give a chance to countries interested in rehabilitating Ankara's ties with Jerusalem, hinting at American involvement. On his meeting with Israeli Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, he said, ""Make no mistake. The meeting with Ben-Eliezer was not held under the United State's mediation. We briefed Barack Obama on this meeting at the G-20 summit in Toronto."" He stressed that he met with Ben-Eliezer as ""Netanyahu's special envoy"". Davutoglu make the remarks on a flight back to Turkey from Kyrgyzstan, and said Turkey had closed its airspace to all Israeli military flights in reaction to the raid. ""Turkey's skies are completely closed to Israeli military flights. The ban is not implemented on individual cases, it is a sweeping ban."""
" Turkey has for the first time threatened to break diplomatic ties with Israel over its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May. Turkey's foreign minister said a break could only be averted if Israel either apologised or accepted the outcome of an international inquiry into the raid. The Israeli government said it had nothing to apologise for. Ankara curtailed diplomatic relations with Israel after the naval raid, in which nine Turks were killed. Turkey - which until recently was Israel's most important Muslim ally - withdrew its ambassador and demanded that the Israelis issue an apology, agree to a United Nations inquiry and compensate the victims' families. Continue reading the main story Emotions are still raw enough over this incident for both sides to maintain the hardest possible line, even if behind the scenes they say they want to salvage the relationship. Although Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made a hardline statement, it doesn't look like a fundamental change in position. Turkey's demands for an apology, compensation and an international inquiry have been unflinching. But Mr Davutoglu said Turkey would be satisfied if Israel's inquiry found them at fault and if Israel apologised. That seems unlikely. The Obama administration is pushing these key US allies to make up. But there is no realistic way of this happening for some time. A Turkish foreign ministry official told the BBC relations with Israel had hit rock bottom, but Ankara would not rush into cutting ties. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would be satisfied with the ongoing Israeli inquiry if that found Israel to be at fault. Mr Davutoglu told Hurriyet newspaper: ""[The Israelis] will either apologise or acknowledge an international, impartial inquiry and its conclusion. Otherwise, our diplomatic ties will be cut off."" He also said there was now a blanket ban in place on all Israeli military aircraft using Turkish airspace, not just on a case-by-case basis."
" US President Barack Obama has staunchly defended controversial plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York. Opponents have protested against the construction of an Islamic cultural centre and mosque several hundred feet away from the site of the Twin Towers. Mr Obama acknowledged ""sensitivities"" surround the 9/11 site, but said Muslims have the same right to practise their religion ""as anyone else"". ""Our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable,"" Mr Obama said. Since a New York developer announced plans to build a 13-storey Islamic community centre and mosque about two blocks from the former World Trade Center site, prominent Republican politicians and a host of conservative pundits have attacked the project. Some relatives of people killed in the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 are also opposed to the plan. In a speech at a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, Mr Obama waded into the row, saying: ""We must all recognise and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of lower Manhattan, Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground. But let me be clear, as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practise their religion as anyone else in this country. ""That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community centre on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are."" He told the group of US Congressmen, government officials and foreign dignitaries that America's tradition of religious tolerance distinguishes it from ""our enemies""."
" Forty-five militants were also killed in clashes that erupted after 300 to 400 militants from Afghanistan stormed a Pakistani checkpost in an attack in the northwestern region of Dir on Wednesday. The clashes lasted for more than 24 hours. Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir conveyed Pakistan's ""strong concern"" to the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement. ""The Foreign Secretary stressed the need for stern action by the Afghan army, U.S. and NATO/ISAF forces in the area against militants and their hideouts in Afghanistan and against organisational support the militants,"" the statement said, referring to foreign forces in Afghanistan. ""Pakistan's concerns are also being brought to the attention of the U.S. and NATO."" A senior security official in the region said the militants attacked the post from their ""sanctuaries"" across the border in Afghanistan's eastern province of Afghanistan. ""Pakistani forces retaliated and killed 45 militants,"" the official said on condition of anonymity. There was no way to verify that toll because most journalists are not allowed to enter the border region in the northwest, the epicentre of fighting between militants and security forces. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said the attackers also burnt schools in the area. The battle erupted after militants dressed in military uniforms attacked the post and killed one policeman. The incident underscores the dangers posed by long, porous border which both countries have struggled to control as part of efforts control movements of insurgents on both sides of the boundary."
" (CNN) -- The one really big question hanging over President Obama's weekend vacation to Panama City, Florida, now has an answer. Will he or won't he dive into the water to send a message that the Gulf Coast is back? The answer: He will, and sooner than expected. ""I think we're going to go tomorrow and as I just said Ed, I'm not going to let you guys take a picture of me with my shirt off,"" Obama jokingly told CNN Saturday. ""You guys will tease me just like last time. I was on the front page ... People commenting."" But just hours later, a photo was published on the White House Flickr page showing a smiling President Obama and his daughter Sasha taking a dip in the Gulf waters off Alligator Point in Panama City Beach, Florida. No reporters or press cameras were present for the swim, but the image will nonetheless send a message that the White House has sought to convey with the first family's trip: the Gulf Coast is open for business. Obama caused a bit of a tabloid stir when he took off his shirt to reveal a muscular physique during trips to Hawaii during the 2008 presidential campaign and subsequent presidential transition. But some are less concerned about Obama ending up on magazine covers, and more worried about the White House sending the right message. ""Absolutely, I want him to take his shirt off and get in the water and show it's clean and safe,"" said Stephen Leatherman, a professor at Florida International University in Miami who puts together an annual list of America's best beaches. Leatherman rates the beach there as one of the top 10 in the country, and he said Obama has a unique opportunity to showcase the fact that the Gulf Coast is still open for business despite the worst oil spill in American history. ""It's got lily-white sand, and frankly the oil didn't really make it there. It was pretty well spared,"" said Leatherman, who noted that the water is 87 or 88 degrees because of the steamy Florida weather, making it conducive to at least a quick presidential plunge."
" GUANGZHOU, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- A bus driver died in hospital Saturday after being infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus in the southern city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, local authorities said. The 39-year-old man surnamed Chen died of multiple organ failures at 1 p.m., the Department of Health of Guangdong said in a statement. Another 120 people who had contact with the driver have not reported any symptoms, the department said. Chen was hospitalized for fever on Dec. 21 and tested positive for the H5N1 avian influenza virus in the Bao'an district of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, the department said. The department also said that during the month prior to his fever, he had no direct contact with poultry and had not traveled out of the city. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) on Dec. 22 suspended supplies of live poultry to Hong Kong after a dead chicken tested positive in Hong Kong for the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The discovery of the infected bird prompted Hong Kong's health authorities to raise the city's response level for bird flu from ""alert"" to ""serious"" and to cull more than 17,000 chickens at a poultry market where the infected carcass was found. Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, is a contagious disease caused by viruses that normally infect birds and, less commonly, pigs. It can be fatal to humans. According to data released by the WHO, the virus has infected 573 people around the world, killing 336 as of December this year."
" BEIRUT (Reuters) - The head of the Syrian opposition's armed rebels ordered a stop to all attacks on state security forces during a visit by Arab League monitors checking to see if Syria is implementing a deal to end its crackdown on the nine-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule. ""I issued an order to stop all operations from the day the committee entered Syria last Friday. All operations against the regime are to be stopped except in a situation of self defense,"" Lieutenant Colonel Riad al-Asaad, head the Free Syrian Army, told Reuters by telephone on Friday."
" Syrian security forces have reportedly opened fire to stop tens of thousands of protesters holding rallies in front of visiting Arab League observers. Activists say at least 35 people were killed in flashpoint cities like Hama, Deraa and Homs, all of whom were being visited by League monitors. Running battles were fought at one of the largest rallies, in the Damascus suburb of Douma. Security forces were accused of firing live rounds, nail bombs and tear gas. Meanwhile, Syrian state media showed pictures of what it said were pro-government rallies in several cities, including Damascus, with protesters showing their anger at a foreign-orchestrated ""plot"" that is ""targeting Syria's stability and security"". The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March. The government says 2,000 security forces personnel have died. Continue reading the main story Continued violence and the rising death toll in Syria risk eclipsing the Arab League monitors' mission, before they have even built up to their full strength. Despite unease in many Western capitals nobody wants to pre-judge the outcome of the monitors' work. They are due to report towards the end of January and there is a clear hope that their conclusions will provide ammunition to take to the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, amidst signs that the Syrian economy is faltering, European Union governments are set to consider even tougher sanctions - the 11th round of economic measures to pressure the Syrian authorities. And in Washington there are reports that the Obama administration is considering increased diplomatic and practical support for the Syrian opposition; though the supply of arms or any kind of outside military intervention are - for now - out of the question. Casualty figures and other information are hard to verify as most foreign media are barred from reporting freely in Syria. Around 60 monitors from the Arab League are visiting Syria to verify the implementation of a peace initiative, which demands an end to all violence, the withdrawal of troops from the streets and the release of political prisoners. Correspondents say their presence emboldened the opposition to call on people leaving Friday prayers to join the rallies and show the scale of anti-government anger."
" London - Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday that despite their defeat in the dramatic World Cup quarterfinal against Uruguay, Ghana were the true winners. In a letter to the Ghana team, Annan, a Ghanaian himself, said his reaction at the end of the match on Friday when the last African representatives in the first World Cup on African soil lost in a penalty shootout was ""how unfair"". ""Heartbroken, that's how you must have felt at the end of your epic match against Uruguay last Friday. There is no other word for it. Hundreds of millions of us felt the same way,"" he wrote in the letter. Ghana could have won in the last minute of extra time when they were awarded a penalty after Uruguay's Luis Suarez had been sent off for a deliberate hand ball on the goalline, but Asamoah Gyan fired the spot kick over the bar. ""In fact, while you lost the game, you came out winners. I wanted to congratulate you not only on a fantastic performance in which you can take great pride, but also for accepting your defeat with dignity. You won because you were such great ambassadors for the game - and for Africa,"" Annan wrote. ""I cannot think of another occasion on which the whole continent was so united as during your quarterfinal,"" he added, in the letter released through the London-based PR company for his Africa Progress Panel. ""I am sure we have all felt at some stage of our lives that the world is united against Africa. But this World Cup, and particularly your last match, has shown the enormous goodwill towards our continent,"" he added. The Ghana players received an ecstatic welcome home at the country's main airport on Monday. - Sapa-AFP"
" James Pavitt, deputy director for operations, is said to have made the decision some weeks ago. The departures come as the agency is braced for reports expected to criticise its conduct in the run-up to the 9/11 attacks and the war in Iraq. The CIA says Mr Pavitt's decision was unconnected with Mr Tenet's departure. But analysts say the move will mean more upheaval at a critical time for the agency. On Thursday Mr Tenet cited ""personal reasons"" for his decision to go, but he has faced months of criticism for not preventing the 11 September 2001 attacks, and over the failure to uncover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says the official 9/11 inquiry is due to report soon and is likely to savage the CIA for failing to stop Osama Bin Laden. At the same time, another inquiry is investigating what the agency told President George W Bush about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Mr Bush accepted the CIA director's resignation and said he would miss the ""strong and able"" Mr Tenet as head of the US intelligence agency. Mr Tenet, 51, will leave the CIA on 11 July when Deputy Director John McLaughlin will take over temporarily. James Pavitt has worked for the agency for 31 years, five as the deputy director of operations, in charge of the agency's spies."
" Conflict has raged in the vast arid region since mainly non-Arab tribes revolted against the Arab government in Khartoum in 2003, accusing it of political and economic neglect. Violence ebbed from 2004 but has picked up again in recent months. Arab tribes, armed by the government to help quell the Darfur insurgency, have turned their guns on each other in battles for control of a gold mine and other resources. Fighting broke out in January between the Bani Hussein and Rizeigat tribes over the mine in Jebel Amer in North Darfur, displacing 100,000 people, according to the United Nations. A total of 51 people were killed during new fighting in the area of El Sireaf between the two tribes on Thursday and Saturday, North Darfur governor Osman Mohammed Kibir told SUNA. He said the army had now restored order, adding that ""criminals"" on both sides were to blame for the new violence which tribesmen reported first this weekend. In January, separate clashes between the army and a rebel group in central Darfur forced 30,000 to flee. In 2003, Khartoum armed and unleashed Arab tribes to help put down the insurgency of African tribes. Human rights groups and the United Nations estimate hundreds of thousands of people died in the Darfur conflict. The government says around 10,000 people were killed. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and some aides to face charges of masterminding war crimes in Darfur. They deny the charges and refuse to recognize the court. Events in Darfur are hard to verify as Sudan restricts travel by journalists, aid workers and diplomats. In January, authorities denied Reuters a travel permit to attend a government-sponsored disarmament conference in West Darfur."
" An American soldier suspected of leaking video footage of a US Apache helicopter strike which killed civilians in Baghdad has been charged, the US military said. The video of the July 2007 attack, in which two employees of the Reuters news agency were killed, made headlines around the world after it was posted on the Wikileaks website. A US Army statement says Private First Class Bradley Manning, held in a military jail in Kuwait since last month, faces two charges of misconduct. Wikileaks released a decrypted copy of the military video in April. It shows several people, including the Reuters employees, being killed by fire from the helicopter gunship. The statement said the first charge against Manning, 22, is for violating army regulations by ""transferring classified data onto his personal computer and adding unauthorised software to a classified computer system"". He is accused in a second charge of ""communicating, transmitting and delivering national defence information to an unauthorised source"". WikiLeaks at the time said it obtained the video ""from a number of military whistleblowers"" and decrypted it. The gun camera footage included audio conversations between Apache pilots and controllers in which they identified the men on a Baghdad street as armed insurgents and asked for permission to open fire. Two of the men were later identified as Reuters employees Nameer Nuraddin Hussein, a 22-year-old photographer, and Saeed Chmagh, 44, a driver."
" (CNN) -- A quarrel between occupants of two vehicles at a McDonald's restaurant drive-through in southern Finland erupted in gunfire Tuesday, leaving three men dead, police said. Three occupants in one of the vehicles have been arrested, said Peter Fagerholm, a detective inspector in the town of Porvoo. The two vehicles were in line at the restaurant about 2 a.m. when the quarrel began, Fagerholm said. Shots from a semiautomatic handgun were fired from a Toyota SUV into a convertible driven by a pregnant woman and carrying four men. Two of the men in the convertible, ages 28 and 45, died at the scene. Another 28-year-old man died Tuesday afternoon at a hospital in Finland's capital, Helsinki, about 50 miles to the west, Fagerholm said. Two of the men were shot in the head, the other in the chest, he said. The cause of the argument was not immediately known. ""We believe it was a very small issue"" that escalated, Fagerholm said late Tuesday. He said he doesn't believe the parties in the different cars knew each other, or that the shooting was preplanned. The SUV carried one woman and two men, Fagerholm said. One of the men, 41, is the principal suspect. In 1995 he was sentenced to life in prison on one count of murder and two counts of attempted homicide, Fagerholm said. He was released on parole in December. Fagerholm would not release the suspect's name. Authorities are speaking with witnesses in a third car in the drive-through line. CNN's Lianne Turner and Phil Gast contributed to this report"
" Police troopers are seen on a street during clashes with separatists in the southern Yemeni city of Mukalla February 23, 2013. The Defence Ministry said Abdulwahab al-Wali, head of the central security forces, escaped the attack by unknown gunmen in the town of Mukalla, but two of his bodyguards were wounded. Southern Yemen, which was an independent state until 1990, is troubled by both separatist unrest and an insurgency led by Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda, a source of concern to Gulf states and the West. Wali survived a previous assassination attempt last year, one of a string of attacks on military, political and militia leaders and officials. Many have been blamed on the Islamists, but the authorities did not say whether any group was suspected of Saturday's shooting. In other developments, medical and security sources said three people were killed and 14 wounded in clashes between Yemeni security forces and separatists in the south. Separatist leaders had called for a day of civil disobedience in major southern towns and cities after the deaths of six people in protests on Thursday. The resurgent movement for a south Yemen state has aggravated political instability in the Arabian Peninsula country, where Washington fears political chaos is giving al Qaeda space to operate. Shops, bakeries and schools were closed in many southern cities and transport was paralyzed after roads were blocked with stones and burning tyres, witnesses said. Many government employees did not turn up for work. In Aden, capital of the former South Yemen, one person was killed and nine were wounded in clashes on Saturday, medical sources said. Witnesses said armored vehicles patrolled the streets. One person was killed in Mukalla and another in Ghayl ba Wazir district in eastern Yemen, while five were wounded, the sources said. The Islah party, one of the most powerful in Yemen, said separatists had set fire to its headquarters in Mukalla."
" (CNN) -- At least two confirmed tornadoes descended upon towns in western Massachusetts on Wednesday, leaving at least four dead and smashing homes and buildings across a 40-mile stretch, state officials and witnesses reported. One person was killed in Springfield, two in nearby Westfield and one in Brimfield, about 20 miles east, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick told reporters Wednesday night. The storms struck shortly after 4 p.m. in Springfield, about 90 miles west of Boston. Dylan McDonald told CNN he watched the tornado knock down trees and scatter debris across town as he was driving with a co-worker. ""As the light turned green, a tree fell and everything took off,"" McDonald said. ""We saw a roof fly off an apartment building. The car was tilting, but didn't turn over."" As many as 19 communities reported tornado damage Wednesday evening, Patrick said. The governor declared a state of emergency as the storm system that spawned those twisters moved east, with watches posted all the way to the Atlantic coast until late Wednesday. ""It's been particularly devastating in downtown Springfield,"" Patrick said. And he said a local official told him, ""You have to see Monson to believe it."" Monson resident Dolly Opper said state police were setting up roadblocks around the town, and a neighbor described the town's center as ""war zone."" ""I haven't been home,"" she said. ""The steeple's off the church across the street. It's lying right in the front yard."" At J.T.'s Sports Pub, on Springfield's Main Street, owner Keith Makarowski said he and the 10 or so patrons intially went outside to watch the darkening skies -- then retreated as the storm blew into downtown. ""There was a ton of debris flying around, lots of roof shingles and random siding,"" Makarowski said. Several century-old buildings were damaged -- ""roofs torn off, facades ravaged, trees uprooted"" -- and a woman across the street was blown up against a building after being caught outside."
" An Egyptian bus driver has shot dead six construction workers travelling in his vehicle, security officials say. They said the driver was taking the employees to a site near Cairo when he stopped the company bus, turned round and opened fire, also wounding six others. The gunman was arrested. The motive for the attack remains unclear. The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says first indications are the attack was probably not politically motivated. Some reports suggested the driver was depressed after being transferred to a new position. The driver worked for a company called Arab Contractors, one of Egypt's biggest building firms. The company said he was taking 22 labourers and other employees to its site near Cairo when he stopped the vehicle. ""The passengers were shocked to see driver Mahmud Taha Ahmad Sueilem, 54, pull out an automatic weapon from under his seat and start firing indiscriminately on the passengers,"" it said in a statement quoted by AFP news agency. Six other employees were injured, the provincial governor said. Earlier reports said 16 people had been wounded. A security source cited by Reuters news agency said female passengers on the bus were not shot, adding that the victims included a finance manager and a department head."
" India's prime minister has pledged ""severe"" punishment for anyone guilty in corruption scandals engulfing the New Delhi Commonwealth Games. The government has stepped in to rescue the troubled October 3-14 event in the Indian capital, creating an 'empowered committee' to oversee the Games. Two members of the Games' organising committee members were sacked last week amid graft controversies. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has ordered an investigation of all procedural and other irregularities surrounding the Games. ""Those found guilty should face severe and exemplary punishment,"" he said in comments reported by Indian media on Sunday. The prime minister convened a top level emergency meeting on Saturday about the Games, beset by corruption claims and fears facilities won't be finished in time. Organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi has resisted calls to quit over ongoing concerns about financial irregularities and Delhi's readiness for the Games. The graft claims emerged in the past week, with the organising committee treasurer and joint general quitting after allegedly being linked to corruption. The government's probe of the allegations was unlikely to be held until after the Games, The Hindu newspaper reported. Singh resolved to turn a cabinet committee already reviewing the Games and associated works into an 'empowered committee' with jurisdiction over the organising committee, The Hindu said."
" A stampede killed 18 women and children when the charity workers handed out free flour to the needy in Karachi on Monday, police said. ""We have talked to the officials in city hospitals who have confirmed to us that at least 18 women and children have died in the stampede and dozens others have been injured,"" Karachi city police chief Wasim Ahmed told reporters. ""The deaths were caused by suffocation and the stampede in one of the most congested localities of Khori Garden. Sindh Government has announced Rs100,000 each for the bereaved families. Like previous years, the ration was distributed free this year too by a trader Chaudhry Iftikhar in a densely populated area of Khori Garden in Jodia Bazar where hundreds of women had come for ration collection. But the crowed went out of control running over one another in an attempt to collect the ration which led to a stampede and as a result 18 people including women and children died of suffocation and crush injuries. The bodies and injured were taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi. The Karachi police chief said that trader Chaudhry Iftikhar has been arrested and it will be determined after proper investigation as to what extent the responsibility of the incident falls on him. Meanwhile, taking notice of the incident President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah ordered for submission of investigation report. Directives have also been given for provision of best medical facilities to the wounded."
" Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi attends a news conference with Turkish President Abdullah Gul (not pictured) after their meeting at Presidential Palace ''Qasr Al Quba'' in Cairo February 7, 2013. CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's parliamentary elections, previously scheduled to begin on April 27, have been brought forward to start on April 22, the presidential spokesman said on his Facebook page on Saturday. Members of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority had criticised the planned timing of the elections because some voting would take place during their Easter holiday."
" A top Egyptian opposition leader Saturday urged a boycott of parliamentary elections in April, describing them as ""an act of deception."" Mohamed ElBaradei is one of the leaders of Egypt's National Salvation Front, a coalition of opposition groups. In a tweet from his official account, he called for the boycott, just like he did three years ago. ""Called for parliamentary election boycott in 2010 to expose sham democracy. Today I repeat my call, will not be part of an act of deception,"" it read. But Essam Erian, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and leader of the majority party in Egypt's upper house of Parliament, criticized the proposed boycott. ""Evading a popular test [by not participating in the parliamentary elections] only means that some people want to assume the executive powers without a democratic mandate,"" Erian said on the party's Facebook page. ""Participation [in the upcoming elections] is the best choice for any politician who has any popular support. Because if he or she has a popular majority then this will be reflected in majority wins or seats won that can translate into participation in the executive branch or remaining in Parliament as an opposition force,"" Erian said. On Saturday, Egypt changed the series of dates for the country's parliamentary elections in several areas to accommodate Coptic Christians and their Easter celebrations, state-run Middle East News Agency reported. President Mohamed Morsy decreed the changes, the agency said. The first stage of the elections will be held April 22-23 instead of April 27-28 in the governorates of Cairo, Behaira, Minya, Port Said and Northern Sinai. The second stage will be held on May 11-12 instead of May 15-16 in Giza, Alexandria, Sohaj, Bani Swaif, Aswan, Suez, Red Sea and New Valley. The runoff will be held May 19-20 instead of May 22 and 23 in those areas, the agency said."
" BANGKOK, July 6 (Xinhua) -- In Tuesday's weekly meeting Thailand's Cabinet approved to renew the emergency decree in Bangkok and other 19 provinces, which is due to expire on Wednesday after it was imposed three months ago to handle the then on-going ""red-shirts"" rally. The Cabinet, however, resolved to lift the emergency rule in Si Sa Ket, Nan, Kalasin, Nakhon Pathom and Nakhon Sawan, five of the 24 provinces including the capital that were under the special security decree. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters after the meeting that the government tries to restore the situation to normalcy, but intelligence reports showed that there are some people trying to commit sabotage. ""We need the security forces to help to keep peace and order, so the Cabinet decided to extend the emergency decree for another 90 days,"" said Abhisit. The resolution was made after the Centre for Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES), a body in charge of security under the state of emergency, asked the Cabinet to extend the decree in the capital and all the other 23 provinces on ground that the situation was still worrying. The National Security Council, on the other hand, was of the opinion that the situation in these provinces had been resolved and that the decree could be reinstated there if the ""red-shirts"" renewed their anti-government activities. The National army chief Anupong Paojinda earlier Tuesday showed his support to the extension, saying that it will help the economic and social sectors move forward. The special decree enables the military to help the police to keep law and order. Suthep Thaugsuban, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of security affairs, tried to justify the re-imposing of the special decree before he attended the cabinet meeting, saying there were still terrorist acts, such as launching rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at an oil depot and burning schools."
" Arab League monitors overseeing compliance with a peace plan have been fanning out to cover various parts of Syria amid continuing anti-government violence. Activists reported at least 10 deaths on Wednesday in the cities of Homs, Hama and elsewhere. The monitors visited Homs for a second time, to be met by angry residents. The team's head said he had so far seen ""nothing frightening"", dismaying some activists and Western observers. Meanwhile, Syria released 755 people detained during the nine-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule. State TV said their ""hands were not stained with blood"". The monitors are spreading out to cover Hama, the north-western province of Idlib, and the southern province of Deraa, where the uprising began. Activists on Wednesday reported deaths in all of those flashpoint areas, saying that almost 40 people had now died in the two days since the monitors arrived. Continue reading the main story In one part of Homs, in a video posted on the internet by activists, a crowd of angry mourners gathers around the bonnet of a white vehicle, which has the insignia of the Arab League emblazoned on it and appears to belong to the observers. They lay the lifeless body of a small boy on the bonnet - the commentator shouts that it belongs to five-year-old Ahmad. ""These are our martyrs,"" he shouts to the Arab League, ""and they're being killed in front of your observers."" Activists say the violence has continued despite the presence of the observers. But despite the reservations of many activists about the Arab mission, and some glitches on the ground, the observers do seem to have got through, unaccompanied by Syrian official security escorts, to some of the worst-affected quarters of Homs. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said army defectors had killed at least four soldiers in Deraa, while civilians were killed in the Baba Amr district of Homs and in Hama and Aleppo. Unverified video footage from Hama purported to show security forces firing bullets and tear gas at protesters who were chanting, ""Where are the Arab monitors?"""
" Jerusalem (CNN) -- An Israeli soldier faces a manslaughter charge in the death of a Palestinian waving a white flag during a three-week incursion into Gaza, the Israeli military said Tuesday. The criminal indictment is one of three legal actions taken by the Israeli military for incidents that occurred during Operation Cast Lead. More than 1,100 Palestinians died during the operation, which began late in 2008 and ended early in 2009. It was intended to halt the firing of missiles from Gaza into Israel. The manslaughter charge was filed after an investigation into the shooting, the Israel Defense Forces said in a news release. ""This decision is based on evidence that the soldier, who was serving as a designated marksman, deliberately targeted an individual walking with a group of people waving a white flag without being ordered or authorized to do so,"" the IDF said. Conflict between the testimonies of Palestinian witnesses and military personnel made it ""impossible to make a criminal connection"" between this incident and an incident described by those Palestinian witnesses in which Israeli soldiers allegedly fired at people waving white flags, the IDF said. In another incident, a battalion commander authorized sending a Palestinian man into a house sheltering terrorists next to his own house in order to persuade them to leave, the news release said. The commander was indicted ""because he deviated from authorized and appropriate IDF behavior"" and ignored rules on the use of civilians in military operations, it said. But the release did not appear to say what charges he faces, and the IDF did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking clarification. Tuesday's news release also said a criminal investigation has been ordered into an incident in which a residence holding about 100 members of a family was struck from the air. In a separate case, an investigation into an assertion that the Ibrahim Al-Makadma mosque had been attacked concluded that that did not happen, but that an aerial strike near the mosque had occurred. ""The aerial strike targeted a terror operative involved in the launching of rockets toward Israel who was standing outside of the mosque,"" the news release said. ""Injuries caused to civilians inside were unintentional and caused by shrapnel that penetrated the mosque."""
" The Israeli military has announced it will charge an army sniper with killing a person during the Gaza offensive, when hundreds of Palestinians died. It said there were grounds for trying the staff sergeant for manslaughter in a military court. Evidence was found that the soldier had opened fire as the victim walked with a group of people waving a white flag. So far, Israel has only punished two other soldiers for their actions during Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09. A brigadier general and a colonel were reprimanded for authorising an artillery attack which hit a UN compound in Gaza, the army said in February. The Military Advocate-General (MAG), Maj Gen Avichai Mendelblit, also announced that disciplinary action had been taken against a battalion commander accused of using a Palestinian civilian as a ""human shield"" and against a commander who had ordered an air strike in which civilians inside a mosque had been injured. In a statement, the army said the shooting incident was apparently the same one reported by UN investigator Richard Goldstone last year, in which two women were allegedly shot dead by Israeli forces. But it added that it had been ""impossible"" to establish ""sufficient connections"" between evidence given by Palestinian eyewitnesses and that given by Israeli soldiers ""After reviewing the evidence, the Military Advocate General ordered that an IDF staff sergeant be indicted with charges of manslaughter by a military court,"" the army said. ""This decision is based on evidence that the soldier, who was serving as a designated marksman, deliberately targeted an individual walking with a group of people waving a white flag without being ordered or authorised to do so."""
" Colombo, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Protesters led by a Sri Lankan cabinet minister laid siege to the United Nations compound in Colombo on Tuesday, demanding that the world body drop a probe into alleged human rights abuses in the final stages of the separatist war that ended last year. Staffers were prevented from leaving as a crowd of about 1,000 surrounded the compound and burned an effigy of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Their placards told the United Nations to stop interfering in Sri Lanka's affairs. Ban named a three-person advisory panel last month to look into possible human rights violations committed during the war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. ""The secretary-general remains convinced that accountability is an essential foundation for durable peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka,"" a statement from Ban's office said. ""Through the panel, the secretary-general expects to enable the United Nations to make a constructive contribution in this regard. Scuffles erupted Tuesday when U.N. staff tried to leave the compound. Police charged the crowd with batons, wounding at least six people. Wimal Weerawansa, a minister in President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government, said the protesters planned to return Wednesday. The United Nations objected to the demonstration led by Weerawansa. ""While respecting the right of citizens to demonstrate peacefully, preventing access to U.N. offices hinders the vital work being carried out by the United Nations each day to help the people of Sri Lanka,"" U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters in New York. ""The government has provided assurances for the safety and security of our staff and for their full access to their offices,"" he added. ""We will be closely monitoring developments and trust these commitments will be honored."" Sri Lanka's decades-long war, through which the Tamil Tigers were seeking an independent homeland, ended with a ceasefire in May 2009. More than 65,000 people died in the strife."
" (CNN) -- The Pakistani army killed one of the most wanted Taliban commanders on Sunday in the country's tribal region, the military said Tuesday. He is Ameer Ullah Mehsud, one of the founders of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Mehsud, 45, was from the town of Makeen in South Waziristan, one of the seven districts of Pakistan's lawlessness tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The military said Mehsud, wanted for a bounty of $234,000, was killed during an exchange of fire with soldiers near Miran Shah in North Waziristan. He was known as Mazloomyar, which means ""friend of the oppressed."""
" ISLAMABAD, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- At least 18 women were killed in a stampede on Monday as they rushed to get free food items in the south Pakistani port city of Karachi, police and doctors said. Karachi City Police Chief Wasim Ahmed said that 18 women and girls were confirmed dead by the doctors. An 11-year-old girl were among the victims while several others were also injured and emergency has been declared in local hospitals, said the reports. Local TV reports said the incident took place near Karachi city courts when a large number of women and girls were waiting for free flour outside storage on the second floor of a building at Ghori Garden area. Doctors said the majority died due to suffocation. Up to ten were inured and taken to Karachi's Civil Hospital. Pakistani President Asif Zardari expressed shock and grief of the loss of lives during the stampede in Karachi and directed that an immediate enquiry report be submitted to fix responsibility. Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani also took serious notice of the stampede and ordered immediate enquiry into the incident and directed for best medical facilities to the injured. The police chief said that the police were not informed about the distribution of the food items and that the food distribution organizers should have asked for police assistance. A private firm Muhammad Iftikgar Company was distributing free food when the incident occurred, police said. Owner of the company Chaudhry Iftikhar was taken into custody, the police chief said. The police chief said that all charity groups in Karachi usually distribute food items and they inform the police for smooth distribution."
" French police carried out their latest raid on an illegal Roma campsite on Saturday, as criticism of its policy mounted. A lawmaker from French President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling UMP party, Jean-Pierre Grand, said the government's policy was ""disgraceful"" and ""reminiscent of roundups during the war."" The latest raid took place in an eastern Paris suburb. Sarkozy has alleged the illegal camps are centers of trafficking and prostitution. Grand, a representative for the southern Herault region, said he had learned that, after arriving early in the morning, the authorities began to ""break up families, sending men to one side and women and children on the other, and threatening to separate mothers and children."" France is home to hundreds of thousands of Roma or travelling people who are part of long-established communities. The other main Roma population is made up of recent immigrants, mainly from Romania and Bulgaria. The crackdown is seen to be a response to last month's attack on a police station in the Loire Valley town of Saint-Aignan by a group of young Roma. France's dismantling of illegal Roma camps as part of a crackdown on crime backed by Sarkozy has triggered condemnation by the United Nations and the Council of Europe. On Thursday, the vice president of France's Human Rights League Malik Salemkour said that there was a problem of ""institutionalized racism"" in the country. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is also investigating how travelling communities such as the Roma are treated. One committee member said that the French measures were reminiscent of the period of France's Vichy government, which collaborated with Nazis occupiers during the Second World War."
" East African leaders have renewed their calls to the UN to replace the beleaguered African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in Somalia. At a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Somalia's president said a radical strategy to end almost two decades of crisis in the country was needed. The leaders of the regional grouping Igad also agreed to deploy 2,000 more AU peacekeepers to help the government. AU troops have been battling Islamists who control most of southern Somalia. The UN-backed government only runs a few parts of the capital, Mogadishu. Fighting continued in Mogadishu while the summit was being held, with at least five people killed when militants attacked government positions in the north of the city, officials say. Speaking at the hastily convened meeting in Addis Ababa, Somali President Sheikh Shariff Sheikh Ahmed said that his country was in the hands of al-Qaeda and extremist groups. The main militant group, al-Shabab, has links to al-Qaeda. The president also made an impassioned appeal for an urgent and radical strategy to end the crisis. Previous Igad meetings have also called on the UN to replace the 5,000-strong AU mission."
" Regional African leaders have signed a UN-brokered accord which aims to bring peace to the troubled eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The deal was signed in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. He said he hoped it would bring ""an era of peace and stability"" to the region. As many as 800,000 people have been displaced since the March 23 rebel group took up arms against the Kinshasa government last May. ""It is only the beginning of a comprehensive approach that will require sustained engagement,"" Mr Ban said. The agreement, signed by leaders and representatives of 11 countries of the Great Lakes region, may lead to the establishment of a special UN intervention brigade in eastern DR Congo, along with political efforts to bring peace. An initial attempt to get the peace agreement signed last month was called off at the last minute. Leaders from Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Republic and South Sudan attended the signing. The M23 rebels say they want to improve living conditions for the people of eastern DR Congo, but the UN says they are supported by Rwanda, which has been heavily involved in its eastern neighbour since those responsible for the country's genocide fled there en masse in 1994. Bosco Ntaganda, who is accused of being one of the M23 leaders, was an officer in the Rwandan army before he left to join a rebel movement in DR Congo. The ICC accuses him of using child soldiers and the UN says he controls several mines in the east of the country."
" Roma (Gypsies) have blocked a major road bridge near Bordeaux in protest after hundreds of them were evicted from an illegal campsite. Around 250 vehicles blocked the bridge for five hours on Sunday, causing tailbacks of up to five kilometres on a public holiday weekend. More than 40 illegal camps have been closed in the past week. The French interior minister says Roma from Eastern Europe will be deported on ""specially chartered flights"". The blockade on the Aquitaine Bridge was the first major counter-protest by Roma and travellers since the French government began its crackdown. The regional traffic information centre said the blockade caused tailbacks of five kilometres on the Paris-bound carriageway of the A630. Police said the Roma had been expelled from a camp in the town of Anglet, to the south, and were prevented from setting up a new camp on an exhibition ground nearer Bordeaux. There are hundreds of thousands of Roma or travelling people living in France who are part of long-established communities. The other main Roma population is made up of recent immigrants, mainly from Romania and Bulgaria. They have the right to enter France without a visa, but must have work or residency permits to settle over the long term. The interior minister has announced that he will be meeting Romanian junior minister next week to call on Romanian police to assist in the crackdown in France."
" East African leaders have called for 20,000 troops to be deployed across Somalia to support the country's besieged transitional federal government. In a communique released after a meeting which ended in Addis Ababa on Monday, the leaders also announced they would boost immediately the number of African Union (AU) peacekeepers in Somalia by 2,000, bringing the mission to its planned full strength of 8,100. They repeated an earlier call on the United Nations Security Council, to convert the AU mission into a UN peacekeeping operation ""without delay"". The communique was issued by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which groups East African heads of state and government. IGAD said its member states were committed to ""unswerving support"" to the transitional government and branded its opponents as ""extremist and terrorist groups"". ""The conflict in Somalia,"" the IGAD leaders said, ""is not a conflict among the Somalis but between the people of Somalia and international terrorist groups."" The insurgency represented an ""escalating danger"" not only for Somalia but for the sub-region. They also supported the supply of resources and equipment to Somali forces from neighbouring countries, and called on AU member countries which had not contributed peacekeepers to give financial and material support. Their meeting in Addis Ababa was chaired by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, and attended by President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, President Ismael Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya and President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, head of the Somali transitional government."
" The Afghan president has ordered US special forces to leave Wardak province within two weeks. The decision was being taken due to allegations of disappearances and torture by Afghans considered to be part of US special forces, said a spokesman for Hamid Karzai. The strategically significant, central province of Wardak has been the recent focus of counter-insurgency operations. A US statement said it took all allegations of misconduct seriously. But the US could not comment specifically on this latest development ""until we have had a chance to speak with senior government officials"", the statement by a spokesman for US special forces said. ""This is an important issue that we must discuss with our Afghan counterparts,"" the statement said. The Afghan president's office said the decision to order the expulsion of US special forces had been taken at a meeting of the National Security Council. ""After a thorough discussion, it became clear that armed individuals named as US special force[s] stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people,"" it said. ""A recent example in the province is an incident in which nine people were disappeared in an operation by this suspicious force and in a separate incident a student was taken away at night from his home, whose tortured body with throat cut was found two days later under a bridge. ""However, Americans reject having conducted any such operation and any involvement of their special force."
" Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met Sunday with Pakistan's president, and both men urged the international community to step up efforts to help the millions affected by flooding in Pakistan. Ban, who arrived in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and President Asif Ali Zardari held talks before visiting some of the areas affected by floodwaters responsible for nearly 1,400 deaths. ""I am here ... to share my sympathy and solidarity of the United Nations together with the people and government of Pakistan,"" Ban said. ""I am here also to urge the world community to speed up their assistance to Pakistani people."" He said he has visited scenes of natural disasters worldwide, but has seen ""nothing like this. The scale of the disaster is so large -- so many people and in so many places, in so much need."" One in 10 Pakistanis -- up to 20 million people -- has been directly or indirectly affected by the floodwaters, he said. ""Thousands of towns and villages have simply been washed away,"" Ban said. ""Roads, buildings, bridges, crops -- millions of livelihoods have been lost. People are marooned on tiny islands with the floodwaters all around them. They are drinking dirty water. They are living in the mud and ruins of their lives. Many have lost family and friends. Many more are afraid their children and loved ones will not survive in these conditions."" Zardari said his nation needs more international help to deal with the immediate recovery efforts as well as longer-term reconstruction and infrastructure development, according to his spokesman, Farhatullah Babar. The president told Ban that flooding hit 71 districts so far, destroying more than 720,000 dwellings, Babar said. Zardari also said that the total destruction in terms of human life, property, cattle and infrastructure may be far worse than initial estimates, the spokesman told reporters. Zardari thanked Ban for the U.N. appeal to the world community for $460 million so far in emergency aid, Babar said. However, Zardari added that his government was assessing the need for further resources and plans to approach other international bodies including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for further assistance, according to Babar. Ban said he has decided to allocate an additional $10 million from the U.N.'s Central Emergency Response Fund. A total of $27 million has been allocated since the crisis began, he said."
" The smog from the wildfires raging outside Moscow is covering the city after the 3-day relief. The visibility has considerably dropped up to 300 meters. Muscovites has put on face masks again. Since mid-June, the Moscow Region has been in the grips of an abnormal heat wave sparking forest fires. During two weeks the capital was blanketed in acrid dense smog. The worst smoky days were August 6 and 7, when the carbon monoxide concentration in the air exceeded the maximum permissible level 6 to 7 times over. On Thursday the head of the Russian state meteorological center, Roman Vilfand said the conditions for smog formation around Moscow would remain until next week due to continuing wildfires and peat bog fires outside the capital and an unfavorable air circulation. ""These conditions move the smog from fire-stricken areas [into Moscow],"" the scientist said, adding that a new smog wave would most likely suffocate the Russian capital again over the weekend."
" The abuse happened at a temporary detention centre south of Baghdad in April - months after the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, officials said. Pfc Andrew Sting and Pfc Jeremiah Trefney, both 19, entered guilty pleas at a 14 May hearing in Iraq, the military said on Thursday. Both men have been jailed. Two other marines are awaiting court action. According to the military statement, Sting, Trefney and two other unnamed marines decided to shock a prisoner at Al Mahmudiya prison, as a punishment for throwing rubbish outside his cell and speaking loudly. They attached wires to a power converter, which was used to shock the prisoner with 110 volts of electricity, according to the statement from the US 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq. Sting pleaded guilty to charges of assault, cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty and conspiracy to commit assault. He was sentenced to a year in prison. Trefney pleaded guilty to cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty and conspiracy to commit assault. He was sentenced to eight months in prison. Both men were demoted and will be discharged from service. Sting and Trefney were infantrymen with the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, which is attached to the 1st Marine Division. Their pleas came five days before an American soldier was convicted of abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison."
" What will it take to find a solution to the U.S. Debt crisis? Wolf Blitzer and Don Lemon break down the hurdles and options in ""GET IT DONE -- Countdown to Debt Crisis,"" a CNN Special Report Sunday night at 9 ET on CNN. Washington (CNN) -- The framework of a tentative deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling calls for up to $2.8 trillion in total deficit reduction over the next decade, two sources familiar with the negotiations told CNN late Saturday night. The agreement, still being negotiated by the White House and bipartisan congressional leaders, would allow the debt ceiling to be raised by enough to last at least through the end of 2012. The debt limit would be increased in two stages, both of which would occur automatically -- a key Democratic demand that would prevent a repeat of the current crisis before the next election. The agreement includes upfront spending cuts in the range of roughly $1 trillion, the sources said. A special congressional committee would recommend additional spending reductions of up to $1.8 trillion no later than Thanksgiving. If Congress failed to approve the recommended cuts by late December, automatic, across-the-board cuts -- including both defense and Medicare -- would take effect. News of a possible deal came shortly after the Senate delayed consideration of Majority Leader Harry Reid's debt ceiling proposal late Saturday night, pushing back a key procedural vote by 12 hours. The vote to stop debate and end a GOP filibuster on the plan will now be held at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, as opposed to 1 a.m. Reid, D-Nevada, said he was asking for a delay to provide additional time for negotiations underway at the White House. There are ""many elements to be finalized"" and still ""a distance to go,"" Reid said. ""We should give everyone as much room as possible to do their work."" Reid's announcement capped a day of sharp partisan voting in the House and extended talks behind closed doors between congressional and administration officials. Concern continued to grow that Congress will fail to raise the nation's debt ceiling in time to avoid a potentially devastating national default next week."
" Barack Obama and Congressional leaders strike a deal for raising US debt limit WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama and congressional leaders began a fresh attempt to reach agreement on raising the US debt cap, with a potential framework for a deal emerging two days before a threatened default deadline. The White House and congressional Republicans have sketched out the contours of an agreement to increase the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling that would raise borrowing authority through the next presidential election, a person familiar with the talks said late last night. The tentative framework includes immediate spending cuts of $1 trillion and creation of a special committee to recommend additional savings of up to $1.8 trillion later this year. The new panel would have to act before the Thanksgiving congressional recess in late November and Congress would have to approve its recommendations by late December or government departments and programs, including defense and Medicare, would face automatic, across-the-board cuts, the person said. No more than 4% of Medicare would be subject to cuts, and beneficiaries would be unaffected as reductions would apply to providers, the person said. Social Security would be untouched. The framework also calls for Congress to vote on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, the person said. Amendments require two-thirds majorities to pass, and if enough Democrats oppose the measure it would have little chance of winning approval. White House officials familiar with the talks cautioned after reports of the framework surfaced last night that no final agreement has been reached among those involved in negotiations and that negotiations were continuing. The prospective agreement wouldn't include increased net revenue, a sticking point for Republicans who've been adamant that any deal with tax increases couldn't pass the Republican-run House. Democrats, including those who run the Senate, have been insistent that any deal must be a ""balanced approach"" that includes revenue, raising questions about whether Obama would find substantial support from his party for the plan. Obama and congressional leaders on Saturday kick-started the new push to prevent a US government default on its debt after several previous efforts in recent weeks had fallen short. Republicans and Democrats expressed greater optimism a deal may be within reach before August 2, the date Treasury Department officials have said they will run out of options for avoiding default without a debt limit increase. Financial markets were restrained in reacting to the impasse on a debt deal through July 29. Treasuries rallied, sending yields on 10-year notes to the lowest level since November. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes declined 15 basis points to 2.79% in New York. Stocks fell as economic growth trailed forecasts. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.7% and tumbled 3.9% this week for its worst slide in a year. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last night said he was ""confident that reasonable people from both parties should be able to reach an agreement."" Reid, in remarks on the Senate floor before details of the framework emerged, cautioned that ""there are many elements to be finalized and there is still a distance to go before any arrangement can be completed."" Still, the Nevada Democrat said, ""I am glad to see this move toward cooperation and compromise."" Earlier Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said he was ""more optimistic"" and that negotiators have ""got a chance of getting there."""
" A voting rights dispute among other things scuppered a summit six months earlier, but some heads of government went into the talks with optimism. Just as difficult will be the choice of successor for Romano Prodi, the Italian President of the European Commission. Talks halted on Thursday evening, but are due to resume before midnight. Earlier, both French President Jacques Chirac and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who is chairing the talks, told journalists they felt they were close to an agreement. The heads of government are having to confront an intensely personal problem as most of the potential candidates are around the table themselves, the BBC's Tim Franks notes. The British have been outspoken in their opposition to the leading contender, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. A surprise candidate has also emerged in the form of a UK commissioner, Chris Patten, whose name has been forwarded by the conservative group in the European Parliament, known as the European People's Party. However, France is one of several states which oppose Mr Patten's candidacy and prefer Mr Verhofstadt. Mr Chirac told reporters on Thursday that he did not think it was a good idea to have a candidate from ""a country which doesn't take part in all European policies"". The remark appears to be a veiled reference to the UK and Denmark, both of which have yet to join the European single currency, the Euro."
" Senate passes resolution calling on Hosni Mubarak to begin transfer of power in Egypt The Senate on Thursday passed a resolution supporting democracy in Egypt and calling on President Hosni Mubarak to begin the process of transferring power and creating a caretaker government as attacks on anti-government protesters entered their second day. The resolution, sponsored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), passed Thursday evening by unanimous voice vote. It calls on Mubarak ""to immediately begin an orderly and peaceful transition to a democratic political system, including the transfer of power to an inclusive interim caretaker government, in coordination with leaders from Egypt's opposition, civil society, and military, to enact the necessary reforms to hold free, fair, and internationally credible elections this year."" The resolution also ""strongly condemns the intimidation, targeting or detention of journalists,"" calls on all parties to ""refrain from all violent and criminal acts,"" and ""expresses deep concern over any organization that espouses an extremist ideology, including the Muslim Brotherhood."" In a statement Thursday night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said, ""The Egyptian people have sent a clear message that it is time for change. The Senate heard that message, and we will continue support the people of Egypt as they determine their future."" Earlier Thursday, Kerry emphasized that the resolution does not specify whether or not Mubarak should be part of a caretaker government and noted that the choice remains up to the Egyptian people. ""We want them to make that kind of choice and not narrow the options here,"" Kerry said. ""But the key here is to respect people's rights, to end the violence, to provide an opportunity for this transfer, and to begin to pull Egypt out of this chaotic confrontation and begin to embrace the aspirations of the people."" The full text of the resolution is below the jump. ______________________________________Supporting democracy, universal rights, and the peaceful transition to a representative government in Egypt.Whereas the United States and Egypt have long shared a strong bilateral relationship;Whereas Egypt plays an important role in global and regional politics as well as in the broader Middle East and North Africa;Whereas Egypt has been, and continues to be, an intellectual and cultural center of the Arab world;Whereas on January 25, 2011, demonstrations began across Egypt with thousands of protesters peacefully calling for a new government, free and fair elections, significant constitutional and political reforms, greater economic opportunity, and an end to government corruption;Whereas on January 28, 2011, the Government of Egypt shut down Internet and mobile phone networks almost entirely and blocked social networking websites;Whereas on January 29, 2011, President Hosni Mubarak appointed Omar Suleiman, former head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate, as Vice President and Ahmed Shafik, former Minister for Civil Aviation, as Prime Minister;Whereas the demonstrations have continued, making this the longest protest in modern Egyptian history, and on February 1, 2011, millions of protesters took to the streets across the country;Whereas hundreds of Egyptians have been killed and injured since the protests began;Whereas on February 1, 2011, President Hosni Mubarak announced that he would not run for reelection later this year, but widespread protests against his government continue;Whereas on February 1, 2011, President Barack Obama called for an orderly transition, stating that it ""must be meaningful, it must be peaceful, and it must begin now."" He also affirmed that: ""The process must include a broad spectrum of Egyptian voices and opposition parties. It should lead to elections that are free and fair. And it should result in a government that's not only grounded in democratic principles, but is also responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people."";Whereas despite President Hosni Mubarak's pledge in 2005 that Egypt's controversial emergency law would be used only to fight terrorism and that he planned to abolish the state of emergency and adopt new antiterrorism legislation as an alternative, in May 2010, the Government of Egypt again extended the emergency law, which has been in place continuously since 1981, for another 2 years, giving police broad powers of arrest and allowing indefinite detention without charge;Whereas the Department of State's 2009 Human Rights Report notes with respect to Egypt, ''[t]he government's respect for human rights remained poor, and serious abuses continued in many areas. The government limited citizens' right to change their government and continued a state of emergency that has been in place almost continuously since 1967.'';Whereas past elections in Egypt, including the most recent November 2010 parliamentary elections, have seen serious irregularities at polling and counting stations, security force intimidation and coercion of voters, and obstruction of peaceful political rallies and demonstrations;andWhereas any election must be honest and open to all legitimate candidates and conducted without interference from the military or security apparatus and under the oversight of international monitors: Now, therefore, be itResolved, That the Senate--(1) acknowledges the central and historic importance of the United States-Egyptian strategic partnership in advancing the common interests of both countries, including peace and security in the broader Middle East and North Africa;(2) reaffirms the United States' commitment to the universal rights of freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and freedom of access to information, including the Internet, and expresses strong support for the people of Egypt in their peaceful calls for a representative and responsive democratic government that respects these rights;(3) condemns any efforts to provoke or instigate violence, and calls upon all parties to refrain from all violent and criminal acts;(4) supports freedom of the press and strongly condemns the intimidation, targeting or detention of journalists;(5) urges the Egyptian military to demonstrate maximum professionalism and restraint, and emphasizes the importance of working to peacefully restore calm and order while allowing for free and non-violent freedom of expression;(6) calls on President Mubarak to immediately begin an orderly and peaceful transition to a democratic political system, including the transfer of power to an inclusive interim caretaker government, in coordination with leaders from Egypt's opposition, civil society, and military, to enact the necessary reforms to hold free, fair, and internationally credible elections this year;(7) affirms that a real transition to a legitimate representative democracy in Egypt requires concrete steps to be taken as soon as possible, including lifting the state of emergency, allowing Egyptians to organize independent political parties without interference, enhancing the transparency of governmental institutions, restoring judicial supervision of elections, allowing credible international monitors to observe the preparation and conduct of elections, and amending the laws and Constitution of Egypt as necessary to implement these and other critical reforms;(8) pledges full support for Egypt's transition to a representative democracy that is responsive to the needs of the Egyptian people, and calls on all nations to support the people of Egypt as they work to conduct a successful transition to democracy;(9) expresses deep concern over any organization that espouses an extremist ideology, including the Muslim Brotherhood, and calls upon all political movements and parties in Egypt, including an interim government, to affirm their commitment to non-violence and the rule of law, the equal rights of all individuals, accountable institutions of justice, religious tolerance, peaceful relations with Egypt's neighbors, and the fundamental principles and practices of democracy, including the regular conduct of free and fair elections;(10) underscores the vital importance of any Egyptian Government continuing to fulfill its international obligations, including its commitment under the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty signed on March 26, 1979, and the freedom of navigation through the Suez Canal; and(11) ensures that United States assistance to the Egyptian Government, military, and people will advance the goal of ensuring respect for the universal rights of the Egyptian people and will further the national security interests of the United States in the region."
" ABC producer Brian Hartman was threatened with beheading by a group of men, as he reported: Just escaped after being carjacked at a checkpoint and driven to a compound where men surrounded the car and threatened to behead us. Producer Brian Hartman, cameraman Akram Abi-hanna and two other ABC News employees were surrounded on a crowded road that leads from Cairo's airport to the city's downtown area. While ABC News and other press agencies had been taking precautions to avoid volatile situations, the road to the airport had been a secure route until today. One of their two vehicles was carrying cameras and transmission equipment strapped to the roof, indicating they were foreign journalists. Hartman says it was only through the appeal of Abi-hanna, who is Lebanese and a veteran ABC cameraman, that they were saved from being killed or severely beaten. ""We thought we were goners,"" Hartman said later. ""We absolutely thought we were doomed."""
" Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said he would like to resign immediately but fears the country would descend into chaos if he did so. In his first interview since anti-government protests began, he told ABC News he was ""fed up"" with power. It came as Cairo saw another day of violence with clashes between the president's opponents and supporters. Mr Mubarak warned that the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood party would fill any power vacuum if he stepped down. The BBC's Paul Adams says this is a version of the narrative the president has used in the past to explain 30 years of political suppression aimed, primarily, at the Brotherhood. Tens of thousands of protesters remain in central Cairo after dark, with some involved in a running battle with government supporters who were attacking them. Stones have been thrown on both sides, and there has been some gunfire. The army, which was trying to separate the two sides, appears to have failed to control the crowds. Egypt's Health Minister Ahmed Samih Farid said that eight people had died in the fighting, which began on Wednesday, and 890 were injured, nine of them critically. Another person was later reported killed in clashes on Abdel Monem Riyad Square, also in central Cairo. Many more were injured."
"I am fed up. After 62 years in public service, I have had enough. I want to go,"" Mubarak said in an interview with ABC's Christiane Amanpour. (link.reuters.com/red87r) at his heavily guarded presidential palace in Cairo. ""If I resign today there will be chaos,"" Mubarak said. Mubarak blamed the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned political party in Egypt, for the violence that erupted Wednesday during protests in Cairo's central Tahrir Square and said his government was not responsible for it. ""I was very unhappy about yesterday. I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other,"" Mubarak told ABC. Protesters are blaming Mubarak supporters for firing at the crowd and going to the square with knives and sticks. Mubarak's comments about the Muslim Brotherhood came on a day when his new, hand-picked vice president, Omar Suleiman, said the Islamist group had been invited to meet with the new government as part of a national dialogue with all parties. Asked how he felt about people shouting insults and wanting him gone, Mubarak replied: ""I don't care what people say about me. Right now I care about my country, I care about Egypt."" Since the protests began on January 25, Mubarak had made two televised statements but otherwise had not been seen in public. In his last appearance he said he would not seek re-election in September, a statement that did not satisfy the protesters demanding that he step down now. Mubarak told ABC he felt relief after saying he would not run for president again, and said he that he had never intended for his son Gamal to be president after him, as had been widely believed. Gamal was in the room during the interview.
Anti-government protesters march in Somali capital	 (CNN) -- Anti-government demonstrators, including women dressed in full hijabs brandishing AK-47 automatic rifles, marched through the streets of Somalia's violence-torn capital Monday. The marchers shouted slogans and carried English-language signs accusing the African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, a peacekeeping military force backing the government, of killing people. ""AMISOM killed my mummy"" and ""AMISOM get out of our country"" said two of the signs against the African peacekeepers. The protest followed a pro-government rally last Friday and recent clashes between hard-line Islamists and government forces that have killed dozens of people. Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991, and today, Islamic militant groups are waging war against the government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law, or sharia. Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed leads the weak U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government, or TFG, that is battling al Shabaab, a fundamentalist Islamic group aligned with al Qaeda. Ahmed was once a senior moderate figure in the Union of Islamic Courts, an alliance that included al Shabaab and held power in Somalia for six months in 2006 before being overthrown by Ethiopian forces. The Ethiopians remained until early 2009, when the TFG took tentative control, clinging to a small part of Mogadishu, the capital, and protected by African Union peacekeepers mainly from Uganda and Burundi. Al Shabaab has reached out to Somalis living in the West, radicalizing young Muslims via the Internet and encouraging them to move back to the country to join the jihad. It controls much of central and southern Somalia and large parts of Mogadishu. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 200,000 Somalis have been forced to flee their homes this year, with most remaining within the country's borders because of heavily guarded checkpoints and difficulties in accessing transportation out.
Metropolitan Police starts computer hacking probe	 A new team of officers is to probe allegations of computer hacking, the Metropolitan Police has announced. Operation Tuleta will examine breach of privacy claims received since January. It comes as the private investigator at the centre of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, Glenn Mulcaire, says he acted on the orders of others. The mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne has said she was ""very distressed"" after being told her phone may have been hacked by Mulcaire. Scotland Yard said the new team would investigate matters not covered by its phone-hacking inquiry, Operation Weeting, and report to Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers. A spokesman said there had previously been a ""consideration of allegations"" of computer hacking rather than an investigation, but now ""some aspects of that operation are being moved towards investigation"". The Met investigation is understood to include an examination of the covert use of ""Trojan horse"" computer viruses, which allow hackers to take control of third-party computers. Last March, a BBC Panorama programme alleged that a senior News of the World executive obtained emails hacked into by a private detective. Panorama claimed the paper's then-Irish edition editor Alex Marunchak was sent ex-British intelligence officer Ian Hurst's private emails in 2006. Mr Marunchak has denied any wrongdoing. He said: ""I have never met with a private investigator whom I asked to hack into computers to obtain confidential emails or other information.
Somali pirates hijack ship with 18 Filipinos on board: EU	 BRUSSELS, July 5, 2010 - Somali pirates have hijacked a Marshall-flagged chemical tanker carrying 18 Filipino sailors in the southern Red Sea, the EU anti-piracy mission said Monday. The MT Motivator reported coming under small arms fire from pirates early Sunday in the northern Bab-Al-Mandeb area, the strait between the Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa, the EU NAVFOR mission said in a statement. ""After notification of this attack, attempts were made to make contact with the Motivator but to no avail. The hijack was confirmed early on 5 July,"" the statement said.
Iraq abuse 'ordered from the top'	 Brig Gen Janis Karpinski told the BBC she was being made a ""convenient scapegoat"" for abuse ordered by others. Top US commander for Iraq, Gen Ricardo Sanchez, should be asked what he knew about the abuse, she told BBC Radio 4's On The Ropes programme. One soldier has been sentenced and six others are awaiting courts martial for abuses committed at Abu Ghraib jail. Gen Karpinski said more damaging information was likely to emerge at those trials. Gen Karpinski was in charge of the military police unit that ran Abu Ghraib and other prisons when the abuses were committed. She has been suspended but not charged. Photographs showing naked Iraqi detainees being humiliated and maltreated first started to surface in April, sparking shock and anger across the world. Gen Karpinski said military intelligence took over part of the Abu Ghraib jail to ""Gitmoize"" their interrogations - make them more like what was happening in the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which is nicknamed ""Gitmo"". ""He said they are like dogs and if you allow them to believe at any point that they are more than a dog then you've lost control of them."" Gen Karpinski repeated that she knew nothing of the humiliation and torture of Iraq prisoners that was going on inside Abu Ghraib - she was made a scapegoat. Top commander Ricardo Sanchez must be asked serious questions about what he knew about the abuse and when, she said.
European Election: Northern Ireland Result	 Three candidates have been elected in Northern Ireland in the election for the European Parliament under a system of Single Transferrable Vote. Details of the three stages of counting follow below: The DUP's Jim Allister and Sinn Fein's Bairbre de Brun were elected at the first stage. The total valid vote was 549,277 and the total poll was 554,744. There were 5,467 spoiled votes. John Gilliland, Eamonn McCann and Lindsay Whitcroft were eliminated at the second stage. Transfers from these three candidates were distributed between Jim Nicholson and Martin Morgan. Jim Nicholson elected at the third stage, having exceeded the quota.
Ukraine crisis: Troops abandon Luhansk airport after clashes	 Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the airport of the eastern city of Luhansk after all-night clashes with pro-Russian rebels, the military says. Security officials said the Ukrainian troops had come under attack from a column of Russian tanks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has urged negotiators meeting in the Belarus capital, Minsk, to make an ""immediate ceasefire"" their priority. Some 2,600 people have died in eastern Ukraine since fighting began in April. The conflict broke out after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula in March. The rebels have been gaining ground on Ukrainian forces in recent days, in both the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and further south around the port of Mariupol. Ukraine and the West blame Russian military support for the rebel advances, saying armoured columns have crossed the border - allegations rejected by Russia's President Vladimir Putin. He has accused European leaders of ignoring the Ukrainian army ""directly targeting civilians"". On Sunday, he said the issue of ""statehood"" for eastern Ukraine needed to be discussed to ensure the interests of local people were ""definitely upheld"". Ukraine's security council confirmed on Monday that its troops had withdrawn from Luhansk airport ""in an organised manner"".	
Guantanamo Bay terror suspect 'dies after exercising'	 An Afghan inmate at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has collapsed and died after exercising, according to US military officials. Awal Gul, 48, was accused of being a Taliban commander and part of the al-Qaeda network. He had been held without charges since October 2002. Mr Gul had been using an elliptical machine, which simulates running. US Southern Command officials have said he ""died of apparent natural causes"" on Tuesday evening. Officials said Mr Gul had collapsed in the shower after using the exercise equipment. Guards alerted medical personnel and Mr Gul was transferred to the nearby base hospital, but doctors were unable to revive him, the US military said. His death remains under investigation but an autopsy suggests he died of either a heart attack or a pulmonary embolism, a military spokesman said. The authorities plan to send his remains back to Afghanistan. Mr Gul had a number of children and grandchildren. A lawyer for Mr Gul, Matthew Dodge, told the Associated Press news agency that the allegations against his client were ""outlandish"" and that the military had had no evidence to bring charges against him. ""Mr Gul was never an enemy of the United States in any way,"" Mr Dodge said, adding that the Afghan had been ""kind, philosophical, devout and hopeful to the end"", despite his incarceration.	
General Stanley McChrystal to lecture at Yale	 The former US commander in Afghanistan who was dismissed after speaking to a magazine about his civilian bosses is to teach at a top US university. Gen Stanley McChrystal will lecture at a new centre for global affairs, Yale University announced. He will teach graduates in the international relations master's programme in the upcoming term. Gen McChrystal was relieved of his command in Kabul in June and retired from the military in July. He has been appointed a senior fellow with the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, a new centre at Yale, the university said in a statement on Monday. ""General McChrystal brings a wealth of experience in international affairs that will be of tremendous value to our students,"" said James Levinsohn, director of the institute. The graduate students will focus on globalisation and modern leadership. The general was fired by President Barack Obama in June after comments made to Rolling Stone angered the White House. He was replaced with his boss, Gen David Petraeus. In the article, Gen McChrystal's aides were quoted as calling an Obama adviser a ""clown"", and saying the president appeared intimidated at an early meeting with the general.	
Rupert Murdoch foam pie: 'Jonnie Marbles' admits charge	 A protester has admitted throwing a shaving foam pie at Rupert Murdoch as he gave evidence to a committee of MPs. The News Corporation chairman was targeted as he answered questions about the phone-hacking scandal last week. His wife tackled Jonathan May-Bowles who rushed from the public gallery. May-Bowles, 26, of Edinburgh Gardens, Windsor, Berkshire, admitted assault and causing harassment, alarm or distress, when he appeared before City of Westminster Magistrates' Court. May-Bowles, who calls himself Jonnie Marbles, is due to be sentenced on 2 August. After requesting the date be moved to accommodate a pre-booked family holiday, May-Bowles' solicitor was told an arrest warrant would be issued if he failed to turn up. District Judge Daphne Wickham said: ""He is on bail for a serious offence which carries a risk of imprisonment. ""He should have thought about this on 19 July when he committed these offences."" Leaving the court the part-time stand-up comic said: ""I would just like to say this has been the most humble day of my life."" This echoed the words of Rupert Murdoch on the day he was attacked by May-Bowles.
13 killed in firing incident in Quetta, SW Pakistan	 Quetta, Pakistan, July 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 13 people were killed and five others were injured in a sectarian-motivated attack in Pakistan's southwest city of Quetta on Saturday morning, said hospital sources. According to Xinhua sources and local media reports, the attack took place at about 08:00 a.m. local time when two unknown gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fired indiscriminately at a passenger pick-up carrying people from Hazara Shia community on their way for work near a bus stop on the Spini road in a densely populated area of the city. The gunmen escaped after the firing. Police have arrived at the area shortly after the firing was reported and the area has been cordoned off for search operation. All the injured people have been shifted to the Bolan Medical Complex in the city. No group has taken credit for the attack yet. Saturday morning's incident is the second of its kind in the city over the last 12 hours or so. Late on Friday night, seven Shia devotees were reportedly shot dead in Quetta while they were heading to Iran to visit religious places. The banned extremist group ""Lashkar-e-Jhangvi"" had claimed responsibility for the Friday's attack on the Shia devotees. A spokesman of the group Ali Sher Haidri said that it was the revenge of the murder of a Sunni scholar Maulvi Karim who was killed in Quetta in firing on Thursday. Quetta, a capital city of the insurgency-hit Balochistan province bordering Iran and Afghanistan to its west, has seen a series of bomb blasts, sectarian and target killings in recent weeks. Also on Friday, two people including a nephew of Balochistan's Chief Minister were killed and nearly 30 others were injured in a bomb attack which occurred outside a football stadium in Mastung, a district located some 60 km south of Quetta.
US pledges $350m in tsunami aid	 The pledge was made just before talks between senior US and UN figures on co-ordinating aid efforts. The UN says $1.1bn in aid has been pledged so far, for about five million survivors. But relief work appears disorganised, correspondents say. At least 124,000 people died in the tsunami. The UN says the toll is nearing 150,000 and may never be known. ""The vast majority of those are in Indonesia and Aceh, which is the least assessed area because of logistical constraints, and it may therefore raise further,"" UN Humanitarian Affairs Co-ordinator Jan Egeland told reporters. Thousands are still missing after a huge undersea earthquake struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Sunday, sending giant waves smashing into coastlines from Malaysia to East Africa. New Year festivities were cancelled in several affected countries where memorial services were held. In the Indonesian province of Aceh - which bore the brunt of both the earthquake and the sea surges - the BBC's Rachel Harvey says at last there is some good news. A US aircraft carrier, the Abraham Lincoln is lowering anchor nearby and 12 Hercules helicopters on board are set to begin flying out aid supplies. The US has also supplied 80 trucks to distribute aid to the area. The province's ravaged infrastructure has been a major obstacle for aid agencies, says our correspondent - which is why helicopters are so desperately needed. In Sri Lanka - the second worst-hit country - poor infrastructure also remains a problem for remote mountainous areas.
Blogger who encouraged murder of MPs jailed	 An internet blogger has been jailed for 12 years after admitting soliciting the murder of MPs who had voted in favour of the Iraq War. Bilal Zaheer Ahmad, 23, from Wolverhampton, was also sentenced for other terrorism offences. Prosecutors at Bristol Crown Court said Ahmad had used a website called revolutionmuslim.com to encourage others to attack MPs. The website has since been closed down by the authorities in the US. Sentencing Ahmad, the judge, Mr Justice Royce, described him as a ""viper in our midst"" and said he was ""willing to go as far as possible to strike at the heart of our system"". The judge told him: ""Whatever our views on the Iraq War, we are a democracy. ""You purport to be a British citizen, but what you stand for is totally alien to what we stand for in our country."" Ahmad, an IT graduate from Dunstall Hill who holds both British and Pakistani passports, pleaded guilty to using the website to encourage the murder of MPs who he claimed had supported the 2003 invasion. In his web posting on the Islamic extremist website, he advised readers on the site's message board how to find out constituency surgery details and provided a link to an online shopping site selling knives. He also had in his possession electronic copies of books called '39 ways to serve and participate in jihad' and 'Zaad-e-Mujahid: Essential provisions of a mujahadid'.
Egypt vice president tells protesters to go home	 12:10pm: A BBC Arabic correspondent reports that more pro-democracy activists have been arriving in Tahrir Square. ""The majority of those who support the president have now left the square. Opponents of the regime have stood their ground overnight despite coming under attack repeatedly. They are hoping they will be joined by others in order to maintain control of the square.""    11:45am: Mona Sahif, who is among the protesters, has given the BBC her description of the violence that erupted on Wednesday and continued overnight: ""We started hearing gunshots and from that moment on it was really ugly. There were people among them with rifles they were aiming at our protesters. We had...people dying, we had one witnessed by two of my friends with a shot through the head. Our paramedics confirmed that at least eight were shot with live ammunition in their legs and five were shot either in the chest or head."
" The private investigator at the centre of the News of the World phone-hacking row says he ""acted on the instructions of others"", his lawyers have said. In a statement, Glenn Mulcaire's legal team said any suggestion he acted unilaterally was ""untrue"". It comes as the mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne said she was ""very distressed"" after being told she may have been phone hacked by Mulcaire. Then-editor Rebekah Brooks said it was ""unthinkable"" anyone at the paper knew. Mulcaire was jailed in 2007 after admitting to phone hacking while he was working for the paper. The statement said: ""As an employee he [Mulcaire] acted on the instructions of others. ""There were also occasions when he understood his instructions were from those who genuinely wished to assist in solving crimes. ""Any suggestion that he acted in such matters unilaterally is untrue. In the light of the ongoing police investigation, he cannot say any more."" Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police said it is to investigate allegations of computer hacking. A new team of officers are to join Operation Weeting, the investigation into alleged phone hacking, to investigate the claims."
"The tsunami hazard for several sites was underestimated,"" the three-page summary said, adding that the incident at Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima plant showed that nuclear plants need a ""hardened"" emergency response centre to deal with accidents. ""Nuclear plant designers and operators should appropriately evaluate and provide protection against the risks of all natural hazards,"" it said. It urged Japanese authorities to follow up with monitoring of public and workers' health. The full report will be presented to an international meeting in Vienna on June 20-24. ""The planned road map for recovery of the stricken reactors is important and acknowledged. It will need modification as new circumstances are uncovered and may be assisted by international cooperation,"" the summary said. Representatives of the IAEA team include nuclear safety experts from France, Russia, China and the United States. Experts are still trying to understand how events at the Fukushima Daiichi plant on Japan's Pacific coast, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, spiralled out of control after the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro and Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Michael Watson and Edmund Klamann)	
Gen Petraeus formally takes over Afghanistan campaign	 US Gen David Petraeus has formally taken command of the 130,000-strong international force battling insurgents in Afghanistan. The general, whose strategy in Iraq won praise and reduced violence, took over at a modest military ceremony in Kabul. Hoping to repeat his Iraq success, the general insists Nato and the Afghan government must work hand-in-hand. As an indication of his task, June was the deadliest month for foreign troops since 2001, with 102 killed. Gen Petraeus has already warned that Taliban militants are confident and resilient, and he takes command at a time when the war is entering a difficult phase, the BBC's Quentin Sommerville reports from Kabul. The general arrived in Afghanistan on Friday night and spent Saturday meeting US, Afghan and other officials. Sunday's ceremony saw Gen Petraeus assume command under the gaze of troops from the more than 40 nations that make up the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf). ""We are engaged in a tough fight. After years of war we have arrived at a critical moment,"" he told those assembled just outside the coalition's headquarters. Calling the battle in Afghanistan ""a contest of wills"", Gen Petraeus said the coalition would not back down against the Taliban, despite a number of gloomy analyses of the war's progress. ""We are in this to win,"" the new commander said.	
Palestinian prisoners families demand Hamas to be firm in talks with Israel	 GAZA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Families of Palestinian prisoners on Sunday marched towards the house of a Hamas leader in Gaza city and handed a letter demanding Hamas to insist on freeing 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in talks with Israel. The rally, which comprises dozens of women and children, started from the Hamas-run ministry of prisoners affairs and headed to the house of Mahmoud Zahar, a member of Hamas politburo who had taken part in the German-lead indirect negotiations to exchange Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Hamas, for a number of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas ""is ready to resume the indirect negotiations with Israel to agree on an honorable swap,"" Zahar told the families in front of his house, noting that the talks stopped at the end of last year after the mediator failed to get the two sides' positions closer. Zahar blamed the Israeli government of blocking the swap ""because it stepped back from what has been agreed upon."" The letter the families handed demands Hamas to stick to a list of 450 senior prisoners who serve long sentences. The controversy between Hamas and Israel focuses on that list since Israel considers many of the names of posing a threat to its security while Hamas refuses to drop any name from that list. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government can release the 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, but some of the names in the list would be deported from their West Bank houses to the Hamas-controlled Gaza or outside the Palestinian territories. Zahar rejected Netanyahu's offer and said Hamas ""would be solid in the negotiations."" The Palestinian rally came in response to a 12-day march across Israel, organized by Shalit's family, to mark the June 25 beginning of his fifth year in captivity.	
Phone hacking: PCC head Baroness Buscombe stepping down	 The head of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has announced she will step down after criticism of its handling of the phone-hacking scandal. Baroness Peta Buscombe has chaired the watchdog since April 2009 but has faced a backlash over the saga, which led to the closure of the News of the World. Baroness Buscombe said she would not continue in the role when her three-year term in office ends next year. She will aid the Leveson phone-hacking inquiry as a media regulation expert. Baroness Buscombe said in a statement: ""I am pleased that the commission want me to continue in post until my successor has been appointed. ""Thereafter, I will be able to be a campaigner for change from outside the organisation. ""I wish to contribute to the Leveson inquiry and participate fully in the overall debate regarding reform, unfettered by my role as chairman of the PCC."" Baroness Buscombe, 57, is a former lawyer and chief executive of the Advertising Association. She was elevated to the House of Lords in 1998 and has been a Tory frontbench spokeswoman on several subjects. In November 2009, she withstood calls to resign after she questioned lawyer Mark Lewis's evidence to MPs over phone-hacking allegations at the News of the World (NoW).
Protesters fill Tahrir Square for 'Day of Departure' rally; journalists targeted	 CAIRO - Vast crowds of anti-government demonstrators filled Tahrir Square Friday chanting for the immediate ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, while journalists trying to cover the protests continued to face hostility and attacks. Friday's gathering was calm and orderly, without the beatings and bloodshed that sparked outrage a day earlier. But at nearby hotels, foreign journalists were being ordered out of their rooms or refused entry, even if they already had reservations. And the al-Jazeera television network said its Cairo office had been stormed and burned by ""gangs of thugs"" who destroyed their reporting and broadcasting equipment. In the last week, al-Jazeera's bureau was forcibly closed, its journalists' press credentials were revoked and nine journalists were detained, the network said in a statement. The network has also faced unprecedented levels of interference in its broadcast signal, as well as persistent and repeated attempts to bring down its Web sites. ""We are grateful for the support we have received from across the world for our coverage in Egypt,"" al-Jazeera said, ""and can assure everyone that we will continue our work undeterred."" The army presence outside Tahrir Square seemed substantially bigger Friday than it had been earlier in the week, with soldiers maintaining a tight security perimeter and patrolling on rooftops of nearby buildings. In the early afternoon, al-Jazeera reported that Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister of Egypt, had entered the square. Moussa is seen by many as a more likely replacement for Mubarak than Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei - the favorite of many demonstrators - because he hasn't been outside the country for most of his career. Moussa told France's Europe 1 radio that he was ""at the disposal of my country. . . ready to serve as a citizen who has the right to be a candidate"" for president. Organizers have dubbed Friday the ""Day of Departure,"" in hopes that, finally, their protests would succeed in compelling Mubarak to leave. Anxious to move Mubarak out of the way, but wary of appearing to try to impose a plan, the White House authorized a senior official to deny media accounts that the administration had formulated a specific proposal for the contours of a new government. ""It's simply wrong to report that there's a single U.S. plan that's being negotiated,"" the official said. In an interview Thursday, Mubarak told ABC that he had told President Obama: ""You don't understand the Egyptian culture and what would happen if I step down now."" The 82-year-old authoritarian, in power for three decades, has said he will leave office after elections that are scheduled for later this year.	
Terror report's 'good news' turns bad	 The US state department today retracted a report that claimed terrorist attacks were on the decline, after it turned out they had actually increased. The Bush administration hailed the initial annual assessment as proof of the success of the war on terror when it was published in April, but officials have now been forced to concede the revised figures for 2003 will show a sharp upturn in the number of attacks. Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, denied the errors were part of deliberate effort to make the administration look good. ""Nobody has suggested that the war on terrorism has been won,"" he told reporters. ""The president has made it clear that it is a war that continues and that we have to redouble our efforts. ""I am very disturbed that there were errors in the report. We're going to correct it."" The Patterns of Global Terrorism report said terrorist attacks fell to 190 last year, the lowest figure since 1969, from 198 in 2002. It also said the number of people killed dropped to 307, including 35 US citizens, from 725 in 2002, a total which included 27 Americans. State department spokesman Richard Boucher said the 2003 figures were likely to be higher than the report suggested, though the number of deaths may not exceed the 2002 figures. He explained that the writers of the report appeared to have made a series of mistakes including failing to count attacks for the full year and possibly misinterpreting the definition of such attacks. One US official, who asked not to be named, told the Reuters news agency that the report failed to count ""international terrorist attacks"" after November 11, 2003. ""The data in the report is incomplete and in some cases incorrect,"" Mr Boucher said, admitting his department failed to catch the mistakes. ""We got the wrong data and we didn't check it enough ... That's the simplest explanation for what happened."" When the report was released, Mr Powell's deputy, Richard Armitage, said it provided ""clear evidence that we are prevailing in the fight"" while the state department's counterterrorism coordinator, Cofer Black, hailed its ""good news"".	
Sara Payne 'on phone-hack list'	 The mother of murder victim Sarah Payne has been told she may have been the victim of phone hacking, her charity has said. Police told Sara Payne her details were in notes compiled by private detective Glenn Mulcaire, who was used by the News of the World, which championed her Sarah's Law child protection campaign. The Phoenix Chief Advocates charity says Ms Payne is ""devastated"". The paper's owner News International said it was ""deeply concerned"". According to a report in the Guardian, the evidence uncovered by police in Mulcaire's notes is believed to relate to a phone given to Ms Payne by the NoW's then-editor Rebekah Brooks ""as a gift to help her stay in touch with her supporters"". The BBC has not been able to confirm whether the evidence does relate to this particular mobile. But Mrs Brooks, who left her role as News International chief executive in the wake of the hacking scandal but denies having had any knowledge of the practice while at the paper, says the phone ""was not a personal gift"". In a statement, she said: ""These allegations are abhorrent and particularly upsetting as Sara Payne is a dear friend. ""For the benefit of the campaign for Sarah's Law, the NoW have provided Sara with a mobile telephone for the last 11 years... ""The idea that anyone on the newspaper knew that Sara or the campaign team were targeted by Mr Mulcaire is unthinkable. The idea of her being targeted is beyond my comprehension.
Spanish court OKs extradition for former Guatemalan minister	 (CNN) -- A Spanish court on Tuesday approved the extradition of former Guatemalan Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann to his homeland to face 10 murder charges stemming from incidents at two prisons there. Vielmann, who holds dual Guatemalan and Spanish citizenship, has the option to appeal the ruling. The final decision on extradition lies with the Spanish government. What the court found Tuesday was that the Guatemalan request for extradition to face murder charges was approved under an extradition treaty between the two countries. In addition to the murder charges, the Guatemalan government cited charges of illicit association and extrajudicial killings as reasons for extradition, but the Spanish court found that those charges were not covered by the treaty. Vielmann faces charges in both Spain and Guatemala stemming from the same incident, a 2006 uprising at the El Pavon prison in Guatemala where seven inmates were killed. The Interior Ministry and police said at the time that the prisoners were killed during a violent confrontation with prison authorities. However, a report by the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman's Office concluded the prisoners had been executed. Vielmann is wanted in Guatemala in connection with the seven killings. He also has been accused of ordering the killings of three inmates who escaped from El Infiernito prison in 2005. He was arrested in Spain in October 2010, and has been on provisional release since November.	
Phone-hacking: Judge will use powers to demand evidence	 The judge leading the public inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal says he will use his powers to demand evidence from witnesses ""as soon as possible"". Lord Justice Leveson said he would also invite all editors, journalists and media owners to flag up what they saw as ""inappropriate"" practices. His inquiry will examine press ethics and practices in relation to the public, politicians and police. Public hearings will begin in September and he will report back within a year. ""It may be tempting for a number of people to close ranks and suggest the problem is or was local to a small group of journalists then operating at the News of the World,"" said Lord Justice Leveson. ""I would encourage all to take a wider picture of the public good, and help me grapple with the length, width and depth of the problem as it exists."" Lord Justice Leveson said he would not have accepted the role had he ""the slightest doubt"" about his position. It emerged last week that the judge had attended functions with News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch's son-in-law, but that he had informed Prime Minister David Cameron before his appointment was announced. Mr Murdoch has been questioned by MPs over allegations of widespread phone-hacking at his group's Sunday tabloid newspaper, the News of the World, which was shut down earlier this month. The inquiry will stage a preliminary hearing in September, ahead of a series of seminars in October on topics such as the law, media regulation, ethics of journalism and the practice and pressures of investigative reporting.
Baghdad trounce	 As soon as the polls closed last night, the spinning began. Don't expect it to stop until Monday. Labour is trying to paint Michael Howard as a man who's missed his moment, unable to make the electoral gains to make a serious challenge in next year's general election. The Tories, meanwhile, are determined to convince us that they're back as a national party, poised to take back power. Working out who is right isn't easy. Labour undoubtedly got a hammering in yesterday's local elections, but its prodigal mayor, Ken Livingstone, is set to be re-elected this evening, according to the polls. Meanwhile the Tories may be about to lose seats to the UK Independence party in the European elections, when the results are announced on Sunday. Labour is trying to explain away its dismal performance by blaming Iraq. Tony Blair was first with the line, telling a press conference at the G8 summit last night that the war had cast a ""shadow"" on the party's electoral campaigns. And David Blunkett backed him up this morning, explaining to the Today programme how the issue had ""split the Labour party, split families and split friends"". They're right of course: anger about Iraq played a major role in Labour's drubbing. It isn't, however, the only reason. And ministers would be very foolish to think it is. People have also deserted Labour because they feel it has let them down over immigration, public services and petrol prices, to name a few issues. Indeed, for many voters, Iraq is a symbol of all the things they feel misled about. It is also wrong to assume that local issues play no role in local elections. People do care about who runs their local council and have strong opinions about their local councillors. Results have not therefore been uniform around the country. And defeated Labour councillors should not blame the war alone; they (and their Tory and Lib Dem colleagues) should look at their own records in office too. But why are ministers so keen to blame Iraq? Partly, I suspect, because they believe they have turned the corner on the occupation. With the UN security council unanimously backing the Anglo-American handover plan and a Iraqi interim government in place, they think things can only get better. Whether they are right or not is hard to call; much depends on the Iraqi resistance. So Labour's poor results cannot be put down to an issue that is set to evaporate in the summer sun - no more troubling than a touch of hayfever. It reflects widespread dissatisfaction with the Labour party. But that, of course, does not mean Michael Howard is about to move into Downing Street. Tory claims that they have re-established themselves as a truly national party, ready to challenge for power, should be treated with enormous scepticism. This was the claim made by Tory chairman Liam Fox on the Today programme this morning: that the party's gains prove it's a force in more than ""rural England"". On that he is right - the Tories have won council seats in urban areas. It isn't yet, however, a national party. The fact that it was the Lib Dems, rather than the Tories, who gained control of Newcastle - a city the Tories ran 30 years ago - shows that the Conservatives still have a long way to go before they can make a serious challenge for national government. So should Mr Blair worry? Or is it all over for Mr Howard, merely months after he took control of the Tory party? These are hard questions to answer. One of the most disturbing aspects of these elections is the rise of the anti-politician vote, best typified by the rise of the UK Independence party. The idea that ""they"" are all the same can easily translate into the conviction that government can't change anything. And such a thought can only help the right.
Easter Island's indigenous leaders want to sever link with Chile	 Community leaders on Easter Island have threatened to secede from Chile and transfer allegiance to Polynesian states in a row over land rights and immigration. Prominent families from the indigenous Rapa Nui population have told the Pacific Islands Forum, an inter-governmental body, that they wish to renounce Chilean sovereignty and be considered part of Oceania rather than the Americas. Easter Island is a remote speck in the Pacific 2,300 miles west of Chile. It was annexed by Santiago in 1888 and made a province of the Valparaiso region but is considered a special territory, not least because giant statues known as moais make it a Unesco world heritage site. Leviante Araki, head of the Rapa Nui ""parliament"", an advocacy group for indigenous people who comprise half the 5,000 population, requested secession in a letter this week to the Pacific Island Forum and Chile's President Sebastian Pinera. The would-be separatists resent what they say is an uncontrolled influx of tourists and settlers and accuse the government of taking over ancestral land with state offices. Protesters occupied several state-owned buildings. The protests were sparked by Pinera's appointment of a governor, Pedro Edmunds Paoa, who was suspected of plotting land deals. Paoa offered to resign and the president dispatched a team of troubleshooters to address locals' concerns. Government officials played down the threat of secession. Alberto Hotus, the octogenarian head of the island's elders' council, said the territory could not survive without mainland support. ""This island would be a disaster,"" he told the BBC. ""I remember when there was nothing more than muddy trails here. Thanks to the Chilean government it is different now, we owe them everything we have."" Ethnically the islanders were Polynesian and American, he said. ""Chile is part of the American continent and we are part of Chile."
" With only a few local election results in England and Wales to come, Labour has lost 461 seats and eight councils, including Newcastle, Swansea and Leeds. The Tories gained 259 seats and won Trafford and Tamworth. Charles Kennedy said Lib Dem gains proved the UK now really had three party politics. But Labour was cheered by Ken Livingstone's election as London Mayor. Turnout across England and Wales is running at 40%, up an average of 9% on last year - an increase not confined to the four regions piloting all-postal ballots. In London Assembly elections there were falls for all three main parties - and relatively strong showings by George Galloway's Respect party (5%) and the UK Independence party (10%). Tony Blair acknowledged Britain's role in the Iraq invasion had cast a ""shadow"" over the polls. And Home Secretary David Blunkett told BBC Radio 4's Today: ""I'm mortified that we're not doing better than we have done. We know it's been a bad night ... but not meltdown - no take off for the Conservatives."" Tony Blair's deputy John Prescott told BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show the war in Iraq was a crucial factor, but he insisted the general election would be fought on the battleground of public services. ""People like those policies,"" he said. ""But they didn't judge this election on that. Iraq was a cloud, or indeed a shadow, over these elections. ""I am not saying we haven't had a kicking. It's not a great day for Labour."""
" Tony Blair suffered an electoral ""kicking"" as Labour limped into third place in local elections, losing control of key heartlands including Leeds, Doncaster and Newcastle. The loss of Leeds and Newcastle to the Liberal Democrats is a major blow for Labour, which ran the metropolitan councils uninterrupted for 24 and 30 years respectively. The loss of Leeds will be a personal setback for Mr Blair, who launched his local election manifesto in the city. The prime minister will, however, take comfort from Ken Livingstone's victory in London, the Labour candidate was re-elected London mayor with a 161,202 majority. The deputy prime minister, John Prescott, admitted it was ""not a great day"" for Labour. He said the war in Iraq was a crucial factor, but he insisted the general election would be fought on the battleground of public services. ""People like those policies,"" he said. ""But they didn't judge this election on that. Iraq was a cloud, or indeed a shadow, over these elections. I am not saying we haven't had a kicking. It's not a great day for Labour."" Speaking on BBC Radio 2, Mr Prescott said Labour now had to convince voters that its domestic policies were working. But he said the results provided little for the Tories to celebrate. ""Mr Howard is not capturing the councils he should have been capturing if he wants to make a break,"" he said. ""They haven't made a break-out."" Mr Blair also received a vote of confidence this evening from his chancellor, Gordon Brown, the man many people would like to see replace him as prime minister. ""Labour will win the general election with Tony Blair,"" he told ITV News. ""We won the 1997 and 2001 elections, we are not complacent and we will fight the election with our positive policies on the health service, on education, on the economy, on full employment."""
" Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israel announced Monday that it will continue to restrict construction materials allowed into Gaza, but will allow other items to be brought into Gaza without specific permission. The Israeli Security Cabinet last month voted to ease the blockade of goods into Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas. The decision followed a widely condemned incident in which Israeli soldiers stormed a humanitarian flotilla trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. Israel unveiled two categories of materials that will remain under restrictions. The first category includes materials that could be used for bombs or other weapons, including certain fertilizers, ball bearings, lathes and their parts, hunting knives, machetes, and night vision goggles. The second list includes construction materials that will only be allowed to enter Gaza for some Palestinian Authority-authorized projects. ""While such items are liable to be used for Hamas military purposes (building bunkers, fortifying positions and digging tunnels) Israel will permit their entry into Gaza so as to facilitate construction projects in Gaza -- authorized by the PA and implemented and monitored by the international community,"" the Israeli government said in a statement. The United Nations welcomed Monday's announcement as a step in the right direction. ""This can only be the beginning of the long road towards reconstruction and a functioning economy in the Gaza Strip,"" said U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry. British Foreign Secretary William Hague also welcomed the move, which he said ""shows that it is possible to lift the pressure on ordinary Gazans without compromising the security of ordinary Israelis."" Hague's statement called for continued progress by all parties improve the situation on the ground. Other groups were critical. Gisha, an Israel-based non-governmental organization, said the restrictions on Gaza remain too great. ""The restrictions that Israel applies on construction materials into Gaza prevent the private sector from rebuilding and create tremendous burdens on international humanitarian projects,"" the organization said in a statement."
" (CNN) -- Afghan counter-narcotics police and international security forces killed 64 people and arrested 10 others during a three-day operation in Helmand province, the interior ministry said. Authorities also discovered and burned 16,641 kilograms (36,687 pounds) of narcotics during the operation, which ended Sunday, the interior ministry said. The ministry described the 64 people killed as ""terrorists."" Fourteen civilians held by insurgents were released during the operation, the ministry said. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium, heroin and hashish, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. The illicit drug trade is a major source of revenue for the Taliban, which ""tax"" Afghan farmers and traffickers to fund the insurgency."
" Election officials confirmed that pro-Western opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko won Sunday's re-run ballot, eight points ahead of his rival. But Mr Yanukovych's decision to appeal against the result could revive the legal wrangling over the election. International observers said the re-run was much fairer than the earlier vote. Sunday's vote followed a supreme court ruling that the second round result should be cancelled because of widespread ballot-rigging. ""I'm certain that the winner of this election was not Viktor Yushchenko,"" he told the BBC. Mr Yanukovych, who favours closer ties with Russia, has strong support in Ukraine's industrial east. But the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Kiev says the crowds of Yushchenko supporters on the streets of the capital, rallying with orange scarves and banners, are not allowing the threat of court action to dampen their victory celebrations. Official results show that Mr Yushchenko, who wants Ukraine to push through liberal reforms, is on 52%, against Mr Yanukovych's 44%. But Mr Yanukovych said his campaign team had close to 5,000 complaints about the conduct of the re-run and would appeal to the supreme court. He pointed to the reported deaths of eight voters, linking them to a last-minute constitutional court decision on voting rights for the disabled."
" Ukraine's bitter presidential election took a new twist last night when the vanquished government candidate, Viktor Yanukovich, refused to accept defeat and vowed to challenge the victory of opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. With all but the last few votes counted, preliminary results gave Mr Yushchenko an unassailable lead, with 52% of the vote to Mr Yanukovich's 44%. The decisive win, acknowledged by international leaders and election observers, had seemingly ended a remarkable three-month struggle for power in Europe's largest country. But Mr Yanukovich told reporters: ""I will never recognise such a defeat, because the constitution and human rights were violated in our country and people died."" In reference to eight reported deaths at polling stations, mostly from natural causes, he added: ""Who will take responsibility for these lives?"" He said he would take almost 5,000 complaints to the supreme court. Asked if he would consider going into opposition, he replied: ""In the first place, I didn't lose."" A court challenge would mimic the opposition's reaction to the first attempt to hold the presidential run-off on November 21, which was riddled with fraud, provoked huge opposition protests and was finally invalidated. The defiance contrasted with broad international recognition of Mr Yushchenko's victory. The Polish president, Aleksander Kwasniewski, offered his congratulations, and the European commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said the vote was ""a good day for Ukraine and for democracy"". The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, said the election appeared to be ""full and free"". Alexander Veshnyakov, the head of the Russian election commission, said there had been some violations but none that ""called into question the general outcome"". His comments suggested that the Kremlin, which supported Mr Yanukovich, would recognise the opposition victory, calming tensions reminiscent of the cold war. The opposition said it would not allow Mr Yanukovich to derail a Yushchenko inauguration. Petro Poroshenko, an MP and confidant of Mr Yushchenko, told the Guardian he thought the opposition should only attempt an inauguration ""after all the claims [against the results] were settled"". But he added that, by law, it had to wait 15 days. Earlier, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the largest group among 12,000 foreign observers, said: ""In our judgment the people of this great country can be truly proud that yesterday they took a great step towards free and democratic elections."" In a macabre postscript to the election, a cabinet minister who supported Mr Yanukovich was found shot dead at his home yesterday. A gun was reportedly found near the body of transport minister Georgy Kirpa, but there was no indication that his death was related to the election crisis."
 This came after leaks suggesting that government lawyers had advised that the president could override such laws. The Iraq prisoner abuse scandal continues to expose raw political nerves in Washington. The latest evidence of this came in tense questioning in the Senate of the attorney general. It was clear from the questioning in the Senate that critics of the administration see the leaks as further evidence that it encouraged the climate which led to the prisoner abuses in Iraq. The administration rejects the charge. The memo was used in a draft report last year that was part of a Pentagon review of interrogation policy at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. The Pentagon acknowledges using interrogation methods at Guantanamo Bay which have gone beyond previous military practice. But it insists they are humane and within international law and that the more extreme proposals were rejected.
" New Zealand's earthquake-devastated Canterbury region faces an almost one-in-four chance of another powerful tremor in the next 12 months, government scientists say. New Zealand's earthquake-devastated Canterbury region faces an almost one-in-four chance of another powerful tremor in the next 12 months, government scientists have said. The region's major city Christchurch was rocked by a 7.0-magnitude quake in September and a 6.3 quake in February, the second of which killed 181 people and destroyed much of the downtown area. GNS Science senior scientist Matthew Gerstenberger said aftershock modelling showed there was a 23 percent chance of a quake measuring 6.0-7.0 in the region over the next 12 months. The assessment put the likelihood of a quake centred on Christchurch, New Zealand's second largest city, at about six percent, he said. ""This aftershock model that it's based on has been tested in a number of locations around the world and it's generally been quite consistent,"" Gerstenberger told Radio New Zealand. Canterbury has been rattled by thousands of minor aftershocks since the initial quake in September and Gerstenberger said residents in the South Island region could expect them to continue. ""Certainly there will be more aftershocks ongoing for some time to come, so just be ready, be prepared for that,"" he said. Both quakes occurred on faultlines that were previously unknown to scientists. GNS estimates the fault responsible for the September tremor had been inactive for 16,000 years before seismic forces caused it to move. The February 22 quake, which caused damage estimated at NZ$15 billion ($12.3 billion), was the deadliest earthquake in New Zealand since a 7.8 magnitude quake in Hawke's Bay claimed 256 lives in 1931."
" Paris (CNN) -- Seventy-five additional bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of an Air France plane that crashed off the coast of Brazil two years ago, more than doubling the number of remains that have been found, the vice-president of the French victims' association told CNN Tuesday. The remains have not yet been identified, Robert Soulas said. Air France 447 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people aboard. The bulk of the wreckage was found this year after a search by robot submarines of an underwater mountain range. Many bodies were still in the fuselage, investigators said at the time. Only about 50 bodies were recovered in the days following the crash. Soulas got the news from a French government liaison appointed to deal with families of victims, he said. ""Personally, I would have preferred to leave the bodies of our loved ones on the seafloor,"" he added, repeating his long-held view. The Brazilian national news agency Agencia Brasil reported Tuesday that Nelson Faria Marinho, head of the Brazilian victims organization, said that with the latest recovery, the number of bodies found since the accident now totals 127. Details of the doomed plane's last minutes only began to emerge last week as French air accident investigators studied data recorders recovered from the wreck earlier this year. The Airbus A330 plummeted 38,000 feet in just three minutes and 30 seconds amid conflicting information that may have led the pilots to make bad decisions, France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) said Friday. The pilots got conflicting air speed readings in the minutes leading up to the crash, according to an interim report. The aircraft climbed to 38,000 feet when ""the stall warning was triggered and the airplane stalled,"" the report says."
" Africa Union peacekeepers say they have seized key territory from Islamist insurgents in Somalia's capital after they allegedly threatened aid camps. The heavy fighting came a day after the UN World Food Programme airlifted in its first famine emergency aid. An AU spokesman told the BBC the action would increase security and enable aid agencies to get food to people displaced by the severe drought. Thousands have arrived in government-controlled suburbs in search of food. The WFP delivery is the first airlift of food aid since the UN declared a famine in two southern areas of Somalia last week. Al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda linked group which controls much of central and southern Somalia, has banned the WFP from its areas. Tens of thousands of Somalis have fled these regions to Mogadishu and neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia in search of assistance. The UN refugee agency said on Tuesday that some 100,000 people had arrived in Mogadishu and settlements around the city in search of food and water in the past two months. The weak interim government - backed by the 9,000-strong AU force (Amisom) - controls about 60% of the capital, Mogadishu, including the airport, the port, the presidential palace and areas around the city's largest market. The BBC's Mohamed Dhore in Mogadishu says the fighting started just after dawn when government forces and African peacekeeping troops launched an offensive on an al-Shabab strongholds in the north of the city."
" Senior agency official Peter Rees said he thought the toll would rise sharply when victims are counted on India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands. About 77,000 people have been confirmed killed in the earthquake and waves. US President George W Bush pledged to set up an international coalition, with Australia, India and Japan, to co-ordinate the relief effort. The US earlier said it was more than doubling its pledge of funds to the region to $35m. The 9.0 magnitude quake happened just off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra early on Sunday, setting off waves that smashed into coastlines as far away as Africa. Click here for map of affected area Plane loads of supplies have started arriving across the region, as aid agencies strive to bring relief as quickly as possible. The UN says disease could double the number killed by the waves. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the death toll from the actual disaster could reach six figures once more remote areas are checked for victims. More than 500,000 have been reported injured across the region."
" Mr Bush said the giant waves that swept ashore in 11 countries had brought loss and grief almost beyond comprehension. The US has already pledged $35m and sent its navy to help the aid effort. But a US senator has criticised the amount of aid pledged as paltry, saying it was the country's responsibility to shoulder the bulk of aid needs. ""We spend more than $35m every morning before breakfast in Iraq,"" Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat told the BBC. ""I felt that $35m is almost a reflection that we are not paying attention to the magnitude of this terrible tragedy"". He proposed that the United States and other wealthy nations write a ""blank cheque"" to guarantee to pay for the immediate humanitarian and longer-term reconstruction needed in for the countries devastated by the quake-triggered waves. ""The Bush administration has written a very large blank cheque in Iraq,"" he said adding that the vast majority of Americans would back such a pledge. The United Nations estimates that five million people need help to survive, while the total number of dead is put at more than 114,000. UN relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland said it would take at least another two or three days to begin to respond properly to ""the tens of thousands of people who would like to have assistance today - or yesterday."" Outgoing US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, told the BBC the US-led group of nations would co-ordinate its work with the UN and other relief groups to ensure aid went to areas where it was most desperately needed."
" The United States and Europe welcomed Israel's announcement Monday it would allow certain construction materials into Gaza as an ""important step"" toward easing a four-year blockade of the coastal enclave. ""We believe the list of restricted goods for Gaza announced today will make a significant improvement in the lives of people in Gaza, while keeping weapons out of the hands of Hamas ,"" said Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman. ""This is an important step in implementing the new policy announced by Israel two weeks ago."" He said US President Barack Obama ""looks forward to discussing"" the matter during his Oval Office talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement, ""Today's announcement by the government of Israel is another significant step forward in the review of its policy on Gaza."" ""Israel's new policy should improve the lives of the ordinary people of Gaza while addressing the legitimate security concerns of Israel,"" Ashton said, adding, ""The details of the lists will have to be carefully examined,"" The EU official said she hoped ""the complete implementation of these measures will allow for the reconstruction of Gaza and the revival of its economy."" ""The movement of persons and trade between Gaza and the West Bank should remain one of the key objectives,"" Ashton insisted. She continued to say that the EU was ""ready to support Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the opening of land crossings,"" and reiterated her call for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit's immediate release. Quartet envoy Tony Blair said Israel's measures ""should have a dramatic influence on the daily lives of the people of Gaza and on the private sector."""
" Former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan says comments he made on BBC radio in 2009 do not suggest he printed stories obtained through illegal reporting. The CNN host released a statement after several news organisations published a transcript of his interview on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. In it, he admits ""running the results"" of work by third parties who did ""rake through bins... tap people's phones"". But Mr Morgan's statement repeated his recent denial of using phone hacking. ""There is no contradiction between my comments on Kirsty Young's Desert Island Discs show and my unequivocal statements with regard to phone hacking,"" it said. ""Millions of people heard these comments when I first made them in 2009 on one of the BBC's longest-running radio shows, and none deduced that I was admitting to, or condoning illegal reporting activity."" On Tuesday, Trinity Mirror, publishers of the Mirror and Sunday Mirror, announced a review of editorial ""controls and procedures"" following the phone-hacking scandal. The company said it was being conducted in the light of the current environment rather than a specific allegation. Separately, the BBC has found evidence of possible hacking at the Sunday Mirror, and there are separate claims Daily Mirror journalists hacked voicemails. Former journalist James Hipwell, who was jailed for writing about companies whose shares he owned, told an Australian newspaper that in the late 1990s Mirror staff were told to go through the voicemails of celebrities."
" Party leader Mohsen Abdul Hamid said the move was motivated by the authorities' refusal to delay elections so that all parts of Iraq could vote. ""We said we would take part if certain conditions were met, and they have not been,"" he told reporters in Baghdad. The party had fielded a list of candidates earlier this month. ""Our party asked on 5 December that elections be delayed for six months using reasonable arguments,"" Mr Hamid said. ""The authorities concerned have refused to hear the voice of reason,"" he added. Many Sunnis fear that violence in their areas means electors will be too intimidated to vote on 30 January. Mr Hamid said six out of 18 provinces in Iraq would not be able to hold credible elections in the current circumstances. With the pullout of the Iraqi Islamic party, correspondents say the only significant players left from the minority Sunni community are elder statesman Adnan Pachachi and some other independent figures."
" Thirty-nine people were wounded in the attack outside offices of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri) in Baghdad. Sciri leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim was not injured in the blast and has urged supporters not to take revenge. Violence has been escalating ahead of elections set for 30 January, in which Sciri is likely to play a major role. Last week a double suicide attack in the Shia cities of Najaf and Karbala killed about 70 people. Leaders of the majority Shia population said the bombings were an attempt to provoke sectarian conflict in Iraq. In a separate development, the leader of Iraq's largest Sunni Muslim party said it was withdrawing from elections, having demanded a six-month postponement to ensure broader participation in the vote. The Sciri leader blamed Monday's morning rush-hour attack on a Sunni insurgent alliance of former Saddam loyalists and Islamists. The car bomb exploded at the gate of the building, where Mr Hakim has his home and offices, destroying about 30 cars near the entrance. Reports say that at least three people from an allied party - the Iraqi Hezbollah party - were killed in the attack. ""We have chosen the path of non-violence and we will stick to it,"" Mr al-Hakim told Reuters news agency from the compound."
" Five hours of fighting were triggered after insurgents detonated a car bomb outside the deputy provincial governor's compound close to the main hospital in Trinkot, Uruzgan's capital, a provincial government spokesman said. Gunmen also attacked the nearby base of a militia commander who provides security to NATO convoys. The assault was launched from a radio and television office where 25-year-old BBC reporter Ahmed Omed Khpulwak was killed. The interior ministry said seven suicide attackers had attacked different locations in Trinkot and a motorcyle bomb was remotely detonated outside the police headquarters. It was the deadliest attack to hit Afghanistan in more than a month and comes at a critical juncture in the nearly 10-year war as thousands of US surge troops prepare to go home and other Western nations announce limited drawdowns. All foreign combat forces are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and last week a first set of security handovers from NATO to Afghan forces took place in seven parts of the country. ""As a result of these savage attacks of the enemies of Afghanistan, 21 people including three policemen were martyred, and 38 others including three police were injured,"" the Afghan interior ministry said in a statement. Provincial government spokesman Milad Modaser said fighting ended five hours after the attack began at noon. ""The fighting is over, security forces have entered the last building (the governor's office) and a clearance operation is underway,"" he said. Modaser said gunmen raided the Uruzgan radio and television station and from there attacked the base of Matiulllah Khan, a well-known militia commander whose fighters protect NATO convoys on the highway from Uruzgan to Kandahar city. An army spokesman in the southern region, Hekmatullah Kuchi, said one of the blasts at the deputy governor's office was caused by a suicide bomber, and a second was caused by an Afghan soldier shooting another suicide attacker."
" A group of intellectuals and politicians called on Monday for France to repay Haiti 17 billion euros ($A27.21 billion) extorted by its former colonial master in exchange for recognition of its independence 200 years ago. The left-leaning French and British dailies Liberation and The Guardian published the appeal to President Nicolas Sarkozy. It was signed by figures including American linguist Noam Chomsky, Canadian author Naomi Klein and a number of philosophers and politicians. The letter said the money would cover rebuilding costs in Haiti after January's devastating earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people, as it would cover the shortfall in cash promised by international donors. ""The 'independence debt', which is today valued at over 17 billion euros ($A23.51 billion) illegitimately forced a people who had won their independence in a successful slave revolt, to pay again for the freedom,"" the letter said. If Haiti did not pay up, France threatened to invade and restore slavery. The debt of 150 million gold francs was equivalent to 10 times Haiti's annual revenue. The original sum was reduced, but Haiti was still paying off what campaigners dub a ""patently illegitimate ... and illegal"" debt in 1947. ""In 2003, when the Haitian government demanded repayment of the money France had extorted from Haiti, the French government responded by helping to overthrow that government,"" the letter said. Such actions were ""inappropriate responses to a demand that is morally, economically, and legally unassailable"", it added. ""In light of the urgent financial need in the country in the wake of the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010, we urge you to pay Haiti, the world's first black republic, the restitution it is due."""
" More than 50,000 people are now known to have died, but more bodies are being discovered every hour in many of the countries affected. International disaster assessment teams are arriving and local agencies are distributing emergency aid. But the disaster zone is now threatened with outbreaks of disease, which the UN health agency has warned could double the death toll. Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and Thailand were among the worst hit by Sunday's 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which sent huge waves from Malaysia to Africa. Click here for map of affected area The UN has said it faces an unprecedented challenge in co-ordinating distribution of aid to some 10 nations at once. In several of those nations, some outlying towns and villages have not yet even been reached. But as rescue workers discover more bodies, the true extent of the tsunami's devastation is becoming clearer: UN emergency relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland said on Tuesday the organisation would probably make its largest ever appeal for humanitarian funding. He told the BBC that the damage was ""beyond comprehension"". ""A tsunami of this size happens once in a generation only,"" he said."
" International concern has been raised over a Kosovo police bid to take over two border crossings in the ethnic Serb north in which one officer was killed. Kosovo police units, who came under fire, pulled back after Serbs refusing to recognise their authority took up arms and mounted roadblocks. Nato-led peacekeepers moved into the area to calm the situation. The US and EU criticised the Kosovan government for acting without consulting international bodies. Continue reading the main story The whole episode shows just how problematic the north of Kosovo remains. Although the Kosovan constitution defines the area as Kosovo's territory, in practice it wields no authority there and Serbs will resist any attempt to change the status quo. EU-mediated talks between Belgrade and Pristina are likely, at some stage, to address the issue. But for the moment the area remains largely ungovernable and a serious impediment to stability in this corner of Europe. Serbia refused to recognise the formal secession declared by the ethnic Albanian majority in 2008, and maintains close ties with the region north of Mitrovica, where ethnic Serbs have their main enclave. Kosovo's government in Pristina says its police force acted on Monday night after its decision last week to ban Serbian goods from entering Kosovan territory, in response to an equivalent ban by Serbia. Since the war in 1999, Kosovo has been controlled by international bodies, including a 3,000-strong EU rule of law mission, which oversee the territory's own new authorities. 'We do not approve it' Nato's Kosovo commander, Maj Gen Erhard Buehler, is believed to have secured a withdrawal of the police units from the border crossings as part of a deal reached with the Kosovan authorities, but Pristina denied any deal had been reached, the Associated Press reports."
" Police overnight named the first four of at least 76 people killed. Although only names, ages and hometowns were listed, it will likely bring another shock to friends and acquaintances who did not already know of their deaths. The first release listed three who were killed in a bomb blast in Oslo's government quarter and one killed at the island youth camp. They were Gunnar Linaker, 23, from Bardu in northern Norway, who was killed at the camp; and Oslo residents Tove Aashill Knutsen, 56; Hanna M. Orvik Endresen, 61; and Kai Hauge, 33. Gunnar Linaker was on the phone to his father, speaking about something else when the shooting started. ""He said to me: 'Dad, dad, someone is shooting,' and then he hung up,"" Mr Linaker told Associated Press. Mr Linaker said his Gunnar was ""a calm, big teddy bear with lots of humour and lots of love."" Mr Linaker's daughter who was also at the Utoya Island camp survived the shooting. Earlier on Tuesday, the national newspaper Dagbladet posted the names and photos of 16 people it said were killed in the attacks or missing. The information, apparently received from friends or relatives, showed three victims who did not appear to be ethnic Norwegians - examples of the multiethnic Norway that the alleged bomber and gunman says he despised. Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old who has confessed to the massacre, is unaware of the impact of the attacks and asked his defence counsel how many people he had killed, his lawyer Geir Lippestad told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Lippestad said his client is likely insane."
" 1 of 5. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy talks with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel during an European Union leaders summit in Brussels February 4, 2011. Paris and Berlin -- the driving forces behind euro zone policy -- set out a wish-list of measures they want euro zone and the wider EU to adopt to improve competitiveness and help tackle the year-long debt crisis. The proposals included: * the abolition of wages indexed to inflation But there was almost immediate pushback against the proposals, with large and small EU states, from Belgium and Austria to Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Luxembourg expressing aggravation at France and Germany's methods, as well as the substance of the six-point proposal. ""The discussion became really quite heated,"" said an EU diplomat on the sidelines of the talks. ""One EU leader asked Sarkozy and Merkel if they really thought it was right to treat everyone else in this way. He was insulted."" Paris and Berlin said they had worked together to come up with a clear package quickly. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the two had no intention of enforcing a straightjacket. ""The idea we have with Angela Merkel is not to impose the same thing to everybody ... but maybe we can agree on how to calculate things,"" he told reporters after the summit. ""Maybe we can agree on a common framework, which does not mean pure equality,"" he said of the proposal for a corporate taxation minimum. ""It's not a rigid process."" Merkel said the intention was to show unity and determination on tackling the causes of the debt crisis. ""We want to send out a clear message, that as the European Union, we intend to grow together. What we want to establish is a pact for competitiveness,"" she said."
" TORRENTIAL rain boosted by the remnants of tropical cyclones Yasi and Anthony led to flash floods in Victoria, with parts of Melbourne battered by high winds and people rescued from rising waters in Mildura. Lightning strikes cut power to 30,000 homes when a belt of storms hit late yesterday. The Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade said it was overwhelmed by calls for help from disabled people. In one emergency, fire crews helped a wheelchair-bound man who was up to his hips in water inside his home in the suburb of Mulgrave. Firefighters also rescued a girl swept away in a flash flood who managed to grab a tree branch in Ashwood, south-west of Melbourne. Many roads in regional Victoria were cut, and the Monash Freeway was closed outbound at Toorak Road, with traffic causing long delays last night. Between 50 and 100 millimetres of further rain was forecast for the weekend. A Bureau of Meteorology forecaster, Claire Yeo, said: ''With such heavy rainfall expected on already saturated catchments so soon after the January flood event, riverine flooding is also forecast again.'' Mildura, in the state's north-west, was bracing for more flash floods last night after more than 100 millimetres of rain fell in just two hours yesterday afternoon. A State Emergency Service spokeswoman said crews responded to 250 calls for help in the riverine community. Three people were rescued from cars and two from their flooded homes. In south-east Melbourne drenching rain hit Lyndhurst and Narre Warren, where more than 100 calls for help due to flash flooding were made."
" The suicide attacks near the building in the central Jadiriya district injured at least 40 people and brought down a block of flats. A hotel used by foreigners may also have been targeted in the attack. US troops found 173 detainees, some of whom had reportedly been tortured, in a bunker in the building on Sunday. Most of them are believed to be Sunni Arabs - the main group involved in the insurgency. Sunni politician Saleh Mutlaq has accused the government of holding more than 1,100 prisoners at the ministry and suggested a number of them had been tortured to death. He also called for the alleged abuses at the detention centre to be referred to international courts. Maj Falah al-Mohammedawi, an interior ministry official, said that the al-Qaeda in Iraq militant group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi appeared to be responsible. ""We believe that the Zarqawi group is behind the blasts as revenge for the fact that some al-Qaeda members were inside the shelter,"" he said. Two suicide bombers drove lorries at blast walls near the Hamra Hotel, US Col Ed Cardon said. The first bomber blew up part of the wall in an apparent bid to clear a passage for the second, he said, but that also exploded before reaching the hotel or ministry, and brought down a block of flats."
" The Cairo office of al-Jazeera was ransacked by pro-government ""thugs"" today, as the Arabic language news channel also said its news website had come under attack by hackers. Al-Jazeera said its office had been stormed by a ""gang of thugs"" who burned equipment, on a day of reports of escalating violence against journalists covering the Egyptian uprising. The Qatar-based broadcaster added that the attacks appeared to be an attempt by ""the Egyptian regime or its supporters"" to hinder its widely watched coverage of the uprising in Egypt. It said its website had been hacked earlier today with a banner advertisement replaced with a slogan ""Together for the collapse of Egypt"", which linked through to a web page with content critical of the network. The banner remained in place for two hours. ""Our website has been under relentless attack since the onset of the uprisings in Egypt [and] we are currently investigating what happened today,"" said a spokesman for al-Jazeera. ""While the deliberate attacks this morning were an attempt to discredit us we will continue our impartial and comprehensive coverage of these unprecedented events."" Last week al-Jazeera's Cairo office was closed by the Egyptian authorities. The broadcaster's reporters have also had their press credentials revoked and nine were detained for periods of time. In other recent incidents, Swedish TV reporter Bert Sundstrom was in a serious condition in Cairo hospital after being stabbed in the back, according to Associated Press. Dan Nolan, al-Jazeera's UAE correspondent, tweeted today that unfortunately the decision had been taken that it was now too dangerous to remain in Cairo. ""Sadly I'm catching [a] plane out of Cairo today,"" he said. ""Threats to us been about too much. Need to spend some time with family and hope to return soon."" CNN's star reporter Anderson Cooper, who on Wednesday was ""roughed up"" by thugs on a Cairo street, tweeted today that CNN was now broadcasting from an ""undisclosed location"" in the city to ""stay live as long as we can"". Guardian journalists Peter Beaumont and Jack Shenker were prevented from entering Cairo's Tahrir Square earlier today by both the Egyptian army and armed vigilantes."
" In the worst attacks, suicide bombers struck two Shia mosques in the town of Khanaqin near the Iranian border, killing at least 74 people. The bombers blew themselves up while hundreds of worshippers were attending Friday prayers, in what is being seen as an act of sectarian provocation. Earlier, six people were killed in two suicide car bombs in Baghdad. The attacks outside an interior ministry building in the central Jadiriya district injured at least 40 people and brought down a block of flats. A nearby interior ministry detention centre has been at the centre of a detainee abuse scandal. The suicide bombs in Khanaqin, in north-eastern Iraq, are the latest in a string of attacks against Shia mosques. The BBC's Jim Muir, in Baghdad, says the attacks were intended as an act of sectarian provocation, as all the casualties must have been Shia Muslims at prayer. ""Two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts walked into the Greater and the Smaller Khanaqin mosques and blew themselves up,"" Diyala provincial council leader Ibrahim Hasan al-Bajalan told the AFP news agency. The blasts in enclosed spaces, packed with worshippers, caused horrendous casualties. Mr Bajalan said the two mosques had been completely destroyed and he expressed fears that many more casualties may be trapped beneath the rubble."
" The attack happened at about 1230 local time near the old port and citadel in the heart of Basra, Iraqi police said. The MoD has launched an investigation into the attack but officials would not comment on the extent of the four soldiers' injuries. The latest killing brings the death toll for UK soldiers in Iraq to 98. Basra police sources said one of two vehicles on patrol was heavily damaged when it took a direct hit when the bomb went off. Army spokesman Major Steve Melbourne said: ""The incident is under investigation. ""The only thing we can actually confirm is that it was a road bomb. What make or anything else we are unable to ascertain at this particular time."" When asked whether insurgents could have been behind the attack, Maj Melbourne said: ""We don't really have the problem with insurgents. It is more the terrorist element. ""These are very small groups that operate in the area. They cause serious risk to both ourselves and the local population of Basra."" He added: ""Everybody is aware of how dangerous it is...[but] we will continue to do the job in a professional manner."" The BBC's Paul Wood said the device was likely to be one of a new type of explosive device which has killed British soldiers since August."
" John Reid, the Secretary of State for Defence, admits that he knows of ""alleged deaths in custody"" and other ""serious prisoner abuse"" at al-Jamiyat police station, which was reopened by Britain after the war. Militia-dominated police, who were recruited by Britain, are believed to have tortured at least two men to death in the station. Their bodies were later found with drill holes to their arms, legs and skulls. The victims were suspected of collaborating with coalition forces, according to intelligence reports. Despite being pressed ""very hard"" by Britain, however, the Iraqi authorities in Basra are failing to even investigate incidents of torture and murder by police, ministers admit. The disclosure drags Britain firmly into the growing scandal of officially condoned killings, torture and disappearances in Iraq. More than 170 starving and tortured prisoners were discovered last week in an Interior Ministry bunker in Baghdad. American troops who uncovered the secret torture chamber are also said to have discovered mutilated corpses, several bearing drill marks. Adam Price, the Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, who uncovered the death at al-Jamiyat police station, called for an immediate UN investigation into police torture. ""The Government keeps on saying that respect for human rights is a pre-condition of withdrawal. Well, it should be a pre-condition for UK soldiers to continue risking their lives in Iraq,"" he said. Mr Reid said: ""I am aware of serious allegations of prisoner abuse at the Jamiyat, including two deaths in custody. We take this very seriously. We have been pressing the Iraqi authorities very hard to investigate these allegations thoroughly and then to take the appropriate action."" Ministry of Defence sources privately confirm that the two SAS soldiers seized and held in Jamiyat in September were investigating allegations of police torture prompted by the discovery of the bodies. British forces in armoured vehicles smashed their way into the station to rescue them, but officers have admitted they are powerless to protect civilians in southern Iraq from militias, and military patrols have been withdrawn from central Basra in the wake of the September clashes. In the US-controlled districts of Iraq, some senior military and intelligence officials have been accused of giving tacit approval to the extra-judicial actions of counter-insurgency forces."
" Distraught relatives have been going through days of anguish Two bodies have been found from the Air France plane which went missing over the Atlantic last Monday, the Brazilian air force has said. Items including a case with a ticket for the flight were also picked up some 1,100km (683 miles) off Brazil's coast. Air France said it was stepping up replacement of speed monitors on Airbus planes, amid speculation that a faulty indication may have caused the crash. All 228 people on board the Airbus 330 are believed to have been killed. The AF Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared in turbulent weather about 800km (500 miles) north-east of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha islands. ""We confirm the recovery from the water of debris and bodies from the Air France plane,"" air force spokesman Jorge Amaral told reporters in the northern city of Recife on Saturday. See a map of the plane's route He later added that two male bodies had been found, as well as objects linked to passengers known to be on the flight, including a suitcase with an Air France ticket and a backpack with a computer inside. ""It was confirmed with Air France that the ticket number corresponds to a passenger on the flight,"" Col Amaral said. A blue seat was also found, and Air France is checking the serial number to see whether it came from the flight. The remains were found not far from where the last signal from the plane was received, and taken to the islands of Fernando de Noronha. Experts on human remains are on their way to examine the find. The items were the first to be definitely linked to the plane, nearly six days after the crash. 2 June: First debris spotted from the air includes an airline seat. Brazilian defence minister says debris is from missing plane 3 June: More debris spotted, including a 7m-wide chunk of metal. Fuel slick seen on ocean surface 4 June: Buoys and pallet recovered from ocean said to be from plane. Officials later retract statement 6 June: First two bodies, plus suitcase and backpack found, along with seat thought to be from the plane But the BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo says the authorities are adopting a cautious approach after previous reports of debris being found proved false. Correspondents say that much of the search effort so far has been focused on finding flight data recorders, which have sonar beacons - or ""pingers"" - attached to them. But French officials say there was no guarantee the beacons were still attached to the flight recorders, and they may have been separated in the impact of the crash. The officials do not know what triggered the plane's problems, but it was flying through an area of thunder storms and turbulence. They said it sent 24 error messages minutes before it crashed. Air France said in a statement on Saturday that the plane had been using speed sensors that had been associated with problems in the past. The company said that it had begun noticing problems arising from icing on its Airbus long-haul aircraft more than a year ago and that it had begun changing its airspeed sensors on 27 April - five weeks before the accident. ""Without prejudging a link with the causes of the accident, Air France has accelerated this programme,"" Air France said in a statement. It added that this did not necessarily mean the aircraft was not safe to fly. A French submarine is being sent to join in the search. It has sonar equipment that could help locate the airliner's flight data recorders. The US is also sending specialised listening equipment."
" Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan have kidnapped up to 400 students from a military-run college, with teachers and relatives, as they were travelling in mini-buses. The abduction took place while the Pakistani army pressed on with an offensive against the Taliban in the Swat valley in another part of the northwest. Taliban fighters with hand grenades seized the students' convoy heading home for the summer holiday from the North Waziristan ethnic Pashtun region on the Afghan border to the town of Bannu, 240km southwest of Islamabad. Bannu police chief Iqbal Marwat said up to 400 people in 28 vehicles were seized. Sixty-seven escaped, he said. Militant violence has grown in Pakistan since mid-2007, with attacks on security forces, and on government and Western targets. The violence has alarmed the US, which needs Pakistani action to help defeat al Qaeda and get to grips with the Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan. There are several Taliban- and al-Qaeda-linked groups based in North Waziristan in a loose alliance with Taliban in Swat. The army has not launched an offensive in North Waziristan. Militants have captured many members of the Pakistani security forces in the past few years but the kidnapping of civilians is relatively rare. Mirza Mohammad Jihadi, an adviser to the prime minister on the tribal areas, said efforts were in progress to secure their release."
" 1 of 2. Students from a military-run college sit in a police van after being released by Taliban militants on the Afghan border to the town of Bannu, southwest of Islamabad, June 1, 2009. The abduction on Monday took place while the Pakistani army pressed on with an offensive against the Taliban in the Swat valley in another part of the northwest. Militant violence has intensified in nuclear-armed Pakistan since mid-2007, with attacks on security forces and on government and Western targets. The violence has alarmed the United States, which needs Pakistani action to help defeat al Qaeda and get to grips with the Taliban insurgency in neighboring Afghanistan. Taliban fighters with hand grenades seized the students' convoy heading home for the summer holiday from the North Waziristan ethnic Pashtun region on the Afghan border to the town of Bannu, 240 km (150 miles) southwest of Islamabad. Bannu police chief Iqbal Marwat said Taliban had seized up to 400 people in 28 vehicles but scores had escaped. The vice principal of the college, Javed Alam, later told Reuters about 200 had managed to slip away and had arrived at Bannu. Mirza Mohammad Jihadi, an adviser to the prime minister on the tribal areas, said efforts were in progress to secure their release. ""Contacts have been established with the kidnappers and talks are under way,"" Jihadi told Reuters late on Monday. Neither he nor police gave any details of the kidnappers or their demands. There are several Taliban- and al-Qaeda-linked groups based in North Waziristan in a loose alliance with Taliban in Swat. The army has not launched an offensive in North Waziristan."
" WASHINGTON: China is providing assistance to Pakistan in developing its plutonium-based nuclear weapons programme, a Congressional report has told US lawmakers.Besides the conventional uranium-based nuclear weapons, said Pakistan has also pursued plutonium-based warheads since the 1990s and continues to produce plutonium for weapons, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in latest its report on the country's nuclear programme.""Pakistan has received Chinese assistance for its plutonium programme,"" said the report by CRS, the research wing of the Congress that regularly prepares reports in issues of interest by the US lawmakers.The 40-50 megawatt heavy water Khushab plutonium production reactor has been operating since 1998.""It appears that Islamabad is constructing two additional heavy water reactors, which will expand considerably Pakistan's plutonium production capacity, at the same site,"" the report said.""The continued expansion of the complex and production of weapons materials could indicate plans to increase its nuclear weapons arsenal in the near future,"" CRS said.The committee had last week confirmed reports that Pakistan, with about 60 nuclear warheads primarily targeted towards India, was continuing production of fissile material for weapons and adding to its weapons production facilities and delivery vehicles."
" NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Two companies that have received billions of dollars in aid from the U.S. government have been kicked out of the Dow Jones industrial average (INDU). According to a statement released Monday, General Motors, which filed for bankruptcy on Monday, will be replaced by Cisco Systems (CSCO, Fortune 500); Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) will be replaced by The Travelers Companies (TRV, Fortune 500). The changes in the Dow will go into effect on on June 8, according to Dow Jones. GM shares opened for trading on the New York Stock Exchange after a brief delay Monday morning, but the NYSE says the shares will be delisted before trading begins Tuesday. GM has the right to appeal that decision. GM stock plunged to 75 cents per share on Friday, its lowest level since the Great Depression. Shares of Citigroup dipped below $1 per share in early March but were trading above $3 on Monday. General Motors became ineligible for inclusion in the benchmark indicator when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday. ""The parlous state of GM has left us with no choice but to remove it from The Dow,"" said Robert Thomson, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and editor-in-chief for all of Dow Jones, in a written statement. ""A bankruptcy filing immediately disqualifies a stock regardless of a company's history or its role as a cultural icon."" The company taking the place for the bankrupt automaker is tech bellwether Cisco Systems, which is based in San Jose, Calif., and makes networking equipment. ""We were reluctant to remove Citigroup at the height of the financial frenzy, but it is clear that the bank is in the midst of a substantial restructuring which will see the government with a large and ongoing stake,"" said Thomson. Thomson left the door open for the financial giant to be put back on the Dow when it stabilizes. ""We genuinely hope that once the bank has refashioned itself that we will again be able to consider it for inclusion - Citigroup is a renowned institution, not only in this country, but around the world."""
" Thaksin Shinawatra addressed his supporters in Bangkok via videolink Thousands of troops were deployed in Thailand as rival political groups held separate protests, one of which turned violent. Crowds of demonstrators turned out in Bangkok to mark the third anniversary of the coup which ousted controversial Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. On the Cambodian border an anti-Thaksin group clashed with police as it tried to enter a disputed border temple. Several people were injured and one man was shot in the neck, an official said. Security forces and local villagers had set up roadblocks to try to prevent the group entering the 11th century Preah Vihear site, the scene of deadly shootings between Cambodian and Thai troops in recent months. In Bangkok, thousands of troops and police were ordered onto the streets ahead of the protest by Mr Thaksin's red-shirted supporters. Mr Thaksin himself is in overseas exile, and has been convicted in absentia of corruption. In a speech to his supporters via videolink, he called for national reconciliation. ""Our country has deteriorated and risks being a failed state. I have already forgiven everybody, let's start anew and decide on new elections,"" he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency. Mr Thaksin won elections in 2001 and 2005, swept to office by a wave of support from rural voters whose concerns he worked to address. After he was ousted, his allies won the first post-coup elections in 2007. But protests - including a blockade of Bangkok's two international airports - by those who opposed him, the yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), forced that government from office, allowing the party they backed to form a coalition. The red camp want fresh elections and a pardon for Mr Thaksin. Their last rally, in April, ended in violence, with several buses burned and dozens of people injured. By early evening, several thousand demonstrators had joined the protests, police said. ""This will be a peaceful protest and will end by midnight if the government does not use violence,"" Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan said. The yellow camp, meanwhile, battled riot police and local villagers near Preah Vihear, the temple complex at the heart of a border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia. An international court awarded the temple area to Cambodia in 1962, but disputes over land surrounding it have never been resolved. The PAD says the government must eject Cambodian troops from what they perceive as Thai territory. About 4,000 PAD supporters had joined the protest, reports said, and had broken through barricades to reach the foot of the temple. Both Thailand and Cambodia deployed troops there last year after the temple was awarded Unesco World Heritage status, raising nationalist sentiment on either side. Since then there have been several deadly exchanges of fire across the border."
" An earthquake off the Indonesian holiday island of Bali has sent people running from their homes in panic. At least seven people have been injured - some were hurt jumping from buildings while others had been hit by falling debris, an official said. The quake - measuring 5.8 according to the US Geological Survey - struck at dawn 75km (45 miles) south of Denpasar. No tsunami warning was issued and there were few reports of serious material damage, local officials said. ""I was frightened because it was strong,"" Dutch tourist Ernst Raynaldo was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. ""I ran out immediately as I saw many others rushing into the swimming pool,"" the closest open space. ""When the quake happened I was in a market and some people started shouting and running out of the market building, leaving their belongings behind,"" Putu Suartana, a resident in Singaraja in Bali, was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. The roof of a shopping centre in Denpasar collapsed. Two weeks ago, an earthquake on the main Indonesian island of Java left at least 50 dead. In December 2004, an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people around Asia."
" An Italian-flagged merchant ship evaded an attack by Somali pirates and its 24-person crew was unharmed, shipping line officials said. The Jolly Smeraldo was about 300 miles southeast of Mogadishu when a small boat with seven pirates approached it Wednesday, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Thursday. The pirates fired shots at the Jolley Smeraldo, but the crew escaped injury and the ship made evasive maneuvers to escape the hijack attempt, the news agency reported. The merchant ship left port in Kenya Tuesday, headed for Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, before returning to Genoa. On Saturday, the Italian cruise ship Melody evaded an attack by pirates 200 miles north of the Seychelles. The Buccaneer, another Italian ship, was seized in the Gulf of Aden April 11, and its 16-member crew is still being held hostage."
" European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso gestures during a news conference after meeting Former Bavarian premier Edmund Stoiber (not pictured) in Brussels, September 18, 2009. ""The only way to ensure that Ireland will always have a commissioner is to vote Yes to Lisbon,"" he said in an interview with The Irish Times newspaper. ""If not, of course we have to reduce the amount of commissioners. This is in the current treaties and we are legally obliged to do it."" Voters in Ireland will decide the fate of the bloc's reform treaty on October 2 when they go to the polls in a referendum. The treaty is designed to give the EU a greater voice in world affairs. Opinion polls suggest Ireland will approve the treaty, which is intended to speed up decision-making in the 27-member union, but a significant proportion of the electorate is undecided and officials are worried the government's deep unpopularity will generate a large protest vote. In an interview with Reuters Friday, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said the vote was too early to call. Barroso said a No vote next month would create uncertainty about Ireland's place in Europe, further damaging its already battered economy. ""Honestly, there are some doubts now about the future situation of Ireland. Some people have asked me: Is Ireland going to leave the EU? For investor confidence, it is important that there is certainty about the future of Ireland in EU,"" he told The Irish Times. Irish voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty in a plebiscite last year amid confusion over what it meant, a lackluster official campaign and a fired-up No side which capitalized on both."
" At least 12 people, including several children, have died in a series of bomb attacks in the south of Afghanistan, officials say. Two blasts were reported within minutes of each other at a busy road junction in Kandahar. At least seven people died, including three policeman. When he was challenged, he detonated his explosives, killing five people. One of the dead was a police officer, officials say. Police had set up checkpoints across Kandahar amid intelligence reports of a possible attack by insurgents, the BBC's Bilal Sarwary reports from Kabul. The attacks have shattered Kandahar's relative peace of the past few months. Observers say they highlight the fragile security situation in Kandahar, which is the birthplace of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The attacks came as the Taliban said they had reached a preliminary agreement to set up a political office, possibly in Qatar, as part of Western plans to end the war. The office is seen by some as a key step towards ending the 10-year-long conflict in Afghanistan."
" The killings followed a bloody raid on an army camp and a big roadside bombing in the past 12 days that were believed to have been carried out by ethnic Malay Muslim rebels seeking autonomy from predominantly Buddhist Thailand. The bodies of the Buddhist couple, their daughter, 15, and 7-year-old son were found in a forest in Yala, one of three Muslim-dominated provinces bordering Malaysia where more than 4,300 people have been killed in violence since 2004. Police said the family was missing since Sunday and had all been killed execution-style. The family owned a small rubber plantation in the Rueso district, a militant stronghold where Buddhists are a small minority. ""They were likely killed by Muslim insurgents to raise fear among the Buddhist families living in the area,"" Police Major-General Phoompetch Pipatpetchpoom told Reuters. Experts believe the unrest, for which no group has claimed responsibility, is an ethno-nationalist campaign by Malay Muslims who say their identity, language and culture is neither respected nor fully understood by the Thai state. The government has flooded the rubber-rich region with more than 40,000 troops to try to crush the rebels but they have made little progress and their presence is widely resented by people in the region. The three provinces formed part of an independent sultanate called Patani until annexed by Thailand in 1909 as part of a treaty with Britain. The sudden intensification of violence comes after the government hailed the success of security operations and public relations campaigns in reducing the number of attacks."
" President Obama today told embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that relinquishing power was the right decision, but the transition to a new government ""must begin now."" The remarks were a direct response to Mubarak's announcement that he would not seek another term in office when elections are held in September. Though the White House had carefully avoided a firm position on the protests in Egypt for the first several days of demonstrations, today it the president stated openly that he supports a new regime in Egypt. ""An orderly transition must be meaningful,"" he said. ""It must be peaceful and it must begin now."" Obama also praised the peaceful demonstrators in Egypt, calling them an ""inspiration to people around the world."" ""To the people of Egypt, particularly the young people of Egypt, I want to be clear,"" Obama said today. ""We hear your voices."" For Complete Coverage of the Crisis in Egypt, Featuring Exclusive Reporting From Christiane Amanpour, Click Here According to a White House official, Obama spoke to Murabak for about 30 minutes today. Obama said that Mubarak knew stepping aside after the end of his term was the right thing for his country. ""He recognizes that the status quo is not sustainable and that a change must take place,"" he said."
" A Scottish man is the first person in the UK to become critically ill wholly because of swine flu, it has emerged. The 45-year old from Paisley is one of two new critical cases being treated in intensive care at the Royal Alexandra in Renfrewshire. The other is a 38-year-old woman who has underlying health problems. A 37-year-old man, also with underlying health problems, remains in a critical condition in a Glasgow hospital. There are now 362 swine flu cases in the UK. The Scottish government said it expected the number of confirmed cases to increase significantly in the coming weeks. The Health Protection Agency said it was important for parents and schools to be vigilant, and take prompt action if children who have been abroad during half-term start showing flu-like symptoms."
" Pakistani soldiers over look the Swat valley from their bunker on top of Baine Baba Ziarat mountain in Swat district, during a trip organized by the army, May 22, 2009. The abduction took place Monday as the Pakistani army pressed on with an offensive against the Taliban in the Swat valley, in another part of the northwest. Separately, a high court ordered the release of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the founder of an outlawed militant group which was accused of organising an assault on the Indian city of Mumbai in November, his lawyer said. India, which urged nuclear-armed rival Pakistan ""dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism"" after the Mumbai attacks killed 166 people, said it was ""unhappy"" with Saeed's release. It is also likely to dismay the United States which has been alarmed by deteriorating security in an ally whose help it needs to defeat al Qaeda and subdue the Taliban in Afghanistan. Military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said the Taliban were taking the kidnapped students to the South Waziristan region, a militant stronghold on the Afghan border, when soldiers challenged them on a road and a clash erupted. ""Under cover of the firing the militants escaped and we have recovered them all,"" Abbas said, adding 71 students and nine members of staff had been rescued. College principal Javed Iqbal Piracha, who was among those rescued, said 10 to 15 students appeared to be still missing. Taliban fighters seized the students' convoy heading home for the summer holiday near the Afghan border in North Waziristan. There are several Taliban- and al-Qaeda-linked groups based in North and South Waziristan in a loose alliance with the Taliban in Swat. South Waziristan is also the base of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud."
" Fianna Fail's Shay Brennan being interviewed and conceding defeat in the Dublin South by-election   The Republic of Ireland's governing party has had a drop in support in the local elections and two by-elections. It is Brian Cowen's first poll since he became PM and Fianna Fail leader. An exit poll conducted by broadcaster RTE indicated FF will get 24% of the vote - eight points lower than in 2004 and the early results reflect this. In the Dublin South by election, Fine Gael's George Lee, a former RTE economics editor, topped the poll with 53.4% of the first preference vote. He said that it was ""only a matter of time until there is a change in government"". His party leader, Enda Kenny, said that it had been a historic day for his party with its largest share of the vote since 1932. George Lee is set to take the seat in Dublin South Fianna Fail's Shay Brennan, who stood unsuccessfully for the seat, said that the government was being punished by the electorate for the unpopular cost-cutting measures it was taking to tackle the economic downturn. ""I won't say disastrous there is evidently a protest vote against the government,"" he said. Mr Cowen said his government would serve its full term until a general election due in 2012, despite the setbacks in votes for local councils and by-elections. ""The tide of public opinion is against us at the moment,"" he said on Irish television. ""But we have to continue with the work we have set out, that is to fix this recession ... and to use the mandate we have until 2012 to do so."" Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that Mr Cowen's leadership would not be challenged over the result and that they would work to tackle the impact of the downturn. ""The economic crisis is the single most important factor in these results,"" he said. In Dublin Central, Independent Maureen O'Sullivan was leading the poll with 7,600 votes. During the counting process in Dublin a woman who dropped her wedding ring into a ballot box had it returned to her. Brian Cowen said they would work to fix the recession The Green Party, the junior partner in the Republic's coalition government is expected to lose a number of council seats. They are facing heavy losses in the three Dublin county councils - the four outgoing councillors in Dun Laoghaire and the two in Fingal are in serious trouble. Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan said the Green Party was determined to ""fight back"" from what appeared to be a poor showing. BBC Northern Ireland Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison said Fianna Fail had been bracing itself for a backlash. ""The government parties, Fianna Fail and the Greens, are also expected to poll badly in the local elections where traditionally independents do well. ""Counting in the Europeans begins on Sunday, with a lot of attention focused on whether Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald can keep her Dublin seat."""
" LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Gross domestic product in the 16-nation euro zone expanded 1% in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat reported Friday. GDP was up 1.7% compared to the second quarter of 2009. Economists had forecast a 0.7% quarterly rise and a year-on-year expansion of 1.4%. But much stronger-than-expected growth in Germany, reported earlier Friday, pointed to an above-forecast reading for the euro-zone GDP figure."
" The German economy grew by 2.2% in the three months to the end of June, its fastest quarterly growth in more than 20 years, official figures show. ""Such quarter-on-quarter growth has never been recorded before in reunified Germany,"" the national statistics office, Destatis, said. The main reason for the higher-than-expected growth was strong exports, helped by a weaker euro. The eurozone economy grew by 1% during the quarter. This compares with growth of 0.2% in the first three months of the year, the area's official statistics agency, Eurostat, said. Continue reading the main story Not since the Berlin Wall divided the country has Germany seen growth of 2.2% in a single three-month period. The German statistics agency says the numbers can partly be explained by a sustained period of export growth, as Germany's immense manufacturing sector begins to recover the markets it lost in 2009. But the most surprising element of the numbers is an apparent contribution from the German consumer. They have traditionally been very cautious in their spending habits, but appear in 2010 to have finally opened their wallets with gusto. France's figure of 0.6% growth in the period from April to June is also significantly better than economists had expected, raising hopes that Europe may be emerging from the gloom of the last three months, a period when many contemplated the end of the euro currency as rioters took to the streets of Athens. The French economy grew by 0.6% in the second quarter, also up from 0.2%, while the Spanish economy grew by 0.2%, compared with 0.1% in the previous three months. The pace of growth in the Italian economy remained the same, at 0.4%. Greece, however, saw its economy shrink by 1.5% during the quarter. The country's government has instigated a series of far-reaching austerity measures recently, designed to reduce its high budget deficit. All the second quarter figures are initial estimates and could be revised up or down in the coming months."
" ADEN, Yemen, June 6 (Reuters) - Armed men killed seven soldiers and wounded 12 others in clashes in the southern Yemeni city of Zinjibar on Monday, a local official and witnesses said. An army force had tried to storm the town of 20,000, capital of the flashpoint Abyan province in south central Yemen. Last month, dozens of armed men believed to be from al Qaeda stormed into Zinjibar, chasing out security forces while seizing several government buildings and setting off blasts in others. The army had withdrawn from Zinjibar after a battle with militants in March, but later regained control."
" The death of another Australian soldier has put Afghanistan back in mournful focus for Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Defence announced on Saturday Perth-based SAS Trooper Jason Brown was killed overnight on Friday in northern Kandahar, shot multiple times by Taliban fighters. Ms Gillard held an immediate press conference on arriving in northern NSW, where she was set to announce a scheme which would see farmers receive credits for planting trees to store pollution in local and international markets. Early in the election campaign, the prime minister attended the funeral of Private Nathan Bewes, who was killed in Afghanistan, but the conflict has not been a strong focus during the election. As the prime minister, it was devastating to receive the news of the death of another Australian soldier, the 18th to die during the mission, Ms Gillard said. ""I feel the weight of that... it is always difficult to hear that news,"" she told reporters on Saturday. But it was the families of brave soldiers on her mind. ""The thing that impacts on you the most is to reflect on how it must be for the family to get that call in the middle of the night to bring the worst news that you could possibly ever hear,"" Ms Gillard said. Australia's mission in Afghanistan was a vital but dangerous one, which has bi-partisan support and one the prime minister is determined to continue, she said. ""Our nation cannot see Afghanistan once again become a safe haven for the terrorists ... who are trained and trained to take the lives of Australians,"" she said."
" Syrian state TV is reporting the deaths of at least 120 security personnel in battles with hundreds of gunmen in the north-western town of Jisr al-Shughour. More than 80 of the deaths were said to have happened when the security headquarters in the town was overrun. Communications are largely cut off and there has been little information from the protesters' side about the unrest. If confirmed, it would be the deadliest day for the security forces since anti-government protests began in mid-March. The reports came a day after human rights activists said at least 35 residents and police had been killed in Jisr al-Shughour. The government launched a crackdown on Saturday, following demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers. On Friday evening, Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud admitted the security forces had ""intermittently"" lost control of areas around Jisr al-Shughour, which lies about 20km (12 miles) from the Turkish border. Earlier, in a dramatic series of urgent flashes, state TV said hundreds of gunmen who took over the town had committed ""a real massacre"". Continue reading the main story Jisr al-Shughour has been the scene of a continuing military crackdown since Saturday, following protest demonstrations denouncing the regime after Friday prayers. If the government's account is true, it is by far the biggest number of security forces killed in any single incident since the uprising began in March. It implies that at least in Jisr al-Shughour, they are facing an armed insurrection rather than mass peaceful protests. But some activist internet sites have suggested that some army elements may have defected to the revolt, another possible explanation for the sudden startling leap in the number of security forces killed. Whatever the case, it is a massive challenge to the government, and it has vowed to meet it, with determination and force. A report said the fighting had begun at dawn, when an armed gang ambushed police as they approached the town ""to rescue citizens being terrorised"". Twenty officers reportedly died."
" The original vote, won by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych last month, was annulled after widespread fraud. Correspondents say the margin of victory will be almost as important as the outcome, in a country with a sharp east-west split. One exit poll suggested that the pro-Western Mr Yushchenko had won by 15 percentage points, and another by 20 points. Early results from Ukraine's election commission later put his lead at 18 points - although the figure, based on 34% of ballots cast, is expected to change. Tens of thousands of jubilant opposition supporters, in their distinctive orange colours, gathered in Independence Square in central Kiev late on Sunday. They celebrated the anticipated victory with a concert and a fireworks display. Many Ukrainians, going back to the polls for the third time in less than two months, said they wanted to put an end to the country's bitter political crisis . Public support for Mr Yanukovych is strong in the industrialised east and the south of the country. However, the candidate once seen as the favourite of the Ukrainian establishment and neighbouring Russia appeared to be preparing for defeat as polls closed. ""If we fail, we will form a strong opposition,"" he said. Mr Yanukovych, however, has not so far not conceded."
" DAKAR, July 2 (Reuters) - Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has sworn allegiance to the new caliph of the country's influential Mourides sect of Muslims after the death of its 85-year-old former leader. Wade flew by helicopter from the capital Dakar to the holy city of Touba 200 km (125 miles) away to meet Serigne Cheikh Maty Leye Mbake. Local television showed the president late on Thursday kiss Mbake's hand on bended knees. Leye Mbake, also believed to be around 85, automatically assumed the position of caliph general after the death of his cousin Serigne Bara Mbacke on Wednesday. Eight days of national mourning have been declared. The Mourides is one of the religious ""brotherhoods"" which control much of the economy of the West African state and are seen able to influence the results of elections. There are also many Mourides followers among the Senegalese diaspora in Europe and the United States. Wade, who is due to seek reelection in 2012, was criticised for frequent high-profile displays of allegiance to the former caliph. Senegal is overwhelmingly Muslim but prides itself on its secular politics and tolerance to minority faiths. Hundreds of thousands of Senegalese have headed to Touba to pay their respects to Bara Mbacke this week after learning of his death, with the normally heavy traffic in Dakar visibly lighter because of the exodus. (Reporting by Diadie Ba; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Giles Elgood)"
" LONDON (Reuters) - Palestinian health experts studying the impact of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip say it threatens to cause long-term damage to Palestinians' health, with many children at risk of stunted growth or malnutrition. In a series of studies published in the Lancet medical journal on Friday, researchers also said Israel's attack on the region in early 2009 had a devastating effect, causing injury, displacement and social suffering, particularly among children. Stress levels are also high, with women describing the terror of giving birth under siege. ""I cannot believe that I did not die,"" said one woman cited in the research. Around 1,4OO people were estimated to have died and many more injured during the Israeli attack on the occupied Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip between December 2008 and January 2009. The health experts described the destruction of infrastructure, including homes, as ""unprecedented."" Israel has slightly eased the blockade it imposed on the region soon after Islamist group Hamas, which rejects Western calls to recognise Israel's right to exist, won a Palestinian election in 2006. Restrictions were tightened after Hamas seized power in Gaza the following year. ""The siege of this region continues to be the main obstacle for improvement of the living conditions and the quality of life of the population,"" said Niveen Abu-Rmeileh of Birzeit University's institute of community and public health in the West Bank. Despite its blockade, Israel allows medical and humanitarian aid into Gaza and the Israeli military says 7,000 Palestinians visit Israel from Gaza each month for medical treatment for serious conditions."
" The 8.9 magnitude quake struck under the sea near Aceh in north Indonesia, generating a wall of water that sped across thousands of kilometres of sea. More than 4,100 died in Indonesia, 3,500 in Sri Lanka and 2,000 in India. Casualty figures are rising over a wide area, including resorts in Sri Lanka and Thailand packed with holidaymakers. Exact numbers of people killed, injured or missing in the countries hit, are impossible to confirm. Hundreds are still thought to be missing from coastal regions and, in Sri Lanka alone, officials say more than a million people have been forced from their homes. Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga declared a national disaster and the military has been deployed to help rescue efforts. Click here for map of affected area Hundreds of fishermen are missing off India's southern coast, and there are reports of scores of bodies being washed up on beaches. Night has now fallen across the region. In Indonesia, communications remain difficult, particularly to the strife-torn region of Aceh where the main quake was followed by nine aftershocks. Reports speak of bodies being recovered from trees."
" CHENNAI, India (CNN) -- As dawn broke Monday across the Bay of Bengal, countries struck by tsunamis in the wake of the most powerful earthquake the planet has seen in 40 years focused on relief and rescue efforts, and said the death toll from the giant waves -- already more than 13,000 -- is expected to rise further. The tsunamis also left thousands injured, thousands missing and hundreds of thousands homeless in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Some of the tsunamis reached as far as 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from the epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake, which was located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). The quake struck about 7 a.m. Sunday (midnight GMT Saturday), according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Center. It is the fourth-largest earthquake since such measurements began in 1899, according to the NEIC, tying with a 1952 quake in Kamchatka, Russia. More than 4,500 people have been reported dead in Sri Lanka. Most of them, authorities said, were in the eastern district of Batticaloa. Thousands were missing and more than a half million displaced. In southern Sri Lanka, 200 prisoners escaped when the waves swept away a high-security prison in Matara. Witnesses in the eastern Sri Lankan port city Trincomalee reported 14 meter (40-foot) waves hitting inland as far as a kilometer (0.6 miles). The Sri Lankan government declared a state of emergency, and, along with the government of the Maldives, has requested international assistance, the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported. The United Nations has warned of epidemics within days unless health systems in the affected areas can cope."
" June 6 is always a day to remember for Bruins president Cam Neely. The date marks not just his birthday -- he turned 46 years old yesterday, and looks like he could still deliver a Gordie Howe hat trick if his legs would allow it -- but also the anniversary of his trade from the Vancouver Canucks to the Bruins 25 years ago. Tonight, the Bruins made the day memorable for team president Neely for another reason, routing the Canucks, 8-1, in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at the Garden. The Canucks hold a 2-1 advantage in the series, but every ounce of momentum is with the Bruins heading into Game 4 Wednesday. Mark Recchi scored twice, including on the no-longer-maligned power-play for the second straight game, Brad Marchand scored a spectacular shorthanded goal (one of two on the night for the Bruins), and Tim Thomas stopped 40 shots as the Bruins put on a show that seemed possible entering the game only in the minds of their most optimistic fans. After losing two heartbreaking one-goal games to the Canucks in Games 1 and 2 in Vancouver, the Bruins battled their Final nemesis to a draw through the first period tonight. The night did not start well for the Bruins, who lost first-line forward Nathan Horton to injury at the 14:53 mark of the first period after a vicious hit by Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome that left Horton prone on the ice for nearly 10 minutes. Horton was taken to Mass General hospital, where he has movement in all of his extremities, but will be held overnight for observation. There was concern in the early going not only for Horton, but how he would be replaced in the Bruins' lineup since he has eight goals, including three winners, this postseason. But his teammates answered that question with a four-goal onslaught in the second period. Defenseman Andrew Ference started the scoring 11 seconds into the period -- coincidentally, it was 11 seconds into overtime Saturday that Alex Burrows scored to beat the Bruins in Game 2. Then it was the rejuvenated Rechhi on the power play at 4:22, Marchand's shorthanded goal at 11:30, and David Krejci punctuated the explosive second-period performance with his NHL-leading 11th goal of the postseason at 15:47. The Bruins continued the onslaught in the third period, scoring four more times on suddenly shaky Canucks star goalie Roberto Luongo, who stopped 30 of 38 shots. Daniel Paille (shorthanded), Recchi, Chris Kelly, and Michael Ryder (power play) did the scoring honors in the third for the Bruins, who gave Neely a heck of a present. Final score: Bruins 8, Canucks 1: And it's officially a series. Mark Recchi scored twice, six other Bruins found the net, and Tim Thomas made 40 saves as the Bruins clobbered Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight, 8-1. What a spectacular performance all-around by the Bruins, who scored twice shorthanded, twice on the power play, and gained all the momentum heading into Game 4 Wednesday. We'll be back with more momentarily."
" Oppositon candidate Viktor Yushchenko led in all three exit polls tracking Sunday's re-run of the presidential election in Ukraine. Exit polls released just after the close of polling indicate that current prime minister Viktor Yanukovich has lost to Mr Yushchenko by a margin of approximately 15%. Mr Yushchenko confidently predicted his victory shortly after voting this morning, telling reporters ""I will win. That's 100%. I'm absolutely certain"". ""Today, we will at last have a new president,"" opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko told reporters. ""It will be a beginning of a new era in Ukraine."" Exit polls during the first two rounds of the election had shown widely varying results, prompting questions about their validity. By contrast, today's exit polls remained stable throughout the day. One of these - for The Ukrainian Institute of Social Research and Social Monitoring Centre - showed Yushchenko winning with 58.1% of the vote and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich garnering 38.4%. The poll showed 3.5% of respondents voting for neither candidate, and the margin of error was 2%. By 1300 GMT, the Central Election Commission reported a 55.2% turnout with 90% of Ukraine's precincts reporting. More than 33,000 polling stations in the country of 47 million people had remained open for 12 hours. Mr Yushchenko, a former central bank chief and prime minister, wants to bring Ukraine closer to the west, while Mr Yanukovich, the current prime minister, emphasises closer ties with Russia as a means to maintain stability. Oresta Stepanchuk, a Kiev teacher, said she had cast her ballot for Mr Yushchenko ""because he offers us some prospects, some decent life"". Another voter at the same precinct, Mykola Vladimirov, said he supported Mr Yanukovich because ""the others will sell the country to Americans"". ""At least we now have a chance to live as independent people, but with him [Yushchenko] we will be no more than American slaves,"" he said. Mr Yushchenko's face is badly scarred from dioxin poisoning that he blames on the Ukrainian authorities. His supporters have been camped out in a tent city on Kiev's main street, the Kreshchatyk, for the five weeks since Mr Yanukovych was named the winner of the fraudulent second round. The supreme court later annulled the results and ordered today's repeat vote, which is being monitored by 12,000 international observers."
" A German court has released on bail a suspected Israeli agent arrested in connection with the killing of a Hamas commander in Dubai. German prosecutors said Uri Brodsky was free to travel while judicial proceedings in Germany continued. He is accused of helping procure the German passport allegedly used in the January murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouth. The UAE believes Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, was involved, though Israel insists there is no proof. Uri Brodsky, an Israeli citizen, was arrested in Poland in June on a warrant issued by Germany and extradited on Thursday. After a closed hearing on Friday, a German judge decided he would not be detained while the case against him continues. ""He can return to Israel today if he wants to,"" said Rainer Wolf, a spokesman for Cologne's prosecutors' office. The warrant that he was arrested under accused him of espionage, though the court that granted the extradition said he could only be prosecuted for illegally procuring a German passport believed to have been used by one of the assassins. Formal charges have not yet been filed against him. Dubai police have said they are 99% sure that members of Mossad were involved in the killing of Mabhouh, one of the founders of Hamas's military wing, who was found dead in a Dubai hotel on 20 January."
" Torrential rain has brought landslides to more areas in China, as relief teams in devastated Zhouqu county battle against the bad weather. Teams are continuing to recover bodies in the remote region in Gansu province, in the wake of Saturday's landslides that left 1,700 people dead or missing. Elsewhere in Gansu 24 people were killed in landslides, and five people died in Sichuan province to the south. More rain is forecast for the area in the next few days. Officials say 1,144 people are now known to have died in Zhouqu when mud and rock-flows crushed or buried hundreds of buildings. The BBC's Chris Hogg, who visited the county, says questions are now being asked about whether the disaster could have been prevented. Heavy rain has been sweeping across central and western China for several days. The deluges triggered fresh landslides in Longnan city and Tianshui county, near Zhouqu, leaving 24 people dead. The same number were missing, Xinhua news agency said. Mudslides in Mianzhu county in Sichuan province killed five more people and left 500 trapped in rural areas, Xinhua also reported. Further north in Zhouqu, questioning has begun over what could have caused the landslide to be so devastating, even as relief work continues."
" A bomb has exploded at a mosque in north-western Pakistan during Friday prayers, killing at least 38 people and wounding dozens more. Police said a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the mosque in Upper Dir district, although some witnesses said the bomb was already in the building. Nearby Swat Valley has been the scene of heavy fighting between the Pakistani military and Taliban militants. Upper Dir has also been the scene of sporadic clashes between the two. The bomb exploded at the mosque in the village of Hayagai Sharki, about 15km from the town of Upper Dir. The building was severely damaged and many worshippers were reported to have been trapped under the rubble. A resident of the village described the carnage at the scene of the blast. ""A large number of body parts are scattered in the mosque. We don't know whether these are parts of the dead who have been identified or of others,"" Umer Rehman told the Reuters news agency. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the north-west region as a whole has witnessed a number of suicide attacks linked to the Taliban insurgency, as well as the Shia-Sunni sectarian divide. In March, about 50 people died in a suicide bomb attack at a mosque near Jamrud, on the Khyber Pass route to Afghanistan. There are fears of a militant backlash in response to the army's military campaign in Swat, analysts say. The bombing has been condemned by both the Pakistani president and the prime minister who have reiterated Pakistan's determination to establish full government control. Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, said in a statement last night that the army had ""turned the tide"" against the Taliban and reiterated that the army aimed to completely eradicate them from the neighbouring Swat valley. In recent days the army has captured a number of militant strongholds as it continues its offensive. More than two million people have been displaced by the fighting."
" Kabul, 17 Sept. (AKI) - At least six Italian soldiers were killed and three others were seriously injured in a massive suicide attack in the centre of the Afghani capital, Kabul, on Thursday. The Italian defence ministry confirmed the casualties in the bomb blast which has reportedly been claimed by the Taliban.   It is the worst terrorist attack on Italian troops since Al-Qaeda killed 19 people in an attack on an Italian military base in Nassiriya, southern Iraq in 2003.   ""The explosion took place near the US embassy. It was so loud it could be heard 2.5 kilometres away,"" unnamed sources in Kabul told Adnkronos International (AKI).   A dense plume of black smoke could be seen above the central diplomatic district the city where a fire raged after attack.    The blast destroyed houses and shops, according to eyewitnesses, and helicopters could be seen flying over the area.   "
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Six Italian soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack on a military convoy in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Two military vehicles were reported to have been hit by a suicide car bomb. At least 10 civilians were also killed and dozens injured, officials said. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack in the city centre. Following the blast, Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi said it would be best for international troops to leave Afghanistan ""as soon as possible"". But he added it was a decision Italy would have to take in agreement with other Nato partners. The latest deaths come as Afghan President Hamid Karzai reaffirmed his belief in last month's presidential election which is mired in allegations of widespread fraud. Witnesses say an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the Italian military convoy on Kabul's busy airport road. ""It was a suicide car bomb attack... It was against Italian forces,"" Kabul's chief of criminal investigations told the AFP news agency. Sept 09: Six Italians killed, four wounded after attack on Kabul convoy July 08: Nine US soldiers killed in an attack in Kunar June 08: Four British soldiers killed by a landmine in Helmand July 07: Six Canadian soldiers and their Afghan translator killed by roadside bomb in Kandahar June 05: Sixteen US special forces and crew killed when helicopter shot down in Kunar At least four Italian soldiers are also said to have been seriously wounded. Eyewitnesses said the explosion shook buildings and that a plume of black smoke hung over the area where it occurred. Student Jamal Nasir was in his car when the bomber struck and described an almost deafening blast. ""I could see thick black smoke behind us... There were screams and car horns. People were running over each other and in the panic cars were driving on pedestrian lanes,"" he told the BBC. The blast caused considerable destruction in the immediate vicinity, with a number of shops badly damaged. Witnesses described blood-stained roads and twisted metal littering the area. Television footage of the blast site showed the Italian flag on Isaf armoured vehicles, one of which was destroyed. Mr Berlusconi spoke to reporters about the attack as he arrived for an EU summit in Brussels. ""This is an unhappy day for Italy,"" he said. ""We are all convinced that we have to get out of Afghanistan as soon as possible."" But he quickly added: ""This is something that we cannot decide alone, because otherwise we would affect the confidence of other countries present there."" There have been several bomb attacks in Kabul this year. At least 10 Afghan civilians are said to have been killed. Shortly before nationwide elections in August, Nato's Kabul headquarters was hit by a suicide car bomb attack which killed at least 10 people. But this is thought to be one of the deadliest attacks on foreign troops in recent months. On Wednesday, three US troops were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. There are about 3,200 Italian troops in Afghanistan, mostly in the west of the country. Around 20 Italian soldiers have died in Afghanistan. US and Nato-led forces across Afghanistan are battling a fierce Taliban insurgency. In recent months the US has poured more forces into the Taliban's heartland in the south of the country. And on Wednesday, the top US military officer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm Mike Mullen, told the US Senate that yet more troops might be required in Afghanistan. The year 2009 has been the deadliest for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001."
"For now we have 27,174 deaths and 1,164 missing,"" an official at the health ministry told Reuters. The Indonesian island of Sumatra was closest to the epicentre of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which is the world's worst for 40 years. Officials said about 10,000 people died in Sumatra's Meulaboh town alone - a quarter of the community. No contact had been made with the island's north-west coast since the earthquake hit. The e-mail, released by officials in the capital Jakarta, spoke of food running out, looting, and the prospect of ""mass deaths"". Many of the confirmed dead have been found in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province. The BBC's Rachel Harvey, who is in Banda Aceh, says the picture is one of total devastation, with bodies lined up for identification, or being taken away to mass graves. ""The building of the main mosque is unscathed, but everywhere around are bodies, they haven't been moved yet. There are no communications here, telephone lines are all down, this satellite phone I am talking on is the only available communication,"" she says. Almost a million people have been left homeless in Sumatra, many taking refuge on higher ground and in mosques and tents. Officials have warned of the danger of disease, as bodies lay unburied and hospitals faced the possibility of running out of medicine.
Quake, tsunamis death toll could reach 45 000 - World News	 The biggest humanitarian relief operation ever mounted was under way on Tuesday along Asia's devastated shores as the death toll from a massive earthquake and the tidal waves it unleashed was predicted to hit 45 000. With the scale of the catastrophe still unfolding, the confirmed death toll was approaching 25 000 in nine countries - but Indonesia warned that it alone could have suffered up to 20 000 more fatalities on top of its official figure of 4 725 deaths. Indonesia's Vice-President Yusuf Kalla, who is co-ordinating relief efforts, said he estimated that 21 000 to 25 000 people had been killed. The Indonesian toll keeps rising as contact is restored with devastated coastal areas. The quake, the biggest in 40 years at 9.0 on the Richter scale, ruptured the Indian Ocean seabed off Indonesia's Sumatra island, sending huge waves of death thousands of kilometres to kill and destroy in countries around southern and south-east Asia and Africa. More than one million people have been displaced as hopes faded for many thousands more still missing and fears grew that disease could unleash more tragedy. Horrific scenes of destruction met emergency teams as bodies piled up by the hour in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and Myanmar, while international aid agencies rushed food and clothing to hundreds of thousands left homeless. Hundreds of rescue ships, helicopters and planes were mobilised to evacuate tourists from wrecked resorts and airlift stricken victims to hospitals already overflowing with the injured and corpses. United Nations disaster relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland said at UN headquarters in New York that relief operations would be the biggest ever as the destruction was not confined to one country or region. ""There are thousands of dead people, and there are tens of thousands of dead animals. The people should be buried and the animals should be destroyed before they infect the drinking water. ""The cost of the devastation will be in the billions of dollars. It will probably be many billions of dollars,"" he said.	
Death toll likely to climb	 At least 23,700 are dead after the worst earthquake in 40 years struck beneath the Indian Ocean.  COLOMBO, SRI LANKA -- Rescuers piled bodies yesterday along southern Asian coastlines devastated by massive waves that obliterated seaside towns and killed 23,700 people in nine countries, aid officials said. The tally was expected to rise, with thousands still missing. Hundreds of children were buried in mass graves in India, and morgues and hospitals struggled to cope with the catastrophe. Chaos erupted at airports in Thailand as tourists, many of them injured and weeping, tried to board flights.       The story you are searching for is available in its entirety via email, fax or mail for $10.00, payable with credit card (include expiry date).   Just call the Sun Media News Research Centre at 416-947-2258 or toll free at 1-877-624-1463 with information about the story and supply the following:   Name of credit card, number and expiry date on card   Your name, mailing address and phone number (we will mail you a receipt).   Fax number, if you wish the story to be faxed.
Cameron denies 'dictating' terms of Scottish referendum	 David Cameron has said he is not trying to ""dictate"" the terms of a Scottish independence referendum. Government sources have denied reports Westminster would set an 18-month limit on holding the poll, if it transfers powers for a binding vote to Holyrood. But ministers may insist on a ""yes or no"" vote on independence - without the option of more powers for Scotland. Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused Westminster of ""trying to interfere in Scottish democracy"". But Mr Cameron said he wanted the vote to be ""legal, fair and decisive"". The Scottish National Party has pledged to hold a referendum in the latter half of its term, with 2014 thought to be the preferred date. The UK government is expected to say that Scotland can hold a referendum on any subject it chooses but the result would only have advisory status and could be open to legal challenge. It is expected to confirm that Westminster could formally transfer additional powers to Holyrood to allow it to hold a binding referendum. But BBC political editor Nick Robinson said conditions could be attached to that transfer, including ruling out a third choice in any vote - for greater powers to be devolved to Scotland without full independence - which Mr Cameron fears could split the unionist vote. Scottish Secretary Michael Moore will make a statement to the Commons on Tuesday, he added, outlining the government's opinion on the legal status of an independence referendum.	
Floods, landslides leave 19 dead, 20 missing	 BEIJING - Floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains have left 19 people dead, 20 missing and thousands trapped in parts of west China, apart from the Zhouqu mudslides that killed more than 1,000, local authorities said Friday. Downpours pounded some areas of Gansu, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces from Wednesday night to Thursday night, destroying homes, inundating croplands, and disrupting traffic and telecommunications. In Longnan, Gansu, 10 people have died, 12 are missing, and 10,000 are trapped by floodwaters, the Longnan municipal government said in a statement. Local authorities are evacuating residents and have dispatched tents, instant noodles, bottled water, quilts and pans to the disaster-hit areas, the government said. In Tianshui, Gansu, four people have died and eight are missing, the local government said. In Mianzhu, Sichuan, mudslides have left five people dead and 500 others trapped in the rural mountainous areas, a spokesman with the municipal government said. Government staff, troops and factory workers have been mobilized to help evacuate the disaster-stricken residents, the spokesman said. In Weinan, Shaanxi, floods have affected some 100,000 people and forced an evacuation of 4,600 residents. More than 4,800 homes were destroyed or damaged, a spokesman with the Weinan Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau said. In another development, meteorological authorities have warned of more heavy rains in the coming days for Gansu's Zhouqu County, where the devastating mudslides have left 1,144 people dead and 600 missing.
Heavy rain, mudslides bring more misery to China	 (Updates death toll in lead, adds details)  BEIJING, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Heavy rain across western China has caused more mudslides and flooding, killing at least 29 people and trapping more than 10,500 in the latest natural disasters to hit the country, state media said on Friday.  In Longnan, in poor and remote Gansu province, 20 died and more than 10,000 were trapped following torrential rains and landslides, state television said. Another four died in Gansu's Tianshui city and dozens are missing province-wide.  More than 1,000 people died in the nearby town of Zhouqu when an avalanche of mud roared down the slopes of a mountain last weekend after unusually strong downpours. [ID:nTOE67A06O]  More rain is forecast for Zhouqu over the next few days.  In Sichuan province to the south, mudslides killed five people and trapped more than 500, Xinhua news agency added.  The rains there started late on Thursday in Mianzhu, close to Sichuan provincial capital Chengdu, it said. The area was hard hit during a massive earthquake in 2008 which killed at least 80,000 people.  The mudslides were concentrated on the villages of Qingping and Tianchi, the report said.  ""The damage will be massive and casualties will also be big,"" one Qingping resident reached by telephone told Reuters, though he declined to give his name.  Authorities were still trying to work out exactly how much damage had been caused, Xinhua said, suggesting the death toll may rise. Rescue efforts have already started.	
Salmond calls for independence referendum in 2014	 Alex Salmond has said he wants to hold an independence referendum in Scotland in the autumn of 2014. The Scottish first minister said this date would allow people to make a ""considered"" decision on the country's future within the United Kingdom. The news came as the UK government said its Scottish counterpart could not legally go ahead without its authority. It has said it wanted to work with the SNP-led administration amid a row over the timing and conditions for a poll. Confirming the Scottish government's preferred date for a referendum, Mr Salmond - who wants Scotland to leave the UK - said holding a poll in 2014 would allow all the necessary legislation required to authorise it to be passed and for proper preparations to be made. Mr Salmond added: ""The date for the referendum has to be the autumn of 2014. That's because this is the biggest decision that Scotland has made for 300 years. If you are going to do things properly and have the debate in the way it must be had then that is the date that we are going to move towards."" The referendum had ""to be made in Scotland"" and be approved by the Scottish Parliament and he warned the UK government about ""trying to pull the strings behind the scenes"". He said: ""What Scotland objects to is all the strings they (the UK government) are trying to to attach. They are trying to run a referendum by proxy."" Prime Minister David Cameron has warned that uncertainty over Scotland's future is damaging its economy and all three Unionist parties - the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats - have called for any referendum vote to be held as soon as possible. In a statement to MPs, Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said it was the government's ""clear view"" that the power to hold a referendum was ""reserved"" to Westminster under laws passed in 1998 paving the way for Scottish devolution and the Scottish government could not authorise a referendum on its own.	
Helicopter crashes in Afghanistan's east, two troops killed	 ""I can confirm a helicopter has crashed in eastern Afghanistan,"" said British Major Tim James, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). ""We have no indication of any enemy activity in the area at the time,"" he said. ISAF soon after released a statement which said two service members had been killed in the crash. It gave no other details. Most of the foreign troops fighting in the east are American, although there are also troops from other countries. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said by telephone from an undisclosed location that one of the Islamist group's fighters had brought the helicopter down in the Sabari district of eastern Khost province, not far from the Pakistan border, using a shoulder-fired rocket. Residents in Sabari district said they saw a helicopter catch fire, with black smoke pouring from the aircraft before it crashed in a mountainous area of the district. Khost and surrounding provinces have seen some of the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan in recent months as the Taliban and other insurgents push back against ISAF gains made in the south over the past 18 months. Fighting across Afghanistan has spiked since the Taliban launched their spring offensive at the beginning of May. At least 230 foreign troops have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year, according to figures kept by independent monitor and Reuters. Of those, 57 were killed in May, the bloodiest month of the year for the NATO-led force. Another 13 have been killed in the first five days of June.
Ugandan police arrest Rwandan genocide suspect	 Kampala, Uganda (CNN) -- A fugitive Rwandan clergyman wanted for his role in the 1994 genocide has been arrested in Uganda, a police spokesman told CNN Friday. A 2001 indictment from the U.N.-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda alleges that Jean-Bosco Uwinkindi, now 59, led a group that sought out and killed Tutsis in the genocide. Some 800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered in 100 days, many of them brutally bludgeoned or sliced open with machetes. The indictment says that about 2,000 bodies were found near Uwinkindi's church after he fled the country in July 1994. Ugandan police spokeswoman Judith Nabakooba said Uwinkindi is being extradited to Arusha, Tanzania, where the tribunal is located. Uwinkindi, a Pentecostal pastor with a $5 million reward on his head, was among 11 top genocide suspects at large and was picked up by Ugandan police in the town of Mbarara, Nabakooba said. He had crossed the border into Uganda from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where other genocide suspects are thought to be in hiding. Uganda's independent Daily Monitor newspaper reported Friday that Uwinkindi entered the country using the alias Jean Inshitu and was attempting to buy land and settle under that assumed name. Journalists Samson Ntale in Kampala, Uganda, and Ignatius Ssuuna in Kigali, Rwanda, contributed to this report.	
Paris Hilton arrested for 'smoking marijuana' during Brazil Holland game	 The hotel heiress, 29, was arrested in Port Elizabeth after allegedly being caught by police following the quarter final match between Brazil and Holland. Police confirmed Hilton had been arrested and said an investigation was under way. South Africa's Times newspaper reported that Hilton was escorted by police to the Mount Road Police Station in Port Elizabeth shortly before 8pm. Hilton only arrived in South Africa on Thursday for a World Cup trip. Since arriving in the host nation on a private jet she has posted about her experience on Twitter. Writing on her account, she said: ""It's so beautiful here. I can't wait to go on the Safari this week and see all the amazing animals."" Following the game, which the Netherlands won 2-1, she wrote: ""Had so much fun at the game today. What a match! I love South Africa!"
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. At least 33 people have been killed and dozens injured in a suicide car bomb attack at a village market in north-west Pakistan, police say. The explosion is said to have taken place at a busy intersection close to the garrison town of Kohat. Most of the dead are said to be members of the Shia Muslim minority. The area has a history of sectarian tension. A little-known militant group calling itself Lahskar-e-Jhangvi al-Almi says it carried out the attack. It says the attack was in revenge for the death of a prominent religious leader, Maulana M Amin, who was killed in Hangu in June. Correspondents say the group is likely to be linked to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni extremist group which has links to the Taliban. The Taliban operate widely in Kohat and had at one point warned barber shops in the area to stop giving, what they described as, un-Islamic haircuts. Pakistan's army has since carried out major operations against the Taliban in the North West of the country and last month a US drone strike killed the Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud. But there are signs that the Taliban is trying to reassert itself under its new leader Hakimullah. Astarzai village, where the blast took place, has a substantial Shia population and is close to the Orakzai tribal region, a stronghold of the Taliban's present chief. Hakimullah Mehsud took over as the leader of the Pakistani Taliban - a Sunni group - after his predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed by a US missile strike. The head of Astarzai's village council told the BBC it was still waiting for machinery to help lift the debris and pull out bodies. ""The blast took place at 11am, and now it's 5pm, but there is still no shovel or crane available to lift the debris or pull out dead bodies. ""People are doing it with their bare hands,"" Mehtabul Hasan told the BBC. Police officials said that not all of the bodies had been identified because of the extent of the injuries. The car bomb was detonated close to a hotel owned by a Shia Muslim businessman. A local police official told the AFP news agency: ""Dozens of shops were destroyed. Their roofs caved in and many people were trapped under the debris."" Television footage from the local hospital showed bloodied and bandaged patients being treated by medical staff. ""I was standing in front of my shop when all of a sudden, a car blew up outside a restaurant,"" Sohail Ahmed told AFP from his hospital bed. At the time of the explosion, the area was reported to be thronged with shoppers buying supplies for the weekend and for iftar, the break of fast during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Astarzai lies 18km (11 miles) west of Kohat, where a bomb was detonated on Thursday wounding at least six people. 18 September: At least 25 people killed in a suicide bombing at a market in the north-west 14 August: Seven killed in market blast in Dera Ismail Khan 5 June: Mosque blast kills at least 38 in Upper Dir district 20 February: Dozens of Shias killed in market bombing in the north-west The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that Sunni Taliban militants in the area have carried out frequent attacks on minority Shias. Sunni Muslims account for around 80% of Pakistan's population and are the dominant group in the tribal areas. Pakistan's army has been bombing Taliban hideouts in Orakzai for the past month, correspondents say. There were reports of more aerial bombings in the area on Friday morning, shortly before the bomb attack. The last month has seen a series of major militant attacks on targets across the NWFP. On 30 August a suspected suicide bomb in Pakistan's north-western Swat valley killed at least 14 police recruits and injured others."
" The death toll from a suicide car bomb attack in a crowded Pakistani market rose to 40, police said on Saturday as grieving families buried their dead ahead of a major religious festival. A suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed vehicle into the market in the northwest town of Ustarzai on Friday as families were buying supplies for Eid al-Fitr, the festival that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadaan. ""We have recovered seven more dead bodies from the debris, 40 people are confirmed dead, all of them have been identified,"" Fazal Naeem, a police spokesperson in the nearby garrison town of Kohat, told AFP. He added that eight of the 50 wounded were still in a serious condition. An intelligence official in Peshawar, the capital of Northwest Frontier Province, confirmed the death toll. The explosion flung body parts across the bazaar and trapped victims under the debris from shops that collapsed in Ustarzai, which is mainly Shi'a and lies between Kohat and Hangu, another town with a history of sectarian unrest. Residents were mourning and praying at the funerals which took place one after another while shops and bazaars remained closed, witnesses said. Police said the bomber came from the nearby Orakzai, the home of Pakistan's new Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud who has vowed to avenge the death of his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone strike. Officials were investigating whether the attack was sectarian motivated. Shiites account for about 20 percent of Pakistan's mostly Sunni Muslim population of 167-million. More than 4 000 people have died in outbreaks of sectarian violence since the late 1980s."
" (CNN) -- Six people were killed and 15 were injured from an explosion at a bus stand the northern Pakistani village of Matni, a police official said. Kalam Khan, a Peshawar police official, told CNN that the dead included three women, two men and one child. The blast also destroyed three vehicles, Khan said. Matni is about 22 kilometers (13.6 miles) south of Peshawar. Muhammad Ejaz Khan, a senior Peshawar police official, said a militant placed a bag with an explosive in a passenger van set to leave for another city. He said the militant then ran away and detonated the bag with a remote control."
" At least 33 people have been killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack in northwest Pakistan. The bomb went off on a main road near the city of Kohat, 150km southwest of Islamabad, and brought down some roadside shops and other buildings. A police spokesman said around 80 people were wounded. Residents spent hours sifting through the wreckage, which occurred a couple of days before the Eid al-Fitr, end-of-Ramadan holiday. Among the dead were workers waiting to catch buses home for the holiday. The area where the attack took place is mostly inhabited by minority Shia Muslims and there has been sectarian violence in the region in the past."
" At least 18 people have been killed in a bomb explosion in north-western Pakistan, officials say. More than 30 people were wounded in the bombing at a bakery in the town of Nowshera, they said. It followed a blast in another north-western town, Matani, which left six people dead. Both attacks come after reports that a top al-Qaeda operative, Ilyas Kashmiri, had been killed in a US drone strike in the tribal region of South Waziristan. Militants in Pakistan have vowed to avenge his reported killing, as well as the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. He was killed by US forces in a garrison city north of Islamabad on 2 May. The head of the Nowshera bomb disposal squad, Tanvir Ahmed, said he believe the bombing there was a suicide attack. ""It was a huge blast,"" said Zakaullah Khan, the town's top government official. ""It shattered the bakery and a restaurant nearby."" Witnesses in Nowshera, about 50km (30 miles) east of Peshawar, said they saw charred bodies lying on the ground. At least two soldiers were reported to be among the dead. A Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, told the AFP news agency that the group was responsible for the bomb."
" TEHRAN, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran's opposition leaders were forced to quit Tehran rally by angry crowds of marchers on Friday, which marks the ""Quds (Jerusalem) Day,"" Iran's official IRNA news agency reported. Reformist opposition leaders -- Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mohammad Khatami and Mehdi Karoubi -- were confronted with protest of angry crowds when they were showing up at Tehran streets and squares for ""Quds (Jerusalem) Day"" rally, IRNA's report said. The report said Khatami was forced to leave the area when marchers shouted ""Death to the hypocrite"" upon seeing him, while Karoubi's appearance also arose harsh protest by marchers. Mousavi was also confronted with such protest when he appeared at a crossroad at about 12:00 (0730 GMT), the report said, adding that some marchers hit windows of his car and forced him to leave. Thousands of supporters of opposition leaders, especially Mousavi, protested against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday, a witness told Xinhua. ""They were shouting 'Death to the dictator' and riot police were stopping them from entering main squares and streets where Quds day rally was held by the government,"" the witness said, ""but some of them were marching towards Tehran University where Ahmadinejad was delivering a speech."" Another witness said that riot police armed with batons were beating protesters in central Haft-Tir square and detained tens of them. According to local English-language Press TV, millions of Iranians took to the streets in different cities to mark the annual Quds Day march in solidarity with Palestinians. At the end of the rallies, a statement was issued in support of Palestinians, which said that the Iranians ""support Palestinian resistance and Israel must avoid any new adventurism"" in the region. Friday's protest rally by supporters of opposition leaders was the latest since mid July."
" In a statement Steinmeier said: ""Today's statements by the Iranian President are unacceptable. With his intolerable tirades he is a disgrace to his country. This sheer anti-Semitism demands our collective condemnation. We will continue to confront it decisively in the future."" Steinmeier's condemnation was unprecedented in its tone. Denying the Holocaust -- carried out by Nazi Germany in World War Two -- is a crime in Germany, punishable by up to five years in prison. President Ahmadinejad raised the stakes against Israel on Friday and called the Holocaust a lie, just as world powers try to decide how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of an Iran in political turmoil. ""The pretext (Holocaust) for the creation of the Zionist regime (Israel) is false ... It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim,"" he told worshippers at Tehran University at the end of an annual anti-Israel ""Qods (Jerusalem) Day"" rally. ""Confronting the Zionist regime is a national and religious duty."" Ahmadinejad's comments on the Holocaust have caused international outcry and isolated Iran, which is at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear program. Germany has been a particularly vocal critic of the Iranian leader's Holocaust denial."
" Thousands of opposition supporters have clashed with security forces during a government-sponsored rally in Tehran. Iran's reformists had been warned not to try to turn the pro-Palestinian Quds (Jerusalem) Day marches into anti-government protests. Reports say opposition leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and former President Mohammad Khatami were attacked. The opposition has been banned from holding rallies since the disputed presidential election in June. As part of the Quds Day events, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech in which he repeated his view that the Nazi Holocaust was a myth. The Quds Day rallies are held annually on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Thousands of opposition protesters rose to the call of their leaders. It was the first time in two months they have been out on the streets in numbers. There have been mounting calls in right-wing circles for reformist leaders to be arrested, as hundreds of their followers have been. That could be the next phase of the drama. The protests may not have achieved much in themselves but they have shown that the movement is still alive and defiant and the country, and its political system, remain deeply divided. That is not what Mr Ahmadinejad wanted to see as he prepares for important exchanges with the outside world. The day began peacefully, with thousands of Mr Ahmadinejad's supporters marching through central Tehran. But despite warnings by the authorities not to try to hijack the event, protesters shouted slogans in support of Mr Mousavi, a key opponent of the president. Reports say there were clashes between police and protesters as the march progressed, with some arrests. Stones were thrown, and police used tear gas."
" At least 16 people, including five security personnel, have been killed in two separate attacks in Pakistan's troubled south-western province of Balochistan. In the first attack, passengers were pulled out of a bus bound for the eastern city of Lahore and shot dead. Later, gunmen shot a group of labourers in the provincial capital, Quetta. Officials say Baluch rebels are responsible. No-one has claimed carrying out the attacks. Baluch rebels have been fighting security forces since 2000, and are demanding complete autonomy and a greater share of resources from the mineral-rich region, says the BBC's Shoaib Hasan in Karachi. The labourers were returning home from work when gunmen on motor-bikes opened fire on them on Saturday afternoon. All of them died on the spot. Earlier in the morning, a bus on its way to the eastern city of Lahore was stopped outside Quetta. Gunmen made all passengers disembark. National identification cards were checked and those from the Punjab province were separated. The rest were released and sent on their way. A victim now being treated at a local hospital said those held back were lined up. Their captors then opened fire at point-blank range. Ethnic Punjabis have been regularly targeted by the rebels, who blame Pakistan's Punjabi-dominated army for their troubles."
" Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney eked out a narrow victory over former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in the Iowa caucuses Tuesday, winning the first contest for the Republican presidential nomination, the Hawkeye state's Republican party chairman Matt Strawn said early Wednesday morning after a long night with the two candidates in a dead heat. Santorum pulled off a stunning come-from-behind performance in Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, garnering just eight fewer votes than a much better funded and better organized Romney in the closest Iowa contest since the modern caucuses were formed in 1976. ""Game on,"" Santorum told supporters gathered in Johnston, Iowa in what amounted to a victory speech before the results were announced. The devout Catholic father of seven vowed to take his social conservative message to New Hampshire, which holds the first binding vote on January 10. The Iowa caucuses are non-binding. ""With your help and God's grace, we will have another fun night a week from now,"" Santorum said after offering congratulations to Romney, who now appears headed toward the nomination. Romney is widely expected to win in New Hampshire, where he owns a vacation home. If Romney wins in the Granite state, he would be the first non-incumbent Republican to win both Iowa and New Hampshire since their 1976 establishment as critical early states in the nominating process. Santorum won the support of 30,007 caucus-goers, giving him 25 percent support, while Romney won 30,015 votes -- also 25 percent, Strawn said. Ron Paul finished in third place with 21 percent support. Just weeks ago, Santorum was at the bottom of opinion polls. Romney offered his congratulations to Santorum, while focusing mostly on President Obama and the general election in his remarks, also made before the final tally was announced. ""This has been a great victory for him and for his effort. He's worked very hard in Iowa. We also feel it's been a great victory for us here,"" Romney said."
" Hundreds of Vietnamese have turned out to protest against Chinese naval operations in disputed waters of the South China Sea. The demonstrations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City follow a confrontation last month between a Vietnamese oil and gas survey ship and Chinese patrol boats. China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all claim territories in the South China Sea. It includes important shipping routes and may contain oil and gas deposits. China's claim is by far the largest. Tensions between China and Vietnam escalated after an incident on 26 May in which Hanoi accused a Chinese patrol of cutting the cables of a Vietnamese ship conducting seismic research about 120km (80 miles) off Vietnam's south-central coast. The BBC's Nga Pham reports from Singapore that Vietnam and China have had a long and turbulent history and the Vietnamese are traditionally suspicious of the Chinese. But attempts to protest publicly in the past were quashed by the authorities as Hanoi tried not to offend its big neighbour, our reporter says. Public protests happen rarely in Vietnam, but calls for demonstrations have spread on the internet and via mobile phones in the past few days. On Sunday, the protesters in Hanoi shouted slogans including ""The Paracels and Spratlys belong to Vietnam"", a reference to two groups of islands claimed by both countries."
" Burma's first general election for two decades will be held on 7 November, the ruling generals have announced, ending months of speculation. The poll is the first since pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in 1990. The military never allowed her party to take power, and it has been disbanded. Critics say this election will be a sham, because of poll laws which favour the authorities. A new constitution reserves 25% of the new parliament for the military, and several of the parties registered for the polls are also viewed as proxies of the military. Ms Suu Kyi, who has spent much of the past 20 years in jail or under house arrest, is barred from standing because of past criminal convictions, as are many other pro-democracy activists. One party not linked to the military has already complained to the Election Commission that its members are being intimidated. Continue reading the main story Now that the long-awaited election date has been announced, the main question of whether the polls will be free and fair is being asked by the public. People working hard to meet daily basic needs are not interested in the elections or the military's propaganda. However, some are concerned the authorities will force them to vote for the proxy party of the government. As for most of the registered parties, they welcomed the election date but are concerned over the short campaign period and will be hard-pressed to meet campaigning costs. There are also many complaints from the parties about unequal opportunities given to the government-backed party and alleged harassment of other parties by the security forces. With the bitter experience from the last elections in 1990, Burma watchers are predicting that the government will exploit its own rules to form a military-controlled civilian government, despite international calls and concerns. The Election Commission made a brief statement on state-controlled radio and TV announcing the poll date. ""Multi-party general elections for the country's parliament will be held on Sunday, 7 November,"" the announcement said."
" A Burmese court will give its verdict on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal against her extended house arrest next month, her lawyers said. Government and defence lawyers made their final arguments in a Rangoon hearing that was closed to Ms Suu Kyi. She was found guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest after a US intruder stayed at her home. Ms Suu Kyi was sentenced to a further 18 months' house arrest, which will keep her out of elections next year. She has already spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention. Her appeal hearing came a day after Burma's military rulers announced they would grant amnesty to more than 7,000 prisoners. They were expected to be released on Friday to mark the 21st anniversary of the seizure of power by the military junta. Twenty political prisoners are reported to be among those to be released, including two prominent members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) and two journalists jailed for their reporting of Cyclone Nargis last year. Human Rights Watch has reported that the number of political prisoners in Burma has doubled in two years, to 2,200. Burma has been ruled by its military since 1962. The NLD won elections in 1990 but the military never allowed it to take power."
" Gaza City - Over 10,000 Palestinians have crossed into Egypt via the Rafah border since it was opened June 1 after Israel's attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the Palestinian movement Hamas said Saturday. The Hamas-run corporation for crossings and borders said that 10,531 people crossed from Gaza into Egypt, while another 10,172 arrived from Egypt and crossed to the enclave. ""Those who crossed from Gaza to Egypt are patients who needed medical treatment in Egypt, students, people travelling to other countries and holders of other nationalities,"" a Hamas statement said. The Rafah crossing was closed after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas security forces and the European Union inspectors were ruling the crossing. Occasionally, Egypt has opened the Rafah border for three or four- day periods. This is the first time that the border has been opened indefinitely. Egypt insists that the crossing will be permanently open once the signed US-sponsored crossings treaty of 2005 is implemented. The Palestinian Authority forces and the EU inspectors run the crossings of Gaza, including the ones with Israel. Hamas said it doesn't oppose the treaty, but it wants to have a presence at the crossing. Hamas said it is completely ready to run the crossing of Rafah around the clock, without any reference to the presence of Abbas security forces or the EU inspectors. It called on Egypt to keep the crossing permanently opened, and allow all Gaza Strip population to travel, and not only for humanitarian purposes. - Sapa-dpa"
" Gunmen have attacked a church in north-east Nigeria, killing at least six people, the church's pastor says. Johnson Jauro said the killings took place when gunmen burst into his Deeper Life Church in Gombe, capital of Gombe state. He said his wife was among those killed. Ten other people were injured. Nigeria has recently experienced a surge in ethnic and sectarian violence. The government declared a state of emergency in parts of the country. ""The attackers started shooting sporadically. They shot through the window of the church, and many people were killed including my wife,"" Mr Jauro told Reuters news agency. ""Many members who attended the church service were also injured."" No group has said it carried out the attack, but the Islamist sect Boko Haram recently carried out a string of bombings on Christmas Day, including against a church in the capital, Abuja, which killed dozens of people. There have been unconfirmed reports that Boko Haram has told all southerners - who are mostly Christians and animists - to leave the largely Muslim north. Earlier on Thursday, two suspected members of Boko Haram were arrested after a father and son were killed in Maiduguri in neighbouring Borno state. Attacks by Boko Haram have become increasingly frequent and are a major problem for the Nigerian authorities."
" Australia has expressed ""grave reservations"" about Burma's plan to hold its first election in 20 years on November 7. The country's ruling military junta named the date on Friday. But concerns have been raised that the poll will be neither free nor fair. Amnesty International says the regime has prevented more than 2000 political prisoners - including high-profile activist Aung San Suu Kyi - from contesting the election. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith was also concerned about the election's legitimacy. ""We have grave reservations about the election process and the country's highly restrictive political environment,"" he said in a statement. Mr Smith said Australia had repeatedly urged Burma to allow freedom of speech and assembly, and to work with the UN to make the election transparent. But he said he hoped the elections would mark the beginning of a return to democracy, and it was up to the Burmese people to decide whether to vote or not. Some are boycotting the poll. Mr Smith supported sending observers to monitor the poll, although he did not say if they would come from Australia. Amnesty called on Australia to use its regional influence to press Burma to make the election free and fair."
" A former top diplomat has said he felt ""very uncomfortable"" about the UK going to war in Iraq without UN backing. Lord Jay, senior civil servant at the Foreign Office in the run-up to the 2003 invasion, said another UN resolution was ""necessary"". But he told the Iraq inquiry that he did not ""dissent"" from the attorney general's advice to ministers at the time that the war was lawful. The inquiry is considering the legal case for the Iraq invasion. The UK and US abandoned efforts to get a UN resolution explicitly authorising military action in early 2003 in the face of opposition from France and Russia. Critics of the war say this was needed to make the action lawful. Lord Jay, permanent secretary at the Foreign Office between 2002 and 2006, said the resolution passed by the UN in November 2002 - giving Iraq a ""final opportunity"" to comply with disarmament obligations and warning of ""serious consequences"" if they did not, was ""essential"". However, he said he believed it was ""insufficient"" to bring the international community behind military action. ""I felt very uncomfortable with the prospect of a conflict without UN Security Council resolution,"" he said. ""It seemed to me to take a step as important as going to war without the support of the international community was something I would have preferred not to have done."""
" Nigeria's president has suspended his nation's football team from international competition for two years after a poor showing at the World Cup. Special presidential adviser Ima Niboro told reporters the decision by Goodluck Jonathan will ""enable Nigeria to reorganise its football"". The Nigerian Football Federation is to be dissolved and an interim board appointed, the BBC understands. Nigeria were knocked out in the group stages without winning a game. Niboro said: ""President Goodluck Jonathan has directed that Nigeria withdraws from international competition for two years to enable the country to put its house in order. The Nigerian fans who've long bemoaned their federation's failures probably don't know whether to laugh or cry...   ""This directive became necessary following Nigeria's poor performance in the ongoing World Cup."" The president also plans an audit of the country's World Cup organising committee. ""If any financial misappropriation is discovered, all officials responsible will be held accountable,"" Niboro added. The NFF released a statement apologising to ""all football-loving Nigerians"" for the country's early exit from South Africa. ""No previous board has qualified Nigeria for all major tournaments internationally,"" the statement read, adding that officials wanted Swedish coach Lars Lagerbeck to remain at the helm. Rotimi Amaechi, head of a special presidential task force on the World Cup campaign, said Nigeria would write to football's world governing body Fifa to explain its decision. ""We went to the World Cup and found all sorts of problems and we felt we should sit back and look inward,"" Amaechi told reporters. Under Fifa rules, government interference with national teams is strictly forbidden. ""At the time of writing, we have no official information on this matter,"" a Fifa statement read. Fifa's position regarding political interference in football is well known. Our statutes do not allow for any political interference   ""However, in general, Fifa's position regarding political interference in football is well known. Our statutes do not allow for any political interference."" Nigeria risks their national and club teams, plus referees, being banned from all international competitions - and their officials would not be allowed to attend meetings or events. Nigeria were set to begin their bid to qualify for the 2012 African Nations Cup finals in September against Madagascar."
" Stock markets worldwide plunged on Thursday amid fears of a new global economic downturn, with Wall Street suffering its worst day since the financial crisis. Mounting worries over the eurozone debt crisis and a new batch of weak economic data from the United States did a one-two punch to hammer investor confidence, shaking investors on both sides of the Atlantic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.3 percent, or 512.76 points -- its worst one-day drop since December 2008 -- to close at 11,383.68, erasing all of its gains so far this year. The broader S&P 500 dropped 4.8 percent to end the day at 1,200.07, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dived 5.1 percent to 2,556.39. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 3.43 percent, retreating to levels last seen in September 2010; in Frankfurt the DAX fell 3.40 percent, and France's CAC 40 dropped 3.90 percent. In Brazil, the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange lost 5.72 percent, while Mexico's Bolsa lost 3.4 percent. ""We're seeing the erosion and now the loss of confidence, confidence in the economy, confidence in the market, confidence in the policy makers. It's all showing up,"" said Hugh Johnson, of Hugh Johnson Advisors. ""There is a deep concern about global growth and of the state of play in the United States in particular,"" said City Index analyst Giles Watts. ""Traders are growing increasingly concerned about a sharp slowdown in US economic activity in the third quarter."" In Europe, investor sentiment remains plagued by worries that debt-laden Italy and Spain could be engulfed by the fast-moving eurozone debt crisis."
" BP's oil spill, considered the worst in U.S. history for several weeks, today set a new, notorious record as the worst ever in the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster, begun April 20, has spewed 140.6 million gallons of oil into Gulf waters, based on the highest of the federal government's estimates, reports the Associated Press. That eclipses the previous record of 140 million gallons set by the Ixtoc I spill off Mexico's coast from 1979 to 1980. The growing total is vital to track, because BP will likely be fined per gallon spilled, Larry McKinney, director of Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi's Gulf of Mexico research institute, told the AP. ""It'll be well beyond Ixtoc by the time it's finished,"" and eclipsing that record before the normally tourist-heavy July Fourth weekend is unfortunate, Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University environmental studies professor, said in the story. He consults for the federal government on oil spills. The U.S. government estimates that BP's blown-out Macondo well has leaked a bare minimum of 71.7 million gallons into the Gulf. It takes into account the amount of oil BP has collected. The BP spill, while the largest ever recorded offshore during peacetime, is not the biggest in history, reports the AP. During the Persian Gulf War, as they neared defeat in 1991, Iraqi forces opened valves and dumped about 460 million gallons of oil, according to the story. BP is continuing to drill two relief wells to stop the Gulf oil spill but is not expected to finish before August, reports USA TODAY colleague Elizabeth Weise. Hurricane Alex, which made landfall Wednesday night in northeastern Mexico and has since weakened into a Category 1 storm, has pushed more oil onto Gulf Coast beaches and slowed cleanup efforts. Its high winds and rough seas forced boats collecting oil to return to shore. The stormy weather, however, has helped break up the oil ""very quickly,"" Coast Guard Cmdr. Randal Ogrydziak told the AP. ""Mother Nature is doing what she does best, putting things back in order."" He added:"
" SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Yonhap) -- South and North Korea agreed to hold working-level military talks on Feb. 8, officials said, in what would be their first dialogue since the North's deadly artillery attack of a border island last November.North Korea sent a notice to the South's defense ministry earlier in the day, proposing the new date for the preliminary talks and the South accepted it in a reply message, ministry officials said.""Both sides also agreed that the working-level military talks will involve colonel-level officers from the two sides,"" an official said. The talks will be held at the border truce village of Panmunjom separating the two Koreas.The meeting is aimed at setting the date, place and agenda for higher-level military talks.Tensions persist on the Korean Peninsula after the North's artillery strike on Yeonpyeong Island killed two marines and two civilians. The bombardment came months after a multinational investigation accused North Korea of torpedoing a South Korean warship and killing 46 sailors last March.(END)"
" Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen watches as President Mary McAleese signs the proclamation of dissolution of the Irish parliament, at her official residence in Dublin, February 1, 2011. The two main opposition parties are overwhelming favorites to replace outgoing Prime Minister Brian Cowen's scandal-racked administration. But with the economy in a prolonged slump and the fiscal straitjacket of the bailout terms, a new government will enjoy the shortest of honeymoons. ""This election will define our economic future and it will decide whether Ireland moves forward from this recession or whether we prolong it or indeed succumb to it,"" a somber-looking Cowen said before heading to the residence of President Mary McAleese on Tuesday to ask her to dissolve parliament. Cowen, 51, widely blamed for mishandling a bank crash after a credit-fueled property bubble burst, saddling the country with debts as big as its annual economic output, announced on Monday he would not be seeking re-election to parliament. Irish people are angry at having to endure years of cutbacks and tax increases to help pay for the 85 billion euro ($118.7 billion) bailout and the center-right Fine Gael party and the center-left Labour party, expected to form the next coalition, are campaigning to alter its terms. ""I'm confident that this can and will be renegotiated,"" Fine Gael leader and likely future prime minister Enda Kenny said. Ireland may be granted longer to repay its rescue loans and a lower rate of interest, according to EU officials negotiating on crisis resolution plans likely to be adopted in March. But the European Commission and the European Central Bank are set to reject Fine Gael and Labour demands to force senior bondholders in Ireland's shattered banks, whose reckless property lending sparked the crisis, to share the losses. Kenny has acknowledged that his hands will be tied by Ireland's fragile domestic economy and its dependence on the support of the IMF, the Commission and the ECB. He noted on Tuesday the growing support for giving Greece more time to pay back its EU bailout. Labour said on Sunday it would like to see Ireland given longer than the current period of around seven years to repay its loans."
" (CNN) -- The Irish government announced Tuesday that the country's general election will be held February 25 -- the first national vote since Ireland accepted a multibillion-dollar bailout package late last year in an effort to rebound from economic turmoil. Ireland accepted an 85 billion euro (U.S. $113 billion) bailout package in December from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and individual European nations. The government went deep into debt to bail out the country's banks during the financial crisis. Prime Minister Brian Cowen announced Tuesday that the Irish parliament was being dissolved, more than a year before his term in office was due to expire. Cowen had become a lightning rod for criticism since Ireland applied for the international financial assistance last year in the face of crushing government debt. Cowen stepped down as leader of the ruling Fianna Fail party last month, following weeks of political turmoil. Former Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin was elected the new party leader. Cowen revealed Monday that he was retiring from politics and would not be a candidate in the election. His party is at a record low in opinion polls. During his farewell address to parliament Tuesday, Cowen said his time in office had been ""a time of great trial and test."" He added: ""I believe we have worked hard to correct past failures and to secure the future recovery of our country. ""This election will define our economic future and it will decide whether Ireland moves forward from this recession or whether we prolong it or indeed succumb to it."""
" Iran slashes oil price in budget to $40 per barrel (Reuters) Kerry says he may meet Iranian foreign minister in Paris (Reuters) U.S. drone kills seven militants in Pakistan, official says (DPA) Lieberman to reveal Yisrael Beiteinu list on Monday, vows to get 16 Knesset seats (Haaretz) Schoolbus catches fire near Jerusalem suburb of Pisgat Ze'ev; no injuries (Haaretz)"
" Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- More than 200 Afghan militants crossed over and attacked a security checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, sparking a firefight that left dozens dead, authorities said Thursday. The firefight in Upper Dir district along the Afghan border erupted Wednesday morning and went on for about a day, said Ghulam Muhammad, a government official in the district. Militants used mortars and short-range rockets, said senior police official Qazi Jamil. Six civilians and 28 security forces died in the attack, he said, adding that Pakistani military officials took over and used a helicopter gunship, killing some 45 militants. Afghan militants have support from their Pakistani counterparts, who provide them with shelter and ammunition, said Qazi Jamil, a senior police official in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Muhammad had earlier said that the attackers were from Pakistan, but a day later said they had entered from Afghanistan. Most of the militants have gone back and major firefighting has stopped, but there is still some minor gunfire, he said. ""Militants came from Afghanistan, attacked on the check post, did their job and went back,"" Muhammad said."
" Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A senior Afghan intelligence official was killed Thursday when a bomb exploded in the country's northern Kunduz province, according to a provincial council chief. Payenda Khan -- who headed up a district in Kunduz for the National Directorate of Security -- was killed, and three children were injured in the blast, said Mahbobullah Mahbob. Khan was killed in the Afghan district of Bander Khanabad, and the Taliban has claimed responsibility for attack. His death is latest in a series of high-level officials who have recently been killed across the country. The most high-profile strike occurred in July when the Taliban also claimed responsibility for the death of the president's half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai. The Kandahar provincial council chief was considered an influential power-broker and key presidential ally in the country's southern provinces. Last week, militants stormed the compound of the governor of Afghanistan's Uruzgan province. A least 19 people were killed and 37 wounded, including three police officers, in that attack. The governor, Muhammad Omar Shirzad, managed to escape after being surrounded by security guards, while a gun battle raged for several hours."
" A female Egyptian journalist was attacked while covering a demonstration on Cairo's central Tahrir Square demanding an immediate trial for ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, local media reported. The journalist was interviewing participants in Friday's rally when a quarrel broke out between them, media reports said, quoting the head of the Cairo security department. The attackers had torn the journalist's clothes to pieces before she managed to call police, the reports said. A police officer who arrived at the site pulled the journalist, who was about to lose her consciousness, out of the crowd and called her a taxi, but he was then attacked himself by the demonstrators, who stole his pistol and radio set. A local imam reportedly took the police officer to hospital, where doctors described his condition as grave. Mubarak, who was ousted as Egypt's president amid large-scale protests in February, and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, will stand trial on August 3 on charges of premeditated and attempted killing of protesters during the unrest. More than 840 people were killed in clashes between Mubarak loyalists and opponents during the nearly three-week-long popular uprising. The trial is expected to take place in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, where the 83-year-old ousted president has been remanded in custody at a local hospital."
" The US Senate will vote Tuesday on a massive austerity bill that averts a disastrous debt default, two senior Democratic aides said Monday. The chambers' top Democratic and Republican leaders were working on a deal to streamline often cumbersome senate procedures, with a final vote expected Tuesday, the aides said. That could put a final vote within hours of a midnight Tuesday (1300 AEST Wednesday) deadline by which cash-strapped Washington will run out of money to pay its bills. The US House of Representatives was to vote late Monday on the agreement, which raises the $14.3 trillion US debt ceiling in return for some $US2.1 trillion ($A1.92 trillion) in spending cuts over 10 years."
" American President Barack Obama has this morning signed a bill which will increase the nation's debt ceiling to avert the country defaulting on payments. The move saw US stocks wipe out most of their gains for 2011, plunging after poor economic data overshadowed the congressional deal. Prior to signing the bill, Obama said the bill a first step toward ensuring the United States lives within its means but that more was needed to rebuild the world's largest economy. Speaking at the White House, Obama made clear he expects tax reform to emerge from deliberations by a new committee of Democrats and Republicans to be established by the legislation and a ""balanced approach"" in which the wealthier pay more taxes is needed for more deficit reduction. Earlier the bill, which will lift the government's US$14.3 trillion debt ceiling enough to last beyond the next year's elections, was passed by the Senate 74 to 26. Obama, a Democrat, said uncertainty from the bitter debt debate had been an impediment to business but the economic recovery also suffered from unforeseen problems such as the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Obama urged Congress to pass stalled trade bills and said he wants tax cuts for the middle class and unemployment benefits extended. ""Both parties share power in Washington. And both parties need to take responsibility for improving this economy. ""I'll be discussing additional ideas in the weeks ahead to help companies hire, invest and expand."" Obama chided US political leaders for taking so long to resolve the impasse over the debt ceiling, bringing the country close to an unprecedented default."
" Hundreds of residents were evacuated from coastal areas as the storm neared land [Reuters] Hundreds of residents were evacuated from coastal areas as the storm neared land [Reuters] Hurricane Alex gained strength as it neared land late on Wednesday, increasing to a category two storm packing winds of up to 155kmh. The first Atlantic hurricane of the year has made landfall on the coast of northeastern Mexico, bringing heavy rains, high seas and disrupting efforts to clean up the massive oil spill offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Flooding was reported in some towns far inland, and trees were uprooted around the Mexican port city of Matamoros, across the border from the US city of Brownsville, Texas. The Gulf coasts of northeastern Mexico and the US state of Texas have already seen heavy rains and hundreds of residents have been evacuated from vulnerable areas. The Florida-based National Hurricane Centre (NHC) has said the storm could produce isolated tornadoes in southern Texas. Many residents in the area have been preparing for the storm for days, readying their homes and businesses and stocking up on household essentials. Barack Obama, the US president, has declared a state of emergency in Texas clearing the way for federal aid for relief operations. Alex is the first Atlantic hurricane to form this early, in June, since 1995, according to the NHC."
 000 WTNT61 KNHC 041355 TCUAT1 HURRICANE ARTHUR TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL012014 1000 AM EDT FRI JUL 04 2014 ...10 AM POSITION UPDATE... ...ARTHUR BEGINS TO WEAKEN AS IT PULLS AWAY FROM NORTH CAROLINA... SUMMARY OF 1000 AM EDT...1400 UTC...INFORMATION -------------------------------------------------- LOCATION...37.4N 73.7W ABOUT 145 MI...235 KM ENE OF NORFOLK VIRGINIA MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...90 MPH...150 KM/H PRESENT MOVEMENT...NE OR 40 DEGREES AT 21 MPH...34 KM/H MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...976 MB...28.82 INCHES $$ FORECASTER BROWN/FRANKLIN
" Spokesman Assane Ba told the BBC that the army was engaged in a fresh battle with rebels in southern Darfur. The AU and Western ambassadors had threatened to abandon peace talks in Nigeria's capital if their deadline - that passed at 1700 GMT - was not met. In response, Sudan said its operations were aimed at clearing the roads to allow access for humanitarian aid. A statement by the Sudanese government delegation in Abuja added that Khartoum had now halted its military operations and had begun withdrawing troops to their former positions. However, the claim had yet to be verified, the BBC's Anna Borzello in Nigeria reports. Fighting has intensified in the last two weeks as the army pushed into previously rebel-held territory. On Tuesday, rebels walked out of the talks in protest at a Sudan government offensive. The AU joint commission overseeing the peace process in Sudan on Friday demanded that both sides immediately end fighting which it said violated a ceasefire agreement signed in April. Speaking from Abuja, Mr Ba told the BBC's Newshour programme that AU ceasefire monitors in Darfur had informed international mediators that ""a lot of "" government troops were still on the offensive late on Saturday. ""Helicopters are firing around Labado, while looting is still going on,"" Mr Ba said."
" The key Saddam aide is accused of some of the worst crimes committed by the regime, including gassing Iraqi Kurds. He appeared in Baghdad along with Gen Sultan Hashim Ahmed, Saddam Hussein's last defence minister, a judge said. The hearing marks a new stage in the trial process against the former Iraqi leader and 11 top officials. The head of a panel of investigating judges set up by the special Iraqi tribunal to try Saddam Hussein and his former aides said Saturday's hearing - a normal part of the judicial process - did not mean a trial was imminent. Last Tuesday, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi suggested the trials of what he called ""the symbols of Saddam Hussein's old regime"" could begin as early as this week. Film released after the hearings showed top investigating Raad al-Juhiy interviewing both men, separately, at a desk in a large, bare room. Both arrived handcuffed and flanked by Iraqi policemen, Reuters news agency reported. Looking well and supported on a walking stick, Mr Majid, Saddam Hussein's cousin, smiled to the guards, Reuters said. ""Ali Hassan al-Majid and Sultan Hashim have been interrogated and their lawyers attended the investigative hearing,"" judge Juhiy said. ""Ali Hasan al-Majid has been interrogated about the charges against him. We're in the investigation phase. Ali Hasan al-Majid, like other defendants, appeared before the investigative judge."""
" In Najaf, at least 48 people died and 90 were injured when a bomb exploded near the Imam Ali shrine, doctors said. A similar explosion at a crowded bus station in Karbala left 13 dead and 30 injured, police said. In Baghdad earlier in the day, three Iraqi election workers were shot dead. The violence comes six weeks before Iraq is due to hold elections. The BBC's Caroline Hawley reports from Baghdad that the aim of the bombers - believed to be Sunni insurgents - is to kill as many Shias as possible and try to stir up sectarian trouble ahead of the 30 January poll. Leading Shias have urged their supporters not to respond with retaliatory attacks. ""The Shias are committed not to respond with violence, which will only lead to violence. We are determined on elections,"" said one of the most respected Shia clerics, Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum. And a spokesman for the Sadr movement led by the militant cleric, Moqtada Sadr, said civil war would be ""hell"". US and Iraqi officials have said they expect the violence to increase in the run-up to the poll. From his prison cell, former President Saddam Hussein has appealed to Iraqis not to take part in the elections. He ""urged the unity of his Iraqi people, regardless of their religious and ethnic creed, to confront US plans to divide their country on sectarian grounds,"" his lawyer Ziad Khasawneh said on Sunday."
" Washington (CNN) -- Former Democratic vice presidential nominee and two-time presidential candidate John Edwards pleaded not guilty Friday to conspiracy and campaign law violations, acknowledging that he had ""done wrong,"" but denying that he broke the law. His plea came hours after a federal grand jury indicted him on six counts, including conspiracy, issuing false statements and violating campaign contribution laws. ""There's no question that I've done wrong,"" Edwards told reporters outside federal court in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. ""But I did not break the law and I never, ever thought I was breaking the law."" He was released on his own recognizance, but was ordered to surrender his passport and remain within the lower 48 states. If convicted on all counts, Edwards would face up to 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1.5 million. Edwards' attorney, Greg Craig, insisted the former North Carolina senator ""will mount a vigorous defense."" A grand jury has been investigating whether money given to support Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter, by benefactors of Edwards should have been considered campaign donations, a contention Edwards' team has disputed. Prosecutors allege that Edwards improperly accepted over $900,000 as part of an effort to conceal facts he believed would damage his White House bid. Plea discussions had been ongoing between Edwards' defense lawyers and federal prosecutors, but no agreement was reached. Edwards had not wanted to plead guilty to a felony because he could lose his law license, a source familiar with the inquiry previously told CNN. ""Democracy demands that our election system be protected, and without vigorously enforced campaign finance laws, the people of this country lose their voice,"" U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding said in a written statement. ""The U.S. Attorney's Office and the Department of Justice are committed to the prosecution of individuals who abuse the very system of which they seek to become a part."""
" A White House spokesman promised those responsible would be held to account and measures taken to avoid a repeat. Memos between FBI officials detailing abuses, some dated after the Abu Ghraib jail scandal, were released as part of a legal case against the government. The case is being brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Scott McClellan, official spokesman for US President George W Bush, said: ""The president expects that if there are allegations of abuse, that those allegations need to be taken seriously. ""They need to be fully investigated. People need to be held accountable and brought to justice if they're involved in wrongdoing, and preventative measures and corrective measures put in place to prevent it happening again."" He said other allegations that Pentagon interrogators at Guantanamo pretended to be FBI agents to avoid possible blame were a matter for Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said the documents raised grave questions about who was to blame for widespread detainee abuse. Last week documents released for the case threw up fresh revelations of abuse in Iraq by US marines, 13 of whom have been convicted and some jailed. The documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, are mostly made up of communications between FBI agents concerned at seeing interrogation techniques they are prohibited from using themselves. One of the memos released on Monday provided the account of an agent who observed ""serious physical abuses"" in Iraq."
" The French foreign ministry confirmed an Arabic TV report that the two men had been set free and said they would return to France on Wednesday. They were abducted while driving to the city of Najaf and appeared on a video released in October by their captors. Their captors said they had been freed because of France's anti-war stance. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier is leaving Paris to bring them back. President Jacques Chirac has announced he is cutting short a holiday in Morocco to greet the two men on their return to France, the French news agency AFP reports. France's defence ministry said it was preparing ""emergency air transportation"" for the men. The flight should take five or six hours. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin earlier announced the news to parliament, talking of his ""profound joy"" at the release. Thierry Chesnot, brother of Christian, said it was a ""wonderful Christmas present"" and added that he had been told by the French prime minister's office that they were both in good health. Reports conflicted as to whether the journalists were in Baghdad or Amman, in neighbouring Jordan. Official French statements made no mention of any ransom being paid or other deal to secure the two men's release."
" The US military said there was a single explosion at a dining tent in the Camp Merez base, at around noon (0900 GMT). A US commander in Mosul said the dead and injured included Americans, Iraqis and foreign contractors. The attack comes amid an upsurge of violence in the run-up to elections planned for 30 January. A statement attributed to the Ansar al-Sunna militant group on an Islamist website said one of its suicide bombers carried out the attack. The suicide claim has not been confirmed. Witnesses said they heard several explosions and saw smoke rising from the base, at an airfield south-west of Mosul. Military officials initially said rockets or mortar rounds struck the camp, but Lt Col Paul Hastings, a spokesman for Task Force Olympia in northern Iraq, said the incident was still under investigation. ""We do not know if it was a mortar or a place explosive,"" he said. Brig Gen Carter Ham, commander of Task Force Olympia said in a brief televised statement from Mosul: ""It is indeed a very, very sad day. The BBC's James Reynolds, who was embedded with US troops at the base last month, says the dining hall was always seen as vulnerable. A US army colonel told him he feared what would happen if insurgents managed to fire rockets into it. The hall was shielded by towering concrete walls - but it had no protected roof. The army was building a more fortified dining hall nearby, our correspondent says."
" BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor: Now we turn to Libya where we've learned that the rebel's military commander was killed today, just hours after being arrested by the rebel council. They suspected him of being a double agent with ties to the Gadhafi regime. It's not clear tonight who is responsible for the killing, but rebel security forces say they have a suspect under arrest. Meanwhile, of course, the fight goes on every day, every hour, and our own Mike Taibbi is with rebel forces in the mountains outside Tripoli , in the town of Nalut , a place they've controlled almost from the start of the conflict five months back. And as Mike reports tonight, the rebels have launched a new assault on Gadhafi forces just today. MIKE TAIBBI reporting: We saw rocket after rocket fired by rebel fighters from mountaintop positions toward the valley below. The plan was to once and for all clear Gadhafi forces from two valley towns where they were stubbornly dug in. From those towns, Gadhafi 's troops have been bombing rebel held cities like Nalut , and they've threatened to try and retake the nearby border crossing with Tunisia . If the rebels were to lose that crossing, a run to Tripoli would be a near impossibility. In the early morning haze, the rebels pounded their targets for hours. At this range it's an artillery war. These are Soviet made Grad rockets seized from Gadhafi forces , now aimed right back at those same forces . TAIBBI: The rebels cheered each on target hit, though some were reluctant to show their faces with the Gadhafi forces hardly vanquished. Do you know if they have retreated yet, Gadhafi forces , or are they still there? Unidentified Man #2: I think they're still there, and they hiding in houses. Man #2: And in the farms. TAIBBI: But the heavy artillery barrage did the job. Dozens of these Grad rockets and additional shelling by the seized Gadhafi army tanks. The rebels here have better weapons now, including Gadhafi 's own, and better command and control. And by midday, they heard their ground forces had taken the first town and soon the second. They had suffered losses. These medics handled one causality. How did the man die? Was he shot or was he -- was it a mine, or what happened? Unidentified Man #3: No, they shot him. TAIBBI: And Nalut 's hospital treated the wounded from both sides. TAIBBI: 'I was surprised Gadhafi 's men put up so little resistance,' this rebel fighter told us. But this wasn't the taking of Tripoli , only an essential operation to protect key ground won months ago. A victory, but not the victory. Mike Taibbi , NBC News, Nalut , Libya."
" Tens of thousands of people have protested across Syria, days after the bloody crackdown on the city of Hama where the opposition had taken control. Video said to be of Damascus showed crowds in a central district chanting: ""Hama, we are with you until death"" and ""[President] Bashar [al-Assad] leave"". Security forces shot dead at least 13 protesters on Friday, reports say. The US, German and French leaders have accused Mr Assad of ""indiscriminate"" violence against civilians. The White House said President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and French President Nicolas Sarkozy had spoken in separate telephone calls, and warned of unspecified new measures against the Syrian leader. In a broadcast from Hama, Syrian state TV said the city was under government control. Hama residents and human rights groups accuse the army of killing more than 100 civilians in a bombardment of the city, which has become a focus of the protests against Mr Assad's rule. As many as 2,000 people may have been killed by security forces since opponents of President Assad's autocratic rule took to the streets in March. Protesters were inspired by the successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Mr Assad has promised reforms, but blames the violence on ""armed criminal gangs"" backed by unspecified foreign powers. Access to events in Syria has been severely restricted for international journalists and it is rarely possible to verify accounts by witnesses and opposition activists. Activists had called for more protests after prayers on Friday, with one web user posting a message saying: ""God is with us, are you?"""
" Real Madrid have parted company with coach Carlos Queiroz and appointed Jose Antonio Camacho as his replacement. The move comes at the end of a season in which the Spanish giants have finished without a major trophy. A series of disastrous results since Christmas, culminating in an unprecedented five-game losing run at the end of the season, meant that Queiroz had no future at the Bernabeu. He leaves the club midway through a two-year contract, signed last June when he was lured away from his role as assistant manager to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Camacho, who arrives from Benfica, is a Real Madrid legend who played 414 matches for the Spanish giants between 1974 and 1989. He also won 81 caps for Spain and coached the national team at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup. His will be a popular appointment. Queiroz's downfall looked unlikely at the start of March, when his team were chasing a treble of Primera Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League. But they soon slipped into freefall, throwing away an eight-point lead in the league and allowing Valencia to coast to the title. The Copa del Rey final was the catalyst to the slide, however, as Madrid lost 3-2 to Real Zaragoza in a classic contest. The club was shattered by the defeat, which emphasised their vulnerability in defence. Zaragoza defender Gabriel Milito, whom Madrid had decided against buying in the summer following a medical, was the star man."
" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out any apology from his country for a deadly commando raid on a Turkish Gaza-bound aid ship in May that killed nine Turks. ""Israel cannot apologise because its soldiers had to defend themselves to avoid being lynched by a crowd,"" Netanyahu said in an interview broadcast on public television on Friday. On May 31 Israeli commandos raided a Turkish ship leading an activist aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip, killing nine Turkish militants, in an operation that triggered international condemnation and strained ties with Ankara. Turkey recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and cancelled three planned joint military exercises after the raid. It also twice denied permission to Israeli military aircraft to use its air space. Netanyahu's remarks come two days after Trade Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held secret talks in Brussels to try to ease the feud sparked by the deadly raid. The talks sparked tensions in Israel as it emerged that Netanyahu gave the go-ahead for the meeting without informing hardline Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who has said he is opposed to any apology for the raid. Netanyahu met Lieberman on Friday to mend ties with the firebrand top diplomat. At the meeting, Lieberman reiterated that he does not want Israel to apologise or pay the compensation Turkey is seeking, saying it would harm Israel's international standing, an official said."
" Palestinian suspected of car theft shot to death during chase in Gush Etzion settlement bloc (Haaretz) U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)"
" U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has met with Bahrain's leaders and praised the lifting of emergency rule, his office says. Ban held discussions Friday with Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohamed al-Khalifa, the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported. The secretary-general welcomed King Hamad al-Khalifa's promise of a national dialogue with opponents and hoped it would be ""genuine, meaningful and inclusive and respond to the legitimate political, economic and social aspirations of all Bahraini people,"" his office said. Ban called on the government and its security forces to meet human rights standards and offered U.N. help to promote reconciliation in the Persian Gulf state after months of unrest."
" TRIPOLI Aug 5 (Reuters) - A Libyan government spokesman on Friday denied reports that Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son, brigade commander Khamis Gaddafi, had been killed in a NATO air strike. ""It's false news. They invented the news about Mr Khamis Gaddafi in Zlitan to cover up their killing,"" Moussa Ibrahim told Reuters in Tripoli. ""This is a dirty trick to cover up their crime in Zlitan and the killing of the al-Marabit family (a Libyan family)."""
" * Six million still need relief  * Anger rising  * World Bank may redirect $900 million in aid  * 500 stranded fuel tanker drivers  (Adds Zardari remarks, politicians pledging cooperation)  By Robert Birsel  SUKKUR, Pakistan Aug 14 (Reuters) - United Nations aid agencies have provided assistance to hundreds of thousands of victims of Pakistan's worst floods in decades but relief operations have yet to reach an estimated six million people.  The lives of 20 million people -- nearly 12 percent of the population -- have been disrupted by one of the worst catastrophes in Pakistan's history. Six million still need food, shelter and water, the UN said in a statement.  Highlighting the scale of the disaster, Prime Minister Raza Yusuf Gilani said in an Independence Day speech the country faces challenges similar to those during the 1947 partition of the subcontinent. Thousands of families were torn apart after the bloody partition into Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-majority Pakistan that led to the flight of at least 10 million refugees in the greatest migration in recorded human history."
" GAZA, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- A UN delegation arrived in Gaza on Saturday to follow up the fact-finding report prepared last year by South African Judge Richard Goldstone over the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip in late 2008. The delegation entered in the Gaza Strip through Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and was escorted by UN vehicles to Gaza City. Mohamed al-Ghoul, justice minister in the deposed Hamas government, told Xinhua that the delegation will stay in Gaza for three days to follow up the results of the UN probe into the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. ""The delegation will meet with families of the victims and representatives of rights groups in the Gaza Strip,"" said al-Ghoul, adding ""the delegation will also hold talks with representatives of the government in Gaza."" Al-Ghoul said the Hamas welcomes the UN delegation and ""will deal with the members of the delegation to unveil the crimes committed by the occupation (Israel) against our people."" The UN had asked Israel, the Palestinian National Authority and the Gaza-ruled Islamic Hamas movement to debate the results of the Goldstone report. In December 2008, Israel launched a large-scale war on the Gaza Strip that lasted for three weeks, where 1,450 Palestinians and 10 Israelis were killed."
" BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Virginia Tech was locked down Thursday when three children attending a summer camp said they saw a man holding what looked like a gun, an unsettling report on the campus where a 2007 massacre left 33 people dead. The university issued an alert on its website at 9:37 a.m. Thursday telling students and employees to stay inside and secure doors. The children said they saw the man walking fast toward the volleyball courts, carrying what might have been a handgun covered by some type of cloth. Police swarmed the area but said they could not find a gunman matching their description. An alert on the school's website said the gunman was reported near Dietrick Hall, a three-story dining facility steps away from the dorm where the first shootings took place in the 2007 rampage. Federal authorities fined the school in March after ruling that administrators violated campus safety law by waiting too long to notify staff and students about a potential threat after two students were shot to death April 16, 2007, in West Ambler Johnston Hall, a dorm near the dining facility. An email alert went out more than two hours later that day, about the time student Seung-Hui Cho was chaining shut the doors to a classroom building where he killed 30 more students and faculty and himself. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. On Thursday, officials said they were looking for a 6-foot-tall white man with light brown hair. Officials said the person was wearing a blue and white striped shirt, gray shorts and brown sandals. He was described as clean shaven, according to the university's website. Police from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg and Christiansburg searched for the man along with Montgomery County sheriff's deputies."
" As he outrages and embarrasses world leaders by leaking secret US diplomatic cables - and continues to face down allegations of sex offences - Mr Assange has been chosen by the foundation to receive a rare gold medal for peace with justice. The honour, previously given only to the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Japanese lay Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda in the foundation's 14-year history, has been bestowed for Mr Assange's ""exceptional courage and initiative in pursuit of human rights"". Foundation director Stuart Rees said today the Australian's work had challenged the old order of power in politics and journalism. ""Peace from our point of view is really about justice, fairness and the attainment of human rights,"" Professor Rees told AAP.   ""Assange has championed people's right to know and has challenged the centuries-old tradition that governments are entitled to keep the public in a state of ignorance."" Mr Assange was informed of the award last month and said it would be an ""enormous pleasure and honour"" to receive it, Prof Rees said. The gold medal is distinct from the annual Sydney Peace Prize awarded by the foundation. By leaking thousands of US diplomatic cables, Mr Assange had made a historically significant contribution to the operation of democracy, the Sydney Peace Foundation's executive decided. ""Wikileaks has exposed the extent to which governments, the military and business all over the world have used secrecy to cloak their real intentions and activities,"" it said."
"I believe it is in the country's best interests to know the date of the general election early in election year,"" Mr Key said. ""It creates certainty for New Zealanders and allows people to plan accordingly. ""This is particularly true this year when the Rugby World Cup, the third-largest sporting event in the world, is being hosted by New Zealand."" The World Cup will be played in September and October and political commentators believe the fortunes of the New Zealand All Blacks could have a bearing on the government's re-election chances. Mr Key, who led his National Party to victory three years ago to end nine years of Labour Party rule, already set the tone of the election in his state-of-the-nation address last week. The Prime Minister said he was preparing to go to the polls with a plan to partly privatise several state-owned enterprises, including Air New Zealand, in an effort to bring down the country's mounting debt. Opposition Labour Party leader Phil Goff, in his speech, promised income tax cuts and the elimination of tax on fresh fruit and vegetables.	
Russia slams Syria over deadly crackdown	 Russia urged Syria on Monday to immediately stop the use of force and repression against civilian protesters, in its strongest criticism yet of the government's crackdown on demonstrations. The Foreign Ministry expressed ""serious concern"" after activists said Syrian security forces killed nearly 140 people Sunday in one of the deadliest days in more than four months of anti-regime protests. Moscow strongly urged Syria, for decades one of its leading allies in the Arab world, to stop the use of force while also calling on the Syrian opposition to refrain from attacks against the authorities. ""The use of force against both peaceful civilians and representatives of state structures is unacceptable and should be stopped immediately,"" the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. ""We are calling on the Syrian government and the opposition to demonstrate the utmost restraint, renounce provocations and repressions and observe the rule of law and respect for international human law."" In the statement, Russia called for the start of ""responsible and substantial all-encompassing dialogue"" that would include the interests of all Syrians. Together with China, Russia, which holds veto power on the UN Security Council, has persistently blocked a Western-drafted resolution on Syria, to the irritation of other world powers. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it was firmly opposed to foreign interference in Syria and believed its regional ally could find a political solution to its crisis. US President Barack Obama and European leaders condemned the pre-Ramadan crackdown as Germany and Italy called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. A meeting could be held later on Monday, but such a move could reopen bitter divisions within the council, which has not yet been able to agree even on a statement on President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown against opponents.
Man in phone-hacking probe bailed	 A man, thought to be ex-News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner, has been released on bail after he was arrested in the phone-hacking probe. He was bailed until later this month after an interview at a London police station arranged by appointment. The 71-year-old was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and corruption. The phone-hacking scandal prompted the closure of the NoW and has resulted in 10 other arrests this year. The Metropolitan Police investigation into phone hacking is called Operation Weeting. Another investigation called Operation Elveden is probing allegations of inappropriate payments to officers and is being supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Mr Kuttner held a number of senior roles at the NoW before he retired in 2009. He was the newspaper's managing editor for 22 years and had been its deputy editor prior to that. The BBC's June Kelly said Mr Kuttner's role would have seen him ""very much involved with the finances of the paper, so he was a pivotal figure in the organisation"". ""In terms of the pecking order in the company, he is way up there,"" our correspondent added.	
Uganda could be next hit by malnutrition, UN warns	 GENEVA (Reuters) - Uganda could be the next country hit by alarming malnutrition rates due to drought which has already sparked famine in southern Somalia and hunger in Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, the United Nations warned on Tuesday. Pockets of food insecurity have already been detected in drought-hit northern areas of Uganda, east Africa's third largest economy, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. ""Uganda may be the next country hit with these same sort of alarming malnutrition and drought conditions,"" the FAO's Sandra Aviles told a news briefing. An estimated 815,000 people in drought-prone northern Uganda, mainly in the Karamoja region, currently face moderate food insecurity, corresponding to phase two on a U.N. scale where five means famine, she said. Prices for maize, Uganda's main crop, went up by 67 percent between June and July due to a delay in the harvest and the effect of greater demand from neighbouring Kenya and southern Sudan, according to Shukri Ahmed, senior economist at the FAO. ""Maize prices are currently almost four times their level of the previous year. That price rise will be an added burden,"" he told Reuters. ""Another factor is the high fuel prices."" But rainfall in the rainy season of September-October is forecast to be average to above average for most of Uganda, he said. Famine has been declared in two regions of southern Somalia but may soon engulf as many as six more regions of the lawless nation, the U.N. humanitarian chief said on Monday. Some 12.4 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti are already in dire need of help due to the worst drought in 60 years, U.N. under-secretary-general and emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos said in New York. The world body appealed on Tuesday to air carriers to provide free or heavily discounted cargo space to transport food to starving children in the region.
Suicide bombers storm Afghan guesthouse, four killed	 1 of 4. Police fight suicide attackers who took over a guesthouse in Kunduz province August 2, 2011. Three suicide bombers raided a guesthouse frequented by foreigners in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz on Tuesday, killing four Afghan security guards employed by a German company, a senior police detective said. One attacker detonated a car bomb at the gates of the guesthouse. The other two stormed the building where they fought Afghan forces for a couple of hours before detonating their explosives, said Kunduz police detective Abdul Rahman. The raid came on the second day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and 13 months after Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen stormed a U.S. contracting company office in Kunduz, killing five, including three foreigners. The once peaceful north of the country has seen a series of high profile attacks and assassinations over the last year, including the killing of a top police commander in May. One attacker detonated a car bomb at the gates of the guesthouse. The other two stormed the building where they fought Afghan forces for a couple of hours before detonating their explosives, said Kunduz police detective Abdul Rahman. Ten people, including civilians and a police officer, were wounded in the early morning attack, said Rahman. No foreigners were among the wounded, he said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, said spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. The attack came as the U.S. military has speculated whether Taliban leaders would take a break during Ramadan and cross back over the border into Pakistan. A Western official in Kabul predicted on Sunday limited spikes in violence, including some high profile attacks during Ramadan. Rahman said the slain Afghan security guards worked for a local security company, which was employed by German development agency GIZ, formerly called GTZ. The guesthouse was run by the local security company and sometimes accommodated foreign staff, he said. ""According to our knowledge it wasn't an attack against GIZ, it appears to be an attack against the local security firm,"" said Hans Spehling, a spokesman for GIZ, adding that all GIZ employees were safe. He also confirmed the local security firm was employed by GIZ.
Bloodshed continues in Syria uprising	 Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Syrian forces are pushing towards the centre of the city of Hama as they continue an offensive in which scores of people have died. Residents told the BBC many people were fleeing to nearby villages, believing the army would gain full control. On Monday, security forces cracked down on protests in towns around Syria, often after prayers on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The UN Security Council has resumed discussions on the crisis.	
WRAPUP 3-Rebels killed, Gaddafi camp says NATO can't stop war	 A son of Gaddafi said the conflict would go on until the rebellion was wiped out, whether or not NATO stopped its bombing campaign, leaving little room for diplomacy to end a war that has killed thousands and divided Libya. The rebels and their foreign backers kept up the pressure on the veteran leader as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began, with NATO planes bombing military targets and dropping leaflets over the capital calling on loyalists to give up. In return, the government urged former allies turned rebels in the east to switch sides again, offering them an amnesty, promotions and other benefits, the state news agency said. The front lines are in the Western Mountains near Tunisia, around the eastern oil hub of Brega and close to Zlitan, 160 km (100 miles) east of Tripoli and near rebel-held Misrata, Libya's third-largest city. The rebels, who have seized about half Libya but lose ground to attacks by better armed and trained Gaddafi forces, had been seeking to consolidate recent gains around Zlitan. But hospital sources in Misrata said a counter-attack by Gaddafi forces on Tuesday killed seven rebels and wounded 65 fighters. A Reuters reporter between the two towns saw plumes of smoke and heard intermittent gunfire coming from Zlitan. ""Regardless of whether NATO leaves or not, the fighting will continue until all of Libya is liberated,"" he said in comments made on Sunday and broadcast on Monday. A U.N envoy was dispatched to Libya last week but made little visible progress and said the two sides were far apart. Gaddafi's call for eastern rebels to return to the fold may also be a sign he senses an opportunity to exploit divisions caused by the slaying last week of the rebel military commander in as yet unexplained circumstances. General Abdel Fattah Younes family said on Tuesday their powerful tribe might take justice into its own hands if the rebel leadership failed to come clean over who had killed him.	
US vote: Cheers for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords	 Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The US House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a deal that would raise the limit on government borrowing. The last-ditch deal to avoid a federal debt default was passed by 269 votes to 161. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords made her first appearance on Capitol Hill since she was shot in Tucson in January and was greeted with cheering and applause. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said it was a privilege to call her a colleague, adding that the Congresswoman's name stirred ''love, admiration and respect''.
Gunfire kills three people in Cairo	 At least three people have been killed in pre-dawn gunfire in Cairo's Tahrir Square, witnesses say. Protest organiser Mustafa el-Naggar said he saw the bodies of three dead protesters being carried toward an ambulance, after bursts of heavy gunfire rained into Tahrir Square early on Thursday. Sustained bursts of automatic weapons fire and powerful single shots rattled into the square starting about 4am (1300 AEDT), and were continuing more than an hour later. The protesters were among crowds still trying to hold the site after an assault by supporters of President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday. El-Naggar said the gunfire came from at least three locations off in the distance and that the Egyptian military, which has ringed the square with tank squads for days to try to keep some order, did not intervene. Footage from AP Television News showed two bodies being dragged from the scene. The health minister did not answer a phone call seeking confirmation of the deaths. Meanwhile, witnesses told Agence France-Presse two people had been killed in the gunfire, and there were many other people wounded by fire coming from the October Bridge, where supporters of Mubarak were positioned. Some of the army tanks positioned around the square appeared to move from their positions but it was not clear if they were withdrawing, AFP reported. Egyptian Jurists Alliance said in a statement that anti-Mubarak protesters in Tahrir Square were coming under fire and that several were killed or wounded.	
Egypt protesters say detained 120 police, loyalists	 The organizers of a protest against Egypt's government said they had detained 120 people carrying identities associating them with either the police or the ruling party, most of them caught while attacking the demonstrators. Kamal Ismail, an official in a committee organizing the protests, showed a Reuters journalist two identity cards confiscated on Thursday from men he said had tried to infiltrate the protest camp. One of them belonged to a police officer. (Reuters)
Mubarak unleashes chaos	 Just hours after promising that he would give up power seven months from now, Hosni Mubarak unleashed the ""chaos"" he had warned Egyptians was the only alternative to his autocratic regime. The regime's thugs ran riot in the center of Cairo, Alexandria and other cities Wednesday, attacking what had been peaceful anti-government encampments with stones, knives and Molotov cocktails. Bahey El Din Hassan, who is one of Egypt's leading human rights activists, is not surprised. Hassan, who for the last quarter century has been one of the relatively small contingent of activists fighting against the abuses of the Mubarak regime, recognized tactics he has been documenting for years -- the use of plainclothes intelligence and security operatives; violence directed against peaceful protesters and journalists; and, most of all, the attempt to create a pretext for a still bloodier intervention. ""I was expecting that something like this would happen today,"" Hassan told me in an interview in Washington. ""Because even though he offered the country a deal last night, Mubarak's statement was not reconciliatory. His speech was full of threats and negative interpretations of the demonstrations. And immediately after it ended state television began calling for 'supporters of stability' to show their strength."" Hassan's cellphone was chiming incessantly during our conversation with calls from his colleagues in Cairo's Tahrir square. ""They are afraid there is a plan to clear the square tonight by any means,"" he said. In other words, rather than beginning the ""orderly transition"" to democracy President Obama said should begin ""now"" in Cairo, Mubarak may be trying to create the conditions for a massacre -- an Arab Tiananmen Square. Hassan, who currently is director of a regional human rights group called the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, left Egypt on Jan. 25, the day opposition organizers had planned a ""day of rage"" against the Egyptian government. In contrast to Tunisia's spontaneous uprising, Egypt's was planned. But Hassan said neither he nor the young leaders of the April 6 movement who organized that first protest expected such a huge turnout. Nor did they plan for the demonstrations to continue beyond Jan. 25. ""At first they weren't even sure they could continue until Friday,"" Jan. 28 -- the day that hundreds of thousands first took to the streets, Hassan said. The massive response, he said, ""is very good news. But we don't yet have a real breakthrough.There is a lot of maneuvering and manipulation by the regime."" Mubarak, he added, may still have the capacity to restore order by force. Hassan watched President Obama's statement Tuesday night, and saw it as a good example of what U.S. policy has been the last two years: ""fine words, but no action."" ""I think that this administration in practice has supported not only the Mubarak regime but all the authoritarian regimes in the Arab region,"" he said. ""The Cairo speech president Obama made two years ago sent a very good message to the Arab people. But in reality the administration engaged with the regimes at the expense of the people. It didn't help the people of the region and it didn't help U.S. long-term interests -- and this is what we now see in the streets of Cairo."" Some in Washington argue that the United States has little ability to affect the outcome of Egypt's crisis. But Hassan warned that if Mubarak represses the pro-democracy movement or fails to carry out a democratic transition, both Egyptians and Arabs around the region will blame the Obama administration. ""Rightly of wrongly, the Egyptian people think the United States is still supporting Mubarak,"" he said. ""Rightly or wrongly, they think the United States has unlimited power to push Mubarak to respond positively. If he doesn't respond that way, that means the United States didn't push or agrees with how he handles the situation."
" Pro-Mubarak protesters headed towards Tahrir Square where the anti-Mubarak demonstrators continue to occupy the square in downtown Cairo.[GALLO/GETTY] Pro-Mubarak supporters came riding on camels and horses. [Al Jazeera/online producer] Pro-government protesters pushed their way towards Tahrir square, while the Egyptian army tried and failed to contain them.[Reuters] Clashes broke out between pro- and anti-government demonstrators in the Egyptian capital Cairo.[Reuters] After anti-Mubarak protesters were attacked, both sides threw stones at each other in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of ongoing opposition demonstrations against Mubarak for the past nine days. Pro-government protesters pushed their way towards Tahrir square, while the Egyptian army tried and failed to contain them.[Reuters];*;Clashes broke out between pro- and anti-government demonstrators in the Egyptian capital Cairo.[Reuters];*;After anti-Mubarak protesters were attacked, both sides threw stones at each other in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of ongoing opposition demonstrations against Mubarak for the past nine days. 0"
"What I have heard (from protesters) is that they want this to end, if not today, then by Friday maximum,"" he said, adding that Egyptians have marked Friday as ""Departure Day"". ""I hope President Mubarak goes before this and leaves the country after 30 years of rule . . . I don't think he wants to see more blood."" At least 300 people have died in eight days of protests, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said last night. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairo last night for the ""million-strong march"" against Mr Mubarak, and another march was planned in the port city of Alexandria although national train services were cancelled and major roads closed in a bid to hinder protests. In an unexpected move, Turkey, which also has a history of military influence in national affairs, called on Mr Mubarak to meet his people's ""desire for change"". Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described his appeal to the Egyptian leader as ""very sincere advice, a very sincere warning"". ""Hear the cry of the people and their extremely humane demands . . . Meet the people's desire for change without hesitation,"" Mr Erdogan said. In Jordan, King Abdullah last night attempted to pre-empt a democracy push among his subjects by naming Maruf Bakhit as prime minister, with orders to carry out ""true political reforms"". Fifty Egyptian human rights groups yesterday called on Mr Mubarak to step down to ""avoid bloodshed"". ""President Mubarak must respect the wishes of the Egyptian people and step down to avoid shedding the blood of Egyptians,"" a joint statement from the groups said. Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi last night told protesters in Egypt through a BBC interview that ""we're all with you"". The Nobel peace laureate, who has resisted the military regime in Burma for decades, urged protesters to stay strong.	
Egypt unrest: deadly clashes rock Cairo's Tahrir Square	 Three people have been killed and at least 600 wounded during fierce clashes in Cairo between supporters of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and anti-government protesters, officials say. Gunfire was heard as rival groups of stone-throwing demonstrators fought pitched battles in and around the city's Tahrir Square. The army has urged people to go home. The protesters are demanding President Mubarak's resignation. He has vowed not to seek re-election in September. Wednesday's violence came after more than a week of demonstrations that have left about 300 people dead, according to UN estimates. Up to 2,000 anti-Mubarak demonstrators had spent Tuesday night in Tahrir Square, the main focus of the protests, saying the president's pledge was insufficient and chanting: ""We will not leave!"" Continue reading the main story Pro-Mubarak groups have been pushing their way to the edges of Tahrir Square all afternoon. Fights have been breaking out and large numbers of missiles - bricks, stones and bits of ironwork - have been flying through the air on both sides. During the day, about half the demonstrators in the square slowly filtered out. There are too few soldiers here to keep any kind of order. The most they can do is prevent the big numbers of Mubarak loyalists from getting into the square, bottling them up into huge groups on the edges. From time to time in the side streets, big pro-Mubarak groups gather around people who have left the square, shouting at them and punching them. There have been reports of people being knifed, but the casualties you mostly see are from the bricks and stones which have been raining down indiscriminately. The net effect of the arrival in force of groups of Mubarak supporters seems to have been to strengthen the resolve of the hard-line demonstrators to stay inside the square. The gradual drift away from the square seems to have stopped. For now, it is the only place where the demonstrators can feel more or less safe. On Wednesday, thousands of supporters of President Mubarak arrived in buses and surged into the square, dismantling barricades. ""Let the man (Mubarak) take care of you until his time is up,"" Mohamed Shafik, 51, told Reuters news agency. ""Mubarak wants stability and we want stability as well."" One anti-government protester told the BBC that pro-Mubarak activists had initiated the violence.
Anderson Cooper Attacked, Punched In The Head By Pro-Mubarak Mob In Egypt	 Anderson Cooper and his crew were attacked by supporters of Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Wednesday. CNN's Steve Brusk tweeted that Cooper was punched in the head ten times. The incident came as pro-Mubarak supporters attacked protesters calling for the Egyptian president to step down. Speaking on ""American Morning"" after the attack, Cooper said that he and his crew had been trying to go to a neutral zone between the two groups. ""We never got that far,"" he said. ""We were set upon by pro-Mubarak supporters punching us in the head."" Cooper said that he and the crew tried to escape, but that the crowd only grew: ""the crowd kept growing, kept throwing punches, kicks...suddenly a young man would look at you and punch you in the face."" A CNN update said that ""no one was seriously hurt"" in the attack. A pro-Mubarak group also roughed up a Washington Post editor on Wednesday. Cooper spoke to The Huffington Post from Cairo on Monday. He later filed this report on the attack, with new footage of it happening:	
Army asks Egyptians to return to normal life-TV	 CAIRO Feb 2 (Reuters) - Egypt's army said on Wednesday that Egyptians had delivered their message, their demands had been heard and it was time for them to help Egypt return to normal life, a military spokesman said on state television. It was a clear call for protesters to leave the streets. ""The army forces are calling on you ... You began by going out to express your demands and you are the ones capable of restoring normal life,"" a spokesman said, adding that the message and demands had been heard. The army has previously issued statements saying it would not use violence against protesters and saying it understood the ""legitimate demands"" of the people. (Writing by Edmund Blair)	
Amr Moussa says he will consider seeking Egypt presidency	 Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, a former Egyptian foreign minister, on Tuesday said he would ""seriously"" consider whether to seek the Egyptian presidency, Reuters reported. ""Yes, I have that right. But I will think (about) it seriously in the next few weeks,"" Moussa told CNN in an interview when asked if he would run to replace President Hosni Mubarak.
Al Jazeera urges Egypt's Nilesat to resume service	 DUBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera called on the Egyptian satellite company Nilesat on Wednesday to resume broadcasting its signal or face legal action, according to the news channel's website. Al Jazeera, whose coverage of the political unrest in Egypt is widely watched in the Arab world, has said that Nilesat cut off its signal after the Egyptian authorities ordered the channel to stop operations in the country on Sunday. Al Jazeera has also said its signal on other broadcast satellites was jammed in parts of the Middle East, affecting its coverage of Egypt, where at least one million people took to the streets on Tuesday to demand an end to President Hosni Mobarak's 30-year rule. ""Al Jazeera warned the Egyptian company (Nilesat) of legal action to demand compensation for serious damage caused to it and its audience,"" the television said on its website. Jordan Media City had told Al Jazeera that it faced pressure from Nilesat to drop the channel from its package, it added. Al Jazeera said on Tuesday that a dozen smaller Arab networks had interrupted their own programmes to carry its signal. Launched in Qatar in 1996, Al Jazeera has more than 400 reporters in over 60 countries, according to its website. It says it can reach 220 million households in more than 100 countries. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; editing by Tim Pearce)
Journalists under physical assault in Egypt	 Ahmed Bajano, an Al-Arabiya correspondent in Cairo, was beaten while covering a pro-Mubarak demonstration, according to . Bajano and his camera crew were attacked in Mustafa Mahmoud Square by men in plainclothes. He suffered a concussion and was taken to a nearby hospital. Another Al-Arabiya journalist who spoke on the air via telephone but did not identify herself by name also reported that she had been beaten by plainclothes police or government-hired thugs. Al-Arabiya's Cairo office was attacked and its windows broken, the satellite station reported. Another network reporter said on the air that her colleague Ahmad Abdel Hadi was seized by what appeared to be pro-Mubarak supporters near Tahrir Square, forced in a car, and driven away. The reporter added that she has not been able to get through to Abdel Hadi on his mobile phone since.
News from the Associated Press	 SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Thousands of people have demonstrated in Yemen's capital to demand both the ouster of Shiite Houthi rebels who control the city as well as the country's beleaguered president. The demonstrations Saturday were the first of their kind demanding President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi step down since he took over the presidency after a popular revolt toppled his predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in 2011. Many in the streets chanted slogans accusing Hadi of mismanaging the country to the point where state institutions collapsed and militants could take over. They have named their protest the ""rejection"" movement. The demonstrators, from a variety of political groups, also denounced last week's attack on a police academy in Sanaa that killed 37 people, calling for a swift investigation and trial of the culprits.
Iraq inquiry to recall Blair for questioning	 In the UK, Tony Blair will be recalled to give evidence to the Iraq inquiry. Sir John Chilcot has confirmed the former British Prime Minister will be among several witnesses who will be asked to give more detail. The former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is also due to return. The inquiry - which is looking into the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the aftermath of the war - will resume in Westminster on January 18.	
Taliban attack on Nato base in Afghanistan is 'repelled'	 Several attackers were killed in the Taliban attack on a base at an airfield outside Jalalabad, near the border with Pakistan. Gunmen set off a car bomb and fired rocket-propelled grenades, wounding two soldiers, Nato said. The US Senate has confirmed US Gen David Petraeus as the new commander of the campaign in Afghanistan. The general earlier warned of an ""industrial-strength insurgency"" in the country, saying that fighting might ""get more intense in the next few months"". His appointment follows the dramatic departure of Gen Stanley McChrystal last week. In another development, UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox warned of further coalition casualties to come while stressing the dangers of withdrawing troops prematurely. The attack began at 0730 local time (0300 GMT), with insurgents attacking the airport from different directions. Continue reading the main story The attack on the military base near Jalalabad airport was planned and co-ordinated, a sign that after nine years of fighting in Afghanistan, the Taliban still have plenty of fight in them, and are growing more sophisticated as the war goes on. But the International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) takes a different view. This attack was successfully repelled, and only the insurgents died. Civilian and Isaf injuries were minor. The base is shared by Afghan and international troops, and Afghans, say Isaf, are increasingly taking lead in protecting the area, and attacking insurgents. A Nato spokesman said the perimeter of the base had not been breached. An Afghan soldier and one international service member were wounded.
Militants killed in airport battle	 A group of militants, using light weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, battled international forces for 30 minutes, according to the media office at the airport. The Taliban has claimed responsibility. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed six suicide attackers killed 32 foreign and Afghan security forces at the airport, about 78 miles east of the Afghan capital. Ghafor Khan, a spokesman for the provincial police chief in Nangarhar province, said international forces blocked access to the area. The airport is situated on a main road on the outskirts of the city that leads to the Pakistani border. NATO said there had been an incident at the airport, but said it could not immediately provide details. Elsewhere in the east, US and Afghan forces battled hundreds of militants from an al Qaida-linked group for a third day on Tuesday in Kunar province, the US military said. Two US soldiers were killed in the first day of the operation on Sunday. The attack in Kunar was directed against insurgents believed responsible for the roadside bombing that killed five American service members in the area on June 7, a US statement said. The militants were believed to be members of the Haqqani group, a faction of the Taliban based in Pakistan that has close ties to al Qaida. About 600 US and Afghan troops are taking part in the operation, the US statement said. On Tuesday in Kabul, an Afghan man working for the United Nations was shot and killed in his vehicle. The Afghan UN employee who died was driving a white pick-up truck with the blue UN logo painted on the side. Another Afghan member of the UN staff, who was in the vehicle, was unhurt, the UN said.	
Malawi army deployed over anti-Mutharika protests	 The army has been deployed in three Malawian cities on a second day of anti-government protests in which at least 18 people have been killed. President Bingu wa Mutharika has vowed to ""use any measure I can think of"" to quell the demonstrations. Protesters accuse him of plunging Malawi into its worst economic crisis since independence. The army has been deployed in the capital, Lilongwe, the biggest city, Blantyre, and Mzuzu in the north. The troops bolster a strong contingent of riot police in the three cities. The health ministry said 18 people had been killed in two days of protests, with post-mortems being conducted to establish the cause of death. ""The bodies had fractured bones, deep cuts, broken ribs and lost a lot of blood,"" health ministry spokesman Henry Chimbali told the AFP news agency. Nine people died in Mzuzu, six in Lilongwe, two in Blantyre, and one in the town of Karonga on the border with Tanzania, he said. Another 44 people suffered gunshot wounds in the clashes between protesters and security forces, correspondents say. A police spokesman said the security forces had opened fire in Lilongwe to prevent shops being looted and cars being smashed.	
Libya's Gaddafi rules out talks	 1 of 13. Civilians who have volunteered to join the rebel army take part in training in Geminis July 21, 2011. ""There will be no talks between me and them until Judgment Day,"" Gaddafi told a crowd of thousands of his supporters in his home city of Sirte in a remotely delivered audio message. ""They need to talk with the Libyan people ... and they will respond to them."" The rally in the quiet seaside city drew men wearing green hats, women waving flags and children whose faces were painted with pro-Gaddafi slogans. Their vociferous support for Gaddafi -- and rebel declarations earlier that the war could not be ended through talks -- showed how far Libya may be from a negotiated end to its five-month-old conflict. Rebels who have struggled to arm and organize themselves have suffered losses in the past week near the insurgent stronghold of Misrata and the eastern oil hub Brega, but are pushing ahead with their campaign to unseat the longtime leader. On Thursday the rebels said their advance toward the capital had been slowed by the laying of hundreds of thousands of mines at Brega, but the frontline at Zlitan advanced to the closest it has ever been to the western city's outskirts. Foreign diplomatic efforts to find a solution have intensified as the fighting drags on. China said it would work with the African Union, which has proposed a plan seen as less hostile to the Libyan leader than a Western plan that insists on his stepping down. Chinese President Hu Jintao told his visiting South African counterpart Jacob Zuma that the Africans had played an important role in pushing a political solution. ""China greatly appreciates this and is willing to continue remaining in close touch and to coordinate closely with South Africa and the African Union on the Libya issue,"" Hu said. France said on Wednesday Gaddafi could stay in Libya if he gave up power, an apparent softening of the West's stance in a new effort to find a diplomatic end to the war.
Falcon Launch Report	 Welcome to Spaceflight Now's live coverage of the Falcon 9 rocket launching a Dragon spacecraft for an orbital test flight. Text updates will appear automatically; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
Coast Guard probing reports of sheen in Gulf of Mexico	 The Coast Guard on Sunday were trying to determine whether the sheen or gleaming at the top of the water, was the result of oil or an algae growth, said Lieutenant Ryan Baxter, command duty officer in New Orleans. ""We have an unknown substance in the water,"" he said. ""We're trying to confirm what it is."" The Coast Guard first received a report of a three-mile long rainbow sheen in the Gulf on Saturday morning. Two more reports followed, including one of a sheen that extended from six miles off the coast of Grand Isle, Louisiana, to 100 miles into the Gulf. Coast Guard helicopters are flying over the area for an aerial survey, and the Gulf Strike Team is conducting tests, Baxter said.	
Met Police accused of phone-hacking inquiry failures	 The Metropolitan Police have been accused of a ""catalogue of failures"" in the News of the World phone-hacking inquiry in a damning report by MPs. It called for extra resources for the police investigation so new hacking victims could be informed more quickly. David Cameron told the Commons the police inquiry would now be overseen by a figure from outside the Met. The prime minister said: ""The responsibilities of the deputy commissioner - which the House will remember include general oversight of the vital investigations both into hacking and into the police, Operations Weeting and Elveden - will not be done by someone from inside the Met, but instead by Bernard Hogan-Howe, who will join temporarily from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary."" Mr Cameron made a statement to the Commons before a debate on public confidence in the media and police. The Commons is sitting for an extra day after the prime minister delayed MPs' summer recess to address the latest developments in the hacking scandal. On Wednesday morning, ahead of the debate, Labour MP Chris Bryant claimed senior Buckingham Palace figures had expressed concern over Mr Cameron's recruitment of former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as an adviser. This was denied as ""complete rubbish"" by No 10. A Palace spokesman said: ""No royal officials raised concerns about Mr Coulson's appointment with Downing Street. We do not comment on the private conversations of members of the Royal Family."" Mr Coulson resigned as Downing Street director of communications earlier this year over the phone-hacking scandal. He was arrested and questioned in recent days on suspicion of bribing police officers. While the MPs' report blames News International for obstructing the Met's first inquiry into hacking, it says there was no ""real will"" on the part of Scotland Yard to tackle the news group's failure to co-operate.
Cameron regrets hiring scandal-hit tabloid editor	 1 of 15. Prime Minister David Cameron, flanked by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (L), speaks about phone hacking to parliament in a still image taken from video in London, July 20, 2011. But in hours of stormy questioning he seemed to rally his Conservative party behind him and stopped short of bowing to demands that he apologize outright for what the Labour leader called a ""catastrophic error of judgment"" in appointing as his spokesman a former editor of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World. Only if Andy Coulson, who has since resigned, should turn out to have lied about not knowing of illegal practices at his newspaper would the prime minister offer a ""profound apology."" Analysts said Cameron emerged from the debate looking stronger than when he was forced to fly home early from Africa to face lawmakers who had delayed their summer recess by a day. But he left some lingering questions unanswered, notably about his role in Murdoch's takeover bid for TV network BSkyB. Beleaguered but hardly under serious threat of being ousted by his party allies after less than 15 months in power, Cameron defended his actions and those of his staff in dealings with Murdoch's News Corp global media empire and with two senior police chiefs who resigned this week over the affair. ""He seems to have gained a bit of breathing space over the course of this debate,"" said Andrew Russell, senior politics lecturer at Manchester University. ""He looked more self assured today than he has been for a little while."" A day after Murdoch apologized to a British parliamentary committee, but denied personal responsibility for the phone hacking scandal at the News of the World, he sent a message to his staff that his company was taking steps to ensure that ""serious problems never happen again."" ""Those who have betrayed our trust must be held accountable under the law,"" he said in an e-mail. Some investors speculate the scandal may hasten a handover of power in the company from the Murdoch family in a way that may streamline global operations. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who says his Kingdom Holding is the second biggest shareholder in News Corp and controls 7 percent of the votes, said on Wednesday he still saw the company as a valuable and long term investment.
Phone hacking: Australian PM promises 'hard questions'	 The Australian branch of Rupert Murdoch's media empire will face ""hard questions"" in the wake of the phone hacking scandal in Britain, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said. She said she was ""disturbed"" by revelations about his UK business. The Greens, which hold the balance of power in the upper house, have called for a parliamentary inquiry into News Limited, Mr Murdoch's Australian firm. ""When people have seen telephones hacked into, when people have seen individuals grieving having to deal with all of this, then I do think that causes them to ask some questions here in our country,"" Ms Gillard told reporters in New South Wales. ""Obviously News Limited has got a responsibility to answer those questions when they're asked."" Australian journalists' unions said they backed the call by Greens party leader Bob Brown for an inquiry. Ms Gillard told the Greens she was ready to discuss the holding of an inquiry into Murdoch company practices in Australia, but would not jump to conclusions. ""I'm not going to engage in running commentary on testimony but I do believe Australians... are looking at News Limited here and are wanting to see News Limited answer some hard questions,"" she said. The company dominates Australian media - it controls 70% of the newspaper readership and has extensive holdings in television, the internet, and other media. The BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney says that largely because News Limited owns most of the tabloid titles, the competition in Australia for stories and gossip is nowhere near as cut-throat or intense as that in Britain.
Ten killed in series of attacks in southern Thailand	 Army spokesman Col. Parinya Chaidilok says a series of drive-by shootings yesterday in the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala left eight dead, including Buddhist and Muslim civilians, a Muslim candidate for the local administration and a volunteer security official. Parinya says security forces also shot and killed two suspected insurgents in raids Wednesday in Yala and Narathiwat. He says a bomb hidden on a motorcycle exploded in Pattani, wounding 25 people Thursday. More than 3,700 people have died in Thailand's three southernmost provinces since an insurgency flared in January 2004.
Five-mile wide suspected oil slick spotted just north of Deepwater Horizon explosion site	 A suspected oil slick has been spotted around 20 miles north from the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. Several people reported seeing a rainbow sheen on the surface of the water several miles long just off the coast of Louisiana, to the National Response Center. Officials have confirmed there is a five-mile wide spill of some substance in the Gulf of Mexico, but have not yet identified it. Casey Ranel, a spokesman for the Coast Guard said the agency sent out a cutter this morning to collect samples of the substance. An airplane is also expected to fly over the area to give officials a better idea of what's in the water. Pollution investigators and a helicopter crew are following up on two calls to the National Response Center - the federal point of contact for reporting oil and chemical spills - Paul Barnard, an operations controller for Coast Guard Sector, New Orleans, told the Times-Picavune. Barnard said a pilot flying over the area reported seeing a sheen of around half a mile long by half a mile wide. But another caller estimated the area was around 100miles long. 'We haven't been able to verify that, and it would be very unlikely for an individual to be able to observe a 100-mile long sheen,' Barnard added. Grand Isle Fire Chief, Aubrey Chiasson, told oilspillaction.com he was alerted to the substance by officials.
MasterCard site partially frozen by hackers in WikiLeaks 'revenge'	 The website of MasterCard has been hacked and partially paralysed in apparent revenge for the international credit card's decision to cease taking donations to WikiLeaks. A group of online activists calling themselves Anonymous appear to have orchestrated a DDOS (""distributed denial of service"") attack on the site, bringing its service  to a halt for many users. ""Operation: Payback"" is the latest salvo in the increasingly febrile technological war over WikiLeaks. MasterCard announced on Monday that it would no longer process donations to the whistleblowing site, claiming it was engaged in illegal activity. The group, which has been linked to the influential internet messageboard 4Chan, has been targeting commercial sites which have cut their ties with WikiLeaks. The Swiss bank PostFinance has already been targeted by Anonymous after it froze payments to WikiLeaks, and the group has vowed to target Paypal, which has also ceased processing payments to the site. Other possible targets are EveryDNS.net, which suspended dealings on 3 December, Amazon, which removed WikiLeaks content from its EC2 cloud on 1 December, and Visa, which suspended its own dealings yesterday. The action was confirmed on Twitter at 9.39am by user @Anon_Operation, who later tweeted: ""WE ARE GLAD TO TELL YOU THAT is DOWN AND IT'S CONFIRMED! #ddos #wikileaks Operation:Payback(is a bitch!) #PAYBACK"" No one from MasterCard could be reached for immediate comment, but a spokesman, Chris Monteiro, has said the site suspended dealings with WikiLeaks because ""MasterCard rules prohibit customers from directly or indirectly engaging in or facilitating any action that is illegal"". DDOS attacks, which often involve flooding the target with requests so that it cannot cope with legitimate communication, are illegal.
WikiLeaks cables show Libya threatened UK over Lockerbie bomber	 LONDON - Diplomatic cables revealed by WikiLeaks show that the British government feared Libya would take harsh action against it if the Lockerbie bomber died in prison. In a 2009 cable, U.S. ambassador to Libya Gene Cretz wrote that Libyan officials had threatened to diminish political ties if Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was not freed from a Scottish prison.  Cretz wrote that Libyan officials also implied that Britons in Libya ""would be at risk"". Al-Megrahi was the only person convicted of the 1988 attack of a U.S. plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed all 259 people aboard. Another cable described a British diplomat's relief after al-Megrahi could be returned to Libya. It quoted Tripoli ambassador Vincent Fean as saying that Libya could ""have cut us off at the knees."
" Over the past several days, the anti-secrecy Web site WikiLeaks has been hit with a series of blows that have seemed to threaten its survival. Its primary Web address was deactivated, its PayPal account was frozen, and its Internet server gave it the boot. The result: WikiLeaks is now stronger than ever, at least as measured by its ability to publish online. Blocked from using one Internet host, WikiLeaks simply jumped to another. Meanwhile, the number of ""mirror"" Web sites - effectively clones of WikiLeaks' main contents pages - grew from a few dozen last week to 200 by Sunday. By early Wednesday, the number of such sites surpassed 1,000. At the same time, WikiLeaks' supporters have apparently gone on the offensive, staging retaliatory attacks against Internet companies that have cut ties to the group amid fears they could be associated with it. On Wednesday, hackers briefly shut down access to the Web sites for MasterCard and Visa, both of which had announced they had stopped processing donations to WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks' long-term survival depends on a number of unknowns, including the fate of its principal founder, Julian Assange, who is being held in Britain while awaiting possible extradition to Sweden related to sexual-assault allegations. But the Web site's resilience in the face of repeated setbacks has underscored a lesson already absorbed by more repressive governments that have tried to control the Internet: It is nearly impossible to do. Experts, including some of the modern online world's chief architects, say the very design of the Web makes it difficult for WikiLeaks' opponents to shut it down for more than a few hours. ""The Internet is an extremely open system with very low barriers to access and use,"" said Vint Cerf, Google's vice president and the co-author of the TCP/IP system, the basic language of computer-to-computer communication over the Internet. ""The ease of moving digital information around makes it very difficult to suppress once it is accessible."" Thus, despite the global uproar over the release of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables, Assange's Web site remained defiantly intact Wednesday. Over the past week it has continued to publish a steady stream of leaked State Department documents with little visible evidence of injury from repeated, anonymous cyber-attacks or the multiple attempts to cut off its access to funding and Web resources. By contrast, companies that have pulled the plug on WikiLeaks have suffered publicly, with cyber-attacks rendering their Web sites inaccessible or slow for hours at a time. While a group of ""hacktivists"" targeted MasterCard and Visa - part of ""Operation Payback,"" they called it - anonymous assailants have also in recent days attacked PayPal, which severed relations with WikiLeaks citing violations of its terms of service."
" Mr Rudd, now the foreign minister, said that Julian Assange, the Australian citizen who founded the website and is now in custody in Britain, was not to blame for the damaging leaks, which include the scathing assessment by a US diplomat that Mr Rudd is a ""control freak"". ""Mr Assange is not himself responsible for the unauthorised release of 250,000 documents from the US diplomatic communications network,"" Mr Rudd said, in comments that depart from Prime Minister Julia Gillard's statement that Mr Assange's actions were irresponsible and illegal. ""The Americans are responsible for that. I think there are real questions to be asked about the adequacy of their security systems and the level of access that people have had to that material over a long period of time."" ""The core responsibility, and therefore legal liability, goes to those individuals responsible for that initial unauthorised release,"" he said. Mr Rudd's comments echo those of another former Australian prime minister, John Howard, who said Mr Assange had not done anything wrong by publishing cables that contained ""frank commentary"". Mr Rudd stressed that the Australian government had offered Mr Assange ""proper"" consular assistance. Sweden is seeking the extradition of Mr Assange over two sexual assault charges, both of which he denies. Mr Rudd's comments came after leaked cables emerged in which US diplomats described him as a ""mistake-prone control freak"" who made hasty decisions and ""significant blunders"" while he was Australian prime minister. In the highly-critical assessment, Mr Rudd is described as making ""missteps"" and ""snap announcements without consulting other countries or within the Australian government"". The messages paint Mr Rudd as a media-obsessed micro-manager who refused to collaborate with civil servants and parliamentarians and had an overblown view of his own talents. ""Rudd ... undoubtedly believes that with his intellect, his six years as a diplomat in the 1980s and his five years as shadow foreign minister, he has. the ability to direct Australia's foreign policy,"" one cable read. ""His performance so far, however, demonstrates that he doesn't have the staff or the experience to do the job properly."""
" Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- Two of the damaged reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan may be riddled with holes, according to the facility's owner. The holes may be as big as 7 to 10 centimeters ( 2.8- 3.9 inches), Tokyo Electric Power Co. said in a 225-page document submitted to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. In the report, Tokyo Electric says the containment vessel of reactor No. 1 may have developed a hole as big as 3 centimeters in diameter 18 hours after the quake. Fifty hours after the quake, the hole may have widened to 7 centimeters, the report said. In reactor No. 2, the containment vessel may have developed a hole as wide as 10 centimeters 21 hours after the quake. The nuclear plant has suffered cooling problems and radiation leaks since a March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The hydrogen explosion four days after the crisis began may have led to the formation of a second hole in reactor No. 2, as wide as 10 centimeters in diameter. ""This report is not conclusive. No one has entered these areas and we cannot confirm this as fact,"" TEPCO said, adding that the report is making preliminary assumptions about what happened inside the reactors. A hole in the reactor's containment vessel means there is a high probability of the leakage of radioactive material into the reactor building. The amount of radioactive material in all three of the reactor buildings has hampered TEPCO's ability to build an effective cooling system. TEPCO says a cooling system is a critical step to leading to a cold shutdown, still estimated to be five to eight months away."
" Most travel agencies in China have suspended tours to the Philippines amid escalating tension in the South China Sea, Chinese state media say. An official at one agency confirmed the suspension to the BBC, while another said clients were being warned not to travel. The two countries have been locked in a stand-off in disputed waters at the Scarborough Shoal since 8 April. On Tuesday, China warned of a planned protest in Manila on Friday. The Chinese embassy posted an advisory for Chinese citizens in the Philippine capital to stay off the streets and avoid conflict with locals. The demonstration, expected to be attended by some 1,000 people, comes amid heightened tensions between the two nations. China claims sovereignty over a large U-shaped area of the South China Sea, bringing it into dispute with several neighbouring countries. In recent months it has grown more assertive over the issue. Manila has asked China to settle the issue at the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). Chinese tourists make up about 9% of total arrivals to the Philippines, said an Associated Press report citing the Philippine Department of Tourism. A staff member at the state-owned China Travel Service told the BBC all tours to the Philippines had been suspended indefinitely following an order from China's National Tourism Administration because of ""strong anti-China sentiment"" in the Philippines."
" Rescuers used shovels and bare hands to dig out miners buried after a gas explosion in a coal mine in south-western Pakistan. Fifty-two were feared dead but only 27 bodies have been recovered since the explosion on Sunday. ""We have yet to dig out and search the remaining two wings, but there is 0% chance we can get anybody alive,"" said Iftikhar Ahmed, a government mine inspector. Ahmed said the mine, owned by the state-run Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation, was declared dangerous two weeks ago because of methane gas, but the warning was ignored by the contractor."
" (CNN) -- Government troops fought street battles with one of Yemen's leading tribes in the capital Thursday, leaving dozens dead as prosecutors sought the arrests of several tribal leaders. A senior Defense Ministry official said that more than 28 people were killed in an explosion at a weapons depot in Sanaa during clashes with members of the al-Hashid tribe, which has turned against longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the news media, said the tribe shelled the area around the depot with heavy artillery. But the tribe rejected the accusation, saying it was choosing targets cautiously and had not attacked civilians. Government forces, meanwhile, hit an opposition-controlled television station with rocket-propelled grenades overnight, taking it off the air, witnesses in the Arab nation said Thursday. Government troops blocked the roads leading into the capital to prevent other tribal forces from joining the battle. Witnesses said the fighting subsided considerably after nightfall, but gunfire still crackled across several parts of Sanaa. The fighting has raised fears of a full-blown civil war in Yemen, an impoverished, arid, mountainous nation that has been a U.S. ally in the battle against the al Qaeda terrorist network. Before dawn Thursday, residents of Sanaa's al-Hasaba neighborhood called out from the minarets of local mosques for an end to the shelling for the sake of civilians. Those left in the neighborhood were without power, and some homes were reported to have been hit, witnesses reported. Other witnesses said government forces bombarded the homes of Sadeq al-Ahmar, leader of the al-Hashid tribe, and his family from the mountains around Sanaa, where major military installations and arsenals are located. A makeshift hospital in Change Square, near Sanaa University, treated large numbers of casualties throughout the night, including tribal fighters and civilians. The office of Yemeni Attorney General Abdullah Al-Olufi issued arrests warrants Thursday for al-Ahmar and eight other people, including several of his brothers and other tribal leaders. Abdulqawi Al-Qaisi, a top aide to al-Ahmar, said that none of the tribal figures has been arrested. ""The Yemeni government (is) not able to capture a chicken in the streets, let alone the most powerful tribal leader in Yemen,"" Al-Qaisi said. He said Saleh ""will face the fate of previous criminal leaders,"" like ousted Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak. ""Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar is a hero in the eyes of Yemenis, and Saleh is the criminal,"" he said."
" 1 of 11. Yemeni army soldiers man a security point near a square, the site of an anti-government protest to demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa May 25, 2011. More than 40 people have been killed since Monday in a part of northern Sanaa where fighters loyal to powerful tribal leader Sadiq al-Ahmar have been attacking and trying to take over government buildings including the Interior Ministry. A Reuters correspondent was woken after midnight by the latest blasts. ""The explosions can be heard across town in the south of Sanaa. This seems to be heavier weapons than the machineguns and the mortars of the past few days,"" one resident said. Each side blamed the other for the violence, which the opposition said could start a civil war. Citizens were fleeing the capital to escape the fighting in the Hasaba area of Sanaa, which erupted a day after Saleh pulled out for the third time from a Gulf Arab-brokered deal for him to step down and make way for a national unity government. Pressure has been mounting since February, when protesters inspired by revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt began camping in squares and marching in hundreds of thousands in towns across the Arabian Peninsula's poorest state to call for Saleh to go. Saleh's attempts to stop the protests by force have resulted in hundreds of deaths. Saleh, a wily political survivor, said on Wednesday he would make no more concessions to those seeking his departure. But the capital of the country of 23 million has begun to feel like a city at war."
" Three NATO service members were killed Saturday during attacks in Afghanistan, while a fourth died of noncombat-related injuries, according to the International Security Assistance Force. A roadside bomb took the life of one service member in the southern part of the country, while two others were killed in the same region when two attackers wearing Afghan Police uniforms turned their weapons on NATO troops. One of the attackers was killed when NATO forces returned fire, but the other managed to escape and is currently being sought after, ISAF reported. It's not clear whether the attackers were insurgents or Afghan police, said ISAF spokesman Jimmie Cummings. The United States is expected to pull 23,000 troops out of the country by September. That's ahead of a 2014 deadline to fully withdraw from Afghanistan. An undetermined number of U.S. forces will remain in the country past 2014 working as military advisers and counterterrorism forces, but officials have yet to make public for how long."
" An activist burns a flag of China during a protest to demand that the Chinese government pull out from the Scarborough Shoal during a rally in front of the Chinese consular office in Makati's financial district of Manila May 8, 2012. Some 1,000 people from civil society and political groups were expected to march to a Chinese consular office in Manila to protest against what they say are Chinese intrusions, as tensions increase in the long-standing territorial dispute. The row in the South China Sea is potentially the biggest flashpoint for confrontation in Asia, and tensions have risen since the United States launched a policy ""pivot"" last year to reinforce its influence in the region. ""The United States' shift in strategic focus to the east and its entry into the South China Sea issue has provided the Philippines with room for strategic maneuver, and to a certain extent increased the Philippines' chips to play against us, emboldening them to take a risky course,"" said the Liberation Army Daily, the chief mouthpiece of China's military. The Philippines is one of Washington's closest allies in the region. The South China Sea islands, believed to be rich in oil and other resources, are claimed wholly or in part by China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. Beijing has warned Chinese nationals in Manila to stay indoors, avoid demonstrations and refrain from confrontations with locals. It has urged Manila to ensure the safety of its citizens. Taiwan issued a similar warning to its nationals in Manila. In Beijing, authorities stepped up security around the Philippines' embassy, with squads of police waiting in streets near the mission and plainclothes guards also monitoring passers-by. For China's ruling Communist Party, which is heading toward an end-of-year leadership succession, the dispute with Manila can divert attention from recent energy-sapping scandals over sacked Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai and blind dissident Chen Guangcheng. Many Chinese, including military officers, have said popular anger could grow if Beijing remains too soft in responding to rival claims in the South China Sea. A hard approach to the dispute could underline a message of patriotic unity while serving as an antidote to domestic problems. The Shanghai government-run website, eastday.com, published a photograph on Thursday that it said showed a reporter from a local TV station planting the Chinese flag on the main reef of the Huangyan island, the Chinese name of Scarborough shoal, where the Philippine coast guard and Chinese civilian ships are engaged in a more than month-long staring match."
" Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has made his first public appearance in a week to rally his supporters. In a speech apparently from a compound hit by coalition air strikes on Sunday, he urged ""all Islamic armies"" to join him, saying: ""We will be victorious."" Fighting has continued between Col Gaddafi's forces and rebels. Witnesses say supplies are running low in the rebel-held town of Misrata. The sound of allied strikes was once again heard around Tripoli overnight. Coalition military personnel are enforcing a UN resolution to set up a no-fly zone and protect civilians. Speaking in front of a crowd of about 200 late on Tuesday, Col Gaddafi said there was a ""new crusader battle launched by crusader countries on Islam"". Continue reading the main story Ajdabiya, like Misrata, has been effectively cut off. We've been unable to get in there for five days. They don't even have any telephone or internet so we can't get any word from that city. It is the obvious place for the rebels to push forward to now they essentially control vast swathes of the east. But they're just simply not capable of doing it. The military that defected are nowhere to be seen - they were out on the frontline for a few days but now there are no serious military vehicles, no tanks and no artillery. Yesterday we saw arguments among the rebels about what their tactics should be. Those who were encouraging some of the rebels to go forward to the frontline were accused of being collaborators because they were sending people into the line of fire. Shambolic is about as good as it gets. ""Long live Islam everywhere. All Islamic armies must take part in the battle, all free [people] must take party in the battle... We will be victorious in the end,"" he said in a short address carried on state TV. ""In the short term, we will beat them. In the long term, we will beat them."" He concluded his address by saying: ""I do not fear storms that sweep the horizon, nor do I fear the planes that throw black destruction. I will resist, my house is here in my tent... I am the rightful owner, and the creator of tomorrow. I am here. I am here. I am here."""
" Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has named seven areas of the country which will pass from control by foreign troops into Afghan hands from July. They are the relatively peaceful provinces of Kabul, Panjshir and Bamiyan, the cities of Herat and Mazar-e Sharif and the town of Mehtar Lam. But he also named Lashkar Gah, capital of the volatile Helmand province. The handover is seen as a critical step in a transition of power before foreign troops end combat operations in 2014. ""The people of Afghanistan don't want that foreigners take responsibility for security any more,"" President Karzai said. This is the first step in a long process of withdrawal, which will begin in July when the first tranche of foreign troops is set to leave Afghanistan. After that, in these areas, the primary role of foreign troops will be to train and equip Afghan security forces, he said. Nato troops will cease to engage in battle. Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen welcomed the announcement by President Karzai: ""This represents the next stage of Afghanistan's journey, not the destination,"" he said in a statement. But he added that ""every step of the way will be determined by conditions on the ground"". Speaking at the National Military Academy in the capital, Kabul, President Karzai was keen to stress the entrenched nature of the commitment: ""Transition means taking responsibility for both security and development."""
" Two US airmen have been rescued after ejecting from their F-15E Eagle warplane just before it crashed during allied operations in eastern Libya. The plane appeared to suffer mechanical failure near the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the US military said. There are reports six villagers were shot and hurt in the US rescue effort. The jet came down after a third night of US-led coalition attacks on Col Gaddafi's forces, aimed at enforcing a UN resolution to protect civilians. Late on Tuesday, renewed explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The US military would not give the exact location the F-15E Eagle came down, but said both crewmen suffered only minor injuries after ejecting. Continue reading the main story You can see from the size of this massive crater the force with which the missile struck. It happened at about nine o'clock last night. It was the first of the big blasts, the big explosions that we heard early on in those first air raids. And it's only one of three craters that we found in this vicinity. The other two are slightly smaller. But they've had the effect of destroying this marine workshop or warehouse. It's clearly a military location, there's absolutely no disputing that. Further down, there are missile transporters and missiles themselves, missiles used by the Libyan navy. The government insists that many civilians have been killed and many more injured in the past three nights. Everybody here agrees this place was deserted last night and nobody was killed or injured here. We've repeatedly asked them to show us evidence to support their contention that civilians have been killed and injured but so far they've been unable to do so. The Libyans argue of course that this is part of an imperialist Western plot, it has nothing to do with the protection of civilians and everything to do with plundering Libya's oil. The aircraft was based in England and was operating out of Aviano in Italy. It was on a mission against a Gaddafi missile site, the Pentagon said. One Libyan who came across the crashed jet told Britain's Daily Telegraph that one pilot held his hands in the air and said ""OK, OK"", but was quickly thanked by locals for his participation in the air strikes. Younis Amruni told the Telegraph: ""I hugged him and said 'don't be scared, we are your friends'."""
" A course for U.S. military officers has been teaching that America's enemy is Islam, not just terrorists, and suggesting that the country might have to obliterate the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina without regard for civilian deaths, following World War II precedents of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima or the allied firebombing of Dresden. The Pentagon suspended the course in late April when a student objected to the material. The FBI also changed some agent training last year after discovering that it, too, was critical of Islam. The teaching in the military course was counter to repeated assertions by U.S. officials over the last decade that the U.S. is at war against Islamic extremists - not the religion. ""They hate everything you stand for and will never coexist with you, unless you submit,"" the instructor, Army. Lt. Col. Matthew Dooley, said in a presentation in July for the course at Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va. The college, for professional military members, teaches midlevel officers and government civilians subjects related to planning and executing war. Dooley also presumed, for the purposes of his theoretical war plan, that the Geneva Conventions that set standards of armed conflict, are ""no longer relevant."" A copy of the presentation was obtained and posted online by Wired.com's Danger Room blog. Dooley still works for the college, but is no longer teaching, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said. Dooley refused to comment to the AP, saying ""Can't talk to you, sir,"" and hanging up when reached by telephone at his office Thursday. The course on Islam was an elective taught since 2004 and not part of the required core curriculum. It was offered five times a year, with about 20 students each time, meaning roughly 800 students have taken the course over the years. On Thursday, Dempsey said the material in the Norfolk course was counter to American ""appreciation for religious freedom and cultural awareness."""
" America's top military officer has condemned a course taught at a US military college that advocated a ""total war"" against Muslims. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Martin Dempsey, said the course was ""totally objectionable"" and ""against our values"". The voluntary course at the Joint Forces Staff College in Virginia also suggested possible nuclear attacks on holy Muslim cities such as Mecca. The course has now been suspended. ""It was just totally objectionable, against our values, and it wasn't academically sound,"" Gen Dempsey said. He added that he had ordered a full investigation when the course was suspended in April after one of the students objected to the material. The officer in charge of the class, Lt Col Matthew Dooley, has been suspended from teaching but has kept his job at the college in the city of Norfolk. The Pentagon has also confirmed that the course material found on their website is authentic. The story broke after a copy of the presentation of the course material was posted online by Wired.com's Danger Room blog. ""We have now come to understand that there is no such thing as 'moderate Islam',"" Lt Col Dooley said in the presentation last July."
" A course for US military officers has been teaching that America's enemy is Islam in general and suggesting that the country might ultimately have to obliterate the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina without regard for civilian deaths, following second world war precedents of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima. The Pentagon suspended the course in late April when a student objected to the material. The FBI also changed some agent training last year after discovering that it, too, was critical of Islam. The teaching in the military course was counter to repeated assertions by US officials over the past decade that America is at war against Islamic extremists, not the religion itself. ""They hate everything you stand for and will never coexist with you, unless you submit,"" the instructor, Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Dooley, said in a presentation last July for the course at Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia. The college, for professional military members, teaches mid-level officers and government civilians on subjects related to planning and executing war. Dooley also presumed, for the purposes of his theoretical war plan, that the Geneva conventions that set standards of armed conflict, are ""no longer relevant"". He adds: ""This would leave open the option once again of taking war to a civilian population wherever necessary (the historical precedents of Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki being applicable to the Mecca and Medina destruction decision point)."" His war plan suggests possible outcomes such as ""Saudi Arabia threatened with starvation ... Islam reduced to cult status"". A copy of the presentation was obtained and posted online by Wired.com's Danger Room blog. The college did not respond to the Associated Press' requests for copies of the documents, but a Pentagon spokesman authenticated the documents. Dooley still works for the college, but is no longer teaching, said the joint chiefs of staff chairman, General Martin Dempsey. Dooley has refused to comment. A military service record summary provided by army human resources at Fort Knox, Kentucky, shows that Dooley was commissioned as a second lieutenant upon graduation from the US military academy at West Point, New York, in May 1994. He has served tours in Germany, Bosnia, Kuwait and Iraq. He has numerous awards including a Bronze Star medal, the fourth-highest US combat award. In what he termed a model for a campaign to force a transformation of Islam, Dooley called for ""a direct ideological and philosophical confrontation with Islam"", with the presumption that Islam is an ideology rather than just a religion."
" A senior Afghan peace negotiator has been shot dead in Kabul, officials say. Arsala Rahmani was a key member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, which leads Afghan efforts to make peace with the Taliban. Correspondents say his death is a major blow to President Hamid Karzai as Mr Rahmani was key in reaching out to Taliban commanders. It also emerged Afghan forces could soon be in charge of security in areas home to 75% of the population. Mr Karzai said Afghan National Security Forces will soon take lead responsibility for security in a further 122 areas of the country - a move described as a ""significant development"" by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague. It is expected that all of the country will be under the control of Afghan forces by the end of 2014 when NATO's combat mission will end. Police say that Mr Rahmani was shot dead on Sunday morning by an unidentified gunman while on his way to work in western Kabul, in what was described as a carefully planned attack. Continue reading the main story Arsala Rahmani was a unique figure because of his background as a Taliban official who joined peace efforts. He was respected by the Afghan administration as well as by many militant figures. As such, his death is a huge blow to President Karzai's reconciliation efforts. Mr Rahmani really understood how the Taliban leadership operated and the president regularly consulted him on such matters. Observers say he will be extremely difficult to replace as there is nobody of his calibre and experience willing or able to get involved. He was used as an example to other Taliban leaders, who will now be concerned about their safety in Kabul. The Taliban have denied responsibility as they did after the chief of the peace council was killed last year. At that time the finger of blame was pointed at hardline factions within the Taliban and even at elements in Pakistan's security establishment. Pakistan denied any involvement. Gunmen driving a white Toyota Corolla fired a single bullet using a silencer, the BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul reports. ""Mr Rahmani was shot in his heart and died instantly. His nephew, who was also his driver, didn't even realise he had been shot,"" Kabul police chief Gen Ayub Salangi told the BBC."
" Forty-nine mutilated bodies have been found dumped by a roadside near the city of Monterrey in northern Mexico. Security officials said the 43 men and six women had been decapitated and had their hands cut off, making identification difficult. They blamed the killings on a conflict between rival drugs gangs - a note left with the bodies said they had been killed by the Zetas cartel. It is the latest in a series of recent massacres in northern Mexico. The Zetas have been fighting the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels for control of smuggling routes into the US. The bodies were found at 04:00 local time (09:00 GMT) in Cadereyta municipality on the road from Monterrey to Reynosa on the US border. Security officials said the bodies. some of which were in plastic bags, appeared to have been killed at another location up to two days ago and dumped from a truck. ""We know from the characteristics that this is the result of violence between criminal gangs, it is not an attack on the civilian population,"" Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene said. Nuevo Leon's prosecutor, Adrian de la Garza, said the fact that hands and heads had been cut off made it difficult to identify the victims, but he said it was possible they were Central American migrants. The grim find comes just days after police discovered the dismembered, decapitated bodies of 18 people in two abandoned vehicles in western Mexico."
" Mexican authorities found at least 49 decapitated and dismembered bodies along a highway in a northern border state Sunday morning, officials said. The remains were left along the road in Nuevo Leon state, between the cities of Monterrey and Reynosa. A message written on a wall nearby appeared to refer to the Zetas drug cartel. ""This continues to be violence between criminal groups. This is not an attack against the civilian population,"" said Jorge Domene, Nuevo Leon's state security spokesman. He said it appeared as though the victims were killed a day or two ago, somewhere else, and that their bodies were then dropped off. Officials said they had not ruled out the possibility that the victims could be Central American immigrants or residents of another state, telling reporters Sunday that there had not been many local missing persons reports in recent days. But the area has become a battleground for a brutal conflict between the Zetas and the Gulf cartel, and reports of forced disappearances have become increasingly common in recent years. Police and troops were combing the area and set up checkpoints after authorities received a report of the remains around 3 a.m. Sunday, police said. The remains were found in the municipality of Cadereyta Jimenez, near the industrial city of Monterrey and about 80 miles southwest of the U.S. border, police said. The middle-class, industrial community where the remains were found is known for a broom factory, an oil refinery and its historic role as one of the first places baseball was played in Mexico."
" Humanitarian organisation Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) expressed concern about prisoners Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh as they began their 74th day without food on Friday. An estimated 1,600 out of 4,800 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails stopped taking food on April 17 demanding better conditions, an end to administrative detention and solitary confinement and more family visits. Diab and Halahleh, two of six prisoners to have refused food for between 49 and 74 days according to PHR, were among the first wave of inmates whose initial refusals to accept food prompted the mass hunger strike. The scope of the strike has posed a new challenge to Israel, which has come under international criticism over detentions without trial and could face a violent Palestinian backlash if any of the protesters die. At the PHR offices in Tel Aviv, the director of the Prisoners and Detainees department said Halahleh's life was in ""immediate danger."" ""His doctor told him that his life is in immediate danger and that he could die any moment and what is very worrisome is the fact that he said that he doesn't want to be saved if something happens to him and he loses consciousness. he doesn't want resuscitation,"" Anat Litvin said, adding that the organisation believed that the prisoners did not have access to adequate equipment or expertise. The fate of the hunger strikers has touched a nerve in the Palestinian territories with daily demonstrations in the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip to support the movement. On Wednesday, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was pressed to do more by demonstrators gathered in Ramallah. A day later, a candlelit vigil was held in the city's main square to show support for those prisoners who remain on hunger strike."
" China has denied reports its military forces are preparing for war amid tensions over a disputed territory in the South China Sea. The defence ministry statement comes despite warnings to the Philippines that military conflict is possible over a reef known as the Scarborough Shoal. Ships from China and the Philippines have been confronting each other for more than a month over the shoal. Both sides accuse the other of intruding into territorial waters. ""Reports that the Guangzhou military region, the South China Sea fleet and other units have entered a state of war preparedness are untrue,"" the ministry said in a brief statement on its website late on Friday. Fears of an armed clash escalated when the Chinese army's own newspaper warned the military should not be treated as a paper tiger, says BBC Asia analyst Charles Scanlon. That led to excited rumours on Chinese internet sites that the navy was preparing for action and that the Guangzhou military command in the south of the country was on a war footing, our analyst says. The defence ministry has officially denied those reports - but hardline elements in the leadership appear to be losing patience with the defiant approach of a much smaller neighbour. Analysts say the central government may see an opportunity to deflect attention from its internal problems. But its intentions are far from clear - and the competing interests of maritime agencies and the military mean its next step is hard to predict, our analyst adds."
" * Sporadic clashes overnight in Port Gentil  * Heavy security presence in city - resident  * Shops looted in post-election riots    LIBREVILLE, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Security forces clashed with gangs of protesters in Gabon's oil hub Port Gentil overnight in a third day of unrest since a disputed presidential election brought the son of the late leader to power, a resident said.  Port Gentil has seen the brunt of violence since Ali Ben Bongo, son of long-time ruler Omar Bongo, was declared winner of last Sunday's poll, with widespread looting and attacks targeting the interests of ex-colonial power France.  ""During the night it was groups of five to six people. Security forces would disperse them and they would melt away,"" Guyroger Regoula told Reuters by telephone of sporadic clashes.  Shops were stripped of food and other provisions during the violence after the election result was announced on Thursday, Port Gentil resident Joel Adande said.  ""What are they going to loot? They have looted everything already,"" he told Reuters by telephone.  Ben Bongo has appealed for an end to the unrest."
" MOSCOW, September 4 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea has begun the final stage of uranium enrichment, a method of producing nuclear weapons, state media said on Friday. ""Uranium enrichment tests have been successfully carried out and that process is in the concluding stage,"" South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying. KCNA was detailing a report sent to the UN Security Council in which the communist state's envoy to the United Nations, Sin Son-ho, said that the North would be ""left with no choice but to take yet stronger self-defensive countermeasures,"" if the UN continued with its sanctions against Pyongyang. Tough sanctions were imposed on North Korea after a nuclear test in May that followed the launch of a rocket widely believed to have been cover for the test of a ballistic missile. UN criticism of the launch led to the North leaving six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. In June, in response to the imposition of sanctions, Pyongyang announced that it would start to enrich uranium. North Korea already has a plutonium-based nuclear program that analysts say has the potential to yield several atomic bombs. Pyongyang had consistently denied however that it was also running a uranium-based program. The announcement comes after series of conciliatory gestures on behalf of the North, including the freeing of two U.S. journalists convicted of spying. Just under two weeks ago, the first meeting between South and North Korean officials for almost two years took place in Seoul. Washington's special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, said the North's announcement on uranium enrichment was ""of concern."" ""Anything that the North is doing in the area of nuclear development is of concern to us,"" he told journalists in Beijing, adding that the announcement proved the need to ""maintain a coordinated position on the need for complete, verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."" The KCNA report said however that the North had ""never objected to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and of the world itself,"" adding that the structure of the six party talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., Russia, China and Japan, had been used to ""violate outrageously"" its sovereignty and its ""right to peaceful development."""
" Hindus celebrate the start of the harvest season in India. ""These reports cannot but provoke concern,"" the official said, Intefax reported. ""A very alarming precedent is being created by such an open and demonstrative disdain for resolutions of the United Nations Security Council,"" the official was quoted as saying. North Korea said on Friday it was closer to a second way of making nuclear weapons, a move analysts saw as a new tactic to put pressure on the international community after a month of conciliatory gestures. Under so-called six-party talks hosted by China, North Korea agreed in September 2005 to abandon its nuclear programmes. The talks broke down at the end of last year with Pyongyang saying the format was dead. Pyongyang, which conducted its second nuclear test on May 25, ceased carrying out the six-party agreement under which it was to give up its atomic ambitions in exchange for economic and diplomatic benefits. The talks include North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States."
" Security is tight across the country and curfews have been imposed There was looting overnight in Gabon's second city despite a night-time curfew imposed after the election as president of the ruling party's Ali Ben Bongo. Reporters say Port Gentil's main market was also set alight, but government and French buildings were not targeted. Before the curfew, opposition supporters had set fire to the French consulate in the city, accusing France of helping to rig the election. The poll came after the death of Ali's father, who had ruled for 41 years. All the petrol stations were smashed   Under Omar Bongo, Gabon retained close ties to the former colonial power. The AFP news agency reports that 50 people were arrested on Thursday night during the unrest. After the results were declared on Thursday, opposition groups clashed with security forces in the capital, Libreville. Inmates were freed from jail and installations belonging to the French oil company, Total, were attacked in Port Gentil. Born in 1959 in Brazzaville, his mother is Gabonese singer and musician Patience Dabany Studied at Sorbonne in Paris before entering politics in 1981 Became foreign affairs minister in 1989 - forced to quit in 1991 because he was too young France has about 1,000 troops in the country and has advised its 10,000 citizens to stay indoors. The BBC's Linel Kwatsi in Libreville says the situation in both cities is now calm. Amid the unrest, Ali Ben Bongo pledged to be a uniting force for the oil-rich nation. He was widely tipped to succeed his father, who died in June. One of the world's richest men, the late president owned a string of properties in France and was an unflinching ally of Paris. At the time of his death, French courts were investigating Mr Bongo for corruption - allegations he denied. Gabon is sub-Saharan Africa's fourth biggest oil producer and Africa's second biggest wood exporter, although most of its 1.4 million people live in poverty. Are you in Gabon? Have you witnessed any of the violence? If you are willing to speak to the BBC about your experiences, please send us your details using the postform below. You can also send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text it to +44 7725 100 100. Please do not take any unnecessary risks that could endanger your own life or others. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" A man is in hospital with serious injuries after setting himself on fire outside the Oslo courthouse where Anders Behring Breivik is standing trial for mass murder and terrorism. Police say the man was seen pouring liquid over himself before igniting the liquid and trying to gain access to the court building. He was stopped by security officials when he reached the temporary security tent set up to scan everyone entering the building during the 10-week trial. A video posted on the website of the daily newspaper VG showed a man running towards the tent with his black hat on fire, shouting after dousing himself with liquid from a bottle. He is wrestled to the ground by armed security officers who stamped out the flames. Kjell Kverme from Oslo police said the man had been taken to hospital with serious injuries to his stomach and chest. Kverme said the man was believed to be Norwegian."
" Brushing aside questions over its political motives, a Chinese group awarded its own ""peace prize"" on Thursday, just a day before the Nobel Committee was set to honour jailed China dissident Liu Xiaobo. The inaugural Confucius Peace Prize was awarded to former Taiwan vice president Lien Chan at a chaotic press conference held by a handful of Chinese university professors who presented themselves as the prize ""jury"". Lien's own office has denied all knowledge of the award, but that did not stop them presenting it on his behalf to a pony-tailed young Chinese girl. ""For Peace!"" jury member Yang Disheng said as he handed the glass trophy to the girl, who looked somewhat frightened. The prize comes one day before the Nobel ceremony honouring Liu, a dissident writer who has called for political reform in one-party-ruled China and who was announced as peace laureate in October. A deeply embarrassed China has responded furiously to the award, threatening it would harm relations with Norway, lashing the Nobel committee as ""clowns"" and pressuring countries to stay away from the ceremony. Members of the prize jury denied any link to China's government or suggestions their prize was a response to Liu's award. ""The more peace prizes we can have in the world, the better,"" said Yang, identified by the jury as a professor of ""ideology and culture"" at Beijing's Tsinghua University. But the press conference soon took on a farcical tone when members were questioned about aspects of the award, such as the timing. Jury chair Tan Changliu, a professor at Beijing Normal University, said the award had been in the works for ""a long time"", but refused to provide specifics."
" The US is closely monitoring China's expanding role in Africa, the latest secret US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks reveal. A cable from February quotes a senior US official in Nigeria's main city, Lagos, describing China as ""aggressive and pernicious"". US diplomatic cables from Africa also reveal claims by oil giant Shell that it infiltrated Nigerian ministries. Wikileaks has so far released more than 1,100 of 251,000 secret US cables. The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the latest documents provide a fascinating insight into Washington's rivalry with Beijing in Africa. China has massively expanded its economic ties to countries across Africa in recent years, sparking criticism from human rights groups, who accuse Beijing of helping some of Africa's worst governments stay in power. China adopts a policy of not interfering in domestic politics, while Western countries sometimes make aid conditional on ""good governance"". The cable, published by the Guardian newspaper, quotes Johnnie Carson, US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, who had been meeting oil company representatives in Lagos. He describes China as ""a very aggressive and pernicious economic competitor with no morals"". ""China is not in Africa for altruistic reasons,"" he says. ""China is in Africa primarily for China."""
" China has stepped up its campaign to try to discredit the Nobel Committee, ahead of the Peace Prize ceremony to honour jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo. The foreign ministry insisted Mr Liu had not been convicted only for his calls for more democracy but had actively tried to subvert state power. A Chinese group has awarded its own ""peace prize"" but denied it was stunt. The Nobel Committee has said the prize is not a push for Western values in China but for global human rights. ""The rights explained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are not Western values, or Western standards. They are global standards applied to every country of the world that is a member of the United Nations,"" committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland told reporters in Oslo. ""They have all ratified the universal declaration, and they have certain obligations because of this. The most important obligation is to uphold basic human rights like freedom of expression."" Mr Jagland also said the empty chair at Friday's ceremony would not represent a protest but a ""signal to China that it would be very important for China's future to combine economic development with political reforms and support for those in China fighting for basic human rights"". ""This is not a prize against China. This is a prize honouring those people [struggling for human rights] in China and Liu Xiaobo is one of the most prominent ones."" He also said the committee had expected the harsh criticism from Beijing but that it had to look at the mandate given by Alfred Nobel. Meanwhile, the BBC website appears to have been blocked in China."
" The United States thinks China is a ""pernicious economic competitor with no morals"" whose booming investments in Africa are propping up unsavoury regimes, according to a leaked diplomatic cable. The frank assessment by the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Johnnie Carson, was among the latest revelations in thousands of documents released by whistleblower website WikiLeaks. ""China is a very aggressive and pernicious economic competitor with no morals. China is not in Africa for altruistic reasons,"" Carson said in a February meeting with oil executives in Nigeria. ""China is in Africa for China primarily,"" he said, according to a confidential 23 February cable written by the US consul-general in Lagos. Carson said another reason was to ""secure votes in the United Nations from African countries"" to forward China's own aims, and also to depress diplomatic support for its rival Taiwan. Beijing had pumped a total of $9.3-billion (about R65-billion) into Africa by the end of 2009, according to the China-Africa Trade and Economic Relationship Annual Report 2010, launched in October by a government-linked research institute. Investment in the continent reached $1.44-billion in 2009 alone, compared with $220-million in 2000, the report said, reflecting China's growing interest in Africa's resources to fuel its fast-growing economy. China has been criticised by the West for its support of hard-line leaders such as Sudan's Omar al-Bashir and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, but many African leaders praise Beijing for not preaching to them over human rights. ""The United States will continue to push democracy and capitalism while Chinese authoritarian capitalism is politically challenging,"" Carson said. Beijing pursues a ""contrarian"" approach by dealing with the ""Mugabes and Bashirs of the world"", he said."
" The tankers were crossing a river when the air strike took place   Scores of people are reported killed after a Nato air strike blew up two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan. The governor of Kunduz province told the BBC that Taliban leaders were among at least 90 killed. Witnesses said locals taking fuel also died. Nato said its commanders believed only insurgents were present but that it had reports many civilians were injured. Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said an investigation was under way. A statement from Hamid Karzai's office said the Afghan president believed that ""targeting civilians in any form is unacceptable and [he] emphasised that innocent civilians must not be killed or wounded during military operations"". The Taliban confirmed to the BBC that they had stolen the tankers, one of which became stuck at a river crossing.  If it emerges that a number of civilians have been killed then that will obviously be very disappointing to Nato. The issue of civilian casualties caused by international military action is extremely sensitive here. It has caused great anger. It is something military commanders have said they are determined to clamp down on, because they say if they win territory and not the people then they are not doing their job. At this point, a Nato air strike hit the tankers causing a huge explosion, he said. The Nato attack occurred about 7km (four miles) south-west of Kunduz city at about 0200 Friday (2130 Thursday GMT). International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) spokeswoman Lt Cdr Christine Sidenstricker said Afghan forces had reported the fuel trucks hijacked and Nato aircraft had spotted them on a river bank. ""After observing that only insurgents were in the area, the local Isaf commander ordered air strikes which destroyed the fuel trucks and killed a large number of insurgents,"" she said. ""The strike was against insurgents. That is who we believe was killed."" Later another spokesman, Brig Gen Eric Tremblay, was quoted by Reuters as saying: ""It would appear that many civilian casualties are being evacuated and treated in the local hospitals. ""There is perhaps a direct link with the incident that has occurred around the two fuel trucks."" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The AFP news agency reported that there were many seriously burned people in a hospital in Kunduz. One of the drivers of the tankers told the BBC that two of his colleagues had been beheaded when the Taliban carried out the hijacking. Kunduz province Governor Mohammad Omar said most of the dead were Taliban fighters - some of whom were Chechens. Witness Mohammad Daud, 32, told AFP the militants had been trying to transport the tankers across a river to villages in Angorbagh. ""They managed to take one of the tankers over the river. The second got stuck so they told villagers to come and take the diesel,"" he said. 2 Sep: Blast in Laghman province kills Afghan deputy chief of intelligence and 21 others 25 Aug: Car bomb in southern city of Kandahar kills at least 40 18 Aug: Nine Afghans and a Nato soldier die and more than 50 are injured in Kabul 15 Aug: Bomb outside Nato HQ in Kabul kills seven and injures 90 13 Aug: Twin blasts in Helmand and Kandahar kill 14, including several children 6 Aug: Five American and three UK soldiers, five civilians and five policemen killed by roadside bombs mainly in Helmand ""Villagers rushed to the fuel tanker with any available container that they had. ""There were 10 to 15 Taliban on top of the tanker. This was when they were bombed. Everyone around the fuel tanker died."" Mr Rasmussen said the leader of international troops in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, had told President Karzai he was committed to investigating the incident. ""It is really a focal point for our Isaf troops to minimise the number of civilian casualties, and a new strategy to that end has already been introduced,"" Mr Rasmussen said. ""Civilian casualties caused by Isaf are down over 95% from last year's levels. But, as we all know, in conflicts like these, mistakes can happen. In this case, let us now see what the investigation concludes."" The incident came days after Gen McChrystal reiterated calls for a fresh approach to the conflict. ""The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort,"" he wrote in a strategic assessment."
" Afghan witnesses said the tankers were hit in the early hours of Friday in the northern province of Kunduz as a crowd of villagers gathered round one of the stolen vehicles to collect fuel when it became stranded in a river. Mahbubullah Sayedi, a spokesman for the provincial government, said: ""Some 90 people were killed in this incident and most of them are Taliban. ""A small number of the casualties are local civilians, including a few children who had come to take free fuel."" A spokesman for Nato-led forces said its planes had blown up the trucks and killed a large number of insurgent fighters, but were investigating claims civilians had also died. The United Nations chief in Afghanistan said he was ""very concerned"" about reports of civilians casualties. ""As an immediate priority, everything possible must be done to ensure that people wounded by this attack are being properly cared for, and that families of the deceased are getting all the help they need,"" he said. However, a statement from the German army, which has troops in Kunduz, said 56 militants had been killed, adding that civilians had not been hurt. Claims of civilian casualties are fiercely contested because they have become a source of intense friction between Afghan officials and President Hamid Karzai's western backers. Taliban militants have been accused of using civilians as human shields, or deliberately provoking battles in populated areas to incur civilian casualties for propaganda. The incident is the biggest accusation of civilian deaths since General Stanley McChrystal took charge of Nato-led forces vowing he was more interested in protecting Afghans than hunting the Taliban. New tactical advice has cut the number of air strikes in recent months."
" The African Union has suspended Ivory Coast, following a disputed presidential election in the West African nation. AU official Ramtane Lamamra said Ivory Coast would remain suspended until opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara ""takes over"" from Laurent Gbagbo. The UN Security Council earlier said Mr Ouattara had won last month's poll. However, Mr Gbagbo - backed by the army - is defying international pressure and continuing to cling to power. In a separate development, the US warned that it would consider sanctions against Mr Gbagbo if he refused to step down. Mr Lamamra made the announcement on Thursday, after an AU meeting at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Mr Lamamra said the decision had been taken by the council of the 53-nation bloc, describing Mr Ouattara as ""a democratically elected president"". The move is largely about prestige, but if these measures are backed by the West African Central Bank - which is yet to respond to a request from Mr Ouattara to gain control of the Ivorian government accounts held there - it would make it very difficult for Mr Gbagbo to keep control of the state, the BBC's John James in Abidjan reports. Last Thursday, Ivory Coast's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) declared that Mr Ouattara had won the 28 November run-off by 54.1% to 45.9%. But Mr Gbagbo and his supporters alleged the ballot had been fraudulent in some northern regions, which are under the control of the New Forces rebels who support Mr Ouattara."
" CAIRO Jan 31 (Reuters) - The army said on Monday it would not use force against Egyptians staging protests demanding President Hosni Mubarak step down, a statement said. It said ""freedom of expression"" was guaranteed to all citizens using peaceful means. It was the first such explicit confirmation by the army that it would not fire at demonstrators who have taken to the streets of Egypt since last week to try to force Mubarak to quit. ""The presence of the army in the streets is for your sake and to ensure your safety and wellbeing. The armed forces will not resort to use of force against our great people,"" the army statement said. ""Your armed forces, who are aware of the legitimacy of your demands and are keen to assume their responsibility in protecting the nation and the citizens, affirms that freedom of expression through peaceful means is guaranteed to everybody."" It urged people not resort to acts of sabotage that violate security and destroy public and private property. It warned that it would not allow outlaws and to loot, attack and ""terrorise citizens"". (Writing by Samia Nakhoul, Editing by Alison Williams)"
" Egypt's embattled President Hosni Mubarak tasked his new prime minister to ram through democratic reforms as thousands of protesters in central Cairo defied a military curfew to demand the veteran leader's ouster. His instructions to Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq were read out on state television but had no discernable effect on protesters who vowed to continue their demonstrations until Mubarak stepped down. Mubarak, who sacked his cabinet on Friday after a nationwide revolt, also said the new prime minister's priority was restricting unemployment and creating new jobs. ""Above all that, and concurrent with it, I emphasise the importance of urgently, completely, effectively taking new and continuous steps for more political reforms, constitutional and legislative, through dialogue with all parties,"" Mubarak told Shafiq. He also instructed the new cabinet, whose members have not yet been named, to restrict unemployment, end corruption and restore trust in the country's economy. Thousands of protesters stayed put in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of demonstrations in the capital, with some setting up tents to stay overnight despite a military curfew. Top dissident Mohamed ElBaradei earlier told a sea of angry protesters in the square that they were beginning a new era after the six day revolt. The Nobel laureate, who was mandated by Egyptian opposition groups including the banned Muslim Brotherhood to negotiate with Mubarak's regime, hailed ""a new Egypt in which every Egyptian lives in freedom and dignity."" ""We are on the right path, our strength is in our numbers,"" ElBaradei said in his first address on Tahrir square. ""I ask you to be patient, change is coming."" ""We will sacrifice our soul and our blood for the nation,"" the angry crowd shouted. ""The people want to topple the president."""
" Johannesburg (CNN) -- President Jacob Zuma will visit Tripoli next week for talks with embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, according to a statement on the South African leader's website. Zuma will meet Gadhafi Monday in ""his capacity as a member of the African Union high level panel for the resolution of the conflict in Libya,"" the statement said. The African Union panel to Libya includes Uganda, Mauritania and South Africa. It is the second trip for Zuma, who was part of an African Union delegation that visited the nation last month. That visit included talks on a cease-fire, which appear to have failed. The visit is part of an international effort to end a months-long standoff as forces loyal to Gadhafi battle rebels demanding his ouster. A coalition of nations under NATO have struck military targets in the nation as part of a U.N. mandate to protect civilians. The airstrikes started in March after the United Nations Security Council authorized ""all necessary measures"" to protect civilians from government forces eager to crush the uprising. Zuma's visit comes amid a diplomatic spat between the two nations over the fate of South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who has been missing in Libya since April and is believed dead. South Africa says it got assurances from Libya that the journalist was alive. But a Libyan government spokesman said his whereabouts are unknown."
" (CNN) -- Clashes between tribesmen and government forces near Yemen's Sanaa International Airport on Wednesday led to its closure. All arriving flights were diverted to Aden, and no flights were taking off from Sanaa, said a Ministry of Transportation official who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the news media. Witnesses said the situation near the airport was chaotic, with explosions, clashes, tribesmen approaching the airport and electricity cut to the surrounding neighborhood. According to the office of Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar, a leader of the main opposition al-Hashid tribe, the government is believed to have cut the electricity. The flight restrictions were imposed as anti-regime tribesmen battling Yemeni forces occupied the government's news agency compound and the Tourism Ministry in the capital Wednesday, the latest regime entities to be taken over during this week's street battles, witnesses said. Hundreds of al-Hashid tribal members occupied and surrounded the SABA news agency compound and the tourism building in Sanaa after fighting with government forces in the Hasabah neighborhood. Other ministry buildings in Hasabah also have been seized. They are the Interior, Trade and Commerce, the Education and the Local Administration headquarters. These and other government buildings in Hasabah were evacuated Tuesday night by the Interior Ministry as fighting raged. Yemeni state-run television said supporters loyal to the al-Hashid tribe were shelling government facilities. The fighting broke out after a regionally brokered deal calling for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave office fell through. Saleh himself is a member of the al-Hashid tribe, a huge and powerful entity with many strands. After a march Friday, during which dozens of anti-government demonstrators were killed, al-Ahmar embraced the anti-government demonstrators and broke ranks with the president. Since then, more and more tribal members have turned their backs on the president as well."
" Earlier, an Interior Ministry official had said five Taliban militants blew themselves up in the house. The two dead Taliban fighters were involved in a botched attempt to assassinate President Hamid Karzai on Sunday, but they had also received help from some government officials, senior ministers and a security official told a news conference. ""Investigations make clear that the enemy had infiltrated to some extent into some of our security organs and those involved have been arrested with all their networks,"" said Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak. The identities of those who helped facilitate the attack would be revealed after the president's approval, said the head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Amrullah Saleh. Taliban gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades and small arms at a state parade on Sunday sending President Hamid Karzai, his cabinet and the military top brass diving for cover. Three people were shot dead the before troops killed three Taliban attackers. Members of parliament as well as the Afghan public at large have questioned how the Afghan police and NDS could have allowed such a breach of security at such a high-profile event. While the Taliban have carried out sporadic suicide bombings in Kabul before, Sunday's attack, together with a guerrilla-style assault on a five-star hotel in the capital in January, indicate a more sophisticated mode of attack, designed to grab headlines. The same Taliban network was behind both attacks, Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbel said. Afghan security forces surrounded the house on a hillside close to the old city during the night following tip-offs from those arrested after Sunday's violence, Wardak said. After about 10 hours of battling the militants, NDS officers blew up the house killing the two Taliban fighters and a woman and child inside, Saleh said."
" Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says he will not run for a new term in office in the country's September elections, but has rejected demands that he step down immediately and leave the country, vowing to die on Egypt's soil. His announcement in a television address on Tuesday after a dramatic day in which a quarter-million protesters in Cairo called on him to go, received an angry response from those watching in Tahrir square. Egyptians came from all over the country to join what became the culmination of a week-long uprising aimed at removing Egypt's long-time authoritarian ruler from power. Mubarak, 82, said he would serve out the rest of his term working to ensure a ""peaceful transfer of power"" and carry out amendments to rules on presidential elections. But the half-way concession - an end to his rule months down the road - was immediately derided by protesters massed in Cairo's main downtown square. Opposition groups had set him a Friday deadline to quit to allow a clear break with his 30-year rule. Watching his speech on a giant TV set up in Tahrir square, protesters booed and waved their shoes over the heads in a sign of contempt. ""Go, go, go! We are not leaving until he leaves,"" they chanted, and one man screamed, ""He doesn't want to say it, he doesn't want to say it."" Mubarak, who has ruled the country for nearly three decades, insisted that his decision not to run had nothing to do with the unprecedented protests that have shaken Egypt the past week. ""I tell you in all sincerity, regardless of the current circumstances, I never intended to be a candidate for another term,"" he said."
" TEHRAN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran's parliament on Thursday approved most of the new cabinet nominees proposed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Lawmakers gave votes of confidence to 18 ministers of 21-membercabinet proposed by Ahmadinejad. 3 nominees for the ministers of education, welfare and social security, and energy were rejected. Referring to some attempts done by some western media to create discord between the lawmakers and people, Iran's Parliament Speaker, Ali Larijani, in his immediate reaction to the parliament's confidence vote to most of the proposed nominees of President Ahmadinejad said Thursday afternoon that ""Our officials perform unanimously when it comes to the (Islamic) revolution and the people."" ""I think they (Westerners) have less knowledge about our country and our domestic issues. There may be different views among our officials, but we are one in defending Islam, revolution and people,"" added Larijani. The speaker interpreted 38 hours of argumentation about the new government in the parliament and the related 128 views of the lawmakers about the new cabinet as the sign of democracy in the Islamic Republic country. ""For sure, the parliament is the supporter of the government"" he noted implying that the parliament favored most of the president's proposed candidates for ministerial posts. On Monday, Larijani called on lawmakers to give a vote of confidence to Ahmadinejad's new 21-member cabinet candidates. Addressing the closing session of the parliament Monday, Larijani asked the members of parliament to give a vote of confidence to the cabinet nominees regarding their qualifications. On Thursday, almost majority of the parliament representatives said the vote that they cast after a 5-day-long debate in the parliament, was fully studied, democratic and the outcome of their vote would have constructive results for the country. After the voting was over, Hamid Parsaiee, a lawmaker, said that ""Although some nominees could not gain the confidence vote, the output was a sign of (new) cabinet's efficiency."""
" 1 of 2. Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak addresses the nation on Egyptian State TV in this still image taken from video, February 1, 2011. CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Tuesday he would not leave Egypt although he would step down from the presidency at the end of his term, due to end when the country holds a presidential election in September. ""The Hosni Mubarak who speaks to you today is proud of his achievements over the years in serving Egypt and its people,"" he said in an address broadcast on state television. ""This is my country. This is where I lived, I fought and defended its land, sovereignty and interests, and I will die on its soil,"" he said. He also said pledged to implement a series of reforms, including calling on the judiciary to combat corruption, one of the complaints of protesters who have pushed him to announce an end to his presidency later this year."
" Iranian MPs have approved the first woman minister in the 30-year history of the Islamic republic. She was one of 18 nominations for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's new cabinet to be approved. Two other women were among three rejected nominees. The president's choice for defence minister, Ahmad Vahidi, who is wanted by Argentina over a deadly 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre, won strong backing. The vote follows months of wrangling after disputed elections in June. Correspondents say Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, the female health minister-designate, is a hard-line conservative who has in the past proposed introducing segregated health care in Iran, with women treating women and men treating men. Aged 50, she qualified as a gynaecologist from Tehran university and has been a leading activist in women's health for much of her career. Her nomination was criticised as she has no experience of government or running a hospital. She has served as an MP for an Islamic physicians' party, spearheading a campaign to introduce segregated hospitals. It foundered over the shortage of women in some specialisms.   Her pitch to parliament focused on the need for increasing women's roles in national affairs. In an apparent change of heart from her segregation campaign, she praised the ""miracles"" which happen when men and women work together. The two women rejected were Fatemeh Ajorlou, as welfare and social security minister, and Susan Keshavarz, as education minister. The third nominee to be turned down was the president's choice for energy minister, Mohammad Aliabadi. Mr Ahmadinejad has three months to propose new candidates to replace those rejected. The parliamentary confidence vote followed five days of intense debate. Before the vote, Mr Ahmadinejad urged MPs to approve his choices, saying the ballot reflected ""real democracy"". His government would work closely with parliament, he said. The president's proposed oil minister, Massoud Mirkazemi, was approved, despite questions over his experience. Meanwhile, Mr Vahidi - a controversial figure internationally - received the highest number of votes in favour of any nominee, with 227 MPs backing him out of 286, Speaker Ali Larijani said. Interpol has distributed Argentina's warrant for Mr Vahidi's arrest over the attack at the Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association (AMIA) 15 years ago, which killed 85 people. Defence: Ahmad Vahidi - his appointment is controversial internationally because Argentina wants his arrest over a 1994 attack on a Jewish centre Interior: Mostafa Mohammad Najjar - a senior figure in the elite Revolutionary Guards; critics ask whether a military commander should run interior affairs Health: Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi - first woman cabinet minister since 1979; seen as inexperienced Oil: Massoud Mirkazemi - currently commerce minister, has close links to the Revolutionary Guard; his knowledge of the oil industry has been questioned Intelligence: Heydar Moslehi - a former representative of Iran's Supreme Leader in the Basij militia; critics say he has never worked in intelligence Israel and Argentina had condemned his nomination, with Buenos Aires calling it ""an affront to the victims"" of the bombing. Iran has denied any involvement in the blast and says the case against it is politically motivated. Speaking to the French news agency AFP, Mr Vahidi said his approval by MPs was a ""decisive slap to Israel"". The BBC's Peter Biles says the vote was a test of the president's support and his hold on power, amid continuing opposition following his re-election in a contested presidential ballot in June. The appointment of the cabinet also comes at a time of increasing pressure on the Iranian government from abroad, our correspondent says. US President Barack Obama has given Iran until later in September to agree to new talks on its nuclear programme, or face tougher sanctions. Tehran has said it is ready to present a new package of proposals to the international community, although the details have not been published. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mr Ahmadinejad dismissed any threat of further international sanctions against Iran over its nuclear activities. ""No-one can impose any sanctions on Iran any longer,"" he was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. An aide to Mr Ahmadinejad confirmed that the president would attend a United Nations meeting later this month in New York."
" Editor's Note: This article is being updated constantly by CNN reporters worldwide. Follow live blogging on This Just In and the latest tweets from CNN correspondents from the protests. Send your video, images to CNN iReport. Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt braced for a ""march of millions"" in anti-government protests Tuesday as embattled President Hosni Mubarak tried to throw up literal and figurative roadblocks in the way of demonstrators calling for his ouster. Major demonstrations are planned for Cairo, Alexandria and other cities, the latest in a series of rallies that began a week ago. Protesters have defied orders for a curfew, and the country's powerful military announced Monday that it would not open fire on peaceful demonstrators. A leading opposition figure told CNN that the United States needs to be ready to ""let go of Mubarak,"" a longtime ally. ""You shouldn't be behind the curve, and you need to start building confidence with the people, and not with the people who are smothering the people,"" Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told CNN's ""Anderson Cooper 360."" Mubarak's newly appointed vice president, longtime intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, announced Monday that he had begun discussing reform with opposition parties. Speaking on the state television network, Suleiman said a reform package should be drawn up ""expeditiously."" ""The other parties will also have a role to play, which will lead to real political reform,"" Suleiman said. But there were no details of what proposals might be on the table, nor was there any immediate reaction from opposition figures or any indication of which parties were taking part. And at the same time, the government has shut down the country's rail network, posted troops at key locations, closed banks and schools and pulled the plug on mobile phone and internet service ahead of Tuesday's protests. Mubarak has ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years under a sweeping emergency decree, imposed after the 1981 assassination of his predecessor, Anwar Sadat. A wave of protests against his regime erupted following the uprising in Tunisia that ousted its longtime strongman January 14, and Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa -- Mubarak's former foreign minister -- called Monday for a peaceful transition of power ""from an era to the other,"" the French news agency AFP reported. Egypt's military announced Monday evening that it recognized ""the legitimate demands of the honest citizens"" and would not open fire on peaceful protesters."
" Egyptians amassed Tuesday for the biggest day of anger yet in their unrelenting campaign to oust President Hosni Mubarak, on the eighth day of a revolt that has already killed over 100. Thousands of protesters flooded Cairo's protest epicentre at Tahrir Square from early morning with ""marches of a million"" against Mubarak's creaking regime planned in the Egyptian capital and Alexandria. Many spent the night on the square, sleeping in dozens of tents or on the grass, encircled by troops and tanks. By midday (1000 GMT) the crowd had swelled and the huge square was crammed with banner-waving protesters, as more streamed on foot towards the site from across Cairo for the march. The army, which has said it will not shoot at protesters, checked IDs and searched protesters before letting them into the square. Civilians then checked IDs again, looking for plain-clothes police who they say are being deployed as agents provocateurs. ""I will stay here till I die,"" said a defiant Osama Allam, wearing jacket, tie and jeans. ""If I die now my whole family will be proud of me. This is what the Egyptian people need,"" said the 43-year-old lawyer, an effigy of veteran Mubarak hanging from nearby traffic lights, ""Off with your head"" daubed on his face. ""This revolution does not belong to any political party, Muslim group, any group, just the poor Egyptian people,"" said one elderly Egyptian man, declining to give his name as protesters carried Mubarak's mock coffin past him. ""Freedom or death!"" shouted Tarek Shabassi. ""I'm ready to stay here 10, 20, 30 years. Dying means nothing to me because I've been dead for 30 years, since Mubarak came to power."" Another million-strong march was planned in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, as national train services were cancelled and main access roads closed in a bid to stymie protests."
" Police used teargas and batons to clear protesters in Libreville   The son of Gabon's late leader Omar Bongo has been declared the winner of the country's presidential election, amid protests from opposition groups. Ali Ben Bongo won almost 42% of the votes, with his nearest rival on 26%. Mr Bongo, whose father ruled the oil-rich nation for four decades before his death in June, was expected to win. But his critics say the vote was fixed to ensure a dynastic succession, and activists and security forces have been fighting amid widespread unrest. Police used teargas and batons to disperse hundreds of opposition activists in the capital, Libreville. Born in 1959 in Brazzaville, his mother is Gabonese singer and musician Patience Dabany Studied at Sorbonne in Paris before entering politics in 1981 Became foreign affairs minister in 1989 - forced to quit in 1991 because he was too young But disturbances have continued, with crowds of activists breaking into a prison and freed hundreds of inmates in the second city of Port Gentil. AFP news agency reports that the crowds then set fire to France's consular building in Port Gentil. The election has been mired in controversy - with the announcement of results delayed amid a misunderstanding between election officials over how to verify the votes. All three of the main candidates declared victory in the poll - while another candidate went on hunger strike to protest against what he saw as irregularities in the election process. But Communications Minister Laure Olga Gondjout, announcing Mr Bongo's election success, called it a ""victory for the Gabonese people"". ""I salute his courage because at the beginning nothing would have suggested he was going to win,"" he said. Sunday's vote was generally peaceful but tense, with long queues of voters waiting to choose a successor to Omar Bongo. One of the world's richest men, the late president owned a string of properties in France. He was an unflinching ally of France and a key element in French influence in Central Africa. But he denied corruption charges in French courts. BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says that Ali Ben Bongo is seen as less closely linked to the French elite than his father, despite being educated at the Sorbonne. He is also somewhat detached from ordinary Gabonese, struggling to speak local languages with real fluency, he says. Gabon is sub-Saharan Africa's fourth biggest oil producer and Africa's second biggest wood exporter, although most of its 1.4 million people live in poverty."
" Gabon's electoral commission said a delay in announcing the outcome of the contest to become president was due a to ""misunderstanding"" among officials and hoped to declare results later Thursday. Members of the Autonomous Electoral Commission had had ""a certain difficulty"" agreeing on the procedure for validating the results, its president Rene Aboghe Ella told state television channel RTG1. The result of Sunday's vote, in which three of the front-runners have already claimed victory, had been expected Wednesday, and there have been increasing signs of tension in the capital, Libreville. Aboghe Ella also said there had been technical difficulties at the start of the committee's meeting, with delays getting the reports issued from the 2,800 voting stations, he said. ""We are going to continue to examine ways out of this little misunderstanding,"" he said, saying he hoped that a clear result would be announced before the end of the morning. The Autonomous Electoral Commission, made up of representatives of the ruling majority, the opposition, independent candidates and the government, met on Wednesday night. Leading candidates Ali Bongo, who is a former defence minister and son of the late president Omar Bongo Ondimba, main opposition leader Pierre Mamboundou and former interior minister Andre Mba Obame have each already claimed victory. Apart from the party faithful, Libreville was almost deserted early Thursday with very little traffic and few pedestrians, while anti-riot police and troops were deployed all round the capital in small groups. As tension built, all three mobile phone operators suspended text messaging services without explanation. There were fears that the long wait might result in violence."
" China's State Food and Drug Administration on Thursday granted approval to a homegrown swine flu vaccine, which producer Sinovac says is effective after only one dose. ""The Sinovac H1N1 vaccine is officially approved,"" the head of the SFDA's registration department, Zhang Wei, told reporters. ""The completion of trials for Beijing Sinovac's vaccine has shown this vaccine to be very safe,"" the regulatory agency said in a brief statement ahead of a news conference. Zhang said the SFDA was looking at applications from nine other companies developing vaccines against A(H1N1) influenza, with a decision expected by mid-September. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a possible swine flu vaccine shortage as the winter -- and the regular flu season -- approaches in the northern hemisphere. More than two dozen pharmaceutical companies around the world are racing to test, produce and ship vaccines before the global pandemic enters an expected second wave. The WHO says at least 2,185 people have died after contracting the swine flu virus, which has become the most prevalent strain of influenza. The virus has been detected in nearly every country in the world. Sinovac has said its product is effective after only one dose, signalling a potential major breakthrough, as most experts had assumed that two doses per person would be needed. Hans Troedsson, the outgoing WHO representative in China, told AFP in a recent interview that a one-dose vaccine would be ""very important as it means we can vaccinate twice as many."" The Chinese government plans to vaccinate 65 million people, or five percent of the total population of 1.3 billion, before year's end."
" BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- China approved Thursday the A/H1N1 flu vaccine produced by domestic pharmaceutical company Sinovac, making it the first to get a production license in the global race. The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) issued the license for Sinovac's vaccine called Panflu.1 on Thursday, after it passed SFDA's experts evaluation on Aug. 31. ""Clinical trials show that Panflu.1 is very safe and its immunogenicity factors reach international standards,"" said Zhang Wei, director of SFDA's registration department. Panflu.1 could safely be given to people aged from three to 60 years old in a single shot, 15 microgram dose, according to the evaluation report. Sinovac had the capacity to produce five million doses of vaccine before Oct.1, and 20 to 30 million doses per year, according to its president Yin Weidong. ""Currently Sinovac will focus on meeting the need of the Chinese government. And if we still have extra capacity, Sinovac is quite open to discuss the possible opportunity on A/H1N1 vaccine export,"" said Yin. On Wednesday, Sinovac and Boryung Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., a Republic of Korea pharmaceutical manufacturer, reached an agreement to collaborate on possible vaccine supply to the country. The vaccine would be reserved by the State instead of going on general sale across the country, according to Zhang. ""The government will make out an overall plan and decide certain high-risk groups who will get priority vaccination,"" Zhang said. Yin declined to comment on this because ""it's inappropriate for us to talk about it as Sinovac is only responsible for production."""
" WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange disguised himself as an old woman in order to evade US intelligence officers who he believed were following him, extracts from a new biography revealed Monday. Further passages from ""WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy,"" written by Guardian newspaper journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding, also showed that the hacker did not know his biological father until the age of 27. Assange gained international notoriety in November 2010 when his WikiLeaks website began publishing over 250,000 leaked US diplomatic cables. The Australian-born hacker was in England at the time and became convinced that CIA agents were following him, despite ""no obvious signs of pursuit,"" the book claimed. ""You can't imagine how ridiculous it was,"" WikiLeaks's James Ball told the authors. ""He'd stayed dressed up as an old woman for more than two hours."" Excerpts from the biography, published in the Guardian, exposed Assange's unusual childhood and his complicated parental situation. ""Julian's biological father John Shipton is absent from much of the record,"" the book explained. ""At 17, (Assange's mother) fell in love with Shipton, a rebellious young man she met at an anti-Vietnam war demonstration in 1970. ""The relationship ended and he would play no further role in Assange's life for many years. They had no contact until after Assange turned 25. ""Later they met, with Julian discovering he had inherited his architect father's highly logical and dispassionate intellect. One friend said Shipton was 'like a mirror shining back at Julian'."" Assange's first brush with the law occurred in 1994 when he was charged with 24 counts of hacking."
" IRNA says protesters who were taken into custody during post-election unrest died from 'intentional assault and battery.' Nine people ordered to pay fines, blood money and receive lashes for abuse of prisoners An Iranian military court sentenced two people to death on Wednesday for the murder of three protesters taken into custody after last June's contested presidential election, the official IRNA news agency reported. IRNA said the jailed protesters had died as a result ""intentional assault and battery"", but gave no further details of the circumstances of their deaths and did not identify the people convicted of killing them. IRNA said the jailed protesters had died as a result ""intentional assault and battery"", but gave no further details of the circumstances of their deaths and did not identify the people convicted of killing them. The protesters who died in custody have been considered martyrs by the opposition. Authorities had initially said they died of meningitis, but a coroner said they died as a result of beatings. The protesters who died in custody have been considered martyrs by the opposition. Authorities had initially said they died of meningitis, but a coroner said they died as a result of beatings. If those sentenced for the killings are police or prison guards it would be the first time such officials have been convicted for abusing post-election protesters. If those sentenced for the killings are police or prison guards it would be the first time such officials have been convicted for abusing post-election protesters. A further nine people were ordered to pay fines and blood money and receive lashes for the abuse of prisoners at the Kahrizak detention center, south of Tehran. One person was cleared. The convictions are subject to appeal. A further nine people were ordered to pay fines and blood money and receive lashes for the abuse of prisoners at the Kahrizak detention center, south of Tehran. One person was cleared. The convictions are subject to appeal. Thousands of people were arrested after the reelection of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Most have been freed, though dozens, including former senior officials, have been jailed for up to 16 years and at least two have been hanged. Thousands of people were arrested after the reelection of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Most have been freed, though dozens, including former senior officials, have been jailed for up to 16 years and at least two have been hanged. Scores of people have filed complaints of their mistreatment at Kahrizak and police confirmed in August that serious violations had taken place there. Scores of people have filed complaints of their mistreatment at Kahrizak and police confirmed in August that serious violations had taken place there. The government, which faced down widespread street unrest after the election, accused foreign enemies of fomenting ""sedition"". It is likely to hold up Wednesday's convictions as evidence it does not tolerate human rights abuse. The government, which faced down widespread street unrest after the election, accused foreign enemies of fomenting ""sedition"". It is likely to hold up Wednesday's convictions as evidence it does not tolerate human rights abuse. Amnesty International has said Iran uses torture, politically-motivated executions and the imprisonment of journalists, students, activists and clerics to stifle dissent. Amnesty International has said Iran uses torture, politically-motivated executions and the imprisonment of journalists, students, activists and clerics to stifle dissent. A parliamentary report in January said more than 145 detainees were kept for several days in a room of 70 square metres at Kahrizak, which was closed in July on the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A parliamentary report in January said more than 145 detainees were kept for several days in a room of 70 square metres at Kahrizak, which was closed in July on the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In a separate case, state TV reported that 33 people had been referred to court in connection with attacks on a Tehran University dormitory and a residential apartment complex during the post-election unrest. In a separate case, state TV reported that 33 people had been referred to court in connection with attacks on a Tehran University dormitory and a residential apartment complex during the post-election unrest. Opposition activists said four students -- three men and one woman -- were killed during the violence which they said was carried out by Islamic militia and police. The university chancellor denied anyone was killed. Opposition activists said four students -- three men and one woman -- were killed during the violence which they said was carried out by Islamic militia and police. The university chancellor denied anyone was killed.       Please wait for the talkbacks to load"
" An Iranian military court has sentenced two men to death in connection with the killings of three anti-government protesters, the state news agency said. Prosecutors said the three died after a series of beatings in Iran's Kahrizak jail, where they were held for taking part in last year's election protests. Nine other officials were sentenced to jail and lashes over the deaths, Irna said quoting a court statement. Kahrizak jail was shut in July over concerns about the abuse of inmates. The officials charged in the Kahrizak case - whose names have not been released - were among 12 people facing prosecution over the inmates' deaths. The pair were found guilty of ""inflicting intentional abuse leading to the murder"" of the three protesters, Irna quoted the court statement as saying. They have 20 days to appeal against the rulings. One person has been acquitted due to lack of evidence, Irna said. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election in the June 2009 poll triggered mass protests by opposition supporters, who claimed the vote was rigged. More than 150 demonstrators were taken to Kahrizak detention centre, south of Tehran, in the aftermath of the street protests."
" Ahmadinejad signs law forbidding Iranian broadcast authority from airing advertisements for 'Zionist' companies. Black list include American companies owned by Jews and firms that do business with Israel. Nestle, IBM, others in crosshairs Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed Wednesday a new amendment to a law in the Islamic Republic that forbids the airing of advertisements for ""Zionist companies."" The blacklist of prohibited companies is comprised mainly of international companies, mainly American, owned by Jews or that operate branches in Israel. Among those on the list are Coca Cola, Nestle, Intel, and IBM. Among those on the list are Coca Cola, Nestle, Intel, and IBM. The boycott is rooted in Iran's ""Palestinian support law,"" which acts as a response to assertions that Israel prevented goods from entering the Gaza Strip during its raid on the The boycott is rooted in Iran's ""Palestinian support law,"" which acts as a response to assertions that Israel prevented goods from entering the Gaza Strip during its raid on the flotilla The amendment obligates a number of government ministries to establish a committee to identify and locate products from ""Zionist"" companies being sold in Iran. In addition, this committee will be charged with finding the names of leading figures in the blacklisted companies so that they may be boycotted as well. The amendment obligates a number of government ministries to establish a committee to identify and locate products from ""Zionist"" companies being sold in Iran. In addition, this committee will be charged with finding the names of leading figures in the blacklisted companies so that they may be boycotted as well. This move is another link in the chain of efforts made by Iran to isolate Israel in the world in accordance with a decision passed in Iranian parliament on the matter. Iran also plans on bringing forth a resolution to boycott Israel in the UN and in other international forums, including the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League. This move is another link in the chain of efforts made by Iran to isolate Israel in the world in accordance with a decision passed in Iranian parliament on the matter. Iran also plans on bringing forth a resolution to boycott Israel in the UN and in other international forums, including the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League. The amendment also obligates the Iranian foreign ministry to present annual reports on the progress made in the Israeli boycott. The amendment also obligates the Iranian foreign ministry to present annual reports on the progress made in the Israeli boycott. Beyond wanting to bring harm to Israel, the amendment may also be an indirect response to the new round of sanctions recently imposed on Iran by the West over its nuclear program. The move is intended mainly for internal purposes, in order to increase civilian support of the Palestinians. Beyond wanting to bring harm to Israel, the amendment may also be an indirect response to the new round of sanctions recently imposed on Iran by the West over its nuclear program. The move is intended mainly for internal purposes, in order to increase civilian support of the Palestinians.       Please wait for the talkbacks to load"
" Palestinian and Egyptian troops have been trying to shore up the barrier to stop Palestinians crossing into Egypt after the withdrawal of Israeli troops. In chaotic scenes, thousands of Palestinians have streamed over the border in the last few days without undergoing official checks. Despite this, Egypt says that its Gaza border is officially closed. Militants from Hamas cleared an area before setting off explosives that blew away a section of the wall. Palestinian security officers present did nothing to prevent them. A local Hamas commander warned them not to try to intervene, AFP news agency reported. The Egyptian authorities set a deadline of 1800 (1300 GMT) for people to return to the right side of the Gaza border or face arrest. The mass crossings have raised questions as to whether Egypt can honour its deal with Israel and maintain security along the border, correspondents say. Many of those crossing have been going to visit relatives stranded on the other side, to buy cheaper food and other goods, or just out of curiosity. Israel fears militants will exploit the situation to smuggle weapons into Gaza. Egypt's ambassador to Israel, Mohammed Asim Ibrahim, has vowed to maintain law and order."
"I am Shahram Amiri, a citizen of the Islamic republic. A few minutes ago I managed to escape from the hands of US intelligence agents in Virginia,"" said the man in the footage shown yesterday on state television. ""I could be re-arrested at any time by US agents . . . I am not free and I'm not allowed to contact my family. If something happens and I do not return home alive, the US government will be responsible,"" he said. Mr Amiri, the nuclear scientist, disappeared in June last year after arriving in Saudi Arabia for a pilgrimage. Iran says the US abducted him with the help of Saudi intelligence services. ABC News in the US reported in March that Mr Amiri had defected and was working with the CIA. Iranian state television aired a video last month in which a man identifying himself as Mr Amiri said he had been abducted by US agents and was being held near Tucson, Arizona. Washington denied the Iranian accusations, with State Department spokesman Philip Crowley refusing to say whether Mr Amiri was in the US.
DR Congo marks 50 troubled years of independence	 The Democratic Republic of Congo marks 50 years of independence Wednesday with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Belgian king among a host of world leaders attending the celebrations. A highlight will be a large military parade in the capital where President Joseph Kabila will be joined by the UN chief, King Albert II from former colonial power Belgium, three other monarchs and 18 heads of government. The national anthem, sung for the first time at the June 30, 1960 independence from 80 years of colonial rule, urges citizens to ""build, in peace, a country more beautiful than before"". But half a century on those hopes have been cruelly dashed, with the vast, resource-rich African nation blighted by war, corruption and poverty. ""As far as we are concerned the DRC has moved backwards more than forwards,"" Congolese bishops wrote in a joint text to mark the anniversary. The ""dream of a beautiful Congo"" has been destroyed, they said. For much of its post-colonial history, the DR Congo was bled dry by the kleptocratic regime of Joseph Mobutu Sese Seko, who came to power in a 1965 coup and ruled for 32 years. Today, though endowed with vast reserves of gold, copper, cobalt and diamonds, it is one of the world's poorest nations, hobbled by a bloody eight-year war, from 1996 to 2003, that cost some three million lives. Four years after the 2006 democratic election of Kabila brought some stability to the vast nation, two-thirds of its 60 million inhabitants still scrape by on 1.25 US dollars (about one euro) a day. Kabila is meanwhile fighting off criticism of his own record on governance, human rights and the economy.
Algeria insurgents kill 11 in military convoy ambush	 Suspected Islamic militants have killed 11 Algerian paramilitary police in an ambush in the Sahara desert, a security source has said. The assault took place at dawn during a military vehicle patrol in the town of Tinzaouatine, near the border with Mali, local media reported. The attackers also stole weapons and communication devices, and set the vehicles alight, the source said. It is the most deadly attack so far this year in Algeria. Armed Islamic groups in Algeria have linked themselves to al-Qaida to stage bombings and other attacks. Algeria was riven with violence after the 1992 general election, won by an Islamist party, was annulled. More than 150,000 people died, but an amnesty in 1999 led many rebels to lay down their arms. Political violence in Algeria has declined since then, but Islamic groups continue to carry out sporadic attacks.	
Guinea-Bissau mutineer General Indjai made army chief	 Guinea-Bissau's president has inaugurated mutineer General Antonio Indjai as army chief, despite protests from international donors. Gen Indjai led a mutiny in April, ousting the head of the army, who is still in custody, and briefly detaining the prime minister. The US has questioned the government's control of the armed forces and has now broken off military aid. Last week, it asked for suspected drug lords in the military to be removed. In recent years the tiny West African nation has become a major transit hub for cocaine smuggled from Latin America to Europe and has suffered much political unrest as a result. It has more than 80 largely uninhabited islands off its coast which are handy smuggling points for traffickers. President Malam Bacai Sanha defended his decision to appoint Gen Indjai, who was army vice chief of staff before the mutiny. ""We took a sovereign decision to name Gen Indjai as the head of the army, because Guinea-Bissau is a sovereign country. I am speaking as the democratically elected president,"" AFP news agency quotes Mr Sanha as saying. In April, days after the mutiny, Guinea-Bissau's air force head Ibraima Papa Camara and former navy chief Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto were named by the US as ""drug kingpins"", and had their US-based assets frozen. Correspondents say Mr Na Tchuto, who is still hugely influential behind the scenes, was at the inauguration ceremony.
Iran nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri 'flees US captors'	 A man who says he is an Iranian nuclear scientist claims to have escaped after being abducted by US agents. In a video shown on Iranian state TV, he says he has escaped in the US state of Virginia and is now on the run. Mr Amiri disappeared a year ago while undertaking the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Two videos purportedly showing him surfaced three weeks ago. One said he had been kidnapped, the other that he was living freely in Arizona. The US has strenuously denied abducting him, but ABC News reported in March that Mr Amiri had defected and was helping the CIA compile intelligence on Iran's controversial nuclear weapons programme. The state department has refused to say whether he is in the US. In the new video, broadcast on Tuesday, a man claiming to be the missing scientist says: ""I, Shahram Amiri, am a national of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a few minutes ago I succeeded in escaping US security agents in Virginia. ""Presently, I am producing this video in a safe place. I could be re-arrested at any time."" The man says the video broadcast earlier this month - in which someone claiming to be Mr Amiri says he was kidnapped by Saudi and US agents, tortured, forced to say he had defected and was living in Tucson, Arizona - is ""completely authentic and there are no fabrications in it. ""The second video which was published on YouTube by the US government, where I have said that I am free and want to continue my education here, is not true and is a complete fabrication.
Georgian protests, TV building attacked	 TBILISI (Reuters) - Some 10,000 Georgians rallied in Tbilisi demanding President Mikheil Saakashvili resign, while in the southwestern town of Batumi a witness said demonstrators tried to break into a television building. Tsira Abuladze, head of news at state television in the autonomous Adjara region on the Black Sea, told Reuters by telephone from Batumi that a crowd of up to 400 people had pushed at doors and threw stones at windows. Russian news agencies reported police fired at protestors. Abuladze said police did not use weapons but added that several policemen were wounded in scuffles. She said that after an encounter with the police, attackers had left the square. President Saakashvili eased out the Moscow-backed leader of Adjara in 2004, strengthening Tbilisi's control over the region. But the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, also supported by Moscow, remain beyond Tbilisi's control. Weakened by war with Russia in 2008, Saakashvili has since reasserted control, overcoming months of protests in 2009. Opponents accuse Saakashvili of imposing autocratic rule on Georgia, a former Soviet republic that sits astride important road and rail links and energy transit routes from the Caspian to western Europe. Protesters led by former Saakashvili ally and parliament speaker Nino Burjanadze marched along Tbilisi's main thoroughfare, blocking traffic, and then staged a rally at the central Freedom square. ""We will fight to the end together with you. It is the final and decisive fight for all of us and we are not going to take any steps back,"" Nino Burjanadze told the crowd. ""We cannot wait until the next election and if we do not want to wait we should act now."" Burjanadze led the crowd to the Georgian state television building where the protesters, as in Batumi, demanded air time before dispersing. Saakashvili's United National Movement won local elections in Georgia in May 2010 in the first electoral test of the government since the 2008 war with Russia over rebel South Ossetia.Saakashvili's term in office ends in 2013.
Georgian Opposition, Police Clash in Tbilisi, Burjanadze Says	 Georgian anti-government protesters clashed today with police after blockading the state television headquarters overnight, opposition leader Nino Burjanadze said. The police used rubber bullets and tear gas and at least one seriously injured woman was taken to hospital, Burjanadze, a former speaker of parliament, said in an interview. Police denied using tear gas and said the demonstrators attacked a police car with sticks, Shota Utiashvili, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said by telephone. The protesters are seeking to oust President Mikheil Saakashvili, a one-time ally of Burjanadze whom the opposition accuses of manipulating elections. Saakashvili opponents last staged a major rally in 2009. U.S.-backed Saakashvili, 43, swept to power in the so- called Rose Revolution in 2003. He has been under pressure since 2007, when protests turned violent as opponents accused him of political persecution and failing to raise living standards.
Cyprus elections rivals in tight finish	 The main opposition party has narrowly won Cyprus' parliamentary elections - though the governing party also increased its vote. The conservative Disy party took 34.27% of the vote, compared to 32.67% for the communist-rooted Akel party. The Turkish-controlled north of the island did not take part in the vote. The BBC's Tabitha Morgan in Nicosia says that, unusually, the question of how to reunite the island barely surfaced during the campaign. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish forces invaded the island in response to a Greek-led coup. The election campaign was one of the most lacklustre since Cyprus gained independence from Britain 51 years ago, our correspondent says. Turnout was 78% - but this is regarded as low in a country where voting is compulsory. In the event, both main parties increased their share of the vote compared with the last poll in 2006 - Disy by 3.75% and Akel by 1.36%. Analysts said this showed support for President Demitris Christofias - who led Akel for two decades - and the way he has handled reunification talks, remained steady. It was thought Akel would be able to retain its parliamentary majority, even though its coalition partner, Diko, lost ground.
H1N1 returns, 21 new cases recorded in TN	 CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has recorded 21 cases of A ( H1N1 ) flu, including four in Chennai and its suburbs, since May.Kanyakumari registered the maximum of 14 cases. While a 65-year-old man in Thanjavur, who died at a private hospital, tested positive, his death has been recorded as due to cardiac arrest.While no case was reported between January and April, the flu has made a comeback in some pockets of the state. But there is no reason to panic, health minister MRK Panneerselvam said on Tuesday. The government will critically monitor six districts that border Kerala for the virus.
Gulf storm strengthens to hurricane; Alex taking aim at Mexico-Texas border, far from spill	 Gulf storm strengthens to hurricane; Alex taking aim at Mexico-Texas border, far from spill MIAMI - Alex has become the first hurricane of the Atlantic season and is churning through the western Gulf, taking aim at the Mexico-Texas border while staying far away from the massive oil spill. Alex had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) late Tuesday. The National Hurricane Center says the Category 1 storm is the first June Atlantic hurricane since 1995. Forecasters says landfall seems likely Wednesday night. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 15 miles (24 kilometres) from the storm's centre. Tropical storm-force winds extend 175 miles (280 kilometres). A hurricane warning was posted for the Texas coast from Baffin Bay, south to the mouth of the Rio Grande river and south to La Cruz, Mexico.	
Pc to be prosecuted for death of Ian Tomlinson	 A police officer is to be charged with manslaughter over the death of newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson during the 2009 G20 protests. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, said there was now a ""realistic prospect"" of convicting Pc Simon Harwood. An inquest earlier this month returned a verdict of unlawful death on the 47-year-old. Mr Tomlinson's family said they were ""more than happy"" about the decision. The officer is due to appear before magistrates on 20 June. The inquest heard Mr Tomlinson collapsed and died after he was hit by a baton and pushed to the ground by Pc Simon Harwood in central London on 1 April 2009. The officer said after the inquest he had not intended to push him over. Mr Starmer said: ""The difficulty facing any prosecution in relation to the death of Mr Tomlinson lies in the conflicting medical evidence about the cause of death. That difficulty remains."" But he said new medical evidence had been presented at the inquest, and the medical opinion of pathologist Freddy Patel had been tested in extensive questioning at the inquest. He said this had allowed ""a degree of clarity to emerge"".
Phone hacking: 'Humbled' Murdoch rejects blame	 Rupert Murdoch has said he cannot be held responsible for the scandal at the News of the World, saying he was let down by ""people I trusted"". The News Corporation boss said he was not aware of the extent of phone hacking there and had ""clearly"" been misled by some of his staff. His son, James, apologised to victims, saying hacking was ""inexcusable"". The hearing was the first time Rupert Murdoch has faced direct scrutiny by MPs in his 40-year UK media career. Two hours into the hearing, a man tried to throw a foam pie at Rupert Murdoch and proceedings were briefly suspended. The protester appeared to lunge towards the News Corp chairman and chief executive but was fought off by a group of people, including Mr Murdoch's wife, Wendi. Jonathan May-Bowles, 26, has been charged with a public order offence. Rupert and James Murdoch's appearance before the Commons culture, media and sport select committee lasted about three hours. Faced with a series of questions from Labour MP Tom Watson, Mr Murdoch paused extensively and his son James made several attempts to intervene. However, Mr Watson told him: ""Your father is responsible for corporate governance, and serious wrongdoing has been brought about in the company. ""It is revealing in itself what he does not know and what executives chose not to tell him."
" BAGHDAD, Sept. 20 -- Nine Americans were killed in insurgent attacks across Iraq in the last two days, military and diplomatic sources said Tuesday. The dead included an embassy official and three security contractors killed Monday morning in a suicide car bombing in the northern city of Mosul. Witnesses in Mosul said a lone driver smashed his red sedan into the second vehicle in a convoy of three sport-utility vehicles, triggering a fiery explosion. Security forces immediately cordoned the area and administered first aid, but the contractors and an assistant regional security officer, Stephen Eric Sullivan, had died instantly, according to a U.S. official in Baghdad who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Two others riding in the diplomatic convoy, which was leaving a U.S. Embassy satellite office, suffered minor injuries. ""Steve was a brave American, dedicated to his country and to a brighter future for the people of Iraq,"" Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a written statement. ""Our thoughts and prayers are with Steve's family."" Sullivan, whose job involved coordinating security and overseeing contractors, was the third American diplomat killed since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Diplomatic security agent Edward J. Seitz died in October in a mortar attack on a U.S. base near Baghdad International Airport. The following month, James Mollen, an American special adviser to Iraq's Higher Education and Scientific Research Ministry, was shot to death near the capital's fortified Green Zone. Also Tuesday, the U.S. military announced the deaths of four soldiers in two roadside bombings in the city of Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, and the death of another soldier whose vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb 75 miles north of the capital. The soldiers' names were not released. According to the Pentagon, 1,902 U.S. service members, including civilian employees of the Defense Department, have been killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. The recent rash of violence against Americans came as British and Iraqi officials offered widely contrasting public accounts of the circumstances that led to clashes Monday between British soldiers and Iraqi police in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city. A British armored vehicle smashed into a police station in an attempt to force the release of two British soldiers who had been detained. Haider Abadi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari, called the British actions ""very unfortunate"" and said police had acted correctly in detaining the men, who were behaving ""very suspiciously."" They were wearing civilian clothes and asking for information in the streets, he said, but would not elaborate. ""We hoped they would solve this problem with the central government,"" Abadi said. ""But the British forces decided to act individually, and the military operation to release the detainees happened the way we saw it. This is wrong, and it is not a healthy way to deal with problems."""
"A Grad rocket hit the centre of the city of Beersheba. One man was moderately injured by shrapnel,"" an Israeli army spokeswoman said. The rocket had hit a road and the shrapnel had flown into a nearby flat. Another Grad rocket fired by militants in the Gaza Strip hit the outskirts of Beersheba on February 23, but this was the first time since Operation Cast Lead, more than two years ago, that such a projectile hit the city centre, home to 186,000 people. Beersheba is about 40km from Gaza, much further than the Israeli cities regularly targeted by Palestinian militants. Late on Tuesday, a Grad rocket was fired towards Ashdod but landed south of it without causing injuries or damage, the spokeswoman said. Militants in Gaza on Tuesday fired nine rockets and missiles into Israel, the army said. The Islamic Jihad Palestinian militant group claimed responsibility yesterday for the rocket attacks on Beersheba and Ashdod. The group said the attacks were in reprisal for Israeli air strikes that killed eight Palestinians and injured others. ""It's part of our answer to Zionist crimes against our people in the Gaza Strip,"" the group's al-Quds Brigade said. Operation Cast Lead is the name for Israel's 22-day war on Gaza, which began at the end of 2008, to halt rocket fire on Israel. During the operation 1400 Palestinians died, more than half of them civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.	
Somalia seizes planes carrying pirate ransoms-officials	 Somali pirate gangs are reaping tens of millions of dollars in ransoms by seizing ships and holding their cargos and crew hostage. International navies have managed to quell attacks in the busy Gulf of Aden shipping lane, but have struggled to contain the pirates in the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean. Cash ransoms are usually dropped onto captured vessels from light aircraft. ""This morning, two unmarked planes landed and exchanged cargo. After investigation, $3.6 million were found,"" Abdi Sheikhur Sheikh Hassan, Somalia's interior and security minister said in a statement. An official at Mogadishu airport said one of the planes had flown in from the Kenyan capital Nairobi, while they were yet to determine the origin of the second. ""We seized the two planes and their pilots plus the ransom for the pirates,"" airport deputy security chief Burhan Mohamed told Reuters. ""We have taken the men and their cash to the jail. One plane was from Nairobi and it wanted to give the money to the pirates using another plane that landed soon after,"" he said. It was not immediately clear which hijacked vessel was involved in the ransom payment. (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Editing by George Obulutsa and Michel Rose)
Humble Murdoch defends record, attacked by protester	 1 of 15. A man tries to attack News Corp Chief Executive and Chairman Rupert Murdoch with a white substance during a parliamentary committee hearing on phone hacking at Portcullis House in London, July 19, 2011. Revelations of phone-hacking and payments to police by the News of the World have raised questions on his family's grip on News Corporation, on the probity of the police and on the judgment of Prime Minister David Cameron, who returned early from Africa for an emergency parliament debate on Wednesday. Calling it ""the most humble day of my life,"" Murdoch defended his record and that of his son, and said he could not know everything that his 53,000 employees did. James, 38, sat beside him before parliament's media committee, interjecting on occasion as his 80-year-old father hesitated to give answers on what he knew, and when, of criminality at the Sunday tabloid. But as three hours of earnest, at times testy, proceedings drew to a close with lawmakers pressing the Murdochs to explain payments to some of those involved in the decade-old affair, the hearing briefly turned to violence and farce when a man rose from the public seating of the packed committee room. As he tried to hit the elder Murdoch with a paper plate of white foam, the Australian-born mogul's 42-year-old wife Wendi Deng leapt in to slap the protester in a melee before he was seized by police. He was identified as a left-wing comedian. After a short recess, Murdoch, now jacket-less, was told by one of the committee members he had shown ""immense guts."" Another lawmaker, long one of his most bitter critics, later jokingly complimented his wife on her ""very good left hook."" That televised cameo, and the emotionally worded statements from the Murdochs on their personal remorse and will to clean up the mess at the News International newspaper unit, may temper some of the public and parliamentary fury aimed at a man who has been courted and feared by British leaders for decades. ""You couldn't make this stuff up. It could have turned the whole situation around for them,"" said Andrew Hawkins, chairman of polling company ComRes. ""The combination of his father's age and the custard pie attack will have elicited a tremendous amount of sympathy. I suspect that in the weeks to come we will probably look back at this moment and think it was pivotal for them."" A convincing performance could put the spotlight heavily on Cameron, who appointed a former editor of the News of the World as his spokesman, despite an early phone-hacking case in 2007.	
Yemen's leader says he will accept transition plan	 (CNN) -- Yemen's embattled president has accepted opposition demands for constitutional reforms and holding parliamentary elections by the end of the year, according to a statement issued by his office. The statement said President Ali Abdullah Saleh was ""committed to undertaking all possible initiatives to reach a settlement"" with the opposition JMP bloc and ""prevent any future bloodshed of the Yemeni people."" According to the statement, Saleh ""has accepted the five points submitted by the JMP, including formation of a government of national unity and a national committee to draft a new constitution, drafting a new electoral law, and holding a constitutional referendum, parliamentary elections and a presidential vote by the end of the year. ""These accepted proposals have been submitted to the mediating party on the basis that this would end the current state of political turmoil facing the nation and paving the way for a smooth, peaceful and democratic transition,"" the statement from Saleh's office said. There was no immediate reaction from the opposition, which previously has demanded Saleh's immediate resignation. On Tuesday, a JMP spokesman rejected a report that Saleh was offering to step down by early 2012. ""Any offer that does not include the president's immediate resignation is rejected,"" JMP spokesman Mohammed Qahtan said. Saleh's statement came on the same day that Yemen's parliament approved a 30-day extension of emergency powers he declared last week in response to the protests. The emergency law expands the government's powers of arrest, detention, and censorship. The president's standing has weakened after some government officials and military officers declared their support for the opposition Monday in the wake of a crackdown on protesters that left 52 people dead last week. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Wednesday for full political dialogue in Yemen involving all players to find a peaceful solution. Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years, has been a U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist network based in Yemen.
PM: I'll make territorial concessions, but not on Jerusalem	 Addressing the recent Palestinian reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas, Netanyahu told Congress that he is willing to return to negotiations with the Palestinians, but not with Hamas. Israel will not, he said, ""negotiate with a Palestinian government, which is backed by a Palestinian version of al-Qaida,"" he said referring to Hamas after noting that they condemned the US killing of Osama bin Laden.  Hamas, he noted, is not a partner for peace. It ""remains committed to Israel's destruction and to terrorism. They have a charter, it calls not only for the destruction of Israel, it says: kill the Jews.""    The prime minister also stressed Israel's position as the one democracy in the Middle East, in a special joint session of Congress. ""Israel is the one anchor of stability in a region of shifting alliances,"" Netanyahu said.  He went on to stress the strong ties between Jerusalem and Washington. ""Israel has no better friend than America and America has no better friend than Israel,"" Netanyahu said. The two countries ""stand together, to defend democracy, to advance peace and to fight terrorism,"" he said.  The White House offered a low-key response to Netanyahu's speech. Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, said in London that the prime minister had ""reaffirmed the strength of the US-Israeli relationship"" and had ""pointed to the importance of peace.   "
" Washington (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress Tuesday that he is prepared to make ""painful compromises"" for a peace deal with Palestinians, but reiterated his insistence that Israel will never return to the boundaries that existed before the 1967 Middle East war. While asserting he is prepared to be ""generous"" in regard to the size of a future Palestinian state, Netanyahu stressed the importance of keeping control over certain densely settled areas within the West Bank. He stressed that Israeli security will be a major consideration in the establishment of future boundaries. The prime minister flatly ruled out any so-called ""right of return"" for Palestinian families who left Israel after the state's founding in 1948. ""Jews from around the world have a right to immigrate to the Jewish state,"" Netanyahu said. ""Palestinians from around the world should have a right to immigrate, if they so choose, to a Palestinian state. This means that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel."" The prime minister blamed Palestinians for refusing to recognize the Jewish state's right to exist, and repeated his demand that Jerusalem remain united as Israel's capital. Netanyahu's speech in the House chamber -- a rare honor for a foreign leader -- was perceived by many observers as a response to President Barack Obama's call last Thursday for peace talks based on the 1967 lines with ""mutually agreed"" land swaps. Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, were both on hand for the Israeli leader's remarks. Netanyahu was warmly received by Democrats and Republicans alike. Top Palestinian officials, however, argued that Netanyahu's terms did not convey a serious desire to pursue a resolution. ""I am willing to make painful compromises to achieve this historic peace,"" Netanyahu declared. ""In a genuine peace, we'll be required to give up parts of the ancestral Jewish homeland. ""Some settlements will end up beyond Israel's (current) borders,"" he acknowledged. But ""Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967."""
" Yemen's parliament has approved a sweeping set of emergency laws giving broader powers of arrest and censorship to the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, despite growing calls from opponents demanding he quit to make way for a military-backed democratic transition. The emergency law, last evoked during Yemen's 1994 civil war, suspends the constitution, allows for greater media censorship, bans street protests and gives security agencies arbitrary powers to arrest and detain suspects without judicial process. The approval of the emergency laws came as talks between oil giant Saudi Arabia and Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a top Yemeni commander who abandoned the president on Monday, failed to yield a clear transition of power. Only 161 of the 301 members of parliament attended the vote, with those present approving the 30-day emergency law through a chaotic show of hands. Opposition MPs, along with dozens of members of Saleh's General People's Congress, boycotted the session, rejecting its ""unconstitutional"" measures. The imposition of emergency rule comes as a rift emerges between the regime and a cohort of military commanders, tribal chiefs, politicians and diplomats who have joined together to demand that Saleh, who has been running the country for 32 years, step down. Thousands of protesters camping in the streets adjoining Sana'a University dismissed the emergency law as irrelevant and continued chanting for Saleh's immediate resignation. ""The idea of banning protests when tens of thousands are already camped out on the streets is ridiculous,"" said Adel Suwabi, a 23-year-old medical student who has been co-ordinating the protest movement on Facebook. ""Our numbers grow every day regardless of what Saleh announces."" The protesters are debating whether to march on the presidential palace on Friday, which they have dubbed ""departure Friday"". The palace is being guarded by tanks from the Republican guard, which moved into key positions across the capital on Monday after Ali Mohsen sent troops from his 1st armoured division to protect protesters. Muhammad Qahtan, spokesman for the Islamist-led opposition coalition Joint Meeting Parties, which also includes Socialist and Nasserite parties, said protesters were ready to lay down their lives on Friday. ""We will march to the president's palace with open chests and you [Saleh] can kill whoever you like to kill,"" Qahtan told reporterslocal press on Wednesday. ""We are not afraid of another massacre,"" he said, referring to a bloody crackdown by security forces against unarmed protesters last Friday in which gunmen, whom the opposition alleges were soldiers from units commanded by Saleh's son, opened fire into the crowd, killing dozens of people. Saleh said a special investigation would look into the killings and a number of arrests had been made. Saleh lashed out on Wednesday at the JMP, accusing them of threatening the country's stability."
" Libyan rebel returns from the frontline at the outskirts of the city of Ajdabiya, south of Benghazi, eastern Libya, Tuesday, March 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus Muammar Qaddafi's hold on power could be getting more tenuous by the hour. Allied air strikes reportedly targeted his compound in Ajdabiya Wednesday. Coalition planes also bombed Qaddafi's forces in Misrata, to stop them from shelling civilians. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he can't predict how long the operation will last, but said the U.S. could transfer control to allies by Saturday. Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner wrote to President Obama to complain that the mission's goals are not clearly defined. CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports from Tripoli that the combined coalition air forces have declared something like victory. ""Effectively, their air force no longer exists as a fighting force, and his integrated air defense system and command and control networks are severely degraded to the point that we can operate with near impunity across Libya,"" said Air Vice-Marshall Greg Bagwell of the British Royal Air Force. Control of the skies has lead to near control on the ground, as Qaddafi's forces have learned. As the bombing has continued, the brave face of the regime is showing some worry lines. Instead of rambling on for hours as he often does, Qaddafi's latest pep-rally speech lasted a brief three minutes. Out in public is a risky place to be for him these days. Also, where the obedient, cheering crowds once numbered in the tens of thousands, now they're often down to a few hundred, sometimes to mere dozens."
" BAGHDAD, Sept. 19 -- British armored vehicles backed by helicopter gunships burst through the walls of an Iraqi jail Monday in the southern city of Basra to free two British commandos detained earlier in the day by Iraqi police, witnesses and Iraqi officials said. The incident climaxed a confrontation between the two nominal allies that had sparked hours of gun battles and rioting in Basra's streets. An Iraqi official said a half-dozen armored vehicles had smashed into the jail, the Reuters news agency reported. The provincial governor, Mohammed Walli, told news agencies that the British assault was ""barbaric, savage and irresponsible."" British officials said three soldiers were hurt in the day's violence, in which at least one armored personnel carrier was destroyed by firebombs. Iraqi officials said at least two civilians were killed. In London, authorities said the two commandos were released after negotiations. But the BBC quoted British defense officials as saying a wall was demolished when British forces went to ""collect"" the men. Monday's violence underscored the increasing volatility of Basra, a Shiite Muslim-majority city that had previously escaped much of the violence of the Sunni Muslim-led insurgency. Tension has been growing between British forces in the city and Shiite police and militias that operate there. On Monday, an Iraqi reporter working for the New York Times was found shot dead on the outskirts of Basra with his hands bound, his family and security sources said. The reporter, Fakher Haider, had been handcuffed and taken away from his home Sunday night by four masked men who said they wanted to interrogate him, his family said. ""This murder of a respected colleague leaves us angry and horrified,"" Bill Keller, the newspaper's executive editor, said in a statement. ""Fakher was an invaluable part of our coverage for more than two years. His depth of knowledge, his devotion to the story and his integrity were much admired by the reporters who worked with him."" Elsewhere in Iraq, anti-corruption investigators said they expected charges against the country's former defense minister, Hazim Shaalan, in the alleged embezzlement of more than $1 billion that was meant to help rebuild the country's security forces. In Baghdad, Ayman Sabawi, a nephew of deposed president Saddam Hussein, was sentenced last week by an Iraqi court to six years in prison for financing the insurgency and making bombs, said Army Lt. Col. Guy Rudisill, a U.S. military spokesman. Near the Shiite holy city of Karbala, bomb and mortar attacks killed at least five Shiite pilgrims as millions gathered for an annual religious festival there."
" In the confrontation that followed, shots were fired, and two Iraqi policemen were shot, one of whom later died. The Iraqi authorities blamed the men, reported to be undercover commandos, and arrested them. Mohammed al-Abadi, an official in the Basra governorate said that the two men had looked suspicious to police. ""A policeman approached them and then one of these guys fired at him. Then the police managed to capture them,"" he said. ""They refused to say what their mission was. They said they were British soldiers and [suggested they] ask their commander about their mission,"" he added. The Britons were taken to an Iraqi police station, with local officials saying they had been informed that the men were undercover soldiers wearing plainclothes. British military officials, both in London and Iraq, began to investigate the arrests. As a behind-the-scenes operation by British diplomats charged with negotiating a release for the soldiers started, tension spread across the city, where 8,500 British troops are based. A British army tank was surrounded. In a clear demonstration that the holding of the soldiers would not be tolerated, tanks moved quickly to encircle the police station. Amid the confusion, a crowd initially of about a dozen, which later swelled to hundreds, soon surrounded the tanks. Some said it was because the news had spread that British soldiers had been responsible for the death of an Iraqi policeman. One witness said Iraqis were driving through the streets with loudhailers demanding that the soldiers should be kept in the police station, and then jailed. Violence began to break out in the streets near to the prison. As tempers flared, rocks were thrown, and as tempers flared, the soldiers began to fear that they could no longer contain the situation. What looked like petrol bombs began to fly through the air, and television footage recorded one tank attempting to reverse away from the growing mob as the crowds around the tanks tightened their grip. Then, flames emerged from the top of one of the tanks. It remained unclear whether it was the vehicle itself on fire, or whether the flames were emerging from military equipment placed on the back of the tank. One soldier decided to jump. His uniform on fire, the television footage shows him attempting to make his escape, as the crowd pelts him with stones. Another soldier carrying a riot shield stood by the tank. Last night the condition of the soldier was not known."
" The men, said to have been under cover, reportedly exchanged fire with police after failing to stop at a checkpoint. Two British tanks, sent to the police station where the soldiers are being held, were set alight in clashes. Three UK servicemen were injured during the day, but the MoD would not say if they were caught in the firebombing. TV pictures show soldiers in combat gear, jumping from one of the flaming tanks and making their escape. Local council spokesman Nadhim al Jabari said two civilians were killed in the clashes. Up to 15 civilians were also reported injured in the demonstrations. Tensions have been running high in the city since the arrest of a senior figure in the Shia Mehdi Army by UK troops. The Ministry of Defence said British officials were seeking access to the detained men and were trying to find out why they were being held. But the BBC's Caroline Hawley said a call from the British ambassador for the men to be released had not been acted upon. It was now a ""serious diplomatic incident"", she said, with the British authorities trying to secure their freedom."
" Rescue workers say there is little chance of finding more survivors after a gold mine collapsed in Ghana, trapping dozens. Exact numbers are unclear, as the miners were not allowed in the pit in Dunkwa-on-Offin, central Ghana. At least 15 people have survived but there are fears that about 100 people could have been buried when the pit collapsed. Last year, the death of 15 miners was said to be Ghana's worst such disaster. While some estimates put the number of missing at 110, others say the real figure is much lower. Some survivors may not have made themselves known to the authorities. The rescue operation has been hampered by flooding. Water pumps are being used, while divers are looking for bodies and survivors. ""At this stage I don't think we can get any survivors, those who are already trapped, I believe they may be dead now,"" local police commander Supt SK Buabeng was quoted as saying by the Joy Online website. ""We are trying our best to get the bodies recovered."" Ghana, previously known as the Gold Coast, remains one of Africa's biggest producers of the precious metal."
" Rory McIlroy's goals for 2015 are tucked away in his back pocket, scribbled on a boarding pass during a flight from Dublin to Dubai, and the world number one will not look at them again until his season is over in December."
" Thousands of Hamas supporters gathered in the wrecked settlements of Netzarim and Nissanit. Hamas claims credit for forcing Israel out of the Gaza Strip. Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of Palestinians again overwhelmed Egyptian and Palestinian security forces to enter Egypt. Egyptian and Palestinian police fired warning shots in the air in an effort control the crowds. On Thursday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said the chaos at the border had been brought under control. Since Israel's pullout from the area on Monday, Palestinian and Egyptian security forces have failed to prevent thousands of Palestinians from streaming across the border from the Rafah refugee camp. The mass crossings have raised questions as to whether Egypt can honour its deal with Israel and maintain security along the border. For years, Hamas was the main group launching attacks on the Jewish settlements in Gaza and the soldiers who guarded them, and so these first Friday prayers were highly symbolic, says the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza. Large rallies were also held in Kfar Darom and Neve Dekalim. In Netzarim, the group's supporters spread their prayer mats on one of the tree-lined avenues and settled down to hear one of their leaders speak. Further back, others perched on the rubble of what used to be the homes of Israeli families."
" Mr Odinga went to the hospital Monday evening after presiding over a function and later feeling ""some general exhaustion"". ""I would like to inform you and the nation that the Prime Minister is unwell but he is in a fit and stable condition,"" said a statement from Mr Odinga's office. He is been treated for fatigue and is expected to remain in hospital for a few days. ""After tests, doctors started treating him for fatigue. The doctors have further recommended complete bed rest for a few days and they will confine him in hospital for that period. ""During that period, the hospital will restrict access to him to ensure he gets the rest that he needs,"" said the statement. His office, through spokesman Dennis Onyango, said the PM's doctors had reported that he was in a good enough ""condition to come to office and work as usual if he feels"". ""But they are not allowing that. They strongly recommend that he takes the rest."" His office said it will update Kenyans on Mr Odinga's condition in due course. Mr Odinga had officiated at a function at the Nairobi Dam last evening, where he launched a project to reclaim the dam. The US-based Global Peace Festival Foundation will remove water hyacinth that chokes the dam and turn it into organic fertiliser. The same organisation has been involved with efforts to clean the Nairobi River."
" NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga has undergone minor surgery at a hospital in the capital to relieve pressure built up around his brain, a statement from the hospital said on Tuesday. His office had earlier said he had been admitted to the hospital on Monday evening after he felt generally exhausted, and that doctors had prescribed complete bed rest. Doctors said he was also complaining of headache and he told them he had hit himself against a car door a few weeks ago. ""Following examination and initial investigations, he was found to have a buildup of pressure outside the brain, leading to the headache,"" said a statement signed by the chief executive of The Nairobi Hospital, Dr. Cleopa Mailu. ""It was necessary to carry out a minor procedure on the left side of the head to relieve the pressure. The procedure has been carried out successfully and the prime minister is doing fine,"" the hospital said in the statement. On top of day-to-day work in his office, Odinga has travelled to Britain, France, South Africa and Egypt in recent weeks while also traversing Kenya, campaigning for the adoption of a proposed new constitution. Together with President Mwai Kibaki, Odinga leads the grand coalition government that was formed in 2008 to end weeks of bloodshed that followed a disputed presidential election. Both leaders are backing the new constitution. Voters go to a referendum on August 4 to decide whether to adopt the proposed new constitution, which is seen as important to securing investor confidence in the region's largest economy. Opposition to the draft is led by Higher Education Minister William Ruto, several lawmakers and church leaders who are unhappy over two clauses in the draft that will enshrine Muslim Kadhi courts in the constitution and legalise abortion under certain circumstances."
" Syrian security forces shot dead at least 10 people overnight in a central city where dozens have been reported killed since the weekend, activists and witnesses said. Mohammed Saleh, a resident of Homs, said smoke was billowing over the city after a night of intense gunfire. The death toll was confirmed by Syrian rights activist Mustafa Osso and the Local Coordinating Committees, which organize and track the protests. Damascus-based Abdul-Karim Rihawi, head of the Syrian Human Rights League, also said there were casualties in Homs but he did not have an exact figure. Syria has been trying to crush a four-month-old uprising that has posed the gravest challenge to the 40-year ruling dynasty of the Assad family. Human rights groups say more than 1,600 people, most of them unarmed civilians, have been killed in President Bashar Assad's crackdown on a largely peaceful protest movement. The government disputes that toll and blames the unrest on gunmen and religious extremists looking to stir up sectarian strife. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Saleh, the activist in Homs, said a wave of sectarian fighting killed up to 30 people there over the weekend. Both said they have the names of the victims. Witnesses said the violence began Saturday after the corpses of three Alawite government supporters were dumped in Homs with their eyes gouged, prompting revenge attacks by pro-government militias. But other activists said the toll was lower and blamed security forces for the killings. The opposition accused Assad's minority Alawite sect of trying to stir up trouble with the Sunni majority to blunt the growing enthusiasm for the uprising. The protesters have been careful to portray their movement as free of any sectarian overtones. Syria has banned independent media coverage, making it difficult to confirm accounts from the ground."
" In the first attack, at least 16 police commandos were killed when their patrol was struck in southern Doura district. Hours later, 10 more policemen died in the same area following two more bomb attacks and ensuing gun battles. Others died in Baghdad and elsewhere. Meanwhile Iraq's president said the new constitution could still be changed to make it more acceptable to Sunnis. A final draft of the text was sent to the United Nations on Wednesday, but Jalal Talabani told the BBC's Newshour programme: ""There is an open door for Sunni Arabs to come to discuss with us... if they have some reasonable demands we will accept it."" He also said he did not believe that so many Sunnis would vote against the constitution that it would be invalidated. Mr Talabani also addressed the UN summit in New York, condemning ""terrorism"" in Iraq and urging the international community to do more to help rebuild the country. The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Baghdad says the militants are making good on their threats of more bloodshed following Wednesday's attacks, in which more than 182 people died, making it the deadliest day since the 2003 US-led invasion. A group claiming to be al-Qaeda in Iraq released a statement on a website saying it was acting after US and Iraqi forces attacked insurgents in the northern town of Talafar. And in a separate development the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, purportedly declared ""war against Shias in all of Iraq"" in an audio tape released on the internet. Our correspondent says the country's elite security forces were the primary target of Thursday's violence."
" A suicide car bomber blew himself up as worshippers were leaving Friday prayers in the town of Tuz Khurmatu. At least 12 other people died in attacks across the country on Friday. The attacks come after two days of some of the bloodiest violence in Iraq since the end of the US-led war in 2003. More than 200 people have been killed. Witnesses in Tuz Khurmatu, some 160 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, said a bomber detonated his vehicle as worshippers were leaving the al-Rasoul al-Azam mosque. ""There are many, many wounded,"" said one man, who called Reuters news agency in Baghdad from the scene but refused to give his name. ""I think there could be up to 20 or 30 dead."" Dr Hussein Ali Hassan from Tuz general hospital told AFP news agency they had received 10 bodies and 25 wounded. Earlier on Friday, gunmen opened fire on a crowd of labourers gathered in the eastern New Baghdad area to look for work, killing at least two and wounding 13. Labourers were the target in the worst single attack on Wednesday, which started the latest bloodshed. More than 100 were killed by a suicide car bomber as they gathered to wait for daily work in Baghdad's mainly Shia Kadhimiya district. ""We are innocent people, working for just 10,000 or 12,000 dinars ($7 or $8) a day. Those criminals and terrorists came and did this to us,"" said labourer Salah Aziz Ali who was wounded in Friday's attack."
" Faris Hussein, his driver and at least one other person died, and another MP Haider Qassem was wounded. The group were on their way to Baghdad late on Saturday when they were ambushed by unknown insurgents. Iraq is in the grip of a fresh wave of violence which began on Wednesday with the death of 114 people in a suicide bomb attack on a crowd of labourers. Earlier on Saturday, a car bomb explosion at a busy market in near Baghdad killed at least 30 people. The attacks came as Iraq's parliament prepared to sign off final amendments to the country's draft constitution on Sunday. Meanwhile the BBC's Richard Galpin in Iraq says the security forces are on high alert as thousands of Shia pilgrims converge on Karbala, south of the capital, for a religious festival due to start on Monday. Mr Hussein is the third MP to be killed since elections in January this year, AFP news agency said. He was a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of two main parties in the country's northern Kurdish region. The Kurdish parliamentary group has 75 MPs in the 275-seat parliament, and includes Sunni Arabs, Turkmens and other ethnic minorities, as well as the Kurds themselves. It has given strong backing to the government and the draft constitution."
" At least 18 loud explosions were heard in the Libyan capital early today in what appeared to be the heaviest night of bombing since NATO's campaign against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi began. Tripoli was rocked by the series of blasts, thought to have been mainly targeting Gaddafi's Bab al Aziziya compound. Plumes of black smoke were seen rising above the city and pro-government supporters loudly beeped their car horns and fired guns, shouting their support for the leader. Speaking from Tripoli, Sky News reporter Mark Stone said to have so many explosions in one night was ""unheard of."" NATO said in a statement that a number of the strikes hit a vehicle storage facility adjacent to Bab al Aziziya that has been used in supplying regime forces conducting attacks on civilians. A Libyan government spokesman said at least three people were killed and 150 injured. There was no independent confirmation of these figures.The bombardment came as the UK moves to deploy Apache attack helicopters to Libya, sources told Sky News.Although the fast jets currently being used in bombing raids are hitting their targets accurately, the constantly changing front lines are reportedly causing difficulties.In the besieged city of Misrata in the west and in Brega in the east, rebels are taking control of Gaddafi's equipment, making it more difficult for NATO to target ground troops.It is believed Britain will send 12 Apache helicopters to the Libyan coast, basing them on the HMS Ocean, an amphibious assault ship.French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe earlier confirmed that France was sending helicopters to Libya, which he said would fall within UN Security Council resolution 1973, that authorises the protection of civilians.French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet told reporters in Brussels: ""The British, who have similar resources to us, are going to do the same thing we are.""Speaking in London after talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague declined to comment on the prospect of the use of attack helicopters.However, when answering questions about France deploying helicopters, he said: ""While not commenting on any particular deployment, remember that the tactics of the Gaddafi regime have changed over the weeks of this action.""So sometimes, what we do in response, the assets we use in response, our own tactics, do also have to change.""Both Mr Hague and Ms Clinton said ""time is running out"" for Gaddafi.""Time is not on the side of Gaddafi,"" said Mr Hague. ""Because the economic and military and diplomatic pressure on the regime will continue to be intensified in the days and weeks ahead.""Read more about Tripoli bombed, Gaddafi on the ropes at Sky News."
" Left wing activists hold the skull and bones flag during a protest against Jewish settlement activity in the Silwan neighbourhood, outside the old city in Jerusalem, June 25, 2010. Richard Falk, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967, said its separate intent to forcibly transfer four Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem to the West Bank could constitute a war crime. In addition to the planned demolitions in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem, Israel is considering revoking the residency permits of four Palestinians, all current or former members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and long-time residents of the city, he said. ""These actions, if carried out, would violate international law, with certain actions potentially amounting to war crimes under international humanitarian law,"" Falk said in a statement. A local planning commission has approved the plan to destroy the homes, as part of the King's Garden project, but it will need additional ratification which could take months, Israeli officials have said. City spokesman Stephan Miller has said the project was intended ""to improve the quality of life"" in Silwan and that a park and public complex slated to be built in the area would be used by Arabs and Jews alike. ""International law does not allow Israel to bulldoze Palestinians homes to make space for the Mayor's project to build a garden, or anything else,"" said Falk. Israel drew U.S. anger in March, when it announced during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden a plan to build 1,600 homes for Jews in an area of the occupied West Bank it considers part of Jerusalem. Israel assured Washington building at the Ramat Shlomo settlement site would not begin for at least two years. The four Palestinians are members of Hamas, a group seen by Israel and the West as a terrorist organisation which calls for Israel's destruction. ""Forcibly transferring these individuals would constitute serious violations of Israel's legal obligations. At the same time, the current threats should be viewed as part of a larger, extremely worrying pattern of Israeli efforts to drive Palestinians out of East Jerusalem -- all of which are illegal under international law,"" Falk said."
" TUNIS (Reuters) - Violence broke out in the southern Tunisian town of Ben Guerdan on Tuesday between residents and people from a nearby camp for refugees from Libya, witnesses said, with some reporting deaths among demonstrators. ""The military were firing in the air to disperse the two groups ... hundreds were fighting,"" one witness from Ben Guerdan, who said his name was Mohammed, told Reuters. ""The confrontation caused many injuries, and perhaps deaths too."" Refugees from the Choucha camp, 7 km from Tunisia's border with Libya, have been demonstrating against conditions there since the death of four people in a fire on Sunday. Violence flared after residents said the refugees, who they said were mostly Somali, Sudanese and Eritrean, blocked a road in the town for three days. The refugees were trying to enter the centre of Ben Guerdan, but were stopped by the military, who threw tear gas and fired in the air to disperse them. Witnesses spoke of deaths, though no official confirmation was given. One resident said there were at least three deaths."
" Indonesia's president has urged Asian nations to agree a code of conduct for disputes in the South China Sea. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was addressing foreign ministers as the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) gathered in Bali for a five-day summit. Talks are expected to focus on the territorial dispute taking place over parts of the South China Sea. China claims huge areas of the sea and two island chains, but its claims overlap with those of other nations. ""We need to finalise those long overdue guidelines because we need to get moving to the next phase,"" said President Yudhoyono in his keynote speech to foreign ministers. ""We need to send a strong signal to the world that the future of the South China Sea is a predictable, manageable and optimistic one."" Correspondents say tensions over the South China Sea are likely to overshadow the summit. China, Vietnam and Taiwan all claim sovereignty over huge areas of the sea, including the Paracel and Spratly island groups. The Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei also claim overlapping areas of territory. The region has vital shipping routes as well as vast reserves of oil and gas."
" Territorial disputes and flare-ups in the South China Sea are expected to dominate talks at Asia's largest security forum this week. Foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations arrived at a tightly guarded five-star hotel in Bali for their annual get-together on Tuesday. They will be joined later in the week by officials from the Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States for the ASEAN Regional Forum. Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd will be participating in talks on Thursday. Other hot topics are expected to be the North Korean nuclear crisis and concerns about the slow pace of democratisation in military-dominated Burma. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in his opening statement that goals of the South-East Asian bloc include establishing a European-style economic community by 2015 and fighting threats like climate change and human trafficking. But the North Korean nuclear crisis also will be high on the table - with representatives from the stalled six-party talks aimed at convincing Pyongyang to give up its weapons program all in attendance. Members also are growing frustrated by the slow pace of democratic reforms in military-dominated Burma and want to end once and for all a border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand. Overshadowing talks, however, will be China's increasingly assertive stance in the potentially resource-rich South China Sea, officials said on the sidelines on Tuesday. The sparring is primarily over the Spratlys, nearby Paracels and Scarborough Shoal, a slew of tiny, mostly uninhabited islands."
" Lebanon has arrested a man accused of spying for Israel for more than 15 years, the country's Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas has said. Mr Nahhas said the man was a technician with one of the country's two main mobile networks, and could have had access to sensitive information. Lebanon has made a series of similar arrests in the last year, as part of an operation to dismantle spy networks. Israel has not commented on the arrest. Mr Nahhas told the BBC the arrest took place a few days ago. He denied local media reports that the man was a senior official at the mobile network operator, but said he could have had access to sensitive information, the BBC's Maha Barada reports from Beirut. Lebanon and Israel remain in an official state of war. Since last year, the Lebanese authorities have arrested dozens of people who are accused of collaborating with Israel, most suspected of leaking information about the militant group, Hezbollah. Convicted spies face life in prison with hard labour or death, if found guilty of contributing to the loss of Lebanese life."
" Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (L) and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov hold a joint news conference after their meeting in Jerusalem June 29, 2010. Hindus celebrate the start of the harvest season in India. Lieberman appeared to be referring to a call by the ""Quartet"" of Middle East peace brokers -- Russia, the United States, European Union and United Nations -- for an accord to be in place by 2012. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who launched indirect talks with the Palestinians in May, has accepted their demand for statehood while insisting any state be shorn of some powers and sovereignty over all of the occupied West Bank. The U.S.-backed administration of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also faces opposition from Hamas Islamists who spurn the Jewish state and control the Gaza Strip. ""I'm an optimistic person, and I don't see any chance of a Palestinian state arising before 2012,"" Lieberman, a far-rightist in Netanyahu's conservative coalition government, told reporters after meeting Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. ""One can dream, one and imagine, but the reality on the ground is that we are still a long way from reaching understandings and agreements on the creation of a Palestinian state by 2012,"" Lieberman said. Abbas's prime minister, Salam Fayyad, has said Palestinians could declare statehood unilaterally if the diplomatic deadlock continues. But the Palestinian president has played down this possibility. Russia differs from its Quartet partners in having openly engaged with Hamas. Defending the Russian policy, Lavrov said, ""In all our talks with Hamas, we have tried to convince them to switch to the political track and support the Arab peace initiative."" (Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Louise Ireland)"
" The American Refugee Committee (ARC) employees were returning from an Afghan refugee camp in Pishin in Baluchistan province on Monday evening when they went missing. ""They distributed some relief goods among the refugees and were probably kidnapped on their way back to Quetta,"" Pishin's deputy commissioner Mansoor Kakar told Reuters, referring to the provincial capital. Pishin is about 50 km (31 miles) from Quetta. ""Efforts are underway to recover them."" Militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban, as well as ethnic Baluch militants fighting for more autonomy, have been involved in violence in the region, which also borders Iran. Kakar said it was not clear who was behind the possible kidnapping. ""We don't have any clue so far."" Kidnapping is an industry in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions, with money often the main motivation rather than political demands. Ransoms are a large source of revenue for the Taliban, al Qaeda and the Baluch insurgency. ARC has worked in refugee camps near Quetta since 2002, focusing on providing health care and training members of the community in basic health services, according to the ARC website. It began operating in northern parts of Pakistan after 2005 devastating earthquake. Earlier this month, a Swiss couple was kidnapped by gunmen in district of Loralai in Baluchistan. They have not yet been recovered. An American official of the U.N. refugee agency was kidnapped in Quetta in 2009 but was released after two months."
" CAIRO - An Egyptian committee set up to investigate violence during demonstrations that toppled Hosni Mubarak has laid charges against the former president and interior minister for intentional murder of protesters, a state newspaper said. More than 360 people died in the uprising and thousands were injured, when fired rubber bullets, live ammunition, water cannon and tear gas at peaceful protesters. RELATED: Egyptians vote overwhelmingly for constitutional reforms Tantawi reportedly demands Mubarak return state funds The fact-finding committee submitted its charges to the Public Prosecutor's office, saying Mubarak as the head of the government was criminally responsible for the death of the protesters, Al Ahram state newspaper said on Wednesday. The former interior minister Habib al-Adli, who is also already facing trial for wasting public funds and money laundry, is accused of ordering police to open fire at demonstrators, the newspaper said.Egypt has already arrested and is investigating high-ranking police officers for ordering the killing of demonstrators during the uprising against Mubarak."
" (LEAD) Senior N. Korean diplomat heads to U.S. for rare talks SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap) -- A senior North Korean diplomat headed to the United States on Tuesday for rare talks with U.S. officials, a diplomatic source in Seoul said, amid cautious hopes for the resumption of stalled six-party talks on ending the North's nuclear programs.Kim Kye-gwan, the North's first vice foreign minister and one of the key strategists in Pyongyang's nuclear talks with Washington, left Beijing on Tuesday morning and was due to arrive in New York for meetings with U.S. diplomats, the source said on the condition of anonymity."
" Hundreds of migrants who have arrived on the island of Lampedusa are being taken by Italian naval ship to Sicily. Lampedusa has struggled to cope with the influx of 15,000 people from Tunisia since the January revolution. The naval vessel San Marco is expected to take more than 600 people who will then be moved to holding centres. Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has warned of the possible flight of refugees from Libya as well and he has appealed for EU help. Mr Maroni, who is due to travel to Tunisia later this week, is putting together proposals for Italian regions to take up to 50,000 migrants if there is a sudden influx from Libya. ""In dividing up immigrants between the regions we will bear in mind local population numbers,"" he said this week. Concerns about Lampedusa's ability to cope with the recent increase in migration have mounted across Italy. More than 4,000 migrants are still on the tiny island and the Save the Children charity has complained that 230 unaccompanied children aged 12 to 17 are living in squalid conditions. ""The situation is bad as they don't have showers and only two toilets for 230 people,"" Save the Children child protection manager Carlotta Bellini told the BBC News website. She said four of the children were being treated in hospital after cutting themselves with knives to draw attention to the situation."
" 1 of 24. The Nobel certificate and medal is seen on the empty chair where this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo would have sat, as a portrait of Liu is seen in the background, during the ceremony at Oslo City Hall December 10, 2010. President Barack Obama, a Peace Prize laureate last year, called for the prompt release of 54-year-old Liu, who was jailed last year for 11 years for subversion. In Beijing, police stepped up patrols at key points on Friday, including Tiananmen Square, where witnesses say hundreds or thousands were killed when troops crushed reform protests, and Liu's apartment where his wife is believed to be under house arrest. Authorities tightened a clampdown on dissidents. There were no signs of trouble in Beijing where memories of Tiananmen have faded for many as China has risen as a global economic and political power while guarding the Communist Party's tight hold on society. Instead of awarding the Nobel medal and citation to Liu, it was simply placed on his chair in the ceremony in Oslo's City Hall as the audience cheered. A large portrait of the laureate, bespectacled and smiling, hung nearby. Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann read out an address made by Liu, who was closely involved in Tiananmen and more recently helped found the reform group Charter 08, to a court during his trial for subversion in December 2009. ""I, filled with optimism, look forward to the advent of a future, free China,"" the address said. ""For there is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom, and China will in the end become a nation ruled by law, where human rights reign supreme."" ""Hatred can rot away at a person's intelligence and conscience. (The) enemy mentality will poison the spirit of a nation, incite cruel mortal struggles, destroy a society's tolerance and humanity, and hinder a nation's progress toward freedom and democracy."" It was the first time that a laureate under detention had not been formally represented since Nazi Germany barred pacifist Carl von Ossietzky from attending in 1935. Several jailed or detained laureates since had been represented by family but China did not allow anyone near Liu to travel to Oslo."
" Burma may be building missile and nuclear sites in remote locations with support from North Korea, according to secret US cables released by Wikileaks. The documents cite witnesses who say North Korean workers are helping Burma construct an underground bunker in a remote jungle. The move underlines concern that the Burmese regime might be trying to build a nuclear weapon, despite denials. Wikileaks has so far released more than 1,100 of 251,000 diplomatic cables. The reports, which stretch over the past six years, suggest dockworkers and foreign businessmen have seen evidence of alleged sites. A cable dating from August 2004 spoke of a Burmese officer in an engineering unit who said surface-to-air missiles were being built at a site in a town called Minbu in west-central Myanmar. ""The North Koreans, aided by Burmese workers, are constructing a concrete-reinforced underground facility that is '500ft from the top of the cave to the top of the hill above',"" reads the cable, published by the Guardian newspaper. Some 300 North Koreans were working at the site, the authors said, although the cable suggested this number was improbably high. An expatriate businessman also told the US Embassy in Rangoon that he had heard rumours of a nuclear site being built. According to another cable, the businessman told an embassy officer about rumours of a large barge unloading reinforced steel which looked as if it was for a project larger than a factory."
" US President Barack Obama has warned that America's growing debt could cost jobs and do serious damage to the economy, in a rare primetime speech. Obama has called for a balanced approach to addressing the debt crisis, and says he believes ""patriotic Americans"" will be willing to pitch in. The president's speech comes as Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress remain deadlocked over a plan to raise the US debt ceiling and deal with the country's ballooning deficits. Democrats who control the Senate and Republicans who lead the House of Representatives are at odds over rival plans for raising the $14.3 trillion US debt limit, allowing cash-strapped Washington to stay open as it approaches its August 2 debt limit deadline. Obama said a short-term debt ceiling extension would just lead to another standoff in six months, describing it as ""kicking the can further down the road"". He said he had ordered members of congress to reach a compromise he could sign off on in the next couple of days, and he was confident this could be done. ""America, after all, has always been a grand experiment in compromise,"" he said. Speaking from the White House East Room on Monday night (Tuesday morning EAST), Obama said the only ones standing in the way of a balanced compromise to the nation's debt crisis were those Republicans in Congress who were insisting only on spending cuts. In a televised address, Obama said the nation was growing dangerously close to default. He warned that would be what he called a ""reckless and irresponsible"" outcome to the debate."
" Mubarak, former interior minister to be tried together CAIRO (AFP) -- A Cairo court on Monday decided to merge the trials of former president Hosni Mubarak and ex-interior minister Habib al-Adly, both accused of killing protesters during an uprising that toppled the regime. The decision came as former prime minister Ahmed Nazif was charged in a corruption case by military prosecutors, in the first case of a former regime official facing military justice. Judge Adel Gomaa told the Cairo criminal court that Adly and his six deputies would be tried on August 3, together with Mubarak and his two sons Alaa and Gamal, and businessman Hussein Salem who is currently abroad. Adly, who has already been sentenced to 12 years for corruption, appeared in the dock in the first of his trials to be shown on state television. Hundreds of protesters, including families of victims who died during the revolt, turned out for the trial of the once-feared minister, throwing stones at the convoy of vans driving him away. Mubarak was thought to be likely tried in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he is in custody in hospital being treated for a heart condition. But the merger of the two trials could well see the trial back in Cairo. Activists say they will be pushing for an announcement on the venue. Former prime minister Nazif meanwhile was charged and ordered detained for 15 days for squandering public money and seizing state-owned land, the official MENA news agency reported. Nazif is being investigated along with the former governor of Luxor Samir Farag and businessman Mamduh Qoleib."
" Our attention has been riveted on everything and anything WikiLeaks. And why not? It's been one compelling, drama-filled event after another: first the contents of the cables themselves--littered with colorful diplomatic name calling, among other revelations--followed by the manhunt for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a condom mishap, then a slew of cyber attacks targeted a big name brands like MasterCard, Visa, and Amazon. It seems, based on the number of Google searches, that there is one part of the United States that's been watching particularly closely. According to to Google Insights, which shows search patterns, Virginia has been Googling ""WikiLeaks"" more than any other state in the U.S. Interestingly, those searches appear to be emanating from a very specific part of Virginia: an area that includes Herndon, Sterling, Ashburn, and Washington, which are home to a cluster of intelligence and defense agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency. See what Google brings to light in the screenshots below."
" Norway's police have published the names of four of the 76 victims of Friday's mass killings in Norway carried out by Anders Behring Breivik. They include three people killed in the Oslo car bomb and a 23-year-old man who died on a nearby island where Mr Breivik went on a shooting spree. Meanwhile, the police have defended their handling of the attacks. It was an hour-and-a-half before an armed unit reached Utoeya island after the shooting began. ""I don't think we think we could have done this faster,"" Police Chief of Staff Johan Fredriksen told journalists in Oslo. The bomb in Oslo targeted buildings connected to Norway's Labour government, and the youth camp on Utoeya island was run by the party. The names of the four victims - Gunnar Linaker, 23; Tove Ashill Knutsen, 56; Hanna M Orvik Endresen, 61; and Kai Hauge, 32 - and where they lived were published on the Norwegian police's website. Gunnar Linaker's father, from Bardu in northern Norway, told the Associated Press news agency that he had been on the phone to his son when the shooting started. ""He said to me: 'Dad, dad, someone is shooting,' and then he hung up,"" Roald Linaker said. Besides the names listed by police, it is known that Crown Princess Mette-Marit's stepbrother, Trond Berntsen, an off-duty police officer, was among those killed at the youth camp."
" WASHINGTON -- After months of public nastiness and private negotiations, of court filings and rulings, of players and owners squabbling over more than $9 billion a year, NFL fans finally saw the handshake and heard the words they awaited: ""Football's back."" NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith both used that phrase while standing shoulder to shoulder Monday, announcing their agreement on a 10-year deal to end the lockout that began in March. Then came what may truly be the lasting image of the dispute's resolution: Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman Jeff Saturday wrapped one of his burly arms around New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and enveloped him in a hug -- a gesture that symbolized the acrimony's end more than any statement could. ""I'd like, on behalf of both sides, to apologize to the fans: For the last five, six months we've been talking about the business of football -- and not what goes on, on the field, and building the teams in each market,"" Kraft said. ""But the end result is we've been able to have an agreement that I think is going to allow this sport to flourish over the next decade."" Owners can point to victories, such as gaining a higher percentage of all revenue, one of the central issues -- they get 53 percent, players 47 percent; the old deal was closer to 50-50. There's also a new system that will rein in spending on contracts for first-round draft picks. Players, meanwhile, persuaded teams to commit to spending nearly all of their salary cap space in cash and won changes to offseason and in-season practice rules that should make the game safer. Players also got the right to five consecutive days off during their bye week, sources told ESPN. One important compromise came on expanding the regular season from 16 to 18 games, which owners favored. That can be revisited for the 2013 season, but players must approve any change. ""Both parties were trying to stand their ground -- and rightfully so,"" said Vikings linebacker Ben Leber, one of the 10 named plaintiffs in the players' antitrust suit against the league, which will now be dropped. ""In the end, against all the negativity that was out there publicly, they took their time and hammered out what I think is going to turn out to be one of the best deals in the history of sports."" An interesting choice of phrase, given that Smith and some players grew fond of calling the owners' last offer before talks fell apart in March ""probably the worst deal in sports history."" Here was Smith's take Monday: ""We didn't get everything that either side wanted ... but we did arrive at a deal that we think is fair and balanced."""
" 1 of 13. A man on a partially submerged bus waits for evacuation on a highway in Istanbul September 9, 2009. Twenty-six died in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city with 14 million inhabitants, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said late on Wednesday, after two days of the heaviest rain in 80 years produced sudden flood waters which engulfed low-lying areas. Another five died in Saray, west of Istanbul, reportedly all from the same family. Nine more were missing, Erdogan said. In Istanbul rescue workers, some on boats, put out planks and ladders to help drivers, stranded in fast-flowing waters, reach the safety of bridges and high land. Military helicopters also assisted bringing stranded people to safety. The worst flooding occurred in areas in the west of the city, on the European side, where drainage is often poor. The waters began to recede late Wednesday revealing wrecked buildings and debris scattered across the streets, as distressed residents and workers started the clean-up. Interior Minister Besir Atalay said the death toll could rise as waters continued to recede. Witnesses said waves of muddy waters pulling cars, trees and debris crashed into homes and buildings early Wednesday as people were getting up to break their fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. ""We heard a crashing sound and then saw the waters coming down carrying cars and debris,"" said Nuri Bitken, a 42-year-old night guard at a truck garage. ""We tried to wake up those who were still asleep in the trucks but some didn't make it. The dead had to be retrieved by boats,"" Bitken told Reuters."
" Protesters hold banners in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during a demonstration in front of the British Embassy in Budapest December 9, 2010. The sexual misconduct case against Assange is a personal matter and not connected with his work releasing secret U.S. diplomatic cables, a Swedish prosecutor said on Tuesday. Assange, whose WikiLeaks website is at the centre of a furious row over the release of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, was arrested under a European Arrest Warrant on Tuesday after handing himself in to London police.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)"
" As China yesterday hardened its internet dragnet against support for the jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo being awarded the Nobel peace prize in far-off Norway, an officially inspired cyber campaign was in full swing in the West against Julian Assange, the Australian leading figure of WikiLeaks fighting extradition to neighbouring Sweden. Such were the immense ironies in WikiLeaks' second week of gradual disclosure of its third tranche of secret documents. At the reported instigation of powerful Washington politicians - notably Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Senate homeland security committee, but possibly also staff in Barack Obama's White House - American and foreign internet hosts began kicking WikiLeaks off their servers, and financial transaction services such as Visa, MasterCard and PayPal froze accounts that were the window for public donations to WikiLeaks, its only financial resource. In retaliation, a massive cyber counter-attack began on Wednesday against these institutions, with 3000 WikiLeaks sympathisers, including some in Australia, accepting a program called Low Orbit Ion Cannon that installs a ''bot'' capable of sending 20 million connect requests an hour. Within hours, the main credit card operations and the Swiss postal bank, which had blocked a WikiLeaks account, were knocked out, along with the websites of Lieberman and other politicians calling for Assange to be hunted down, among them Sarah Palin. Meanwhile, nervous institutions such as Columbia University in New York were warning their students that an electronic record of having connected to WikiLeaks might harm chances of employment with the State Department and other government agencies. US military personnel were told WikiLeaks was off-limits. As the American dissident intellectual Noam Chomsky emailed this week to an Australian friend: ''I can't get any access to WikiLeaks in the land of the free.'' ''The Chinese must be getting a real thrill out of this,'' said Scott Burchill, a Deakin University specialist in international relations whose earlier diplomatic career ended over his dissent with policy on East Timor. ''They will be sitting back and saying: 'We were always wondering when the cyber war would start, now it's begun among yourselves. We were going to do it.''' There were perceived threats of a more sinister kind. With Palin calling for Assange to be hunted down like al-Qaeda, the former Republican House of Representatives leader Newt Gingrich saying he should be classed as an ''enemy combatant'' and an adviser to the Canadian Prime Minister saying he should be ''assassinated'', Assange's lawyer has earnestly asked Australia's Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, to warn them off. Clinton Fernandes, an associate professor in international relations at the Australian Defence Force Academy, urges Assange to get back to Australia when he can. ''He's physically safest in this country, because any kind of lethal action that would be done by foreign services, especially those that are partners of us in ANZUS, would not be done in this country,'' Fernandes said. ''He's quite liable, if he stays away from Australia, to fall asleep in one jurisdiction and wake up in another, and all the passport and immigration documentation will be in order. But it wouldn't happen if he was here because he's an Australian citizen and Australia is a US partner and there are protocols in place to prevent that kind of snatch-and-grab operation.'' The ironies extended to Sweden, long viewed as a nation of liberalism, sexual permissiveness and political neutrality - and a reliable haven for refugees. Given its off-and-on investigation of Assange for alleged sexual offences against two women there, conspiracy theories are swirling around Gothenberg's chief prosecutor, Marianne Ny. As readers of Stieg Larsson or Henning Mankell novels will know, Swedish prosecutors are at the interface of police and politics, and if political pressure is being exerted on criminal cases it is through them."
" Israeli aircraft struck militant targets in the Gaza Strip on Thursday in response to rocket and mortar fire, stoking concerns that a grave new round of hostilities will fill the vacuum left by an impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. No injuries were reported in either the fire on Israel or the Israeli attacks on militant training sites, rocket-launching operations and smuggling tunnels. Two years of relative calm have frayed in recent weeks with acts of violence against Israelis - including a deadly bombing in Jerusalem on Wednesday - and Israeli reprisals against Gaza militants, which in one case killed four Palestinian civilians. The violence is the fiercest between the two sides since Israel went to war in Hamas-ruled Gaza more than two years ago to try to curb years of frequent rocket attacks. Before leaving for a brief trip to Russia, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned militants not to test Israel's ""iron will"" and vowed a tough response. But he also expressed hope that calm would be restored. Neither side is thought to be spoiling for a major fight, but the concern is that events will spiral out of control. In late December 2008, Israel responded to months of intense rocket fire and years of more sporadic attacks with a fierce three-week offensive into Gaza, killing some 1400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians. Thirteen Israelis also died in that offensive. The violently anti-Israel Hamas movement that rules Gaza has largely honoured an unofficial truce since then. But the lull has been fraying in recent weeks - and at a particularly fragile diplomatic moment. Peace talks between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas collapsed after the 2008 war broke out, reviving only briefly for three weeks in September 2010. With no signs that the two sides are making any progress to resume peacemaking, let alone reach a deal, Abbas is pushing to get the international community to recognise a Palestinian state by fall."
" Two soldiers from 1st Battalion Irish Guards have been killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, six days before they were due to return to the UK. The Ministry of Defence said the soldiers died on Wednesday in an explosion in central Helmand province. The vehicle the soldiers were travelling in was hit by a roadside bomb as they returned to base from an operation with Afghan forces aimed at disrupting insurgent groups. The soldiers' families have been told. The soldiers and Afghan forces had searched a number of compounds in the Nahr-e Saraj district before the blast. Spokesman for Task Force Helmand Lt Col Tim Purbrick said: ""On completion of the operation, their patrol had just left an Isaf base in order to return to their own camp - to commence their handover to the next unit before they were due to return home in six days - when the vehicle in which the two soldiers were travelling was struck by an improvised explosive device. ""Both men were recovered to an Isaf base, however, tragically, both had lost their lives."" The deaths take to 362 the total number of UK military personnel to have died since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001."
" The South Korean government has issued a report to mark one year since its warship, the Cheonan, was torpedoed with the loss of 46 sailors' lives. The 308-page White Paper criticises the South's military for failing to raise its alert status to cope with North Korean submarines, Yonhap reports. Meanwhile, the South has launched a new missile-firing destroyer. Seoul is demanding the North apologise for the Cheonan incident before cross-border talks can resume. It also says the North must apologise for shelling Yeongpyeong Island last November. North Korea denies torpedoing the Cheonan, and says it was provoked into shelling the island by South Korean military exercises in the area. South Korean media reports suggest the government took the failure to save the Cheonan as a serious blow to its ideas of defence and military strategy. ""On the morning of March 26, the military detected several Yono-class submarines vanished off radar screens after they left a naval base in North Korea's west coast, but no measures were taken to upgrade the alert status on the North's submarines,"" Yonhap quotes the paper as saying. At that time, the South's military had ""downplayed the activities of North Korean submarines as a routine training mission"", the paper said. South Korea's third destroyer, now embarking on a year of tests before it is combat ready, is equipped with a high-tech Aegis radar and weapons control system."
" NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The latest data from the Census Bureau confirms what everyone already knew: New York is the most populous city in the country -- and growing. The city that never sleeps now has 8,175,133 residents, a 2.1% increase over the year 2000, and more than twice runner-up Los Angeles' 3.8 million headcount. Staten Island led the way with a 5.6% increase, followed by the Bronx at 3.9%. Manhattan grew 3.2% while Brooklyn lagged with just 1.6%. The population was essentially flat in Queens, gaining only 0.1%. But some -- including Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- are saying the census count is way too low. Getting an accurate count in densely populated areas is tough for the Census Bureau, and New York especially so. In the borough of Queens alone, more than 140 languages are spoken in the public school system. The stakes are high. Changes in population can result in redistricting (something of special interest to politicians) and the amount of federal aid cities receive. The more people, the more money. And that's one reason why Bloomberg isn't happy with the 166,855 person increase. ""[T]he Census Bureau determined that the population of Queens increased by only 1,300 people. Think about that,"" Bloomberg said in a speech at city hall on Thursday. ""1,300 people over ten years ... it doesn't make any sense."" The mayor wasn't the only elected official to complain. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat and resident of Brooklyn, also got in on the act. ""The Census Bureau has never known how to count urban populations and needs to go back to the drawing board,"" he said in a statement. ""It strains credulity to believe that New York City has grown by only 167,000 people over the last decade. To claim that growth over the last decade in Brooklyn was 1.6% and growth in Queens was .1% flies in the face of reality."""
" Dozens of bodies have washed ashore or have been dragged from a ferry which sank off Sierra Leone in a storm but more than 200 people, including many children, remain missing feared dead, officials say. Police say only 37 people are known to have survived after the ferry overturned and sank in just a few minutes after the storm suddenly blew up. But estimates of the numbers on board ranged from 268 given by police spokesman Ibrahim Samura to more than 300, a figure given by Deputy Transport Minister Osmond Hanciles. The ship sank Tuesday night southeast of the capital Freetown. Divers who located the sunken vessel on Thursday said many bodies may be trapped inside the wreckage. Witnesses and officials said 34 bodies had been brought out or washed ashore. The ferry was overwhelmed by torrential rains and heavy seas and sank in a matter of minutes, survivors said. Alfred Yanka, a senior local official in the village of Shenge near where the boat sank, said the vessel had been located by divers at Monkey Island, about 50 kilometres south of Freetown. ""We are busy trying to recover more bodies,"" Yanka told AFP by phone. Officials said heavy rains were hampering the search. The vessel was on its way from Shenge in the south of the country to Tombo, a fishing port south of Freetown. Relatives of some survivors bitterly criticised what they said were long delays in mounting a rescue."
" Singapore has reported finding low levels of radioactivity in four vegetable samples imported from Japan. Parsley, rapeseed, mustard and perilla were found to be affected, although the levels were far from life-threatening. It comes as more countries join Singapore in restricting food imports from the country over fears of contamination from the critical Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The US, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and Russia have all taken measures. The contaminated vegetables discovered in Singapore had come from the regions of Tochigi and Ibaraki - inside the affected area - but also more worryingly from two other areas, Chiba and Ehime. The radiation levels mean that an adult would have to eat 3.5kg to get the same exposure as from a single x-ray. Singapore has already stopped imports of milk, meat and related products from the affected area of Japan. The US, Australia and Russia have also banned certain foodstuffs from around the damaged nuclear plant. Hong Kong is requiring the Japanese authorities to screen exports, while Canada said it will carry out its own inspections. Both Australia and Singapore have banned agricultural food imports from the regions of Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki and Tochigi."
" Egyptian border guards have shot dead a woman as she tried to cross the border illegally from Egypt into Israel. The woman, who was Eritrean, had ignored orders to stop and was shot in the stomach and leg, officials said. At least three other people, all Eritrean, were detained, including a child aged four. Human rights activists have criticised Egyptian soldiers for killing dozens of African migrants at the border in the past two years. The woman, 38, was shot close to the Egypt-Israeli border in central Sinai. The death brings to 19 the number of African migrants killed this year while attempting the crossing into Israel, according to the AFP news agency. At least 17 migrants were killed at the Egypt-Israel border in 2009. Egyptian police claim they are trying to control people-trafficking."
" Reddam Racing's I'll Have Another provided a 15-1 upset of Kentucky Derby 138 on Saturday when running down pacesetter and late 4-1 favorite Bodemeister before a record crowd of 165,307 to score by 1 1/2 lengths on the wire at Churchill Downs. ""We've only run three times this year, so Preakness, here we come,"" owner J. Paul Reddam said. ""We gave the horse only two preps this year. Part of the idea was we knew we had a good horse, and we wanted to make sure he was fresh because the Triple Crown is a gamble and it looks like it paid off."" The Doug O'Neill trainee provided jockey Mario Gutierrez with his first Derby winner in his first try when finishing 1 1/4 miles on the fast main track in 2:01 4/5. ""I was in British Columbia at Vancouver, where I've been doing all my racing since 2006 pretty much,"" Gutierrez said when asked where he watched the Derby a year ago. ""Like all jockeys, we all dream that one day (we'd be fortunate enough to) be in the Kentucky Derby. At that time I was at Hastings Park and of course I had the dream, but I wasn't thinking it was going to be the next year."" ""He's an amazing horse. I kept telling everybody, from the first time I met him, I knew he was the one. I knew he was good,"" Gutierrez said. ""I said in an interview, even if they allowed me to pick from the whole rest of the field, I would have stayed with him, 100 percent, no doubt about it."" I'll Have Another was accompanied to the Derby starting gate by retired fan favorite Lava Man, whom O'Neill claimed and then developed into a handicap star last decade. Now 11 years old, the $5.2 million-earner has taken up stable pony duties for the O'Neill shedrow, though his job tasks were expanded when a little girl named Hope paid a visit thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation. ""You know, Case Clay of Three Chimneys called and told me he met a friend in Hope, how she wanted to come to the barn area,"" O'Neill explained. ""We put Hope on Lava Man. She was an absolute natural on Lava Man. It was incredible. Just so cool. Just so cool to see someone who is so excited about the horses, just so passionate about the game like we are. We got a new friend. ""She kind of liked Hansen in the Derby, so we had to get through that little thing,"" the trainer laughed. All the excitement over Hope's visit never detracted from I'll Have Another's Derby run, though. ""It's incredible. When you tell people you're in the horse racing game, they ask you, 'Have you won the Kentucky Derby?' Now I can say, 'Yes, I have, 2012,' O'Neill said. ""My brother Dennis, he's been there with me through the ups and downs, and there's been a lot of downs. So this is incredible, and I'm going to soak it up as long as I can."""
" General David Petraeus, Lieutenant General David Rodriguez and the commander of the south-west say NATO's top priority is to prevent civilian casualties and it takes such cases very seriously. In a joint statement issued early today by US Marine Major General John Toolan, they said the airstrike took place after a US Marine was killed and five insurgents took cover in a compound and kept fighting. It said the compound had civilians inside. Major General Toolan said the airstrike resulted in nine civilians deaths. The number differs from that given by some Afghan officials, who say as many as 12 children and two women were killed."
" An American drone has fired a volley of missiles into a house close to the Afghan border, killing up to nine suspected militants, according to Pakistani officials. Up to eight missiles were fired at a house in the Dra Nishtar area of North Waziristan early on Saturday, Pakistani intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity. North Waziristan is considered a training ground for Islamist militants from many parts of the world. American regards it as a command and control centre for insurgents fighting US troops in neighbouring Afghanistan. The identities and affiliations of those killed on Saturday were not immediately known. The strike is the second American drone operation in Pakistan in a week and comes as the US tries to rebuild its relationship with the government in Islamabad, which in November blocked the passage of US and Nato war supplies to neighbouring Afghanistan. Tensions reached new heights when Nato aircraft bombed and killed Pakistani soldiers at a border post. The Pakistani parliament has called for an end to the drone strikes, which many in the country regard as an unacceptable violation of sovereignty. There have been significantly fewer strikes this year. But America is unwilling to stop completely because the use of drones has weakened al-Qaida and associated groups in Pakistan's tribal regions, large parts of which are not under the control of the Pakistani state. In the past Pakistan's intelligence agency has co-operated with the attacks but the government has not publicly acknowledged this. Civilians have also been killed in the drone attacks but the United States doesn't publicly investigate or apologise for these mistakes."
" A blast on the outskirts of Syria's second city Aleppo has killed at least five people, opposition activists say. The blast went off in a car wash in the Tall al-Zarazeer district, the Syrian Observatory for Humans Rights said. Activists say the business was linked to pro-Assad militias. At least four people were killed in the city on Thursday when security forces raided a student hall of residence. In Damascus, two blasts on Saturday caused damage but no-one was hurt. It is not known whether the people hurt in the Aleppo explosion were civilians or members of the security forces, an Observatory spokesman said. An activist of the rebel Free Syrian Army in Aleppo told Reuters news agency that the group carried out the attack on the car wash, which it said was being used by a pro-regime militia. ""We placed a bomb inside a car,"" the activist Ali al-Halabi said, adding that he had seen seven dead bodies and several more wounded at the scene of the blast. Earlier reports said the explosion had targeted a passing bus. Continue reading the main story 1. Syrian-led political process to address the aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people 2. UN-supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians 3. All parties to ensure provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause 4. Authorities to intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons 5. Authorities to ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists 6. Authorities to respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully One of the explosions in Damascus was caused by a bomb planted under a car in al-Thawra street, a key thoroughfare."
" (CNN) -- The hijacking of a container ship in the Indian Ocean Friday afternoon is evidence of a ""constantly expanding area of pirate activity"" off the Africa coast, military officials said. At least five pirates, using two small boats and a rocket-propelled grenade, boarded the MV Panama, a Liberian-flagged vessel operated by a U.S. company, according to a statement by the European Union Naval Force Somalia. The attack happened about 80 nautical miles east of the Tanzanian-Mozambique border, the statement said. ""This extreme southerly attack in the Somali Basin is a further example of the constantly expanding area of pirate activity,"" it said. Pirate attacks have become a frequent hazard for sailors off Somalia, which has had no effective central government since 1991. The merchant vessel was sailing from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to Beira, Mozambique, when the pirates attacked, it said. There was not immediate word of the condition of the 23 crew members, who are all from Myanmar, it said. The European Union Naval Force Somalia is a multinational task force with the mission to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Program and vessels of the African Union Mission in Somalia. The mission is ""to protect vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy,"" it said. Despite a crackdown by an international naval flotilla in the region, pirates managed to seize 35 ships in the region between January and September, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which monitors attacks."
" (CNN) -- Two officers were injured Tuesday when their police car hit a bomb in northern Afghanistan, an official said. ""In the first place we thought that it is a suicide explosion but, it was a roadside (bomb) and the police vehicle was totally destroyed,"" said General Hafiz Khan, a military official in Baghlan province."
" Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai gestures as he speaks during a news conference in Kabul May 31, 2011. Raids on Afghan homes in pursuit of insurgents were ""not allowed,"" and the patience of the Afghan people with the tactic had run out, Karzai said, underlining the challenge of winning popular support for an increasingly violent war. ""We see NATO from the point of view of an ally ... If they don't stop air strikes on Afghan homes, their presence in Afghanistan will be considered as an occupying force and against the will of the Afghan people,"" he told reporters. The fiery speech also underlined Karzai's desire to forge an image as champion of Afghanistan and distance himself from the Western troops who have spent nearly a decade fighting the Taliban, as resentment against the foreign presence grows. Karzai's rise to power in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban was due in no small part to Western support, something which his critics have not forgotten. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said General David Petraeus, the commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, understood that a ""liberation force"" could be seen over time as an occupation force because of incidents such as civilian casualties. ""We are in agreement with President Karzai on the importance of constantly examining our actions in light of that reality,"" Rear Admiral Vic Beck, director of ISAF public affairs, said in a statement. Karzai sharply condemned NATO air strikes which inadvertently killed at least nine people -- most of them small children -- in southern Helmand on Sunday.[ID:nL3E7GT041]. The strikes were ordered after a patrol had come under fire. Civilian casualties caused by foreign troops have long been a major source of friction between Karzai and his Western backers. Karzai warned the tactics were a violation of Afghanistan's sovereignty. ""They must stop bombarding Afghan homes ... If they do not, the Afghan government will be forced to take unilateral action,"" Karzai said, declining to go into detail about what his government would do if the tactics were not stopped."
" A 20-year-old student underwent a three-hour operation to treat bleeding on the brain last night after being hit on the head by a police truncheon, according to his mother. Alfie Meadows is said to have fallen unconscious on the way to hospital after being struck as he tried to leave an area outside Westminster Abbey during the tuition fee protests in central London. The incident has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Meadows was among 43 protesters and six police offices who were taken to hospital for injuries. Another six officers had minor injuries. Susan Meadows, 55, an English literature lecturer at Roehampton University, said her son was ""hit on the head by a police truncheon. He said it was the hugest blow he ever felt in his life. ""The surface wound wasn't very big but three hours after the blow, he suffered bleeding to the brain. He survived the operation and he's in the recovery room."" Alfie, a second-year philosophy student at Middlesex University, had been with friends and trying to leave an area in which they were being kettled, said his mother, who had been at another part of the protest. He phoned her to say he said he had been hit on the head and was bleeding, she added. ""I got out of the kettle, met him and he told me all about it. He knew he had to go to hospital but he didn't initially know how bad it was. The policeman offered to get him an ambulance but he was in shock and didn't know how serious it was."" His mother, who stayed up all night with her son, said he was taken to hospital after his condition deteriorated. ""The wonderful news is that Alfie is talking and doing very well. ""But he's got tubes coming out of him everywhere. He will be in hospital for quite a while, it was a very major thing. She said she felt ""very strongly"" about the police behaviour, adding: ""It's part of a pattern of the way in which these events are being policed."
" Beijing (CNN) -- Chinese authorities Monday arrested dozens of demonstrators in Hohhot as protests spread to the provincial capital and other cities in Inner Mongolia despite tightened security and reports of martial law, activists told CNN. ""Several hundred people, mostly students and ordinary Hohhot residents, gathered at Xinhua Square around 11 a.m. Monday, chanting slogans and holding signs demanding legal rights for the Mongolia people,"" said Enghebatu Togochog, director of the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center. ""Paramilitary troops dispersed the crowd after an hour and dozens were arrested."" Sources in the city told him the protest turnout was much smaller than planned, Togochog said, as officials sealed local campuses and shut down social media. He added that, in addition to Hohhot, the government has also deployed paramilitary troops into Tongliao, Chifeng and other cities, putting more areas in Inner Mongolia under de facto martial law. Local officials continue to dispute activists' accounts, even as state-run media reported some conciliatory gestures by the government. ""There was no protest in downtown Hohhot,"" Wen Fei, an official with Inner Mongolia's foreign affairs office, told CNN. ""Everything is normal and there is no martial law."" ""All students are free to move around,"" echoed Ji Shugang, a spokesman for the government of Xilin Gol prefecture. ""Journalists are welcome here, but you need to apply for permission first."" Xilin Gol is the site of one of the largest protests last week, as an estimated 2,000 Mongolian students took to the streets to show solidarity with a Mongolian herder, who was struck and killed by a Chinese coal truck driver. In an unusual move, Inner Mongolia's Communist Party chief visited the Xilin Gol area Friday to meet with students and teachers, the Inner Mongolia Daily reported. Hu Chunhua said authorities had detained the suspects in the herder's death and promised swift punishment to those found responsible, according to the newspaper. The government has also sacked a top local official and pledged to better manage the mining industry to reduce its impact on herders' livelihood. The Beijing-based Global Times, a mass-circulating tabloid, ran an editorial Tuesday, calling some demands of ""largely peaceful protesters"" in Inner Mongolia ""reasonable"" while accusing Western media of exaggerating ethnic clashes in the region."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A student suffered bleeding to the brain when he was struck by a police truncheon during the tuition fees protest, his mother has alleged. Alfie Meadows, 20, of Middlesex University, was hit on the head as he tried to leave the area of Westminster Abbey, his mother Susan Matthews said. Alfie underwent a three-hour operation and is now recovering in hospital. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has begun an independent investigation after it was informed by the Met Police about the allegation."
" China's Foreign Ministry has claimed that foreigners are stirring up trouble in the province of Inner Mongolia. Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said attempts cause trouble would not succeed, but she did not specify which foreigners she was talking about. Last week, hundreds protested after two ethnic Mongolians were killed - allegedly by Han Chinese assailants. Protest groups say the deaths have highlighted wider concerns about the economic development of the region. Many ethnic Mongolians say their traditional nomadic way of life is being overridden, particularly by mining projects. The Chinese authorities have tightened security across the region, and there have been no reports of demonstrations this week. The government has largely removed references to the protests from the internet. Ms Jiang told a regular news conference that the authorities would try to tackle the grievances of the people in Inner Mongolia. ""As for the reasonable claims by the people, the local authorities will respond positively to them,"" she said. But she added that people overseas were trying to use the incident to cause trouble."
" Former Libyan rebels have launched an attack on the prime minister's office in the capital Tripoli, leaving at least one guard dead, officials say. They said about 200 armed men, some carrying mortars, tried to storm the building but were repelled by security. Four others were wounded in the clashes, which lasted several hours. The attackers - ex-rebels who fought to topple Col Gaddafi last year - were demanding pay-outs promised under a reward scheme suspended last year. Prime Minister Abdurrahim al-Keib is safe, one of his advisers, Ashur Shamis, told the BBC. Sources said he had been in the building at the time. A witness said pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns surrounded the building on Tuesday and shots were heard. Some men tried to enter the premises. Libyan government spokesman Nasir al-Mani said the former rebels had been armed with ""light to medium weapons"" including kalashnikovs, machine guns and rocket launchers. Most people inside the building fled, including the finance minister and the deputy prime minister. Mr Mani said one security guard was killed and four others - including one of the assailants - were wounded in the attack. Witnesses said the attack was being carried out by militia from Yafran, a town populated by members of the Berber ethnic minority located about 100km (60 miles) south-west of Tripoli."
" It is a ceasefire that few expect will last. Under a UN-backed peace plan - the Syrian army and opposition fighters have laid down their weapons, but both sides know it is only a matter of time before the fighting resumes. Al Jazeera has been speaking to the Free Syrian Army, which says it is using this lull to regroup and ""strengthen their hand"". In this exclusive report, Al Jazeera's correspondent James Bays and cameraman Tom Nicholson report from al-Qusayr in the south of Syria."
" Officials say they have recovered 30 bodies from the overloaded wooden boat that capsized off the coast of Sierra Leone with nearly 300 passengers aboard. John Rogers of the National Disaster Management Department says only 30 dead passengers and 39 survivors are accounted for since the boat sank off Sierra Leone's coast Wednesday. Maritime official Philip Lukuley says the small boat also was carrying an excess of edible palm . He says the boat was designed to hold 60 people and didn't have lifejackets. At least 221 people, including many schoolchildren returning from holidays, are still unaccounted for. The boat was traveling from the village of Shenge to Tombo, near Freetown, when it sank."
" Like huge cows, the mighty sauropods would have generated enormous quantities of methane. Sauropods, recognisable by their long necks and tails, were widespread around 150 million years ago. They included some of the largest animals to walk the Earth, such as Diplodocus, which measured 150 feet and weighed up to 45 tonnes. Scientists believe that, just as in cows, methane-producing bacteria aided the digestion of sauropods by fermenting their plant food. ''A simple mathematical model suggests that the microbes living in sauropod dinosaurs may have produced enough methane to have an important effect on the Mesozoic climate,'' said study leader Dr Dave Wilkinson, from Liverpool John Moores University. ''Indeed, our calculations suggest that these dinosaurs could have produced more methane than all modern sources - both natural and man-made - put together.'' The research is published today in the journal Current Biology. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, with a stronger ability to trap heat. Dr Wilkinson and colleague Professor Graeme Ruxton, from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, began to wonder about Mesozoic methane while investigating sauropod ecology. Research on a range of modern species has allowed experts to predict how much methane is likely to be generated by animals of different sizes."
" * Rescue operation ends after shipwreck  * 90 bodies found, more feared dead  * Police vow stricter safety measures    By Christo Johnson FREETOWN, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Authorities in Sierra Leone are shutting down an operation to rescue survivors of a shipwreck that has killed 90 and left well over 100 missing, presumed dead, a police officer said on Friday.  The boat, which officials believe was heavily loaded with goods and at least 250 people, capsized in a storm on Tuesday, sparking calls for better safety after just 40 of the passengers appear to have survived the accident.  ""We are no longer actively engaged in the rescue exercise as we now believe that the rest of the passengers onboard the boat have drowned,"" Lt Mohamed Suma, head of the naval wing leading the search operation, told Reuters on Friday.  Suma said 90 bodies had been buried, 30 of which had to be put in mass grave as they were unrecognisable.  ""What we are now doing as (a) search party is to see how (many) of the remaining corpses we can get out of the sea,"" he added.  The exact number of passengers on the boat, which was travelling between two coastal villages, is not known as the captain picked up additional passengers after completing a manifest that showed he already had 200 people onboard."
" The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday it was suspending its work in Pakistan pending a review of its presence in the South Asian country. The decision comes after the killing of Khalil Rasjed Dale, a 60-year old health program manager who was abducted four months ago in Balochistan. His body was found last month. The 900 national staff members of the Red Cross have been placed on paid leave, and 80 foreign staffers have been flown to Islamabad, said spokesman Christian Cardon. ""Over the last few years unfortunately, it has become very dangerous not only in Pakistan but all over the world with the ICRC staff being targeted and coming under attack,"" Cardon said. Jacques de Maio, the head of Red Cross operations for South Asia, said the aid agency was compelled to ""completely reassess the balance between the humanitarian impact of our activities and the risks faced by our staff."" The organization has halted all all its activities and said it was painfully aware of the consequences on the wounded, sick and other vulnerable people. The Red Cross has been working in Pakistan since the country's independence in 1947, providing health care, physical rehabilitation and other assistance for victims of violence and natural disasters. It has been instrumental in aid delivery after earthquakes and the devastating 2010 flooding across the nation. The agency called Dale a ""trusted and very experienced Red Cross staff member who significantly contributed to the humanitarian cause."" He had been working in the western city of Quetta and the province of Balochistan for almost a year. Armed men abducted him January 5 as he was returning home from work."
" Afghan journalists have expressed anger over the killing of a local reporter during the rescue operation that saved his British-Irish colleague. Sultan Munadi and Stephen Farrell were kidnapped by Taliban rebels on Saturday in northern Afghanistan, where they were interviewing residents about a NATO missile strike that is alleged to have killed civilians. An airborne raid by British forces yesterday freed Mr Farrell, but Mr Munadi was caught in the crossfire and died. His body was left behind by foreign forces, Afghan journalists and media reports said. A friend of Mr Munadi's family said the soldiers had traced the house where the two journalists were held by tracking signals from the journalist's mobile phone. 'He had called his parents and talked to them at 10.30pm the night before, and said he was safe,' the family friend said. Mr Munadi's parents had made the dangerous trip to Kunduz from Kabul to await their son's release, the source said, on condition he not be identified. 'They had to collect the body themselves, there was no one to help them, and take it back for burial,' the friend said. 'He was just left there and the body was in a terrible state - shot in the front and in the back, so it is impossible to know if he was killed by the soldiers or by the Taliban.' Mr Munadi was a senior reporter and manager with Afghan state radio before going to Germany for graduate studies in journalism."
" The Pope's invitation to Anglicans to convert to Roman Catholicism pushed relations between the churches to their lowest point in 150 years, Britain's ambassador to the Vatican warned. Francis Campbell also feared a backlash against UK Catholics after the offer to those opposed to women bishops. His fears are detailed in the latest US embassy cables released by Wikileaks. The comments were made after Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams met Vatican officials last year. A cable from US ambassador Miguel Diaz, published in the Guardian newspaper, said Mr Campbell believed Pope Benedict XVI had put the Archbishop in an ""impossible position"" with his conversion invitation. It said: ""The Vatican decision seems to have been aimed primarily at Anglicans in the US and Australia, with little thought given to how it would affect the centre of Anglicanism, England, or the Archbishop of Canterbury. ""Benedict XVI, Campbell said, had put Williams in an impossible situation. If Williams reacted more forcefully, he would destroy decades of work on ecumenical dialogue; by not reacting more harshly, he has lost support among angry Anglicans."" The cable revealed that Mr Campbell felt ""Anglican-Vatican relations were facing their worst crisis in 150 years as a result of the Pope's decision"" and it had shifted the goal of the Catholic-Anglican ecumenical dialogue ""from true unity to mere co-operation"". Mr Campbell also said the situation was ""worrisome"" for Roman Catholics in England, according to the cable. ""There is still latent anti-Catholicism in some parts of England and it may not take much to set it off. The outcome could be discrimination or, in isolated cases, even violence against this minority."""
" Mr Abessole (r) said he left the airport as he did not want to make a scene Gabon has barred opposition leaders from leaving the country following recent riots over claims of fraud in last month's presidential election. One defeated candidate said he had been prevented from flying to Ivory Coast. A minister said the ban would last while the violence was investigated. Ali Ben Bongo was declared the winner, sparking violent protests in Port Gentil, an opposition stronghold. Mr Bongo succeeds his father, Omar, who died in June after 41 years in power. ""Police told me that they had received strict orders not to let opposition leaders travel,"" Paul Mba Abessole told the AFP news agency. He said he had not wanted to cause a row, so he left the airport with his bags. Interior Minister Jean-Francois Ndongou said the violence had been political, so ""it is normal that we look into political leaders"". Some 300 have been arrested after the protests, in which shops were looted and the French consulate attacked. Very scandalous rigging of ballot boxes, as well as incomprehensive swelling of voting lists have contributed to falsify the vote in favour of PDG   The opposition says 15 people have died. The authorities put the figure at three. They accuse former colonial power France of backing Mr Bongo, who ran as the ruling party candidate. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sent a letter of congratulations to Mr Bongo but his foreign minister has denied that it favoured any candidate. A group of 16 candidates has called for a recount. Former Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong, acting as spokesman for the group, said there had been ""huge manipulation"" of the results. ""Very scandalous rigging of ballot boxes, as well as incomprehensive swelling of voting lists have contributed to falsify the vote in favour of PDG [the ruling party],"" he said. Mr Bongo said the defeated candidates should take their disputes to court."
" A lawyer for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says any prosecution of the whistleblowing website in the United States for espionage would be unconstitutional. But Jennifer Robinson denied reports that Assange's legal team believe a US indictment over WikiLeaks' release of thousands of classified US diplomatic cables is imminent. ""Our position is that any prosecution under the espionage act would be unconstitutional and call into question First Amendment protections for all media organisations,"" Robinson told AFP on Friday. She added: ""We are taking legal advice on the possibility of prosecution in light of high profile public officials calling for his prosecution and rumours circulating in the US that a sealed indictment is being prepared, or may have already been prepared. ""But we do not think there are grounds for prosecution, nor have we seen any sensible explanation of which provisions would be relied upon."" Assange is being held in a London jail as he awaits a second court hearing on Tuesday to consider an extradition request from Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him about allegations of rape and molestation. His lawyers claim the extradition moves are politically motivated. Washington was particularly incensed when WikiLeaks this week revealed a list of infrastructure sites around the world considered key to US security. Other cables have embarrassed governments around the world. WikiLeaks has worked with a small group of newspapers including The New York Times, the Guardian in Britain and Germany's Der Spiegel magazine to publish the cables, which are rumoured to have been obtained by a US serviceman."
" Police moved WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange to the segregation unit of a London jail for his safety, his lawyer said on Friday as new cables showed the US suspects Burma has a secret nuclear program. The 39-year-old Australian has been moved from the main part of Wandsworth prison to an isolation unit, said Jennifer Robinson, one of Assange's legal team. ""The prison authorities are doing it for his own safety, presumably,"" she told AFP. Assange is due to appear in a London court for a second time on Tuesday after being arrested on a warrant issued by Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him about allegations of rape and sexual molestation made by two women. WikiLeaks insists the allegations are politically motivated because the whistleblowing website has enraged Washington and governments around the world by releasing thousands of US diplomatic cables. Robinson complained that Assange ""does not get any recreation"" in the prison and ""has difficulties getting phone calls out... he is on his own."" Assange, a former computer hacker, is not allowed to have a laptop computer in his cell, but his lawyers have requested one. ""Obviously we are trying to prepare a legal appeal and he has difficulties hand writing, so it would be much easier in order to assist us in the preparation if he had a laptop,"" Robinson said. She declined to elaborate on why he had difficulties writing. Assange is in ""very good"" spirits but ""frustrated"" that he cannot answer the allegations that WikiLeaks was behind cyber attacks launched on credit card firms which have refused to do business with the website."
" Police in Mexico have found 18 mutilated bodies dumped in two cars in the western state of Jalisco. A threatening note left with the bodies suggested they were victims of a gangland killing. The region has seen a rise in violence as the Zetas drug cartel tries to wrest control of the area from its rival, the Sinaloa cartel. Around 50,000 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon came to power in 2006. Jalisco State Prosecutor Tomas Coronado did not rule out there could be more victims. Initially police counted 12 bodies, but following further examination of the vehicles, they said said 18 victims had been found. The bodies were so badly mutilated, forensic experts have not yet been able to tell if they are male or female. Police found the remains in two abandoned cars by the side of a road leading to Lake Chapala, an area popular with foreign tourists and US expatriates. Officials said they had received an anonymous tip-off early in the morning leading them to the bodies. They said a threatening note found in one of the cars suggested the Zetas drug cartel was behind the gruesome killing."
" Former Northern Ireland U-21 footballer James McClean has been subjected to sectarian abuse after being named in the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2012 squad. Some of the messages directed at the Londonderry man on Twitter also contained threats. The 23-year-old winger, who plays for Sunderland in the Premier League, discovered on Monday that he had been included in Giovanni Trapattoni's team for next month's finals. He said he was thrilled at the call-up. McClean tweeted: ""Absolutely honoured and couldn't be happier to have been called up to represent my country at the Euros. No better feeling."" He later told the Mail: ""To be called up to represent Ireland has always been a personal dream of mine and to be associated with players who I have watched myself is very special. ""I can't wait to join up with the squad and start to focus on the Championships."" His news was met with messages of congratulations, but also some posts containing sectarian abuse and threats to kill. Some of the messages have since been deleted. One fan tweeted in response: ""The sectarian and discriminatory abuse James McClean is taking off confused NI fans is simply a disgrace."""
" Chad denies it aids JEM rebels, who operate close to the common border Chad has closed its border with Sudan and suspended economic ties. The move comes a day after Sudan cut diplomatic relations with Chad following a rebel attack near the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. The Sudanese authorities accused Chad of helping a Darfur rebel group attack the city of Omdurman outside Khartoum - a charge Chad denies. Earlier, Sudan released an opposition leader, Hassan al-Turabi, who had been accused of involvement in the attack. The Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) attacked Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city across the River Nile, on Saturday. The raid was the closest they had come to the capital in five years of conflict in Darfur. The authorities are continuing to hunt for suspected rebels following the surprise attack. On Monday a curfew was re-imposed in Omdurman and the BBC's Amber Henshaw in Khartoum says the atmosphere remains tense. The government says it has repulsed the attack but Jem leader Khalil Ibrahim says the rebels will be back. ""This is just the start of a process and the end is the termination of this regime,"" he told Reuters news agency. Sudan's ambassador to the UN, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem, told the BBC that captured rebels had identified Chadian officers killed during the assault. Chad has denied any links with the rebel movement, as has Jem. Experts say Chad and Sudan are fighting a proxy war using each other's rebels to achieve their military objectives. The Chadian President, Idriss Deby, has blamed Sudan for supporting a Chadian rebel attempt on the presidential palace in the capital N'Djamena in February. The move by Chad aims ""to ensure the security of its territory and citizens and protect its economic and cultural interests"" and to ""guard against all surprises,"" a government statement said. Sudan's Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi was accused of having links to the rebels, and was detained on Monday and interrogated for several hours by the security forces over the attack. He was freed from custody some hours later. Mr Turabi has in the past denied such allegations, although some Darfur rebel leaders have followed him. Mr Ibrahim used to follow Mr Turabi and correspondents say they share an Islamist outlook. Mr Turabi was Sudan's main ideologue in the 1990s before falling out with President Omar al-Bashir. He has since been imprisoned several times."
" Sudan's Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi has been freed from custody hours after being arrested. He was detained following a rebel raid near Khartoum at the weekend. The authorities accused him of having links to the rebels, his wife told the BBC. Mr Turabi has denied such claims in the past, although some Darfur rebel leaders have followed him. The authorities are continuing to hunt for suspected rebels following the surprise attack. The raid by the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) on Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, across the River Nile, was the closest they had come to the capital in five years of conflict in Darfur. A curfew was reimposed in Omdurman on Monday and the atmosphere remains tense, the BBC's Amber Henshaw in Khartoum says. Sudan has blamed the attack on neighbouring Chad, which has denied any links, as has Jem. The government says it has repulsed the attack but Jem leader Khalil Ibrahim says the rebels will be back. ""This is just the start of a process and the end is the termination of this regime,"" he told Reuters news agency. Mr Ibrahim used to follow Mr Turabi and correspondents say they share an Islamist outlook."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The US is prepared to help strengthen Lebanon's army so it can disarm Hezbollah, US President George W Bush said in an interview with the BBC. He said the Shia Muslim Hezbollah movement had acted against its own people and was destabilising Lebanon. He made the remarks ahead of a trip to the Middle East later this week. At least 60 people have died in clashes in the capital Beirut and other cities between supporters of the government and the Hezbollah-led opposition. The sectarian violence is the worst since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990. After heavy fighting in Beirut last week, clashes broke out again in the northern city of Tripoli on Monday. An Arab League delegation trying to mediate an end to the fighting is expected to arrive in Lebanon on Wednesday. The latest violence erupted after the government moved to shut down Hezbollah's telecoms network and remove the chief of security at Beirut's airport for allegedly sympathising with Hezbollah. The military said it would use force - if necessary - to restore order, starting from 0600 (0300GMT) on Tuesday. For the past 16 months, Lebanon has been locked in political stalemate between the ruling coalition and Hezbollah-led opposition over the make-up of the government. The army has emerged as the only factor preventing a complete collapse, and it is generally agreed that its commander, Gen Michel Suleiman, should be the next president. Lebanon has not had a president since November, when Emile Lahoud stepped down despite parliament failing to agree on his successor. Lebanon was plunged into civil war from 1975-90, drawing in Syria and Israel, the two regional powers. Speaking to the BBC's Arabic television channel, he said Lebanon's success was important for peace in the Middle East. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. He said the US was helping the Lebanese army become effective enough to act against Hezbollah's armed wing. ""I don't see how you can have a society with Hezbollah armed up the way they are. ""In this case though, they moved against the Lebanese people, they're not moving against any foreign country, they're moving against the Lebanese people and it should send a signal to everybody that they're a destabilising force."" ""The first step of course is to make sure that the Siniora government has got the capacity to respond with a military that's effective,"" he said. Hezbollah would be nothing without Iranian backing, he said, adding that Iran was the source of much instability in the Middle East. The interview took place ahead of Mr Bush's second - and probably last - trip to the Middle East. He arrives in Israel on Wednesday and will also visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In his BBC interview, Mr Bush also said: That the status quo between the Israelis and the Palestinians was unacceptable; That he would push the Israelis and Palestinians to reach, before the end of the year, a ""description"" of a Palestinian state with defined borders that did not ""look like Swiss cheese""; And that there were ""concrete examples"" of North Korean assistance to Syria to build a nuclear reactor on a site which Israel bombed last year."
" Seen by many as neutral, the army has emerged as an arbiter Heavy fighting has broken out again in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli between supporters of the government and the Hezbollah-led opposition. Explosions reverberated throughout the city as both sides fired machine-guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades in the latest outbreak of violence. The army has said it will use force if necessary from Tuesday to restore calm. More than 60 people have been killed in Lebanon since the fighting started last week in the capital, Beirut. The sectarian violence is the worst since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990. An Arab League delegation trying to mediate an end to the fighting is expected to arrive in Lebanon on Wednesday. What is going on in Lebanon is unacceptable - we are very worried about this   The group will include the regional grouping's Secretary General, Amr Moussa, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jabr Al Thani. ""What is going on in Lebanon is unacceptable,"" Mr Moussa said. ""We might succeed and we might not, but we have to try."" The BBC's Jim Muir says people in Lebanon are gripped by fear. Some 180 people have already fled by boat to Cyprus, Cypriot officials told the Associated Press, as many did during the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. At least six people were wounded in Tripoli as Sunni fighters loyal to the government based in the Bab Tebbaneh district exchanged fire with Shia opposition supporters in nearby Jebel Mohsen, officials said. The army, which had pulled back its troops from the city centre after a lull in fighting on Sunday, is appealing to militants to get off the streets. The military said it would use force - if necessary - to restore order, starting from 0600 (0300GMT) on Tuesday. ""Following the events of recent days, namely in Beirut and in the mountains, army units have bolstered their deployment in zones of tension and are working to ensure security, re-establish order and ban all armed presence,"" an army statement said. ""Army units will ban collective or individual irregularities in line with legal procedures, even if this means using force,"" it said. Earlier, troops were deployed in the Chouf mountains after an overnight offensive by Hezbollah on the forces of the pro-government Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, left at least 13 people dead. Our correspondent says the skirmishes in the Druze stronghold were amongst the most bitter of the past five days and involved heavy weaponry for the first time. Security officials have told the Reuters news agency that at least 36 people, including 14 Hezbollah fighters, were killed during Sunday. Eleven people were killed in the town of Chouweifat, officials said. The fighting was brought to an end on Sunday by the decision of Mr Jumblatt to call a truce and hand control of the whole area over to the Lebanese army, which is now deploying troops there. But reports from the area said that columns of Hezbollah fighters attacked late at night from the eastern Bekaa valley. There were also reports of shooting incidents overnight in West Beirut, but the capital is said to be quiet following a similar arrangement with Hezbollah, which withdrew after crushing supporters of the government. The latest violence erupted after the government moved to shut down Hezbollah's telecoms network and remove the chief of security at Beirut's airport for allegedly sympathising with Hezbollah. Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo have urged an immediate halt to the fighting in Lebanon and agreed on Monday to send a ministerial delegation to Beirut to try to mediate an end. According to reports in some Lebanese papers, one proposal being discussed is the idea that the current Western-backed government should resign and had over to a military council. The army has emerged as the only factor preventing a complete collapse, and it is generally agreed that its commander, Gen Michel Suleiman, should be the next president. For the past 16 months, Lebanon has been locked in political stalemate between the ruling coalition and Hezbollah-led opposition over the make-up of the government. It has also not had a president since November, when Emile Lahoud stepped down despite parliament failing to agree on his successor. Lebanon was plunged into civil war from 1975-90, drawing in Syria and Israel, the two regional powers."
" Relief for those affected by Cyclone Nargis has been slow to arrive UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed his ""immense frustration"" at Burma's slow response to the cyclone that hit the country 10 days ago. Mr Ban said aid had been able to reach less than a third of all those at risk. He said he had still not been able to speak to the leader of Burma's military government, General Than Shwe. The official toll for the cyclone has risen to almost 32,000, although foreign aid workers say the real number of dead may be much higher. A BBC reporter in Burma says that while major cities are being cleaned up, many areas along Burma's coast are still untouched by the rescue effort. Unless those people get help soon, they will die, and many could be dead already, our reporter says. Mr Ban said on Monday that the reaction of the Burmese regime to the cyclone had been ""unacceptably slow"". ""We are at a critical point. Unless more aid gets into the country very quickly, we face an outbreak of infectious diseases that could dwarf today's current crisis,"" Mr Ban said. ""I therefore call in the most strenuous terms on the government of Myanmar (Burma) to put its people's lives first."" US President George W Bush added his voice, describing Burma's leaders as either ""isolated or callous"". ""There's no telling how many people have lost their lives as a result of the slow response,"" he told CBS radio. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. On Monday the first US aid flight was allowed to land in Rangoon, after days of negotiation. The plane was carrying 12,700kg of supplies including mosquito nets, blankets and water. In addition, aircraft from medical relief agencies Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and Medecins du Monde (MDM) arrived, loaded with a total of 56 tonnes of aid. Two more US planes are due to land in Burma later today. UN humanitarian head John Holmes said there had been ""some slight improvement again in the last few days, particularly in the last 24 hours."" Thirty-four visas for UN staff were being granted or expected to be granted, he said. But he added that this was ""clearly nothing like enough for the scale of the problem we're trying to deal with"". In the Irrawaddy delta, the area worst affected by the cyclone, people have been left without shelter, crops, and stored rice. With little access to food or clean drinking water, they face cholera, fever and other illnesses. One aid worker for Operation Blessing told the BBC that the handful of aid organisations already on the ground had been able to distribute aid normally. But he described the aid that was reaching people as only a tiny part of what was needed. Aid agencies have warned of serious logistical hurdles in getting supplies to affected areas. Roads and bridges have been washed away, and heavy rain that fell on Monday is expected to further complicate relief efforts. Mr Ban said the UN had been able to reach some 270,000 people, providing only ""the most rudimentary assistance"". He said that food aid provided so far might amount to less than a 10th of what was needed and that rice stocks were ""close to exhaustion"". The EU is to hold an emergency meeting on getting aid to Burma later today."
" Relief for those affected by Cyclone Nargis has been slow to arrive Burma's military rulers still oppose foreign aid workers helping the many thousands left destitute and in danger of disease by Cyclone Nargis. Vice-Admiral Soe Thein said Burma was grateful for an aid shipment from the US, which arrived on Monday, but said there was no need for aid workers. The UN has warned of the risk of a ""second catastrophe"" unless a massive aid operation is put in place rapidly. The organisation is calling for a ""transport corridor"" to be set up. The UN's humanitarian chief, Elisabeth Byrs, reiterated the international community's exasperation with Burma's ruling junta. ""We are only seeing the peak of the iceberg, and the situation risks becoming a lot more dramatic if there isn't an acceleration of humanitarian aid,"" she told journalists in the Swiss city of Geneva. The official death toll from Cyclone Nargis is approaching 32,000 - but observers fear the final count will be much higher. Ms Byrs said 55,000 tonnes of rice would be needed to feed the 750,000 people estimated to be in danger for three months. Half of the rice would need to be imported. So far, she said, the World Food Programme had been able to send only 361 tonnes of food aid - and distribute just 175 tonnes. Emergency help has been held up by Burma's rulers, who have accepted the aid but refused to allow experts from overseas to co-ordinate its delivery. Aid agencies say much of the food and equipment arriving in the country is not getting to those who need it because the junta does not have the organisation to transport it. A BBC correspondent inside Burma says aid delivery is haphazard and private citizens have begun to distribute water and cakes from the backs of their cars rather than waiting for the soldiers to help. French news agency AFP reported that the military had imposed a curfew in some of the worst-affected areas in the Irrawaddy Delta region over fears that rice rations would be stolen. ""You can't go out after 7pm because the soldiers will shoot,"" a 60-year-old man from the village of Pyin Ka Yaing told an AFP reporter there. The BBC's South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head says much of the aid that has arrived in the country has sat at the airport for days. He adds that after more heavy rain, the survivors are living in wretched conditions and the fear of a further wave of deaths from disease is a real one. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. World leaders have stepped up their rhetoric against the Burmese generals in recent days, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressing ""immense frustration"" at what he described as their ""unacceptably slow"" response. US President George W Bush described the generals as either ""isolated or callous"". ""There's no telling how many people have lost their lives as a result of the slow response,"" he told CBS radio. Ms Byrs called for ""at least an air or sea corridor to channel aid in large quantities as quickly as possible"". The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the UN must use ""all means necessary"" to ensure aid got through to those who needed it most. A US flight carrying about 13 tonnes of supplies including mosquito nets, blankets and water arrived in Rangoon on Monday followed by two flights from aid agencies carrying 56 tonnes of aid. The UN says it has so far reached 270,000 people - but officials fear more than one million are facing cholera, fever or starvation. Mr Ban said food aid provided so far might amount to less than a 10th of what was needed, and that rice stocks in the country were ""close to exhaustion""."
" Thousands of people are still trapped beneath ruined buildings   A massive search and rescue operation is under way in south-western China after one of the most powerful earthquakes in decades. Troops have arrived in Wenchuan county at the epicentre, which was largely cut off by the quake - but heavy rain is hampering rescue operations. Elsewhere in Sichuan province, frantic efforts are being made to reach thousands of people under the rubble. The death toll is now more than 12,000, officials say, and looks set to rise. In one city, Mianyang, near the epicentre, more than 18,000 people are said to be buried under the rubble, state news agency Xinhua reports. In the nearby town of Mianzhu, at least 4,800 people are trapped, and massive landslides have buried roads to outlying villages, state news agency Xinhua says. Sichuan Vice-Governor Li Chengyun said the death toll included: 7,395 in Mianyang, 2,648 in Deyang City, 959 in the provincial capital Chengdu, 700 in Guangyuan City, and 161 in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. See a map of the earthquake area Premier Wen Jiabao was quick to reach the scene and urged rescuers to clear roads into the worst-hit areas as fast as possible. ""As long as there is even a little hope, we will redouble our efforts 100 times and will never relax our efforts,"" he told crying locals through a loudhailer in the badly hit Dujiangyan city, south-east of the epicentre. The health ministry has made an urgent appeal for people to give blood to help the injured. But plans to air-drop supplies and deliver troops by parachute have been undermined by bad weather. The BBC's Michael Bristow describes a scene of organised chaos in Dujiangyan - with dazed survivors in the streets in their pyjamas while police try to direct traffic. He heard the story of one man whose uncle was trapped in the rubble of his apartment building. He was able to speak to him on his mobile phone, but could not reach him and was desperately searching for help. Panic is rife, he says, and there is a palpable sense of fear. Strong aftershocks have hit regularly, and rumours that others are about to strike have sent people scurrying through the streets, dragging bags behind them. People do not want to return to their homes, he says, and are spending another night in the open, in heavy rain, with no power or water. The quake - now upgraded to 7.9 magnitude - struck on Monday at 1428 local time (0628 GMT) and was felt as far away as Beijing and the Thai capital, Bangkok. Boulders and landslides are blocking roads in the worst-hit areas and helicopters have been unable to land because of the bad weather. Beijing has deployed 50,000 troops to help with relief efforts, but many have not yet arrived. About 1,300 rescue troops and medics have reached Wenchuan county and immediately started searching for survivors and treating the injured, Xinhua reported. But there is still no word on casualties from the area - where about 100,000 people live. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Parents of about 900 students buried in the rubble of their school in Dujiangyan city waited anxiously for news, while relatives of at least 50 children whose bodies had been recovered mourned beneath the tarpaulin roof of a makeshift mortuary. More than 100 people are thought to be buried underneath a hospital that collapsed. Relatives waited at the gate all day on Tuesday, but rescue workers only managed to pull out one body. In Shifang, where two chemical plants collapsed, releasing a huge toxic cloud, about 600 people were reported dead and up to 2,300 still buried. More than 300 people were killed in the neighbouring provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi, and in Chongqing municipality, Xinhua said. There are also fears for the safety of staff and tourists - including a group of 19 British visitors - at a giant panda research centre at Wolong in Wenchuan. However, after about 36 hours during which the centre could not be contacted, it emerged that at least 80 of the pandas themselves were safe, Xinhua said. February 2003: 6.8 quake in Xinjiang - at least 94 dead, 200 hurt January 1998: 6.2 quake in rural Hebei - at least 47 dead, 2,000 hurt China's Olympic Games organisers say they will scale down the route of the torch through the country and there will be a minute's silence when the next leg starts in the south-eastern city of Ruijin on Wednesday. US President George W Bush expressed condolences to victims' families, while the US, UK, the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan reportedly offered aid. China said it would accept international help to cope with the quake - the worst since 1976 when 242,000 people were killed in Tangshan - and offered its thanks. The government response was praised as ""swift and very efficient"" by Francis Marcus of the International Federation of the Red Cross in Beijing. But he added the scale of the disaster was such that ""we can't expect that the government can do everything and handle every aspect of the needs""."
" Mr Sharif has staked his name on restoring the judges to their jobs Nine ministers from a leading party in Pakistan's new coalition have handed in their resignations, plunging the country into political uncertainty. Ex-PM Nawaz Sharif decided to pull his PML-N out of government because it had failed to meet a promise to reinstate judges sacked by President Musharraf. The resignations, which the prime minister has yet to accept, follow landmark general elections in February. Coalition leaders deny the six-week-old government is in danger of collapse. But analysts have called the pull-out a huge set-back that could lead to growing instability. Let's do a last-minute effort so that this issue is somehow resolved   How serious is the split? The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the move has raised fears of another round of political turbulence in Pakistan. She says further cracks in the alliance may give a lease of life to pro-Musharraf parties which were defeated in recent elections. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is waiting until Mr Zardari returns from abroad before accepting the resignations, an aide said. Mr Sharif and his main coalition partner, Pakistan People's Party leader Asif Zardari, say they will continue working together while trying to resolve differences over how to reinstate deposed judges. HAVE YOUR SAY The judges' issue should be put on back burner and other issues like state of economy and energy crisis should be addressed. Our correspondent says Mr Sharif lost patience after a second deadline was missed on Monday. He has said his party will continue to support the government on an issue-by-issue basis. ""We will not become part of any conspiracy to destabilise the democratic process,"" he said on Monday. But Mr Sharif also said his party would join lawyers in protest, demanding that the government reinstate the judges. Our correspondent says the restoration of the judges is opposed by President Musharraf who sees them as hostile to his rule. Analysts say he would welcome a split in the coalition, which has sidelined him since winning elections in February. A split would also reinforce a perception that Mr Zardari is working with the unpopular president. Reinstating the judges was one of Mr Sharif's key election promises and his condition for joining the coalition. 3 Nov 2007: President declares state of emergency and sacks around 60 judges 18 Feb 2008: New coalition government of PPP and PML-N emerge victorious in parliamentary polls 30 April 2008: Deadline set by two parties to reinstate sacked judges 12 May 2008: Second deadline to restore judges He wants the judges to be given their jobs back without conditions. Mr Zardari says their reinstatement should be part of a larger package of constitutional amendments which would include reducing their powers. President Musharraf sacked about 60 judges - some sitting in the Supreme Court - in November 2007, after declaring a state of emergency. The Supreme Court had been due to rule on whether his re-election was legal. It had also been due to rule on a controversial amnesty covering Mr Zardari and his wife Benazir Bhutto, who was later assassinated. Analysts say the coalition parties are deeply politically divided - the Pakistan People's Party wanted to avoid a confrontation with the president, while Nawaz Sharif was prepared for one."
" Relief for those affected by Cyclone Nargis has been slow to arrive The United Nations has called for an air or sea corridor to be opened to channel large amounts of aid to the victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma. The UN's humanitarian agency said there was a risk of a ""second catastrophe"" unless a massive operation began. The UN said it had only been able to reach 270,000 of the 1.5m survivors. European nations have meanwhile called for the UN principle of ""responsibility to protect"" to be applied, allowing aid deliveries without Burma's consent. UN member states acknowledged in 2005 a collective ""responsibility to protect"" people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. France, Germany and the UK said they would make the proposal to the UN Security Council, but acknowledged they did not have unanimous support from the EU, French Human Rights Minister Rama Yade told reporters in Brussels. Earlier, the military government in Burma said it remained opposed to granting visas to foreign aid workers to help co-ordinate the relief operation. Vice-Admiral Soe Thein said it was grateful for the aid shipment from the United States that arrived on Monday but insisted that ""skilful humanitarian workers are not necessary"". A BBC correspondent in Burma says more aid is getting through, but many people have yet to receive any help. The official death toll from Cyclone Nargis has now reached 34,273, according to Burmese state television, but observers fear the final count will be much higher. A further 27,838 people are missing. The spokeswoman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva, Elizabeth Byrs, warned that its teams had only been able to reach 270,000 people - less than a fifth of the estimated total of survivors. ""We are only seeing the peak of the iceberg, and the situation risks becoming a lot more dramatic if there isn't an acceleration of humanitarian aid,"" she said. So far, she said, the World Food Programme had been able to send only 361 tonnes of food aid - and distribute just 175 tonnes. A further 55,000 tonnes of rice would be needed to feed those most in need for the next three months, Ms Byrs said. Half of the rice would need to be imported. ""The scope of the disaster is huge,"" she warned. ""That's why we need to act quickly in order to avoid a second disaster or maybe a third disaster."" ""We need a kind of air bridge or sea bridge, and huge means as... we did during the [2004 Asian] tsunami. It's the same kind of logistical operation. That's why it's urgently needed that we act now,"" she added. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has told Burma's government there is not a moment to lose, warning that rice stocks in the country are ""close to exhaustion"". HAVE YOUR SAY World powers should use force if necessary Emergency help has been held up by Burma's military leaders, who have accepted the aid but refuse to allow foreign experts to co-ordinate its delivery. Aid agencies say much of the food and equipment is not getting to those who need it because the junta does not have the organisation to transport it. A BBC correspondent inside Burma says aid delivery is haphazard and private citizens have begun to distribute water and cakes from the backs of their cars rather than waiting for the soldiers to help. The AFP news agency reported that the military had imposed a curfew in some of the worst-affected areas in the Irrawaddy Delta region over fears that rice rations would be stolen. ""You can't go out after 7pm because the soldiers will shoot,"" a 60-year-old man from the village of Pyin Ka Yaing told one of its reporters. The BBC's South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head says much of the aid that has arrived in the country has sat at Rangoon's airport for days. He adds that after more heavy rain, the survivors are living in wretched conditions and the fear of a further wave of deaths from disease is a real one. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. World leaders have stepped up their rhetoric against the Burmese generals in recent days, with Mr Ban expressing ""immense frustration"" at what he described as their ""unacceptably slow"" response. US President George W Bush described the generals as either ""isolated or callous"". ""There's no telling how many people have lost their lives as a result of the slow response,"" he told CBS radio. The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the UN must use ""all means necessary"" to ensure aid got through to those who needed it most. A US flight carrying about 13 tonnes of supplies including mosquito nets, blankets and water arrived in Rangoon on Monday followed by two flights from aid agencies carrying 56 tonnes of aid. The US has said it hopes to send in two more transport aircraft carrying aid later on Tuesday. Two lorries carrying relief supplies overland have also now arrived."
" Mohammad al-Qahtani was a suspect in the first capital case at Guantanamo The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi citizen alleged to have been the ""20th hijacker"" in the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US. Mohammad al-Qahtani was one of six Guantanamo Bay inmates charged with murder and war crimes in February. The Pentagon said the case against the other five defendants would proceed. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against the suspects in a case before military tribunals at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. A Pentagon official said the charges against Mohammad al-Qahtani had been dropped ""without prejudice"", meaning they could be reinstated. The US military gave no reason for its decision. But lawyers for the defendant say they believe the charges were dropped because he ""was tortured"" under interrogation. The decision could have implications for the other five suspects, whose lawyers claim that similar treatment was meted out to them, the BBC's Adam Brookes reports from Washington. Authorities say Mr Qahtani failed to take part in the 9/11 attacks because he was denied entry into the US by an immigration official. He was refused entry at Orlando in Florida in August 2001 and returned to Dubai. He was later detained in Afghanistan and transferred to Guantanamo Bay. In 2006, he recanted accusations he had made against fellow detainees of having links to al-Qaeda. His lawyer told Time magazine the statements had been extracted under torture. The Saudi was reportedly submitted to stress positions, sleep deprivation and humiliation at Guantanamo. Officials said he had been subjected to a harsh interrogation authorised by former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Four planes were hijacked by 19 men in the 11 September attacks. Two hit the World Trade Center in New York, another the Pentagon in Washington and the fourth crashed in Pennsylvania. The five suspects still facing trial at Guantanamo include the alleged mastermind of the plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed."
" At least 11 people have been killed and 20 injured in clashes between US troops and militiamen in Baghdad's Sadr City. The fighting took place just hours after the signing of a ceasefire deal, agreed between the Iraqi government and Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr. Police and medical sources confirmed the number of casualties, but the US military only identified three gunmen killed by troops. It was unclear whether the others killed were militiamen or civilians. The clashes came as as the US military was completing the building of a barrier designed, the military says, to isolate members of the Mehdi Army from the southern part of Sadr City. A spokesman for US forces said troops had responded to several attacks by militiamen with precision strikes. Two fighters, he said, were killed in a Hellfire missile strike by an attack aircraft, while they were planting a bomb targeting security forces. A third man was shot dead as he tried to set up another road bomb, and other attacks were suppressed with tanks and attack aircraft. Hospital sources said the dead included women and children. On Saturday, Iraq's ruling alliance and Moqtada Sadr's opposition movement agreed to end seven weeks of fighting in Sadr City, though both sides said it would be Wednesday before the agreement is fully implemented."
" The number of violent incidents in the Afghan east, overseen by U.S. NATO troops, stood last month at 50 percent above the same time last year, an alliance spokesman said. The violence there was close to a peak reached last August, he added. ""The concern is that the deals struck by the Pakistan government and extremist groups in tribal areas may be allowing them to have a safe haven,"" spokesman James Appathurai told a regular briefing after a meeting of alliance ambassadors. ""This has been communicated to Pakistani authorities. We do not want to interfere in internal affairs but we have every right to communicate our concerns,"" he said, noting that NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer would travel there soon. He did not allude to specific deals and he declined to give the absolute number of attacks by insurgents in April. Existing pacts, including one struck in North Waziristan in late 2006, are widely regarded by Western officials as having failed to end violence and even given insurgents a safe launchpad for attacks within Afghanistan. Pakistan's new government has begun shifting troops from parts of the South Waziristan region in an effort to make peace with a militant commander allied to al Qaeda, Pakistani officials said on Wednesday. Baituallah Mehsud, who leads the Taliban in Pakistan, has been blamed for suicide attacks across the country including the one that killed former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December. Mehsud has denied involvement in Bhutto's murder. NATO had until recently hailed the improving security conditions in east Afghanistan as signs that its 47,000-strong force was winning. The area was viewed as a success for U.S. efforts to combine military clout with reconstruction efforts. The alliance has begun internal discussions about the possibility of the United States in future taking over leadership of military operations in violent south Afghanistan and applying a similar model there."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The former US Democratic presidential contender, John Edwards, has endorsed Barack Obama's bid for the White House. Speaking alongside the senator at a rally in Michigan, Mr Edwards said Mr Obama was the one man who could make the lasting change that America needed. John Edwards dropped out of the presidential race in January. Correspondents say his endorsement will damage Mr Obama's rival, Sen Hillary Clinton, despite her victory in the ""The Democratic voters in America have made their choice and so have I,"" John Edwards told a crowd of cheering supporters in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ""There is one man who knows and understands that this is a time for bold leadership... there is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America, not two - and that man is Barack Obama."" Mr Edwards spoke about the need to help the poor and provide better health care, and announced that Mr Obama had backed his new anti-poverty initiative, which aims to reduce poverty in the United States by half within 10 years. Earlier in the speech he paid tribute to Hillary Clinton's tenacity, strength and determination, and said she cared deeply about the working people of America. Correspondents say the timing of the announcement is significant, on a day when Hillary Clinton has been celebrating a big win in West Virginia which was largely down to her support among poorer white voters - a constituency with which John Edwards is most closely identified. Both Senators Obama and Clinton had been heavily courting Mr Edwards' endorsement, as soon as he had stood down from the race in January. But as news of the announcement broke, Mrs Clinton's campaign team dismissed its significance. Hillary Clinton had a big win in West Virginia on Tuesday ""We respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over,"" Clinton campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, said in a statement. So far in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mr Obama has won more of the delegates who will choose the party's nominee at the Democratic National Convention this summer. He has also raised more money than Mrs Clinton. The Clinton campaign has been hoping that she could pick up more endorsements than Mr Obama from the so-called ""super-delegates"", who get an automatic vote at the convention by virtue of holding a senior position in the party. The BBC's Justin Webb says that with the high-profile endorsement of Mr Edwards, Mrs Clinton's already difficult case has just become even trickier to make. According to a tally by the Associated Press, Barack Obama has a total of 1,887 delegates, leaving him just 139 delegates short of the 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination, while Hillary Clinton has 1,718 delegates."
 Two IDF soldiers lightly wounded by machine gun blast during training at southern base (Haaretz)
" Fighting in Lebanon has increased fears about the region's instability President George W Bush is heading to a region that is sinking deeper into turmoil, and where the US influence is at a low ebb. After five years of violence in Iraq and almost a year of Hamas control over Gaza, the latest blow to US policy has come in Beirut, with the violent challenge by Hezbollah to Lebanon's Western-backed government. The Bush administration's plans for democracy in the Middle East seem to lie in tatters with moderates on the retreat, and the power of Syria and Iran on the rise. On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that progress was being made in talks with the Palestinians, but hopes are thin for an agreement before the end of the year. The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, who is travelling with the president and has been going to Jerusalem and Ramallah almost every month for the past two years, said that a deal within the next eight months ""might be improbable but it's not impossible"". President Bush's visit is anchored around celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Israel's creation, which the Palestinians call al-Nakba, or the Catastrophe. The president and the first Lady will spend three days in Israel but will not visit the Palestinian territories. Mr Bush went to Ramallah during his first trip to the region in January, and is expected to meet the Palestinian Authority's President Mahmoud Abbas during the last stop of his trip, in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. How can you celebrate while the Palestinian people are crying out in pain?   Asked if the president would acknowledge al-Nakba and whether it was appropriate to celebrate Israel's founding at this time, Ms Rice said Israel was an important friend and ally. Speaking to reporters on her way to Jerusalem earlier this month, she said: ""Why would you not celebrate the 60th anniversary... of this once fragile state, founded on the horrors of one of the really most awful moments of modern human history, and that has grown into a vibrant economy and democracy?"" she added. ""Celebrating that does not mean that you don't recognise that there were consequences for the people of the region and that we're still trying to deal with those consequences,"" she said. She added that she hoped that one day a US president would be celebrating the 60th anniversary of a Palestinian democracy that is a good friend of the US. Ms Rice said that, in private, the Palestinians had not raised concerns about President Bush's visit to Israel. But on Tuesday, the Palestinian Authority's Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the festivities were out of place. This is Mr Bush's second trip to the region this year In a speech he said was directed at Israel, he asked: ""How can you celebrate while the Palestinian people are crying out in pain? How can you feel freedom when you seize the land and the liberty of another people?"" Although Mr Olmert spoke of progress in talks with the Palestinians, Mr Fayyad was much less positive. A three-way summit with the Israelis and the Palestinians is not planned during this trip, a sign perhaps of the low expectations of any breakthrough during the visit. ""This did not seem the time for a big high-level three-way event with the president and the prime minister and President Abbas,"" said National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley last week. ""It just doesn't feel right as the best way to advance the negotiations,"" he said. Before leaving on his second and probably last trip to the Middle East, President Bush told BBC Arabic television that he was still hopeful that an agreement could be reached that would define the borders of a Palestinian state, and said ""we're going to work hard for that end"". But no-one is talking about a grand peace agreement any more. In an interview with Yahoo news and Politico.com, President Bush also said that ""the big challenge in the 21st Century is to advance freedom in the Middle East, for our security"". ""Americans at home ought to care for the advance of free societies throughout the Middle East. After all, this is the centre of anti-Americanism and hatred,"" he added. I think the Gulf countries are less willing to do hard things just because they help the US   Jon Alterman  The Centre for Strategic and International Studies Some observers argue that the Bush administration is doing too little, too late in the Middle East, and that there has rarely been a less auspicious moment to push for peace. At the same time, they say, Bush's policy towards the Middle East over the past few years has been active but misguided - from the Iraq invasion to the strategy of sidelining Hamas and talking to only half of the Palestinian people. Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the crisis in Lebanon was the ""last flickering flame"" of the Bush administration's project to bring democracy to the region. He said that while Washington had taken an active role on several issues, things were worse off now than they were even two years ago. Mr Alterman also pointed to the changed relationship with the oil-producing Gulf countries, where President Bush is heading to Saudi Arabia to mark 75 years of US-Saudi ties. ""I think the Gulf countries are less willing to do hard things just because they help the US,"" he said. ""There's a sense that the US remains important, that it remains a country that they need to engage with, but the sense that the United States is a country that they will take a bullet for, I don't think that sentiment is there,"" said Mr Alterman. ""I don't think that Saudi Arabia is there [for the US the way it used to] and I have a hard time imagining, given what has happened over the last decade, that the Saudis are going to be there for the US in the same way ever again."" The president is expected to ask King Abdullah to increase Opec oil production to help lower prices, which have reached a high of $126 a barrel. But the last time Mr Bush made the request, in January, he was rebuffed. Gulf countries are increasingly looking to Asia as a growing and lucrative market. Ahead of Mr Bush's trip, a group of Democratic Senators on Tuesday threatened to block a multi-million dollar US arms deal with Saudi Arabia, unless the kingdom increases oil production and helps cut soaring gasoline prices. ""We are saying to the Saudis that, if you don't help us, why should we be helping you?"" New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said. ""We are saying that we need real relief, and we need it quickly. You need our arms, but we need you to co-operate and not strangle American consumers."" But as Saudi Arabia, a dominantly Sunni country, watches nervously as events unfold in Lebanon with Shia Iran apparently gaining more power there, the kingdom may well look to the US for more help to counter Iran."
" A boat with about 150 people on board has capsized off the coast of Sierra Leone, with dozens feared dead. Fishermen have joined a naval rescue mission and so far 46 people have been saved, with eight confirmed dead. The boat, believed to be a small vessel with an outboard motor meant for about 25 people, was hugely overcrowded. It was travelling on a short sea route between Plantain Island and the coastal town of Shenge, about 65km (40 miles) south of the capital, Freetown. The BBC's Lansana Fofana, in Freetown, says many of those who have been rescued are in a serious condition. He says the route is highly dangerous as there is never any protective gear on board and the boats are often overcrowded."
" Out of an estimated 241 passengers on board, 12 bodies have been recovered and 40 rescued following the accident on Wednesday, the government said. Osmond Hanciles, the deputy transport minister, said: ""The official list showed 241 passengers on board and these were only those who had cargoes on board and totally excluded the number of schoolchildren that were aboard."" ""It is possible that there were over 300 people on board,"" the deputy minister added. Authorities began the rescue operation after a survivor swam to shore with the aid of a plastic container. Some relatives of survivors spoke of long delays in assembling a rescue team, although officials state that heavy rain has hindered the mission. The reason for the accident still remains unknown, but officials say that the boat was overpowered by strong winds and heavy rain and sank in just a number of minutes. Survivors said that the boat was carrying a large number of children on their way to schools and colleges in Freetown for the start of the academic year. A number of stops were made at coastal villages to pick up more passengers before the vessel capsized just off the coastal village of Shenge. Samuel Bangura, harbour master at one of the ports, said that overloading may have been the cause of the accident, as the boat was carrying ""huge drums of palm oil, bags of rice, kolanuts and other goods on board"". Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, the information minister, said that the situation would be ""thoroughly investigated"" and that the president, Ernest Koroma, wished to emphasise that ""the military and navy did all they could to take part in the effort to rescue the passengers""."
" Meanwhile, reports from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul say 10 people were shot dead in several separate incidents on Thursday and Friday. The explosion in central Baghdad took place in the Tayaran Square as many people were heading to Friday prayers. Police said the man had detonated a belt of explosives strapped to his body beneath his clothes. The target of the attack was apparently heading for the predominantly Shia area of Sadr City. Police in Mosul said three of the dead there were members of the Turkmen Front, a group that campaigns for the rights of the minority Turkmen ethnic group. A policeman was killed on Thursday by gunmen in the city, the police added. Meanwhile, medical officials in the city have said that six bodies of people who were shot dead were found on Thursday and Friday in different parts of Mosul."
" The US military has announced the withdrawal of a number of its troops from Pakistan. The Pentagon said it had received a request from the Pakistani government to reduce its presence in the country. The request came after a raid by US special forces killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in early May. The US has more than 200 troops in Pakistan helping to train the army. But there are said to be intelligence and special forces operating there. A spokesman at the Pentagon said that within the last two weeks Pakistan had asked the American military to reduce its footprint, and the Americans were doing so, pulling out some troops. The numbers are quite small. It is not clear if any of the American intelligence and special operations forces that are said to be in Pakistan clandestinely are also being pulled out. The request would appear to be a sign of Pakistan's discontent at the manner in which the raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad was conducted without Islamabad's knowledge. Relations between Washington and Islamabad are always complex and fragile but they are particularly volatile at the moment. In Washington, suspicion is rife that some in Pakistan knew of Osama Bin Laden's hiding place. And there is grumbling about continued US military aid."
" 1 of 4. People holding a giant Syrian flag protest against President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers in the city center of Hama, July 22, 2011. Five civilians were killed overnight in Homs, 165 km (100 miles) north of the capital Damascus, when tanks were deployed to halt protests in the besieged city, residents said. Six more people were later shot dead in protests in the Damascus suburb of Mleeha, in Homs and in the Idlib area in the northwest, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the National Organization for Human Rights said. ""So far we have six martyrs across the country. All six were killed today,"" said Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights. The 4-month-old uprising, mirroring unrest and dissent elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa, is the biggest challenge to Assad's authority since he succeeded his father 11 years ago and it is spreading. Rights groups say Assad's forces have killed more than 1,400 civilians since the uprising began. U.N. human rights advisers said on Friday the crackdown might amount to crimes against humanity. Activists reported protests after Friday prayers in several places -- the Medan district of Damascus, Latakia on the coast, Deraa in the south and Deir al-Zor in the east -- as well as Homs, the latest focus of the armed crackdown. ""Tanks and armored vehicles have deployed in Homs thoroughfares but in every street adjacent to them there are people in the streets,"" a resident of Homs, who gave his name as Osama, said by telephone. Once confined to outlying towns and rural regions, the uprising has now taken a firm hold in cities such as Homs and Hama, scene of a 1982 massacre by the military. In the first crackdown on Kurds since the uprising began, dozens of people were wounded when police and militia used batons and teargas against protesters in the mainly Kurdish northeastern city of Qamishli, witnesses said."
" Five men queuing to join the police and two police officers were instantly killed in the blast, which took place near several government ministries. It is the second major attack on the police in Baghdad in 24 hours. Suicide bombers have struck many times this month in Baghdad, killing more than 100 in the bloodiest attack. The oil ministry is also located in the area and employees on a ministry bus caught up in the blast were among the injured. The wounded were mostly civilian government employees, police Lt Col Fuad Asaad was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. The blast occurred at about 0750 local time (0350 GMT), 10 minutes before the ministries usually open their doors. It is estimated that up to 200 members of Iraq's security forces are being killed each month. Also on Monday, the US military in Iraq began releasing 1,000 Iraqi detainees from Abu Ghraib prison at the request of the Iraqi government to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is due to start in the first week of October. The first 500 prisoners boarded buses and were driven away from the prison, a notoriously brutal jail under Saddam Hussein, and under the control of the US military the scene of prisoner abuse by American soldiers. The remaining 500 prisoners are to be released later this week."
" Supporters of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh sit on stone pillars during a rally in support of President Saleh in Sana'a, Yemen, on July 8. Supporters of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh staged rallies around his vacant palace Friday after their leader's first TV appearance since being injured in a blast last month and leaving for treatment in Saudi Arabia."
" A police spokesman said the gunmen had arrived at the school in two civilian cars, and led the five teachers and a school driver out before shooting them. Some reports said pupils had witnessed the murder, but police denied this. Sunni Iraqi insurgents have recently intensified their attacks on police and US-led occupation troops, but school teachers have not been targeted. Earlier, a suicide car bomber killed at least seven people and wounded 30 outside the police academy in the Iraqi capital. Five men queuing to join the police and two police officers were instantly killed in the blast, which took place near several government ministries. It was the second major attack on the police in Baghdad in 24 hours. Suicide bombers have struck many times this month in Baghdad, killing more than 100 in the bloodiest attack. It is estimated that up to 200 members of Iraq's security forces are being killed each month. Also on Monday, the US military in Iraq began releasing 1,000 Iraqi detainees from Abu Ghraib prison at the request of the Iraqi government to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is due to start in the first week of October. The first 500 prisoners boarded buses and were driven away from the prison, a notoriously brutal jail under Saddam Hussein, and under the control of the US military the scene of prisoner abuse by American soldiers."
" It was a striking change in tone from Kremlin criticism of NATO air strikes in Libya, which are officially intended to to protect civilians in a civil war but have effectively put the West on the side of rebels seeking Gaddafi's removal. But his security forces demonstrated once again that they are far from a spent force, launching rocket attacks overnight on the rebel-held town of Zintan and fighting insurgents on the outskirts of the city of Misrata. But the rebels' advance towards Tripoli has been checked hundreds of km (miles) short of their goal, creating a quandary for Western powers who want a quick outcome in Libya but also to avoid getting embroiled in another Middle Eastern conflict by putting troops on the ground. Britain and France have tried to help break the deadlock by agreeing to deploy attack helicopters over Libya. They will be able to give close ground support to rebel forces, though they are also at greater risk of being shot down. ""Now there are signs that the momentum against Gaddafi is really building. So it is right that we are ratcheting up the military, the economic and the political pressure,"" Cameron told a news conference. ""Knowing his state of mind, I don't think he is going to step down... The positions are still very far apart (between the rebels and Tripoli),"" Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on the sidelines of the G8 summit. ""The leader Muammar Gaddafi is the leader of the Libyan people; he decides what the Libyan people think. He is in the hearts of the Libyan people,"" the prime minister said. ""We are being attacked from all sides with rockets, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and mortars,"" said Faraj al-Mistiri, 36, an insurgent. ""They are trying their hardest to get back into Misrata,"" he said. That effort was helped on Friday when Farhad Omar Bin Guidara, who was Libya's central bank governor until he left the country in February, said he now was working with the rebel finance team."
" Muammar Gaddafi's regime has lost its legitimacy and the Libyan leader must leave his post, but Moscow will not give him shelter, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday. ""If you saw the [summit's final] declaration, it is written there that the regime of Gaddafi has lost its legitimacy and he must leave,"" Medvedev said at a press conference after the G8 summit in Deauville. Asked whether Moscow would be ready to provide asylum to Gaddafi, Medvedev said, ""It wouldn't."" Gaddafi should step down before the issue of shelter could be discussed, Medvedev said, indicating that other countries might be willing to offer asylum. The question came amid media reports that the United States and France have asked Medvedev to make an exile offer to Gaddafi in an effort to persuade him to leave the country. Medvedev said that Russia wants Libya to remain a free and independent state. Russia supports U.S. President Barack Obama's position on the need to create a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, Medvedev said. ""I told my colleague Barack Obama yesterday that I absolutely agree with his position,"" he said. ""This is the only viable basis for the establishment of a [Palestinian] state,"" he said, adding Russia ""absolutely"" supports US President Barack Obama's assertion that Israel's 1967 borders must be the basis for negotiations on establishment of a Palestinian state, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday."
" By Kim Deok-hyunBALI, Indonesia, July 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun confirmed Friday that Pyongyang has appointed its new chief negotiator to six-country talks on ending the North's nuclear program, in the first confirmation of a change in leadership for its nuclear negotiating team.Pak confirmed that Ri Yong-ho, the North's vice foreign minister, would be its top envoy to the six-party talks at a bilateral meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum on this Indonesian resort island of Bali."
" Protests have been staged in towns and cities across Syria, including the capital Damascus, a day after the government announced limited changes. Unconfirmed reports said a number of people had been killed in at least three separate protests. Fresh gunfire was also heard in the city of Deraa, which has become the centre of a serious challenge to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Amnesty International fears 55 people have died there in the past week. The marchers who took to the streets in Deraa on Friday had attended funerals for some of the 25 protesters killed on Wednesday. Some of the protesters started a fire under a bronze statue of Mr Assad's father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, witnesses reported. Another group of protesters trying to reach Deraa were killed in the nearby village of Salamen when security forces opened fire. A government official confirmed that at least 10 protesters had died, although witnesses said up to 20 people had been killed. In Damascus, around 1,000 were reportedly continuing a protest into Friday night, vowing to stay until their demands had been met. Continue reading the main story The situation has escalated today, with demonstrations across the country. Thousands of protesters are marching in Deraa, chanting for freedom. They are criticising a presidential adviser who said they were protesting because they were hungry. ""Deraa people are not hungry, we want freedom,"" they are saying. In Damascus, one demonstration was broken up by security forces. Many people were arrested and protesters brutally beaten. Earlier, we tried to visit Deraa but we were stopped by security forces and sent back to Damascus. I think the worse it becomes, the more anger there is. The barrier of fear has been broken in Syria and people don't want to be silenced any more. Things could have been solved peacefully but after the violence last week and again today, it feels like a betrayal of yesterday's promises."
" Yemeni government forces have carried out air strikes against tribal forces opposed to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, tribesmen say. They said air force planes struck an area in Naham province, outside the capital, Sanaa, leaving an unknown number of dead and injured. Government and tribal forces have been battling each other for days. Supporters of the government and the opposition have both called for large demonstrations later on Friday. President Saleh has faced a wave of popular protests similar to those seen in other Arab countries, as well as a mounting challenge from a rival clan. Since Monday, more than 80 people have been killed in fighting between fighters loyal to Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, head of the Hashid tribal federation, and security forces. The air strikes reported in Naham province, north-east of Sanaa, appear to mark a further escalation in recent fighting. One tribal leader, Sheikh Ali Saif, told the Associated Press that his forces had taken control of a Republican Guard camp in Naham to try to prevent government forces from travelling to the capital to fight tribal gunmen. Meanwhile, fighting also flared in the southern city of Zinjibar when dozens of armed militants believed to be linked to al-Qaeda stormed the city, attacking security forces, residents told Reuters news agency. President Saleh has repeatedly refused to sign a deal that would see him transfer power within a month to a unity government."
" SANAA, May 27 (Xinhua) -- A truce was announced on Friday by opposition tribal leader Sadiq al-Ahmar to end five consecutive days of pitched street battles between his armed tribesmen and government forces in Yemen's capital. ""There is a ceasefire between our fighters and (Yemeni President) Saleh's forces in Hassaba district in downtown Sanaa,"" said Sadiq al-Ahmar, chief of the powerful tribal coalition Hashid. Al-Ahmar confirmed the cease-fire deal following Friday prayer outside Sanaa University, in which tens of thousands of anti- government protesters mourned the death of 30 members of al-Ahmar' s fighters. He said the deal was brokered by a tribal mediation. There was no immediate comment by the government. According to a source at al-Ahmar's office, the cease-fire deal stipulated that al-Ahmar should hand over the government buildings they had occupied to the mediation committee within two days. The pitched street battles erupted on Monday, a day after President Saleh's refusal to sign a Gulf-brokered deal for the third time, which was considered by local observers as the beginning of a civil war. The five-day-long battles have left hundreds of people dead as al-Ahmar's fighters managed to seize several government buildings and ministries. Many residents in the capital have been departing for remote countryside in other provinces due to the intensification of random bombings."
" MUMBAI: Another victim of the July 13 serial blasts who was admitted to the JJ hospital here succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, taking the toll in the 13/7 terror attack to 22.Surender Singh (30) suffered major burn injuries in the blast at Zaveri Bazaar and died on Saturday morning, hospital sources said.22 other people are undergoing treatment in JJ Hospital of which eight are still in critical condition, the sources said.Last night, Shripal Mujhapura (35), who suffered severe head injuries in the blast at Opera House, died at Harkisandas Hospital.Of the 12 injured persons admitted to Harkisandas Hospital, five are still in critical condition, hospital sources said.A total of 129 persons were injured in the blasts while 22 have lost their lives till now."
" The man suspected of murdering PC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984 has been arrested by rebel forces in the country and is in custody in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. Campaigners welcomed the arrest and expressed the hope that Omar Ahmed Sodani would face trial in Britain. Sodani, a prominent figure in Muammar Gaddafi's regime who acknowledges that he was working in the embassy at the time of the shooting, insisted he had not killed 25-year-old Fletcher. Speaking in custody in Benghazi, he told Channel 4 News: ""I was there but I wasn't at the scene when the shooting took place. I was in police custody before that. I had a quarrel with a police officer before the event, so I was detained and I was told while I was in the police station that a shooting took place and a police officer was shot."" Fletcher was helping to control a small demonstration outside the embassy in St James's Square on 17 April 1984 when shots were fired from the first floor of the building at the protestors. She was shot in the stomach and died in hospital. Armed police surrounded the embassy in an 11-day siege. Gaddafi responded by sending forces to surround the British embassy in Tripoli. The sieges ended when staff in both embassies were allowed to leave. Britain broke off diplomatic relations with Libya. Libyan embassy staff, who were expelled from Britain, claimed diplomatic immunity which meant they could not be questioned by police. Nobody has faced justice for the shooting. Britain restored diplomatic relations with Libya in 1999 after an agreement was reached on the trial of the Lockerbie bombers and the Libyan government admitted ""general responsibility"" for Fletcher's death. The Police Federation of England and Wales welcomed the arrest of Sodani. Paul McKeever, the chairman, said: ""For 27 years PC Yvonne Fletcher's family, friends and colleagues have fought for justice after she was brutally murdered in London by Gaddafi's thugs. This news and the possibility of regime change in Libya gives a real glimmer of hope that justice may finally be done."" Michael Winner, the film maker who established the Police Memorial Trust after PC Fletcher's death, called for Sodani to face justice in Britain. ""I hope they have arrested the right man and I know it will be a great relief to Yvonne's parents who rightly feel murder should not go unpunished,"" Winner said. ""The proper legal process would be in this country. He committed the crime here, not in Libya where there is bound to be some remnant of sympathy. He should be sent here and stand trial. Until a man stands in the dock, and the right man, in England, it will be highly unsatisfactory."""
" Supporters of Jordan's government have clashed with protesters demanding political reforms in the capital Amman. Reports say supporters of the king threw stones at the hundreds of protesters camped in Gamal Abdel Nasser Square, injuring a number of them. The protesters were demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit, reforms to parliament and for corrupt officials to stand trial. Thursday's demonstration - which was organised through the social networking website Facebook by a group calling itself Youth of March 24 - saw student protesters joined by leftists and members of the Islamist opposition. Some witnesses said the police stood by as a group of government supporters moved in to the square and began throwing stones. As many as 35 people were reported injured, most with head wounds. Jordan's opposition has demanded electoral reforms that would see the prime minister directly elected and more powers granted to the parliament. In a letter published in Jordanian newspapers on Wednesday, King Abdullah urged Prime Minister Bakhit to push through parliament reforms the monarch proposed in February, after the last prime minister was sacked. At that time, Jordanians had taken to the streets in largely peaceful protests to demand on political reforms, high unemployment and rising prices. Mr Bakhit is a retired army major-general who served as Jordan's prime minister from 2005 until his resignation in 2007. Jordan is just one of the countries in the region where protests have been held to demand political changes after the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt were toppled in January and February."
" (CNN) -- Yemen's president, speaking to thousands of people at a pro-government demonstration on Friday, underscored his intentions to have a dialogue with protesters and make concessions in order to avoid bloodshed. This comes amid a report of discussions between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and a pro-opposition general over guidelines for a peaceful transition of power. Saleh told the throng that while he's ready to hand over authority systematically, he said he won't do so to ""gangs,"" ""drug dealers"" or the Houthi rebels fighting the government. ""We are against chaos and coups and against shooting one single bullet on our people,"" Saleh said. ""We will hand over the authority to you great people."" As he spoke in Al-Sabeen Square, anti-government demonstrators gathered in another part of the capital in University Square. The rival gatherings reflected the gulf in opinion throughout restive Yemen, a key U.S. ally and central battleground against al Qaeda that has been wracked by protests since the beginning of the year. The turnouts come after Saleh this week accepted opposition demands for constitutional reforms and holding parliamentary elections by the end of the year, steps that would ""end the current state of political turmoil facing the nation"" and usher in ""a smooth, peaceful and democratic transition,"" he has said. He has accepted five points submitted by the opposition JMP, including formation of a government of national unity and a national committee to draft a new constitution, drafting a new electoral law, and holding a constitutional referendum, parliamentary elections and a presidential vote by the end of the year. In his remarks on Friday, he addressed these moves, saying he salutes the people's ""support for constitutional legitimacy"" and a ""referendum on unity, freedom, democracy and legitimacy."" ""We are with you,"" he said."
" Israel said it was targeting premises used to store or produce arms. No serious casualties were reported. The Hamas announcement came after Palestinian militants in Gaza fired dozens of rockets into Israel. Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erekat has called for international intervention to help stop escalating violence. Mr Erekat told the BBC that he feared things were slipping out of control and third party intervention was needed. He also urged a resumption of contacts between the Israelis and Palestinians. Members of the Likud party are due to decide whether to hold party leadership elections, in what is being seen as a referendum on Mr Sharon's premiership following the Gaza withdrawal. Palestinian witnesses reported the attacks as follows: Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Gideon Meir told the BBC it was now up to the Palestinian Authority to rein in the militants. ""What we expect now from the Palestinian Authority is to collect the illegal weapons,"" he said. ""They have 30,000 troops in Gaza and they are doing nothing in order to stop this kind of rocket shooting...,"" he said."
" The Yemeni air force Friday bombed tribesmen fighting to overthrow President Ali Abdullah Saleh , a high-level official said. The military official, quoted anonymously, told CNN at least seven air force bombers were sent to Nehm province, northeast of the capital Sanaa, where the tribes had captured two bases from Saleh's Republican Guard. ""The guards attacked one of our villages for no reason,"" said Moqbel Najeeb, a local sheik. ""We will not accept that and will fight back against anyone who tries to attack us."" Seven soldiers and five tribesmen were reported killed. Meanwhile, fighting in the capital abated Friday as Saleh's emissaries negotiated with the Ahmar family, which has led the Hashid tribal confederation into joining the opposition. Saleh called off his weekly Friday rally and opposition protests diminished, The New York Times reported. Sadiq al-Ahmar, the eldest of 10 brothers, spoke at an opposition rally Friday and confirmed the talks. ""We wanted our revolution to be peaceful but were forced to use the weapons,"" he said. ""Now we would say we are ready for anything, peaceful or not peaceful."""
" (CNN) -- The man in front of me clasping a new satellite telephone tells me he has an urgent message. He's just received a call from his hometown warning him Moammar Gadhafi's forces are on the verge of overrunning it and he's desperate for NATO to do something about it. Mohammed, as he wants to be known, is a middle-aged, middle-class professional. He says he walked out of al Galaa, population 16,000, under cover of darkness three weeks ago on a harrowing two-night trek to break the siege and bring word of their suffering. It's been his mission ever since, and tonight is no exception. ""The shelling has increased,"" he tells me. Libyan leader Gadhafi's forces have the hilltop ""surrounded"" and have ""switched to 106mm rockets"" that he tells me are reaching their targets more effectively than the Grad and Katusha missiles they've been firing for the past two months. Al Galaa is in the Nafusa mountains, about 129 kilometers (80 miles) from the capital Tripoli. It sits on a small plateau next to Yefren, a town of similar size. They are at the eastern tip of a slender sliver of rebel-held territory extending 270 kilometers (168 miles) westwards to the Tunisian border. Both have been targeted by Gadhafi since they joined the rebellion three months ago. In that time, according to Mohammed, townspeople have had their water poisoned, their houses destroyed by shelling, been shot at, arrested, denied hospital treatment and even used as human shields. Since arriving in the rebel stronghold of Zintan about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away, Mohammed has sent a satellite phone back to the rebels he left behind. That's how he says he stays on top of news from there. He tells me Gadhafi's forces have taken control of the west of Yefren, including the hospital, the bank and the shops. What remains of the population, he says, are huddled in the east of Yefren, in al Galaa and in nearby caves. Most of the 32,000 estimated residents fled about two months ago, he says. He says it's impossible to know exactly how many people are left but guesses it's about 1,000, half of them rebels, half of them civilians."
" Kerry says he may meet Iranian foreign minister in Paris (Reuters) U.S. drone kills seven militants in Pakistan, official says (DPA) Lieberman to reveal Yisrael Beiteinu list on Monday, vows to get 16 Knesset seats (Haaretz) Schoolbus catches fire near Jerusalem suburb of Pisgat Ze'ev; no injuries (Haaretz) Two men reach top of Yosemite's El Capitan in historic climb (AP)"
" Three bridges were hit in the northern Gaza Strip which the army said were being used by militants to reach an area where they stage rocket attacks. A second strike in Khan Younis hit a building used by a money-changer, who Israelis say is linked to Hamas. A military spokesman also confirmed the arrest of 82 alleged militants in the West Bank overnight. Reports say Israeli forces have detained more than 300 suspects in raids in the last three days. A Palestinian security official said one person was slightly wounded in the overnight strike on Khan Younis which flattened the money-changer's office. Locals said the man was from the mainstream Fatah faction rather than the Hamas militant group. Israel launched an offensive against Palestinian militants over the weekend after rockets were fired from Gaza at Israeli towns nearby. He said that whatever Hamas announced, it was secretly pressing other militant groups to launch attacks. ""We will not allow them to continue with that policy,"" he said. He also said Israel would continue with what it calls the targeted killings of leaders of Palestinian militant groups."
" Battling to stem a debt crisis that has raged for over a year and pushed both Greece and Ireland to accept bailouts, the EU had promised to unveil a comprehensive solution at the March 24-25 summit that it hoped would reassure jittery markets. But the abrupt resignation of Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates on the eve of the meeting, after his austerity measures were rejected by parliament, cast a long shadow. Uncertainty in other euro members such as Finland and Ireland also prevented leaders finalizing fundamental elements of their plan. ""The euro has survived a critical test but there is lots of homework to be done,"" German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters, saying the bloc needed to ""atone for past sins."" ""This is a comprehensive package which I think is a big step forward. Whether it will be sufficient, only time will tell."" Yields on Portugal's 10-year benchmark bonds pushed above 8 percent to a new record on Friday, a rate seen as unsustainable for a country which needs to refinance about 4.5 billion euros of debt in April and a similar amount in June. Leaders were able to seal a deal on funding for the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) a new, permanent safety net that will become operational from mid-2013. Merkel backtracked before the summit on a deal that would have forced Germany, Europe's biggest economy and paymaster, to put up 11 billion euros for the fund in its first year, reducing her wiggle room for tax cuts before the next election. Under the compromise, capital injections totaling 80 billion euros for all euro zone members will be spread out over five years rather than three, with smaller installments. Euro zone leaders also formally backed the ""Euro Plus Pact,"" a list of areas for expanded economic policy harmonization which has been renamed three times because of sensitivities in various individual member states. Six EU states that do not use the single currency -- Bulgaria, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania -- joined the 17 euro states in backing the pact, in part out of worries they could be excluded from future policy talks."
" Missiles struck buildings in Gaza City, knocking out power nearby, and in a refugee camp in central Gaza. Artillery was also used for the first time. The continued barrage, which started at the weekend, comes a fortnight after Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip. Talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas have been postponed. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the meeting would not take place as planned on 2 October, ""but only once the preparations for this summit have been completed"". ""We don't want to meet just for the sake of meeting. We want a well-prepared meeting with an extensive agenda focusing on all the current issues,"" Mr Erekat said. A BBC correspondent says Israel is keen to show there will be a sustained response if it comes under fire. Dr Sabri Saidam, Palestinian minister for Telecommunications, said the raids were ""totally out of proportion... out of reason"". ""I see that Israel is using neither sense nor any proper judgement in its attacks,"" he said. The strikes occurred despite the militant group Islamic Jihad joining Hamas in saying it would observe a truce if Israel stopped its attacks. The militants say they reserve the right to hit back if Israel continues to target them."
" Walter Wolfgang, from London, was ejected from the hall after shouting ""nonsense"" as Foreign Secretary Jack Straw defended Iraq policy. Police later used powers under the Terrorism Act to prevent Mr Wolfgang's re-entry, but he was not arrested. Party chairman Ian McCartney criticised Mr Wolfgang's behaviour but said the way he was ejected was ""inappropriate"". ""I'm going to personally apologise to him,"" Mr McCartney said. ""I'm going to personally meet him if he takes the opportunity."" Mr Wolfgang, who escaped Nazi Germany in 1937, is a member of the Stop the War Coalition. Erith and Thamesmead constituency party chairman Steve Forrest, who was sitting next to Mr Wolfgang, was also thrown out after complaining about his treatment. However Mr McCartney said Mr Wolfgang would not be allowed back into the conference, which ends on Thursday. The Labour Party has a responsibility to remove people who create a ""persistent disturbance"", he said. The party said it would be examining the events leading up to the ejection. The Halifax MP's attempt to have Iraq debated at the conference was earlier blocked."
" TORNADO ON THE GROUND JUST SOUTH OF BAXTER SPRINGS. (SGF) TORNADO AT GIBSON SWITCH JUST SOUTHWEST OF JONESBORO. REPORTED BY JONESBORO FIRE CHIEF. (MEG) TORNADO AT INTERSECTION OF BETHEL AND IRIS ROAD WEST OF REDINGSMILL. (SGF) AROUND THREE HOUSES DAMAGED. ONE WOMAN WAS TRAPPED BUT NOT INJURED. MANY LARGE TREES DOWNED. TIME ESTIMATED. (OUN) TORNADO HAS STRUCK NUMEROUS RESIDENCES BETWEEN SENECA AND NEOSHO. THREE FATALATIES AND NUMEROUS INJURIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED AND HIGHWAY 60 IS CLOSED DUE (SGF) TORNADO DAMAGED OR DESTROYED NUMEROUS BUILDINGS. PRELIMINARY REPORTS INDICATE 10 FATALITIES...EIGHT NORTHWEST OF RACINE AND TWO NORTH OF RACINE. NWS ST (SGF) TORNADO AT HIGHWAY 158 JUST WEST OF COUNTY ROAD 463. (MEG) TORNADO JUST OUTSIDE OF BAY WITH DEBRIS CLOUD...2 MILES EAST OF HIGHWAY 463. (MEG) TORNADO ON THE GROUND AT HIGHWAY 37 AND UNICORN. (SGF) AN NWS SURVEY TEAM DETERMINED THAT A EF-1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN EAST-NORTHEAST OF CARTHAGE JUST NORTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF IVY ROAD AND 90T (SGF) THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF THE TORNADO THAT TRAVERSED NEWTON COUNTY. A TORNADO WITH A MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH OF 200 YARDS CROSSED INTO BARRY COUNTY 3 MILES N (SGF) A NWS STORM SURVEY HAS FOUND EVIDENCE OF AN EF1 TORNADO WITH A DAMAGE PATH A HALF MILE WIDE ALONG AND SOUTH OF FLAT CREEK. THE BEGINNING OF THE TORNADO WAS AT 36.813 AN (SGF) DAMAGE TO 4 TRAILER HOMES...A CHURCH...HOMES...AND SEVERAL OUTBUILDINGS IN THE PURDY AREA. 1 FATALITY REPORTED BY EMERGENCY MANAGER. (SGF) POSSIBLE BRIEF TOUCHDOWN WAS REPORTED AT MILE MARKER 173 JUST SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 40. (LZK) BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AT 827 EL PASO ROAD. (LZK) TORNADO DAMAGE CONSISTS OF DOWNED TREES AND POWER LINES...AS WELL AS SOME STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. THIS OCCURRED FROM TIPP...TO AREAS FARTHER EAST ALONG HIGHWAY 269...THEN TO (LZK) ONE HOME HAD SHINGLES BLOWN OFF ROOF. NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF STATE ROADS 284 AND 259. THE TORNADO LIFTED AROUND 808 PM CDT 4.4 MILES SOUTH SOUTH (MEG) STRUCTURAL DAMAGE AND TREES DOWN OFF HIGHWAY 130 ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF TOWN. (LZK) AN EF-1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN A HEAVILY WOODED AREA ALONG CR-36...ABOUT 2 MILES WSW OF ROSSTON. THE TORNADO THEN MOVED ESE THROUGH A MAINLY WOODED AREA BEFORE LIFTING (SHV) IN WEST MARKS TORNADO WAS 30 YARDS WIDE. PATH WAS THREE TENTHS OF A MILE LONG. HOUSE DAMAGED AND BARN DESTROYED. MANY TREES WERE ALSO DAMAGED. (MEG) EF-1 TORNADO WITH PATH LENGTH OF 1.6 MI AND MAX WIDTH OF 250 YDS NEAR AND ALONG CR 14 BETWEEN WRIGHT AND RHODESVILLE. EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED WITH MANY TREES (HUN) THOUSANDS OF TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN OR WERE SNAPPED OFF ALONG THE DAMAGE PATH. SEVERAL MOBILE HOMES SUFFERED DAMAGE AND ONE CARPORT WAS DAMAGED. PATH LENGTH WAS AROUND 2 (BMX) PRELIMINARY STORM SURVEY FROM A NWS TEAM FOUND DAMAGE FROM AN EF2 TORNADO FROM ARKADELPHIA TO COLONY. IN FACT...SEVERAL DEBRIS PATHS WERE SEEN ACROSS SOUTHERN CULLMAN C (HUN) NUMEROUS TREES WERE EITHER SNAPPED OFF OR UPROOTED ALONG THE PATH. SEVERAL STRUCTURES SUFFERED VARYING DEGREES OF DAMAGE. DAMAGE PATH BEGAN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF BIR (BMX) THE TORNADO APPEARED TO HAVE CAUSED ONLY ONLY MINOR TREE DAMAGE IN WALKER COUNTY. THIS STORM STREGTHENED AND PRODUCED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE IN CULLMAN COUNTY. THE TORNADO (BMX) PRELIMINARY STORM SURVEY FROM A NWS TEAM FOUND DAMAGE FROM AN EF2 TORNADO FROM ARKADELPHIA TO COLONY. IN FACT...SEVERAL DEBRIS PATHS WERE SEEN ACROSS SOUTHERN CULLMAN C (HUN) HUNDREDS OF TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AND SEVERAL STRUCTURES WERE DAMAGED OR DESTROYED IN AND NEAR HEFLIN. AT LEAST 35 HOMES WERE DAMAGED AND 6 STRUCTURES WERE DESTROYED. P (BMX) SEVERAL HOMES WERE BADLY DAMAGED...AND AT LEAST 2 OF THEM HAD A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THEIR ROOFS BLOWN OFF. NUMEROUS TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN OR SNAPPED. DAMAGE PATH BEG (BMX) POSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGED OR DESTROYED AT LEAST 2 HOMES ON 400 BLOCK OF HINES ROAD AND ON WILLOWOOD ROAD. (FFC) THE FIRST OF TWO BRIEF EF2 TORNADO SPINUPS OCCURRED WEST OF CARROLLTON IN THE JONESVILLE AREA. ROOFS WERE COMPLETELY BLOWN OFF TWO HOMES AND NUMEROUS TREES WERE DOWNED. (FFC) HIGHWAY PATROL REPORTED TORNADO ON THE GROUND AND NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED AN EF0 FROM 3ESE TO 7.5E OF JOHNSTON. TREES AND POWERLINES WERE DOWN ON MCCREIGHT, OLD PLAN (CAE) POSSIBLE TORNADO TOOK ROOF OFF HOME AT PERKINS AND KEITH ROAD. (FFC) TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR 1112 PERKINS RD WHERE IT DAMAGED A HOUSE AND TOSSED TWO PICKUP TRUCKS...ONE 40 FT AND THE OTHER 60 FT. AT 1117 PERKINS RD AND ALONG DUCHESNE L (FFC) WIDESPREAD STRAIGHT-LINE WIND DAMAGE ALONG A 25 MILE LONG PATH...UP TO THREE MILES WIDE AT POINTS...FROM NEAR BOWDEN...THROUGH CARROLLTON...TO THE DOUGLAS COUNTY LINE.. (FFC) POSSIBLE TORNADO ON THE GROUND BETWEEN EDGEFIELD AND JOHNSTON. (CAE) SECOND BRIEF EF2 TORNADO SPINUP ON EAST SIDE OF CARROLLTON WITH SEVERAL HOMES SUSTAINING MODERATE DAMAGED...ONE COMPLETELY DESTROYED. FURTHER DOCUMENTATION NOTED IN PRE (FFC) TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR 1112 PERKINS RD WHERE IT DAMAGED A HOUSE AND TOSSED TWO PICKUP TRUCKS...ONE 40 FT AND THE OTHER 60 FT. AT 1117 PERKINS RD AND ALONG DUCHESNE L (FFC) THIS TORNADO INITIALLY TOUCHED DOWN IN TROUP COUNTY AND TRACKED INTO NW MERIWETHER COUNTY. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED AND 1 SHED WAS DESTROYED. WIND DAMAG (FFC) THE SECOND OF TWO BRIEF TORNADOES OCCURRED IN THE DIAMOND COURT SUBDIVISION OFF CROSS PLAINS HULETT ROAD. TWO HOMES WERE SIGNFICANTLY DAMAGED...ONE COMPLETELY DESTROYED (FFC) NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED TREES DOWN FROM AN EF0 TORNADO ON MT CALVARY, WESTIN WAY, AND OTHER SECONDARY ROADS WITH NO STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. (CAE) POSSIBLE TORNADO HEAVILY DAMAGED HOME AT 4800 BLOCK OF TRIGGER LANE. (FFC) EF2 TOUCHDOWN JUST EAST OF I-675.APPROXIMATELY 100 YARDS WIDE. 1 HOME WITH 2ND FLOOR TAKEN OFF. MANY HOMES WITH DAMAGE IN ELLENWOOD. (FFC) AN EF2 TORNADO WITH WINDS UP TO 130 MPH TOUCHED DOWN JUST EAST OF I-675 CAUSING SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OVER A 2.5 SQ MILE AREA TO THE ELLENWOOD COMMUNITY. 188 PRIVATE DWELL (FFC) NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED TREES DOWN FROM AN EF0 ON OLD SHOALS, ABNEY, AND OTHER SECONDARY ROADS. THERE WERE NO STRUCTURES ALONG THE PATH. (CAE) POSSIBLE TORNADO DESTROYED HOME ON WATERS EDGE RD NEAR SOUTH SHORE OF LAKE TOBESOFKEE. LOTS OF TREES AND LINES DOWN. INSULATION STREWN ABOUT. (FFC) EF2 TORNADO. SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO BUSINESSES AND MACON STATE COLLEGE. 2 BUILDINGS DESTROYED. NEARLY HALF OF THE TREES ON MACON STATE COLLEGE CAMPUS WERE EITHER BROKEN (FFC) NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED TREES DOWN JB SWARTZE, COUNTER, AND OTHER SECONDARY ROADS WITH NO STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. (CAE) AN EF1 TORNADO WITH WINDS UP TO 90 MPH TOUCHED DOWN NEAR US HWY 80 WEST OF MYRICKS MILL RD WHERE A CHURCH HAD MOST OF ITS ROOF BLOWN OFF. IT CONTINUED EAST INTO WESTERN (FFC) POSSIBLE TORNADO DESTROYED SEVERAL HOMES AT US 441 AND EVERGREEN RD. NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. UNKNOWN NUMBER OF INJURIES HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED. (FFC) AN EF1 TORNADO WITH WINDS UP TO 110 MPH TOUCHED DOWN IN EXTREME NORTHERN LAURENS COUNTY ABOUT 1 MILE W OF TUCKERS CROSSROADS OR 9 MILES WSW OF WRIGHTSVILLE AT 644 AM ED (FFC) AN EF0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR GA HWY 15 AND MAYVIEW RD TRACKING EAST FOR APPROXIMATELY 33 MILES THROUGH JEFFERSON COUNTY AND CONTINUED INTO BURKE COUNTY BEFORE LIFTI (FFC) DAMAGE PATH 0.5 MILES LONG AND 200 YARDS WIDE.ONE MOBILE HOME DESTROYED AND NUMEROUS TREES SNAPPED AND UPROOTED. (FFC) AN EF2 TORNADO WITH WINDS UP TO 130 MPH TOUCHED DOWN NORTHWEST OF KITE CAUSING DAMAGE ALONG US HWY 221. A MOBILE HOME WAS ROLLED OVER AND SEVERAL HOMES AND CARS WERE DA (FFC) DAMAGE PATH 7 MILES LONG AND 150 YARDS WIDE. ONE TWO STORY BRICK HOME HAD THE SECOND FLOOR COMPLETELY REMOVED. NUMEROUS SHEDS AND OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED. THE TORNA (FFC) DAMAGE PATH 7 MILES LONG AND 150 YARDS WIDE. ONE TWO STORY BRICK HOME HAD THE SECOND FLOOR COMPLETELY REMOVED. NUMEROUS SHEDS AND OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED. (FFC) 4 MOBILE HOMES DAMAGED...1 HOUSE DESTROYED...1 CHURCH DESTROYED...1 MOBILE HOME DESTROYED AND 1 TRACTOR TRAILER TURNED OVER. APPROXIMATELY 200 TO 300 PINE (FFC) DAMAGE PATH WAS 2.5 MILES LONG AND 100 YARDS WIDE. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED ALONG THE PATH. (FFC) AN EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 7 MILES NE OF LYONS. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED ALONG THE PATH. THIS TORNADO MOVED NORTHEAST BEFORE CURVING TO AN EAST DIRECTIO (FFC) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ON OLD WEST SAVANNAH ROAD AND HIGHWAY 25 SOUTH. DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES. POSSIBLE TORNADO. (CHS) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. SEVERAL RESIDENCES HOMES WERE DAMAGED. CONVENIENCE STORE WAS DESTROYED NEAR HIGHWAY 23 AND HIGHWAY 25. 2 MINOR INJURI (CHS) TORNADO CROSSED INTO EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CANDLER COUNTY FROM EMANUEL COUNTY...THEN CONTINUED EAST SOUTHEASTWARD INTO TATTNALL COUNTY TO COBBTOWN BEFORE T (CHS) NUMEROUS REPORTS OF HAIL IN THE LOUISBURG AREA. DIME SIZED THE BIGGEST. REPORTED FROM DALLAS CO 911. (SGF) HAIL WAS MOSTLY DIME SIZED BUT A FEW UP TO QUARTERS WERE OBSERVED. (ICT) NICKEL SIZE HAIL REPORTED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HWY 3 AND HWY 4. (CAE) HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF TENNIS BALLS (ICT) WINDS GUSTED TO AN ESTIMATED 45 MPH. SPOTTER IN RIVERTOWNE SUBDIVISION. (CHS) QUARTER SIZE HAIL AT HIGHWAY 18 AND COUNTY ROAD 160 JUST NORTH OF CASH. (MEG) SEVERAL REPORTS OF PENNY TO QUARTER-SIZED HAIL IN MACON AND NORTH MACON. GOLF BALL-SIZED HAIL NEAR WMAZ TELEVISION. HAIL EVENTS BEGAN AT 644 PM EDT AND CONTINUED TO ABO (FFC) QUARTER SIZE HAIL AT DAN AVENUE AND HIGHWAY 63 IN JONESBORO. (MEG) MOSTLY GOLFBALL BUT A FEW AS LARGE AS BASEBALLS (TSA) QUARTER SIZE HAIL AT HIGHWAY 158 JUST WEST OF COUNTY ROAD 463. (MEG) QUATER SIZE HAIL FALLING. SHEET METAL IS ALSO FALLING FROM THE SKY. (SGF) HAIL WAS REPORTED AT THE INTERSECTION OF INTERSTATES 430 AND 30. (LZK) GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT THE INTERSECTION OF CHICO ROAD AND MABELVALE CUT OFF. (LZK) GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL AT THE HOUCHATOWN STATE PARK ALONG THE SOUTHERN END OF BROKEN BOW LAKE. (SHV) HAIL FELL ALONG HWY 27 JUST WEST OF THE HOWARD COUNTY LINE. (SHV) QUARTER SIZE HAIL IN HICKORY HILL AREA NEAR RAINES AND WINCHESTER. (MEG) NICKEL SIZE HAIL AT HIGHWAY 302 AND CENTERHILL ROAD NEAR OLIVE BRANCH. (MEG) PENNY SIZE HAIL IN THE TOWN OF FARRELL. (MEG) GOLF BALL-SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED IN RHINE BY AMATEUR RADIO AT 1020 PM EDT...AND BY THE PUBLIC AT 1030 PM EDT SOUTH OF RHINE ALONG THE TELFAIR COUNTY LINE. (FFC) NUMEROUS REPORTS OF DIME TO PENNY SIZE HAIL IN THE JESUP METRO AREA. (JAX) OBERVED BY A TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER ON THE WAYNE AND LONG COUNTY BORDER ALONG THE ALTAMAHA RIVER. (JAX) OBSERVED BY A TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER ALONG THE WAYNE/LONG COUNTY LINE. (CHS) DIME TO PENNY SIZE HAIL WAS FALLING IN HAMILTON. (BMX) DIME TO PENNY SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN HACKLEBURG. (BMX) HAIL HAD BEEN OCCURRING FOR SEVERAL MINUTES. (FFC) HAIL OCCURRED AT INTERSECTION OF FM 350N AND RAY MARSH ROAD BETWEEN ONALASKA AND LEGGETT. (HGX) VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTS DIME TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL, LIMBS AND BRANCHES BLOWN OFF TREES. (BMX) HAIL FROM DIME TO PENNY SIZE REPORTED BY OFF-DUTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE. (LCH) NICKEL TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED AROUND SILSBEE AREA BY SHERIFF DEPUTY. (LCH) HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS REPORTED FROM VIDOR TO ORANGE. (LCH) SHERIFF REPORTED PENNY-SIZE HAIL IN BARN OWL AREA IN SOUTH PART OF COUNTY (CAE) NUMEROUS REPORTS OF PENNY SIZE HAIL IN THE HAZLEHURST VICINITY. TIME IS ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR IMAGERY. (JAX) TREES DOWN JUST EAST OF TOWN. (SHV) 1.5 INCH HAIL OCCURED WITH STORM AND 11 INCH DIAMETER TREE LIMBS DOWN. (ICT) SEVERAL LARGE TREES DOWN EAST SIDE OF CLAREMORE (TSA) MANY TREES BLOWN DOWN ACROSS COUNTY ROAD SOUTH OF PROCTOR (TSA) POWER LINES DOWN AT HIGHWAY 18 AND INDUSTRIAL ROAD IN EAST JONESBORO. (MEG) TREES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 32 NEAR POLK COUNTY LINE. TIME AND LOCATION ESTIMATED. (SGF) LARGE TREE ON HOUSE AND NUMEROUS FENCES DOWNED SOUTHEAST OF BAY. (MEG) TREE LANDED ON TRAILER HOUSE APPROXIMATELY 4 MILES EAST OF CARTHAGE SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 96 NEAR COUNTY ROAD 80. DAMAGE PATH FROM COUNTY ROAD 80 TO COUNTY R (SGF) CONSIDERABLE TREE DAMAGE. ONE LARGE TREE BLOWN DOWN. MANY TREES WITH TOPS OUT. POSSIBLE TORNADO. (TSA) ROOF DAMAGE TO AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND PRE-SCHOOL ON THE WEST END OF BENTONVILLE (TSA) MOBILE HOME LOST IT'S ROOF NORTH OF SHERMAN IN KNOLLWOOD (FWD) WINDOW BLOWN IN ON SOUTH SIDE OF HOUSE. (SGF) TRACTOR TRAILER BLOWN OVER ON INTERSTATE 55 SOUTHWEST OF OSCEOLA. (MEG) TREES WERE REPORTED DOWN ON HIGHWAY 36 EAST. (LZK) LIMBS BROKEN OUT OF TREES SCATTERED AROUND AREA. (TSA) TREE DOWN JUST SOUTH OF TOWN. (SHV) TREES DOWN ON SMITH ROAD OFF OF HIGHWAY 16. ALSO TREES DOWN NEAR BERRY HILL PARK. (LZK) POSSIBLE TORNADO. TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. (MEG) POSSIBLE TORNADO. ONE HOME HEAVY DAMAGED AND NUMEROUS POWER POLES AND TREES DOWNED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF STATE ROADS 284 AND 259. (MEG) TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN IN HUGHES. (MEG) TREES DOWN ON SMITH ROAD OFF OF HIGHWAY 16. ALSO TREES DOWN NEAR BARRY HILL PARK. (LZK) WIDESPREAD WIND DAMAGE WITH SEVERAL TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN, RADIO TOWER DOWN, AND DAMAGE TO SEVERAL ROOFS. (FWD) TREES DOWN ON BLUE GOOSE ROAD NEAR/NORTH OF STRAYHORN. (MEG) LARGE TREES DOWN ON MONROE/PHILLIPS COUNTY LINE ALONG HIGHWAY 1. (MEG) SEVERAL TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN IN COOPER. (FWD) 60 MPH WIND GUSTS AT SHELBY DRIVE AND SWINEA IN SOUTH MEMPHIS. (MEG) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ALONG HIGHWAY 44. AIRPORT HANGAR DESTROYED. AIRPLANE MOVED ABOUT 100 FEET WITH LITTLE DAMAGE TO PLANE. SEVERAL BUILDINGS ALSO DAMAGE (MEG) TWO FOOT DIAMETER TREE ON A HOUSE IN OLIVE BRANCH. (MEG) A FEW TREES DOWN NEAR TOWN. (SHV) 72 MPH MEASURED WIND GUST AT HIGHWAY 302 AND CENTERHILL ROAD NEAR OLIVE BRANCH. (MEG) ONE TREE DOWN SOUTHWEST OF TOWN. (SHV) TREES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 57 AND 76 IN MOSCOW. (MEG) DOZENS OF TREES DOWN ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY FROM MILAN ON THE DODGE...TELFAIR COUNTY LINE...TO MCRAE IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF THE COUNTY. A COUPLE OF RO (FFC) TREES DOWN AND POWER LINES DOWNED ON COUNTY ROAD 1217 BETWEEN 144 AND 11. (SHV) TREE DOWNED POWER LINES ON CR 4591 NEAR THE PERRYVILLE COMMUNITY (SHV) TREES DOWNED. ONE TREE ON A HOME IN LANEBURG...SOUTHEAST OF PRESCOTT. NO INJURIES REPORTED (SHV) TREE ON HOUSE SOUTH OF ROSSTON ON US HWY 371. (SHV) THREE MEDIUM SIZED TREES DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF VILDO ROAD AND HIGHWAY 100. (MEG) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. A SHOP BUILDING WAS ALSO DESTROYED. (MEG) WIDESPREAD DAMAGE FROM ASHLAND SOUTH TO HICKORY FLAT IN BENTON COUNTY. NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWNED...POSSIBLE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. (MEG) A FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN IN TOWN. (JAN) A FEW TREES DOWN ALONG WITH PEA SIZE HAIL OFF OF HIGHWAY 4. ESTIMATED WINDS 60 TO 65 MPH. (MEG) TREES DOWN AND POWER LINES DOWN COUNTYWIDE. (MEG) TREES DOWN AT HIGHWAY 45 AND NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY. (MEG) TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN NORTH OF IUKA. (MEG) TREE DOWN ON IRON MOUNTAIN ROAD JUST ON THE ARKANSAS SIDE OF THE ARKANSAS/LOUISIANA COUNTY LINE. (SHV) IN THE MACEDONIA COMMUNITY, TREES AND POWERLINES WERE KNOCKED DOWN BY THUNDERSTORM WINDS. POWER OUTAGES REPORTED IN THE AREA. (HUN) NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ON TEASDALE ROAD NORTH OF CHARLESTON. (MEG) A FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN. (JAN) A FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN. (JAN) POWERLINES AND TREES REPORTED DOWN IN WESTERN PORTIONS OF TUSCUMBIA. (HUN) TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN IN PITTSBORO (MEG) TREE DOWN ALONG HWY 2 NEAR BETWEEN ROCKY BRANCH AND STERLINGTON. (SHV) A FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN. (JAN) TREES HAVE BEEN BLOWN DOWN NEAR THE SCHOTSVILLE COMMUNITY. (BMX) A FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN. (JAN) A FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN ON MAIN ST. A COUPLE OTHER TREES WERE DOWN JUST N OF TOWN. POWER IS OUT IN TOWN. (JAN) A FEW TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN OFF HWY 2. (JAN) TREE DOWN AT KELLER QUARRY RD AND WALKER CAMP RD (HUN) TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS NORTHWEST SECTIONS OF YALOBUSHA COUNTY. TREES DOWN ON INTERSTATE 55 AT MILE MARKER 299. (MEG) A FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN. (JAN) TREE KNOCKED DOWN 6 MILES SOUTH OF RUSSELLVILLE ON US 43 IN THE SPRUCE PINE AREA. (HUN) TREES DOWN OFF HIGHWAY 330 NEAR TYSON. (MEG) TREE REPORTED DOWN ON AL HIGHWAY 187 AND COUNTY ROAD 52 (HUN) LARGE TREE REPORTED DOWN ON COUNTY ROAD 170, 2 MILES OFF OF COUNTY ROAD 157. (HUN) TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ALONG HIGHWAY 341 AND COUNTY ROAD 452. A TREE ALSO FELL ON A VEHICLE. (MEG) 4 TO 5 TREES DOWN AROUND HOUSTON AND SOUTH OF HOUSTON. (MEG) POWER OUTAGES REPORTED WEST OF CULLMAN IN THE BETHEL COMMUNITY. (HUN) TREE DOWN AND POWER OUTAGES AT 1911 BENNET ROAD IN JASPER. (BMX) TREES BLOWN DOWN IN THE SOMERVILLE COMMUNITY. (HUN) TREES DOWN AND DAMAGED CARS AT INTERSTATE 65 EXIT 299. (HUN) TREE BLOCKING BOTH LANES AT MILE MARKER 9 ON HIGHWAY 160. (BMX) SEVERAL TREES DOWN AND A POWER LINE. (BMX) ONE TREE DOWN ON INTERSTATE 59 SOUTHBOUND AT MILE MARKER 163. (BMX) POWER LINES DOWN AND VEHICLE ACCIDENT ON HIGHWAY 77 NORTH OF TALLADEGA. (BMX) SEVERAL TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AND SEVERAL STRUCTURES WERE DAMAGED IN AND NEAR HEFLIN. DAMAGE PATH WAS EVIDENT. POSSIBLE TORNADO. (BMX) TREES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 78 NEAR WFHK RADIO STATION IN PELL CITY. (BMX) TREES DOWN ON GREENSPORT ROAD IN ASHVILLE (BMX) TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ON COUNTY ROAD 17 BETWEEN US 278 AND STATE HIGHWAY 13. (BMX) DOT REPORTED SCATTERED TREES DOWN CLEMSON TO NEAR PICKENS. (GSP) POSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGED OR DESTROYED AT LEAST 2 HOMES ON 400 BLOCK OF HINES ROAD AND ON WILLOWOOD ROAD. (FFC) SEVERAL STRUCTURES WERE DAMAGED ALONG HIGHWAY 166 BETWEEN BOWDEN AND CARROLTON. (FFC) POSSIBLE TORNADO KNOCKED DOWN SEVERAL TREES AND DAMAGED HOMES FROM THE SAINT MARKS AREA TO US 27 ACROSS NORTHERN PART OF COUNTY. (FFC) SHERIFF REPORTS TREE AND POWERLINE DOWN ON DEARMANVILLE ROAD. (BMX) PUBLIC REPORTED TREES DOWN AND POWER OUTAGES AT 165 HIGH PARK ROAD IN RAVENEL SOUTH CAROLINA. (CHS) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWERLINES ARE DOWN IN FAIRPLAY. SEVERAL HOMES HAVE RECEIVED DAMAGE FROM WINDS AND TREES FALLING ON THEM. POSSIBLE TORNADO. (FFC) POSSIBLE TORNADO KNOCKED DOWN SEVERAL TREES AND DAMAGED STRUCTURES NEAR SOUTH FULTON PARKWAY ON THE NORTH SIDE OF FAIRBURN. (FFC) ONE POWER LINE WAS DOWN ALONG RAINBOW DRIVE. (FFC) TREES ARE DOWN ON THE EAST SIDE OF THOMASTON AND ALONG HIGHWAY 74 TOWARDS YATESVILLE (FFC) NUMEROUS TREES ARE DOWN ALONG REX ROAD BETWEEN HOMESTEAD AND STAGECOACH ROADS EAST OF MORROW. (FFC) MEDIA REPORTED SEVERAL TREES DOWN AT THE CORNER OF SECESSIONVILLE AND CAMP ROAD. A POSSIBLE TORNADO HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED. (CHS) 10 TO 20 TREES DOWN AND POWER LINES DOWN NEAR HIGHWAY 212 AND OGLESBY BRIDGE RD (FFC) MANY TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY. (FFC) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWERLINES ARE DOWN COUNTYWIDE. (FFC) TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY. OCCURRED BETWEEN 545 AM AND 610 AM. (FFC) SEVERAL TREES ARE DOWN IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY. (FFC) SEVERAL TREES WERE DOWN ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PART OF COUNTY...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE INTERSTECTION OF HIGHWAYS 22 AND 74. (FFC) A FEW TREES AND LIMBS WERE BROUGHT DOWN IN A TRAILER PARK ON THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF TOWN. (FFC) 4 HOME WERE HEAVILY DAMAGED IN IRWINTON AND NUMEROUS TREES WERE DOWN ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTY WITH SEVERAL ROADS BLOCKED. (FFC) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN NEAR 4300 BLOCK OF PERSHING AVE IN WEST MACON. (FFC) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWERLINES ARE DOWN ALL ACROSS THE COUNTY. (FFC) SEVERAL TREES WERE DOWN ACROSS THE CITY. (FFC) SEVERAL TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS SOUTH PART OF COUNTY (FFC) NUMEROUS TREES ARE DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY...WITH SEVERAL TORNADO REPORTS IN THE LESLIE AREA...BUT NONE HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED. (FFC) TREES DOWN AND CARPORT BLOWN AWAY. (FFC) STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS ESTIMATED UP TO 90 MPH OCCURRED ALONG AND UP TO 2 MILES SOUTH OF THE TORNADO TRACK. A GYMNASIUM IN KITE SUSTAINED MASONRY WALL AND ROOF DAMAGE. SEVE (FFC) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ALL AROUND LOUISVILLE. (FFC) A FEW TREES DOWN IN THE WEST BADEN AND FRENCH LICK AREAS... SIZE UNKNOWN...ONE TREE TOOK POWERLINE DOWN NEAR FRENCH LICK (LMK) SEVERAL TREES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY. (FFC) NUMEROUS TREES ARE DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY...WITH SEVERAL TORNADO REPORTS IN THE LESLIE AREA...BUT NONE HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED. (FFC) SEVERAL TREES WERE KNOCKED DOWN AND BUILDINGS DAMAGED IN AND AROUND NORMANTOWN. (FFC) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ON OLD WEST SAVANNAH ROAD AND HIGHWAY 25 SOUTH. DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES. POSSIBLE TORNADO. (CHS) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. SEVERAL RESIDENCES HOMES WERE DAMAGED. CONVENIENCE STORE WAS DESTROYED NEAR HIGHWAY 23 AND HIGHWAY 25. 2 MINOR INJURI (CHS) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ON BURTONS HIGHWAY...CHERRY HIGHWAY...COUNTRY CLUB ROAD AND BUCK CREEK ROAD. (CHS) NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED BETWEEN REIDSVILLE AND GLENNVILLE. EMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTS THAT ALL TREES BLOWN IN ONE DIRECTION. (CHS) NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ON BURTONS HIGHWAY...CHERRY HIGHWAY...COUNTRY CLUB ROAD AND BUCK CREEK ROAD. (CHS) Full report in comma-separated values (CSV) format and in KML format. Hail Sizes in 1/100 of an Inch (75 = 0.75"") LAT/LON in decimal degrees to two decimals, see SPC FAQ for more info List of Weather Forecast Office 3-letter IDs appear in the report comments section If you would like to view storm report images for a previous day, type in the date you wish to retrieve (e.g., 990204)."
" (Adds details)  OKLAHOMA CITY, May 10 (Reuters) - At least 18 people were killed on Saturday in Missouri and Oklahoma after tornadoes swept through the area, authorities in the two states said.  There were at least 12 storm-related deaths in Missouri, 10 of those in Newtonewton County on the border with Oklahoma, according to Susie Stonner of the Missouri Emergency Management Agency.  ""There's a lot of wreckage and overturned vehicles,"" she said, adding police had not ruled out finding more victims.  Hardest hit was Racine, a tiny community in Newton County about 170 miles (270 km) south of Kansas City.  Six people were also killed in the small northeastern Oklahoma town of Picher, officials said.  ""Basically a 24-block area is virtually destroyed,"" said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.  She added that Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry had ordered National Guard troops to arrive in Picher by Sunday morning to help in rescue and recovery operations.  Local television footage from Picher showed widespread devastation. Homes were ripped from their foundations, trees were stripped of leaves and sheet metal was twisted like paper.  Ooten said search efforts for missing people in Picher were shutting down as it was unsafe for rescuers to move through the rubble at night even with mobile floodlights."
" Final: Bruins 1, Lightning 0: The Bruins are going to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1990. Nathan Horton's goal with 7:33 remaining in the third period is the only score of the game. They're celebrating on the ice here at TD Garden, just as they're celebrating on Canal Street and in Brighton, Charlestown, and South Boston. 0:44 Fast and furious now as Tampa tries to tie it. Lightning were trying to get Roloson off for about 30 seconds and couldn't make it happen. Faceoff at neutral ice means he's back in net for the moment. One last push. 4:54 A two-on-one for Marchand and Ryder comes up empty and Ryder's shot runs smack into the left pad of Dwyane Roloson. Good for the Bruins to keep attacking, rather than sit back and wait for the Lightning to try and equalize. 7:33 Nathan Horton breaks the tie and the Bruins lead, 1-0. Beautiful feed by David Krejci finding Horton cutting to the net. Horton just had to put a stick on it and loft it into the webbing. 10:37 Milan Lucic fires a shot on not directly off of the faceoff. If you can't draw it back, might as well put the puck on goal. Save by Roloson. 12:40 Still no score. Steven Stamkos keeps going to the bench to get cotton swabs stuffed up what's left of his nose. Unbelievable he's still in the building, nevermind playing this game. 13:51: The third period is underway, and it's more of the same intense hockey. Peverly and Marchand both stopped on the doorstep by Roloson. Second intermission stats update: Ference and Horton lead the Bruins with five shots apiece. Seidenberg has played 18:21, Chara 16:25. For the Lightning, Eric Brewer has played 16:15, while Teddy Purcell leads with three shots. Bergeron is tops among Bruins forwards with 19 shifts. End of the second period, Bruins 0, Lightning 0: Two periods down. No goals. No penalties. And numerous good scoring opportunities, particularly for the Bruins, who have fired 29 shots on Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson without anything to show for it. The Bruins could (should?) have at least 2-3 goals -- Roloson robbed Marchand twice late in the period. The Lightning have 17 shots, but they've had their chances, particularly off turnovers in the neutral zone, and Thomas has given up some juicy rebounds. Stamkos was on the doorstep late in the period, but Tomas Kaberle -- yes, Kaberle -- lifted Stamkos's stick just in time. "
" Voting has closed in local elections in parts of Sri Lanka, including much of the previously war-affected north. There were disturbing breaches of electoral rules in one part of the north, and an election-related death elsewhere, monitoring groups said. But the election commissioner said that overall the polling went well. The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has not been popular in the north and both it and the biggest Tamil party have much at stake in the vote. New election commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya told the BBC he was very sad that a man had been killed in apparent violence within the governing party in central Sri Lanka. But he said that in most other places, including the mainly Tamil north, the situation was overwhelmingly calm, with turnout a little higher than in last year's general elections. The main violations in the north were reported from Kilinochchi, once the Tamil Tiger headquarters, and a place whose population has only recently returned home from displaced people's camps. Civil society groups said thousands of voting cards had been confiscated and voters threatened with violence. But Mr Deshapriya said that in response the authorities held a mobile loudspeaker campaign urging people to come out and vote even without cards. The confiscations had been ""well organised"" and very disturbing, Rajith Tennakoon, of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections, told the BBC."
" Congressional authorization for several FAA programs expired at 12:01 a.m. on July 23. As a result, nearly 4,000 FAA employees are now furloughed without pay. Those employees affected by the lapse in authorization have been notified by their managers and will receive a furlough notice via FAA email. Employees paid from the FAAs Operations account, which is funded from both the Trust Fund and the general fund, are not affected by the lack of an extension to our legislative authority. While this lapse in FAA's authorization affects thousands of public and private sector jobs, it is important to note that the safety of the flying public will not be compromised. Employees who have not been told that they would be furloughed if FAA's authorization was not extended are expected to report to work as scheduled. We are working diligently with Congress to resolve this unfortunate situation, and apologize for the hardship this situation may cause for our employees and our stakeholders. Follow the latest news and updates on this issue via official FAA press releases and communications on Facebook and Twitter"
" Evidence of possible phone hacking at the Sunday Mirror newspaper has been found by the BBC's Newsnight. The programme spoke to a journalist who worked on the paper in the past decade who claimed to have witnessed routine phone hacking in the newsroom. The source said celebrities including actress Liz Hurley and footballer Rio Ferdinand were targeted. Trinity Mirror said its journalists work within the criminal law and Press Complaints Commission code of conduct. Also it has emerged that Lord Leveson, the judge who will lead the hacking inquiry has said he had attended functions with Rupert Murdoch's son-in-law - but that he had informed Prime Minister David Cameron of this before the appointment was announced. The allegations about the Sunday Mirror were detailed by a source who told Newsnight: ""One afternoon in the newsroom I saw Liz Hurley's phone being hacked and a reporter listen to her mobile phone messages and take a note of what was said. ""It was a Thursday and I was told that there wasn't much on there - just something about lunch from another woman, so they would keep trying before the weekend to see what they could find."" The programme's source said the technique of phone hacking was used on a daily basis. ""Designated reporters would be doing it pretty much every day,"" they said. ""One reporter who was very good at it was called the 'master of the dark arts'."
" Azerbaijan elects a president on Wednesday in what human rights organisations say is a stifling atmosphere of intimidation. Ilham Aliyev, who has run the oil-rich ex-Soviet republic since he succeeded his father 10 years ago, is standing for a third term. During his presidency, allegations of high-level corruption, the subversion of democracy and the stifling of dissent have been rife, with reports of politically motivated arrests shooting up drastically in the last two years. The pre-election period has, nonetheless, been a relatively calm one. But it is ""post-election disorder"" that worries the authorities, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a recent report. Riots over corruption in regions like Ismayilli and Quba in January were seen as a sign of major public discontent with regional governors and, in effect, the ruling elite. In Ismayilli, the governor's son's car and hotel were set on fire after he reportedly insulted the residents. It was a small wave of unrest, but clearly worried the authorities and the repercussions continue. Ilgar Mammadov, a human rights defender and leader of the political movement ReAL who went to the region after the unrest erupted, was charged in February with causing mass unrest. While his trial is pending, he put forward his candidacy for the elections - which was rejected due to ""invalid signatures"". Mr Mammadov is one of 14 people described by Amnesty International as prisoners of conscience in Azerbaijan. Human rights organisations put the number of political prisoners between the tens and the hundreds."
" Militant groups in Gaza say they will agree to a ceasefire if Israel stops attacks on the Palestinian territory. The move was announced by the Hamas group that runs Gaza, following its talks with other militant groups. In the past week at least 10 Palestinians, including several civilians and children, have been killed by Israeli attacks. In the same period, militants in Gaza have fired more than 80 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel. BBC Gaza correspondent Jon Donnison says the past week has seen some of the most serious violence in and around Gaza since the end of Operation Cast Lead - Israel's major offensive here more than two years ago. But in a statement released after a meeting with all militant groups in Gaza, Hamas said the insurgents were ""committed to calm as long as the occupation (Israel) commits to it"". Khader Habib, an Islamic Jihad leader, told Agence France-Presse that ""everybody confirmed that they respect the national consensus by calming things with the Zionist enemy"". He added that the truce depended ""on the nature of Israeli behaviour, and we insist on the need to respond immediately to each escalation by the occupiers"". Hamas had pledged to try to restore a ceasefire that ended on 16 March when an Israeli air strike killed two Hamas militants in Gaza. Israel said it had suffered ""bouts of terror and rocket attacks""."
" Fresh protests have flared in Syria at the end of a week that has seen dozens of demonstrators killed. Offices of the ruling Baath party were burned down in the southern town of Tafas and coastal town of Latakia, witnesses said, while hundreds renewed demonstrations in Deraa. The authorities earlier released more than 200 political prisoners in Damascus, a UK-based rights group said. The protests are a serious challenge to President Bashar al-Assad's regime. The US and the UN had condemned the Syrian government following reports that troops fired on peaceful protesters on Friday. However, the political and information adviser to President Bashar al-Assad, Bouthaina Shaaban, has told the BBC it was not security forces that had shot protesters but ""armed groups"" firing on civilians indiscriminately. The biggest protests on Saturday were in Tafas, 18km (11 miles) north of the city of Deraa, which is close to the Jordan border and which has become the centre of the challenge to the 11-year rule of President Assad. Thousands took to the streets in Tafas to bury three protesters who witnesses said had been killed by security forces on Friday. Reports of the deaths of protesters in Syria cannot be independently confirmed. The witnesses said the protesters chanted anti-government slogans and burned the Baath HQ and a police station."
" There is very little chance of Than Shwe losing the referendum Perhaps the most baffling aspect of Burma's response to Cyclone Nargis is its insistence that the referendum on a new constitution will go ahead as scheduled on 10 May, except in areas immediately affected by the disaster. Even at the height of the disaster the state broadcaster has devoted much of its airtime to cheerful entertainment programmes urging people to vote in favour of the new charter. The military is reported to have commandeered large numbers of vehicles for use during the referendum, and in towns unaffected by the cyclone, like Mandalay, trucks have been driving continuously through the streets, blaring out the government's pro-referendum message. Residents contacted by the BBC have expressed their disgust that this is happening when so many are in such distress in the Irrawaddy delta. It is a measure of the ruling military council's determination that it is ploughing on even in the face of the worst natural disaster in Burma's recorded history. There are reports from within the military that senior general Than Shwe personally over-rode requests from his officers to divert army resources to help the cyclone victims, in a country with nearly 500,000 soldiers, and where more than 40 % of the government budget goes to the military. Those few activists brave enough to campaign for a no vote have been jailed or beaten up by pro-government thugs   He was more concerned about maintaining security for the referendum. Why this extraordinary intransigence, this refusal to respond to pleas for greater co-operation with the international community? Reading the minds of the top generals, who decide pretty much everything in Burma, is pure guesswork. We know they are superstitious men, of limited education, and minimal exposure to the outside world. They have lived entirely inside an army that wields unchallenged power over civilians, and which sees itself as endlessly fighting enemies bent on destroying the unity of the country. These are the same soldiers who decided to seal Burma off from the world 46 years ago, and who retain deep suspicion of all foreigners. Tens of thousands of people are homeless and vulnerable to disease But they also crave legitimacy. Ever since the bloody upheavals of 1988 Burma has been living without a constitution, its military rulers technically illegitimate. They made a huge miscalculation holding the 1990 election, which was resoundingly won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. After annulling the results, they set about preparing a far more carefully-controlled process to legitimise their rule. The constitution, which is the subject of this referendum, is the end result of that process. It began back in 1993, with the formation of an assembly meant to draw up guidelines for the new constitution. That was suspended after delegates from the NLD walked out in 1996, complaining the assembly was being manipulated by the military. It did not re-convene until 2004. By then the delegates were mostly hand-picked, and locked in an isolated complex to carry out their deliberations. The constitution they produced was, unsurprisingly, condemned by the government's many critics. It enshrined the military's dominant role in politics, immunising the men in green from prosecution, giving them a quarter of the seats in parliament, and guaranteeing that the president would be a military man. Burma's leaders are reluctant to allow foreign aid teams into the country Few Burmese have been able to read it. The charter only went on sale a month before the referendum, at a price most Burmese cannot afford. Criticising the referendum is a crime punishable by three years in jail. Those few activists brave enough to campaign for a no vote have been jailed or beaten up by pro-government thugs. Civil servants have been pushed to vote ahead of the referendum, and put under enormous pressure to vote yes. There are no independent monitors, and the final tally will only be announced in the military's citadel Nay Pyi Daw, giving ample opportunity to manipulate the result. So there is very little chance Than Shwe can lose this referendum, even if large numbers of Burmese use it to express their anger against the government. It has been widely dismissed as a sham outside Burma. But it seems to matter a great deal to the generals, opening the way to what they call a ""discipline-flourishing democracy"". There must also be some Burmese who think, however objectionable and undemocratic the new charter may be, it may at least dilute the misrule of the military. At the age of 75, Than Shwe is in poor health, and said to be worried about what will happen to his cronies and family after he's gone. He may hope that the formalisation of the armed forces' dominant role in the constitution will protect them. Isolated as he is in Nay Pyi Taw, his self-styled ""Abode of Kings"" capital, he may simply not have grasped the scale of disaster, and the certain inability of his soldiers to deal with it. In the rigidly hierarchical army, even generals who do grasp this may not dare to confront him with the truth. In his mind the referendum probably looms larger than the fate of one or two million survivors eking out a desperate existence in the Irrawaddy delta."
" Yemen's veteran President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is negotiating his departure from power during talks with the opposition, government officials say. But hopes earlier in the day of an imminent deal to end six weeks of crisis appeared to have been dashed. Presidential spokesman Ahmed al-Sufi said opposition demands for an immediate transfer of power were unacceptable. Mr Saleh says he will quit later this year but protesters say he must go now. Mr Sufi said the talks involved Yemen's vice-president, the US ambassador and tribal and military leaders who have defected to the opposition, Reuters news agency said. It quoted him as saying no progress towards a deal had been made. But this is the first time the government has confirmed that Mr Saleh is negotiating the terms of his departure, observers say. Earlier Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi, a close ally of the president, said agreement was close on a transfer of power - seen as a clear sign that Mr Saleh's resignation is now a matter of time. ""I hope it will be today, before tomorrow,"" Mr Qirbi told Reuters news agency. He said he was optimistic the time frame for a transfer of power could be negotiated."
" BENGHAZI, Libya, March 26 (Reuters) - Libyan rebels said on Saturday they had seized control of the oil port of Brega, but there was no independent confirmation. Brega, site of an oil export terminal and refinery, sprawls over a large area and overall control can be hard to determine. ""Brega is 100 percent in the hands of the liberating forces,"" Shamsiddin Abdulmolah, a rebel spokesman in Benghazi, said. He said forces opposed to leader Muammar Gaddafi had been driven out late on Saturday afternoon in what would have been a signficant success for the rebels. There were no journalists in the town and no immediate independent confirmation of the rebel breakthrough."
" President Ali Abdullah Saleh, facing popular demands to step down, said on Friday he would cede power to stop more bloodshed in Yemen, but only into what he called ""safe hands"" as tens of thousands rallied against him in ""Day of Departure"" protests. State media reported three militants were killed in Lawdar in the southern Abyan province late on Friday. Western countries are concerned al Qaeda militants could exploit any disorder arising from a messy transition if Saleh, a pivotal U.S. and Saudi ally, steps down after 32 years. Washington and Riyadh, Yemen's main financial backer, have long seen Saleh as a bulwark against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has tried to launch attacks in both Saudi Arabia and United States since 2009."
" Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is applauded after voting on a non-confidence motion in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, March 25, 2011. Opposition legislators threw papers in the air in glee after voting 156-145 in the House of Commons to defeat the minority government, which they also say has mismanaged the economy and is overly secretive. The defeat paves the way for an election that will likely be fought on two main themes -- ethics and the economy. Likely dates are May 2 or May 9. Canada's dollar was steady at C$0.9810 to the U.S. dollar, or $1.0194. Domestic stocks ignored the political news and ended slightly higher on a rally in resource stocks. Prime Minister Stephen Harper admitted he was disappointed by the result, and said Canadians did not want what will be the fourth general election in less than seven years. ""Our priority will remain to ensure stability and security for Canadians in what remain extremely challenging global circumstances,"" he told reporters soon after the vote. Harper said he would visit Governor General David Johnston, the representative of Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state, on Saturday to seek the formal dissolution of Parliament and set a date for the election. The Conservatives, in power since 2006 with two successive minority governments, are well ahead of the main opposition Liberal Party in opinion polls. If the polls translate into votes, Harper would once again get the most number of seats. Only the Conservatives or the Liberals can realistically win and both stress the need for fiscal austerity and the importance of paying down Canada's record budget deficit. The opposition thinks it can benefit from a series of ethical scandals to hit the Conservatives, who came to power promising to clean up Ottawa."
" A survivor prays at the Mid-River Pagoda after Cyclone Nargis hit a village in Kyauktan, southeast of Yangon May 11, 2008. The boat carrying relief supplies for more than 1,000 people was believed to have hit a submerged tree trunk in the Irrawaddy Delta and started taking on water, an IFRC official in Bangkok, Andy McElroy said. The accident highlighted the enormous logistical difficulties of delivering aid to the estimated 1.5 million cyclone survivors in need of food, shelter and medicine, with roads washed away and much of the delta turned to swampland. The reclusive military government has thrown up other obstacles on top of that, saying it will accept foreign aid but not the foreign logistics teams needed to transport the aid into the inundated delta. The crew steered the stricken Red Cross boat to an island but it sank rapidly, McElroy said. All crew members and the four Myanmar Red Cross personnel on board, two men and two women, scrambled to safety. ""This is a great loss for the Myanmar Red Cross and for the people who need aid so urgently"", Aung Kyaw Htut, the Myanmar Red Cross aid distribution team leader, said in a statement. ""This would have been our very first river shipment and it will delay aid for a further day."" The double-decker river boat was travelling from Yangon to Bogalay, some 12 hours sailing time, when it sank near Myinka Gone village. It was carrying rice, drinking water, water purification tablets, jerry cans, stretchers, clothes, family utensil kits, soap, rubber gloves and surgical masks. The boat sank early in the morning near Bogalay, a town extensively damaged by the cyclone and where 260,000 people out of a total population of 350,000 are thought to have been affected. Almost 10,000 are reported dead or missing in Bogalay. The government's official death toll stands at 23,350 dead and 37,019 missing from the May 2 cyclone, though disaster experts put the toll at 100,000 or more."
" Libyan rebels backed by extensive allied air raids have seized control of the frontline oil town of Ajdabiya from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces. Insurgents celebrated amid the ruins of tanks and artillery pieces and then moved west to the town of Brega. Gaddafi loyalists seized Ajdabiya last week as they advanced east to quell an uprising which began in mid-February. A Libyan minister said the army had left the town after the ""heavy involvement"" of Western forces. The rebel breakthrough came after a seventh night of bombardment by allies enforcing a UN resolution against Col Gaddafi. British RAF Tornado aircraft have been firing Brimstone guided missiles at his forces in recent days around Ajdabiya, a town of about 100,000 people. The BBC's Ben Brown in Ajdabiya says those strikes seemed to be even heavier overnight, leaving wrecked tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery pieces at both the eastern and western gates to the town. Continue reading the main story There have been wild celebrations in Ajdabiya. Rebel fighters firing their guns into the air, blaring their car horns, hugging each other and waving flags. They say Ajdabiya is a town that has been terrorised by Gaddafi loyalists but that now it has been liberated. And there's huge military significance to this too. Ajdabiya is seen by the rebels as the gateway to the west and with this victory they have been given, they say, much needed momentum in their campaign to topple Col Gaddafi. But the liberation of Ajdabiya has been a strange affair. The rebels more or less walked into the town after coalition war planes including British RAF Tornadoes, carried out wave after wave of devastating air strikes against Gaddafi forces on the ground. We counted more than two dozen burned-out or abandoned tanks around the town's east and west gates. In Tripoli, the government has admitted that its fighters retreated in the face of overwhelming air power. Those fighters have now pulled back, it's thought, to Brega. The rebels say they're in hot pursuit. Some of the celebrating rebels chanted ""Thank you, Obama"", ""Thank you, Cameron"" - references to the US president and British prime minister. The rebels said they were going through the town street by street trying to make sure there were no government fighters or snipers left."
" Serbs voted for closer ties with Europe instead of isolation for the second time in three months in Sunday's snap parliamentary poll, in a stunning turnaround that negated pre-election surveys. A pro-European coalition led by President Boris Tadic won the most votes, claiming 39 per cent of the ballots cast, overtaking the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party as the largest group in parliament, the private election monitoring agency Cesid said. Turnout was about 60 per cent, Cesid said, lower than expected after Serb politicians drummed up the election for weeks as crucial for the nation's course. Basing its projection on a sample of some 400 key polling stations among 8,600, the traditionally reliable Cesid said another pro- European group, the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP), won 5.2 per cent of the votes, qualifying for parliament. That provisionally translates to 103 seats for Tadic's Democratic Party and 13 for the LDP, which, with the votes of ethnic minority representatives, brings the pro-European camp close to a majority in the assembly of 250 seats. The anti-Western bloc of the opposition Radicals (SRS) and the outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), came to some 28 and 11.5 per cent of the votes, or 76 and 30 seats, respectively. The two sides, which pre-election surveys suggested would form the next government, were the big losers on the night. SRS and DSS have vowed to turn Belgrade away from EU membership talks in protest at Western support of Kosovo's independence from Serbia. The late Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party (SPS) did slightly better than forecast by winning eight per cent, or a projected 21 seats, and remains in picture as a possible coalition partner in either of the two big blocs. The anti-Western bloc retained a theoretical, but very unlikely chance of assembling a majority with several coalition partners. The outcome, and the turnaround, are a carbon copy of the presidential election in January and February, in which Tadic was underdog to the SRS chief Tomislav Nikolic, but after trailing in surveys and losing the first-round vote clearly won in the run-off on February 3."
" The result is a clear boost for Serbia's EU chances Serbian President Boris Tadic has claimed victory in the general election with early results suggesting a big lead for his pro-Western alliance. Mr Tadic said Serbs had chosen the path of integration with Europe but he vowed his new government would not recognise Kosovo as an independent state. Despite its lead, his bloc will have to seek a coalition with other parties. Its ultra-nationalist rivals say they could still muster enough support for a nationalist coalition against him. The people of Serbia have undoubtedly confirmed that Serbia is clearly on a European path   Before the vote, opinion polls had suggested Tomislav Nikolic's Radical Party was running neck and neck with Mr Tadic's Democratic Party. Kosovo's declaration of independence was considered a major campaign issue. Disagreements over how to react when most EU countries recognised Kosovo had brought down the previous coalition between the Democratic Party and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia. Some seven million Serbs were eligible to go to the polls and the turnout was 60.7%, according to the non-governmental Centre for Free Elections and Democracy. Mr Tadic said the Serbian people had in effect given their approval to the country's membership of the EU, with whom a long-delayed agreement was signed just before the election. Total seats: 250. Parties forming a coalition need to have at least 126 between them Source of figures: independent monitoring group the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy ""The people of Serbia have undoubtedly confirmed that Serbia is clearly on a European path,"" he told supporters in Belgrade. A statement from the EU's Slovenian presidency welcomed a ""clear victory"" for pro-European forces, and said it hoped they would quickly form a government. A projection of the result based on a sample count throughout the country suggested the Democratic Party and its allies had won about 39% and the Radicals, 29%. Mr Tadic's alliance is projected to have around 103 seats in the 250-seat parliament. He could move to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, the only Serbian party that accepts the independence of Kosovo. However it was not immediately clear if they had passed the 5% threshold for entering parliament. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Mr Tadic may have to turn to the most unlikely of bedfellows, the Socialist Party of the late dictator, Slobodan Milosevic, the BBC's Oana Lungescu reports. It seems unlikely Mr Kostunica's party would enter a new coalition with Mr Tadic's supporters, given the bitterness of their earlier divisions. However, theoretically, on the basis of the projections, the Radicals could form a coalition with Mr Kostunica and the Socialists, netting a wafer-thin majority in parliament. President Tadic's victory, if confirmed, will trigger a collective sigh of relief across the EU, our correspondent adds. The Radicals have not given up hope of forming a government The Radicals' leader accused President Tadic of spreading fear on Sunday night by insisting his party was the only one capable of forming a new coalition. ""By harshly violating the constitution this evening, Boris Tadic indicated that civil unrest was possible,"" Mr Nikolic said. Meanwhile, Tadic supporters have been celebrating in Belgrade with fireworks. Cars decked with party and EU symbols blew their horns as they circled the city centre. Serbs in Kosovo also voted, both in the general election and in council elections, in defiance of the ethnic Albanian government and international authorities. Some 300 polling stations opened in areas with a sizeable Serb population and the vote passed off peacefully. However, even before the polls closed, the United Nations mission issued a statement, condemning the council elections as illegal and saying the results would not be recognised."
" Afghan President Hamid Karzai has forcefully condemned the killing of 14 civilians in the south-west of the country in a suspected Nato air strike. Mr Karzai said his government had repeatedly asked the US to stop raids which end up killing Afghan civilians and this was his ""last warning"". A Nato spokesman said a team had been sent to Helmand province to investigate the attack carried out on Saturday. Afghan officials say all those killed were women and children. The strike took place in Nawzad district after a US Marines base came under attack. The air strike, targeted at insurgents, struck two civilian homes, killing two women and 12 children, reports say. ""The president called this incident a great mistake and the murdering of Afghanistan's children and women, and on behalf of the Afghan people gives his last warning to the US troops and US officials in this regard,"" his office said. The White House said it shared Mr Karzai's concerns and took them ""very seriously"". A group from Sera Cala village travelled to Helmand's capital, Lashkar Gah, bringing with them the bodies of eight dead children, some as young as two years old, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul. ""See, they aren't Taliban,"" they chanted as the carried the corpses to local journalists and the governor's mansion."
" Government officials said that the provincial capital was under the control of militants after fighting that began on Friday and had claimed 16 lives, including civilians. The fighters ""were able to gain control of the city of Zinjibar ... and took over all government facilities"" a security official told AFP. Only the headquarters of the the 25th mechanised brigade was holding out, he added, but it was besieged by the gunmen. A local resident said: ""About 300 Islamic millitants and al-Qaeda men came into Zinjibar and took over everything on Friday."" Zinjibar is the capital of Abyan province in south central Yemen . The impoverished state, which was the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden , has been wracked by violence amid protests to end President Ali Abdullah Saleh's near 33-year rule. Washington considers al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - the Yemen-based al-Qaeda franchise - to be the world's most active terrorist cell. The group, whose leaders includee the influential preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, has strongholds in remote mountain regions in the Yemeni provinces of Shabwa, Abyan, Jouf and Marib. An official said that another two soldiers were killed on Friday in clashes with suspected al-Qaeda fighters in the town of Loder, also in Abyan province."
" Syrian troops have attacked two towns north of the capital Damascus, as they continue a crackdown against anti-government protests, reports say. Witnesses said the troops, backed by tanks and helicopters, surrounded Rastan and Talbisa early on Sunday and searched houses for protesters. Anti-government activists said five people were killed and many wounded. Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March. Syria has banned foreign journalists, making it difficult to verify eyewitness accounts. Syrian authorities insist they are pursuing ""armed terrorist gangs"". The two towns attacked on Sunday are on the main road north out of Homs, the site of some of the largest demonstrations in recent weeks. Tanks encircled Rastan and troops began firing heavy machine-guns in the streets of the town, an eyewitness told Reuters news agency. Scores of tanks were used, with helicopters flying overhead - as security forces broke into houses arresting people. Residents of both towns said water, electricity and communications were cut early on Sunday as the troops and tanks moved in. The authorities have said nothing about the reported attacks, says the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon."
" Police told a news conference on Monday the confirmed death toll at Otoeya now stands at 68. At the same time people killed in the bomb attack was raised to eight. ""This figure of 68 is a decrease compared to earlier numbers of deaths given,"" National Police Commissioner, Oeystein Maeland said. ""What I would like to say in this connection is that the police and other rescue personnel had a very demanding job on the island just after they arrived and it was necessary to give priority to those who were injured and to secure the whole area. In this complex situation the number of deaths first reported were too high,"" Maeland added. He said some of the dead bodies might have been counted twice in the chaos. ""The dead people were lying partly in heaps and it might have been that some victims were counted twice. It's hard to tell exactly what the reason for this wrong number. But I think the situation was chaotic as I said and that the priority was given to help those who were injured made the number uncertain,"" Maeland said. Norwegian police are not ruling out that gunman Anders Behring Breivik had help from others in his gun and bomb attacks. Earlier on Monday, Breivik told a court in Oslo that ""there are two more cells in our organisation"", according to the judge who ordered him to solitary confinement. Norwegian police said Breivik had said during interrogation that he was prepared to spend the rest of his life in prison."
" The Syrian government has adopted a draft law that allows the formation of political parties other than the ruling Baath party, state media say. The Baath party has governed Syria for nearly half a century. The law appears to prohibit parties founded on the basis of religion, or tribal or regional affiliation. A multi-party political system is a key demand of anti-government protesters who have taken to the streets across Syria since March to demand reform. The Baath party banned opposition groups in Syria after the military coup in 1963 that brought it to power. Under the constitution, the Baath ""leads society and state"". ""The government adopted a draft law regarding political parties in Syria as part of a programme of reform aimed at enriching the political life, creating a new dynamic and allowing for a change in political power,"" the official news agency Sana said. Political parties have to adhere to ""democratic principles"", the state agency said. Syria has seen four months of protest against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. Human rights groups say that about 1,400 civilians and 350 security forces personnel have died in the four months of protest."
" Two people have been killed and more than 400 injured in protests across Egypt sparked by the deaths of 74 people after a football match. The two killed were shot by police trying to disperse angry crowds in the city of Suez, medical officials said. In the capital Cairo, thousands of protesters remained on the streets following a day of clashes with police. Thousands marched to the interior ministry, where security forces fired tear gas to keep them back. Earlier, the Egyptian prime minister announced the sackings of several senior officials. Funerals of some of the 74 victims took place in Port Said, where the football match had taken place on Wednesday. The deaths came when fans invaded the pitch after a fixture between top Cairo club al-Ahly and the Port Said side al-Masry. As night fell in Cairo, several thousand demonstrators remained in the streets around the interior ministry, witnesses said. In Suez, health official Mohammed Lasheen said two people had been shot dead early on Friday. A witness quoted by Reuters said: ""Protesters are trying to break into the Suez police station and police are now firing live ammunition."""
" The leader of Islamist rebels in Russia's North Caucasus has ordered fighters under his command to halt attacks on Russia's civilian population.In a four-minuteposted on February 3 on the Kavkaz Center website, Doku Umarov refers to ordinary Russians as ""peaceful"" people who no longer support Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and hisregime -- a reference to Putin's origins as a KGB agent.""The population in Russia today definitely does not support Putin,"" he says. ""They've been exploited by these sinners and they are hostages to this Chekist regime. So I order all fighters that are carrying out or are planning to carry out security operations on the territory of Russia to put a halt to these operations that could hurt the peaceful population of Russia.""Umarov, the head of the Caucasus Emirate Islamist group, has claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks in Russia, including the January 2011at Moscow's Domodedovo airport that killed 37 people.He has also been tied to theby female suicide bombers in the Moscow metro in March 2010 that killed 40 people.In the new video, Umarov says insurgents are obliged by their religion not to harm Russians who do not participate in or support the Russian leadership's ""war against Muslims.""He says Russian military and security personnel and the pro-Moscow leadership in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya remain legitimate targets.The video comes a month before presidential elections in Russia that Putin -- the main architect of Moscow's military campaign in the Caucasus -- is widely expected to win.The Caucasus Emirate has been seeking to impose an Islamist state throughout the North Caucasus and has been engaged in protracted fighting with Russian security forces there."
" Kuwait's ruler, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, called the vote in December after dissolving the chamber in response to a deepening political deadlock that has stymied reform and held up vital development projects. ""In the past years the parliament broke our hearts and let us down,"" said Badr Yousef al-Juweihel after casting his ballot at al-Adeyliya polling station in central Kuwait. ""We didn't benefit, in fact we went backwards and our time was wasted."" Frustration has been growing at the impasse which came to a head in November when protesters led by opposition MPs stormed the assembly demanding the resignation of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah, accusing him of corruption. The vote, in which 287 candidates are competing for seats, will usher in Kuwait's fourth parliament in six years. ""The situation cannot remain as it was,"" opposition candidate Faisel al-Mislem told hundreds of supporters at a campaign event in the run-up to the election. ""If this election is just a game of musical chairs then it's a waste of time."" Kuwait's parliament is fully elected with legislative powers, unique in a region ruled by autocrats who tolerate little dissent. But formal political parties are not allowed, which means opposition politicians are forced to rely on forming blocs in parliament. That has undermined the ability of parliamentarians to mount effective opposition with clear programs. Shahin Shamsabadi, senior associate at the Risk Advisory group, said deputies still had a chance of broadening the powers of the 50-member chamber if public opinion were on their side. ""The key thing is: are the people going to be fed up enough this time to change the parliament, or is it going to take another election?"" Shamsabadi said. Men and women queued outside separate schools, handing their identity cards to a panel before selecting up to four candidates on a piece of paper and slipping it into a see-through ballot box."
" Heavy snow has left at least 11,000 villagers cut off in remote areas of Serbia amid a European cold snap that has claimed more than 130 lives. At least six people have died in Serbia, with emergency services expressing concern for the health of the sick and the elderly in particular. Temperatures are below -30C (-22F) in parts of Europe and 63 people have died in Ukraine and 29 in Poland. In Italy, weather experts say it is the coldest week for 27 years. Emergency services in Serbia have described the situation, close to the country's south-western borders with Kosovo and Montenegro, as very serious. In places, the snow has reached a depth of 2m (6ft 6in). Fourteen municipalities are affected, emergency official Predrag Maric told the BBC. Helicopters have helped move several people to safety, and food and medicines have been airlifted to isolated areas. Snow began falling in Serbia on 7 January and has hardly stopped since, says BBC correspondent Nick Thorpe. Serbian media say further snow is expected in the coming days. Ukraine has seen the highest number of fatalities, many of them homeless. Over a 24-hour period, as many as 20 people died. Food shortages have been reported in the capital, Kiev, because lorries have been unable to transport supplies."
"Many Afghans are already bracing themselves for an eventual return of the Taliban,"" the newspaper said, quoting the report. ""Once ISAF (NATO-led forces) is no longer a factor, Taliban consider their victory inevitable,"" it quoted the report. The Times said the ""highly classified"" report was put together by the U.S. military at Bagram air base in Afghanistan for top NATO officers last month. The BBC also carried a report on the leaked document. Large swathes of Afghanistan have already been handed back to Afghan security forces, with the last foreign combat troops due to leave by the end of 2014. The document cited by the Times and the BBC also stated that Pakistan's powerful security agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was assisting the Taliban in directing attacks against foreign forces -- a charge denied by Islamabad. Washington and its allies have long complained that the Taliban and other Islamist and criminal groups operate out of safe havens in tribal areas in Pakistan's west and northwest. The document's findings were based on interrogations of more than 4,000 Taliban and al Qaeda detainees, the Times said, adding however it identified only few individual insurgents. A State Department spokesman and Britain's Foreign Office both declined comment on the report. NATO and Pakistani officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Despite the presence of about 100,000 foreign troops, violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, according to the United Nations. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says levels of violence are falling. Citing the same report, the BBC reported on its website (here)	
Costa Concordia wreck: Search of cruise ship abandoned	 Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Italian divers have abandoned their search for bodies inside the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia after conditions underwater deteriorated. ""We have definitively stopped the underwater search inside the ship,"" a spokesman for the fire brigade on the island of Giglio said. Fifteen people are still missing after the ship ran aground off Italy on 13 January with the loss of 17 lives. Work to recover the capsized vessel may take up to 10 months.
18 die as bomber strikes Pakistan checkpoint - World news - South and Central Asia - Pakistan	 A suicide bomber hit a Pakistani security checkpoint Thursday at the main border crossing for convoys ferrying NATO supplies into Afghanistan, killing at least 18 border guards, police said. The attacker approached on foot and detonated his explosives at the Torkham checkpoint in the Khyber region, local police officer Sadiq Khan said. Border guards were gathering in front of their barracks after sunset for a meal to end their Ramadan fast when the bomber struck, according to Jehanzeb Lateef, spokesman for the federal agency that administers the region. At least 18 security officials were dead and dozens reported wounded, Lateef said, adding that the death toll could rise. The border had closed for the day a few hours earlier. 'Destruction all around'  Ali Raza, an official in the administration office, said he heard a huge explosion in the building next door. ""We rushed out and saw destruction all around,"" Raza said. He helped rush the wounded to a hospital. Several of the wounded told Raza that the last thing they saw was a young boy approaching with what looked like jugs of water for the security officers, but no one could confirm he was the bomber. The Torkham checkpoint marks the main border crossing from the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan. Some 300 supply trucks traverse the passage daily, and U.S. and NATO troops in landlocked Afghanistan rely on the supply line for up to 75 percent of their fuel, food and other logistical goods.
Bradley Manning: Accused WikiLeaker sent to court-martial	 The commander of the Military District of Washington has ordered a court-martial for Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, the former intelligence analyst accused of giving hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. Maj. Gen. Michael S. Linnington made the decision Friday after reviewing testimony and arguments from a preliminary hearing at Fort Meade in December, officials said. There was no word on whether the as-yet-unscheduled court-martial would also be held at Fort Meade, one of three installations within the military district equipped to host such a proceeding. Manning, 24, is charged with aiding the enemy and violating the Espionage Act. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. Manning is accused of sending raw field reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, diplomatic cables from U.S. embassies around the world and a video of a U.S. helicopter attack in Baghdad to be published online. The U.S. Army Trial Judiciary will now assign a military judge, who will set a date for Manning's arraignment, motion hearings and trial. During a preliminary hearing in December, Army prosecutors called computer forensic investigators who testified that materials uploaded to WikiLeaks came from computers on which Manning worked. Manning's attorneys sought to portray him as a troubled young man who struggled with gender identity, was isolated from his fellow soldiers and should not have been given access to the classified materials. Manning, who lived in Potomac and studied at Montgomery College before he enlisted in the Army in 2007, attended the hearing but did not speak. It was his first public appearance since his arrest in Iraq in May 2010. During his detention, his case became a cause celebre among anti-war activists, who say the footage of the 2007 Apache helicopter attack that he is alleged to have released appears to show evidence of a war crime.
Barak to U.S., France: Take steps to stop Lebanese flotilla Israel News	 FBI arrests alleged ISIS supporter in Ohio over suspected plot to bomb U.S. Capitol (Reuters) Palestinian suspected of car theft shot to death during chase in Gush Etzion settlement bloc (Haaretz) U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP)	
30 killed, 57 wounded by Afghan car bomb	 KABUL Aug 25 (Reuters) - At least 30 people were killed and 57 wounded, all civilians, by a massive car bomb that exploded in the southern Afghanistan city of Kandahar, the governor of the province said.  The blast happened shortly after dusk, when Afghans were breaking their fast during the Muslim month of Ramadan.
Egypt's military suspends sentences of protesters	 CAIRO - Egypt's military rulers have suspended the prison sentences of 120 people who participated in protests following the revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has also denied using gunfire to break up sit-ins that have continued following Mubarak's Feb. 11 ouster. The comments, made in a statement late Wednesday, come amid mounting criticism of the military council, which has taken over power. The caretaker rulers have promised democratic elections and other reforms but human rights activists say they continue some of the abuses of Mubarak's regime. The statement said sentences of up to seven years for the 120 protesters will be reduced to one-year suspended sentences. It is not clear what the protesters were convicted of.
Obama sets out plans for the Middle East	 President Obama has given his strongest support yet for the uprisings across the Middle East, saying he wants to use this ""historic opportunity"" to spread reform across the region. Mr Obama had a tough message for regimes like Libya, Syria and Bahrain but also controversially for Israel. He stressed the need for any future Palestinian state to be based on the borders before the 1967 war but that prompted an angry response from the Israeli Prime Minister who is due to visit the White House tomorrow. Mr Obama has been speaking exclusively to the BBC as Mark Mardell reports.
Thai car bomb injures 42	 Yesterday's blast was one of the most serious for months in the insurgency-plagued provinces bordering Malaysia, where a bloody separatist rebellion has been raging for more than five years. The 50-kilogram device was hidden inside a stolen Toyota utility and exploded during the busy lunch hour in Narathiwat, the main town in the province of the same name. Most of the wounded were Buddhist government officials, who are often targeted by the Islamist militants in the region.
Bird flu 'could kill 150m people'	 David Nabarro, who is charged with co-ordinating responses to bird flu, said a mutation of the virus affecting Asia could trigger new outbreaks. ""It's like a combination of global warming and HIV/Aids 10 times faster than it's running at the moment,"" Dr Nabarro told the BBC. But the World Health Organisation has distanced itself from the figure. The WHO spokesman on influenza, Dick Thompson, told a news conference in Geneva that the WHO's official estimate of the number of people who could die was between two million and 7.4 million. ""There is obvious confusion, and I think that has to be straightened out. I don't think you will hear Dr Nabarro say the same sort of thing again,"" Mr Thompson said. Bird flu has swept through poultry and wild birds in Asia since 2003. It has killed huge numbers of birds and led to more than 60 human deaths. ""The range of deaths could be anything between 5m and 150m,"" the UN's new co-ordinator for avian and human influenza said in his BBC interview. Dr Nabarro said he stood by the figure drawn from the work of epidemiologists around the world. ""My reason for giving the higher figure is simply that I want to be sure that when this next flu pandemic does come along, that we are prepared for the worst as well as for the mildest,"" he said.
IMF: Strauss-Kahn submits his resignation	 IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn attends Manhattan Criminal Court, in New York, with his lawyer Benjamin Brafman on May 16, 2011. EMMANUEL DUNAND WASHINGTON -- The International Monetary Fund says its embattled managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, intends to resign, effective immediately, as he faces sexual assault charges in New York. The IMF's executive board released a letter from the French executive late Wednesday in which he denied the allegations lodged against him but said that with ""great sadness"" he felt compelled to resign. He said he was thinking of his family and that he wanted to protect the IMF. The IMF will meet in the near future to select a new managing director. At the moment, John Lipsky remains Acting Managing Director. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board: It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today to present to the Executive Board my resignation from my post of Managing Director of the IMF. I think at this time first of my wife--whom I love more than anything--of my children, of my family, of my friends. I think also of my colleagues at the Fund; together we have accomplished such great things over the last three years and more. To all, I want to say that I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me. I want to protect this institution which I have served with honor and devotion, and especially--especially--I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence.
Judge weighs Strauss-Kahn bid for bail	 1 of 10. An NYPD prisoner movement slip for IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is seen in this document released, May 18, 2011. Strauss-Kahn, held in custody since police pulled him off an Air France plane on Saturday, looked tired as he entered the courtroom room wearing a blue shirt and gray jacket. He smiled at his wife, former French television journalist Anne Sinclair, and daughter Camille, and stared ahead resolutely during the proceedings. The hearing on whether to release Strauss-Kahn came as the jockeying to replace him at the top of the IMF intensified. European and the United States sought a speedy succession to prevent a bid by emerging economies to put a potential rival candidate in place. Strauss-Kahn, 62, stepped down as IMF chief late on Wednesday, tendering his resignation from prison as pressure mounted from the United States and other countries to hand over leadership of the global lender. He has vowed to fight charges, which he said he denied ""with the greatest possible firmness,"" according to his letter, which was posted on the IMF website. His Saturday arrest dashed his prospects of running for the French presidency in 2012 and sparked international debate over the 65-year-old tradition that a European heads the IMF. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for an ""open process"" to find a successor but sources in Washington said the United States, the largest financial contributor to the IMF, would back a European for the post. The U.S. push to find a replacement quickly is likely to favor a European replacement because it would be difficult for developing nations to unify around a rival candidate in time to challenge Europe's long hold on the job. A Reuters poll of economists showed 32 out of 56 think French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is most likely to succeed him, and diplomats in Europe and Washington said she had backing from France, Germany and Britain -- the three biggest European economies.	
Libyan rebel TV channel trying to reach more people	 DUBAI, May 19 (Reuters) - Rebels fighting to overthrow Libya's Muammar Gaddafi have launched a television channel to promote their cause, but part of their broadcast is blocked by a regional satellite, a rebel media official said on Thursday. ""Libya for the Free"" was created in March to offer an alternative to state-controlled Libyan television, said Mahmoud Shammam, in charge of media and information affairs at the rebel Transitional National Council. ""Our goal is to reach the largest number possible of people inside and outside Libya in order to counter Gaddafi's channels which are engaged in psychological and media warfare against the rebels,"" Shammam said on the sidelines of a media conference in the United Arab Emirates. He said the Qatar-based channel is now broadcasting through satellites including Hot Bird, operated by Eutelsat Communications SA (ETL.PA: Quote), and the Arab League's Arabsat. But Egyptian-owned satellite company Nilesat has prevented them from broadcasting, he said. The company could not be immediately reached for comment. ""We had paid the full fees but when we inquired the company said the decision to suspend the broadcast was a political one."" ""The phone calls and email we receive from fans prove that we have decent viewership inside Libya, but that could be expanded if we have access to Nilesat satellite,"" Shammam said. Earlier this year, Nilesat also jammed the signal of the Qatar-based satellite channel Al Jazeera during mass protests that toppled former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Shammam said that the channel was based in Doha but had no connection to the Al Jazeera Network which is also based there. ""The channel's infrastructure is Qatari, otherwise we depend on our own capabilities,"" he said.
South Africans vote in crucial local elections	 South Africans have been voting in local elections after one of the most bitterly fought campaigns in years. The delivery of basic services like water, housing and jobs have been among the issues dominating campaigning. Long queues were seen in the most hotly contested areas, such as Johannesburg and Cape Town, with the vote said to be fairly smooth. The ruling African National Congress (ANC) controls all of South Africa's nine provinces except the Western Cape. Analysts say the ANC is likely to remain the largest party, but is facing its strongest opposition since the end of apartheid in 1994. The BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg says it is one of the most hotly contested local elections in recent years. The battle for control of municipalities in the key economic provinces like the Western Cape, currently controlled by the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), and Gauteng has seen mud-slinging from party officials and aggressive door-to-door campaigning by senior party officials to rarely visited parts of the country, she says. Last week, President Jacob Zuma warned his countrymen that their ancestors would never forgive them if they voted against the ANC, which led the fight against white minority rule. Protests threatened to disrupt elections in at least three of South Africa's poorest provinces - North West, Limpopo and Northern Cape. Some communities there refused to vote and held demonstrations near polling stations, demanding that the government provide services such as running water, electricity and decent housing but the police were able to prevent any violence.
Australia PM Gillard begins task to build coalition	 Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has held initial talks with independent candidates to try to form a government after an inconclusive election. Ms Gillard said she would continue to provide ""stable"" government as final votes are counted. She acknowledged that neither her Labor Party nor the opposition conservative coalition was likely to win the 76 seats needed for an outright majority. Australia's ABC is forecasting 72 seats for Labor and 73 for the conservatives. With 78% of votes counted, Labor is already set to win 72 seats, and Tony Abbott's Liberal/National coalition is on course for 70, according to national broadcaster ABC. ""It is clear that neither party has earned the right to government in its own right,"" Ms Gillard said. She added that Labor had won the most votes overall nationally, if minor parties are discounted. But opposition leader Tony Abbott said it was clear Labor had lost its parliamentary majority and its legitimacy. ""There was a savage swing against this government,"" he said. Mr Abbott said he had also made contact with the independents candidates. The election comes two months after Ms Gillard ousted Kevin Rudd in a controversial leadership challenge. Australia has not elected a hung parliament since 1940.
Rape warrant against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange cancelled	 Swedish authorities have withdrawn an arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, stating that the accusation of rape against him was unfounded. The move came just a day after a warrant was issued by Sweden's prosecutors' office in Stockholm in response to accusations of rape and molestation in two separate cases. ""I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape,"" the chief prosecutor, Eva Finne, said. She made no comment on the status of the molestation case, a less serious charge that would not lead to an arrest warrant. Assange has denied both accusations, first reported by the Swedish tabloid Expressen, which were described as dirty tricks on the Wikileaks' Twitter account. He implied that they were linked to the release by the whistleblowers' website of a huge cache of US military records on the Afghan war, which were published in collaboration with the Guardian and two other newspapers. Assange wrote: ""The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing."" Earlier postings on the Twitter account implied the accusations were part of a dirty tricks campaign against the Wikileaks founder, who has been strongly criticised by the Pentagon. ""Expressen is a tabloid; No one here has been contacted by Swedish police. Needless to say, this will prove hugely distracting. ""We were warned to expect 'dirty tricks'. Now we have the first one."
" At least 12 people have been shot and killed by security forces in northern Afghanistan during a protest against a Nato-led raid, officials say. The clashes with security forces in the city of Taloqan left 80 others injured. Some 2,000 demonstrators, some of them armed, took part. They looted shops and tried to attack a German army base. Four people, two of them women, were killed in the Nato-led raid. Nato said they were insurgents. Protesters and local police say all were civilians. The night raid deaths have been condemned by President Hamid Karzai, who said the Afghan government had repeatedly warned Nato ""about such irresponsible operations"". A statement released by the president said that the government would now ask Nato commanders for further explanations into the ""exact circumstances of the incident"". Civilians deaths at the hands of Nato forces are a major cause of anger among Afghans. An official in Taloqan said that the Afghan National Army and a rapid reaction force had been deployed and the situation was now mostly under control. Reinforcements had been called in from neighbouring Kunduz province, he said. The official said that some of the 2,000 demonstrators were armed and had destroyed public and private property. The protesters insist that those killed had nothing to do with the insurgency. The violence appears to have begun when protesters angered over the night-time raid placed the bodies of those killed in the main square of Taloqan."
" The US Coast Guard has re-opened a section of the swollen Mississippi River to shipping, after closing it to protect strained flood defences. The authorities halted barge traffic at the port in Natchez, Mississippi, earlier on Tuesday, warning ship wakes could increase pressure on the levees. An extended closure could have cost those who rely on the route to transport grain millions of dollars. The river near Natchez is already 3ft (1m) above the record set in 1937. It is not expected to crest for several days, and it could take weeks for water levels to return to normal. The Mississippi is a highway for barges carrying corn, soybeans and other crops brought down from the Ohio, Missouri and Mississippi river systems on their way to the Gulf of Mexico, so the closure would have had far-reaching economic effects. The brief halt in ship traffic along the 15-mile stretch at Natchez was one more measure in a growing list of attempts to prevent massive flooding in heavily populated areas like New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The move blocked south-bound vessels heading for the Gulf of Mexico, and halted north-bound vessels that had dropped off their cargo at the Port of New Orleans. As of Tuesday evening they were to be allowed through the re-opened section one by one, at a slow speed. The US Coast Guard has warned the heavy wakes churned up by barges and cargo haulers increases pressure on the already straining levees."
" Gaddafi's wife Safia and his daughter Aisha came to Tunisia with a Libyan delegation on May 14 and are on the island of Djerba in the south, the source told Reuters. ""It was expected that they would leave yesterday but they are still at Djerba,"" the source added. It did not appear that the two women had been traveling with Shokri Ghanem, Libya's top oil official, who is believed to have also crossed into Tunisia and appears to have defected. Libyan officials in Tripoli were not immediately available for comment. Since the revolt began in February against Gaddafi's rule, Aisha Gaddafi has made several public appearances backing her father and attacking the rebels and Western powers trying to overthrow him. A month ago she appeared at her father's Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli and addressed cheering crowds of supporters in an event broadcast live on Libyan state television. ""Talk about Gaddafi stepping down is an insult to all Libyans because Gaddafi is not in Libya, but in the hearts of all Libyans,"" she said. A lawyer by training, Gaddafi's daughter runs a charitable foundation and in 2004 joined a team of lawyers defending former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein."
" Speaking after talks in London, Jalal Talabani said an early withdrawal of US and UK troops would be a ""catastrophe"". Mr Blair issued a warning to Iran not to interfere in Iraq following claims it was supplying weapons to insurgents. He said devices which killed British troops looked like those used by Iran but stressed ""we cannot be sure"". Both leaders reiterated that British forces were in Iraq under a United Nations mandate with the support of the Iraqi government. Mr Blair said: ""There is no justification for Iran or any other country interfering in Iraq."" He said Britain would not ""be subject to any intimidation"". Mr Blair's comments came just days after a senior British official had accused Iran's Revolutionary Guard of supplying the lethal explosive technology responsible for killing British soldiers in Iraq. The Iranian government in Tehran denounced the claim as a lie. Mr Talabani, on his first visit to Europe since taking office in April, thanked Britain for liberating Iraq from the ""brutal dictatorship"" of Saddam Hussein. He said: ""With the help of our allies the people of Iraq are now free. They are enjoying all kinds of democratic rights."
" Five weeks after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to New Orleans, some local, state and federal officials have come to believe that exaggerations of mayhem by officials and rumors repeated uncritically in the news media helped slow the response to the disaster and tarnish the image of many of its victims. Claims of widespread looting, gunfire directed at helicopters and rescuers, homicides, and rapes, including those of ""babies"" at the Louisiana Superdome, frequently turned out to be overblown, if not completely untrue, officials now say. The sensational accounts delayed rescue and evacuation efforts already hampered by poor planning and a lack of coordination among local, state and federal agencies. People rushing to the Gulf Coast to fly rescue helicopters or to distribute food, water and other aid steeled themselves for battle. In communities near and far, the seeds were planted that the victims of Katrina should be kept away, or at least handled with extreme caution. ""Rumor control was a beast for us,"" said Maj. Ed Bush of the Louisiana National Guard, who was stationed at the Superdome. ""People would hear something on the radio and come and say that people were getting raped in the bathroom or someone had been murdered. I would say, 'Ma'am, where?' I would tell them if there were bodies, my guys would find it. Everybody heard, nobody saw. Logic was out the window because the situation was illogical."" There was an unnerving amount of lawlessness, especially looting, in the streets of New Orleans after the hurricane. But many of the more salacious reports have not withstood close examination by government officials or the media. CNN reported repeatedly on Sept. 1, three days after Katrina ravaged New Orleans, that evacuations at the Superdome were suspended because ""someone fired a shot at a helicopter."" But Louisiana National Guard officials on the ground at the time now say that no helicopters came under attack and that evacuations were never stopped because of gunfire. Later that morning, during a briefing carried live on local radio and local and national television, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said, ""We have gotten reports, but unconfirmed, of some of our deputies and sheriffs that have either been injured or killed."" Of the thousands of law enforcement officials who converged on New Orleans, only one was shot. The wound to the leg was self-inflicted in a struggle, a spokesman for the Guard said last week. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that National Guard troops found 30 to 40 bodies decomposing inside a freezer in the convention center, including a girl whose throat was slashed. The newspaper quoted a member of the Arkansas National Guard, which was deployed in the building. Other news organizations then passed the information on. That, too, was untrue. On Monday, Bob Johannessen, a spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, said that four bodies were found -- one was a gunshot victim. He said officials had no record of a dead girl with her throat cut. The Washington Post, in a Sept. 1 front-page article, noted that evacuees at the Superdome were repeating rumors of rapes and killings but quoted Maj. Bush as saying ""none of that"" occurred. A Sept. 15 front-page story said the precise number of people who died in the convention center was not known at the time, but officials believed it could be as many as 10."
" Reports say the blast, a few hundred metres from the ministry, also wounded 11 others. Earlier a suicide car bomb exploded in the east of Baghdad, killing a female bystander and wounding many. The attacker targeted a convoy of armoured vehicles used by private foreign security contractors travelling through the Karada district of Baghdad. Police investigating the blast near the oil ministry said the bomber boarded a small bus carrying students from a police academy. He detonated his explosives on Palestine Street, a main road close to the oil ministry. The bombing follows an attack on the oil minister, Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, earlier this week. He survived an assassination attempt when his convoy was attacked in Baghdad on Monday. Two of his bodyguards were killed. The attacks come a day after a bomb killed 25 people in Hilla, south of Baghdad, part of a wave of attacks in the build-up to the constitutional referendum next week. Amid the escalation of violence, Iraqis began picking up copies of the draft constitution that they will vote on next week. Following condemnation by the US and United Nations, the Iraqi National Assembly on Wednesday reversed its decision to change rules that would have made it harder for opponents to reject it."
" A roadside device near al-Karmah in the Falluja area killed four on Thursday and a bomb near the city of Qaim killed a further two on the same day. Those killed near Qaim had been taking part in Operation Iron Fist against the militants, the US military said. Iron Fist resulted in 29 rebel deaths in recent days, it added. Twenty were killed when US bombs hit a three-storey abandoned hotel in the Karabila area where they had been sheltering. In the same area, which is near the Syrian border, aerial bombing claimed a further seven lives and two more militants were killed by tank fire, the US military said in a report which could not be independently confirmed. America's military death toll in Iraq since March 2003 is now nearly 2,000. Few details were given of Thursday's attacks on the marines, which both happened in areas with strong support for Sunni Muslim insurgents. In another development, the bodies of 22 men from Badra, a town south-east of Baghdad, were found bound with wire handcuffs and riddled with bullets. Many are thought to have been Sunni Muslims. In the southern city of Basra, British troops took 12 suspected Shia Muslim militants into custody."
" Brigadier John Lorimer said the raid, in Basra during the night, was aimed at stopping the surge in attacks by local militia on allied troops. ""This terrorism must be stopped, we have a right to protect ourselves and innocent citizens,"" he said. Some of the 12 are said to be followers of radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr. This comes two weeks after UK armoured vehicles destroyed the walls of a Basra police station, sparking protests. The BBC's Caroline Hawley, in Baghdad, said sources told her the arrested officers were from the same Basra police station. Brig Lorimer said in a statement: ""Some of the individuals we have arrested are linked to militia groups in Basra. Some of the individuals are members of Basra Police Service. ""We have acted against them solely because they are involved in terrorism, not because they are members of any particular political group or organisation."" The brigadier said it was ""very concerning"" that police officers were involved in terrorism"", adding ""nobody who has been involved in murdering soldiers should be allowed to hide behind their uniform"". Members of the Mehdi Army, the name given to Mr Sadr's supporters, have told the AFP news agency that all of the arrested men were followers of the radical cleric. Sources said no shots were fired as the men were detained after soldiers raided a house."
" A Thai army spokesman said the gunmen, suspected to be Muslim insurgents, fired shots from assault rifles as they sped by in a pick-up truck. The attackers then fled, reportedly foiling attempts to chase them by throwing metal spikes onto the road. The largely Islamic Thai south has been hit by a wave of violence since early 2004, killing more than 900 people. The government has blamed Muslim separatists for the unrest. The five men - members of the paramilitary Ranger force -were killed late on Wednesday at one of the many military checkpoints along Thailand's southern border with Malaysia. Two of their colleagues were also wounded in the attack. ""The soldiers were taking an evening break when dozens of militants attacked them, and these troops had no way to defend themselves,"" Police Colonel Thanongsak Wangsupa told Reuters news agency. In a separate incident, a villager was found beheaded in Yala province on Wednesday morning. He, again, is assumed to be a victim of suspected militants. Police were alerted to the killing late on Tuesday, but a spokesman said officers waited until Wednesday to go to the scene for fear the report was just a ploy by militants who might have set booby traps at the scene. Police said it was unclear if the victim was Buddhist or Muslim, but as in previous murders a note was left beside the man's body saying he had been killed in retaliation for actions by police."
" He said they had provided technology to a Shia group in southern Iraq, although the Iranians had denied this, he added. An Iranian spokesman denied the charge, insisted that Tehran was committed to ensuring a peaceful Iraq. ""From the very beginning, we have stated our position very clearly - a stable Iraq is in our interests and that is what the Iraqi authorities have said themselves on many occasions,"" Hamid Reza-Asefi told the BBC. ""Even in recent days, the Iraqi authorities have welcomed our position and our approach to Iraq."" While UK officials have hinted at an Iranian link before, this is the first specific allegation to be made. They may feel there is little to lose right now by making such accusations, given that diplomatic relations are already low following the breakdown of talks over Iran's nuclear programme, says the BBC News Website's world affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the technology had come from Hezbollah in Lebanon via Iran and produced an ""explosively shaped projectile"". He said that dissidents from the Mehdi army, a militia controlled by the radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, were suspected of carrying out the attacks. One of their leaders, Ahmed al-Fartusi, was arrested by British forces recently and was ""currently enjoying British hospitality"", as the official put it. It was that arrest which sparked off an anti-British protest in Basra recently."
" The United States has long been an exporter of terrorism, according to a secret CIA analysis released Wednesday by the Web site WikiLeaks. And if that phenomenon were to become a widely held perception, the analysis said, it could damage relations with foreign allies and dampen their willingness to cooperate in ""extrajudicial"" activities, such as the rendition and interrogation of terrorism suspects. That is the conclusion of the three-page classified paper produced in February by the CIA's Red Cell, a think tank set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by then-CIA Director George J. Tenet to provide ""out-of-the-box"" analyses on ""a full range of analytic issues."" Titled ""What If Foreigners See the United States as an 'Exporter of Terrorism'?,"" the paper cites Pakistani American David Headley, among others, to make its case that the nation is a terrorism exporter. Headley pleaded guilty this year to conducting surveillance in support of the 2008 Lashkar-i-Taiba attacks in Mumbai, which killed more than 160 people. The militant group facilitated his movement between the United States, Pakistan and India, the agency paper said. Such exports are not new, the paper said. In 1994, an American Jewish doctor who had emigrated from New York to Israel years earlier opened fire at a mosque at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers. The rampage by Baruch Goldstein, a member of the militant group Kach founded by the late Meir Kahane, helped trigger a wave of bus bombings by the extremist Palestinian group Hamas in 1995, the paper noted. As WikiLeaks disclosures go, this paper pales in comparison to the organization's recent releases. Last month the group published 76,000 classified U.S. military records and field reports on the war in Afghanistan. That disclosure prompted criticism that the information put U.S. troops and Afghan informants at risk, along with demands from the Pentagon that the documents be returned. WikiLeaks says it is still planning to release 15,000 more Afghan war records that it has been reviewing to redact names and other information that could cause harm. CIA spokeswoman Marie Harf played down the significance of the paper: ""These sorts of analytic products - clearly identified as coming from the Agency's 'Red Cell' - are designed simply to provoke thought and present different points of view."" While counterterrorism experts focus on threats to the homeland, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups ""may be increasingly looking for Americans to operate overseas,"" the paper said. And if the made-in-America brand becomes well-known, foreign partners may become balky, perhaps even requesting ""the rendition of U.S. citizens"" they deem to be terrorists. U.S. refusal to hand over its citizens could strain alliances and ""in extreme cases . . . might lead some governments to consider secretly extracting U.S. citizens suspected of foreign terrorism from U.S. soil."""
" 1 of 2. A ranch is seen in San Fernando in Tamaulipas state, August 24, 2010, where according to a Mexican navy statement 72 bodies have been found, in this handout photo released by the Mexican Navy August 25, 2010. The corpses were found by Mexican marines at the remote ranch near the U.S. border, the Mexican navy said on Wednesday, the biggest single discovery of its kind in Mexico's increasingly bloody drug war. The marines came across the bodies of 58 men and 14 women, thought to be migrant workers, on Tuesday at the ranch in Tamaulipas state, 90 miles from the Texas border, after a series of firefights with drug gang members. Three gunmen and a marine died in the firefights, while another suspected gang member was arrested and several others escaped, a navy spokesman said. ""The bodies were dumped about the ranch and were not buried. We are still investigating how long they had been there,"" the spokesman said. He declined to give more details. Marines guarding a nearby checkpoint reached the ranch after a wounded man who escaped approached them on Monday and gave them information leading to the area, which troops located from the air, the navy said. The soldiers came under fire as they neared the ranch. Marines seized assault rifles, bullets, uniforms and vehicles -- including one with forged army license plates. Senior national security official Alejandro Poire told a news conference that those killed could be illegal immigrants from countries including Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador and Brazil who had been kidnapped by drug gangs as they made their way to the Texan border. He cited testimony from the wounded man, an Ecuadorean now in a hospital in northern Mexico. Mexican cartels have moved into human smuggling in recent years, sometimes kidnapping migrants, extorting them and forcing them to carry narcotics across the border. Some are also forced to work as hitmen, Poire said. In May, authorities discovered 55 bodies in western Guerrero state and 51 bodies on the outskirts of Monterrey near Texas in July."
" The sole survivor of a massacre that saw a Mexican drug cartel murder 72 people has told authorities his gruesome tale.  Ecuadorian Luis Fredy Lala told authorities he was the only person to escape alive when gunmen massacred the 58 men and 14 women at a rural ranch just 100 miles from the U.S. border. In an interview from his hospital bed, Lala said he was among a group of economic migrants from Central America abducted by armed men as they crossed into Mexico. According to the Reforma newspaper, they were shot after refusing to pay ransoms. Three gunmen and one marine were killed in the fighting before soldiers made the grim discovery of the 72 bodies, some of them left lying in piles. The victims are all believed to be immigrants targeted by one of the many competing drug cartels which have killed 28,000 people in Mexico in the last four years. Increasingly, vulnerable migrants from countries such as Ecuador are being extorted by the gangs and even recruited into a life of drug trade-related violence. 'It's absolutely terrible and it demands the condemnation of all of our society,' said Mexican government security spokesman Alejandro Poire. Poire said the government was in contact with those countries to corroborate the identities of the migrants.  Consular officials from Brazil, Ecuador and El Salvador said they had no immediate information on whether any of their citizens were among the dead."
" Pakistan has decided to accept flood aid from its neighbour India, saying the offer was a ""very welcome initiative"" as both countries look to improve their tense relations. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told India's NDTV television in an interview broadcast on Friday that Islamabad would take India's offer of $US5 million ($A5.6 million), which was made last Friday. ""I can share with you that the government of Pakistan has agreed to accept the Indian offer,"" Qureshi said from New York, where he addressed a special session of the UN General Assembly called to boost aid for flood victims. ""I think this initiative of India is a very welcome initiative."" India and Pakistan have made major efforts in recent months to build confidence in their relations, which were badly strained by the Mumbai 2008 terror attacks, which Indian blamed on militants from Pakistan. The United States urged Pakistan earlier this week to accept the Indian offer and not let rivalry stand in the way of helping its citizens in flood-ravaged regions. The two countries have fought three wars since the division of the subcontinent after the end of British rule in 1947. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rang his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday ""to express his sense of sorrow and to condole the deaths resulting from the huge floods"", Singh's office said. The catastrophic floods in Pakistan have claimed nearly 1500 lives and affected 20 million people."
" WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has urged Pakistan to accept India's aid offer even as hardline elements in the flood-ravaged country have begun a vicious campaign to blame India, the United States, and Afghanistan for the calamity, a charge Washington has simply dismissed.Amid mounting international attention and concern for Pakistan's future in the face of the tragedy, US officials on Wednesday called on Islamabad to abjure politics and accept India's help, including an initial $ 5 million offer it has sat on saying it is under consideration, even as it is begging for international aid.""I think the priority is to use offers of assistance to help the Pakistani people, so we would encourage Government of Pakistan to accept that (Indian) offer,"" Frank Ruggiero, Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan said on Wednesday. Separately, state department spokesman P J Crowley said, ""In terms of responding to a disaster, politics should play no role. You have a country (India) that's willing to help (Pakistan), and...we expect that Pakistan will accept.""Their remarks came amid a rash of reports in the Pakistani media blaming India, principally, for the massive floods, purportedly because New Delhi had deliberately diverted waters from dams in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, and from the ones it ""controlled in Afghanistan"". Some reports also charged that US was manipulating weather patterns over Pakistan. US officials dismissed the idea with incredulity.""So it was the United States and India that conspired to have the monsoons come to Pakistan? I don't find that credible,"" Crowley said in response to a question about such reports in sections of the Pakistani media considered close to hard-line elements in its intelligence agencies and jihadists.The inflammatory reports in a country that's been dubbed ""Paranoidistan"" surfaced even as Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi , in an interview to ABC , endorsed a purported ISI report last week that home-grown extremism and not India constituted a primary security threat to the country.The new line, which if genuine would reverse 63 years of regarding India as the primary threat, is ostensibly aimed at extracting more aid from the US and the international community, which have repeatedly advised Islamabad to give up its India fixation, and have been reluctant to open their purse strings because of, among other things, Pakistan's hardline policies towards India.Pakistan's recalibration, amid unabated floods and fears of extremists getting ahead of the government in providing relief, is already starting to show results. The US has increased its aid to nearly $100 million, the World Bank has sanctioned a loan of $ 900 million, and various western and Gulf/Arab countries have also bumped up their initial modest contribution to help out Pakistan from being completely washed up.On Thursday (Friday IST), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will lead the move to galvanize world attention and ramped up aid by delivering remarks at a plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly on the humanitarian situation resulting from the floods in Pakistan. She is expected to announce a further increase in US commitment."
" Chelsea players lifted the European Cup for the first time in the London club's history [Reuters] Chelsea cleared the final hurdle in a season of never-ending challenges when they beat Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties in the German team's Allianz Arena stadium to be crowned European champions for the first time on Saturday. In what may be the final act of his Chelsea career, Didier Drogba sealed victory in a tension-packed Champions League final with the last kick of the shootout to clinch victory after he had headed Chelsea's equaliser two minutes from time to force a 1-1 draw and send the game to extra time. Bayern, just as in 1999 when they lost 2-1 to Manchester United who scored two goals in stoppage time, were within touching distance of the cup thanks to an 83rd-minute header from Thomas Mueller. But history came back to haunt them as Drogba snatched victory from their grasp with a late equaliser to set up his team to victory against all the odds. Even in extra time Bayern had a golden opportunity to seal the win but Arjen Robben's penalty was saved by Petr Cech after Drogba fouled Franck Ribery to concede the spot kick. Bayern skipper Philipp Lahm even won the toss to decide which end the shootout would take place and it was held in front of the Bayern fans. Chelsea's success, built on the millions invested in the club over the last nine years by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, came on another night of unlikely glory in a season that seemed to be going nowhere under coach Andre Villas-Boas who was sacked in March. Chelsea were rejuvenated by interim coach Roberto Di Matteo who not only steered them to this success but also won the FA Cup two weeks ago. Whether he gets the job permanently remains to be seen, but there is little more he could have done to prove he is the man for the job. He ended the campaign not only with the two cups, but also making Chelsea the first London club to win the trophy since the competition began 57 years ago and guaranteed to play Champions League football again next season. The match itself was similar to Chelsea's astonishing semi-final victory over Barcelona with both successes built on solid steel rearguard actions against sides that dominated them territorially and with possession of the ball. The Barcelona victory followed Chelsea's win over Napoli in the Round of 16 when they lost the first leg 3-1 in Italy and came back to win 4-1 in the second leg, a result that ultimately set them on the road to their success in Germany. At the end the German players were utterly stunned, none more so that Bastian Schweinsteiger after his poorly struck penalty hit the post. ""I believe a lot in destiny,"" Drogba said. ""It was written a long time ago. This team is amazing and I dedicate this cup to all the managers and players we had before. ""(My equaliser) changed the game. Life is fantastic."" Bayern were left to rue a third near-miss this season after finishing runners-up in the Bundesliga and the German Cup but this was the harshest of blows. For much of a compelling final, the match resembled a defence versus attack exercise as Bayern poured forward, only to be denied by a wall of blue or their own wastefulness in front of goal. Both Thomas Muller and Mario Gomez snatched at clear chances as Chelsea rode their luck and manned the barricades as they did in the Nou Camp during their semi-final against Barcelona. Muller lashed one volley wide from Franck Ribery's cross while the disappointing Gomez showed a surprising lack of composure on several occasions. Substitute Ivica Olic had his head in his hands in the second period of extra time as he prodded a volley agonisingly wide of the post with Cech helpless. The night still seemed to be heading Bayern's way when they moved 3-1 ahead in the penalty shootout after Juan Mata missed Chelsea's first spot kick but Olic missed for Bayern and when Schweinsteiger struck the post the stage was left for Ivorian Drogba to write his name into Chelsea folkore."
" MUNICH: From zeros to heroes, chumps to champs: in three short months Roberto Di Matteo steered Chelsea back from the precipice to the greatest moment in the club's history. Chelsea's stunning Champions League victory over Bayern Munich on Saturday completed one of the most dramatic reversals of fortune in football history, the glorious final act of a season which had once threatened to unravel. When Di Matteo was appointed as interim manager following the dismissal of Andre Villas-Boas in early March, few observers viewed the former Chelsea midfielder as a viable long-term candidate for the job. Didier Drogba was the hero in a nail-biting penalty shoot-out at the Allianz Arena. Drogba stepped up to rifle home the winning penalty for Chelsea after earlier saving his side with an equalising goal two minutes from time to cancel out what looked like a winner from Thomas Mueller as the match finished at 1-1. It was an agonising defeat for Bayern, who saw midfield maestro Bastian Schweinsteiger miss with their final kick to give Drogba the opportunity to score the penalty to clinch the shoot-out 4-3. Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech also saved brilliantly from Ivica Ovic to get Chelsea back into the shoot-out after Juan Mata had missed the Premier League side's opening effort. Drogba's winning spot-kick was a fairytale ending for the 34-year-old Ivorian striker, who had been sent off in the final minutes of Chelsea's Champions League final defeat in Moscow four years ago. But the loss left Bayern shattered as their dream of lifting their fifth European title before their own fans at their home ground ended in agony. A match Bayern had dominated went to penalties after a frenetic finish to normal time, with Mueller heading Bayern into the lead seven minutes from time only for Drogba to equalise for Chelsea in the 88th minute."
" The Olympic flame has landed in the UK ready for the London 2012 torch relay after being flown from Athens, Greece. David Beckham used it to light a cauldron after the plane, also carrying Princess Anne and Locog chair Lord Coe, arrived at a Cornish air base. Flight BA2012, a gold-coloured A319 named The Firefly, was greeted at RNAS Culdrose by cheering crowds. After Friday's welcoming ceremony, the flame flies on Saturday to Land's End for the start of an 8,000 mile relay. The Princess Royal carried the transportation lantern containing the flame from the aircraft and on to the tarmac. It was transferred to a London 2012 torch and David Beckham lit a cauldron, to mark the flame's arrival on UK soil. He said: ""It's a very proud moment for everybody. ""Seb (Coe) and the team have done an incredible job. I'm very proud to be part of this team bringing the flame. As a nation we're going to have an amazing couple of months."" Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was at the Royal Naval air station to formally welcome the flame, along with 500 members of the public, armed forces and dignitaries. He said: ""Eight thousand people will pass it from hand-to-hand, a human chain that reaches the length and breadth of Britain."
" A suicide bomber has killed at least 10 people, a number of them children, at a checkpoint in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, officials say. Police were checking vehicles when a man walked up and detonated a suicide vest, they said. Police officers are also thought to be among the dead. Afghanistan's eastern provinces, some of which border Pakistan's restive tribal areas, have seen an increase in militant attacks in the past year. ""The aim of the attacker was to target both police and civilians,"" provincial police chief Gen Sardar Mohammad Zazia told the Associated Press news agency. ""Unfortunately, the majority of the victims are civilian,"" he said. No group has said it carried out the attack, but Taliban militants frequently target police checkpoints. The attack comes a day before a Nato summit in Chicago that will discuss Afghanistan's security transition, as local forces prepare to take over from foreign troops by the end of 2014. Meanwhile, Afghanistan's main human rights organisation says that local police in some areas are making things worse rather than better. A report by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission alleges criminal behaviour by local police - an armed force introduced to support the regular police - including rape, murder and robbery."
" Anti-austerity protesters carry a police shield during scuffles in front of the parliament in Athens February 7, 2012. Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker invited ministers from the 17-nation single currency area to meet on Thursday evening and the International Monetary Fund said managing director Christine Lagarde would also attend. They are expected to examine a complex package involving a 130 billion euro EU/IMF rescue and a bond swap with private creditors, which hinges on Athens accepting conditions that require big cuts in many Greeks' living standards. Greeks face a dreadful year of recession, a government source said. Athens now forecast the economy will shrink between four and five percent in 2012, the source said, adding to a relentless dive in economic output for the last four years which has sent unemployment soaring. The figure, contained in a draft letter to Lagarde, is far worse than the 2.8 percent fall in gross domestic product forecast when the 2012 budget went to parliament in November, highlighting the conundrum that more austerity will damage the economy further and drive Greece's massive debts yet higher. Juncker called the Eurogroup meeting even though leaders of the three Greek coalition parties were still discussing with Prime Minister Lucas Papademos the terms of a rescue package to avoid a chaotic default in March that would send tremors around the euro zone and possibly further afield. Two sources close to the Athens talks said the government would promise spending cuts and tax rises totaling 13 billion euros from 2012 to 2015, almost double the seven billion it originally pledged. The bailout package also pledges a 22 percent cut to the minimum wage level, a party official said. International lenders are demanding that the leaders of the conservative New Democracy party, PASOK socialists and far-right LAOS commit themselves in writing to implement the program of pay and pension cuts, structural and administrative reforms. Euro zone officials say the full package must be agreed with Greece and approved by the euro zone, European Central Bank and IMF before February 15 so that complex legal paperwork can be completed in time for a bond redemption deadline on March 20."
" Pakistan's military says it is in control in the Swat valley Pakistan says its troops have killed more than 50 militants in clashes across the north-west. The authorities said 40 insurgents had been killed in an offensive in Khyber Agency, bordering Afghanistan. Several militant bases were also destroyed. In fighting in Swat valley 15 militants died, bringing to 45 the number killed there since Friday, the army said. More than 100 others reportedly surrendered. There is no independent verification of the army's claims. Journalists have little access to the areas where the clashes are said to have taken place. Pakistan is under US pressure to crack down on militants in the border region. There have been numerous attacks in Khyber on Nato supply convoys to Afghanistan. Khyber's top government official Tariq Hayat Khan said 43 militants had been captured, as well as 40 killed in the military operation. ""It will continue till we achieve our objective and restore the writ of government,"" he told reporters in Peshawar. Militants who had been arrested were paraded blindfolded before the news conference. Army operations have been taking place in the Bara sub-district of Khyber. The entire area is under curfew and access to the media is restricted there. Troops are targeting the Lashkar-e-Islam group, which has been the subject of several offensives over the past year. But, correspondents say, the militants' grip over the area has not yet been broken. Last week, 22 border guards were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a checkpoint in the Khyber Pass, on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says the recent surge in violence appears to be an attempt by the Taliban to demonstrate their capability to strike in the aftermath of the death of their chief, Baitullah Mehsud. Analysts expect more attacks from the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan after they failed to cause major disruption to last month's Afghan elections. The Swat valley has been the scene of a massive troop offensive since April. Army spokesman Lt Col Akhtar Abbas told the BBC that 105 Taliban fighters had given themselves up in the Kabal area near Mingora, Swat's main town. He said that in total 165 suspected militants, including many wanted figures, had now laid down their arms. The army denies accusations that troops are behind extra-judicial killings in the region. More than 150 dead bodies - some with gunshot wounds, some beheaded - have been found in the past month. The military recently declared Mingora, Swat's main town, and other parts of the region largely free from Taliban militants. But on Sunday a suspected suicide bomber killed at least 14 police recruits who were training at a police base in Mingora."
" On Sunday night, with 85 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had 49 percent of the votes, and Gingrich had 22 percent. Just about 830 votes separated Gingrich and Paul. Santorum was in fourth, with 10 percent. Not all the votes have been tallied in Nevada's largest county. The Las Vegas Sun reports that Republican Party workers confirmed ballots in multiple precincts exceed the number of people who signed in to vote. The GOP candidates have been hitting Colorado hard before Tuesday's caucus, and Monday will be filled with campaign stops as candidates make one last push. Frontrunner Mitt Romney was in Colorado Springs on Saturday, and on Monday he will hold an event in Grand Junction and at Arapahoe High School in Centennial. Newt Gingrich will rally Monday morning in Golden, and a few hours later attend the Colorado Energy Summit at the School of Mines. Rick Santorum will also attend that same energy summit, and on Monday night will hold a rally at the Cable Center in Denver. Ron Paul was in Colorado last week a few times, but won't be returning before Tuesday's caucus."
" 1 of 15. Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gather on a Damascus street, to welcome Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, February 7, 2012, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, representing a rare ally on a trip to the Syrian capital that other states are shunning, said both countries wanted revive a monitoring effort by the Arab League, whose plan to resolve Syria's crisis Moscow and Beijing vetoed in the U.N. Security Council. There was no indication from Lavrov's comments that the issue of Assad eventually giving up power - a central element of the Arab proposal that failed in the Council - had been raised. Assad said he would cooperate with any plan that stabilized Syria, but made clear that only included an earlier Arab League proposal that called for dialogue, release of prisoners and withdrawing the army from protest centers. Walid al-Bunni, a senior member of the opposition Syrian National Council, said Lavrov brought no new initiative and that ""so-called reforms"" promised by Assad were not enough. ""The crimes that have been committed have left no room for Bashar al-Assad to remain ruler of Syria,"" he told Reuters. Russia's mediation also failed to slow a rush by countries that denounced the Russian-Chinese veto three days ago to corner Syria diplomatically and cripple Assad with sanctions in hopes of toppling him. Opposition activists said government forces renewed shelling of the central city of Homs on Tuesday just before Lavrov's arrival, killing some 19 people in an onslaught that they say has claimed over 300 lives in the last five days. There were also reports from residents of shelling and fighting on Tuesday between government and rebel forces in Hama, another urban stronghold of anti-Assad sentiment. Syria says Homs - the heart of 11 months of protest against Assad's rule - is the site of a running battle with ""terrorists"" directed and funded from abroad. Parts of the city are held by insurgents that include army defectors. Syria's references to foreign interference are widely read to include Gulf Arab states, which followed the lead of Washington and European Union countries on Tuesday in reducing their diplomatic presence in Damascus."
" Gulf Arab states say they are expelling Syrian ambassadors in their countries and recalling their envoys from Syria. The Gulf Cooperation Council said Syria had rejected Arab attempts to solve the crisis and end 11 months of bloodshed. The US closed its embassy in Syria on Monday, and several European countries have recalled their ambassadors. The moves came as Syrian government forces continued their fierce assault on the restive city of Homs, and Russian officials visited Damascus. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for a solution to the crisis based on Arab League initiatives, days after Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution on Syria. After meeting Mr Lavrov, Syrian media quoted President Bashar al-Assad as saying he was willing to co-operate with ""any efforts towards stability"". Separately Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, denied reports that he had threatened Qatar's prime minister during talks at the UN last week. Someone was trying to drive a wedge between Russia and the Arab world, he said. Continue reading the main story On the surface, Sergei Lavrov's talks with President Assad in Damascus don't seem to have produced any kind of breakthrough. If things were agreed behind the scenes without being announced, that could become apparent in the coming days, especially in places like Homs, where the violence continues unabated. But on the face of it, there was nothing new in the statements made after the talks, though Mr Lavrov said the Syrian leader seemed to have taken on board the need for swift action. He remains committed to ending violence from any source - but the Syrians have used that formula to cover their crackdown on armed opposition fighters. The powers which backed the torpedoed UN resolution are not waiting for the Russians to pull a rabbit from the hat. The BBC's Paul Wood - one of the very few foreign reporters in Homs - says the Syrian army resumed mortar attacks and heavy machine-gun fire after daybreak."
" July's eurozone unemployment was the worst since 1999 Unemployment levels across the 16 countries that use the euro hit a 10-year high in July, as the impact of the recession continued to be felt. The number of people unemployed across the eurozone region totalled 15.1 million people in July, a seasonally-adjusted rate of 9.5%. This was the worst monthly percentage figure recorded since May 1999. The rate across all 27 members of the European Union was 9% - a total of 21.8 million people out of work. This was the highest level of unemployment across the EU as a whole since 2005. Unemployment increased in July in France - despite it coming out of recession between April and June. Unemployment is continuing to climb in Europe, although the rate of increase is slower than at the start of this year. Spain continues to suffer the most, with almost one in five people out of work in July, closely followed by the Baltic states. The number of jobless in the EU and the eurozone is set to rise throughout the rest of this year as the effects of any economic recovery will take time to filter though to the labour market. Rising unemployment threatens to dampen consumer spending and that could hamper growth in the economies of Europe. France's unemployment rate in July rose to 9.8% from 9.6% in June. Germany, which also emerged from recession in April to June, saw an unemployment rate of 7.7% in July, the same as June. Analysts put both sets of figures down to the usual time-lag seen before employment levels start to pick up once a country has left recession. Separate figures on Tuesday from the German Federal Labour Agency showed that German unemployment rose to 8.3% in August. However, its figures are released on an unadjusted basis, and therefore cannot be easily compared to the seasonally-adjusted data from Eurostat. ""Even though some eurozone countries returned to growth in the second quarter, and others are likely to follow in the third quarter, we suspect that economic activity will remain too weak to actually generate net jobs until at least the second half of 2010,"" said economist Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight. The unemployment rate in July was highest in Spain, where it rose to 18.5% from 18.2% in June. Spain's jobless situation is worst among the country's young adults, with 38% of those under 25 now without work. Unemployment remained the lowest in the Netherlands, where it increased to 3.4% from June's 3.3%. Lithuania and Latvia continued to see the biggest rise in the rate of unemployment. In Lithuania it rose to 16.7% in July from 5.8% a year earlier, while Latvia's has grown to 17.4% from 6.9% last year. ""July's figures show that eurozone unemployment is now rising at a slower rate, but it will be some time before the labour market really starts to recover,"" said Jennifer McKeown of Capital Economics. ""But as unemployment tends to lag behind developments in the wider economy, we still expect to see further increases in the coming quarters."""
"Faced with worsening repression led by the Damascus regime against its own population, French authorities have decided to recall their ambassador in Syria for consultations,"" Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters. Paris, which helped draft a U.N. resolution with Arab League backing that was vetoed by Russia and China, is working on creating an international group to bring together all those opposed to the violence, which it says has cost more than 6,000 lives since street protests erupted 11 months ago. France recalled its ambassador in November after pro-government Syrian crowds attacked its honorary consulate in Latakia and diplomatic offices in Aleppo. ""We will not give up,"" Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told a foreign affairs debate in the Senate. ""We have two objectives: to intensify the pressure on the countries that use their veto and to add pressure on the Syrian regime which is discredited. Its day are numbered and the veto in New York is not a blank check to continue (repression)."" French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Saturday that Paris was consulting various countries to create a Syrian contact group to support the opposition and find a solution to the crisis with the Arab league plan as its basis. Juppe met the Paris-based head of the opposition Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, late Monday and spoke to the Arab League's secretary general and the Qatari prime minister as part of his push to produce a concrete proposal to put the group in place by the end of the week. ""It is not true that there is a regime that represses on one side and terrorists on the other side. This is a regime that is carrying out one of the most savage suppressions that we've seen,"" he said. Valero said the SNC, which Paris regards as a legitimate partner, was making progress in unifying the various ethnicities and opposition groups in Syria. Sarkozy is set to speak to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after meeting Assad Tuesday that Assad had presented reform plans to help end the bloodshed. Diplomats said Assad had made many promises over the last 10 months that had come to nothing.
U.S. drone attack kills 10 in Pakistan: officials	 The unacknowledged Central Intelligence Agency drone program, a key element in U.S. counter-terrorism efforts, was apparently halted after a November NATO air attack from across the Afghan border killed 24 Pakistani soldiers enraged Pakistan. The United States resumed attacks with the missile-firing drones in northwest Pakistan on January 10. In Wednesday's attack, a drone fired two missiles at a house suspected of being a militant hideout in the village of Thapi, 15 km (10 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan. The building was completely destroyed and 10 suspected militants were killed, Pakistani security officials said. ""Almost all the men were burnt beyond recognition,"" a villager said after visiting the destroyed house. ""Dozens of militants arrived later and took over rescue work. They pulled out nine bodies,"" he said, requesting anonymity. Security officials and villagers said the dead included foreign fighters but they did not specify their nationalities. Several militant groups, including the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda, have a presence in Pakistan's northwestern ethnic Pashtun regions, taking advantage of a porous border with Afghanistan to conduct cross-border attacks, or plot violence elsewhere. North Waziristan is also an important base area for the Haqqani network, an Afghan militant faction allied with the Taliban which the United States says is one of its deadliest adversaries in Afghanistan. While the Haqqani faction says it no longer needs a sanctuary in North Waziristan and has made enough battlefield gains in Afghanistan to stay there, it is known to still operate in the Pakistani border region.
Libyan leader celebrates 40 years in power	 Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought him to power. The national celebration started around midnight at the former US military base of Matega near Tripoli. Lights adorn buildings across the city, walls in the old town have been freshly whitewashed and rows of green Libyan flags flutter over its streets. Jordanian King Abdullah II is also due in Libya accompanied by his half-brother, Prince Ali. Libya has invited dozens of Western heads of state but European leaders are expected to stay away, including Italy's Silvio Berlusconi who visited Libya on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of a Libyan-Italian friendship agreement. Libya's ties with the West have improved markedly but suffered last month when the North African country gave a hero's welcome to the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. In recent years, Libya has cut support for armed revolutionary groups around the world and made peace with Washington by scrapping a programme to build nuclear weapons. However at home, political parties remain banned and Colonel Gaddafi staunchly defends his system of grass roots government by town-hall committee, rejected by critics as a cloak for authoritarianism.
Avian flu found in parrot in UK	 A highly pathogenic H5 strain of the disease has been found, but it is not known if it is the H5N1 variant which has killed at least 60 people in Asia. Because the bird - imported from south America - was in quarantine, the UK's disease-free status is not affected. Meanwhile, poultry imports from Croatia are being banned by the EU after the virus was found in six swans there. So far bird flu - in some cases the H5N1 strain - has been found in Europe in Romania, Greece and most recently, Croatia, as well as in a nearby area of Turkey. It is thought it was carried to those countries by wild birds migrating from Asia. The parrot - which was being held in a bio-secure unit at an undisclosed location - is the first confirmed case of avian flu in Britain since 1992. UK chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds said: ""The confirmed case does not affect the UK's official disease free status because the disease has been identified in imported birds during quarantine."" The bird was part of a mixed consignment of 148 parrots and ""soft bills"" that arrived on 16 September. They were also in quarantine with a consignment of 216 birds from Taiwan. All the birds in the quarantine unit are now being culled, said the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and those who had come into contact with them are being given antiviral treatment as a precautionary measure.	
Santorum hat-trick in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri	 US presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has swept the contests for the Republican Party nomination in Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado. Mr Santorum outperformed longtime front-runner Mitt Romney, who has struggled to connect with the party's conservative base. Supporters in Missouri heard Mr Santorum declare victory for all those ""building the conservative movement"". The eventual nominee will face Barack Obama in November's election. Former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich hardly campaigned in the three states that voted on Tuesday, and did not even appear on Missouri's ballot. Continue reading the main story These results are quite an upset. Mitt Romney always looked shaky in Minnesota, but he had been expected to take Colorado comfortably. Four years ago when Mr Romney was competing for the Republican nomination, he won Colorado with 60% of the vote. Mr Santorum's campaign will receive an injection of enthusiasm and money in the wake of his victory. In winning big in these three states he has lent some credibility to his claim that he can be a real social and conservative standard-bearer. However he lacks the organisation that is a hallmark of the Romney campaign and his candidacy remains a long shot. Most will still view Mr Romney as the front-runner even after tonight. But dissatisfied, fractious Republican voters - especially those on the socially conservative and religious wing of the party - seem to be telling Mr Romney's rivals: ""Don't give up."" In Minnesota's caucuses, with 95% of the vote counted, Mr Santorum was on 45%, while Texas Congressman Ron Paul was on 27% and former Massachusetts Governor Romney had 17%. In Missouri's primary, with all votes counted, Mr Santorum won with 55%, well ahead of Mr Romney at 25% and Mr Paul on 12%. After an anxious wait, the Republican Party chairman in Colorado eventually declared Mr Santorum the winner in that state's caucuses, too. Final results showed Mr Santorum won the state with 40% of votes, with Mr Romney on nearly 35%.	
Rick Santorum wins Colorado Republican caucuses	 Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum upended the race for the Republican nomination Tuesday, winning three states, including Colorado. Colorado's race see-sawed throughout the night until 11 p.m., when Colorado GOP chairman Ryan Call declared Santorum the winner, beating Mitt Romney 40 percent to 35 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting. ""This is a major upset,"" said Denver-based political analyst Floyd Ciruli. ""Definitely, there is a new story now."" Even Romney, who easily won Colorado's Republican contest in 2008 with 60 percent of the vote, acknowledged in his speech from the Auraria campus his new challenger. ""This was a good night for Rick Santorum, but I still expect to become the nominee,"" the former Massachusetts governor said. ""I look forward to the contest to come."" To underscore that it wasn't his night, Romney narrowly avoided an unexpected attack from a spectator trying to throw glitter on him after he went to shake hands with those in the crowd. Political watchers said they could feel the momentum change with Tuesday's results from across the country, where Santorum, who hadn't won since Iowa's caucuses, handily won the Missouri primary and Minnesota caucuses. ""This harkens back to 2010, when the Tea Party essentially upset the established Republican candidates for the Colorado governor and Senate races, and it clearly demonstrates that the grass roots of the party remains very conservative and is unwilling to unite behind the presumptive front-runner,"" Ciruli said. While Romney and challenger Newt Gingrich exchanged expensive blows before the Florida primary, Santorum went to Colorado and the Midwest to appeal to the conservative arm in the Republican Party. He targeted the three states that would likely have low turnouts and had large numbers of enthusiastic and conservative voters, Ciruli said. Santorum spent much of last week in Republican-dominated counties in Colorado, urging Tea Party voters to upend Romney's march to the nomination.	
After wins, Santorum seeks money	 Rick Santorum prepares to autograph a campaign sign for a supporter at his primary night rally at the St. Charles Convention Center in St. Charles, Missouri, February 7, 2012. After winning in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado on Tuesday, Santorum sought to build on his momentum, addressing Texas pastors, donors and activists with the loosely organized conservative Tea Party movement. ""Nobody ever thinks I can win anything,"" Santorum told about 600 people at a meeting with Christian pastors at the Bella Donna Chapel in McKinney, Texas. ""The gift of being underestimated is a great gift."" Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and a staunch social conservative, became the first Republican White House hopeful to win four of the state-by-state contests to pick a nominee to oppose Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election. His sweep on Tuesday raised new questions about presumed front-runner Romney, who holds strong organizational and financial advantages over Santorum and the other Republican candidates but has yet to prove he can win over conservatives in the party who see him as too moderate. Before his triumphs on Tuesday, Santorum had been dismissed as an also-ran in the race, having finished in the back of the pack in recent primaries and caucuses and trailing badly in the money race. But he now has won in one more state than Romney, who has three victories to date. In 2011, Santorum raised $2.2 million, according to year-end filings. Romney raised $56.8 million. Santorum is the latest in a series of rivals seen as the conservative alternative to Romney, who needs to refocus his campaign to re-establish himself as the favorite for the nomination. Foster Friess, the main backer of Santorum's ""Red White and Blue"" so-called Super PAC, said he expected more funding after Santorum's victories on Tuesday. ""I think as a result of last night there seems to be a nice flow of money, suddenly people realize that he's got a shot,"" said Friess, who was photographed standing beside Santorum as he gave his victory speech in Missouri on Tuesday night.
US soldiers killed in Iraq blasts	 Three soldiers were killed and another was injured in a blast late on Wednesday near Balad, 80km (50 miles) north of Baghdad. The attack happened a few hours after a US soldier was killed and four were wounded in a roadside bomb near Tikrit. At least 1,980 US troops have been killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003. Twelve US military personnel have been killed since Saturday's largely peaceful referendum on Iraq's new constitution. The blasts came on the day the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, appeared in court for the start of his trial on charges of crimes against humanity. He and seven co-defendants pleaded not guilty to charges of ordering the killing of 148 Shia men in 1982. If convicted, they could face the death penalty.
Saddam trial lawyer is kidnapped	 Sadoun Nasouaf al-Janavi was taken from his office in eastern Baghdad. He is acting for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants, Awad Hamed al-Bandar. One report said seven other people were seized at the same time. In a defiant appearance at his trial on Wednesday, Saddam Hussein pleaded not guilty to charges over the killing of 148 people in a Shia town in 1982. Mr Janavi was one of 13 defence lawyers believed to have been present in the courtroom. Identities and the faces of four of the five judges have been kept secret to ensure their safety. The names of the chief judge and the top prosecutor were the only ones revealed. Saddam Hussein refused to confirm his identity, telling the presiding judge: ""Who are you? What is all this?"" All eight defendants pleaded not guilty to charges of ordering the killing of 148 Shia men in 1982. If convicted, they could face the death penalty. The trial was adjourned until 28 November.
Washington Examiner	 The indictment against the Washington Post's Jason Rezaian was handed down Wednesday. The FBI statement said: ""[T]he public was not in danger during this investigation."" The Space Power Caucus existed in the past, but was not active in the 113th Congress. America's top rail officials are hard at work -- protecting themselves, their jobs and their... A more conclusive test is being run to confirm the initial results.
Libya court postpones trial of Gaddafi loyalists	 By Mohammed Al Tommy BENGHAZI, Libya, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Libya started and then swiftly postponed court proceedings on Sunday against 41 Libyans accused of helping Muammar Gaddafi crush the popular revolt that ended in his death last year, Libyan news agency LANA said on Sunday. ""The decision (to postpone) was made in the wake of listening to the pleadings of the defence panel that argued that this military court is not a competent entity and called for referring the case to the civil judiciary,"" LANA said on its website. The prosecutors at the trial, which is being held at a military base in the eastern city of Benghazi, have accused the 41 men of murder and aiding prisoners to escape. Intisar al-Agili, a Benghazi representative of the ruling National Transitional Council, told Reuters the trial had been postponed to Feb. 15. ""The delay is based on the requests of the 15-lawyer defence team to review the evidence ... and on the requests of some detainees who want to hire their own lawyers,"" she said. Libya is currently at loggerheads with the International Criminal Court (ICC), after militia fighters captured Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's most prominent son, in November. Libya says it will try Saif al-Islam at home, where he could face the death penalty. But the global court based in The Hague has said Libya will first have to answer concerns, raised by activists, that Saif al-Islam was being held incommunicado, without access to lawyers, and to provide information about his mental and physical health. If the war crimes court rules Libya is unwilling or unable to try Saif al-Islam, who is accused of crimes against humanity over the killing of civilian protesters, it says it will take jurisdiction. Saif al-Islam would rank among the biggest names to go before the ICC if he were transferred to The Hague for trial. 
Boys 'wanted to blow up school'	 Matthew Swift is a former pupil of Audenshaw School Two teenagers planned to blow up their school in a massacre timed to coincide with the anniversary of a massacre at a US school, a court has heard. Matthew Swift, 18, and his friend, Ross McKnight, 16, of Denton, Greater Manchester, deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions. Manchester Crown Court heard they plotted to blow up Audenshaw School 10 years after the Columbine tragedy. A teacher and 12 students died at a school in Columbine, Colorado, in 1999. The court heard the pair became obsessed with the massacre on 20 April 1999, and wanted to emulate the actions of the two killers - Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. Their two targets were a shopping complex, Crown Point North, and Audenshaw School where Mr McKnight was still a student and Mr Swift a former pupil, the court heard. The jury was told the boys planned to murder teachers and pupils The pair were arrested in March. Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, said to the jury: ""It is the prosecution case that these two young men sat in the dock had planned to copy and emulate the actions of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, here in the UK."" The court heard Mr McKnight and Mr Swift had agreed to detonate a bomb at Crown Point North as a diversion before driving to their school, murdering teachers and pupils and then killing themselves. Mr Wright said they were also fascinated by the Oklahoma city bombings, carried out by Timothy McVeigh in 1995, which resulted in the deaths of 168 people and injuries to 450 others. Mr McKnight wrote an essay about a fictional massacre at a school in Audenshaw in which ten people died and hundreds were hurt. Mr Wright said: ""The 10 people (were) killed by the one person who had some sort of grudge against the school or some sort of grudge against people who went to school. ""The evidence, you may think, this was not a piece of creative writing, this was an explanation of the state of mind of that young man."" We will walk into school and at the end of it no one will walk out alive ...after we have finished in Audenshaw we will have to kill ourselves there and then   Eighteen months after the essay was written, Mr McKnight rang a friend when he was drunk to tell her he loved her and that ""he couldn't wait until April 20 - the 10th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre"". The jury also heard the defendants wanted to adopt the personas of the Columbine killers by using their nicknames or alter-egos. Entries from Mr McKnight's diary included talk of ""Project Rainbow's"" official start day in November 2007. In the diary he spoke of the ""greatest massacre ever"" and killing thousands of people. ""We will walk into school and at the end of it no one will walk out alive... after we have finished in Audenshaw we will have to kill ourselves there and then."" Mr Swift had been given an ""exclusion order"" banning him from Crown Point, which sparked his resentment, the jury was told. Crown Point North was one of the boys' targets, the prosecution said After police arrested him they found a plan of his former school and a manual with instructions on ingredients to use in explosives. A diary was also recovered in which Mr Swift talked of his unhappiness and railed against life in general, Mr Wright told the jury. It contained notes on the Columbine massacre and pictures of Klebold and Harris taken from CCTV footage of their attack, which Mr Swift described as a ""beautiful image"". Photographs of two other people who carried out school massacres - Finnish student Pekka-Eric Auvinen and Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho - also featured. Swift wrote: ""I do not consider myself to be normal, come to think of it I do not think of myself as human."" Another entry read: ""I will complete Project Rainbow, I will show no mercy... I will make history."
" A car bomb attack on police headquarters in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar has killed at least nine people, including five policemen. Some 19 others were wounded in the blast in a car park outside the police building, the local government said. The blast - thought to have been caused by explosives hidden inside a parked car and detonated remotely - was strong enough to shatter nearby windows. No-one has yet said that they carried out the attack. The explosion ""took place near a busy shopping area"", the provincial government said on its official Twitter feed. ""It was a heavy explosion, it shook windows. There was gun fire for few minutes afterwards,"" local resident Shaedanoo Chowk told the BBC. Children were reported to be among the dead and wounded. ""Once more, enemies of the people of Afghanistan showed, by launching such a terrorist attack in a crowded place in Kandahar city, their enmity toward the innocent people of Afghanistan,"" President Hamid Karzai's office said in statement. Kandahar is Afghanistan's second largest city and hometown to Mr Karzai, as well as being the birthplace of the Taliban movement. The city has witnessed brutality and bloodshed over the years and the police headquarters has been attacked before, says BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul."
" Heavy snow is falling across much of the UK, disrupting flights and leading to calls for drivers to take more care. Snow hit southern Scotland and parts of Wales before moving south-east through England. Met Office severe weather warnings remain in place across the UK. Forecasters expect 5-10cm (2-4in) to fall in central, eastern and southern England, leaving icy roads on Sunday. Luton airport in Beds has closed its runway due to snow while Heathrow is cancelling some Sunday flights. Heathrow operator BAA said one-third of Sunday's approximate 1,200 flights would be cancelled. There were some delays on Saturday night due to visibility problems. On the roads, police said as many as 100 vehicles were stationary on the M40 between Junction 4 High Wycombe and Junction 9 Bicester for several hours, however traffic is now starting to clear as the snow is easing off. Traffic is slow moving on the M25 between J18 Chorleywood and J19 Watford because of snow. In other developments on Saturday: Heathrow's chief operating officer Normand Boivin said the decision to introduce a revised flight schedule before snow had fallen was taken in an effort to minimise disruption to passengers."
"The factory has completely collapsed and two houses next to it as well,"" an emergency official at the site told Reuters by telephone, adding that narrow streets was preventing heavy rescue machinery from reaching the area. Karamat Ali, a spokesman for the government Rescue 1122 emergency service, said five dead, including a 10-year-old boy, and 13 survivors had been pulled out of the rubble. Most of the trapped laborers were males aged 14-23. Seventeen women and girls were also in the factory, which produced veterinary medical products, when it crumbled. The death toll was expected to rise. ""I was inside the building when the blast happened,"" said Asad, an eight-year-old who was a laborer in the factory. ""Two other boys were with me and they started running. I don't know where they went and if they are alive."" The incident is likely to raise fresh questions about Pakistan's industrial safety. Building and zoning regulations are weak and often not enforced, critics say. Emergency workers and residents were shifting rubble by hand as authorities struggled to move a large crane to the site. ""We are looking for voids in the destruction where there are likely to be survivors,"" Rizwan Naseer, head of Rescue 1122, told reporters at the site. A senior city official said the factory should not have been operating. ""The factory was supposed to be sealed. We will investigate why it was still running,"" city official Ahad Cheema told reporters. It was not clear why it had been ordered sealed.
Diamond Jubilee: Queen celebrating 60-year reign	 The Queen has visited a school in Norfolk as she marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne. Earlier she said she was dedicating herself ""anew to your service"" and that she was ""deeply moved"" by support for the Diamond Jubilee. The Queen was met by crowds at King's Lynn Town Hall before going to Dersingham Infant and Nursery School. Gun salutes were held around the UK, including in London and Edinburgh. The main celebrations for her anniversary will be in June. The Queen, 85, usually spends Accession Day - the day her father, George VI, died in 1952 - privately but this year has the two engagements in Norfolk. Two official photographs were released and a 41-gun salute was held in Hyde Park, London, followed by a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London. Continue reading the main story For the Queen, this is a day of celebration - her great-great grandmother Victoria was the only other British monarch to achieve this milestone - and commemoration, marking as it does the anniversary of the death of her beloved father, George VI. So, a significant moment will pass in a deliberately low-key manner with a visit to a town hall and a primary school in Norfolk. As the weather improves and the months go by, there will be nothing subdued about the events which will be staged for a reign which is the second longest in British history. Her close friend, Lady Penn, told the BBC the Queen had been the ""still small voice of calm"" in a social revolution in this country over the past 60 years. In her Diamond Jubilee message, with the words ""I dedicate myself anew to your service"", the Queen is repeating a pledge she first made at the age of 21. This is a royal octogenarian who intends to remain as Sovereign for as long as she lives. There was also a 21-gun Royal Salute at Edinburgh Castle at noon. At the end of the Queen's tour, pupils at Dersingham Infants gathered in the school hall for a musical performance where she was the guest of honour.	
Greece PM confirms election date	 Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has confirmed that a snap general election will be held on 4 October. He asked President Karolos Papoulias to dissolve parliament as of Monday, after announcing the election on Wednesday. Mr Karamanlis called for a new mandate to tackle the economy, but he has been hurt by financial scandals and the effects of recent wildfires. His conservative party has a majority of just one seat in parliament and has been trailing the opposition in polls. ""I am seeking a fresh political mandate,"" Mr Karamanlis said on TV on Wednesday. ""My act is an act of responsibility, I didn't have the right to let the country be dragged for months in a pre-election atmosphere."" Former Foreign Minister George Papandreou, leader of the socialist opposition, is expected to respond at an event in Athens to mark his party's 35th anniversary later on Thursday. Mr Karamanlis said in his address on Wednesday: ""We have to clarify the political landscape and proceed with a series of essential measures to emerge from the downturn. ""The year 2010 will be a difficult and decisive one, and so the Greek people must choose a government that can lead the country out of this crisis."" There has been social unrest since police shot a teenager last December The conservative New Democracy party trailed the Socialists by six points in two recent opinion polls and the snap election had been opposed by some conservative MPs. A senior member of the party, Yiannis Manolis, resigned his seat on Monday, saying he was disappointed with the government's performance, but his seat would have been taken by another conservative without the need for a new election. The government has been hit by a series of corruption scandals. Aristotle Pavlides, a former minister, was alleged to have solicited bribes in return for granting shipping contracts, although he denied any wrongdoing. Last October two ministers resigned after it emerged that state land was given to a monastery on Mount Athos, in return for much less valuable land. Previously, a labour minister quit after employing uninsured immigrants, and his predecessor was forced out amid a bond-trading scandal. Greece has also been dogged by social unrest since police shot a teenager dead last December. The death sparked the country's worst riots in decades, leading to clashes between police and protesters in the weeks that followed. Shortly before Mr Karamanlis announced the election on Wednesday, a bomb went off outside the Athens stock exchange, slightly injuring a female passer-by and damaging the building. The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens says the blasts may be the work of the extremist group, Revolutionary Struggle.
Blackpool 1-2 West Ham	 Ricardo Vaz Te struck a late winner as West Ham defeated Blackpool in an absorbing Championship play-off final to seal their return to the Premier League at the first attempt. The result ensured that manager Sam Allardyce made good on his promise to take the Hammers back into the top flight after his team narrowly missed out on automatic promotion at the end of the regular season. Allardyce's side had led at the break through a Carlton Cole strike but after Thomas Ince - son of former Hammers midfielder Paul - levelled shortly after the restart, the match became increasingly stretched and ragged. Both teams wasted good opportunities to score but it was the London side who did grab what proved to be the decisive third when the unmarked Vaz Te, a January signing from Barnsley, drilled the ball into the net from 12 yards. It was a goal that meant West Ham won on their first appearance at Wembley in 31 years, in doing so becoming the first team since Leicester in 1996 to bounce straight back to the Premier League through the play-offs. But it ensured that the unfortunate Blackpool, relegated along with West Ham last season, did not seal a fairytale return to the top flight. The Seasiders had been in excellent form during the closing weeks of the season and showed incredible guts and desire to hold off Birmingham in their play-off semi-final. Several times during the final it looked as though Ian Holloway's team would shake off the loss of key striker Gary Taylor-Fletcher to an injury picked up in training and overcome the odds by defeating the heavily fancied Hammers. Holloway's team spurned several good opportunities to take the lead, with Stephen Dobbie the first into action, drawing a decent save from Robert Green after Hammers left-back Matt Taylor failed to clear a diagonal ball. Matt Phillips shot tamely from 20 yards after he had been played clean through and the former Wycombe wide man later missed from 14 yards after a terrible botched clearance from Guy Demel created the opening.
LifeCare reports status of New Orleans facilities	 LifeCare Holdings Inc. said the status of three acute care hospitals the company operated in New Orleans is unclear. The-37-bed Chalmette campus was substantially damaged, and the company does not believe it will be able to resume operations in the current building. Plano-based LifeCare is exploring moving operations to another site. The other two facilities are within hospitals that are operated by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC). Tenet is still conducting evaluations of the facilities, so it is not known when operations at the facilities will resume, LifeCare said. The three New Orleans hospitals make up about 12.5 percent of LifeCare's annual revenue. The company does have property and business interruption service, however, it the company said it could not estimate what will be recovered under the policies. The company also said Memorial Medical Center is one of 13 hospitals being investigated by the Louisiana Attorney General. The company said it was not appropriate for it to comment on the scope of the investigation.
Tenet Statement Concerning Memorial Medical Center	 DALLAS--( BUSINESS WIRE )--Sept. 13, 2005---Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE:THC) today issued the following statement concerning the removal on Sunday of 45 bodies from 317-bed Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans by the office of the Orleans Parish coroner: ""We are grief-stricken by the tragic toll in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina at Memorial Medical Center and throughout the Gulf Coast region. When the storm hit on Aug. 28, we had 260 patients at Memorial. In addition, we believe that an 82-bed long-term acute care facility operated by LifeCare Holdings Inc. on one floor of the Memorial building also may have had a full census of patients at that time. Before the hurricane struck, some patients from other facilities had been evacuated to Memorial for safety because of its larger size, equipment and central location. ""There were, at one point, more than 2,000 people in the building, including our employees, physicians, families of patients and employees, and community members who took shelter from the storm. ""During more than four days with poor sanitation, without power, air-conditioning and running water, and with temperatures in the building approaching 110 degrees, some patients simply did not survive despite the heroic efforts of our physicians and nurses. We believe that most were very sick adult patients. No patients drowned nor did any die as a result of lack of food or drinking water. ""The hospital was surrounded by water as a result of the hurricane and levee breach. Land evacuation was impossible throughout the ordeal. By Sept. 2, we were able to evacuate every living patient from the hospital, often using private helicopters hired by Tenet after government rescue efforts were overwhelmed. The patients we rescued were taken out of the area to assure their safety. Some went to hospitals as far away as South Carolina. ""After Memorial was evacuated, we provided private security to protect the bodies of those who had died, and we asked repeatedly for their removal by the coroner. Because of the crisis, it took until Sept. 11 for the coroner to accomplish the removal. An official of the coroner's office has complimented the people of Memorial and Tenet for the careful and sensitive way in which these bodies were protected until their removal. ""We are grateful for the heroic effort that rescued most of our patients, but we also deeply regret all loss of life that occurred in Louisiana and Mississippi as a result of this unprecedented disaster."" Tenet Healthcare Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals and related health care services. Tenet's hospitals aim to provide the best possible care to every patient who comes through their doors, with a clear focus on quality and service. Tenet can be found on the World Wide Web. Some of the statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on our current expectations and could be affected by numerous factors and are subject to various risks and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2004, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and periodic reports on Form 8-K. Do not rely on any forward-looking statement, as we cannot predict or control many of the factors that ultimately may affect our ability to achieve the results estimated. We make no promise to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of changes in underlying factors, new information, future events or otherwise.
Staff at New Orleans hospital debated euthanizing patients	 Investigation continues into what occurred during Katrina ordeal A sign reads ""help please"" at the hospital in this September 12 photo. NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Three days after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, staff members at the city's Memorial Medical Center had repeated discussions about euthanizing patients they thought might not survive the ordeal, according to a doctor and nurse manager who were in the hospital at the time. The Louisiana attorney general's office is investigating allegations that mercy killings occurred and has requested that autopsies be performed on all 45 bodies taken from the hospital after the storm. Orleans Parish coroner Frank Minyard said investigators have told him they think euthanasia may have been committed. ""They thought someone was going around injecting people with some sort of lethal medication,"" Minyard said. Dr. Bryant King, who was working at Memorial when conditions were at their worst, told CNN that while he did not witness any acts of euthanasia, ""most people know something happened that shouldn't have happened."" Over the course of several weeks, CNN spoke with staff members from Memorial, who recounted the dismal situation inside the hospital after levees protecting New Orleans were breached on Monday, August 29, and most of the city filled up with water. By Wednesday, the situation had become desperate. ""We weren't really functioning as a hospital but as a shelter,"" King said. ""We had no electricity. There was no water. It was hot. People are dying. We thought it was as bad as it could get. Why weren't we being evacuated? That was our biggest thing. We should be gone right now."" Food was running low, sanitation wasn't working, and temperatures inside soared to 110 degrees. Floodwaters had isolated the hospital, where about 312 patients -- many of them critically ill -- were being treated when Katrina hit. Hospital officials said as many as 11 patients had died before the hurricane, their bodies placed in the morgue. Family members of patients and staff filled the hospital, taxing the dwindling resources. No one knew when rescuers would arrive. Without power to operate medical devices, staff could only provide basic care. Evacuations were sporadic -- an occasional boat or helicopter picking up patients. ""It was battle conditions,"" said Fran Butler, a nurse manager. ""It was as bad as being out in the field."" The staff was desperate, Butler said. ""My nurses wanted to know what was the plan? Did they say to put people out of their misery? Yes. ... They wanted to know how to get them out of their misery,"" she said. Butler also told CNN that a doctor approached her at one point and discussed the subject of putting patients to sleep, and ""made the comment to me on how she was totally against it and wouldn't do it."" Butler said she did not see anyone perform a mercy killing, and she said because of her personal beliefs, she would never have participated. She also said hospital staff ""put their heart and souls into patients, whether that patient lived or died."" But King said he is convinced the discussion of euthanasia was more than talk. He said another doctor came to him at 9 a.m. Thursday and recounted a conversation with a hospital administrator and a third doctor who suggested patients be put out of their misery. King said that the second physician -- who opposed mercy killing -- told him that ""this other [third] doctor said she'd be willing to do it."" About three hours later, King said, the second-floor triage area where he was working was cleared of everyone except patients, a second hospital administrator and two doctors, including the physician who had first raised the question of mercy killing. King said the administrator asked those who remained if they wanted to join in prayer -- something he said had not occurred at the hospital since Katrina ripped through the city. One of the physicians then produced a handful of syringes, King said. ""I don't know what's in the syringes. ... The only thing I heard the physician say was, 'I'm going to give you something to make you feel better,' "" King said. ""I don't know what the physician was going to give them, but we hadn't been given medications like that, to make people feel better, or any sort of palliative care,"" he said. ""We hadn't been doing that up to this point."" King said he decided he would have no part of what he believed was about to happen. He grabbed his bag to leave. He said one of the doctors hugged him. King said he doesn't know what happened next. He boarded a boat and left the hospital. Earlier this month, investigators from the attorney general's office visited King and asked him to recount his story. The coroner said the attorney general's office has requested autopsies but, because of the condition of the bodies, it may be difficult to determine why so many patients died at Memorial. Tenet Healthcare, the company that owns Memorial, told CNN that most of the 45 patients who died were critically ill. Tenet said about 11 patients had died the weekend before the hurricane and were placed in the morgue. Twenty-four of the dead had been patients of an acute care facility known as LifeCare that rented space inside Memorial. But King said he finds it hard to understand how that many patients could have died at the hospital, even under such grim conditions. ""There was only one patient that died overnight,"" he said. ""The previous day, there were only two. From Thursday to Friday, for there to be 10 times that many, just doesn't make sense to me."" During the past several weeks, CNN has reached the three people who King said were in the second floor area with him. The hospital administrator told CNN, ""I don't recall being in a room with patients or saying a prayer,"" later adding that King must be lying. The doctor King identified as having first broached the subject of euthanasia with him declined to talk to the media. The doctor King alleged held the syringes spoke by phone with CNN on several occasions, emphasizing how everyone inside the hospital felt abandoned. ""[We] did everything humanly possible to save these patients,"" the doctor told CNN. ""The government totally abandoned us to die. In the houses, in the streets, in the hospitals. ... Maybe a lot of us made mistakes, but we made the best decisions we could at the time."" When told about King's allegations, this doctor declined to comment either way. In a statement e-mailed to CNN, Steven Campanini, a spokesman for Tenet, said that ""in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the physicians and staff at Memorial Medical Center performed heroically to save the lives of their patients under incredibly difficult circumstances. ""About 2,000 patients, families, physicians and staff were safely evacuated from the hospital by boat and helicopter during a continuous evacuation that began Wednesday morning, August 31, and was completed by Friday, September 2,"" Campanini said. ""We understand that the Louisiana attorney general is investigating all deaths that occurred at New Orleans hospitals and nursing homes after the hurricane, and we fully support and are cooperating with him."" LifeCare, the long-term acute care facility that rented space at Memorial, also prepared a statement for CNN. ""LifeCare employees at Memorial Medical Center during that week exhibited heroism under the most difficult of circumstances. LifeCare has been fully cooperative with Louisiana Attorney General's Office since the inception of their investigation and is unable to make any comment on matters related to the investigation."" CNN's Jonathan Freed, Sean Callebs and Colleen Kaman contributed to this report. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.
Pakistan blast 'kills 14 cadets'	 The attack targeted recruits at a police station in the town of Mingora A suspected suicide bomb attack in Pakistan's north-western Swat valley has killed at least 14 police recruits and injured others, officials say. Disguised as a recruit, the suspected bomber walked into a police base where the cadets were being trained. No-one has claimed the attack - the deadliest since the recent Pakistani army offensive there which officials said had driven out Taliban militants. The Taliban have threatened to avenge the killing of their leader this month. Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack. See a map of the region Some two million people were displaced from the Swat valley when the three-month-long conflict was at its height. Isolated skirmishes continue. Residents began returning home last month. The explosion targeted recruits for a community police force as they trained in Mingora, the valley's main town, provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said.  Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Reports from the area say there was a big blast followed by bursts of gunfire. A local hospital official said 14 bodies in police uniforms had been brought in. Television footage from the scene showed bodies being recovered from outside the police base, which has been the target of previous attacks. Security forces in Mingora were put on high alert and nearby shops and markets closed for business, officials said. Responsibility for the latest bombing has not yet been claimed but BBC's Orla Guerin in Islamabad says suspicion is likely to fall on the Taliban, after new leader Hakimullah Mehsud vowed revenge for the death of his predecessor. The attack came a day after the army said it had destroyed a major training camp for suicide bombers in the area. After the blast, a local official said occasional incidents were to be expected but it was believed that the Taliban's back had been broken during the army's offensive. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the killings and ordered an inquiry into the attack, adding that the government was determined to carry on the fight against militancy. ""We will not allow the enemies of the country to succeed in their evil designs,"" he said in a statement. On Thursday, 22 border guards were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a checkpoint in the Khyber Pass, on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.
Turkey bird flu is deadly strain	 The European Union should be ready for a potential flu pandemic, said Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou. The warning came after tests on dead birds in north-west Turkey confirmed the H5N1 strain. An outbreak in Romania is assumed to be the same, the EU said. The H5N1 strain has killed more than 60 people in South East Asia since 2003. However, of those only one is suspected to have died after catching the virus from another human. Those who have been in the presence of dead or dying birds are most likely to become infected, and the chances of human-to-human transmission are still seen as very slim. Speaking at a news conference, Mr Kyprianou advised seasonal flu vaccination for populations considered to be at risk and said governments should focus on stockpiling anti-viral drugs. ""What is important is that it does become a priority for all member states and that they make an investment for preparing for this event,"" he said. Standard flu vaccines, normally given to young children, the elderly and sick, are unlikely to protect against bird flu. However, scientists fear that the bird flu virus could mutate into a human pandemic strain if people suffering normal human flu are also infected with the H5N1 type. Mr Kyprianou said an emergency meeting would be held on Thursday to discuss what measures to take.
US troops 'starve Iraqi citizens'	 Human rights investigator Jean Ziegler said they had driven people out of insurgent strongholds that were about to be attacked by cutting supplies. Mr Ziegler, a Swiss-born sociologist, said such tactics were in breach of international law. A US military spokesman in Baghdad denied the allegations. ""A drama is taking place in total silence in Iraq, where the coalition's occupying forces are using hunger and deprivation of water as a weapon of war against the civilian population,"" Mr Ziegler told a press conference in Geneva. He said coalition forces were using ""starvation of civilians as a method of warfare."" ""This is a flagrant violation of international law,"" he added. Mr Ziegler said he understood the ""military rationale"" when confronting insurgents who do not respect ""any law of war"". But he insisted that civilians who could not leave besieged cities and towns for whatever reason should not suffer as a result of this strategy. Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, a US military spokesman, later rejected the accusations. ""Any allegations of us withholding basic needs from the Iraqi people are false,"" he said.
Rally condemns Katrina response	 Many of the crowd voiced their anger at what they perceive as the unequal treatment of black people in the US. Speakers said this was highlighted by the fate of poor black communities following Hurricane Katrina. Correspondents say the number attending the rally appears to be down on the original march in 1995. Neither the police nor the organisers gave an estimate for the size of the crowd. The leader of the Nation of Islam movement, Louis Farrakhan, told the audience the federal government was guilty of failing to react more quickly to the disaster. ""I firmly believe if the people on those rooftops had blond hair and blue eyes and pale skin, something would have been done in a more timely manner,"" he said. Veteran civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said African-Americans should channel their frustration and energy into changing their communities. ""Don't imitate the violence, racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Arabism, gay bashing,"" he said. ""We need... millions more to build a multicultural coalition, we need not battle alone to fight poverty and greed and war."" The day-long event attracted a large number of speakers, including academics, activists and artists.
IDF bombs tunnel in northern Gaza	 Israel Air Force jets bombed a tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday night. The Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's Office said the tunnel was dug inside a building located about 1.5 kilometers (less than 1 mile) from the border fence, and was aimed at allowing terrorists to infiltrate Israel and carry out an attack against civilians or soldiers. Palestinian sources reported of the strike in the Sajaiyeh neighborhood, and did not report of injuries. The rocket landed in an open area near a community in the Sdot Negev Regional Council at around 6 am. There were no reports of injuries or damage. Last Tuesday, three Palestinians were reportedly killed as the IDF attacked a weapon smuggling tunnel in the Rafah area. The strike was a response to a firing incident near the border fence, which left one Palestinian killed and an IDF soldier lightly injured. The day before Palestinians fired a mortar shell at an IDF force, which hit group of teenagers near the Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, reportedly killing a 15-year-old boy. The Israeli army reported that the Palestinians had approached the fence and did not obey calls to stop. Also Saturday night, Palestinian sources reported of a series of explosions in police stations and headquarters of Hamas' security forces in Gaza City. There were no reports of injuries. Sources in the Strip estimated that the blasts were an act of revenge on the part of groups affiliated with the al-Qaeda international terror organization, who have sworn to avenge their people's death in clashes with Hamas men two weeks ago. Some of the explosions took place in the Tel al-Hawa and Ansar area. One of the blasts was next to the home of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas , which has been turned into the Hamas security forces' headquarters. The IDF denied any involvement in the explosions, and a Hamas source said that an investigation had been launched into the incident. Several days after the clashes, Jund Ansar Allah members denied any connection to al-Qaeda, vowing to avenge their friends' death. ""We'll avenge the blood we paid and make their wives widows,"" they declared.	
US strikes kill '70 Iraq rebels'	 It said all the dead were militants, although eyewitnesses are quoted saying that many were civilians. One of the air strikes hit the same spot where five US soldiers had died on Saturday in a roadside bombing. The US statement said a group of insurgents was about to place another bomb, although local people deny this. An F-15 warplane fired a precision guided bomb at the group, killing about 20 militants, the US statement said. Several witnesses quoted by Associated Press said they were civilians who had gathered near the wrecked US vehicle and 25 had died. In a separate incident, the US military said it had killed a group of gunmen who had opened fire on a Cobra attack helicopter from the village of al-Bu Faraj. An F/A-18 warplane bombed a building where they were hiding, and 40 insurgents were killed, the military said. Witnesses quoted by AP said at least 14 of the dead were civilians. ""Coalition forces continue to aggressively pursue terrorists whose aim is to kill Iraqi civilians and coalition forces in and attempt to disrupt the political process,"" the US statement said. Ramadi, in the mainly"
" Mrs Merkel confirmed the deal at a news conference and said a CDU-SPD ""grand coalition"" would have to create jobs and push through economic reforms. Under the deal, the SPD will take eight ministerial posts, against a reported six for the CDU and their CSU allies. It is unclear whether opponent Gerhard Schroeder will be in the coalition. Both the former Chancellor Mr Schroeder and Mrs Merkel had laid claim to the chancellery after a tight election on 18 September. The ""grand coalition"" deal must still be approved by both parties and parliament. Further CDU-SPD coalition talks are being held. The two parties have already held three rounds of what they called exploratory talks. ""We have set our aim to create a coalition that stands for new policies,"" Mrs Merkel said. ""We want to work together for the people of this country."" Even if agreement has been reached, it will only be the start of a lengthy and more detailed negotiation on the small print of future government policy, the BBC's Ray Furlong reports. It all suggests just how difficult it might be for a ""grand coalition"" to govern Germany if it is indeed formed as anticipated. Such a formation has been tried only once before in Germany's post-war history - in the 1960s."
" At least 10 people are believed to have been killed in a powerful explosion in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The dead were reported to have been anti-government militants, thought to have been killed when their bombs exploded prematurely. The militiamen died in two separate blasts, 10 while preparing a car bomb and another as he planted a roadside bomb, it was reported. The blasts early on Saturday were heard across the city. Three Pakistanis, two Indians, an Afghan and an Algerian were among the dead, the Somali Information Ministry said in a statement. The government cited ""security sources"" as the basis for its information. The western-backed Somali government has been fighting the Islamist militant group al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-inspired group that controls much of southern Somalia, since the start of 2007. Officials say that foreign fighters with experience in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts help train al-Shabab's troops. Abdulahi Ibrahim, a Mogadishu resident, told Associated Press: ""We heard explosions within minutes of each other. ""But in the morning when we woke up no one could figure out the details because the whole neighbourhood was cordoned off by dozens of heavily armed al-Shabab militants."""
" At least 15 people were killed in an oil tanker blaze after a bomb exploded on the Afghanistan-bound NATO vehicle near a Pakistani border town on Saturday. The victims were young people who had gathered to collect oil leaking from the tanker near Landi Kotal town in the northwestern tribal region of Khyber, local administration official Shafeerullah Wazir said. ''The oil tanker caught fire after a blast caused by a small bomb before dawn,'' he said. ''Villagers from nearby houses rushed and started collecting oil coming out of the destroyed tanker after the fire had been extinguished,'' he said. ''Suddenly the fire erupted again and at least 15 people including five young boys who had been collecting oil in their buckets were burnt to death,'' he said."
" A suicide bomb attack on a hospital in the Afghan capital, Kabul, has left six people dead and 23 wounded. The bomber detonated his device in a tent in the grounds of Charsad Bestar Hospital where medical students were eating lunch. The hospital treats Afghan military personnel and is in a heavily fortified part of the city, yards from the US embassy and international forces HQ. The Taliban said they had carried out the attack. Eyewitness Mohammad Hakim, who was selling fruit from a cart near the hospital, said: ""It was a big explosion. I fell to the ground."" There were fears that a second suicide bomber had got into the hospital, and staff were told to lock themselves in their rooms while soldiers searched the building, but no-one has been found. Defence ministry spokesman Gen Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the victims had all been civilians and medical students. After the blast, relatives of hospital patients gathered nearby after trying to seek assurances that their family members were safe, AFP news agency reported. President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, saying that the perpetrators were ""so ruthless and cowardly that, in contradiction of all humane and Islamic principles, they attack even hospital patients and doctors."" Only last month the Taliban announced the beginning of their Spring offensive against Afghan and international forces, and that came just after a suicide bomber made his way inside the Ministry of Defence."
" In a brief statement today, Chief Prosecutor Eva Finne said: ""I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape."" The accusation had been labelled a dirty trick by Mr Assange and his backers, who are preparing to release a fresh batch of classified US documents from the Afghan war. Swedish prosecutors had urged Mr Assange - a nomadic 39-year-old Australian whose whereabouts were unclear - to turn himself in to police to face questioning in one case involving suspicions of rape and another based on an accusation of molestation. ""I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape,"" chief prosecutor Eva Finne said, in announcing the withdrawal of the warrant. She did not address the status of the molestation case, a less serious charge that would not lead to an arrest warrant. Prosecutors did not answer phone calls seeking further comment. Mr Assange had dismissed the rape allegations in a statement on WikiLeaks' Twitter page, saying ""the charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing"". His whereabouts were not immediately known. He was in Sweden last week seeking legal protection for the whistle-blower website, which angered the Obama administration for publishing thousands of leaked documents about US military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. The first files in Wikileaks' ""Afghan War Diary"" revealed classified military documents covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010. Mr Assange said on Wednesday that WikiLeaks plans to release a new batch of 15,000 documents from the Afghan war within weeks. The Pentagon says the information could risk the lives of US troops and their Afghan helpers and have demanded WikiLeaks return all leaked documents and remove them from the internet. Mr Assange has no permanent address and travels frequently - jumping from one friend's place to the next. He disappears from public view for months at a time, only to reappear in the full glare of the cameras at packed news conferences to discuss his site's latest disclosure."
" Australia was in political limbo Sunday after voters punished Prime Minister Julia Gillard for deposing her predecessor two months ago, leaving the nation facing its first hung parliament in 70 years. Australia's first woman prime minister and opposition leader Tony Abbott were both scrambling to broker deals to form a fragile coalition government after Australians Saturday stripped Gillard of her right to rule alone. Gillard and Abbott raced to woo independent and Greens ""kingmakers"" to join a coalition government and break deadlock in parliament. Up to four independents and a new Greens MP looked set to hold the balance of power. ""I've had two very kind phone calls -- one from the prime minister early in the evening just to congratulate me and then about 1:15 am the leader of the opposition rang to congratulate me as well,"" said independent Tony Windsor. ""Obviously we did mention if there was a hung parliament that there may have to be some discussion,"" he told reporters, declining however to say which party he would throw his support behind. As vote-counting continued, Gillard, who toppled predecessor Kevin Rudd in a brutal party coup, was lagging behind her conservative challenger by 70 seats to 72, with 78 percent of the ballots counted, public broadcaster ABC said. The stunning fall from grace of the centre-left Labor Party government has left Liberal/National leader Abbott poised on the brink of power if he can cobble together a coalition government. ""The Labor Party has definitely lost its majority,"" Abbott told jubilant supporters late Saturday in what appeared to be a barely restrained victory speech. ""What that means is that the government has lost its legitimacy. And I say that (it) will never be able to govern effectively in a minority,"" he told the cheering and clapping crowd in Sydney."
" Stockholm, Sweden (CNN) -- Swedish authorities say they have revoked an arrest warrant that had alleged rape against Julian Assange, the founder and editor of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, less than a day after issuing it. Assange is ""no longer wanted"" and ""is not suspected of rape,"" Chief Prosecutor Eva Finne said in a statement posted on the agency's official website Saturday. He is also no longer arrested in absentia, the statement said. The arrest warrant filed Friday had also mentioned a molestation charge, but molestation -- which is not limited to child victims in Sweden -- is not a crime punishable behind bars in Sweden. Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, told CNN affiliate TV4 that Assange is still being investigated for molestation. Earlier, Rosander told CNN that Assange was arrested in absentia Friday night, and faced charges in relation to two separate instances, but she did not have more detail about when the alleged crimes occurred or the identities of the alleged victims. Assange denied the allegations in a posting Saturday on the WikiLeaks Twitter page, saying, ""The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing."" WikiLeaks had also called the arrest a ""dirty"" trick in a Twitter post early Saturday morning. Assange was in Sweden last weekend, but it wasn't clear whether he was still in the country and, thus, couldn't be reached for comment. Rosander told TV4 that the decision to make the arrest was made by an ""on-call prosecutor,"" and that the arrest was revoked Saturday by the chief prosecutor. Rosander said such differences in prosecutorial judgment are common in Sweden. She also said she does not believe that Assange had contacted police yet. Swedish media, citing unnamed sources, reported that two women, ages 20 and 30, took the allegations against Assange to police Friday, leading to the warrant issued by the first prosecutor. The AftonBladet, a respected Swedish daily, said the 30-year-old woman told the newspaper that the younger woman approached her with a story similar to hers -- that she had consensual sex with Assange but that the situation had turned abusive."
" Dr Wyatt, who would become the first Aborigine elected to the House of Representatives if successful, was leading 50.51 per cent against sitting Labor member Sharryn Jackson's 49.49 per cent in two-party preferred votes. ""I'm happy with the result, but I still would not call it yet. We'll see the end result,"" Dr Wyatt said last night. A respected Aboriginal health expert, Dr Wyatt has revealed he wanted guaranteed parliamentary seats for Aborigines. And, in contrast with Tony Abbott's ""stop the boats"" mantra, has said he was not against asylum seekers. He also said he wanted political parties to give Aboriginal candidates more winnable seats because that would help get more indigenous parliamentarians elected. ""We do need a discourse around whether we need four seats in the Australian Parliament, how we do that and what is the model that ensures representation of all Aboriginal cultural groups,"" he said on Friday. ""Because it is when you are in the parliament, particularly in the House of Representatives, that you can influence the way in which some of the planning, some of the decision making and the structuring of legislation occurs, so it becomes more inclusive. ""I want to see more of our (Aboriginal) people being given seats that are winnable because that will help guarantee people getting over the line."" Dr Wyatt, who had needed a swing of less than 1 per cent to win the seat from Ms Jackson, said of asylum seekers coming to Australia: ""I would not stop an individual seeking to better themselves. ""But I would stop and prevent people who traffic in the misery of others for financial gain."" He was not frightened by the number of asylum seekers entering Australia, which had emerged as a hot issue in Hasluck."
" The deaths, at a farm near the region's capital of Hohhot, were due to the H5N1 strain, which is potentially lethal to humans, the Xinhua news agency said. China has previously suffered outbreaks of bird flu in Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Tibet, all this year. Thousands of affected fowl have been slaughtered. Bird flu has killed at least 60 people in Asia since December 2003. Xinhua said the latest outbreak, in Tengjiaying village near Hohhot, was now under control, though it did not say when it had taken place. China's national bird flu laboratory confirmed it was the H5N1 strain, Xinhua said. No human victims were mentioned in the report - China's bird flu outbreaks have so far only affected its fowl. Its most recent previous confirmed case was near the Tibetan capital of Lhasa in August, in which 133 birds died and another 2,475 were slaughtered. A local official told the AFP news agency that the latest outbreak had been detected at a small farm with fewer than 10,000 birds, mainly chickens, geese and peacocks. News of the outbreak comes as European officials deal with outbreaks in Romania and Turkey. The UN's Food and Agriculture Agency has also warned of a risk the disease will now reach the Middle East and Africa as a result of the European outbreaks."
" LONDON, England (CNN) -- Samples from a dead bird have been sent to London for testing after a large number of birds died in the Macedonian city of Bitola near the border with Greece, a member of Macedonia's parliament said. Gorgi Orovcanec, who is also former minister of health, said that while ""many"" birds died only one was suspected of having ""some kind of disease."" The development comes after confirmed cases of the deadly H5N1 avian flu were detected in Romania and Turkey and a suspected case was found in Greece. To limit any potential cases of bird flu, the Macedonian government ordered the extermination of all poultry in a 2 km radius of the village, Orovcanec said. That adds up to approximately 10,000 birds. Bitola is the second largest city in Macedonia. Another member of parliament, former foreign affairs minister Slobodan Casule, said dead poultry had also been found near the town of Kumanovo. He said many of the birds may have died from different diseases such as salmonella and plague and not bird flu. Casule said Macedonians feel that ""the government is dragging its feet in terms of a protection strategy against the bird flu."" The Macedonian government has allocated 1 million euros for defense against bird flu. Casule said that while no bird flu cases have been found in Macedonia, the public is scared, which could make it hard to control disease in the country. Macedonian authorities hope to organize a regional conference to develop a common strategy for prevention and to fight against bird flu. Union foreign ministers on Tuesday declared the spread of bird flu from Asia into Europe a ""global threat"" requiring international action. The meeting issued a statement saying bird flu posed a serious, global health threat if it shifted from birds to humans and one that required ""a coordinated international reaction."" However, European Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said that the presence of bird flu in southeastern Europe did not increase the risk of a pandemic. (Full story) CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more."
" The Pakistani Taliban have bombed a US consulate convoy in Peshawar, killing one Pakistani and wounding 10 others. It is unclear if the dead person was a bomber or a passer-by. Two Americans in one vehicle were slightly injured. The US embassy said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber on a motorbike. Earlier, Pakistani police had said it was a roadside bomb. It is the first attack on US interests since US forces killed Osama Bin Laden in the town of Abbottabad on 2 May. The US embassy said two armoured vehicles were driving in convoy when the bomb went off. It said that no high-level officials were travelling in the cars at the time. ""One vehicle was damaged. There is no death among our personnel and there are no serious injuries,"" a US embassy spokesman said. The Pakistani Taliban said the bombing was to avenge Bin Laden's death. ""The diplomatic staff of all Nato countries are our targets,"" Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said. ""We will continue such attacks. Pakistan is our first target, and America is our second."" There have been a number of militant attacks in Pakistan since Bin Laden was killed. The deadliest was last Friday when a twin suicide bombing killed more than 80 people, most of them paramilitary recruits, in the country's north-west. US consulate staff in Peshawar have been targeted in the past. In August 2008, one of the diplomats at the consulate survived an attack on her armoured vehicle."
" TOKYO May 20 (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co is likely to book about a 1 trillion yen ($12.3 billion) net loss for its fiscal year that ended in March due to losses from the accident at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Japanese media reported on Friday. That would be highest ever annual loss reported by a Japanese company, excluding financial institutions, the Nikkei business daily said. The utility's president, Masataka Shimizu, will step down to take responsibility for the handling of Japan's worst ever nuclear accident, the Yomiuri newspaper said. Senior executive Katsutoshi Chikudate will become the firm's new president. The power company, also known as Tepco, is set to announce the restructuring moves at a briefing on its fiscal results later on Friday. ($1 = 81.610 Japanese Yen) (Reporting by James Topham; Editing by Chris Gallagher)"
" Tens of thousands of people in southern Pakistan are fleeing a threatened flood-surge, three weeks after heavy monsoon rains first hit the country. In the city of Shahdadkot, a hastily built barrier has been breached, allowing floodwaters to approach. An estimated 4 million people have now been displaced in the city of Sukkar alone. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) says diseases are spreading in affected areas. Sindh in the south is now being described as the country's worst-hit province, with officials saying at least 200,000 residents have fled in the last 24 hours. In Shahdadkot, the BBC's Jill McGivering says residents are leaving en masse to try to reach safe ground. The makeshift 4ft mud barrier, built by the army and volunteers, was the city's last line of defence and has now been breached in several places. Jam Saifullah Dharejo, Sindh provincial irrigation minister, said that most people had been escorted to safety, but efforts were under way to help those still stranded. ""We are trying to save the city from the unprecedented flood,"" he said. Some residents say they do not want to leave."
" At least 10 people have been killed and 20 others injured in a suicide attack on a busy market in the north-eastern city of Kunduz, officials say. The province's police chief said the head of counter-terrorism and the chief of traffic police were among the dead. The attack took place at around 1720 local time (1250 GMT), a Kunduz police spokesman said. No-one has yet claimed responsibility but Taliban insurgents have been behind a string of similar attacks. The province's governor said the bomber was driving a motorbike and used potent explosives in the attack, which took place in the heart of the city. ""Sadly I can confirm that the head of counter-terrorism and traffic police for Kunduz province have been killed in today's suicide attack in the centre of Kunduz province,'' police chief Gen Khalil Andarabi told the BBC. The counter-terrorism head, Mistaray Maray, was the man behind the killing and capture of dozens of Taliban commanders and leaders, says the BBC's Bilal Sarwary, in the Afghan capital, Kabul. The province is considered the most important province in the north for the Taliban as it represents a hub for further penetration into relatively peaceful areas, our correspondent says. Also on Saturday, a suicide attacker riding a bicycle killed two civilians in the country's south-eastern Ghazni province. On Friday, a suicide bomber in a car attacked a Nato convoy in the strategic Kapisa province, killing at least five civilians and wounding 15."
" NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks opened lower, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average under 7,000 for the first time since Oct. 28, 1997, after insurance giant American International Group Inc. AIG, -1.64% reported a $61.7 billion quarterly loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.29% fell 132.93 points to 6,930. The S&P 500 SPX, -1.04% dropped 15.05 points to 720.04, while the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.74% shed 18.37 points to 1,359.47."
 Two IDF soldiers lightly wounded by machine gun blast during training at southern base (Haaretz)
" Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- About 1,000 protesters gathered in front of Kabul University on Tuesday morning, as protests continue throughout Afghanistan to condemn the burning of a Quran by a pastor in the United States. The demonstrators marched toward the city center amid a heavy police presence but without incident, said Kabul City police official Abdullah Mahboob. The sight was in marked contrast to earlier demonstrations, some of which turned deadly. On Sunday, police and stone-throwing demonstrators clashed in Kandahar with as many as three people killed in the violence. At least nine people were killed and 73 injured in Kandahar on Saturday, and 12 people died Friday -- including seven U.N. employees -- when angry demonstrators stormed a U.N. compound in Mazar-i-Sharif. The demonstrations were sparked by the actions of a controversial Florida pastor who presided over what he called a trial of the Quran on March 20. The holy book of Islam was ""found guilty"" by members of Jones' tiny church and burned, according to a release posted on the church's website. Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly condemned the burning as did various U.S. officials, including U.S. President Barack Obama. ""The desecration of any holy text ... is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry,"" he said Saturday in a statement released by the White House. ""However, to attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous, and an affront to human decency and dignity."""
" HUA HIN, Thailand, March 1 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian leaders called on Sunday for coordinated policies and joint actions at the regional level to deal with a worsening global financial crisis that is battering their export-dependent economies, but did not spell out any specific actions the group would take. ""They also welcomed expansionary macroeconomic policies, including fiscal stimulus, monetary easing, access to credit including trade financing, and measures to support private sector ... to stimulate domestic demand,"" said a statement due to be issued at the conclusion of a summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). ""Towards this end, they stressed the importance of coordinating policies and taking joint actions that would be mutually reinforcing at the regional level."" The 10-nation grouping did not outline any specific policies or actions it would take on a regional level in the statement obtained by Reuters before the summit's conclusion. Asian economic growth is slowing rapidly as consumers and companies cut back spending amid the worsening global downturn. In Southeast Asia, Singapore is already in recession and economists believe Malaysia and Thailand are on the brink, while Indonesian growth has slowed to its weakest pace in more than two years. Many countries in the region have announced stimulus spending plans in a bid to stem the economic damage, but exports will not stage a major recovery until consumers in the West start spending again. The ASEAN statement on the financial crisis also said the leaders: * Agreed to stand firm against protectionism and refrain from introducing or raising new trade barriers * Called for bold reform of the international financial system, taking into consideration the interests of developing countries"
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" (CNN) -- Yemeni protesters and military and pro-government gangs clashed in several areas Tuesday, with at least six killed and hundreds more injured, as the future of President Ali Abdullah Saleh remained uncertain. The United States has no intention of stopping its military aid to Yemen, despite the unrest, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Tuesday. The aid, in support of Yemeni counterterrorism efforts, continues to be essential because of the ""real threat"" from al Qaeda in the country, he said. In Sanaa, the capital, eyewitnesses and field medical teams told CNN that security forces and anti-riot police used batons to attack protesters among 40,000 people marching on Zubairy Street Tuesday evening. In addition, pro-government gangs attacked protesters on Tuesday near a military base. Four people were killed -- three pro-government demonstrators and one anti-government demonstrator. Windows were shattered on an ambulance carrying some of the 56 injured protesters to a hospital, witnesses said. ""The government forces are killing us,"" said Abdullah Salem, a youth activist who was at the protest. ""Saleh and his militia will not succeed, and every blood spilt will be accounted for in international courts."" In the city of Taiz, meanwhile, at least two anti-government protesters were killed when security forces and Republican Guards fired on protesters, according to medical teams. Hundreds of people were injured, 55 of them from gunshot wounds. The security chief in Taiz denied his forces fired on demonstrators. ""Security forces did not attack protesters,"" said Abdullah Qiaran. ""We were dispersing pro and anti-government protesters after we saw that both sides were clashing."" An estimated 30,000 demonstrators marched near the presidential palace in the port city of Hodeida Tuesday evening, witnesses said. The violence comes as the United States is helping to mediate a transition out of office for Saleh, who has been facing popular protests for weeks, according to two Yemeni officials."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. President Barack Obama has announced the withdrawal of most US troops in Iraq by the end of August 2010. In a speech at a Marine Corps base, he said the US ""combat mission"" in Iraq would officially end by that time. But up to 50,000 of 142,000 troops now there will stay into 2011 to advise Iraqi forces and protect US interests, leaving by the end of 2011, he said. Mr Obama praised the progress made but warned: ""Iraq is not yet secure, and there will be difficult days ahead."" Some Democrats are concerned that the timetable falls short of his election pledges on troop withdrawal. Mr Obama had said previously that he would completely pull out troops within 16 months of taking the top job. See what is being said about the plan on the web Earlier this month, he ordered the deployment of up to 17,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan, saying they had been due to go to Iraq but were being redirected to ""meet urgent security needs"". In his address at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina, Mr Obama said his national security team had drawn up a ""new strategy"" for US involvement in Iraq. The strategy recognised that the long-term solution in Iraq must be political and that the most important decisions about its future must now be made by Iraqis, he said. Dec '11 all US troops out of Iraq Have your say: What now for Iraq? ""We have also taken into account the simple reality that America can no longer afford to see Iraq in isolation from other priorities: we face the challenge of refocusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan; of relieving the burden on our military; and of rebuilding our struggling economy - and these are challenges that we will meet."" Mr Obama said all US troops would have left Iraq by the end of 2011, in line with an agreement signed between the two countries last year. And he paid tribute to US forces who have served in Iraq over the past six years. ""Thanks to the sacrifices of those who have served, we have forged hard-earned progress, we are leaving Iraq to its people, and we have begun the work of ending the war."" He also said his administration would increase the numbers of soldiers and Marines, in order to lessen the burden on those now serving, and was committed to expanding veterans' health care. Addressing the Iraqi people directly, Mr Obama said theirs was ""a great nation"" that had persevered with resilience through tyranny, terror and sectarian violence. I asked Robert Gates, the defence secretary, whether he could look the outside world in the eye and say 'America won!'   He went on: ""So to the Iraqi people: let me be clear about America's intentions. The United States pursues no claim on your territory or your resources. ""We respect your sovereignty and the tremendous sacrifices you have made for your country. We seek a full transition to Iraqi responsibility for the security of your country."" Mr Obama said that as a result of lessons learned from Iraq, he had ordered a review of US policy in Afghanistan and put the costs of Iraq and Afghanistan into the federal budget. Stressing that Iraq's future was inseparable from that of the broader Middle East, Mr Obama said the US would now ""pursue principled and sustained engagement with all of the nations in the region, and that will include Iran and Syria"". The new US ambassador to Iraq would be Christopher Hill, the former US chief negotiator with North Korea, the president added. The withdrawal plan is a middle way between the speedy reduction Mr Obama envisaged during his election campaign and the slower one some military leaders may prefer, BBC North America editor Justin Webb says. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Mr Obama wants only two combat brigades to leave this year but after December elections in Iraq the pace should quicken, our correspondent says. The BBC's Mike Sergeant in Baghdad says that security in Iraq is now better and people say they are ready for US forces to leave. However, some are deeply worried about what exactly will happen when US combat troops disappear, our correspondent says. While Iraq's security forces are much more capable now, they depend heavily on US back-up for logistics, intelligence and air support, our correspondent says. A great deal of American financial and practical support may be needed for many years. Democrats have expressed concern that the troop withdrawal is being watered down, with the bulk of troops being left in place until next year. However, some sceptics have said that a fast withdrawal could reverse the dramatic but fragile gains in security in Iraq. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid described Mr Obama's plan as ""sound and measured"" but said the US ""must keep in Iraq only those forces necessary for the security of our remaining troops and the Iraqi people"". House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the plan was ""good news"" because it signalled an end to the war, but called for clearly-defined missions for the remaining troops. Republicans - including Senator John McCain, Mr Obama's former rival for the presidency - broadly supported the plan but suggested Mr Obama should give credit to President George W Bush for the stability brought by his ""surge"" strategy of pouring extra troops into Iraq. House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner said Mr Obama had outlined ""a responsible approach that retains the flexibility to reconsider troop levels and to respond to changes in the security environment"". President Obama very appropriately and correctly thanked US Marines for precipitating the turnabout in Iraq. But if there is a chance of success in Iraq now as defined by Barack Obama, shouldn't there be some mention of the change in strategy, and the former Commander in Chief, the guy who hung in there?   Several Democratic leaders have voiced strong concerns about the size of the ""transition force."" What's more, for all of the success in reducing violence in Iraq, long-term political progress remains elusive, and will have to be a high priority for the administration. Still, Obama has outlined the beginning of the end. It's about time.   In 2003, then Maj Gen David Petraeus, commander of the 101st Airborne Division that had participated in the invasion of Iraq, had a running joke with an embedded reporter... The general would turn to the reporter and muse, ""Tell me how this ends."" Today at Camp Lejeune... President Barack Obama - an antiwar Illinois state senator at the time of the invasion - answered Petraeus.   2011 just became a hard stop, I think. When presidents lay down markers like that, they don't easily walk away from them. It's now what Iraqi politicians described it as: the American Withdrawal of Forces Agreement. I fear Iraqi domestic political convenience just became American strategic reality. This converts the SOFA from a framework for a long-term strategic partnership to a guarantee of withdrawal."
" The euro symbol was displayed on flags, balloons and t-shirts at New Year's Eve celebrations in the capital Ljubljana as Slovenes prepared for the switch. The existing currency, the tolar, will be phased out over the next 14 days. Slovenia is the first of the 10 new EU members that joined in 2004 to have met the economic requirements needed to adopt the single currency. It becomes the 13th country in the euro zone. The Slovene minister of finance, Andrej Bajuk, was one of the first people to withdraw the Slovene euros from an electronic cash machine. ""We are extremely happy and proud . We took this as a national project and we have indeed achieved and fulfilled all the criteria to make this a reality,"" he said. ""It's extremely important for us. I am sure that the net benefits that we are going to reap are positive and substantial, that we are going to increase our exports and that things will move faster and better than before."" Slovenes seem to be relaxed about the change, says the BBC's Nicholas Walton in Ljubljana. The euro becomes the fourth currency they have used in less than two decades. The tolar was introduced after Slovenia split from Yugoslavia in 1991. Even critics of the government are broadly in favour of the change, saying it will encourage the government to reform the economy more quickly."
" GULF OF ADEN -- A Chinese naval vessel rescued an Italian merchant ship from approaching pirates in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia on Thursday. Destroyer ""Haikou"" of the Chinese navy received a SOS from the Liberia-flagged Italian ship around 10:03 a.m. reporting two unidentified yachts were approaching just about 3 to 4 nautical miles away. ""When our helicopter reached the area, the two yachts were already close to the merchant ship. They were equipped with two engines and were traveling with high speed,"" said Captain Chen Yi. Hovering around the Italian ship ""LIA,"" the Chinese helicopter fired two flares as a warning to scare the yachts away. Two minutes later, the Italian merchant ship sent a message to thank the Chinese naval ship. It was the second time that the Chinese naval fleet rescued foreign merchant ships. On January 29, another missile destroyer ""Wuhan"" successfully rescued a Greek ship from pirates."
" The US defence department has lifted a ban on news organisations showing pictures of the coffins of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said photographs of the flag-draped caskets of US war dead being returned home will be allowed if their families agree. The move overturns a ban put in place by President George Bush Snr in 1991. Critics said the ban tried to hide the human cost of the two wars, in which nearly 5,000 US soldiers have died. ""The decision regarding media coverage of the dignified transfer process at Dover [Air Force Base] should be made by those most directly affected, on an individual basis, by the families of the fallen,"" Mr Gates said. ""We ought not presume to make that decision in their place."" Mr Gates ordered the review of the ban at President Barack Obama's request. The White House welcomed the move, saying it was in line with policy at Arlington cemetery near the US capital where war dead are buried. Earlier administrations said the ban was in the interests of bereaved families. The bodies of fallen US soldiers killed overseas are flown to the Dover base in Delaware before being transferred to their families' hometowns."
" Twenty police have been killed across Afghanistan since midday on Saturday, a level of violence that underlines concern over how the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces will manage once most NATO-led troops withdraw by the end of next year. In the latest attack, the police in Kandahar had just finished defusing a roadside bomb and had arrested three men suspected of being Taliban insurgents when the blast occurred late on Saturday. ""As they were leaving the area another bomb went off near their vehicle, killing eight policemen and two suspects,"" said Kandahar Police Chief Abdul Raziq. Six police and a third Taliban suspect were wounded. That blast came hours after 10 police officers, including the provincial counter-terrorism chief, were killed in an attack in northern Kunduz province. Another two police were killed in a bombing in eastern Ghazni province. Eleven years into the NATO-led war against Taliban insurgents, violence has been increasing against Afghan security forces, sparking concern that they will not be able to take over all security responsibilities by the middle of this year."
" A fire has hit the Marriott hotel in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, months after the building was devastated by a bomb attack. Fire fighters reached the scene but flames were reported to have spread to three floors of the hotel. Several people are said to have suffered minor injuries. September's attack, which virtually destroyed the Marriott, killed more than 50 people and highlighted the militant threat facing Pakistan. Rebuilding work at the Marriott - one of the most prestigious venues in Islamabad - was started quickly. The hotel had been re-opened to guests, although some refurbishment was still going on. Early reports suggested the cause of the fire might be linked to this construction work; other reports said the fire might have started in a kitchen. A BBC reporter in Islamabad said later that the blaze appeared to be under control although smoke was still coming out of the structure."
" China sent three navy ships to the Gulf of Aden to protect shipping Ships from two navies in the Gulf of Aden have thwarted separate pirate attacks on two merchant vessels. A Chinese navy helicopter drove off a number of small pirate boats closing in on an Italian-owned ship, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reports. And a Danish warship answered an alert from a Chinese cargo ship under attack and seized a pirate skiff and weapons, the US navy says. There has been a surge in pirate attacks off Somalia this year. A helicopter from one of the Chinese vessels spotted pirates close to the cargo ship and fired flares to warn them off, Xinhua said. China sent three ships to help patrol the Gulf of Aden - a crucial shipping lane connecting Europe and Asia - late last year. It is the second successful rescue for the squadron. In January, a Chinese destroyer saved a Greek ship from attack. In the other rescue, the Danish ship, the Absalon, ""closed on the co-ordinates given by the Chinese ship following their distress call and spotted a skiff matching the description given by the captain of the motor vessel"", a statement from the US Naval Forces Central Command, based in Bahrain, said. The crew on the Chinese ship, MV Yandanghai, had prevented the pirates from boarding by taking evasive manoeuvres and training their fire hoses on their skiff. When the Danes arrived, they boarded the skiff and found several weapons, including a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), four AK-47 assault rifles, two grenades and a knife, the US navy said. Two of the Yandanghai's crew were reported to be lightly injured in the attack. The International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre says that 2008 saw a record number of pirate attacks globally. The waters off Somalia accounted for nearly 40% of the 293 attacks reported. Both were released after ransoms were paid. The attacks have continued this year. On Sunday the Greek-owned cargo ship MV Saldanha was seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Warships from more than a dozen nations, including the UK, the US, France, Germany and Iran are now patrolling the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to deter the pirates."
" WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama told congressional leaders Thursday he's planning to pull all combat troops out of Iraq by August 2010, according to three congressional officials. Under this scenario, all combat troops will be withdrawn within 19 months of Obama's January inauguration, three months longer than his promise on the campaign trail. In a meeting at the White House Thursday evening, Obama also told lawmakers that he plans to keep a range of 35,000 to 50,000 support troops on the ground in Iraq after combat troops are out, the officials said. All U.S. troops have to be out of Iraq by December 31, 2011, under an agreement the Bush administration signed with the Iraqi government last year. White House officials confirmed the president will deliver a speech about Iraq to troops at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina on Friday, his first visit to a military base since being sworn into office. The officials refused to comment on the details of Obama's plan. While liberals may be frustrated that Obama is not keeping his campaign promise to the letter, the president could win credit from lawmakers in both parties for giving military commanders more time and flexibility to finish the mission. What may turn out to be more controversial is the number of noncombat troops that will remain in Iraq under Obama's plan. Military officials have stressed that residual, noncombat forces would focus on supplies and logistics to protect U.S. interests in the region. But senior Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have expressed concern over such a large number of troops staying in Iraq after combat forces have left. One source familiar with the discussion told CNN that Democratic lawmakers complained in private to the president about the remaining troops just as they have in public."
" A career diplomat, Mr Negroponte, 67, was named in April 2005 as the US's first intelligence chief, responsible for overseeing all spy agencies. His new post is expected to be formally announced on Friday. The nomination will have to be approved by the US Senate, where Democrats now hold the balance of power. Mr Negroponte served as US ambassador to the UN from 2001-04 and ambassador to Baghdad until March 2005. His appointment as the first US National Intelligence Director, reporting directly to President George W Bush, was seen as a significant promotion. The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says this switch to become Ms Rice's deputy may be seen by some as a strange career move - but it may also reflect the considerable diplomatic challenges the administration now faces. News of the appointment comes as President Bush is set to announce a new strategy for Iraq, where US policy is widely regarded as a failure. If his nomination is confirmed by senators, Mr Negroponte would replace Robert Zoellick, who stood down in July. But with Democrats holding the balance of power in the Senate, the confirmation may not be an easy task, our correspondent says. Questions have already been raised about his involvement in the illegal funding of the Contra rebels in Nicaragua in the 1980s."
" The Egyptian government has refused to license eight US civil society groups, including the election-monitoring Carter Centre, MENA the state news media reported. The crackdown on foreign non-governmental organizations working in Egypt comes a month before presidential polls. MENA said the Insurance and Social Affairs Ministry rejected the applications because their activities violated ""the state's sovereignty on its lands"". The eight NGOs include the Carter Center, Seeds of Peace, Coptic Orphans, the Latter-day Saints Association and others. Sanne van den Bergh, field office director of the Carter Center, which observed Egypt's parliamentary elections held between November and January, said the government had not yet contacted the group. Negad al-Borai, a lawyer for Coptic Orphans said: ""I do not understand how a charity group like the Coptic Orphans, which works with over 35 churches in Egypt to provide medical and social aid, was rejected."" In late December 2011, Egyptian police raided offices of US pro-democracy groups. In February, Egypt charged 43 individuals from five foreign NGOs with obtaining international funds illegally and failing to register their organisations with the government. The move sparked a crisis in relations with the United States with threats that annual US aid worth $1.3billion could be affected. The crisis was defused after an Egyptian judge allowed American defendants, and those with other foreign nationalities, to leave the country in March after posting bail. Under former President Hosni Mubarak foreign-funded human rights groups were allowed to work in Egypt but repeatedly had their application for licences rejected by the government."
" Bahrain's highest appeals court has postponed for a week the final verdict in the case of a hunger striker and 20 other democracy activists convicted of plotting to overthrow the kingdom's rulers. The court, which was to to issue its decision on Monday, said it would now deliver it on 30 April. The activists - 14 in Bahrain and seven in absentia - were sentenced as part of the crackdown on Bahrain's Shia-led protests, which began in February 2011. Protesters are seeking to force the ruling Sunni monarchy to give up key powers. About 35 people died that February and March during unrest and a crackdown on demonstrations calling for greater democracy demanding an end to discrimination. Human rights groups estimate that at least 25 people have died since, many as a result of what has been described as the excessive use of tear gas. Bahraini officials insist that the hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is in good health. Mr Khawaja was sentenced to life in prison in June for plotting against the state. Continue reading the main story In a battle of wills in Bahrain the government and the ruling Al Khalifa family appear to have emerged the winners. But the win came at a price. Foreign journalists told the story of a bitterly divided country. The mass demonstrations, the nightly clashes between rioting youths and the security forces, the hunger strike of the human rights advocate Abdulhadi al-Khawaja drove the race itself into second place. The death of an activist, allegedly at the hands of police, served to highlight concerns that the security forces have yet to end the culture of impunity that has left more than 60 people dead and hundreds injured since the uprising began in February of last year. The government's attempt to portray a society that was on the road to recovery appears to be left in tatters. Moderates on either side who want to see an end to stalemate may find the running of the Grand Prix has further polarised the situation. On Sunday, a representative from Bahrain's public prosecutor said Mr Khawaja's doctors assured him that the human rights and political activist ""is in good and stable health and is getting all necessary medical care"". But after 11 weeks without food, his family says his condition is bad. Mr Khawaja's wife, Khadija al-Moussawi, told the BBC that he stopped drinking water on Friday."
" Shells and gunfire from Syrian security forces have killed at least 33 people in the city of Hama, activists say. Dozens have reportedly also been injured in two northern districts. EU foreign ministers meanwhile imposed a new round of sanctions, banning the export of luxury products and goods that could be used to repress dissent. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said Damascus was ""not in full compliance of the ceasefire requirements"" of the peace plan negotiated by Kofi Annan. On Sunday, Mr Annan described as a ""pivotal moment"" the UN Security Council's decision to deploy up to 300 observers to Syria. ""The government in particular must desist from the use of heavy weapons and, as it has committed, withdraw such weapons and armed units from population centres and implement fully its commitments under the six-point plan,"" Mr Annan, the UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, added. A UN Supervision Mission to Syria (UNSMIS) advance team arrived in the country in the past week and over the weekend visited the central city of Homs, which has been under almost constant bombardment since the ceasefire began 10 days ago. Opposition and human rights activists said government tanks and artillery opened fired on the Arbaeen and Mashaa al-Arbaeen districts of Hama, which lie to the north of the city centre, on Monday morning. ""It began in the morning with tanks and artillery, there were houses burning,"" a local activist called Mousab told Reuters news agency by telephone. ""[Then] the military forces entered and shot people in the street."" The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 33 people had been killed in Hama on Monday. The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist network, put the death toll at 35."
" Suspected Taleban militants in Pakistan have destroyed a number of lorries in the latest attack on the supply route to Afghanistan. Eight container lorries and a number of other vehicles were gutted near Landikotal, the main town in the Khyber tribal region, officials said. The empty lorries had returned after delivering supplies. Most supplies for the international forces in Afghanistan come through the Khyber Pass in Pakistan. The US army has been setting up other supply routes to counter the increasing attacks on the road between Peshawar in Pakistan and Afghanistan. On Tuesday, militants blew up a bridge in the Khyber district, cutting the link to Nato forces and halting all the traffic on the road. In the latest attack, the suspected militants raided the lorry park during the night, tied down the guards and set the vehicles on fire after sprinkling petrol on them, witnesses said. No casualties were reported. The truck drivers are local Afridi and Shinwari tribesmen who usually park their vehicles at Landikotal on their return journey before going home. The arson attack followed Tuesday's explosion at the key 30m (100 ft) iron bridge 23km (15 miles) west of Peshawar. Authorities say Nato supplies and other trade goods to Afghanistan have since resumed via an alternate route."
" NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits surged last week to a level not seen since October 1982, according to a government report released Thursday. The number of initial jobless claims jumped to a much-higher-than-expected 626,000 in the week ended Jan, 31, according to the Labor Department. That's up from a revised 591,000 in the previous week and the highest level since the last week of October 1982, when jobless claims reached 637,000. Economists polled by Briefing.com were expecting the number to come in at 580,000 for the most recent week. The four-week moving average for weekly claims totaled 582,250, up from the previous week's revised figure of 543,250. One economist said that as bad as the report is for the labor markets, the sharp spike in the initial claims could be a peak. That would indicate the recession is closer to the end than it is to the start, according to Robert Brusca, chief economist at Fact and Opinion Economics. ""In recessions, you tend to get spike highs in claims,"" said Brusca. ""They tend to get up to some high level very quickly and then they tend to back off."" ""History tells you that claims don't continue to deteriorate this rapidly for that long,"" said Brusca. The number of workers receiving unemployment checks for one week or more rose to a record 4,788,000 in the week ended Jan. 24, the most recent data available. That tops the previous week's record of 4,768,000. Brusca does not think that continuing claims can stay at record levels for much longer, either. The economy fell quickly, and that should lead to a sharper recovery."
" The US Army has investigated 56 soldiers in Afghanistan on suspicion of using or distributing heroin, morphine or other opiates during 2010 and 2011, newly-obtained data shows. Eight soldiers died of drug overdoses during that time. While the cases represent just a slice of possible drug use by US troops in Afghanistan, they provide a sombre snapshot of the illicit trade in the war zone, including young Afghans peddling heroin, soldiers dying after mixing cocktails of opiates, troops stealing from medical bags and Afghan soldiers and police dealing drugs to their US comrades. In a country awash with poppy fields that provide up to 90 per cent of the world's opium, the US military struggles to keep an eye on its far-flung troops and monitor for substance abuse. But US Army officials say that while the presence of such readily-available opium - the raw ingredient for heroin - is a concern, opiate abuse has not been a pervasive problem for troops in Afghanistan. ""We have seen sporadic cases of it, but we do not see it as a widespread problem, and we have the means to check,"" Colonel Tom Collins, an army spokesman, said. The data represents only the criminal investigations done by Army Criminal Investigation Command involving soldiers in Afghanistan during those two years. The cases, therefore, are just a piece of the broader drug use statistics released by the army earlier this year reporting nearly 70,000 drug offences by about 36,000 soldiers between 2006 and 2011. The number of offences increased from about 9400 in 2010 to about 11,200 in 2011. The overdose totals for the two years, however, are double the number that the Defence Department has reported as drug-related deaths in Afghanistan for the last decade. Defence officials suggested that additional deaths may have been categorised as ""other"" or were still under investigation when the statistics were submitted. The data was requested by conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch and obtained by The Associated Press. The Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps have not yet responded to the request for similar information. The army reports blacked out the names of the soldiers who were under investigation as well as any resolution of their cases or punishments they may have received."
" Japan has restarted the first nuclear reactor since the meltdown at the Fukushima power plant last year. Hundreds gathered near the plant in the town of Ohi to protest against the move, which has divided public opinion. Last month, the prime minister urged support, saying a return to nuclear power was essential for the economy. All 50 of Japan's nuclear plants were shut after the meltdown at Fukushima, which was triggered by a tsunami and earthquake. The crisis was regarded as the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. It will take until Wednesday before the No 3 reactor at Ohi, in Fukui prefecture on the west coast, can start supplying electricity. The reactor is expected to be fully operational by the end of the week, the operator, Kansai Electric Power Co (Kepco) says. About 100 of the 650 protesters at the nuclear plant blocked a nearby road overnight, but a Kepco spokesman said the reactivation was not affected, according to the Reuters news agency. The restart of the reactor follows an order by Mr Noda last month authorising the reactivation of both it and another reactor at Ohi - No 4 - following stress tests. Reactor No 4 is to be restarted on 14 July. At the time, he called on the Japanese to support the move, saying it was needed to bolster the economy and prevent energy shortages over the summer."
" A man in an Afghan police uniform has killed three NATO personnel in the war-torn country's troubled south, the coalition said. The deaths take the toll this year in ""green-on-blue"" incidents - in which Afghan forces turn their weapons against their Western allies - to at least 26, in a total of 18 such incidents. In keeping with its usual policy, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) gave no further details of the incident and did not reveal the nationality of the victims. ""An individual wearing an Afghan National Civil Order Police uniform turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service members in southern Afghanistan today, killing three service members,"" ISAF said in a statement. The Afghan Civil Order Police was set up in 2006 as an elite riot control force. The attack comes nearly two weeks after three men in Afghan police uniforms killed a soldier with the US-led force, also in the south. An increasing number of Afghan troops have turned their weapons against NATO soldiers who are helping Kabul fight a decade-long insurgency by hardline Taliban Islamists. Some of the assaults are claimed by the Taliban, who say they have infiltrated the ranks of Afghan security forces, but many are attributed to cultural differences and antagonism between the allied forces. NATO has around 130,000 soldiers fighting alongside some 350,000 Afghan security personnel against the Taliban-led insurgency, but they are due to pull out of the country in 2014. The Western coalition is to hand over security to local forces by mid-2013 and will play a support role up to the final withdrawal by the end of the following year."
" A senior British Army officer has been arrested in Afghanistan for allegedly supplying sensitive civilian casualty figures to a human rights campaigner. Lt Col Owen McNally, 48, was held in the war zone on suspicion of breaching the Official Secrets Act, it is understood. The Ministry of Defence said the officer was being returned to the UK for questioning, where his case has been referred to the Metropolitan Police. ""We can confirm that a British Army officer has been arrested in Afghanistan on suspicion of breaching the Official Secrets Act,"" the MoD said in a statement. ""He is being returned to the UK for questioning. ""The investigation has been referred from the MoD to the Metropolitan Police and is now under consideration. No further details will be released at this stage."" According to a report in the Sun, Col McNally had access to the figures through his work for Nato's International Security Assistance Force, which is running military operations across the country. American generals in the Afghan capital Kabul are reported to be furious about the allegations. Last year, campaign group Human Rights Watch said civilian deaths in Afghanistan from US and Nato air strikes nearly tripled to at least 1,633 between 2006 and 2007. The group said it used ""the most conservative figures available"". If charged, the officer will appear at the Old Bailey in London, which hears all such Official Secrets cases. He faces a maximum sentence of 14 years if convicted. Col McNally joined the Army as a private in 1977 and worked his way up through the ranks before being commissioned as an officer in 1995. He is thought to be one of the Army's most senior former noncommissioned officers."
" Hong Kong has begun marking the 15th anniversary since its handover from UK to Chinese control. Chinese President Hu Jintao is leading the main events. He earlier swore in businessman CY Leung as the territory's new leader. Small groups of protesters have tried to disrupt his visit. One of their main complaints is that the system used to choose Hong Kong's leader is designed to install Beijing's choice. A so-called electoral college of 1,200 business leaders and other influential citizens, mostly loyal to Beijing, chooses the leader. At the swearing-in ceremony, Mr Hu offered ""warm congratulations"" to Mr Leung and his team and described the 15th anniversary as a ""joyous occasion"". He reiterated Beijing's commitment to the ""one country, two systems"" policy whereby Hong Kongers are allowed many more political freedoms than Chinese people in the mainland. A lone heckler stood and shouted at the Chinese president during the speech, referring to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, but he was quickly bundled out of the harbourfront building. The ceremony took place under tight security. The BBC's Juliana Liu, in Hong Kong, says Mr Hu's visit has been carefully choreographed."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A court in Pakistan has freed disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan from house arrest. Dr Khan, who has been under tight restrictions since 2004, can now leave home and receive visitors. Dr Khan welcomed the ruling and said he was not bothered what the international community thought of his release. The US has described the move as ""unfortunate"", with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying she was ""very much concerned"" by Dr Khan's release. Dr Khan admitted transferring nuclear secrets to other countries in 2004 but was later pardoned by former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. The US has repeatedly said it wants to question Dr Khan, but Pakistan has always refused access. A jubilant AQ Khan told journalists shortly after the court order was announced: ""There are no winners, no losers. I think it has been a good judgment at least I have got some [of] my freedom."" All this has happened because of the keen interest taken by the president, the prime minister and especially [Interior Minister] Rehman Malik   When asked about what the international community would think, he said: ""Let them talk. Are they happy with our God? Are they happy with our Prophet? Are they happy with our leaders? Never, so why should we bother what they say about us?"" He added: ""I would be more worried about what you (Pakistani journalists) say about me, not what Bush says or what Dick Cheney says. I don't damn care."" Dr Khan must still give 48 hours' notice if he wants to leave Islamabad but he said on Friday that he had no plans to go abroad or to go into politics. Dr Khan, the former head of Pakistan's nuclear programme, said he would use his freedom to concentrate on educational projects. He added: ""All this has happened because of the keen interest taken by the president, the prime minister and especially [Interior Minister] Rehman Malik, who has looked into the case, reviewed it, discussed it with the government, discussed it with the concerned authorities."" Dr Khan's wife said she would wait to see how and whether the court's judgement was executed. Over the past year, the government has eased some of the restrictions on Dr Khan. It says those that remain are for his own security. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says that despite Friday's ruling Dr Khan's proliferation activities still arouse international concern, although Pakistan regards the case as closed. US State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid, speaking on Friday, said Dr Khan remained ""a serious proliferation risk"". ""The support that Khan and his associates provided to Iran and North Korea has had a harmful impact on... international security and will for years to come,"" he said. In January, the US imposed sanctions on people and companies linked to Dr Khan. Last July, Dr Khan told the media that Pakistan had transported uranium enrichment equipment to North Korea in 2000 with the full knowledge of the country's army, then headed by Gen Musharraf. The former leader has repeatedly stated that no-one apart from Dr Khan had any knowledge of the transportation of nuclear technology. Dr Khan is seen as the father of Pakistan's nuclear industry and is still regarded a hero by many in the country."
" WASHINGTON Feb 6 (Reuters) - Regulators closed banks on Friday in Georgia and California, bringing the total of U.S. bank failures to nine this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said County Bank of Merced, California, was closed by the California Department of Financial Institutions, and the FDIC was appointed as a receiver. County Bank, which operated 39 offices, had $1.7 billion in assets and $1.3 billion in deposits, according to regulators. Westamerica Bank (WABC.O) of San Rafael, California, will assume all of the deposits of the failed bank. The FDIC said in a release the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund would be $135 million. The FDIC also said it became a receiver of Culver City, California-based Alliance Bank and entered into an agreement with California Bank & Trust, a subsidiary of Zions Bancorp (ZION.O), to assume all the deposits. Alliance Bank was closed by the California Department of Financial Institutions. The bank had $1.14 billion in assets and $951 million in deposits. The cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $206 million, the FDIC estimated. Regulators said on Friday a third firm, FirstBank Financial Services, had failed. All deposits of the McDonough, Georgia, bank will be assumed by Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama, said the FDIC, which took receivership of FirstBank. Regulators said FirstBank Financial Services had assets of about $337 million and $279 million in deposits at the end of 2008. The estimated cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $111 million. In 2008, 25 banks were seized by officials, up from only three in 2007. (Reporting by John Poirier and Christopher Doering; Editing by Peter Cooney)"
" Chip Ganassi Racing claimed a fifth victory in its 10 years of competing at the Daytona 24 Hours after Juan Pablo Montoya came through to seal the honours in a thrilling final hour. Ganassi's winning Riley-BMW MkXXVI, which Montoya shared with Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and Charlie Kimball, briefly dropped to fourth position after the final restart with less than an hour to go. The NASCAR Sprint Cup star quickly took back third from AJ Allmendinger's Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford and then moved up to second when Joao Barbosa pitted in the Action Express Coyote-Chevrolet to take a penalty for avoidable contact with the MSR car. Montoya then needed less than a lap to hunt down and overtake Max Angelelli, who had moved into the lead when the Wayne Taylor Racing squad opted not to change tyres on his Dallara-Chevrolet DP01. The lead Ganassi entry, which was the fastest car throughout the 51st running of the 24 Hours, then pulled away into a 20-second lead. Splash-and-dash fuel stops for the leaders in the closing minutes had no bearing on the overall result. Angelelli, who shared with Jordan Taylor and Ryan Hunter-Reay took the chequered flag nearly 22s in arrears. Angelelli claimed that the BMW engine in the Ganassi Riley gave the winning crew a clear advantage and left rivals no chance to fight for victory in the final reckoning. ""What could I do?"" he said. ""The #01 car was in another league: it was in the A class and we were in the B class."" The victory means that team leader Pruett has now equalled sportscar legend Hurley Haywood's record tally of five overall Daytona victories. Team boss Chip Ganassi paid tribute to veteran Pruett after the race."
" A suicide bomber blew himself up among worshippers streaming toward a Shiite Muslim mosque in central Pakistan on Thursday, killing 24 people and wounding dozens more. The attack in the city of Dera Ghazi Khan risks sparking sectarian fury in a country already battling rising militancy along the Afghan border and tension with India over the Mumbai terrorist attacks. The bomb detonated as a crowd approached the mosque for an evening prayer ceremony. Television footage showed bystanders and emergency workers trying frantically to help victims lying in the darkened street. Athar Mubarak, the city police chief, said the bomb contained metal balls and nails. As well as the 24 dead, another 40 people were wounded, he said. ""Evidence collected from the spot indicates that a suicide bomber blew himself up in the crowd,"" Mubarak said. ""According to eyewitnesses, nothing was thrown from outside,"" said Jawed Mehmood Bhatti, a district government official. ""It looks as if someone was standing at the site of the blast and waiting for the procession and he blew himself up as the procession came close to him."" Hasan Iqbal, the city's top administrator, said he believed that the Shiite gathering was deliberately targeted. He wouldn't say whether Sunni extremists were likely behind it and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Sunni-Shiite tensions  However, relations between this Muslim nation's strong Sunni majority and Shiite minority have already been tested by a series of attacks attributed to sectarian extremists. Much of the violence has been in Pakistan's northwest, where the Taliban and other violent Sunni groups have gained ground."
" Hundreds of Afghans have demonstrated against alleged ill-treatment and executions of a number Afghan refugees by the Iranian authorities. Their protest follows a recent visit by a delegation of Afghan MPs to Iran to assess the plight of one million Afghans who live in the country. Several thousand have been arrested by the Iranian authorities and hundreds are reported to be on death row. Some MPs say more than 50 Afghans have been executed by Iran in recent weeks. But Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Zaher Faqiri said on Thursday that only six Afghans had been executed in Iran. However, between 4,000 and 5,000 Afghans were in Iranian jails, he confirmed. The treatment of Afghans in Iran has caused much concern in their home country, correspondents say. Iran received millions of refugees during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the later civil war. In recent years it has been deporting some of them back to Afghanistan. Tehran opposed the Taliban regime toppled by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. It has since experienced a rise in drug use as easily-available heroin from Afghanistan flows across the border."
" NLD officials said the party would be forced to dissolve after it failed in a final legal bid on Wednesday to have the laws annulled. Myanmar's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is expected to be disbanded on Thursday after it refused to re-register under controversial new election laws. Under the legislation announced earlier this year, the party will be declared ""null and void"" if it does not to re-register by the end of Thursday. The NLD has said the new laws implemented by Myanmar's military government are undemocratic. It announced last month that it would be boycotting the elections expected to take place later this year. The election will be Myanmar's first in two decades, and is the culmination of what the ruling military has termed its ""roadmap to democracy"". But the vote has been dismissed as a sham by critics who say the legislation governing the vote is designed only to entrench the power of the military which has ruled since 1962. The previous election in 1990 was won by a landslide by the NLD, but the military government refused to recognise the outcome. The new election laws include clauses voiding the result of the 1990 vote. In their legal appeal, NLD lawyers had asked Myanmar's Supreme Court to annul legislation that would have forced the party to expel Aung San Suu Kyi in order to participate in this year's vote."
" Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and four alleged co-conspirators will be tried in a military commission at Guantanamo Bay, not a civilian court ""We simply cannot allow a trial to be delayed any longer,"" Attorney General Eric Holder said, in a sharp U-turn. The Obama administration abandoned plans to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a US court, amid fierce opposition. He accused the US Congress of harming national security by opposing his plan to close the controversial Cuban prison and try some terror suspects in US civilian courts. Mr Holder vigorously defended his earlier decision to use US federal courts to try the accused men during a news conference announcing the reversal on Monday. He said that the US prison system had successfully held hundreds of convicted terrorists, and that the Obama administration would continue to prosecute terror cases in US courts. Mr Holder blamed Congress for the high profile policy reversal, saying his hands ""were tied"" by ""unwise and narrow"" restrictions they had placed on the administration. But, he said, the Justice Department had been prepared to ""bring a powerful case"" against Mohammed and his four co-conspirators. Mr Holder noted though that the death penalty could be still sought in the case. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been held by the US since being captured in Pakistan in 2003."
 Two IDF soldiers lightly wounded by machine gun blast during training at southern base (Haaretz)
" Hundreds of residents fled an Indonesian port town for higher ground on Monday when an earthquake struck south of Java with a magnitude estimated by US seismologists at 6.7. The epicentre in the Indian Ocean was 24 kilometres (15 miles) miles deep, the US Geological Survey said, after initially estimating it at 10 kilometres underground, and 277 kilometres south of the Javanese coast. Indonesian seismologists put the magnitude at 7.1 and issued a tsunami warning, saying the tremor had the potential to cause a killer wave and asking recipients of its public alert SMS to warn others of the danger. The warning was later cancelled. When the quake struck hundreds of residents in the seaport town of Cilacap fled inland and to higher ground by motorbike, car and on foot, an AFP reporter said. ""They were all panicking and shouting 'quake, quake',"" the reporter said. Suharjono, the technical head of Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said shaking from the tremor had been felt in Pangandaran and Cilacap districts in Java. ""This quake roused people from their sleep,"" he said. ""We have not received any reports of damage or casualties so far."" The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre had said that there was no risk of a widespread destructive wave, but there was a ""very small possibility of a local tsunami"". The earthquake epicentre was 241 kilometres from the remote Australian territory of Christmas Island, and seismologists said the tremor was felt there, but no tsunami warning alert was issued for Australia."
 Two IDF soldiers lightly wounded by machine gun blast during training at southern base (Haaretz)
" ISLAMABAD, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Tahreek-i-Taliban in Pakistan has killed the kidnapped Polish engineer, according to local TV reports Saturday. The private Geo reported that Peter Stanczak, the Polish engineer, was kidnapped on Sept. 28, 2008 when he was at the field camp of a national seismic survey company of Poland, about 20 kms from its main camp office. Three to four gunmen attacked Stanczak's jeep and killed his bodyguard and two drivers near the Pind Sultani village of Jand tehsil in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP)."
" Police in Pakistan say seven officers have been killed in an attack on a checkpoint in Mianwali in Punjab near restive North-West Frontier province. Residents in the town heard gunfire and an explosion as the checkpoint building was attacked before dawn. Two policemen were shot dead, and the other five died in the explosion. A police spokesman said the attack ""appears to be part of terrorist activity being carried out by militants across the country"". On Thursday a suicide bomb attack killed 33 people, and left dozens more injured, in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan, also in Punjab. Troops and police have been fighting pro-Taleban militants in North-West Frontier province. Mianwali is on the eastern side of the Indus river which formed the boundary between Punjab and North-West Frontier provinces."
" Numerous pirate groups are holding more than 350 hostages A Russian warship is rushing to assist an oil tanker bound for China which has been hijacked by Somali pirates. The Marshal Shaposhnikov was heading towards the Moscow University, which was attacked 900km (560 miles) off the Somali coast, officials said. The 23 Russian crew on board are reported to have locked themselves in the ship's radar room. But a BBC reporter says the Russian warship is unlikely to intervene as it could put the hostages' lives at risk. Shots were fired at the 96,000-tonne tanker from two speedboats in the dawn attack, the ship's owner said. The BBC's East Africa correspondent Will Ross says the oil tanker is a big prize for the pirates who, based on previous hijackings, are likely to release the cargo and crew only once a multi-million-dollar ransom has been paid. While the international war ships have prevented some attacks in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, it is widely felt that the solution to ending piracy is on land, he says. Over the weekend an Islamic insurgent group took control of one of the main pirate bases on the Somali coast. The pirates had already fled and our correspondent says is not yet clear whether this was part of a wider effort by the insurgents to stamp out piracy. For now the pirates have moved towards other bases along the coast and at sea the hijackings continue, he says. Numerous groups of pirates are currently holding more than 350 hostages as well as about 20 ships at various bases around the country."
" Somali pirates on Wednesday attacked and seized the Russian tanker Moskovsky Universitet in the Gulf of Aden, a Navy source said. He earlier said the incident had occurred around 8.00 a.m. Moscow time [04:00 GMT], when the tanker was en route from the Red Sea to China. The pirates attacked the Russian vessel 350 miles east of the Gulf of Aden. There are 23 people on board, all of them Russian citizens. He added that a Russian warship, the RFS Marshal Shaposhnikov, was on its way to help the tanker but would be unable to reach it until Wednesday night, most likely ""between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Thursday."" The captain of the tanker, which is carrying 86,000 tons of crude oil, managed to get in touch with the Russian warship by phone and call for help. The captain said two small boats with armed men on board had made an attempt to approach the tanker and fired automatic weapons. The Liberian-flagged tanker exercised a series of maneuvers to avoid seizure but subsequently succumbed. The Navy source did not say exactly where the Pacific Fleet's Udaloy-class guided-missile destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov was at the moment. The Marshal Shaposhnikov, a large anti-submarine ship, has two helicopters and an infantry unit on board. A Russian Pacific Fleet task force comprising the Marshal Shaposhnikov, the MB-37 salvage tug and the Pechenga tanker arrived in the Gulf of Aden on March 29 to join the anti-piracy mission there. The task force is the fourth group of warships from the Russian Pacific Fleet engaged in the anti-piracy mission off Somalia, with the previous three task forces led by the Admiral Vinogradov, Admiral Panteleyev and the Admiral Tributs destroyers. The Northern and Baltic fleets have also sent task forces to the region."
" Newspaper owner Evgeny Lebedev has said politicians overestimate the influence of newspapers as he revealed the extent of his meetings with leaders. The owner of the Independent and Evening Standard told the Leveson Inquiry that he had met David Cameron four times and Ed Miliband twice. The inquiry into press standards is now focusing on the relationship between newspapers and politicians. Asked about his meetings with political leaders, Mr Lebedev said: ""I think politicians generally overestimate the influence newspapers have on political processes in this country."" They paid ""too much attention to what the press say"", he said. Mr Lebedev added that newspaper owners should be able to meet senior politicians as long as they did not ""attempt to influence policy"". ""I am interested in finding out about government policy and what is going on in government and politicians are interested in finding out about what is going on in the media world."" He went on: ""One of the extraordinary things about this country is a very robust and diverse press, and I think that has to be protected."" Continue reading the main story Two newspaper proprietors. Two powerful people perfectly relaxed about their relationships with politicians. Evgeny Lebedev, at the London Evening Standard and Independent, argued the number of such encounters didn't matter. Rather the focus should be on whether or not policy was influenced as a result of such meetings. Aidan Barclay, at the Telegraph, says it with flowers - well, plants to be precise - which he sends MPs at Christmas. He also texts David Cameron - not that often, he insisted, but it was good to go direct to the intended recipient. He said his family employed 20,000 people - 1,000 of whom work at the Telegraph newspapers. It was his duty to get to know politicians. Evgeny Lebedev and Aidan Barclay were the starters. On Wednesday, Rupert Murdoch will be the Leveson main course. He warned of the danger of ""becoming a society where every institution, every element of democracy becomes too feeble""."
"I want us to establish a full parliamentary committee of inquiry involving both houses,"" Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament on Monday, stopping short of giving further details on its full remit. ""This committee will be able to take evidence under oath, it will have full access to papers and officials and ministers including ministers and special advisers from the last government."" The government has come under increasing pressure to take a closer look at the bank sector, which has felt the force of public anger since taxpayers bailed out several banks during the 2008-9 financial crisis. That pressure intensified last week when Barclays was fined for trying to manipulate the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), used worldwide as a benchmark for prices on about $350 trillion of derivatives and other financial products. The opposition Labour Party had threatened to trigger a vote in parliament on whether there should be a judge-led independent inquiry into the banking sector's excesses, culture and blunders. The UK source said the investigation, to be outlined by finance minister George Osborne at around 1530 GMT, would be ""wider than a narrow review into Libor and criminal sanctions ... (and) will encompass culture and sanctions."" The government is likely to come under fire for not establishing an independent inquiry - similar to the current Leveson inquiry which is investigating standards in the media. However, some ministers may be wary of any investigation which could make their own planned overhaul of the industry's current regulatory regime look inadequate. While it is politically expedient to ""bash the bankers,"" the Conservative-led government will also be wary of attacking a crucial sector in Britain's economy which is still struggling to function properly after the credit crunch. Labour leader Ed Miliband has called on Barclays Chief Executive Bob Diamond to resign after the bank's involvement in the interest rate-fixing scandal.
Irish FM urges EU to pressure Israel to end Gaza blockade Israel News	 U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)	
Uganda mudslide victims buried on Mount Elgon	 Burials are being held in Uganda for people killed in a mudslide which swept away three villages near the eastern town of Bududa. The BBC's Joshua Mmali at the scene on the slopes of Mount Elgon said in some cases entire families were being buried. About 90 bodies have been recovered; more than 260 people are still missing. The UN says it is supplying tents and plastic sheeting for up to 5,000 people left homeless by the mudslide. In one village, eyewitnesses said schoolchildren took shelter in a health centre later engulfed by the mud. Our correspondent says army officers are at the scene trying to recover bodies. The army says the search operation will take months and that some of the bodies may never be found. ""We're getting bodies six feet to eight feet underground [nearly 2.5m] - making it very hard as the area is muddy and rocky,"" Lt Col Wilson Kabera - in charge of the recovery operation - told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. ""We cannot get heavy earth-moving equipment to this point so we're basically using hand-held tools,"" he said. Our reporter says continuing heavy rain is hampering the operation.
German Islamists convicted over bomb plot	 Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Four Islamists have been convicted by a court in Germany of plotting to attack US facilities in the country. The men, two of whom were German-born converts to Islam, were given prison sentences of between five and 12 years. The judge said they had dreamed of ""mounting a second September 11 2001"" by killing US civilians and soldiers by bombing targets like Ramstein Air Base. They were accused of operating as a German cell of the radical al-Qaeda-linked group, the Islamic Jihad Union. According to the US state department, the Islamic Jihad Union was responsible for co-ordinated bombings outside the US and Israeli embassies in July 2004 in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. The two German converts to Islam - Fritz Gelowicz, 30, and 24-year-old Daniel Schneider - were sentenced to 12 years in jail. If the accused had managed to do what they planned, it would have led to a monstrous bloodbath, primarily among US army personnel and also civilians   Adem Yilmaz, 31, a Turkish citizen, was given 11 years, while Atilla Selek, a 25-year-old German of Turkish origin, was sentenced to five years. During the 10-month trial, all four admitted to belonging to a terrorist organisation, plotting murder and preparing explosive devices. Schneider also admitted to attempted murder for grabbing a handgun from a police officer while attempting to evade capture and firing a shot. No-one was wounded in the incident. He, Gelowicz and Selek renounced extremism and described their actions as a ""mistake"". Vehicles packed with explosives were to be used to bomb Ramstein Air Base Announcing the verdict, Judge Ottmar Breidling said the men had dreamed of ""mounting a second 11 September 2001"". ""If the accused had managed to do what they planned, it would have led to a monstrous bloodbath, primarily among US army personnel and also civilians,"" he added. The judge added that there were now ""many impressionable young men and men who have already been led astray, ready to kill for notions of jihad"". ""Violent Islamism has penetrated our society and turned young men against it."" Known as the ""Sauerland group"", after the area of western Germany where three of them were arrested in 2007, the men had trained at camps in Pakistan and procured some 700kg (1,500lbs) of chemicals to produce 410kg (900lbs) of explosives, prosecutors said. Such a quantity would have been 100 times the amount used in the 2005 London bombings, which killed more than 50 people. The four men had planned to produce 410kg (900lbs) of explosives They had allegedly planned to use vehicles loaded with the explosives to kill or injure large numbers of people at locations visited by Americans, the US military base in Ramstein and Frankfurt airport. But the security services uncovered the plot in December 2006 and conducted one of the biggest surveillance operations in post-war German history. The men's movements were monitored around the clock for nine months, until it became clear that they were planning to move their huge stores of hydrogen peroxide and an attack was imminent. Gelowicz, Schneider and Yilmaz were arrested at a rented cottage in Sauerland on 4 September 2007, while Selek was detained in Turkey in November 2007 and later extradited to Germany. At the time, they were described as ""very dangerous terrorists"" with a ""profound hatred of US citizens"", acting on the orders of an ""international network"". The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Berlin says the participation of Gelowicz and Schneider in the plot has shocked Germans and raised concern that militant groups abroad are actively seeking out and signing up Muslim converts to attack the West. Germany, which has soldiers in Afghanistan as part of Nato but did not send troops to Iraq, has been largely spared militant attacks. But nine years ago, it emerged that an al-Qaeda cell had used the city of Hamburg as a base for planning the 11 September attacks.
UN authorises 300 Syria monitors	 The UN security council has unanimously voted to send 300 unarmed military observers to Syria to monitor the fragile ceasefire between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and opposition groups. The resolution approved on Saturday increases the number of observers in the UNSMIS mission from 30 and demands an immediate halt to the violence that has been escalating since a ceasefire took effect over a week ago. It also authorises the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, to decide when to deploy the additional observers based on ""relevant developments on the ground, including the cessation of violence"". The resolution noted that the cessation of violence by the government and opposition was ""clearly incomplete"". The British foreign secretary, William Hague, said he welcomed the mission and called for a full end to violence in the country. ""This resolution increases the pressure on the Syrian regime to begin a transition to a democratic, plural political system. I welcome the fact that the council reaffirmed its full support for this goal,"" he said. ""However, I remain extremely concerned that the Syrian regime is still failing to meet its commitments, and that there has been further violence and the use of heavy weapons since 12 April when a ceasefire should have come into effect. ""The Syrian regime must stop immediately troop movements towards population centres; end the use of heavy weapons in civilian areas; and withdraw the military to their barracks. The Syrian regime must ensure that the UN monitoring mission can operate freely and safely, and this must include agreement on the use of air assets."" Hague called for the full implementation of Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan, which includes starting a Syrian-led political process to address the concerns of the Syrian people and the right to demonstrate peacefully as well as a UN-supervised ceasefire. ""If the Syrian regime fails to take these steps and to comply with Kofi Annan's plan in full, we will push for further action, including in the UN security council,"" Hague said.
Sri Lanka Tigers urged to end war	 Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory. Sri Lanka's key international donors have urged Tamil Tiger rebels to disarm and discuss ending hostilities in order to avoid more civilian casualties. The US, EU, Japan and Norway said it would probably not be long before the rebels lost all territory they control. Both sides ""should recognise that further loss of life... will serve no cause"", the nations said. Sri Lanka's government says it is close to defeating the rebels. There was no immediate response from the Tigers. Up to 250,000 civilians may be trapped by the fighting. Separately, the army says it has found an underground bunker complex it believes was one of the hideouts of the top leader of the Tamil Tigers. Norway, Japan, the US and the EU are described as the Tokyo Co-Chairs. They sat at the Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka in 2003, which raised $4.5bn in aid pledges that were linked to progress in the peace process. See map of the region The BBC's Ethirajan Anbarasan in Colombo says this is the first time the influential quartet has issued such an appeal to the Tamil Tigers. It is also the first international acknowledgement that the rebels may be near to defeat. In a joint statement, the quartet expressed ""great concern"" for the plight of civilians. 1976: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam form in the north-east 1987: India deploys peace-keepers to Tamil areas but they leave in 1990 They urged the rebels to ""discuss with the government of Sri Lanka the modalities for ending hostilities, including the laying down of arms, renunciation of violence, acceptance of the government of Sri Lanka's offer of amnesty; and participating as a political party in a process to achieve a just and lasting political solution"". The nations also urged both sides to ""declare a temporary no-fire period to allow for evacuation of sick and wounded, and provision of aid to civilians"". The Sri Lankan government has previously ruled out any ceasefire and has vowed to crush the rebels. The Tigers have said they will not lay down their arms until they have a ""guarantee of living with freedom and dignity and sovereignty"". The Tokyo Co-Chairs said both sides ""must respect international humanitarian law"". They said they would help transfer internally displaced people to humanitarian camps. The statement called on all combatants not to fire on a hospital in Tiger-held territory which has been shelled repeatedly. The Red Cross says the hospital in Puthukkudiyiruppu town in Mullaitivu district has been hit five times in the past few days, leaving at least 12 civilians dead. One strike was on a paediatric ward, it said. The hospital is one of the last functioning health facilities in the area. The government says it is not responsible for the attacks and has told civilians to leave the war zone. Pro-rebel websites blame the army. Sri Lanka's military said there was no sign of the rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in the bunker found in the north-east. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The two-storey-deep bunker was found hidden in a coconut plantation in Mullaitivu district during fighting on Monday, the army said. The ministry said the bunker had electricity generators, air conditioning and medical supplies. There is no independent confirmation of any of the army's claims - journalists are not able to reach the front lines. Sri Lanka's military says it has designated a safe zone for civilians in a 32 sq km buffer zone on the A-35 main road which links Paranthan and Mullaitivu. The zone is inside a gradually shrinking rebel enclave north of Mullaitivu. The Tigers are proscribed as a terrorist group by many nations, including the US and the EU. They started fighting in the 1970s for a separate state for Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east. Norway has been a broker in previous rounds of unsuccessful peace talks between the rebels and Sri Lanka's government.
Syria 'failing to keep to truce', says Ban Ki-moon	 The UN secretary general says Syria has failed to comply with its obligation under a peace plan to pull troops and heavy weapons out of urban areas. In a letter to the UN Security Council, Ban Ki-moon also called for an observer mission to be expanded from the small number already in the country to 300. There are continued reports of violence in Syria, threatening a fragile ceasefire that began a week ago. However, Mr Ban also said there was an ""opportunity for progress"". Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet foreign ministers in Paris later to discuss the crisis. The peace plan, negotiated by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, aims to end more than a year of unrest thought to have killed at least 9,000 people. Continue reading the main story Both the Syrian government and the UN observers say they are close to reaching agreement on a protocol that would provide the operational framework for the UN observer mission. Points still at issue appear to be over how much independence of movement the monitors would have, for example whether they can deploy their own helicopters to get around. So far, the handful of observers who are already there have been able to visit the southern city of Deraa without incident. But there was trouble when they went to Arbeen, one of the suburbs of Damascus. A crowd of anti-government protesters quickly gathered, shooting broke out, and the observers had to escape in a hurry. Activists said several people were wounded. The monitors have also asked to go to Homs, where bombardment has continued, but the authorities have so far not permitted them. Expressing concern over continuing violence, Mr Ban said it was critical that the government kept its pledge to withdraw troops from populated areas. He said while the level of violence dropped markedly when the ceasefire began, there had been an escalation in recent days, and breaches had been reported by both sides. He also noted that there had been ""no significant release of detainees"", and ""no substantive progress"" in negotiations on humanitarian access, in reference to other aspects of Mr Annan's six-point plan.	
Treasury moves to broaden its debt offerings	 Announcing a record $67 billion quarterly debt refunding plan, the Treasury said it will reintroduce seven-year notes and double the number of 30-year bond auctions to eight per year. The Treasury plans to announce in May whether to move to monthly 30-year bond auctions and will consider introducing other new benchmark securities. The Treasury estimated it will need to borrow a record $1.5 trillion to $2.5 trillion in fiscal 2009 -- even before funding the Obama administration's proposed economic stimulus plan of nearly $900 billion and a still-developing financial stabilization program. A senior Treasury official said that with the new debt issues and plans to increase issues of other maturities, the government can borrow enough to fund the stimulus. ""We feel prepared,"" said Karthik Ramanathan, the Treasury's acting assistant secretary for financial markets. Ramanathan added that because it has a lower debt-to-gross domestic product ratio than other G7 nations, he sees little problem persuading investors to lend to the United States. ""If we can promote deep and liquid markets, we will continue to attract capital,"" he said. U.S. Treasury debt prices were lower following the refunding announcement, sending yields to fresh two-month highs. A better-than-expected report on services activity also prompted some funds to move from bonds into stocks. The $67 billion to be raised from sales of three-year, 10-year and 30-year debt next week came in at the low end of analyst expectations. Some had predicted that the Treasury would offer as much as $75 billion. ""The Treasury could have announced more, but they are trying to keep their powder dry. Once we get a stimulus package announced, more creativity could be warranted,"" said Kevin Flanagan, fixed-income strategist for global wealth management at Morgan Stanley in Purchase, New York.
Official: Helicopter crashes in Afghanistan, likely killing 4 Americans	 A Black Hawk helicopter crashed Thursday in southern Afghanistan, likely killing all four of its crew members -- all of them Americans -- a U.S. military official said. The crash occurred in bad weather, though the official said, ""We cannot yet rule out enemy action."" Troops at a combat outpost in the area waiting to be picked up saw the crash happen, the official said. Another helicopter flying nearby was not affected. Fatal helicopter crashes involving members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force are not unprecedented in Afghanistan, with some of the aircraft brought down by enemy fire while others crashed for mechanical reasons. The single deadliest loss for U.S. troops since the Afghan war began in late 2001 happened in August, when 30 U.S. service members died when a helicopter carrying them went down while they were reinforcing other troops, officials said. Seven Afghan troops died in that same crash. A U.S. military official said then that insurgents were believed to have shot down the CH-47 Chinook. The Taliban claimed that militants downed the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. More recently, 12 people died last month when a helicopter crashed last month in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul. Capt. David Yaryar, an ISAF spokesman, said there was no reported ""insurgent activity in the area"" at the time.
Russia Olympic boss 'steps down' after Vancouver flop	 There are reports that the head of Russia's Olympic Committee has stepped down after the nation recorded its worst performance at the Winter Games. A committee spokesman said Leonid Tyagachyov hade decided to resign after Russia finished with just three golds in its 15-medal haul from Vancouver. Mr Tyagachyov's own spokesman, however, said such reports were premature. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had on Monday called on Russia's senior sports officials to resign. The 2014 Winter Olympics are to be held in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi. The Itar-Tass news agency quoted a spokesman for the Olympic Committee as saying Mr Tyagachyov had submitted a letter of resignation. However, a spokesman for Mr Tyagachyov said the press attache of the Russian Olympic Committee ""was hasty in dismissing his manager"". In his statement on Monday, Mr Medvedev had warned that if sports officials were reluctant to step down, ""we will help them"". A former sports minister, Mr Tyagachyov , 63, had been appointed in 2001 and was seen as influential in helping Russia win the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Car bomb kills eight in Pakistan	 Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. At least eight people, mostly police and soldiers, have been killed by a car bomb in north-west Pakistan. Police said they died after being lured to a booby-trapped car on the outskirts of Peshawar, capital of North-West Frontier Province. Violence in Pakistan has surged in recent months amid a wave of attacks blamed on Islamist militants. At least five people died in two other attacks on Saturday, days after Sri Lanka's cricketers were targeted. On 3 March, gunmen fired on a bus carrying Sri Lanka's cricket team in the eastern city of Lahore. Seven Pakistanis, including six police officers, died in that attack, and several cricketers were injured. There have also been regular battles with rebels elsewhere in the north-west in recent months, particularly in the Swat valley and in the tribal region of Bajaur. Police said using a body as a lure was a new tactic Saturday's bombing near Peshawar occurred when police received an anonymous tip-off that there was a body in a car on a highway near the village of Badaber, local police chiefs said. But as police examined the car it exploded. Five of the dead were police officers, two were paramilitary soldiers, and a passer-by was also killed. Five others were injured. ""Police went there. They found the white car. They also saw a body inside, but when they were pulling it out, the car bomb went off,"" an area police chief, Rahim Shah, told the Associated Press news agency. He called it a ""new technique"". Initial reports had suggested the car exploded after being motioned to stop at a roadblock. They also suggested it was a suicide bombing, though later reports said the bomb was detonated remotely. There has been no claim of responsibility, but officials blamed Taleban militants. The bombing is said to have occurred on a route between the Khyber tribal agency and city of Peshawar. The Khyber agency is a semi-autonomous tribal region of North-West Frontier Province and has long operated largely beyond the reach of Pakistani law. The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says the region, set in mountainous terrain close to the border with Afghanistan, is in the midst of an insurgency by Taleban militants. He says Pakistan's security forces are battling the militants throughout the region to stop the militants from attacking Nato forces in Afghanistan. Security forces also aim to prevent the militants providing safe havens for al-Qaeda in the border regions, he adds. The Khyber Pass route through the region towards the Afghan frontier is a key supply route for international forces in Afghanistan, but has itself become a target for rebels and was closed by Pakistan late in 2008. In other attacks in the region on Saturday, at least two people were killed when a vehicle carrying members of the security services hit a landmine in Darra Adam Khel, near Peshawar. And at least three people were killed and 10 injured in an explosion at a mosque used by the militant group Ansar ul Islam in a remote part of the Khyber tribal region.
Obama hints at talks with Taleban	 Making alliances with Afghan tribes is a tricky process, say analysts President Obama has suggested there could be talks with moderate elements of the Taleban in Afghanistan as part of a process of reconciliation. Mr Obama told the New York Times that US forces in Iraq had persuaded some Islamic radicals alienated by the tactics of al-Qaeda to co-operate. He said there might be similar opportunities in Afghanistan, although the situation there was more complex. Asked if the US was winning in Afghanistan, Mr Obama replied: ""No."" A month into his presidency, Mr Obama authorised the deployment of up to 17,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan. You have a less governed region, a history of fierce independence among tribes   More than seven years after US-led forces ousted the Taleban regime in Afghanistan shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks in America, the militants have regrouped and are waging an intensifying insurgency. At an event on Sunday in Kabul to mark International Women's Day, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said it was ""good news"" that Mr Obama had backed talks with moderate elements of the Taleban. ""This is the Afghan government's long stand,"" he said. ""We wanted this and we support and stand with them to bring peace and stability to this land."" Correspondents say the notion of reconciliation with the fundamentalist Islamic movement appears to be gathering momentum as a way of reining in the escalating violence in Afghanistan. Mr Obama and his advisors are reviewing the US strategy on Afghanistan, and have looked at what has worked in Iraq. ""There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region,"" he told the New York Times on board Air Force One. After discussing US success in reaching out to its enemies in Iraq, Mr Obama added: ""The situation in Afghanistan is, if anything, more complex. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. ""You have a less governed region, a history of fierce independence among tribes. ""Those tribes are multiple and sometimes operate at cross purposes, and so figuring all that out is going to be much more of a challenge. ""I think we still have to think about how do we deal with that kind of scenario,"" he added. Some foreign diplomats have also long advocated moves to reach out to the Taleban or at least moderate elements within the group, in search of a political settlement. This weekend a former British special forces commander said the UK's effort in Afghanistan was ""worthless"". ""We hold tiny areas of ground in Helmand and we are kidding ourselves if we think our influence goes beyond 500 metres of our security bases,"" ex-SAS commander Maj Sebastian Morley told a newspaper. Correspondents say coalition forces face three types of insurgent in Afghanistan: fighters with links to al-Qaeda (deemed to be irreconcilable to the Kabul government) nationalists, whose primary aim is to expel foreign forces Afghans who joined the insurgency for personal reasons, such as abuse at the hands of the authorities Security analysts believe the last two types of fighter could eventually be reconciled to the government.
Zardari rules out Taleban truce	 Mr Zardari says Pakistan will not negotiate with militants Pakistani President Asif Zardari has said Pakistan has not and will not negotiate with the ""extremist Taleban and terrorists"". Mr Zardari said that the ""clerics"" with whom his government had engaged in Swat valley were not the Taleban. Authorities and a key radical cleric recently agreed a deal that would bring Sharia law to the region in return for an end to Taleban militancy. The scenic valley has long been blighted by militant violence. The Taleban have also destroyed nearly 200 schools, most of them for girls, during a sustained campaign against secular education in Swat. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Mr Zardari said: ""The clerics with whom we have engaged [in Swat] are not Taleban. Indeed, in our dialogue we'd made it clear that it is their responsibility to rein in and neutralise Taleban and other insurgents."" ""If they do so and lay down their arms, this initiative will have succeeded for the people of Swat Valley. If not, our security forces will act accordingly."" Mr Zardari said that ""this process of weaning reconcilable elements of an insurgency away from the irreconcilables has been mischaracterised in the West"". Mr Zardari said that Pakistan ""will not condone"" the closing of girls' schools in Swat. ""Indeed, the government insists that the education of young women is mandatory. This is not an example of the government condoning or capitulating to extremism - quite the opposite."" Many people have fled Swat to be in safer parts of Pakistan Mr Zardari said Pakistan's fight against terrorism is ""relentless"" and the ruling government had conducted a number of operations against militants. Taleban insurgents in the troubled Swat valley of Pakistan announced an indefinite ceasefire following the deal with the authorities. The situation in Swat remains tense and the militants are yet to disarm or end their hold over areas they control. Swat has been the scene of bloody clashes between militants and government forces since November 2007. More than 1,000 civilians have died in shelling by the army or from beheadings sanctioned by the Taleban. Thousands more have been displaced.
Gunmen shoot Sri Lanka cricketers	 Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Gunmen have attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team on its way to play in the Pakistani city of Lahore. At least six policemen escorting the team bus were killed, along with a driver. Seven cricketers and an assistant coach were injured. Pakistani officials said about 12 gunmen were involved and grenades and rocket launchers have been recovered. Officials said the incident bore similarities to deadly attacks in Mumbai in India last November. The Mumbai attacks were blamed on Pakistan-based Islamic militants. Pakistani cricket was already suffering from serious security concerns. Pakistan invited Sri Lanka to tour only after India's cricket team pulled out of a scheduled cricket tour on security grounds, following the Mumbai attacks. And International Cricket Council president David Morgan told the BBC it would be ""very difficult for international cricket to be hosted in Pakistan for quite some time to come"". Reports suggest 10 to 12 gunmen ambushed the team coach and its accompanying police detail on the Liberty Square roundabout in the heart of Lahore, as the convoy was on the way to the Gaddafi stadium for a Test match.   The BBC's Barbara Plett, in Islamabad, says accounts suggest the attack was sophisticated in nature, with one group of gunmen firing a rocket-propelled grenade in order to create a diversion, while others then approached, firing guns on the convoy. She says the gunmen - two of whom were shown in TV pictures carrying backpacks - seemed to be well-trained. Sept 08: 54 die in an attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad June"
" Ecuador has announced it is expelling the US ambassador in Quito. The move follows the release on Monday by the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks of a US diplomatic cable alleging widespread corruption within the Ecuadorean police force. Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said he had asked Ambassador Heather Hodges to leave the country as soon as possible. The US state department called the decision ""unjustified"" and said it deeply regretted it. Mr Patino said that after the release he had called Ambassador Hodges to ask how the US had ""had access to such restricted information"". Asked if he thought that the US had infiltrated the Ecuadorean police force, he answered ""it would be nothing new"". He told reporters at a news conference the decision to expel the US ambassador had been taken after she failed to give a satisfactory explanation to accusations she had made in the diplomatic cable revealed by Wikileaks. He said the move was not aimed at the United States in general but only against one official who had made serious allegations against Ecuador. In the cable, the ambassador suggests Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa was aware of corruption allegations against senior policeman Gen Jaime Aquilino Hurtado Vaca when he made him commander of the country's police force. Mr Patino said the accusation against President Correa was ""absolutely irresponsible and false""."
" Five people were killed and five others wounded after an airplane dropped bombs Saturday on a town in South Sudan, a military spokesman in that fledgling country said -- though a Sudanese military spokesman denied any such attack. Col. Philip Aguer, a spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Army of South Sudan, said that the aerial strike hit a market area in Rubkona, which is part of Unity state, at 1 p.m. Saturday (6 a.m. ET). Abiemnom County in that state, as well as two counties in Warrap state, were also attacked Saturday, Aguer said. But Al-Sawarmi Khalid, a spokesman for the Sudanese Armed Forces, said, ""We have not carried out attacks into South Sudan."" Both military spokesmen referenced Heglig, a key oil installation in South Kordofan state that produces nearly half of Sudan's oil and was seized by South Sudan's military this week. Meanwhile, Khalid said that Sudanese military forces were ""approaching Heglig from all sides."" Sudan's ambassador to the United Nations welcomed a U.N. Security Council statement this week demanding ""a complete, immediate and unconditional end to all fighting and a withdrawal of the SPLA from Heglig and an end to aerial bombardments."" ""We will observe closely the behavior and attitude of the reaction of the government of the South to this call and if they don't heed it, we will reserve our right to exercise the right of self-defense and we will chase them out, "" Ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said. The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has called South Sudan's move to occupy Heglig ""completely unacceptable"" and urged forces to withdraw immediately. The African Union similarly has called on forces to pull out and for aerial bombardments to stop. Yet South Sudan's ambassador to the United Nations blamed the Khartoum government for attacks on their forces at the border, which she said provoked their actions at Heglig."
" South Korea's defence minister has confirmed that traces of an explosive have been found in the wreckage of a warship that sank near North Korea. Kim Tae-young said that RDX - used to make torpedoes - was detected by investigators. But he said it was too early to draw conclusions about what sank the ship. The Cheonan went down on 26 March near the disputed inter-Korean maritime border. Many South Koreans believe North Korea was to blame. ""It is true that RDX, a chemical substance used in making torpedoes, has been detected,"" Mr Kim told reporters. ""The possibility of a torpedo (attack) has increased, but it's too early to say anything."" A spokesman for the investigative team, Rear Adm Moon Byung-ok, said mines used RDX too, so further examination was necessary. He said the explosive traces were found in the Cheonan's funnel and in sand collected from the seabed. The defence minister called on South Koreans to ""be patient and wait until the official announcement is made"". Forty-six South Korean sailors were killed when the Cheonan sank. North Korea has denied any responsibility for the incident."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Voting in national and local elections in the Philippines has ended and early results are expected within hours. At least six people were killed as voters cast ballots for a new president and vice-president, amid reports of continuing violence in the south. Voting was extended by one hour to accommodate long queues of voters. The queues have been linked to problems with new automated vote-counting machines, some of which had failed to operate properly in pre-poll testing. Formal results from the elections, which will also fill more than 17,000 government positions, are expected within two days. In the presidential race, Benigno Aquino, the son of the popular former president, Cory Aquino, has been leading the polls but former president Joseph Estrada is also in the running. Outgoing President Gloria Arroyo, whose term expires in June, is running for a seat in parliament. Long lines formed at the Nemesio Yabut elementary school in the capital, Manila, with hundreds of people waiting in the heat for a chance to vote, says the BBC's Philippines correspondent Kate McGeown. Nemesio Yabut elementary school is more used to queues of children than queues of adults, but today they're here in their hundreds waiting for a chance to vote. It's one of Manila's biggest polling stations - about 20,000 people are expected to pass through here today. It's hot and sticky here, and some people have already been waiting for hours. But everyone still seems to be in high spirits, and some people have even started selling food and drink here to the waiting crowds. People I've spoken to say they are excited about today, but also worried about the possibility of violence. The school's principal, Marilyn Macalma, said she expected 22,500 people to turn up to vote there. People take elections seriously in the Philippines and an estimated 85% of those eligible are expected to vote, says our correspondent. But as had been predicted, glitches were reported with the country's new automated voting system. Even the election front-runner, Mr Aquino, had trouble voting at his home province of Tarlac because the ballot-counting machine had broken down. ""Hopefully, this is just an isolated incident. We are waiting for more reports... (but) if people can't vote because the machines don't accept their ballots, then certainly that is a problem,"" said Mr Aquino. Voter Armand Juele, 42, said he had queued for more than an hour to cast his ballot and the line was still 50m (yards) long. ""It's super-disorganised,"" he told Reuters news agency. ""There's no order. It's the worst election by far."" Another unnamed voter said he had no intention of leaving despite the long queues. ""We have to push through with the voting,"" he said. ""Otherwise it would be a waste of our rights."" Throughout the campaign the issue of the automated voting machines has dominated headlines. Election commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal appealed to voters in Manila to wait patiently and said back-up machines were available if ones in use malfunctioned. ""What's important is that you will be processed,"" he said. ""You will be able to vote. Your vote will be counted."" The presidential contenders are vying to replace Mrs Arroyo, who came to power in 2001 and is stepping down as she reaches her constitutional two-term limit. Voting for president, vice-president and more than 17,000 officials More than 90 people killed in pre-election violence Her premiership has been marred by allegations of corruption and she has fended off several impeachment motions put forward by Congress. She is now running for a post in Congress herself and her opponents have said they will file corruption charges against her once she no longer has presidential immunity. Benigno ""Noynoy"" Aquino has been the pre-election day favourite to replace Mrs Arroyo. Correspondents say the 50-year-old's political pedigree - as the son of the beloved former president who died in August last year - has been hugely important in his campaign, but he is also considered an honest, if inexperienced, candidate. Joseph ""Erap"" Estrada is another front-runner but correspondents say his past could play against him. He was deposed and jailed by Mrs Arroyo in 2001 on allegations of corruption, although she later pardoned him. Property tycoon Manny Villar is also expected to do well. His campaign on focused on what he portrays as his rise from poverty to riches but has been tainted by corruption allegations. Security has been high around polling stations in an attempt to stave of the violence that has accompanied the country's past elections. But there were sporadic reports of violence as polling took place: In southern Maguindanao province, two civilians were killed as private armies of rival vice mayoral candidates clashed in North Kabuntalan town, Lt Col Raymundo Ferrer told reporters Three people were shot dead and 10 others wounded in a pre-dawn clash clash between police and supporters of a mayoral candidate in the southern province of Zamboanga Sibugay. A cousin of the vice governor in North Cotabato province was shot dead while riding on a motorbike, local police said. The latest deaths bring the toll during the four months leading up to the elections to 35 killed. Those deaths are in addition to the 57 people killed in Maguindanao province in November, when a group tried to register a candidate for the elections in an area held by a rival clan. Twelve members of the clan, the Amapatuans, have been charged with involvement in the mass killing, but 10 of them are running for posts in these polls."
" U.S. President Barack Obama takes questions during a town hall discussion about clean energy while visiting Gamesa Technology Corporation in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, April 6, 2011. The EPA's rules, which it began rolling out on polluters such as power plants and oil refineries early this year, are one of Obama's top strategies to show the world the United States is fighting climate change. Republicans, who were able to block a climate and energy bill last year, hoped to pick up support from Democrats in energy-dependent states facing tight elections next year on the measure sponsored by Republican leader Mitch McConnell. But it got only 50 votes in the Democratic-led 100-member chamber, short of the 60 votes needed to pass. ""(The Senate) rejected an approach that would have increased the nation's dependence on oil, contradicted the scientific consensus on global warming, and jeopardized America's ability to lead the world in the clean energy economy,"" said White House spokesman Jay Carney. Obama has pledged to world leaders that the United States would cut emissions about 17 percent by 2020 under 2005 levels. The EPA rules could help that effort, though it may also take faster adoption of clean energy like wind and solar power, and natural gas, and energy efficiency. The battle over the EPA's moves to curb emissions is likely to continue in Congress ahead of the 2012 elections. Republicans, and some Democrats from states heavily dependent on energy, warn the cost of the regulations could hurt businesses recovering from the economic downturn. They may take up the fight later this year, possibly by making EPA rules part of the upcoming 2012 budget debate, analysts said. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is widely expected to pass a similar bill that would stop the EPA's rules, but analysts said it would largely be a symbolic show of force after the Senate vote on Wednesday. The House delayed until Thursday a vote on the bill."
" SEOUL, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean defense ministry said on Monday that it has confirmed the detection of an explosive chemical substance RDX, commonly used in producing torpedoes, from the stack of sunken naval warship ""Cheonan"" as well as sand collected from the seabed of the explosion site. ""It is true that traces of RDX, an explosive used in the production of torpedoes, have been detected,"" the ministry said in a statement. However, the ministry said that RDX, which stands for research department explosive, is not a substance used exclusively in the West, as was reported by various press agencies, adding that it is commonly used worldwide within the military and industrial sectors of all nations. ""RDX is an explosive that has been used since World War II by many countries, including the defunct Soviet Union and other socialist nations,"" it said. Some media reports indicated the explosive chemical substance is used only in Western nations, raising speculation that the traces found in the sunken ship might have come from South Korean weapons used in drills near the area."
" A friend of the September 11 suicide pilots was jailed for seven years yesterday after a German court found him guilty of belonging to a terrorist cell after a year-long retrial. Mounir el Motassadeq, 31, a Moroccan, was cleared, however, of abetting mass murder. He is one of only six men worldwide to have been tried or have trials pending in connection with the attacks on America in 2001. At his first trial, Motassadeq was convicted on all charges and given the maximum 15-year sentence, but an appeal court overturned the conviction, saying he had been unfairly denied evidence from al-Qaida suspects held in the US. His defence lawyer said yesterday that he would appeal against the latest verdict, which he described as a ""semi-acquittal"". Prosecutors at Hamburg state court had demanded 15 years in jail for membership of a terrorist organisation and being an accessory to thousands of murders. But Judge Ernst-Rainer Schudt said the second charge was not proven. He said Motassadeq was a lower-tier member of the group of radical Arab students led by Mohammed Atta, the man who rammed the first hijacked plane into the World Trade Centre. The evidence suggested that terrorist chiefs who assessed the group's members at an Afghan training camp had rejected Motassadeq for a leading role. ""Our impression is that he was too lightweight for this task,"" Judge Schudt told the court. ""He wasn't the same calibre as Atta."" The outcome of the trial hinged largely on evidence from captured al-Qaida prisoners, which United States officials withheld from Motassadeq's first trial and made available only in limited form at his retrial. The case, which was complex at times, strained Berlin's relations with Washington as it tested how far the US was willing to go in providing sensitive evidence. The US declined, on security grounds, to let the court question three captured al-Qaida prisoners being held at secret locations, including a key member of the Hamburg cell, although it did hand over summaries of statements they had made under interrogation."
" Protests in more than 20 Mexican cities against drug-related violence have been interrupted by news of the discovery of 59 bodies. The bodies were found in Tamaulipas state by police investigating the abduction of bus passengers. The area is a hotspot in the violence related to drug trafficking that is ravaging parts of Mexico. The violence was condemned by protesters in the main square in Mexico City, who chanted: ""No more blood!"" Some called for President Felipe Calderon to resign, saying his strategy had exacerbated the bloodshed. About 35,000 Mexicans have died in drug-related violence since the president began deploying the army to fight the cartels in December 2006. The demonstrations were inspired by poet and journalist Javier Sicilia, whose son was killed last week. Mr Sicilia has blamed Mexican politicians as well as criminal gangs for the violence, saying they have ""torn apart the fabric of the nation"". Continue reading the main story It is one of the first occasions that Mexicans, in their thousands and simultaneously around the country, have taken to the streets to protest against the violence of the so-called ""drugs war"". At the Zocalo, Mexico City's main square, the chant most often made was ""No more blood!"". A diverse crowd - families, union members, young people and elderly citizens - expressed their frustration with the increasing number of innocent civilians killed in the battle between drug cartels and the security forces. Many demonstrators carried banners calling for President Felipe Calderon to quit, since - they said - his strategy against organised crime was not working. Small demonstrations were also held in New York, Buenos Aires, Paris, Madrid and other cities around the world."
" A Moroccan accused of assisting the Sept. 11 hijackers was convicted Friday in Hamburg. Mounir el-Motassadeq was sentenced to seven years in prison for his involvement, but was acquitted of direct involvement in the attacks. After a year-long trial, Hamburg state court acquitted el -Motassadeq of more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder, ruling that the evidence did not show he was specifically involved in the Sept. 11 plot. Judge Ernst-Rainer Schudt criticized U.S. authorities for their failure to provide more evidence. Mounir el-Motassadeq became part of the Hamburg al-Qaeda cell in 1999, before its members traveled to Afghanistan, where they were recruited for the attacks on the U.S. The court found ""indications that el Motassadeq was not initiated in all the details,"" Schudt said. ""Our impression is that the defendent is too soft for such a task."" ""How are we supposed to do justice to our task when important documents are witheld from us?"" Schudt asked after Friday's verdict. Defense attorney Ladislav Anisic plans to appeal the new verdict. In 2003, the 31-year-old el-Motassadeq became the first person to be convicted in connection with the attacks. A U.S. federal appeals court overturned the conviction and released him, ruling that he was unfairly denied testimony from al-Qaeda suspects in U.S. custody."
" Police faced strong resistance from activists who had barricaded themselves behind barbed wire in Kfar Darom. On the second day of evictions in Gaza, troops also dragged protesters from the synagogue at nearby Neve Dekalim, the largest settlement in the territory. Israel is withdrawing its settlers from Gaza, which it has held since 1967. The confrontation at Kfar Darom was the most violent incident so far in the two-day-old operation to evict settlers from Gaza. Kfar Darom is a small settlement in central Gaza, where resistance to the pullout has been particularly strong. Unarmed police first entered the synagogue, where hundreds of protesters had been resisting eviction. Riot troops then stormed the rooftop, where young protesters had remained behind coils of barbed wire. The troops battled the activists who pelted them with sand, foam and liquid. Several officers returned to the ground after acid was thrown at them. Maj Gen Dan Harel, commander for the Gaza region, said he hoped to complete the evacuation of Kfar Darom by Friday."
" A South Sudan military official said the clashes were a ""terrible escalation"" of the conflict that stretched back to before it split from Sudan last year. Fighting along the north-south border has been near constant over the past two weeks. The Sudan Media Centre reported yesterday that Sudan's army took control of Mugum, a stronghold of the southern forces."
" The man accused of killing 77 people in a bomb-and-gun rampage in Norway last summer said his actions were justified to save the country from multicultural forces as he went on trial Monday. Anders Behring Breivik raised his arm in a fascist-style salute -- a symbol of ""strength, power and defiance against Marxist tyrants,"" to quote the 1,500-page manifesto attributed to him -- as soon as his handcuffs were removed in court Monday. ""I acknowledge the acts but do not plead guilty,"" he told the court. His trial on charges of voluntary homicide and committing acts of terror is expected to last up to 10 weeks. He is accused of setting off a bomb in central Oslo that killed eight people, then fatally shooting 69 people at a youth camp run by the ruling Labour Party on nearby Utoya Island. Dressed in a black suit and sporting a jawline beard, Breivik listened impassively as prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh read the charges, describing how dozens of young people were shot to death. Breivik says his rampage was meant to save Norway from being taken over by multicultural forces and to prevent ethnic cleansing of Norwegians, said his lawyer, Geir Lippestad. In his manifesto, Breivik railed against Muslim immigration and European liberalism, including the Labour Party, which he said was allowing the ""Islamification of Europe."" And in court, he called the trial political and objected to the judge's friendship with a former justice minister. ""I do not recognize the Norwegian court. You've gotten your mandate from political parties that support multiculturalism,"" he said. ""OK, we will make a note of that general objection,"" Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen said curtly. Prosecutors played a recording of a terrified girl phoning for help during the shooting rampage, a recording punctuated by constant firing in the background. They also showed security camera video of the central Oslo bomb blast that killed eight people, images that participants in the trial watched with ashen faces. Breivik sat in court without restraints, behind a bulletproof glass barrier set up to protect him during the six hours of proceedings. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg vowed to double down on Norway's traditions of liberal democracy in response to the attacks, and Breivik's trial appears to be no exception."
" The Archbishop of Dublin has said he is ""disheartened and discouraged"" about the lack of willingness in the Catholic Church to begin the process of renewal. Diarmuid Martin also hit out at what he called ""strong forces"" in the Church, who would prefer the truth about sexual abuse did not come out. In an address last night on the future of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Martin said he was, on a personal level, disheartened and discouraged about the lack of willingness in the Catholic Church, to begin what is going to be a painful path of renewal. Six months on from the publication of the Murphy report, he said he was surprised at the manner in which Church academics and publicists could today calmly act as pundits on the roots of the sexual abuse scandals - as if they were ""totally extraneous"" to the scandals. Archbishop Martin also warned of strong forces within the church, who would prefer the truth about sexual abuse did not come out. He added that there were signs of subconscious denial on the part of many about the extent of the abuse which occurred."
" The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin has warned of ""strong forces"" in the Church in Ireland which would prefer the truth about child sex abuse stayed hidden. Speaking to the Knights of Columbanus in Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin said he felt ""disheartened and discouraged"". He talked about the lack of willingness by some in the Catholic Church to begin the ""painful path of renewal"". There were ""signs of subconscious denial on the part of many about the extent of the abuse,"" he said. The Archbishop said he was surprised at the way church academics and church publicists acted calmly as pundits on the root causes of the abuse, as if the scandals had nothing to do with them. Where were they, he asked, while a Church culture failed to recognise what was happening. The Archbishop said he did not believe that people had a true sense of the crisis of faith in Ireland. He said Irish Catholic schools had educated young people who were ""among the most catechised in Europe, but among the least evangelised."" Bishop of Killaloe Dr Willie Walsh said he largely agreed with Dr Martin's comments on the Catholic Church's handling of clerical child sexual abuse. Bishop Walsh said the Catholic hierarchy was still in denial."
" An official said Iran is moving towards the industrial production of nuclear fuel, with the installation of 3,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Reuters Iran was planning to expand its facilities ""very soon, bit by bit"". Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and aimed at producing energy, denying US claims it is making a bomb. Monday's statement came after diplomats in Vienna began to worry that there was so little activity at Iran's main nuclear site that perhaps work had started on a secret site elsewhere in the country. ""We are moving towards production of nuclear fuel which needs 3,000 centrifuges and more... This plan is going ahead and is moving towards completion,"" Iranian government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said. ""We need to produce fuel on an industrial scale for [our] power plants,"" he said. Centrifuges are the machines than spin uranium gas to enrich it to low levels for fuel and much higher levels for nuclear weapons. So far Iran has succeeded in connecting two cascades of 164 centrifuges each - a limited achievement considering thousands of machines are needed to produce enough fuel for a power plant, says the BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran. The Security Council passed a resolution on 23 December 2006 banning the supply of nuclear-related technology and materials to Iran and imposing an asset freeze on key individuals and companies. Iranian officials have been defiant since, vowing to press ahead with plans to install 3,000 centrifuges."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Hurricane-force winds lashed northern Spain on Saturday, bringing down the roof of a sports hall near Barcelona, killing four children, officials said. Eleven people died in separate incidents in Spain and south-western France as the fiercest storm in a decade blew in from the Atlantic. Torrential rains and winds of up to 184km/h (114mph) were reported. It is now tracking across central Italy, bringing rain and winds of 80-95km/h (50-60mph), forecasters say. Some 1.3 million homes in France suffered power cuts while road and rail links were blocked and airports closed. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit the region on Sunday. The impact of the storm was felt from the Channel Isles to Barcelona, but the strongest winds and heaviest rain were concentrated on south-western France. See map of the storm's path Although this type of active low pressure system is fairly common in winter, BBC meteorologist Alex Deakin says Saturday's storm has been described as the most damaging since that of December 1999, which killed 88 people and uprooted millions of trees. The storm tracked south-eastwards and cleared the south-east coast of France during Saturday evening. The Mediterranean islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily have also been affected. The sports hall partially collapsed in the town of Sant Boi de Llobregat, Catalonia, with between 20 and 30 youngsters inside, officials said. It started at around 0330 with a really wild wind   The youngsters had gathered to play baseball but the fierce winds drove them to take shelter in a small covered area for spectators, made of concrete, with a corrugated iron roof. ""It seems that the roof shifted and brought down part of the wall,"" a regional government spokeswoman said. Local people and fire-fighters helped free the survivors from the rubble but three children aged between nine and 12 died at the scene, and a fourth child died later in hospital. More than a dozen others received treatment for injures. In the Landes region of south-western France, near Bordeaux, a driver was killed by a falling tree, a 78-year-old man was killed by flying debris and a third man, 75, was crushed by a tree A woman, 73, died in France's Gironde region when the storm cut electricity powering her breathing machine A woman was crushed by a door in Burgos, Spain A collapsing wall killed a woman and a falling tree killed a male park employee in the Barcelona area; a man, 60, was killed elsewhere in the Catalonia region In Galicia, a policeman was killed by a falling tree as he directed traffic in Burela and a sailor from a cargo ship died when the vessel got in trouble off the coast A falling wall crushed a man in Aigues de Busot, near Alicante in the south-east of Spain  Tens of thousands of homes have been left without power in Spain. French weather agencies had forecast the storm but it affected a wider area than expected. A state of ""red alert"" was declared in nine departments, but lifted by the end of Saturday. People were screaming on the street below, and bits of masonry and scaffolding continued to fall   The storm caused havoc from the Dordogne area to the Pyrenees. Torrential rains caused flooding in some areas prompting thousands of calls to the emergency services. The force of the storm also led to the closure of airports in Bordeaux, Pau, Biarritz and Toulouse, and train services also ground to a halt, leaving several hundred passengers stranded in stations. Many roads were also blocked. Mark Richardson, a BBC News website reader visiting Bordeaux from the UK, said the city ground to a standstill following the storm overnight and felt like a ghost town. Another reader, Simon Ritchie, witnessed the damage wrought by the storm in the French town of Rodez. ""This morning, I awoke to the sound of very strong winds and lashing rain or hail,"" he said. ""I looked out of my kitchen's skylight window to see scaffolding and sheets or corrugated iron blowing of the adjacent cathedral. One such sheet blew about 50 yards from the tower and landed on a car below, smashing it in completely."" ""People were screaming on the street below, and bits of masonry and scaffolding continued to fall,"" he added."
" Australia said Monday that it was relaxing sanctions on Myanmar, responding to the Southeast Asian country's political reforms by significantly reducing the number of government officials and lawmakers subject to travel restrictions. The Australian government said it would also encourage trade with Myanmar, which had long languished under oppressive military rule. Australia's previous stance had been to neither encourage nor discourage trade and investment with Myanmar, which is also known as Burma. The announcement by Australia follows moves by a number of Western countries to reward recent efforts by the Myanmar president, Thein Sein, and his government to bring about change in the country, including holding by-elections earlier this month in which opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party won dozens of seats. ""Reducing our sanctions and encouraging trade recognize the far-reaching political, economic and social reforms we are witnessing in Burma in recent times,"" the Australian foreign minister, Bob Carr, said in a statement. Carr and the trade minister, Craig Emerson, highlighted the recent release of hundreds of political prisoners, the pursuit of peace deals with ethnic groups and improved laws on freedom of expression, labor rights and political participation. The number of people in Myanmar subject to financial sanctions and travel restrictions by Australia will drop to about 130 from 392, the Australian statement said. Thein Sein ""and other reformists within the government and parliament will be removed from the list, while serving military figures and individuals of human rights concern will remain,"" according to the statement. Australia will also maintain its arms embargo on Myanmar, it said. After separate meetings with Thein Sein and Suu Kyi in Myanmar on Friday, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said sanctions on the country should be suspended, rather than lifted entirely, to encourage further progress in democracy and human rights. His suggestion was supported by Suu Kyi, who noted that a suspension would make it clear that sanctions could be reimposed if reforms are obstructed."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Pope Benedict XVI says the clerical child abuse scandal shows that the greatest threat to Catholicism comes from ""sin within"" the Church. He made his comments in response to a question while en route to Portugal. Critics have previously accused the Vatican of attempting to blame the media and the Church's opponents for the escalation of the scandal. But the Pope made clear its origin came from within the Church itself, and said forgiveness ""does not replace justice"". ""Today we see in a truly terrifying way that the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies, but is born of sin within the Church,"" the pontiff told reporters on a plane bound for Portugal. His comments were his most direct response to media questions, and some of his strongest words yet on the abuse scandal, says BBC Vatican correspondent David Willey, who is travelling with the Pope. Benedict said the Church has ""a very deep need"" to acknowledge that it must do penance for its sins and ""accept purification"". However, he added that forgiveness should not be a substitute for justice. There has been a wave of allegations in the past few months that Church authorities in Europe and North and South America failed to deal properly with priests accused of child sex abuse, sometimes just moving them to new parishes where more children were put at risk. The Pope himself has been accused of being part of a culture of secrecy, and of not taking strong enough steps against paedophiles when he had that responsibility as a cardinal in Rome. However, his supporters say he has been the most pro-active pope yet in confronting abuse. The Pope later on Tuesday landed at Lisbon, the capital, despite fears that the volcanic ash cloud affecting flights in the region would disrupt his plans. Portugal is the site of one of Europe's most popular shrines, at Fatima He celebrated an open-air Mass before a crowd of about 80,000 people in the city. Benedict told the crowd that nothing could destroy the Catholic Church. ""The resurrection of Christ assures us that no adverse power will ever be able to destroy the Church,"" the Pope said during his address the banks of the Tagus river. During his four-day trip the pontiff was also due to celebrate Mass at the Catholic shrine of Fatima, and in Oporto. Church officials say he will address Europe's spiritual and economic crisis. Although nearly 90% of people in Portugal are reported to be Catholics, only about 20% attend Mass regularly, the BBC's Vatican correspondent, David Willey, reports from Lisbon. Pope Benedict intended to tell the Portuguese to seek solace in their faith to relieve the gloom of financial hardship, he says. Carlos Azevedo, the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon and the co-ordinator of the papal visit, said on Monday that the pontiff will speak about ""the joy of faith and hope"". ""The moral values guiding the economy and politics show that there is a spiritual crisis,"" he said. Portugal has been one of the countries worst affected by the economic problems troubling many European states. The highlight of the trip is a visit to Fatima on Wednesday and Thursday, where a giant outdoor Mass has been planned for as many as 500,000 people. Fatima is one of the main sites of Christian pilgrimage in Europe. The Pope will be marking the anniversary of the day in 1917 when three Portuguese shepherd children reported having visions of the Virgin Mary in Fatima."
" The virus was confirmed following the deaths of around 100 ducks in the northern Phitsanulok province. Meanwhile, neighbouring Vietnam says bird flu has reached a seventh province in the Mekong Delta region. Health officials across Asia are on alert as a growing number of countries have reported cases in both birds and humans in recent weeks. Four people have died from the virus in Indonesia this year, while China has confirmed a human infection. Japan is culling 12,000 birds after an outbreak at a farm south-west of Tokyo at the weekend. It is not clear if the virus is the deadly H5N1 strain. As a result of the outbreak, Hong Kong says it is banning all imports of poultry from Japan with immediate effect. Hong Kong itself is carrying out further tests after initial tests on a dead Crested Goshawk showed it carried the H5 strain of the virus. Bird flu has claimed more than 150 lives since it began ravaging Asian poultry farms in late 2003. There had been a noticeable drop in the number of cases in recent months as a result of improved surveillance and vaccination programmes across the region. However, the virus is more active during colder, winter months."
" Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin has warned that there are still strong forces preventing the truth about clerical abuse from emerging. In an address at the headquarters of conservative church group the Knights of St Columbanus, Dr Martin said he was personally disheartened and discouraged about the level of willingness within the church to begin a process of renewal. Archbishop Martin also said questions about safeguarding children should be on the agenda of every meeting of every parish pastoral council. He appealed publicly to all parishes in the Archdiocese to ensure all child protection measures were in place and that there is no let-up in the level of vigilance. The archbishop's comments have been supported by colleagues and those working with survivors of clerical child abuse. Bishop of Killaloe Dr Willie Walsh says he largely agrees with Dr Martin's comments. He said the Catholic hierarchy was still in denial. Support group 'One in Four' said it is encouraging that the Archbishop recognises that child protection procedures are not being implemented in a uniform manner across the Church. It said: 'Once again he has shown himself to be a man of courage who is not afraid to speak the truth.' Executive Director Maeve Lewis added: 'The safety of children will only be assured when church authorities fully understand the enormity of past failures and implement protocols in a manner that prioritises children.'"
" Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- A new cluster of bird flu infections involving at least two members of a family in Indonesia may indicate a change in the virus's ability to sicken people, researchers studying the disease said. The H5N1 avian influenza strain was confirmed yesterday to have infected an 18-year-old man whose mother died of the disease four days ago, said Mukhtar Ikhsan, a doctor treating the teenager and his father in Jakarta's Persahabatan hospital. Tests on the 42-year-old father are pending. If confirmed, the family from a western part of Java may represent the first incidence of H5N1 in a husband and wife, and indicate the virus can infect those without genetic susceptibility to infection, a theory doctors have used to explain previous clusters among blood relatives. The virus could spark a pandemic if it spreads among humans as easily as seasonal flu. The concern is that the virus may eventually overcome a ``genetic component'' that has appeared so far to limit its ability to infect humans, Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in Minneapolis, said in a Jan. 12 interview. ``If that happens, then to me that is the really first worrisome piece of information that the pandemic may be pending.'' Avian flu has killed four people in Indonesia since Jan. 10 after a hiatus of almost two months. World health officials say H5N1 may touch off a pandemic capable of killing millions if it mutates to become easily transmissible between humans. The H5N1 strain is known to have infected 265 people in 10 countries since 2003, killing 159 of them, the World Health Organization said on Jan. 12. Indonesia has recorded at least 59 fatalities, it said. The southeast Asian nation attracted international attention in May when blood relatives from the island of Sumatra contracted the H5N1 virus, six of them fatally. The cases represented the largest reported cluster of infections and the first laboratory-proven instance of human-to-human transmission. ``We have had enough proof from these clusters that there is something about at least certain genetically related individuals in whom the virus does fairly well,'' Osterholm said. ``That, to me, is not necessarily a big barrier to cross.'' Infections in birds and people are increasing, particularly in Asia, where the virus was first identified a decade ago. Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and Nigeria have reported diseased birds in the past month, while China and Egypt also found new human cases. In Thailand, which reported three H5N1 fatalities in July and August, Agriculture Ministry officials are testing dead poultry found on a duck farm in Phitsanulok province earlier this month, the Krungthep Thurakit newspaper reported today, without saying where it obtained the information. The results of laboratory tests may be released today, it said."
" Thailand's leaders, who have been trying to sideline Mr Thaksin, were angry he was able to meet Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar. They are also thought to be unhappy at media interviews Mr Thaksin gave in Singapore, one of which was critical. Mr Thaksin's government was ousted in a military coup in September. The military-backed government stepped up its campaign against Mr Thaksin's regime on Tuesday as the former ruling party, Thai Rak Thai, went on trial accused of electoral fraud. 'Enough is enough' Since being ousted from office, Mr Thaksin has travelled around Asia. The coup leaders fear these visits are politically motivated, and last week cancelled his diplomatic passport. The Thai foreign ministry said it summoned Singapore's ambassador to discuss the meeting between Mr Thaksin and Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, S Jayakumar, at the weekend. ""We informed the Singaporean (ambassador) that we are concerned by the political movements made by Thaksin,"" Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont told reporters. Singapore said the meeting was purely social and private. But Thai officials rejected the explanation, withdrawing an invitation to Singapore's foreign minister to visit Thailand later this month."
" Pope Benedict XVI has begun a four-day trip to Portugal, during which he is likely to call for solidarity across Europe's struggling economies and urge people to uphold Christian values. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of the overwhelmingly Catholic country to welcome the pontiff, whose five-year papacy has been rocked by the recent child sex abuse allegations. The visit has been organised by Carlos Azevedo, the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon. Bishop Azevedo said the pope would focus on Europe's economic crisis, which has hit Portugal hardest, along with Greece. 'The pope will encourage institutions to lend a hand and show solidarity during difficult times,' the bishop said. 'Europe needs to be awoken, there is a lack of strong values. If there was greater ethical conscience, we would not have arrived at the current economic disaster.' Civil servants in the capital have been given the afternoon off today to attend an evening open-air mass with the Pope on the banks of the Tagus. The organisers expect up to 160,000 people to attend. 'We are going to experience this as a celebration,' said Catarina Vieira, one of dozens of blue-uniformed scouts helping to prepare the mass site. Lisbon's public buses are flying the yellow and white Vatican banner and bus shelters have been decorated with posters of the pope with a red robe against a green backdrop to resemble the Portuguese flag. The pope will travel aboard his bullet-proof Popemobile from the airport to the papal nunciature. Since dawn today, hundreds of police officers have been deployed along the 8km route and letter-boxes on the route have been taped over. Ligia Aguilar, a local shop owner, said 'Just because this pope has a certain personality doesn't mean that I will stop being a believer. I would go to mass with any pope that comes to Portugal'."
" Evacuation of Israeli civilians from the Gaza Strip completed Today, Monday, August 22, 2005, the evacuation of all Israeli civilians from  the Israeli communities in the Gaza Strip has been completed, in accordance  with the ""Implementation of the Disengagement Plan 2005"" Law. The evacuation process that lasted 5 days, consisted of the evacuation of  approximately 8000 civilians, from 21 Israeli communities in the Gaza Strip.  During the evacuation Palestinian gunmen opened fire at IDF positions and  Israeli communities on 18 separate occasions, lightly wounding two IDF  soldiers. Furthermore, Palestinians launched two Qassam rockets and fired  ten mortar shells. Two explosive devices were uncovered and neutralized, in  addition to an explosive belt that was uncovered in the Mouassi region, that  was intended to be used in a terror attack in Gush Katif. During the evacuation of the community of Kfar Darom, on August 18, 2005,"
 Two IDF soldiers lightly wounded by machine gun blast during training at southern base (Haaretz)
" Eurozone interest rates have been raised to 1.25% from the record low of 1% by the European Central Bank (ECB). Interest rates had been held at 1% for just under two years following the financial crisis and global recession. ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet said that the rate rise was in response to the risk of accelerating inflation, and added that rates were still very low. He called the decision a ""balancing act"", amid concern the move worsens debt problems for Portugal and others. ""The hike is unwelcome for peripheral countries, but arguably the core member states were in need of this move already some time ago,"" said Mr Trichet in a nod to the differing economic fortunes of the eurozone members. ""In that sense, the timing of the increase is a balancing act, which is part and parcel of the one-size-fits-all monetary policy."" Germany has enjoyed a strong rebound in growth, led by an export boom. In contrast, the economies of Greece, the Republic of Ireland, Portugal and arguably Spain remain trapped by large debts, high unemployment, weak consumer spending and uncompetitiveness. Mr Trichet confirmed that the ECB had ""encouraged the Portuguese authorities to ask for support"" when questioned about its role in Portugal's decision to request a bail-out. On Wednesday, Portugal's prime minister said he would ask for financial assistance from the European Union."
" China's foreign ministry has confirmed that police are investigating artist Ai Weiwei for suspected economic crimes. Mr Ai, who co-designed the Beijing Olympic stadium known as the Bird's Nest, was detained by officials at Beijing airport on Sunday. The man often described as China's most famous contemporary artist is also one of the government's fiercest critics. Meanwhile, another campaigner says he was force-fed milk powder through the nose while on prison hunger strike. Zhao Lianhai is a writer who campaigned for the victims of a 2008 scandal over tainted milk powder after his son's health was affected. Mr Ai is a vocal critic of the Chinese government, complaining about a lack of basic rights and freedoms and often incorporating these political themes into his work. There had been no official information about his whereabouts since being detained on Sunday until China's state news agency, Xinhua, released a one-line report saying he was under investigation by police. The report later appeared to have been removed from the agency's website, but the investigation was then confirmed by China's foreign ministry. ""Ai Weiwei is under investigation on suspicion of economic crimes,"" foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters. Foreign governments have called for Ai Weiwei's immediate release, but Mr Hong brushed off the criticism."
"The government of South Sudan is an enemy and all Sudanese state agencies have to treat her accordingly,"" the parliament's resolution said. After the vote, parliamentary speaker Ahmed Ibrahim el-Tahir called for the overthrow of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, which rules the South. ""We announce that we will clash with SPLM until we end its government of South Sudan. We collect all our resources to reach this goal,"" he said. World powers urged restraint after fighting began with waves of aerial bombardment hitting the South, whose troops last week seized Khartoum's main Heglig oil region from Khartoum's army. It is the most serious clash since South Sudan became independent in July. When the South broke away, Khartoum lost about 75% of its oil production and billions in revenue, leaving the Heglig area as its main oil centre. Legislators said those responsible for the loss of a region that accounted for about half the country's oil output should be held accountable. ""How did we lose Heglig in a matter of hours?"" MP Samia Habani asked.	
BP tries a new Gulf spill fix, as slick spreads	 1 of 37. Oil is seen on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico in an aerial view of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the coast of Mobile, Alabama, in this handout photograph taken from a U.S. Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft on May 6, 2010 and obtained on May 9, 2010. With cleanup efforts in high gear, a blame game will unfold in Washington on Tuesday as executives from BP and two other companies involved, Transocean Ltd and Halliburton Co, appear before Senate panels probing the disaster. BP now aims to deploy a small ""top hat"" dome over the leak after its effort over the weekend to cover it with a huge metal box was stymied by a buildup of crystallized gas hydrates. Fears of a prolonged environmental and economic disaster for the Gulf Coast are growing after the setback for BP, which contracted the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded on April 20, killing 11 people and triggering the spill. Delays in containing the leaking well increase the chances it could become the worst U.S. oil spill, surpassing the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The new plan is to have an oil-barrel-sized container at the leak site, a mile down from the water's surface, within 72 hours, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said. Then oil would be siphoned up to a tanker. ""There will be less seawater in the smaller dome and therefore less likelihood of hydrate formation,"" he told reporters at the company's U.S. headquarters in Houston. Hydrates, essentially slushy methane gas, clogged the top of the dome, preventing crude from being pumped. The projected westward spread of the massive slick it is creating has raised fears for rich fishery areas filled with shrimps, oysters, crabs and crayfish, and even on major shipping channels off the Louisiana coast. The company is also spraying chemical dispersants at the ruptured well, an operation Hayward said was showing some success. The well is spewing an estimated 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons/795,000 liters) of oil a day into the Gulf.
US acts after Iraq murder claim	 Samir Sumaidaie has accused US soldiers of killing his 21-year-old cousin Mohammed in ""cold blood"". His cousin, he said, died from a bullet wound after letting US troops into his house, near Haditha in western Iraq. The US confirmed Mohammed had been ""killed during a search of his family's home"" in June and promised an inquiry. A statement said the death had been referred to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) after a preliminary investigation. The NCIS can investigative suspected crimes by people working under the Department of Navy, which includes the US marines. Iraq's ambassador to the UN last month demanded an inquiry into his relative's death. A letter written by Mr Sumaidaie to his colleagues said his unarmed cousin had been assisting marines in the search of his house when he was killed. Mr Sumaidaie said the ramifications of such a ""serious crime"" were enormous for both the US and Iraq. He said Mohammed, an engineering student, was visiting his family home when some 10 marines with an Egyptian interpreter knocked on the door at 1000 local time. He opened the door to them and was ""happy to exercise some of his English"", said the ambassador.
Australia counts heatwave deaths	 The Australian authorities fear about 20 people have died as a result of one of the worst heatwaves in 100 years to hit the south-east of the country. Most of them were elderly people who had been struggling in the heat. The heatwave has also caused power outages in Melbourne, Australia's second biggest city. The temperature has eased to 31C (88F) after reaching highs of more than 40C in recent days in south-eastern states of Victoria and South Australia. The extreme heat of the past three days has caused disruption, destruction and death. In Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, health officials reported more than 20 sudden deaths, most of them elderly people overcome by the baking temperatures, who had suffered strokes and heart attacks. Raging wildfires have ripped through the Gippsland region of neighbouring Victoria, and at least 10 homes have been destroyed near the rural town of Boolarra. In Melbourne, the state capital, the heatwave has meant disruption to transportation services and power outages. Trains have been cancelled because the rail lines have buckled in the heat. An explosion at an electrical substation left over 300,000 homes without power. Australia's official weather forecasts & weather radar	 This is a dynamic map of Australia. Select one of the state links to view a forecast for that state.	
Gaza violence: Hamas declares ceasefire with Israel	 Islamist group Hamas says it has brokered a deal for Gaza's militant groups to stop firing on Israel, amid the most serious fighting since 2009. The move comes after militants hit an Israeli school bus with an anti-tank shell on Thursday, injuring two people. Israeli strikes later that day had killed five people and injured more than 30, Palestinian doctors said. And on Friday, two Hamas men had been killed by an air strike shortly after dawn, the group said in a statement. Another four Palestinians were injured overnight in separate Israeli attacks at Rafah airport, according to Palestinian sources. Israel says it is responding to Palestinian attacks. Earlier, Israel said it had used a new short-range missile defence system for the first time to destroy rockets fired from Gaza. The Iron Dome system had successfully intercepted a rocket heading for the southern port city of Ashkelon, the military said. Last night, Hamas - which governs the Gaza Strip - met with other militant factions and agreed to enforce a ceasefire if Israel also stopped firing. The Hamas Interior Ministry said the truce was designed to stop an escalation of Israeli ""aggression"". Friday's strike means that is unlikely to hold, says the BBC's Jon Donnison in Gaza City.
Iron Dome successfully intercepts Gaza rocket for first time Israel News	 The Iron Dome missile defense system on Thursday successfully intercepted for the first time a Grad rocket that was fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon from the Gaza Strip. Iron Dome's success Thursday marks the first time in history a short-range rocket was ever intercepted. According to reports from the area, the interception could be seen in Israeli towns near northern Gaza. The second Iron Dome battery was positioned in the area of Ashkelon over the weekend, in addition to a battery already placed north of Be'er Sheva. Following the attack on the bus, in which a 16-year-old boy was seriously wounded and the bus driver was hurt moderately, a barrage of 15 rockets and mortars were fired at southern Israel, most of them hitting open areas. Defense authorities instructed residents in Israeli towns 4.5 kilometers from the Gaza Strip to stay in their protected areas. Several roads in the area were also blocked. Last week, the Iron Dome anti-rocket system was deployed for the first time and the system has been working as an ""operational experiment"" since Sunday. The Israeli-developed system uses cameras and radar to track incoming rockets and is supposed to shoot them down within seconds of their launch. Security officials said the new barrage of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip and public pressure had led the military to deploy the system, which is still being fine-tuned. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss operational decisions. Meanwhile on Thursday, three rockets landed in an open area in the Negev region, as well as 15 mortar shells, following an attack from Gaza on a bus carrying children which wounded two people.
Triple Baghdad blasts kill dozens	 Two of the blasts went off within 10 minutes of each other at 0800 (0400 GMT) at the busy Nahda bus station. The third blast happened on the road to a nearby hospital some 15 minutes later, just as victims of the first two attacks were being brought in. Four men were arrested at the bus station on suspicion of being involved in the bombings, officials said. No details have been given about the suspects, who are now being questioned. All three attacks were less than 30 minutes apart, and police say their apparent co-ordination and planning means casualty figures are almost certain to rise. Attacks have dropped off amid negotiations on a new Iraqi constitution, which reached a deadlock this week. Police and officials investigating the attacks were trying to determine whether the blasts were work of suicide bombers. The bus station serves various parts of the country and would normally have been crowded with travellers at the time of the attacks, says the BBC's Mike Wooldridge in Baghdad. ""We heard an explosion in the garage, we went there and ran towards the buses for Kut, Basra and Amara,"" said Ahmed Jabur. ""A coach blew up. When we were leaving, another one blew up in the middle of police cars."
" Police spokesman Abdul Raouf Ahmadi said the first blast hit a civilian vehicle in Badghis province, killing 10 passengers. The second, minutes later nearby, struck a police car, killing two policemen. The strikes took place on Sunday, but were not reported until Monday morning. Badghis, in the northwest of Afghanistan, is one of the northern areas that has seen increasing militant activity as Taliban fighters spread their influence from traditional strongholds in the south and east of the country. Roadside bombs are by far the militants' most lethal weapon, usually targeting police or government troops as well as foreign forces. Frequently, civilians are also killed. Civilian deaths caused by Western or government forces are a source of intense anger in Afghanistan, but the United Nations says most civilian deaths are caused by insurgents and the number killed by troops is declining. Mullah Abdul Manan, a militant commander in the area, said the two bombs had killed Afghan and foreign troops, and denied that civilians had been killed."
" At least 12 people have been killed by two roadside bombs in the north-western Afghan province of Badghis, police say. The first blast hit a vehicle, killing 10 civilians. The second bomb exploded nearby shortly afterwards, killing two people in their vehicle, police said. Unconfirmed reports say the second blast killed at least one policeman. Meanwhile, five Nato soldiers were wounded in a double suicide bomb attack on the eastern town of Khost, a Nato spokeswoman said. There were explosions and gunfire from the centre of town as Afghan police and soldiers, joined by troops from the Nato-led International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf), fought a small group of militants armed with guns and explosives. Isaf spokeswoman Sgt Sabrina Foster said two suicide bombers detonated their explosives outside the Khost governor's palace, wounding five Isaf soldiers. Taliban insurgents have increasingly resorted to roadside improvised explosive devices in their attacks across the country, and conducting raids on the capital Kabul and other cities. US, Nato and Afghan forces are currently engaged in a major anti-Taliban offensive in the southern province of Helmand. Officials have signalled that the operation is likely to be expanded to surrounding areas."
" EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attends an official meeting in Tehran March 8, 2010. ""It was approved,"" speaker Ali Larijani said. The Mehr news agency said 151 deputies out of 290 approved the outlines of the budget after making some amendments. Larijani said only 226 members were present at the vote. A senior official has said the government projects revenues of 596 trillion rials (about $59.6 billion) in fiscal 2010/11, which will result in a $6 billion deficit. That includes plans to phase out costly subsidies on food and energy during fiscal 2010/11 -- which begins March 21 -- which the government has already said will add 15 percentage points to its average inflation forecast of 10 percent in 2010/11. Analysts estimate the cuts could send inflation spiralling back to 30 percent or more and lead to a repeat of rioting seen in 2007. ""Do we have any solution to curb the inflationary impact of this plan to solve the people's problems?"" moderate MP Mostafa Kavakebian said during Monday's debate on the budget in parliament, broadcast on state radio. ""According to government officials, the inflation rate in the next year will reach 25 percent, while experts believe it will be higher than this figure."" Inflation currently stands at 8.9 percent but is on the rise again after coming down from nearly 30 percent since late 2008. ""The government and the parliament spent days on this budget bill ... and were aiming at decreasing its inflationary impact as well as increasing the rate of economic growth in the best possible manner,"" government representative Ebrahim Azizi said in a speech before the voting took place. Iran is the world's fifth-largest crude oil exporter, but while oil prices have surged Iran's economy has slowed as a result of the global economic downtown, political isolation and sanctions over its nuclear energy program. Analysts estimate it probably will have grown just 0.5 percent in the year ending March 2010."
" The Catholic Church is facing a new scandal in the Netherlands Dutch Catholic bishops have ordered an independent inquiry into alleged sexual abuse of children by priests. The investigation would be launched ""as soon as possible"" into more than 200 reported cases of abuse, they said. Earlier, the Vatican defended its response to child sex abuse allegations in a number of European states, saying it had reacted rapidly and decisively. In the latest revelations, the head of an Austrian monastery confessed to abusing a boy more than 40 years ago. The Dutch Catholic Church offered its apologies to the victims: ""To the victims of abuse in Catholic boarding schools, the religious leaders and bishops offer their deep-felt condolences and apologies,"" a statement said. Allegations first centred on a school in the eastern Netherlands, with people saying they were abused by Catholic priests. This prompted dozens more alleged victims from other institutions to come forward in recent days. It also emerged on Tuesday that the head of a Salzburg monastery, Bruno Becker, had offered his resignation on Monday after confessing to having abused a boy 40 years ago, when he was a monk. The German, Austrian, Irish and US churches have all been damaged by sexual abuse scandals, and suggestions that senior clergy covered up what was happening. Earlier on Tuesday, a Vatican spokesman said in a statement the sexual abuse scandals were especially deplorable given the educational and moral responsibilities of the Catholic Church, but that the institutions in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands had shown that it wanted to be transparent. ""They have demonstrated their desire for transparency and, in a certain sense, accelerated the emergence of the problem by inviting victims to speak out, even when the cases involved date from many years ago,"" said Father Federico Lombardi. ""By doing so, they have approached the matter 'on the right foot', because the correct starting point is recognition of what happened and concern for the victims and the consequences of the acts committed against them."" He denied the Vatican had tried to erect a ""wall of silence"" around the scandals surfacing in many countries. On Monday, the German justice minister said Vatican secrecy rules were complicating investigations of the cases. Allegations of sexual abuse are being investigated in 18 of Germany's 27 Roman Catholic dioceses, where former students from a number of Catholic schools have alleged sexual abuse by teachers. The worldwide media publicity given to the scandals has proved disconcerting to the Vatican, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome. It is doing its best to limit the moral damage caused to the church by stressing that paedophilia is a problem not limited to Catholic institutions and teachers, but which must be tackled in a broader context within civil society, our correspondent adds. In Germany, there have also been allegations of abuse at a church choir in the Regensburg Diocese. These are especially sensitive because the choir was run by the Pope's own elder brother, Father Georg Ratzinger, from 1964-1993 - though the abuse is alleged to have happened before he took charge. He has denied any knowledge of the sex abuse cases. But he admitted in an interview that discipline was strict, and that he himself had sometimes slapped pupils in the face. ""Pupils told me on concert trips about what went on. But it didn't dawn on me from their stories that I should do something. I was not aware of the extent of these brutal methods,"" he told the Passauer Neue Presse. ""At the start, I also slapped people in the face, but I always had a bad conscience,"" he said, adding he was relieved when corporal punishment was banned in 1980."
" Syrian government forces shelled the city of Homs, resident opposition activists and a rights activist said, as a six-person advance party of UN observers is due to arrive in Syria to monitor a ceasefire meant to start four days ago. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that the 30 unarmed observers who have been sanctioned to enter Syria by a unanimous vote at the Security Council on Saturday was insufficient and had to be ""beefed up."" ""This number of people cannot possibly effectively monitor what is happening in the whole country,"" he said in an interview with Sky News, adding that 30 monitors could, however, quickly visit areas where they are reports of ceasefire breaches. ""The plan will be for a much larger (team), more in the hundreds, of monitors to follow them provided the (ceasefire) plan is being implemented by all concerned,"" he said. But four days after a ceasefire was meant to come into effect, violence persists. ""Early this morning we saw a helicopter and a spotter plane fly overhead. Ten minutes later, there was heavy shelling,"" said Walid al-Fares, an activist living in the battered Homs district of Khalidiya. Activist video footage, reportedly from Khalidiya, shows an explosion shortly after the sound of a missile flying through the air. Another whiz follows, and the cameraman, standing in a nearby building, pans across to show a ball of flames and smoke rising into the air. Rami Abdelrahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said shells were being fired at a rate of one a minute. He said there had also been overnight clashes in rural Aleppo. ""People said they heard explosions and shooting after rebels attacked a police station and then clashed with police,"" he said. Syria blames the violence on ""terrorists"" seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad and has repeatedly denied journalists access to the country, making it impossible to independently verify the reports."
" The first members of a U.N. monitoring team have arrived in Syria, a U.N. spokesman said early Monday, four days after a so-called cease-fire that is showing serious signs of collapse. The six monitors arrived Sunday in Damascus and will begin their work Monday morning, said Kieran Dwyer, a spokesman for peacekeeping missions at the United Nations. ""They will be liaising with the Syrian government, security forces and the opposition members to establish the monitoring process across the country,"" Dwyer said. The first members of the advance team arrived a day after the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to authorize unarmed observers to travel to Syria to monitor the shaky cease-fire. The 15-member council approved the deployment of an advance team of 30 monitors meant to pave the way for a larger group of up to 250 observers, calling on Syria to provide them unimpeded freedom of movement. The remaining 24 members of the advance team will arrive in Damascus in the coming days, Dwyer said. The second, larger deployment rests on how the cease-fire holds and whether discussions between Syria and U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan can make headway to quell the bloodshed. Still, the resolution marks the Security Council's first on Syria since the conflict gripping the country broke out more than a year ago. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pledged to try to develop by Wednesday a more concrete proposal for an official, and likely more broadly defined, observer mission. Bouthaina Shaaban, a Syrian government spokeswoman and presidential adviser, said Sunday that the ""length of work of the observers and their movement will be determined in coordination with the government of Syria."" A protocol agreement on the observers' mission will need to be signed before the larger group is allowed to come, she said, according to a transcript on the website of state-run Al Dunya TV. ""Syria cannot be responsible for their security unless it participates and coordinates all the steps on the ground,"" she said."
" The head of Chile's oceanographic service has been sacked following the earthquake and tsunami that killed about 800 people last week. The Navy said Commander Mariano Rojas had failed to provide a clear warning prior to the killer tsunami which followed the 8.8-quake, according to AFP. The service, which forms part of the Chilean navy, was widely criticised for its failure to issue a nationwide warning. Port authorities in certain coastal towns issued their own tsunami warnings, but a national alert never came, the BBC reported. Military officials admitted to transmitting ""very unclear information"" to President Michelle Bachelet on whether to lift or maintain a tsunami alert as giant waves began crashing into the Pacific coast. The navy has also launched an inquiry into how the disaster was handled, according to a government statement. Commander Rojas will be replaced by Commander Patricio Carrasco at the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (Shoa)."
" The Chilean navy has sacked the head of the country's oceanography service, Mariano Rojas, after accusing him of failing to issue a clear warning of a tsunami caused by last week's earthquake. The navy has also launched an inquiry into how the disaster was handled. The official death toll has now been reduced to 452 from 800, but hundreds of people are still missing. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is due to visit the sticken city of Concepcion today. He arrived in the capital Santiago yesterday to assess the damage. His visit comes on the back of three strong aftershocks. A first 6.2-magnitude aftershock jolted people awake at 9.20am (Irish time) on Friday, just six days after the 8.8-magnitude quake which has left some 2m homeless. That was followed by a 6.8-magnitude tremor and another measuring 6.6. Some damaged buildings in Concepcion collapsed, but the national emergency services said the aftershocks caused no injuries or serious damage. Chile plans three days of national mourning starting from midnight on Sunday, when flags will be hung on front doors out of respect for the dead."
" A senior Taliban commander is likely to have been killed by an air strike in Pakistan's north-west, officials say. The interior minister said he assumed Maulana Faqir Mohammed was dead after helicopters hit a building in Mohmand region, killing at least 16 militants. Faqir Mohammed - one of the Pakistani Taliban's top figures and commander in the Bajaur tribal area - has been the focus of recent Pakistani action. A number of Taliban leaders have been arrested or killed in recent weeks. Washington has been urging Pakistan to act against Afghan Taliban members taking shelter in the tribal areas along the border. The Pakistani military said recently that the Bajaur area, on the border and once a haven for Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, had been cleared of insurgents. Speaking in Islamabad, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said he could not confirm the death of Maulana Faqir Mohammed, but expected he was killed in the strike. ""We had real-time intelligence that Faqir Mohammad was in a meeting with another commander, Qari Zia-ur-Rehman, in the basement of this hideout at the time of the attack,"" Mr Malik said, quoted by Reuters news agency. ""I would be surprised if he's alive. I hope we'll have confirmation in a day or so."" Mr Malik did confirm the death of one senior Taliban figure in the raid, Fateh Mohammed, a military commander in the Swat valley area."
" 1 of 8. Supporters of Muslim cleric Maulana Sufi Mohammad arrive in Mingora in the outskirts of Swat valley, February 21, 2009. In the neighboring Bajaur region on the Afghan border, the government announced a four-day ceasefire in response to a unilateral truce called by militants there on Monday. The ceasefires are likely to compound concerns among Western countries which fear truces allow militants to create sanctuaries in Pakistan where they can regroup and intensify their insurgency against Western forces in neighbouring Afghanistan. The indefinite ceasefire in Swat follows an agreement by authorities to enforce Islamic sharia law in the valley, which until 2007 was one of Pakistan's prime tourist destinations. A 10-day truce announced in response to the agreement on sharia law had been made permanent, said a Taliban spokesman in the valley, 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Islamabad. ""We have agreed on an indefinite ceasefire,"" said the spokesman, Muslim Khan. Khan said the Taliban in the valley, led by militant cleric Fazlullah, also decided to release three people, including two politicians, as a goodwill gesture. The militants had virtually taken over control of the valley in recent months, residents said, killing enemies and blowing up schools which they said the security forces were using as posts. The army said on Monday it had ceased operations against militants in Swat and said there would be no sanctuary for militants there if the writ of the state was re-established. While militants negotiated from a position of strength in Swat, in the Bajaur region they had been hard pressed by security forces in recent months and declared their ceasefire after they appeared to have been cornered."
" One US soldier and an Iraqi interpreter have been killed and three soldiers wounded by gunfire from police in Iraq. The shooting took place at a checkpoint under a bridge in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday as coalition forces were touring the site. Two policemen opened fire before fleeing by car. The US military said the four soldiers were taken to hospital where one died of his wounds. An investigation is under way. A second interpreter was also injured. Initial reports from Iraqi sources said up to six US troops had been killed, although the US military said only that three were injured. ""The injured personnel were taken to the combat support hospital in Mosul. An investigation is ongoing to determine the cause and nature of the attack,"" a US military statement said. A police intelligence source said the Americans were invited to lunch with Iraqi police at a checkpoint under a bridge, reports the BBC's Mike Sergeant in Baghdad. He says when the soldiers arrived, the two policemen - a corporal and a private - opened fire on them, before making their escape. Our correspondent says the shooting is not the first such incident, but it is the most serious of its kind for some time."
" A 7.3-magnitude quake has struck off Japan's eastern coast, triggering a small tsunami and sparking evacuations. A one-metre wave hit Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture and many people heeded calls to move to higher ground before all alerts were later lifted. The quake epicentre was about 245km (150 miles) south-east of Kamiashi at a depth of about 36km, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. Miyagi was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had said there was no threat to the wider Pacific Ocean but had warned a local tsunami could be destructive for local coastlines. Continue reading the main story A 7.3-magnitude earthquake is not a small event. Even in Tokyo, the buildings shook violently, creaking as they swayed back and forth. But the epicentre was more than 250km offshore, and Japan's cities are engineered to withstand earthquakes, probably better than anywhere else in the world. So the biggest danger was from another tsunami. And initially it looked like one might be coming. Tsunami alarms went off along the north-east coast. Radio broadcasts on the national NHK station told people on the coast to leave their homes immediately. In the end, when the tsunami came ashore, it was small and didn't do any significant damage. But since the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, everybody is a lot more jittery about any suggestion of a tsunami. There have been no reports of deaths, injuries or serious damage, and all tsunami warnings were cancelled at 19:20 local time (10:20 GMT), broadcaster NHK said. Warnings of the tsunami height had varied between 50cm and 2m. The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo says any such height would represent a far lower risk of devastation than the tsunami of up to 11 metres that struck in 2011 but that, since then, the country has clearly become jittery about any shaking of the earth. The tsunami warnings had extended from the top of the main island of Honshu down towards Tokyo and evacuations were ordered from some of the affected areas."
" 1 of 7. Passengers gather after train services were suspended following an earthquake at Sendai station in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, in this photo taken by Kyodo December 7, 2012. The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and thousands of coastal residents were ordered to evacuate to higher ground, but the tsunami warning was lifted two hours after the tremor struck. The March 2011 earthquake and following tsunami killed nearly 20,000 people and triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years when the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant was destroyed, leaking radiation into the sea and air. Workers at the plant were ordered to move to safety after Friday's quake. Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, reported no irregularities at its nuclear plants. All but two of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors have been idled since the Fukushima disaster as the government reviews safety. The quake measured a ""lower 5"" in Miyagi prefecture on Japan's scale of one to seven, meaning there might be some damage to roads and houses that are less quake resistant. The scale measures the amount of shaking and in that sense gives a better idea of possible damage than the magnitude. The quake registered a 4 in Tokyo The one-meter tsunami hit at Ishinomaki, in Miyagi, at the centre of the devastation from the March 2011 disaster. All Miyagi trains halted operations and Sendai airport, which was flooded by the tsunami last year, closed its runway. Five people in the prefecture were slightly injured. ""I was in the centre of the city the very moment the earthquake struck. I immediately jumped into the car and started running away towards the mountains. I'm still hiding inside the car,"" said Ishinomaki resident Chikako Iwai."
" Central Nigeria attacks lead to 'at least 100 deaths' Many of the victims were cut with machetes, doctors said At least 100 people have been reported killed in suspected religious clashes near the central Nigerian city of Jos. Witnesses said several villages just outside of the city were attacked simultaneously overnight. Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has put security forces in central Nigeria on full alert. In January hundreds of people were killed in riots in Jos, which lies between the mainly Muslim north and the more Christian south. Ethnic and religious riots also broke out in 2008, killing hundreds. The attack happened before dawn on Sunday morning when gangs of men descended on several communities, centred on the village of Dogo-Nahawa, and attacked people with machetes, reports say. A resident of Dogo-Nahawa said the attackers had fired guns as they entered the village. ""The shooting was just meant to bring people from their houses and then when people came out they started cutting them with machetes,"" Peter Jang told Reuters. Divisions accentuated by system of classifying people as indigenes and settlers Hausa-speaking Muslims living in Jos for decades are still classified as settlers Settlers find it difficult to stand for election Divisions also exist along party lines: Christians mostly back the ruling PDP; Muslims generally supporting the opposition ANPP An aid worker with the Christian charity Stefanus Foundation, Mark Lipdo, said at least 100 people had been killed. He told the BBC he went to the villages of Zot and Dogo-Nahawa after daylight on Sunday and recorded the names of 77 victims and said there were at least two dozen more bodies. ""We saw mainly those who are helpless, like small children and then the older men, who cannot run, these were the ones that were slaughtered."" He said Zot had been almost wiped out. Other witnesses said they had also seen at least 100 bodies and a Plateau state official told Reuters news agency that more than 300 people had died. A doctor at a hospital in Jos told news agencies that victims had been cut by machetes and burnt. The military, which already has a presence in Jos, has sent troops to Dogo-Nahawa. ""The acting president has placed all the security forces in Plateau and neighbouring states on red alert so as to stem any cross-border dimensions to this latest conflict,"" Mr Jonathan's office said in a statement quoted by Reuters news agency. He also ordered those behind the violence to be found. Analysts say the attack seems to be in reprisal for the clashes between Christians and Muslims in January, which claimed the lives of at least 200 people and displaced thousands of others. Hundreds of people have fled from Jos in the aftermath of the fighting, the Red Cross says. Robin Waudo, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, told the BBC his volunteers were assisting people wounded in the latest fighting. ""We know that late this morning there was some fighting in the south part of the city and it seems like there are reprisal attacks from what happened a few weeks ago,"" he said."
" US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is to review allegations of misconduct in Afghanistan by the security company formerly known as Blackwater. The review comes a day after a leading Democrat said the Pentagon should consider barring it from applying for a contract to train Afghan police. The Pentagon said it could not bar the company from applying for the billion-dollar police training contract. A spokesman for company, now called Xe, said it welcomed the review. A spokesman for the company, Mark Corallo, said Xe has an excellent record of training security personnel in Afghanistan. However, in a letter to Mr Gates at the end of February, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin cited allegations of misconduct against the firm made before the committee. He said there was evidence of misconduct in a previous subcontract awarded to a Blackwater affiliate to conduct weapons training for the Afghan National Army. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said of Mr Gates' response: ""He is looking into it and he takes it seriously. He shares [Mr Levin's] concerns."" But he said it was not possible to bar the company without following strict regulations. ""You can't willy-nilly choose not to do business with a company,"" he said."
" * Violence in same area killed hundreds in January JOS, Nigeria, March 7 (Reuters) - Nigeria's acting president on Sunday ordered the security forces to hunt down those behind clashes involving Muslim herders and Christian villagers in which more than 300 people may have been killed. The latest unrest in Nigeria's central Plateau state comes at a difficult time, with acting leader Goodluck Jonathan trying to assert his authority while ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua remains too sick to govern the oil-producing nation. Villagers in Dogo Nahawa, just south of the state capital Jos, said Hausa-Fulani herders from surrounding hills attacked at about 3 a.m. (0200 GMT), shooting into the air before cutting those who came out of their homes with machetes. A Red Cross official said at least two other nearby communities were also targetted, in an area close to where sectarian clashes killed hundreds of people in January, but that it was too early to give an overall death toll. A Reuters witness counted more than 120 bodies -- most lying in Dogo Nahawa, others taken to mortuaries in Jos -- but Plateau State Commissioner for Information Gregory Yenlong said more than 300 people, including women and children, had died. Jonathan put the security forces on red alert to try to prevent reprisal attacks spreading into neighbouring states. ""Reports reaching us indicated marauding bands launched a flurry of attacks on certain communities in the state, causing considerable death and injury,"" Jonathan's office said. ""The Acting President ... has directed that the security services undertake strategic initiatives to confront and defeat these roving bands of killers,"" it said in a statement. Some of the bodies seen by the Reuters witness -- including those of women and children -- were charred, others had machete wounds across their faces. Aid workers said some had been shot."
" LONDON, England (CNN) -- Four British soldiers died Wednesday in Afghanistan, bringing the number of international troops killed since Friday in the war-torn country to 11. Three British soldiers under NATO command were killed in an explosion in the southern part of the country, and a British Royal Marine died as a result of wounds sustained during a NATO-led patrol on Monday, the British Defense Ministry in London said. The British Defense Ministry said the three soldiers, from 1st Battalion The Rifles, died from wounds suffered in an ""enemy explosion during an escort operation in the Gereshk district of Helmand province."" ""Today has been incredibly sad for the whole of Task Force Helmand, and particularly for The Rifles,"" Task Force Helmand spokeswoman Cmdr. Paula Rowe said in a written statement. ""We will all feel the loss of these brave soldiers, whose role was to build the capacity of the Afghan National Army. But it is their family, friends and loved ones, as well as the men and women who served alongside them, who feel the greatest pain, and we offer them our deepest and heartfelt condolences, thoughts and prayers."" The Royal Marine who was wounded Monday had been returned to England for medical treatment but died in Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, the Defense Ministry said. He was wounded by ""enemy fire whilst on a reassurance patrol in near Sangin in Northern Helmand,"" it said. Four coalition members and an Afghan civilian working with the coalition were killed Tuesday in southern Afghanistan when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. On Friday, three American troops were killed by a roadside bomb and subsequent small arms fire during a combat reconnaissance patrol in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan. Meanwhile, in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, a civilian was killed Wednesday when a remote-controlled bomb attached to a motorbike exploded as an Afghan army convoy passed, police said. Two children and three Afghan soldiers were wounded in the blast, police said."
" Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal kissed the ground and wept as he arrived in Gaza on Friday on a historic first visit to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Islamist organisation and what it claims was a victory in the recent war with Israel. ""I have been dreaming of this historic moment my entire life, to come to Gaza,"" said the exiled leader, who last stood on Palestinian soil as a teenager. He paid tribute to the ""blood of [Gaza's] heroes"". He told reporters it was another rebirth following a failed attempt by Israel to assassinate him in 1997. He prayed that his next rebirth would come ""the day we liberate Palestine"". After entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing from Egypt, Meshaal visited the homes of Hamas's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was killed by Israel in 2004, and Hamas military commander Ahmed al-Jabari, whose assassination by Israel last month triggered the eight-day war. Hundreds of people turned out to greet him amid the heavy presence of Hamas security guards. He is expected to address a huge rally in Gaza City on Saturday. Hamas has also invited Fatah officials to take part in the rally in a further sign that the two factions may be moving closer to reconciliation. Fatah leader Yahya Rabah said the organisation would celebrate ""with our brothers in Hamas"", the Ma'an news agency reported. However, the leader of Islamic Jihad, another militant organisation with a strong presence in Gaza, reportedly cancelled a trip to the area following warnings that Israel might try to assassinate him. Egyptian authorities, who are mediating in post-ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, told Islamic Jihad's secretary general, Ramadan Shalah, that he risked being targeted by an Israeli air strike if he crossed from Egypt to Gaza for the celebrations, according to Ma'an. Meshaal was also expected to visit the home of the Dalou family, 10 of whose members were killed in an air strike during the conflict. An investigation into the deaths of the Dalou family by Human Rights Watch found that the air strike was ""a clear violation of the laws of war"". Describing the incident as ""the largest number of civilians killed in a single attack during the Gaza fighting"" last month, Human Rights Watch said Mohammed al-Dalou, who was killed in the strike, was a low-ranking civilian police officer. An Israeli military spokeswoman described him as ""a known terror operative""."
" The RUF trio committed atrocities during the 1991-2001 civil war An international tribunal has found three Sierra Leone rebels guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. RUF leaders Issa Sesay, 38, and Morris Kallon, 45, were convicted of 16 of the 18 charges, while Augustine Gbao, 60, was found guilty on 14 of the counts. The Freetown trial of the RUF rebel leaders, related to Sierra Leone's 10-year civil war, began in mid-2004. Many RUF victims in the court sighed with relief at the verdicts. Sentences will be decided at a later date. The BBC's Umaru Fofana at the court in Freetown said that as the verdicts were delivered, Sesay looked very serious and Kallon, clad in a smart light green suit, could have been mistaken for one of the lawyers, while Gbao buried his face in his hands and looked very dejected. The last case to be held at the special court had heard how the rebel leaders were involved in the rape, mutilation and killings of civilians. Tens of thousands of civilians had limbs, noses or ears chopped off The three committed atrocities during the 1991-2001 civil war as senior commanders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). On Wednesday the judges concluded the rebel chiefs ""significantly contributed"" to a joint criminal enterprise with former Liberian President Charles Taylor to control the diamond fields of Sierra Leone to finance their warfare. They were also found guilty of forced marriage - the enslavement that countless young girls suffered when their villages were raided and they were forced to ""marry"" a rebel. The convictions mark the first time the forced marriage charge has been successfully handed down in an international court of law. The trial heard harrowing tales from 75 prosecution witnesses of rapes and killings at the hands of the RUF. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The three rebels chiefs were initially indicted along with RUF founder Foday Sankoh, a close ally of Mr Taylor. But Sankoh died in custody before the case ever came to trial. Tactics favoured by the rebels included amputating hands and arms or carving the initials RUF into the bodies of their victims. The RUF was notorious for using the so-called Small Boys Units - child soldiers forcibly recruited and issued with AK-47 assault rifles - who had a reputation for particular cruelty among the civilian population. By the time the conflict ended, some 120,000 people had been killed while tens of thousands were left mutilated, their arms, legs, noses or ears cut off. Sierra Leone expert Gregory Gordon, a US law professor who has worked as a prosecutor in Africa, told the BBC's Network Africa programme: ""When we think about blood diamonds, when we think about people having their hands chopped off, when we think about child soldiers and sexual slavery and forced marriages - all the horrors of the civil war in Sierra Leone, we think about the Revolutionary United Front."" The only trial still ongoing before the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone is that of Mr Taylor, whose case has been moved to The Hague for security reasons. He faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Sierra Leone conflict was depicted in the 2006 film Blood Diamond, starring Djimon Hounsou, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly."
" A Somali Islamist group with links to al-Qaeda has captured another town, the latest in a string of gains by the movement known as al-Shabab. The rebels - who are opposed to UN-sponsored reconciliation efforts in Somalia - overpowered pro-government forces in Hudur early on Wednesday. Four civilians in Mogadishu were killed bringing the death toll to about 50 and 120 injured from two days of fighting. It comes days after the new president returned to the Somali capital. Correspondents say it is the fiercest fighting since President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was elected by MPs in January under a UN-brokered peace deal. The first bunch of nearly 100 lawmakers and ministers arrived in Mogadishu from Djibouti on Wednesday to help the president in his efforts to set up a new unity government. The failed Horn of Africa state has not had a functioning national government since 1991. BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says the spreading influence of Islamic fundamentalists allied to al-Qaeda will be viewed with considerable alarm by Somalia's neighbours - Kenya and Ethiopia - as well as by the United States. The shell landed on the school as the students were busy studying, blood was everywhere   The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says another 11 people died as al-Shabab fighters seized Hudur, 300km (180 miles) north-west of Mogadishu on Wednesday morning. Most government officials fled to Hudur after Somalia's temporary seat of government, Baidoa, fell to al-Shabab last month. In the last six months al-Shabab has captured swathes of southern and central Somalia, including the ports of Kismayo and Merca and the towns of Buloburte and Elbur. But the movement was also forced out of the towns of Guriel and Dusamareb in the last month after clashes with rival militias and former warlords. Back in Mogadishu, thousands of residents have been fleeing a second day of fighting in the south of the city near the presidential palace, as rebels took on African Union and pro-government troops. Among at least four civilians killed was a child who died when a shell hit a school. Mo'alim Mohamed Aden Yusuf, a teacher, told AP news agency by telephone: ""The shell landed on the school as the students were busy studying. Blood was everywhere."" At the weekend, al-Shabab claimed a suicide attack which left 11 Burundian peacekeepers dead at a Mogadishu barracks. Civilians as usual are bearing the brunt of the bloodshed Al-Shabab counts foreigners in its ranks and deputy al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri regularly issues statements in the group's support. The movement is loosely allied with another recently formed grouping - the Islamic Party - whose forces now control parts of Mogadishu. The fragile transitional government has been left with little more than sections of the capital under its control. Ethiopian troops, which had been in the country since 2006 to support that government, pulled out at the end of January. Some three million people - half the population - need food aid after years of fighting."
" Italian PM Mario Monti has said he plans to resign after passing Italy's 2013 budget. The gist is that last week, Silvio Berlusconi's party withdrew its support for Monti (a technocrat, caretaker PM, who was never elected). Below is translated version of the statement that came out of the Italian President's office. The translation is sloppy, but the gist is that Monti sees that he has lost the majority. All that being said, the real news is already known: That Berlusconi intends to content for the PM office in elections that are coming up in a few months. This doesn't change the calendar that much. The President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano at the Quirinale tonight received the Prime Minister's Office, Senator Mario Monti. President of the Republic has proposed to the Chairman of the outcome of the talks with the representatives of the political forces that had supported from the beginning the Government and the presidents of the Senate and House of Representatives. Chairman of the Board, for its part noted that the following statement yesterday in Parliament by the Secretary of the PDL on. Angelino Alfano is, in substance, a categorical judgment of no confidence against the government and its line of action. Chairman of the Board does not consider it possible to further carry out its mandate and has accordingly expressed his intention to resign . The President of the Council will ensure as soon as possible if the political forces that do not want to take responsibility for causing the temporary operation - making it even more serious consequences of a crisis of governance, including at European level - are ready to compete in approval times short of the laws of stability and budget. Immediately after the President of the Council shall, after consulting the Council of Ministers, to formalize his irrevocable resignation in the hands of the President of the Republic."
" Vietnamese police have broken up anti-China protests in two cities and detained 20 people in the first such demonstrations since tensions between the communist neighbours flared anew over rival claims to the oil and gas-rich South China Sea. Hundreds of protesters, some waving banners and chanting ""Down with China's aggression!"", were intercepted by security forces as they tried to approach the Chinese embassy in the capital, Hanoi, on Sunday. Activists at the scene said that the 20 demonstrators were rounded up into a bus after the half-hour rally, the fifth such display of public discontent in Hanoi this year against Beijing's perceived aggression in the sea. Security forces also broke up a similar anti-China protest in the southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City. Protesters shouted ""Down with China"" and carried banners bearing the slogan ""China's military expansion threatens world peace and security."" Using loudspeakers, authorities urged them to disperse and tried to reassure them that ""the Communist Party and government are resolutely determined to defend our country's sovereignty and territory through peaceful means based on international law."" Vietnam and China have long sparred over who owns the South China Sea, which is also claimed in whole or part by Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Vietnam last week alleged that Chinese shipping vessels sabotaged one of its seismic survey vessels in the South China Sea. This week the government warned Beijing not to do that again and presented a list of its violations in the disputed sea. China responded by denying the allegations and demanding that Vietnam stop its navy harassing Chinese boats."
" 1 of 5. A security officer runs after an explosion at the entrance of the U.S. embassy in Ankara February 1, 2013. A suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard (not in picture) at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, blowing the door off a side entrance and sending smoke and debris flying into the street. The attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body after entering an embassy gatehouse. The blast could be heard a mile away. A lower leg and other human remains lay on the street. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the bomber was a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), a far-left group which is virulently anti-U.S. and anti-NATO and is listed as a terrorist organization by Washington. The White House said the suicide attack was an ""act of terror"" but that the motivation was unclear. U.S. officials said the DHKP-C were the main suspects but did not exclude other possibilities. Islamist radicals, extreme left-wing groups, ultra-nationalists and Kurdish militants have all carried out attacks in Turkey in the past. There was no claim of responsibility. ""The suicide bomber was ripped apart and one or two citizens from the special security team passed away,"" said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. ""This event shows that we need to fight together everywhere in the world against these terrorist elements,"" he said. Turkish media reports identified the bomber as DHKP-C member Ecevit Sanli, who was involved in attacks on a police station and a military staff college in Istanbul in 1997. Turkey is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East with common interests ranging from energy security to counter-terrorism and has been one of the leading advocates of foreign intervention to end the conflict in neighboring Syria. Around 400 U.S. soldiers have arrived in Turkey over the past few weeks to operate Patriot anti-missile batteries meant to defend against any spillover of Syria's civil war, part of a NATO deployment due to be fully operational in the coming days."
" He had been guarding the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, as he'd done many other days -- with commitment and professionalism. She had gone there to have tea with the ambassador, a respected television journalist set to renew acquaintances with a diplomat and do her job. Then came the blast. Whether or not they'd crossed paths before, these two people's stories now forever will be intertwined -- thanks to a man Turkish authorities say belonged to the Marxist Leninist organization known as the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party, or DHKP-C, which the U.S. government and others label a terrorist organization. What is the DHKP-C? Ecevit Sanli, as he was identified by Istanbul police, died after detonating his bomb near the embassy's Gate No. 2 around 1:15 p.m. (6:15 a.m. ET) Friday. So, too, did the Turkish guard -- described by U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone as a ""hero,"" and identified by Turkey's semi-official Anadolu News Agency as Mustafa Akarsu. A photo showed the journalist being carried away on a stretcher, apparently bleeding. Rather than sitting with her for tea, Ricciardone visited the woman -- Didem Tuncay -- at Ankara's Numune Hospital, and afterward described her as ""one of the best."" While theories have been floated, neither Turkish nor U.S. authorities have detailed why they think Sanli blew himself up. Prior to Friday, he was known to U.S. and other intelligence agencies, a U.S. law enforcement source told CNN. Whatever Sanli's rationale, the explosion spurred security clampdowns at diplomatic facilities in Turkey, plus messages of condolences and solidarity. Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan called it an attack ""against the peace and welfare of our country."" Yet the violence reverberated well beyond Turkey's borders, however, especially in the nation whose embassy was targeted."
" Austrian parties waged intense campaigns ahead of Sunday's referendum on the future of the mandatory military service, using the debate on defence policy to score points ahead of a  parliamentary election later this year.  Voters will choose between keeping the current system of a conscript army and optional social service for young men, or introducing a professional army and a voluntary community service.  The Social Democratic Party (SPOe) of Chancellor Werner Faymann backs a professional army.  ""There is no longer a Cold War and the Iron Curtian no longer exists,"" Defense Minister Norbert Darabos said in a television debate.  The centre-right People's Party (OeVP), the junior partner in the coalition government, wants to keep things as they are, arguing that Austrian rescue and social organizations depend on young men doing their social service.  ""The Federal Army and people's security must not become a private laboratory for the defence minister's crazy ideas,"" the OeVP's parliamentary leader Karlheinz Kopf said.  Both parties drew up campaigns to promote their respective plans,  and politicians toured the country and television studios like in a full election campaign, clearly trying to mobilize voters ahead of the parliamentary polls that are due after the summer.  The SPOe's reform plan was not based on a review of Austria's security needs."
" 1 of 26. Japan's nuclear safety agency official Hidehiko Nishiyama speaks during a news conference on Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, in Tokyo, March 30, 2011. In a briefing to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Japan said it was monitoring radioactive contamination to prevent potential food safety risks and would provide the WTO with quick and precise information. ""In return, Japan asked members not to overreact,"" said a WTO official. Several countries have banned milk and produce from the areas near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, due to contamination fears. Japan has itself stopped exports of vegetables and milk from near the plant, which is leaking radiation. As radiation fears linger, Singapore has told the U.N. nuclear watchdog that some cabbages imported from Japan had radiation levels up to nine times the levels recommended for international trade. While food makes up only 1 percent of Japan's exports, the tsunami-crippled nuclear plant poses a serious risk to an economy burdened with huge public debt, an aging population and a big bill for rebuilding, possibly topping $300 billion. Radioactive iodine in the sea off the damaged plant has hit record levels. The state nuclear safety agency said the amounts were 3,355 times the legal limit and highly toxic plutonium has been detected in the soil at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. As operators struggle to regain control of the damaged reactors three weeks after the quake and tsunami, smoke was reported to be coming from a second damaged nuclear plant nearby on Wednesday, with authorities saying an electric distribution board powering a water pump was the problem. The Daini plant several miles from the stricken Daiichi facility has been put into cold shutdown. Nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said the incident would not cause any radiation effect externally. The government has set up an evacuation area around the Daiichi plant with a 20-km (12-mile) radius and most of 70,000 people who live there are believed to have left. Another 130,000 people are within a zone extending a further 10 km in which residents are recommended to stay indoors."
" Austrians have voted overwhelmingly in favour of retaining compulsory military service. With all votes in the referendum counted, except postal ballots, 59.8% voted to keep the draft with 40.2% against, the interior ministry said. The issue has divided politicians in the coalition government. Supporters of change said a professional army would be more effective - critics said it would put Austria's cherished neutrality at risk. Austrian men must serve six months in the army or nine months in civilian service when they reach 18. Increasingly few European countries demand compulsory military service. France abandoned conscription in 1996, and Germany in 2011. Calls for an end to conscription are growing in Austria's neighbour, Switzerland, which is also neutral. Currently, some 22,000 men are drafted into military service each year. Those who do not want to serve must spend nine months working in community jobs, such as ambulance drivers and in senior citizens' homes. The centre-left Social Democrats say the current make-up of the armed forces does not work for the 21st Century, arguing that a professional army is needed to work more effectively with other European armies."
" Bali bombing suspect Umar Patek believed to have been arrested in Pakistan Indonesian police are helping with the identification and have sent officers with fingerprints and family information to Pakistan. ""We are hopeful it is him,"" national police chief of detectives Ito Sumardi said today. ""He is our most wanted suspect."" Patek, a senior member of the al-Qa'ida-linked terror network Jemaah Islamiah, was a senior figure in the October 12, 2002, Bali bombings conspiracy that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. General Sumardi said Pakistani security authorities contacted Indonesian police ""a couple of days ago"" with news of the suspect's arrest and requesting help with identification. ""We don't know exactly about his identity yet; it's difficult to say because now he's under arrest by the Pakistan government."" Patek has been sought for a decade but never arrested by Indonesian and Phlippines police. He was widely assumed to have spent most time since the bombings with the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the Sulu Islands of the southern Philippines. However General Sumardi said today his officers suspected he had been in Indonesia when Dulmatin, another senior member of the Bali bombings conspiracy, was killed in a raid on March 9, 2010. The rare high-profile capture that could provide valuable intelligence about the organisation and possible future plots."
" More than a billion people are thought to have watched India beat Pakistan by 29 runs in the World Cup cricket semi-final in the Indian city of Mohali. Both countries largely ground to a halt during the match, which was attended by their respective prime ministers. It was the first time the two sides had played on each other's soil since the 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks. The nuclear-armed neighbours' ties hit a low after the attacks, which were blamed on Pakistan-based militants. India now play Sri Lanka in the final in Mumbai on Saturday and celebrations have erupted around the country. The BBC's Soutik Biswas in Delhi says the skies are alight with fireworks and it's like a rerun of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. Wednesday's semi was one of most keenly anticipated contests between the countries for years. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was invited by his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, in what is being described as ""cricket diplomacy"". The two leaders shook hands with both sets of players before sitting down together to watch the game. Midway through, Mr Singh hosted a dinner in honour of his guest. After the game, they were due to return to their respective capitals, Delhi and Islamabad."
" Kan told the Japanese Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii that the whole of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power station should be decommissioned, Kyodo News reports. The situation at the plant remains unresolved after its reactor cooling systems were knocked out, triggering explosions and fires, and releasing radiation. Japanese officials have previously hinted that the plant would be retired once the situation there has been stabilised, given the damage it has already sustained. Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), operator and owner of the ageing Fukushima plant, said that the stricken reactors 1-4 would be decommissioned given the damage and the amount of seawater poured on them. But the group's chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata hinted that reactors 5 and 6, which are in a stable cold shutdown, could be retained. The news comes as radiation levels exceeding evacuation criteria have been detected in soil 40km from the nuclear plant Following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese Government established a 20-km evacuation zone. Japan's nuclear safety agency says the Government must consider expanding its evacuation zone around the Fukushima plant. The nuclear safety agency, however, said the IAEA did not officially request that Japan expand its evacuation zone. The utility is expected to face a mammoth compensation bill amid growing public anger about how it has handled the crisis."
" GAZA Jan 22 (Reuters) - Hamas said on Thursday it would begin distributing up to 4,000 euros ($5,180) in cash to families hard hit by Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.  Taher al-Nono, spokesman for Hamas's government in the coastal enclave, told reporters a total of 28.6 million euros ($37 million) would be distributed starting on Sunday.  The announcement appeared to be part of efforts by the Islamist group, which receives Iranian support, to shore up its standing after Israel's 22-day military offensive, which killed some 1,300 Palestinians and wounded more than 5,000 others.  Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank said Israel has been preventing the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, from transferring some $60 million in cash to the Gaza Strip to pay its workers and others hard hit by the war, which started on Dec. 27.  Washington hopes the Palestinian Authority will lead and get credit for Gaza's reconstruction, estimated to cost more than $2 billion, rather than Hamas. But Western officials say Israel, by holding up cash shipments, was undermining Abbas's position.  Saudi Arabia said on Monday it would donate $1 billion towards the reconstruction effort.  Hamas spokesman Nono said families in the Gaza Strip whose homes were completely destroyed would each receive 4,000 euros. Those whose homes were damaged would get 2,000 euros.  In addition, Hamas would pay 1,000 euros for every family member killed and 500 euros to those who were wounded, he said.  Hamas did not say why it would make the payments in euros rather than in Israeli shekels, the currency used in the Palestinian territories.  Western officials say shekels are in short supply because of Israeli restrictions on transfers to the Hamas-controlled territory."
" Car salesman Ray Schaffer (L) shows a customer a 2009 Chevrolet Impala sedan at a dealership in Dearborn, Michigan December 29, 2008. General Motors Corp on Wednesday said its global vehicle sales for 2008 had dropped 11 percent, allowing rival Toyota Motor Corp to surpass it as the world's largest automaker for the first time. GM, now struggling to restructure under a $13.4 billion U.S. government bailout, had held the title as the global auto industry leader for 77 years and used the line in marketing. But for 2008, Detroit-based GM said sales tumbled to 8.35 million vehicles, pressured by tightening credit and a slowdown that began in the United States and spread to emerging markets where GM has been stronger. GM shares fell 26 cents or 7.4 percent to $3.24 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday near midday. Earlier this week, Toyota said its global sales for 2008 had slipped 4 percent to 8.97 million vehicles as it also battled a costly slowdown in key markets. Both GM and Toyota downplayed the significance of the shift in market leadership. ""Share doesn't always pay the bills,"" Don Esmond, Toyota's senior vice president for U.S. operations, said at an industry conference when asked about Toyota capturing the No. 1 spot after years of gaining on GM. GM sold 9.369 million vehicles, including those sold through SAIC-GM-Wuling, a commercial vehicle joint-venture in China in which the U.S. automaker has a minority stake. GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner had vowed to defend the company's global sales leadership, saying the title was a point of pride for the automaker. But with GM reliant on federal funding to avoid bankruptcy, GM Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said late on Tuesday that the automaker had been forced to focus on other measures of the success of its turnaround."
" N. Korea on high alert for radioactive damage from Japan: scholar By Sam KimMUNSAN, South Korea, March 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is on high alert for any possible radioactive damage from an unfolding nuclear crisis in neighboring Japan, a senior North Korean scholar said Tuesday during talks with South Korea on a possible volcano in the communist state.The comment was made by Yoo Yong-geun, head of a North Korean delegation who traveled earlier in the day to this South Korean border town of Munsan to discuss joint ways to respond if Mount Paekdu in the North is found to have an active volcanic core."
" Barack Obama has taken the oath of office and been sworn in as America's 44th president - and the country's first African-American leader. More than one million people gathered in the National Mall in a wintry Washington DC, to see Mr Obama take the oath shortly after 1200 (1700 GMT). He used his inaugural address to vow to begin the work of ""remaking America"". The new US leader said his country faced a number of challenges but was entering a ""new era of responsibility"". But a shadow was cast over Mr Obama's celebrations in the hours after his swearing-in, as veteran Senator Ted Kennedy collapsed during the inaugural lunch. Mr Kennedy, whose support was seen as influential in winning over Democratic voters for Mr Obama, has been seriously ill with a brain tumour and has previously undergone surgery. ""This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed... why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."" The new president takes office amid a dismal economic climate and with the US still embroiled in two wars. Speaking to the vast crowd, stretching as far back as the Washington Monument in the distance, he was quick to admit that the US is in the midst of a crisis - a fact now ""well understood"". ""Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened,"" he said, blaming the current situation both on the greed of a few and the ""collective failure"" of many."
" Libyan rebels flee as shelling from Gadhafi's forces start landing on the frontline outside of Bin Jawaad, 150km east of Sirte, central Libya, Tuesday, March 29, 2011. AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus A U.S. defense official says U.S. ships and submarines unleashed a barrage of cruise missiles at Libyan missile storage facilities in the Tripoli area late Monday and early Tuesday, while strongman Muammar Qaddafi's troops sent rebels into a panicked flight from his hometown outside of the capital amid a lack of localized air support for the opposition. The defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military details, said 22 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from the Mediterranean - the most in at least several days. The latest barrage raised to well over 200 the number of Tomahawks that have been fired at Libya since the Western military intervention began March 19. The bulk of U.S. and NATO missile and bomb attacks on Libya have targeted air defenses, ammunition bunkers and other facilities that support Libyan ground forces and enable NATO to maintain a no-fly zone over the country. Meanwhile, rockets and tank fire from Qaddafi's forces sent Libya's rebels in a panicked scramble away from the front lines near Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte, where coalition airstrikes against Qaddafi's troops had eased. The opposition was able to bring up truck-mounted rocket launchers of their own and return fire, but they went into full retreat after government shelling resumed. The two sides traded salvos over the hamlet of Bin Jawwad, now pockmarked with shrapnel and small arms fire. Rockets and artillery shells crashed thunderously as plumes of smoke erupted in the town. The steady drum of heavy machine gun fire and the pop of small arms could be heard above the din as people less than a mile outside the village scaled mounds of dirt to watch the fighting. Leaders weigh Qaddafi's exit, Libya's future Obama: We should not be afraid to act Video: Watch Obama's full speech on Libya"
" India and Pakistan have decided to set up a hotline to better 'real time information sharing' on terrorist threats, said a joint statement released after the two countries' home secretaries talked on Tuesday. It stated Pakistan has also agreed in-principle to entertain a commission from India to interrogate 26/11 suspects held in that country. The date of visit for the judicial commission from Pakistan to visit India will be conveyed by India within four to six weeks, the statement said. India's NIA and Pakistan's FIA will continue to cooperate in the Mumbai attack's probe, it added. India also provided information on the Samjhauta Express blast probe. It was agreed that India will share updated information with Pakistan in future. Please read our before posting comments TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s)."
" MOSCOW Jan 19 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered the 2009 budget be reworked at half the originally planned oil price on Monday, as Russia pressed on with now-daily rouble devaluations to adjust to the worsening economic outlook. The slump in the oil price, Russia's key export, has taken a heavy toll on the rouble, prompting the central bank to spend a quarter of its reserves to cushion the currency's fall and to embark on a process of controlled devaluation from November. For the state budget, conversely, the currency's slide helps make up for some of the drop in oil prices by upping the number of roubles Russian companies and the budget get for each dollar in oil revenue. The initial budget assumption for oil was $95 per barrel. ""The Finance Ministry should amend the state budget using the price of oil of $41 per barrel,"" said Putin, whose chances of returning to the Kremlin as President in 2012 hinge on handling the economic crisis. The slide in Russian financial markets, dating back to the war with Georgia and worsening of the global financial crisis last year, deepened on Monday. The rouble RUBUTSTN=MCX fell to 37.83 versus a euro-dollar basket RUS=MCX, while the RTS .IRTS stock index hit its lowest levels since August 2004. The sixth mini-devaluation for the rouble since the start of the year brought the currency's losses since August to over 22 percent, but dealers said the central bank had also had to intervene heavily to stop the currency falling further. Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina told a cabinet meeting that $41 per barrel oil meant the rouble should average 35.1 per dollar in 2009 provided the euro trades at $1.4 EUR=. ""It (the new oil forecast) will result in a serious balance of payments deficit of more than 2 percent,"" said Gintaras Shlizhyus, analyst at RZB in Vienna. ""It will also be difficult from the point of view of revenues, we can expect the first budget deficit (in a decade),"" he added, forecasting that the year's economic growth would likely be between 1 and zero percent."" Russia's Urals crude URL-E fell to $39 on signs of a resolution of a gas row between Russia and Ukraine and after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza eased supply concerns. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, visiting Hong Kong on Monday, said the oil price may fall below $40 per barrel, suggesting that gloomier forecasts are also under review. But other analysts and officials expressed optimism that the average price for 2009 may meet the government's forecast."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in a Thai jail for insulting the monarchy. Nicolaides wrote a novel four years ago, which contained a brief passage referring to an unnamed crown prince. It sold just seven copies. He admitted the charge of insulting the royal family, but said he was unaware he was committing an offence. Thailand's monarchy is sheltered from public debate by some of the world's most stringent ""lese-majeste"" laws. Harry Nicolaides was arrested as he was leaving the country last August. His self-published book, called Verisimilitude, was hardly well-received; in fact the only copy which is still known to exist sits on the shelf of the Thai National Library, freely available to the public. Shackled in leg irons, and wearing standard-issue prison pyjamas, Nicolaides pleaded guilty to the charges against him at Bangkok's Criminal Court on Monday. He was quickly found guilty, with a judge telling the court: ""He has written a book that slandered the king, the crown prince and Thailand and the monarchy."" The court initially sentenced him to six years in jail, but reduced the term because of his guilty plea. Before the trial Nicolaides had seemed stunned by what was happening to him, describing it is like a ''bad dream''. But he is just one of a growing number of people being investigated and charged under Thailand's draconian ""lese-majeste"" law, as the police and army try to suppress what they fear is a rising tide of anti-monarchy sentiment. More than 3,000 websites have now been blocked, and one political activist was jailed for six years in November for an anti-monarchy speech she made just a stone's throw from the old royal palace last July. Several other people are now awaiting trial. As a repentant foreigner, Harry Nicolaides does at least have a good chance of being pardoned by the king, according to the BBC correspondent in Bangkok, Jonathan Head. The king did the same for a Swiss man given a 10-year sentence two years ago for defacing his portrait."
" The Philippines says it will challenge Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea at a UN tribunal. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the decision came after Manila had exhausted ""almost all political and diplomatic avenues"" to resolve the maritime dispute with Beijing. He said he hoped arbitration would help bring a ""durable solution"" to the row. Tensions between the two have been high since a stand-off at the Scarborough Shoal - which both claim - last year. China claims a U-shaped swathe of the South China Sea; its claims overlap those of several South East Asian nations. In a statement, the Chinese ambassador to Manila reiterated Beijing's position and ""stressed that China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in [the] South China Sea and its adjacent waters"", according to the AFP news agency. ""The Chinese side strongly holds the disputes on [the] South China Sea should be settled by parties concerned through negotiations,"" Ambassador Ma Keqing added. In recent months Beijing has taken a more assertive posture on the issue, leaving ties with both the Philippines and Vietnam severely strained. In a statement, Mr del Rosario said his office had summoned the Chinese ambassador in Manila to inform her of the move. He said Manila would take Beijing to an arbitration tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which both had signed."
 At least 10 people have been killed in a series of avalanches in Afghanistan. Rescue workers are still searching for missing people after the avalanches hit a main highway north of Kabul. 12 vehicles were swept away by the snow.
" Programming Note: Give to hurricane victims, and watch ""Larry King Live"" Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, replays midnight A convoy of buses and military vehicles deliver aid to New Orleans. (CNN) -- The oil-rich nation of Qatar has offered the United States $100 million to assist in the humanitarian crisis triggered by Hurricane Katrina. The state-run Qatar News Agency said Saturday that Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, decided to contribute that amount for relief ""and humanitarian supplies for the victims of this disaster."" The U.S. government has received offers of support from dozens of nations across the globe. As of Friday, the White House had not accepted any offers, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the State Department was ""working very closely with the Department of Homeland Security to match up what is available with what is needed."" There was no immediate word whether the United States would take Qatar up on its offer. Other offers of aid and assistance have come in from countries around the world -- including from India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia, the four countries hardest-hit by the December 26 Asian tsunami. The State Department said offers of help had been received from more than 50 countries, including: Australia, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Greece, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. International organizations also offered help ranging from medical teams to tents to cash donations. They include NATO, the Organization of American States, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and the World Health Organization. The United Nations has offered to help coordinate international relief. State Department officials have not yet said if any of these offers -- beyond specific offers of cash to humanitarian organization -- have been accepted. Following is a list of some of the aid offered by governments. -- Sri Lanka has offered what it called a ""token contribution"" of $25,000 through the American Red Cross. -- Mexico has offered $1 million and is sending 15 truckloads of water, food and medical supplies via Texas. The Mexican navy has offered to send two ships, two helicopters and 15 amphibious vehicles. -- Australia is giving A$10 million ($7.6 million), most of it to the American Red Cross. -- India is making a $5 million donation to the American Red Cross, Ambassador Ronen Sen said Saturday. In addition, Sen said India was willing to donate essential medicines to the relief effort, noting that India has the largest number of Food and Drug Administration-recognized pharmaceutical companies outside the United States. -- -- Germany has offered a wide range of assistance including evacuation by air, medical services, transportation services, water treatment capabilities, assistance in searching for victims, vaccination teams and supplies, and emergency shelter. Germany has also said it is ready and willing to ""dip into its own emergency oil reserves"" to release some 2 million barrels a day for 30 days. -- France has offered mobile help from the French Antilles, which is relatively close to the affected regions, including a civil defense detachment of 35 people, tents, camp beds, generators, motor pumps, water treatment units and emergency kits, two CASA cargo aircraft, a ship (Batral Francis Garnier) and the frigate Ventose with its Panther helicopter, and a hurricane disaster unit (20 soldiers and 900 kg of specialized supplies and medical support). -- France has also offered assistance from the French mainland including: one or two C-135 planes, one A-310 aircraft , and four C-160 Transalls, an airborne emergency unit. In addition, the NGO Telecoms Sans Frontieres, which specializes in restoring phone lines and Internet service in disasters, is ready to send a team of experts and equipment. Veolia Environment, which has facilities in Louisiana, has offered to make its local water management resources available to the American authorities or the Red Cross. It can also quickly send in a team of hydraulic experts. -- Japan has offered to provide $200,000 to the American Red Cross. The government of Japan will identify needs in the affected regions through the U.S. government and, upon request, is ready to provide necessary and available emergency assistance supply amounting to up to $300,000 worth of items such as tents, blankets, power generators, portable water tanks and more from a supply depot maintained by the Japanese government in Florida. -- Cuba's President Fidel Castro said on Friday his nation was ready to send 1,100 doctors and 26 tons of medicine and equipment. AUSTRALIA: ""We're going to provide A$10 million ($7.6 million) and the bulk of that money, if not all of it, will go to the American Red Cross,"" said Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. The Australian government said there may be up to 24 Australians trapped in Louisiana in the aftermath of Katrina. CHINA: China offered $5 million in aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina which devastated the Gulf Coast ahead of President Hu Jintao's U.S. visit. If needed, the Chinese government is also prepared to send rescue workers, including medical experts, officials said. JAPAN: Will provide $200,000 to the American Red Cross to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Friday. Japan will also identify needs in affected regions via the U.S. government and will provide up to $300,000 in emergency supplies such as tents, blankets and power generators if it receives requests for such assistance, the ministry said. SINGAPORE: The Singapore Armed Forces, responding to requests by the United States Texas Army National Guard, has sent three Chinook helicopters to Fort Polk, Louisiana, to help in relief efforts. The government said the Chinooks will help to ferry supplies and undertake airlift missions. SOUTH KOREA: Has pledged aid and is waiting for a U.S. response, a government official said. ""We have sent our intention to offer recovery aid,"" a Foreign Ministry official said on Friday. SRI LANKA: Will donate $25,000 to the American Red Cross. TAIWAN: Has pledged more than $3 million to the relief effort. CANADA: Offered to help in any way it can and the navy is preparing a ship full of emergency disaster relief supplies to be sent when a request comes. CUBA: Cuban President Fidel Castro offered to fly 1,100 doctors to Houston with 26 tonnes of medicine to treat disaster victims. MEXICO: The country is sending 15 truckloads of water, food and medical supplies via Texas and the Mexican navy has offered to send two ships, two helicopters and 15 amphibious vehicles. VENEZUELA: President Hugo Chavez, a vocal critic of the United States, offered to send cheap fuel, humanitarian aid and relief workers to the disaster area. EUROPEAN UNION: EU countries are ready to give the United States oil if it requests help, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Friday. But British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said this was not what the EU had in mind when it discussed how to help. FRANCE: Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said France was ready to offer support, telling TF1 television: ""We have rescue teams based in the Caribbean and we are naturally ready to provide aid to the Americans, and that is what we have told them."" GERMANY: Has offered mobile units to provide clean water, military hospital facilities and medical aid. ITALY: Has offered to ""immediately"" send aid and evacuation specialists, Italy's civil protection unit said. Authorities have prepared two military transport planes to fly amphibious vessels, pumps, generators, tents and personnel to New Orleans and other areas. They were awaiting word from U.S. officials, the unit said. NETHERLANDS: Will provide teams for inspecting dykes and for identifying victims if there is a formal request from the United States. It will also send a frigate from Curacao to New Orleans shortly to provide emergency assistance, the government said. RUSSIA: Has offered to help with rescue efforts, but is still awaiting a reply from Washington. ""Above all with heavy transport planes, which can be loaded with helicopters and generators -- as there is no electricity in the area of the catastrophe,"" Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said. SPAIN: Expects to receive a formal request to release gasoline stocks to the United States and is prepared to grant it, an Industry Ministry spokesman said. SWEDEN: The Rescue Authority said it was on stand-by to supply water purifying equipment, healthcare supplies and emergency shelters if needed. UNITED KINGDOM: British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said Britain stands ready to help the United States in whatever way it can. SAUDI ARABIA - Saudi Refining, a Houston-based subsidiary of state oil firm Saudi Aramco, will donate $5 million to the American Red Cross to support relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more."
" WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Presenting President-elect Barack Obama with an immediate challenge, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday that the U.S. government will run a $1.2 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2009 and said that the recession will last ""well into"" this year. Moreover, the staggering deficit would be worsened by an economic-stimulus plan, the nonpartisan office wrote in a report about the budget and economic outlook for 2009 to 2019. Read the budget report. That assessment collides directly with a top priority of Obama's, namely federal spending to stimulate the economy this year. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Obama said the size of the stimulus package hasn't yet been settled in discussions with lawmakers, but it would likely be on the ""high side"" of his team's estimates of spending between $675 billion and $775 billion over the next two years. It would be less than the $800 billion to $1.3 trillion suggested by many economists, he added. See full story. Democratic leaders in Congress said the report underscores the need to pass an economic recovery package. Republicans, for their part, were more cautious. ""The American people have real doubts about the notion that massive increases in government spending will spur economic growth. So do many economists,"" House Republican Leader John Boehner said in a statement Wednesday. The CBO report painted a grim picture of the red ink facing the government and the incoming administration. It estimated that unemployment would exceed 9% early in 2010 and that GDP would fall by 2.2% in calendar year 2009. ""This isn't your regular, run-of-the-mill recession,"" acting CBO director Robert Sunshine told reporters Wednesday. ""This is a relatively long one. It's also in our view a deep one."" The deficit could actually be far higher, using different accounting methods. The CBO estimates that the government's program to buy troubled assets from banks will only represent $189 billion in spending in 2009 and 2010. But the Treasury Department accounts differently for the program, and using its methods, that amount would be about $700 billion. Meanwhile, the nonpartisan office said that the economy will only undergo ""slow recovery"" next year. The CBO pegged real GDP growth at 1.5% in 2010."
" A 14-year-old girl was killed and 15 people were injured Tuesday when an earthquake hit the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, according to a government agency. The 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck 37 kilometers (23 miles) under Aceh province, and a 4.7-magnitude aftershock followed 26 minutes later, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The casualties occurred in an area where 71 homes were damaged, Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency said."
" US President-elect Barack Obama (L) listens to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson after announcing Richardson as his nominee for commerce secretary during a news conference in Chicago December 3, 2008. Richardson, a former Democratic presidential candidate and one of the country's most prominent Hispanic politicians, became the first casualty among Obama's Cabinet picks 16 days before the new administration takes office. Obama, who was headed to Washington on Sunday to begin the final work ahead of his January 20 inauguration, said in a statement that he accepted Richardson's withdrawal with ""deep regret."" Richardson denied any wrongdoing in connection with the probe of a California-based financial company that had done business with the New Mexico state government. But he said an investigation lasting possibly weeks or even months ""would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."" Richardson had been expected to win easy confirmation by the Democrat-controlled Senate, which will begin vetting Obama's cabinet picks this week. But an extensive public discussion of the New Mexico case, which news reports have said involves a probe of payments by a California company to political action committees run by Richardson, could embarrass an Obama camp that has already had to distance itself from a ""pay-to-play"" scandal involving the Democratic governor of Illinois. Richardson served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary in the Clinton administration and is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He became an early Obama supporter after dropping his own presidential ambitions, and said on Sunday he planned to remain as New Mexico's governor. ""Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact,"" Richardson said in his statement."
" Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush will ask Congress to approve $10.5 billion in emergency spending to help pay for cleanup costs associated with Hurricane Katrina, Republicans familiar with the plan said. Bush may send his proposal to Congress as early as Friday as lawmakers cut short their recess and return to Washington, the officials said. Earlier, Bush waived funding rules to let the federal government pay 100 percent of the costs for debris removal and other emergency operations for 60 days. Under regular circumstances state and local governments pay 25 percent of the costs. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak with the press, said $10 billion would go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is leading the emergency response to the hurricane, and $500 million would be for the Defense Department, which also is participating in the recovery. New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said Congress would vote on the disaster relief within 24 hours. ``We will do everything we can to make sure that New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf region gets the funds and support to recover and rebuild,'' Schumer said in a statement. The Senate will return tonight and the House will reconvene tomorrow to pass the aid, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Bill Frist said in a joint statement. Lawmakers were initially slated to return to work next week from an August break. Bush, who will tour areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana affected by the hurricane tomorrow, also appointed former President Bill Clinton and his father, former President George H.W. Bush, to lead a nationwide fund-raising effort. ``The former presidents will ask Americans to open their hearts, and their wallets, to those in need,'' Bush said in an Oval Office speech with both former presidents at his side. ``I am confident the American people will respond.'' U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today the federal government has committed to spend $2 billion on emergency aid so far. Katrina swept over Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and western Florida three days ago with 140-mile-an-hour winds. The storm caused an estimated $25 billion in damage, which would make it the costliest U.S. natural disaster. It killed an untold number of people and destroyed commerce along the Gulf Coast region, which produces a third of the nation's oil, a fifth of its natural gas and handles 40 percent of U.S. grain exports. Bush today said the hurricane caused a significant disruption of U.S. energy supplies, though the effect will be only temporary. He met with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his economic advisers to assess the economic impact of the hurricane. More than 90,000 square miles of territory in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have been declared a disaster area."
" There are reports of shootings, carjackings and thefts across the city, where a full evacuation is under way. Medical evacuations from the Superdome stadium have been disrupted after a gun shot was fired at a rescue helicopter. President George W Bush, who will visit the disaster area on Friday, called for ""zero tolerance"" against law-breakers. His Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said more national guards were being sent in the next few days - more than quadrupling the number of security personnel in the city. Hundreds or even thousands of people are feared to have drowned in New Orleans, where the hurricane struck on Monday. The government has declared a public health emergency along the whole of the Gulf coast. In Mississippi, 110 people are confirmed dead, but officials warn the toll is expected to rise. Suspending the helicopter rescues at the Superdome, a spokesman for the Louisiana ambulance service told the BBC the crowd had grown unruly and he was concerned for the safety of his staff. Overnight, a national guard was shot outside the stadium, but he was not seriously injured, a National Guard officer said. More than a million people were evacuated from the New Orleans and the surrounding areas before the hurricane struck, but Mayor Ray Nagin has estimated that up to 100,000 people decided to stay in the city. During the storm, more than 9,000 people took shelter at the Superdome, but once the extent of the damage became clear the numbers swelled to 20,000."
" CHICAGO (MarketWatch) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. warned Thursday that the brunt of Hurricane Katrina and higher oil prices could pressure September sales results. The world's largest retailer said it is looking for sales at stores open longer than a year to rise in the 2% to 4% range this month, ""subject to the ongoing impact"" of the nation's worst natural disaster in recent history. Hurricane Katrina devastated the entire state of Louisiana as well as key cities in Mississippi and Alabama. In the process, Wal-Mart said it was forced to close about 126 stores, more than 3% of the company's total U.S. stores. As of early Thursday, more than 80 of those have been reopened, meaning that 1% of U.S. stores still remain closed. Shares of Wal-Mart WMT, -3.02% edged up 4 cents to $45 in recent dealings. In August, Wal-Mart said same-store sales, an important industry measure, climbed 3.3% with thanks to higher average tickets and strong results out of Sam's Club. Traffic fell ""slightly,"" the company said on a recorded sales message. Total sales jumped 10% to $23.32 billion from $21.19 billion in the year-ago period. On a same-store basis, sales on food were stronger than general merchandise, repeating a pattern in recent months. In the U.S., sales were strongest in the west and the south. Typically, retailers such as Wal-Mart see an unusual spike in sales as consumers stock up on food, batteries and other essentials before a hurricane or major tropical storm strikes. Comparable-store sales at the Wal-Mart stores were up 2.6% last month compared with a meager 0.1% increase a year ago. At Sam's Club, same-stores sales stepped up 6.6% compared with last year's 2.7% rise. Total sales at Wal-Mart stores were higher by 9.9% to $15.70 billion from $14.29 billion last year. Sam's Club stores rang up 9% higher at $3.0 billion from $2.75 billion. International sales vaulted 11.3% to $4.61 billion from $4.14 billion with brisk results out of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. The company noted that sales in the United Kingdom were ""positive"" in August."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Hundreds of demonstrators have clashed with riot police in Latvia's capital, Riga, after an anti-government protest. Police used mace and truncheons to disperse rioters who smashed shop windows and overturned a police van after failing to storm parliament. The violence followed a peaceful rally in which some 10,000 people accused the government of economic mismanagement and demanded new elections. Latvia's economy is expected to contract by at least 5% this year. Until last year, it was one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. The violence followed a peaceful protest calling for early elections Many Latvians frustrated by rising unemployment and tax hikes blame the centre-right governing coalition of Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis for their country's economic woes. Tuesday's peaceful protest was Latvia's largest since it became independent in 1991. As the crowd swelled, dozens of protesters tried to storm the parliament building, and hundreds of demonstrators then hurled rocks and chunks of ice at government buildings. The rioters were dispersed by riot police using mace and truncheons, but they gathered again in a neighbouring street in Riga's historic business district. The protest was Latvia's largest since it became independent in 1991 There, they overturned a police van, smashed windows and looted shops. ""There was a nice event and then when it finished people decided to go and express their anger and destroy the parliament and then it all spread through Old Riga,"" Anna Gulbe, 19, told the Associated Press news agency. More than 30 people were injured in the fracas, medical sources said. Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sigita Pildava said three police officers were seriously wounded. She added that 126 mostly young, male protesters were detained, many of whom were drunk. Police reinforcements were called in and the protest was brought under control after about three hours."
" ABIDJAN, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Gunmen seized a Nigerian-owned, Panama-flagged tanker with 16 Nigerian crew off Ivory Coast's port of Abidjan as it prepared to unload 5,000 tonnes of fuel, port officials said on Monday. Attacks on shipping are increasing in the Gulf of Guinea - second only to the waters around Somalia for piracy. But the ITRI incident was only the second of its kind in Ivorian waters. The tanker, named the ITRI and owned by Lagos-based Brila Energy, was commandeered on Thursday, Abidjan's port authority said in a statement. Serge Constant of Koda Maritime, an Ivorian firm that was managing its stopover in Ivory Coast, said there has been no contact with it since. Constant said the ITRI's onboard tracking system had been disabled. Abidjan port officials said the ITRI's last known position was off the coast of neighbouring Ghana. But Ghanaian authorities said they had been unable to locate the ITRI. ""...We now seem to be back to square one. The information is contradictory. We don't know who's telling us the truth and who isn't,"" said Constant. Piracy subsided to a five-year low in 2012 due mainly to a drastic reduction in Somali hijackings in the seas off the Horn of Africa. But 10 vessels with a total of 207 crew were seized in the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa last year, according to the International Maritime Bureau. Many of the pirate gangs in the Gulf of Guinea are offshoots of militant groups that once operated in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta before they agreed an amnesty in 2009. Analysts say coordinated efforts by Nigerian authorities and neighbouring countries have forced Nigerian pirates to seek easier targets outside their home waters. ""Nigeria and Benin have had joint actions for two years, and they have been quite successful. We haven't seen the kinds of heavy attacks that we used to see,"" said Martin Ewi, a senior researcher with South Africa's Institute for Security Studies."
" French and Malian troops have seized the key Malian towns of Diabaly and Douentza from militant Islamists, the French defence minister has said. A BBC reporter in Diabaly says the town bears the scars of conflict, with burnt-out vehicles and chunks of shrapnel strewn on the ground. Islamist fighters fled Diabaly and Douentza last week after a French bombing campaign started on 11 January. A state of emergency has reportedly been extended by another three months. On Monday evening the government announced it would prolong the state of emergency, declared on 11 January, according to the AFP news agency and Malian news reports. ""We never accept military intervention in Mali, because this will exacerbate conflict in the region,"" he said at an Arab economic summit in Saudi Arabia. France has sent some 2,000 troops to help Malian forces fight the militants, saying it entered the conflict because the insurgents, in control of the north, were advancing south, threatening to turn Mali into a ""terrorist state"". It has called on the West African regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), to speed up the planned deployment of a force of more than 3,000. But during a visit to Berlin, Ecowas chairman and Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to send troops. ""Germany has soldiers in Afghanistan and it has the capacity to send them also to Mali,"" he said."
" State television reported that polling stations in 33 constituencies, including the capital Tehran, opened to voters at 8 a.m. (0430 GMT). They are due to close at 6 p.m. (1430 GMT), although officials have said the time could be extended. Some 65 seats from the 290-member assembly are up for grabs, after loyalists to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei won a majority at the expense of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the first round. Khamenei called for a high turnout in Friday's second round. ""My suggestion is that they(people) should take the second round as seriously as the first round. The higher the number of votes for lawmakers ... the better they can work,"" state television quoted him as saying after he cast his vote. The parliamentary vote has been seen as a test for the popularity of Iran's clerical establishment, which was rocked by the bloody aftermath of a 2009 presidential vote that reformists said was rigged in Ahmadinejad's favor. In the race for the 30 seats in Tehran, five candidates were able to secure victory in the first round and about 50 are competing for the remaining 25 seats, Iranian media reported. With reformists mostly sidelined and opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi under house arrest, the vote is mostly a duel between rival conservative hardliners - those loyal to Khamenei and those in Ahmadinejad's camp. Khamenei swiftly endorsed Ahmadinejad's re-election in 2009, rejecting opposition allegations of widespread fraud that led to eight months of unrest. But a rift opened between the two leaders when the president tried to undermine the leading political role of clergy in the Islamic Republic, Ahmadinejad's critics said. Ahmadinejad is expected to face more challenges during the rest of his second and final term, after the wide defeat of his allies in the first round of the vote in March."
" Reports from Eritrea say a group of soldiers have surrounded the ministry of information building in the capital, Asmara. State TV was off air for several hours but was broadcasting again by the evening. The city is said to be calm with no shots having been fired. Eritrea's government has been criticised by human rights activists as one of the world's most repressive and closed countries. The websites of key Eritrean state and ruling party media have been operating erratically, with the site for the ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) party inaccessible for part of Monday. A statement was reportedly read out in the early afternoon on state radio and television calling for the implementation of the country's 1997 constitution. However, when state television resumed normal transmission with a delayed news bulletin at 21:45 local time (18:45 GMT), there was no comment on the incident. The UK Foreign Office said that it had received reports of ""unusual military movements in and around Asmara"", and noted that local radio and TV appear to have been shut down. President Isaias Afewerki has ruled the country as a one-party state since independence from neighbouring Ethiopia in 1993."
" Silence and the odd outburst from accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others turned an arraignment that could have lasted minutes into a 13-hour court session at Guantanamo Bay on Saturday. It was the first appearance in a military courtroom for Mohammed and four others since they were charged last month for their alleged role in the planning and execution of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. The hearing, which wrapped just before 10:30 p.m., offered a rare glimpse of the five men who have not been seen publicly since 2008 when they were first charged by a military tribunal. Mohammed and the others -- Walid Muhammad Salih, Mubarak bin 'Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi -- appeared to work together to defy the judge's instruction, refusing to speak or cooperate with courtroom protocol. The silence from the defendants -- some ignored the judge and others appeared to be reading -- slowed the proceedings to a crawl. Bin 'Attash was wheeled into the courtroom in a restraining chair. It was unclear why he was the only defendant brought into court in that manner, though he was allowed out of restraints after he promised not to disrupt court proceedings. Toward the end of the day, he took off his shirt while his attorney was describing injuries she alleged he sustained while in custody. The judge told bin 'Attash, ""No!"" and warned that he would be removed from the courtroom if he did not follow directions. At one point, bin 'Attash made a paper airplane and placed it on top of a microphone. It was removed after a translator complained about the sound the paper made against the microphone. The judge, Col. James Pohl, needed the five to vocally confirm their desire to be represented by the attorneys who accompanied them to court. Because the defendants refused to cooperate, Pohl ruled the men would continue to be represented by their current military and civilian attorneys."
" MOSCOW - The Russian government says it is sending two planes to Lebanon to evacuate Russians from Syria, the first such effort since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began in March 2011. The Emergency Situations Ministry said two of its planes will fly to Beirut on Tuesday to carry more than 100 Russians from Syria. Monday's announcement appears to reflect Moscow's increasing doubts about Assad's ability to cling to power and growing concerns about the safety of its citizens. Russia's Foreign Ministry has said that it has contingency plans in place to evacuate thousands of Russians from Syria. Russia has been the main ally of Assad since the start of the conflict, using its veto power at the United Nations Security Council to shield the Syrian strongman from sanctions."
" A suicide bomber targeting Syrian pro-government forces has killed many people in the central province of Hama, state news agency Sana reports. Activists say dozens of people - including both pro-regime militiamen and civilians - were killed in the blast in the town of Salmiyeh. Both Sana and activists also reported deadly fighting in Damascus on Monday. The ongoing violence has led Russia to send two planes to Beirut to fly home Russians who have fled the conflict. Russia's emergency situations ministry said more than 100 people were expected to board the aircraft on Tuesday. It would be the first such airlift since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. Moscow has been a staunch ally. The UN said recently that more than 60,000 people had been killed since the uprising began in March 2011. In the latest violence, Sana said a ""suicide terrorist"" had detonated a car bomb in the centre of Salmiyeh. The attack caused ""many martyrs"" among residents, the agency said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, said the bombing occurred near the headquarters of a pro-regime militia, and that the dead included 30 militiamen."
" John Harbaugh and his Baltimore Ravens set up a family reunion at the Super Bowl, shutting down the New England Patriots 28-13 Sunday in the AFC Championship Game. The Ravens reached their first Super Bowl in 12 years, thanks to three touchdown passes from Joe Flacco and a defense led by Ray Lewis that made Tom Brady look downright ordinary. Next up for Harbaugh and the Ravens is younger brother Jim and the San Francisco 49ers , who beat Atlanta 28-24 earlier in the day for the NFC title. ""I don't know if we had a dream this big,"" John Harbaugh said. ""We had a few dreams, we had a few fights, we had a few arguments -- just like all brothers."" They'll meet in two weeks in New Orleans -- what a place for a party to celebrate the first brother-vs.-brother coaching matchup in Super Bowl history. It also will be quite a last game for Lewis, the emotional linebacker who will retire after the matchup with the 49ers, who opened as a 5-point favorite. ""This is our time. This is our time,"" said Lewis, who made 14 tackles Sunday and has 44 in three postseason games after missing 10 weeks with a torn right triceps. Driven by Lewis' pending departure from the NFL, Baltimore's defense stepped up in the playoffs. Brady was 67-0 at home when leading at halftime, but this was no contest in the second half. ""We've lost before. It takes a while to get over,"" Brady said. It also was a first for the Patriots, who hadn't lost an AFC championship at home."
" ISLAMABAD, May 4 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed in a suicide bomb attack Friday morning in a market area in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of Bajaur Agency, reported local Urdu TV channel Geo. The killed include some paramilitary troops, said the report, adding that the local government has announced a curfew following the blast. The blast occurred at about 8:00 a.m. local time at a bazaar in Khar, a main town in Bajaur which borders Afghanistan. Other details about the attack are not immediately available."
" Journalists protest during a demonstration condemning the alleged murder of fellow journalist Regina Martinez in Mexico City, Sunday April 29, 2012. The Mexican government's human rights commission said Sunday that it will investigate the apparent slaying of a correspondent for Proceso newsmagazine who often wrote about drug trafficking. Police found the body of Martinez on Saturday inside the bathroom of her home in the Veracruz state capital, Xalapa. Photojournalists place their cameras on the floor during a demonstration condemning the alleged murder of fellow journalist Regina Martinez in Mexico City, Sunday April 29, 2012. The Mexican government's human rights commission said Sunday that it will investigate the apparent slaying of a correspondent for Proceso newsmagazine who often wrote about drug trafficking. Police found the body of Martinez on Saturday inside the bathroom of her home in the Veracruz state capital, Xalapa. Journalists and students protest the murder of Mexican journalist Regina Martinez, in Xalapa, Veracruz State, Mexico, on April 29, 2012. Martinez was founded dead in her house last April 28, with signs of strangulation. More than 40,000 people have been killed in rising drug-related violence in Mexico since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed soldiers and federal police to take on organized crime. AFP PHOTO/SERGIO HERNANDEZSERGIO HERNANDEZ/AFP/GettyImages Journalists and students protest the murder of Mexican journalist Regina Martinez, in Xalapa, Veracruz State, Mexico, on April 29, 2012. Martinez was founded dead in her house last April 28, with signs of strangulation. More than 40,000 people have been killed in rising drug-related violence in Mexico since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed soldiers and federal police to take on organized crime. AFP PHOTO/SERGIO HERNANDEZSERGIO HERNANDEZ/AFP/GettyImages Journalists and students protest the murder of Mexican journalist Regina Martinez, in Xalapa, Veracruz State, Mexico, on April 29, 2012. Martinez was founded dead in her house last April 28, with signs of strangulation. More than 40,000 people have been killed in rising drug-related violence in Mexico since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed soldiers and federal police to take on organized crime. AFP PHOTO/SERGIO HERNANDEZSERGIO HERNANDEZ/AFP/GettyImages Journalists and students protest the murder of Mexican journalist Regina Martinez, in Xalapa, Veracruz State, Mexico, on April 29, 2012. Martinez was founded dead in her house last April 28, with signs of strangulation. More than 40,000 people have been killed in rising drug-related violence in Mexico since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed soldiers and federal police to take on organized crime. AFP PHOTO/SERGIO HERNANDEZSERGIO HERNANDEZ/AFP/GettyImages Colleagues and relatives carry the coffin of Mexican journalist Regina Martinez, during her funeral in Xalapa, Veracruz State, Mexico, on April 30, 2012. Martinez was found dead in her house last April 28, showing signs of strangulation. AFP PHOTO/Sergio HERNANDEZSERGIO HERNANDEZ/AFP/GettyImages Colleagues and relatives carry the coffin of Mexican journalist Regina Martinez, during her funeral in Xalapa, Veracruz State, Mexico, on April 30, 2012. Martinez was found dead in her house last April 28, showing signs of strangulation. AFP PHOTO/Sergio HERNANDEZSERGIO HERNANDEZ/AFP/GettyImages Relatives, friends and journalists stand beside the coffin of slain journalist Regina Martinez during her wake in Xalapa, Mexico, late Sunday April 29, 2012. The Mexican government's human rights commission said Sunday that it will investigate the apparent slaying of a correspondent for Proceso newsmagazine who often wrote about drug trafficking. Police found the body of Martinez on Saturday inside the bathroom of her home in the Veracruz state capital, Xalapa. Journalists embrace each other during a demonstration condemning the alleged murderer of fellow journalist Regina Martinez in Mexico City, Sunday April 29, 2012. The Mexican government's human rights commission said Sunday that it will investigate the apparent slaying of a correspondent for Proceso newsmagazine who often wrote about drug trafficking. Police found the body of Martinez on Saturday inside the bathroom of her home in the Veracruz state capital, Xalapa."
" TEHRAN, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian-chartered ship which wasseized in the Gulf of Aden by Somali pirates in November has been released, Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Saturday. The ship named ""Delight,"" which was carrying 36,000 tons of wheat when it was hijacked, was released Friday night, Fars quoted the urgent reaction committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) as saying. All 25 members of the crew are now in good health, said the report, adding that the Hong Kong-flagged Delight is sailing towards Iranian port. The report did not mention whether any ransom had been paid for the release of Delight. On Friday, Somali pirates also reportedly freed a Saudi-owned super-tanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil which was also hijacked in November."
" Israeli aircraft struck an arms smuggling tunnel and a weapons lab in the southern Gaza Strip Friday night. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that exact hits were identified and that all its jets returned safely to their bases. Eyewitnesses in Gaza told the AFP that several people were injured in the strike, but no information on their condition was given. The IDF said the strike came in response to a rocket fired at Eshkol Regional Council on Thursday, and stressed that attacks on Israeli territory would not be tolerated. ""The IDF continues to act severely against any attempt to break the calm in Israel's communities and in southern Israel ."" The Qassam rocket which was fired at Eshkol Regional Council hit an abandoned building. No on was injured, but damage was caused to the building. The Ansar al-Sunnah Brigades, a Palestinians organization affiliated with al-Qaeda , claimed responsibility for the attack. The building that was hit is located mere meters from residents' homes. Later Thursday, two more rockets were launched from the Strip, but landed in Palestinian territory near the border fence. Thursday's attacks come after a month of relative calm. The last time a rocket was fired on Israel before Thursday was on February 12 . The rocket landed in an open area between Shaar Hanegev Regional Council and the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council. No on was injured and no damage was caused."
" Israeli troops charged over use of boy as human shield Israel and Hamas were accused of war crimes in the 22-day war in Gaza The Israeli military has charged two of its soldiers with endangering the life of a Palestinian boy during Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza. The army said the soldiers, who had been searching a building, had instructed the nine-year-old to open bags they suspected were booby-trapped. This practice, banned by the Israeli military, is known as using someone as a human shield. Use of civilians as human shields is widely considered a war crime. But the group repeated its call for an independent investigation of the army's operation in Gaza. The war lasted for 22 days starting on 27 December 2008. The soldiers, both staff sergeants, were charged with ""engaging in unauthorised conduct in a way that endangered life and health"", military sources said. The bags the Palestinian boy was forced to open turned out to be harmless. Palestinians killed during Israeli military offensive in Gaza, 27 Dec to 18 Jan - Palestinian claims followed by Israelis claims: The Israeli military has opened about 150 investigations into alleged misconduct during the operation, which was named ""Cast Lead"". About 40 of these are criminal investigations. This is the second to lead to an indictment. In the first, a soldier was jailed for seven months for using a credit card he stole from a Palestinian in Gaza to withdraw money in Israel. Also, in January, the Israel military said it had reprimanded two top army officers for authorising an artillery attack using white phosphorus shells which hit a UN compound in Gaza last year. Critics have said it is not sufficient for the military to investigate itself. B'Tselem called again for an independent investigation into the war in a statement: ""Military police investigations are not the appropriate instrument to investigate allegations regarding operation Cast Lead."" ""Israel must appoint an Israeli body, external to the army, to conduct an independent and effective investigation,"" it added. In September 2009, South African judge Richard Goldstone delivered a report to the UN Human Rights Council that concluded that war crimes had been committed by the Israeli military and Hamas, the Islamist militant group that runs Gaza. He accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure during the conflict. Hamas's use of indiscriminate rocket fire was judged a war crime. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using Palestinian civilians as human shields by conducting military operations from densely populated areas. Human rights groups say about 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the fighting, though Israel puts the number at about 1,100. Thirteen Israeli also died during the conflict."
" U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)"
" The airstrikes hit two targets in the southern Gaza Strip - a metal workshop and a smuggling tunnel - wounding several people, witnesses and the army said. The army said the strikes were in response to a rocket attack yesterday that hit an empty workshop on a kibbutz in southern Israel, causing no casualties. They came as US Vice-President Joe Biden wrapped up his visit to the region, urging for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to start without delay despite Palestinian insistence that Israel first cancel a settlement project condemned by Washington. Israel this week announced a plan for 1600 new homes for settlers in Arab east Jerusalem, which has appeared to scuttle indirect peace talks with the Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly apologised to Mr Biden for the ``unfortunate timing''. ``Sometimes only a friend can deliver the hardest truths, and I appreciate... the response by the Prime Minister today,'' he said in a speech at Tel Aviv University. He noted that Mr Netanyahu ``clarified that the beginning of actual construction on this particular project would likely take several years.'' ``That's significant because it gives negotiators the time to resolve this as well as other outstanding issues,'' said Mr Biden, while reiterating condemnation of Israel's go-ahead for the settlement construction. The Palestinians, however, rejected the statement because it only addressed the timing of the project and not its substance. ``The continuation of settlements is the error, not the timing of them, because they are always illegal,'' Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP."
" AT least 15 people have been killed and 21 injured when a bus plunged into a ravine in a mountainous area of northern Pakistan. The bus travelling today from the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, to the northern town of Skardu, came off the road in Kohistan district, 210 kilometres northeast of Peshawar. ""At least 15 people, including two women and three children, were killed and 21 others were wounded when a passenger bus fell into a deep ravine,"" administrator of Hazara region Khalid Khan Umarzai told AFP. The driver lost control at a bend because he was going too fast, Umarzai said. Pakistan has one of the world's worst records for fatal traffic accidents, blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving."
" Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng has telephoned a US Congressional hearing to plead for help in his attempts to leave China with his family. Mr Chen said he feared for the safety of his family and wanted to meet visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton face-to-face. The activist is in a Beijing hospital sealed off by Chinese police. The Chinese foreign ministry, in a statement, said Mr Chen could apply to study abroad if he wanted. ""If he wishes to study overseas, as a Chinese citizen, he can, like any other Chinese citizens, process relevant procedures with relevant department through normal channels in accordance to the law,"" Xinhua news agency quoted spokesman Liu Weimin as saying. Mr Chen had spent a week at the US embassy but left after initially accepting China's assurances of his safety. Mr Chen said that only after leaving the embassy did he fully realise the threats that had been made against his family members. Meanwhile, Mrs Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are in Beijing for annual bilateral trade and strategy talks. A joint US-China news conference is expected later on Friday, but speaking ahead of a meeting with President Hu Jintao, Mrs Clinton said the relationship was ""stronger than it's ever been"". ""We have developed a very open and honest relationship where we can discuss our differences, and we remain committed to bridging those differences whenever and wherever possible,"" she said."
" RAMALLAH, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Clashes between dozens of Palestinian worshipers and Israeli police forces erupted on Friday afternoon in the old city of East Jerusalem, witnesses and local sources said. Clashes between the two sides flamed right after the Israeli police prevented dozens of Palestinian young men from reaching al- Aqsa Mosque for Friday's weekly prayer, according to the witnesses as well as local sources. ""The worshipers prayed in the narrow streets of the old city after they failed to reach al-Aqsa Mosque,"" said the sources, adding ""clashes with the police erupted at the end of the prayer."" The sources said only 2,000 worshipers were able to pray at the mosque following strict security measures carried out by the Israeli police in the old city. The Israeli measures were made to prevent more violence similar to the conflicts in the city last Friday. Witnesses said young Palestinian worshipers throw stones at the Israeli police forces while the latter fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets, where several Palestinians were lightly wounded, according to medical sources in the city. The Israeli security forces on Friday imposed a closure on the West Bank for 48 hours to prevent more violence and clashes between the Israeli security forces and the Palestinians. Tension between Israel and the Palestinians had recently flared after the Israeli government decided to build 1,600 new housing units in Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem. The decision outraged a large number of Palestinians and Arabs and threatened the efforts to launch the proximity talks between Palestinians and Israelis."
" GAZA/RAMALLAH, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Palestinians Friday demonstrated in the West Bank and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip against the Israeli construction of separation wall and the expansion of Jewish settlements. Israeli soldiers and Palestinian demonstrators clashed during the protests against the separation wall that dominated several West Bank areas, said a source of anti-war group in Ramallah, adding that several demonstrators were hurt by Israeli soldiers' fire. The source and witnesses said the demonstrations were staged in the villages of Deir Nizam, Bel'ien and Ne'lien near Ramallah with around 400 protestors, including some Israeli peace activists. Witnesses said the Israeli army forces dispersed the demonstrations by firing tear gas canisters and rubber bullets. Medics said at least six demonstrators were lightly injured by rubber-coated metal bullets. Earlier Friday, Palestinian sources in the West Bank said three Palestinians were injured during clashes with Jewish settlers in the village of Jet near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia. Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza City to protest against the recent Israeli government decision to expand Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. The Hamas movement and the Islamic Jihad as well as other Palestinian groups joined the demonstration. People chanted slogans against Israel and called for carrying out attacks against Israel and the United States. Several demonstrators burned the flags of Israel and the United States during the demonstration, which gathered at the square of the Unknown Soldier in Gaza city's downtown. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader told the crowds that Hamas movement ""rejects the direct and the indirect negotiations with the Israeli occupation."" The Arab League and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) approved this week a U.S. plan of launching four-month indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians to discuss the borders of a future Palestinian state before they go to direct talks."
" The blockade of Gaza has not weakened Hamas, Mr Holmes said The UN's top humanitarian official, John Holmes, has criticised Israel for linking the 2006 capture of an Israeli soldier to the blockade of Gaza. Mr Holmes also said Israeli actions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, including expanding settlements, was counter to the peace process. He urged a relaxation of the blockade, warning Gaza was ""de-developing"". It came as Israel ordered the army to seal off the West Bank for 48 hours until midnight on Saturday. An army spokesman said the move had been made because of heightened tensions in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Israeli aircraft hit two targets in southern Gaza Strip early on Friday. Witnesses reported seeing several injured people. The developments follow a visit to Israel and the West Bank by US Vice-President Joe Biden, during which the US and Palestinians criticised Israel's plans to build more Jewish homes in the Arab east of the city. The Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, was captured by Palestinian militants nearly four years ago near the border with Gaza. Mr Holmes, of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was speaking at the UN after visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories earlier this month. ""Obviously we've called for the release of Cpl Shalit, and that he should be treated in accordance to the Geneva conventions,"" Mr Holmes said. ""But the link between that and the fate of 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza does not seem to us a reasonable one."" He said the blockade of Gaza had not weakened Hamas, the militant Islamist movement which controls the territory. Can the US broker peace? Mr Holmes told journalists there had been some progress: the Israelis had allowed into Gaza goods such as glass to fix broken windows. But, he said, in general Gaza was being pushed backwards, or ""de-developing"", because it was not possible to repair war damage and revive the economy. Mr Holmes said the situation in Gaza was so bad that even though smuggling tunnels to Egypt were fostering a ""gangster economy"", the situation would become unsustainable if they were blocked. The tunnels are a conduit for badly needed commercial goods, including food and medicine, but are also widely believed to be used for smuggling cash and weapons to Hamas. Egypt, which helps maintain the blockade and opens its border with Gaza only occasionally, is reinforcing its Gaza border barrier with underground metal plates in an attempt to block the tunnels. The UN and a number of international humanitarian groups warned in January that the blockade was putting residents' health at risk, the UN and aid groups have warned. Israel and Egypt deny entry to all but basic humanitarian supplies, in order to prevent Gaza's Hamas rulers firing rockets at Israel, they say. Mr Holmes spoke as Mr Biden was winding down his trip to the Middle East, the highest ranking Obama administration official yet to go to Israel and the West Bank. On Tuesday, the Israeli interior ministry said that the Jerusalem authorities had approved the expansion of Jewish homes in East Jerusalem. Mr Biden said the decision ""undermined the trust required for productive negotiations"" and warranted his unequivocal condemnation. But he also said the United States had ""no better friend than Israel"" and urged peace talks to resume without delay. Close to 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this."
" Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the army to cut off the area until midnight on Saturday, citing a heightened risk of attacks. Israel has sealed off the West Bank ahead of major holidays in the past, but only rarely on other occasions. Security sources said the closure was decided after Israel discovered plans to repeat last Friday's riots in Jerusalem in which more than 60 Palestinian youths and 15 Israeli police were injured. The closure was announced the day after US vice-president Joe Biden concluded a visit to the region aimed at promoting renewed peace talks. Hopes of negotiations collapsed when Israel announced 1,600 new settler homes would be built in predominantly-Arab east Jerusalem. Israel also limited access to Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Only worshippers with Israeli identity cards and aged over 50 were permitted. Prayers passed off peacefully at the mosque itself, but youths denied entry threw stones at Israeli police in Sultan Suleiman Street, Wadi Joz and Ras-Al-Amud on the Mount of Olives. Hundreds of Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers near Ramallah. Inside the Old City and throughout East Jerusalem, 3,000 Israeli police and paramilitary border police patrolled the narrow lanes, took up positions on rooftops and checked ID cards at temporary checkpoints. Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen said he would try ""to preserve the channel of dialogue with the various bodies so that quiet can be maintained on the site so that everyone can exercise their right to worship as they see fit."" Until Saturday night, only teachers, humanitarian and religious workers or Palestinians needing medical care will be allowed through checkpoints from the West Bank to Israel."
" Highways were jammed as people obeyed Mayor Ray Nagin's order to leave the Louisiana city for higher ground. Those unable or unwilling to leave spent the night in shelters - including the 77,000-seat Superdome stadium. Although the storm has been downgraded from category five to four, sustained winds were still reaching 155mph (250km/h) as it made landfall. Winds of up to 71mph (114km/h) have already been recorded in New Orleans, while Grand Isle - just off the coast - has seen gusts of 91mph (144km/h). In Asian trading on Monday, oil prices jumped nearly $5 a barrel to touch a high of $70.80. Issuing his unprecedented mandatory evacuation order, Mayor Nagin said the city - which sits some 6ft (2m) below sea level - was at risk of serious flooding. The post-hurricane surge could reach 28ft (8.5m) toppling the barriers that protect the city and its historic French Quarter, he warned. ""We are facing the storm that most of us have feared,"" he told the city's 485,000 residents. ""This is a once in a lifetime event."" Experts fear the city's defences could be overwhelmed by floodwaters, inundating New Orleans with chemicals from refineries, and human waste from damaged septic systems."
" A gunfight between the Mexican army and suspected drug gang members has left at least 12 people, including two soldiers, dead, officials say. The clash happened in Guasave in the north-western state of Sinaloa. Gunmen using grenades and automatic weapons ambushed an army patrol before retreating to a hotel as police and military reinforcements closed in. Sinaloa is one of the Mexican states worst affected by drug-related violence. Schools and businesses in the area remained closed after the fighting broke out on Wednesday morning. Security forces seized vehicles and weapons, including a high-powered rifle capable of penetrating armoured vehicles, Sinaloa state prosecutors said. ""An operation is under way to ensure that calm and security return to the Guasave area,"" state governor Mario Lopez Valdez said. He rejected suggestions that the authorities were losing control of security in Sinaloa, Efe news agency reported. The state on the Pacific coast is home to the powerful Sinaloa cartel, led by Mexico's most-wanted drug trafficker, Joaquin ""El Chapo"" Guzman. But the cartel's control of smuggling routes into the US is challenged by rival criminal gangs."
" New Chile quake as Pinera sworn in as president Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Sebastian Pinera has been sworn in as president of Chile, minutes after it was hit by the largest aftershock since last month's devastating earthquake. The 6.9-magnitude tremor was centred in O'Higgins Region, some 140km (90 miles) south of the city of Valparaiso, where the inauguration ceremony took place. The congress building was evacuated soon after. On taking office, Mr Pinera said: ""It's time to get to work."" His presidency ends two decades of left-wing rule in Chile. The tycoon not only faces the challenge of reconstruction, but takes over from the highly popular Michelle Bachelet, who was the country's first woman president. Ms Bachelet left office with an 84% popularity rating despite criticism of her government's response to February's 8.8-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami, which left close to 500 people dead. I'm leaving office with sadness for the suffering of our people, but also with my head held high   Earlier, Chile's disaster management chief resigned, six days after the head of the navy's oceanography service was dismissed for failing to provide a clear warning of the tsunami. A BBC correspondent in the capital, Santiago, says buildings there shook and people rushed out onto the streets after Thursday's tremor, but no damage was reported. A tsunami alert was issued for a long stretch of Chile's coast but was later lifted, except for Easter Island, where it remained in effect. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the aftershocks were too small to cause ""a destructive widespread tsunami"". Mr Pinera said there had been ""significant damage"" in Rancagua, a city almost 100km (62 miles) south of the capital, which was close to the main tremor's epicentre, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. The US Geological Survey initially estimated the largest aftershock's magnitude at 7.2, but later revised it down to 6.9. It was followed by more tremors, the biggest of which had a magnitude of 6.7. The inauguration ceremony in the port city of Valparaiso, which houses the National Congress, was intended to be an austere affair. The planned dinner was cancelled and the whole event scaled back out of respect for victims of the quake. Ms Bachelet, who was constitutionally barred from seeking re-election, handed the red, white and blue presidential sash to Mr Pinera. ""I'm leaving office with sadness for the suffering of our people, but also with my head held high, satisfied with what we have accomplished,"" she said in her farewell address. The leaders of Peru, Colombia, Argentina and Bolivia were among the dignitaries to attend the inauguration. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Seldom can an incoming president have faced such a massive and immediate challenge, says the BBC's Gideon Long in Santiago. Many people have been made homeless by the quake, with about half a million homes destroyed. BBC reader Ian Hutcheon, from San Vicente, 45km south of Rancagua, described Thursday's aftershock as ""very severe"". ""I was in a bank when it hit and there was mayhem, panic and chaos,"" he said. ""We won't be the government of the earthquake, we'll be the government of reconstruction,"" Mr Pinera said recently. Last month, Mr Pinera named his cabinet, leaving out any figures linked with the former military ruler, Augusto Pinochet. In his election campaign, the 60-year-old the conservative leader said he would focus on boosting economic growth and producing jobs while continuing with the outgoing president's social policies. Mr Pinera is one of the country's richest men. He made his fortune introducing credit cards to Chile, then went on to buy a television channel, a stake in Chile's most successful football club, and put millions of dollars into other investments."
" One member of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was also killed in an explosion in the south of the country, the force said, without identifying the victim's nationality. Violence has surged in recent years as the Taliban made a comeback, reaching its highest levels since the Islamist militants were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001. Record numbers of civilians and Afghan and foreign troops have been killed. Washington has begun sending an extra 30,000 troops to join about 115,000 foreign troops, most of them American, already in Afghanistan in an attempt to reverse the growing momentum of the Taliban insurgency. The blast that killed the civilians struck in Kapisa province, to the northeast of Kabul, ISAF said in a statement. Three other children were also wounded, the alliance said. It did not give details about the type of explosion, saying it was caused by insurgents who are fighting the Afghan government and foreign troops. The South African and one of his Afghan colleagues, both employees of an Indian road construction firm, were killed by armed men in a southeastern area, said Sakhi Jan, an Afghan commander providing security for the firm. An Indian and an Afghan worker from the company were wounded in the attack, which took place on a project site in Khost province, close to the border with Pakistan."
" Hundreds of women have taken to the streets of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, and the central city of Jos in rallies against Sunday's massacre near Jos. The women, mostly dressed in black, demanded that the government protect women and children better. At least 109 people were killed in the ethnic clashes near Jos. Many were said to be women and children. Survivors have told the BBC how they saw relatives and friends hacked down with machetes and their bodies burnt. Witnesses and officials say the perpetrators came from the mainly Muslim Fulani group. Most of the victims were Christians from the Berom group. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The attacks appear to be retaliation for violence in the villages around Jos in January, when most of the victims were said to be Muslim. The women in Jos carried placards proclaiming: ""Stop killing our future; Bloodshed in the Plateau [State] must stop."" They marched carrying Bibles, wooden crosses or branches of mango trees, chanting: ""No more soldiers."" Christian pastor Esther Ebanga told the crowds of women: ""Enough is enough."" ""All we are asking is that our children and women should not be killed any more. We demand justice,"" the AFP news agency quoted her as saying. Divisions accentuated by system of classifying people as indigenes and settlers Hausa-speaking Muslims living in Jos for decades are still classified as settlers Settlers find it difficult to stand for election Communities divided along party lines: Christians mostly back the ruling PDP; Muslims generally supporting the opposition ANPP Meanwhile in Abuja, women staged a similar rally, carrying pictures of the dead. Risika Razak, one of the leaders of the protest, said she wanted to show the government that ""things are not going right"". ""They should beef up security in troubled areas so that we would be able to know that people that go to bed will wake up the next day and life will continue,"" she said. Officials and religious leaders have accused the military of not acting quickly enough to prevent the massacre. But on Thursday, the commander of the regional task force, Major General Salih Maina, rebuffed the criticism. He said the army was told of the violence only after it had happened. Earlier, the BBC's Komla Dumor visited a mass grave in the village of Dogo-Nahawa where more than 100 bodies from one village had been buried. One community leader in the village told the BBC how his five-year-old granddaughter had been hacked to death with a machete. Like earlier eyewitness accounts, he said the violence started with gunfire. ""People were running helter-skelter because of this.... They had never heard something like this before. ""People that were running and run into them, and they were macheted."" The authorities have arrested about 200 people and charged 49 with murder. Although the clashes take place between Muslims and Christians, observers say the underlying causes are economic and political."
" The men - aged between 25 and 35 - were found at Areda, some 50km (31 miles) west of Kut, a spokesman told the BBC. They were partially clothed, had been handcuffed and all had been shot in the head in an execution style. Violence has increased in Iraq amid growing uncertainty over the future of a new constitution. Talks on a new charter are to continue on Friday. Each of the 36 Iraqis had a 9mm bullet in the head, the Iraqi police spokesman said. The state of the bodies indicated to the local police that they had been killed four or five days ago. Six of them had metal handcuffs on and the other 30 plastic handcuffs. Killings have become common in Iraq, fuelling tension between Sunni and Shias, correspondents say. Early this month, at least 19 bodies were discovered near a school in south-western Baghdad. Some of the dead had been blindfolded and shot, while others were beheaded, according to reports. All were men. Within the space of three days on May, Iraqi police found the bodies of more than 50 people who appeared to have been killed in an execution style at different locations around Baghdad."
" BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Following bloody battles in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Thursday called for an end to violence between his supporters and those loyal to a rival Shiite leader. At least five people died and 10 others were wounded in fighting Wednesday between followers of al-Sadr and forces associated with Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). Dr. Mohammed Abbas al-Fetlawi, head of the Najaf health system, confirmed the casualties. ""I call upon all the believers to save the blood of the Muslims and to return to their homes,"" al-Sadr said at a news conference. He called on al-Hakim to do the same. ""I demand that brother Abdul Aziz al-Hakim make an official announcement condemning the aggression by his representatives and some extremists."" A short time later, a SCIRI spokesman also asked for an end to the violence, saying it did not benefit Iraq. Al-Sadr and his backers are among a minority of Shiites who oppose an Iraqi constitution that would include a decentralized Iraqi government with autonomous regions -- or federalism. Sunni Arabs also oppose this plan. Al-Hakim supports an autonomous region in the south for Shiite Arabs. The violence prompted Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, in a televised address Wednesday, to call for calm, saying fighting should not occur between Iraqis, but against enemies of Iraq. Al-Sadr praised al-Jaafari for his stance on the violence, as well as President Jalal Talabani, who condemned it. Laith Kubba, adviser to Prime Minister al-Jaafari, said the tension between al-Sadr supporters and SCIRI ""is rooted in local issues,"" such as the control of municipal councils. Wednesday's violence followed the reopening of an al-Sadr office near the holy Shiite Imam Ali Mosque in the city of Najaf, south of the capital. Al-Sadr's offices have been closed since last year's fighting between al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia and U.S. forces. Conditions in Najaf have been relatively peaceful after clashes were resolved by last year's agreement between al-Sadr and the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani that granted his freedom from charges in a murder case. Al-Sadr was wanted by Iraqi authorities in connection with the killing of rival cleric Majeed Al-Khoei in April 2000. A Ministry of Interior official said that Najaf's city council gave notices Wednesday to close all offices in the Old City around the mosque to make room for visitors. Al-Sadr supporters said they wouldn't comply with the order to close the office, the official said. Demonstrations and fighting then began between al-Sadr's followers and opponents to the establishment of the cleric's office, many who are SCIRI members, with allegiance to al-Hakim. Sheikh Salah Obeidi, spokesman for al-Sadr, said demonstrators threw rocks at the office, stormed it and torched it. Among the wounded in the violence, Obeidi said, was a sheikh at the al-Sadr office -- Saheb al-Ameri. 'We are in the new Iraq' Outrage about the incident spurred demonstrations by al-Sadr supporters in the Baghdad neighborhoods of Sadr City and Shaab -- where the cleric is popular. Hassan Karim Muttar, leader of the Sadr City council, condemned the violence. ""We regret the attacks in Najaf,"" Muttar said. ""These actions are against humanity and against all human rights."" ""We are in the new Iraq and we are not supposed to be solving our conflicts with fighting and car bombs. This is not the way to be, we are supposed to be solving our issue in a civilized manner,"" Muttar said. The Interior Ministry also reported violence involving al-Sadr's Mehdi Army in at least three other cities south of Baghdad -- Diwaniya, Babil and Amara. In Diwaniya and Babil, two SCIRI offices were burned to the ground. No casualties were reported, although the clashes continued into the early hours of Thursday. The Interior Ministry official said police were cordoning off the Old City as demonstrations continued overnight. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more."
" The court rejected a complaint by two MPs who argued that constitutional procedures had been violated. The judges voted 7-1 for the election. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder engineered the election by deliberately losing a vote of confidence in July. Campaigning is already in full swing, with polls suggesting Mr Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) will lose. The opposition conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), led by Angela Merkel, are widely tipped to win the election, which is taking place a year earlier than scheduled. All of Germany's main parties wanted the elections to be brought forward by a year. The judges' ruling has an earlier precedent. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of Chancellor Helmut Kohl when he organised a confidence vote defeat for himself in 1982, to clear the way for early elections the following year. In their ruling on Thursday the judges said one of the main reasons for their decision was to restore the ability of the German government to act. They added that the court had operated under enormous pressure, with campaigning already well under way, but said this had not affected their decision-making. This weekend, the CDU holds its pre-election convention, and Mrs Merkel will face Chancellor Schroeder in a head-to-head television duel the following Sunday. Mr Schroeder announced in May that he would seek an early election, arguing that the SPD needed a fresh mandate for welfare and labour market reforms after suffering a series of state election defeats."
" US President Barack Obama has signed a strategic agreement with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai on a previously unannounced visit to Afghanistan. The 10-year accord outlines military and civil ties between the countries after the end of Nato's mission in Afghanistan in 2014. Mr Obama is also due to give a TV address to Americans back home. The visit coincides with the first anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's killing in Pakistan. It was a year ago that US special forces carried out a raid on Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad and killed the leader of the al-Qaeda network. After Mr Obama's arrival, Mr Karzai said a post-war agreement would seal an ""equal partnership"" between Afghanistan and the United States, reports say. Continue reading the main story Air Force One, the jumbo jet carrying President Obama, landed well after dark at the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul. The president then flew on to the Afghan capital by helicopter. He will only be on the ground for a few hours. But the strategic partnership he and President Karzai have just signed is the product of months of difficult negotiations. Only when differences over night raids by special forces and the handling of prisoners were ironed out did the agreement finally fall into place. Mr Obama added the cost of war had been great for both nations, adding he looked forward to ""a future of peace"". He acknowledged there would be difficult days ahead for Afghanistan, but said the Afghan people were taking control of their own future. Later, Mr Obama thanked US troops in Afghanistan, saying Osama Bin Laden got justice a year ago."
" Rupert Murdoch ""is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company"", MPs have said. The culture committee questioned journalists and bosses at the now-closed News of the World, as well as police and lawyers for hacking victims. Its report has concluded that Mr Murdoch exhibited ""wilful blindness"" to what was going on in News Corporation. But the committee was split six to four with Tory members refusing to endorse the report and branding it ""partisan"". Conservative Louise Mensch called it ""a real great shame"" that the report's credibility had potentially been ""damaged"" as a result, with the report carried by Labour and Lib Dem members backing it. News Corp said in a statement it was ""carefully reviewing"" the report and would ""respond shortly"", adding: ""The company fully acknowledges significant wrongdoing at News of the World and apologises to everyone whose privacy was invaded."" The committee itself does not have the power to impose sanctions, but it raised the possibility of a vote in the House of Commons about whether witnesses had been in contempt of Parliament - and if so, whether those witnesses should be forced to apologise in Parliament. The BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent Norman Smith said the report was much more damning than had been anticipated and directly questioned the integrity and honesty of Rupert Murdoch. BBC business editor Robert Peston said it would push Ofcom, the media regulator, closer to the conclusion that BSkyB - 39% owned by News Corp - is not fit and proper to hold a broadcasting licence. Reacting to the report, an Ofcom spokesman said it was ""continuing to assess the evidence - including the new and emerging evidence"" that may assist it in ruling on that issue."
" After token resistance, the last to leave were protesters at the West Bank settlements of Sanur and Homesh. All of the 8,500 or so settlers in Gaza were removed in a six-day operation that ended on Monday. However, about 450,000 settlers remain in about 120 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It is the first time Israel has withdrawn from Palestinian land captured in the 1967 war. The houses of the settlers are being demolished in agreement with the Palestinian Authority. But Mr Sharon says he will not give up the main settlement blocks - or halt settlement building as required by the US-backed roadmap peace plan. President George W Bush praised the Israeli prime minister's ""courageous decision"" that had ""changed the dynamics on the ground and has provided hope for the Palestinian people"". ""We want to get back to the roadmap,"" Mr Bush said urging effective government by the Palestinians in the evacuated areas. Thousands of Israeli troops re-deployed from Gaza met little resistance in the West Bank settlements of Sanur and Homesh - the last two of the planned four to be evacuated in accordance with the disengagement plan. The residents of Ganim and Kadim had already left voluntarily."
" At least 20 people have been killed in Cairo in an attack on a protest near the Egyptian Ministry of Defence. The unknown attackers used rocks, clubs, firebombs and shotguns. The protesters retaliated, beating some assailants. Soldiers and police have now intervened to stop the clashes, but as long as six hours after the violence started. Two leading presidential candidates have suspended campaigning in protest at the way authorities handled it. Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh, an independent Islamist, and Mohammed Mursi, head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), criticised the authorities' response. In addition, the FJP and the Salafist Nour party, which together control 70% of the seats in parliament, decided to boycott a meeting with the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (Scaf). Many of the protesters who were attacked outside the defence ministry building, in the capital's Abbasiya district, on Wednesday morning were supporters of a Salafist preacher barred from standing in the election. Hazem Abu Ismail was disqualified because his mother had dual Egyptian-US nationality, violating rules laid out in a constitutional declaration approved after an uprising forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down. Mr Abu Ismail complained that he was the victim of a ""plot"" by the military authorities, but the election commission found no evidence. Ahmed Raafat was at the demonstration with friends and witnessed the attacks which he described to the BBC as a ""massacre""."
" The Israeli military said the dead men were wanted in connection with suicide bombings in Israel. Earlier, a British Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed to death in Jerusalem, allegedly by a Palestinian man. The violence is the first since Israeli forces completed the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Gaza and part of the West Bank. An Israeli military source said the five dead in Tulkarm were all wanted for two suicide bombings in Israel this year. However, Palestinian witnesses quoted by Reuters news agency said three of them were unarmed teenagers, while two were militants, one from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and one from Islamic Jihad. An Islamic Jihad spokesman said revenge was inevitable and it would teach Israel ""an unforgettable lesson"". Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of seeking to destroy the prospects of peace and a shaky unofficial ceasefire currently being maintained by militant groups. ""We strongly condemn this crime and the Israeli side will be responsible for any consequences,"" he said in a statement. Palestinian militants later fired a home-made rocket at the Israeli town of Sderot just outside the Gaza Strip, but did not cause any casualties. In Jerusalem, an Orthodox Jew was knifed to death in the Old City, in what police described as a terrorist attack."
" The government plans to use the land to continue building the controversial West Bank barrier around the settlement of Maale Adumim. Palestinian leaders condemned the building of the barrier and urged the international community to intervene. Israel argues the barrier is necessary to prevent Palestinian suicide attacks. ""Such decisions will only serve to undermine any efforts to resume negotiations,"" said senior Palestinian official, Saeb Erekat. Palestinian officials are also preparing to oppose the action in Israeli courts. They argue that the barrier is in reality a land grab that also cuts them off from their families, hospitals and schools. Palestinians also believe the barrier will become a de facto border, prejudging final status negotiations on a Palestinian state. In July 2004, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory ruling that Israel's West Bank barrier was illegal and construction of it should be stopped. The land seizures come just days after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reaffirmed his commitment to settlement construction in the West Bank. About 60km square (23m square) of land a to be expropriated, according to Israeli settlement monitoring group, Ir Amim."
" Three Taiwanese legislators and several top military officers flew to the disputed Spratly islands Monday to renew their territorial claim amid mounting tensions in the South China Sea. Thitu Island, part of the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea. Three Taiwanese legislators and several top military officers have flown to the disputed islands to renew their territorial claim amid mounting tensions in the area. The three legislators -- all sitting on the parliament's defence committee -- landed on Taiping Island, the biggest in the contested waters, on an air force C-130 transport plane."
" At least five people have been killed by a moderately powerful earthquake in eastern Iran, say officials. The 5.5 magnitude quake struck near Zohan in South Khorasan province, close to the Afghan border, in the early evening, said the Fars news agency. At least 20 people were hurt and many in the provincial capital Birjand fled their homes, the agency said. Iran is frequently hit by quakes - in 2003 tens of thousands of people were killed in a quake which flattened Bam. More than 300 people died in two quakes in north-western Iran in August this year. Tehran University's Seismological Centre said the latest quake hit at 20:38 local time (17:08 GMT), 25km (15 miles) from Zohan. State TV quoted a local MP, Javad Heravi, as saying it had damaged rural buildings and cut phone and power lines. Twelve villages were affected, the TV added. Search and rescue teams have been dispatched to the scene, media reports said."
" People fled their homes as the quake struck and brought walls and buildings down. But others were left trapped under rubble in villages across the district of Zohan in South Khorasan province, Fars news agency said. ""Eight people have been killed in the earthquake area and one person is missing. Unfortunately a number of those injured have lost their lives in the last few hours,"" Mehr news agency quoted South Khorasan's crisis management director Mohammad Ali Akhundi as saying. ""Homes have sustained damage and people are out in public places and they need the means to keep themselves warm because of the cold,"" he said. Iran's Red Crescent Society despatched 15 rescue teams to the affected areas to search for people stuck under the debris and doctors in the provincial capital of Birjand were on alert to treat those hurt, Fars new agency reported. Rescue units of Iran's national Basij militia also joined operations, despatching three medical teams. Emergency workers had reached some areas and the number of confirmed dead could rise, Tehran's deputy emergency services director Mohammad Sarvar said. Two villages appeared to have sustained the worst of the damage including the village of Sharaj where five people were killed, Mehr news agency quoted district governor Farhad Falahati as saying. ""We have what we need to help but landslides especially on the route to Sharaj have stopped the relief supplies from getting there,"" he added. At least 12 aftershocks have been registered since the quake struck at 2038 local time (1708 GMT), the Iranian Seismological Center said. The centre said the epicenter was 42 km from the town of Qayen, the heart of Iran's saffron-growing region, one of the country's major non-oil exports."
" BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's embassy in Damascus suspended its operations on Wednesday and Hungarian diplomats left Syria, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry said on the government's official website. The ministry added in a statement that on urgent consular matters, Hungarian citizens should turn to Hungary's embassy in Beirut."
 The return to sectarian violence in the Plateau State city of Jos has been largely described as a revenge from the deadly attacks in January. It has also been reported that some of the perpetrators were mercenaries from neighboring Chad and Niger.
" Those who died were reported to be mainly women and children The governor of Nigeria's Plateau state has accused military commanders of ignoring warnings of an attack on Sunday near the city of Jos. Hundreds died during attacks on three villages in the area between the mainly Christian south and Muslim north. The massacre is seen as revenge for a previous bout of killings in January. Earlier, a Christian group also accused security forces of failing to stop the clashes. Nigerian police spokesman Yemi Ajayi categorically denied the claims. The army has not yet responded to the accusations but troops are patrolling the area to prevent further clashes. There were fresh reports of gunfire in villages near Jos late on Tuesday. Witnesses later said the troops were firing into the air to disperse crowds of youths. Governor Jonah Jang said he had warned the army about reports of suspicious people with weapons hours before they attacked, but they failed to take action. We are fleeing our village because we are afraid we might be the next target of attack   Your stories of the Jos attacks ""Three hours or so later, I was woken by call that they have started burning the village and people were been hacked to death,"" he said. ""I tried to locate the commanders. I couldn't get any of them on the telephone."" The head of the northern area of Nigeria's Christian Association said he believed mercenaries were involved. Saidu Dogo told the BBC that fighters from neighbouring Chad and Niger took part in the violence. ""For quite some time we have alerted the government to training grounds in some part of the northern state where people are being trained to cause problems in the country... Nobody did anything about it,"" he said. ""Many people come into Nigeria under the pretext of [being] pastoralists, they are mercenaries. They follow pastoralist routes to gain entrance, carry out their activities and then leave,"" he said. Earlier, the Plateau State Christian Elders Consultative Forum complained that it had taken the army two hours to react after receiving a distress call, the AFP news agency reported. By that time, ""the attackers had finished their job and left"", they said. The authorities believe the attack on the three villages near the Plateau state capital, Jos, was an act of revenge carried out by members of the mainly Muslim Fulani community. The US and human rights campaign groups have urged the government to arrest and try those responsible. ""The Nigerian government should ensure that the perpetrators of acts of violence are brought to justice under the rule of law, and that human rights are respected as order is restored,"" Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. But Mr Dogo urged the international community to become more actively involved as, he said, the government was unable to protect its own people. Divisions accentuated by system of classifying people as indigenes and settlers Hausa-speaking Muslims living in Jos for decades are still classified as settlers Settlers find it difficult to stand for election Communities divided along party lines: Christians mostly back the ruling PDP; Muslims generally supporting the opposition ANPP ""We feel that the world just has to do something. If the Nigerian government cannot do something then the world has to do something to stop this killing."" He also blamed local politicians for stirring up the violence. Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked the country's national security adviser, Sarki Mukhtar, in an apparent response to the killings. But the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said the villages should have been properly protected after the January killings. ""Clearly, previous efforts to tackle the underlying causes have been inadequate, and in the meantime the wounds have festered and grown deeper,"" she said, according to the Associated Press. Nigerian troops are patrolling the villages which were targeted on Sunday in a bid to prevent further violence and police say they have arrested more than 90 people suspected of inciting violence. But residents of nearby communities say they are already getting ready to leave, fearing a fresh wave of violence. ""We are fleeing our village because we are afraid we might be the next target of attack by these Fulani,"" Patricia Silas, 30, told AFP. ""They have been making phone calls warning they are going to attack. We take these threats seriously. We don't want to be caught off-guard."" Many of the dead in the villages of Zot and Dogo-Nahawa, largely inhabited by Christian members of the Berom community, are reported to be women and children. Clashes have broken out periodically since 2001, with competition for resources and political power seen as being at the heart of the conflicts between the rival communities."
" Fifteen police officers have been injured during rioting at Belfast City Hall on Monday night. It followed the passing of a vote to change the council's policy of flying the union flag all year round. A loyalist protest outside the building erupted into violence minutes after the motion was passed. Disorder also broke out in east Belfast. Council staff removed the flag at 07:00 GMT on Tuesday. It will now only be flown on 18 designated days. Two security guards and a press photographer were also hurt during the violence at the City Hall. he police were attacked with bottles and bricks in the Albertbridge Road and Templemore Avenue areas of east Belfast. Continue reading the main story The former SDLP leader John Hume used to frequently say ""you can't eat a flag"". Ask most Northern Ireland politicians whether they would prefer to spend their time discussing flags or ""bread and butter issues"" and they'll tell you the economy every time. Despite that, flags, murals and even the wearing of poppies continue to have the potential to stir sharp divisions. Three people were arrested - two teenagers in east Belfast and a 22-year-old man in Donegall Square in the city centre. First Minister Peter Robinson condemned the violence but said the decision to remove the flag was ""provocative"". In a statement, the DUP leader said: ""There is no excuse or justification for attacks on police officers, council staff, and property."""
" NATO foreign ministers have approved Turkey's request for Patriot missiles to defend its borders, a statement of ""solidarity"" with its fellow alliance member. ""Today NATO agreed to augment Turkey's air defense by deploying Patriot missiles to Turkey. Turkey has asked for NATO's support and we stand with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity,"" said NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. ""To Turkish people we say, we are determined to defend you and your territory. To anyone who would want to attack Turkey, we say, don't even think about it. "" The move is in response to the spilling over of the Syrian civil war into Turkey, where errant Syrian artillery shells struck the border town of Akcakale and killed five Turkish civilians in October. Turkey asked NATO to deploy Patriot missiles along its border to bolster its air defenses against Syrian threats. The United States, Germany and Netherlands, which all have Patriot capabilities, have signaled they would be willing to contribute missiles. Rasmussen believes the ""actual deployment will take place within weeks."" ""We welcome the intention of Germany, the Netherlands and the United States to provide Patriot missile batteries, subject to their respective national procedures. These systems will be under the operational command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Any deployment will be defensive only. It will in no way support a no-fly zone or any offensive operation,"" Rasmussen said. The decision was made as news surfaced about fears of Bashar al-Assad's government using chemical weapons. Rasmussen echoed warnings from U.S. President Barack Obama that the Syrian government may be toying with the idea of using chemical weapons to crush the 21-month rebellion. ""The Syrian stockpiles of chemical weapons are a matter of great concern,"" Rasmussen told reporters. ""We know that Syria possesses missiles. We know they have chemical weapons and, of course, they also have to be included in our calculations. And this is also the reason why it is a matter of urgency to ensure effective defense and protection of our ally Turkey,"" he said."
" Chinese fishing boats have been accused by PetroVietnam, a state owned oil and gas company, of running over cables which were being laid by one of their seismic ship in the South China Sea. The terriorial waters in which this particular event took place has been disputed for decades by Vietnam, the Philippines Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated oil reserves in the South China Sea range from 28 billion barrels to as high as 213 billion barrels. PetroVietnam has been disputing with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) about its claims to oil blocks within its 200-nautical miles of Exclusive Economic Zone. But China is also disputing their rights to the regional seabeds and islands and has threaten its neighbors militarily. PetroVietnam said the two Chinese fishing vessels intentionally ran over the cable laying operation on November 30th. The company claims this is the second time that China's fishing fleet has damaged its cable laying in the same region."
" TOKYO (Reuters) - Radioactive iodine in sea-water off Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant rose to 1,850 times the usual level from 1,250 times measured on Saturday, Japan's nuclear safety agency said on Sunday. Separately, senior agency official Hidehiko Nishiyama said leakage from reactor vessels was likely to have been the cause for high levels of radiation found in water that has accumulated in turbine buildings. The radioactive water within the plant has hampered workers from restoring its cooling systems."
" Hamas officials said on Saturday that its members in Gaza had agreed to halt their rocket fire at Israel if Israel stops launching strikes against targets in the coastal territory. Hamas spokesman Ismail Rudwan said after a meeting with faction heads over a surge in cross-border tensions, that Hamas was ""committed as long as the occupation [Israel] was committed"" to restoring a de-facto ceasefire. RELATED: 'IDF will have to carry out large-scale operation in Gaza' Rocket fire increases; IDF may deploy Iron Dome soon Vilnai: Israel has strategic reason not to use Iron Dome US budget process holds up Iron Dome expansion Moments before the meeting started, a Kassam rocket exploded in the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries were reported and no damage was caused.  Earlier on Saturday, OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Tal Russo said on Saturday that ""there is anarchy in Gaza and Hamas."" Russo toured the house in the Negev that was hit Friday night by a Kassam rocket and stated that ""it is difficult now for Hamas to turn the wheel back."""
" International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano briefs the media after an extraordinary board of governors meeting on the nuclear disaster in Japan at the United Nations headquarters in Vienna March 21, 2011. Japan is struggling to avert a severe meltdown at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and officials said highly radioactive water had been leaking from the site hit by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11. The disaster has prompted a rethink of nuclear power around the world, just as the technology was starting to regain momentum as a tool to fight global warming. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which promotes peaceful uses of nuclear energy, would host the meeting, possibly in June, Director-General Yukiya Amano said. He said ministers from 151 IAEA member states should attend. ""(The) political level is needed, this is a very important issue, this is not only for experts or technical people,"" he told a news conference. Amano said the Vienna conference would discuss the initial assessment of the Japanese accident and look at where things went wrong. It would also focus on boosting atomic safety and seek ways to improve nuclear crisis-management. The IAEA has been criticized in the media and privately by diplomats for being too slow to react to the crisis. The agency has said it can only communicate the data Japan gives it and says it lacks the power to enforce nuclear safety standards, something it may now lobby to change. Amano described the situation at the site as ""very serious."""
" Police and troops have stepped up patrols in the area Nigerian police say 49 people are to be charged with murder after communal violence left scores of villagers dead. Most of those facing charges are Muslims from the Fulani group, police spokesman Mohammed Lerama told the BBC. The number of those arrested since the killings near the city of Jos has risen to 200, he said. Police say 109 people - thought to be mostly Christians - died in Sunday's bloodshed. Earlier reports put the toll at more than 500. The violence followed sectarian killings near Jos in January that left more than 300 dead, most of them believed to be Muslims. They killed them, cut their bodies, put fire on them. And the babies. They killed all the children   Plateau State, in central Nigeria, sits between the mainly Christian south and the predominantly Muslim north. Although the violence takes place largely between Muslims and Christians, analysts say the underlying causes are economic and political. A survivor in the village of Dogo Nahawa, near the city of Jos, told the BBC he heard his neighbours scream as they were attacked. ""I went to my neighbour's house. I saw all the wives, they killed them, cut their bodies, put fire on them. And the babies. They killed all the children,"" Pepi said. Gabriel, the community leader, said his five-year-old granddaughter had been hacked to death with a machete by Fulani-speaking men who had started shooting a heavy machine gun to scare the residents into the open. ""The shooting was so heavy that people were afraid. People were running helter skelter because... they had never heard something like this before. [They] ran into them, and they were machete-ed."" Officials say police and troops are patrolling the area to prevent further trouble. Chief of police for Plateau State Ikechukwu Aduba said on Wednesday he had asked for extra help. Days after the attacks the village is still a scene of devastation. All around me there are houses that have been burned - they are blackened and charred. The village is in shock - there is not a single person in this community who has not been affected. The people are now beginning to take security into their own hands. They are organising groups of young men and saying: ""If the authorities cannot protect us, we have to protect ourselves."" The geography of the plateau is flat and open - so access to villages like this is pretty much unimpeded. So unless there is a very strong security presence, people feel very vulnerable. ""Our urgent patrol efforts after the incident... have yielded good results,"" he said. ""We have requested reinforcements, and have been reassured... that reinforcement is on its way."" However, international pressure is growing on the Nigerian government to take further action. On Wednesday Pope Benedict XVI denounced the bloodshed as ""atrocious"". He urged civil and religious leaders ""to work towards security and peaceful co-existence"". The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions called on the Nigerian government to ""move swiftly"" to prevent further attacks. Earlier, the governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, said security lapses had worsened the carnage in the three villages targeted. He said he had warned the army about reports of suspicious people with weapons hours before they attacked, but they failed to take action. ""Three hours or so later, I was woken by a call that they [armed gangs] have started burning the village and people were being hacked to death,"" Mr Jang said. ""I tried to locate the commanders. I couldn't get any of them on the telephone."" Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked the country's national security adviser, Sarki Mukhtar, in an apparent response to the killings. But the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said the villages should have been properly protected after the January killings. The head of the northern area of Nigeria's Christian Association has said he believed mercenaries were involved. Saidu Dogo told the BBC that fighters from neighbouring Chad and Niger took part in the violence. State information commissioner Gregory Yenlong said on Monday that more than 500 people were killed. That figure was also given by religious leaders and rights activists. But state police commissioner Ikechukwu Aduba says 109 people are known to have died."
" The M23 rebel movement pulled its fighters out of the North Kivu provincial capital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Saturday after seizing it from fleeing U.N.-backed government forces and holding it for 11 days. But the situation remained tense and uncertain in the absence of any definitive peace accord to end the eight-month-old insurgency, which has displaced thousands of civilians in a region that is a tinderbox of ethnic and political conflict. In a development likely to stoke diplomatic tensions, a group of experts tasked by the U.N. Security Council has presented new evidence alleging M23 received ""direct support"" from the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) to capture Goma on November 20. The allegations, made in a November 26 letter to the Security Council, said RDF units operated alongside M23 fighters in the rebels' advance on Goma. It added that on November 20, ""a mixture of M23 and RDF troops clandestinely entered into Goma from the Rwandan town of Gisenyi through small streets situated between the town's two official border crossings"". Security Council diplomats confirmed to Reuters the authenticity of the experts' letter. Rwanda has strongly and repeatedly rejected previous allegations made by the same U.N. experts that the Rwandan government has created, equipped, trained and directly commanded the M23 rebellion in Congo's North Kivu. Similar accusations against Uganda's government have also been denied by Kampala. In Goma on Monday, North Kivu Governor Julien Paluku, who had left when the rebels took over, and Congolese Interior Minister Richard Muyej were supervising the resumption of government operations and authority over the city. Goma sits among lush green hills around Lake Kivu on the border with Rwanda and its capture triggered an international diplomatic scramble to head off any escalation of the fighting. Under a deal brokered by Uganda days after Goma's fall, M23 leaders agreed to withdraw to positions 20 km (13 miles) north of the city after DRC's President Joseph Kabila said he was ready to listen to the rebels' grievances. But Muyej said some M23 units were much closer to the city than had been agreed. ""They are in Monigi. It is only 3 or 5 km away. It is not good,"" he told Reuters."
" Yangon, Myanmar (CNN) -- Myanmar's ruling junta announced Wednesday a new election law that disqualifies pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating in upcoming national elections. The Political Parties Registration Law, announced in state-run newspapers, excludes electoral participation by any member of a political party who has been convicted in court. A Myanmar court convicted Suu Kyi, 64, in August for breaching the terms of her house arrest after American John Yettaw swam uninvited to her lakeside house in Yangon and briefly stayed there. Her ongoing detention was extended to November 2010, and in February a court rejected her appeal for release. Suu Kyi's supporters have said the conviction was a way to remove her from the election campaign. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has spent 14 of the last 20 years under house arrest. The new law forces Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, to choose between honoring her as its leader and risking the party being declared illegal or ejecting Suu Kyi from the party and contesting the election. The party has 60 days to decide its course of action, but party spokesman Nyan Winn said Wednesday that the party would not comply with the new law. Suu Kyi, the face of democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma, was placed under house arrest in 1989. The next year, her party won more than 80 percent of the legislative seats in the first free elections in the country in nearly 30 years. But the military junta disqualified Suu Kyi from serving because of her house arrest and never recognized the election results. The junta has promised to hold elections -- which would be the first since 1990 -- later this year, touting them as a step toward democracy. No polling date has been set. At the United Nations, a spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that the organization was studying the laws."
" At least seven people have been killed in a suicide-bomb attack at a bus station in north-west Pakistan. Twenty-two were also injured in the town of Jandool in Lower Dir, where Pakistani troops fought a major offensive against the Taliban in 2009. A member of a government-backed peace committee, set up to maintain security after the offensive, was reported to have been killed in the blast. Militants frequently launch attacks in districts close to the Afghan border. But no group has yet said it carried out the latest attack - the sixth bombing in Pakistan in as many days. Regional deputy inspector Qazi Jamil ur-Rehman told the AFP news agency: ""It was a suicide attack. The bomber was on foot. We're investigating what the target was."" The wounded from the blast were taken to two nearby hospitals and authorities warned that the death toll could rise, Pakistan's APP news agency reported. On Sunday dozens of people were killed when a Sufi Muslim shrine was attacked in central Punjab province. Suicide attackers struck near the Sakhi Sarwar shrine in Punjab, as Sufi Muslim devotees gathered for an annual three-day festival. Authorities said on Monday that the death toll had risen to 50."
" A Turkish humanitarian ship carrying more than 250 injured people from the Libyan city of Misrata has arrived in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. Misrata, the only city in the west still controlled by the rebels, has been under siege by forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi for several weeks. Doctors on board the ship said many people had extremely serious injuries. Meanwhile, the eastern oil town of Brega has seen continued fighting between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces. A BBC correspondent says an uneasy stalemate is developing. Government troops are reported to be holding ground near its university, but are reluctant to engage rebels because of the risk of Nato air strikes. The poorly armed and disorganised rebel forces are unable or unwilling to push on towards Brega and are calling for more help from the West. Libya's Deputy Foreign Minister, Abdul Ati al-Obeidi, has told the Greek prime minister that Col Gaddafi wants the fighting to end. ""From the Libyan envoy's comments it appears that the regime is seeking a solution,"" Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas told reporters. Mr Droutsas said Athens had stressed the international community's call for Libya to comply with UN Security Council resolution 1973, which authorised military intervention to protect civilians."
" At least one person was killed and scores injured at a protest in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz where police opened fire, residents say. Putting the number of hurt at as many as 1,200, doctors said police had used live rounds, tear gas and batons. And overnight, more than 400 people were hurt after police opened fire on a protest in the Red Sea town of Hudaida, doctors told the Reuters news agency. Protesters have been urging President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign. Mr Saleh has said he is ready to discuss a ""peaceful transition of power"". In office for more than three decades, he announced earlier this year that he would not seek another term in office in 2013. Yemen, the Arab world's most impoverished nation, is one of about a dozen countries in the Middle East to have seen anti-government unrest this year. In Taiz, a city of nearly half a million people 200km (125 miles) south of the capital Sanaa, witnesses told AFP news agency police had shot dead a young man who was tearing up a poster of the president on Sunday. They continued to fire as security forces pushed back the demonstrators to a square where they had been holding a sit-in as part of nationwide protests. One activist, Bushra al-Maqtari, told Reuters that tanks were being used."
" Yemeni security forces have fired on anti-government protesters, killing at least 15 people and wounding many more, medical sources say. Witnesses said snipers opened fire from the rooftops when demonstrators reached the governor's offices in Taiz. Snipers had also reportedly shot at protesters during a march in the fourth-largest city, Hudaida. The unrest follows weeks of nationwide protests calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to stand down. He has ruled the country for 32 years, but has signalled that he has no plans to leave immediately. The US has been a key ally of his, but analysts say Washington appears to be losing patience with him. Countries in the Gulf Co-operation Council regional bloc have offered to host talks between Mr Saleh and opposition groups. But Mr Saleh has been taking an increasingly hard line with the protesters, and has not publicly responded to offers of mediation. On Monday, crowds of protesters in the south-western city of Taiz began marching toward Freedom Square - the focal point of protests, where demonstrators have been camping out. When the march passed the governor's headquarters, troops blocked the procession and clashes broke out."
" 1 of 13. Anti-government protesters run after police fired tear gas during a demonstration in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz April 4, 2011. The attempt to suppress mounting protests inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia came amid signs that the United States is seeking an end to Saleh's 32-year rule, long seen as a rampart against Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In Taiz, south of the capital Sanaa, police shot at protesters trying to storm the provincial government building, killing at least 15 and wounding 30, hospital doctors said. ""The regime has surprised us with this extent of killing. I don't think the people will do anything other than come out with bare chests to drain the government of all its ammunition,"" parliamentarian Mohammed Muqbil al-Hamiri told Al Jazeera TV. The television showed a row of men, apparent tear gas victims, lying motionless and being tended by medics on the carpeted floor of a makeshift hospital in Taiz. In the Red Sea port of Hudaida, police and armed men in civilian clothes attacked a march toward a presidential palace. Three people were hit by bullets, around 30 were stabbed with knifes, and 270 were hurt from inhaling tear gas, doctors said. Later on Monday, doctors said at least six demonstrators were shot dead and several wounded during evening rallies, and that the toll was likely to rise. In Washington, the U.S. State Department called the latest violence in Yemen ""appalling."" Yemen's opposition coalition appealed in a statement to the United Nations, human rights groups and other international bodies ""to intervene quickly to stop President Saleh and his entourage from shedding more blood."" As opposition forces stepped up their actions, Saleh again appeared defiant."
" US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has lifted the military's ban on women serving in combat roles, potentially opening hundreds of thousands of frontline positions to women. The ruling, officially announced on Thursday, overturns a 1994 rule barring women from small ground-combat units. But the military will have until 2016 to argue for any specific posts they think should remain closed to women. At a Pentagon press conference, Mr Panetta said: ""Female service members have faced the reality of combat, proving their willingness to fight and, yes, to die to defend their fellow Americans."" He acknowledged a complaint frequently voiced by women denied combat roles - that military careers are hindered by a lack of combat experience. Continue reading the main story General Martin Dempsey and Defence Secretary Leon Panetta made it clear that this move is about recognising reality: women have been serving in combat for years. But while historic, the fact that the two men have rescinded the 1994 rule doesn't herald an era of automatic changes throughout the military. Gen Dempsey's 9 January memo noted that the time had come to eliminate all ""unnecessary"" gender-based barriers to service. It follows that there may be plenty of ""necessary"" barriers. It is now the job of service chiefs, over the next three years, to identify where those barriers lie. The expectation is that a large proportion of the 237,000 positions now closed to women will open. But even if certain units (special operations, for example) remain off limits, Gen Dempsey says he thinks today's move will have wider benefits, including tackling the military's problem with sexual harassment. ""I fundamentally believe that our military is more effective when success is based solely on ability and qualifications and on performance,"" said Mr Panetta. Military chiefs will be asked to report back to Mr Panetta by 15 May on their initial plans to implement the new policy. A senior defence official said about 237,000 jobs would be newly open to women ""who can meet the standards"". President Barack Obama said: ""This milestone reflects the courageous and patriotic service of women through more than two centuries of American history and the indispensable role of women in today's military."
" A US man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for his key role in plotting the deadly Mumbai attacks in 2008. David Coleman Headley, 52, was sentenced on 12 counts, including conspiracy to aid militants from the Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who carried out the attacks. Headley pleaded guilty and co-operated to avoid the death penalty and extradition to India. More than 160 people were killed by gunmen during the assault. After initially denying the charges, Hadley eventually pleaded guilty and admitted to scouting potential target locations in Mumbai. He also confessed to helping plan an aborted plot to behead staff at a Danish newspaper that had published a cartoon many Muslims deemed offensive. Headley had faced life imprisonment but US District Judge Harry Leinenweber said he had taken into account the American's co-operation in the case, even if ""the damage that was done was unfathomable"". ""I don't have any faith in Mr Headley when he says he's a changed person and believes in the American way of life,"" Judge Leinenweber said during Thursday's verdict. Headley was born Daood Gilani to a Pakistani father and American mother but changed his name to David Coleman Headley in 2006 ""to present himself in India as an American who was neither Muslim nor Pakistani"", prosecutors said. Headley is alleged to have told prosecutors that he had been working with LeT since 2002."
" TWO Taliban suicide bombers struck one of Pakistan's most important Sufi Muslim shrines yesterday, killing more than 40 people and wounding 100. Another bomber was wounded when his explosive vest partially detonated, and he was arrested along with a fourth militant who was seized before he could attack, police said. The attack on Sakhi Sarwar ended a months-long respite in a relentless militant campaign against the shrines founded by ancient adherents of Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam that sees dancing, chanting and visiting holy sites as expressions of devotion to God. The attack took place as worshippers were celebrating the anniversary of the death of Sufi Muslim's founder with music, meditation and other practices abhorred by Islamist militant groups ""It was a huge blast. People were running in panic,"" said Fida Bakhsh, 42, a stall-holder at the shrine site. ""It was horrible. We were running over bodies and blood."" ""I was just a few yards away from the place where the blast happened,"" said another witness, Faisal Iqbal. ""People started running outside the shrine. Women and children were crying and screaming. It was like hell."" Twenty of the wounded were in critical condition, emergency co-ordinator Natiq Hayat said last night.. From one-room tombs in small villages to large complexes in major cities, Sufi shrines are visited by millions of Pakistanis. But the sites are anathema to the Pakistani Taleban, al-Qaeda and other militant followers of the austere brand of Wahabi Islam that originated in Saudi Arabia. Followers of the Barelvi school of Islam, one of the two main branches of the religion in Pakistan, consider themselves the custodian of the shrines. They have been one of the main targets of Islamist militants since some of their leaders issued edict calling suicide bombings religiously illegitimate."
" As David Headley appeared before a Chicago court for his sentencing, American victims of the Mumbai terror attack said it would be an outrage if he was let off with just a 30 year imprisonment for his involvement in the massacre of 2008.Speaking on behalf of the victims, with Headley present inside the court room, a teary-eyed Kia Scherr, who lost her husband and daughter in the attack told a federal court that Headley must be made to bear the consequences of what he did.""I feel that the magnitude of the killing that took place (in Mumbai), David Headley has no right to live. He must bear the consequences of (what he did?)... this would be morale outrage if David Headley got only 35 years,"" said Kia Scherr.Mrs Scherr is the widow of Alan Scher and mother of Naomi Scher, who were shot dead during the Mumbai terror attack.Weeping in the court room as she described the events of the day, Mrs Scherr told Headley: ""I do not know you. I know you only from the testimony you gave in this courtroom. I have no understanding of how you choose this path. Your path is not my concern and justice is not my concern"".The Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist was sentenced to 35 years in jail by the court later.Earlier, Mrs Scher read out from Andreina Varagona, who had witnessed the attack and the killing of her husband and daughter.""Two gunmen came running into the packed restaurant, bullets flying. I remember hearing screams and saw all of us sitting there, frozen with fear. 'Everyone get under the table now', I shouted on instinct,"" read Ms Varagona's testimony.Ms Varagona was dining with the Scherrs, describing what happened on that fateful day.""I had no idea who the gunmen were or why we under attack. All six of us dived down but Naomi was so scared - she just kept screaming and screaming. Her dad, Alan, was desperately trying to calm her. Shots were ringing out as the gunmen peppered the restaurant with fire. 'We have to play dead', I said"".""But as I reached up to grab Alan's neck, I suddenly felt the warm spray of blood on my face and in my hair... Naomi's screams had stopped too and I saw her lying lifeless besides him. They'd both been shot dead,"" Mrs Scher said quoting Ms Varagona.Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists, who entered Mumbai through the sea route from Pakistan, gunned down Alan Scherr and his 13-year-old daughter, Naomi at the Oberoi hotel.Mrs Scherr was a university professor and worked with the Synchronicity Foundation, a spiritual organisation. Mrs Scherr and Naomi lived in Virginia, where Naomi was a high-achieving student who was home-schooled.The Scherrs traveled to India on a spiritual pilgrimage in November 2008 with approximately 20 other people.They were killed while eating in the first-floor cafe of the Oberoi Hotel and four other members of their group were injured."
" Wreckage from an Air France jet lost over the Atlantic nearly two years ago with 228 people on board has been found, French investigators say. With the cause of the crash still unknown, a fourth attempt to locate the plane's voice and data recorders got under way last month. Searchers located wreckage during the past 24 hours, investigators in Paris said, without giving details. Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris came down in a storm on 1 June 2009. A French judge recently filed preliminary manslaughter charges against Air France over the crash. Airbus, the maker of the jet, says no one can know for sure how the crash occurred unless the so-called ""black boxes"" are found. The search has been financed jointly by Air France and Airbus. It involves dives to depths of up to 4,000m (13,120ft) with the use of special robots to examine the ocean floor between Brazil and West Africa. France's Bureau of Investigations and Analysis (BEA) said that parts of the plane had been located by the searchers, led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. ""These parts have been identified by BEA investigators as belonging to the wreck of the A330-203, Flight AF 447,"" it added. The bureau promised to release further information later."
" Brothers Khuseyn and Muslim Gakayev have been accused of organizing several high-profile attacks, most recently a suicide bomb attack on an interior ministry vehicle that killed four last August. They were also blamed for an attack on the Chechen parliament in 2010 that killed at least six people, and an assassination attempt at the residence of Moscow-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. ""During a special operation in the mountains of Chechnya, twelve militants were killed,"" Interfax quoted an unnamed Interior Ministry spokesman as saying. One law enforcement official was also killed, Interfax said. The operation started on Wednesday and was still going on, Kadyrov was quoted by Interfax as saying. Insurgents seeking a separate Islamist state still stage daily attacks across the broader North Caucasus Mountain region more than a decade after Russia reestablished federal control over the province following two separatist wars. The special operation was going on in the Vedeno district, one of the regions hardest hit by the wars that followed the fall of the Soviet Union."
" A dramatic confrontation between Chinese activists and Japanese vessels took place on Thursday as senior officials of both sides tried to ease territorial tensions over the Diaoyu Islands, which have been China's for centuries. Observers said the incident prompted urgent calls on both sides to rein in the situation, reduce the increasing risks and make tangible progress in bilateral communications. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi called for steady policies toward China from the new Japanese cabinet when he met Natsuo Yamaguchi, the visiting party leader of Japan's pacifist New Komeito, a junior ruling partner in coalition with the conservative Liberal Democratic Party. Yamaguchi came to China with a letter from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeking a possible breakthrough in the political impasse. Tokyo's tangible moves are expected to improve the strained ties, and maintaining the broad perspective of bilateral relations ""requires a proper resolution of sensitive bilateral issues, including the Diaoyu Islands dispute"", the minister said. Yamaguchi stressed the huge shared interests of the two largest Asian economies and said ""existing differences should be shelved through dialogue"". After keeping a low profile for two days following his arrival in Beijing on Tuesday, Yamaguchi embarked on a series of meetings with key officials on Thursday, including Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. On Thursday a fishing vessel containing a group of activists from Taiwan was obstructed by Japanese coast guard ships in the waters surrounding the Diaoyu Islands and failed to make a landing. Escorted by four coast guard ships from Taiwan, the ""Happy Family"" fishing vessel departed from northern Taiwan in the early morning before it confronted eight Japanese coast guard ships in the waters near the Diaoyu Islands at about 9:40 am. The fishing vessel has seven people onboard, including several well-known non-governmental activists, one captain and an Indonesian worker. Japanese ships obstructed the vessel by making waves and emitting black smoke, and later spraying water toward it. Taiwan's coast guard ships responded with water spray and LED signals and used an audio amplifier warning the Japanese from obstructing the navigation of the vessel. As the waters witness more standoffs between vessels and aircraft from both sides, the risk of a potential conflict is rising. Yet ""both sides know really well that major combat cannot bring a resolution to the issue"", said Zhang Tuosheng, a researcher at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Israel has sent ground forces into the Gaza Strip after a week of air strikes to try to halt rocket attacks by Palestinian militants. Its troops were reported to be engaged in heavy clashes with Hamas fighters in northern Gaza. Both sides have reported casualties in the fighting. The UN secretary general called for an immediate halt to operations. But an emergency Security Council meeting failed to agree a united approach to the Gaza conflict. As dawn broke in Gaza a large plume of black smoke could be seen rising from part of the northern strip while the sound of exploding artillery shells - could also be heard. The shelling had continued through the night. Hamas has held the people of Gaza hostage ever since their illegal coup against the forces of (Palestinian) President Mahmoud Abbas   Witnesses say Israeli military convoys supported by attack helicopters crossed into northern Gaza at four separate points after nightfall on Saturday. Advancing Israeli tanks were reported to be in battles around Gaza City and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya, the Afp news agency reported. Hamas fighters replied with mortars and rockets, witnesses said. The Israeli army said 30 of its soldiers had been wounded in the ground offensive, two of them seriously. Palestinian medical officials said eight Gazans had been killed by Israeli troops, five of them gunmen. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the objective of the ground operation was ""to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations"". ""We are going to take some of the launch areas used by Hamas,"" Maj Avital Leibovitch told reporters. Israeli officials have described the offensive as a ""limited"" operation. The move into Gaza had been preceded by some of the heaviest Israeli air and artillery attacks on the territory in more than a week of bombardment. Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the ground campaign against Hamas ""will not be easy or short, but we are determined"". ""Our aim is to force Hamas to stop its hostile activities against Israel and Israelis from Gaza, and to bring about a significant change in the situation in the southern part of Israel,"" he told a news conference. ""We have carefully weighed all our operations. We are not war-hungry, but we shall not allow a situation in which our towns, villages and civilians are constantly targeted by Hamas."" Mr Barak also said Israel would ""keep a sensitive eye"" on its northern border with Lebanon, where it fought a short but bloody war with the Shia Hezbollah movement in 2006. ""We hope the situation will remain calm. Nevertheless, we are ready and alert to face any unwanted development in that area,"" he added. The BBC's Paul Wood in Jerusalem says this is probably just the first wave of the assault, since there are said to be some 10,000 Israeli troops and hundreds of tanks massed on the border with Gaza. The government has also announced the urgent call-up of ""tens of thousands"" of extra military reservists. Just before the ground offensive began, Hamas issued a statement promising that Palestinian children would be picking over the ruins of Israeli tanks and the body parts of Israeli soldiers. The militant group's exiled political leader, Khaled Meshaal, earlier warned Israel against a ground offensive, saying that a ""black destiny"" awaited Israeli forces if the entered Gaza. A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the offensive as ""a vicious aggression"". Our correspondent says this promises to be a very bloody encounter. The UN session was convened a few hours after Israeli forces entered Gaza. Talks lasted more than three hours and afterwards the Security Council's current president - France's Jean-Maurice Ripert - said there was a ""general convergence"" among some members, but he would not elaborate. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The UK ambassador to the UN, Sir John Sawers, said members had got close to an agreement. He added it was disappointing there could not be a firm statement from the UN as the situation on the ground escalates. France has strongly criticised the Israeli land campaign. The British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, said the escalation of the conflict would cause alarm and dismay. The US said it had told Israel's government that military action must be ""mindful of the potential consequences to civilians."" The State Department also said Washington is ""deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation"" in Gaza, but said in a statement that Hamas holds the people of Gaza hostage. Israeli warplanes and naval vessels have carried out more than 800 strikes on the Gaza Strip since the offensive started eight days ago, including 40 on Saturday. The UN has warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis, and believes 25% of more than 400 Palestinians killed by Israel so far were civilians. Israel says about 80% of those killed were Hamas militants. Four Israelis have been killed by rocket fire from Gaza. Earlier on Saturday, at least 13 people were killed in one Israeli raid when a missile struck a crowded mosque in Beit Lahiya, Palestinian medics said. HAVE YOUR SAY Violence brings only more violence. If the killing doesn't stop there would be no truce. Witnesses said more than 200 people had been inside the Ibrahim al-Maqadna mosque for evening prayers when it was struck. Correspondents say Israel has accused Hamas of using mosques to hide weapons and ammunition, but this is the first time a mosque has been hit at prayer time. Militants in Gaza fired more rockets into southern Israel on Saturday, one of which hit the port of Ashdod, injuring two people. Around the world, demonstrations were held against Israel's military operations. The biggest was in Paris, drawing more than 20,000 people. About 10,000 people protested in London. In Israel itself, tens of thousands of Israeli Arabs gathered in the town of Sakhnin to protest against their government's actions."
" Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- Nigeria postponed its parliamentary election Saturday due to a ""terrible unfortunate emergency"" caused by the late arrival of voting materials, the head of the election commission said. Nigerians will instead go to the polls Monday, said Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Election Commission. ""We cannot proceed with these elections if we want them to be free, fair and credible if there are no result sheets,"" Jega said. ""We cannot bury our heads and say there are no problems. It is regrettable. It is unfortunate. It should not have happened."" Jega said he takes full responsibility for the fiasco but he said a vendor that was supplying results sheets and ballots was unable to deliver them on time. The vendor, said Jega, cited the diversion of planes to carry relief supplies to earthquake-stricken Japan as the reason for the delay. Citizens of Africa's most populous nation were supposed to vote Saturday for 360 House of Representatives seats and 109 Senate seats. They are scheduled to vote next Saturday in a presidential election and for state governors the following week. Before the logistical problems, the election, the most expensive in Nigeria's history, had already been marred by riots, bombings and assassinations. ""The unprecedented levels of violence that have seen several people either killed, maimed, kidnapped or intimidated for political reasons pose the single most significant threat to the conduct of general elections,"" warned the Nigeria Elections Situation Room -- a forum of groups focusing on the upcoming elections. Human Rights Watch estimates at least 70 people have been killed in political violence in the run-up to the voting. The European Union described Nigeria's 2007 elections as the worst they had ever seen anywhere in the world, with rampant vote rigging, violence, theft of ballot boxes and intimidation. Nigeria had hoped to gain a cleaner image this year."
" A museum employee walks past the skeletal replica of a dinosaur at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum in Shanghai in a file photo. Scientists had recovered some 7,600 fossils from a 300 metre (980 ft) long pit near Zhucheng city over the past seven months, Xinhua news agency said. The finds included remains of a 20-metre hadrosaurus, which could be a record size for the duck-billed dinosaur, Xinhua said. Scientists had put down tools for the winter, but said further excavations could yield more fossils. Zhucheng, known locally as China's ""Dinosaur City,"" has produced dinosaur fossils in some 30 sites, according to local media. China, a relative late-comer to archaeology, has ramped up exploration in recent years and makes regular finds of rare fossils, which are sometimes smuggled out of the country to be sold for large sums. In January, Australia handed back hundreds of kilograms of Chinese dinosaur fossils to Beijing, including eggs dating back hundreds of millions of years, recovered from warehouses and cargo containers in sting operations, Australian media reported."
" The new discoveries include a large hadrosaur, or ""duck-billed"" dinosaur Scientists in China say they believe a group of dinosaur fossils discovered in the east of the country could be the largest collection ever found. The researchers, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, say they have unearthed 7600 dinosaur bones since March in Shandong province. Most of the bones date back to the late Cretaceous period which is around the time when dinosaurs became extinct. The scientists hope the find will help to explain why the creatures died out. Zhucheng in Shandong province is known locally as ""dinosaur city"" and has been the scene of several important finds since the 1960s. However, the researchers say a new fossil field discovered during mining explorations earlier this year appears to be even more important. The discoveries are expected to contribute to research on the mystery of dinosaur extinction   About 3000 dinosaur bones have been dug up from a single pit just a few hundred metres long and thousands of others have been unearthed at a number of sites nearby. Professor Zhao Xijin, the palaeontologist in charge of the excavations, told Chinese state media: ""This group of fossilised dinosaurs is currently the largest ever discovered in the world... in terms of area."" The full details of the findings have not yet been published. But they are reported to include tyrannosaurus and ankylosaurus bones, as well as what could be the largest duck-billed dinosaur ever excavated. Mr Zhao said the uncovering of so many remains in such a small area is significant. Zhao Xijin is renowned for fossil finds, such as this parrot-beaked dinosaur ""The discoveries are expected to contribute to research on the mystery of dinosaur extinction"", he said. Detailed information on the fossil find is not expected to be published in scientific journals until later in 2009. However, a leading palaeontologist, Dr Paul Barrett, of London's Natural History Museum, told BBC News that the claim this find is the ""world's largest"" is likely to be credible. Excavations are currently suspended for the winter but will resume when the weather gets warmer. The scientists say they're expecting to find even more dinosaur remains. The local authorities in Shandong are making plans to set up a fossil park in the area."
" Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said he will not co-sign an appointment from embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to the U.S. Senate.Any appointment made by the governor to the seat left vacant by Pres-Elect Barack Obama would have to be co-signed by White. As I have previously stated publicly, I cannot co-sign a document that certifies any appointment by Rod Blagojevich for the vacant United State Senate seat from Illiois. Although I have respect for former Attorney General Roland Burris, because of the current cloud of controversy surrounding the Governor, I cannot accept the document."
" A suicide bomber has hit a government building in eastern Afghanistan, killing 16 people, 14 of them children, local police said. A doctor at a hospital in Khost said 58 people - many of them children - were hurt in the attack, close to a school. Earlier, two Canadian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Panjwayi district, a Taleban stronghold in southern Kandahar province. An Afghan interpreter and a policeman working with them were also killed. ""These soldiers died honourably, helping bring security to Afghanistan,"" said a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in a statement. Taleban rebels have stepped up attacks on Afghan and foreign troops this year. The deaths took to 106 the number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since their mission began in 2002. In Khost province, the attacker detonated an explosives-laden car he was driving when police opened fire to prevent him from reaching the government building where officials were meeting. Police said tribal elders and local leaders were holding talks with the district governor about security and planning for next year's presidential elections."
" ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 26 -- Pakistan began deploying thousands of additional troops to its border with India on Friday amid rising tension in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month. Officials ordered army personnel on leave to report for duty and moved troops from Pakistan's border with Afghanistan and adjacent tribal areas, where they had been deployed to counter the Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgency. Some media reports suggested that as many as 20,000 Pakistani troops were redeployed. But a senior Pakistani security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the moves involved no more than 5,000 troops. ""We are taking the minimum required defensive steps for our security in the face of Indian troops' escalation at the border,"" he said. ""Reports of heavy redeployment of Pakistani forces are false."" Pakistan and India, both nuclear-armed nations, have traded angry statements since India accused ""elements"" in Pakistan of planning the siege in Mumbai last month that left at least 170 people dead, including six Americans. Indian officials say the banned Pakistan-based group Lashkar-i-Taiba carried out the attacks and have demanded that Pakistan do more to stamp out such groups. Pakistan has denied any government role in the attacks. In New Delhi, government officials met to discuss Pakistan's reported troop buildup. Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee warned Pakistan against diverting its attention from fighting terrorism and called on its leaders to ""bring to book the perpetrators of [the] Mumbai terrorist attack."" ""We would expect instead of raising war hysteria, they will address this problem,"" he said. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with the chiefs of the army, navy and air force and later with his government colleagues to discuss security preparedness. The government also warned Indians against traveling to Pakistan. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said his country would avoid launching a military action but would retaliate with full force if attacked."
" 1 of 6. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, speaks during a ceremony on her first death anniversary in Naudero near Larkana, December 27, 2008. Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors have deteriorated after India blamed Islamist militants based in Pakistan for the last month's attacks on Mumbai that killed 179 people. In a sign of mounting tension, Pakistan has canceled army leave and shifted some troops from its western border with Afghanistan to the eastern border with India. Pakistan has condemned the Mumbai attacks and has denied any state role, blaming ""non-state actors."" President Asif Ali Zardari, speaking at ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the assassination of his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, said dialogue was the best way forward. ""Yes, we have none state actors...yes, they are forcing an agenda on us. But please don't fall victim because you will be the victim, we will be the victim, the region will be the victim,"" Zardari said. The South Asian neighbors both tested nuclear weapons in 1998. They have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 and came to the brink of a fourth after gunmen attacked the Indian parliament in December 2001. Although many analysts say war is unlikely, international unease is growing and the United States has urged both sides not to raise tension further. China and Iran have also tried to calm things down. Earlier, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said Pakistan did not want war but was ready for one, although it would not be the first to act in any face-off with India. ""Our armed forces are...fully prepared but at the same time I assure you, once again, that we will not act. We will only react,"" Gilani told Muslim diplomats in Islamabad."
" JERUSALEM (AP) -- A Palestinian convicted of masterminding the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers, which sparked a chain of events that led to last summer's Gaza war, was sentenced to life in prison by an Israeli court on Tuesday. The military court handed Hussam Qawasmeh three life sentences, one for each teen. The 40-year-old resident of the West Bank town of Hebron admitted to masterminding the kidnapping and to receiving funds from Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, in order to commit attacks, the military said. The two Palestinians Israel accused of killing the teenagers were shot dead in a firefight with Israeli forces in September. Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American citizenship, were abducted and killed in June while hitchhiking home in the West Bank. Israel launched an extensive search operation and arrested hundreds of Hamas members in the West Bank. Hamas escalated rocket fire on southern Israeli cities, prompting a military response that escalated into a 50-day war. More than 2,100 Palestinians and 72 Israelis were killed in the fighting, which devastated large parts of Gaza, leaving tens of thousands homeless. On the Israeli side, attacks through tunnels led to the evacuation of border communities and rocket fire -- which reached major cities -- damaged several homes and ground daily life to a halt."
" 1 of 5. Rescuers carry an injured man from the debris of a shattered five-storey block in the Black Sea resort of Yevpatoria in the Crimea peninsula, December 25, 2008. An explosion has destroyed the five-storey apartment building in southern Ukraine, killing at least 11 people, including a child, and at least 24 were missing, officials said on Thursday. Twenty-four people were still unaccounted for, Emergencies Ministry spokesman Ihor Krol said, after 21 residents were pulled out alive from the five-storey block in the Black Sea resort of Yevpatoria in the Crimea peninsula. The blast, probably caused by canisters of oxygen stored in the basement, flattened all five floors, leaving rubble several meters high strewn with wires, smashed furniture, children's teddy bears and shoes. ""As I was walking by, I heard a bang, and then I saw this building crumble,"" one eyewitness said. Another, who lived opposite the apartment block, said: ""We heard a terrible bang. We though our balcony crashed because of the way the windows vibrated. But when I went onto the balcony I saw smoke from the other side."" Television footage showed rescuers dragging out a man from underneath a heavy slab. Others scrabbled through wires, construction rods and boulders. From time to time, they paused in silence, and incoming mobile phone calls were heard from under huge piles of debris. Crimea's deputy prime minister, Eduard Grivkovsky, said rescuers were working through the rubble of the third floor to get to the first and second floors, ""where there are probably more dead,"" Interfax Ukraine news agency reported. President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko set aside their feuding to arrive in town together. Tymoshenko promised families of the dead compensation and said they would be rehoused by the end of the year -- before Orthodox Christmas which Ukrainians celebrate on January 7."
" A state of emergency has been declared in the Marshall Islands as widespread flooding displaced hundreds of people. The islands have been pounded three times in two weeks by powerful waves caused by storm surges and high tides. The floods have swamped the main urban centres of Majuro and Ebeye which are less than a metre above sea level. Government officials said the flooding showed how vulnerable the western Pacific atoll nation is to small changes in weather conditions. Fears for public hygiene have intensified as the floods also hit cemeteries, ""contributing to the already alarming sanitary conditions with the widespread debris caused by the high wave action"", President Litokwa Tomeing said. The president said at least 600 people were forced to take refuge in government-designated shelters, churches, and with other family members. Radio Australia interviewed the government's chief secretary, Casten Nemira, who said damage to outer islands remained unknown until communication with them could be restored. ""Over 200 plus houses were affected and some houses are completely damaged, also the cemeteries by the shore lines and erosions,"" he said. ""We hope to get a complete picture in the coming days as the reports are still coming in."" Deborah Manase, deputy director of the Office of Environmental Planning and Policy Coordination, said damage had been caused despite the waves that crashed into the islands being ""quite small"" at about five feet."
" New Delhi: Rejecting war as a response to the Mumbai mayhem, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday asked Pakistan to take ""objective"" steps to ""dismantle the terror machine"" and exhorted the international community to persuade Islamabad to comply with the UN resolutions against terrorism. ""The issue is not war. The issue is that the Pakistani territory is used to aid and abet terror,"" Manmohan Singh told reporters outside Parliament. ""We want Pakistan to make an objective effort to dismantle the terror machine. The government of Pakistan knows what it implies,"" the prime minister stressed when asked about India's options in the face of repeated denials by Pakistan of any complicity in the Mumbai attacks. ""We expect them as a member of the UN to comply with several UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions passed over the years,"" Manmohan Singh said. The prime minister was alluding to a recent resolution by the UN Security Council declaring the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a Pakistan-based militant outfit, a terrorist organisation and imposing travel and assets freeze on four Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives. ""We would like the international community to use its power of persuasion to persuade Pakistan to comply with the UNSC resolutions,"" the prime minister stressed. India has accused ""elements in Pakistan"" of plotting and executing the Nov 26-29 Mumbai savagery that killed around 170 people, including 26 foreigners. JuD is a public front for the LeT, a banned terrorist organisation suspected of masterminding the Mumbai terror strike. Manmohan Singh's tough message to Islamabad comes a day after India handed over to Pakistan a letter written by Ajmal Kasav, the lone surviving Mumbai attacker in Indian custody, saying he and nine others who perpetrated the Mumbai attacks were Pakistanis. Denying the existence of any record that establishes Kasav's national identity, Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik on Tuesday said Islamabad will give ""a detailed response"" in a day or two."
" About 80 staff and guests were killed at the two hotels Two luxury hotels in Mumbai are re-opening, less than a month after they were heavily damaged in attacks on the city that killed at least 170 people. The Trident-Oberoi and Taj Mahal Palace hotels were among prominent locations in the Indian city struck by 10 gunmen. Both hotels were the scene of fierce battles between police and the gunmen that lasted for several days. Armed guards and sniffer dogs have been stationed at both hotels and X-ray machines are to screen guests' bags. About 80 guests and staff at the hotels were killed as the gunmen went on a shooting spree through the buildings. Nine gunmen were killed and one is in police custody. Less-heavily damaged sections of the two hotels are being re-opened in the run-up to Christmas. More than 1,000 guests have been invited to a re-opening party at the Taj on Sunday, where 268 rooms are available, hotel officials said. Rattan Keswani, president of Trident Hotels which owns part of the Oberoi, said he felt ""deep pride"" for the work his staff had done both during the 26-29 November attacks, and since. ""There is definitely a huge amount of sadness in everybody's mind,"" he said, but added that he was proud of his staff for being ""100%"" committed to re-opening the hotel. A hundred of the 550 guest rooms of the Trident section of the Oberoi hotel would be occupied on Sunday night, he said. He said the hotel would be fitted with surveillance systems, baggage scanners and strict security. While the modern Tower wing of the Taj is re-opening, the 105-year-old main section of the hotel is still closed, requiring extensive renovations to its ornate wood and marble interiors. India has blamed the attacks on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). LeT and the Pakistani government have denied any involvement."
" Pro-presidential deputies tried several times recently to introduce amendments to the new constitution, which was finally adopted November 8 as thousands of people stood outside the government building in Bishkek demanding that Bakiev accept it. In the days leading up to that, Prime Minister Feliks Kulov warned that a hastily adopted constitution would bring more problems than it would solve. He may have been prophetic in this belief, but in any case he and his government resigned last week as the battle between the executive and legislative branches of power intensified. Omurbek Tekebaev, the leader of the opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party and a former speaker of parliament, spoke out against any changes to the constitution and gave procedural reasons why the issue cannot be considered. ""Any changes or additions to the current constitution should be made in accordance with the rules set by the constitution itself,"" he said. ""According to these rules, a bill [to amend the constitution] can be considered after a period of three months since [it was proposed], following a ruling by the Constitutional Court. This term is given in order to prevent the decision from being influenced by short-term political considerations."" Although the new constitution takes some powers away from the executive branch and gives them to the legislative branch, there is a perception among opposition deputies and others that Bakiev does not want to see the powers of the presidency limited. Bakiev has said publicly that he has nothing to do with deputies' attempts now to strengthen the powers of the executive branch. Pro-presidential lawmaker Kamchybek Tashiev told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that he and other deputies support Bakiev and are prepared to reintroduce the proposed amendments. And Tashiev said there are enough deputies supporting the proposals to force the issue onto the parliament's agenda. ""We have prepared a new version of the [Kyrgyz] Constitution,"" he said. ""Now we are gathering supporting signatures again. If there would be 38 lawmakers this will give an opportunity [to include it to the parliament session agenda]. Then we will [formally] propose it."" Opposition lawmaker Temir Sariev told RFE/RL that the pro-presidential deputies are leading the country back to the system that existed under former President Askar Akaev, who was chased from power by demonstrations in March 2005 after parliamentary elections were widely regarded as rigged. ""Now the matter is not about some controversies in the constitution,"" Sariev said. ""They are trying to revise the constitution that we adopted on November 8, and to introduce an authoritarian, one-family led-, one-person led-state. We are against it. I believe the [implementation of] the current constitution has to be carried out."""
" Syria's army unleashed a barrage of rocket and artillery fire on rebel-held areas in a central province Friday as part of a widening offensive against fighters seeking to oust President Bashar Assad. At least 140 people were killed in fighting nationwide, according to activist groups. The United Nations said a record number of Syrians streamed into Jordan this month, doubling the population of the kingdom's already-cramped refugee camp to 65,000. Over 30,000 people arrived in Zaatari in January -- 6,000 in the past two days alone, the U.N. said. The newcomers are mostly families, women, children and elderly who fled from southern Syria, said Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She said the UNHCR was working with the Jordanian government to open a second major camp nearby by the end of this month. Many of the new arrivals at Zaatari are from the southern town of Daraa, where the uprising against Assad first erupted nearly two years ago, the Britain-based Save the Children said Friday. Five buses, crammed with ""frightened and exhausted people who fled with what little they could carry,"" pull up every hour at the camp, said Saba al-Mobasat, an aid worker with Save the Children. The exodus reflected the latest spike in violence in Syria's civil war. The conflict began in March 2011 after a peaceful uprising against Assad, inspired by the Arab Spring wave of revolutions that toppled leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, turned violent. Despite significant rebel advances on the battlefield, the opposition remains outgunned by government forces and has been unable to break a stalemate on the ground. In Lebanon, the leader of the Syria-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, said Friday in a speech that those who dream about ""dramatic changes"" taking place in Syria should let go of their fantasies. ""Particularly those who were expecting the fall of Damascus,"" he told supporters, adding that military, political and international developments point to the futility of such dreams. Activists said the army recently brought in military reinforcements to the central province of Homs and launched a renewed offensive aimed at retaking patches of territory that have been held by rebels for months."
" Speaking to journalists in Bishkek, Akmatbek Keldibekov and Kamchy Tashiev criticized parliament for opposing constitutional amendments that would strengthen the president's power. Meanwhile, the leader of Kyrgyzstan's Social Democratic Party, Almaz Atambayev, said parliament should not be dissolved before the adoption of new laws required by the constitution that was adopted in November. ""It is impossible for this parliament to be dissolved at least until May [2007], and it has to adopt all the laws,"" Atambaev said. ""Otherwise there will be a war in Kyrgyzstan, because even if parliament adopts the [proposed] authoritarian [changes to the] constitution, I will tell you openly, we will not accept it. It would be a constitution adopted illegally. Then we would take every [possible protest action]. We are ready for that."" Atambaev was speaking at a meeting of the For Reforms Movement, which groups opposition parties and nongovernmental organizations. One of the leaders of the movement, Omurbek Tekebaev, told RFE/RL that he met with Bakiev today to discuss the crisis. He did not elaborate. On December 25, lawmakers rejected a proposal to amend the new constitution. Among the amendments were articles reinstating the president's right to appoint a prime minister, government, and governors."
" The statement also said Schwarzenegger ""believes that gay couples are entitled to full protection under the law and should not be discriminated against."" It did not offer his opinion on same-sex marriage, but when asked about it last year, the governor said, ""I don't care one way or the other."" ""The governor believes the matter should be determined not by legislative action -- which would be unconstitutional -- but by court decision or another vote of the people of our state,"" the statement said. ""We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote."" In a careful statement, Schwarzenegger press secretary Margita Thompson invoked the voter approval in March 2000 of Proposition 22, which said: ""Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."" A day after California's Legislature became the first in the nation to pass a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced through an aide Wednesday that he would veto the measure ""out of respect for the will of the people."" The California Supreme Court is likely to decide next year whether Proposition 22 and other state laws that define marriage are constitutional. The issue burst into prominence in California last year when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom directed officials there to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples. The move drew thousands of couples to the city for highly publicized weddings before the state Supreme Court ruled that Newsom had exceeded his authority. Massachusetts allows same-sex marriages, but they derived from court order, not the legislative approval seen in Sacramento on Tuesday. In addition to the likely court ruling on same-sex marriage, the issue may be headed back to the ballot: Opponents of gay marriage have been collecting signatures to qualify measures for the June 2006 vote that would ban same-sex marriage. Schwarzenegger's announcement sparked fierce reactions from advocates on both sides of the issue. ""The only reason that he could be doing this is that he is pandering to the far right,"" said Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), the measure's author. Karen England of the Capitol Resource Institute, a Sacramento group that opposed the bill, said the governor had ""kept his word against the runaway Legislature.... As a social conservative, I never thought I'd see the day when I said I was glad Arnold Schwarzenegger was the governor."""
" 1 of 2. Damaged buildings are seen in the centre of Homs in this handout picture shot in April 2012 and received by Reuters April 28, 2012. The night raid, along with the killings of at least 15 people in violence in two areas near the capital, underlined the threadbare state of a U.N.-brokered ceasefire deal that has Western leaders talking of tougher steps to stop the bloodshed. Russia, Damascus' most powerful ally, stepped up its criticism of anti-Assad militias, condemning what it called ""barbarous"" attacks designed to scuttle the two-week-old truce engineered by U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan. Syria's official SANA news agency said several gunmen and soldiers died in fighting that followed the coastal attack near the northern port of Latakia, 35 km (22 miles) south of the Turkish border. ""The fighting ... resulted in the death and wounding of a number of military personnel while the number of those killed from the terrorist group was not known because they attacked the military unit at night,"" SANA said. It did not state the nationality of the attackers. Damascus has accused Turkey of allowing weapons and funds to flow to insurgents throughout the 13-month-old uprising, the latest in a wave of revolts against rulers across the Arab world. Turkey also plays host to the leadership of the rebel Free Syrian Army. Lebanese authorities found weapons including rocket-propelled grenades and rifles on board a ship intercepted in the Mediterranean which may have been trying to supply Syrian insurgents, security sources said. In a village north of Damascus where army defectors had taken refuge, activists said Syrian forces killed at least 10 people. And overnight, five members of the security forces were killed in an explosion targeting two vehicles near Damascus, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The United Nations says Syrian forces have killed 9,000 people since the start of the revolt in March 2011. Syrian authorities blame foreign-backed militants for the violence and say 2,600 soldiers and police have been killed."
" Jeremy Hunt has said he will hand over private emails with his special adviser about the BSkyB takeover bid to the Leveson Inquiry amid pressure for a separate probe into his conduct. The culture secretary said the details would ""vindicate"" his position that he had acted with ""total integrity"". Labour and some Lib Dems want a separate probe into whether he breached the ministerial code of conduct. On Wednesday, Mr Hunt's special adviser Adam Smith resigned over what he admitted was an inappropriately close relationship with News Corporation during its planned takeover of satellite broadcaster BSkyB. Mr Hunt has said he did not know about the extent and tone of the contact between the media giant and Mr Smith - who had allegedly been feeding it inside information. He insists he had acted impartially throughout, in keeping with what was meant to be his ""quasi-judicial"" role. But under the ministerial code of conduct, Mr Hunt is responsible for the actions of his special advisers - a fact which has fuelled calls for a separate inquiry into his conduct. Labour say the government is sweeping the issue of Mr Hunt's conduct under ""the big carpet"" of the Leveson inquiry into press ethics - before which the minister is expected to appear next month. Mr Miliband said: ""Every day David Cameron looks more like a prime minister organising a cover up rather than standing up for the public. ""First he refuses to sack Jeremy Hunt despite the weight of evidence against him."
" A deadline from Islamists for Ethiopia to withdraw troops from Somalia or face ""major attacks"" expired on Tuesday. Residents say pro-government forces and the Islamic militia exchanged mortar fire at Daynunay, 20km from Baidoa. Both sides promised a visiting European Union envoy they would resume talks, but there are fears the conflict will plunge the entire region into crisis. On a last ditch peace mission, the EU's development commissioner, Louis Michel, met government officals in Baidoa before travelling on to the capital, Mogadishu, and holding talks with Union of Islamic Court (UIC) leaders. He told the BBC that they were faced with a very serious problem. ""Everybody knows that we are not very far from an open, violent conflict with... war,"" he said. Both sides blamed each other for the fighting. Islamic commander Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal told AFP news agency: ""I can confirm to you that heavy fighting has already started around several front line areas."" Government commander Ibrahim Batari accused the Islamists of mounting the attack. ""There is shelling everywhere... our forces are facing Islamists, hell is going on,"" he said. ""I can hear sounds of bullets, rockets from the side where the defence lines of the Islamic courts and the government are,"" a resident in the government's military base in Daynunay, southeast of Baidoa, told Reuters news agency."
" Motorists are asked to defer any road travel plans to Cape York because rivers are flooded and dirt roads have become a boggy, mud quagmire along parts of the 560km stretch from Laura to Bamaga. One family-of-six had to be winched to safety by a rescue helicopter from a stranded vehicle near the flooded Laura River yesterday. Police deployed the chopper after a man left his family behind with no food or provisions to make a 12km mercy dash to call for help. In a separate mission, two men were rescued after their 4WD got bogged about 30km from the Peninsula Development Road via Laura. They were found by a local station worker after calling for help as police prepared to mount the second rescue operation. 10.30am: The Bruce Highway is still open near flood-prone Tully despite a rising flood threat from a 300mm downpour overnight from ex-tropical cyclone Oswald. Police warn motorists in the state's far north to take care as torrential rain dumped across the region from Cape York to Cardwell with highest falls of between 200mm and 300mm recorded south of Innisfail. The Tully River is under a flood warning with moderate floods levels of up to 8m predicted later today amid fears of flash-flooding in other parts. Ex-tropical cyclone Oswald hit the coast near Kowanyama on Cape York as a category-one last night and was downgraded to a tropical low. Weather bureau officials said it was ""dumbbelling"" with another low off the east coast producing heavy rain in a system moving south to Townsville."
" Mr Niyazov, who named cities and airports after himself in a personality cult, left no designated successor. Turkmenistan, which has large gas reserves, now faces an uncertain future with rival groups and outside powers scrambling for influence, analysts say. Last month, the president publicly acknowledged he had heart disease. His funeral is set to take place on 24 December in the capital, Ashgabat. BBC correspondents quote witnesses as saying the capital has been quiet since the news broke, with many people staying at home, shocked and unsure of what may happen next. Deputy Prime Minister Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has been named head of the commission handling the funeral, state television said. According to Turkmen law, the president is succeeded by the head of the legislative body, the People's Assembly. But this post was held by Mr Niyazov himself. Turkmenistan has called an emergency meeting of its highest representative body for 26 December to decide on Mr Niyazov's succession, the government said. Mr Berdymukhamedov has also been named acting head of state until then, according to government sources. The cabinet of ministers and the National Security Council in Turkmenistan have held emergency sessions to discuss the situation."
" More than 50 people have been killed in a prison riot in western Venezuela, hospital staff say. The riot was triggered when local media broadcast news that soldiers had been sent to Uribana prison in Barquisimeto to search for weapons, Prisons Minister Iris Varela said. Hospital director Ruy Medina told AFP news agency that some 90 people were injured, mostly from gunshot wounds. The dead are thought to include inmates, guards and prison workers. The director of Barquisimeto hospital, Ruy Medina, put the death toll at 54, Venezuela's Clarin newspaper reported. Venezuelan Human rights activist Carlos Nieto Palma told BBC Mundo: ""What should have been a normal procedure in any prison ended in a clash between National Guard [soldiers] and inmates."" He added that Uribana prison was among the most dangerous in the country. Opposition leader Henrique Capriles blamed the violence on ""incompetent and irresponsible government"". Venezuela's prisons are blighted by overcrowding and the proliferation of weapons and drugs. The BBC's Sarah Grainger in Caracas says it appears that prisoners who had heard about the search in advance from news reports were waiting for the National Guard when they arrived."
"All Somalis should take part in this struggle against Ethiopia,"" Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said from Mogadishu. Fresh heavy fighting is reported near the weak Somali government's Baidoa base, amid fears conflict could plunge the entire Horn of Africa into crisis. Local residents say Ethiopian troops are clashing with Islamist militias. Ethiopia denies its forces are battling the advancing Islamist militias. The two countries have a long history of troubled relations, and Islamists have long called for a holy war against Ethiopian troops in Baidoa. Both the Islamist and interim government agreed to a ceasefire and to unconditional talks on Wednesday after meetings with a visiting European Union envoy. But there has been no let up on the ground, with heavy artillery and mortar fire heard in Daynunay, some 20 km (12 miles) from Baidoa where the government has a military base. Local media report bodies strewn along streets. Both sides claim to have killed and wounded dozens of fighters. Somalia's Deputy Defence Minister Salad Ali Jelle told reporters in Baidoa that 71 Islamic fighters had been killed and 221 injured so far during clashes in three locations. But in Mogadishu, UIC official Sheik Mohamud Ibrahim Suley claimed his fighters had killed 70 fighters, mainly Ethiopian troops.
9 killed as protesters, army clash in Iraq	 At least seven protesters and two soldiers were killed Friday in clashes that started after Iraqi army forces opened fire on demonstrators who had pelted them with rocks on the outskirts of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, officials said. It was the first deadly confrontation in more than a month of antigovernment protests by mostly Sunni opponents of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite. A security official said one clash started when protesters began throwing rocks at government forces at a checkpoint. The forces opened fire, and demonstrators responded by burning army vehicles and the cars of two politicians. Seven civilians were killed and 44 people were wounded, according to medical sources. Later, unidentified gunmen killed two soldiers and wounded one at an army checkpoint south of Fallujah, in apparent retaliation, and gunmen kidnapped three soldiers, a police official said. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., one of the Republicans most vulnerable to a conservative primary challenge, said Friday that he will retire in 2014 rather than seek a third term. Chambliss said in a statement that he was confident he would have won re-election and cited the deteriorating state of Washington politics as his main reason for retiring. Reince Priebus was re-elected chairman of the Republican National Committee on Friday, overcoming divisions and tensions in the party as he pledged to remake and restore the GOP brand before the congressional elections next year and the 2016 presidential race. He was elected with near unanimity to serve a second term. North Korea turned its anger on South Korea on Friday, warning the South Koreans they could suffer ""physical countermeasures"" for any enforcement of the tightened international sanctions meant to stop its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons activities. The warning came a day after North Korea warned the United States, saying it would forge ahead with its missile and weapons development with the goal of attaining the capability to hit U.S. territory. Mali: French and Malian soldiers appeared to push farther north into militant-held territory Friday, closing in on the eastern city of Gao. Britain: Prime Minister David Cameron's government Friday offered a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. It is expected to become law by midsummer. New York: A wayward dolphin that meandered into a polluted canal in Brooklyn, riveting onlookers as it splashed around in the filthy water, died Friday evening, marine experts said.
Turkmenistan prepares for new presidential election	 Turkmenistan's acting president announced Friday that the date for elections to replace the ex-Soviet republic's late long-ruling dictator will be set next Tuesday. He promised they would be democratic, but the candidates for president are to be nominated and there was no indication that this one-party state intends to introduce democracy after long-entrenched repressive rule. President Saparmurat Niyazov, 66, died from heart failure Thursday after 21 years at the helm of this gas-rich Central Asian nation. Niyazov held absolute power and created an elaborate cult around himself since the nation of 5 million became independent with the 1991 Soviet collapse. The date of the next presidential elections will be set by the People's Council, the country's highest legislative body, at a session scheduled for Dec. 26, acting President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov decreed. ""National presidential elections will be held on a democratic basis that has been laid by the great leader,"" said the decree that was carried by official newspapers. The decree also said that the People's Council on Tuesday will consider ""candidates nominated for the president's post."" The People's Council is made up of about 2,000 officials and elders that were hand-picked by Niyazov. Niyazov used the Council to endorse his most important decisions, the AP reports. Turkmenistan last held presidential elections in 1992 which Niyazov won with 95.5 percent of the vote. In 1999 he was named president for life, but in recent years he pledged to step down and hold elections by 2010.
Report: Prison riot kills dozens in Venezuela	 A riot at a Venezuelan prison left 50 people dead and dozens injured, CNN affiliate Globovision reported, the latest in a series of violent incidents in the nation's crowded detention system. Clashes erupted Friday after local media reported about a planned operation to disarm prisoners at the facility in Uribana, the prison ministry said in a statement. Venezuela's top prison official said national guard troops entering the prison were met with violence. The troops went in to disarm inmates in what has become a notoriously violent prison, according to Iris Varela, Venezuela's prison minister. Violence surged inside the prison this week, she said, as rival gangs battled for control. The ministry did not release the number of casualties, but Globovision said at least 50 were killed and 90 others injured. ""Once we have absolute control of the facilities, we will specify the causes of what happened, the toll of people affected and offer a detailed, objective and true report as the constitution ... requires,"" the prison ministry said in a statement. The ministry accused Globovision of sparking Friday's clashes by reporting on the operation at the prison, which officials had planned to keep under wraps. ""We were surprised by the announcement of said inspection on the part of the private channel Globovision, social networks and the website of the El Impulso newspaper, which without any doubt was a detonator for the violence,"" it said. Venezuelan VP accuses 'infiltrators' of murder plot against him	Cardinal Brady will not resign over abuse 'cover-up'	 Cardinal Sean Brady said he was following bishops' orders The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland says he will only resign over claims he helped cover up sex abuse if he is asked to do so by the Pope. Cardinal Sean Brady was at meetings in the 1970s where two abused teenagers signed vows of silence over their complaints against Fr Brendan Smyth. Fr Smyth was a notorious sex offender jailed in the 1990s for child abuse. ""There was no cover up, I believed those people. I brought what I heard to the bishop,"" Cardinal Brady said. The complaints of abuse were investigated by Cardinal Brady in his capacity as secretary to the bishop of Kilmore in 1975. Cardinal Brady said he had been following his bishop's orders and there were no guidelines for dealing with such investigations at that time. ""Now I know with hindsight that I should have done more. I thought at that time I was doing what I was required to do, and not just that, but most effectively. I acted with great urgency to get that evidence and produce it. Child sex abuse is a very serious crime and very grave and if I found myself in a situation where I was aware that my failure to act had allowed or meant that other children were abused, well then, I think I would resign   ""I believed in doing so, I was following the most effective route to get this stopped. That is my concern and always was - the safety of children."" He said his actions were part of a process that removed the shamed cleric's licence to act as a priest. He said he did not believe this was a resigning matter. However, in an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE last December, the cardinal said he, himself, would resign if he found that a child had been abused as a result of any managerial failure on his part. ""I would remember that child sex abuse is a very serious crime and very grave and if I found myself in a situation where I was aware that my failure to act had allowed or meant that other children were abused, well then, I think I would resign,"" he said. At that time, the cardinal apologised on behalf of the Church after an Irish government report revealed abuse over decades, a systematic cover-up by the Church and a lack of action by Irish police. He said: ""No-one is above the law in this country. ""Every Catholic should comply fully with their obligations to the civil law and co-operate with the Gardai (Irish police) in the reporting and investigation of any crime."" He said children's welfare was now a priority for the Church. Pope Benedict has had to deal with sex abuse scandals in various countries Father Smyth was a notorious child sex offender who was believed to have abused at least 20 children over a 40 year period in the north and south of Ireland. He was eventually convicted and jailed for more than 90 offences, many of them committed after the Brady meetings. However campaigners believe the cleric could have abused hundreds of children as he was moved around parishes, diocese and countries by the church. They have accused Cardinal Brady of reckless endangerment and demanded his resignation. A campaigner for victims of clerical child abuse in Ireland, Colm O'Gorman, said Cardinal Brady should resign. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. ""He believed that this out of control paedophile [Smyth] had abused children and he did nothing to report this crime to the police either then, or it would appear, at any point over the next 20 years during which Smyth continued to rape and abuse in parishes across the world with near impunity,"" Mr O'Gorman said. ""Instead he took part in a cover-up of Smyth's crimes and swore his child victims to secrecy,"" he said. ""At 36 years of age he (Cardinal Brady) was no fresh-faced seminarian, fresh out of college, he was a professor, a teacher and a canon lawyer."" The revelations come as the Catholic Church worldwide grapples with accusations that it covered up abuse by priests. In recent months paedophile scandals have rocked the church in Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany. The Vatican recently denounced attempts to link Pope Benedict XVI to a child abuse scandal in his native Germany. Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said there had been ""aggressive"" efforts to involve the Pope, but added: ""It's clear that these attempts have failed."" The Pope's former diocese earlier said he once unwittingly approved housing for a priest accused of child abuse. The episode dates back to 1980 when he was archbishop of Munich and Freising, and known as Joseph Ratzinger.
Pakistan tests nuclear-capable ballistic missile	 Pakistan's Shaheen-1A is an intermediate range ballistic missile, capable of reaching targets in India. Military officials declined to specify the range of the missile. The missile's impact point was in the Indian Ocean. India and Pakistan have fought three full-scale wars since they were carved out of British India in 1947. They conduct missile tests regularly and inform each other in advance. Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in May 1998, shortly after India conducted similar tests. U.S. intelligence estimates last year put the number of nuclear weapons deployed by Pakistan at 90 to 110. Analysts say the strategic U.S. ally's nuclear arsenal is the fastest growing in the world. Pakistan, like neighboring India, is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
Strong earthquake rattles central Japan - World news - Asia-Pacific	 A strong earthquake hit off the eastern coast of central Japan on Sunday, rattling buildings across a broad swath of the country, including Tokyo. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, and the government said there was no danger from tsunamis. Japan's early warning system predicted the earthquake just before it hit, with public broadcaster NHK interrupting a sumo match to warn residents to take cover. The quake had an initial estimated magnitude of 6.6, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. It hit at 5:08 p.m. local time. The earthquake was centered about 50 miles off the eastern coast of central Fukushima Prefecture, and struck at a depth of 25 miles. It was strong enough to gently sway buildings in Tokyo, about 185 miles to the southwest, for several seconds. Television images from the regions near where the quake was centered showed no damage, with cars driving normally. Some train services in the region, including the Shinkansen bullet trains, were stopped following the quake, AFP reported. The Tohoku Electric Power Co's Onagawa nuclear power plants were operating normally after the quake, an official told Reuters. The country is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the western port city of Kobe killed 6,400 people.
UK Minister: No back channel to News Corp.	 UK minister Jeremy Hunt says there was no back channel to media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. over its bid for British Sky Broadcasting PLC. UK minister Jeremy Hunt says there was no back channel to media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. over its bid for British Sky Broadcasting PLC. Hunt's adviser Adam Smith resigned Wednesday after saying he created a perception that News Corp. had ""too close a relationship"" with the department for culture, media and sport run by Hunt. Murdoch's son James released documents Tuesday which suggested that the minister had secretly smoothed the way for News Corp. to take over BSkyB. Hunt told lawmakers Wednesday that he followed all the correct procedures when dealing with News Corp. as it was trying to buy the satellite broadcaster. Hunt said he believed Smith had overstepped the mark in how he dealt with News Corp. but said he believes he did so unintentionally.
UK economy in double-dip recession	 The UK economy has returned to recession, after shrinking by 0.2% in the first three months of 2012. A sharp fall in construction output was behind the surprise contraction, the Office for National Statistics said. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction. The economy shrank by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2011. BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders says it ""adds to the picture that the economy is bumping along the bottom"". She said economic output was slightly smaller now than it was in the autumn of 2010. Wednesday's figure is an early estimate and is subject to at least two further revisions in the coming months. It is compiled using 40% of the data gathered for later revisions. The UK economy was last in recession in 2009. Prime Minister David Cameron said the figures were ""very, very disappointing"". ""I don't seek to excuse them, I don't seek to try to explain them away,"" he said at Prime Minister's Questions. ""There is no complacency at all in this government in dealing with what is a very tough situation, which frankly has just got tougher."
" Tests have confirmed that the water flooding New Orleans is a stew of sewage-borne bacteria. Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the message was clear to evacuees who are reluctant to leave the city. ""You must do so,"" she said. ""This water is not going away any time soon."" But she stressed that the deaths do ""not represent an outbreak"". ""It does not spread from person to person. People who are compromised in immunity can sometimes develop very severe infections from these bacteria. We see cases of this from time to time along the coast,"" she said. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson said all the tests of waters in flooded residential areas of New Orleans exceeded by at least 10 times the safe levels of E.coli and other so-called coliform bacteria, found in the human gut and used as an indicator of sewage contamination. Test results also showed high levels of lead. The danger of infection also continues in the crowded shelters where refugees are staying for the foreseeable future. ""Right now in the shelters where most of the people are located we have seen sporadic reports of gastrointestinal illness,"" Dr Gerberding said."
" Disease brewed by Hurricane Katrina claimed its first victims, as political arguments sharpened over the federal response to the United States' worst natural disaster. With the authorities working hard to empty New Orleans of water and the last diehard survivors, the crisis sparked by last week's storm that left thousands feared dead took on a new, worrying dimension. Health authorities said five people evacuated from hurricane-battered areas of the Gulf Coast after Katrina struck had died after coming into contact with contaminated water. Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the government Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said one case was reported this week in the state of Texas and others in Mississippi. The five had been killed by vibrio vulnificus, ""a bacteria that can enter somebody through a cut, a scratch or a wound,"" Skinner told AFP. The elderly or those with a fragile immune system were most at risk. The bacteria is related to cholera and was likely to kill again, Skinner said. ""There will be some more deaths associated with vibrio vulnificus in the affected areas, particularly New Orleans."" Doctors have been warning the Gulf Coast could become fertile terrain for cholera, malaria, typhoid, West Nile virus or other ailments. But no major outbreaks have been reported. Nine days after Katrina struck, devastating an area the size of Britain and leaving this once-thriving jazz capital in chaos, a new poll signalled mounting problems for President George Bush over his response."
" Helinet Aviation of Van Nuys becomes the main source of aerial footage from the storm zone. To safeguard rescue aircraft shuttling through the area, the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday directed the major networks -- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox -- to pick a single pool helicopter to gather video feeds. Helinet, which was first on the scene with a sophisticated, high-definition camera system mounted on its copter, got the job. ""The aerials were fantastic,"" said Marcy McGinnis, senior vice president of news coverage for CBS News. Since Wednesday, Purwin and copilot and cameraman J.T. Alpaugh have had the TV news chopper franchise all to themselves, thanks to restrictions placed on the crowded airspace above the disaster zone. Purwin and his copter-for-hire business, Helinet Aviation Services of Van Nuys, are largely responsible for the mesmerizing aerial footage that has shown the murderous power of Hurricane Katrina. As an aerial coordinator for Hollywood movies, helicopter pilot Alan Purwin has witnessed plenty of make-believe mayhem. But from the skies above New Orleans and neighboring Gulf Coast cities, he has seen annihilation and misery far beyond celluloid fantasies. For Purwin and his staff, who had raced to New Orleans gambling on lining up paying clients, the speculative venture turned into a business coup. But Purwin said it wasn't about the money. He said the care and feeding of his 10-member crew, plus two satellite trucks and a copter, would chew up most of the profit. The important thing, he said, is to convey through images the enormity of the damage and the scale of recovery needs. ""This is beyond comprehension,"" Purwin said on a cellphone during a brief refueling stop. ""It's really hard to string the words together to sum up what J.T. and I have seen since we got there Monday afternoon."" For Purwin, 44, the experience is sure to be an indelible milestone in a flying career that began when he was a kid. Just 18 when he got his first paid gig as a helicopter crop duster in central Indiana, Purwin cofounded West Coast Helicopters in 1987. The company became Helinet through a merger a few years later. With a fleet of 50 copters, the company has amassed numerous screen credits and transported thousands of organs for transplant surgeries at Los Angeles area hospitals. Helinet also boasts of serving former presidents Clinton, Bush, Reagan and Carter, as well as foreign heads of state. The company also has ferried movie stars -- including Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise, Will Smith and Cameron Diaz -- and executives of Fortune 500 companies."
" Rupert Murdoch says there was a ""cover-up"" at the News of the World but he insists it was kept hidden from him. The News Corp boss told the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics he and senior executives were ""shielded"" from the extent of phone-hacking at the tabloid, which he was forced to close. He said: ""I also have to say that I failed, and I am very sorry about it."" A former member of staff said later it was a ""shameful lie"" to suggest he had been involved in a cover-up. On claims that ""one rogue reporter"" was responsible for phone-hacking, Mr Murdoch said senior executives were all misinformed about its extent. ""I do blame one or two people for that... someone took charge of a cover-up we were victim to and I regret that."" He said a lawyer, whom he described as a ""drinking pal"" of NoW journalists, forbade staff to report instances of phone hacking. Mr Murdoch also told the inquiry he and senior executives were misinformed from what was going on. After the inquiry had adjourned for the day, former News International legal manager Tom Crone said Mr Murdoch could have been referring ""only"" to him when he mentioned a company lawyer. He added that Mr Murdoch's claim was a ""shameful lie"". Mr Murdoch also said the editor, Colin Myler, had failed to report back."
" A host of the world's top footballers including Didier Drogba have pledged their support to Palestine during their ongoing conflict with Israel. The group - which includes dozens of other stars from across the globe including Chelsea's Eden Hazard, Newcastle's Yohan Cabaye and Paris Saint-Germain's Jeremy Menez claim that two footballers - Omar Rowis, 23, and Mohammed Nemer, 22 - have been detained in Israel without charge or trial. A statement released via the personal website of former Sevilla striker Frederic Kanoute read: ""We, as European football players, express our solidarity with the people of Gaza who are living under siege and denied basic human dignity and freedom."" Objecting to UEFA's decision to allow Israel to host the Under-21 European Championships, the statement added: ""We are informed that on 10 November 2012 the Israeli army bombed a sports stadium in Gaza, resulting in the death of four young people playing football: Mohamed Harara and Ahmed Harara, 16 and 17 years old; Matar Rahman and Ahmed Al Dirdissawi, 18 years old."" ""It is unacceptable that children are killed while they play football. Israel hosting the UEFA Under-21 European Championship, in these circumstances, will be seen as a reward for actions that are contrary to sporting values."" As well as confirming their stand, the group have urged the international community to afford residents the protection they deserve. ""Despite the recent ceasefire, Palestinians are still forced to endure a desperate existence under occupation, they must be protected by the international community,"" the statement continued. ""All people have the right to a life of dignity, freedom and security. We hope that a just settlement will finally emerge."" This is not the first instance of criticism of UEFA's decision to hand the country the upcoming championships, with Eric Cantona having already written to the governing body's president, Michel Platini. ""Racism, human rights abuses and gross violations of international law are daily occurrences in that country,"" Cantona said. ""It is time to end Israel's impunity and to insist on the same standards of equality, justice and respect for international law that we demand of other states."" The Palestinian Football Association has long claimed that it has been inhibited in its operation due to the Israeli military. The association's president Jibril Rajoub, had written to Platini earlier this year - claiming Israel's treatment of Palestinian players was in breach of FIFA regulations. However Platini appeared unsympathetic in his response."
" On TV, we watch them: His braids are flying above his head and he's got a wild look on his face. He's running, one arm clutching a load of looted clothes, the other reaching back to tug at his pants, which are in danger of sliding past his rump. She's crying and forlorn and too young to be carrying a baby in her arms, but carrying one she is, and both are dirty and sweaty and hungry, reduced to an animal-like state of waiting and starving and begging for help. We see them through our respective prisms of race, and call them ""refugees,"" as if they are foreigners in their own land. They are the Other, these victims of Katrina. And in this country, the Other is black. Poor. Desperate. Mainstream America too often demonizes the Other because, well, we've been conditioned to do so. And because it's easier to put people in a box and then shove it in the corner, away from view. Then it becomes their problem, not ours. To talk about race, for those who are weary of it, is to invite glazed-over eyes and stifled yawns -- or even hostility. But Katrina blew open the box, putting the urban poor front and center, with images of once-invisible folks pleading from rooftops, wading through flooded streets, starving at the Superdome and requiring a massive federal outlay of resources. Or dead, wheelchairs pushed up against the wall, a blanket thrown over still bodies. The Other is there, staring us in the face, exposing our issues on an international stage. It is at once an embarrassment -- how did we go from can-do to can't-do-for-our-own? -- and a challenge, critics charge: How do we stop ignoring the folks in the box, the inner-city destitute, and realize that their fate is ours as well? Poor black people, says Lani Guinier, a Harvard University law professor, are ""the canary in the mine. Poor black people are the throwaway people. And we pathologize them in order to justify our disregard."" But, she says, ""this is not just about poor black people in New Orleans. This is about a social movement, with an administration that is bent on weakening the capacity of the national government to act. . . . I hope this is a wake-up call to all of America. To see this as the tip of the iceberg, the thin edge of the wedge. We ignored the early warning signals. But this is another early warning that we are ill prepared to function as a society."" Just as the United States was embarrassed globally by its ugly tradition -- racism -- being exposed during the civil rights movement, it is now shamed again by ""the spectacle of a Baghdad on the Mississippi River and our own people being so poor and so destitute and so helpless at a time when we are talking about trying to spread democracy and curb looting in Baghdad,"" says Jim Sleeper, a lecturer in political science at Yale University. Jesse Jackson describes the New Orleans convention center, where tens of thousands live in fetid conditions, as ""the hull of a slaveship."" Inside the proverbial slaveship are the ""captives,"" who have been described as running completely amok. But witness the man who feels so guilty about the pita bread, water and juice that he'd taken from a Wal-Mart to feed his family that he kept a list -- so he can pay it back later."
" 1 of 13. A man carrying a shovel, walks near buildings damaged after what activists said was a Syrian Air Force fighter jet operated by those loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, fired missiles in Daria, near Damascus November 29, 2012. Picture taken November 29. Warplanes attacked the Damascus suburbs of Kafar Souseh and Darraya, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked group. The air strikes follow intensified rebel activity in the capital, Assad's seat of power, as well as successful stormings of government military bases in recent weeks. ""Syrian regular forces are trying to control the areas surrounding the capital,"" the Observatory said. Bombings targeted a continuous arc of rebel presence in the capital's outer districts from the northeast to the southwest. Activists reported clashes and air strikes in the provinces of Homs, Deir al-Zor, Idlib and in Aleppo, where they said 14 rebel fighters were killed during an assault on an army base in the town of Khanasser early on Saturday. It is difficult to verify such reports due to government restrictions on media access to Syria. Syria's Internet connections began working again on Saturday after a two-day blackout, the worst communications outage in the 20-month-old uprising against Assad in which 40,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands forced to flee the country. Opposition umbrella group the Syrian National Coalition might allow an international peacekeeping force into Syria if Assad and his allies leave power, coalition spokesman Walid al-Bunni said on Saturday. Some opposition members have argued against international troops, saying their arrival could serve as a rallying call for Assad loyalists in an area near the Mediterranean where many of his minority Alawite sect live. Assad, whose family has ruled autocratically for four decades, draws much of his support from the sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Most of the rebels are Sunni Muslims. Bunni said the coalition was open to any proposal if Assad and his allies, including top officers in the military and security apparatus, were removed."
" 1 of 5. United Nations (U.N.) soldiers pass M-23 rebel fighters in a truck, as the rebels withdraw from Goma December 1, 2012. Rebel fighters, singing and brandishing weapons, pulled out of Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern border city of Goma on Saturday, raising hopes regional peace efforts could advance negotiations to end the insurgency. The withdrawal of the M23 rebel movement from Goma on Lake Kivu, a strategic hub in Democratic Republic of Congo's war-scarred east, was agreed in a deal brokered by presidents of the Great Lakes states under Uganda's leadership a week ago. ""M23 has been leaving Goma. By noon today, 750 M23 elements left Goma ... by close of business today they should have all left,"" Hiroute Guebre Sellassie, North Kivu office head for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO) told Reuters. Goma's fall on November 20 to the Tutsi-led M23 insurgent group, which routed United Nations-backed government forces, triggered a diplomatic scramble to prevent a wider escalation of the eight-month-old rebellion in the conflict-prone region. The rebels had said they would fight to topple Congo's President Joseph Kabila and march on the capital Kinshasa, 1,600 km (1,000 miles) to the west. U.N. experts accuse Rwanda and Uganda of supporting the revolt, a charge both strongly deny. In the centre of Goma, blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers from Uruguay in white armored vehicles watched as camouflage-clad M23 fighters scrambled on to the back of flatbed trucks with battered suitcases and other belongings before driving off. Residents lined the streets leading out of the city to watch as the truckloads of singing rebels drove out, heading for previously agreed positions 20 km (13 miles) north of Goma from which M23 launched its lightning offensive two weeks ago. On the dusty road by the U.N.-controlled airport, about 100 rebels trudged out of town on foot. Some of the trucks leaving Goma carried crates of captured munitions and military supplies. M23 military chief Sultani Makenga, who is under a U.N.-imposed assets freeze and travel ban for leading the revolt, told reporters the rebel withdrawal was in response to a request from Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. ""We are leaving for peace,"" Makenga said, following a brief ceremony in which a squad of around 40 M23 fighters, wearing mottled green camouflage uniforms, peaked caps and black gumboots, first paraded and then sang and danced."
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" U.S. receives aid offers from around the world (CNN) -- The U.S. government has received offers of aid from dozens of nations across the globe in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the State Department said. Neither the White House nor the State Department has said whether these offers have been accepted. However, Reuters reported Sunday that the United States has asked for assistance from the European Union and NATO. The EU Executive Commission said the United States has asked for first aid kits, blankets, water trucks and 500,000 prepared meals, Reuters reported. NATO said the United States had asked it for food supplies, Reuters reported. ""NATO stands ready to continue to support the United States as it recovers from this natural disaster,"" the alliance reportedly said in a statement. Among those offering assistance are India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia, the four countries hardest-hit by the December 26 tsunami. Other international organizations also offered help, ranging from medical teams to tents to cash donations. They include the Organization of American States, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and World Health Organization. The United Nations has offered to help coordinate international relief. Following is a list of some of countries offering aid: Nigeria has pledged $1 million to hurricane disaster relief, government officials told CNN. ""Nigeria will be happy to pledge $1 million to the hurricane disaster fund in the spirit of brotherhood,"" Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. China offered $5 million in aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina. If needed, the Chinese government also is prepared to send rescue workers, including medical experts, officials said. Japan has offered to provide $200,000 to the American Red Cross, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. Japan also will provide up to $300,000 in emergency supplies such as tents, blankets and power generators if it receives requests, the ministry said. India is making a $5 million donation to the American Red Cross, Ronen Sen, Indian ambassador to the United States, said Saturday. In addition, Sen said India was willing to donate essential medicines to the relief effort. The Singapore armed forces, responding to requests by the Texas Army National Guard, has sent three Chinook helicopters to Fort Polk, Louisiana, to help in relief efforts. South Korea awaits a U.S. response after pledging aid, a government official said. Afghanistan pledged $100,000 to help provide aid to the hurricane victims, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Sri Lanka will donate $25,000 to the American Red Cross. Taiwan has pledged more than $3 million to the relief effort. Canada has offered to help in any way it can, and its navy is preparing a ship full of emergency disaster relief supplies to be sent when a request comes. Cuban President Fidel Castro offered to fly 1,100 doctors to Houston, Texas, with 26 tons of medicine to treat disaster victims. Mexico has offered $1 million and is sending 15 truckloads of water, food and medical supplies via Texas. The Mexican navy has offered to send two ships, two helicopters and 15 amphibious vehicles. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a vocal critic of the United States, offered to send cheap fuel, humanitarian aid and relief workers to the disaster area. Australia is giving $10 million, most of it to the American Red Cross, according to the Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. France has offered mobile help from rescue teams in the French Antilles in the Caribbean, including a civil defense detachment of 35 people, tents, camp beds, generators, motor pumps, water treatment units and emergency kits, two CASA cargo aircraft, a ship (Batral Francis Garnier) and the frigate Ventose with its Panther helicopter, and a hurricane disaster unit. France also has offered assistance from the French mainland, including several aircraft. In addition, the NGO Telecoms Sans Frontieres, which specializes in restoring phone lines and Internet service in disasters, is ready to send a team of experts and equipment. Veolia Environment, which has facilities in Louisiana, has offered to make its local water management resources available. Germany has offered a range of assistance, including medical and transportation services, water treatment capabilities and aid in searching for victims and supplies. Germany also has said it is ready and willing to ""dip into its own emergency oil reserves"" to release some 2 million barrels a day for 30 days. Italy has offered to send aid and evacuation specialists immediately, Italy's civil protection unit said. Authorities have prepared two military transport planes to fly amphibious vessels, pumps, generators, tents and personnel to New Orleans, Louisiana, and other areas. They were awaiting word from U.S. officials, the unit said. The Netherlands will provide teams for inspecting dikes and for identifying victims if there is a formal request from the United States. It also will send a frigate from Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles to New Orleans shortly to provide emergency assistance, the Dutch government said. Russia has offered to help with rescue efforts but is awaiting a reply from Washington. Spain expects to receive a formal request to release gasoline stocks to the United States and is prepared to grant it, an Industry Ministry spokesman said. Sweden's Rescue Authority said it was on standby to supply water purifying equipment, health care supplies and emergency shelters if needed. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said his country stands ready to help the United States in whatever way it can. Qatar has offered the United States $100 million to assist in the humanitarian crisis triggered by Hurricane Katrina. Saudi Refining, a Houston-based subsidiary of state oil firm Saudi Aramco, will donate $5 million to the American Red Cross to support relief efforts for hurricane victims. Iran has offered to send humanitarian aid to hurricane victims, Reuters reported. ""We are prepared to send our contributions to the people through the Red Crescent,"" Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told Reuters. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more."
" The imagery posted on this site is of the Gulf coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.  This imagery was acquired by the NOAA Remote Sensing Division to support NOAA national security and emergency response requirements. In addition, it will be used for ongoing research efforts for testing and developing standards for airborne digital imagery.   Please note that these images are uncorrected and not rotated. The approximate ground sample distance (GSD) for each pixel is 37 cm (1.2 feet). The images have 60% forward overlap, and sidelap unknown. Image file size is between 2 MB and 3 MB.   Click on the image on the left to locate and view individual images.   Click here for additional Information, including batch downloads and Exterior Orientation files.   In an effort to acquire imagery in a timely manner after the landfall of the Hurricane Katrina, clouds may be present in the imagery.   NOTE: The date of the photography can be derived from the first 3 characters of the image name. Image names beginning with 243 were acquired Aug 30, 2005, those beginning with 244 were acquired Aug 31, and so on.   Questions regarding content and technical issues   Comments and policy issues"
" American media reported that the 25 year-old was involved in an earlier shooting a few miles away. He was named by local police as Jovan Belcher, a linebacker for the Kansas Chiefs, who was born in New York but had been playing for the team since 2009. The club confirmed that ""an incident"" had occurred at the Arrowhead stadium on Saturday morning. Kansas City police spokesman Darin Snapp told AP news agency that authorities were told early on Saturday morning that a woman had been shot, five miles away from the Arrowhead complex. The woman was believed to be his girlfriend. Upon arriving, Mr Snapp said that police witnessed a black male in a car with a handgun to his head talking to two Chiefs officials. Police then heard a gunshot."
" President Mohammed Morsi has said Egypt's new draft constitution will be put to a referendum on 15 December. He made the announcement before the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly, which rushed to approve the document earlier in the week. Both the draft constitution and a recent decree giving Mr Morsi sweeping new powers have prompted widespread protests by opponents of the president. However, his Islamist supporters held their own demonstrations on Saturday. After receiving a copy of the document, Mr Morsi called on ""all Egyptians"" to take part in the referendum, whether or not they agree with the draft. ""The world is looking at how Egyptians will build their institutions to establish their democratic system,"" the president added. The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo that the two weeks until the ballot will be tense, as Egyptians prepare to vote not just on the constitution but also on the country's future. The Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypt's highest judicial authority, is due to rule Sunday on the legitimacy of the constituent assembly. It is unclear whether a decision to disband it would affect plans for a vote, correspondents say. The constituent assembly voted on and passed all 234 articles during a marathon session that began on Thursday and continued through the night. Liberals, secularists and Christians walked out saying the changes were being forced through."
" A prominent pro-democracy activist in Bahrain has been detained for seven days after being arrested for allegedly insulting police, rights groups say. Zainab al-Khawaja was held on Saturday night after sitting in a road leading to the Bahrain International Circuit, a day before the Formula 1 Grand Prix. She was demanding the cancellation of the race, the end of the crackdown on dissent, and the release of her father. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja has been on a hunger strike in prison for 76 days. Activists said Zainab al-Khawaja was arrested while sitting peacefully in the middle of a main road in protest at the detention of her father, and that she had been charged with disrupting traffic and insulting an officer. Her sister, Maryam, said: ""I can guess it's because nobody really believes in the legal system. Zainab's mentality is you can only bring about the fall of the regime when you stop treating it as a government."" On Tuesday morning, both the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights said Ms Khawaja had been remanded in custody for another seven days pending an investigation. Amnesty International said on Monday that the authorities were ""toying with the life"" of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, himself a leading human rights and opposition activist, after Bahrain's highest court postponed an appeal against his life sentence until 30 April. The Court of Cassation did not give any reason for the second postponement since it started considering Mr Khawaja's case on 2 April. He told his family on Sunday night that he was happy with his decision to remain on hunger strike and that if it killed him he would ""at least be free""."
" Three injured in car bombing, state TV reports, a day after activists said scores killed in violence across country. State TV reported that three poeple were wounded in an attack by an ""armed terrorist group"" in Marjeh district [AFP] A car bomb has rocked central Damascus, Syrian state media said, a day after activists reported the deaths of scores across the country despite a shaky ceasefire and an upcoming deployment of 300 UN peace monitors. State TV on Tuesday reported that three people were wounded when the blast went off in the Marjeh district of the capital blaming an ""armed terrorist group"". ""An armed terrorist group detonated the car bomb near the Yelbugha complex in Marjeh, wounding three people and causing damage to nearby buildings,"" state-media said. State news agency SANA said the bomb was placed under the car of an unsuspecting man, who was among those hurt. The blast came as the Locol Co-ordination Committees, an opposition activist network, said violence across the country killed 54 civilians and five soldiers on Monday. At least 50 died in a government assault on the Arbaeen neighbourhood in the central city of Hama while 21 others were reported killed in the northwestern Idlib province. Video footage posted online by activists showed a street in Arbaeen with large pools of blood and women weeping. Two young girls were shown in one video crying and holding up the picture of a man. The violence occurred despite the April 12 ceasefire mediated by UN-Arab League negotiator Kofi Annan, and the presence of an advance team of UN monitors to implement the truce. The persistent bloodshed 12 days into the ceasefire has sparked growing criticism from opposition activists of the fledgling UN mission, which now numbers just 11 observers out of a planned initial deployment of 30. Neeraj Singh, a spokesman for the advance team, said the observers would be visiting different unspecified locations on Tuesday. The monitors have toured several protest hubs since their arrival in the country earlier this month, including the battered city of Homs, where two of them set up base at the weekend. During their visits, they have been greeted by thousands of protesters demanding the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Despite scepticism over the UN mission, UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday gave the go-ahead for the deployment of 300 ceasefire monitors from next week. Ban insisted that the Assad government ensure the protection of the unarmed observers and allow them to travel freely throughout the country. Russia, an ally of the Damascus regime, warned both sides to the conflict against disrupting the work of the UN observers which it said was crucial to providing an unbiased picture on the ground. ""The more observers there are, the more information we get that is based on objective facts and that is free from speculation,"" said Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister. Critics have said the UN mission was simply allowing the regime to buy time as it presses its crackdown against what began as a popular revolt but has turned into an insurgency. Washington has also expressed reservations, warning it may not back the mission's renewal after 90 days. On Monday, US President Barack Obama ordered new sanctions on Syria and Iran and the ""digital guns for hire"" who help them oppress their people with surveillance software and monitoring technology. Obama announced additions to the pile of US sanctions already faced by the two governments as part of a wider effort to crack down on human rights abuses, atrocities and genocide. The measures will hit the two governments but also companies that help create systems that track or monitor their people for killing, torture or other abuses and prevent individuals involved from entering the United States."
" The home and email addresses of the 38,000 entrants to the London Marathon were accidentally published on the organisers' website, the BBC has discovered. A number of high-profile celebrities and politicians were among those who had their personal details made public in the data protection breach. The details were accessible all day to anybody logging on to the site. Marathon organisers apologised and said the mistake had been rectified. BBC Sports News Correspondent James Pearce said organisers had been unaware of the security breach until they were alerted by the BBC on Monday evening. The problem first came to light when a television presenter was contacted by a member of the public who had found her home address. The details were available on the section in which commemorative medals, with individual race times inscribed, could be ordered. Nick Bitel, the chief executive of the London Marathon, said: ""We apologise for this error, and are grateful to the BBC for bringing it to our attention. ""We immediately made sure that the glitch was corrected. ""We do not believe that this has led to a substantial number of individuals' details being accessed by members of the public."""
" Taliban suicide bombers have killed four Afghan soldiers and wounded Nato troops in an attack on a joint US-Afghan airbase in eastern Afghanistan. A local police chief told the BBC that two civilians had been also killed in the attack on the base in Jalalabad. Afghan intelligence officials said nine suicide attackers had been involved in the assault, and all had been killed. Nato said the attackers had failed to penetrate the base. It is unclear how many of its troops were injured. Continue reading the main story This was an ambitious co-ordinated assault involving explosive-laden vehicles and suicide bombers on foot. A Nato spokesman said the assault had clearly been planned for some time, but both Nato and Afghan officials said it was a failure because the militants did not penetrate the base. But the fact that the Taliban managed to get as far as the perimeter will raise questions, as there are checkpoints on the approach routes. The attack has demonstrated, once again, that the militants retain the capacity to strike, in spite of regular claims from Afghan and Nato officials that they have been weakened. The BBC's Orla Guerin in Kabul said the attack appeared ""co-ordinated and complex"". She added that this was not the first time the Taliban had targeted the air base, which is used by US and Nato forces. In February Taliban killed nine people in a similar attack. Nato is gradually handing security over to Afghan forces ahead of the departure of most combat troops in 2014. The Afghan officials said the first four attackers had arrived in explosive-laden cars and targeted different entrances to the airfield early on Sunday, Others who had followed on foot battled security guards. The force of the explosions is reported to have blown out windows a kilometre away."
" Labour has called for Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to resign after Leveson Inquiry evidence appeared to show his support for News Corp's bid for BSkyB. During evidence from James Murdoch, the inquiry discussed News Corp emails that appeared to show Mr Hunt had privately expressed support. Labour leader Ed Miliband said Mr Hunt had acted as a ""back channel"" for the Murdochs and should step down. But Mr Hunt said he had ""conducted this process with scrupulous fairness"". He said he had asked Lord Justice Leveson to bring forward his appearance at the inquiry. Mr Hunt had been due to give evidence along with other politicians, including the prime minister, in May. ""Now is not a time for kneejerk reactions. We've heard one side of the story today but some of the evidence reported meetings and conversations that simply didn't happen,"" Mr Hunt said in a statement. In June 2010, News Corp had been bidding to take over the 61% of BSkyB it did not already own. That November, Business Secretary Vince Cable asked media regulator Ofcom to look at the potential impact of the deal on media plurality. Mr Hunt took over responsibility for overseeing the BSkyB bid after Mr Cable was stripped of the role in December 2010, having been secretly recorded saying he had ""declared war"" on News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch. The company abandoned the bid in July 2011 after the phone hacking scandal surfaced. Mr Murdoch was questioned by counsel for the inquiry Robert Jay QC about his contact with politicians before and during News Corp's bid for BSkyB."
" Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has strongly denied he lobbied the UK government over News Corp's plan to take control of BSkyB. The denial came following evidence given by News Corp chief James Murdoch to the Leveson Inquiry. It heard Mr Murdoch was told Mr Salmond's adviser had agreed to call Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt ""whenever we need him to"". The opposition urged Mr Salmond to make an emergency statement to parliament. The Leveson Inquiry into media standards heard evidence relating to emails from February last year. The News Corp-owned Scottish Sun decided to back the Scottish National Party, led by Mr Salmond, shortly before the last Scottish election, but a spokesman for the first minister said it was ""total nonsense"" to suggest there was a ""quid pro quo"" offered by the Scottish government over the BSkyB bid. Mr Salmond, the spokesman added, did discuss News Corp's operations in Scotland with James Murdoch, which provides jobs for 6,000 people, on economic grounds. Mr Murdoch was being questioned over links between News Corp and Mr Hunt, during the time when the media company was seeking approval for the BSkyB deal. Mr Hunt, a Tory MP, was given the quasi-legal job of deciding BSkyB's fate in December 2010. Emails were submitted to the Leveson Inquiry by James Murdoch's father Rupert, who owns News Corp."
" The blast took place about five miles east of the Shaibah airbase, in British-patrolled Basra province. The dead soldiers were from the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers which is based in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, the Ministry of Defence said. The MoD said it would not release details of the troops' identities until their next of kin had been informed. They were based in the Multinational Division South-East area, which comprises a large part of southern Iraq where coalition troops operate under British command. Defence Secretary John Reid offered his sympathy and condolences to the families of those who died. He said: ""It is deeply tragic that they have been killed whilst carrying out their duty."" Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is in Beijing for an EU-China summit, was being informed of the deaths. His official spokesman said: ""We will watch developments with sadness as when ever attacks like this occur in Iraq."" The Shaibah base, about 10 miles south-west of Basra, is the British logistics headquarters in Iraq. The deaths bring the British military death toll in Iraq to 94 since the outbreak of hostilities in March 2003."
" Victims of press intrusion are urging the government to fully implement the Leveson Inquiry's recommendations on newspaper regulation. Lord Justice Leveson called for a new independent watchdog - which he said should be underpinned by legislation. Inquiry witnesses Gerry McCann and Christopher Jeffries launched the online petition, run by the campaign group Hacked Off. Ministers say a draft bill on the report will be ready in a fortnight. Lord Justice Leveson's 2,000-page report into press ethics, published on Thursday, found that some press behaviour had been ""outrageous"" and ""wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people"". He said the press - having failed to regulate itself in the past - must create a new and tough regulator but it had to be backed by legislation to ensure it was effective. The report exposed divisions in the coalition government, with Prime Minister David Cameron opposing statutory control, unlike his deputy Nick Clegg, who wants a new law introduced without delay. Labour leader Ed Miliband also supports a new press law. Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine went missing in Portugal in 2007, said he would have liked the report to have gone further. Launching the petition he said: ""Clearly the public want it, there's been a judicial review and I think the recommendations should be implemented. There's no good reason why they shouldn't be."" Continue reading the main story Government sources say they expect to produce a draft ""Leveson"" bill within a fortnight. However they expect the draft bill to underline their argument that any legislation would be much more unwieldy and extensive than envisaged by supporters of Leveson. They believe the draft bill will support their view that legislation would therefore be a threat to the freedom of the press. Instead, ministers want the newspaper industry to come forward with their own plans for regulation ""within months."" It's also being made clear that if the industry fails to agree on an acceptable revised package..then ""the legislative stick remains an option."" Earlier, Culture Secretary Maria Miller said alongside the issue of legislation, she had ""very grave concerns"" about some of the other details in the Leveson report -including on the role of Ofcom and rules on data protection. Labour sources say they fear the government will produce draft legislation that looks like ""something the Stasi has written"" in an effort to discredit the Leveson proposals"
" * Compensation ordered for Brazilian victim of 2009 crash (Recasts with insurance company to appeal) RIO DE JANEIRO, March 12 (Reuters) - Air France's insurance company said on Friday it will appeal a Brazilian court's ruling for the airline company to pay $1.16 million in compensation to the family of a victim of a fatal crash last year. French insurance company Axa (AXAF.PA) said in a statement it did not accept Thursday's ruling as a precedent because compensation should be decided by a committee set up after the crash by Brazil's government, associations of victims' families and insurers. That committee agreed to define the criteria for fair compensation for the families. Air France (AIRF.PA) flight AF447 between Rio de Janeiro and Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during a storm on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board. A Rio civil court judge ordered Air France on Thursday to pay 2.04 million reais ($1.16 million) as compensation for the death of Marcelle Valpacos Fonseca Lima, a 41-year-old woman who was the Rio state attorney-general. Judge Mauro Nicolau Junior said in his ruling that the crash, the cause of which is still unclear, was in large part due to the ""negligent conduct of the accused."" An Air France spokeswoman declined to comment while the airline studies the ruling. The company said after the crash that it would compensate families of the victims through its insurers, with payments of around 100,000 euros ($137,000) per victim as a compassionate gesture rather than an admission of liability. Passengers from 32 nationalities were killed in the crash of the Airbus 330. Among them were 61 French people and 58 Brazilians. An international search to locate the wreckage failed to find the black box recorders that are crucial to pinpointing the cause of crash. It is due to resume this month. (Reporting by Stuart Grudgings; additional reporting by Helen Massy-Bereford in Paris; editing by Mohammad Zargham)"
" David Cameron has backed the principles behind Lord Justice Leveson's recommendation for a tougher regulatory body for the press. But he says he has ""serious concerns and misgivings"" over bringing in laws to underpin any new body. In a first for the coalition, deputy PM Nick Clegg spoke after the PM and disagreed, saying such a watchdog was both ""proportionate and workable"". Labour called the report ""measured"" and backed its conclusions ""unequivocally"". Mr Cameron, Mr Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband met for the first in a series of cross-party talks, following the Commons debate. A senior Labour source said Mr Cameron had agreed, during the 30 minute negotiations, to ask the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to draft a bill to implement Lord Justice Leveson's recommendation. The source added that Labour would push for a Commons vote on implementing the recommendation in principle by the end of January. There is set to be a full Commons debate on Leveson on Monday. In his 2,000-page report, Lord Justice Leveson said the press must create a new and tough regulator but it had to be backed by legislation to ensure it was effective. He said the press had failed to properly regulate itself in the past, but he believed the law could be used to ""validate"" a new body. Mr Cameron told MPs that legislation backing a regulatory body could ""cross the Rubicon"" by writing elements of press regulation into the law for the first time."
" 1 of 3. Former U.S. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is pictured as he arrives at the White House for a private lunch with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington, November 29, 2012. The two men chewed over the just-ended campaign during a meal of turkey chili and Southwestern grilled chicken salad in the dining room adjacent to the Oval Office. The visit was kept low key as Romney was brought in through a heavily guarded side entryway for a private one-on-one encounter. News photographers were not allowed in for pictures. An official White House photo showed the two men standing in the Oval Office, shaking hands cordially in front of the presidential desk. The lunch, which lasted a little more than an hour, appeared to be little more than a goodwill gesture aimed at salving wounds left open from a bitter campaign, including three contentious debates, in which Obama accused Romney of being an out-of-touch, secretive, rich elitist, and Romney said his opponent did not understand how to fix the U.S. economy. Romney congratulated Obama for ""the success of his campaign"" and wished him well in his second four-year term, the White House said in a statement issued after the lunch. ""The focus of their discussion was on America's leadership in the world and the importance of maintaining that leadership position in the future. They pledged to stay in touch, particularly if opportunities to work together on shared interests arise in the future,"" the White House said. The two men face sharply different futures. Obama is busily gearing up for his second term. The grandstand from which he will view his inaugural parade in January is being constructed on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. Romney, who was said to have been shocked that his campaign fell short, has few apparent immediate plans. A week ago he was photographed visiting Disneyland in California with several grandchildren. White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that Obama was interested in hearing some of Romney's ideas and sharing campaign experiences with him. Obama said during his election victory speech that he wanted to sit down and talk to Romney. ""Without giving any specifics, this was a conversation the president wanted to have with Governor Romney as he mentioned the night of the election,"" Carney said."
" (CNN) -- David Beckham suffered an Achilles tendon injury before Clarence Seedorf scored in the final minute to give AC Milan a 1-0 win over Chievo on Sunday, a result that moved them to within a point of leaders Inter at the top of Serie A. Veteran England midfielder Beckham hobbled off the pitch in tears, reaching down to nurse his left heel, with TV network Sky Sports Italia reporting that he had suffered a suspected ruptured Achilles tendon injury. If that proves to be the prognosis, it would leave Beckham's hopes of appearing for England at this summer's World Cup finals in tatters. One sports physician has said Beckham has no chance of playing in the World Cup in South Africa, according to the Press Association. ""It's remotely possible he may be running in three months,"" said Dr Tom Crisp. ""The chances of him being fit to play for England are non-existent."" Beckham's injury soured Milan's eventual win, achieved with just 10 men as all three substitutes had already been deployed before the former Manchester United midfielder was forced to limp off. One of those substitutes, Seedorf, was to score the only goal of the game, firing home a superb long-distance strike. ""This was an important victory, but this injury prevents us from really enjoying it. It's an important injury and we need to be able to judge how serious it is,"" Milan coach Leonardo told Sky Sports Italia. The win means Milan move to within a single point of leaders and city rivals Inter at the top of the table. Elsewhere, Juventus managed to waste a three-goal advantage, with all their goals coming in the opening 10 minutes, to draw 3-3 at home to Siena."
" The British press should be regulated by an independent group supported by law and with the power to fine, a judge recommended Thursday in a long-awaited report sparked by a phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid. Judge Brian Leveson said he was not recommending that Parliament set up a press regulator, but that the industry should create its own, which would be backed by legislation to make sure it meets certain standards of independence and effectiveness. Prime Minister David Cameron, who asked the judge to prepare the report, told Parliament after its release that he agrees with Leveson's recommendations for a new, strong, independent press regulator. He said the onus is now on the press to implement the report's recommendations, ""and implement them radically."" But Cameron said he is not convinced that legislation is needed to underpin the new body -- and he has serious concerns about taking that approach. At the same time, the prime minister said that the ""status quo is not an option"" and that the victims of press abuses have ""suffered in a way that we can barely begin to imagine."" News International, a subsidiary of the Murdoch-owned News Corp., backed Cameron's call for regulation without legislation. ""We accept that a new system should be independent, have a standards code, a means of resolving disputes, the power to demand prominent apologies and the ability to levy heavy fines,"" the company said in a statement. Signaling a difference of views within the coalition government, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who leads the Liberal Democrats, said he believes new legislation is needed to ensure the regulator's long-term independence. Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labour Party, also said he favors full implementation of Leveson's recommendations, including the new legislation."
" The Queen has declared the London Olympics officially open, before seven young athletes were given the honour of lighting the ceremonial flame. The show featured British celebrities and sportspeople, including David Beckham and Bradley Wiggins, and screen characters Mr Bean and James Bond. In a speech watched around the world, Games chief Jacques Rogge said: ""The Olympic Games are coming home tonight."" Flag-bearer Sir Chris Hoy earlier led out Team GB to cheers and applause. The identity of who was to light the symbolic flame was shrouded in secrecy ahead of the ceremony. Continue reading the main story You have to envy the athletes. Not for them the men with loud-speakers making the crowd ""hold and stop"" in waves on an hour-long trudge to the Tube platform. The athletes' village is in sight of the stadium. Their parade inside it marked the shift, from purely artistic production to ceremonial duties. The emotion was still there - Lord Coe's voice tight as he said: ""This is our time... When our time came we did it right... London 2012 will see the very best of us."" And the history - IOC President Jacques Rogge acknowledging the Games' return to London for a third time. There were flag-bearers for good; the official opening from Her Majesty; sporting legend Ali; Sarah Stevenson's competitors' bond. With Redgrave taking the torch there was the nod to Olympic greats, with young hopefuls, a look to legacy. Out at the Tube queue, the day was ending almost 19 hours after it had begun with the sound of bells ringing - this time from a tannoy, not a Big Ben tower. Time then, for the main event to begin. The group of seven, chosen by British Olympic champions, each lit a single tiny flame on the ground, igniting 205 petals, one for each competing nation or territory. Long stems then rose towards each other to form a cauldron, signifying unity. The flame made a dramatic arrival via the Thames on a speedboat carrying Beckham, who handed the torch to Sir Steve Redgrave. The show, billed as a quirky take on UK life, started with iconic images of London and Britain being beamed to the world, and all four countries of the UK being represented in song."
" Veteran fast bowler Brett Lee will retire at the end of the 2014-15 Big Bash League season, ending his 20-year career in cricket."
" The 24-year-old Van der Burgh became the first South African man to win Olympic gold in an individual swimming event, after he powered through a race that left champion Kosuke Kitajima and previous record holder Brenton Rickard trailing in his wake. LONDON (Reuters) - South African Cameron Van der Burgh, struggling to contain his emotions, shook his finger in disbelief at the screen above the pool as it flashed his 100 meters breaststroke world record and his country's first gold of the 2012 Olympic Games. He set a world record of 58.46 seconds on Sunday, beating the 58.58 set by Brenton Rickard in 2009. It also eclipsed the Olympic record of 58.83 he set in his semi-final on Saturday. ""Tonight, as I came in, I said to myself, 'a man can change his stars, you can write your own destiny tonight'. I had my chance and I took it,"" he said, after a victory that saw him lie back in the pool in sheer exhilaration at the finish. Van der Burgh later said he was looking up at the sky - remembering Norwegian rival and world champion Alexander Dale Oen, who died earlier this year of a heart attack. ""I know that he was probably laughing down at me, thinking 'how can you go that time?'"" Van der Burgh's victory ends a medal drought for South African swimming, after the team failed to win a single medal at the Beijing Games in 2008, a disappointment after Athens when an ""awesome foursome"" won gold in the 4x100 freestyle relay, followed by an individual silver and bronze from Roland Schoeman. In rugby, cricket and soccer-mad South Africa, Van der Burgh is rare among swimmers as something of a celebrity. Unlike a lot of top international swimmers he has resisted the temptation to train in the United States and until recently trained in a 25 meter pool in his local gym. But he tightened up his training - moving to an Olympic-size pool and improving his nutrition - in the run up to 2012, shaving seconds off his time."
" UN Security Council members have called for restraint and dialogue between protesters and authorities in Yemen. But the Council's first talks on the crisis ended in New York without an agreed public statement, with diplomats saying Russia objected. Security forces earlier reportedly opened fire on anti-government protesters in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and the southern city of Taiz. Three people died and dozens were wounded in the unrest. On Wednesday morning, a gunman on a motorbike opened fire on protesters encamped in a square in the western city of Hudaydah, killing one person, protest organisers said. The identity of the gunman was not immediately clear. More than 120 people have been killed in two months of protests demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down. The Yemeni leader, who has been in power for more than three decades, has said he is willing to hand over power, but only to ""safe hands"". UN envoys in New York were briefed behind closed doors by a representative of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who has just returned from Yemen. Germany had called for the meeting, hoping, according to its ambassador Peter Wittig, to send a strong message that bloodshed must be avoided and mediation efforts by Arab Gulf Countries should be encouraged."
" Tripoli/London, Apr 20 (PTI) France and Italy are joining Britain in sending military officers to Libya to train the rebels fighting to dislodge his regime, as the opposition today asked NATO to dispatch ground troops to break the siege in Misurata.French President promised to step up air strikes on Gaddafi's forces. ""We are indeed going to intensify the attacks and respond to this request from the(Libyan) national transition council. We will help you,"" Nicholas Sarkozy told Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the leader of the opposition Libyan National Council in Paris, the al-Jazeera reported.The European military officers will help advise rebels on technical, logistical and organisational issues. In Washington, officials said that the US will give USD 25 million to rebels in non-lethal assistance.Meanwhile, fearing a massacre in the western Libyan city of Misurata, cut off from land by the forces of Gaddafi, rebel leaders asked NATO to dispatch ground troops to break the siege.A French foreign ministry spokesperson said a small number of liaison officers would be sent out to Benghazi along with a special envoy, while Italy said it was ready to send around 10 officers - ""the same number of military staff as Britain"".Ignazio La Russa, Italy's defence minister, said in Rome that stronger intervention under the UN resolution, which does not permit ground troops, may be needed in Libya, the al-Jazeera reported.Jalil said he invited Sarkozy to visit Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in Libya's east. ""I think that would be very important for the revolution's morale,"" Jalil said after the meeting.A senior member of Misurata's governing council Nuri Abdullah Abdullahti sent an SOS as rebels and government forces fought street battles for control of main thoroughfare of the city which has survived more than six weeks of attacks by Gaddafi's forces. The rebel plea came as al-Jazeera reported that hundreds of thousands of people were trapped in Libya's third largest town with food, fuel and medicines fast running out. The residents said that while rebel control 50 per cent of the city, the rest was in the hands of Gaddafi's men. As the stalemate continued in almost all battle fronts, Sail ul Islam, the Libyan strongman's son, claimed that his father's regime will prevail and that the government forces were poised to recapture Misurata as well as Ajdabiya. ""We will not seek revenge once we recapture these rebel-held towns,"" Gaddafi's son said, branding opposition fighters defending Misurata as ""drug dealers and al Qaeda militias."" But the city's port, BBC said, appear still to be firmly in the hands of rebels, providing a lifeline for trapped civilians and for arrival of badly needed food and medical supplies. ."
" The nun, best remembered for her devotion to educating impoverished children, was confirmed a saint during a meeting chaired by the Pope with cardinals and bishops in Rome to consider six candidates for canonisation. Tim Fischer, Australia's ambassador to the Holy See, said the sainthood decision was great news for all Australians, whether they were believers or not. ""This is a terrific salute to an outstanding Australian, a giant leader in education and many other fields,"" Mr Fischer said. ""It will help boost knowledge of her work and boost Australia in this busy competitive hub of Rome and way beyond."" MacKillop's second miracle, helping an Australian woman recover from an inoperable cancer, was acknowledged recently. She passed the first stage to sainthood when she was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1995 with her first miracle of curing a woman with terminal leukaemia. Sainthood has been sought for Mary MacKillop for several decades, with the campaign beginning in 1926, 17 years after her death, and the first official application for beatification made in 1961. Mr Fischer said it would be good to see as many Australian supporters of Mary MacKillop as possible make it to Rome to celebrate the canonisation ceremony. Sister Sheila McCreanor, with the Sisters of Saint Joseph, spoke to aifThe Weekend Australianaif just before last night's announcement and said she was ""very excited"" to hear the Pope's decision. ""About four of us are huddled here in the lounge room drinking tea and waiting up to get the confirmation from Rome,"" said Sister McCreanor, who has been a nun for 40 years. ""It's the end of a long journey and the culmination of a lot of hard work."""
" 1 of 19. Damaged buildings are seen in Juret al-Shayah in Homs July 27, 2012. Opposition sources said the shelling was an attempt to drive fighters inside Aleppo from their strongholds and to stop their comrades outside the city from resupplying them. ""They are shelling at random to instill a state of terror,"" said Anwar Abu Ahed, a rebel commander outside the city. The battle for Aleppo, a major power centre that is home to 2.5 million people, is being seen as a potential turning point in the 16-month uprising against Assad that could give one side an edge in a conflict where both the rebels and the government have struggled to gain the upper hand. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan said late on Friday that international institutions needed to work together to address the military assault on Aleppo and Assad's threat to use chemical weapons against external threats. ""There is a build-up in Aleppo, and the recent statements with respect to the use of weapons of mass destruction are actions that we cannot remain an observer or spectator to,"" he said at a joint news conference in London with British Prime Minister David Cameron. ""Steps need to be taken jointly within the United Nations Security Council, the Organisation of Islamic Countries, the Arab League, and we must work together to try to overcome the situation,"" he said. Cameron said Britain and Turkey were concerned that Assad's government was about to carry out some ""some truly appalling acts around and in the city of Aleppo"". Turkey, a former ally of Assad and now one of his fiercest critics, cheered on the rebels in Aleppo. ""In Aleppo itself the regime is preparing for an attack with its tanks and helicopters ... My hope is that they'll get the necessary answer from the real sons of Syria,"" Erdogan said earlier in remarks broadcast on Turkish TV channels."
" The few dozen yards (meters) of fraying blue tarpaulin and dirt-stained canvas that define the Awaja family's living space can't keep out the cold in winter, or the dust and heat in summer. And when a strong wind blows at night, the shelter caves in on the six children sleeping inside. The Awajas are among thousands whose houses were destroyed during Israel's three-week military offensive against Hamas-ruled Gaza, launched in December 2008 with the aim of halting Palestinian rocket attacks. More than 18 months later, most displaced families have found apartments or moved in with relatives. But about 225 families remain homeless, according to U.N. figures, caught in a mix of poverty, bureaucracy, and a border blockade that has left them in limbo. A bulldozer flattened the Awajas' house on the first full day of Israel's ground offensive, when tanks and troops swept into Gaza neighborhoods near the Israeli border. As the family fled, bullets hit Kamal, 49, his wife Wafa, 34, and their 8-year-old son Ibrahim _ who bled to death in the street. After a brief stay with Kamal's first wife _ he has two, but is separated from the first _ and her seven children in their tiny apartment in Gaza City, the Awajas pitched a tent on government land near Beit Lahiya. Municipal officials told them to vacate. ""I told them I'm not leaving... I'm afraid to go back there, close to the border,"" Kamal said. They now occupy three tents and have had a sixth child, a baby girl named Leyali. They tether the tent to the ground with cinderblocks and rugs. They siphon electricity from nearby lines to power a refrigerator, microwave, oven, TV and computer, all salvaged from their old home or smuggled through underground tunnels that connect Gaza to Egypt."
" The Afghan authorities have arrested 18 people in Kabul after foiling plans for an apparent mass suicide attack, intelligence officials say. They told the BBC that 11 suicide jackets had been seized inside the ministry of defence. The officials say the attacks would have caused significant loss of life. Some of those arrested are reported to Afghan National Army soldiers. The Afghan Ministry of Defence dismissed the report as ""rumours"". Dawlat Wazeri, the ministry's deputy spokesman, told the BBC that no would-be bombers had been detained or suicide vests seized inside the ministry. ""These are just rumours and now we are working on finding the men who have provided these rumours to the media,"" he said. The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says it appears that, officially, the Afghan authorities want to play down a major security lapse that is highly embarrassing for the government. The reliability of Afghan security personnel is in the spotlight after a string of deadly attacks by gunmen wearing Afghan National Army dress on their Nato counterparts in recent weeks. Continue reading the main story The Afghan government has simply failed for the last year or year-and-a-half to prevent rogue soldiers and Taliban infiltration. Last year we had a very high-profile case of Taliban infiltration into the ministry of defence when a senior ministry official helped a suicide attacker in army uniform get all the way to the minister's office. That official was later sacked and jailed, but it just shows you how much infiltration there has been, both at a high level and at other levels, in Kabul and across the country. We understand from Afghan intelligence officials now that the issue of infiltration is systematic - it's a strategy not a tactic. Intelligence officials told our correspondent that the jackets had been seized on Monday afternoon from three separate rooms around a ministry car park, less than a kilometre from the presidential palace. Several people were arrested inside the ministry's first security belt, they said."
" CAIRO: Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's detention has been extended by another 15-day, amid reports that the authorities are mulling sending the former strongman to jail or to a prison hospital.Public prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmud today ordered extension of Mubarak's detention for further 15-day as a team of investigators went to the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to question the toppled president who is undergoing treatment at a hospital there, official news agency MENA reported.The renewal of his detention comes in the backdrop of Mahmud ordering a probe into Mubarak's role a deadly crackdown on protesters and corruption. The former president was first remanded to custody on April 15.""The state prosecutor has decided to renew the detention of ex-president Hosni Mubarak for questioning... effective when his last detention period expires,"" the agency said.Mubarak's extension of detention comes as the authorities ordered a medical team to rush to Sharm el-Sheikh to ascertain the former president's health condition to have him transfered to Tora prison or to a prison hospital.Earlier this week, a government judicial panel had fixed ""ultimate responsibility"" on Mubarak for use of brutal force to suppress the popular uprising against him, which led to his stepping down from power after 30-year of rule.The panel comprising serving judges had said that at least 850 people had been killed in three weeks of country wide protest in Egypt since January 11, almost double the number previously banded by Mubarak and his associates.There have been conflicting reports on the state of health of the former president and the reason for his hospitalisation, but the state news agency yesterday reported that the 82-year-old former strongman's health was unstable.Arab media reports said Egyptian authorities had ordered preparations to be made at the hospital in Tora prison, south of the capital Cairo to house Mubarak.His two sons, Alaa and Gamal and several of his former ministers and senior aides are already lodged in the prison complex on various charges as part of a sweeping probe into corruption and abuse of office."
" Georgian troops were ousted from South Ossetia in August Nato has agreed to a ""conditional and graduated re-engagement"" with Russia, the alliance's secretary general says. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said talks with Moscow, which were frozen over its war with Georgia in August, would resume. The Nato-Russia Council is not being restored, but the Nato chief said lower-level talks would take place. Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels also reiterated their support for eventual Nato membership for Georgia and Ukraine. But Nato is deeply divided on the subject, and did not offer the countries their desired membership action plan (MAP). Moscow strongly opposes their ambitions to join the alliance, and some countries, like Germany, France and Italy, fear offering them MAPs would provoke Russia, correspondents say. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Instead, ministers encouraged Tbilisi and Kiev to pursue reforms needed to join the alliance, without any timetable for entry. Mr de Hoop Scheffer said that all previous decisions made by Nato heads of state regarding Georgia and Ukraine still stood. ""That includes very much that they will one day be members, if they so wish of course, and important to add, when they meet Nato standards,"" he said. The BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Brussels says it is clear that neither country will become a member any time soon, and that assistance is all Nato can offer for now. Nato ministers have not revived the Nato-Russia Council, but Mr de Hoop Scheffer said they had agreed to a resumption of lower-level dialogue. If the international response is not firm, Moscow will make other moves to redraw the region's map   Nato bid has a long way to go ""The Nato-Russia Council will meet on an informal basis to re-engage and to have discussions on the issues on which we will agree and, I would also like to add, on the issues on which we disagree,"" he said. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, attending her final Nato meeting, insisted ""this is not business as usual"" and that she still considered Russia's action in Georgia in August to be ""unacceptable"". She added: ""This is not about competition and conflict and domination, but rather about co-operation in a framework in which one treats one's neighbours, even if they were once a part of the Soviet Union, as equals in the international system."" Russia's permanent representative to Nato, Dmitry Rogozin, welcomed the decision and said his country was ready for dialogue. ""It is now clear that Nato has accepted the reality that has been shaped by Russia,"" he said. Thousands of Russian troops are still stationed in Georgia's rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. On Tuesday, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili warned the West of ""grave risks of returning to business as usual"" with Russia without holding it to account for its actions in Georgia. ""If the international response is not firm, Moscow will make other moves to redraw the region's map by intimidation or force,"" Mr Saakashvili wrote in an article in the Wall Street Journal. Nato was deeply divided on how to proceed following the conflict in August and had to sidestep some bruising internal debates to reach the day's decisions, correspondents say. While the US and newer Nato members, from the former Warsaw Pact, are keen to draw Georgia and Ukraine closer, others like Germany and France are wary of antagonising Russia, a key energy supplier. Nato also does not want Russia to think it has a veto over who joins the alliance, the BBC's Caroline Wyatt says. The war also raised doubts among many members over whether Georgia, with its disputed territories, was ready to join the bloc or remained too volatile. Ukraine, meanwhile, has been beset by political turbulence, with the country split on Nato membership. Correspondents says it will be a struggle for the alliance to prevent divisions on the issue hardening into permanent fault lines."
" The highly contentious issue of NATO expansion was taken off the table ahead of the meeting in light of the lack of unanimity among alliance members over the issue. ""A great many countries think that Georgia and Ukraine have not made enough progress to even be considered for the Membership Action Plan (MAP),"" a trial period prior to being allowed into the western alliance, said Thomas Steg, deputy spokesman for the German government. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she felt the time had not yet come to offer the two former Soviet republics a MAP. ""Georgia and Ukraine are not ready for membership. That is very clear,"" Rice said. In April, at a summit in Bucharest, alliance leaders agreed that Georgia and Ukraine would join NATO at an unspecified future date, but failed to find the consensus needed to offer them a MAP. The summit called for progress on reforms that would bring the two states closer to membership, and tasked NATO foreign ministers with giving an initial assessment of that process in December. 'No reason' for immediate expansion German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier insists no need to hurry on expansion Since then, the Georgian and Ukrainian governments have lobbied intensively for a MAP, with the US their most vocal supporter. But given the summer's war in Georgia and the collapse of the Ukrainian government, the member states which most opposed giving the two countries a MAP in April -- Germany, France and Italy -- have argued that now would be the wrong time to make a membership offer."
" The clashes highlight the challenges the government faces in imposing its authority after the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi. Fighting between gunmen from Sabha and fighters from the Tibu ethnic group had reached the centre of Sabha, Libya's fourth-largest city, Ibrahim Misbah, a doctor at the main hospital said. An Interior Ministry official said the army had sent 300 soldiers stationed in southern Libya to help calm the situation on Monday. Another 300 soldiers left Tripoli on Tuesday to assist, he added. Sabha fighter Oweidat al-Hifnawi said government forces had arrived in Sabha and were ""in the middle of the clashes"". ""We know that they are here to try to solve the problem and not fight,"" he said. ""There are unconfirmed reports that they have retreated out of the city."" The ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) is struggling to assert its authority across Libya, where rival militias and tribal groups jostle for power and resources after last year's rebellion that ousted Gaddafi. Hampered by the lack of a coherent national army, the NTC has struggled to persuade the myriad o f militias who fought Gaddafi to put down their guns and join the armed forces and police. Fourteen people were killed on Tuesday and 30 people were wounded, Misbah said, giving numbers for the Sabha side. Around 20 people were killed in fighting by Monday, he said. ""The hospital crew has been working around the clock since Monday night and the injured keep coming in,"" he told Reuters. Ali Galama, a Tibu representative on the NTC from Murzuq, south of Sabha, said 15 people were killed on the Tibu side and 18 were wounded. While he was speaking from Benghazi, he said he was in touch with Tibu in the area by phone. ""We have no place to transfer them. We don't have the facilities to look after them""."
" Yemen's president has welcomed the Gulf Arab plan for a transition of power, in a speech to the largest demonstration by his supporters so far. But Ali Abdullah Saleh made no commitment to accept the plan. Hundreds of thousands rallied in his support in the capital, Sanaa, while similar numbers of opponents met nearby and in the southern city of Taiz. At least 120 people have died in two months of protests demanding the end of Mr Saleh's 32-year rule. Continue reading the main story When President Saleh arrived at the rally in Sanaa, a huge cheer went up. Men were squeezed in around the stage and women gathered to the left and right in their black veils, holding the three-coloured flag. Children showed off to the photographers the pro-Saleh drawings on their faces. On the other side of Sanaa, in Change Square, his opponents lined up their tents in the streets leading to the square now covered in anti-Saleh graffiti. They say they have lost all confidence in any promises he might make. The longer this stand-off goes on, the greater the concern of some in Yemen and outside the country. President Saleh has been an ally of the West in counter-terrorism operations, and some worry that without any clear plan for what comes after his rule, instability and more violence could follow. Huge crowds gathered near the main mosque in the capital Sanaa, calling on President Saleh to retain power until his term ends in 2013. In a very short speech, the 69-year-old leader said he welcomed the initiative of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) that proposes a transfer of power to the vice-president. But he said any arrangements had to be ""within the framework of the Yemen constitution"" - language which could mask objections to the plan. Some of the president's allies suggest that he is open to leaving office, but many in the crowd fear that instability would follow his departure, says the BBC's Lina Sinjab in Sanaa. On the other side of capital, his opponents gathered in an area they now call Change Square."
" MANAMA (Reuters) - Three non-governmental groups said Bahrain must halt human rights violations and a crackdown on hospitals where doctors and patients suspected of having joined pro-democracy protests were being arrested. Last month, the Sunni-led Gulf Arab kingdom crushed mainly Shi'ite protests by declaring martial law, inviting in troops from Sunni neighbours such as Saudi Arabia and arresting hundreds of people, many of them activists or doctors. Hundreds have been sacked from government jobs, rights and opposition groups say. Bahrain says it targets only those who committed crimes during the unrest in March. It accused Western governments of staying silent because of Bahrain's strategic location as home of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and its importance as a Gulf trade partner. ""North American and European governments, so vocal recently in espousing the cause of human rights in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, need also to speak out loudly about what is going on in Bahrain,"" said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa. Paris-based Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) Friday said Bahrain had turned hospitals into ""places to be feared,"" where both doctors and patients suspected of having a role in the protests were detained. ""Wounds are used to identify demonstrators, restricted access to health care is being used to deter people from protesting, and those who dare to seek treatment in health facilities are being arrested,"" the aid group said. Some doctors were too afraid to treat patients wounded during the unrest for fear of getting arrested, it said. ""The police, military and intelligence services must stop using the health system as a way to crack down on the protestors,"" the group said in a statement. It also called on the Bahraini opposition not to use the main Salmaniya hospital as a rallying point or political platform. Before the crackdown, many protesters had camped out outside the hospital."
" Togo's request for an urgent hearing into its appeal against a ban from the next two Nations Cup tournaments was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Thursday. The Togolese federation had asked CAS to make a provisional ruling before Saturday's draw for the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers. But CAS said in a statement that, as the matches would not start until September, there would be time to include Togo if the eventual decision went in favour of the West African team. Togo was banned by the Confederation of African Football for withdrawing from last month's tournament in Angola after two members of their delegation and the team bus driver died in an ambush in the province of Cabinda."
" Human rights groups have expressed mounting concern about a security crackdown under way in Bahrain. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) says there have been attacks on physicians, patients and unarmed civilians since protests began in February. It says at least 32 medics have been arrested - some by masked men in the middle of the night. It believes they were targeted because they have seen evidence of abuses by security forces. On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said reports from Bahrain of arrests and torture of detainees were ""extremely troubling"". He called on the government to act in accordance with the law and to investigate any abuses fully and transparently. ""The excessive use of force against unarmed civilians, patients in hospitals and medical services that PHR's investigators documented is extremely troubling and is cause for an immediate international investigation,"" said Hans Hogrefe, Physicians for Human Rights' Washington director. The group spoke to one man who says he was injured with birdshot in March but was too scared to go to hospital. ""He said that, with an unsterilised knife, he dug out approximately 70 metal pellets from his arm and leg,"" the report says. Another man who had protested at Pearl Roundabout says he was beaten in hospital after being shot in the face and head with birdshot. According to the report: ""Police in blue uniforms and men in civilian dress wearing black masks stormed the ward and beat Ali and other patients with the butts of their rifles and kicks to the groin, stomach and flanks."" It also says that in April, six Shia physicians at the main hospital, Salmaniyah, were beaten after security forces found a picture of the prime minister missing from the wall of a staff lounge."
" The most senior US soldier, Adm Mike Mullen, has said the war in Libya is ""moving towards stalemate"", even though US and Nato air strikes have destroyed 30-40% of Libya's ground forces. The US has authorised the use of armed, unmanned Predator drones over Libya to give ""precision capabilities"". Libyan rebels have been battling Col Gaddafi's troops since February but have recently made little headway. Adm Mullen also said there was no sign of al-Qaeda in the Libyan opposition. Speaking to US troops in Iraq, he said radical groups might try to take advantage of the Libyan uprising, but added: ""We're watchful of it, mindful of it and I just haven't seen much of it at all. In fact, I've seen no al-Qaeda representation there at all."" Last month, a Nato commander said US intelligence had picked up ""flickers"" of al-Qaeda activity among the rebels. Meanwhile Senator John McCain has visited the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the most senior US official to do so since the conflict began in February. He called on all countries to recognise the rebels' Transitional National Council as ""the legitimate voice of the Libyan people"", and to offer weapons and training. A fourth evacuation ship chartered by the International Organisation for Migration is on its way to rescue stranded migrant workers and wounded civilians from the besieged city of Misrata. Continue reading the main story Here in Tripoli, Nato jets have been circling high in the sky. Explosions thudded around the city in the early hours of the morning. They sounded distant but were still powerful enough to rattle the windows. The chairman of the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, estimates that Nato has destroyed 30-40% of Libya's main ground forces. Even so, he says the war is moving towards a stalemate. That's because neither the Libyan army nor the rebels can land knockout blows. The American decision to deploy armed, unmanned predator drones will not win the war for the rebels. But the drones give Nato another option, and at a time when the air campaign seems to be in trouble, they represent American political support as well as more American firepower."
" Mr Khan will be remembered as a reformer The body of first Afghan President Mohammad Daud Khan has been identified three decades after he was killed in a Communist coup, officials say. The discovery was made by members of a government-appointed commission during excavation at a military base outside the capital, Kabul. Daud Khan overthrew the last king of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah, in 1973. His death five years later ushered in a decade of Soviet occupation followed by the rise of the Taleban. The former president is to be given a special funeral ceremony by the government. A spokesman for the Ministry of Health told the Associated Press news agency that the former president's body was among dozens discovered at two mass graves in the Pul-e-Charkhi area, east of Kabul, six months ago. The spokesman said that Mr Khan and 17 family members and associates were executed inside the presidential palace in Kabul during a communist-inspired coup in 1978. He said that teeth moulds were used to identify the late president's body but the determining factor was a small golden Koran that was found with his remains. ""This Koran was given to him as a gift by the king of Saudi Arabia when he went on a trip to the kingdom,"" the spokesman said. Correspondents say that many Afghans see Mr Khan's murder as one of their country's darkest days, because it was followed by 10 years of Soviet occupation, civil war and the rise of the Taleban, who themselves were toppled by US-led troops in 2001. It is estimated that about two million people have been killed since the 1978 coup and more than six million have fled the country. Mr Khan is remembered for his efforts to counter the influence of Islamists and for establishing a republic. He introduced wide ranging reforms and towards the end of his life favoured relations with the West over the Soviet Union."
" NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Monday cut Russia's foreign-currency sovereign credit ratings for the first time since January 1999, citing capital outflows and the rapid decline of the country's international reserves. In Moscow, equity markets shrugged off the downgrade and instead posted strong gains, buoyed by soaring commodity prices and a rise in risk appetite. The dollar-denominated RTS stock index ended up 7.2%, led higher by oil and mining shares. The ruble-denominated Micex stock index finished up 10%. In New York, the Market Vectors Russia ETF RSX, -1.02% which tracks the performance of the Russian stock market, soared 8.7% to $14.55. S&P lowered Russia's ratings to BBB/A-3 from BBB+/A-2 and assigned them a negative outlook Monday, indicating the likelihood of another ratings downgrade. This was the first downgrade since January 1999, when S&P cut Russia to selective default. ""The lowering of the ratings on Russia reflects risks associated with the sharp reversal in external portfolio and other investment flows, which has increased the cost and difficulty of meeting the country's external financing needs,"" said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Frank Gill in a statement on Monday. Since August this year, Russia's international reserves have fallen from $583 billion to $455 billion. Investors have pulled billions of dollars out of Russia on concerns over the global financial crisis, the recent sharp decline in oil prices, and growing domestic political risks. The RTS stock index has tumbled 72% year-to-date. S&P estimates that Russia's current account will swing into a 2.6% of GDP deficit in 2009 from a 5.0% of GDP surplus in 2008 due to the sharp deterioration in the country's terms of trade. Russia's general government budget is also likely to move into deficit, S&P said."
" NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been taken into federal custody at his Chicago home Tuesday morning, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune, which cited an unnamed source. The newspaper said that the action comes amid allegations that pay-to-play politics could affect his pending choice of a Senate replacement for President-elect Barack Obama."
" Mr Mohammed (centre) said he wanted to dispense with his US military lawyer Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-defendants have said they want to plead guilty at a pre-trial hearing at Guantanamo Bay. But Mr Mohammed said he would postpone entering his plea until an investigation into the mental state of two of his co-defendants was complete. Military Judge Col Stephen Henley had ordered the probe into whether the two were mentally competent to stand trial. The five men face death sentences if convicted of roles in the 2001 attacks. Correspondents say no trial date has been set and there seems little chance that one will begin before President-elect Barack Obama takes office. He has said he is opposed to the military tribunal and has pledged to close down the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay. For the first time, nine relatives of the 9/11 victims were flown to Cuba by the US military to watch Monday's pre-trial hearing. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Amid heavy military security, they sat in court behind a glass screen only yards from Mr Mohammed and his four co-defendants, shielded from the media by a blue curtain. At the opening of the proceedings, the military judge read aloud a letter in which the men said they wanted to withdraw all pending defence motions filed by their court-appointed lawyers and requested ""an immediate hearing session to announce our confessions."" The five said they had made their decision ""without being under any kind of pressure, threat, intimidations or promise from any party,"" Col Henley told the court. When asked by the judge if he was prepared to enter a plea of guilty to all the charges should he be allowed to, Mr Mohammed said ""yes"". ""We don't want to waste time,"" he added, according to the AFP news agency. We don't want to waste time   But he later refused to enter his plea, telling the court he wanted to stand trial alongside all of his co-accused. ""We want everyone to plead together,"" he said. Two of the defendants, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi and Ramzi Binalshibh, have been precluded from immediately filing pleas as the judge has ordered mental competency hearings for them. He must also determine whether the defendants have come under any pressure to plead guilty from anyone, including each other. Mr Mohammed, believed to have been al-Qaeda's third-in-command, has already admitted being responsible ""from A to Z"" for the 9/11 attacks and confessed to being involved in more than 30 terrorist plots around the world, according to the Pentagon. At a previous hearing in June, when told he faced the death penalty, Mr Mohammed said he had been looking to ""be a martyr for long time"". His co-defendants, three of whom have also said they wish to become martyrs, are: Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni described by the US as the co-ordinator of the 9/11 attacks who, according to intelligence officials, was supposed to be have been one of the hijackers, but was unable to get a US visa Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, a Saudi man said by US intelligence officials to be one of two key financial people used by Mr Mohammed to arrange the funding for the 11 September hijackings Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, also known as Amar al-Balochi, who is accused of serving as a key lieutenant to Mr Mohammed, his uncle Walid Bin Attash, a Yemeni national who, according to the Pentagon, has admitted masterminding the bombing of the American destroyer USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, and is also accused of involvement in the 9/11 attacks For the first time, relatives of 9/11 victims were able to attend a hearing Appearing before the court on Monday with a long grey beard and dressed in white, Mr Mohammed also said he wanted to dispense with the services of his US military lawyer. He said the officer assigned to him had served six months in Iraq and that he could not accept someone responsible for ""killing our brothers and sisters in Iraq"". He later added in English: ""I'm not differentiating between the judge, [US President George W] Bush and the CIA, who tortured me. I am not trusting any Americans."" Following his capture in Pakistan in 2003, Mr Mohammed was held at a CIA secret prison, where he was subjected to harsh interrogation techniques and a practice known as ""waterboarding"", which simulates drowning, until he was moved to Guantanamo Bay two years ago. Clive Stafford Smith, of the legal rights charity, Reprieve, which represents several Guantanamo detainees, told the BBC the men were not fit to plead, accusing the US and its allies of using torture. Conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, terrorism and providing material support for terrorism If the men's requests to plead guilty are eventually granted by the military commission, they will be permitted to enter pleas at a future hearing. However, the process could take days as the charge sheet is 88 pages long. The charges, which include 2,973 individual counts of murder - one for each person killed on 9/11 - are the first directly related to the attacks to be brought against any Guantanamo Bay inmates. The BBC's Jonathan Beale, at Guantanamo Bay, says the trial process has proved highly controversial and with the election of Mr Obama, its future is uncertain. The president-elect has said he wants to close down the detention centre, where some 250 terrorism suspects are currently being held, but he is yet to set out what will happen instead."
" A Palestinian woman being held in detention in Israel, Hana Shalabi, is ending her 43-day hunger strike. The move is part of a deal which will see her exiled to the Gaza Strip. Ms Shalabi is reportedly a supporter of the militant group Islamic Jihad and was arrested by troops in the West Bank last month. She went on hunger strike to protest against being held without charge. Israel uses the measure against those it deems a security risk. Last week human rights group Amnesty International urged Israel to either prosecute Ms Shalabi or free her as she was ""at risk of death"". The organisation Physicians for Human Rights-Israel also warned she had lost 14kg (31lbs), was experiencing muscle wasting, aggravated weight loss and excruciating pain. Under the deal Ms Shalabi must remain in Gaza for three years, although her lawyer said he did not know when she will be moved due to the state of her health. The Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Minister, Issa Qaraqaa, told the AFP news agency. ""She had to accept because Israel put pressure on her. But we are totally opposed to all deportation measures."" Ms Shalabi was one of the Palestinian prisoners released from Israel's jails last year as part of a deal to free the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Human Rights groups have condemned Israel for holding around 300 Palestinian prisoners in jail under administrative detention orders, which allow people who are considered a security threat to be held indefinitely."
" A Palestinian man has been shot dead by Israeli security forces in the northern Gaza Strip after a day of protests to mark Land Day, Palestinian medics say. The 20 year old reportedly approached the border fence near Beit Hanoun. Activists earlier called for a ""Global March to Jerusalem"" on Land Day, which marks the 1976 killing of six Arabs protesting against land appropriation. Israeli troops also fired stun grenades and tear gas to disperse stone-throwing protesters near West Bank checkpoints. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were displaced from their homes during the Arab-Israeli wars in 1948 and 1967. Mahmoud Zakut was shot dead when dozens of youths walked towards the border fence with Israel on Friday afternoon in spite of attempts by Hamas police to stop them, witnesses told the AFP news agency. The ministry of health said another 37 people had been wounded by gunfire at Land Day demonstrations across the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army made no immediate comment, saying it was only aware of two people being injured by live fire - one near the Erez crossing, north of Beit Hanoun, and another near Khan Younis, in the south. At least 220 people were injured in clashes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Palestinian medics said. At least 14 of them were hit by rubber bullets, they added, including a senior official in the Fatah movement. Israeli troops used rubber bullets, as well as tear gas and stun grenades, to disperse stone-throwing protesters at several locations during the day, including the Qalandia checkpoint outside the city of Ramallah."
" Penn State University will be hit with fines in excess of $30 million as part of ""significant, unprecedented penalties"" expected to be announced Monday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, a source familiar with the case told CNN on Sunday. While the school's football program will not face the so-called ""death penalty"" that would have prevented the team from playing in the fall, the school might have preferred a one-year suspension because of the severity of the scholarship losses, postseason sanctions and other penalties, the source said. ""If I were Penn State or any other school and were given both options, I'd pick the death penalty,"" the source said, adding the range of sanctions ""is well beyond what has been done in the past"" and ""far worse than closing the program for a year."" The expected punishment is part of the continued fallout from the child sex abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted in late June of 45 of the 48 counts he faced involving 10 young victims. The news came the same day the statue of Penn State's iconic head football coach Joe Paterno was removed from outside the campus stadium. iReporter: This is an end of an era The NCAA's punishments follow an independent investigation led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, whose report held four top Penn State officials, including Paterno, responsible for failing to stop the abuse. Everything the NCAA ""needed to know was detailed in the Freeh report,"" according to the source. Monday in Indianapolis, the NCAA plans a press conference ""to announce NCAA corrective and punitive measures for the Pennsylvania State University,"" it said in a statement. The NCAA last imposed the so-called ""death penalty"" to a football team in 1987 against Southern Methodist University's program in the wake of a payments-to-athletes scandal."
" The delegates in Beijing have not solved the verification dispute The United States says that talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programme have reached stalemate. The US envoy to the talks, Christopher Hill, said the six nations involved had made no progress on how to verify North Korea's account of its atomic activity. Mr Hill was speaking after the third and last day in the current round of discussions in Beijing. However some reports suggested he could extend his stay in the Chinese capital to try to make some headway. The Chinese had earlier circulated a draft agreement to address the verification issue, but this reportedly failed to win the approval of all sides. In February 2007, North Korea agreed to disable its plutonium-producing reactor and disclose its nuclear activities in return for fuel aid. Discussions are focusing on how to verify North Korean disarmament But progress in implementing this deal has been plagued by delays, and the dispute over verification is the latest hold-up. In October, the US finally removed the North from a terrorism blacklist, and in return North Korea agreed to provide full access to its nuclear programme. The two sides now differ on the terms of verification that were agreed as part of the deal. North Korea insists it never said samples of atomic material could be taken away for examination, but the US asserts that the North did consent to the procedure. Mr Hill said on Wednesday that after a ""tough, long day"" of haggling over a way forward, the six parties involved did not achieve their goal. Significant progress in the talks would be a diplomatic victory for US President George W Bush before he leaves office in January. But many analysts say Pyongyang is unlikely to strike a deal before President-elect Barack Obama takes over the White House. The six-party process, begun in 2003, groups North and South Korea with China, Japan, Russia and the United States."
" Rebel fighters have launched a massive assault on the prison in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, reports say. The rebels apparently detonated two car bombs to blast through the walls of the prison, which holds 4,000 inmates including anti-government activists. The opposition said government forces had counter-attacked using tank shells and air raids. Meanwhile, rebels say claims that one of their commanders desecrated the body of a soldier will be investigated. In Aleppo, rebels appear to have detonated car bombs outside the walls of the prison on Wednesday morning, the UK-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Rebel sources told the BBC that they had broken into the prison, and had made progress in their fight against government forces. Clashes were reported throughout the day. The rebels have not stated what the purpose of the assault was, but the jail is reported to be holding some 250 inmates linked to the anti-government uprising. The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) has vowed to punish criminals after a video appeared online apparently showing one of its commander cutting out the heart of a soldier. ""Any act contrary to the values that the Syrian people have paid their blood and lost their homes to will not be tolerated, the abuser will be punished severely even if they are associated with the Free Syrian Army,"" the FSA said, according to AFP news agency."
" 1 of 13. Specialist Christopher Conner smiles with Specialist Dante Battle (R) as their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle approaches the Kuwaiti border with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division as part of the last U.S. military convoy to leave Iraq December 18, 2011. The last convoy of U.S. soldiers pulled out of Iraq on Sunday, ending nearly nine years of war that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives and left a country still grappling with political uncertainty. The war launched in March 2003 with missiles striking Baghdad to oust President Saddam Hussein closes with a fragile democracy still facing insurgents, sectarian tensions and the challenge of defining its place in an Arab region in turmoil. As U.S. soldiers pulled out, Iraq's delicate power-sharing deal for , Sunni and Kurdish factions was already under pressure. The Shi'ite-led government asked parliament to fire the Sunni deputy prime minister, and security sources said the Sunni vice president faced an arrest warrant. The final column of around 100 mostly U.S. military MRAP armoured vehicles carrying 500 U.S. troops trundled across the southern Iraq desert from their last base through the night and daybreak along an empty highway to the Kuwaiti border. Honking their horns, the last batch of around 25 American military trucks and tractor trailers carrying Bradley fighting vehicles crossed the border early on Sunday morning, their crews waving at fellow troops along the route. ""I just can't wait to call my wife and kids and let them know I am safe,"" Sgt. First Class Rodolfo Ruiz said as the border came into sight. Soon afterwards, he told his men the mission was over, ""Hey guys, you made it."" For U.S. President Barack Obama, the military pullout is the fulfilment of an election promise to bring troops home from a conflict inherited from his predecessor, the most unpopular war since Vietnam and one that tainted America's standing worldwide. For Iraqis, though, the U.S. departure brings a sense of sovereignty tempered by nagging fears their country may slide once again into the kind of sectarian violence that killed many thousands of people at its peak in 2006-2007. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government still struggles with a delicate power-sharing arrangement between Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni parties, leaving Iraq vulnerable to meddling by Sunni Arab nations and Shi'ite Iran. The extent of those divisions was clear on Sunday when Maliki asked parliament for a vote of no confidence against Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, and security sources and lawmakers said an arrest warrant had been issued for Tareq al-Hashemi, one of Iraq's two vice presidents."
" DAMASCUS, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League has threatened to take the Arab peace proposal on Syria to the United Nations Security Council which may further complicate the situation in Syria, a country that plunged in a 10-month crisis. The pan-Arab body gave the Syrian government two weeks to decide if it would accept the peace plan to end violence in Syria, otherwise the AL would refer the file to the United Nations. The Arab League ministerial committee convened Saturday in Doha, Qatar, and assessed the Syrian response to the Arab plan to send observers into the country to monitor an end to the crackdown on protesters. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem has earlier sent a letter to the Arab League chief, Nabil al-Arabi, saying Damascus agreed to receive the observers with some reservations, which Syria said were ""minor amendments."" Damascus said Arab sanctions on the country should be suspended ahead of signing the deal. Reports said that five Arab League ministers drafted a resolution asking the U.N. Security Council to end violence in Syria. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani who led the AL committee said ""If the Syrian crisis is not solved within two weeks, the matter would be beyond the control of Arab countries."" Russia, which has circulated a U.N. Security Council resolution that aimed at resolving the crisis in Syria, urged the Syrian government to immediately sign the deal. A Russian delegation is expected to visit Damascus to discuss the issue with Syrian officials. An Iraqi delegation held talks Saturday with President Bashar al-Assad and is expected to brief the Arab League the outcome of the meeting. Iraq tried to appease the unrest in Syria for fears that the violence might spill out over border to Iraq. On Nov. 27, the Arab League approved sanctions against the Damascus authorities for failing to meet an ultimatum on the observer mission."
" (CBS/AP) OMAHA, Neb. - Lottery ticket lines swelled as the record Mega Millions jackpot grew to $640 million, thanks greatly to players who opened their wallets despite long odds of success. Officials estimated ticket-buyers will have spent more than $1.46 billion on the jackpot by the time Friday night's numbers are drawn. A cafe worker in Arizona reported selling $2,600 worth of tickets to one buyer, while a retired soldier in Wisconsin doubled his regular weekly ticket spending to $55. But each would have to put down millions more to guarantee winning what could be the biggest single lotto payout in the world. ""I feel like a fool throwing that kind of money away,"" said Jesse Carter, who spent the $55 and donated the last two tickets he bought at a Milwaukee store Friday to a charity. ""But it's a chance you take in life, with anything you do."" Mega Millions: What to do if you win Long odds for winning Mega Millions jackpot When lottery pools go wrong The jackpot, if taken as a $462 million lump sum and after federal tax withholding, works out to about $347 million. With the jackpot odds at 1 in 176 million, it would cost $176 million to buy up every combination. Under that scenario, the strategy would win $171 million less if your state also withholds taxes. Laura Horsley, who does communications and marketing for a trade association, bought $20 worth of Quick Pick tickets at a downtown Washington, D.C., liquor store Friday. But Horsley, who said she won't buy a lottery ticket unless the jackpot tops $100 million, remained realistic. ""I don't actually think I'm going to win, and I don't believe in superstitions or numbers or anything like that,"" she said. ""I just figured it's right around the corner. I'd be crazy not at least to give it a shot."" Thousands of players -- who converged on convenience stores in 42 states and Washington, D.C., where Mega Millions tickets are sold -- agreed."
" Russia is headed for a recession, the country's deputy economy minister, Andrei Klepach, has said. Asked whether Russia would have a recession, he said:""It's started already. I'm afraid it will not be over in the next two quarters."" ""A major drop began in October and there will also be drops in November-December,"" he said, according to official reports. Recessions are normally declared after two quarters of negative growth. He also said that full-year economic growth for 2008 would be lower than the 6.8% previously forecast. Russia - reliant on metals and oil - has been hit by tumbling oil prices and falling demand for commodities Its economy grew by 8.1% in 2007, helped by soaring oil and metals prices. The price of oil hit a high of $147 a barrel earlier this year, but it is now languishing below $50. Russia's stock markets have plunged in recent months and the central bank has spent billions of dollars trying to support the rouble."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Four British Royal Marines have been killed in two separate explosions in southern Afghanistan, the MoD has said. A Royal Marine from 45 Commando was injured in an explosion in the Sangin area of Helmand province and died on the way to hospital at Camp Bastion. Two marines from 45 Commando and one from Commando Logistics Regiment died in a second blast south of Sangin. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, on a trip to Afghanistan, said the men died ""in the front line against terrorism"". Next of kin have been informed of the deaths, which take the total of British troops killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 132. The first of the latest fatalities happened while a marine was on patrol in a Jackal armoured vehicle. BBC defence correspondent Paul Adams said the Jackal was one of a number of new armoured vehicles intended to offer British forces better protection than the controversial Snatch Landrover. The other three died in an explosion during a routine operation against enemy forces in the area. The blast happened as an Afghan boy pushing a wheelbarrow approached a company of British marines. It is not clear whether the boy was a suicide bomber or the device was remotely detonated. Of those killed, one died instantly, a second died of wounds before they could be moved for hospital treatment and the third died after being taken to Camp Bastion. Three of the four dead were from 45 Commando, based in Arbroath and currently on a six-month deployment to Afghanistan. The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul said British troops were increasingly being targeted by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and that there were no signs of the Taleban-led insurgency abating. Military chiefs spoke of the Afghan conflict in terms of years or even decades, he added. Mr Brown described the four latest deaths in Afghanistan as ""a tragic loss"". I know that the whole country is immensely proud of all those who served in our armed forces   ""Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those brave men who died in the service of their country. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude. This is a tragic loss,"" he said. ""Fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan puts our armed forces in the front line against terrorism. I know that the whole country is immensely proud of all those who served in our armed forces and of what they do to protect each and every one of us."" Military spokeswoman Commander Paula Rowe said the deaths made for an ""incredibly sad day for Task Force Helmand"". ""The tragic deaths of these Royal Marines have come as a huge blow to us all,"" she said. ""Losing a loved one is one of the hardest things to go through. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to their families, friends and comrades at this terrible time."" Conservative leader David Cameron described the deaths were ""a terrible reminder of the bravery of our troops who are serving our country"". ""My thoughts go out to their families and friends at this tragic time,"" he added. A British soldier serving with 20 Armoured Brigade has also died at Basra airport in Iraq after shooting himself. The MoD said there was no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved. A week ago, Lance Corporal David Wilson died in similar circumstances at the same airbase."
" Editor's note: The day after this story was published, the jackpot estimate rose to $540 million. The jackpot in Friday's Mega Millions lottery drawing has risen to an estimated $500 million, the largest in the game's history, after Tuesday night's drawing produced no jackpot-winning ticket. The latest estimate, announced around midday Wednesday, is even larger than lottery officials had announced just hours earlier. The initial estimate for Friday's drawing was $476 million, which also would have been a Mega Millions record. Tuesday's numbers were 9, 19, 34, 44 and 51, with a Mega Ball of 24. That drawing was for an estimated $363 million jackpot, which would have been the game's third-largest. Forty-seven tickets earned a pre-tax prize of at least $250,000 each by matching five numbers without matching the Mega Ball. Nine California winners will get $308,573 each because of parimutuel rules in that state. The game's previous biggest jackpot was $390 million in a March 6, 2007, drawing. That jackpot was split by winners in Georgia and New Jersey. The growing jackpot has drawn plenty of interest from would-be millionaires. On Monday, lottery officials announced that ""stronger than expected sales"" prompted them to push up Tuesday's jackpot up from an initial estimate of $356 million to $363 million. ""I see so many different faces every day, and it's not just Tuesday and Friday that they come in. It's every day of the week,"" Latasha Allen, a manager at a Columbus, Georgia, convenience store, told CNN affiliate WTVM-TV this week about the growing number of lottery players in recent days. In Virginia, one of the 42 states where Mega Millions is played, lottery officials expect that about 5.8 million tickets will be sold on Friday alone, Virginia Lottery spokesman John Hagerty said. Two Fridays ago, on March 16, the state is believed to have sold about 1.3 million tickets for a jackpot that was, at the time, $200 million. ""Sales are very, very strong in Virginia. It looks like we're seeing a lot more people who don't normally play want to get in the game,"" Hagerty said Wednesday afternoon."
" Retailers have agreed to carry out ""more and tougher testing"" of beef products in the wake of widespread horsemeat contamination, the environment secretary says. Test results will be published every three months by the Food Standards Agency, Owen Paterson said. He said the presence of horsemeat was due to ""incompetence"" or an international criminal ""conspiracy"". And he added ""more bad news"" could come from test results due on Friday. Aldi and Findus withdrew products days ago, while Tesco, Iceland and Lidl acted last month. Mr Paterson met retailers, food producer groups and the Food Standards Agency on Saturday to ask how ""beef"" products containing up to 100% horsemeat were sold. He said he hoped for ""meaningful results"" on Friday from tests ordered on all processed beef products. And he said it was ""totally unacceptable"" that horsemeat had been found in ""beef"". ""There has either been gross incompetence in some of these cases or a criminal international conspiracy. ""We are completely determined, all of us, to get to the bottom of this."""
" Second generation Labor MP and new party leader Annastacia Palaszczuk has set herself two herculean tasks: rebuilding the battered Labor brand, and keeping the Liberal National Party in check. Ms Palaszczuk was endorsed yesterday to preside over the handful of MPs left standing after Labor's thumping, reduced to just seven seats in the 89-seat parliament. With so few colleagues, the responsibility of 20 or so portfolios and keeping the government to account will be like ""climbing Mount Everest"", she said. Ms Palaszczuk used her first speech as Opposition Leader to say her party was small but very spirited. Distancing herself from the Bligh government, despite having served as disability services and transport minister, she said Labor had broken the trust of voters by not being upfront about the asset sales that quickly followed the 2009 election. She apologised and said Labor would begin restoring faith. ""This is a fresh start,"" she said. She wants to lead a Labor party that listens to voters, whose voices had been drowned at times by the Bligh government. A small army of Labor workers would begin drumming up new support across the state to broaden its base and have some candidates in place by the end of the year. Ms Palaszczuk promised to return the party to its working class roots and Labor's core principles: education, workers' rights and the environment."
" Thai opposition head to be new PM Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Thailand's opposition leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva, has been confirmed as the country's new prime minister after winning a special vote in parliament. The speaker of the lower house, Chai Chidchob, said the Democrat Party leader had beaten former police chief Pracha Promnok by 235 votes to 198. Mr Abhisit will become Thailand's fifth leader in a little over two years. The previous prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, was forced to resign after a court ruling earlier this month. Born in Britain, educated at Eton and Oxford Entered parliament in 1992 as one of its youngest members Mountain to climb for new PM The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says Mr Abhisit will start his term in office confronting some formidable challenges. The 44-year-old British-born politician needs to restore battered economic confidence, cool the emotional political climate, and impose his authority on a cabinet drawn up as a result of days of bargaining with his coalition partners, our correspondent says. After the speaker of parliament had gone round and asked each of the 436 MPs to state the choice, he announced that Mr Abhisit had won and that the Democrats would be given their first chance to govern for eight years. ""Abhisit gained more than half of the vote, therefore I declare that Abhisit has been elected the new prime minister,"" Mr Chai said. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. However, correspondents say the new coalition may only last a few weeks, as by-elections will be held on 11 January to fill 29 seats held by Thaksin supporters barred from politics by the court ruling. There are also questions about the nature of the behind-the-scenes bargaining needed to persuade Thaksin loyalists to switch sides, with lucrative cabinet posts and, allegedly, large sums of cash being offered by both sides. Outside the parliament, about 200 supporters of the ousted government reacted furiously to what they called a ""silent coup"", hurling barricades at the gates and stopping MPs from leaving. Several cars had their windows broken. Some chanted ""Abhisit, army nominee"", Reuters news agency reported. The military is seen as being close to the Democrats. Most demonstrators dispersed peacefully but promised to gather again later in the day. Earlier this month, the Constitutional Court found Mr Somchai's governing People Power Party (PPP) guilty of fraud during the last election a year ago, and banned it and two other parties in the governing coalition. Mr Somchai and several other PPP leaders were also barred from politics for five years. However, lawmakers from the three parties who escaped the politics ban quickly formed a new party - Puea Thai (For Thailand) - or joined other parties. On Sunday, Mr Somchai's brother-in-law, exiled former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, accused the army of using the courts to undermine the government and warned them not to interfere in politics. The country was stricken by months of political deadlock as anti-government protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) mounted a campaign to topple the PPP. The PAD accused the PPP of being a proxy for Mr Thaksin, who was ousted in a coup in 2006. The protest culminated in a week-long occupation of Bangkok's main international airport which left 300,000 foreign tourists stranded. The PAD called off its action following the Constitutional Court ruling."
" BANGKOK (AFP) - Five soldiers were killed Sunday in a bomb attack by suspected insurgents in Thailand's violence-wracked deep south, police said. The bomb, which also wounded a sixth soldier, was detonated as the troops passed by in their patrol vehicle in a village in Yala, one of several Muslim-dominated provinces near the border with Malaysia. ""About 10 insurgents are believed to have hidden nearby and detonated the bomb, which was attached to another car,"" Police Major Torphan Phusuntiae told AFP by telephone. He said a man and a woman working in a rubber plantation were also wounded in the blast."
" The leadership of North Korea appeared to pass to a third generation of the Kim family Monday after the weekend death of Kim Jong Il, who ruled the reclusive Stalinist state since 1994. The man known as the ""dear leader"" died of a heart attack Saturday at age 69, state news outlets announced Monday. The ruling Worker's Party declared the youngest of his three sons, Kim Jong Un, the ""great successor"" to his father's mantle. Kim Jong Il had led North Korea since his father -- the nation's founder, Kim Il Sung -- died at age 82. During his 17 years in power, the country suffered a devastating famine even as it built up its million-strong army, expanded its arsenal of ballistic missiles and became the world's eighth declared nuclear power. News of his death spurred South Korea, which remains technically at war with the North more than five decades after their 1950-53 conflict, to put its military on high alert. But across one of the world's most heavily fortified borders, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak told his citizens ""to go about their lives"" in the meantime. ""For the sake of the future of the Republic of Korea, peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is more important than anything else. It should not be threatened by what has happened,"" he said. And Kim Young-mok, the South Korean consul in New York, told CNN's ""American Morning"" that Seoul's top priority is to avoid ""anything troublesome."" ""I don't think that North Korea can afford some provocation at this point, but we must make sure that everything is OK,"" he said. North Korea tested nuclear weapons in 2006 and 2009. Monday, it fired a short-range missile over the East Sea -- but Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN that U.S. officials have seen no sign of any movement of North Korean forces across the Demilitarized Zone that separates the North and South. North Korean officers had reported plans for its missile test to the commission that monitors the 1953 armistice, Dempsey said during a trip to Germany. He said no heightened alert has been issued for the nearly 30,000 American troops in South Korea, which has a mutual-defense pact with the United States. In Washington, the White House said it was monitoring developments and hoped to see the North ""take steps to assure the peace and prosperity of its people,"" as White House spokesman Jay Carney put it."
" SHARAN, Afghanistan, May 16 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up in Sarobi district of Paktika province, 155 km south of Kabul on Thursday. killing himself and a civilian and wounding six others, police said. ""A terrorist strapped explosive device in his body blew himself up next to a pro-government tribal elder named Shir Zaman in the bazaar of Sarobi district at around 09:30 a.m. local time today, killing a shopkeeper and injuring six others including Shir Zaman and two police,"" provincial police chief Daulat Khan Zadran told Xinhua. The attacker was also killed in the blast, he added. This is the second suicide attack in Afghanistan in a single day on Thursday. In the previous blast which happened in Afghan capital Kabul at 08:00 a.m. on Thursday, at least a dozen people were killed and injured."
" ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday returned to Pakistan from Dubai, where he had gone almost a fortnight ago to seek treatment for a heart condition, triggering rampant speculation that he might be on the verge of resigning.    Zardari, along with his daughter and personal staff, flew from Dubai to Karachi in a special aircraft that landed in a Pakistan Air Force base in the southern port city shortly after 1 AM (local time).    The President drove in a motorcade from the airbase to Bilawal House, his family's private residence.   A sizeable number of policemen and security personnel were deployed along the route from the airbase to Bilawal House. Police also blocked traffic at key intersections along the route.Manzoor Wasan, the home minister of Sindh province, told reporters that the President would stay at Bilawal House.However, Wasan said he had no details of Zardari's itinerary or how long he intended to stay in Karachi.The 56-year-old President's abrupt departure for Dubai on December 6 to seek treatment for what officials said was a heart condition triggered widespread speculation that he might quit due to pressure from the military establishment over a secret memo that had sought US help to help prevent a feared coup.Zardari was admitted to the American Hospital in Dubai, where he underwent a battery of tests.Doctors said the results of the tests were normal and advised Zardari to rest and recuperate."
"I have crossed to Turkey and defected from this tyrannical regime ... because of the repression and savage torture against a nation demanding the minimum of rights,"" Ikhlas al-Badawi told Sky News Arabia. Opposition sources Syrian troops and armor are amassing around the northern city of Aleppo, Syrian's main commercial and industrial hub, to crush armed resistance to Assad that has been gathering momentum following a military crackdown on street demonstrations against his rule. The authorities chose Badawi, a Sunni Muslim, to run for parliament on behalf of the ""laborers and peasants"" sector, a term for state backed labor and farmers unions who are guaranteed half the seats in the 250 seat assembly. Badawi, a mother of six, was also a member of the Baath Party, which took power in 1963 military coup that destroyed the country's democratic institutions in favor of a Soviet style political system dominated by Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Intensified ground and aerial bombardment on Syrian cities by Assad's forces in recent weeks has prompted diehard Baathists and Assad's loyalists to defect. They have been mostly Sunni Muslim, from the majority sect at the forefront of the 16-month uprising against Assad. Nawaf al-Fares, Syria's ambassador to Iraq and a former Baath Party chief in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor, fled to Qatar through Jordan two weeks ago. Fares, according to opposition sources, is a friend of Manaf Tlas, a brigadier general in the Republican Guards and a member of Assad's inner circle, who fled Syria earlier this month.
Battles for key cities of Aleppo, Damascus heat up in Syrian civil war	 Undeterred by a wave of casualties, Syrian rebels say they will not back down in their quest to seize Aleppo, the country's commercial hub and its second-largest city. After six days of fighting, the battle with government forces raged again Thursday as helicopter gunships flew over the city, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. At least one rebel fighter was killed, the group said. ""They don't seem to have the kind of weapons necessary,"" New Yorker reporter Jon Lee Anderson told CNNI's ""Amanpour"" from Aleppo about the rebels who, he said, believe the battle to be a decisive one. ""If Bashar al-Assad can't dislodge them from Aleppo, then it's over for him. So they have to fight to the death."" A rebel commander north of Aleppo told CNN he was sending 300 more fighters to bolster forces in Aleppo. The commander said the rebels were on the offensive in Aleppo, where 18 of 22 rebel brigades were located. In preparation for a fresh onslaught expected after Friday prayers, rebels were setting up medical clinics in apartments and homes throughout the city, he said. The seat of al-Assad's power also saw renewed violence Thursday as explosions rocked Damascus, another opposition group said. Read more: Does U.S. have plan for post-Assad Syria? Regime forces battled rebels in several Damascus neighborhoods, and the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk came under ""fierce helicopter shelling with machine guns,"" the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. The LCC reported dozens of dead and wounded in shelling by regime forces in the capital city's suburb of Yalda, and in bomb attacks in the Mashtal district of Damascus.
United Nations Authorizes Military Raids on Somali Pirates	 UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 16 -- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize nations to conduct military raids, on land and by air, against pirates plying the waters off the Somalia coast even as two more ships were reportedly hijacked at sea. The vote represented a major escalation by the world's big powers in the fight against the pirates, who have disrupted commerce along one of the world's most active sea routes and acquired tens of millions of dollars in ransom. It came as China -- which has had several ships commandeered in recent months -- said it is seriously considering joining U.S., European and Russian warships policing the region. The U.S.-drafted resolution authorizes nations to ""use all necessary measures that are appropriate in Somalia"" in pursuit of pirates, as long as they are approved by the country's transitional federal government. The resolution also urges states to deploy naval vessels and military aircraft to carry out the operations, and it calls for the creation of a regional office to coordinate the international effort. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who personally pushed for the resolution's passage, said the vote sends ""a strong signal of commitment to combat the scourge of piracy. Piracy currently pays. But worse, pirates pay few costs for their criminality; their dens in Somalia provide refuge from the naval ships in the Gulf of Aden."" Rice said the United States would help establish a contact group of governments to share intelligence and to coordinate naval and military operations in the region. She also called on the shipping industry to strengthen the defenses of commercial vessels and urged countries victimized by piracy to detain captured pirates and prosecute them in their own courts. An unwillingness to apprehend and prosecute pirates captured on the high seas has hindered the global response to the threat, Rice said. More than 60 ships have been seized by pirates this year, including two on Tuesday -- a Turkish cargo ship and an Indonesian tugboat under contract with the French oil firm Total. Rice's diplomatic achievement in the council was tempered by the unraveling political and security situation in Somalia, which could jeopardize the international effort. Somalia's government has been hobbled by a power struggle between its president and prime minister. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that Somalia may descend into ""chaos"" by the end of the month, when an Ethiopian occupation force leaves the country. He said his efforts to muster an international force strong enough to stabilize the situation have been unsuccessful. Ban rejected Rice's proposal for a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Somalia, suggesting that conditions there were not secure enough. Instead, he asked the Security Council to increase funding for a financially strapped African Union force that has struggled to secure strategic sea and air ports.	
Piers Morgan tells Leveson: Daily Mirror did not hack phones	 Former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan has told the Leveson Inquiry he was not aware of any phone hacking taking place at the paper while he was in charge. Speaking via video link, he told the media ethics hearing: ""I have no reason... to believe it was going on."" Mr Morgan admitted hearing a recording of a message from the phone of Sir Paul McCartney's former wife but would not say who had played it to him. He said he was not ""directly involved"" in the use of private investigators. Mr Morgan was the Mirror's editor between 1995 and 2004. He also edited the News of the World (NoW) between January 1994 and November 1995. He denied suggestions that phone hacking was ""endemic"" at the Mirror. ""Not a single person has made a formal or legal complaint against the Daily Mirror for phone hacking,"" he told the inquiry. Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, asked Mr Morgan about the recording of a voicemail message left by former Beatle Sir Paul for his then-wife Heather Mills, when the couple were suffering marriage problems. Addressing the London hearing from the US, where he is a TV presenter for CNN, Mr Morgan said he had listened to a tape of Ms Mills' message but said: ""I can't discuss where that tape was played or who made- it would compromise a source."" Inquiry chairman Lord Justice Leveson said he was happy to call Ms Mills to see whether she had granted permission for the message to be listened to.
French economy returns to recession	 France has entered its second recession in four years after the economy shrank by 0.2% in the first quarter of the year, official figures show. Its economy shrank by the same amount in the last quarter of 2012. President Francois Hollande has said he expects zero growth in 2013, lower than a 0.1% growth forecast by the French government. Separate figures showed that the recession across the 17-nation eurozone has continued into a sixth quarter. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The economy of the 17-nation bloc shrank by 0.2% in the January to March period, according to the EU's statistics office Eurostat, with nine of its members now in recession. Germany's economy, generally considered to be the eurozone's strongest, grew by just 0.1% in the quarter. The European Central Bank cut interest rates at its last meeting to a record low of 0.5% in an attempt to stimulate growth. France has record unemployment, and low business and consumer confidence. News of the latest recession in France, which is Europe's second-largest economy, comes on the first anniversary of Francois Hollande being sworn in as president.
Penn State Nittany Lions hit with $60 million fine, 4-year bowl ban, wins dating to 1998	 The NCAA has hit Penn State with a $60 million sanction, a four-year football postseason ban and a vacation of all wins dating to 1998, the organization said Monday morning. The career record of Joe Paterno will reflect these vacated records, the NCAA said. Penn State also must reduce 10 initial and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period. The NCAA revealed the sanctions as NCAA president Mark Emmert and Ed Ray, the chairman of the NCAA Executive Committee and Oregon State's president, spoke at a news conference in Indianapolis at the organization's headquarters. ""In the Penn State case, the results were perverse and unconscionable. No price the NCAA can levy will repair the grievous damage inflicted by Jerry Sandusky on his victims,"" Emmert said, referring to the former Penn State defensive coordinator convicted of 45 counts of child sex abuse last month. The NCAA said the $60 million was equivalent to the average annual revenue of the football program. The NCAA ordered Penn State to pay the penalty funds into an endowment for ""external programs preventing child sexual abuse or assisting victims and may not be used to fund such programs at the university."" ""We had our backs to the wall on this,"" Penn State president Rodney Erickson told the Centre Daily Times of Pennsylvania in an interview later Monday, saying the school accepted the penalties to avoid the so-called ""death penalty"" that could have resulted in the suspension of the football program for at least one year. ""We did what we thought was necessary to save the program."" In response to Erickson's comments, Ray, speaking to ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg, said the NCAA did not threaten Penn State with the death penalty, and that the sanctions issued were unanimously agreed upon by the NCAA Executive Committee. ""It was a unanimous act,"" Ray said earlier during the news conference. ""We needed to act."" In interview with ESPN's John Barr, Erickson reiterated his fear of the death penalty, not handed down since SMU was forced to drop football in 1987 because of extra benefits violations. The school decided not to play the next season, either, as it tried to regroup. ""The alternative was really far worse,"" Erickson said in the interview with ESPN. ""The [death sentence] was a possibility. Various numbers were tossed around, four being the highest. The [death sentence] is traumatic for everyone. It's traumatic for the student-athletes involved. It's traumatic for the university. It's traumatic for the university, particularly smaller ones, kind of like we are here in central Pennsylvania."
" With governments trapped in austerity, banks refusing to lend and leaders resorting to urgent bids to unlock tax hidden in offshore bank vaults, the eurozone is now firmly entrenched as the global economy's ""weakest link,"" according to Dutch-based ING analysts. One week from another tense summit of EU leaders, official figures showed a 0.2 per cent contraction between January and March, in the longest recession since the single currency bloc was established in 1999. On a year-by-year comparison, data agency Eurostat said this translated into a 1.0 per cent drop in output across the 17 states that share the euro - which are home to 340 million people. While core economy Germany clambered out of negative territory with 0.1-per cent growth after a 0.7-per cent slide at the end of 2012, France sank into recession with a 0.2-per cent reduction and both Italy and Spain posted 0.5-per cent drops, the figures showed. ""We doubt that the region is about to embark on a sustained recovery any time soon,"" said Ben May of London-based Capital Economics, citing disappointing survey results in recent weeks. The latest official European Commission forecast for 2013 published earlier this month tipped a 0.4-per cent contraction, but the analyst said that was way off course with ""something closer to a two-per cent decline"" likely. His firm's pessimism was backed by Howard Archer of fellow London-based specialist analysts, IHS Global Insight. ""We expect the eurozone to suffer gross domestic product (GDP) contraction of 0.7 per cent in 2013 with very gradual recovery only starting in the latter months of the year,"" said Archer. ""Today's GDP figures once again show that the eurozone remains the weakest link in the world economy,"" said the ING analyst, Peter Vanden Houte, though ""a subdued recovery in the second half of the year is still possible."" But for that to happen, it would be ""imperative that eurozone leaders maintain the momentum in the strengthening of the monetary union, with the banking union as a first important hurdle to be taken."""
" The Bank of England has upgraded its economic growth forecast and said that inflation should fall faster than previously predicted. In his last inflation report as the Bank's governor, Sir Mervyn King said inflation should drop to its target of 2% within two years. Sir Mervyn said that ""a recovery is in sight"". Separate figures showed UK unemployment rose by 15,000 in the first three months of the year to 2.52 million. However, the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell by 7,300 last month to 1.52 million, the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. Presenting the inflation report, Sir Mervyn said: ""Today's projections are for growth to be a little stronger and inflation a little weaker than we expected three months ago. Continue reading the main story It's good to see the Bank of England governor raising the growth forecast - for once - and talking about a modest recovery. But he and everyone else had hoped to see this kind of growth several years ago. Even the new Bank forecasts don't show Britain's national output getting back to where it was before the crisis until the end of 2014 - and that's if we don't have a lot more bad news from across the Channel. The Bank also expects inflation to be above the 2% target for at least another two years, at a time when earnings are growing at their slowest rate in more than a decade. So household incomes will continue to be squeezed, even if the Bank's right that economy is now on the road to recovery. ""That's the first time I've been able to say that since before the financial crisis. The rate of inflation is now forecast to drop to its target of 2% within two years, whereas in February the Bank said inflation would fall to 2.3% in the same period. Economic growth this year is now expected to be greater than 1%, up from the Bank's previous estimate of 0.9%."
" Rebels have attacked Mali's strategic northern city of Gao, a day after they took the provincial capital of Kidal, witnesses and an official said. The move deepens the crisis in the landlocked nation at the feet of the Sahara in western Africa after a coup earlier this month. The two towns are major prizes for the Tuareg rebels, who launched an insurgency in January that was fuelled by the flow of arms from the fall of neighbouring Libya, where many of the rebels had been on the payroll of ex-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Gao is around 1,200km from the capital of Bamako, where junior officers overthrew the elected government and claimed power 10 days ago. If Gao falls, the only other major city in Mali's north in government hands is Timbuktu. On Saturday, Baba Bore, a radio programmer at the local Radio Alfarouk station in the ancient city, said gunshots were heard earlier in the day. The families of military members stationed at the city's two camps had evacuated, expecting to be attacked. Shops had closed and checkpoints had been erected on all sides of nearby Timbuktu. In Gao, a journalist at Radio Aadar said the attack began early Saturday. ""There has been heavy fighting all morning and it's still going on now,"" Ibrahima Ly said at midday. ""We can hear heavy arms fire and machine guns."" Most of the fighting is just outside town. There is some fighting near the military camp to the east of town. There has been some fighting in the town itself too but that has been quite light. Everyone is scared and locked up at home."" A government source in Niger who is talking to both sides of the conflict also confirmed the attack. He asked for anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the press. The force is expected to meet more resistance in Gao, where the majority of troops are from the Bambara tribe. In Kidal, the majority of troops were Tuareg. Mali's junta promised on Saturday to quickly come up with new proposals aimed at handing power back to civilians after last week's widely condemned coup.  ""We do not want to confiscate power,"" Colonel Moussa Sinko Coulibaly, a senior member of the group that staged the coup, told a news conference in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, after talks with Burkina President Blaise Compaore, the main mediator in the crisis. "
" Eight people, including Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, will face a total of 19 charges relating to phone hacking, the Crown Prosecution Service has said. The two ex-News of the World editors are to be charged in connection with the accessing of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone messages. They are among seven of the now-defunct paper's former staff facing charges of conspiring to intercept voicemails. The CPS said the charges related to 600 alleged victims between 2000 and 2006. The others facing charges are former News of the World (NoW) managing editor Stuart Kuttner, former news editor Greg Miskiw, former assistant editor Ian Edmondson, former chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, former assistant editor James Weatherup and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. The eight, who will be charged when they answer police bail, are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 16 August. The revelation that 13-year-old Milly's phone had been hacked by the NoW after she went missing in Surrey in 2002 led to the closure of the Sunday tabloid newspaper in July last year. Mrs Brooks, who is also a former chief executive of the paper's publisher News International, faces three charges relating to the alleged accessing of phones belonging to Milly and former Fire Brigades Union boss Andrew Gilchrist. In a statement, Mrs Brooks said: ""I am not guilty of these charges. I did not authorise, nor was I aware of, phone hacking under my editorship."" She added that the charge concerning Milly was ""particularly upsetting, not only as it is untrue but also because I have spent my journalistic career campaigning for victims of crime""."
" A car bomb explosion near a hospital in the Libyan city of Benghazi has killed several people, officials say. The death toll is unclear. Local officials initially said nine people had been killed. A hospital spokesman later said three bodies had been found. The blast follows a string of bombings in the eastern city in recent days. Security remains precarious in Libya since the uprising against long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, with protests by militias and attacks by Islamists. Continue reading the main story A sombre-looking prime minister addressed the nation with several members of congress standing around him. Ali Zidan offered his condolences and spoke of the authorities' inability to take the strict measures needed to prevent this kind of attack. But he acknowledged it was their duty to do so. The bombings raise many questions, but one thing is clear - the nature of these attacks has changed. According to observers in Benghazi, the initial attacks on government institutions were part of a power struggle with local extremist groups. People are increasingly asking who backs these groups. Accusations in recent days have focused on the Muslim Brotherhood and the state of Qatar - denied by both. Monday's attack has left a bitter sentiment among the people of Benghazi. They are angry and on the streets. The transitional authorities cannot dampen their fury by promising protection that they cannot provide in the birthplace of the Libyan uprising. The head of Jalaa hospital told AFP news agency that the hospital had received three bodies, as well as body parts that could belong to other victims. He also said another nine people had been wounded, three of them critically. The explosives were placed in a grey Toyota near the hospital, officials and eyewitnesses say. Libyan Deputy Interior Minister Abdullah Massoud was quoted as saying that the bomb had ""totally destroyed a restaurant and seriously damaged nearby buildings"". So far no group has said it carried out Monday's attack in Benghazi, which is regarded as the cradle of the revolution that ousted Gaddafi in 2011."
" Julhas Alam And Farid Hossain, The Associated Press    SAVAR, Bangladesh -- Several of the biggest Western retailers embraced a plan that would require them to pay for factory improvements in Bangladesh as the three-week search for victims of the worst garment-industry disaster in history ended Monday with the death toll at a staggering 1,127. Bangladesh's government also agreed to allow garment workers to form unions without permission from factory owners. That decision came a day after it announced a plan to raise the minimum wage in the industry. The collapse of the eight-story Rana Plaza factory building April 24 focused worldwide attention on hazardous conditions in Bangladesh's garment industry, where workers sew low-cost clothing that ends up on store shelves around the globe, including the U.S. and Western Europe. The tragedy came months after a fire at another garment factory in Bangladesh killed 112 workers. Swedish retailing giant H&M, the biggest purchaser of garments from Bangladesh; British companies Primark and Tesco; C&A of the Netherlands; and Spain's Inditex, owner of the Zara chain, said they would sign a contract that requires them to conduct independent safety inspections of factories and cover the costs of repairs. The pact also calls for them to pay up to $500,000 a year toward the effort and to stop doing business with any factory that refuses to make safety improvements. Two other companies agreed to sign last year: PVH, which makes clothes under the Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Izod labels, and German retailer Tchibo. Among the big holdouts are Wal-Mart Stores, which is the second-largest producer of clothing in Bangladesh behind H&M, and Gap. Gap, which had been close to signing the agreement last year, said Monday that the pact is ""within reach,"" but the company is concerned about the possible legal liability involved."
" North Korea's nuclear programme has been a source of great concern for the international community for more than 20 years. The state is now believed to have conducted three underground nuclear tests. It says that the latest, widely-anticipated third test involved a ""miniaturised"" nuclear device. Previous tests were in 2006 and 2009, and all of them appear to have originated at a test site called Punggye-ri, also known as P'unggye-yok, in a remote area in the east of the country, near the town of Kilju. Multiple rounds of international negotiations amid a strict sanctions regime - a process, which has been described as a game of cat and mouse - appear to have done little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. North Korea's previous tests followed rocket launches. The latest rocket was successfully launched last December. Years of posturing and wrangles over the delivery of American aid culminated in October 2006 with an announcement by Pyongyang that it had carried out an underground nuclear explosion. North Korea's first nuclear test exploded a device based on plutonium, rather than enriched uranium. The test was conducted at P'unggye-yok, and US intelligence officials later announced that analysis of radioactive debris in air samples collected a few days after the test confirmed that the blast had taken place. But they estimated that it had not been a powerful one, measuring less than one kiloton, raising questions about the sophistication and effectiveness of the weapon."
" 1 of 15. Japan Meteorological Agency's earthquake and tsunami observations division director Akira Nagai points to a spot on the map showing the quake centre during a news conference in Tokyo February 12, 2013. Seismic activities detected at around 0300 GMT in North Korea may be the result of a nuclear test, Japan's top government spokesman said on Tuesday. Pyongyang said the test was an act of self-defense against ""U.S. hostility"" and threatened stronger steps if necessary. The test puts pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama on the day of his State of the Union speech and also puts China in a tight spot, since it comes in defiance of Beijing's admonishments to North Korea to avoid escalating tensions. The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting at which its members, including China, ""strongly condemned"" the test and vowed to start work on appropriate measures in response, the president of the council said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the third of his line to rule the country, has presided over two long-range rocket launches and a nuclear test during his first year in power, pursuing policies that have propelled his impoverished and malnourished country closer to becoming a nuclear weapons power. North Korea said the test had ""greater explosive force"" than those it conducted in 2006 and 2009. Its KCNA news agency said it had used a ""miniaturized"" and lighter nuclear device, indicating it had again used plutonium, which is suitable for use as a missile warhead. China, which has shown signs of increasing exasperation with the recent bellicose tone of its reclusive neighbor, summoned the North Korean ambassador in Beijing and protested sternly, the Foreign Ministry said. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said China was ""strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed"" to the test and urged North Korea to ""stop any rhetoric or acts that could worsen situations and return to the right course of dialogue and consultation as soon as possible"". Analysts said the test was a major embarrassment to China, which is a permanent member of the Security Council and North Korea's sole major economic and diplomatic ally. ""The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community. The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies,"" Obama said."
" North Korea's nuclear test prompted united condemnation and a vow of tough action from the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. The council issued a statement slamming the underground nuclear test that jolted the already fragile security situation in Northeast Asia. South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, repeating a statement to reporters outside council chambers, said the test violated council resolutions, and ""there continues to exist a clear threat to international peace and security."" Kim said council members will start work ""on appropriate measures in a Security Council resolution"" and that ""North Korea will be held responsible for any consequences of this provocative act."" The council is chaired this month by South Korea. The Security Council last month promised ""significant action"" if another North Korean nuclear test occurred. The test probably took place near P'unggye and yielded ""several kilotons,"" according to assessments cited by the U.S. director of national intelligence. It drew condemnation from around the globe and prompted the emergency Security Council session Tuesday morning. It is the first nuclear test carried out under the North's young leader, Kim Jong Un, who appears to be sticking closely to his father's policy of building up the isolated state's military deterrent to keep its foes at bay, shrugging off the resulting international condemnation and sanctions. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said North Korea told the department ""through our usual channel"" of its ""intention to conduct a nuclear test without citing any specific timing prior to the event."" After Kim Sung-hwan spoke, Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters outside the council chambers that the panel met to discuss what she called a ""provocative test"" and an action that council members regard as ""regrettable."" The test violates North Korea's obligations under several unanimous council resolutions, she said."
" 1 of 2. Bayern Munich's coach Jupp Heynckes waves next to former player Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Chief Executive Officer of Bayern Munich, before the German first division Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and Augsburg in Munich, May 11, 2013. In front of German football bosses, 22 former Bayern greats and Bavarian political royalty, the champions left it late, scoring three goals in the second half through Thomas Mueller, Xherdan Shaqiri and Luiz Gustavo. It was a 28th win in 33 league games - with one league match left - for sensational Bayern, who weeks ago secured their 23rd German league title and 22nd since the introduction of the Bundesliga half a century ago. They have broken a string of records, including most points, most away wins and best start, en route to their first silverware of any kind since 2010. With Bayern chasing an unprecedented treble for a German club with the Champions League and German Cup still in their sights, coach Jupp Heynckes, in his last home game for the Bavarians, still found some time to praise his team. ""This season is one for the record books,"" said a beaming Heynckes, who will make way for former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola next season. ""I hope the 88 points we have amassed will stand as a record for ever."" ""Our season is far from over. We still want to achieve something great and when we have achieved something great then we will celebrate in a big way."" Augsburg's Alexander Manninger made two brilliant first- half saves to deny Mueller and Mario Mandzukic from point-blank range and the battling visitors even hit the bar early in the second half. But he was well beaten when Dante floated a long cross into the box and Mueller rose high at the far post to head in. Franck Ribery took on four Augsburg players and threaded the ball to Shaqiri, who turned and scored in the 81st before Brazilian Gustavo completed the win with a low drive three minutes from time."
" Barcelona clinched their fourth Spanish league title in five years after defending champions Real Madrid failed to defeat Espanyol on Saturday. Real needed to win to keep their slim La Liga hopes alive but Jose Mourinho's team could only manage a 1-1 draw. Christian Stuani's 23rd-minute strike put Espanyol in front before Gonzalo Higuain equalised with a glancing header after the break. Barcelona are now seven points clear of Real, who have two games left to play. Barca, who have four games left, are next in action on Sunday, when they play Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital. Real had won their previous six fixtures ahead of Saturday's match but, with his team taking on Madrid rivals Atletico in next Friday's Copa Del Rey final, coach Mourinho opted to leave out several key players. Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso, who came on as a first-half substitute for the injured Raphael Varane, were both named on the bench. It perhaps explained the disjointed nature of Real's performance and they were lucky not to fall two goals behind when Hector Moreno had a header disallowed for a push on Alonso. However, Higuain equalised after 58 minutes, shortly after the introduction of Portugal forward Ronaldo. Espanyol were reduced to 10 men in injury-time after Victor Sanchez picked up his second booking for a tackle on Higuain but Ronaldo missed with the subsequent free-kick."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The UN's World Health Organization has raised the alert over swine flu to level five - indicating human-to-human transmission in at least two countries. It is a ""strong signal that a pandemic is imminent"", the WHO says. In Mexico, at the epicentre of the outbreak, people have been urged to stay at home over the next five days. There are numerous cases elsewhere - the highest number outside Mexico is the US - and Europeans have been told it is certain there will be deaths. Phase 1: No infections in humans are being caused by viruses circulating in animals. Phase 2: Animal flu virus causes infection in humans, and is a potential pandemic threat. Phase 3: Flu causes sporadic cases in people, but no significant human-to-human transmission. Phase 5: Human-to-human transmission in at least two countries. Strong signal pandemic imminent. Phase 6: Virus spreads to another country in a different region. Global pandemic under way. Post-peak: Pandemic activity appears to be decreasing though second wave possible. Post-pandemic: activity returns to normal, seasonal flu levels. Several countries have restricted travel to Mexico and many tour operators have cancelled holidays. Other countries are resisting calls to implement travel bans or close borders, on the grounds - backed by the WHO - that there is little evidence of their efficacy. The Netherlands confirms its first case of swine flu, in a three-year-old boy recently returned from Mexico. Cases have also been confirmed in Switzerland, Costa Rica and Peru European health ministers were set to meet for emergency talks to co-ordinate national efforts to contain the spread of the virus Ghana has become the latest country to ban pork imports as a precaution against swine flu, though no cases have been found in the West African country China's health minister says that the country's scientists have developed a ""sensitive and fast"" test for spotting swine flu in conjunction with US scientists and the WHO. The country has recorded no incidence of the flu yet. Announcing the latest alert level after an emergency WHO meeting in Geneva, Director General Margaret Chan urged all countries to activate their pandemic plans, including heightened surveillance and infection-control measures. US: one death, at least 91 confirmed cases She said action should be undertaken with ""increased urgency"". She added: ""It really is the whole of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic."" But she also said the world was ""better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time in history"". Ms Chan stressed on Wednesday that there was no danger from eating properly cooked pork. She advised hygiene measures such as hand-washing to prevent infection and said it was important ""to maintain a level of calm"". Meanwhile in Mexico, President Felipe Calderon has announced the partial suspension of non-essential work and services from 1 to 5 May - a holiday period there. In a TV address, he urged people to stay in with their families - saying there was ""no place as safe as your own home"". He said he was ""proud"" of the response of Mexicans to the crisis, and assured people Mexico was well-stocked with anti-viral medicines. Already, schools across Mexico have closed, public gatherings are restricted and archaeological sites have been placed off-limits.   Since the swine flu outbreak began here, the government has faced the dilemma of wanting to prevent people spreading the disease - without paralysing the economy. With this latest directive it appears to have struck a compromise. All ""non-essential"" areas of the economy are to be shut down, for five days from 1 to 5 May. The government has not been specific about what it means by non essential - but it does say medical, food, transportation and financial sectors will function as normal.  Mexico is already being hit hard by the global economic slowdown, and the country's finance minister says swine flu could cut a further half-percent of GDP. The search for the source of the outbreak continues, with the focus on the vicinity of a pig farm in the eastern part of the country. The Mexican government is urging against jumping to conclusions and is suggesting the possibility remains that the virus originated outside the country. Officials have put the number of suspected deaths from swine flu in Mexico at 168, although just eight deaths have been confirmed, with 26 infections positively tested. In Europe, the director-general of health and consumer protection, Robert Madelin, said the continent was well prepared but nonetheless deaths from the disease were expected. ""It is not a question of whether people will die, but more a question of how many. Will it be hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands?"", he said, speaking to Reuters news agency. At the meeting of health ministers on Thursday, a French proposal of issuing a continent-wide travel advisory for Mexico will be discussed - though it is unclear whether it is in the power of the EU executive to impose such a ban. Swine flu symptoms are similar to those produced by ordinary seasonal flu - fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, chills and fatigue If you have flu symptoms and recently visited affected areas of Mexico, you should seek medical advice If you suspect you are infected, you should stay at home and take advice by telephone initially, in order to minimise the risk of infection Spain has seen the first case of a person contracting swine flu without having travelled there. After Mexico, the US has recorded the next highest number of confirmed cases, with 91 - and the first death of swine flu outside Mexico, after a visiting Mexican child died in Texas. President Barack Obama has urged local public-health bodies to be vigilant and said schools with confirmed cases ""should consider closing"". About 100 have so far done so. There are no current plans to close the border with Mexico, Mr Obama said on Wednesday evening."
" Nigeria captured its long-awaited third African Nations Cup title with a dominant 1-0 performance over Burkina Faso in Johannesburg. Sunday Mba fired the Super Eagles ahead with a superb volley five minutes before the break after a period of pressure saw Burkina Faso, competing in its first final, succumb to Stephen Keshi's side. Nigeria's win means Keshi becomes only the second man to win the cup as coach and player, following in the footsteps of Egyptian Mahmoud Al Gohari. Keshi captained the Super Eagles when they won in 1994. Nigeria also won the title in 1980. ""Winning this tournament is mainly for my nation,"" Keshi said after Sunday's game. ""When I came on board a year-and-a-half ago, my dream is to make all Nigerians happy."" With its victory before a crowd of about 87,000 at Soccer City, 52nd-ranked Nigeria advanced to a first-round group with Spain, Uruguay and Tahiti at June's FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil. ""Everybody came through with a great match and that's what we needed,"" Nigeria captain Joseph Yobo said. ""Everyone gave something extra and it made the difference."" Wilfried Sanou came close to equalizing for the Stallions midway through the second half but his brief flash of brilliance was extinguished by a top-drawer save by Vincent Enyeama. It was Nigeria's first final since 2000 but it was hot favorites ahead of the match against the minnows from west Africa due to its 12-game unbeaten record. The Super Eagles set their stall out early, with wave after wave of attack which pegged Burkina Faso back into their own half for the majority of the first 45 minutes. Efe Ambrose had the first chance of the match when he headed over the bar from Victor Moses' free kick in the seventh minute before Burkina Faso goalkeeper Daouda Diakite almost made a disastrous mistake moments later."
" Good afternoon. Fans of both sides have managed to make it down to London from the north, either by using the method of travel travel or automobile propulsion, and so it's time, ladies and gentlemen, to put your hands together for the 132nd FA Cup final. Sorry, the 132nd FA Cup final with Budweiser. At 5.15pm. Mustn't upset the sponsors or anyone from the football family or the makers of Britain's Got Talent. Even so, it's the FA Cup final - the FA Cup final!!! - and they're not going to ruin our fun, not this afternoon. After all, and this bears repeating, it's the FA Cup final! In no particular order that means Abide With Me, Keith Houchen, John Aldridge v Dave Beasant, Lawrie Sanchez, Norman Whiteside, Kevin Moran, Bert Trautmann, Alan Sunderland, a White Horse, Stanley Matthews, Ian Rush, Ricky Villa, Jim Montgomery, Alan Taylor, Eric Cantona, David Elleray, Ray Parlour, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Roberto di Matteo, Roberto di Matteo again, Didier Drogba, Didier Drogba again, Didier Drogba again, Didier Drogba again (didn't he ever get bored?) and now Manchester City and Wigan Athletic. There, now you're in the mood. Actually you should have been in the mood since roughly 8am. ESPN have been on air since then and haven't stopped jabbering away for the last eight hours. Seriously. It all began with Football Weekly stars James Richardson and Kevin Kilbane having a breakfast-off, setting a new high in the history of sport on TV. Anyway this promises to be a doozy of a match. This is Wigan's - Wigan!!! - first ever FA Cup final and at the very least they're aiming to make sure it doesn't go the same way as their previous appearance in a major final, when they were beaten 4-0 by Manchester United in the League Cup in 2006. But that was in Cardiff. This is Wembley and they've already got experience of winning at Wembley, having beaten Millwall in their semi-final last month. This is going to be rather more difficult though. Not only do they still have a relegation battle to think about, to seal their place in history, they're going to have to beat Manchester City, who saw off Chelsea to get here. It's only Yaya Toure, David Silva, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero standing in the way of a Wigan side potentially missing a number of their key players. But still, what a journey it's been since they made their league debut 35 years ago. It's going to be a tall order against this City side though. Although Wigan were unfortunate to lose against them in the league last month, going down to a moment of magic from Carlos Tevez, overall their record against City is miserable. Wigan have lost their last seven matches against City, failing to score a single goal, and haven't beaten them since a 2-1 victory in September 2008. Antonio Valencia and Amr Zaki got their goals that day. Vincent Kompany scored for City. In typical City fashion, though, this hasn't been the perfect build-up. Last night there were reports that they're close to parting company with Roberto Mancini in order to appoint the Malaga manager, Manuel Pellegrini, which hasn't given off the impression that all is well at City. It doesn't matter that Mancini is on the verge of winning his second FA Cup in three years, or that he won the title last season, he's on his way out. It's going to be interesting watching him this afternoon. But not as interesting as watching Wigan. Wigan! Wigan! WIGAN! WIGAN! THE FA CUP FINAL! Kick-off: 5.15pm, the optimal time for all classic football matches. Just another 75 minutes to go!"
" The Germans, who have qualified for every Olympic ice hockey tournament apart from bans in 1920, 1924 and 1948 due to the two world wars, won 3-2 in overtime against Austria but they needed a regular time victory to go through. After Slovenia secured their first Olympics slot on Friday, Latvia became the last team to qualify for Sochi after winning Group E on home ice in Riga. For Austria it will be their first participation since the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. ""What we accomplished is absolutely unbelievable. I am so happy for the team that showed such character,"" said Austria coach Manny Viveiros. Austria's Markus Peintner, who scored their crucial 2-2 equaliser in the third period, heaped praise on his nation's goaltender Bernhard Starkbaum. ""Germany were better, we have to be admit that. Starkbaum kept us in the game. But as underdogs we did not give up and now we are over the moon,"" said Peintner. Germany, whose ""hearts are in pain"" according to their ice hockey federation general secretary Franz Reindl, were stunned after their streak of 16 consecutive Games' appearances was ended. ""Having to listen to the national anthem after having failed to qualify is the worst thing I have experienced,"" said defender Felix Petermann. After Latvia comfortably beat Britain 6-2 and squeezed past Kazakhstan 3-2 in the earlier rounds, they lost 3-2 to France in overtime on Sunday but still topped the group, a point ahead of the Kazakhs. ""I'm really proud of the leadership and the maturity of some of our players that played in this game,"" said Latvia head coach Ted Nolan."
" 1 of 4. Evacuees from Buner walk next to trucks loaded with their possessions on the outskirts of Peshawar, April 29, 2009. A U.S. drone meanwhile fired a missile into another region, the major al Qaeda sanctuary of South Waziristan, killing six militants in the latest such attack by U.S. forces in Pakistan's border areas with Afghanistan. The Taliban's advance earlier this month into Buner, just 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital had sent shivers through Pakistan and heightened fears in the United States that the nuclear-armed Muslim state was becoming more unstable. ""We assure the nation that armed forces have the capability to ward off any kind of threat,"" military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas told a news conference in Rawalpindi, the garrison town close to the capital, Islamabad. Pakistan had used jet fighters at the start of the operation on Tuesday then deployed helicopter gunships which inflicted more than 50 casualties, Abbas said. One soldier was killed. The Islamabd government's demonstration of military resolve will probably reassure U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai when they meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Washington on May 6-7 to discuss strategy. Obama, speaking in Missouri, said Al Qaeda and the Taliban were the ""single most direct threat"" to U.S. national security. ""In Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan we do have real problems with the Taliban and al Qaeda,"" Obama said at a town hall meeting. The strike by the pilotless U.S. drone which killed six targeted a vehicle. Two of the militants were foreigners, an intelligence official told Reuters from the region. Unlike South Waziristan, Buner is not on the Afghan border but militants' growing clout deep into Pakistan's northwest has raised alarm bells across Pakistan and the United States."
" TEHRAN, Iran - A strong earthquake of 6.2 magnitude hit southern Iran early Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, with local media reporting of damaged villages and several injuries. The epicentre of the quake was measured at 85 kilometres southeast of the southern town of Minab at 0208 GMT, the USGS said in a statement. It was at a depth of 36.44 km. Head of Iran's Red Crescent rescue corps Mahmoud Mozafar told the Fars news agency that at least 11 people had been injured in five villages which were ""severely"" hit by the quake. The Mehr news agency, quoted him as saying that ""several houses were leveled"" based on preliminary reports. The reports said rescue teams were dispatched to the affected area. The USGS said there was a 35 percent chance of fatalities from the quake which the Hong Kong Observatory measured at 6.1 magnitude. Iran's Seismological Centre has registered a series of aftershocks, measuring between 4.1 and 5.2. Iran sits astride several major fault lines and is prone to frequent earthquakes, some of which have been devastating. Last month, the biggest earthquake to hit the country in 50 years, measuring 7.8, killed a woman and injured more than a dozen other people in the southeast. At least 40 people were killed across the border in Pakistan where hundreds of mud homes were leveled."
" The Guardian's David Smith has also sent some more reaction to Reeva Steenkamp's death: Steenkamp had featured in the South African edition of FHM magazine. Hagen Engler, its former editor, said he had known her since around the age of 15 in Port Elizabeth, where they both grew up. ""She was the face of Avon or something like that,"" he said. ""She was an amazing girl, a really intelligent person. ""She was a businesswoman as well and I think she had a law degree. She went into the modelling industry and had a mature understanding of it. She had a good sense of humour, like a guy's sense of humour. ""She moved to Johannesburg and put on a bit of weight, but she was determined to succeed in the world of modelling and she really worked at it. In a couple of years she was gorgeous."" Engler, a freelance journalist, added: ""She was talented and was starting to succeed and get a bit of a following. The girl was really going places."" He had not seen her with Pistorius. ""When the newspapers started saying Oscar Pistorius was going out with her, it was like: 'That's my girl.' But I'm no expert on her relationship status."" Her death came as a huge shock. ""It's a hammer-blow. It was like, 'I know her, oh my God.' I've been trying to process it. It's a real tragedy that such a bright girl has gone."" A spokesperson for the magazine said: ""FHM was shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic passing of FHM cover girl Reeva Steenkamp. Our thoughts go out to her family and friends during this difficult and painful time. ""FHM knew Reeva as a beautiful, intelligent and warm-hearted woman who was a joy to work with and everyone at FHM mourns her untimely passing. May she rest in peace."""
" Crew of the Russian antisubmarine ship Admiral Panteleyev overtook the smaller boat about 15 miles east of the Somali coast, ITAR-TASS reported Wednesday. ""During the inspection, the crew found seven Kalashnikov guns, handguns of various brands, aluminum ladders for ascending aboard, navigation equipment, including the satellite one, reserve tanks with fuel, and a big amount of empty cartridge cases,"" a Russian Defense Ministry source told the news agency. The sources said it appeared the 29 pirates detained were among those who had made two abortive attempts to seize the TF Commander oil tanker the day before. The Moscow Times reported the Russian crew of that Liberian-flagged ship used water hoses to fend off the pirates. The newspaper said three small pirate vessels attacked the ship, owned by Novorossiisk Shipping Co., and its crew of 23 Russians in the Gulf of Aden. The would-be hijackers, armed with automatic weapons and grenade launchers, opened fire on the vessel but were outmaneuvered, a company statement said. The tanker continued on its voyage to Singapore with no injuries or damage reported."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The United States and the European Union have urged travellers to Mexico to exercise caution, amid concerns over the spread of the swine flu virus. Mexico fears the virus has claimed as many as 149 lives there. Cases are also confirmed in Canada, the US and Spain. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US - which has 40 confirmed cases - was taking the issue ""very seriously"". World Health Organization (WHO) experts are meeting to consider raising the global pandemic alert level. The UN has warned that the virus has the potential to become a pandemic. But it says the world is better prepared than ever to deal with the threat. Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said on Monday that 149 people - all aged between 20 and 50 - had now died of suspected swine flu and that number was expected to continue to rise. He said only 20 of the deaths had been confirmed to be from swine flu and test results were due on the rest. As he spoke, Mexico City - where the outbreak is centred - was rocked by a 6.0-magnitude earthquake. It shook tall buildings and led to evacuations. Earlier, the WHO said there were 40 laboratory-confirmed cases of swine flu in the US, 26 in Mexico, six in Canada and one in Spain. Tests are also being carried out on individuals or groups in New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Britain and Israel who fell ill following travel to Mexico. In most cases outside Mexico, people have been only mildly ill and have made a full recovery. Mrs Clinton urged ""caution"" for US nationals planning to visit Mexico. Swine flu is a respiratory disease thought to spread through coughing and sneezing Symptoms mimic those of normal flu - but in Mexico more than 100 people have died Good hygiene like using a tissue and washing hands thoroughly can help reduce transmission Life at centre of the outbreak 'I couldn't get out of bed' ""We are taking this very seriously,"" she said, adding that the US was working with the WHO and other countries to ""develop a strategy"" to prevent the spread of the virus. Earlier, EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou called on people to think carefully before going to places where people had been infected. ""Personally, I would try to avoid non-essential travel to the areas which are reported to be in the centre of the clusters in order to minimise the personal risk and to reduce the potential risk to spread the infection to other people,"" she said. President Barack Obama, in a speech to US scientists, said the cases were a cause for concern but not alarm. He said a public health emergency - declared after cases were found in New York, California, Texas, Kansas and Ohio - was a ""precautionary tool"" to ensure that all the necessary resources are available ""to respond quickly and effectively"". Health experts say the virus comes from the same strain that causes seasonal outbreaks in humans. But they say this newly-detected version contains genetic material from versions of flu which usually affect pigs and birds. 1918: The Spanish flu pandemic remains the most devastating outbreak of modern times - infecting up to 40% of the world's population and killing more than 50m people, with young adults particularly badly affected 1957: Asian flu killed two million people. Caused by a human form of the virus, H2N2, combining with a mutated strain found in wild ducks. The elderly were particularly vulnerable 1968: An outbreak first detected in Hong Kong, and caused by a strain known as H3N2, killed up to one million people globally, with those over 65 most likely to die There is currently no vaccine for this new strain, but severe cases can be treated with antiviral medication. The WHO said it had not made any recommendations about travel restrictions. But spokesman Gregory Hartl said the fact that an emergency committee meeting had been brought forward by a day showed the urgency with which the organisation was treating the issue. The committee could decide to raise the pandemic level from its current level of three, if it believes the virus is showing a sustained ability to pass from human to human. The WHO is advising all countries to be vigilant for seasonally unusual flu or pneumonia-like symptoms among their populations - particularly among young healthy adults, a characteristic of past pandemics. A top US health official warned that there could be worse to come. ""From what we understand in Mexico, I think people need to be ready for the idea that we could see more severe cases in this country and possibly deaths,"" Richard Besser, acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told ABC television. The BBC talks to people in Mexico City about the flu outbreak.   In the Mexican capital, schools, bars and public buildings remained closed and many people were staying indoors. Mexican officials said they would keep schools closed until 6 May as they deal with the outbreak. Soldiers have handed out six million masks in and around the capital region. In Canada, cases were recorded at opposite ends of the country, in British Columbia and in Nova Scotia, while in Spain, a young man who had recently returned from Mexico was found to have the virus. He was said to be in a stable condition. A number of countries in Asia, Latin America and Europe have begun screening airport passengers for symptoms, while Germany's biggest tour operator has suspended trips to Mexico. Several countries have banned imports of raw pork and pork products from Mexico and parts of the US, although experts say there is no evidence to link exposure to pork with infection. Shares in airlines have fallen sharply on fears about the economic impact of the outbreak. UK, Spain, Israel, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand: suspected cases being tested   Are you in a country which has confirmed the virus? Do you know someone who has been affected by the outbreak? Are you a health worker in one of the affected countries? Tell us your experiences by filling in the form below. A selection of your comments may be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" Police investigating allegations that horsemeat was mislabelled as beef have arrested three men on suspicion of offences under the Fraud Act. Two men, aged 64 and 42, were held at Farmbox Meats Ltd, near Aberystwyth, and a 63-year-old was arrested at Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterhouse, in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. Both firms have denied any wrongdoing. An Asda Bolognese sauce has become the first fresh beef product withdrawn, over fears it contains horse DNA. The supermarket giant withdrew its 500g own-label Beef Bolognese sauce, saying a preliminary test result suggested the presence of horse DNA. Concerns about horsemeat in processed beef products first came to light on 15 January and until now recalls by supermarkets have involved frozen products. As a precaution, Asda is also withdrawing three other beef-based own-label products from the same supplier, Bristol-based Greencore: its 600g Beef Broth Soup; 500g Meat Feast Pasta Sauce and 400g Chilli Con Carne Soup. In a statement, Greencore said the sauce contained meat supplied by the ABP Food Group's Nenagh plant in County Tipperary, Ireland. ABP owns meat processor Silvercrest which lost supply contracts with Tesco, Aldi and Co-operative supermarkets after horse and pig DNA was found in burgers it supplied. ABP says its meat is sourced from licensed EU suppliers and it has ""never knowingly"" used horsemeat. The latest product withdrawal comes as the Food Standards Agency prepares to announce the results of industry test results on hundreds of processed beef products for the presence of horsemeat."
" South African Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is facing a murder charge after his girlfriend was shot and killed at his Pretoria home. His arrest over the death of model Reeva Steenkamp has stunned the country where he is considered a national hero. The 26-year-old is due to appear in court on Friday. Mr Pistorius made history in London last year when he became the first double-amputee track athlete to compete in the Olympic Games. Continue reading the main story There is widespread shock and disbelief in South Africa after athlete Oscar Pistorius was arrested over the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. There has been an outpouring of grief for the model, along with many messages of support for the six-time Paralympic champion, who has earned huge public admiration for his long battle to be allowed to compete in the Olympics. The common thread for many is disbelief - at the implication this has for the athlete's future but also at the tragic end of the celebrity couple's love story. The pair apparently started dating in November, frequently posted loving messages about each other on social network Twitter and were seen at high-profile events arm in arm. Their relationship seemed perfect. He is known as the ""blade runner"" because of the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he races in. He was born without a fibula in both legs and had his legs amputated below the knee before his first birthday. Police were called to his home in the upmarket Silver Woods gated compound on the outskirts of South Africa's administrative capital in the early hours of Thursday morning. They found paramedics treating a 29-year-old woman with four gunshot wounds to the head and upper body. She died at the scene, and officers recovered a 9mm pistol. Early reports suggested Mr Pistorius might have mistaken his girlfriend for an intruder. Police say neighbours heard screaming and shouting around the time of the shooting, and that they had been called to investigate incidents of a domestic nature at the same house in the past."
" Authorities in Britain arrested three people Thursday in two meat plants amid an investigation into the sale of horse meat as beef in Europe. French prosecutors continue to investigate, the country's consumer affairs minister said. The announcement comes as UK inspectors said that horse carcasses contaminated with an equine painkiller harmful to humans may have entered the food chain in France. A number of meat plants that handled the horse meat as it made its way through the food chain are facing questions about what they knew and whether fraud was involved. The arrests in Britain involved workers at Farmbox Meats near Aberystywth and Peter Boddy Slaughterhouse in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, the country's Food Standards Agency said. Inspectors toured the plants Tuesday and suspended their permits to operate on Wednesday, the agency said. The three men were arrested under the Fraud Act and are being detained at a police station, where they will be questioned by police and FSA investigators, according to the agency. It's the latest twist in a Europe-wide crisis over rogue horse meat in beef products. Over the past week, unauthorized horse meat has been discovered in a variety of products labeled as beef that were sold in supermarkets in countries including Britain, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and Ireland. French Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon said Thursday that the French firm Spanghero should have known that the meat it labeled as beef was actually horse. Spanghero was the first company to label the meat as beef, the minister said, adding that 750 tons of horse meat were involved over a period of at least six months. Spanghero should have identified the meat as horse from its Romanian customs code, as well as its appearance, smell and price, he said."
" Pirates have continued raids despite warship patrols off Somalia Yemeni special forces have freed an oil tanker captured by Somali pirates, Yemeni officials say. Eleven pirates were arrested in the operation, they said. The Qana was seized on Sunday but was not carrying cargo at the time. It was one of four tankers attacked off Yemen's coast but coastguards freed the other vessels after a fierce battle. On Saturday an Italian cruise ship with 1,500 passengers fended off an attack from pirates off the coast of Somalia. The Qana is being escorted to the Yemeni city of al-Mukalla, according to AFP news agency. On Sunday pirates freed another Yemeni-owned tanker, the Sea Princess II, which had been held since January. There were no details about the conditions of the release. Yemen lies 700 miles from Somalia, where the pirates operate from. The BBC's Christian Fraser in Cairo says they are taking advantage of current favourable weather conditions to launch attacks further afield. See map of how piracy is affecting the region and countries around the world Last year, pirates attacked more than 100 ships in the region, demanding huge ransoms for their release. Attacks have intensified recently despite the presence of international warships - part of an effort to counter piracy. Some 16 vessels and 270 hostages are still being held by pirates demanding vast ransoms for their release our correspondent says. They have freed a number of ships, but attacks have continued. Somalia has been without an effective administration since 1991, fuelling the lawlessness which has allowed piracy to thrive. When first loaded, the map's focus falls on Somalia where most of the pirates are based. Use the arrow icons to scroll left towards Europe and the United States which are both playing a central role in tackling the problem. Scroll to the right for a story about the Philippines, which supplies many of the world's mariners. You can zoom in for more detail by using the ""+"" or ""-"" signs on the upper left hand side."
" French meat processing company Spanghero knowingly sold horsemeat labelled as beef, the French government has said. Spanghero's licence is being suspended while an inquiry continues, Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said. The firm has denied the allegations, saying it only ever dealt in meat it believed to be beef. A widening scandal over mislabelled horsemeat has affected at least 12 European countries. In the UK, three people have been arrested on suspicion of fraud in connection with the sale of horsemeat. Two suspects were detained at a meat processing plant near Aberystwyth in Wales, and a third was arrested at an abattoir in West Yorkshire. The French government believes that the sale of horsemeat labelled as beef went on for six months and involved about 750 tonnes of meat. Spanghero imported meat from Romania and sold it on to another company, Comigel, which made frozen ready meals at its factory in Luxembourg. French Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon said the meat had left Romania clearly and correctly labelled as horse. It was afterwards that it was relabelled as beef. ""From the investigation, it would seem that the first agent or actor in this network who stamped 'beef' on horsemeat from Romania was Spanghero,"" Mr Hamon said."
" Horsemeat has been detected in frozen lasagne on sale in Germany and supermarkets have started removing the product from their shelves. The Real supermarket chain said it had withdrawn TiP frozen lasagne - the latest tainted processed food to figure in a Europe-wide scandal. Other German retailers including Tengelmann and Rewe are now checking their processed beef products too. The EU is urging member states to conduct random tests for horsemeat. All members should carry out DNA tests on processed beef for traces of horsemeat for three months from 1 March, the EU health commissioner said on Wednesday. German authorities suspect a batch of lasagne sent from Luxembourg to a retailer in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. On Wednesday the state's Consumer Affairs Minister, Johannes Remmel, said that ""after analysing the data we have learned that through a middleman in Luxembourg, a significant amount of goods has been shipped to Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia, and those goods are suspected, and I repeat only suspected, to have not been properly labelled"". The shipment is believed to have taken place between November 2012 and January 2013. Mr Remmel said frozen processed foods had arrived in Germany, via Luxembourg, from Comigel - the supplier in northeastern France which sent mince containing horsemeat to several UK retailers. The supermarket giant Tesco, frozen food firm Findus and budget chain Aldi received mince containing horsemeat from Comigel."
" The body of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is to be exhumed on Tuesday, Palestinian officials say. His body is to undergo tests to find out whether his death in Paris in 2004 was caused by poisoning. Arafat's medical records say he had a stroke resulting from a blood disorder. But France began a murder inquiry in August after Swiss experts working with a documentary crew found radioactive polonium-210 on Arafat's personal effects. Continue reading the main story The chief investigator Taufik al Tirawi said they had recently asked the Russians to take part in this investigation because they had ""an historical relationship"" with Moscow. It seems the Palestinians do not fully trust France and Switzerland when it comes to proving or disproving that their former leader was murdered. It is not known how long it will take the three countries to complete their tests. But it will be a key moment - and it is possible they will reach different conclusions. While most Palestinians are certain their leader was murdered, there are serious questions about the validity of testing for polonium poisoning eight years after Mr Arafat's death. The half-life of polonium is less than five months. His tomb, in Ramallah in the West Bank, was sealed off earlier this month. Once the body is removed from the tomb inside the stone-clad tomb mausoleum, scientists from France, Switzerland and Russia will each take samples, former Palestinian intelligence chief Tawfik Tirawi told reporters. The experts will then take these samples to their respective countries to be tested for Polonium 210 and possibly other lethal substances. Arafat's body will be reburied the same day with military honours. Arafat, who led the Palestine Liberation Organisation for 35 years and became the first president of the Palestinian Authority in 1996, fell violently ill in October 2004 at his compound."
" Three US soldiers with the Nato-led force in Afghanistan have been killed by a roadside bomb, officials say. A government spokesman in the southern province of Kandahar said the soldiers were in a convoy in Zhari district. Several others were reported wounded. Taliban insurgents announced the start of their spring offensive in March. This is the latest of a series of attacks this month on international troops, who are due to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Some 100,000 soldiers are still serving with the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in the country. ""We can confirm that three soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan today (Tuesday),"" Isaf spokesman Maj Bryan Purtell was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. The spokesman added that the earlier death toll of four had been revised down and a recovery operation was taking place at the scene. The coalition and local Afghan officials confirmed that all the victims were Americans. On Monday, three Georgian soldiers serving with the Nato-led Isaf force died in an attack in the neighbouring province of Helmand. On 1 May, three British soldiers died in a roadside bomb blast. Three days later, seven Isaf soldiers were killed in separate attacks."
" North Korea has started to reprocess spent fuel rods at its nuclear plant, says the country's state media. The reprocessing is a possible move towards producing weapons grade plutonium and comes after Pyongyang's launch of a long-range rocket in April. Earlier, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on three North Korean companies in response to the launch. Pyongyang said it would ignore the sanctions, describing them as ""a wanton violation of the UN charter"". ""The reprocessing of spent fuel rods from the pilot atomic power plant began as declared in the Foreign Ministry statement dated 14 April,"" North Korea's Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying. That was the date that Pyongyang announced it was pulling out of talks on its nuclear programme and would restart its Yongbyon reactor. The official said the reprocessing would ""contribute to bolstering the nuclear deterrence for self-defence in every way to cope with the increasing military threats from the hostile forces"". The BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul says this announcement is confirmation that - for now at least - North Korea is serious about turning its back on the six-party talks, the long-running nuclear disarmament negotiations involving its four closest neighbours and the United States. North Korea had already partially dismantled its nuclear reactor - the source of material for a 2006 atomic test. But it now says it is reprocessing remaining spent fuel rods, which experts say could provide material for at least one more nuclear bomb. The country is already thought to possess enough reprocessed plutonium for between six and eight nuclear weapons - so in the immediate term the announcement does not significantly alter the strategic balance, our correspondent says. Feb 2007 - North Korea agrees to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for fuel aid Oct 2008 - The US removes North Korea from its list of countries which sponsor terrorism Dec 2008 - Pyongyang slows work to dismantle its nuclear programme after a US decision to suspend energy aid Jan 2009 - The North says it is scrapping all military and political deals with the South, accusing it of ""hostile intent"" 5 April 2009 - Pyongyang launches a rocket carrying what it says is a communications satellite 14 April 2009 - After criticism of the launch from the UN Security Council, North Korea vows to walk out of six-party talks But there will be deep concern in Washington and Seoul that the nuclear talks process, which began in 2003, seems to be unravelling fast and a defiant North Korea is arming itself once again, he adds. Pyongyang's announcement came only hours after the UN imposed sanctions on three companies it said had supported North Korea's controversial rocket launch, as well as updating the list of goods and technologies already banned. The North says the launch put a satellite in orbit broadcasting patriotic songs, but critics say it was a long-range missile test that crashed into the Pacific. The sanctions mark the first concrete steps against Pyongyang since the UN officially condemned the launch. The UN's Sanctions Committee head said the new sanctions aimed partly at denying North Korea access to some of the latest technologies relevant to ballistic missile programmes. North Korea's Deputy UN Ambassador Pak Tok Hun said the decision was ""a wanton violation of the United Nations charter"". ""It is the inalienable right of every nation and country to make peaceful use of outer space,"" he said. ""That is why we totally reject and do not recognise any sort of decision which has been made in the Security Council."" The debate over sanctions has been complicated by opposition from Russia and China, a major trading partner, over how to respond to North Korea's actions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has been in Pyongyang in an attempt to persuade the North to return to the nuclear talks, said earlier that sanctions were ""not constructive"". But US diplomats said the new sanctions were ""a serious and credible response"" to the launch. The UN Security Council council unanimously condemned North Korea's rocket launch on 13 April, saying it was a cover for a long-range missile test and as such contravened a 2006 resolution banning such tests."
" Mexico City has already shut schools and museums and canceled sporting and cultural events as an outbreak of a new type of swine flu killed up to 68 people in the country and spread north to infect some people in the United States. Saturday's decree, published in Mexico's official journal, gives the government power to isolate sick people, enter homes or workplaces and regulate air, sea and land transportation to try to stop further infection. The flu has rattled residents of Mexico's overcrowded capital of some 20 million people. Calderon tried to calm Mexicans earlier on Saturday, saying the flue was curable. He said health authorities easily had enough antiviral medicine for the 1,000 or so people suspected to be infected with the swine flu and that his government was monitoring the situation ""minute by minute."" Tests on Saturday showed eight New York City schoolchildren had a type A influenza virus likely to be the same type as the Mexican flu, adding to nine people in California and Texas who tested positive for it, although they later recovered. Two swine flu cases were also confirmed in Kansas. The World Health Organization declared the outbreaks a ""public health event of international concern"" and urged all countries to boost their surveillance for any unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia. The agency stopped short of raising the threat level to a pandemic -- a global epidemic of a serious disease. Mexico City residents mainly hunkered down at home on Saturday, as children's parties were canceled and bars were closed and many of those on the street wore surgical masks."
" BOSASSO, Somalia (Reuters) - Somali pirates have released a Greek ship they captured a couple of months ago after receiving a $1.9 million ransom, one pirate told Reuters on Saturday. ""My friends have released the Greek ship after $1.9 million ransom was paid,"" said Hussein, a pirate. He could not give the name of the ship. ""My friends are now getting off the ship and it will soon sail away."" Earlier this month, a sea gang operating off Somalia's coast grabbed a Greek merchant marine, the MV Irene E.M., with 22 Filipino crew members. They also seized the Greek-owned Nipayiya on March 25. The Panama-registered ship was taken 450 miles from Somalia's south coast. On Saturday pirates hijacked the 31,000-tonne German grain carrier Patriot and its crew of 17 in the Gulf of Aden."
" Security personnel investigate around bodies of insurgents at the site of an attack on an army base in the troubled southern province of Narathiwat February 13, 2013. Acting on a tip-off, marines lit flares and opened fire as up to 60 insurgents wearing military fatigues approached the base at about 1 a.m. in Narathiwat province on the Malaysian border, said Internal Security Operations Command spokesman Pramote Phromin. He revised the death toll to 16 from an earlier 17. None of the Thai military defenders of the base was hurt, he said. Violence is common in Thailand's south but the scale of the attack and targeting of a marine base illustrate the difficulty Buddhist-majority Thailand faces in preventing the low-intensity Muslim insurgency from turning into a more dangerous conflict. Although there is no indication of the fighting spreading beyond the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, just a few hours' drive from some of Thailand's most popular tourist beaches, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra appears powerless to quell the almost daily gun fights and bomb attacks. ""It was only going to be a matter of time before this type of incident happened,"" said Anthony Davis, a Thai-based analyst at security consulting firm IHS-Jane's. ""The insurgents have been moving towards larger attacks on military bases since 2011. At the same time, there has been more pro-active security intelligence work."" The violence comes as Southeast Asia seeks to present an image of stability to foreign investors who have poured into its financial markets. The Philippines government signed in October a pact with the country's largest Muslim rebel group. Long-running communal conflicts in Indonesia have mostly abated in recent years. A 2011 election in Thailand ushered in a period of relative stability after more than five years of sometimes-deadly street protests. Its economy is flourishing and its stock market was one of the world's best performers last year, rising 36 percent. A political scientist with Deep South Watch, a think-tank that closely tracks the violence, said he feared the insurgents' failed attack on Wednesday would only spur them on."
" At least 10 civilians, mostly women and children, have been killed in a Nato air strike in Kunar province in Afghanistan, local officials say. At least three Taliban commanders were also said to have died in the attack. The Nato-led Isaf force said it was aware of the reports of civilian deaths and was ""looking into the circumstances"" of the incident. ""We take every allegation of civilian casualties very seriously,"" Isaf said on its Twitter feed. Several civilians were also injured in the raid. ""It is possible that those killed inside the house were family members of Taliban commanders or that Taliban commanders were taking refuge there,"" an Afghan government official told the BBC. President Hamid Karzai ordered an inquiry and condemned the air strike. His office issued a statement saying that the war against terrorism was not to be fought in Afghan villages. The strike took place in the Shegal district of Kunar, a province in the east of Afghanistan that borders Pakistan. Last year a US drone attack killed Mullah Dadullah, a high-ranking Pakistani Taliban commander, in the same area. Wednesday's strike came hours after US President Barack Obama confirmed plans for the withdrawal of roughly half of the 66,000 US troops in Afghanistan by early 2014."
" The remains of Yasser Arafat have been exhumed as part of an investigation into how the Palestinian leader died. Swiss, French and Russian experts were given samples to establish whether his death in Paris in 2004 at the age of 75 was the result of poisoning before the tomb was resealed. France began a murder inquiry in August after Swiss experts found radioactive polonium-210 on his personal effects. Arafat's medical records say he had a stroke resulting from a blood disorder. His widow, Suha, objected to a post-mortem at the time of his death, but asked the Palestinian Authority to permit the exhumation ""to reveal the truth"". Arafat's body lies in a stone-clad mausoleum inside the Muqataa presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The mausoleum was sealed off earlier this month. Continue reading the main story On a grey day with the threat of drizzle, this event was a bit of damp squib. For the hundreds of snap-happy journalists lined up outside the presidential compound in Ramallah where Yasser Arafat's cube-shaped mausoleum sits, there was not much to see. It was shielded from prying eyes by large sheets of blue tarpaulin, so reporters could only guess what was going on behind. The whole operation was over in a matter of hours. It now seems the investigators did not even have to remove the body from the tomb - scientists were able to take the samples they needed without having to do so. By midday we were told the tomb had been resealed, with no need for a formal reburial. Any ceremonials appear to have been minimal. Now there will be a long wait, possibly several months, before the test results come through. They may not be conclusive. There's a possibility the whole thing could be kicked into the long grass. Palestinians here seem a little indifferent. Most take it as unproven fact that their leader died at Israel's hands. Israel has always denied it. This has all the ingredients of a murder mystery. But it's difficult to ever see it leading to any prosecutions. And if Israel did kill Yasser Arafat, it's likely it was done with the help of somebody within his close circle. Palestinian officials told Agence France Presse that only a Palestinian doctor had been allowed to directly touch the remains and remove the samples, but the process was conducted in front of the Swiss, Russian and French scientists, who will carry out tests for polonium-210 and possibly other lethal substances in their respective countries. It is believed that the investigation could take several months. Before the exhumation, the head of the Palestinian committee investigating Arafat's death, Tawfik al-Tirawi, said no journalists would be allowed to observe the exhumation."
" The US secret intelligence gathering systems have grown so much since 9/11 that no-one knows their exact cost, nor size, the Washington Post reports. The newspaper says the system is now so massive and unwieldy that it is impossible to determine its effectiveness in keeping the US safe. The report, Top Secret America, follows a two-year investigation by the paper. Acting US intelligence chief David C Gompert has dismissed the picture painted by the report as inaccurate. ""The reporting does not reflect the intelligence community we know,"" Mr Gompert said in a statement. ""We accept that we operate in an environment that limits the amount of information we can share. However, the fact is, the men and women of the intelligence community have improved our operations, thwarted attacks, and are achieving untold successes every day."" Before the report was published, the White House told the Washington Post it knew about the problems within US intelligence gathering and was trying to fix them. The report says the growth of the security industry - with billions of dollars of contracts farmed out to various government agencies and private contractors - has resulted in an unwieldy system lacking in oversight and with high levels of redundancy and waste. According to the Washington Post: Intelligence failures that allowed the September 2001 attacks to happen have produced the regular refrain that the American intelligence community had ""failed to join up the dots"", says the BBC's defence and security correspondent, Nick Childs."
" Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the US must stop using ""cowboy logic"" if it wants dialogue with Iran over its nuclear programme. He said he was for negotiations, but that imposing sanctions would not make his country change course. Following on from recent UN sanctions, Washington has imposed its toughest ever measures on Tehran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment programme. The US and major European powers say Iran is trying to build nuclear arms. Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful. ""We are for negotiations, but to do so you have to sit down like a good boy,"" Mr Ahmadinejad said, referring to the US in a speech broadcast live on state television. ""They adopt a resolution to force a dialogue, but this cowboy logic has no place in Iran."" Mr Ahmadinejad added that the US's real concern was not that Iran may make a bomb, but its rise as a regional power."
" Taliban 'being forced out' in Operation Moshtarak US troops try to consolidate positions in Marjah   A joint Nato and Afghan military operation is succeeding in pushing Taliban fighters from their strongholds in Helmand province, officials say. On day three of Operation Moshtarak, senior Afghan officers said areas around Marjah and Nad Ali were being cleared of insurgents. However, US troops in Marjah were being slowed down by snipers and home-made bombs, a BBC correspondent says. The campaign aims to bring the areas back under Afghan government control. However, the operation suffered a setback on Sunday when rockets fired by coalition troops killed 12 civilians. Nato commander Gen Stanley McChrystal said that he ""deeply regretted this tragic loss of life"". In another blow to the coalition, Nato announced on Monday that five more civilians had been killed in an air strike outside of the operation - in Kandahar province. On Monday, Afghan Brig Gen Sher Mohammad Zazai said coalition troops had largely contained the insurgents. He said local residents were helping troops to locate explosives left by the Taliban. ""Today there is no major movement of the enemy,"" he said. ""South of Marjah they are very weak. There has been low resistance. Soon we will have Marjah cleared of enemies."" Gen Aminullah Patiani told AFP news agency ""all of the areas of Marjah and Nad Ali have been taken by combined forces. They are under our control"". It's day three of the joint Nato-Afghan military operation and forces have experienced both successes and setbacks. After inserting thousands of troops by helicopter into Taliban-held territory, Nato commanders say they are so far achieving their military objectives. Meanwhile US, British and Afghan forces are having to cope with an unexpectedly high number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). For all the hi-tech aerial surveillance, infrared cameras and sophisticated eavesdropping at Nato's disposal, its forces appear to have underestimated the scale of the problem of these roadside bombs. He added: ""The Taliban have left the areas, but the threat from IEDs [improvised explosive devices] remains."" Marjah resident Haji Mohammed Jan told the BBC the Taliban had tried to stop people leaving, but he and others had managed to escape. ""All we had we have left behind. We don't like fighting. We are tired of it."" Dawud Ahmadi, a spokesman for Helmand's governor, said nearly 1,000 displaced families had arrived in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. Afghan MP Fauzia Koffi told the BBC that residents were confused about the operation, because the military offensive was very different from the suggestion at a recent conference in London that elements of the Taliban should be engaged in talks. She also said that the Taliban had not allowed civilians to leave Marjah and if civilian casualties increased it would adversely affect the opinion of the Afghan people. The BBC's Frank Gardner, at Kandahar air base, says a clear difference is emerging between Nad Ali - where British troops are operating, and Marjah to the south where US troops are focused. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. While British forces have been able to move quickly to their objectives, US Marines are advancing slowly and painstakingly, being held back by snipers and more home-made bombs than they had expected, he said. The BBC's Ian Pannell, embedded with British forces in Nad Ali, says troops have been spreading out to try to reassure locals, listen to their complaints and assuage their fears. He says the locals appeared happy to see the Afghan army but did not want the arrival of police, who they see as corrupt, partisan and inept. Military intelligence experts believe most Taliban who have chosen to stay and fight are concentrated around Marjah. In northern Marjah on Monday, an armoured column came under fire from at least three sniper teams, AP news agency reported. Carries six rockets on mobile launcher. Range can exceed 45km (28 miles) Uses include targeting artillery, air defences, light armour and in infantry support Able to launch and move quickly before retaliatory strike Prototypes used during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Entered full US service in 2005 Reuters quoted US Marines as saying they had twice unsuccessfully tried to clear one bazaar area in Marjah of enemy positions. Despite the setbacks, Nato and Afghan commanders insist they now have enough troops to hold the ground taken and will soon be bringing in hundreds of newly trained police to re-establish Afghan government control. Operation Moshtarak, meaning ""together"" in the Dari language, is the biggest coalition attack since the Taliban fell in 2001. The operation is also considered the first big test of US President Barack Obama's new ""surge"" strategy for Afghanistan. Nato has stressed that the safety of civilians in the areas targeted is their highest priority. However, on Sunday two rockets fired from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars) in the Marjah area hit a building and killed 12 Afghan civilians. In the second incident on Monday, Nato said the five Afghan civilians killed were mistakenly believed to be insurgents planting explosives on a road in the Zhari district of Kandahar province. Gen McChrystal immediately suspended all use of the Himars rocket system and Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered an investigation. However, on Monday a senior Nato official told the BBC the rockets were not off target as initially reported. The building was targeted as coalition forces were receiving fire from it, the official said, but they did not realise there were civilians inside. Two insurgents along with the 12 civilians were killed, the official said. At a news conference on Monday, Gen McChrystal said that before the operation had begun, President Karzai had stressed the importance of protecting Afghan civilians. ""This operation has been done with that in mind,"" he said, adding he was ""exceptionally proud"" of how coalition forces were performing. Speaking at the same conference, Afghan interior minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar urged Taliban fighters to lay down their arms and take up the government's offer of reconciliation. ""There is no way you can win there, the Afghan people are determined to win,"" he said. HAVE YOUR SAY The ""surge"" approach drove most of the insurgents out of Iraq and there is no reason why it shouldn't work in Afghanistan Send us your comments The 15,000-strong coalition force includes 4,000 US Marines, a similar number of British troops plus a large Afghan contingent. Soldiers from Canada, Denmark and Estonia are also involved. Two Nato deaths related to Operation Moshtarak have so far been confirmed. On Saturday, a British soldier, Lance Sergeant David Greenhalgh of 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, died in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack, while a US soldier was killed by gunfire in Marjah. Another British casualty was announced on Monday, although not connected to Operation Moshtarak. UK officials said the soldier from 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment died during an night-time patrol near Musa Qaleh in Helmand on Sunday. At least 20 Taliban fighters were killed and another 11 detained on Saturday, the Afghan army said. Are you in Helmand province? What will the military operation there achieve? Send us your views using the form below. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" A protestor displays a paper as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the High Level segment of the Durban Review Conference on racism at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva April 20, 2009. ""Following World War II they resorted to military aggressions to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering,"" Ahmadinejad told the conference, speaking through a translator. ""And they sent migrants from Europe, the United States and other parts of the world in order to establish a totally racist government in the occupied Palestine,"" he said. ""And in fact, in compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine."" British ambassador Peter Gooderham condemned the Iranian leader's ""offensive and inflammatory comments"" that prompted the temporary walk-out. Delegates said they would return after he had finished speaking. ""Such outrageous anti-Semitic remarks should have no place in a U.N. anti-racism forum,"" he said. Slovenian ambassador Andrej Logar called the Iranian comments -- which prompted applause among delegations that remained in the U.N. assembly hall -- ""detrimental to the dignity of this conference."" ""The word Zionism personifies racism that falsely resorts to religion and abuses religious sentiments to hide their hatred and ugly faces,"" Ahmadinejad told the conference. The United States is among eight Western powers who are boycotting the week-long conference because of fears it will be used as a platform for unfair criticism of Israel. ""We strongly deplore the language used by the president of Iran. In our view this speech was completely inappropriate at a conference designed to nurture diversity and tolerance,"" said Rupert Colville, spokesman for Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement."
" * Aim is to reduce Greek debt to 124 percent of GDP by 2020 * Interest on loans to be cut, maturities extended, interest holiday BRUSSELS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund clinched agreement on reducing Greece's debt on Monday in a breakthrough to release urgently needed loans to keep the near-bankrupt economy afloat. After 12 hours of talks at their third meeting in as many weeks, Greece's international lenders agreed on a package of measures to reduce Greek debt by 40 billion euros, cutting it to 124 percent of gross domestic product by 2020. In a significant new pledge, ministers committed to taking further steps to lower Greece's debt to ""significantly below 110 percent"" in 2022 -- the most explicit recognition so far that some write-off of loans may be necessary from 2016, the point when Greece is forecast to reach a primary budget surplus. To reduce the debt pile, they agreed to cut the interest rate on official loans, extend their maturity by 15 years to 30 years, and grant Athens a 10-year interest repayment deferral. ""When Greece has achieved, or is about to achieve, a primary surplus and fulfilled all of its conditions, we will, if need be, consider further measures for the reduction of the total debt,"" German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said ministers would formally approve the release of a major aid instalment needed to recapitalise Greece's teetering banks and enable the government to pay wages, pensions and suppliers on Dec. 13. Greece will receive up to 43.7 billion euros in stages as it fulfils the conditions. The December instalment will comprise 23.8 billion for banks and 10.6 billion in budget assistance. The IMF's share, less than a third of the total, will only be paid out once a buy-back of Greek debt has occurred in the coming weeks, but IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the Fund had no intention of pulling out of the programme."
" Activists in Syria say a government jet has dropped a cluster bomb on a playground, leaving 10 children dead. Video posted on the internet showed children's bodies on the ground with their mothers grieving over them. The children were killed when a MiG fighter bombed a playground in the village of Deir al-Asafir, east of Damascus, opposition activists said. Intensive fighting has continued around the capital. Rebel fighters captured at least part of an airbase on Sunday. Further footage of the playground attack showed what appeared to be cluster bomblets on the ground. In one video, two girls could be seen lying dead in a street while another showed a distraught mother standing, apparently inside a clinic, over her daughter's lifeless body. The International Red Cross (ICRC) said it had been unable to confirm the attack. But it said if such an attack had taken place, it would be a very serious incident as under the Geneva Convention, only military targets are legitimate. Civilians, and civilian buildings like schools and hospitals, should never be attacked. In recent months there have been mounting allegations that the Syrian government has resorted to using cluster bombs as the conflict intensifies, although those claims have been denied, the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon reports. Two cluster bombs were dropped on the village on Sunday, activists said. One man told Reuters news agency that 70 bomblets had been found."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Diplomats have walked out of a UN anti-racism conference during a speech by the Iranian president in which he described Israel as ""totally racist"". Dozens of delegates got up and left, moments after two protesters wearing coloured wigs disrupted the start of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech. Diplomats who remained applauded as Mr Ahmadinejad continued his address. France said it was a ""hate speech"" and the US called it ""vile"". Some countries had boycotted the meeting altogether. The walkout is a public relations disaster for the United Nations, which had hoped the conference would be a shining example of what the UN is supposed to do best - uniting to combat injustice in the world, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva. The one issue that never seems to go away when conferences of this kind are held is the Israeli-Palestinian one. A document has been already been agreed among those governments attending and you have to read it quite closely to detect the tremors remaining from the earthquakes in discussions that went before. But enough contentious issues remain and the result is a boycott by the US, Israel, Germany, Italy, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The walkout by delegates from at least 30 countries happened within minutes of the start of the speech. Most officials planned to return later to participate in the rest of the conference, although the Czech delegation announced it would join the boycott. One of the two protesters escorted out of the conference hall managed to throw a red clown's nose at the Iranian president, as they yelled ""racist, racist"" as he stood at the podium. Mr Ahmadinejad, the only major leader to attend the conference, said Jewish migrants from Europe and the United States had been sent to the Middle East after World War II ""in order to establish a racist government in the occupied Palestine"". He continued, through an interpreter: ""And in fact, in compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine."" French Ambassador Jean-Baptiste Mattei said: ""As soon as he started to address the question of the Jewish people and Israel, we had no reason to stay in the room,"" the Associated Press news agency reported. Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader British Ambassador Peter Gooderham, also among those who left, said ""such inflammatory rhetoric has no place whatsoever in a United Nations conference addressing the whole issue of racism and how to address it."" Speaking to the BBC Radio 4's PM programme, he said of the Iranian leader's accusation of Israeli racism: ""That is a charge we unreservedly condemn and so we had no hesitation at that point in leaving the conference hall."" The US, Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and New Zealand had all boycotted the conference being held in Geneva, in protest at Mr Ahmadinejad's appearance. His comments were described as ""an absolute disgrace"" by Israeli President Shimon Peres, attending a Holocaust Remembrance Day event in Jerusalem. Israel had earlier recalled its ambassador to Switzerland. Mr Ahmadinejad told a press conference after his speech that the countries boycotting the forum were showing ""arrogance and selfishness"". Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Alejandro Wolff, said the speech was ""inaccurate"", as well as showing disregard towards the UN, and ""does a grave injustice to the Iranian nation and the Iranian people"". Speaking at UN headquarters in New York, he said: ""We call on the Iranian leadership to show much measured, moderate, honest and constructive rhetoric when dealing with issues in the region, and not this type of vile, hateful, inciteful speech."" French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had warned that French delegates would walk out if the forum was used as a platform to attack Israel. HAVE YOUR SAY The whole point of these meetings is to represent the views of your nation and challenge the views of others Speaking after the walkout, he said: ""The defence of human rights and the fight against all types of racism are too important for the United Nations not to unite against all forms of hate speech, against all perversion of this message. ""Faced with attitudes like that which the Iranian president has just adopted, no compromise is possible."" UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed dismay at the boycotts and the speech, saying Mr Ahmadinejad had used his speech ""to accuse, divide and even incite""."
" More than 800 homes have been flooded after storms hit parts of England and Wales, the Environment Agency has said. It said 816 houses had been affected after a band of heavy rain and strong winds swept across the country. Devon and Cornwall are badly hit, along with Malmesbury in Wiltshire and Kempsey in Worcestershire. Two people have died in the storm - a woman killed by a falling tree in Exeter and a man whose car crashed into a swollen river in Cambridgeshire. However, Cambridgeshire Police later said that the death of the 70-year-old man, whose car plunged into a river near Earith, on Saturday night, was not weather related. A spokesman for the force said: ""This particular accident could have happened at any time of year."" David Cameron has talked of ""shocking scenes of flooding"". The prime minister's Twitter message also said the government ""will help ensure everything is being done to help"". There are about 260 flood warnings in place across England, which means people should take action because flooding is expected. Of these, about 59 are in the South West and 144 are in the Midlands."
" At least 18 people have died in a blast at a warehouse storing explosives and detonators at a coal mine in China. The explosion was so powerful that it completely destroyed the three-storey warehouse at the mine in Hunan province in central China. Police are searching for the owners and investigating whether the explosives were bought and stored illegally. At least 3,200 people died in China's coal mines last year, making them the deadliest in the world. Analysts estimate the figure to be much higher. The central government has closed down a number of illegal and smaller coal mines in recent years to reduce the number of accidents, the BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing says. But, he adds, the policies of the government to improve safety are not always enforced at local levels - and accidents like this one continue to happen."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Dutch commandos have freed 20 fishermen whose vessel was hijacked by Somali pirates and used to launch an attack against a tanker in the Gulf of Aden. The captives, all Yemeni, were freed when Dutch forces chased pirates back to the fishing dhow. It was being used by the pirates as a ""mother ship"" from which to launch armed attacks on commercial shipping. Meanwhile, Belgian officials say pirates have captured a dredger, the latest in a surge of pirate attacks. The vessel, the Pompei, had been en route to the Seychelles. The Dutch took action after receiving a distress call from the Greek-managed tanker. We have freed the hostages, we have freed the dhow and we have seized the weapons   Intercepting the pirates, the troops then boarded the fishing vessel and freed the 20 Yemenis. They had been held hostage since Sunday, Nato spokesman Alexandre Santos Fernandes said. ""We have freed the hostages, we have freed the dhow and we have seized the weapons,"" he told the Reuters news agency. The spokesman said the pirates were set free because Nato does not have a maritime detainment policy, meaning Dutch national law would apply in this case. ""They can only arrest them if the pirates are from the Netherlands, the victims are from the Netherlands, or if they are in Netherlands waters,"" he said. Meanwhile, Belgium's government has told the BBC that a Belgian-registered ship has been captured by Somali pirates. There had been no communication with the dredging vessel, the Pompei, since it sent two alarm signals early on Saturday. We tried to have a contact with the ship but without success until now. We suspect it was hijacked by Somali pirates   The ship, with 10 crew including two Belgians, was about 600 km (373 miles) from the Somali coast and heading for the Seychelles. Satellite pictures show that the ship is not moving. ""This morning we received through two different channels, a silent alert, that there was a problem on the boat, which is a Belgian boat on its way to the Seychelles,"" said Peter Mertens, a spokesman for the Belgian government's crisis centre. ""We tried to have a contact with the ship but without success until now. Reuters quoted an unnamed pirate as confirming the hijack in a telephone call in which he said the attackers would take the ship to the Somali port of Haradheere. Pirates have intensified attacks on shipping in recent weeks in one of the world's busiest sea lanes, despite patrols by the US and other navies. Reports say they are currently holding more than 280 crew members and 15 cargo ships. The Dutch success is the latest in a string of recent Western military operations against the pirates. French and US troops have both taken action against pirates in recent days. The French rescued three people from a captured yacht in an assault which saw one man killed. Earlier this week US troops killed three pirates and captured another as they rescued the American captain of a tanker from captivity. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently unveiled a plan to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean off Somalia."
" 1 of 13. A general view of a building damaged by an air strike at a besieged area in Homs November 28, 2012. Picture taken November 28, 2012. The Internet and some telephone lines went down across Syria. Rebels and the government traded blame for the blackout, the worst communications outage in 20 months of conflict. Rebels fighting to topple Assad have been making gains around Syria by overrunning military bases and have been ramping up attacks on Damascus, his seat of power. A rebel fighter who identified himself as Abu Omar, a member of the Jund Allah brigade, told Reuters that insurgents fired mortars at the airport's runways and were blocking the road linking it with the capital. Speaking from the scene of the fighting, he said insurgents were not inside the airport but were able to block access to and from it. A spokesman for a rebel Military Council in Damascus, Musaab Abu Qitada, said an artillery round was fired at a military site inside the airport and that fighting was now less than a kilometer (mile) away from the complex. ""We want to liberate the airport because of reports we see and our own information we have that shows civilian airplanes are being flown in here with weapons for the regime. It is our right to stop this,"" he told Reuters on Skype from Damascus. U.S. and European officials said rebels were making gains in Syria, gradually eroding Assad's power, but said the fighting had not yet shifted decisively in their favor. Two Austrian soldiers in a U.N. peacekeeping force deployed to monitor the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights were wounded when their convoy came under fire near Damascus airport, Austria's defense ministry said. Syria state television said the soldiers were wounded by gunfire when rebels attacked an army position near the airport road. The Information Ministry later said the highway to the airport was safe after security forces cleared it of ""terrorists."" Rebels said fighting in the area was continuing. The ministry said the airport was operating regularly, but there were no flights scheduled to land in the evening."
" The entire nation of Syria disappeared Thursday evening from the internet and international phone systems. Akamai, which monitors global traffic, said internet traffic stopped from 1026 GMT - 5:26pm Thailand time - and that this supports the observation from another IT firm, Renesys, ""that Syria is effectively off the Internet."" Phone lines also appeared to be down, and airlines were cancelling flights. Renesys said in a blog posting that its monitoring showed ""Syria's international Internet connectivity shut down."" ""In the global routing table, all 84 of Syria's IP address blocks have become unreachable, effectively removing the country from the Internet,"" the company said. ""We are investigating the dynamics of the outage and will post updates as they become available."" The reports could mean that the embattled regime of Bashar al-Assad has cut off the networks as he cracks down on rebels in the war-torn country. The Syrian Telecommunications Establishment, which is affiliated with the Syrian government, is the primary autonomous system for the country, and all of its customer networks are currently unreachable, Renesys said. Earlier, activists in Syria said Internet and mobile telephone communications were cut in the capital Damascus, and land lines were barely functioning. An activist in the embattled Eastern Ghouta region east of the capital told AFP that only satellite Internet connections were operating in the area."
" At least 34 people are reported to have been killed and many injured by two car bomb explosions in a south-eastern district of Syria's capital, Damascus. State media said ""terrorists"" were behind the blasts in Jaramana and broadcast pictures showing several charred vehicles and damaged buildings. The district is predominantly Druze and Christian, two communities which have so far not joined the uprising. Earlier, there were clashes between security forces and rebels in Jaramana. There has been fierce fighting in recent days in eastern parts of the countryside around Damascus, known as the Ghouta. Pro-government TV channel Addounia said the car bombs had exploded in Jaramana shortly after 06:40 local time (04:40 GMT). Continue reading the main story The car bombs exploded in an area which is predominantly Druze and Christian - two minorities which President Bashar al-Assad's government says it is protecting from ""terrorist extremists"". These are not the first attacks in Jaramana to have been blamed on those seeking to overthrow the government. But in the past, the armed opposition has denied any involvement and repeatedly said it is targeting Mr Assad's forces and not minority groups. Areas like Jaramana are heavily guarded by pro-government militia known as Popular Committees. The conflict in Syria is rapidly taking on a sectarian dimension. Earlier this month, similar attacks took place in pro-government Alawite districts like Mezzeh 86 and Woroud. Meanwhile, government forces continue to bombard rebel-held areas in Damascus and elsewhere in the country that are predominantly Sunni. The opposition says the decisive battle to overthrow Mr Assad will be in Damascus. The city has become heavily fortified, with security forces personnel and checkpoints all over. Many people here feel the tension of further escalation yet to hit the capital. ""Terrorists blew up two car bombs filled with a large amount of explosives in the main square,"" the official Sana news agency reported. State television quoted a source at the interior ministry as saying that 34 people had died and 83 had been seriously injured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group, put the death toll at 47, including women and children. It said it had so far identified 38 of the victims and that the death toll would probably rise."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Toyota's president has apologised to the US Congress and American Toyota owners for safety problems that led to deaths and worldwide recalls. Akio Toyoda said he was ""deeply sorry"" for any incidents which had occurred as a result of failures with accelerators and brakes on several models. Mr Toyoda pledged his ""full co-operation"" with the US investigation. But, under questioning, he insisted no faults had been discovered with the electronics of any of its vehicles. He pledged that an independent, outside advisory board would look into the issue. Toyota's assurances that faulty electronics were not the cause of faulty accelerator or brake pedals in Toyota or Lexus models do not appear to have convinced the politicians. And its reluctance to remove encryption of so-called ""black boxes"" in its cars also upset the committee members. Earlier the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Edolphus Towns, said Toyota and regulators had ""failed their customers"" on safety. And Transport Secretary Ray LaHood told the hearing that all vehicles which had been recalled were ""not safe"". But he added that Mr Toyoda's scheduled appearance showed that world's biggest car maker was no longer ""safety deaf"" to complaints and concerns. The reputation of Toyota has been severely damaged by a string of major problems across a range of vehicles. The main issues have been faulty accelerator pedals, accelerator pedals getting stuck in floor mats, and a problem with braking systems on its hybrid models. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Fe Lastrella, who lost four family members in a crash caused by a faulty accelerator on a Toyota, gave evidence after Mr Toyoda. Mrs Lastrella's son Chris, daughter Cleofe, Cleofe's husband Mark Saylor and the couple's daughter Mahala were killed on 28 August 2009 in California - an incident that led to renewed US government scrutiny of problems with acceleration in some models. ""To the honourable members of the committee and the honourable members of the congress, the answer lies in your hands,"" she said. Under questioning, Mr Toyoda said the company had shared with US authorities all the information it had about unintended acceleration problems. Oct 2009 - 3.8 million vehicles are recalled in the US following floor mat problems. More recalls follow in the next few months, over various safety concerns, totalling 8.5 million worldwide by Feb 2010 5 Feb - Toyota president Akio Toyoda apologises for the recalls and pledges to target quality control. However, he is criticised for not bowing deeply enough 9 Feb - Mr Toyoda publicly apologises again and this time is seen to get the bow right 18 Feb - Mr Toyoda announces that he will face questioning in Congress, having previously said that he would not, after being formally asked to do so 23 Feb - Congressional hearings begin, with Toyota's head of US operations, James Lentz, among the first to be grilled. 24 Feb - Toyota's president Akio Toyoda faces politicians in day two of the hearing. Why is it not called Toyoda? In remarks which he read to the House, Mr Toyoda admitted that the firm's expansion ""may have been too quick"". He was joined by Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief executive of Toyota Motor North America, who answered questions in English. Mr Toyoda read his opening statement in English, but answered questions in Japanese, through a translator. Mr Toyoda is the highest-profile figure to appear before the politicians. He had initially said that he would stay in Japan and not face Congress but changed his mind last week after a formal request from the committee chairman. The grandson of the company's founder, Mr Toyoda said in prepared remarks that he took a personal responsibility for improving the quality of Toyota cars. ""All the Toyota vehicles bear my name. For me, when the cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well. I, more than anyone, wish for Toyota's cars to be safe, and for our customers to feel safe when they use our vehicles."" And he added: ""We pursued growth over the speed at which we were able to develop our people and our organisation and we should be sincerely mindful of that."" Chairman Towns said he was ""impressed ""that Mr Toyoda had agreed to testify voluntarily. ""It shows your commitment to safety as well,"" Mr Towns added. Are you in Japan? What is your view of the problems with Toyota cars? How do you feel about Akio Toyoda apologising to the US Congress? Send us your views using the form below. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" Two rockets landed outside of Jerusalem Friday evening as sirens rang out, causing no injuries or damage. Police reported there was ""no indication"" that rockets landed in the city, stating that ""most likely, the rockets landed in an open area outside of Jerusalem."" Hamas took credit for the attack, claiming to have shot ""an improved Kassam,"" which it called an M-75, towards Jerusalem. The launch represents the first Hamas rocket attack aimed at Jerusalem. A rocket is believed to have fallen in the Judean desert, near the area of Tekoa, though this is not yet certain. Police confirmed one rocket landed in Gush Etzion.  Hours earlier, two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip in the direction of the greater Tel Aviv area and prompted a red alert air raid siren to be sounded in the city for the second straight day.   The IDF stated that the rocket had not landed in Tel Aviv, but local residents reported hearing an explosion following the siren. No injuries or damage were reported. The armed wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for that attack as well. The cities of Be'ersheva, Ashdod, and Ashkelon, and southern towns came under repeated rocket attacks throughout the day. Homes were damaged in the attacks.   Thursday and Friday's attacks on the Tel Aviv area marked the first time the center of the country was hit in the renewed violence from the Gaza Strip and the first time that a real siren was sounded in Tel Aviv since the Gulf War in the early 1990s. Palestinian Islamic Jihad took responsibility for Thursday's rocket on Tel Aviv."
" An IDF spokesman said that during the day Sunday the IDF attacked over eighty terrorist targets, including rocket launching infrastructure and smuggling tunnels.  The IDF targeted the head of Hamas's rocket program, Yahiya Abiya on Sunday afternoon in an airstrike. The attack was directly ordered by Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz.  Army sources say that Abiya was directly responsible for the majority of rockets that have been fired on Israel.   The IDF confirmed communications infrastructure in the northern Gaza Strip used by the Hamas terrorist organization was also attacked. According to Palestinian sources, strikes throughout the day killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, the highest death toll in a single incident in five days of fighting.  The casualties included nine children and five women in the attack on a three-story building, medics say. The house reportedly belonged to a Hamas official.  Ma'an also reported that the number of Palestinian casualties rose to at least 72 on Sunday, with hundreds wounded. Rescue workers were still at the site searching for people who might be buried under the rubble. The airforce has taken every measure possible to try and avoid harming Palestinian non-combatants, including precision strikes and issuing warnings to civilians. Hamas often employs the tactics of using civilians as human shields."
" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told foreign leaders he spoke with this weekend that he is prepared for a comprehensive ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible, if the rocket firing stops. The foreign leaders asked Netanyahu not to escalate the fighting and to give several days to the intensive mediation efforts Egypt has been leading during the course of the weekend."
" An Israeli strike on a home in Gaza has killed at least 10 people, officials say, as Sunday became the deadliest day since Israel launched an operation against Hamas militants last week. Israel said it had targeted a Hamas man but at least nine members of one family died, including several children. Heavy bombardment of the strip was continuing early on Monday morning. Gaza militants continue to fire rockets at Israel, with injuries reported in towns including Ashkelon and Ofakim. Sources on both sides say attempts to reach a ceasefire are continuing, but PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is ready to expand its operation. At least 26 people were reported to have been killed in Gaza by Israeli bombardments on Sunday. Of those, at least 14 were women and children, Gaza health officials said. This brought the death toll in Gaza since Israel launched its Operation Pillar of Defence on Wednesday to 72, the officials said. Air strikes continued late into the evening, with BBC correspondents also reporting renewed shelling from Israeli warships. Three Israelis were killed on Thursday. The BBC's Paul Danahar arrived at the scene of the air strike on the home north of Gaza City to see diggers trying to scoop rubble from flattened buildings and with rescuers frantically trying to find survivors."
" Eight men have been found not guilty of the murders of three men during last summer's riots in Birmingham. Haroon Jahan, 20, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, died on 10 August after being hit by a car on Dudley Road in Winson Green. All eight defendants denied they planned to kill the men in a co-ordinated attack using three cars and said the deaths were an accident. Judge Mr Justice Flaux appealed for calm on the streets of Birmingham. The judge had questioned the reliability of the evidence given in court by Detective Chief Inspector Anthony Tagg, the senior investigating officer. This is now the subject of an Independent Police Complaints Commission inquiry. The three victims were part of a group of about 80 men who said they had gathered on Dudley Road late on 9 August to defend local businesses after riots started in the Handsworth area. The three friends were injured at about 01:00 BST on 10 August and died later at the nearby City Hospital. Hours after the deaths, Mr Jahan's father Tariq made an appeal asking people not to seek reprisal. The judge paid tribute to the ""wonderful"" work of Mr Jahan, who listened in the public gallery as the verdicts were announced."
" A police officer who hit Ian Tomlinson with a baton and pushed him to the ground at the G20 protests has been found not guilty of manslaughter. PC Simon Harwood, 45, of south London, denied the manslaughter, in April 2009, of Mr Tomlinson, 47, on the grounds that he used reasonable force. Mr Tomlinson, was pushed as he walked away from a police line in the City of London. He later collapsed and died. His family said they would be pursuing the case in a civil court. It is not clear if that will be against PC Harwood as an individual or against the Metropolitan Police. ""After the unlawful killing verdict at the inquest last year, we expected to hear a guilty verdict - not a not guilty verdict and it really hurts,"" Mr Tomlinson's stepson Paul King, said outside the court. ""It's not the end, we are not giving up for justice for Ian."" Members of Mr Tomlinson's family cried in the public gallery as the verdict was delivered at Southwark Crown Court. PC Harwood, in the dock, and his wife, in the public gallery, also cried. The jury of five men and seven women had considered their verdict for four days."
" Israel has launched more deadly strikes on Gaza, with PM Benjamin Netanyahu saying Israel was ready to ""significantly expand"" its operation. At least nine people were killed in one strike on the house of a Hamas official in Gaza City, BBC correspondents say. Gaza militants continue to fire rockets at Israel, with injuries reported in towns including Ashkelon and Ofakim. Sources on both sides say attempts to reach a ceasefire after five days of violence are continuing. US President Barack Obama, speaking on Sunday, said Washington was ""fully supportive of Israel's right to defend itself"". However, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague warned that a ground invasion would ""lose Israel a lot of the international support and sympathy they have in this situation"". Speaking to Sky News, Mr Hague stressed that the Hamas movement, which governs Gaza, bore ""principal responsibility"" for the current conflict. Israeli soldiers were ready ""for any activity that could take place"", Mr Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday. ""We are exacting a heavy price from Hamas and the terrorist organisations and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are prepared for a significant expansion of the operation,"" he said. The Israeli military confirmed to the BBC that it knew foreign journalists were in at least one of the two media buildings it struck in Gaza, but said they were not the target."
" Thousands of Home Office staff will strike over job cuts and other issues the day before the Olympics, the Public and Commercial Services union has said. PCS members will strike for 24 hours next Thursday - when many thousands of visitors are due to arrive in the UK. Home Secretary Theresa May said the action was ""shameful"" as it threatens disruption to people travelling to London for the Games. Immigration minister Damian Green said contingency plans were in place. The PCS is in dispute with the Home Office over plans to cut 8,500 jobs and the threat of compulsory redundancies in the passport office in Newport, South Wales. There are also disagreements over pay rises capped at 1% following a two-year wage freeze, privatisation of services, and alleged victimisation of union reps. East Midlands Trains staff have also voted to strike during the Olympics. PCS union members will take other forms of action from July 27 to August 20, including working-to-rule and an overtime ban. The PCS said 57.2% of those who voted backed strike action - the turnout was 20%. The action will involve staff across the Home Office, including the UK Border Agency, the Identity and Passport Service and Criminal Records Bureau."
" The Olympic flame has arrived in the host city in dramatic style, being abseiled into the Tower of London from a Royal Navy helicopter at 20:12 BST. The Sea King took off from Guildford at the end of day 63 of the torch relay. Royal Marine Martyn Williams abseiled with the flame onto Tower Wharf where Dame Kelly Holmes became the capital's first torchbearer. The double Olympic gold medallist carried the flame on to the ramparts of the Tower. She handed the flame to Abul Kasam, 30, who was selected as a torchbearer for his voluntary work in the borough of Tower Hamlets, and who carried the flame into a reception for invited guests at the Jewel House. Dignitaries present included Locog Chairman Sebastian Coe, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman and General the Lord Dannatt, Constable of the Tower of London. Lord Coe said the Tower of London was a fitting entry point for the Olympic flame in to London as ""it is where the power and the significance of the Monarch resides, while it also houses London 2012's medals"". He said that in the nine weeks of the Olympic torch relay so far, more than 10 million people had come out to more than 1,000 towns, villages and cities to celebrate not just the flame but the extraordinary contribution of the torchbearers' to London 2012. Mr Johnson added of the Tower's significance: ""As Henry VIII discovered, with at least two of his wives, it was the perfect place to bring an old flame."" He said tomorrow the flame would begin its procession through London until ""millions of Londoners have seen the flame with their own eyes and, as it spreads through the city, I know its radiance will dispel any last remaining clouds of dampness and anxiety that may hover over some parts of the media in this country""."
" A suicide bomb attack has killed at least nine people in north-western Pakistan, officials say. The blast went off at the entrance to an anti-Taliban commander's compound in Kurram, part of the tribal regions which border Afghanistan. The compound is used by a local militia and also contains residential units, reports the Reuters news agency. Pakistan's military has been carrying out operations against militant groups in the tribal regions for months. Three children were among the dead, tribal police officials told the Associated Press (AP). At least 15 people were injured. The compound belongs to a militant commander, Mullah Nabi, who split from the Pakistani Taliban. He has been involved in clashes in the past with other commanders loyal to the Taliban, says BBC Asia analyst Jill McGivering. The bomber tried to enter the guest quarters in Nabi's compound, tribal police official Amjad Khan told AP. When the bomber was challenged by guards outside, the explosives were detonated, he said. It is unclear who carried out the attack."
" The outspoken Mr Chavez used his weekly television and radio show Alo Presidente to rally Latin America behind the cause of his Argentine counterpart Cristina Kirchner by making a direct appeal to Buckingham Palace. ""Look, England, how long are you going to be in Las Malvinas? Queen of England, I'm talking to you,"" said Mr Chavez. ""The time for empires are over, haven't you noticed? Return the Malvinas to the Argentine people."" Still addressing the Queen, he went on: ""The English are still threatening Argentina. Things have changed. We are no longer in 1982. If conflict breaks out, be sure Argentina will not be alone like it was back then."" He described British control of the islands in the South Atlantic as ""anti-historic and irrational"" and asked ""why the English speak of democracy but still have a Queen"". Mrs Kirchner sought to win new allies in Argentina's claims to the islands when she made a direct appeal for support at a meeting in Mexico of the Rio Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries. Venezuela and Nicaragua rallied to Argentina's side even before Mrs Krichner's appeal, and it was reported that Brazil was ready to support any resolution backing Argentina's sovereignty claims. Argentine anger is likely to increase after Desire Petroleum, the British oil company that has towed a rig from Scotland to about 60 miles off the north of the Falklands, announced on Monday it had begun drilling. Argentina is attempting to hamper oil exploration, insisting last week that all vessels using its ports must now seek permission if they plan to enter or leave British-controlled waters. Argentina wants other South American countries to impose its transport restrictions to the Falklands but it is unlikely to win support from those closest to the islands such as Chile and Uruguay. If - as the drillers insist - large amounts of oil and natural gas are discovered off the Falklands, Argentina would lose out heavily if it were unable to provide refining and port facilities."
" ISLAMABAD -- Illegally excavated Buddhist relics that were recovered by Pakistani police two weeks ago have been stolen from a police station in Karachi, Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday. The rare pieces dating back to the Gandhara civilisation, which existed more than 2,000 years ago in northwestern Pakistan, were impounded by police after raid on July 6.Dawn reported that the artefacts were ""dumped"" in a police building in Landhi, where they were left unguarded. It said three statues were missing.A man was photographed walking into the police station and then walking out with the head of a statue.""He allowed the piece to be photographed but took it away with him, saying..."
" The US will face more competition at the top of a multi-polar global system US economic, military and political dominance is likely to decline over the next two decades, according to a new US intelligence report on global trends. The National Intelligence Council (NIC) predicts China, India and Russia will increasingly challenge US influence. It also says the dollar may no longer be the world's major currency, and food and water shortages will fuel conflict. However, the report concedes that these outcomes are not inevitable and will depend on the actions of world leaders. It will make sombre reading for President-elect Barack Obama, the BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says, as it paints a bleak picture of the future of US influence and power. The US will remain the single most important actor but will be less dominant   ""The next 20 years of transition to a new system are fraught with risks,"" says Global Trends 2025, the latest of the reports that the NIC prepares every four years in time for the next presidential term. Washington will retain its considerable military advantages, but scientific and technological advances; the use of ""irregular warfare tactics""; the proliferation of long-range precision weapons; and the growing use of cyber warfare ""increasingly will constrict US freedom of action"", it adds. Nevertheless, the report concludes: ""The US will remain the single most important actor but will be less dominant."" The NIC's 2004 study painted a rosier picture of America's global position, with US dominance expected to continue. But the latest Global Trends report says that rising economies such as China, India, Russia and Brazil will offer the US more competition at the top of a multi-polar international system. Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader The EU is meanwhile predicted to become a ""hobbled giant"", unable to turn its economic power into diplomatic or military muscle. A world with more power centres will be less stable than one with one or two superpowers, it says, offering more potential for conflict. Global warming, along with rising populations and economic growth will put additional strains on natural resources, it warns, fuelling conflict around the globe as countries compete for them. ""Strategic rivalries are most likely to revolve around trade, investments and technological innovation and acquisition, but we cannot rule out a 19th Century-like scenario of arms races, territorial expansion and military rivalries,"" the report says. ""Types of conflict we have not seen for a while - such as over resources - could re-emerge."" There will be greater potential for conflict in the future, the NIC says Such conflicts and resource shortages could lead to the collapse of governments in Africa and South Asia, and the rise of organised crime in Eastern and Central Europe, it adds. And the use of nuclear weapons will grow increasingly likely, the report says, as ""rogue states"" and militant groups gain greater access to them. But al-Qaeda could decay ""sooner than people think"", it adds, citing the group's growing unpopularity in the Muslim world. ""The prospect that al-Qaeda will be among the small number of groups able to transcend the generational timeline is not high, given its harsh ideology, unachievable strategic objectives and inability to become a mass movement,"" it says. The NIC does, however, give some scope for leaders to take action to prevent the emergence of new conflicts. ""It is not beyond the mind of human beings, or political systems, [or] in some cases [the] working of market mechanisms to address and alleviate if not solve these problems,"" said Thomas Fingar, chairman of the NIC. And, our correspondent adds, it is worth noting that US intelligence has been wrong before."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A British company has begun drilling for oil in the territorial waters of the Falkland Islands, despite strong opposition from Argentina. The platform has been towed to a point 100km (62 miles) north of the UK territory in the South Atlantic. Argentina claims sovereignty over what it calls the Islas Malvinas and has imposed shipping restrictions. UK Defence Minister Bill Rammell said the government had a ""legitimate right"" to build an oil industry in its waters. Desire Petroleum, which is overseeing the operation, said drilling had started on the Liz 14/19-A exploration well at 1415 GMT. Desire is an oil company and it's exploring for oil and not getting involved in what Argentina is saying about going to the UN. The rig is sitting firmly inside UK waters   Have Your Say: How serious is row? In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, it said: ""The well is being drilled to an estimated target depth of circa 3,500 metres (11,480 feet). ""Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 30 days and a further announcement will be made once drilling is completed."" Mr Rammell told the House of Commons the government would take ""whatever steps [were] necessary"" to protect the islands and that it had made Argentina ""aware of that"". Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said ""no amount of intimidation"" from Buenos Aires could alter what was a ""fundamental issue of self-determination"". Argentina has threatened to take ""adequate measures"" to stop British oil exploration in contested waters around the islands, and is seeking support from Latin American countries at a regional meeting in Mexico. It wants its neighbours also to impose restrictions on shipping in the area. Argentina can already count on support from President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who said Britain was being irrational and had to realise the ""time for empires was over"". Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has called for ""Britain to return the territory of the Malvinas to its real owners - to return it to Argentina"" on Venezuelan Telesur television. Argentina has long claimed the islands. It invaded the Falklands in 1982, before a UK taskforce seized back control in a short war that claimed the lives of 649 Argentine and 255 British service personnel. But it has ruled out military action and is trying to pressure Britain into negotiations on sovereignty. Last year Argentina submitted a claim to the United Nations for a vast expanse of ocean, based on research into the extent of the continental shelf, stretching to the Antarctic and including the island chains governed by the UK.   It is due to raise the issue at the UN later this week. Desire Petroleum spokesman David Willie said: ""Desire is an oil company and it's exploring for oil and not getting involved in what Argentina is saying about going to the UN. The rig is sitting firmly inside UK waters."" He added that Argentina was beginning its own oil exploration programme in the waters west of the islands. Mr Willie said oil exploration in the Falklands was at an early stage, and even if commercially viable amounts were found it would be many years before the oil would start to flow. The platform, the Ocean Guardian, has been towed 8,000 miles from the Cromarty Firth in Scotland. Last week the Falklands Legislative Assembly, which sold the licence to explore for oil to Desire, said it had ""every right"" to develop ""legitimate business"" in hydrocarbons. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said British oil exploration in the area was ""completely in accordance with international law"". UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown also said the government had ""made all the preparations that are necessary to make sure the Falkland islanders are properly protected"". The British oil rig has been towed from the North Sea, at a cost of $245,000 per day. It will drill wells in at least four of the offshore exploration areas known as ""prospects"" In 1998 six wells were drilled, targeting one layer of sandstone - but not enough oil was found and the low price meant further exploration was abandoned Now the price of oil has risen, there is potentially more profit to be made from drilling deeper, into untested sandstone on sides of basin The area known as ""Liz"" will be the first prospect drilled - geologists say there is a 17% chance of finding an oil reserve of about 391m barrels"
" Russia has sent thousands of soldiers to strengthen security in Ingushetia Human rights activists and opposition politicians in Russia's southern republic of Ingushetia have told the BBC that the predominantly Muslim region is now in a state of civil war. It is reported that more than 800 people have been killed in an escalating conflict which originally spilt over from neighbouring Chechnya six years ago. Ingushetia is a tiny region with a total population of just 300,000. ""A lot of my human rights colleagues and politicians say it is now a civil war and I agree with that,"" Magomed Mutsolgov, director of the Ingush Human Rights organisation Mashr, says. ""In my opinion it is a war between the security forces and the local population. Many members of the security forces consider themselves above the law and the population outside the law,"" he adds. See detailed map of the region A low-level insurgency involving Muslim fighters escalated dramatically last year with a surge of attacks on the security forces and also on people who have moved into the region from other parts of Russia. ""From July or August last year there have been three or four attacks every week,"" Tanya Lokshina, of Human Rights Watch, says. She recently compiled a major report on Ingushetia. ""There are a few hundred insurgents in total who are Jihadists fighting to establish a Caliphate in the (Caucasus) region."" Moscow's response has been heavy-handed, with reports that an extra 2,500 troops from outside Ingushetia were deployed in the republic last year to help crush what Russia sees as a Muslim rebellion. But this has only added fuel to the fire which is driving ever more young Ingush men into the arms of the rebels. The military and other security services including the FSB, the successor to the KGB, have long stood accused of committing gross human rights violations against the Ingush population - such as kidnapping and torture. But last year, according to Human Rights Watch, the security forces were also responsible for a wave of extra-judicial killings. Human Rights Watch says 40 people were killed without any proof they had anything to do with the insurgency. Young men of 18 and 19 want to avenge these killings - for some it's a Jihad against Russia   On a dirt track on the outskirts of the main town, Nazran, Jamaldin Gardanov showed me the spot where he says his brother Hamzat was shot through the head by a Russian soldier in August. He told me Hamzat had been driving home with his cousin after buying some paint in town. ""My brother and his cousin were passing a checkpoint set up after a policeman was killed on the main road,"" he said. ""The car turned down here (into the dirt track) and the security forces opened fire with intent to kill. Jamaldin Gardanov with some of the children of his dead brothers ""My brother died on the spot and his cousin ran off through the fields. The police then fired on the fields for two hours destroying everything. ""I'm 36-years-old and far from being a fighter, but young men of 18 and 19 want to avenge these killings. For some it's a Jihad against Russia,"" he said. Back at Jamaldin's house we met Hamzat's widow and her two children. Jamaldin is now looking after them all. Over lunch he showed me photographs of a raid on his house by Russian soldiers at the beginning of this month. One of the pictures shows a young child standing outside the house in front of an armoured personnel carrier. ""My wife and children were standing outside for three hours as they searched our house,"" he said. ""They claim we are all Wahhabis"", he said, ""so we are being persecuted."" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Jamaldin does come from a family of theologians and is deeply religious, but he strongly denies any links to radical Islam. ""The security forces have created the threat of Wahhabism as a cover for what they are doing here,"" he said. He then showed us some shocking clips of video stored on his mobile phone. In the first we could see a close-up of a man's head covered in blood. This was another of Jamaldin's brothers, 21-year-old Adam. Jamaldin says he was also shot dead by the security forces. The widow of one of the brothers The second mobile phone video shows the incident, which happened in the centre of Nazran, in February last year. It was filmed by someone inside the main administration building, looking down on the square where Adam and a friend had been sitting in a car. The video shows what looks very much like a soldier pulling the bodies from the vehicle. Jamaldin says the prosecutor told him off the record that his brother Adam was ""absolutely clean"", there was no reason for him to have been killed. The family believes Adam may have been targeted simply because he was a devout Muslim who had studied in Egypt. Later, in a safe location, we met up with another victim of the security forces' dirty war in Ingushetia. 23-year-old Tamerlan could barely get out of the car when he arrived at our meeting-point. He had just been released after being detained for six days by the security forces in the northern town of Maglobek. He had been picked up with three friends following the murder of a policeman in the town. When we got inside, he pulled up his jumper to reveal a cluster of deep bruises and cuts around his lower back. He said he was also badly bruised on his upper thighs and he had marks on his wrists. Tamerlan says he was tortured for 12 hours and lost consciousness ""They tortured me from six in the morning to six in the evening,"" he said. ""They put a sack over my head and beat me so badly I lost consciousness. They put sharp implements under my nails. I thought I was going to die, it was sadistic. ""They also tied my hands and feet together and hung me up - so I started to suffocate."" He says the security forces were trying to get him to confess to involvement in the policeman's murder but had to release him because he knew nothing about it. He told me he had no connection with the rebels. ""Maybe they detained me because I'm a Muslim and pray at the Mosque and my wife wears the Hijab,"" he said. According to the mainstream opposition leader Maksharip Aushev, this brutal treatment of the local population is not only swelling the ranks of the rebel fighters. ""People are coming to me all the time, saying let's vote for independence,"" he says. ""If we had a referendum, 80% of the population would vote to leave Russia,"" he adds. In a sign of mounting panic back in Moscow, the Kremlin suddenly announced three weeks ago that the former KGB officer Murat Zyazikov, who had been in charge of Ingushetia since 2002, was being replaced. The new man is a career soldier, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who made his name during the wars in Chechnya. He turned down our request for an interview. The most senior politician in the region who was prepared to speak to us was the chairman of the local parliament's security committee, Mukhtar Buzurtanov. He said Yunus-Bek Yevkurov must bring the security forces under control and stop what he called their ""illegal activities"". But he also accused the rebels of trying to destabilise Russia, saying they were part of a radical Islamic movement which had moved into Ingushetia after the wars in Chechnya. He added that more than 50 soldiers had been killed so far this year. Other senior officials in the local government have been quoted as saying they have to mount security operations to eliminate the rebels because of the threat they pose to Moscow's rule over the region. The arrival of a new leader of Ingushetia who is a battle-hardened soldier and veteran of the Chechen conflict may sound ominous. But the top opposition politician Maksharip Aushev holds out some hope that Yunus-Bek Yevkurov could improve the situation. ""The former leader Zyazikov was 100% to blame (for the situation). The first thing (new leader Yunus- Bek Yevkurov) did was to invite us to meet him and he said he plans to stop the human rights abuses and tackle corruption. At the moment we see no reason not to trust him."" So far there have not been any signs of change and the violence and abuses have continued. ""We will give [Mr Yevkurov] a maximum of three months,"" Mr Aushev says. ""We will support him if things change, if not it will go back to the situation as it was before."""
" Afghanistan's government has condemned a Nato air strike on a convoy of vehicles in the south of the country, which killed at least 27 civilians. Nato said it had hit a suspected insurgent convoy, but troops then found ""a number of individuals killed and wounded"", including women and children. Sunday's attack, in Uruzgan province, was not part of a major Nato-led push in neighbouring Helmand province. Civilian deaths in strikes have caused widespread resentment in Afghanistan. After initial reports put the death-toll at 33, a revised statement lowered the figure to 27, including four women and one child. Meanwhile, a suicide attack in the eastern province of Nangahar has killed at least 15 people including influential Afghan tribal chief Mohammad Haji Zaman. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Correspondents say the former mujahideen warlord played an important role in fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda in 2001 but was suspected of having allowed Osama Bin Laden to flee to Pakistan. The Afghan government condemned Sunday's air strike, calling it ""unjustifiable"" and ""a major obstacle"" to effective counter-terrorism efforts. The cabinet also called on Nato ""to closely co-ordinate and exercise maximum care before conducting any military operation so that any possible mistakes that may result in harming civilians... can be avoided"". People feel that is exactly the kind of incident that pushes people towards the Taliban - so just what Nato didn't want at this time. Nato has been quick to express its regret. Maj Gen Nick Carter, the commander of Nato forces in southern Afghanistan, told the BBC he will be travelling to Uruzgan to visit the wounded. He said any loss of life was deeply tragic and entirely counter-productive for the Nato mission. Nato has launched an inquiry into the attack, and the commander of the international forces in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, has apologised to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Last year, Gen McChrystal introduced much tougher rules of engagement in a bid to minimise such casualties. The BBC's Chris Morris in Kabul says three vehicles on a road were hit by the strike on Sunday morning. A Nato statement said it was thought the convoy contained Taliban insurgents on their way to attack Afghan and foreign military forces. But local officials say all the dead were civilians. A spokesman for the Uruzgan governor, Nisar Ahmad Khetab, said the Taliban control the area. Uruzgan province is where the Dutch mission to Afghanistan has been based since 2006, with nearly 2,000 service personnel. Over the weekend, the Dutch government collapsed over disagreements in the governing coalition on extending deployments in Afghanistan beyond August this year. Sep 2009: Up to 142 civilians die in Kunduz province when hijacked Up to 142 civilians die in Kunduz province when hijacked fuel tankers are bombed May 2009: US says 26 civilians died in raid in US says 26 civilians died in raid in Farah province; Afghan officials say 140 died Aug 2008: Up to 90 people, including Up to 90 people, including 60 children, killed in Herat province, UN says July 2008: Raid in Nangarhar mistakenly kills about 50 civilians at a Raid in Nangarhar mistakenly kills about 50 civilians at a wedding party Who are the Taliban? Our correspondent says the strike was not linked to the Nato-led Operation Moshtarak which is continuing in Helmand province, to the south of Uruzgan. Last week, 12 civilians died in that offensive - whose name means ""together"" in Dari - when ground-launched rockets hit a home. About 15,000 Nato and Afghan troops are involved in Moshtarak, now in its second week, and the largest operation since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001. The head of US Central Command, Gen David Petraeus, said on Sunday the operation, part of a revised strategy for combating insurgents, would probably last up to 18 months."
" Further tests could also be accompanied this year by another rocket launch, said the source, who has direct access to the top levels of government in both Beijing and Pyongyang. North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday, drawing global condemnation and a stern warning from the United States that it was a threat and a provocation. ""It's all ready. A fourth and fifth nuclear test and a rocket launch could be conducted soon, possibly this year,"" the source said, adding that the fourth nuclear test would be much larger than the third, at an equivalent of 10 kilotons of TNT. The tests will be undertaken, the source said, unless Washington holds talks with North Korea and abandons its policy of what Pyongyang sees as attempts at regime change. North Korea also reiterated its long-standing desire for the United States to sign a final peace agreement with it and establish diplomatic relations, he said. North Korea remains technically at war with both the United States and South Korea after the Korean war ended in 1953 with a truce. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland urged North Korea to ""refrain from additional provocative actions that would violate its international obligations"" under three different sets of U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit nuclear and missile tests. North Korea ""is not going to achieve anything in terms of the health, welfare, safety, future of its own people by these kinds of continued provocative actions. It's just going to lead to more isolation,"" Nuland told reporters. The Pentagon also weighed in, calling North Korea's missile and nuclear programs ""a threat to U.S. national security and to international peace and security."" ""The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and steadfast in our defense commitments to allies in the region,"" said Pentagon spokeswoman Major Catherine Wilkinson. Initial estimates of this week's test from South Korea's military put its yield at the equivalent of 6-7 kilotons, although a final assessment of yield and what material was used in the explosion may be weeks away."
" The European Union will tighten sanctions on North Korea to curb trade in gold and diamonds and crack down on financial links in protest at Pyongyang's recent rocket launch and nuclear bomb test, EU diplomats said on Friday.Diplomats have agreed on a new list of sanctions which will be formally approved by EU foreign ministers on Monday.Diplomats from Britain and several other EU countries with embassies in North Korea are also expected to show their displeasure by boycotting Saturday's celebrations of the birth of late leader Kim Jong-il, one EU diplomat said.North Korea drew widespread international condemnation this week by conducting its third nuclear test in defiance of United Nations resolutions. The test advanced it further along the path towards developing a workable long-range nuclear missile.It followed a widely criticised rocket launch in December.Reuters reported earlier that North Korea has told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the United States into talks.The 27-nation EU will adopt expanded sanctions approved by the UN Security Council in January but will add others of its own, according to EU diplomats. It will also say that it is considering further measures.The new EU sanctions ban trade with North Korea in some components that could be used in ballistic missiles and ""certain types of aluminium used in ballistic missile-related systems"", one EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.The European Union already has an extensive list of sanctions on North Korea, including on technology that could be used in a nuclear or ballistic missile programme.The new EU sanctions will prohibit trade in gold and other precious metals, and diamonds, with North Korean public bodies and will ban trade in new public bonds issued by North Korea, the diplomats said.North Korean banks would be barred from opening new branches in the European Union and European banks would not be able to open new branches in the northeast Asian state.North Korea is one of the world's most isolated states and the diplomats could not say if North Korean banks had any branches in the EU."
" Catering giant Compass Group and Whitbread, one of Britain's largest hotel chains, have found horse DNA in products sold as beef, it has emerged. Horsemeat has also been found in cottage pies supplied to 47 schools in Lancashire - they have been withdrawn. But the Food Standards Agency says that after 2,501 fresh tests no new products have been identified as containing more than 1% horsemeat. It said the 29 positive results were on seven previously withdrawn products. FSA chief executive Catherine Brown said she remained ""confident"" that the testing was the right way to address the issue. ""It is industry's responsibility to get this right - not the government's - and we consider that a comprehensive testing programme at all points of the supply chain and in all sectors is an essential step in addressing this issue. ""And as this programme of testing and publishing results continues, and as action is taken to tackle this issue in supply chains across Europe, we will reach the point where we can say with confidence that horse meat is no longer illegally entering the UK food chain."" Compass Group, one of the biggest school food providers in the UK, says its tests have found between 5% and 30% horse DNA in burgers it sold in Ireland and Northern Ireland. It says the burgers were supplied by Rangeland Foods in County Monaghan, which previously withdrew more than 9,000 burgers made for the UK market after some were found to contain horsemeat. Compass said the Rangeland burgers had been supplied to 13 sites in the Irish Republic and 27 in Northern Ireland, mostly offices but including two unnamed secondary schools."
" Syrian state TV says the authorities have released 755 people detained during the nine-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. The prisoners had been involved ""in recent incidents"" but their ""hands were not stained with blood"", a report said. The UN says more than 14,000 people are in detention and 5,000 have been killed as a result of the state's crackdown. Arab League monitors are continuing to deploy as they oversee a peace plan but there are reports of fresh violence. At least seven people have been killed so far on Wednesday in a number of towns and cities, activists said. The head of the observer mission has described what he has seen so far as ""reassuring"" and ""nothing frightening"", dismaying some activists and Western observers. The state TV news flash announcing the prisoner release on Wednesday said only that those affected ""did not have Syrian blood on their hands"". It did not mention where the protesters were arrested or detained. Continue reading the main story In one part of Homs, in a video posted on the internet by activists, a crowd of angry mourners gathers around the bonnet of a white vehicle, which has the insignia of the Arab League emblazoned on it and appears to belong to the observers. They lay the lifeless body of a small boy on the bonnet - the commentator shouts that it belongs to five-year-old Ahmad. ""These are our martyrs,"" he shouts to the Arab League, ""and they're being killed in front of your observers."" Activists say the violence has continued despite the presence of the observers. But despite the reservations of many activists about the Arab mission, and some glitches on the ground, the observers do seem to have got through, unaccompanied by Syrian official security escorts, to some of the worst-affected quarters of Homs. In November, the government announced that it had freed 1,180 prisoners, citing similar conditions. But earlier this month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said tens of thousands of people had been arrested and more than 14,000 were reported to be in detention as a result of the crackdown."
" The US Navy has said it will not tolerate disruption to a vital oil-trade route, following an Iranian threat to close it. Iran warned it would shut the Strait of Hormuz if the West imposed more sanctions over its nuclear programme. The US and its allies believe Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon - a charge Tehran denies. Reacting to Iran's warning, a US Fifth Fleet spokeswoman said it was ""always ready to counter malevolent actions"". The Strait of Hormuz links the Gulf - and the oil-producing states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - to the Indian Ocean. About 40% of the world's tanker-borne oil passes through it. The US maintains a naval presence in the Gulf, largely to ensure the transport of oil remains open. The strait ""is not only important for security and stability in the region, but also is an economic lifeline for countries in the Gulf, including Iran"", Pentagon spokesman George Little said. ""Raising the temperature on tensions in the Gulf is unhelpful"", he said, but added that he was unaware of any hostile action directed against US vessels. US Fifth Fleet spokeswoman Rebecca Rebarich told the BBC the navy would be ready to act if required: ""The US Navy is a flexible, multi-capable force committed to regional security and stability, always ready to counter malevolent actions to ensure freedom of navigation."" Western nations recently imposed new sanctions against Tehran following a UN report that said Iran had carried out tests related to ""development of a nuclear device""."
" It is just 34 miles (55 kilometers) wide and dotted with islands and rocky outcrops, a channel that links the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean. Like many marine chokepoints, the Strait of Hormuz has long commanded the attention of empires and their navies. And in recent decades it has become even more critical: One-third of the oil carried by sea passes through Hormuz -- that's some 15 million barrels every day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Now Iran's vice president is warning that the Islamic Republic could block the strait if sanctions are imposed on its exports of crude oil. France, Britain and Germany have proposed such sanctions as punishment for Iran's lack of cooperation on its nuclear program. To demonstrate its intent, Iran is holding a 10-day military exercise in an area from the eastern part of the strait out into the Arabian Sea, with some elements playing the part of enemy forces. Western diplomats describe the maneuvers as further evidence of Iran's volatile behavior, following the occupation of the British Embassy in Tehran. And it's not the first time Iran has used this vital sea lane in a high-stakes game of brinkmanship. The strait is thought to have been named for the Persian word hur-mogh, the date palm found on the coast. It was mentioned in a first-century mariner's account, ""The Periplus of the Erythtraean Sea,"" and through the ages was known for its pearls. But as oil became the lubricant of the world economy, the Strait of Hormuz -- and the sea lanes leading to it -- became a geostrategic flashpoint. So narrow is the strait, with sea lanes just two miles wide heading in and out of the gulf, that ships must pass through Iranian and Omani territorial waters. In addition, Iran and the United Arab Emirates dispute sovereignty over several islands close to the strait. Iran last tried to disrupt and sabotage Persian Gulf shipping during its decade-long conflict with Iraq, when the Arab gulf states were funding Saddam Hussein's war effort. When Iraq began attacking Iranian tankers in 1984, Iran responded by targeting vessels headed to and from gulf ports. And it began a guerrilla war at sea -- laying mines in shipping lanes. That led the U.S. to provide military escorts for Kuwaiti shipping. In 1988, an Iranian mine damaged and nearly sank the USS Samuel B. Roberts, prompting U.S. President Ronald Reagan to order retaliatory strikes against Iranian oil platforms and naval vessels. Two platforms -- Sirri and Sassan -- were destroyed and an Iranian warship sunk in Operation Praying Mantis. Since then, the U.S. has increased cooperation with the navies of gulf Arab states and established the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. But Iran's neighbors understand that their reliance on the strait to transport oil and liquefied natural gas remains vulnerable. According to U.S. diplomatic cables, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in December 2009 that ""Iraq would be the hardest hit"" if tensions led Iran to try to blockade the strait. Kuwaiti officials have suggested building a 1,000-mile land pipeline to the Gulf of Oman to reduce reliance on the maritime route."
" More Arab League observers are due to arrive in Syria as renewed violence hits the central city of Homs. At least 13 people died in gunfire and shelling on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says. Syria's main opposition group has urged observers, arriving as part of a deal to try to end the violence gripping the country, to visit the volatile city. Damascus says it is fighting armed gangs. The clampdown has killed more than 5,000 people, says the UN. The latest bloodshed is reported to have taken place in the Baba Amr district of Homs, which is reportedly besieged by government forces. A number of people have been killed in the town by mortar shelling and machine gun fire over the last few days, activists say. It is expected to be one of the first destinations for the Arab observer mission. The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says that Homs may well prove to be a test case for the mission in terms of ascertaining whether they truly have unrestricted access and whether there is any peace for them to monitor. Protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad first erupted in March. Casualty figures are hard to verify as most foreign media are banned from reporting in Syria. Continue reading the main story The mission is getting under way in earnest now. Syria has said it is responsible for the security of the Arab observers, so it remains to be seen how free their access to trouble spots will be. The head of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi, has said it will take about a week to judge whether Syria really is complying with the agreement it signed, under which the observers are to monitor a complete halt to the violence, the withdrawal of armed forces, and the release of all detainees, of whom there are many thousands. In advance of the observers' arrival, activists accused the authorities of moving detainees onto military bases - where the observers are not allowed to go - and also of removing hundreds of bodies of killed protesters from the morgue at Homs."
" Thousands of Thai protesters surrounded parliament Monday in an effort to prevent lawmakers from meeting in what they say is their final push in a six-month campaign against the government. Demonstrators began leaving Government House -- the prime minister's cabinet offices which they have occupied since late August -- early Monday and marched towards parliament a few blocks away in Bangkok's historic district. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said about 18,000 protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) had taken to the streets, and managed to block all three roads leading to parliament by about 7:40 am (0040 GMT). ""Today they discuss constitution amendments. Can we let it happen? Can we let the parliament meet?"" cried a protest leader on a truck as thousands of supporters cheered ""No!"" and waved noisy plastic clappers. A sea of people dressed in yellow shirts and headbands which symbolise loyalty to the monarchy surged in front of police barricades, many waving national flags and portraits of the deeply revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Witnesses said hundreds of volunteer PAD security guards -- know as the ""Srivijaya Warriors"" -- wearing black shirts and wielding homemade batons were protecting the crowd of protesters. About 1,150 police with shields stood guard in and around the barricaded parliament to try and prevent a repeat of bloody street battles on October 7 at the same location that left two protesters dead and nearly 500 people injured. ""We don't know what will happen now. We will decide according to the situation,"" PAD leader Sondhi Limthongkul told AFP. ""We could move to the Stock Exchange of Thailand or the foreign ministry,"" said Sondhi, adding that they were waiting to see how many more supporters showed up for what he earlier called their ""final battle"". The PAD began their protests on May 25, and aim to bring down the government elected in December, accusing it of being a corrupt proxy of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a September 2006 coup."
" An American UN worker has been freed by militants two months after he was snatched at gunpoint in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, officials say. The UN and local police said John Solecki was abandoned by his captors in a village near the city of Quetta. Mr Solecki, a UN refugee agency (UNHCR) worker, was snatched on 2 February in the city. His driver was killed. Militants from the hitherto unknown Balochistan Liberation United Front took responsibility for the abduction. The group has made several statements since the kidnapping claiming that Mr Solecki was in poor health. But UN spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis said Mr Solecki was ""tired but he seems OK"". UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was very pleased Mr Solecki had been freed and thanked all those who had worked to secure his release. The BLUF had demanded the release of thousands of prisoners it claimed were being held by the government. A person claiming to speak for the group contacted local journalists earlier to say the American was being freed on humanitarian grounds. Militants have been fighting a low-level insurgency in Balochistan for many years."
" Reports from Pakistan say a US drone aircraft has fired a missile in the country's north-west, killing 13 people including some foreign militants. The attack was in North Waziristan on the Afghan border, about 3:00am (local time). Security officials and residents say the missile hit a house where some guests were staying, an apparent reference to the foreign militants. One resident, Amir Shah, said drones were still flying over the area several hours after the attack. Many Al Qaeda and Taliban militants fled to north-western Pakistani border regions such as North Waziristan after US-led forces ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan in late 2001. With the Afghan insurgency intensifying, the United States began launching more drone attacks on the Pakistani side of the border last year."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil and national security adviser MK Narayanan have submitted their resignations in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. The moves come amid growing pressure on the Indian government to explain why it was unable to prevent the militant strike in which at least 172 died. It is not clear whether Mr Narayanan's resignation has been accepted. The attacks have increased tensions with Pakistan after allegations the gunmen had Pakistani links. Islamabad denies any involvement, but India's Deputy Home Minister, Shakeel Ahmad, told the BBC it was ""very clearly established"" that all the attackers were from Pakistan. ""Whether they had government backing or whether there was any official involvement in it - it will come to light after proper investigation,"" Mr Ahmad said. The home minister wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ""owning moral responsibility"" for the attacks, the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder, in Delhi, says. His resignation has been accepted, and more departures may follow, our correspondent adds. The resignations come ahead of an all party meeting set for Sunday evening, which is poised to discuss new anti-terror measures in India - including new anti-terror laws, and the possible creation of new anti-terror agency. Hundreds of people took to the streets of Mumbai on Sunday to protest at what they say were government failures in the face of the attacks. Protesters say the authorities should have been more prepared for the attacks and also question whether warnings were ignored, and how long it took commandos to reach the scenes of the attacks. See a detailed map of the area As customers entered the cafe, staff wearing red polo shirts burst into applause and one man led a cheer of ""God bless India"". ""We will prove to terrorists by opening that we have won, you have not won,"" said Farhang Jehani, who owns and runs the cafe with his brother. Indian troops killed the last of the gunmen at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel on Saturday. More resignations are expected to follow that of Shivraj Patil As few as 10 militants may have been involved in the assault which saw attacks in multiple locations including two hotels, a major railway station, a hospital and a Jewish centre. While the vast majority of victims were Indians, at least 22 foreigners are known to have died, including victims from Israel, the US, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia, Italy, Singapore, Thailand and France. One Briton, Andreas Liveras, was also killed. Some of the gunmen came ashore by rubber dinghy on the night the killing began, others are reported to have been in the city for months gathering information on their targets. India's home ministry said the official toll in Mumbai was 183 killed, but earlier disaster authorities said at least 195 people had been killed and 295 wounded. On Sunday morning the state governor put the death toll for the bombings at 172, although this could rise if more bodies are discovered in the search of the siege hotels. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said earlier he believed that a group based outside India was behind the killings and senior Indian politicians have said the only surviving gunman to be captured is from Pakistan. A claim of responsibility for this week's attacks was made by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen - a reference to a mainly Muslim region of India. According to a statement leaked to Indian newspapers, the one alleged militant captured alive, named as Azam Amir Qasab, said the Mumbai militants had received training from an Islamist group once backed by Pakistani intelligence, Lashkar-e-Toiba. Pakistan banned the group in 2002 at US insistence."
" Nine decapitated bodies have been discovered in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, a hot spot in an increasingly gruesome war between drug cartels. The bodies and heads were left in a vacant lot beside a factory, witnesses and police told reporters. Mexico is facing spiralling drug violence, especially along its border with the United States. Cities like Tijuana, south of San Diego, are seeing horrendous levels of crime, with bodies set on fire, cut up and dumped in acid and strung over highways. Beheadings, kidnappings and daylight shootings have become common as vicious drug cartels fight over smuggling routes into the United States. President Felipe Calderon has sent some 40,000 troops and federal police across Mexico to try to stop the killings. But despite major drug seizures and arrests, the killings continue."
" A suicide attack has killed 10 people, including two policemen, in the southern Afghan province of Helmand. The attack in Musa Qala district also wounded more than 20 people, provincial police chief Asadullah Shairzad said. The suicide bomber targeted a police vehicle in a crowded market and detonated his explosives, he said. Helmand is a Taleban stronghold. It is also the base for a large number of international and Afghan troops who are fighting the militants. Police said at least six children were among the wounded. The chief of police told the BBC that the attackers were the enemies of Afghanistan. He accused them of hiding among civilians and killing innocent people. The Taleban said they carried out the attack but insisted all the dead were policemen. Taleban militants overran Musa Qala in February 2007 and held it until a massive US-British-Afghan operation dislodged them in December last year. The town remains surrounded by the Taleban and the Afghan government has little control over the area. In a separate attack, gunmen shot dead a district governor in Ghazni province, south of the capital, Kabul."
" A deadly explosion on a bus carrying Israeli tourists outside an airport in Bulgaria was ""clearly a terrorist attack,"" Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday. Key Israeli politicians pointed to Iran as the likely instigator, but Israel's U.S. ambassador acknowledged they had no proof. Vania Valkova, director of the Bulgarian Interior Ministry press office, said that at least seven people were killed and about 30 wounded in the explosion in a parking lot outside Burgas Airport, on the Black Sea. The Foreign Ministry said six died and 32 people were wounded, with three in intensive care. The attack was probably initiated by a group under the auspices of ""either Iran or other radical Muslim groups,"" according to Barak, who cited Hezbollah and Hamas as likely suspects. ""We are in a continued fight against them. We are determined to identify who sent them, who executed (the attack) and to settle the account,"" Barak said. Bulgaria's foreign minister, Nikolay Mladenov, told CNN he presumes the explosion was a terrorist attack. But he said it was not time to ""starting assigning blame."" Bulgaria will ask the U.N. Security Council to condemn the attack, perhaps Thursday, said Mladenov, who traveled to the blast scene. The bus was scheduled to carry about 47 passengers to a resort. Bulgaria is a popular destination for Israelis. Another spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry said an explosive device may have been on the bus, but authorities cannot be sure. A forensic team has begun an investigation, she said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed to Iran, saying it has been behind a string of recent attempted attacks on Israelis in Thailand, India and Georgia, among others."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Indian commandos are storming a Jewish centre in the city of Mumbai, where gunmen are holding people hostage. Troops abseiled from a helicopter into the building, as a ground assault was launched. Gunfire was later heard. Security forces are still clearing gunmen from two luxury hotels, after Wednesday's attacks that killed more than 130 people and injured 300. Security forces says they are close to taking control of the Oberoi Trident hotel after freeing 93 people. Media reports say that the majority of those rescued were foreigners. Meanwhile, security forces are still moving room to room at the Taj Mahal Palace. An army commander said nearly all guests and staff had been evacuated and that the security operation would be ""wrapped up in a few hours"". More than 90 people have been released from the Oberoi hotel But the BBC's Nik Gowing, outside the hotel, said he had recently heard a series of explosions and an exchange of gunfire. At first light helicopters swooped over the Nariman House business and residential complex in south Mumbai, which houses the Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch. Commandos initially dropped smoke bombs to create confusion, and then several troops abseiled down ropes to secure the roof. They are said to have been tentatively moving down through the building, trying not to cause casualties among the hostages. Earlier, a woman and child were seen leaving the building, but it was unclear whether they had managed to escape or were released. The child was identified as the two-year-old son of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holzberg, the main representative at the ultra-orthodox outreach centre. There was no word on the rabbi's fate. In a separate development, the Indian navy has taken control of two Pakistani merchant navy ships and is questioning their crews after witnesses said some of the militants came ashore on small speed boats. Gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades targeted at least seven sites in Mumbai late on Wednesday, opening fire indiscriminately on crowds at a major railway station, the two hotels, the Jewish centre, a hospital and a cafe frequented by foreigners. The attacks are the worst in India's commercial capital since nearly 200 people were killed in a series of bombings in 2006. On Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government would ""take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and security of our citizens"". Mr Singh said the attackers were based ""outside the country"" and that India would not tolerate ""neighbours"" who provide a haven to militants targeting it. 30 October: Explosions kill at least 64 in north-eastern Assam 30 September: Blasts in western India kill at least seven 26 July: At least 22 small bombs kill 49 in Ahmedabad 25 July: Seven bombs go off in Bangalore killing two people 13 May: Seven bomb hit markets and crowded streets in Jaipur killing 63 India has complained in the past that attacks on its soil have been carried out by groups based in Pakistan, although relations between the two countries have improved in recent years and Pakistani leaders were swift to condemn the latest attacks. The Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba denied any role in the attacks. A claim of responsibility has been made by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen. Eyewitnesses at the hotels said the attackers were singling out British and American passport holders, which BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says implies an Islamist motive - attacks inspired or co-ordinated by al-Qaeda. But as investigators from other countries join the hunt, he says, most intelligence officials are keeping an open mind as the attacks have thrown up conflicting clues. Co-ordinated, mass casualty attacks that target civilians and undefended buildings are very much in the al-Qaeda mould. But our correspondent says al-Qaeda and its affiliates in the region tend to favour massive truck bombs driven into buildings by suicidal volunteers - that didn't happen in Mumbai. He says al-Qaeda are also acutely media-savvy, filming their attacks and in the case of hostages, sometimes murdering them on camera. Again, that does not appear to have happened this time."
" Pyongyang says it launched a communications satellite on 5 April North Korea has vowed to walk out on international talks to end its nuclear programme, and said it would restore its disabled nuclear reactor. The unusually strong statement follows criticism by the UN Security Council of its recent rocket launch, which critics say was a long-range missile test. North Korea says its launch was part of a peaceful space programme, designed to put a satellite into orbit. China and Russia have appealed for the North to return to negotiations. China, Pyongyang's closest ally, called for ""calm and restraint"" from all sides. A Foreign Ministry statement said that Beijing hoped ""all sides will... continue to advance and push forward the six-party talks and the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula"". Moscow expressed regret at the North's decision, while Japan said it ""strongly urges"" Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table. Last week, Japan renewed unilateral economic sanctions against North Korea for another year because of its rocket launch. The six-party talks, involving North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the US, have seen many setbacks since they began more than five years ago. Feb 2007 - North Korea agrees to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for fuel aid Oct 2008 - The US removes North Korea from its list of countries which sponsor terrorism Dec 2008 - Pyongyang slows work to dismantle its nuclear programme after a US decision to suspend energy aid Jan 2009 - The North says it is scrapping all military and political deals with the South, accusing it of ""hostile intent"" 5 April 2009 - Pyongyang launches a rocket carrying what it says is a communications satellite 14 April 2009 - After criticism of the launch from the UN Security Council, North Korea vows to walk out of six-party talks North Korea now says it is walking out for good, after describing the UN action as an ""unbearable insult"". The North Korean Foreign Ministry said the UN statement - condemning its rocket launch and tightening existing sanctions - infringed its sovereignty and ""severely debases"" its people. The ministry said it would ""strengthen its nuclear deterrent for its defence by all means"". The North also said that it would restore its partially disabled Yongbyon nuclear reactor - the fuel source for its 2006 atomic test. Pyongyang partially dismantled the plant in 2008, as part of an international agreement which guaranteed it aid and diplomatic concessions in exchange for disabling its nuclear facilities. The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says this latest instalment of the North Korean drama has been seen by many analysts as a predictable attempt by Pyongyang to gain the attention of the new US administration. How far the North Koreans are really willing to go in unpicking the current deal is not clear, he says. With growing uncertainty about the internal political dynamics in Pyongyang, and a much tougher sounding leadership in South Korea, it may not be easy to get these talks back on track, our correspondent says. Pyongyang's defiant response came shortly after the 15-member Security Council unanimously condemned the long-range rocket launch on 5 April. The council also ordered the UN Sanctions Committee to begin enforcing both financial sanctions and an existing arms embargo imposed after the 2006 tests. There had been hope that the unified statement could pave the way for a return to the talks, which have stalled over the inability to verify the shutdown of Yongbyon. North Korea had previously threatened that any criticism of the rocket launch would cause it to walk away from the negotiating table."
" The US military has admitted it bears significant responsibility for last month's air strike on the Afghan border that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. A statement said US and Afghan troops acted in self defence, but conceded there had been a lack of proper co-ordination with Pakistani forces. A Pentagon spokesman later expressed ""deep regret"" over the incident. However, Pakistani army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas dismissed the findings as ""short on facts"", Reuters reported. In retaliation for the killings, Pakistan has closed its border with Afghanistan, cutting Nato supply lines. Islamabad, a vital partner in the fight against militants in the region, has demanded a formal US apology. In the statement the US once again expressed its deepest regret for the ""tragic loss of life"" caused by the air strike in Mohmand tribal agency on 26 November. ""Inadequate co-ordination by US and Pakistani military officers operating through the border co-ordination centre - including our reliance on incorrect mapping information shared with the Pakistani liaison officer - resulted in a misunderstanding about the true location of Pakistani military units,"" it said. ""This, coupled with other gaps in information about the activities and placement of units from both sides, contributed to the tragic result."" In a news briefing later at the Pentagon, spokesman George Little said: ""For the loss of life and for the lack of proper co-ordination between US and Pakistani forces that contributed to those losses we express our deepest regret."
" The French warship is part of the EU's operation in the Gulf of Aden A French warship has captured 11 pirates off the coast of Kenya, amid clamour for the international community to deal with the problem of piracy. The gang was captured by a warship from an EU piracy patrol, French officials said, hours after a failed attack on a US ship. Other pirates released a Greek ship and its 24 crew held since mid-March. News of the incidents came as the UN special envoy for Somalia said the attacks threatened international peace. The latest raid involved pirates firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at a US-flagged cargo ship, the Liberty Sun, which was carrying food aid for Africa. The French defence ministry said the warship Nivose captured the pirates about 550 miles (900km) east of the Kenyan port of Mombasa. As everyone knows force is a last resort, but at the same time self-defence is legitimate. But we should not go there for the time being.   What to do with a captured pirate It had detected a ""mother ship"", or command vessel, on Tuesday, and observed it overnight before launching an assault early on Wednesday, the ministry said. An attack on a Liberian-registered vessel was also thwarted, the ministry added. The Nivose is part of the European Union's operation to protect shipping in the Gulf of Aden. Meanwhile, a Greek-owned merchant vessel taken on 19 March was released by pirates, but there were no details of whether a ransom was paid. The St Vincent-flagged Titan, with its 24 crew members all well, was now heading to its original destination of South Korea, the Greek maritime ministry said. Despite several anti-piracy patrols, there has been an increase in raids in the past few days, with four ships seized and others attacked. The United Nations special envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said the attacks risked international security. The Liberty Sun attack was said to be in revenge for the deaths of pirates In a BBC interview, he also called for help for poor Somalis themselves, many of whom were being exploited by the pirates. ""What is important is to show determination as the international naval presence is doing,"" he said. ""You will see in the next few weeks a sharp decrease in piracy. ""They already are going further south and at the same time we should do something inland, trying to provide more jobs for these unfortunate youngsters who are exploited by the financiers who are backing piracy."" Somalia's Minister for International Co-operation, Abdlrahman Warsame, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme: ""The problem on the Somali piracy always lies on the land. ""If you can solve the problem on the land - and that means support the current national unity government - you'll easily stop the piracy."" Pirates have vowed to avenge the deaths of those killed in recent rescue operations by US and French forces. After the attack on Liberty Sun, one pirate, Abdi Garad, told AFP news agency they had intended to destroy the ship and its crew. He said: ""The aim of this attack was totally different. We were not after a ransom. ""We also assigned a team with special equipment to chase and destroy any ship flying the American flag in retaliation for the brutal killing of our friends."" Three pirates were killed during the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama, who had been held captive for five days after being taken hostage from his ship. Two more Somali pirates were killed in a French operation to free five hostages from a captured yacht. Marines managed to free four hostages but the boat's owner, Florent Lemacon, was killed. A post-mortem examination will be carried out on Mr Lemacon later this week to try to determine whether he was killed by the pirates or by a stray French bullet. Three other pirates detained in that operation have arrived in France for questioning. The trio were in custody at a police facility in the north-western French town of Rennes. It is understood the pirates, who are aged between 20 and 25 years, have spent the day being questioned by French investigators. At least six other pirates are already in French custody after being captured by French marines last year. In recent months Britain, the US, and the European Union have signed memorandums of understanding with Nairobi that Kenya will act as a kind of international tribunal for pirate crimes. Several Somali pirates turned over by the US and Germany are already undergoing legal action there but, so far, Paris prefers to try captured pirates in French courts."
" Protesters set buses alight on the streets of Bangkok Thailand's prime minister has told the BBC that troops have brought Bangkok under control after a day of battles with anti-government protesters. But a day marked by repeated violence ended with two people killed and dozens injured in clashes between residents and protesters near Government House. PM Abhisit Vejjajiva told the BBC that people were entitled to carry out peaceful protests - but not to riot. ""We are confident that we are in control of the situation,"" he said. Later, Mr Abhisit confirmed the deaths of two people in clashes at Government House. ""We have taken measures which have finally brought the situation under control, except around Government House,"" he said. ""However this evening we sadly had clashes between demonstrators and local residents, and we are informed that two local people have been killed and several have been injured by gunshots."" After days of gathering protests by supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra - who want Mr Abhisit to resign - Monday saw a dramatic escalation on the streets. Soldiers were seen firing their guns into the air and into the crowds, while protesters burnt buses and threw firebombs in retaliation. By Monday evening, most of the remaining protesters on Bangkok's streets - said by Mr Abhisit to number no more than 20,000 - were concentrated around Government House, the prime minister said. BBC correspondent Jonathan Head, in Bangkok, says political turmoil has disrupted life in Thailand for so long now that it is easy to forget the country was once seen as a paragon of stability. The situation in Bangkok was fluid throughout the day, our correspondent says, with soldiers at times showing restraint, but at other times being undisciplined. Monday is the start of a three-day holiday for the Thai New Year, and some protesters handed out pink roses to soldiers as a sign of peace. But in a BBC interview, Mr Thaksin said: ""The situation in Thailand is of very brutal suppression."" And he clarified his previous call to supporters for a revolution, saying he meant a ""peaceful revolution"". ""All the protesters come with bare hands, they come with peace, they are asking for a true democracy for all,"" he said, although he did acknowledge that some had ""sticks and stones"". Mr Abhisit, the current prime minister, declared a state of emergency on Sunday after the protests forced the cancellation of a major meeting of Asian leaders in the resort city of Pattaya. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. But Army spokesperson Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd said soldiers were not firing real bullets in Monday's clashes. ""If the protesters show that they intend to hurt the officials, we will use military training rifles on them with blank bullets made from paper, which will not hurt the protesters."" Speaking to the BBC from the Middle East, Mr Thaksin accused the army of lying about the shooting in Bangkok, saying that soldiers had not fired into the air as the army said, but into crowds with live ammunition. Earlier, Mr Abhisit said 70 people had been injured, including 23 soldiers. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. He added: ""If the people want to demonstrate peacefully, if they want to exercise their constitutional rights they are welcome to do so, but they cannot riot, they cannot incite people to break the law, they cannot intimidate and use violence against other people."" ""We will try to find the best solution we can over the next couple of days,"" he added. Under the current state of emergency, gatherings of more than five people can be banned, media reports can be censored and the army can be deployed to help police maintain order. Are you in the area? Have you been affected by this incident, or have you seen or heard anything? Send your comments or pictures using the form below. The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published."
" GAZA, April 13 (Reuters) - An unmanned Palestinian fishing boat laden with explosives blew up off the coast of the Gaza Strip on Monday in an apparent attempt to attack an Israeli navy patrol, Israel's military chief said.  No one was hurt in the explosion, which Palestinians said could be heard miles away. Local fishermen in the Hamas-controlled territory said the Israeli ship fired at the boat as it approached, causing the enormous blast.  The Israeli military said it had not shot at the vessel, which exploded some 600 metres (yards) from the naval patrol.  ""We believe this was an attempted attack,"" said Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, head of Israel's armed forces.  He said the navy crew was unharmed because it followed regulations and did not approach the suspicious boat. There was no Palestinian claim of responsibility. (Writing by Ari Rabinovitch, Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Richard Williams)"
" TBILISI, April 13 (RIA Novosti) - Thousands of Georgians moved their protests to the presidential residence on Monday to press on with demands for President Mikheil Saakashvili to resign. Opposition leaders said protesters would stay in front of the residence in central Tbilisi day and night until Saakashvili, criticized for last August's war with Russia and authoritarian trends, stepped down. ""We came to the president, who is not hearing us well,"" opposition Conservative Party leader Kakha Kukava said. Protesters and some opposition leaders have stayed near the parliament building. The campaign began on Thursday, when tens of thousands of people took to the street. On Friday, people blocked Tbilisi's main roads running past the president's residence and the public broadcaster's headquarters as part of a campaign of civil disobedience. Security at the presidential residence has remained heightened, with masked riot police and water cannons deployed in front of the building. The opposition also said on Monday that it would expand its campaign by placing fake jail cells at sites across Tbilisi. Opposition leader Levan Gachechiladze said activists would occupy the cages, which symbolize the country turning into a police state. Saakashvili's opponents blame him for dragging the country into a war with Russia over South Ossetia, resulting in the recognition by Moscow of the province, along with another breakaway republic, Abkhazia. He also faces criticism for failure to carry out democratic reforms promised after the 2003 ""Rose Revolution"" that brought him to power. Saakashvili has remained defiant of the resignation demands, saying he would remain in office until his presidential term expired in 2013. The U.S.-educated president cited opinion surveys late last week, saying people wanted dialogue between authorities and opposition, and stability."
" It was the sixth Preakness victory for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas and 15th Triple Crown win, the most in horse racing history. ""I get paid to spoil dreams,"" Lukas said in an interview with NBC moments after the race. ""Unfortunately we go over here and you can't mail 'em in. It's a different surface and a different time. You gotta line 'em up and win 'em. Orb finished fourth. The Kentucky Derby winner was a 3-5 favorite in Saturday's race, but he became another casualty of starting on the rail in the Preakness. Since 1950, only two horses have won the middle jewel of the Triple Crown from the No. 1 post position. Orb's five-race winning streak ended on an overcast, windy day at Pimlico Race Course. The brown colt had not lost since Nov. 24. Now the streak without a Triple Crown champion - Affirmed was the last horse to accomplish the feat, in 1978 - is guaranteed to last another year. ""I'm disappointed. I'll be more disappointed tomorrow than I am right now,"" said Orb's trainer, trainer Shug McGaughey. ""I know the game. It is highs and lows. Probably more lows than highs."" Oxbow was coming off a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, where he made a move for the lead in the final turn but faded. In the Preakness, Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens took control at the outset and never relinquished the advantage, winning this race for the third time in his career. Oxbow covered the 1 3/16th miles in 1:57.54. He went off as a 15-1 underdog, beating Itsmyluckyday and Mylute."
" Fierce fighting has been reported in the strategic Syrian town of Qusair, as rebels and government forces backed by Hezbollah militants fight for control. The state news agency reported that the army had taken control of most of the town on Monday, and killed more than 100 of what it called ""terrorists"". Activists denied that Qusair had been captured, but said some 50 people had died in heavy shelling since Sunday. They also said at least 23 Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon had been killed. Qusair, a small town about 30km (18 miles) south-west of the city of Homs, is seen as important to both sides. It helps link Damascus with government strongholds on the Mediterranean coast, and is a conduit for rebel supplies and fighters from Lebanon, whose border is 10km (6 miles) away. Fighting has raged for weeks around Qusair, which has been controlled by the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad for several months. Continue reading the main story What appears to be a concerted government attempt to recapture Qusair from the rebels had been in the making for some time. In a sense, Qusair had already fallen militarily, since the rebels appear to have lost control of most of the surrounding villages and countryside adjacent to the Lebanese border. It adds to a string of setbacks rebels have suffered in recent weeks, especially along the Lebanese and Jordanian borders and around Damascus itself. Rebel commanders blame their recent losses on the drying-up of arms supplies from outside. Qatar and others are reported to have recently cut deliveries, perhaps in response to US reservations about enabling a victory by a rebel movement in which the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front is playing a lead role. Certainly the government forces, bolstered by apparently open-ended support from Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, have in recent weeks had a new spring in their step. Following a day of heavy bombardment by aircraft and artillery, the army launched an offensive to recapture the town on Sunday. By the evening, they had taken the municipality building in the town centre and were advancing, according to state media. The claim was denied by opposition activists, although they admitted the rebels had suffered very heavy casualties. They posted video on the internet showing chaotic scenes at what they said was a field hospital filled with wounded fighters and civilians trapped in the town."
" At least one person has died in Bangkok after a bomb was thrown into a compound where thousands of anti-government protesters have been holed up for almost three months. The bomb is said to have landed near the sound stage at government house set up by the People's Alliance for Democracy, an anti-government group which took over government house in August. It happened in the early hours of the morning, when most of the protesters were sleeping. More than 20 people were taken to hospital for treatment. It is the third bomb to have been lobbed into the compound, but the first to have killed anyone. There has been an ongoing stand-off between the protesters and the government's supporters in recent months; it has occasionally turned violent. The sides called a temporary truce until yesterday because of the funeral event for Princess Galyani, the older sister of King Bhumipol. Anti-government protesters in Bangkok say they will stay at a site they have been occupying for the last three months, despite the bomb attack. They are refusing police entry into their compound to investigate the explosion."
" New Delhi: Indian Navy could send more warships to counter Somalian pirates in the Gulf of Aden even as Somalia has permitted India to enter its territorial waters as part of an effort to check piracy. Besides India, navies of US and France have also been permitted hot pursuit in Somalian territorial waters which extends upto 12 nautical miles from the coastline. India is also considering increasing number of warships on anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden from one to four after a request from the Ministry of Shipping. A Delhi class destroyer has already sailed from Mumbai to the Gulf of Aden to augment anti-piracy patrol off Somalia raising the number of Indian warships on patrol from Salalah to Aden to two. The 6,900-tonne Delhi class destroyers are the largest indigenously built warships till date and pack more fire power in them than frigates. They carry on board two Sea King helicopters, along with a Cheetah or a Chetak, and stock 16 Uran missiles, 100mm AK 100 gun, four multi-barrel 30mm AK 630 gun. With Marine Commandos on Destroyers, it would be a potent force when it patrols the Gulf of Aden to stop the pirates from attacking or hijacking merchant vessels. The presence of the destroyer in the pirate-infested region of Arabian Sea will strengthen India's efforts to demonstrate its military power against the sea brigands, sources said. The helicopters on board the destroyer are generally used for aerial reconnaissance by launching them from the ship's deck and the armed versions of the Chetak or a Cheetah can be used to scare the pirates away and also attack them when the need arises. The Talwar class stealth frigate INS Tabar has been on patrol in the pirate-infested waters off Somali coast since November 2."
" Pakistani police say they have arrested 170 suspects after a bomb attack on Saturday which targeted a Shia Muslim area in the western city of Quetta. Security sources said police killed four people, including a bomb-maker accused of anti-Shia attacks. Saturday's bomb ripped through a busy market district, killing almost 90 people and injuring some 169 more. Relatives of the dead are refusing to bury the bodies in protest at what they say is a lack of official action. The authorities have previously been accused of turning a blind eye to the killing of members of the Shia minority. In January bombers targeted a snooker hall in the city, killing some 90 people, sparking a similar protest by relatives of those killed. Now both the security forces and the political leadership appear to be cracking down, the BBC's Orla Guerin reports from Islamabad. Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has ordered an operation aimed at ""eliminating those responsible for playing with innocent lives"". But some wonder if there will be sustained action against hard-line Sunni militant groups which were supported by Pakistan's intelligence agencies in the past, our correspondent reports. Shia Muslim Hazaras are furious at what they see as a lack of protection from local and national forces, in the face of repeated attacks."
" SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea fired three short-range missiles from its east coast on Saturday, South Korea's Defense Ministry said, but the purpose of the launches was unknown. Launches by the North of short-term missiles are not uncommon, but the ministry would not speculate whether these latest launches were part of a test or training exercise. ""North Korea fired short-range guided missiles twice in the morning and once in the afternoon off its east coast,"" an official at the South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman's office said by telephone. The official said he would not speculate on whether the missiles were fired as part of a drill or training exercise. ""In case of any provocation, the ministry will keep monitoring the situation and remain on alert,"" he said. A Japanese government source, quoted by Kyodo news agency, noted the three launches, but said none of the missiles landed in Japan's territorial waters. Tension on the Korean peninsula has subsided in the past month after running high for several weeks following the imposition of tougher U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang following its third nuclear test in February. The North had for weeks issued nearly daily warnings of impending nuclear war with the South and the United States. North Korea conducts regular launches of its Scud short-range missiles, which can hit targets in South Korea. It conducted a successful launch of a long-range missile last December, saying it put a weather satellite into orbit. The United States and its allies denounced the launch as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead."
" Nestle, the world's biggest food company, has removed beef pasta meals from shelves in Italy and Spain after tests revealed traces of horse DNA. The Swiss-based firm has halted deliveries of products containing meat from a German supplier. Nestle is the latest in a string of major food producers to find traces of horsemeat in beef meals. A spokesman for the company said levels of horse DNA were very low but above 1%. Nestle has also tested samples of all of its processed beef products sold in the UK and Ireland, which were found to not contain any presence of horse DNA. These items consisted of seven Jenny Craig products and two Gerber baby food products. Last week the firm had said its products did not contain horsemeat. Nestle withdrew two chilled pasta products, Buitoni Beef Ravioli and Beef Tortellini, in Italy and Spain. Lasagnes a la Bolognaise Gourmandes, a frozen product for catering businesses produced in France, will also be withdrawn. A spokesman for the company told the BBC that Nestle had identified a problem with a supplier from Germany."
" A policeman has died in riots that have broken out following the discovery of the bodies of three ethnic leaders in Pakistan's Balochistan province. The policeman was killed by protesters' gunfire in the town of Khuzdar. Protesters say the three Baloch nationalist leaders were detained by security forces last Friday and had been missing since. There has been a long-waged insurgency in Balochistan for a greater share of natural resources and more autonomy. The mutilated and decomposed bodies of the three leaders were found by police before dawn near Turbat. The three were named as Ghullam Muhammad Baloch, Lala Munir Baloch and Sher Muhammad Bugti. The BBC's Azizullah Khan in Quetta says Ghullam Muhammad Baloch was a leader of his own faction of the Balochistan National Movement and a key member of the committee set up to try to secure the release of abducted UN worker John Solecki, who was freed last Saturday. Sher Muhammad Bugti was a leader of the Balochistan Republican Party. The three were allegedly detained last Friday by security forces from the offices of a lawyer in Turbat who represents opposition parties in Balochistan. After the bodies were found riots broke out in provincial capital Quetta, Khuzdar and a number of towns in the Makran division."
" Eleven police officers were injured during the trouble More than 40 foreign nationals have left their homes in Belfast following riots involving NI and Polish football fans, it has been claimed. The Polish Association Northern Ireland said people ""were fearful"". The trouble flared before, during and after a World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park last month. Eleven police officers were injured. However, Ulster Unionist councillor Bob Stoker said he believed the figure of 40 was ""without evidence"". The Polish Association said a total of 46 people have left the Village and Albertbridge Road areas of south and east Belfast. It said that at least five people had decided to leave Northern Ireland permanently. What these sorts of claims do is detract from the good work that is being done to build better relations   It has been claimed that Hungarians, Lithuanians and Slovakians, as well as Poles, have been targeted following the riots in a number of different parts of Belfast on Saturday 28 March. ""The people that have left their homes are mostly people with young children,"" said Maciek Bator of the Polish Association. Although Mr Bator said there had been intimidation in recent weeks, most people decided to leave of their own accord because they were scared. ""They said they had good relationships with their neighbours and people living in their streets but that they still felt it was best to leave before something might happen,"" he added. ""A lot of these people lived in private accommodation so wouldn't have dealt with the Housing Executive."" Rival fans threw bricks, bottles and traffic cones on their way to the game Councillor Stoker said: ""While I would obviously condemn attacks on people wherever they're from, I'm greatly concerned about people bandying figures like this about without any solid evidence. ""What these sorts of claims do is detract from the good work that is being done to build better relations with people from eastern Europe. ""And this is not only in recent weeks, but over the course of the last 18 months."" A Housing Executive spokesman said eight people had ""presented themselves as homeless"" in south Belfast, citing ""trouble in the Village as the reason"". A police spokeswoman said patrols had been stepped up in parts of south and east Belfast in a bid to ease tensions."
" A series of earthquakes have terrified many already-frazzled Christchurch residents this afternoon, starting with a 5.8 magnitude tremor at 1.58pm. It was followed by a 6.0 magnitude aftershock at 3.18pm, centred 10km east of Christchurch in South New Brighton. There was also a 5.3 magnitude quake at 2.06pm and a 5.0 at 4.50pm. Initial reports said one person had received minor injuries, although St John had responded to 19 earthquake-related emergency calls in and around Christchurch. They ranged from complaints of chest pain and seizures, to a panic attack. Five people had collapsed, and one suffered a knock to the head. St John said all injuries were minor. Police say there is no tsunami threat, and they have no reports of serious or widespread damage or injury. Civil Defence staff have met on the ground in Christchurch to get a good picture of the extent of impact, but national civil defence controller David Coetzee said it was too early to comment on the way forward. He said while there were no reports of serious damage, buildings that were already weakened in previous earthquakes may have sustained further damage."
" Tens of thousands of followers of anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have gathered in Baghdad to mark the sixth anniversary of the city's fall to US troops, and to demand they leave immediately. ""Down, Down, USA,"" the demonstrators chanted as Ali al-Marwani, a Sadrist official, denounced the US occupation of Iraq that began with the fall of Baghdad on April 9, 2003, and the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Firdos Square. The crowds of Sadr supporters stretched from the giant Sadr City slum in north-east Baghdad to the square around five kilometres away, where protesters burned an effigy featuring the face of former US president George W Bush, who ordered the US-led invasion of Iraq, and also the face of Saddam. Shiites were brutally persecuted under Saddam, who was executed to chants of Sadr's name in 2006. ""God, unite us, return our riches, free the prisoners from the prisons, return sovereignty to our country ... make our country free from the occupier, and prevent the occupier from stealing our oil,"" Sadr said in a message read by a Sadr movement aide Asaad al-Nassiri. ""God, make us the liberators of our land,"" the message said, drawing roars of approval from the crowd, many clutching or wearing Iraqi flags, and some wearing Iraqi national team tracksuits in a show of nationalist sentiment. Sadr, scion of one of Iraq's great Shiite religious dynasties, is believed to be in Iran studying religious law. His Mehdi Army fighters fought pitched battles against US forces during the bloody aftermath of the US-led invasion, but have since frozen armed operations after Sadr called on them to turn themselves into a social welfare organisation. US President Barack Oabama, who flew into Baghdad on an unannounced visit on Tuesday, has ordered all US troops to leave Iraq by the end of August 2010, leaving a residual force of 35,000 - 50,000 trainers, advisers and logistics personnel. Under a bilateral security agreement signed with Mr Bush, all US troops must withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011."
" At least 105 people have died in the Gaza Strip in six days of violence, Hamas officials say, as Israeli forces continue their bombardment. Monday's fatalities include a commander of the Islamic Jihad militant group and a couple and their two small children. More than 100 rockets were fired on Israel on Monday, but no casualties were reported. Last week, three Israelis died in one such attack. The Israeli cabinet has been meeting to discuss an Egyptian ceasefire proposal. The content of the Egyptian plan is not known, but both Israel and Hamas have presented conditions. Israel's include no hostile fire of any kind from Gaza and international efforts to prevent Hamas from rearming, while Hamas is demanding an end to the blockade on Gaza and ""Israel's assassinations"". Egypt has been leading efforts to broker a peace deal, with both senior Israeli and Hamas officials in Cairo for talks. An Egyptian official said he hoped to be able to make an announcement on Monday or Tuesday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also arrived in Cairo to aid negotiating efforts. He plans to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the coming days. US President Obama spoke to his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Mursi and to Mr Netanyahu on Monday and ""discussed ways to de-escalate the situation in Gaza,"" the White House said in a statement. Mr Obama ""underscored the necessity of Hamas ending rocket fire into Israel"" in his call to Mr Mursi, and ""expressed regret for the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives"" in both calls."
" A Pakistani tank shoots towards Taliban positions in Loisam town in the Bajaur tribal region, October 25, 2008. Surging militant violence across Pakistan and the spread of Taliban influence through the northwest are reviving concerns about the stability of the nuclear-armed U.S. ally. Pakistan is crucial to U.S. efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan but the government has been unable to check militant attacks in its cities let alone stop insurgents crossing into Afghanistan from border strongholds to battle Western forces. Clashes erupted in Buner district last week after scores of Taliban moved in unopposed from the neighboring Swat valley, where authorities struck a deal with Islamists in February to enforce Islamic law in a bid to end violence. Buner residents formed a militia, or ""lashkar,"" to resist the militants and 13 people, including eight Taliban, three policemen and two villagers, were killed in clashes. Authorities say they are negotiating with the militants to persuade them to withdraw but the Taliban have stayed put and appeared determined to take over the valley, police said. ""They are everywhere,"" Arsala Khan, a deputy superintendent of police, told Reuters by telephone from Buner. ""They are visiting mosques, they are visiting bazaars asking people to help them in enforcing sharia,"" he said. Swat, to the west of Buner, was one of Pakistan's main tourist destinations until 2007 when militants infiltrated into the North West Frontier Province valley from strongholds on the Afghan border to support a radical cleric. Authorities agreed to an Islamist demand for Islamic sharia law in Swat in February to end the fighting but critics said appeasement would only embolden the militants to take over other areas."
" BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Riot police descended on scores of anti-government protesters in the streets of Thailand's capital as violence intensified early Monday. Protesters took over two gas tanker trucks in one Bangkok intersection, ramping up the intensity of the ongoing conflict. ""We're at a freeway intersection and they've commandeered two gas tankers that they are threatening to blow up,"" CNN Correspondent Dan Rivers reported from the scene. Protesters elsewhere lit fires in the streets, blocked intersections and surrounded the prime minister's office, where there was no sign of security. Rivers said protesters had slashed the tires of a police van. Video from the scene showed shield-wielding riot police clashing with protesters, and at times people were carried away on stretchers. There were no immediate figures on deaths or injuries. ""What they're trying to do is face down the government, which so far has appeared -- it must be said -- very weak and unwilling to order the police or the army to use much force,"" Rivers said. ""That was, until a few hours ago where .. they have started to crack down on this movement."" Earlier, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva announced a state of emergency Sunday in the capital and surrounding areas in an attempt to tamp down days of heightening protests. Thousands of ""red shirt"" protesters have rallied for days to demand Abhisit's resignation. The red shirts have given the prime minister repeated deadlines to resign, but those have come and gone. The protesters are loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. They have said Abhisit's government was not democratically elected and want him to resign and schedule elections. iReport.com: ""Red shirts"" take to streets Abhisit, who has held the position for four months, has rejected calls to step down."
" At least 44 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in two suicide car bombings in the heart of Syria's capital, Damascus, officials say. State TV said suspected al-Qaeda militants had targeted two security service bases in the Kafr Sousa area. But the opposition said the attacks - which came a day after Arab League observers arrived - were staged by the government to justify its crackdown. Correspondents say the attacks mark a significant escalation of violence. The Arab League team are tasked with monitoring whether the government complies with a peace agreement that orders all troops to withdraw from the streets, with the aim of ending the violence. But human rights and opposition activists said the killings continued on Friday, with security forces shooting dead at least 12 civilians. More than 5,000 people have been killed and thousands more detained since anti-government protests erupted in March, the UN says. Continue reading the main story The two explosions are unprecedented. Many people were surprised that within 20 minutes, the government had ascertained that the blasts were the results of al-Qaeda attacks. It is hard to tell what the reaction of the Syrian government will be, after days of major assaults by the security forces in the Jabal al-Zawiya area of northern Idlib province. Hundreds of people have been killed there since the government signed a protocol with the Arab League, allowing for the deployment of an observer mission. Many are also asking why the blasts happened a day after the observers' advance party arrived. The opposition and protesters, who are once again taking to the streets, blame the government, saying it is attempting to persuade the observers that there are terrorists operating inside the country. The BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says we may never know who carried out the bombings - but that they were absolutely against the interests of the opposition, and played strongly into the hands of the government. The two explosions happened within minutes of each other on Friday morning."
" Florent Lemacon, left, was killed during the rescue effort One French hostage has died and four others have been freed in a rescue operation by French troops on a yacht off Somalia, French officials say. Two pirates were killed in the operation and three were captured, the French presidency said. Officials said the rescue was launched when talks with the pirates broke down and threats became ""more specific"". Two French couples had been seized with a child, who was among those freed from the yacht, Tanit, seized last week. News of the operation came after a US captain made an unsuccessful overnight bid to escape from another seized vessel off Somalia. Captain Richard Phillips managed to jump overboard off the lifeboat on which he was being held by pirates, US media reported. But his attempt to reach a nearby US military ship was thwarted before it could come to his aid. US troops in the area are continuing to monitor Mr Phillips's situation. He was captured after a struggle on his ship, Maersk Alabama. Reports said the French rescue operation was not thought to be in the vicinity of the US fleet and the Maersk Alabama. In another development on Friday, pirates released a Norwegian cargo ship, the Bow Asir, and its crew, the vessel's owners said. The Bow Asir had been held since 26 March. French Defence Minister Herve Morin said the hostage who died was Florent Lemacon, the owner of the Tanit and father of the boy on board. ""During the operation, a hostage, Florent Lemacon, unfortunately met his death,"" he said. ""The other four, including the child, are safe and well. The president of the republic and the government offer all their condolences to the family of Florent Lemacon and to his friends and share in their distress."" It is unclear whether Mr Lemacon was killed by his captors, or by a stray French bullet. Mr Morin also praised the French soldiers for their efforts to free him. The operation to free those on board the Tanit - the third time French troops have freed hostages from pirates - began late on Thursday, five days after the yacht was seized, the office of President Nicolas Sarkozy said. Negotiations with the pirates had begun earlier this week, the president's spokesman said. But when talks broke down troops immobilised the vessel before moving in for an operation that lasted six minutes, the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby reports from Paris. We have got rid of the television and everything that seemed superfluous to concentrate on what is essential   ""With the threats becoming more and more specific, the pirates refusing the offers made to them and the [yacht] heading towards the coast, an operation to free the hostages was decided upon,"" the president's spokesman said. Mr Morin said his country had shown determination to oppose piracy. ""France has shown its determination not to give in to blackmail, [to] prosecute the criminal acts and liberate the hostages every time that a ship under a French flag is captured,"" he said. Earlier in the week, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had left open the possibility that troops could launch an effort to free the French hostages, telling reporters French officials knew the location of the Tanit. However, it also emerged that the families on board the yacht, which was reported to be heading down to Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, were urged not to travel through the Gulf of Aden. A spokesman for the French foreign ministry said Florent Lemacon and his wife Chloe were ""repeatedly warned"" not to travel through the area. ""It is difficult to understand why these warnings were not heeded,"" spokesman Eric Chevallier said. The couple had refurbished the Tanit, a 12.5m (41ft) boat, and given up jobs in a bid to escape consumer society and navigate a route along the African coast to Zanzibar. Speaking to French newspaper Ouest France, Mr Lemacon said they wanted to change their priorities in life. ""We don't want our child to receive the sort of education that the government is concocting for us. We have got rid of the television and everything that seemed superfluous to concentrate on what is essential,"" he said. After a lull earlier this year, the Maersk Alabama was the sixth ship to be hijacked off Somalia in the past week."
" PanARMENIAN.Net - More than 200,000 Syrian refugee children are facing a bitter winter of sub-zero temperatures without proper shelter and clothing, Save the Children has warned, according to Belfast Telegraph. The aid agency is calling for urgent funding to provide refugee families with enough warm clothing to help them survive. More than 2.5 million people have been displaced within Syria due to the continuing fighting, according to aid agencies. At least 400,000 registered refugees are now in neighbouring countries, and the UN expects that figure to reach 700,000 by the end of the year. The true number of refugees is likely to be much higher, as many thousands are unregistered. Many of the refugees fled their homes during the summer months and now do not have the clothes they need to keep them warm, the charity said. Children living in camps in Iraq have nothing but the t-shirts and sandals they arrived with, while some in neighbouring Lebanon are sleeping on the cold concrete floors of abandoned schools and farm buildings. Mike Penrose, Save the Children's humanitarian director, said: ""Unless we can help families get ready for the harsh weather ahead, we could see the weakest and most vulnerable succumb to the cold and associated diseases."" Mr Penrose added: ""We're seeing thousands of families across the region, unable to pay for proper shelter to protect them from the cold, without even the basics like blankets or bedding to keep them warm when temperatures plummet at night. ""Many have no income, no home of their own, and no winter clothing - these families urgently need assistance if they are to pull through the coming months."""
" Rebels in eastern DR Congo have advanced to within a few kilometres of the provincial capital, Goma. The M23 rebels say they have no plans to take the city but residents fear it could fall at any moment. The UN Security Council this weekend condemned rebel attacks and demanded an end to outside support for the group, noting they were well equipped. UK Foreign Minister William Hague has condemned the M23 advance and urged British citizens to leave Goma. ""Any British nationals in Goma should leave, and any in DRC should check the FCO's updated travel advice,"" he said. Government forces and United Nations troops still control Goma's airport, but the UN says the humanitarian situation is worsening, with some 60,000 internally displaced people fleeing the fighting. The UN said more than 10,000 fleeing civilians were seen passing near the airport on Sunday. The rebels captured the town of Kibumba 30km (19 miles) north of Goma, on Saturday, and have since edged closer towards the North Kivu provincial capital, which lies close to the borders with Rwanda and Uganda. The UN said its peacekeeping forces, Monuscu, fought advancing rebels throughout Sunday, using rockets, cannon rounds and helicopter gunships. Although it has deployed 17 quick reaction units on patrols throughout the city, the UN describes the situation in Goma as ""extremely tense""."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A summit of Asian leaders in Thailand has been cancelled after anti-government protesters broke into the venue in the resort of Pattaya. PM Abhisit Vejjajiva declared an ""extreme state of emergency"" in Pattaya for several hours while the leaders were airlifted from the area. The Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) summit was due to have been held on Saturday and Sunday. Thailand has been in turmoil, with the opposition demanding fresh elections. The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says Thais have spent months organising the summit, but security around the venue collapsed in a matter of hours as thousands pushed their way through the police cordon. See a map of the summit venue It is a humiliation for the government, our correspondent says. He adds that it raises questions over whether the deep divisions that have emerged in Thai society are also damaging morale in the police and the army. The Asean meeting, called to discuss the global financial crisis, was due to start on Saturday, concluding on Sunday with a summit due to include India, Australia and New Zealand. But as the talks were due to get under way in Pattaya, thousands of red-shirted supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra smashed into the media centre adjacent to the conference hall. I have met with other Asean leaders and have told them my decision and they all understood the situation   Later Prime Minister Abhisit said in a statement broadcast live on TV: ""The government has decided to postpone the Asean summit meeting. I have met with other Asean leaders and have told them my decision and they all understood the situation. ""The task for me and the government now is to provide security for the leaders to travel back home safely."" Mr Abhisit later said a state of emergency imposed while the leaders were evacuated had been lifted. Opposition leader Natthawut Saikua told the protesters that the ""war in Pattaya"" was over and that they should head back to Bangkok. ""Since we have gained victory, all red-shirted people in Pattaya will return to join the rally in front of Government House,"" the Nation newspaper quoted him as saying. A Thai government spokesman, Panitan Wattanayagorn, told the BBC that authorities were investigating why police ""were unable to contain the demonstrations"". Earlier on Saturday, riot police separated the opposition protesters from hundreds of blue-shirted government supporters. Some government supporters were armed with sticks and bottles and some of the protesters could be seen wielding sticks and at least one knife. The foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea had to cancel a trilateral session because of the disturbances. Another meeting - between China and Asean - was postponed after demonstrators prevented the leaders from leaving their hotels. The meeting would have been the foreign ministers' first opportunity to discuss last Sunday's launch of a North Korean rocket, widely viewed as a long-range missile test. The Asean summit has already been postponed and relocated because of Thailand's political turmoil. The country has been in crisis since 2006, when opponents of Mr Thaksin led a campaign of protests, culminating in his removal by the military. But protests by the anti-Thaksin Peoples' Alliance for Democracy (PAD) continued as allies of the former PM continued to dominate successive coalition governments. The PAD, a loose grouping of royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class, accuses Mr Thaksin of nepotism and corruption during his time in power. Mr Abhisit came to power in December last year, after a court ruled that the previous government was illegal. Mr Thaksin now lives in exile. His supporters in the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) accuse Mr Abhisit of being a puppet of the military. They say he should resign so fresh elections can be held.   Are you in Thailand? Have you taken part in protests? Send us your comments using the form below. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are set to raise the contentious South China Sea issues during a meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao in the Cambodian capital. Their meeting is one of the highest-profile set pieces scheduled on the opening day of the East Asia Summit, involving the leaders of ASEAN, China, the United States, Japan, Russia, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. US President Barack Obama will also arrive in Phnom Penh this afternoon after making a historic visit to ASEAN member Burma. ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday that the bloc would press China to begin formal and official talks on a legally binding code of conduct aimed at easing tensions in the South China Sea ""as soon as possible""."
" Israel's President Shimon Peres has accused Iran of encouraging the Palestinians to continue rocket attacks on Israel rather than negotiating a ceasefire, saying ""they are out of their mind."" Israel's President Shimon Peres has accused Iran of encouraging the Palestinians to continue rocket attacks on Israel rather than negotiating a ceasefire, saying ""they are out of their mind."" At the same time, Peres praised Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi for the constructive role he has played in the intensifying crisis. ""The unpleasant one is the Iranians. They are trying again to encourage the Hamas to continue the shooting, the bombing, they are trying to send them arms,"" Peres said in interview on CNN. ""They are out of their mind,"" he said. Peres said Israel had no choice but to wage its offensive against Hamas in Gaza despite the rising civilian casualties, citing what he said were 1,200 missiles fired from the territory in the past six days. ""In one minute, if they stop shooting, there won't be any casualties,"" he said. In singling out Iran, Peres said, ""We are not going to make a war with Iran. But we are trying to prevent the shipping of long range missiles which Iran is sending to Hamas."" ""But Iran is a problem, world problem, not only from the point of view of building a nuclear danger, but also from the point of being a center of world terror. ""They finance, they train, they send arms, they urge, no responsibility, no moral consideration,"" Peres said."
" Dutch forces have been in Uruzgan since 2006 The Dutch government has collapsed over disagreements within the governing coalition on extending troop deployments in Afghanistan. After marathon talks, Christian Democratic Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende announced that the Labour Party was quitting the government. He offered his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix in a telephone call. The premier had been considering a Nato request for Dutch forces to stay in Afghanistan beyond August 2010. But Labour, the second-largest coalition party, has opposed the move. Asadullah Hamdam, the governor of the Afghan province of Uruzgan, where the Dutch mission is based, told the BBC that peace and reconstruction efforts would suffer a setback if the Dutch troops left. ""They help our security forces a great deal in security matters here,"" said Mr Hamdam told the BBC. ""In many districts they work together with the Afghan National Army, and they help in developmental projects. ""They are constructing bridges, schools, roads and assisting in many other educational projects."" Nato officials have issued a message of reassurance about the alliance's operations in Afghanistan, amid uncertainty about the future of the Dutch military contribution. Alliance spokesman James Appathurai said whatever happened, the Afghan people should know that Nato would ""continue to provide support to them as long as necessary"". Just under 2,000 Dutch service personnel have been serving in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan since 2006, with 21 killed. Their deployment has already been extended once. Where there is no trust, it is difficult to work together   The troops should have returned home in 2008, but they stayed on because no other Nato nation offered replacements. The commitment is now due to end in August 2010. The Dutch parliament voted in October 2009 that it must definitely stop by then, although the government has yet to endorse that vote. Mr Balkenende's centre-right Christian Democrats wanted to agree to Nato's request to extend the Dutch presence in Afghanistan. But this was bitterly opposed by the Dutch Labour Party. The finance minister and leader of the Labour Party, Wouter Bos, demanded an immediate ruling from Mr Balkenende. When they failed to reach a compromise, Labour said it was pulling out of the coalition. Mr Balkenende said he would offer the cabinet's resignation to the Dutch Queen Beatrix later on Saturday following the collapse of the government. The Defence Ministry says the future of the Dutch mission in Afghanistan depends on the new government. But a new government may prove difficult to establish. Opinion polls suggest that a handful of parties may be needed to form a coalition. They also suggest the right-wing opposition Freedom Party, which has called for an end to the Afghan mission, could be the big winner in the general election. It was announced after a 16-hour cabinet meeting which ran into the early hours of Saturday morning. The prime minister said there was no common ground between the parties. ""Where there is no trust, it is difficult to work together. There is no good path to allow this cabinet to go further,"" he said. The launch in 2001 of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) for Afghanistan was the organisation's first and largest ground operation outside Europe. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said six months ago when he began his job that his priority was the war in Afghanistan. As of October 2009, Isaf had more than 71,000 personnel from 42 different countries including the US, Canada, European countries, Australia, Jordan and New Zealand. The US provides the bulk of foreign forces in Afghanistan, and President Barack Obama has announced an extra 30,000 American troops for Afghanistan. The Pentagon has said the next 18 months could prove crucial for the international mission in Afghanistan, after more than eight years of efforts to stabilise the country. Suicide attacks on Afghan civilians and roadside bomb strikes on international troops are common, with the Taliban strongly resurgent in many areas of the country."
" Military not linked to attacks on Google By Ai Yang in Beijing and Ju Chuanjiang in Shandong (China Daily)  Updated: 2010-02-20 08:14 Senior Chinese military experts and educators on Friday dismissed new reports of investigations that suggest previous cyber attacks on Internet search giant Google were linked to Chinese schools and the military. In a Thursday report, The New York Times (NYT) linked two Chinese educational institutions - Lanxiang Vocational School based in Jinan, Shandong province and Shanghai Jiaotong University - to the online attacks that also targeted American corporations. The newspaper also cited Lanxiang's ties with the Chinese military and Baidu, the major Chinese online search engine and Google competitor. Google jolted Sino-US ties with its Jan 12 announcement that it had faced a ""highly sophisticated and targeted attack"" in mid-December that allegedly originated from inside China. Pan Zheng, a senior expert in US strategy at National Defense University, told China Daily the Google attacks ""had nothing to do with the Chinese government and military"". Pan said the search engine's accusation is inadequate. ""Even if the hacking location was confirmed to be inside China, it is still different from saying the attacks are backed by China."" The NYT report also said that ""if supported by further investigation, the findings raise as many questions as they answer, including the possibility that some of the attacks came from China but not necessarily from the Chinese government, or even from Chinese sources"". Major General Luo Yuan, who is with the Academy of Military Sciences, said that allegations linking the attacks with the Chinese government and military are irresponsible."
" ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) will suspend Niger, a country in west Africa, according to agencies' reports on Friday. The development came after Chairperson of the AU Commission Jean Ping on Friday condemned the seizure of power by force in Niger. He said in a statement released to media that the relevant AU instruments systematically condemn any unconstitutional change and, accordingly, he condemns the seizure of power by force that took place in Niger. He calls for speedy return to constitutional order and affirms the readiness of the AU, in close collaboration with the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), to facilitate such a process. He is in direct contact with the president of ECOWAS Commission as well as with other concerned international actors, the AU chief said. There had been political tensions in Niger since President Mamadou Tandja dissolved the country's parliament and conducted a referendum to extend his two-term tenure. The opposition condemned the Aug. 4, 2009 referendum that would allow Tandja, who was scheduled to step down in December 2009 after the expiration of two five-year terms, to stay in power till 2012. UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-general Ban Ki- moon on Friday condemned the military coup that took place in Niger on Thursday and called for a peaceful solution to the country's political and constitutional crisis. ""He reiterates his disapproval of unconstitutional changes of government as well as attempts to remain in power through unconstitutional means,"" Ban's press office said in a statement. Full story U.S. urges to restore democracy in Niger"
" People in the capital seem to be overwhelmingly behind the coup Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Niger capital in a second day of demonstrations of support for Thursday's military takeover. Opposition politicians and coup leaders addressed a rally celebrating the overthrow of President Mamadou Tandja and the dissolution of his government. Niger has been suspended by the African Union, and the international community has been quick to condemn the coup. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also condemned it and called for calm. The new ruling military council - the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy - has announced the lifting of a curfew declared hours after the coup and the re-opening of borders. Ten people are said to have died when the junta seized power. The coup follows growing discontent with Mr Tandja following a controversial referendum last August to abolish limits on presidential terms of office, observers say. A crowd put at 10,000 turned out on Saturday, with some people carrying signs in support of democracy and the army. Military leaders stood on top of trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns. Chronic poverty Population 14 million, 61% live on less than $1 a day Politically unstable  History of coups, assassinations and on-off rebellion by nomadic Tuareg people in the north ""We say thank you to the junta for their intervention,"" an opposition spokesman, Bazoum Mohamed, told the rally. ""We are for the restoration of democracy and we are committed to joining the army in this mission."" A military leader, Harouna Djibrilla Adamou, told the crowds: ""We thank you for your overwhelming support."" ""What we did was in the best interest of Niger. We ask you to stay calm, we're here for you, we're listening and we assure you that we will never let you down,"" he said. An opposition coalition formed last year to protest against Mr Tandja's constitutional changes has written to the new military leadership, calling for a new constitution and for free and transparent elections to be organised. However, Niger's new rulers have so far not mentioned a return to civilian rule. Troops stormed the presidential palace during a cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon, seizing Mr Tandja and his ministers before announcing that they were suspending the constitution and dissolving all state institutions. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Niger's new leaders have promised to turn the country into an example of ""democracy and good governance"" and save its people from ""poverty, deception and corruption"". Mr Tandja, a 71-year-old former army officer, was first elected in 1999 and was returned to power in an election in 2004. His second term in office expired in December, but was extended to allow him to complete major investment projects. A junta spokesman, Col Goukoye Abdul Karimou, told the BBC on Friday that the president was ""safe and well"". Niger has experienced long periods of military rule since independence from France in 1960. It is one of the world's poorest countries, but Mr Tandja's supporters argue that his decade in power has brought a measure of economic stability."
" Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday defended his decision to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza saying he wished to allow Israel's citizens to ""return to their normal routine."" Netanyahu discussed his decision to agree to a cease-fire, ending Operation Pillar of Defense after eight days, at a press conferece with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman. The Egyptian and US-brokered cease-fire went into effect at 9 p.m. as the three leaders spoke. Netanyahu stated that Operation Pillar of Defense had successfully destroyed ""thousands of Hamas rockets"" and destroyed the organization's command centers. Netanyahu thanked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for helping to secure the cease-fire agreement in Egypt. He also voiced his gratitude to US President Barack Obama. The prime minister said that Obama showed ""unwavering support for Israel's right to defend itself."" He added that the US and Israel would cooperate going forward in halting the smuggling of weapons from Iran into the Gaza Strip. Egypt announced that a cease-fire had been reached to end eight days of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, saying that the agreement would go into effect at 9 p.m. Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr made the announcement in a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.    ""These efforts ... have resulted in understandings to cease fire and restore calm and halt the bloodshed that the last period has seen,"" Amr said. Israel has agreed to the truce, but will not lift its blockade of Gaza as part of the deal, according to an Israeli official."
" A police spokesman said there had been no warning of the shooting A man has opened fire in a court-house in southern Germany, killing a woman before shooting himself dead. At least two others were seriously injured in the attack in Landshut, 73km (45 miles) north-east of Munich. A court spokeswoman, Elisabeth Waitzinger, said the 60-year-old gunman and his victim had been related. The shooting comes less than a month after a teenager went on a gun rampage in and around his former school in the town of Winnenden, killing 15 people. The shooting, in the administrative court in the centre of Landshut, took place at about 1015 (0815 GMT) while an inheritance case was being heard. Ms Waitzinger said there was no information on the identity of the gunman, other than that he was a 60-year-old from the nearby town of Dingolfing. She said he was related to the woman who was killed. She is reported to have been his sister. Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer said he understood that at least two other people were in a critical condition. When asked how he was able to bring a weapon into the court, Ms Waitzinger said there were no checks on people attending civil cases. Earlier, police spokesman Leonard Mayer said there had been no warning of the shooting, which he said had come ""out of the blue"". Dozens of people inside the building have now been evacuated and the area has been sealed off by the police."
" At least eight people have been killed in an attack by machete-wielding assailants near the city of Jos in Nigeria. The unidentified attackers descended on a village on the outskirts of Jos, burning about 10 houses, early on Saturday, officials said. Some reports said the dead included the family of a Christian priest. Clashes between rival communities - Hausa Muslims and Berom Christians - have left hundreds dead this year. Witnesses said the men attacked the family of Rev Nuhu Dawat in the village of Mazah, 12km (7 miles) from the state capital of Jos, killing his wife, two children and a grandson. The priest ran for his life, later telling Reuters news agency: ""I leave everything to God to judge."" Plateau State Police Commissioner Gregory Anyating told Reuters the authorities were trying to find out ""the root causes of the violence"", but it had not spread to other villages. Deadly riots in 2001, 2008 and 2010 left hundreds of people dead. Although the clashes take place between Muslims and Christians, observers say the underlying causes are economic and political."
" Human rights activists say a 10-year-old boy was among nine Melanesians shot after Indonesian paramilitary police broke up a pro-independence protest in Papua. The ABC has obtained footage of the incident in the small town of Nabire on Monday, and Amnesty International is calling for an independent investigation. Local activists are campaigning for independence from Indonesia, and Monday's demonstration was demanding a boycott of today's Indonesian national elections. Whoever recorded the footage is standing amidst the Indonesian security forces. While it is hard to tell what happens next, the sounds of gunshots are unmistakable. Paramilitary police, armed with automatic weapons, run towards the crowd, then an officer is rushed back to a police truck with a traditional arrow sticking out of his leg. A colleague pulls it out quickly before he is bundled into the back. The images are focused on the police. One chuckles as he displays a grazed leg. But human rights activists say at least nine other people were hurt and several suffered critical injuries. The small protest was part of a long and brutal history. First Indonesian troops invaded, then the UN endorsed a deeply flawed vote to make Papua a province of Indonesia in the 1960s."
" Iran blamed the West and Israel on Saturday for twin suicide bombings which killed at least 27 people, despite condemnation of the attack by the European Union, United Nations and United States. Iranian police, meanwhile, arrested 40 people for ""creating disturbances"" in the southeastern city of Zahedan where the bombers struck on Thursday, the Mehr news agency reported. ""This blind terrorist act was carried out by the mercenaries of the world arrogance (the Western powers),"" state television's website quoted Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi as saying. ""The agents of this crime were trained and equipped beyond our borders and then came into Iran,"" Abdollahi said. Influential lawmaker Alaeddin Borujerdi went a step further and pointed the finger at Pakistan's intelligence services which he said ""have ties with the terrorists,"" Fars quoted him as saying. ""The terrorists enter Iran from neighbouring countries and Pakistan, and so the Pakistani government and its army intelligence must revise their ties with them and do something to confront these criminals."" Sunni militant group Jundallah has said it carried out the bombings which targeted members of the elite Revolutionary Guards at a Shiite mosque in Zahedan, capital of the restive province of Sistan-Baluchestan. It said the attacks were to avenge the execution of their leader Abdolmalek Rigi on June 20. Jundallah claims it is fighting for the rights of Baluchis who make up a significant proportion of the population of Sistan-Baluchestan province and who, unlike Iran's Shiite majority, mainly follow the Sunni branch of Islam. The province borders Afghanistan and Pakistan and analysts says Jundallah has exploited the unrest in the region to find safe haven on the frontier."
" Thousands of mourners have thronged the streets of the south-eastern Iranian city of Zahedan as mass funerals were held for victims of the devastating bombings of a mosque. Police said they had arrested 40 people in connection with Thursday's blasts, which killed at least 27 people. Those detained were not accused of direct responsibility for the attacks. Hundreds of worshippers were injured when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a Shia mosque. The first bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint outside the Jamia mosque in Zahedan, with a more deadly second blast moments later. A Sunni rebel group, Jundullah, has said it carried out the attacks in revenge for the hanging of its leader by Iranian authorities. General Ahmad Reza Radan, Iran's deputy police chief, told the Iranian Fars news agency on Saturday that the suspects ""intended to create insecurity in Zahedan after the bombing"". He spoke as thousands of people turned out in Zahedan for the funerals, chanting ""death to terrorists"" and ""down with the US"", according to footage shown on state TV. Iran blamed foreign countries, particularly the US, for the bombing, which came as worshippers celebrated the anniversary of the birth of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. A senior Revolutionary Guards commander was quoted as saying the US would face ""fallout"" from the deadly attack."
" Israel has put plans for a ground operation in Gaza ""on hold"" to give talks to secure a truce with Hamas militants a chance, officials say. It is understood Israel has set a Thursday deadline for the Egypt-brokered talks to succeed. The conflict began last Wednesday when Israel killed a top Hamas military commander, saying it wanted to end rocket attacks on its soil. More than 110 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed so far. Tuesday has seen a reduced level of violence, correspondents say, even though Israel has conducted some strikes - one was a ""direct hit"" on two militants in northern Gaza, the Israeli military said. And rockets have been fired towards Israel - mainly targeting the south. However, two landed in an open area near Jerusalem, causing no injuries or damage. Officials are due to restart talks in Cairo, and Egyptian officials have told the BBC there are signs of progress. Israeli troops are massed along the border, raising fears of a ground offensive similar to that of 2008-09. An Israeli spokesman told the BBC: ""Israel wants talks to succeed but we're prepared to go into Gaza"". In a rare appearance, top Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif said Palestinians should prepare for a ground offensive, but warned: ""The enemy will pay a heavy price if it thinks of entering Gaza."""
" 1 of 3. A Syrian man sits near a railway track as he looks across the border fence from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain into Turkey, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, November 21, 2012. Turkey has asked NATO to deploy Patriot missiles on its territory, the alliance said on Wednesday, to help it defend itself against any Syrian attacks. Sporadic gunfire was heard throughout the day at the border. The move highlights Ankara's fears that the situation on its border could deteriorate rapidly and echoes its calls for military support during the two Gulf Wars, when NATO deployed surface-to-air missiles on its soil in 1991 and 2003. Turkey formally made the request after weeks of talks with NATO allies about how to shore up security on its 900-km (560-mile) border. It has repeatedly scrambled fighter jets along the frontier and responded in kind to stray Syrian shells flying into its territory. The head of NATO said the alliance would discuss the request ""without delay"". Ambassadors from the 28 NATO members convened a meeting at the military alliance's Brussels headquarters. ""Such a deployment would augment Turkey's air defense capabilities to defend the population and territory of Turkey,"" Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. ""It would contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along NATO's south-eastern border."" Turkey is reluctant to be drawn into a regional conflict but the proximity to its border of bombing raids is testing its pledge to defend itself. It has found itself increasingly isolated and frustrated by a lack of international action. A major player in supporting Syria's opposition and planning for the post-conflict era, Turkey is worried about Syria's chemical weapons, the refugee crisis along its border, and what it says is Syrian support for Kurdish militants on its own soil. ""The missile request is totally based on a defensive perspective, for the protection of NATO territories, there is no kind of aggressive intention from our side,"" a Turkish government official said, adding that the missiles were only one part of the contingency planning. ""Our worst case scenario is firstly a huge refugee influx ... and secondly what the international community would do if Syrians trying to escape to Turkey are shot at,"" he said. ""If there are tens of thousands waiting on the border and they are attacked, what would be the response."""
" Celebratory gunfire rang out in Gaza City when local radio stations reported news of the Tel Aviv explosion. The last time Israel's commercial capital was hit by a serious bomb blast was in April 2006, when a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 11 people at a sandwich stand near the city's old central bus station."
" One day after Syrian rebels accused government forces of a deadly bombing near a hospital in the besieged city of Aleppo, opposition groups said another 151 people had been killed in the fighting Thursday. The majority of those deaths occurred in the Syrian capital of Damascus and its suburbs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based opposition group. Another 34 were killed in Aleppo, where some of the heaviest fighting has occurred. The 20-month civil war has claimed more than 42,000 lives, according to the latest tally from the opposition Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria. The group counts 3,133 government soldiers among the dead. And the bloodletting has since carried on unabated while also threatening regional stability. On Wednesday, 15 people died in the strike on a building next to the Dar al-Shifa Hospital, including two children and a doctor. Ralib al-Omar, a leader of the Yusif al-Asma rebel group, said the strike had targeted the hospital and that the dead included two nurses. A doctor was among the dead -- one of 40 people killed in Aleppo on Wednesday and 113 across the country. Dar al-Shifa is one of the main sources of medical help for people in Syria's commercial hub. In video posted by opposition activists, the blast appeared to have affected the hospital's often-crowded front lobby. Amanpour blog: U.S. has no plan for Syria Protests first broke out against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. Al-Assad responded by turning the army and police on the demonstrations."
" Syrian warplanes have bombed a Damascus suburb as heavy fighting rages for the second day on the outskirts, challenging President Bashar al-Assad's hold on the capital. Fighter jets hit the suburb of Daraya near the main southern highway, where rebels have been battling elite Republican Guard units. The pro-government al-Ekhbariya television said the army had begun a campaign to ""cleanse"" Daraya of what it described as terrorists. The station showed troops on the edge of the town, where activists reported 23 people killed in two days. But rebels and activists suggested that President Bashar al-Assad's forces were finding it harder to dislodge the rebels than when they last entered the suburb in August. After months of slow progress, the rebels have in the last few weeks captured several army positions on the outskirts of Damascus and outlying regions, including a special forces base near Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub. Rebels have also seized an air defence position near the southern gate of the capital. Assad's opponents are also gaining some support internationally as a newly formed coalition of opposition and rebel groups seeks recognition as the legitimate voice of the Syrian people. The British Royal United Services Institute Shashank Joshi said that the developments of the last few weeks were shifting the balance in favour of the rebels. Fighting was also reported in Damascus's eastern suburb of Irbin, where rebels said they had destroyed one tank and killed two Republican Guards."
" Pakistan's foreign minister has criticised the behaviour of his Indian counterpart during Thursday's high-profile talks in Islamabad. Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters on Friday SM Krishna and his delegation had not been ready for dialogue. He also said Mr Krishna had repeatedly interrupted the talks for phone calls from Delhi. Mr Krishna denied the ""extraordinary"" claims. It was the foreign ministers' first bilateral meeting since 2008. It was also the third high-level contact between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours in six months. Talks broke off in 2008 after the Mumbai (Bombay) attacks - when Islamist gunmen killed more than 160 people - which Pakistan later admitted had been partly planned on its soil. Ahead of the meeting, Indian Home Secretary GK Pillai was quoted by an Indian newspaper as accusing Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency of co-ordinating the carnage in Mumbai. The two foreign ministers said at a joint news conference on Thursday that their day of talks had been ""constructive"", and agreed to meet again. But a new picture emerged on Friday as Mr Qureshi told a news briefing: ""India is not mentally prepared to engage in a dialogue"". He added: ""I want to ask the Indian foreign minister, as he is the principal of Indian foreign policy and direction, why he made and received calls from Delhi so many times during the talks."""
" CNN has multiple crews in Gaza, Israel and neighboring countries to bring you the latest accurate information on the conflict, the impact on people and the recent cease-fire. Turn to CNN TV and CNN.com for what you need to know now. Are you affected by the conflict? Share photos and video, but stay safe. Near the Israel-Gaza border (CNN) -- Hours after a cease-fire was declared Wednesday in Israel's conflict with Gaza, it appeared to be holding, an Israeli official said. ""We assumed it would take a while for the cease-fire to take hold,"" Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, told CNN. ""I understand now that it has taken hold. There hasn't been fire for a while and, of course, we are not firing, so there is a cease-fire."" His remarks came after an Israeli military spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, told CNN that five rockets had been fired from Gaza in violation of the cease-fire. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, in an interview with CNN, put the number of rockets at 12. Wednesday's cease-fire followed eight days of violence along Israel's border with Gaza and nearly 150 deaths -- the vast majority of them Palestinian. Egypt's Morsy praised for his key role in talks The cease-fire, announced in a joint news conference in Cairo with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, took effect at 9 p.m. (2 p.m. ET). Gazans took to the streets, firing guns into the air in celebration of what they considered to be a victory over Israel's military. The agreement calls for Israel to halt all acts of aggression on Gaza, including incursions and the targeting of people, according to Egypt's state news agency EGYNews. It also calls for the Palestinian factions to cease all hostilities from Gaza against Israel, including the firing of rockets and attacks on the border. Border crossings were to be opened Thursday night, and the movement of people and goods across them was to be eased, it said. On the ground: Follow updates from CNN's reporters"
" Federal Defence Minister John Faulkner has ruled out withdrawing Australian troops from Afghanistan, saying it would undo nine years of hard work. ""The reality is that the cost of failure in Afghanistan would be extremely high,"" he said during a speech to the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Friday. ""The Taliban would look to regain control over large parts of the country."" Leaving Afghanistan now would undo nine years of hard work, he said. But Mr Faulkner said Australia's commitment to the region was not open-ended. He envisaged troop numbers being reduced at some stage but said that current troop numbers were appropriate. Six Australian soldiers have died in Afghanistan and 143 have been injured this year alone, taking the total death toll to 17. Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the public should brace for more troop casualties in Afghanistan. The government will not keep Australian troops in Afghanistan longer than is necessary but they must be kept there as long as is necessary,"" Mr Faulkner said. Mr Faulkner said the cost of remaining in Afghanistan could be high, but the cost of failure even higher."
" A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Saturday near the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, the state-run Philippines News Agency (PNA) reported. The temblor hit at 12:37 p.m. local time, 149 kilometers (93 miles) south of Davao, the USGS said. It struck at a depth of about 98 kilometers. No tsunami warning or watch has been issued. In August: Strong offshore quake in the Philippines"
" SAN FRANCISCO - FEBRUARY 09: A sign stands outside of a McDonald's restaurant February 9, 2009 in San Francisco, California. Fast food chain restaurant McDonald's reported a 7.1 percent increase in same store sales for January as people look towards cheaper food alternatives in the weakening economy. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) McDonald's has suspended work at its restaurants in Crimea because of ""manufacturing reasons,"" the company announced Friday. The fast food giant has offered to transfer staff at its three Crimean branches to any other McDonald's restaurant in Ukraine, according to a statement posted on its Ukrainian website translated by Reuters. Despite the relocation offer, the statement added it hoped to resume operations in Crimea as soon as possible. Get More at NBCNews.com"
" ATTARI: As a goodwill gesture, ahead of Baisakhi, India on Monday repatriated 39 Pakistani prisoners including two females from Attari land border. The Pak prisoners returned home after spending sentences ranging from one and half year to eleven years on different charges.Strangely most of the Pak prisoners claims to have crossed the border by mistake while a few had entered India to carry out disruptive activities and others had jumped their visa's. A few Pak prisoners crossed the border singing songs of friendship while many were resentful of not recieivng their wages from the jail officials.The prisoners were brought here from jails of different places including Delhi, Janu, Amritsar, Sangrur etc informed naib tehsildar PPS Goraya who handed over the Pak prisoners to Pakistan Rangers.Resident of Karachi, Abdul Mazeed said that the bitterness among the hearts of both Indians and Pakistan's against each other had not been washed away but it had increased. ""We being Pakistani's are discriminated in the jail, we are kept in high security areas whereas we had not committed any heinous crime "" said he while talking to TOI. He said before being arrested he held Indians in high praise but in last eleven years he had realized that both Indians and Pakistani's hold animosity towards each other. He suggested that both countries should constitute a panel of lawyers to take up the cases of prisoners of both nations so no one had to spent a single day extra in jail.Mohammad Toquid of Faislabad alleged that many a times he was prevented from offering namaz in the jail. Besides, he said he was sentenced for five years whereas he was released after seven years. Toquid claimed that he had mistakenly entered India. So was the case of Karachi resident Altaf ur Rehman who was sentenced for five years but was allowed to go back to his country after nine years. He claimed that he had earned more than Rs 3 lakh wages in the jail but he was given only Rs 1.25 lakh. Dismal over the bureaucratic hiccups in both countries he said ""dono chanae ki eik hi daal hai"".Mother of two Razia from Lahore candidly admitted that she had arrived India to meet her mother and jumped visa but when she tried to go back to his country she was held at Attari and was sentenced to sixteen months.It was a celebration time for Mohommod Yaseen of Faislabad who chose to sing songs of friendship while crossing over to his country . ""Past is past now I am being sent home so I should celebrate the moment"" said he."
" BAMAKO/CONAKRY (Reuters) - Mali said it had identified its first possible cases of Ebola since the start of an outbreak in neighbouring Guinea, adding to fears that the deadly virus was spreading across West Africa. More than 90 people have already died in Guinea and Liberia in what medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has warned could turn into an unprecedented epidemic in an impoverished region with poor health services. [ID:nL5N0MS4ZC] Foreign mining companies have locked down operations and pulled out some international staff in mineral-rich Guinea. French health authorities have also put doctors and hospitals on alert in case people travelling to and from former colonies in the region pick up the disease. [ID:nL5N0MU54S] [ID:nL5N0MV33M] Three people in Mali had been placed in quarantine and samples sent off to Atlanta in the United States for tests, the government said on state television late on Thursday. ""A high-speed intervention team has been created to follow the evolution of the situation on the ground,"" the statement said. It added that the health of the three suspected victims was showing signs of improving. The latest outbreak originated in Guinea two months ago and has since spread to its neighbours Sierra Leone and Liberia. Gambia has placed two people in quarantine although the Health Ministry since said the cases were negative. Guinea's Health Ministry said two more suspected victims of the virus had died, bringing its death count to 86. Liberia also reported three new deaths among its suspected 14 cases, raising its death toll to seven. ""We need to fight to contain it. A medical team from (medical charity) MSF came today to help train some of our health workers,"" Liberia's health minister, Walter Gwenegale, said. The disease, which has killed 1,500 people since it was first recorded in 1976 in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo, causes vomiting, diarrhoea and external bleeding. It has a fatality rate of up to 90 percent."
" RABAT (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers were killed and two others injured when a helicopter crashed on Wednesday in southern Morocco, the spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Rabat said. The crash of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey in the southern province of Tan Tan is being investigated as a ""helicopter incident"", Rodney D. Ford told Reuters by telephone. ""We have been informed that this was a helicopter incident that the marines are investigating,"" Ford said. The two wounded soldiers were taken to a military medical facility in Guelmim, 730 km (450 miles) south of Rabat. The victims were among some 1,200 U.S. marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen who arrived in Morocco earlier this month for the annual African Lion joint exercise with Moroccan forces at Cap Draa, on the Atlantic Coast. Radio Plus reported that the crash happened as the helicopter was taking part in an exercise. In July, 78 people were killed when a Moroccan military transport plane crashed into a mountain near Guelmim during bad weather."
" With a rapt world watching the drama unfold live on television, the tsunami raced across the Pacific, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents amid fears of a repeat of the carnage that caught Asia off guard in 2004. This time, though, the wave surges barely exceeded 1m at their worst, and Pacific islands had ample time to prepare because the quake's epicentre was several thousand kilometres away. By the time the tsunami hit Hawaii - a full 16 hours after the quake - officials had already spent the morning ringing emergency sirens, blaring warnings from aeroplanes and ordering residents to higher ground. Picturesque beaches were desolate, million-dollar homes were evacuated, shops in Waikiki were shut down, and residents lined up at supermarkets to stock up on food, and at petrol stations. In Japan last night, more than 24 hours after the quake, officials had ordered the evacuation of about 245,000 households along the country's Pacific coast. Images showed houses flooded in seawater in a section of Kesennuma, northern Japan. One of the biggest waves, about 1.2m high, hit the northern island of Hokkaido. Some piers were flooded but there were no reports of major damage. Japanese weather agency officials kept their alert up well into Sunday evening, saying further waves could be on their way. It was the first warning for a major tsunami in 17 years and only the fourth since 1952, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. ""Carelessness could be the biggest enemy,"" Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said."
"The African Union initiative does not include the departure of Gaddafi and his sons from the Libyan political scene, therefore it is outdated,"" rebel council head Mustafa Abdel Jalil told a news conference in Benghazi. Earlier on Monday, Muammar Gaddafi accepted the African initiative to put a stop to fighting in Libya, including a ceasefire. Abdel Jalil said the acceptance of the initiative had come too late and that Gaddafi had not heeded earlier United Nations decisions demanding a ceasefire and the protection of civilians. ""Colonel Gaddafi in this long period of time has not paid attention to these decisions, has continued bombing, shelling and shooting civilians, has surrounded cities with his militia and has based security forces on city streets and upon the roofs of houses."" Abdel Jalil said he had raised the issue of Gaddafi's use of African mercenaries with the delegation: ""We let it be known to the delegates that there exist mercenaries that came from African and Arab countries. And when I say Arab countries I mean specifically Algeria."
" VANCOUVER, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Following consecutive two-gold finish in both Salt Lake City and Turin, China made historic breakthrough in winter sports as it claimed five titles plus two silvers and four bronzes at the Vancouver Games which concluded all competitions here on Sunday. ""We have made important breakthrough at these Games,"" said Xiao Tian, deputy chef de mission of the largest ever Chinese Winter Sports Delegation in history. Having sent a total of 90 athletes to the Games, China shared a seventh place at the medal tally with Sweden while tying its own 11-medal performance in Turin four years ago. And its record medals also marked the first top-eight finish for the summer sports powerhouse in the Winter Olympics. ""Actually the five-gold finish was within my expectation before we set off for the Games, but I couldn't say that at that time because I would not want to put any pressure on the athletes,"" Xiao added. ""Now I can speak out."" While Xiao admitted he had not expected the Chinese clean sweep in four women's short track speed skating events where Wang Meng became the first Chinese skater to win three golds at one single Winter Games. ""That was amazing,"" Xiao said. ""The Chinese women's relay team impressed me most by taking their first gold in this event after so many years' hard work."" The 1-2 finish in the pairs figure skating by Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo and Pang Qing/Tong Jian was also a remarkable achievement. ""The 37-year-old Zhao and his teammates not only won the medals, but also well demonstrated Olympic spirits and sportsmanship."" Although narrowly missing golds in the freestyle aerials, the Chinese could be contented with a silver and a bronze from Li Ni'na and Guo Xinxin in the women's category as well as a bronze from Liu Zhongqing in the men's."
" The national state of emergency has been extended until next Monday, in the aftermath of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch on 22 February. Civil Defence Minister John Carter said work remains focused on residents being adequately housed in safe and warm accommodation, with reliable access to water, functional sewerage disposal, electricity and communications. ""Given the extent of damage to the city, good progress has been made in restoring lifelines and now 99% of people outside the Central Business District have power and 100% of households outside the Red Zone have running water. ""To put this in context, on 25 February 50,000 people (approximately 20%) were without power and between 50 and 60% of households had no running water,"" said Carter. He said once the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority has been set up there will be a hand-over from the National Controller to that organisation and the state of national emergency can be lifted. Under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 a state of national emergency can be declared for a maximum of seven days at a time only."
" 1 of 14. Fire and smoke are seen at a building for sampling from seawater near No.4 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, April 12, 2011. He was speaking shortly after new data showed more radiation leaked from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the early days of the crisis than first thought. That new information put Japan's nuclear calamity in the same category as the world's worst nuclear disaster, Chernobyl, officials said, but the upgrade in its severity rating to the highest level on a globally recognized scale did not mean the situation had suddenly become more critical. ""The situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is slowly stabilizing, step by step, and the emission of radioactive substances is on a declining trend,"" Kan told a press briefing. ""A month has passed. We need to take steps toward restoration and reconstruction."" He said he had instructed a reconstruction panel to create a work blueprint by June. He also called on opposition parties, whose help he needs to pass bills in a divided parliament, to take part in drafting reconstruction plans from an early stage. The government is considering spinning off the part of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) that oversees the stricken facility, Jiji news agency reported on Tuesday. TEPCO appears to be no closer to restoring cooling systems at the reactors, critical to lowering the temperature of overheated nuclear fuel rods. On Tuesday, Japan's science ministry said small amounts of strontium, one of the most harmful radioactive elements, had been found in soil near Fukushima Daiichi. Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director-general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), said the decision to raise the severity of the incident from level 5 to 7 -- the same as the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986 -- was based on cumulative quantities of radiation released."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A massive earthquake has hit central Chile and killed at least 214 people, the interior minister says. The 8.8 quake caused widespread damage, destroying buildings, bridges and roads in many areas. Electricity, water and phone lines were cut. Chilean President Michele Bachelet said that altogether two million people had been affected. Several Pacific countries were hit by waves higher than usual after a tsunami was set off by the quake. In French Polynesia waves 6ft (1.8m) high swept ashore, but there were no immediate reports of damage. In Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand, residents in coastal areas were warned to move to higher ground. Hawaii later lifted its tsunami warning after waves measuring just under 1m (3ft) high struck but caused no damage. The earthquake struck at 0634 GMT, 115km (70 miles) north-east of the city of Concepcion and 325km south-west of the capital Santiago. It is the biggest to hit Chile in 50 years. At least 85 people died in the region of Maule alone, local journalists there said. Many deaths were also in reported in the regions of Santiago, O'Higgins, Biobio, Araucania and Valparaiso. Television pictures showed a major bridge at Concepcion had collapsed into the Biobio river. Rescue teams are finding it difficult to reach Concepcion because of damage to infrastructure, national television reported. In Santiago, where at least 13 people were killed, several buildings collapsed - including a car park where dozens of cars were smashed. A fire at a chemical plant in the outskirts of the capital forced the evacuation of the neighbourhood. Chile, south of Concepcion, 22 May 1960: 9.5 magnitude. About 1,655 deaths. Tsunami hits Hawaii and Japan Damage to Santiago international airport's terminal will keep it closed for at least 72 hours, officials said. Flights are being diverted to Mendoza in Argentina. Ms Bachelet declared a ""state of catastrophe"" in affected areas and appealed for calm. She said: ""We're doing everything we can with all the forces we have."" Tsunami waves reached the Juan Fernandez island group, reaching halfway into one inhabited area. Local media say that five people died there and several others are missing. Two aid ships are reported to be on their way. One resident of Chillan, 100km from the epicentre, told Chilean television the shaking there lasted about two minutes. Other residents of Chillan and Curico said communications were down but running water was still available. Many of Chile's news websites and radio stations are still not accessible. In Washington, President Barack Obama said the US had aid resources in position to deploy should the Chilean government ask for help. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake struck at a depth of about 35km. It also recorded at least eight aftershocks, the largest of 6.9 magnitude at 0801 GMT. The USGS said tsunami effects had been observed at Valparaiso, west of Santiago, with a wave height of 1.69m above normal sea level. One journalist speaking to Chilean national television from the city of Temuco, 600km south of Santiago, said many people there had left their homes, determined to spend the rest of the night outside. Some people on the streets were in tears. Chile is highly vulnerable to earthquakes as it is situated on the Pacific ""Ring of Fire"", on the edge of the Pacific and South American plates. Chile suffered the biggest earthquake of the 20th century when a 9.5 magnitude quake struck the city of Valdivia in 1960, killing 1,655 people."
" >>> in libya tonight, as the gadhafi regime bombards the city of misrata, there are new strains in the nato campaign. as you may know, the rebels have been saying they need more air support , and now both britain and france urge their nato allies, that includes the u.s., to step up this campaign by air against the libyan regime. nato 's chief of allied operations disagreed, saying, ""we're doing a great"
" More than a decade after federal forces drove separatists from power in a war in Chechnya, Russia is still struggling to contain an Islamic insurgency across the mainly Muslim Caucasus region. Islamist insurgents claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport that killed 37 people in January 2011 and twin bombings that killed 40 people in the Moscow metro in 2010. Security forces launched two operations late on Friday, Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAK) said. The two commanders killed, Islam Magomedov, 28, and Arsen Magomedov, 29, have been on the special forces' wanted list since 2010, an NAK spokesman in Moscow told Reuters. They were responsible for several attacks, including bombings, against civilians and law-enforcement officers, the spokesman said. ""Seven militants, including two local leaders, have been eliminated in a fire exchange in the Kayakent and Sergokala districts of Dagestan,"" the spokesman said. The eighth militant was killed during an operation in the Kabardino-Balkaria region, he said. Militants in the North Caucasus say they are fighting for a separate Islamic state in the strip of provinces along Russia's southern border. In May, Russian authorities said they foiled a plot to attack the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, a region the militants consider part of their historical homeland."
" Wide swaths of the south Pacific, Asia and Australia braced for a tsunami after a devastating earthquake hit the coast of Chile on Saturday. Officials in Japan and Australia warned a tsunami from the earthquake was likely to hit Asian shorelines within 24 hours. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a tsunami caution for areas across the region. ""Sea-level readings confirm that a tsunami has been generated which could cause widespread damage,"" the center said in a bulletin after the magnitude-8.8 quake. ""Authorities should take appropriate action to respond to this threat."" The center noted that the first waves after a quake are not necessarily the largest and said tsunami wave heights are difficult to predict because they can vary significantly along a coast due to the local topography. Earthquakes across the Pacific have had deadly effects on Asia in the past. A tsunami after a magnitude-9.5 quake that struck Chile in 1960, the largest earthquake ever recorded, killed about 140 people in Japan, 61 in Hawaii and 32 in the Philippines. That tsunami was about 3.3 to 13 feet (one to four meters) in height, Japan's Meteorological Agency said. The tsunami from Saturday's quake was likely to be much smaller because the quake itself was not as strong."
" New Zealand's entire east coast is at risk with waves up to three metres (10 feet) expected to hit the Chatham Islands and Banks Peninsula, near the main South Island city of Christchurch. ""It is expected that the greatest wave heights will occur between six and 12 hours after the initial arrivals,"" the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management said in a statement. Residents on the Chatham Islands were moved to higher ground several hours before the first wave struck and residents in low-lying areas of Banks Peninsula had been told to be prepared to evacuate. The biggest tsunami warning in history was marked by alarm sirens, panic buying and mass evacuations across the Pacific, eastern Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The Chilean earthquake triggered a tsunami that radiated across the Pacific basin and swamped the island chain that inspired the story of Robinson Crusoe. The warnings came barely five years after the 2004 Asian tsunami sparked by an underwater quake off Indonesia inundated coastal communities with waves up to 100 ft high, claiming an estimated 230,000 lives. Chile's Juan Fernandez islands, about 400 miles off the coast, were the first to feel the full force of the tsunami and ""serious damage"" was reported. The chain includes Robinson Crusoe island, named after Daniel Defoe's protagonist, and another named after Alexander Selkirk, the Scottish sailor on whose real life experiences the novel is said to be based. Michelle Bachelet, the Chilean President, said an evacuation of coastal areas on Easter Island, the Chilean territory famous for its monumental statues, was launched as the tsunami approached. Unlike during the devastating Dec 2004 tsunami, emergency officials across much of the Pacific had several hours to prepare for the impact and arrange evacuations."
" Sudan says its largest oil field is now controlled by South Sudan's army. A Sudanese military spokesman told the BBC its forces had been defeated outside Heglig, and retreated north. South Sudan said its forces had advanced to Heglig, but stopped short of saying its forces actually controlled the oil fields. Clashes between the two sides started two weeks ago, and are among the worst since South Sudan gained independence last July after a long civil war. South Sudan ended up with most of the oil fields, although it has to export the oil using pipelines through ports in Khartoum's territory. Both sides blame the other for starting the latest fighting along the undemarcated and disputed frontier in the oil-producing Heglig area. South Sudan's military spokesman, Philip Aguer, told the BBC the army was responding to air and ground attacks by the Sudanese armed forces. A Sudanese government statement earlier described the offensive as ""severe"", saying its Heglig oil fields were deliberately targeted. Continue reading the main story Sudan doesn't admit to many military defeats, so acknowledging a reverse outside Heglig is already extremely significant. The fact that Sudan's biggest oilfield is now apparently in the hands of the South Sudanese army is astonishing. It is legitimate to wonder why Sudan's military - which has the advantage of air power and greater weaponry - wasn't able to stop the South Sudanese advance. Perhaps the Sudan Armed Forces are simply over-stretched: as well as the South Sudanese army, they are fighting rebel groups in Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. Khartoum alleges the rebels are supported by South Sudan. Sudan will certainly respond, and a programme showing ""martyrs"" who ""sacrificed themselves for their country"" is already being shown on Sudanese TV. However it is possible the South Sudanese will slip away from the oilfields, with their point proven. These clashes almost certainly represent an attempt to win ground before negotiations resume. Several sources, both Sudanese and international, suggest Sudan struck first in this instance, before getting a bloody nose. The most likely outcome is a continuation of low-level hostilities for some time, but the seriousness of these latest events takes the two countries nearer to a return to outright war. A Sudanese man who works in the oil industry, who did not want to be named, told the BBC that Sudan began the fighting."
" A second psychiatric evaluation of Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has found him sane enough to face trial and a jail term. The findings contradict a previous evaluation, published in November, that found him legally insane. Breivik is due to stand trial on Monday over a bomb attack and shooting spree last July that killed 77 people. The 33-year-old, who insists he is mentally stable, was ""pleased"" with the new assessment, his lawyer said. Geir Lippestad told reporters his client would defend his actions during his 10-week trial, adding, ""he will also regret that he didn't go further"". Both reports will be considered by the court when it decides, at the end of the trial, whether he should be sent to a psychiatric ward or jail. If Breivik is deemed to have been sane at the time of the killings then he could face 21 years in prison with the potential for indefinite extensions to his term as long as he is considered a danger to the public. The second evaluation was approved by a court in January following widespread criticism of last year's assessment that concluded he was psychotic at the time of the attacks and diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic - meaning he would most likely be detained in psychiatric care. Many of his surviving victims believed he was sane, and that the only proper punishment would be a prison sentence. ""Our conclusion is that he is not psychotic at the time of the actions of terrorism and he is not psychotic now,"" psychiatrist Terje Toerrissen, who carried out the second assessment with fellow psychiatrist Agnar Aspaas, told the Associated Press."
" South African President Jacob Zuma says the Libyan government has accepted an African Union peace proposal to end the eight-week-old conflict. Mr Zuma's AU delegation met Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli on Sunday. An AU team is going to the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi. But rebel spokesmen said there could be no truce unless Col Gaddafi stepped down and his forces withdrew. In Ajdabiya, pro-Gaddafi forces have pushed back rebels in fierce fighting. Nato says its planes destroyed 25 government tanks on Sunday alone. The alliance said it had ""taken note"" of the AU initiative and welcomed efforts to save Libyan civilians. ""The brother leader [Col Gaddafi] delegation has accepted the roadmap as presented by us,"" Mr Zuma declared. ""We have to give the ceasefire a chance,"" he said, after several hours of talks. Continue reading the main story The African Union does not have a good reputation when it comes to solving crises. On Libya it is sounding determined and maintains it is in the unique position of being able to speak to both Col Gaddafi and the forces in Benghazi. But any intervention which does not involve the removal from power of Muammar Gaddafi will be seen by some as the AU saving the Libyan leader. It has often been accused of standing up for the incumbents and is criticised as being a club which serves the interests of the continent's presidents more than the people. The situation is muddied by money. Col Gaddafi has bankrolled the AU for years and he has bought friends in Africa. Having complained that the West was ignoring Africa's view on Libya and pushing for regime change, the AU has a chance to take the lead. Now the tough part - convincing the Libyan rebels to hold fire and talk. In all, the AU mission comprised representatives from five nations: presidents Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali and Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville, and Uganda's Foreign Minister Henry Oryem Okello."
" Prime Minister John Howard has announced that he and US President George W Bush have agreed to discuss a further upgrade of the defence relationship between the two nations. Mr Howard and the national security committee of federal Cabinet have been in discussions with Mr Bush this morning. The US has agreed to upgrade Australia's access to American military technology and it will be lifted to the same level as Britain has. Mr Howard says they also decided to look at making the defence ties even deeper. ""Further enhancement of the joint training capability by providing additional support for training by American and Australian forces, and also further cooperative efforts, to develop access and capabilities for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance,"" he said. The two leaders have also agreed on a new nuclear energy agreement during talks later today. The leaders have also discussed climate change and Mr Bush has backed the Australian Government's support for nuclear power as an anti-greenhouse measure. ""If you truly care about greenhouse gases then you'll support nuclear power,"" Mr Bush said. ""If you believe that greenhouse gases are a priority like a lot of us, if you take the issue seriously like I do and John does then you should be supportive of nuclear power. ""After all nuclear power enables you to generate electricity without any greenhouse gases."""
" Dozens of people have been killed when a suicide bomber attacked a packed shrine in Kabul on one of the most important days in the Shia calender. Witnesses said the bomber carried a backpack full of explosives into the crowd of worshippers outside the Abul Fazl shrine before detonating the device on Tuesday. The shrine was packed with Shia worshippers who had gathered for Ashura, the Shia Muslim holiday marking the death of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad. Kabul police said 48 people had died and more than 100 were wounded in the attack. A police officer at the festival said hundreds of pilgrims were standing shoulder to shoulder before the blast. One witness, Rohullah, 21, who saw the explosion from a nearby rooftop, said it had sent bodies and limbs flying into the air. A spokesman for the healthy ministry confirmed at least 14 people, including two women and a child, had been killed and 105 others wounded. A shopkeeper, who witnessed the blast, said he and his mother were delivering food to the worshippers when the bomb went off. ""It was very loud. My ears went deaf and I was blown three metres,"" said Mustafa, who uses only one name. ""There was smoke and blood on the floor of the shrine. There were people lying everywhere."" Stunned and tearful locals milled around the scene of the attack as loudspeakers still played recorded verses of the Qur'an. The shrine is located in Murad Khane, a mainly Shia neighbourhood along the Kabul river, close to the defence ministry. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for what is believed to be the worst sectarian attack in Afghanistan's bloody recent history."
" Al Qaeda militants seized control of a military base and two checkpoints during raids in southern Yemen on Monday in which at least 30 people died, security officials and residents said. Hours of firefights erupted after the militants hit an army barracks in the Loder district of Abyan province in an assault that included heavy artillery, according to the officials. The dead included 17 militants, 11 soldiers and two members of pro-government tribes, they said. This is the second militant attempt to take over Loder this year. The first was in early January. Last week, Yemen poured thousands of troops into the country's south to battle al Qaeda fighters and tighten security, officials said. Yemeni warplanes bombarded al Qaeda hideouts all week in a series of U.S.-supported airstrikes in Abyan and Lahj provinces. The offensive came after militants killed dozens of troops and seized large quantities of weapons when they raided a military zone. Numerous other Yemeni soldiers were taken hostage, officials said. Yemen's al Qaeda movement has expanded its control over parts of the country in the past year, leading politicians to consider the option of dialogue with the militant network."
" The Kabul bomb was the deadliest in the capital since 2008, and punctured any lingering sense of optimism from a conference on Monday where Western allies made firm but not specific promises to support Afghanistan after troops leave in 2014. Bodies and blood were scattered down a street in the heart of old Kabul where a crowd of hundreds had gathered to mark the festival of Ashura, with chanting, and self-flagellation. At least 55 were killed and 160 wounded, some critically. Afghans, who have previously been spared the large-scale sectarian attacks that regularly trouble Iraq and neighboring Pakistan, now face the grim prospect of a new type of bloodshed being added to the dangers of daily life. ""This is the first time on such an important religious day in Afghanistan that terrorism of that horrible nature is taking place,"" Afghan President Hamid Karzai told journalists in Germany, where the conference on Afghanistan's future was held. Outside a Kabul hospital, mourners cried near a pile of bloody clothes and shoes. A woman in a dark headscarf clutching a bloodstained sports shoe said her son, in his early 20s, had died. ""They killed my son ... this is his shoe,"" she wailed. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks in Kabul and northern Mazar-i-Sharif. The Taliban strongly condemned the bombings and blamed ""invader enemies."" Afghanistan has a history of tension and violence between Sunnis and the Shi'ite minority. But since the fall of the Taliban the country had avoided the large scale sectarian attacks that have troubled neighboring Pakistan. ""Afghanistan has been at war for 30 years and terrible things have happened, but one of the things that Afghans have been spared generally has been what appears to be this kind of very targeted sectarian attack,"" said Kate Clark, from the Afghanistan Analysts Network. ""We don't know who planted the bomb yet and it is dangerous to jump to conclusions but if it was Taliban, it marks something really serious, and dangerous, and very troubling."" Shortly after the Kabul blast, a bicycle bomb exploded near the main mosque in northern Mazar-i-Sharif city, killing four, injuring 17 others, and sparking a fight at a university mosque where Shi'ites and Sunnis were both praying."
" Nigerians are voting in parliamentary elections which have been marred by bloody attacks and chaotic delays. Polling had to be abandoned last week after election material failed to reach many areas. Security is tight following sporadic violence in the campaign. Several people were hurt on Saturday in a blast at a polling station in the north-east. About 73.5m are registered to vote, with President Goodluck Jonathan's PDP battling to maintain its majority. The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says there are tight security controls across the country, with many towns and cities appearing deserted, borders closed and flights grounded. Continue reading the main story The picture emerging is better than last week's chaos - but still troubled in some areas. In Maiduguri, an explosion at a polling station in the Unguwan Maidoki area killed at least three people - including a female police officer guarding the ballot box - and the presiding electoral officer. There were also unconfirmed reports of gunfire in Bayelsa State - which has long been seen as a flashpoint for political intimidation and brutality. In Lagos, some people complained of being unable to vote after not finding their names on the register - in one ward, the Magodo Playground Kosofe area, people say electoral officers found themselves overwhelmed by crowds and lost control of the situation. But - so far - set against Nigeria's elections in 2007, when ballots were openly stuffed in front of monitors, there appears to be a notable improvement. The polling procedure began at about 0800 (0800 GMT) on Saturday, with registration of voters to avoid irregularities. Polling stations started taking votes at about noon. First indications were that, although some officials failed to turn up on time, the organisation was better than last week. Voting - for 360 seats in the lower chamber, and 109 in the Senate - had already begun last Saturday, and millions were queuing, when it was discovered that ballot papers were missing in some parts of the country, prompting delays due to the difficulty of replacing ballot papers. Various issues have resulted in three separate announcements of postponements, while the elections for president and state governors have also been set back."
" David Cameron has said ITV1 presenter Phillip Schofield was wrong to hand him a list of alleged paedophiles during a live interview. The prime minister said it was not the ""right approach"" and unproven claims ""scrubbed off the internet"" should not be bandied about in public. Conservative and Labour politicians have criticised the show, calling its actions ""irresponsible and amateurish"". TV regulator Ofcom said it had received complaints about the programme. As the fallout from recent abuse allegations continued, Conservative peer Lord McAlpine said attempts to link him to alleged historical child abuse were ""wholly false and seriously defamatory"". The ex-party treasurer released a statement after Steven Messham, one of hundreds of victims of sexual abuse at children's care homes in Wales over two decades, told the BBC's Newsnight programme a week ago that he had been abused by an unnamed senior Tory politician from the Thatcher era. Lord McAlpine's solicitor said there was ""absolutely no truth"" in claims which have been circulating on the internet since the Newsnight programme that he was the politician concerned. He said the peer was considering legal action against anyone linking him by name and implication to abuse allegations. In Thursday's This Morning interview, Mr Cameron was being quizzed about historical claims of a paedophile ring linked to No 10 when he was unexpectedly handed a list of names by Mr Schofield, which the presenter said had been mentioned online as paedophiles. Mr Cameron, who did not look at the list, said he was ""worried"" that speculation about unproven allegations could lead to a ""witch-hunt particularly against people who are gay"" and advised anyone with evidence of abuse should go to the police."
" Fresh clashes have broken out in Syria despite the passing of a UN-backed deadline for a complete withdrawal of government troops and weapons. Activists reported shelling in Homs and areas of northern Aleppo province, and unrest in the capital, Damascus. Rights groups said 11 people had been killed on Tuesday. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, in Russia for talks, said Damascus had taken steps to adhere to the plan by withdrawing some troops. He blamed ""armed gangs"" for the continuing violence. Under the peace plan - negotiated by the UN and Arab League's special envoy on the Syrian crisis, Kofi Annan - Syrian troops were to have completed their withdrawal from population centres and stopped the use of heavy weaponry by Tuesday, ahead of a full ceasefire coming into place on Thursday. Damascus had agreed to the deadline, but on Sunday demanded written guarantees first that its opponents would give up arms, along with a promise from foreign states not to fund them. Continue reading the main story Mr Muallem's suggestion that a ceasefire should coincide with the arrival of international peace monitors is getting things completely out of the sequence envisaged by Kofi Annan. That called for the government to take the first step in pulling back its forces, and the opposition would follow suit in applying a ceasefire by Thursday morning. The observers would then come in to monitor an existing peace, not be part of the stabilisation process in terms of going into a combat situation and trying to calm it themselves. It indicates to me there is no clear way forward coming out of the meetings, unless there are things that have been decided behind the scenes. Everybody recognises the Annan peace plan went as far as anybody could go in providing a balanced, peaceful political solution. If this doesn't work its very hard to see how any other plan could. Speaking after talks with his Russian counterpart, Mr Muallem said army units had been withdrawn from some areas, a number of detainees released and agreement reached on getting humanitarian aid to those in need. But he said that ""despite all these positive measures we noticed on a daily basis the escalation of opposition by the armed terrorist gangs""."
" An Iraqi boy watches U.S. soldiers as they arrive to a patrol in Zafraniya neighbourhood, southeast of Baghdad, September 7, 2007. The U.S. military said on Friday that four Marines were killed in the vast province on Thursday while conducting combat operations. It gave no further details on one of the deadliest days for troops in Anbar in months. The military also said three soldiers were killed in the northern province of Nineveh on Thursday when an explosion hit their vehicle. The deaths take to more than 3,750 the number of U.S. soldiers killed since the start of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Eighteen U.S. soldiers have died so far this month. Bush visited Anbar on Monday and said improved security there was an example of what could happen elsewhere in Iraq. Two bridges in Anbar were blown up early on Friday, badly damaging the structures and disrupting traffic to neighboring Jordan, police said. The bridges linked Anbar's capital of Ramadi with the town of al-Rutba near the border. Rutba police Lieutenant-Colonel Hameed al-Dulaimi said the attacks took place about 130 km (80 miles) west of Ramadi. From 2003 until last year, Anbar was the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency and the most dangerous part of Iraq. But a rebellion by Sunni Arab tribal leaders against Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, which once controlled large swathes of the region, has sharply reduced levels of violence. U.S. forces killed three insurgents and arrested 18 others in raids against al Qaeda in central and northern Iraq on Thursday and Friday, the military added."
" Mr Bush described the talks as friendly despite the fact they tackled thorny issues including religious freedom, climate change and exchange rates. Few details have emerged so far, but Mr Bush said Mr Hu was ""quite articulate"" over the issue of product safety. This contentious topic was highlighted recently by a series of recalls of Chinese-made products. Mr Hu and Mr Bush were meeting ahead of a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders. While the official leaders' meetings of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum are not due to take place until the weekend, several bilateral discussions have already taken place on the sidelines. Australian Prime Minister John Howard met Mr Hu earlier on Thursday, and the two countries agreed to hold annual security summits. Mr Bush, meanwhile, began his day by meeting Australian opposition leader Kevin Rudd. Mr Rudd is far ahead of Mr Howard in opinion polls with a general election due later this year. He wants to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq, in contrast to Mr Howard, who has been a staunch supporter of US policy on Iraq. Mr Bush acknowledged ahead of the meeting that the US and China had a ""complex relationship"", and said he would be ""darned sure"" to raise contentious matters during the bilateral talks. But after their 90-minute meeting, Mr Bush described his Chinese counterpart as ""an easy man to talk to,"" saying: ""I'm very comfortable in my discussions with President Hu."""
" CAIRO (Reuters) - Around 2,000 protesters defied an army demand to quit Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday, vowing to stay until Egypt's ruling military council heeds their demand for civilian rule and a deeper purge of corrupt officials. The mostly young demonstrators, some of them unemployed, have blocked roads to Tahrir using coils of barbed wire since Friday, when hundreds of thousands massed for one of the biggest protests since president Hosni Mubarak was ousted. Former oil minister Sameh Fahmy and his wife had their bank accounts and assets frozen, official news agency MENA reported on Monday. But the protesters want more and swifter action and have promised to occupy Tahrir Square until a new round of protests on Friday, irritating some Cairo residents who showed little sympathy for their cause. ""I passed by the square and all I saw were unemployed youths bumming around,"" said Ali Abdullah, owner of a shop near Tahrir. He called the demonstrators ""a bunch of slackers with nothing to do but cause trouble"". The army had announced that Tahrir would be cleared, but has kept its distance since a failed attempt to remove the protesters on Friday night using tasers and batons. Rights groups accused the army of employing excessive force and on Monday there was little to suggest it was preparing for a new attempt to clear the square, a major thoroughfare in the traffic-snarled capital. A dozen troop carriers and a line of soldiers were posted near Tahrir, focus of the 18-day revolt that culminated on February 11 when Mubarak stepped down after three decades in power. Around 2,000 protesters chatted in groups or gathered up debris still littering the square after the weekend violence. ""The challenge is keeping the square occupied with protesters from now till Friday,"" said Ismail Ahmed, a protester and activist. ""Opposition forces have said they will rally in Tahrir this Friday, so we are not worried."""
" PHILADELPHIA -- Joe Paterno and other top Penn State officials hushed up child sex abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky more than a decade ago for fear of bad publicity, allowing Sandusky to prey on other youngsters, according to a scathing internal report issued Thursday on the scandal. ""Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State,"" said Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI who was hired by university trustees to look into what has become one of sports' biggest scandals. ""The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized."" After an eight-month inquiry, Freeh's firm produced a 267-page report that concluded that Hall of Fame coach Paterno, President Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz ""failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade."" Freeh called the officials' disregard for child victims ""callous and shocking."" ""In order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at the university -- Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley -- repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky's child abuse,"" the report said. Paterno ""was an integral part of this active decision to conceal,"" Freeh said at a news conference. Asked directly if Paterno's firing last fall was justified, Freeh answered, ""Yes."" Sandusky is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of 45 criminal counts for abusing 10 boys. He faces a minimum of 60 years in prison. On Thursday, his attorney filed a notice of appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, saying the judge in the trial issued a protective order that required the defense team to disclose confidential work product. The Penn State scandal led to the ouster of Paterno and Spanier. Curley and Schultz are awaiting trial on charges accusing them of lying to a grand jury and failing to report abuse. They have pleaded not guilty. Asked whether the officials' actions amounted to a crime such as conspiracy or obstruction, Freeh said that would be up to a grand jury."
" The collision of two giant asteroids 160 million years ago is the most likely cause of the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs, scientists say. This smash in the inner region of the asteroid belt occurred when an asteroid 170 kilometres across was struck by another measuring 60 kilometres in diameter. The ""catastrophic"" impact caused the larger asteroid to break up into many pieces - known as the Baptistina asteroid family - with some becoming projectiles that struck the Earth and moon, creating huge craters. The study by US and Czech researchers, published in Nature today, reveals there is a 90 per cent chance the object that produced the Chicxulub crater in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula was a ""refugee"" of this Baptistina family. The extra-terrestrial rock or meteorite that caused the 180-kilometre Chicxulub crater has been strongly linked to the mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs and other life forms 65 million years ago. The scientific paper also reports a 70 per cent likelihood that a fragment from the asteroid shower created the 85-kilometre Tycho crater on the moon 108 million years ago. The estimates are based on computer simulations of the asteroid break-up and its aftermath in the solar system, as well as chemical testing of crater sediments. Australian National University astronomer Paul Francis said the paper gave ""the first really plausible explanation"" for the doubling in the number of large craters formed on Earth over the past 150 million years. ""No one has ever really figured out that these families of asteroids might be able to hit the Earth. They've always been just something you studied out there in the asteroid belt,"" Dr Francis said. ""These people have shown for the first time that some fraction of asteroids will actually work their way in and clobber the Earth, as opposed to orbiting safely a long way away."""
" A video grab from an undated footage from the Internet shows Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden making statements from an unknown location. An Islamist Web site said on Friday it would ''soon'' carry a new video of bin Laden to mark the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities. DUBAI (Reuters) - An Islamist Web site said on Friday it would soon carry a new video of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to mark the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities. The Web site carried a still photograph apparently from the video which showed bin Laden seemingly aged compared to available pictures. The site did not say when the video, produced by al Qaeda's media arm al-Sahab, would be issued. Bin Laden was last seen in a video statement aired to coincide with the November 2004 U.S. presidential election. Since then, he has issued several audio messages, the last one in July 2006 in which he vowed al Qaeda would fight the United States anywhere in the world. Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. U.S.-led forces have been searching for bin Laden since they toppled Afghanistan's Taliban government after it refused to hand over the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States."
"The significance of these events cannot be overstated,"" said NORML, a pro-legalization organization, in a news release. ""Tonight, for the first time in history, two states have legalized and regulated the adult use and sale of cannabis."" But in many ways, it's just the beginning of the battle. Marijuana is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government, which overrules states' rights. ""The voters have spoken and we have to respect their will,"" said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, in a statement. ""This is a complicated process, but we intend to follow through. That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or goldfish too quickly."" The Drug Enforcement Administration reiterated its stance that marijuana is an illegal drug and that possessing, using or selling it is a crime. ""The Drug Enforcement Administration's enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged,"" said the DEA in a press statement. ""In enacting the Controlled Substances Act, Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule I control[ed] substance. The Department of Justice is reviewing the ballot initiatives and we have no additional comment at this time."" The Colorado U.S. Attorney's Office released an identical statement, saying that its position on marijuana as an illegal drug is ""unchanged."" The voter approval of legal weed in Colorado and Washington could lead to a Supreme Court battle with the federal government, according to Jeffrey Miron, senior lecturer of economics at Harvard University and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, where he has conducted economic studies on nationwide drug legalization. ""[The feds] will do whatever they can to interfere with marijuana legalization in any state,"" Miron said on Tuesday, before the initiatives passed. Analysts had projected the Washington voters would approve their legalization ballot, because it proposes a heavy tax for marijuana that made the proposal attractive to budget hawks. The Washington initiative calls for a 25% tax rate imposed on the product three times: When the grower sells it to the processor, when the processor sells it to the retailer, and when the retailer sells it to the customer. The Colorado approval was more of a surprise, since the polls were split ahead of the vote.	
Syria suggests it might not withdraw forces by deadline	 Syria will not commit to pulling its forces from cities only to have ""armed terrorist groups"" attack, a Syrian foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday as opposition activists reported at least 69 deaths in the restive nation. U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan has said that he expects regime forces to withdraw its forces from urban areas by Tuesday, at which time rebel fighters would also adhere to a cease-fire as part of a peace plan he helped broker. But Jihad Maqdisi, a Syrian foreign ministry spokesman, said that is a ""wrong interpretation"" of Syria's intentions, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported. While insisting the Damascus government has acted in ""good faith,"" Maqdisi put the onus on Annan for the peace plan to proceed -- saying the envoy ""has not offered written guarantees to the Syrian government that the armed groups agreed to stop violence, nor has he offered guarantees that Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey will commit to stop funding and arming terrorist groups."" And in a statement on state-run TV, Maqdisi said, ""Syria will not repeat what happened during the (Arab League) mission, when it committed to the exit of its armed forces from the cities and surrounding areas, then the armed terrorist groups took advantage to arm its members and conduct all forms of terrorism."" The statement referred to an Arab League monitoring mission that took place several months ago. Calling President Bashar al-Assad a ""liar,"" activist Ahmad el-Khalaf told CNN on Monday that he has no faith Syrian forces will leave and stop the violence. He described the situation in his country and, specifically, in Idlib province where he is, as ""outrageous"" -- with people having little food to eat or water to drink and living in constant fear amid countless accounts of ""women being raped, houses being burned"" and ""people being slaughtered."" ""There is no life here at all,"" el-Khalaf said. ""There are snipers all over, just waiting for someone to stand on his legs (so they can) shoot him. They don't care whether he is male, female, elderly or child. They shoot for fun."" At least 69 people were killed in fresh violence across the country Sunday, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC), a network of opposition activists. That means 525 have been killed since the Syrian government signaled its intention to adhere to Annan's peace plan -- including the April 10 planned withdrawal of its forces from cities -- according to opposition activists.	
Pope calls for end to Syria bloodshed in Easter message	 Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called for an end to violence in Syria, as well as a renewed peace effort in the Middle East, in his annual Easter Mass message from the Vatican as Christians worldwide marked the holiday. ""May the risen Christ grant hope to the Middle East and enable all the ethnic, cultural and religious groups in that region to work together to advance the common good and respect for human rights,"" the pope said in his ""Urbi et Orbi"" (""To the City and to the World"") message in St. Peter's Square. ""Particularly in Syria, may there be an end to bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation, as called for by the international community, he said. ""May the many refugees from that country who are in need of humanitarian assistance find the acceptance and solidarity capable of relieving their dreadful sufferings."" The Iraqi people, he said, should be encouraged to ""spare no effort in pursuing the path of stability and development. In the Holy Land, may Israelis and Palestinians courageously take up anew the peace process."" And the pope asked that ""the risen Jesus comfort the suffering populations of the Horn of Africa and favor their reconciliation,"" including Sudan and South Sudan, ""and grant their inhabitants the power of forgiveness. In Mali, now experiencing delicate political developments, may the glorious Christ grant peace and stability. To Nigeria, which in recent times has experienced savage terrorist attacks, may the joy of Easter grant the strength needed to take up anew the building of a society which is peaceful and respectful of the religious freedom of all its citizens."" Christians have previously been the targets of violence in Nigeria, most notably on Christmas Day, when a string of bombs struck churches in several cities. A bombing Sunday in the northern city of Kaduna killed 25 people and wounded another 13, emergency management agency spokesman Abubakar Zakari said. While the blast was near a Christian church where services were taking place, the target was not immediately clear. Thankfully, thousands of Easter services -- from the annual sunrise service at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C., to throngs of worshipers attending Mass in the Philippines -- were far more peaceful, a time for both reflection and celebration. In Georgetown, Texas, that included cheers for Tim Tebow, who has become known as much for his religious devotion as for his exploits on the football field. The quarterback took the stage alongside Celebration Church senior pastor Joe Champion to talk about how his faith brings him peace, joy, stability and a sense of purpose even at times of what might seem like intense turmoil and scrutiny. Tebow has been on a roller coaster in the last year with his play and public displays of faith, and more recently with his trade from the Denver Broncos to the New York Jets. ""Whatever happens in life -- good or bad, whether you're the hero or the goat, whether you like it or not -- you know that someone has a plan for your life, and it's a special plan,"" Tebow told the congregation, about his belief that his future is in God's hands. ""When you trust that and you have hope in that, then you have peace in all decisions and everything you do. And it brings a lot of joy to your life."
" An extensive internal review of the debacle at Penn State that left a child sex abuser in place on campus for years forever casts a shadow over a heroic figure at the school: Joe Paterno. The report, the result of months of investigation, finds Paterno and a few other top officials not only showed a ""callous and shocking disregard for child victims,"" but also helped ""empower"" assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky to attract victims, according to former FBI Director Louis Freeh, who spearheaded the review. Review at Penn State: 'Total disgard' for the victims Allegations have swirled around Paterno, the legendary head football coach who led Penn State to national prominence, since the scandal broke last year. Still, the official independent review deals a heavy blow to those who love college football and idolize Paterno. Penn State trustee Kenneth Frazier, head of the committee addressing the Sandusky scandal, said it was clear that Paterno and other key university leaders exhibited ""inexcusable failures"" when it came to protecting children. But, Frazier said, figuring the coach's legacy will be a bit more complicated. Paterno defended Penn State in letter before his death ""There is a lot about his life that's worth emulating,"" he said. ""You have to measure every human by the good they've done, the bad they've done. I don't think any of us wants to be measured by the worst things we've ever been done in our life."" Following the report's release Thursday, many people took to social media to condemn the aura of support that has long surrounded Paterno -- and the students who rioted in November after he was fired. "" 'JoePa' participated in a cover-up to protect a child rapist and allowed it to continue,"" Facebook user Ted Gannon wrote Thursday on Penn State's Facebook page. He added that ""there's a statue of him on campus. What on earth are people being taught at that university?"""
" A prominent female Afghan politician has been killed in a bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan, officials say. Hanifa Safi died after a bomb attached to her car exploded as she left her home in Laghman province. Her husband and daughter were injured. As the provincial head of the Afghan ministry of women's affairs, Mrs Safi had for years been a leading advocate of fair treatment for women. She had been known locally for going out without her head covered. That was against the conservative interpretation of Islam practised by many in Afghanistan, and might have brought her to the attention of the Taliban, the BBC's David Loyn in Kabul reports. However, no group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. The killing of Mrs Safi is a reminder of the perilous life lived by so many Afghan women, and comes only a week after video emerged of the killing of a woman said to have run away from her husband, our correspondent says. Government officials are frequently targeted by militants in Afghanistan, but it is much less usual for female officials to be killed. In 2006, Safia Ama Jan, who headed the Kandahar department of women's affairs, was shot dead by Taliban attackers."
" TOKYO, March 23 (Reuters) - A Japanese ship operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (9104.T) was shot at by two pirate ships off Somalia, but none of the 18 Filipino crew were injured, the company said on Monday. The incident, which occured on Sunday, came after the Japanese government earlier this month ordered two naval vessels to join international patrols aimed at curbing pirate attacks off Somalia. [ID:nT327928] ""Some windows were broken, and there was some damage to the outside of the ship, but no one was injured,"" a spokeswoman for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said. ""After zigzagging across the sea for about 40 minutes very fast, the ship tore itself away from the boats,"" she added. The company said in a statement that the ship was a Cayman Islands-flagged cargo ship transporting used cars from the United Arab Emirates to Kenya. Despite the damage, the ship could operate and is currently sailing towards a safer area. (Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa; Editing by Jerry Norton)"
" UKIP leader Nigel Farage has hailed gains in council elections across England as a ""game changer"". UKIP won over 140 seats and averaged 25% of the vote in the wards where it was standing. The Conservatives lost control of 10 councils, but retained 18, while Labour gained two councils and boosted its councillors by nearly 300. David Cameron said he would ""work really hard to win back"" supporters who had decided to vote for UKIP. Contests took place in 27 English county councils and seven unitary authorities, as well as in Anglesey. About 2,300 council seats were up for grabs in England, in a major mid-term test for the coalition government. The BBC's projected national share of the vote put Labour in the lead with 29% of the vote and the Conservatives in second place with 25%, UKIP in third place with 23% of votes and the Lib Dems fourth with 14%. An estimate from a BBC sample of key wards suggests that average turnout was 31%, down 10 points from the last local elections in 2009. BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the vote shares confirmed four party politics were at play in these elections, but it was still unclear if this would carry through to a general election. Responding to the success of UKIP, Prime Minister David Cameron said: ""We need to show respect for people who have taken the choice to support this party and we are going to work really hard to win them back."" The Tories were defending thousands of seats last fought in 2009 - when they were in opposition and when Labour had its worst night in local election history."
" Labour has won the South Shields parliamentary by-election, retaining a seat it has held since 1935. It saw its majority reduced in Thursday's poll as the UK Independence Party finished a clear second, with a 24% share of the total vote. The Conservatives were pushed into third while their Liberal Democrat coalition partners finished seventh. Labour candidate Emma Lewell-Buck said she was ""absolutely ecstatic"" about her by-election victory. The South Shields contest was triggered by the resignation of former Labour Foreign Secretary David Miliband as an MP. UKIP also made significant gains in county council elections in England. Ms Lewell-Buck argued that the result showed Labour was connecting with voters and the coalition government was taking the country in the ""wrong direction"". As the result was announced, she said: ""Mr Cameron, when working families needed a government on their side, you made them pay for a tax cut for millionaires. ""When our young people needed jobs, you gave them a shrinking economy, and when the most vulnerable people in our society were really struggling you gave them the bedroom tax."" Ms Lewell-Buck added: ""I will help get people back to work, champion our wonderful town and never give the Tory government one moment's peace."""
" Gen Dunwoody has been in logistics for most of her army career An American woman has been promoted to four-star general - the first female to reach the US Army's highest rank. In her acceptance speech, Ann E Dunwoody said she had never expected to rise so high in the ranks in her 33-year career. She said no-one was more surprised than she and her husband. ""Behind every successful woman there's an astonished man,"" she added. There are 21 female generals, most of them one-star, in the US Army. Women make up 14% of the army's active service strength of more than 500,000 soldiers. Gen Dunwoody comes from a long line of soldiers. ""A Dunwoody has fought in every American war since the Revolution,"" said army chief-of-staff Gen George Casey. ""There is no-one more surprised than I, except of course, my husband,"" she told an auditorium packed with the military's top brass. ""And you know what they say, behind every successful woman there's an astonished man."" Defence Secretary Robert Gates said: ""History will no doubt take note of [Dunwoody's] achievement in breaking through this final 'brass ceiling' to pin on this fourth star. ""But she would rather be known and remembered first and foremost as a US Army soldier."" She is now head of the Army Materiel Command, in charge of weapons, equipment and uniforms for the army. Women are barred from combat roles but have been allowed in the past two decades to serve in a wide variety of other positions. ""It's been my experience in my 33 years in the military that the doors have continued to open and the opportunities have continued to expand,"" she said."
" David Cameron and Barack Obama promise to defeat the ""distorted ideology"" of terrorism, ahead of talks between the two leaders in Washington."
" There were cries of ""shame, shame"" by outraged activists in the courtroom when the verdict was announced by the judge after a four-year trial. Among those acquitted in Genoa were the three main officials responsible for maintaining order at the summit in the historic port city in Italy's north-west. Thirteen more junior officers were found guilty of charges ranging from planting evidence, including Molotov cocktails, to assaulting protesters and conducting arbitrary searches during a pre-dawn raid on a school where protesters, including British activists, were staying during the Group of Eight meeting. Italy's lengthy appeals process and statute of limitations mean that none are likely to spend any time in prison. Italian and foreign activists in the Diaz school claimed they were attacked while they slept and described acts of extreme brutality by the paramilitary Carabinieri. Eighty-two protesters, among them British, Irish, Italian and Polish, were injured during the raid on the school on the night of July 21-22, 2001, and 63 had to be treated in hospital. Britons caught up in the violence described indiscriminate beatings meted out by baton-wielding olice. A detention centre was compared to a ""field hospital in the Crimean War,"" full of people with broken bones and head injuries. Police initially accused the protesters of attacking security lines and said weapons had been found at the school. But subsequent investigations showed that the protesters were unarmed and had not reacted violently. British freelance journalist Mark Covell told the BBC after the attack: ""I though I was going to die. I could hear my bones breaking inside. My lung collapsed. Most of my ribs on my left hand side are smashed. My spleen is ruptured. ""That was just the first attack. Then the second one came in. They hit me again, just because I moved a bit. I just moved my arm, and they hit me again, sustained for about five or 10 minutes."""
" Japan has summoned China's ambassador to protest against the appearance of Chinese patrol boats near a disputed chain of islands in the East China Sea. Three Chinese fishery patrol boats entered the area early on Wednesday and have since left, reports say. The Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers are due to hold talks on the sidelines of the Asean forum in Cambodia over the islands. The uninhabited islands have been a longstanding source of tension. Known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, the resource-rich islands are controlled by Japan, but also claimed by China and Taiwan. ""It is clear that the Senkaku islands are inherently Japanese territory from a historical point of view and in terms of international law,"" Japan's chief cabinet secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters. The crews of the three Chinese vessels initially refused to leave the area, said the Japanese coast guard. However, China said that the boats were carrying out a ''fishery protection mission'' in the area, in a report by the official Xinhua news agency. Tensions have been rising after Japan's bid to nationalise the disputed islands, says the BBC's Mariko Oi in Tokyo. A fresh row erupted when Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Saturday that his government is negotiating to buy the islands in response to a similar plan initiated by Tokyo's governor Shintaro Ishihara in April."
" The four include two rebel leaders, a former Sudanese air force chief, and the leader of a pro-government militia, accused of widespread atrocities. In Darfur itself, a BBC correspondent has found evidence of continuing attacks on civilians by militias. Violence in Darfur has killed some 100,000 people and created 2m refugees. Last week, the top UN aid official said the humanitarian situation in Darfur was as bad as when the conflict came to the world's attention in 2004. The BBC's Orla Guerin in Darfur met streams of civilians who said they were fleeing their remote village of Jogana. They said they had been attacked by government aircraft and militiamen that were fighting rebel forces in the area. Our correspondent said she could hear the sound of bombing from 40km (25 miles) away. African Union (AU) peacekeepers met the civilians and gave them water but did not intervene in the fighting. The UN resolution was sponsored by the US, which says a genocide is being committed against black Africans in Darfur. The war crimes suspects - Adam Yacub Shant, Gabril Abdul Kareem Badri, Gaffar Mohamed Elhassan and Sheikh Musa Hilal - would be subject to a ban on foreign travel and have any assets held abroad frozen."
" The UN Security Council has voted to impose sanctions on four citizens of Sudan accused of involvement in the conflict in Darfur. The council identified the individuals as Maj.-Gen. Gaffar Mohamed Elhassan, who is commander of the western military region for the Sudanese Air Force, and Sheikh Musa Hilal, paramount chief of the Jalul tribe in north Darfur. Two rebel leaders were also targeted; Adam Yacub Shant, Sudanese Liberation Army commander, and Gabril Abdul Kareem Badri, field commander for the National Movement for Reform and Development. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said earlier that the purpose of the sanctions ""is to apply pressure ... to people who are violating the arms embargo, not contributing to our effort to establish an effective peace process in Darfur and to restore the deteriorating security situation there."" On Tuesday, Bolton said that from interfering in the peace process, the sanctions' resolution would ""strengthen"" it. The United Nations placed an arms embargo on Sudan in December 2005, hoping to end the violence. The move means freezing the assets of the men and banning them from international travel. The vote marks the first time sanctions have been adopted against individuals involved in Darfur. The council also passed a resolution calling for all sides to call an immediate end to the violence and atrocities in the region. It ""strongly urges that all parties make the necessary efforts do their utmost to reach an accord by the deadline of April 30,"" said the statement. The conflict in Darfur has killed an estimated 180,000 people and displaced millions more."
" The U.N. Human Rights Council decried a wide range of human rights violations in Syria on Friday and called for U.N. bodies to consider a recent report detailing the abuses and take"" appropriate action."" The council passed a resolution that ""strongly condemns the continued widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities, such as arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and the killing and persecution of protesters, human rights defenders and journalists, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment, including against children."" There were 37 yes votes, four against and six abstentions at the meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. The group convened to consider action against Syria after a troubling report issued Monday by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry, a body appointed by the council. That report concluded security and military forces ""committed crimes against humanity"" against civilians. The resolution recommends that U.N. bodies ""urgently consider"" the commission report and ""take appropriate action."" The group decided to send the Commission of Inquiry report to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ""for appropriate action and transmission to all U.N. relevant bodies."" It backs ""efforts to protect the population of the Syrian Arab Republic and to bring an immediate end to gross human rights violations."" And, it urged Syria ""to protect its population"" and ""to immediately put an end to all human rights violations."" The resolution also decided ""to establish a mandate of a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Syria and urges Syria to cooperate with it. Before the resolution was adopted, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the council Syria faces a ""full-fledged civil war"" if the regime's ""continual ruthless repression"" against peaceful demonstrators and civilians isn't stopped now. She noted with concern the reports of ""increased armed attacks by the opposition forces, including the so-called Free Syrian army, against the Syrian military and security apparatus."" ""In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people,"" Pillay said."
" The death toll from a massive landslide that struck in Washington state's Cascade Mountains rose to 36 on Wednesday, the Snohomish County medical examiner said. Of those 36 bodies, 32 have been identified, county officials said. Ten people are still missing after a rain-saturated hillside along the Stillaguamish River gave way on the outskirts of the rural town of Oso on March 22. President Barack Obama has announced he will visit the area on April 22, the one month anniversary of the slide, and meet with search crews. Search crews have been digging through deep, gelatinous mud and debris, which is 70 feet thick in some places, to search for the missing."
" Bush warned his guests that overnight solutions were not on the agenda World leaders are to continue talks on measures to limit the current financial turmoil at a summit in Washington. They hope to agree on long-term reforms to cut the risk of further crises and a coordinated economic stimulus plan. Efforts are focused on five hours of formal talks on Saturday. The summit began with a working dinner on Friday. Divisions have emerged between Europe, which wants stricter market rules, and the US and other countries, which prefer more moderate reforms. Opening the two-day summit at the White House, US President George W Bush dampened hopes for quick solutions. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. ""This problem did not develop overnight and it will not be solved overnight, but with continued cooperation and determination it will be solved,"" he said. The participants hope to agree on a common set of principles for future reform, including changes to the organisations charged with regulating the world economy. Leaders are close to agreeing a concrete action plan on financial regulation, the AFP news agency quoted a high-ranking French official as saying. But US President-elect Barack Obama is not attending, raising concerns over the lack of guarantee that any proposals agreed by Mr Bush will be implemented by his successor. HAVE YOUR SAY Everyone is affected by this downfall. Budgets of households and big corporations are equally affected Later summits are expected to focus on working out the details of the reforms needed. Speaking after the opening dinner, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said ""the window of opportunities [for financial reform] has never been so wide open as at present"". Meeting on the sidelines of the summit, the Japanese, Chinese and South Korean finance ministers said they might expand their mutual currency swap arrangements. Earlier, President Bush had insisted the financial crisis was not a failure of free-market capitalism. Speaking in New York, he said the surest way back to sustained economic growth was not to reinvent the system, but to reform it. It would be a terrible mistake to allow a few months of crisis to undermine 60 years of success   ""The answer [...] is to fix the problems we face, make the reforms we need, and move forward with the free-market principles that have delivered prosperity and hope to people all across the globe,"" he said. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that he thought it was unlikely that the major economies of the world would consent to external control of their regulatory systems. ""Compulsory governance... is unrealistic,"" he said. However, European leaders have signalled that they are seeking more far-reaching initiatives. ""We want to change the rules of the game in the financial world,"" said French President Nicolas Sarkozy. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was surprised to hear warnings against too much regulation of financial markets when the crisis had not yet been overcome. China is likely to be key to any reforms agreed. Campaigners want leaders to make the world economic system fairer With nearly $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and an economy that is still expanding, albeit at a slower pace, it is one of the few countries attending that has the cash to help countries in distress. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has taken the lead in urging China and other countries with big cash stockpiles to finance the International Monetary Fund so that it can make more emergency loans. ""We will actively participate in rescue activities for this international financial crisis,"" said Yi Gang, deputy governor of the Chinese central bank. However, in exchange China is likely to want to hold more power at the IMF, which is dominated by the US and the EU. Japan has announced it is prepared to lend up to $100bn to the IMF to help emerging economies hit by the financial crisis. The G20 meeting is bringing together both leading industrial powers such as the US, Japan and Germany, and emerging market countries such as China, India and Brazil. The countries represent 85% of the world economy."
" Hundreds of Syrians have fled coastal areas where activists say government forces have carried out massacres in a campaign of sectarian cleansing. Video footage of mutilated and burned bodies, allegedly from the town of Baniyas, has been posted online. Activists said at least 77 people - 20 from the same family - were killed, a day after 72 died in nearby al-Bayda. The government said it had fought back ""terrorist groups"" and restored peace and security to the area. Continue reading the main story It's hard to know whether these atrocities are part of a plan of some sort, or simply part of the ebb and flow of action and reaction as the struggle for control of Syria intensifies. What activists omit to say is that there was fighting in the area before the village of al-Bayda was overrun by government forces and militia on Thursday. Some activist footage posted on the internet shows men in military fatigues with walkie-talkies (presumably rebel fighters) milling round in streets strewn with the bodies of young men who look as though they are the victims of summary executions. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says there were clashes there and soldiers were killed before army and militia forces finally stormed in. That in no way justifies the apparent massacre of women and children. But there is a distinction between brutal reaction, and spontaneous execution of a cold-blooded plan to displace the Sunni population. The accusation levelled by opposition leaders, reportedly including the chief of staff of the Free Syrian Army, General Selim Idris, is that this was part of a campaign of sectarian cleansing ordered from the top, in preparation for the establishment of some kind of Alawite entity. It's impossible to know whether there is such a plan. But on the ground, events seem to be bringing about an unscrambling of populations, as happened during the years of civil war in neighbouring Lebanon. Meanwhile, Israel has said its warplanes carried out an air strike on Syria targeting weapons heading to Lebanon's Hezbollah. It is the second time this year that the Israelis have carried out such strikes. There was no official comment from Israel on the strikes, but it has repeatedly said it would act if it felt Syrian weapons were being transferred to militant groups in the region, including Hezbollah. Activists have reported two massacres in two days in the coastal area of central Syria. The first was at the Sunni village of al-Bayda, which was overrun by government forces on Thursday."
" Herman Cain announces that he is suspending his campaign as a Republican presidential candidate as his wife Gloria Cain looks on during the scheduled opening of a local campaign headquarters on December 3, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. Cain had taken time to reassess the condition of his campaign ""because of all this media firestorm stuff,"" adding, ""my wife and family comes first."" Scott Olson/Getty Images Embattled White House hopeful Herman Cain effectively ended his presidential bid Saturday after support dried up in the wake of accusations from a string of women that he had engaged in sexual impropriety. Cain said he was technically ""suspending"" the campaign and vowed to press on with his unique blend of conservatism through a new website, thecainsolution.com. ""I am not going to be silenced and I am not going away,"" he said with his wife Gloria at his side, vowing to continue to be ""a voice for the people."" ""As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign,"" Cain said at a rally that was originally planned to be the grand opening of his national campaign headquarters in Atlanta. ""I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family. Not because we are not fighters,"" he said. The ""suspension"" allows his campaign apparatus to continue to raise funds. The move intensifies the two man race between current frontrunners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, the former Massachusetts governor and House speaker, respectively. Cain's so-called ""Plan B"" comes less than a week after a woman he characterized as a friend said she and the Georgia businessman had been carrying on a sexual affairfor more than a decade. Ginger White said it was not a love affair, but Cain showered her with gifts and offered financial assistance for her monthly living expenses. Cain called the relationship a friendship as he acknowledged that his wife of more than four decades had no knowledge of White prior to Monday. Cain thanked his supporters for their support as he blamed the media for forcing his hand. ""I am disappointed that it came to this point, that we had to make this decision,"" Cain said."
" The centre-left opposition is on course to win Croatia's parliamentary elections, partial results show. With 70% of votes counted, the Kukuriku coalition is predicted to win 78 seats in the 151-seat parliament. The ruling conservative HDZ party is likely to win only 48 seats. It entered the poll beset by corruption scandals and a poor economy. ""We will not let you down, I promise"", said opposition leader Zoran Milanovic, as his victory seemed certain. ""We may make mistakes, but we must not stand still,"" he told his supporters. ""There will be no excuses."" The next government is expected to lead Croatia into the EU in 2013. The next government will have to push through a tough budget to avoid a downgrade in Croatia's credit rating, tackle rising unemployment and pursue the anti-corruption fight, says the BBC's Balkans correspondent Mark Lowen. The Kukuriku alliance, led by Mr Milanovic's Social Democrats, has promised austerity measures and steps to revive industry and attract foreign investment. Outgoing Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor has refused to approach the IMF for a loan, but Mr Milanovic says he would not rule it out as a ""last resort"". The economy is struggling out of recession, with growth in 2011 estimated at 0.5%-1% as the European sovereign debt crisis undermines its recovery."
" NEW DELHI, March 22 (Xinhua) -- An Indian ship with 16 crew was hijacked Saturday off the coast of Somalia, said local newspaper Hindustan Times on Sunday. The hijacked ship, Al Rafiquei, was taken to an undisclosed location after being hijacked on its way to Mogadishu from Dubai, said the local daily. The ship was carrying a cargo of rice, refined oil, wheat and general cargo, said the newspaper quoting Mumbai-based Director-General Shipping, a shipping management authority. Such vessels have just basic gadgets and their crew members are not certified, according to the newspaper. Coalition forces and the Indian Navy vessel operating in the Gulf of Aden have been informed about the incident and asked to provide immediate assistance, said the newspaper report."
" Mali reached the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations for the second year running after edging out hosts South Africa on penalties. Bafana Bafana missed three of their spot-kicks, with Lehlohonolo Majoro shooting wide to give Mali victory. The hosts had taken the lead in the first half, with striker Tokelo Rantie firing home from Thuso Phala's cross. Mali captain Seydou Keita drew his side level, heading past South Africa keeper Itumeleng Khune from six yards. South Africa were looking to avenge their defeat at the hands of the Malians at the same stage in 2002, but the Eagles again dashed the hosts' hopes, as they did against Gabon in a quarter-final shoot-out in Libreville last year. Gordon Igesund's well-drilled side produced their best performance of the tournament in the first half, taking the game to the fancied Malians, amid an electrifying atmosphere in Durban. Some good pressure from the home side produced the first real opportunity, with Siboniso Gaxa finding space to cross for May Mahlangu, whose header was off target. Reneilwe Letsholonyane slipped through a clever ball for Tokelo Rantie, which was brilliantly cut out by Mali defender Adama Tamboura. Bernard Parker's free-kick was then well collected by stand-in goalkeeper Soumbeyla Diakite. Mahlangu played Rantie in well, with Diakite closing the Bafana Bafana striker down well under pressure. Mali were forced into an early change, as QPR midfielder Samba Diakite was forced off with an injury, to be replaced by Sigamary Diarra."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Thousands of Italians have marched through Naples in one of the largest anti-mafia protests of recent years. Police said 100,000 people gathered for the protest, held annually on the first day of spring. Names of some of those killed by the mafia were read out over loudspeakers as people honoured friends and loved ones, carrying flowers along the route. They called for more police action against mafia clans, who have killed more than 900 people in recent decades. Speaking to the crowds Antonio Bassolino, president of the Campania region, declared the mafia ""are not eternal"". I am angry and less optimistic than 17 years ago, when my brother was slain   Both the traditional Sicilian Mafia and the Camorra, the Naples-based organisation, ""can be beaten"", Mr Bassolino told the protesters. He called for more resources for regional police forces left to battle organised crime, adding: ""Our byword should be 'continuity,' because we must fight 365 days a year against the mafia."" But some victims of Mafia violence said they remained sceptical about prospects for the future. ""I am angry and less optimistic than 17 years ago, when my brother was slain,"" Rita Borsellino told the AFP news agency. Her brother, a judge, was assassinated in the centre of the Sicilian capital, Palermo. ""The Mafia have changed, they have become more dangerous, better inserted into the web of power,"" she added. Among those who joined the march was investigative journalist Roberto Saviano, the author of mafia expose Gomorrah - now an internationally-acclaimed film. The 29-year-old has received death threats since publishing his book, which focuses on the Neapolitan Camorra, and now lives under police protection. Nationwide interest in the mafia was rekindled with the release of the film, Gomorrah, which won multiple prizes at a number of film festivals. It tells the tale of a ruthless, adaptable organisation, that is mostly a work of fiction but which closely mirrors Italy's reality. Organised crime in Italy is dominated by four mafia clans: Sicily's Cosa Nostra; the Camorra around Naples; Calabria's 'Ndrangheta; and the Sacra Corona Unita, in Puglia. The Italian authorities have hit the Cosa Nostra hard in recent years, says the BBC's Mark Duff in Milan, but other groups maintain their grip and have seen their influence spread. The global economic downturn has also thrown up fresh money-making opportunities for the mafia - such as lending cash to credit-starved businessmen."
" Ghana reached the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations after Mubarak Wakaso scored a controversial penalty and a breakaway goal. After a dour first half, Ghana won a spot-kick when Asamoah Gyan fell after a Carlitos shoulder barge and Wakaso smashed home the spot-kick Cape Verde responded well and Ghana goalkeeper Fatau Dauda made superb saves from Platini, Djaniny and Heldon. But Wakaso raced clear with the Cape Verde keeper stranded to seal the win. It was a harsh ending for Cape Verde, who came so close to an equaliser that would have been deserved on balance of play in the second half. That they were undone by a dubious penalty decision and a last-minute goal when they had thrown everyone forward will be a bitter memory to reflect on when they look back at their first Nations Cup finals. The Blue Sharks shaded a cagey first half as both sides looked more afraid to make a mistake than be prepared to try to make something happen. They had the best of very few chances in the opening period, with Heldon firing over from 12 yards after he had been played in by a short pass from Julio Tavares. And the Blue Sharks showed more ambition as Ghana, in their fourth consecutive Nations Cup quarter-final, appeared edgy and inhibited. Heldon thumped another effort just wide after coming in off the wing, while Ghana keeper Dauda did well to pounce on a low cross from Tavares to stop the ball reaching Marco Soares."
" A policeman stand beside the Slovenian Democraty Party poster in Ljubljana December 2, 2011. Once a model of successful post-communist transition, euro zone member Slovenia is facing renewed economic contraction, rising unemployment and a potential credit rating downgrade. The opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) led by former prime minister Janez Jansa is eying a return to office, promising to cut the budget deficit, create jobs and hike the retirement age. The outgoing government led by center-left Prime Minister Borut Pahor's Social Democrats lost its majority in May amid internal policy squabbles and was ousted by parliament in September. Polls suggest Jansa, who was prime minister of the former Yugoslav republic from 2004 to 2008, will return to the post but will need the support of smaller parties to secure a majority. ""If ever Slovenia needed a government with a strong majority ... it is in the period coming up,"" Jansa said on Pop TV. An Alpine state of 2 million people, Slovenia was the fastest growing euro zone member four years ago, but its export-driven economy was badly hit by the global crisis and contracted by 8 percent in 2009. After a modest recovery, data released this week suggests another recession is on the way after the economy shrank 0.5 percent in the third quarter of 2011. [ID:nL5E7MU2PX] Jansa's SDS has pledged to cut Slovenia's deficit by trimming public administration and accelerating privatization. He proposes to ease a credit crunch by establishing a ""bad bank"" that would take over state-owned banks' non-performing loans."
" Ukrainian acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Wednesday that the separatist protests in Ukraine's eastern region would be resolved within 48 hours -- either through negotiations or the use of force. At the same time, Russia insisted that the presence of its troops just over the border was no reason to worry. The United States and others have accused Russia of fomenting the separatist unrest as a pretext for military intervention. Using classified and commercial satellite imagery, the United States estimates there are up to 40,000 Russian troops on the border with eastern Ukraine. NATO has also warned of a major troop buildup. The U.S. ambassador in Kiev, Geoffrey Pyatt, posted photos via Twitter on Wednesday to illustrate the U.S. estimates. The photos depict what is supposedly a field outside the Russian city of Rostov -- empty in October, filled with troops and armored vehicles on April 2. A U.S. official with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN those photos ""are consistent"" with classified imagery. Washington is sharing some information with the Ukrainians, but not highly classified intelligence, the official said. Ukraine was aligned with Moscow until a month ago, and it is believed Ukraine's security services are still penetrated by the Russians, the official said. But Russia's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Ukraine and the United States have ""no reason for concern"" about the presence of Russian forces, which it says are on military exercises. ""Russia has repeatedly stated that it does not conduct unusual or unplanned activities which are militarily significant on its territory near the border with Ukraine,"" the Foreign Ministry said in a prepared statement."
" Protesters were also engaged in talks to ease the standoff, which Kiev has said could provide a pretext for a Russian invasion, and lawmakers from eastern Ukraine proposed an amnesty for protesters to defuse tension. The former KGB headquarters is one of three government buildings seized this week in eastern Ukraine by protesters demanding regional referendums on independence from Kiev. Tensions have risen in the mainly Russian-speaking east since the overthrow of Ukraine's Moscow-backed president and the installation of a new pro-European government. ""Of course we must ask Russia to take us in because I don't see an alternative,"" said a man dressed in camouflage who gave his name as Vasiliy and said he was the commandant of the building. ""Putin help us!"" he said. In a news conference held inside the occupied building late on Wednesday, Valery Bolikov, who said he was a representative of headquarters of the Southern and Eastern Army, said talks with authorities had failed to yet bring an agreement. ""Talks are continuing there are a few issues which are being dealt with but they haven't come to their logical conclusion,"" he said in Ukraine's Security Services ornate conference hall. While some protesters have championed the idea of joining Russia like Crimea, Bolikov said that their demands went no further than a referendum to vote whether to give Luhansk more autonomy as part of a federal structure in Ukraine. ""(We will leave the building) only after the fulfillment of our demands of the carrying out of a referendum on federalization,"" he said. Outside of the conference hall, masked men armed with kalashnikovs, pistols and guns lined the building's many corridors. Tensions around the seizure of the building rose after the protesters broke into the security service's arsenal. One protesters put the arsenal at around 200-300 rifles."
" Two car bombs have exploded in the Syrian city of Homs, killing at least 25 people and wounding scores more, state news agency Sana says. The report blamed ""terrorists"" for the blasts, half an hour apart, in the Karam al-Luz district. In a separate development, the rebel-held town of Rankous, north of Damascus, is reported to have fallen to government forces. State TV said the final battle to capture Rankous lasted 18 hours. In a live report from the strategically important town, it said that the government victory came after weeks of intense fighting. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights - a UK-based activist group - said rebel fighters had withdrawn from Rankous at the request of residents after a truce was agreed. The observatory - which has a network of informants on the ground - said the truce was negotiated by local officials. The group also reported the bombings in Homs, saying they had been carried out in an area that is mostly populate by Alawites - the sect to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs. Sana reported: ""Twenty-five people fell as martyrs, including women and children, and more than 107 others were wounded after the explosion of the two car bombs."" Over the past three years more than 100,000 Syrians have died in the war between President Assad's forces and those opposed to his rule."
" MUMBAI: All the 16 Indian sailors on board a hijacked vessel off Somalian coast have been released and are safe, the directorate general of shipping said on Sunday. ( Watch The vessel, MSV Al Rafiquei, which was hijacked at 10.30 hours on Saturday, was released at 18:30 hours Indian time, the directorate said in a release.Prior to the release, the hijackers beat up the crew and also took away their mobiles, five barrels of petrol and 20 barrels of diesel, it said.The vessel, which was sailing from Dubai to the next port of call Mogadishu in Somalia, was carrying rice, refined oil, wheat and general cargo."
" 1 of 11. People are reflected in a shop window near a portrait of Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Crimean city of Simferopol April 8, 2014. Armed pro-Moscow protesters were still occupying Ukrainian government buildings in two cities in the largely Russian-speaking east on Tuesday, although police ended a third occupation in a lightning night-time operation. Ukraine's security service said separatists occupying the security headquarters in Luhansk had planted bombs in the building and were holding as many as 60 hostages. Activists in the building denied they had explosives or hostages, but said they had seized an armory full of automatic rifles. The Ukraine government says the occupations that began on Sunday are part of a Russian-led plan to dismember the country. Kerry said he feared Moscow might repeat its Crimean operation. ""It is clear that Russian special forces and agents have been the catalyst behind the chaos of the last 24 hours,"" he said in Washington, and this ""could potentially be a contrived pretext for military intervention just as we saw in Crimea."" Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula last month after a referendum staged when Russian troops were already in control. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed Western accusations that Moscow was destabilizing Ukraine, saying the situation could improve only if Kiev took into account the interests of Russian-speaking regions. Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union will hold a ministerial meeting next week to discuss the Ukraine crisis, the EU said on Tuesday. The meeting, to be held at a still unspecified location in Europe, will involve Kerry, Lavrov, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Ukraine's foreign minister, Andriy Deshchytsia. The U.S. State Department said Kerry and Lavrov in a phone call on Monday discussed convening direct talks among the parties to try to defuse tensions."
" The Indian navy is now patrolling off the Somali coast An Indian navy warship has destroyed a suspected Somali pirate vessel after it came under attack in the Gulf of Aden. INS Tabar sank the pirate ""mother ship"" after it failed to stop for investigation and opened fire instead, an Indian navy statement said. There has been a surge in piracy incidents off the coast of Somalia. The latest attack came days after the Saudi-owned Sirius Star supertanker and its 25 crew were seized by pirates and anchored off the Somali coast. Vela International, operators of the Sirius Star, told the BBC no demands had yet been received from the pirates. The company also said all the crew were safe. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Analysts say the pattern of other hijackings suggests a ransom request is likely to follow. Given the value of the tanker and its cargo, that is expected to be a sizeable demand. Two of the captive crew are British. The UK Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, said the Royal Navy was co-ordinating the European response to the incident. ""The problem of piracy around Somalia is a grave danger to the stability in the region,"" he told the BBC. Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991 and has suffered continuing civil strife. India is among several countries already patrolling the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The Indian navy said the Tabar spotted the pirate vessel while patrolling 285 nautical miles (528km) south-west of Salalah in Oman on Tuesday evening. The navy said the pirates on board were armed with guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers. When it demanded the vessel stop for investigation, the pirate ship responded by threatening to ""blow up the naval warship if it closed on her"", the statement said. Pirates then fired on the Tabar, and the Indians say they retaliated and that there was an explosion on the pirate vessel, which sank. ""Fire broke out on the vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding ammunition that was stored in the vessel,"" the Indian navy said. Some of the pirates tried to escape on two speedboats. The Indian sailors gave chase but one boat was later found abandoned, while a second boat escaped. INS Tabar has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden since 23 October, and has escorted 35 ships safely through the ""pirate-infested waters"", the statement said. Last week, helicopter-borne Indian marine commandos stopped pirates from boarding and hijacking an Indian merchant vessel. On Tuesday, a cargo ship and a fishing vessel became the latest to join more than 90 vessels attacked by the pirates this year. The first vessel, a 25-crew cargo vessel transporting wheat to Iran, was attacked in the Gulf of Aden, while contact was lost with the crew of 12 on the fishing boat. Piracy off the coast of East Africa and the Gulf of Aden - an area of more than 1m sq miles (2.6m sq km) - is estimated to have cost up to $30m in ransoms this year, a UK think tank has said. The hijackings account for one-third of all global piracy incidents this year and the situation is getting out of control, according to the International Maritime Bureau. The pirates who seized the Sirius Star are a sophisticated group with contacts in Dubai and neighbouring countries, says the BBC Somali Service's Yusuf Garaad. Much of their ransom money from previous hijackings has been used to buy new boats and weapons as well as develop a network across the Horn of Africa, he adds. Shipping companies are now weighing up the risks of using the short-cut route to Europe via the Suez canal. However, travelling around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope would add several weeks to average journey times and substantially increase the cost of goods for consumers."
" Kuala Lumpur - Pirates have hijacked a Thai fishing boat with 16 crew members off the coast of Somalia, bringing the number of pirate attacks in the troubled region to 95 this year, a maritime watchdog said Wednesday. The vessel, which was seized Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden, had made a distress call late Monday as it was being chased by pirates in two speedboats, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur. However, the phone line got cut. The Thai boat was heading for the Middle East, said Choong. He said the fate of the crew members remains unknown. Despite increased patrols by a international naval forces, attacks have continued to rise in waters off Somalia, which has had no functioning government since 1991."
" The PJD, which finds its support largely among Morocco's poor, would be the second moderate Islamist party to lead a North African government since the start of the region's Arab Spring uprisings, following Tunisia. But the party, which hopes to push Islamic finance but vows to steer clear of imposing a strict moral code on society, will have to join forces with others to form a government. ""Based on reports filed by our representatives at polling stations throughout the country, we are the winners. We won Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Kenitra, Sale, Beni Mellal and Sidi Ifni to cite just a few,"" Lahcen Daodi, second in command of the moderate Islamist party, told Reuters. ""Our party has won the highest number of seats,"" he said. Government officials could not immediately confirm the party's assertion. The king revived a reform process this year hoping to sap the momentum out of a protest movement and avoid the violence-ridden revolts in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Syria. He has handed over more powers to the government, although he retains the final say on the economy, security and religion. Some 13.6 million Moroccans out of a population of about 33 million were registered to vote in the country's ninth election since independence from France in 1956. Voter turnout stood at 45 percent, Interior Minister Taib Cherkaoui said, up from a record low in 2007 when only 37 percent of 15.5 million registered voters turned out. The ministry has not accounted for the change in registered voters. The polls ""took place under normal conditions and a under a climate of mobilisation marked by fair competition and respect of electoral laws,"" Cherkaoui told reporters."
" Moroccans went to the polls Friday in the country's first parliamentary elections since adopting a new constitution following mass protests over unemployment and corruption. Turnout in the North African country was 45%, the Interior Ministry said. Both Parliament and the prime minister have greater powers under the new constitution, while the monarch's sway has been slightly lessened. More than 300 international observers monitored the voting, alongside 3,500 Moroccan observers, the semiofficial Le Matin newspaper reported. Morocco's moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) is expected to do well in the vote. Lise Storm, senior lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Exeter in England, told CNN the elections were important because ""they are exciting for the first time."" After years in which the results have been predictable, this time more is at stake and the outcome may signal whether the population is happy with the monarchy or not, Storm said. If people voted for the bloc of traditional loyalist parties, that would suggest they want to maintain the status quo, she said, whereas more votes for the PJD would signal a desire for greater change. ""We don't know who's going to win for once,"" she said. Zeineb, 29, a business owner in Casablanca who would give only her first name, told CNN she did not expect a great deal to change as a result of the elections."
" Ukraine's acting president has called an emergency security meeting in response to pro-Russian protests in three eastern Ukrainian cities. Olexander Turchynov cancelled a visit to Lithuania to deal personally with the unfolding events, his office said. Protesters stormed government buildings and called for a vote on independence in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv. The unrest comes amid tensions between Russia and Ukraine over Russia's annexation of Crimea. Continue reading the main story These are not the first protests of this kind in eastern Ukraine. Nor are they that big. But they have resurfaced with renewed determination and co-ordination. Moscow will argue they show the strength of feeling among Russian speakers and reinforce Russia's call for speedy constitutional reform to give them more say over their own future. But after the Russian takeover in Crimea, Kiev suspects that this is not grassroots activism, but an orchestrated campaign designed to trap Kiev into either succumbing to demands to let eastern regions govern themselves or even break away to join Russia or running the risk of mounting unrest and a possible Russian invasion. So it is no wonder Ukraine's acting president has cancelled his trip abroad. If he can't stop these rallies from getting bigger and more violent, he fears that President Vladimir Putin could claim Kiev has lost control of eastern Ukraine, and Russia has no option but to intervene for ""humanitarian"" reasons. The move, condemned as illegal by Kiev and the West, followed the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych in February. Thousands of Russian soldiers are reported to have been deployed along the border between Ukraine and Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has the right to protect the Russian-speaking population Ukraine. Ukraine's leaders deny the country's Russian speakers are under threat and have said they will resist any intervention in their country. Meanwhile, Nato Secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged member nations to step up their defence spending after warning that Russia is trying to ""carve up Europe into new spheres of influence."""
" Final results of the MMP referendum will not be available until some time after the final election results. While advanced votes are being counted tonight for the referendum, the remainder of votes will not be tallied until the formal election result has been confirmed. This could mean there is no formal referendum outcome until as late as December 10. With 94 per cent of the advance vote counted, holding on to MMP has attracted 55 per cent of the vote. More than 150,000 voters opted to use the advanced vote system this year - an increase of 14 per cent on the 2008 election. The 2011 referendum on the New Zealand voting system has asked voters if they wish to keep the current system of Mixed Member Proportional or if they would like to see a change of system. They were also asked to indicate which of four possible alternatives - first past the post, single transferable vote, supplementary member or preferential voting - they prefer. Should a majority vote for change, a runoff between MMP and the most favoured alternative may be held in 2014, but only if the next Parliament decides to proceed on that course. If the majority of voters opt to keep MMP, a review of how the system works will be conducted by an independent electoral panel."
" A radical leftist terror group has claimed responsibility for Friday's suicide bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, which killed a Turkish guard and wounded a television journalist. In a statement on its website, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party, or DHKP-C, said ""E. Alisan Sanli has become a martyr after accomplishing the action on the American Embassy in Ankara."" The governor's office on Saturday confirmed his identity through forensic testing. Authorities have since detained three people for questioning over the attack and continue to investigate, according to the semi-official Anadolu new agency. ""We are going to build the future with sacrifices,"" said the militant group, which denounced U.S. foreign policy and criticized Turkey for its Western ties in a lengthy and at times rambling statement. Sanli received bomb-making training somewhere in Europe in the mid-1990s, according to Hasan Selim Ozertem, a security expert at the International Strategic Research Organization in Ankara. Turkish officials say that as a result of counterterrorism operations on Turkish soil, DHKP-C -- often described as having a Marxist-Leninist philosophy -- became increasingly active among the Turkish diaspora in Europe. Sanli returned to Turkey in 1997 and was subsequently involved in attacks on the Istanbul police headquarters and senior military officials using anti-tank weapons. After being arrested, Sanli went on a lengthy hunger strike and was released from jail in 2002 because of a neurological disorder. The blast killed spurred security clampdowns at diplomatic facilities in Turkey, plus messages of condolences and solidarity. Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan called it a strike ""against the peace and welfare of our country."" The violence reverberated well beyond Turkey's borders, especially in the nation whose embassy was targeted."
" 1 of 3. A security officer runs after an explosion at the entrance of the U.S. embassy in Ankara February 1, 2013. A suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard (not in picture) at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, blowing the door off a side entrance and sending smoke and debris flying into the street. Ecevit Sanli, a member of the leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), blew himself up in a perimeter gatehouse on Friday as he tried to enter the embassy, also killing a Turkish security guard. The DHKP-C, virulently anti-American and listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and Turkey, claimed responsibility in a statement on the internet in which it said Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was a U.S. ""puppet"". ""Murderer America! You will not run away from people's rage,"" the statement on ""The People's Cry"" website said, next to a picture of Sanli wearing a black beret and military-style clothes and with an explosives belt around his waist. It warned Erdogan that he too was a target. Turkey is an important U.S. ally in the Middle East with common interests ranging from energy security to counter-terrorism. Leftist groups including the DHKP-C strongly oppose what they see as imperialist U.S. influence over their nation. DNA tests confirmed that Sanli was the bomber, the Ankara governor's office said. It said he had fled Turkey a decade ago and was wanted by the authorities. Born in 1973 in the Black Sea port city of Ordu, Sanli was jailed in 1997 for attacks on a police station and a military staff college in Istanbul, but his sentence was deferred after he fell sick during a hunger strike. He was never re-jailed. Condemned to life in prison in 2002, he fled the country a year later, officials said. Interior Minister Muammer Guler said he had re-entered Turkey using false documents. Erdogan, who said hours after the attack that the DHKP-C were responsible, met his interior and foreign ministers as well as the head of the army and state security service in Istanbul on Saturday to discuss the bombing."
" The Turkish far-left group DHKP-C claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, according to a statement on a website linked to the group, news agencies reported. The statement posted Saturday on ""The People's Cry"" website said Ecevit Sanli carried out ""an act of self-sacrifice on Feb. 1, 2013, by entering the Ankara embassy of the United States, murderer of the peoples of the world,"" according to Reuters and The Associated Press. The DHKP-C's statement also called Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan a U.S. ""puppet,"" according to Reuters. ""Murderer America! You will not run away from people's rage,"" the statement read, warning Erdogan that he was also a target. A picture the website claimed was of the bomber was posted with the statement. A government terror expert confirmed the authenticity of the website, the AP reported. The Ankara governor's office said DNA tests showed Sanli had indeed been the attacker. Authorities said Sanli had fled Turkey 10 years ago and was wanted by the police, according to Reuters. Sanli had previously been jailed in 1997 for attacks on a police station and a military staff college in Istanbul, but Reuters said his sentence was postponed because he became sick during a hunger strike. He was never imprisoned again. After he was sentenced to life in prison in 2002, Sanli fled Turkey, according to Reuters. Interior Minister Muammer Guler said he was able to return to the country using false documents. The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, is a far-left group designated a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and the European Union. Leftist groups such as the DHKP-C strongly oppose the United States' influence over Turkey. Also on Saturday, Turkish state media said officials detained three people in Istanbul and Ankara in connection with the attack, Reuters reported."
" The political council of the Party of Regions has expelled Sergiy Tigipko, Oleh Tsariov and Yuriy Boiko from the party, the secretary of the presidium of the party's political council, MP Borys Kolesnikov, told reporters in Kyiv on Monday. According to him, 80 participants of the meeting supported this decision, while four were against it. At the same time, Kolesnikov said that there was no split in the Party of Regions. ""What split can there be, if 90% of the Congress participants supported Mykhailo Dobkin as the presidential candidate?"" he said. He also said that acting head would be temporarily in charge of the party organization in the city of Kyiv and branches in Kyiv, Rivne, Kirovohrad, Chernivtsi and Odesa regions. As reported, Kolesnikov earlier said that representatives of the party apart from Mykhailo Dobkin who have nominated themselves to run for Ukraine's presidency might be kicked out of the party. Four members of the Regions party Mykhailo Dobkin, Yuriy Boiko, Sergiy Tigipko and Oleh Tsariov decided to run for Ukraine's presidency. The party of Regions supported Dobkin's nomination as a presidential candidate at its convention on March 29. On April 4, the presidium of the political council of the Party of Regions decided to recommend the party's political should council consider the early termination of powers of the governing bodies and heads of seven local branches of the party. These are head of the party organization in Kyiv Anatoliy Holubchenko, as well as heads of six regional organizations - Ivan Movchan in Vinnitsa region, Serhiy Ryzhuk in Zhytomyr region, Yuriy Boiko in Kyiv region, Serhiy Larin in Kirovohrad region, Mykola Skoryk in Odesa region and Mykhailo Papiyev in Chernivtsi region."
" Luis Guillermo Solis of the centre-left Citizen Action Party (PAC) has won the presidential election in Costa Rica. With almost all the votes counted, Mr Solis had 78%. He had been expected to win after his rival - governing party candidate Johnny Araya - had stopped campaigning after opinion polls suggested Mr Solis had an unassailable lead. Mr Solis's win breaks with the traditional two-party system which has dominated in Costa Rica for decades. Mr Araya, whose name remained on the ballot even after he pulled out, got 22%. Forty-three percent of the electorate abstained, the highest rate in the past 60 years. Nevertheless, Mr Solis - who had appealed for a solid voter turnout - surpassed by more than 300,000 votes his own goal of getting more than a million people to cast their ballot for him. Mr Solis, a 55-year-old historian and former diplomat, had started campaigning in October to raise his profile, which was rather low at the time. His PAC party, which was founded in 2000, has never before been in power. The PAC's narrow victory in the first round on 2 February against the well-established governing National Liberation Party came as a surprise."
" Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has declared victory in Sunday's parliamentary election, winning a second consecutive term. His centre-right Fidesz has polled 45%, with most of the votes counted. A centre-left opposition alliance is trailing with 25%, while the far-right Jobbik party is credited with 21%. The Hungarian left has never fully recovered from its heavy defeat in the 2010 ballot, in which Mr Orban swept to power with a two-thirds majority. Sunday's election has been mainly fought over the state of the economy, correspondents say. ""No doubt we have won,"" Mr Orban told supporters gathered in the capital, Budapest, late on Sunday evening. ""This was not just any odd victory. We have scored such a comprehensive victory, the significance of which we cannot yet fully grasp tonight."" He said the election results showed that Hungarians wanted to stay in the European Union, but with a strong national government. ""I'm going to work every day so that Hungary will be a wonderful place,"" he declared. Fidesz is predicted to win around 135 of the 199 seats in parliament."
" Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is in intensive care after suffering a heart attack, say state media. He was taken ill while meeting prosecutors investigating the killing of hundreds of protesters and allegations of corruption, reports say. The manager of the hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh said Mr Mubarak's condition was ""almost stable"". Mr Mubarak, 82, stood down on 11 February following an 18-day popular uprising against his rule. State TV quotes medical sources as saying that Mr Mubarak, had refused to eat or drink since being summoned by the public prosecutor on Sunday. Mr Mubarak's two sons, Alaa and Gamal, are also under investigation and are being questioned at the prosecutor's office in al-Tor in South Sinai governorate, where the former president is said to have been when he suffered the reported medical emergency. ""There is a state of confusion inside the hospital and only patients are allowed in,"" Ashraf Swaylam, a news reporter for the state-run station Nile TV, said earlier. The hospital was accepting no patients except for emergency cases, another local media report said. Protesters picketed the hospital, denouncing the president and carrying a sign reading ""Here is the butcher"", AP news agency reported. They scuffled with supporters of Mr Mubarak. Mr Mubarak underwent gall bladder surgery in the German city of Heidelberg last year and there were reports that he had remained in poor health, although his aides had denied this."
" Japan's prime minister has vowed to defend disputed remote islands from escalating threat from China. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on Japan's Self-Defense Forces on southern Japan on Saturday, saying the disputed islands in the East China Sea are under increasing threat. Abe said he will defend them ""at all costs."" The uninhabited islands are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China. Japan's nationalization of the islands in September triggered violent protests across China, hurting Japanese companies there and the economy. China has sent surveillance ships regularly to waters near the islands, and aircraft from the two sides have trailed each other, raising the risk of missteps that could trigger a clash. Japan has recently launched diplomatic efforts to ease tensions, with China-friendly officials visiting Beijing for talks."
" The first person to be prosecuted as part of the investigation into payments by journalists to officials has been jailed for 15 months. Det Ch Insp April Casburn, 53, from Essex, was convicted last month of misconduct in public office. She had offered to sell information to the News of the World newspaper after the inquiry into hacking by the tabloid reopened in 2010. The sentencing judge called it ""a corrupt attempt to make money"". The Metropolitan Police said it was ""a great disappointment that a detective chief inspector in the counter terrorism command should have abused her position in this way"". Casburn had said she contacted the paper out of public interest, but Mr Justice Fulford said her offence could not be described as whistle-blowing. She spoke to journalist Tim Wood about the fresh investigation into phone hacking and claimed she did so because she was concerned about counter-terror resources being wasted on the phone-hacking inquiry, which her colleagues saw as ""a bit of a jolly"". Continue reading the main story April Casburn goes to prison as the first person convicted as part of Operation Elveden. During mitigation, her barrister argued that the exceptional nature of her offence - one 'mad telephone call' - should not lead to a precedent-setting sentence which would affect any future convictions relating to corrupt relationships between police and journalists. But Mr Justice Fulford made clear she had no excuse for her actions - it was a straightforward and troubling case of corruption. This was the key factor. He assessed that her actions had damaged the public's trust in the police and potentially damaged the integrity of a new investigation. There was, in his view, no defence of whistle-blowing - of speaking out in the public interest. And that's why he concluded that the public interest would be in jailing the disgraced detective. The detective denied asking for money, but Wood had made a note that she ""wanted to sell inside information"". The newspaper did not print a story after the call and no money changed hands."
" WASHINGTON Jan 31 (Reuters) - The window for negotiations with Iran about its nuclear program cannot stay open for ""too much longer,"" outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday but she declined to provide a deadline. ""I don't think the window can remain open for too much longer (but) I am not going to put days, weeks or months on it,"" Clinton told a small group of reporters on the eve of her departure from the State Department. The United States and its Western allies suspect that Iran is using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop a bomb. Iran denies this, saying its program is for peaceful purposes such as generating electricity and medical isotopes. Iran has refused to set a date and venue for fresh talks with six major powers on its nuclear program, a reluctance that Clinton ascribed to ""a lot of disagreement within the highest levels of the regime about how to handle this"" as well as to political jockeying ahead of Iran's June presidential election. ""They will decide to meet or not to meet based on their own internal calculations,"" Clinton said. ""They have an election coming up in June. People are jockeying to see who the supreme leader is going to anoint to be the next president. ""They are preoccupied with their internal political calculations and that's far more important to them right now than setting a date and a time"" to meet the six major powers: Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Clinton, who is to be replaced by Senator John Kerry on Friday, said President Barack Obama had never given up on the idea of engaging Iran but she stressed this was only one side of its dual-track policy with economic sanctions as the other. Clinton played down a report that Iran's crude oil exports rose in December to their highest level since a European Union embargo kicked in in July, saying ""it's been our experience that you can't take any monthly number at face value."" ""Their exports have fallen dramatically to a point where they are seeking any way around the sanctions and not having the kind of receptivity that they were hoping for,"" she added, saying she was satisfied with other nations' ""general compliance"" with the sanctions. The United States believes that Iran's possession of nuclear weapons could spark a regional arms race as well as embolden Tehran in its dealings with its neighbors and in what Washington says is its support for terrorist groups around the world."
" Pro-Russian protesters have stormed government buildings in three eastern Ukrainian cities. In Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv they clashed with police, hung Russian flags from the buildings and called for a referendum on independence. The unrest comes amid tensions between Russia and Ukraine over the removal of pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych and Russia's annexation of Crimea. Continue reading the main story These are not the first protests of this kind in eastern Ukraine. Nor are they that big. But they have resurfaced with renewed determination and co-ordination. Moscow will argue they show the strength of feeling among Russian speakers and reinforce Russia's call for speedy constitutional reform to give them more say over their own future. But after the Russian takeover in Crimea, Kiev suspects that this is not grassroots activism, but an orchestrated campaign designed to trap Kiev into either succumbing to demands to let eastern regions govern themselves or even break away to join Russia or running the risk of mounting unrest and a possible Russian invasion. So it is no wonder Ukraine's acting president has cancelled his trip abroad. If he can't stop these rallies from getting bigger and more violent, he fears that President Vladimir Putin could claim Kiev has lost control of eastern Ukraine, and Russia has no option but to intervene for ""humanitarian"" reasons. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has the right to protect the Russian-speaking population there. Ukraine's leaders deny the country's Russian speakers are under threat and have said they will resist any intervention in their country. Ukrainian Acting President Olexander Turchynov cancelled a planned visit to Lithuania and called a meeting of the country's security chiefs to deal with the unrest. In Donetsk, in what was reportedly the day's most violent protest, a large group of activists broke away from a crowd rallying in the main city square to attack and occupy the regional government seat. After clashing with riot police and breaking through their lines to enter the building, they raised the Russian flag and hung a banner from the building. Protesters outside cheered and chanted: ""Russia, Russia."" Ihor Dyomin, a spokesman for Donetsk local police, said about 1,000 people had taken part in the storming of the building."
" Hillary Clinton has said the world is a safer place, in her farewell address to state department staff on her last day as America's top diplomat. Mrs Clinton, 65, leaves the post after four years, visits to 112 countries and nearly a million air miles. She will be replaced by John Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, who was sworn in at a private ceremony on Friday. The former first lady is now discussed as a possible candidate for the 2016 presidential election. Mrs Clinton said leading the agency as the 67th US Secretary of State had been a ""unique and singular, exciting and challenging"" experience. She acknowledged the attack on the US embassy in Turkey - a sobering reminder of the everyday global threats that will face her successor. ""I am very proud of the work we have done together,"" she told her staff. ""Of course, we live in very complex and dangerous times, as we saw again just today at our embassy in Ankara, where we were attacked."" But she said she was ""more optimistic"" now than when she took up her post in 2009. ""I am so grateful that we've had a chance to contribute in each of our ways to making our country and our world stronger, safer, fairer and better,"" she told staff. Earlier in the day, Mrs Clinton officially tendered her resignation to President Barack Obama, her former bitter rival in the 2008 race for the Democratic presidential nomination."
" 1 of 2. Smoke rises after clashes between rival families of the Nubian and the Arab Beni Helal clans in the southern city of Aswan, south of Cairo April 6, 2014. At least 25 people have now been killed in the violence between members of the city's two big tribes, the Nubian and the Arab Beni Helal clans. The prime minister and interior minister travelled to Aswan on Saturday afternoon to try to quell the tension as residents demanded an end to the bloodshed. The two sides fought with guns and petrol bombs, and several houses and shops were burned to the ground before the police and army were able to briefly stop the fighting on Saturday morning. Nubian clan members blocked a main street with burning car tyres on Sunday and members of the Beni Helal tribe set ablaze carts on another main road, witnesses said. Aswan is a tourist city 900 km (550 miles) south of Cairo on the River Nile. ""We want the government to take action, not come for a short visit and go away,"" said Ahmed Rafeat, a Nubian who works in the tourist industry. ""We ask for security, an end to the bloodshed and a curfew to be imposed."" Seventeen of the dead were from the Beni Helal clan. The army said on Saturday there were ""signs of involvement"" of the Muslim Brotherhood - the Islamist movement of deposed President Mohamed Mursi - in the strife. The Islamist group denies any links to the violence that spread to many Egyptian cities after Mursi's overthrow last July. Authorities have cracked down on the group since then and have jailed thousands of Islamist activists and killed hundreds more, mostly during the forced dispersal of protest camps set up by Mursi supporters in Cairo last August."
" The Philippines says it has withdrawn its largest warship from a continuing stand-off with Chinese boats in the disputed South China Sea. Earlier on Thursday a Philippine coastguard vessel arrived in the area, known as the Scarborough Shoal. The Philippines also says China has sent a third ship to the scene. The Philippine foreign minister said negotiations with China would continue. Both claim the shoal off the Philippines' north-west coast. The Philippines said its warship found eight Chinese fishing vessels at the shoal when it was patrolling the area on Sunday. It did not say why the warship had been pulled back. ""That is an operational undertaking I can't discuss with you,"" Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario was quoted by AFP news agency as saying. ""We are pursuing the diplomatic track in terms of coming to a resolution on the issue,"" Mr Del Rosario said. In a statement, the Philippines said that its navy boarded the Chinese fishing vessels on Tuesday and found a large amount of illegally-caught fish and coral. Two Chinese surveillance ships then apparently arrived in the area, placing themselves between the warship and the fishing vessels, preventing the navy from making arrests. The Philippines summoned Chinese ambassador Ma Keqing on Wednesday to lodge a protest over the incident. However, China maintained it had sovereign rights over the area and asked that the Philippine warship leave the waters."
" Pineau De Re, ridden by Leighton Aspell and trained by Dr Richard Newland, won the 167th Grand National at Aintree at odds of 25-1. The 11-year-old beat Balthazar King (14-1) by five lengths, with Double Seven (10-1 joint favourite) third, Alvarado (33-1) fourth and Rocky Creek (16-1) fifth. Teaforthree, the 10-1 joint favourite, fell as 18 of the 40 horses finished. Aspell, 37, had finished second on Supreme Glory in the 2003 National. For the second year running, all horses and jockeys returned safely from the marathon steeplechase, however the 39 jockeys who started the race later refused to attend a stewards' inquiry into a false start. Pineau De Re, who finished third in the Pertemps Final over hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival in March, jumped the final fence in a clear lead and his rivals never looked like bridging the gap as he galloped all the way to the line. Aspell, who retired from the saddle in 2007 but was tempted back two years later, said: ""It's a wonderful day - this is what we do it for. ""I've been watching the National since I was a very young boy. ""As much as you enjoy sharing everyone's success, you crave a bit too. ""To get a chance to ride in the National is a great thing, and to get on one with a chance is even better."""
" France's President Nicolas Sarkozy has conceded he did not visit Fukushima on a visit to Japan after last year's tsunami, despite saying he had. Election rival Francois Hollande had queried Mr Sarkozy's claim that he had been to the stricken nuclear plant. Mr Sarkozy admitted on Friday that he had not. ""I'm not an engineer, I don't need to stick my nose in the situation at Fukushima,"" he said on I-tele. The future of France's nuclear power industry has become an election issue. The Socialists have pledged to reduce France's dependence on nuclear energy for its electricity, from 75% to 50% by 2025. Mr Sarkozy's centre-right UMP government argues that the nuclear industry is good for the country economically, generating employment and exports along with clean, reliable electricity. Mr Sarkozy had told an election rally in Normandy last Friday that he had visited Fukushima with his then ecology minister, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet. Mr Hollande, the Socialist presidential candidate, said on Tuesday that he had checked out Mr Sarkozy's statement and that ""he never went there"". ""It's the first time in the history of the Republic that an outgoing candidate has described a trip he never made,"" Mr Hollande said. ""He'll have been a pioneer in everything. Even on a trip he never took."" Mr Sarkozy acknowledged on I-tele: ""I went to Japan with Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, I met the Japanese authorities, I discussed with the [Japanese] prime minister the situation at Fukushima and Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet went there."""
" There is a huge security operation in Afghanistan as presidential candidates prepare for Saturday's vote. The new president will succeed Hamid Karzai, who has been in power since the 2001 fall of the Taliban but is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term. It should be the first time that power is democratically transferred. But pitfalls lie ahead, especially the threat of Taliban violence as Nato prepares to withdraw later this year. Continue reading the main story The Afghan election is being protected by the biggest military operation since the fall of the Taliban. Rings of security have been set up around each polling centre, with the police at the centre and hundreds of troops on the outside. Already - a day before polls open, all roads into Kabul have been blocked, and there are many more police checkpoints than usual. In a meeting with Afghan generals, the commander of international forces General Joseph Anderson said that because the capital is so tightly controlled, there are indications that the Taliban will hit targets outside, in particular in Logar province, just south of Kabul. General Anderson admitted that the security will not prevent intimidation. But he said that he hoped that social media would play a role in persuading people that it is safe to vote. Security has been tightened across the country with nearly 200,000 troops deployed to prevent attacks by the Taliban, who have threatened to disrupt the poll. The BBC's Afghanistan correspondent David Loyn says the election is being protected by the biggest military operation since the fall of the Taliban. Rings of security have been set up around each polling centre, with the police at the centre and hundreds of troops on the outside. Reporting restrictions are in place, limiting what can be broadcast about the candidates. If nobody wins more than 50% of the vote in this round, a run-off election will be necessary."
" (Adds U.S. reaction paragraphs 11-13, 17-19)  By Mirwais Harooni and Jessica Donati  KABUL/KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, April 5 (Reuters) - A fghanistan's presidential election closed on Saturday amid relief that attacks by Taliban fighters were fewer than feared for a vote that will bring the first-ever democratic transfer of power in a country plagued by conflict for decades.  It will take six weeks for results to come in from across Afghanistan's rugged terrain and a final result to be declared in the race to succeed President Hamid Karzai.  This could be the beginning of a potentially dangerous period for Afghanistan at a time when the war-ravaged country desperately needs a leader to stem rising violence as foreign troops prepare to leave.  ""Today we proved to the world that this is a people driven country,"" Karzai, wearing his trademark green robe and a lambskin hat, told his nation in televised remarks.  ""On behalf of the people, I thank the security forces, election commission and people who exercised democracy and ... turned another page in the glorious history of Afghanistan.""  One of the eight candidates will have to score over 50 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off with his nearest rival.  The Taliban threat to wreck the vote through bombings and assassination failed to materialise, and violent incidents were on a far smaller scale than feared.  Turnout was seven million out of 12 million eligible voters, or about 58 percent, according to preliminary estimates, election commission chief Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani told reporters. "
" Before jetting out of the country to Asia on Saturday, Mr Abbott recorded a message saying Labor and the Australian Greens in the Senate were standing in the way of his government's plan to repeal the mining tax and carbon tax. ""If you want to get rid of these anti-West Australian taxes ... that means voting Liberal,"" Mr Abbott said. He said coalition candidates are ""absolutely committed"" to scrapping the taxes and the government hoped to get the numbers in the upper house from July to pass the repeal legislation. ""Send a strong message to Canberra, send a strong message to the Labor Party,"" Mr Abbott said. ""You can't say one thing in Perth and do the opposite in Canberra. The outcome of Saturday's election is important for Australia's future, the prime minister added."
" Rhode Island on Thursday became the nation's 10th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed, as a 16-year effort to extend marriage rights in this heavily Roman Catholic state ended with the triumphant cheers of hundreds of gays, lesbians, their families and friends. Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed the bill into law on the Statehouse steps Thursday evening following a final 56-15 vote in the House. The first weddings will take place Aug. 1, when the law takes effect. ""I've been waiting 32 years for this day, and I never thought it would come in my lifetime,"" said Raymond Beausejour, a 66-year-old gay North Providence man who has been with his partner for 32 years. ""For the first time in my life, I feel welcome in my own state."" After Chafee signed the bill, the hundreds of people who gathered on the Statehouse grounds erupted into cheers as a chorus sang ""Chapel of Love."" ""Now, at long last, you are free to marry the person that you love,"" Chafee told the crowd. The day was bittersweet for Deborah Tevyaw, whose wife, state corrections officer Pat Baker, succumbed to lung cancer two years ago. Months before she died, Baker, relying on an oxygen tank, angrily told lawmakers it was unfair that Tevyaw wasn't considered her wife in Rhode Island despite their marriage in Massachusetts. ""I'm ecstatic, but sad she's not here to see this,"" Tevyaw said. ""I'm sure she's watching, but she's not here next to me. Before she died, she told me, `I started this, and now I'm leaving it in your hands.' We worked hard for this. There were petitions, door knocking, phone calls. I think people decided, `just let people be happy.""' Once consigned to the political fringe, gay marriage advocates succeeded this year thanks to a sprawling lobbying effort that included support from organized labor leaders, religious clergy, leaders including Chafee and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and hundreds of volunteers. Their efforts overcame the opposition of the Catholic church and lawmakers including Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, who voted no but allowed the issue to come to a vote anyway. Supporters framed the issue as one of civil rights, arguing in daylong legislative hearings that gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and protections given to opposite-sex married couples. The Catholic church was the most significant opponent, with Bishop Thomas Tobin urging lawmakers to defeat what he called an ""immoral and unnecessary"" change to traditional marriage law. On Thursday, Tobin repeated his opposition, writing in a letter to the state's Catholics that ""homosexual acts are ... always sinful."""
" NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner announced his resignation early Monday as the Obama administration gave automakers failing grades for their turnaround efforts. White House and GM sources had told CNN Sunday that Wagoner would resign as part of the federal government's bailout strategy for the troubled automaker. ""On Friday I was in Washington for a meeting with Administration officials. In the course of that meeting, they requested that I 'step aside' as CEO of GM, and so I have,"" Wagoner said in a statement posted to the GM Web site. He is being replaced by GM's president and chief operating officer, Fritz Henderson. Kent Kresa will serve as interim chairman. ""Having worked closely with Fritz for many years, I know that he is the ideal person to lead the company through the completion of our restructuring efforts. His knowledge of the global industry and the company are exceptional, and he has the intellect, energy, and support among GM'ers worldwide to succeed,"" Wagoner said. Wagoner's departure comes amid promises from the federal government for a sweeping overhaul of GM (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler LLC. The government plans to fund their operations for the next few weeks, but it is holding out the threat of a ""structured bankruptcy."" GM will get 60 days and Chrysler 30 days in which to make a final push toward proving they can run viable businesses. If Chrysler succeeds, it will receive a $6 billion loan. In GM's case, the officials would not specify how much money the carmaker might receive. President Obama is expected later Monday morning to make a formal announcement about his plans for the companies, which have already been given $17.4 billion. (Obama aides flunk GM and Chrysler) Wagoner, a 32-year company veteran, has been CEO of General Motors since 2000. Prior to becoming CEO, he was chief operating officer and led the company's North American operations. He also served as chief financial officer from 1992 to 1994. ('Wagoner: Almost a superstar CEO') GM has been hit hard as auto sales have plummeted. Sales have continued to tumble through the early months of this year, falling 40% across the industry and about 50% at GM and Chrysler."
" Fireworks have been thrown in clashes between football fans and the police after a World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park in Belfast. Between 50 and 60 Northern Irish fans have clashed with police at a roundabout at the bottom of Tates Avenue, outside the football ground. Earlier, nine people were arrested following trouble at a city centre pub. Police said the majority were Polish. Before the game, riot police had to separate NI and Polish fans. Fireworks, bricks and bottles were thrown between the two sets of fans outside the football ground. It is understood that several people have been injured during the disturbances. Riot police in armoured land rovers were deployed at Tates Avenue on Saturday afternoon as fans made their way to the Windsor Park football ground. Residents in the area were advised by police to stay indoors. During the game play was suspended for five minutes after a linesman was hit on the head with a small object thrown from the crowd. The Polish fans were kept inside the ground for nearly an hour after the match ended but have now left without incident."
" The maritime surveillance boats arrived in the waters around what Japan calls the Senkakus and China calls the Diaoyus shortly before 9.30am (1230 AEDT). Beijing has repeatedly sent ships to the area since Japan nationalised some islands in the chain in September. The move triggered a diplomatic dispute and huge anti-Japan demonstrations across China. Beijing has also sent air patrols to the archipelago and recently both Beijing and Tokyo have scrambled fighter jets, though there have been no clashes. Voices on both sides have tried to soothe ruffled relations, with some senior politicians suggesting the dispute be set aside for ""future generations"" to resolve. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stressed that there is no room for Tokyo to compromise over the territorial row, but has expressed his wish to meet with his Chinese counterpart to improve bilateral ties."
" NEW ORLEANS -- A power outage at the Superdome interrupted Super Bowl XLVII for 35 minutes, with the 49ers trailing the Baltimore Ravens 28-6. At about 7:37 p.m. local time and only about two minutes after halftime, the game paused as the 73,000-seat building plunged into darkness. Philip Allison, a spokesman for Entergy New Orleans, which provides power to the stadium, said power had been flowing into the stadium before the lights failed. ""All of our distribution and transmission feeds going into the Superdome were operating as expected,"" Allison said. The outage appeared to originate in a failure of equipment maintained by stadium staff, he added. The NFL said stadium officials were investigating the cause, but there was no immediate word of why the power went out. ""We sincerely apologize for the incident,"" Superdome spokesman Eric Eagan said. Since the power came back on, the 49ers have cut the Ravens' lead to 34-31. The 49ers have had some experience with power going out at Candlestick on Dec. 19, 2011 during a Monday Night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Associated Press contributed to this story."
" Some 100,000 chickens have been culled after the H5N1 strain was found, an official said. Ahmed Mustafa Hassan also said the owner of a poultry farm had gone to hospital in the capital, Khartoum, with suspected bird flu. Neighbouring Egypt has already confirmed cases of H5N1, which has killed four people there. More than 100 people have died from the H5N1 strain since 2003 - the majority of them in Asia. ""Laboratory tests have shown the presence of the bird flu virus in Khartoum and [central] Gezira states,"" Mr Hassan, a ministry of animal resources official, told reporters. John Jabbour, the World Health Organization's regional health regulation officer, confirmed there were cases of H5N1 in Sudan but could not confirm any cases of contraction by humans. So far across the world the disease has mainly affected animals. But experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily between humans, possibly sparking a pandemic. However, there is no evidence that this has happened yet."
" Congress gave final approval Thursday to the most ambitious overhaul of financial regulation in generations, ending more than a year of wrangling over the shape of the new rules and shifting the government's focus to the monumental task of implementing them. The final Senate vote, which came almost two years after the nation's financial system nearly collapsed, was a significant legislative victory for President Obama, who had pledged to rein in the reckless Wall Street behavior behind the crisis and to right the government regulation that failed to prevent it. The massive bill establishes an independent consumer bureau within the Federal Reserve to protect borrowers against abuses in mortgage, credit card and some other types of lending. The legislation also gives the government new power to seize and shut down large, troubled financial companies -- like the failed investment bank Lehman Brothers -- and sets up a council of federal regulators to watch for threats to the financial system. Under the new rules, the vast market for derivatives, complex financial instruments that helped fuel the crisis, will be subject to government oversight. Shareholders, meanwhile, will gain more say on how corporate executives are paid. Obama, who is scheduled to sign the legislation next week, said Thursday that the bill will ""protect consumers and lay the foundation for a stronger and safer financial system, one that is innovative, creative, competitive, and far less prone to panic and collapse."" The legislation places much faith -- and much authority -- in regulators to spot brewing problems in the financial system and to prevent another crisis. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who shepherded the bill through the Senate, said the legislation will help restore Americans' confidence in the badly battered financial system. ""More than anything else, my goal was, from the very beginning, to create a structure and an architecture reflective of the 21st century in which we live, but also one that would rebuild that trust and confidence."" The Dodd-Frank bill -- named after Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who ushered it through the House -- passed by a vote of 60 to 39. Three Republican senators -- Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine -- joined 57 members of the Democratic caucus in support. Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin was the lone Democratic opponent, saying the measure didn't go far enough. Some liberals have criticized the bill for failing to more aggressively alter the structure of Wall Street and for leaving so many critical decisions to federal regulators, who missed many of the warning signs before the crisis. ""It's the dumbest argument I've ever heard,"" Dodd countered. ""What do they expect me to write, a 100,000-page bill? This is far beyond the capacity, the expertise, the knowledge of a Congress"" to detail every new regulation, he said."
" BEIRUT: Fierce clashes between troops and rebels erupted on Thursday for the first time in a Sunni Muslim village in Syria's Alawite-majority coastal region of Banias, killing dozens, including soldiers, a watchdog said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting broke out in the morning in the northwestern region, killing dozens of people. Among them were at least seven soldiers, as well as women and children, some of whom were ""summarily executed."" Syria's official SANA news agency said troops killed ""terrorists"" -- the regime term for insurgents -- and seized arms in an operation targeting rebels. The opposition Syrian National Coalition accused the regime of seeking revenge from the people of Banias because they were among the first to rise against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. ""Since this morning, the army and pro-regime forces have been besieging the village of Bayda at the southern entrance to the town of Banias,"" said the Britain-based Observatory. It said the fighting is ""the first of its kind in the Banias area,"" since the uprising against Assad's rule broke out more than two years ago. The watchdog, which relies on activists and medics on the ground for its information, said there were ""conflicting reports concerning the martyrs who fell at the hands of the regular forces and their militias in the village of Bayda."" ""Witnesses from the village say no less than 50 civilians were killed, including women and children,"" it said. ""Some were summarily executed, shot to death, stabbed or set on fire,"" the Observatory said, adding that the fate of dozens of villagers remains unknown. ""The army has cut off all communications with the village and it is very difficult to get a precise toll,"" Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP."
" Jacoby Jones scored two of the most spectacular touchdowns in Super Bowl history as Baltimore Ravens edged San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in a thriller. First Jones, playing in his native New Orleans, caught a long Joe Flacco pass before running into the endzone. Then, after Beyonce's stunning half-time show, Jones returned the kick-off 108 yards in barely 11 seconds for the longest ever Super Bowl play. After a long delay due to a power cut, the 49ers hit back but fell just short. The third quarter will go down as one of the most crazy and dramatic encounters ever seen in the NFL, let alone in a Super Bowl. Many of the 70,000-plus crowd at the Superdome were still recovering from a high-octane half-time show performance by Beyonce and her old Destiny's Child bandmates when Jones received David Akers' kick-off eight yards deep inside his own endzone. Rather than take the sensible option of appealing for a fair catch, he elected to run the ball and ghosted past the 49ers defenders with barely a touch. After Baltimore raced into an early lead courtesy of a pair of Flacco touchdown passes to Anquan Boldin and Dennis Pitta, Jones extended Baltimore's advantage to 21-3 when he caught Flacco's perfectly floated downfield pass and then, realising he had not been touched by a defender, showed equally quick mental agility to get up and trot into the endzone. After trailing 21-6 at the break, and then 28-6 following Jones's kick-off return, San Francisco could have been forgiven for giving up. But they were inspired by something truly unprecedented - half of the lights going off, and not being fixed fully for 34 minutes."
" * Apache moves ahead on possible deal for BP properties (Adds details, analysts estimates) HOUSTON, July 15 (Reuters) - BP Plc (BP.L) (BP.N) said on Thursday no oil was leaking into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since its huge spill began in April as it conducted pressure tests on its blown-out deep-sea well. For the test, BP closed valves and vents on a tight-sealing containment cap installed atop its ruptured well earlier this week. Initial results early in the test showed the cap had completely contained the flow of oil, BP said. [ID:nN15196767] ""It's a great sight but it's far from the finish line,"" Doug Suttles, a senior BP executive, told reporters. BP's U.S. shares initially jumped 10 percent after the company announced that its test had shut off the flow of oil. President Barack Obama called the end of the flow of oil into the ocean a ""positive sign,"" but cautioned that the latest effort was still in the testing phase. The spill has caused an economic and environmental disaster along the U.S. Gulf Coast. As the company pushed ahead on the spill-control effort, U.S. energy company Apache Corp (APA.N) was moving forward on a possible $10 billion deal for some BP properties, including major assets in Alaska, CNBC reported. [ID:nN15217650] After a delay to fix a leak, BP began the test on Thursday afternoon on the cap that could stop all or most of the flow of crude that has been polluting the ocean and coastline since April 20 in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For full spill coverage link.reuters.com/hed87k Breakingviews [ID:nLDE66E0KQ] Insider TV link.reuters.com/hyr57m Graphic on BP shares r.reuters.com/dez27m Factbox on BP in Libya [ID:nLDE66E0ZO] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> The test, which could last between six to 48 hours, gauges pressure in the well -- which extends 2.5 miles (4 km) under the seabed -- to assess its condition. Officials said it will show whether the cap can safely shut off the flow from the well if oil-capture vessels at the surface must disconnect. The U.S. Coast Guard has described the containment cap as at best a temporary fix to the leak while BP finishes two relief wells that it is drilling that are intended to intersect the blown-out well and permanently seal it next month."
" A laptop, some empty fireworks and a jar of Vaseline landed three friends of Boston Marathon bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in jail Wednesday, charged with trying to throw investigators off their buddy's trail. Those are the items federal prosecutors say Azamat Tazhayakov, Dias Kadyrbayev and Robel Phillipos took from Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in the hours after the FBI released photos of Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, the suspects in the marathon bombings. According to FBI affidavits, they quickly recognized their friend from the pictures. When Kadyrbayev texted his friend to tell him ""he looked like the suspect on television,"" Tsarnaev texted back ""lol"" and added, ""come to my room and take whatever you want,"" the affidavit states. Phillipos, Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev went to the room, where Kadyrbayev noticed a backpack containing fireworks that had been ""opened and emptied of powder,"" according to the affidavit. ""Kadyrbayev knew when he saw the empty fireworks that Tsarnaev was involved in the marathon bombing,"" the affidavit states. All three are accused of removing items from Tsarnaev's dorm room after the April 15 bombings, which killed three people and wounded more than 260. According to the affidavit, they left with the backpack, the Vaseline -- which Tazhayakov believed could be used to make bombs -- and Tsarnaev's laptop. By the time they got back to the apartment in New Bedford that Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev shared, the Tsarnaev brothers had been named as bomb suspects, and the three friends ""started to freak out,"" Phillipos recounted after what the affidavit stated had been four previous interviews. ""According to Kadyrbayev, they collectively decided to throw the backpack and fireworks into the trash because they did not want Tsarnaev to get into trouble,"" the affidavit states. Investigators found the pack, fireworks and Vaseline in a landfill last week after a two-day search. The complaint doesn't state what happened to the laptop. Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov, both from Kazakhstan, were already in federal custody on immigration charges. They're charged with obstruction of justice, while Phillipos, a U.S. citizen, is charged with lying to federal agents probing the bombing. Wednesday's developments come after more than two weeks of intensive investigation that has stretched from Boston to the restive Russian republic of Dagestan, where the Tsarnaev brothers' parents now live."
" NATO reported earlier today that there have been five piracy incidents over the last 24 hours, including two tanker hijackings. The most recent reported hijacking is that of the MT BOW ASIR taken at 0745 GMT in position 02 26' S - 048 11'E. According to the Equasis data base, BOW ASIR is a 1982-built, 14,627 gt Bahamas-flag chemical tanker owned by Star Tankers Ltd. of the Isle of Man and managed by Norway's Salhus Shipping AS The MT NIPAYIA was hijacked yesterday. There are 19 crew on board. According to the Equasis data base, the ship is a Panama flagged. 5,357 gt chemical/oil products tanker managed by Lotus Shipping of Athens. The ship is understood to have been captured 380 miles off Hobyo. In an earlier incident noted by NATO, Somali pirates hijacked a yacht with two people on board after it left the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, the Seychelless state broadcaster reported Wednesday (25 March). A government employee familiar with the case told The Associated Press that the vessel Serenity, with two crew from the Seychelles on board, disappeared after it left the islands Feb. 28 en route to Madagascar. It is unclear when the ship was seized. There were also several unsuccessful attacks yesterday. Yesterday at 0907 GMT, the MV EXPLORER III and the MV OCEAN EXPLORER reported that they were both being chased by two small boats. The EXPLORER III and the OCEAN EXPLORER increased speed, putting distance between them and the two small boats. Yesterday at 2055 GMT, The MV FD GENNARO AURILIA reported a suspicious fishing boat approaching. The Master raised the alarm, increased speed and called for assistance from coalition warships. Fishing boat switched off its light and moved away."
" At least 13 people have been killed and many more injured by a powerful explosion in Syria's capital, Damascus, state media and activists say. A bomb is believed to have been detonated in a square in the central district of Marjeh. Civilians and security personnel are among the dead. Sporadic gunfire was heard in the area after the blast. On Monday, Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi survived a car bomb attack, which had targeted his convoy in the capital. The latest violence comes amid allegations that the Syrian authorities may have used chemical weapons against rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. US President Barack Obama has said their use would be a ""game changer"" - and on Tuesday he insisted facts needed to be established before the US would rethink ""the range of options available"" for action. But Syria's permanent representative to the UN, Bashar Jaafari, said his government was waiting for information about the dates and locations of the latest alleged uses of chemical weapons. He told a news conference in New York that the Syrian government had told the UN that once it had investigated the alleged use of chemical weapons on 19 March in the Khan al-Assal district of the north-western province of Aleppo, it would look into more recent claims. Damascus says rebel forces used chemical weapons at Khan al-Assal, but rebel commanders have accused government forces of carrying out the attack, citing reports of victims suffering breathing difficulties and bluish skin. Tuesday's bomb attack took place near a hotel, shopping centre and interior ministry building in Marjeh, a busy commercial district, the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut reports."
" NEW YORK -- Three months ago, the Sacramento Kings seemed on the verge of a move to Seattle after the team's majority owners secretly executed a deal that would land a record sale price to a deep-pocketed and respected group that promised a glittering new downtown arena. On Monday, Sacramento overcame those long odds when an NBA ownership committee studying the situation unanimously voted against relocating the Kings. A formal vote of all 30 owners is scheduled for May 13 but sources told ESPN.com the full body is expected to ratify the recommendation of the seven owners from the relocation committee. The move is a victory for Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson. In January, he had no competing ownership bid, no plan for a new arena after years of trying and no working relationship with the team's owners, the Maloof family. But Johnson, who successfully staved off a bid to move the Kings to Anaheim in 2011, hastily assembled a strong counter-proposal that ended up winning over skeptical owners. Moments after the league announced the committee's recommendation, Johnson wrote on Twitter: ""That's what I'm talking about SACRAMENTO!!!!! WE DID IT!!!!!"" The decision is a loss for Seattle businessmen Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, who had bid $365 million for 65 percent of the team and had made a separate deal with a bankruptcy court to pay $15 million for another 7 percent. They were also willing to pay millions more in relocation fees and arena development in a larger market. Despite the recommendation, Hansen pledged to ""move forward with the transaction"" he signed with the Maloof family to buy and move the franchise anyway. In a post on his Seattle arena website late Monday night, Hansen said he plans to pitch the NBA Board of Governors when owners will vote on the issue. ""When we started this process everyone thought it was impossible,"" Hansen wrote. ""While this represents yet another obstacle to achieving our goal, I just wanted to reassure all of you that we have numerous options at our disposal and have absolutely no plans to give up. Impossible is nothing but a state of mind."" Earlier, at a packed pep rally at a downtown restaurant, fans serenaded Johnson with chants of ""Sac-ra-mento!"" He called the recommendation a ""big day for the city of Sacramento"" but stopped short of declaring victory. ""We do not want to dance in the end zone. We do not want to celebrate prematurely,"" Johnson said."
" A 5.0 magnitude aftershock rattled south-western Pakistan, three days after a powerful earthquake killed up to 300 people in the region, the US Geological Survey said. The latest quake struck just before 6:00am (local time) north-east of the city of Quetta, in an area where tens of thousands of people were made homeless by a strong pre-dawn tremor on Wednesday. There were no immediate reports of further casualties or damage as a result of the latest aftershock, the second strongest of more than 250 tremors to have shaken the region since Wednesday. Aid agencies have warned that disease is beginning to spread among quake survivors in the mountainous Baluchistan province, where thousands of children and women are still desperately waiting for relief supplies. Thousands of people whose mud-brick homes were flattened have been sleeping in the open in freezing temperatures."
" BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged fire early Friday killing at least four soldiers near a disputed border temple that was the site of clashes last year, a Thai military official said. A group of about 20 Cambodian soldiers ""intruded"" into Thai territory and opened fire after they were warned to leave by Thai soldiers, said Thai army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkunerd. Both sides exchanged gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades in a firefight that lasted about five minutes with no casualties But in a second round of fighting two Thai soldiers died and 10 others were injured, said Thai army Lt. Col. Vichit Mugkarun. Two Cambodian soldiers and nine others were injured in the battle, the official said Cambodian officials could not be immediately reached for comment. The fighting took place about 2 miles (3 km) from the 11th century Preah Vihear temple. For months last year, the two countries saber-rattled over the ancient temple. The nations differ on whether some territory around the temple forms part of Thailand or Cambodia. Both countries posted troops in the area after the United Nations in July approved Cambodia's application to have the temple listed as a World Heritage Site -- a place the United Nations says has outstanding universal value. The temple sits atop a cliff on Cambodian soil, but has its most accessible entrance on the Thai side. The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962. Thailand claims, however, that the 1.8 square mile (4.6 sq. km) area around it was never fully demarcated."
" Bangladeshi police have used batons to disperse hundreds of garment factory workers calling for the death penalty for the owner of a collapsed building. At least 382 people are known to have died when the Rana Plaza collapsed on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, last week. Hundreds more are missing. The building's owner, Mohammed Sohel Rana, is in police custody. A court earlier confiscated Mr Rana's assets and froze those of the owners of five factories which operated there. They face allegations of negligence, illegal construction and persuading workers to enter the building in Savar - a day after visible cracks appeared. Two engineers who reportedly approved the safety of the structure have also been detained. Hundreds of workers held protests in several industrial areas on the outskirts of Dhaka on Tuesday, calling for Mr Rana's execution. The protests later turned violent and a number of vehicles were damaged. Police used batons to break up the crowds, says the BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in Savar. Fearing further violence, many garment factories in a few industrial suburbs have been shut, our correspondent adds. Rescue workers are continuing to clear a mass of concrete slabs and debris. Hope of finding more people alive is fading, and the operation is now focused on recovering bodies. Survivor Dali Akther told the BBC that the government should have accepted foreign assistance."
" KABUL (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed three members of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the coalition said. It is ISAF policy not to identify the nationality of soldiers killed on duty. The Taliban on Sunday launched its spring offensive, saying it would take aim at foreign military bases and diplomatic areas."
" Two journalists working for the Associated Press news agency have been shot by a police commander in eastern Afghanistan, officials say. One of the women, Anja Niedringhaus, died in the attack. Her colleague, Kathy Gannon, is reported to be stable. The attack took place in the town of Khost near the border with Pakistan. It comes as Afghanistan intensifies security ahead of presidential elections on Saturday, in response to threats of violence by the Taliban. The new president will succeed Hamid Karzai, who has been in power since the 2001 fall of the Taliban but is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term. The BBC's Lyse Doucet in Kabul says the run-up to this historic poll has already been the bloodiest, and fears of electoral fraud are pronounced. The two journalists had been travelling with a convoy of election workers - protected by Afghan security forces - delivering ballots from the centre of Khost to the district of Tani, on the outskirts. They were in their own car with an interpreter and an AP freelancer, AP says. The freelancer said they had arrived in a heavily guarded compound shortly before the shooting. As they were waiting in the back seat of the car for the convoy to move, a unit commander shouted ""Allahu Akbar"" (God is Great) and opened fire on them, the freelancer told AP."
" DAMASCUS, Syria, April 30 (UPI) -- An explosion ripped through Marjeh Square in the center of Damascus Tuesday, killing 13 people and wounding more than 70, Syria's state-run television reported.Elsewhere, two people were killed and 20 others were injured Tuesday when planes dropped bags of suspected chemicals in Idlib province, al-Jazeera reported.Videos from the Qatari news network appear to show victims having difficulty breathing, and in one, a patient at a makeshift hospital has white foam coming from his mouth.In the Damascus bombing, the opposition group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least five security force members were killed when a bomb-laden car exploded near the back door of a building that once housed the Interior Ministry, The New York Times reported.Syria's state television said the dead were all civilians.On Monday, an explosion targeted the convoy of Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halki, in an affluent area of Damascus. State news media said Halki survived the attack in which five people, including a bodyguard, were killed.The latest suspected chemical weapons attack allegedly perpetrated by President Bashar Assad's regime comes after the United States and Israel have expressed concern and threatened possible action as a result of the use of such weapons in the Syrian civil war, Ynetnews.com reported.Forty-two people suffocated to death last week after an alleged chemical attack on a Damascus suburb, rebels said.Meanwhile, the British charity Oxfam said in a report Tuesday the 6.8 million internally displaced Syrians need immediate assistance, stressing funds currently available are insufficient to address the crisis.The United Nations has received half of the money that had been pledged, the Oxfam report said."
" The number of dead in a mudslide that hit the north-western US state of Washington has risen to 30, as recovery workers struggle to identify remains. A medical examiner said Gloria Halstead, 67, and 13-year-old Jovon Mangual had been confirmed dead. Thirteen people remain missing after the 22 March mudslide crushed the community of Oso, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) north of Seattle. Identifying victims has proved to be a challenge as recovery efforts continue. One set of remains does not fit with any description on the missing persons list, officials say. Medical examiners know it is a male, but they cannot identify his age range and the only clue to his identity is gold teeth. The landslide destroyed about 30 houses, temporarily damming a river and covering a major road. Little sign of the community in Stillaguamish Valley remains in the disaster zone, which is strewn with piles of downed trees and the twisted remains of vehicles."
" DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria's prime minister escaped an assassination attempt Monday when a bomb exploded near his convoy in Damascus, state media reported, in the latest attack to target a top government official. Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was not hurt in the explosion in the capital's western neighbourhood of Mazzeh, state TV said. The TV showed video of heavily damaged cars and debris in the area as firefighters fought to extinguish a large blaze set off by the blast. A government official said two people were killed and 11 wounded, while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group said the explosion killed at least five, including two of al-Halqi's bodyguards and one of the drivers in his convoy. The government official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements to reporters. As evidence that the prime minister was unhurt, the state-run Al-Ikhbariya station said al-Halqi went into a regular weekly meeting with an economic committee just after the bombing. The station broadcast video of the prime minister sitting around a table in a room with several other officials. But in the recorded comments after the meeting, al-Halqi made no reference to the bombing, nor was he asked about it by reporters, leaving doubt as to whether the video was shot before or after the bombing. The state news agency quoted al-Halqi as saying that the assassination attempt exposed how armed groups ""are bankrupt"" after the latest advances made by Syrian troops around the country. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday's suicide attack. Such bombings have been a trademark of Islamic extremists fighting in the rebel ranks, raising concerns about their role in Syria's civil war. Syria's conflict started with largely peaceful anti-government protests in March 2011 but eventually turned into a civil war that has so far killed more than 70,000 people, according to the United Nations. State TV quoted Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi as saying that targeting al-Halqi, who is in charge of carrying out the political program to end Syria's crisis, shows that some in the opposition ""reject a political solution."""
" Foreign detainees 'have US right' About 600 so-called enemy combatants are held at Bagram air base A US judge has ruled that foreign suspects held by the US in Afghanistan have the right to challenge their detention in US civilian courts. Judge John Bates denied the motion by the US government to withhold the right to three detainees at Bagram air base. The US Supreme Court ruled last year that detainees at Guantanamo had such a right. The justice department later said those held at Bagram did not. Judge Bates said the cases were essentially the same. The three detainees have been held at the US military prison at Bagram for at least six years after having been captured outside Afghanistan. Judge Bates' ruling now allows them to challenge their detention in the US justice system. The three detainees are Fadi al Maqaleh and Amin al Bakri from Yemen and Redha al-Najar from Tunisia. Today, a US federal judge ruled that our government cannot simply kidnap people and hold them beyond the law   A fourth detainee, Haji Wazir, who had also brought a lawsuit seeking his release is an Afghan citizen. Judge Bates reserved judgement on his case, saying the implication that he could be released could create ""friction with the host country"". ""Bagram detainees who are not Afghan citizens, who were not captured in Afghanistan and who have been held for an unreasonable amount of time - here over six years - without adequate process"" have the legal right to challenge their detention in US courts, Judge Bates said in his 53-page opinion. The justice department said it was reviewing the ruling. The ruling is a rebuff to the Obama administration, says the BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington. It is not definitive, says our correspondent. Legal proceedings will continue for some time. A lawyer representing one of the detainees said it was ""a great day for American justice"". ""Today, a US federal judge ruled that our government cannot simply kidnap people and hold them beyond the law,"" lawyer Ramzi Kassem was quoted as saying by the Washington Post. About 600 so-called enemy combatants are held at the US prison at Bagram air base."
" Federal investigators probing who sent potentially deadly letters to President Obama, a senator and a judge believe they have the right man -- this time. The letters, which were sent on April 8 with Memphis postmarks, sparked a national furor and recalled instances in 2001 and 2003 when deadly chemical agents were mailed to public figures. This time, investigators moved fast and arrested Paul Kevin Curtis, a Mississippi man known for writing lengthy screeds to and about various politicians. But within days, he was cleared and a new suspect -- accused child molester James Everett Dutschke -- emerged. Shackled and in leg irons, Dutschke, 41, appeared in Federal Court in Oxford, Miss., Monday, where he was charged with ""knowingly developing, producing, stockpiling, transferring, acquiring, retaining and possessing a biological agent, toxin and delivery system, for use as a weapon, to wit: ricin."" He faces life in prison if convicted. Like the first suspect, he claims he is innocent. ""I'm a patriotic American,"" Dutschke told The Associated Press. ""I don't have any grudges against anybody. ... I did not send the letters,"" Dutschke said. Neither President Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., nor Sadie Holland, an 80-year-old county judge from Mississippi, was hurt. Ricin, made from castor beans, is, in its milled form, 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide and a dose the size of two grains of salt can kill. Lawmakers' mail has been opened at a special facility ever since the infamous anthrax letters that were mailed to several targets in 2001, allegedly by a government scientist who later committed suicide, and the unsolved 2003 ricin letters sent to two targets including the White House. Suspicion turned to Dutschke shortly after Curtis was freed. Because the letters ended with a phrase Curtis frequently used in blogposts, letters and various web rants, investigators believe the real letter writer was trying to make it appear they were the work of Curtis. When investigators asked Curtis for a list of people who might mean him harm, Dutschke's name came up, according to reports. Curtis, a sometime Elvis impersonator, has been angry -- and some friends say mentally ill -- since an incident more than a decade ago in which he claims to have uncovered a black market body parts scheme while working as a janitor at a mortuary. Although Curtis apparently never convinced authorities of what he'd allegedly uncovered, Dutschke had once planned to write a book with Curtis about the case before the two had a falling out. ""We are relieved but also saddened,"" said Curtis' attorney, Christi McCoy. ""This crime is nothing short of diabolical. I have seen a lot of meanness in the past two decades, but this stops me in my tracks."" Dutschke's house, business and vehicles in Tupelo, Miss., were searched earlier in the week, often by crews in hazardous materials suits, and he had been under surveillance. Dutschke's attorney, Lori Nail Basham, said Dutschke has cooperated fully with investigators and insisted he had nothing to do with the letters. But Dutschke already had legal problems. Earlier this month, he pleaded not guilty in state court to two child molestation charges involving three girls younger than 16. He also was appealing a conviction on a different charge of indecent exposure."
" Men in pick-up trucks bristling with anti-aircraft guns have blocked off Libya's foreign ministry, demanding a jobs ban on Gaddafi-era officials. Dozens of armed men stopped workers entering the building and moved traffic away from the area, witnesses said. Libyan officials have been unable to agree the terms of a law barring figures from the late Col Gaddafi's government from entering politics. Armed groups have responded by storming the Congress on several occasions. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, at a news conference, urged Libyans to back their government in the face of ""people who want to destabilise the country"". He also complained of other attacks and ""acts of sabotage"", carried out by separate groups, against the interior ministry and national TV headquarters. But Libya's Lana news agency said the action at the interior ministry was not linked to the events outside the foreign ministry. Roads leading to the building in the capital, Tripoli, were obstructed by at least 20 vehicles, as militiamen carrying AK-47 rifles moved into the area, although they did not enter the ministry itself. There was a mix of men, young and old, some in civilian clothes and others wearing army fatigues, BBC Libya correspondent Rana Jawad reported from the scene. They had no clear leader, but said they would remain until their demands were met. The image of an armed brigade blocking access to a public building had so far usually been reserved for Libya's legislature, our correspondent said."
" Tiger Woods will miss the Masters after undergoing back surgery earlier this week for a pinched nerve that has been hurting him for several months, the world's No. 1 player said Tuesday on his website. It will be the first time in 20 years that Woods will not play in the event. The microdiscectomy was performed Monday by neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Rich in Park City, Utah. The statement said Woods will begin ""intensive rehabilitation and soft-tissue treatment"" within a week, and the goal is for him to return to competition ""sometime this summer."" ""After attempting to get ready for the Masters, and failing to make the necessary progress, I decided, in consultation with my doctors, to have this procedure done,"" the 38-year-old Woods said in the statement. ""I'd like to express my disappointment to the Augusta National membership, staff, volunteers and patrons that I will not be at the Masters. It's a week that's very special to me. It also looks like I'll be forced to miss several upcoming tournaments to focus on my rehabilitation and getting healthy."" It is not yet clear whether Woods will return in time for the U.S. Open (at Pinehurst No. 2 on June 12-15) or the Open Championship (at Royal Liverpool on July 17-20). ""It's tough right now, but I'm absolutely optimistic about the future,"" Woods said in the statement. ""There are a couple [of] records by two outstanding individuals and players that I hope one day to break. As I've said many times, Sam [Snead] and Jack [Nicklaus] reached their milestones over an entire career. I plan to have a lot of years left in mine."" ESPN injury analyst Stephania Bell said that ""there is a very good return rate following this type of procedure."" ""Dr. (Robert) Watkins, who is known for treating many athlete for spine conditions out in Los Angeles, actually published a study where they looked at 80 professional athletes, across all sports including golfers -- 90 percent (were) able to return to their prior level of sport."" Bell estimated that the average recovery time for surgery like Woods had is 4 1/2 months."
" Syrian troops have stormed into a town near the border with Turkey, reports say, as the government presses its campaign to crush a popular revolt. Witnesses and anti-government activists said tanks and soldiers swept into Bdama, making dozens of arrests. Thousands of Syrian people have arrived in the border area over the past week, escaping military action in the north. Turkey says some 10,000 have crossed over to its territory but many more are camping on the Syrian side. The UK on Saturday advised against all travel to Syria and urged its nationals to leave as soon as possible. Residents said the army moved into Bdama, about 2km (1.2 miles) from the Turkish border, early on Saturday morning, firing machine guns and setting fire to buildings. ""They came at 7am to Bdama,"" said Saria Hammouda, a lawyer living in the border town. ""I counted nine tanks, 10 armoured carriers, 20 jeeps and 10 buses. I saw shabbiha (pro-government fighters) setting fire to two houses,"" she added. Activists say Bdama has become a vital supply point for the thousands of people who have fled their homes and are camped out near the Turkish border. Rami Abdulrahman, of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters: ""Bdama's residents don't dare take bread to the refugees and the refugees are fearful of arrests if they go into Bdama for food."""
" France and Germany have called for tougher regulation for the world's financial system at the G20 summit. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has threatened to walk out of the meeting, said that new financial regulation was a ""non-negotiable goal"". In London's financial district, police and protesters have clashed. A protester died after he collapsed. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have met the Queen at Buckingham Palace. The G20 leaders attended a state dinner at Downing Street, where they began to hammer out a final agreement. They were served a meal of Welsh lamb, Jersey Royal new potatoes and asparagus cooked by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. The formal summit meeting will take place on Thursday in the Excel Centre in London's Docklands. There have been divisions between France and Germany, who want the financial system to be subject to far stricter rules, and the US and the UK, who have emphasised the need for more government spending to boost the world economy. But early signs are that a consensus is emerging and a deal will be reached. The main sticking point may be how much extra money the International Monetary Fund will receive to help countries in trouble, while there is agreement in principle on regulation and government spending."
" NATO will suspend ""all practical civilian and military cooperation"" with Russia because of its annexation of Crimea, saying it has seen no sign that Moscow was withdrawing troops from the Ukrainian border. Foreign ministers from the 28 members of the Western military alliance met in Brussels on Tuesday for the first time since Russia grabbed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine last month, triggering the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War. They were discussing ways to boost NATO's military presence in formerly communist central and Eastern Europe to reassure allies worried by Russia's moves. After the session, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia has challenged truths that only a few weeks ago seemed self-evident: that European borders in the 21st century would not be redrawn by force. ""It is important for everybody in the world to understand that the NATO alliance takes seriously this attempt to change borders by use of force,"" he said. ""So that is the wake-up call."" Russia's aggression ""is the gravest threat to European security in a generation and it challenges our vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace,"" NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters. In a joint statement announcing the suspension of cooperation, the ministers said political dialogue in the NATO-Russia Council could continue, ""as necessary, at the ambassadorial level and above, to allow us to exchange views, first and foremost on this crisis."" They said they would review NATO's relations with Russia at their next meeting in June. NATO and Russia have cooperated on an anti-narcotics operation in Afghanistan, counterpiracy and various counterterrorism measures. Rasmussen said cooperation on the anti-narcotics operations would continue. A NATO official told CNN the ministers had decided the alliance would develop, as a matter of urgency, ""a series of additional measures to reinforce NATO's collective defenses."" These would include possible deployments and reinforcements of alliance military assets in Eastern European member states, a possible review of training and exercise plans in the near term, a possible increase of the readiness level of the NATO Response Force, and a possible review and update of NATO defense and military plans, the official said."
" A man has been arrested in Mississippi and charged in connection with the sending of letters containing ricin to President Obama, a senator and a judge. Everett Dutschke was detained at home in Tupelo on Saturday and handed over to US Marshals, police said. Mr Dutschke has been charged with possessing a biological agent with intent to use as a weapon. He has links to a man against whom charges were filed and later dropped, as well as the senator and judge. Ricin is a naturally occurring protein, found in the castor oil plant, which is highly toxic. It is 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide. Tupelo Police Chief Tony Carleton said Mr Dutschke was taken into custody without incident at 01:00 (06:00 GMT) on Saturday. His home had been under surveillance since Friday afternoon. A law enforcement official told WTVA that the 41-year-old was being held at the Lafayette County Detention Center. The US Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Mississippi said in a press release that Mr Dutschke had been charged with developing, producing and possessing ""a biological agent, toxin and delivery system for use as a weapon, to wit: ricin"". If convicted of the federal charge, he faces a maximum life term in jail and a $250,000 fine. The office said Mr Dutschke was expected to appear in a district court in Mississippi on Monday."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have forced thousands of civilians out of a town which they have taken from a pro-government militia. Laurent Nkunda's men took Kiwanja after two days of fierce fighting, before ordering about 35,000 people out of the town so they could search it. Meanwhile, Rwanda's leader blamed the Congoelse army and UN peacekeepers for not solving the crisis. He said they had failed to disarm Rwandan Hutu militia in DR Congo. Gen Nkunda's Tutsi rebels say they are fighting to protect the Tutsi community against Hutu FDLR rebels who fled to DR Congo after the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Six months down the road we will have another humanitarian catastrophe like this one   Rwandan President Paul Kagame blamed a failure of leadership in DR Congo. He also said the international community, including the 17,000-strong UN peace force, had failed to act. ""What have they been there doing? What solution have they brought to the problem? What is the result of the $1bn they are spending every year?"" he told the BBC. Mr Kagame is due to meet his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila at a summit on Friday in Kenya to be attended by UN chief Ban Ki-Moon to discuss the crisis. The FLDR and Mr Nkunda's CNDP group have not been invited to the Kenya summit, Mr Kagame said. The Rwandan leader maintained that those arguing that talks between Rwanda and Congo would resolve the current crisis were evading their responsibilities. ""It is running away from the problem,"" he said. ""I can assure you if this approach continues, six months down the road we will have another humanitarian catastrophe like this one."" Rwanda's army, one of the toughest in Africa, has invaded DR Congo on at least two occasions since the 1994 genocide, saying it has to deal with the Hutu militia. Some 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed in the genocide. At least 250,000 people have fled their homes amid the fighting and many women and children were among those forced from Kiwanja on Wednesday. Kiwanja lies about 80km (50 miles) from the regional capital of North Kivu, Goma. In this latest fighting the Tutsi rebels clashed with Pareco Mai-Mai forces mainly made up of Congolese Hutus, who Gen Nkunda alleges are backed by the government. Witnesses reported killing and looting, and some people were wounded, a BBC correspondent who travelled to the town said. Tens of thousands of displaced people are already in and around Goma, which Gen Nkunda has threatened to attack - though the ceasefire around the city appears to be holding for now. In a significant hardening of their position, UN peacekeeping troops in Goma - who are reinforcing their position - have been ordered to fire on any armed groups trying to enter the city. The fighting at Kiwanja, near the Rutshuru, has forced some aid workers to suspend their activities a day after bringing in the first food convoy to rebel-held territory. The UN refugee agency says three camps for displaced people near Rutshuru have been emptied and destroyed. The agency has been trying to establish the fate of about 50,000 people who had been sheltering in the area. The BBC correspondent who was in Kiwanja said a UN convoy that travelled north from Goma had so far only been able to deliver food and beer to the peacekeepers. The convoy had turned back to Goma after the most recent outbreak of fighting, he said. Gen Nkunda has threatened to topple the DR Congo government in Kinshasa, 1,580km (980 miles) west of Goma, unless President Kabila agrees to hold direct talks. The militia attacked Nkunda's rebels in territory they took last week He has said his forces are now free to pursue their offensive, accusing the government of breaking the ceasefire. Correspondents say the militia involvement in the fighting makes any push for negotiations between Gen Nkunda and the government more complicated. The latest clashes sparked fears the rebels could follow through on their threat to attack Goma - or target Masisi, a hub for Rwandan Hutu rebels west of Goma where aid workers have been evacuated and that is now surrounded by Gen Nkunda's men. The BBC's Peter Greste in Goma says the rebel threat against Kinshasa could be hubris, as it is hard to see how he could transport between 6,000 and 7,000 fighters all the way across a country the size of western Europe. The rebel forces do, however, appear to have the strength to take Goma, he said."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Pakistani security forces have recaptured a police academy after eight hours of clashes with gunmen who seized the complex during a morning drill. Military helicopters opened fire on the compound near Lahore as troops entered to confront grenade-throwing militants. Pakistan's Interior Ministry said 18 people had been killed, including eight policemen and eight militants. Other reports put the death toll higher. Nearly 100 people have been injured, the ministry adds. The assault comes less than a month after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, killing six policemen. Those gunmen escaped. The siege at the Manawan police training school on the outskirts of Lahore ended at around 1600 local time (1100GMT) after sustained heavy gunfire lasting 10-15 minutes. Jill McGivering reports from outside the academy near Lahore This was a well-organised attack that will raise concern about the sophistication of the group behind it. Pakistan is facing a broad insurgency from groups linked to al-Qaeda, the Afghan Taleban and the Pakistani Taleban, as well as from religious extremists and criminals taking advantage of the situation. It is unclear who was responsible for this attack, but its co-ordinated nature could point to one of the more international groups. As paramilitary forces tried to force their way into the main building, the gunmen retaliated by throwing grenades. Roads around the site were clogged with vehicles and people. Paramilitary troops were seen celebrating on the roof of the compound after the siege had ended. The BBC's Damian Grammaticas, who has since been into the police academy, said rescue teams with masks were carrying out bodies under white sheets. He described the scene there as chaotic, with broken glass, bullet casings and pieces of human flesh scattered over the floor. The gunmen attacked from four sides, while trainee police were doing their morning drill on the academy's parade ground, officials and witnesses said. They threw grenades before opening fire, and at least some of the gunmen were said to be disguised in police uniforms. Elite troops were called in to retake the area. 27 March 09: Suicide bomber demolishes crowded mosque near the north-western town of Jamrud, killing dozens. 3 March 09: Six policemen and a driver killed, and several cricketers injured, in ambush on the Sri Lanka cricket team in central Lahore 20 Sept 08: 54 die in an attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad 6 Sept 08: Suicide car bombing kills 35 and wounds 80 at a police checkpoint in Peshawar Aug 08: Twin suicide bombings at gates of a weapons factory in town of Wah leave 67 dead Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik increased the death toll from 14 to 18, with a further four militants confirmed dead. Two civilians had died, along with eight policemen and eight militants, and 95 people had been injured, he said. The military has put the death toll at 27. At least two of the attackers are believed to have blown themselves up. ""This shows the extent to which the enemies of our country can go,"" he told the local Geo TV station. But he added: ""It is wrong to say that law and order has collapsed in Pakistan. ""We are very near to [tracing] the attackers involved in this."" No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but it comes days after US President Barack Obama pledged to put Pakistan, along with Afghanistan, at the heart of his fight against al-Qaeda militants. He said ""al-Qaeda and its extremist allies are a cancer that risks killing Pakistan from within."" US officials have pledged to help Pakistan target so-called ""safe havens"" for militants in Pakistan's north-west tribal region bordering Afghanistan."
" Kabul - The Taliban on Saturday announced the start of their spring offensive, signaling plans to step up attacks as the weather warms across Afghanistan, making both travel and fighting easier. The statement comes toward the end of a month that already has been the deadliest of the year. The militant group's leadership vowed that ""every possible tactic will be utilised in order to detain or inflict heavy casualties on the foreign transgressors."" In a sign of Taliban's determination to replace Afghanistan's government with one promoting a stricter interpretation of Islamic law, they named their new offensive after a legendary Muslim military commander, Khalid ibn al-Walid.  Also known as ""the Drawn Sword of God"", he was a companion of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. US-backed efforts to try to reconcile the Islamic militant movement with the Afghan government have so far failed. Insurgents intensified attacks this spring as they try to position themselves for power ahead of national elections and the planned withdrawal of most US and other foreign combat troops by the end of 2014. April has already been the worst month for combat deaths so far this year. According to an Associated Press tally, 257 people have been killed in violence around the nation. During that time 217 insurgents have died. Still, the top US commander in Kabul, Marine General Joseph Dunford, said on Wednesday that the security situation has improved across the country. ""As the traditional fighting season begins, the insurgency will confront a combined "" Afghan force of 350 000 soldiers and police, he said."
" Voters were asked to choose senators, representatives and governors   The Democrats have registered a clear victory over their Republican opponents in voting for both houses of Congress. The party captured at least six Senate seats from their rivals, increasing their majority in the 100-seat chamber. And they made further gains in the House of Representatives, easily exceeding the 218 seats needed for a majority. All 435 seats in the House were up for election, while 35 of the Senate seats were available. Analysts say winning control of both chambers should make it easier for President-elect Barack Obama to push through the legislation he wants. In the House, the Democrats built on the 235 seats they had secured in the 2006 mid-term elections. The party said it had made a net gain of at least 20 seats. ""Tonight, the American people have called for a new direction,"" said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, as the results came in. ""They have called for a change for America."" In the Senate, the Democrats have 55 seats compared with 40 for the Republicans. Two other seats are taken by independents who vote with the Democrats. Races in three states remain too close to call. ""Obama ran a terrific campaign, he inspired millions of people,"" Mr Reid told the Associated Press. Despite their success, the Democrats appeared unlikely to win 60 Senate seats - a so-called super-majority that would prevent Republican senators from using procedural blocks such as filibustering to hold up legislation. Republican candidates endured a miserable election day in most of the closely-fought states. New Mexico followed a similar pattern, with Democrat Tom Udall voted in to replace long-term Republican senator Pete Domenici. Mr Udall's cousin, Mark Udall, also unseated a Republican in Colorado. In North Carolina - one of the states where pollsters predicted a close fight - Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole was beaten convincingly by Democrat rival Kay Hagan. And in another key battleground state, New Hampshire - a traditionally strong Democrat state - the Republican's John Sununu lost his seat to the popular former governor, Jeanne Shaheen. The Democrats added Oregon to their tally on Thursday, after a close-fought race which saw Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley narrowly seize the seat from Republican incumbent Gordon Smith. There are still some close contests to come, with the Democrats intent on moving into staunch Republican territory. Votes are still being counted in Alaska - one of the Democrat's most surprising target states, whose Senate delegation has been solidly Republican since 1981. Incumbent Republican Senator Ted Stevens has been a dominant figure in Alaskan politics since 1968, when he first won his seat. But he was convicted in October of lying about gifts he had received, and was already facing a tough re-election battle against the Democratic Mayor of Anchorage, Mark Begich. A recount is expected in Minnesota, and Georgia is preparing for a run-off after neither candidate received the necessary number of votes to be declared overall winner. There was some positive news for the Republicans, with voters in Kentucky and Mississippi returning their candidates despite determined efforts by Democrat rivals. Meanwhile, voters in 11 states also elected governors, and in 36 states there were 153 proposals to be decided upon. Voters in Colorado and South Dakota rejected initiatives that could have led to abortion bans. Washington became the second US state to allow people with terminal illnesses the option of doctor-assisted suicide, while Nebraska outlawed affirmative action. Most controversially, voters in California approved a constitutional amendment that would limit marriage to heterosexual couples. Thousands of gay couples have wed in the state since a court ruled in May that gay marriages could go ahead."
" A plane has crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing four military personnel, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) says. A spokesman said the cause of the crash was being investigated, but initial reports suggested there was no militant activity in the area at the time. He did not give the nationalities of the victims or the crash's location. However, the deputy governor of Zabul province said a foreign military aircraft came down there on Saturday. Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar told the Associated Press that the scene of the crash in Shah Joy district had been surrounded by troops. Last month, five US troops were killed when a helicopter crashed during a rainstorm in the southern province of Kandahar. In a separate development on Saturday, there have been reports of fierce fighting in the northern province of Faryab. Details are still unclear, but insurgents are understood to have taken control of several villages in Qaisar district. A spokesman for the provincial governor, Jawed Baidar, told the BBC that more than 60 insurgents had been killed. Women and children are also thought to have been among the casualties. Faryab has generally had a reputation for being a relatively peaceful part of Afghanistan, despite a high-profile suicide bombing at a mosque in the provincial capital Maymana last October that left at least 41 people dead."
" A Yemeni security official says five soldiers and two al-Qaida militants have been killed in fighting in the central town of Radda, and a senior intelligence officer was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in the south. During Yemen's 2011 uprising, al-Qaida occupied large sections of the south before being driven out by the new government. Al-Qaida has retaliated with assassinations and bombings at military compounds. The official says the soldiers were killed Saturday when al-Qaida fighters attacked a military checkpoint in Radda. Another security official says Col. Ahmed Abdel-Razaq, who was the intelligence chief in Mukalla, the capital of southern Hadramawt province, was killed Saturday by two gunmen on a motorcycle. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. At least 22 people have died in a crush at a football stadium during a World Cup qualifier in Ivory Coast. More than 130 people were injured in the stampede at the Houphouet-Boigny arena in the West African country's city of Abidjan. About 36,000 spectators were in the stadium, where hosts Ivory Coast beat Malawi 5-0. The BBC's John James says it was packed for the return of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, who scored twice. Our correspondent says the authorities tried in vain to control the panicking crowd. One report said the police had fired tear gas to control the stampeding fans. The ministry of sport and the Ivorian Football Federation have confirmed the number of deaths and say the incident occurred when thousands of fans tried to squeeze into the city's main stadium. The stadium was packed for the return of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba A wall collapsed, reportedly under the weight of the supporters, causing those already trying to squeeze into the stadium to panic. ""They started pushing to get in because the match was about to start and each and every one of them wanted to get in."" The incident occurred before the game began but the fixture was allowed to go ahead. The stadium was reportedly sold out in advance of the game after cut-price tickets went on sale. May 2008:Two-day riot over club's relegation in Algerian city The arena has just been refurbished but our correspondent says at this stage it seems the sheer number of people who wanted to get into the match proved too much. Other European-based stars playing in Sunday's game were Drogba's Chelsea team-mate Salomon Kalou, as well as Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue of Arsenal. The home side also featured Tottenham's Didier Zokora, Sevilla's Ndri Romaric and Marseille forward Bakari Kone. Hundreds of fans have died during riots and stampedes at football games across Africa over the last decade. Correspondents say poorly-equipped security forces are often unable to control the crowds."
" The Afghan capital, Kabul, has been hit by a disfiguring tropical skin disease, the World Health Organization says. The WHO warned that the disease, cutaneous leishmaniasis, threatens the health of 13 million Afghans, especially women and girls. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease transmitted through the bites of certain species of sand-fly. It can lead to severe scarring, often on the face, and regularly goes undiagnosed and untreated. ''The number of new reported cases in Kabul dramatically rose from the estimated yearly figure of 17,000 to 65,000 in 2009, mainly among women and children,'' said WHO representative to Afghanistan Peter Graaff. ''This number is likely to be the tip of the iceberg as cases are grossly underreported.'' Several other major cities such as Herat, Kandahar and Mazar-e Sharif are also centres of leishmaniasis. Leishmaniasis has exploded in crowded neighbourhoods of Afghanistan and spread to hundreds of thousands of people. ''I had the disease - and didn't go to a doctor - but it healed itself after a year,'' said Abdul Ghaffar, 12, in Kabul. ''I am fine now, but I am worried about the scar.''"
" TONY EASTLEY: Hundreds of people have been evacuated from low-lying areas on the New South Wales mid-North Coast as flooding continues. The Macleay River which runs through Kempsey is expected to peak later today and could inundate parts of the CBD as well as low-lying areas further downstream.  The floods have closed parts of the busy Pacific Highway which has had a knock-on effect for traffic all along large parts of the coast.  And more rain is forecast.  Timothy McDonald reports. TIMOTHY MCDONALD: Graham Belmont lives in New Zealand but he's on holiday in Kempsey. He says he was caught out in yesterday's downpour.  GRAHAM BELMONT: At some point it almost stopped and you could like just walk out and wouldn't even feel it. But yeah, some points during the day you couldn't go outside for 30 seconds without being soaked through five layers (laughs). TIMOTHY MCDONALD: Graham Belmont says police came to evacuate the motel he was staying in. "
" (CNN) -- India's hosting of the 2010 Commonwealth Games ended on a high note on Thursday as badminton player Saina Nehwal won a dramatic final gold of the 11-day competition to put her country second in the overall medal table. India had earlier suffered a humiliating defeat in one of its most popular sports when Australia registered a resounding 8-0 victory in the men's hockey final for a leading 74th gold medal and 177 in total. But Nehwal came back from the brink of defeat to secure India's 38th victory, edging England into third place, as she won the women's singles event. She became the first Indian to claim a Commonwealth gold in the sport, surviving a match-point in the second set before going on to beat Malaysian second seed 19-21 23-21 21-13 Wong Mew Choo. It was a much-needed boost for India, which had to deal with controversies about child labor, questions as to whether the venues in New Delhi would be ready in time, technology faults, disputed qualifications in athletics events and three positive drug tests -- one of whom was a home competitor, female walker Rani Yadav. With the sporting events concluded, the chairman of the New Delhi Organizing Committee, Suresh Kalmadi, applauded his country's efforts during the handing-over ceremony to the 2014 host city, Glasgow of Scotland. ""For the athletes it has been a life-changing experience. For India it has been a new beginning in sports,"" he told the crowd at a packed Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium after being greeted with boos. ""For the world it has been evidence of what India can do on the sporting stage. This is a new era for Indian sport. All this has made what has turned out to be the largest, the most-watched and the most enjoyable Games ever."" Australia, the host four years ago in Melbourne, was the dominant country throughout the competition -- which is contested by nations from the former British Empire, but was hit this year by the absence of many top athletes such as sprint star Usain Bolt of Jamaica. The Australian men's field hockey team has now won gold every time since the sport was first included, in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, and had little problems in brushing aside India on Thursday."
" More than 30 journalists were on board the flotilla when it was intercepted by Israel [AFP] More than 30 journalists were on board the flotilla when it was intercepted by Israel [AFP] Lawyers have already begun preparing lawsuits in several European countries, according to several of the journalists, who met in Istanbul on Wednesday. The group accused Israel of violating international law. A group of journalists has announced that it plans to sue Israel over its deadly raid on a flotilla of aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip in May. One of the nine people killed on board the Mavi Marmara, the main ship, was Cevdet Kulclar, a Turkish journalist. Reporters who were on board the ships say the Israeli government never returned their equipment or passports, and that Israeli soldiers later used their credit cards. An Italian journalist, Manolo Luppichini, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in June that his credit card was used to make NIS250 ($65) worth of purchases in Israel. In a statement released after their meeting, the journalists said they are demanding compensation for their losses, the return of their equipment, and an international inquiry into Israel's treatment of the reporters on board the flotilla. The group of more than 30 journalists includes reporters from Turkey, Spain, Germany, Lebanon, Egypt, the United Kingdom and the United States. Several of the journalist on board the ship were from Al Jazeera."
" Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co, based in China's Sichuan province, was believed to be lobbying behind the scenes for regulatory approval ahead of an end-February deadline to close the deal. Officials at the Ministry of Commerce, which must approve all major foreign mergers and acquisitions in China, had said repeatedly in recent weeks that they had yet to receive any formal application from Tengzhong. A source close to the companies told Reuters on Wednesday the government had rejected the deal, but that Tengzhong and GM were still looking at alternatives. Wang Chao, an assistant commerce minister, reiterated at a briefing on Wednesday that the ministry had yet to receive an application, and any reports that the agency had rejected the bid were untrue. Another source close to the companies told Reuters on Tuesday that Tengzhong could use an offshore vehicle to acquire Hummer, which would allow it to skirt Chinese regulations. But such a route could put Tengzhong at loggerheads with government agencies in Beijing, whose approval would be necessary to construct new manufacturing facilities proposed by Tengzhong and even sell the vehicles in China. ""I am not surprised that Tengzhong failed to get government approval to buy a gas-guzzling brand like Hummer,"" said Li Mengtao, an analyst with Sinolink Securities. ""Even if it can finally get its hands on Hummer through an overseas vehicle, it still needs Beijing's approval to make Hummer in China. I just don't get it why Tengzhong is so keen to get the deal down if it is denied access to the China market."" The deal was announced with fanfare last year, symbolizing China's move onto the world stage as the global auto industry underwent a wrenching restructuring during the global recession. But the tone quickly turned negative at home for Tengzhong, with many questioning the wisdom of letting an obscure heavy machinery maker with no international experience buy a struggling foreign brand like Hummer."
" Former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis has been arrested as part of the police probe set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, the BBC understands. The 67-year-old was arrested at his home in Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, on suspicion of sexual offences. He was bailed on Thursday evening to return in early January, police said. The Met said their investigation into alleged abuse by Savile and others - Operation Yewtree - had so far recorded 200 allegations of sexual assault. They have now identified about 450 potential victims of sexual abuse. The arrest of Mr Travis is the fourth so far in connection with the Savile investigation. In a statement, the Met said the latest arrest ""falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'Others'"", meaning the allegations are unrelated to Savile. But the force said that the ""vast majority"" of the 450 possible victims were alleging sexual abuse by former BBC TV presenter and DJ Savile, who died last year aged 84. Mr Travis has not been officially named by police, who made the arrest at 07:45 GMT. He was released on bail late on Thursday. The DJ - known by the nicknames DLT and the Hairy Cornflake - is best known for his 25-year stint on Radio 1."
" A U.S. soldier accused of killing civilians in Afghanistan will face a court-martial on murder and other charges, as recommended by an Army officer. The document approving the recommendation for the court-martial of Spc. Jeremy Morlock was signed by the officer in charge Friday. It was obtained by CNN, along with other documents, that summarize last week's hearing at an Army-Air Force installation outside Tacoma, Washington, where prosecutors presented evidence against against Morlock. Base officials would not confirm the authenticity of the document, which has not been publicly released. Morlock is one of five member's of the Army's 5th Stryker Brigade who is accused of premeditated murder in a series of incidents between January and May."
" BP Plc (BP/) reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for $4 billion to end all criminal charges relating to the worst U.S. oil spill. The payments will be made in installments over a period of five years, the London-based company said in a statement today. BP will also pay to $525 million to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company pleaded to a total of 14 charges including 11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect of ships officers and one count of obstruction of congress. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net"
" Of the penalties, $4 billion will resolve criminal charges. An additional $525 million will be paid to resolve claims brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission that BP lied to investors by understating the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf. Separate from the corporate manslaughter charges, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the two highest-ranking BP supervisors on board the Deepwater Horizon on the day of the explosion with 23 criminal counts. The two men were charged with seaman's manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter for each of the 11 men killed in the blast, as well as a criminal violation of the clean water act. The grand jury also charged BP's second-highest ranking representative at the company's unified command post with hiding information from Congress and allegedly lying to law enforcement officials. The company also will plead guilty to a felony count of obstruction of Congress, a misdemeanor count under the Clean Water Act and a misdemeanor count under the Migratory Bird Treaty. Holder said the dollar amount of the penalties and the criminal charges against both the company and individuals are unprecedented. ""I hope that this sends a clear message to those who would engage in this kind of reckless and wanton conduct that there will be a significant penalty to pay,"" he said. The settlement is subject to federal judicial review. ""All of us at BP deeply regret the tragic loss of life caused by the Deepwater Horizon accident as well as the impact of the spill on the Gulf coast region,"" Bob Dudley, chief executive of BP (BP), said in a statement. ""From the outset, we stepped up by responding to the spill, paying legitimate claims and funding restoration efforts in the Gulf."" ""We apologize for our role in the accident, and as today's resolution with the U.S. government further reflects, we have accepted responsibility for our actions,"" Dudley added. The fine comes on top of $20 billion that the company has agreed to pay into a trust fund to meet damage claims from the millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf. It said it expects to pay a final $860 million into that fund this quarter."
" Most of the injuries treated at Vancouver's St. Paul's Hospital on Wednesday night appeared to be from people trying to beat each other up, some while vandalizing stores, and were not from police action, says Dr. Eric Grafstein, head of the hospital's Emergency department. In the busiest night at the hospital in at least 20 years, doctors saw people with broken jaws, broken legs and knife wounds related to the post-game events, Dr. Grafstein said in an interview early Thursday morning. ""We saw far fewer injuries related to police actions,"" he said. At other times where police have confronted crowds in Vancouver, the hospital has seen injuries from rubber bullets and police batons, he added. ""These injuries were mostly from fights between people. I don't know all the details but most of the injuries were caused by participants in the events, not the police,"" Dr. Grafstein said. During the peak of the riot, St. Paul's Hospital treated 60 patients over a two-hour period for injuries such as cuts to the head, leg injuries and one case, a collapsed lung. Dr. Grafstein, an emergency medicine doctor who has been at St. Paul's for 20 years, said the riot was the busiest few hours the hospital has ever experienced. Between 50 and 100 people covered with tear-gas powder were washed down by hospital staff in a unit set up outside the hospital. The patients were partially stripped and hosed down. Dr. Grafstein said the tear-gas decontamination unit was outside the hospital building in order to keep the powder from contaminating other patients. ""It can go through a whole department,"" he said. As the emergency bays filled with ambulances throughout the evening, the hospital called in 50 extra nurses and seven additional physicians to respond to the patients. A cardiologist called up and volunteered to come down to the hospital. Although it was a dark day for the city, the hospital's emergency preparedness plans worked well, he said. The police response in Vancouver was in sharp contrast to police action during last year's G8 meeting in Toronto, when scores of people were injured when police tried to diffuse protests. The riot broke out minutes after the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 in the final game of the Stanley Cup. Under clear skies, tens of thousands of fans had been watching the game outside Rogers Arena on mega-screens set up by the city on a main thoroughfare, adjacent to the city's downtown commercial centre."
" VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Sixteen years to the day the Boston Bruins last hoisted the Stanley Cup and rejoiced, Brad Marchand was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Scratch that. Make it ""last hoisted the Stanley Cup"" before tonight. Thanks to the two-goal performances of Marchand and linemate Patrice Bergeron, as well as another spectacular performance in net by Tim Thomas (37 saves), the Boston Bruins are at last rejoicing again. The Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks tonight at Rogers Arena, 4-0, becoming the Stanley Cup champions for the first time since the big, bad glory days of Orr and Espo in 1972. The victory ends a 39-year title drought and gives the Bruins a place on the pedestal (or the at least the duck boats) alongside the Celtics (2008), Patriots (2001, '03, '04) and Red Sox (2004, '07) as champions during this unprecendented era of all-around professional sports success in the city. The victory was the Bruins' first here during the series in three tries here in Vancouver, which had won Games 1, 2, and 5 here despite scoring a total of just five goals on their home ice and eight overall in the series. The Bruins won all three games at the Garden by a 17-3 advantage, but winning in Vancouver was a tall challenge. Of course, these Bruins, on determined path since blowing a three-game lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Philadelphia Flyers last postseason, have been up for every tall challenge they have faced during this playoff run, beating the rival Montreal Canadiens in seven games in the first round, avenging the previous loss to the Flyers with a sweep, then taking down the talented Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games to reach the Cup Finals against the gifted Canucks. Tonight's challenge was also one they proved up to almost immediately, with Bergeron flipping a one-timer past beleagured Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo at the 14:37 mark of the first period to give the Bruins the crucial first goal. The play was set up by the relentless rookie Marchand, who boosted the Bruins lead to 2-0 in the second period with a wraparound goal after beating Luongo to the far post at 12:13 of the second period. Bergeron got his second of the night a little more than five minutes later on a shorthanded break in in which the puck trickled past Luongo as Bergeron and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff crashed into the net. Marchand iced the cake with an empty-netter at 17:16 of the third period. The winning effort was typical of these Bruins, with so many players contributing to the clinching victory. Tireless defenseman Dennis Seidenberg had two assists. The fourth line of Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton was stellar defensively. Mark Recchi, the classy 43-year-old future Hall of Famer, had an assist in the final game of an NHL career than began in November 1988. Andrew Ference . . . David Krejci . . . Milan Lucic . . . Johnny Boychuk . . . and on it goes. But it will be the 37-year-old Thomas who is remembered the most for what happened tonight. The Conn Smythe award winner as the MVP of the postseason, the affable goalie allowed the Canucks -- the highest scoring team in the NHL this season -- just eight goals in the seven games while setting a record for saves by one goalie in a single postseason. Until this postseason, Gerry Cheevers was the most beloved goalie in franchise history."
" The U.N. Security Council voted to extend the mandate for the mission to Darfur as South Sudan gets set for a January vote for self-determination. A 2005 peace accord brokered by U.S. President George W. Bush led to an end to a decades-long conflict in Sudan and a referendum for South Sudanese self-determination. Oxfam joined the International Rescue Committee and other human relief groups in stressing the months leading up to the January referendum will be critical for Sudanese peace and stability. The U.N. Security Council, meanwhile, voted to extend a mandate for a monitoring group for Darfur. The group is tasked with monitoring an arms embargo and individuals who are thwarting the peace process in the troubled region of Africa. China, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, abstained from the vote, saying it questioned the panel's objectivity. Members of the Security Council recently returned from a tour of Sudan where they reviewed developments in Darfur and preparations under way to hold the referendum. Susan Rice, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, said she saw crowds of people in South Sudan that she said where ""gripped with fever"" over the January referendum. The enthusiasm in the south, however, was met with unease over concerns that the north might be preparing for war, she told the Security Council. Roughly 300,000 people were killed and another 2.7 million were displaced since 2003 in the troubled region of Sudan."
" Hungarian disaster officials say an alumina plant behind a toxic sludge spill last week that ravaged local villages and rivers will reopen on Friday, as the death toll from the disaster climbed to nine late Wednesday. The Hungarian government has since taken control of the plant for a period of two years, appointing Gyorgy Bakondi to head the plant and announcing it would resume operations. ""We have already switched on the industrial heating [at the plant],"" Bakondi told a press conference with Sandor Pinter, Hungary's interior minister. ""As soon as the system has reached its operational temperature level, we will resume production, on Thursday or Friday,"" he said. The announcement came after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his cabinet ministers toured the regions affected by the red sludge to assess the damage. Pinter has since declared that the town of Devecser, located near the plant, was now safe and took its more than 5,000 residents off standby for emergency evacuation. Devecser, the second settlement to be hit by the spill, had been on high alert since authorities reported that cracks in the damaged reservoir meant a further spill was likely. Some 700 remaining residents of the village closest to the alumina factory, Kolontar, were evacuated at the time. A 670-meter-long (2,200-foot) dam is being built to protect the village from any further collapse of the reservoir wall. Meanwhile, a ninth victim of the toxic spill died in hospital late Wednesday after succumbing to injuries. Around 150 people sustained injuries in the flood, 45 of whom are still in hospital. One remains in critical condition."
" VANCOUVER - Almost 150 people required hospital treatment and close to 100 were arrested after rioters swept through downtown Vancouver following a Canucks loss to the Boston Bruins in the decisive Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. Vancouver Coastal Health spokeswoman Anna Marie D'Angelo said Thursday that three stabbing victims had been admitted and an unidentified man was in critical condition with head injuries after a fall from a viaduct. She said most of the rioting victims were treated at St. Paul's Hospital, while about 40, including the stabbing cases and the head injury patient, were being treated at Vancouver General Hospital. Rioting and looting left cars burned, stores in shambles and windows shattered over a roughly 10-block radius of the city's main shopping district. View a collection of photos from the riots here. Police Chief Jim Chu said nine officers were injured, including one who required 14 stitches after being hit with a thrown brick. Chu said some officers suffered bite marks. He said 15 cars were burned, including two police cars. He called those who incited the riot ""criminals and anarchists"" and said officers identified some in the crowd as the same people who smashed windows and caused trouble through the same streets the day after the 2010 Winter Olympics opened in 2010. ""These were people who came equipped with masks, goggles and gasoline,"" he said. ""They had a plan."" Chu said those who stood by and filmed and cheered also bear some responsibility. Assistant Fire Chief Wade Pierlot said people had to be rescued from rooftops and bathrooms where they had hidden for safety. He said some people moved burning dumpsters away from buildings to prevent further damage."
" Six explosions have been heard in the centre of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, near the fortified Bab al-Aziziya compound of Col Muammar Gaddafi. Smoke could be seen rising in the area at dawn on Thursday. The compound has been the target of a number of Nato air strikes in recent months. The alliance imposed a no-fly zone in Libya in March as Col Gaddafi's forces threatened to overrun rebel-held parts of the country. There was no official comment from the Libyan government on the latest explosions, and Nato has not confirmed the air strikes. A Russian envoy is due to hold talks with the Libyan government in Tripoli as part of attempts to mediate in the conflict. The envoy, Mikhail Margelov, last week met rebel representatives in Benghazi. He is faced with a knotty diplomatic challenge, says the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen in Tripoli. Col Gaddafi's government has said it would accept a ceasefire and political talks on the future of the country, but only if the Libyan leader is allowed to keep his position. The hawkish end of Nato - led by France, UK and US - has been equally clear in its desire for regime change, our correspondent says; Col Gaddafi has to go, these countries maintain, and only then will they talk about a ceasefire and what comes next."
" The Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers have begun talks in Islamabad in an effort to revive peace talks that froze after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Pakistan says all issues are on the table for the meeting between Shah Mehmood Qureshi and India's SM Krishna. Islamabad is expected to bring up its complaint that India is diverting water from rivers that cross the border. In February, the two nations' foreign secretaries met in Delhi. Last month, their home ministers met in Islamabad. The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in the Pakistani capital says after the turbulent times between the two nuclear neighbours, these talks will be feted as a success, simply if they do not collapse. The 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks - which severely damaged relations between the two - are expected to be the focus of the talks. India blamed the bloodshed - in which Islamist gunmen killed more than 160 people - on Pakistan-based militants. After initial denials, Pakistan later admitted the attacks were partly planned on its soil. After his arrival in Islamabad, Mr Krishna said he was hopeful of ""making a new beginning"" in relations between the two countries. ""We will discuss all issues of national interest and concern that will contribute to restoring trust and building confidence,"" he said. Mr Krishna is also due to meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani."
" (LEAD) Traces of dioxin found in streams near Camp Carroll: official SEOUL, June 16 (Yonhap) -- Tiny amounts of dioxin were found in stream waters near a U.S. army base where drums of toxic defoliant Agent Orange were allegedly buried about three decades ago, a joint inspection team of South Korean and U.S. officials said on Thursday.No dioxin was extracted from groundwater near the military base, they said."
" SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Australian airlines cancelled flights to and from New Zealand and postponed some to Argentina as a dust cloud from a Chilean volcano continues to throw travel plans into disarray. Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AU) said it has cancelled all New Zealand flights for Thursday and postponed Wednesday's Buenos Aires flights until Friday. ""All Australian domestic services are operating normally,"" a spokesman said. Virgin Australia Ltd. (VBA.AU) said it has suspended Auckland and Hamilton flights and others to Honiara and Tonga. It said these are in addition to the six Wellington and Christchurch flights cancelled Wednesday but didn't say whether flights to these cities have been reinstated."
" Two suicide bombers have killed at least 27 people at a Shia mosque in south-eastern Iran, officials say. The first bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint outside the Jamia mosque in the city of Zahedan, with a more deadly second blast moments later. Worshippers and Revolutionary Guards were reportedly among the dead. Regional media reported that a Sunni rebel group, Jundullah, said it carried out the attacks in revenge for the hanging of its leader by Iran in June. Iranian Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastagerdi told the news agency ISNA that the death toll was likely to rise, as 11 of the 270 injured people were in critical condition. According to reports, the clerical leadership in Iran accused the US of backing Jundullah in order to create instability in Iran. Washington denied the charge. Senior lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said the US should be held accountable for the ""terrorist acts in Zahedan"" because of its support for Jundullah, the official IRNA news agency reported. An e-mail purporting to be from Jundullah - which has attacked Zahedan before - said the attacks were in response to the execution of Abdolmalek Rigi. The blasts came as worshippers celebrated the anniversary of the birth of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. The second blast proved more deadly as it struck people who had gathered to help the wounded."
" Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Deadly blasts targeting foreign nationals in the Afghan capital Friday killed at least 17 people and wounded many others. Authorities were trying to determine how many people died and the nationalities of those slain. Kabir Al-Amiri, an employee at Kabul hospital, said eight Indians and one Pakistani national were among the dead. Afghan Interior Ministry officials said an Italian was killed, and the Indian Embassy said four Indians were killed in the attack. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks near the Safi Landmark Hotel in the neighborhood of Shahr-E-Naw, where there are a number of government buildings and U.N. offices as well as supermarkets, banks, diplomatic facilities and villas for well-to-do Afghans. The force of the first explosion -- at about 6:30 a.m. (9 p.m. Thursday ET) -- shook parts of the Afghan capital as windows shattered and smoke billowed. The sound of gunfire filled the air. The attack started with a suicide car bomb and four suicide bombers with explosive-laden vests, said Taliban spokesman Zaidullah Mujahid. Three of the bombers were killed, he said. About 20 minutes later, a second large explosion occurred. Afghan police blocked off roads leading to the area of the blasts."
" Four generators inside the Bangladesh garment factory building that collapsed last month may have caused the disaster, a top investigator says. The units started up after a power cut, sending powerful vibrations throughout Rana Plaza, said Main Uddin Khandaker, head of a government inquiry team. ""Together with the vibration of thousands of sewing machines, they triggered the collapse,"" he told AFP. At least 500 people are known to have died and scores are unaccounted for. Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster has sparked widespread anger in the country. Mr Khandaker told reporters that 15 minutes before the Rana Plaza collapsed in the Dhaka suburb of Savar on 24 April, it was affected by a power cut. This set the building's generators in motion, shaking the structure, he said. The building was not able to cope with the vibrations because it had been constructed with weak materials, such as sub-standard steel rods, Mr Khandaker added. Late on Thursday, Bangladeshi police detained an engineer, the ninth person to be taken into custody in connection with the disaster. Abdur Razzak Khan acted as a consultant for Rana Plaza owner Mohammed Sohel Rana, who is accused of illegally adding more floors to the building. Correspondents say the arrest came as a surprise, as Mr Khan had reportedly warned that the complex was unsafe after cracks appeared in the structure the day before the collapse."
" Preliminary results of a government inquiry into last week's collapse of a nine-story building on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital have found that ""heavy machinery and high-capacity generators"" were ""largely responsible,"" according to state media. ""During the inquiry, we have found that use of substandard materials during the construction also contributed to the building collapse,"" committee head Main Uddin Khandaker told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. He predicted the committee would complete its report within a few days. The preliminary conclusion came as police arrested engineer Abdur Razzak Khan on a charge of negligence, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported. ""He warned that the building was unsafe ahead of its collapse, but he worked as the construction consultant when the Rana Plaza's owner illegally added three floors"" to the building, the agency said, citing a police official whom it did not identify by name. Two other engineers -- who worked for the municipality of Savar -- have been arrested for having allegedly issued a safety clearance despite the appearance of cracks in the building that appeared the day before it collapsed, the news agency said. The building owner, Sohel Rana, was arrested last weekend as he attempted to flee to India; owners and senior management of the factories have been arrested for forcing workers to resume production in the building shortly before it collapsed, it said. The death toll from the country's deadliest industrial disaster rose Saturday to 547 as another 22 bodies were recovered, the agency said. Authorities say more than 2,400 people have been rescued from the wreckage since the building collapsed more than a week ago in this suburb of Dhaka, the capital. The number of dead has risen as workers have begun using heavy machinery to cull through the slabs of concrete, around which hundreds of people awaited news of the missing."
" Military sources told Agence France Presse, Sunday, that the army fired a single Tammuz anti-tank missile toward a Syrian outpost as a warning shot in response to the latest Syrian mortar shell to land on the Golan Heights. The sources said, ""We shot toward them but deliberately missed."" The mortar fire is believed to be connected to the Syrian civil war. Last week, Israel said rebel forces had responded to Israeli warnings about being careful with their fire against government troops. The military issued a statement that ""Fire emanating from Syria into Israel will not be tolerated and shall be responded to with severity."""
" An Iranian scientist who claims he was kidnapped by the CIA in Saudi Arabia a year ago and taken to the United States has arrived back in Iran. After greeting members of his family at Tehran airport, Shahram Amiri told reporters he had been subjected to ""the harshest mental and physical torture"". He also denied that he had been heavily involved in Iran's nuclear programme. On Monday, Mr Amiri went to the Iranian interests section of Pakistan's embassy in the US and asked to be repatriated. The US state department insisted he was in the country ""of his own free will"" and raised no objections about his return to Iran. Wearing a beige suit, a smiling Mr Amiri was greeted at Tehran's international airport early on Thursday by his tearful son and wife, along with other family members and Deputy Foreign Minister, Hassan Qashqavi. Speaking at a news conference afterwards, he repeated his earlier claims that he had been abducted by US agents while undertaking the Hajj pilgrimage in the Saudi Arabian city of Medina. Mr Amiri said he was placed under intense pressure by his interrogators to co-operate in the first months following his alleged kidnapping. ""I was under the harshest mental and physical torture,"" he said, adding that Israeli agents had been present during the interrogations and that the CIA had offered him $50m to remain in the US. ""The Americans wanted me to say that I defected to America of my own will to use me for revealing some false information about Iran's nuclear work."""
" Voters across England are going to the polls for council elections and a parliamentary by-election in South Shields. Elections are being held in 27 English county councils and seven unitary authorities, last contested in 2009, as well as in Anglesey in Wales. Labour are defending the South Shields seat in a contest caused by the resignation of David Miliband in March. Mayoral contests are also being held in Doncaster and North Tyneside. Polls for all the contests opened at 07:00 BST, and close at 22:00 BST. Blue sky and sunshine are covering much of England, as millions of voters choose who will represent them on their local council. More than 2,300 seats are up for grabs in county councils and unitary authorities across the length and breadth of England, including Derbyshire, Lancashire, Somerset, Essex, Surrey, Leicestershire, Kent, Durham, Bristol and Cornwall. The Conservatives and Labour are putting up candidates in most seats, with 2,263 and 2,168 candidates respectively. The Lib Dems have 1,763 candidates. UKIP is fielding 1,745 candidates, three times as many as it did the last time these seats were fought in 2009, and the Greens have 893 candidates. Other parties standing include the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, which is fighting 120 seats, the BNP, with 99 candidates and the English Democrats, with 38 candidates. There are around 900 independent candidates."
" 1 of 2. U.S. President Barack Obama celebrates after winning the U.S. presidential election in Chicago, Illinois, November 7, 2012 If Obama wins Florida, it will add to his Electoral College margin and he will have won all of the key U.S. swing states except North Carolina, which he carried in 2008. ""On behalf of Florida Democrats, I wish President Barack Obama congratulations on his re-election and on his winning Florida's 29 electoral votes,"" Rod Smith, chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, said in a statement. In a tacit concession, Republican Party of Florida spokesman Brian Burgess said in an email that he and other Romney supporters were ""obviously not happy with the result"" in the Sunshine State. ""But given the wave that we saw all over the country, we're glad that we gave them enough of a fight in Florida to prolong the battle here as long as we did,"" Burgess said. As of Thursday evening, Obama had 49.92 percent of the statewide vote, versus 49.22 percent for Romney, according to the Florida Division of Elections. Two of the three counties where ballots were still being tallied, Broward and Palm Beach, are heavily Democratic. The third county, Duval, has more registered Democrats than Republicans but has traditionally leaned Republican in presidential contests. Just 58,055 votes separated the two candidates, but that was far more than in the 2000 election, when Republican George W. Bush won Florida by 537 votes and captured the White House after a recount dispute that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. The slow-moving vote count in Florida has already made it the brunt of jokes on late-night television and conjured up ugly memories of the situation 12 years ago, when Florida was the cause of electoral gridlock. This time, Florida seemed almost seemed irrelevant since Obama handily won re-election without its 29 electoral votes - the biggest prize of any of the nine key U.S. swing states."
" DOHA Nov 11 (Reuters) - Syrian opposition groups have signed an initial agreement to form a new coalition of forces fighting to end the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, a Syrian delegate at talks in Doha said on Sunday. ""An initial deal has been signed. The evening session will be for electing the president of the body and his deputy,"" Ali Sadreddine al-Bayanouni, a Muslim Brotherhood delegate at the talks, told reporters. The new body, made up of groups inside and outside Syria, would be called the National Coalition for Opposition Forces and the Syrian Revolution, he added."
" New Jersey and New York, struggling to recover from the wreckage of Sandy, were staggered today by a gas shortage and an overwhelmed transit system as more victims of the deadly storm were found. Four bodies were located on Staten Island, New York City's smallest borough and the one most exposed to the water. Two of the bodies were boys, aged 2 and 4, who were washed away from the roof of their family's car where their mother had put them to avoid the flood waters. So far at least 19 people died from the storm on Staten Island. The deaths push the regional toll for Sandy's rampage to more than 80, according to the AP. The region struggled to get back on its feet today and throughout New Jersey, the hardest hit state, motorists roamed for hours looking for a gas station that had power and still had gasoline. And when a station was located, the line to the pump could last two hours. Joseph McGinn, a spokesman for Sunoco, cited power outages, closed roads and supply disruptions as obstacles to keeping their stations supplied. ""We are working diligently to get all of our affected retail locations in New Jersey and New York back to full service as quickly as possible,"" McGinn said. Those with gas who had to commute into New York City encountered a major traffic jam at the Lincoln Tunnel, one of only two entrances to the city from New Jersey that hadn't been closed down because of damage from Sandy. Tens of thousands of motorists tried to beat Mayor Bloomberg's edict that after 6 a.m. cars must have three people in them or be turned away, creating a pre-dawn line for the tunnel that was backed up for more than a mile. Even travel within the city was gridlocked as the mayor's three-passenger rule extended to bridges into Manhattan, making a trip from Brooklyn or Queens into the heart of the city last several hours. The first limited bus and train services came to life, but many of the buses were quickly filled to capacity, creating enormous lines to get on them and forcing drivers to skip stops and roll past hordes of waiting passengers."
" BEIRUT - Rebels killed 28 Syrian army soldiers on Thursday in an attack on three checkpoints around the town of Saraqeb, which straddles the country's main north-south highway, an opposition-linked group said. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that opposition activists in Saraqeb, in the northern province of Idlib bordering Turkey, confirmed the attacks had been carried out by several rebel units. The army has lost swathes of land in Idlib and Aleppo province but is fighting to control towns along supply routes to Aleppo city, where its forces are fighting in many districts.   Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Observatory, said that five insurgents were also killed in the attacks, two of which were on the highway linking the capital of Damascus to Aleppo, Syria's most populous city. The third attack was at a checkpoint on the road linking Aleppo with Latakia, a port city where Assad's forces remain mostly in control. ""The rebels have either destroyed or taken six vehicles. They will not stay at the checkpoints for long as Syrian warplanes normally bomb positions after rebels move in,"" he told Reuters over the phone. Rebels have relied on ambushes and street fights to make gains in the 19-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad. The Syrian air-force has stepped up aerial strikes on villages, towns and cities across the country in retaliation."
" The decapitated bodies of three women and seven men have been found in an abandoned lorry in the northern Mexican city of Torreon, police say. One head was found on the windscreen. The others were dumped by the roadside, along with threatening messages. They were found after a night of violence across northern Mexico. National Security Spokesman Alejandro Poire attributed the beheadings to a battle between two drugs gangs, the Zetas and the Sinaloa cartel. Police said the 10 had probably been killed a few days back, as the bodies were showing signs of decomposition. During the previous night at least 40 people were killed in suspected drug-related violence. Mr Poire said the government was not letting up in its fight against the drug cartels. ""The violence won't stop if we stop battling criminals,"" he said. In January, the government of President Felipe Calderon said more than 34,000 people had been killed in a four-year offensive against drug gangs. The figure is believed to have risen considerably since then."
" Seven police officers and four alleged gunmen have been killed in a shootout in north-western Mexico. Officials said the officers were ambushed by a group of gunmen on a road in Sinaloa state. The officers were returning from Choix, a town which has seen a steep rise in violence, including the murder of the police chief last month. Sinaloa is the stronghold of the drugs cartel of the same name, one of the most powerful in the country. The attack came three days after Sinaloa Governor Mario Lopez Valdez announced that federal police forces would take over security duties in Choix. Mr Lopez Valdez said that after Municipal Police Chief Hector Echaverria Islas was shot dead on 29 June, no-one from the municipal force had been willing to replace him. Local officials recommended that residents avoid going out after nightfall and take refuge in their homes ""to avoid being hit by a bullet"". In May, 21 people were killed in Choix during clashes between the army and several rival drug gangs. Analysts say members of the Beltran Leyva gang are trying to wrest control of the area from the Sinaloa cartel, whose traditional stronghold it is. More than 55,000 people are estimated to have been killed as a result of drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon came to power in December 2006."
" The ''conspiracy of silence'' that protected Jerry Sandusky extended all the way to the top at Penn State, prosecutors said Thursday as they charged former university President Graham Spanier with hushing up child sexual abuse allegations against the former assistant football coach. Prosecutors also added counts against two of Spanier's former underlings, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, who were already charged with lying to a grand jury. ''This was not a mistake by these men. This was not an oversight. It was not misjudgment on their part,'' said state Attorney General Linda Kelly. ''This was a conspiracy of silence by top officials to actively conceal the truth.'' Spanier's lawyers issued a statement that asserted his innocence and described the new charges as an attempt by Gov. Tom Corbett to divert attention from the three-year investigation that began under his watch as attorney general. ''These charges are the work of a vindictive and politically motivated governor working through an unelected attorney general ... whom he appointed to do his bidding,'' the four defense lawyers wrote. Corbett spokesman Kevin Harley said the defense statement ''sounds like the ranting of a desperate man who just got indicted.'' Curley's lawyer Caroline Roberto said he was innocent of all charges, as he has asserted in the past. She said the new documents were being reviewed and would have a more comprehensive comment later. Schultz also has maintained his innocence; his lawyer did not return a message seeking comment. At a Capitol news conference, Kelly said all three men ''knowingly testified falsely and failed to provide important information and evidence.'' Spanier was charged with perjury, obstruction, endangering the welfare of children, failure to properly report suspected abuse and conspiracy. Curley and Schultz face new charges of endangering the welfare of children, obstruction and conspiracy. The charges were filed with a suburban Harrisburg district judge, whose office said Curley and Schultz were expected to be arraigned Friday afternoon and Spanier tentatively scheduled to appear Wednesday. They came nearly a year to the day that Sandusky was arrested."
" Long-imprisoned Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's political party claimed victory Monday in parliamentary elections in Myanmar, a dramatic development in the southeast Asian country's efforts to end its international isolation. The National League for Democracy won 40 of the 44 seats that it contested, according to partial results announced by the National Electoral Commission on state television. The party had claimed earlier Monday it won at least 43 seats -- including Suu Kyi's. ""This is not our triumph, this is a triumph of the people,"" Suu Kyi said as she arrived at the party's headquarters in Yangon to meet with fellow candidates and other party members. While control of parliament will not change even if the opposition wins all 44 seats, the vote itself marks an important step forward for many in the country who have lived under military rule for 50 years. ""The people were living in prison,"" said Myint Maung, a Yangon resident. ""Aung San Suu Kyi held the key to open the door."" A White House statement Monday congratulated Suu Kyi and the people of Myanmar, also known as Burma. ""This election is an important step in Burma's democratic transformation, and we hope it is an indication that the government of Burma intends to continue along the path of greater openness, transparency, and reform,"" the White House statement said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cautiously hailed the results of the voting Sunday, telling CNN that she was ""very hopeful for the the people"" of Myanmar. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also commended the country ""for the peaceful and largely orderly manner"" in which the elections were held, according to his spokesperson."
" The human rights activist who entered the 55th day of a hunger strike in Bahrain on Tuesday may not survive the ordeal, his daughter told CNN. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja ""is entering a critical phase, where his life is at stake,"" his daughter, Maryam al-Khawaja said. She said two doctors accompanied her father at all times Monday night, and he was being moved Tuesday to a different prison that has medical equipment he needs. The move is because of fears that he may go into a coma at any time, as his blood sugar and blood pressure have further dropped, she said. On Tuesday, the attending physician at the Correction and Rehabilitation Center recommended that he be transferred to the Public Security Fort for constant medical observation and care, a spokeswoman for the government's Information Affairs Authority said. The Interior Ministry's general inspector said Tuesday that ""all policies and procedures of the prison facilities in Bahrain meet international human rights standards and all detainees have consistent and reliable access to professional medical care,"" according to a statement from Maj. Gen. Tariq H. Al Hasan, a spokesman for the ministry. Al Khawaja's medical condition ""is under constant surveillance"" and he is provided with daily medical care, al-Hasan said in the statement. On 30 March, he was found to have low blood pressure and was taken to Bahrain Defense Force Hospital, where he was treated and returned to Jau Prison the following day, it said. Records showed that Al Khawaja had lost about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and had a low hemoglobin level, though not critically low. It said he was taking fluids, mineral supplements, glucose and juice on a daily basis. The activist, who was arrested last April for his role in anti-government demonstrations that swept through his country in February and March, has been on a hunger strike for eight weeks to protest his life prison term. In June, al-Khawaja and seven other Shiite opposition activists were found guilty of plotting to overthrow the country's Sunni royal family. They were sentenced to life in prison."
" Thousands of people in Mauritania have attended demonstrations in the capital calling for President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz to resign. The opposition groups held peaceful ""decentralised"" rallies in the nine districts of Nouakchott. Organisers said they opposed ""anti-democratic"" policies of the government. Mr Abdelaziz took power in the North African country in a coup in August 2008, after forcing out a democratically elected government. An umbrella group representing nine different protest groups issued a joint call for the president to resign. ""We demand that he leaves Mauritanians free to choose their own leaders at this difficult moment and reject all other alternatives,"" they said, in a statement quoted by AFP news agency. The statement also accused the president of rigging elections held in 2009 which confirmed him in power and refusing to hold a serious national dialogue with opposition groups. AFP said the protesters had dispersed by nightfall. There were occasional protests in Mauritania last year inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings across the region. In April, demonstrators were tear-gassed by police during a ""day of rage"" against the government."
" Turkey PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) of indirectly supporting the oppression of the Syrian people by failing to unite on Syria. Mr Erdogan said the UNSC was standing by with its ""hands and arms tied"" while the Syrian people were dying every day. Russia says Syria has promised to pull its forces from cities by 10 April. America's UN ambassador says the UNSC is drafting a statement to support special envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan. The statement will be discussed by the 15-nation council over the next two days, Susan Rice said, according to Reuters news agency. Mr Annan, the UN and Arab League envoy, told council members on Monday that the Syrian government had agreed to halt its military operations over a period beginning on Sunday and ending by 10 April. But Ms Rice said the actions of the regime since 1 April had not been encouraging. She said if the authorities used this window of opportunity to intensify rather than decrease violence, the Security Council would need to respond in an ""urgent and serious way"". She acknowledged the council was divided over taking action to pressure Damascus. But she suggested that if the Syrian government continued its military offensive despite its commitment to Mr Annan's peace plan, the diplomatic calculations of Syria's allies might change, reports the BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN."
" WIMBLEDON, England -- Once the Centre Court roof was closed, nothing could stop Roger Federer from winning his record-tying seventh Wimbledon title. The 30-year-old Federer finally equaled Pete Sampras' record at the All England Club, and won his 17th Grand Slam title overall, by beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday. ""I'm happy that closing the roof maybe helped me today because I wasn't sure if that was going to help me or not,"" said Federer, who took advantage of the windless court and won 65 of the 117 points played indoors. Once Murray's forehand landed wide on match point, Federer collapsed to the grass with tears welling in his eyes. He got up quickly and shook hands with Murray at the net. Up in the players' box, Federer's wife and twin daughters cheered and smiled as he took his seat to await yet another Wimbledon trophy presentation. ""When the roof closed, he played unbelievable tennis,"" Murray said. Federer is now 17-7 in Grand Slam finals, including 7-1 at Wimbledon. Murray dropped to 0-4 in major finals, with three of those losses coming against Federer. ""It's amazing. It equals me with Pete Sampras, who's my hero,"" said Federer, who lost in the quarterfinals at the All England Club in 2010 and '11. ""It just feels amazing."" Besides Sampras, 1880s player William Renshaw also won seven Wimbledon titles, but he did it at a time when the defending champion was given a bye into the following year's final. ""He doesn't want to stop now,"" Sampras said in a telephone interview of Federer. ""He knows he's going to continue to play well and try to break seven, and he could very well end up with eight or nine Wimbledons. I just think he's that much better than the other guys on grass, and he loves the court the way I loved that court. He's a great champion, a classy champion, and I'm really happy for him."""
" James Murdoch has resigned from his role as chairman of UK broadcaster BSkyB, but will remain on the board. The move is part of an effort to distance that company from the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World newspaper, once a Murdoch title. It means he no longer has a major role at a UK company. He also stood down as chairman of the newspaper publisher, News International, last month. News Corporation had to drop its plans to take over the 61% of profit-making BSkyB it does not own as the hacking scandal began to gather momentum. James Murdoch said in a statement that he did not want BSkyB to be undermined by ""matters outside this company"". Sources told Robert Peston, the BBC's business editor, that it was Mr Murdoch's own decision to leave. Mr Murdoch said on Tuesday: ""As attention continues to be paid to past events at News International, I am determined that the interests of BSkyB should not be undermined by matters outside the scope of this company. ""I am aware that my role as chairman could become a lightning rod for BSkyB and I believe that my resignation will help to ensure that there is no false conflation with events at a separate organisation."" News International shut down the News of the World last July due to a storm of allegations of widespread wrongdoing, including the hacking of the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. Our correspondent says that Mr Murdoch has been braced for serious criticism of his stewardship of News International by the Commons Culture, Media and Sport select committee."
" Mitt Romney to take Republican lead, but Barack Obama leaps ahead in general polls The party establishment is coalescing behind the Massachusetts ex-governor, with top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell saying Mr Romney was all but certain to be the party's nominee to run against Mr Obama in November. Wins in primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and the US capital Washington would likely to push Mr Romney past the delegate halfway mark. In the tightest race, in Wisconsin, where Mr Romney and his main rival Rick Santorum campaigned through the weekend and into Monday, Mr Romney holds a 7.5 percentage point lead in polls, according to the RealClearPolitics website. But it gets cloudier looking beyond the pitched battle for the Republican nomination. A USA Today/Gallup poll released late Monday shows the Republican frontrunner slipping further behind Mr Obama in a hypothetical one-on-one matchup. The poll has Mr Obama leading 49 to 45 percent over Mr Romney nationally among registered voters, the largest lead to date in Gallup polling. Mr Obama's lead in 12 swing states was even greater, with the president ahead 51-42 on average in key states like Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. That marks a dramatic shift in fortunes for Mr Obama, who a month ago trailed Mr Romney by two percentage points in swing states. The numbers also showed waning enthusiasm for Romney among conservative voters. ""The decline is especially apparent among Romney voters, whose enthusiasm has fallen 13 percentage points from January, and now is on par with Obama voters' enthusiasm,"" Gallup researchers reported."
" Mitt Romney won all three of Tuesday's Republican presidential primaries, putting more distance between himself and his closest contender, Rick Santorum, who indicated he plans to fight on to his home state of Pennsylvania and beyond. Romney's wins in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia put him past the halfway mark to the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination and add to a wide delegate lead that he holds over the other major GOP presidential candidates, according to CNN estimates. Yet Santorum indicated Tuesday night he would compete in the April 24 primaries in five states, including Pennsylvania, where his campaign hopes a win would be a gateway to a run of May primaries in states where he can capitalize on higher percentages of conservative voters. Romney, in a speech to supporters in Milwaukee, made no mention of his GOP rivals and instead mostly contrasted himself with President Barack Obama. ""This has really been quite a night. We won a great victory tonight in our campaign to restore the promise of America,"" Romney said. He continued his criticism of Obama's economic polices and what he repeatedly called Obama's plan for a ""government centered society."" ""There is a basic choice that we're going to face: The president has pledged to transform America, and he spent the last four years laying the foundation for a new government-centered society. I will spend the next four years rebuilding the foundation of an opportunity society led by free people and free enterprises."" The former Massachusetts governor is expected to take the majority of Wisconsin's 42 delegates and Maryland's 37 delegates, with some designated solely for the winner and the rest to be awarded proportionally. He will take all 16 delegates at stake in the District of Columbia. Counting partial allocations for Wisconsin and Maryland, and full allocations for D.C., Romney has collected 648 delegates since the primary and caucuses began in January, according to CNN estimates. That's more than twice the 264 delegates Santorum is estimated to hold. Gingrich and Paul trailed well back. With 93% of the vote reported in Wisconsin, Romney had 42% and Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, had 38%. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas had 12%, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had 6%."
" Cluster munitions -- fired from artillery or rockets -- can scatter bomblets over a wide area. They often fail to detonate immediately and may explode years after a conflict, killing or maiming people, according to humanitarian groups. Human Rights Watch said in a statement that government forces had fired cluster munitions into residential areas in the western city of Misrata, ""posing a grave risk to civilians"". The group said it had observed at least three such weapons explode over the coastal city's el-Shawahda neighbourhood on the night of April 14. ""Researchers inspected the remnants of a cluster submunition and interviewed witnesses to two other apparent cluster munition strikes,"" it said on its website, which also had photographs of what it said were the remnants of the munitions used in Misrata. ""They pose a huge risk to civilians, both during attacks because of their indiscriminate nature and afterward because of the still-dangerous unexploded duds scattered about,"" he said. Based on a submunition first discovered by a New York Times reporter and inspected by Human Rights Watch, the group said the cluster munition was a Spanish-produced MAT-120 120 mm mortar projectile, which it said opens in mid-air and releases 21 submunitions over a wide area. It said it had not yet been able to determine if civilians in Misrata had been wounded or killed by such munitions. A rebel spokesman in Misrata, the insurgents' last major enclave in western Libya, also told Reuters cluster munitions had been used by pro-government forces there. ""To use these bombs, the evidence would remain for days and weeks, and we know the international community is coming en masse to our country soon, so we can't do this."" Libya has invited UNICEF to visit Misrata and on Saturday a Red Crescent and Red Cross team will go there, he said."
" Tuareg-led rebels in Mali have taken control of the garrison town of Gao, including the largest military base in the north of the country. Capt Amadou Sanogo, whose troops seized power in a coup last week, said in a statement that his soldiers had ceded control to avoid fighting in residential areas. There are reports of casualties but no figures have been given. Correspondents say the loss of Gao is a serious blow to the coup leaders. They deposed the president in protest at what they saw as the poor conduct of the fight against the Tuareg rebels. Continue reading the main story If the rebels in the north can manage to keep control of Gao, it would be another huge victory. Rebel forces are also surrounding the town of Timbuktu, the last town in an area they call the Azawad, which some Tuaregs would like to see as the territory of their independent state. Other Tuareg fighters, however, are not interested in independence from Bamako. Instead they say they are fighting so that Sharia law can be imposed in Mali. The leader of this faction is said to have close ties with an al-Qaeda-linked group, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). AQIM has been active in northern Mali for some years. It has bases from where it has been carrying out kidnappings and attacks across the region. The link between a Tuareg faction and AQIM is worrying many. The historic city of Timbuktu is now the only major northern town that remains under the control of the Malian army. Rebel sources say they are already positioned in its outskirts and residents fear fighting could erupt soon, our correspondent adds. Regional group Ecowas has put 2,000 troops on standby in case of a possible intervention in Mali. It has threatened to close land borders, freeze assets and impose a financial blockade if the army does not stand down before Monday."
" HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky on Wednesday was sent to serve his child molestation prison sentence at an institution in far southwestern Pennsylvania that includes most of the state's death row inmates. The Corrections Department said Sandusky was transferred to Greene State Prison after being evaluated at a facility outside Harrisburg. Prison officials said he will be housed in protective custody. ""We make individual decisions based on facts,"" Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said in a written statement. ""Given the high profile nature of this individual, coupled with the nature of his crimes, this makes him very vulnerable in a prison setting."" Sandusky, 68, was convicted this summer of 45 criminal counts for sexual abuse of 10 boys during more than 15 years. He has maintained his innocence and is pursuing appeals. The 30- to 60-year sentence imposed Oct. 9 means he faces the likelihood of dying in prison. He will not have a cellmate and will be subject to heightened supervision and an escort when not in his cell. He will get an hour of individual exercise five days a week and three showers a week. He will eat meals in his cell. Prison services such as counseling, religion, medications and treatment programming also will occur in his cell. All visits will be non-contact, meaning no touching is allowed. He may have a TV, radio and other property, according to the Corrections Department, if he is deemed to be in ""compliant adjustment."" Messages left for his attorneys were not immediately returned Wednesday. The State Correctional Institution at Greene, as it is formally known, is a maximum-security prison that houses 1,800 inmates and employs 700 people."
" Jonathan Marray became the first Briton to win the Wimbledon men's doubles title for 76 years after victory with wildcard partner Frederik Nielsen. Sheffield-based Marray, 31, and Dane Nielsen only teamed up three events ago but beat fifth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 4-6 6-4 7-6 6-7 6-3. Patrick Hughes and Raymond Tuckey were the last British winners in 1936. ""What a great honour,"" said Marray. ""I just wanted to cherish every moment. Thanks to Freddie. It was meant to be."" The last Britons to reach the men's doubles final were Bobby Wilson and Mike Davies in 1960. Marray had never been past the third round in his previous 10 attempts in the doubles, and had to request a wildcard entry with recent partner Nielsen, whose grandfather Kurt played in the Wimbledon men's singles final in 1953 and 1955. But instead of being daunted by facing the runners-up for the last two years on one of the sport's biggest stages, Marray and Nielsen were able to provide the Centre Court crowd with a tantalising appetiser for Sunday. Andy Murray is also bidding to be the first British men's singles champion for 76 years when he faces six-time champion Roger Federer at 14:00 BST. Following on from Serena Williams's three-set win over Agnieszka Radwanska in the women's final, Marray and Nielsen stepped onto Centre Court just after 17:00 BST. The only break of the first set came in game seven off the serve of 28-year-old Nielsen."
" The Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 0.1%, while the S&P 500 ended flat. The Nasdaq lost 0.4%. For the month, the Dow fell 2.4%, the S&P 500 sank 1.9%, and the Nasdaq logged a 4.5% decline. Many expected trading volume to spike Wednesday after Wall Street spent two unscheduled days in the dark. But the number of shares trading hands was held in check as many investors were still without power and transportation remained limited in New York City. ""There is some pent-up demand to trade after being closed for two days,"" said Art Hogan, managing director at Lazard Capital Markets. ""But you have to balance that with the fact that many folks are still not able to get back to work."" The two-day trading halt was the longest weather-related closure of the NYSE since a massive blizzard struck New York in 1888. In a symbolic gesture, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg rang the opening bell on Wednesday. With the city's financial district without power, the stock exchange was running on gas-powered generators. The exchange was still working out some kinks, but it appeared to be functioning properly, said Lawrence Leibowitz, chief operating officer of the NYSE, in an interview with CNN. ""I think it's a symbol that makes everybody feel better -- that says we're back on our feet, we're open for business,"" Leibowitz said from the floor of the exchange. Still, traders were reluctant to place big bets on the first day after such an unusual event. In addition, many investors are taking a cautious approach ahead of next week's presidential election and the economic threat posed by the looming fiscal cliff. ""A day like today, you just sit on your hands,"" said David Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Genuity. Wednesday marks the end of the month and is the final day of the fiscal year for many institutional investors. It's a day when many mutual fund managers will try to offset their capital gains with their losses to minimize distributions paid out to shareholders. However, some managers may have done their so-called ""window dressing"" last week in anticipation of the storm."
" Serena Williams overcame a resurgent Agnieszka Radwanska to clinch a hard-fought 6-1 5-7 6-2 victory and earn her fifth Wimbledon singles title. The American had eased through the opening set before Radwanska regrouped to win a rain-delayed second set. But Williams broke twice in the decider to kill off Radwanska's challenge. The 30-year-old then followed up her success to claim the doubles title with sister Venus, defeating Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-5 6-4. Her singles victory is Williams's 14th Grand Slam title and follows Wimbledon singles victories in 2002, 2003, 2009 and 2010. But it is also her first since spending almost a year out of action between summer 2010 and 2011 with a leg injury and subsequent pulmonary embolism. ""I can't even describe it. I almost didn't make it a few years ago,"" she said after her win, referring to her health problems. ""I was in hospital but now I'm here again and it was so worth it. I'm so happy. ""Aggie played so well and that's why she's had such a great career and she's so young."" Such an absorbing finish seemed highly unlikely as Williams demolished Radwanska in the opening set, raising the fear that her opponent was struggling with a respiratory illness that forced her to call off a news conference on Friday."
" The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has nominated its deputy chairman, Khairat al-Shatir, as its candidate for the presidential elections in May. The choice of Mr Shatir, the group's financier, reverses a pledge made earlier by the group's leaders not to contest the election. It will raise concerns among liberals and the military that the Brotherhood could become too powerful. Correspondents say its ties with the ruling council have steadily worsened. There had been much speculation about whether it would opt to field a candidate following the party's legislative election success in November. The movement's political arm then won around a third of the vote, and nearly half the seats in the first parliamentary election since the fall of Hosni Mubarak last year. Mahmoud Hussein, the group's deputy leader, said it had decided to field a candidate following ""attempts to abort the revolution"". Only a few days remain before the close of nominations. The announcement ends months of speculation about who the Muslim Brotherhood would throw its weight behind, says the BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo. Continue reading the main story Before Egypt's uprising, Khairat al-Shatir spent 12 years behind bars because of his association with the Muslim Brotherhood. Yet he managed to maintain a multimillion-dollar business empire, care for his 10 children and uphold his commitment to political Islam. Since he was released from jail last year, the influence of Mr Shatir has increased so that many suggest he is more powerful than the Brotherhood's general guide. As deputy leader, the 62-year-old took key strategic decisions concerning the formation of a political party and is said to have led negotiations with the ruling military. He has been the public face of the Brotherhood to visiting foreign officials and investors. While Mr Shatir has been at pains to express his group's commitment to democracy, free markets and minority rights, he has also said that the recent elections show Egyptians' commitment to an Islamic state. Mr Shatir, a wealthy businessman, has long been a senior member of the Islamist group and its main financier."
" Votes are being counted in Burma after landmark by-elections in which Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has run for political office for the first time. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) competed for all 45 seats, in the first vote it has contested since 1990. Ms Suu Kyi's supporters said unofficial results showed her set to win her seat. The elections are being seen as a key test of Burma's pledge to political reform, though the military-backed governing party will remain dominant. Foreign journalists and international observers are being given the widest access they have ever had in Burma. The European Union hinted that it could ease some sanctions if the vote went smoothly. ""We hope the whole day can be run in a peaceful way and we'll make an evaluation later on the basis of all the polling sessions that we will be seeing,"" EU observer Ivo Belet said. Continue reading the main story With the Kawhmu result close to a foregone conclusion, thoughts are already turning to what sort of a local parliamentarian Ms Suu Kyi will be. ""We need better transportation and opportunity for young people here,"" said U Myo Khine, a father of two, as he watched her convoy pass by. Others have their eyes on the much greater prize, the general election of 2015. ""The army has changed and are now more lenient,"" said NLD official Myo Win. ""So there is more of a possibility that Aung San Suu Kyi can become president in 2015."" BBC correspondent Rachel Harvey says the NLD alleged some voting irregularities in the capital, Naypyidaw. A NLD spokesman told AFP news agency he had sent a letter of complaint to the election commission over allegations ballot forms had been tampered with."
" 1 of 12. Traders stand outside the New York Stock Exchange prior to the opening bell in New York October 31, 2012. U.S. stocks edged higher on Wednesday in the first trading session since the massive storm Sandy in the U.S. Northeast forced a two-day market closure. The Dow and the S&P 500 closed little changed while the Nasdaq Composite edged lower in a session with slightly less than average volume. Traders made it through the darkened streets of downtown Manhattan before sunrise to the New York Stock Exchange at 11 Wall Street, one of the only buildings with any electricity in that area after Sandy crippled power supply and disrupted mass transit throughout the New York metropolitan region. ""I was driving in at 5:45 this morning in the dark, but the red and blue lights of the exchange were on, and it was clear that ours was the only building down here that was functional,"" said Jonathan Corpina, senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners. The two-day weather-related break was the stock market's first multi-day closure for weather since 1888. It was a rare occurrence that affected long-time floor traders, the small corner of human element still left in a market that has become mostly electronic. Floor traders have opened after adverse events in the past, with the last weather-related closure resulting from Hurricane Gloria in September 1985. ""Sometimes we closed early, and sometimes we opened late, but it's always been open,"" said Ted Weisberg, president and trader at Seaport Securities, a veteran of the trading floor for 43 years. ""That's the psyche that the people on the floor operate with."" Trading volume was average, with about 6.3 billion shares exchanging hands on the NYSE, Nasdaq and NYSE MKT. Daily average for 2012 through last Friday was 6.51 billion shares. ""The open was a positive relief after four days of sitting on edge,"" said Larry Leibowitz, the chief operating officer at NYSE operator NYSE/Euronext. ""No matter how much planning you do, you can't foresee that kind of flooding."" Not everything was working as usual. Cell phone reception was sketchy on the floor of the NYSE, so traders were mulling around outside the exchange building making calls, texting and emailing on their phones. Market participants on locations outside Manhattan also reported some normalcy, though the lack of electric power in the region was a hurdle, and forced many to rush to the pump to keep generators running."
" Tuareg rebels in Mali have seized Timbuktu, the last northern army stronghold, as the leaders of last month's military coup said they were ready to cede power. A rebel statement said they had ""control of the entire region"" and had ended Malian ""occupation"". Government troops are reported to have fled the city as rebel forces swept in. Military leaders who ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure 10 days ago say they are reinstating the constitution. However, the BBC's West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says they have not stepped down and there are no clear arrangements for a transition of power. Witnesses in Timbuktu said rebel fighters had taken the airport, administrative buildings and military camps. ""The city is totally under their control,"" city Mayor Ousmane Halle told AP news agency by phone. Continue reading the main story Located on the southern edge of the Sahara, and just north of the River Niger, Timbuktu is nearly 1,000 years old. Famous writers have contributed to its mythical status. The Moorish author, Leo Africanus, described how the king of Timbuktu was so rich that some of his golden objects weighed hundreds of kilos. The town made its fortune through trade, where salt brought in from the Sahara was worth its weight in gold. Slaves and ivory were also traded. With its distinctive mud mosques rising from the sand, the town is a centre for Islamic scholarship. About 700 ancient manuscripts are held in the town's approximately 60 libraries. But the Timbuktu of today is very different from the golden age. It is poor and parts of it are sinking under the encroaching desert sands. It has until recently attracted tourists but they have been put off by a spate of kidnappings by a group with links to al-Qaeda. Residents told the BBC that there was no fighting in the town. ""Early in the morning there were some noises, and people were scared. And then later on there's no fighting on the streets, nothing happened they just fired in the air and finished,"" said one resident contacted by telephone."
" Saturday's vote saw Prime Minister Robert Fico (r. above) face off against political newcomer Andrej Kiska (l. above). The runoff comes after a first round of voting on March 15 saw Social Democrat Fico, 49, winning 28 percent to narrowly beat centrist Kiska, 51, on 24 percent. Results are expected around midnight local time (23:00 UTC). Fico, an ex-Communist, came to power with his Smer party after sweeping a parliamentary election in 2012. Some Slovaks feel that a victory for Fico in the presidentials could result in his party amassing too much power, endangering the country's democracy. This fear is likely to fuel support for Kiska, a businessman turned philanthropist with no Communist past. Kiska has campaigned as an independent without a party. The president has the power to name or approve some of the main figures in the judicial branch. Campaigning turned tough in the last weeks, with Fico accusing Kiska of usury in consumer lending firms he used to own, for which Kiska filed a criminal complaint against his opponent. Kiska has also vehemently denied that he is close to the Church of Scientology, as claimed by Fico, who has emphasized his own Catholicism. Critics of Scientology say it is a cult that extorts money from its members and harrasses them if they try to quit. A majority of Slovaks identify themselves as Roman Catholic. The next president will be sworn in on June 15 and replace incumbent Ivan Gasparovic, who has held the post for two terms and is barred by the constitution from running again."
" There is increasing speculation this evening that a deal on the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes is imminent. The Seanad has even been put on standby having being told to expect special legislation from the Department of Finance tonight. Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan is in Frankfurt and about to table a deal for a new repayment arrangement on the promissory notes, where a decision could be rubber-stamped tomorrow. It is understood that as part of this, a restructuring of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (formerly Anglo Irish Bank) would be needed and that would require special legislation to go through the Oireachtas. This is necessary so that the toxic institution that is being wound down would return to being a functional bank with a licence, allowing for the issuance of a long-term bond."
" * NATO chief says Crimea ""may not be enough"" for Putin (Updates with Lavrov and Kerry to meet) MOSCOW, March 29 (Reuters) - Russia said on Saturday it had ""no intention"" of invading eastern Ukraine, responding to Western warnings over a military buildup on the border following Moscow's annexation of the Crimean peninsula. The comments by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were followed by news that he would meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris on Sunday, as both sides moved to ease tensions in the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. Speaking on Russian television, Lavrov reinforced a message from President Vladimir Putin that Russia would settle - at least for now - for control over Crimea despite massing thousands of troops near Ukraine's eastern border. ""We have absolutely no intention of - or interest in - crossing Ukraine's borders,"" Lavrov said. Putin called U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday to discuss a U.S. diplomatic proposal, with the West alarmed at the threat to Ukraine's eastern flank from what U.S. officials say may be more than 40,000 Russian soldiers. Lavrov added, however, that Russia was ready to protect the rights of Russian speakers, referring to what Moscow sees as threats to the lives of compatriots in eastern Ukraine since Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich was deposed as president in February. The West imposed sanctions on Russia, including visa bans for some of Putin's inner circle, after Moscow annexed Crimea this month following a referendum on union of the Russian-majority region with the Russian Federation which the West said was illegal. The West has threatened tougher sanctions targeting Russia's stuttering economy if Moscow sends more troops to Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in an interview with Germany's Focus magazine published on Saturday, said the alliance was ""extremely worried""."
" State media said Syrian border guards shot dead two ""terrorists"" from Turkey, in other violence after a UN Security Council meeting at which Western nations stepped up pressure to condemn the deadly campaign against dissent. At the meeting, UN rights chief Navi Pillay gave the latest death toll -- amounting to a jump of 1,000 in less than two weeks -- as she appealed to the Council to launch a crimes against humanity case. She told reporters she had given the new toll of more than 5,000 dead -- including some 300 children -- and recommended the crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad's regime be referred to the International Criminal Court. The ""intolerable"" situation in Syria -- where more than 14,000 have been detained -- has seen 12,400 people flee into neighbouring countries since protests erupted in March, she said. ""I think it is necessary that those countries in the Security Council which are still hesitating change their mind,"" German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said after meeting Pillay. But Russia, an ally of Assad's Syria, said Western accusations it was blocking UN action condemning the crackdown were ""immoral"" because the West was refusing to put pressure on armed rebel groups. ""There are those who refuse to put pressure on the armed, extremist part of the opposition and are at the same time accusing us of blocking the UN Security Council's work. I would call this position immoral,"" Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised comments. ""Seven security force members were killed in an ambush by deserters on a convoy patrolling the Idlib-Bab al-Hawa road in response to the martyrdom of 11 civilians this morning,"" the Observatory said. ""Eleven people were killed and dozens others wounded Tuesday by gunfire from security forces and the Shabiha in the areas of Maarret Masrin and Kfar Yahmul,"" said the Observatory. ""Border guards' forces in Idlib today foiled an infiltration attempt by an armed terrorist group into the Syrian lands"" in Idlib province, said SANA, adding they killed two out of the 15 ""terrorists."""
" UN peacekeeping forces are engaged in heavy fighting against rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The head of the UN mission, Alan Doss, told the BBC that helicopter gunships and armoured units were supporting the Congolese army north of Goma. The clashes followed reports that hundreds of protesters had attacked the mission's headquarters, saying the UN was not doing enough to protect them. At least 20,000 people are reported to be fleeing towards Goma. The UN is trying to help government forces prevent rebel troops loyal to renegade general Laurent Nkunda from advancing on Goma, capital of North Kivu province. ""We can't allow population centres to be threatened,"" Mr Doss said. ""We had to engage."" The muscular response from the UN shows how serious the rebel advance is, reports BBC World Affairs correspondent Mark Doyle. Earlier, the UN had said it was considering using helicopter gunships against the rebels, but that government troops were also in the area and could be hit. News of the UN's engagement came as it was confirmed the military commander of the UN mission in DRC - Spain's Lt Gen Vicente Diaz de Villegas y Herreria - had resigned for ""personal reasons"" after just seven weeks in the job. The UN said it was working to ""ensure continuity of command and to replace General Diaz as quickly as possible""."
" Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) is in the lead as results are being reported in Turkey's local elections, according to local television stations. The contests in Istanbul and Ankara, where the AKP is the incumbent, are particularly close. In Istanbul the AKP leads the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) with 45.8 percent to the latter's 43.3 percent. In Ankara, the AKP leads as well, garnering 45.6 percent of the vote to the CHP's 42.6 percent. Nationally, with about 45 percent of votes counted, CNN Turk said AKP had about 44 percent of the votes. Voter turnout appeared high throughout the day, and reports suggest that voters formed long lines at many polling places. According to the Turkish government, more than 50 million people are eligible to vote. The vote has been marred by sporadic violence. A clash in the southeast left eight dead. The Islamist AKP won 50 percent of the vote in the country's last national elections. This round, the party's leaders have stated that they hope to win only 39 percent, which would match the party's performance in local elections in 2009. The elections are widely seen as referenda on the prime minister and his administration, which have come under corruption allegations amid a heated public dispute with followers of the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. The release of tapes that purport to depict Erdogan and members of his family has prompted a particularly strident response from the prime minister, who attempted to restrict access to Twitter across Turkey in order to prevent further dissemination of the tapes. The controversy has led many erstwhile Erdogan allies, including President Abdullah Gul, to distance themselves from the prime minister's recent actions. In the days before the vote, Erdogan dubbed his secular opponents ""traitors"" and urged voters to deliver them ""an Ottoman slap."""
" RBS, which is 81-per cent owned by the British government, said it has agreed to pay the equivalent of 391 million to regulators, becoming the third bank to admit its part in the Libor affair after Barclays and UBS. The investigations uncovered ""wrongdoing"" by 21 employees, predominantly in relation to the setting of the bank's yen and Swiss franc Libor submissions between October 2006 to November 2010, the bank said. RBS added it had been fined $US325 million by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, $US150 million by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and $US137 million by Britain's Financial Services Authority. The bank has also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the DoJ, in relation to one count of wire fraud relating to Swiss franc Libor and one count for an antitrust violation relating to yen Libor. RBS Securities Japan Limited has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to one count of wire fraud relating to Yen Libor, it added in the statement. Japan's Financial Services Agency said the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission has been investigating the local arm since mid-November for involvement in LIBOR manipulation. British finance minister George Osborne condemned the ""totally unacceptable"" behaviour at the bailed-out bank and insisted the taxpayer would not pick up the bill. ""Those responsible will face the full force of the law,"" Osborne told reporters. The Edinburgh-based lender, which was rescued with taxpayers' cash at the height of the global financial crisis, said that it would recoup about STG300 million ($A458.02 million) from its staff bonus pool and by clawing back previous pay awards. John Hourican, chief executive of the bank's Markets and International Banking division, will leave RBS and forfeit his 2012 bonus and long-term incentive shares."
" At least five people have died following an earthquake and tsunami that struck Solomon Islands.. The 8.0-magnitude quake caused major damage to several villages in the Santa Cruz islands and triggered a tsunami warning across the South Pacific. The BBC reports a 0.9m tsunami swamped the airport near the provincial capital, Lata, on the biggest island, Santa Cruz or Nendo. The worst of the damage was said to have been on the western coast of Santa Cruz, with one report putting the waves there at 1.5m. The quake was centred in the islands (340km east of Kirakira and about 600km from Honiara), at a depth of 28.7km at 12.27 UTC. The magnitude puts it as a ""great"" earthquake or the highest category. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a tsunami warning and a tsunami watch for the region but later cancelled it. The United States Geological Survey has recorded at least 23 aftershocks with a magnitude of between 5.0 and 6.6 near the islands. The director of nursing at Lata Hospital, Augustine Pilve, says he can confirm that five people have died. He says the hospital is treating others with injuries and more casualties are expected."
" A magnitude 8.0 earthquake off the Solomon Islands has sparked a tsunami warning for the island nations of the south Pacific, with houses reported damaged in the Solomons. Local officials reported two 1.5-metre waves hitting the western side of Santa Cruz Island in the Solomons, damaging about 50 homes and properties. There were no reports of injuries or deaths. Villagers had gone to higher ground as a precaution. The tsunami formed after the earthquake hit near Lata on Santa Cruz in Temotu province, the easternmost part of the Solomons a three-hour flight from the capital, Honiara. The region has a population of about 30,000 people. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said a tsunami of about one metre (3ft) was measured in Lata wharf in the Solomons. The centre said an 11cm (4.3in) wave was observed in neighbouring Vanuatu. The centre cancelled earlier warnings for tsunami further away.   The earthquake struck off the Santa Cruz islands, which are Solomons territory. The epicentre was 211 miles (340km) east of Kira Kira. The US Geological Survey initially put the quake epicentre at a very shallow depth of three miles (5km) but later revised this to a much greater depth of 17.8 miles (28.7km). At various times the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a tsunami warning for the Solomons, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati, Wallis and Futuna. A tsunami watch was in effect for American Samoa, Australia, New Zealand and eastern Indonesia. However, the alerts were cancelled as the period of danger passed. In Honiara the warning prompted residents to flee for higher ground. ""People are still standing on the hills outside of Honiara just looking out over the water, trying to observe if there is a wave coming in,"" said George Herming, a spokesman for the prime minister. Atenia Tahu, who works for the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation in Honiara, said most people remained calm. ""People around the coast and in the capital are ringing in and trying to get information from us and the National Disaster Office and are slowly moving up to higher ground,"" Tahu said. ""But panic? No, no, no, people are not panicking."""
" Earthquake tsunami kills at least six in Solomon Islands A government spokesman says the 1.5-metre waves that roared into Santa Cruz Island on Wednesday were too fast to outrun for five elderly villagers and one child. George Herming said several other people were missing today and strong aftershocks were keeping frightened villagers from returning to the coast. The tsunami was generated by an 8.0-magnitude earthquake in the South Pacific. Smaller waves were recorded in Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Herming said an estimated 100 homes had been damaged or destroyed. The tsunami flooded the airstrip at the nearest airport, preventing relief workers from reaching the region by air. Sirens were heard in Fiji as the region-wide tsunami alert was issued, locals said. ""Chaos in the streets of Suva as everyone tries to avoid the tsunami!!'' tweeted Ratu Nemani Tebana from the Fiji capital. The waves reached as far away as Japan, which was hit by a huge tsunami in March 2011 that killed more than 19,000 people."
" April 6 (Bloomberg) -- A deadly avian flu virus that has killed at least 108 people worldwide entered the U.K. for the first time, through an infected swan, according to the National Farmers Union, which represents producers in England and Wales. The dead swan found in Scotland tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza, the group said in a statement on its Web site, after the U.K. government disclosed the information to the union in a meeting today. There is no indication of infection in the U.K.'s domestic poultry, Scottish veterinary officials said earlier today in Edinburgh. ``This is an unwelcome and important development from the point of view of poultry health, but there are no implications for either human health or consumers,'' the farmers' group said in the statement. The virus entered the European Union for the first time in February, and more than two dozen countries on three continents have reported initial outbreaks this year. Germany yesterday detected its first H5N1 infection in domestic poultry. France is the only other EU country to report a domestic poultry outbreak, on a turkey farm. ``As other countries have had to cope with this and take these preventive measures we will do so,'' U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair said today at a press conference in Armagh, Northern Ireland. ``The Scottish executive and ourselves will take the measures that are appropriate.'' The World Health Organization is tracking the spread of the H5N1 virus in the event it evolves to spread easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic such as the 1918 outbreak that killed 50 million people worldwide. At least 108 of the 191 people known to be infected with the bird flu have died since the outbreak began in 2003, according to the Geneva-based WHO. Sales of chicken, duck and turkey have been dropping for months across the 25-nation EU, the world's third-biggest poultry exporter after the U.S. and Brazil, amid fears that avian flu may enter the food chain through bird meat. Most of the people who have contracted the virus handled infected poultry or came in contact with their droppings. Cooking meat and eggs properly kills the virus, the WHO said. ``No one should be complacent, but equally, one case should not make a whole industry vulnerable,'' said Chris Kaufman, national secretary for agriculture at the Transport and General Workers Union, the largest labor group for poultry workers, in a statement today. Sky News reported the U.K. test results earlier today, citing unidentified people. Two other swans were found dead in a park in Glasgow and are undergoing tests, the network said."
" The Scottish Executive has extended surveillance zones in Scotland to include 175 properties with 3.1 million birds, as well as free-range poultry. The dead swan was found in Cellardyke, Fife, eight days ago. Fourteen other birds are being tested. The H5N1 virus does not currently pose a large-scale threat to humans as it cannot pass easily between people. But experts fear the virus could mutate to gain this ability, and in its new form trigger a flu pandemic, potentially putting millions of human lives at risk. Scotland's Chief Veterinary Officer Charles Milne, announcing confirmation of H5N1, said a surveillance zone was being extended to 965 sq miles (2,500 sq km). The zone contains 175 registered premises, with in total 3.1 million poultry. About 48 are free-range premises with 260,000 birds. A total of 14 birds are being checked for bird flu from Scotland including 12 swans and two other species. Mr Milne said: ""There is no indication that any of these are positive."" Farmers are being ordered to house their birds where possible, or separate them from wild birds."
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" A suspected US missile strike has killed 20 people, including a top Taleban commander, in north-west Pakistan, witnesses and officials say. Mohammad Omar was among the dead when the missile, reportedly fired by a pilotless US drone, hit a compound owned by him in South Waziristan. Omar fought with the Taleban in Afghanistan in the late 1990s. The US has launched many missile strikes from Afghanistan against suspected militant targets recently. The latest strike on Sunday night was launched at a compound owned by Mohammad Omar in Mandatta village in the troubled region of South Waziristan. Mohammad Omar was a close associate of the dead Taleban commander Nek Mohammed, who was killed in a suspected US strike in the area four years ago. Witnesses said that the missile strike completely destroyed Mohammed Omar's house, and partially damaged two neighbouring houses. They said locals rushed to the targeted compounds to rescue the people inside and there was panic in the area after the attack. Local officials confirmed that 20 bodies had been dug up from the debris of the compound. Two others are reported to have been injured in the attack, they said."
" Arsal is home to thousands of Syrian refugees but also Syrian rebels and their Lebanese allies who have fled a Syrian army advance on the Syrian side of the border. Three other soldiers were wounded, the sources said. Lebanese Sunni militants accuse the Lebanese army of conspiring with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah, which has sent fighters into Syria to support Assad fight a Sunni-led revolt. The attack hit just hours after a speech by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who said he was protecting Lebanon by fighting in Syria against Sunni militants. On Thursday, the Lebanese army killed a suspected Sunni bomb-maker as they raided his house in Arsal. On Saturday, the army made further raids in Arsal, where they have set up checkpoints this month. Lebanon has endured rocket and bomb attacks as the Syrian conflict spreads beyond its border, deepening sectarian rivalry in the country, which suffered its own civil war from 1975 to 1990."
" The son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen during an election rally. Mr Gilani told the BBC his son Ali Haider - a candidate for the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) - was seized in the central city of Multan. He accused his political opponents of being behind the attack, which came ahead of Saturday's elections. One person was reportedly killed when the attackers opened fire at the rally. No group has so far claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack. Eyewitnesses say the gunmen arrived at the gathering in a black Honda car and on a motorbike. ""A couple of them started shooting,"" a teenager at the rally told Pakistan's Geo TV. ""A man standing in front of Gilani was hit and fell down. Then they grabbed Gilani, put him in the car and sped away."" Reports say the person who died in the shooting was one of Ali Haider Gilani's aides. Another five people were injured. Some of those who saw the attack say there was also blood on Ali Haider. Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper quotes eyewitnesses saying he was hit by a bullet, but this is not confirmed."
" BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday said that a U.S. navy vessel, which conducted activities in China's special economic zone in the South China Sea, violated the international and Chinese law. ""China has lodged a solemn representation to the United States as the USNS Impeccable conducted activities in China's special economic zone in the South China Sea without China's permission,"" Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told a regular news briefing. ""We demand that the United States put an immediate stop to related activities and take effective measures to prevent similar acts from happening,"" Ma said. The Pentagon accused that Chinese ships, including a naval vessel, harassed the USNS Impeccable in international waters on Sunday. Ma said ""the U.S. claims are gravely in contravention of the facts and confuse black and white and they are totally unacceptable to China."" He added that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Law on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf of the People's Republic of China, and the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Management of Foreign-related Marine Scientific Research, have clear regulations on foreign vessels' activities in China's exclusive economic zones. The Chinese government always handles such activities strictly in accordance with these laws and regulations. BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Activities violating China's sovereignty is not allowed in the country's special economic zone, said a lawmaker from the navy here Tuesday. ""It is our sovereignty for Chinese vessels to conduct activities in the country's special economic zone, and such activities are justified,"" Wang Dengping, political commissar of the Armament Department of Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the parliament's annual full session."
" Richmond - Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been buried in a Muslim cemetery in Virginia, the head of an Islamic center said on Friday. The body of Tsarnaev, who was killed in a shoot-out with police three days after the 15 April bombing, was moved earlier this week from a funeral home in Worcester, Massachusetts, police there said on Thursday.  The funeral home had faced a steady stream of protesters over the past week as it struggled to find a cemetery willing to accept the body. Ammar Amonette, imam of the Virginia Islamic centre, said Tsarnaev was buried in the al-Barzakh Cemetery in Doswell, Virginia, outside Richmond, and that he disapproved of the decision. ""It was done by individuals without our knowledge or consent,"" Amonette said. ""We are quite upset.  ""It's affected thousands of Muslims and we were not consulted. It has nothing to do with us."" Representatives of another Islamic centre in the area, the Islamic Society of Greater Richmond, could not immediately be reached. Tsarnaev, 26, and his younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, were identified by the FBI as suspects in setting off bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring 264 others. Dzhokhar is being held in prison west of Boston after being charged with crimes that could carry the death penalty. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen who lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for much of the past decade, had been on a US government database of potential terrorism suspects.  The United States had twice been warned by Russia that he might be an Islamic militant, according to US security officials."
" Many traders have enthusiastically welcomed the move   An old trade route has reopened after 60 years across the Line of Control (LoC) that divides disputed Kashmir. Trucks carrying fruit, nuts and honey were flagged off by Indian officials from Salamabad in Indian-administered Kashmir under tight security. Lorries are expected to arrive later on Tuesday from the Pakistani side, bringing rice, rock salt and furniture. The opening of the trade route is part of a 2004 peace agreement between India and Pakistan, which both claim Kashmir. The trade link follows other confidence-building measures introduced in Kashmir in recent years, including the opening of rail and bus links. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The governments of India and Pakistan hope that these steps will bolster the four-year-old peace agreement, which has recently come under strain. The South Asian rivals have fought two of their three wars over the disputed territory and have yet to tackle the core issues of the Kashmir dispute, sovereignty and control of territory. Tuesday's exchange of goods is seen as just as beginning, symbolically making the divide in Kashmir just a bit smaller. Traders hope the trade link - which will operate from both sides two times a week - will grow into something much more significant. The BBC's Altaf Hussain says the atmosphere in Salamabad, on the Indian side of the LoC, on Tuesday morning was festive. I have always dreamed of going to the other side (of LoC), but I never thought I would be driving a lorry there so soon   Our correspondent says that the overwhelming majority of separatist groups in Indian administered Kashmir have welcomed the move - while most militants groups have not commented. Hundreds of people gathered to watch NN Vohra, the governor of Jammu and Kashmir state, flag off the lorries in a brief ceremony. Thirteen trucks, most carrying fresh fruit, began their journey towards the de facto border, accompanied by the beating of drums and singing by school children. ""I'm very happy that trade has been renewed after six decades. But I still don't now how traders like me would get their money for their goods,"" trader Haji Farooq Ahmad told the BBC. On the Pakistani side the atmosphere was one of equal excitement. Two lorries carrying goods from Pakistani-administered Kashmir crossed the LoC in Chakothi sector and entered Indian-administered Kashmir before dawn. The Prime Minister of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Sardar Atique Ahmad Khan, was present to see off the lorries. Officials said 14 more trucks carrying rice, onions, garlic, spices, dried fruit and shoes were due to leave Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, for Salamabad later on Tuesday. Under the terms of the deal, lorry drivers from both sides are being issued single-entry permits to transport the goods. Drivers from the Indian side will offload their goods at Chakothi, from where they will be picked up by Pakistani lorries. Drivers from the Pakistani side will likewise drop their goods off at Salamabad, where they will be collected by Indian lorries. Trade is restricted for now to 21 items produced in the Kashmir region. Economists say that the reopening of the trade route is highly significant, because the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road is an all-weather road - unlike other roads linking Srinagar with India that become cut off when it snows. In addition, the route offers the shortest route for Srinagar's produce to reach its markets. Intra-Kashmir trade was mooted in 2004 as part of the peace process between India and Pakistan. Analysts say trade between the two countries could reach $6bn a year if both sides ease restrictions. In recent weeks, Indian-administered Kashmir has seen massive protests against Indian rule. Some 30 people have been killed in clashes between protesters and Indian security forces in the protests."
" 100 anti-riot police and 300 soldiers were deployed to prevent looting and round up escaped prisoners in Chile Wednesday after a magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck the South American nation's northern coast. 300 inmates escaped from a women's prison and Special Forces troops were dispatched to round them up and protect the city of Iquique, officials said, according to the Wall Street Journal. Six people were crushed to death or suffered fatal heart attacks, a remarkably low toll for such a powerful shift in the Earth's crust. President Michelle Bachelet flew to the region to review damage in daylight after declaring a state of emergency. Thousands of people evacuated from low-lying areas were returning home after a spending a long night outside due to the threat of a tsunami. Seawater flooded city streets and washed away some fishing boats in Iquique, but by early Wednesday no major tsunami damage was apparent. Chile's entire coast was initially subject to the mandatory evacuation order, which lasted nearly 10 hours in coastal communities closest to the offshore epicenter. The shaking that began at 8:46 p.m. Tuesday also touched off landslides that blocked roads, knocked out power for thousands, damaged an airport and started fires that destroyed several businesses. Some homes made of adobe were destroyed in Arica, another city close to the quake's offshore epicenter. Mining in Chile, which is the world's top copper producing nation, was not affected, although world prices for the red metal jumped as the quake raised supply concerns because most of the Chilean mining industry is in the northern regions. About 300 inmates escaped from a women's prison in the city of Iquique, forcing the closure of the border with Peru. Officials said some two dozen had been captured early Wednesday. Bachelet, who just returned to the presidency three weeks ago, waited five hours after the quake struck to address her nation. It was not lost on many Chileans that the last time she presided over a major quake, days before the end of her 2006-10 term, her emergency preparedness office prematurely waved off a tsunami danger. Most of the 500 dead from that magnitude-8.8 tremor survived the shaking, only to be caught in killer waves in a disaster that destroyed 220,000 homes and washed away large parts of many coastal communities."
" The first round of Egypt's presidential poll has been set for 26-27 May, officials say, days after army chief Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi resigned and announced his candidature. State TV said nominations would be accepted from Monday until 20 April. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi led the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July after mass opposition protests. Correspondents say he is likely to win the presidency, given his popularity and the lack of any serious rivals. If he does not win more than 50% in the first round of voting, a second round will be held on 16-17 June. Egyptians abroad will vote between 15 and 19 May, state media report. The only other person to declare his candidacy so far has been Nasserist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the last presidential elections in 2012. If Mr Sisi does become president, he will be the latest in a line of Egyptian rulers drawn from the military; a line only briefly broken during President Morsi's year in office. Human rights groups say the military-backed authorities have displayed increasing hostility to independent media and to political opponents. Since Mr Morsi's overthrow more than 1,000 people have been killed and thousands of members of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood have been detained in a crackdown by the interim authorities, who have designated the Islamist movement a terrorist group."
" Missiles fired by an unmanned US drone have killed at least 24 people in Pakistan's Kurram tribal region near the Afghan border, officials have said. Local officials said the dead were local Taleban and that the toll may rise. Thirty others were injured. Correspondents say this is the fifth drone attack on Pakistani territory since Barack Obama became US president. Pakistan is critical of the tactic because, it says, civilians are often killed, fuelling support for militants. The target of the missile attack on Thursday night was a training camp run by a local Taleban commander. The camp in the Brijo area is located some 20km from Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. Local officials told the BBC Urdu Service that a drone fired four missiles into the camp, a huge compound with five rooms which served as a weapons store, meeting place and lodging for the local Taleban. It was being run by Commander Fazal Saeed, who was present, along with 57 others, during the missile attack. Officials said that the commander escaped unharmed. Pakistan is critical of the US drone tactic Taleban guards said that some of those in the camp were hostages the Taleban were holding. Witnesses said people living in the area turned off their lights following the blasts to avoid being targeted by missiles. They said the entire Taleban compound was set on fire and that announcements were made using mosque loudspeakers in the area urging people not to approach the camp for fear of more drone attacks. Last month, a missile strike in the same area targeted a suspected Taleban training facility. Missile strikes by unmanned drone spy aircraft have mostly targeted foreign fighters in the Waziristan region over the past couple of years. The BBC's Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says the strikes are now also targeting facilities run by local or Afghan Taleban in the lower Kurram region, from where attacks have been launched into the Khost and Paktia provinces of Afghanistan. The southern parts of the lower Kurram region share borders with Afghanistan's Khost province, where US and coalition forces have major deployments of forces. The US does not confirm drone attacks but no other countries have the power to deploy such weapons in the region."
"There are many dead and injured. The numbers I have for the time being are at least 12 killed, but this number is not definitive,"" Lieutenant Colonel John Espen Lien said, adding that no Norwegian soldiers in Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were nearby when the blast occurred. Most of the foreign forces in the Faryab province are Norwegians. Whether the victims were civilians or military personnel was not immediately clear. Faryab provincial authorities and a hospital doctor in the provincial capital Maymana meanwhile said at least five people had been killed and 26 others injured in the attack near a park in the city. Northern Afghanistan has generally been spared this kind of attack, which have been common in the restive southeast of the country and are most often attributed to the Taliban. Norway contributes a little over 400 soldiers to the 130,000-strong Nato-led ISAF force fighting a decade-long Taliban insurgency against President Hamid Karzai's Western-backed government. The Scandinavian country, which has lost 10 soldiers in Afghanistan since international forces invaded in late 2001, plan to withdraw most of its troops from the country next year.	
IMF pledges Ukraine $18B as PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk warns nation on ""brink"" of bankruptcy	 Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk,center, looks on during a session at the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, March. 27, 2014. Sergei Chuzavkov, AP KIEV, Ukraine -- The International Monetary Fund on Thursday pledged $18 billion in loans to prop up Ukraine's sinking economy, as the nation's prime minister forecast more pain ahead without reforms that will affect nearly everyone in the country. In a lengthy and passionate address to parliament, Arseniy Yatsenyuk warned that Ukraine was ""on the brink of the economic and financial bankruptcy"" and laid out details for fixes needed to put the country back on track, including raising taxes, a freeze on minimum wage and radically higher energy prices. The reforms will hit households hard, which is likely to severely dent the interim government's tenuous hold on power. ""We have no choice but to tell Ukraine the truth,"" Yatsenyuk said. Ukraine is still battling to restore some semblance of normalcy since President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February after months of protests ignited by a decision to back away from closer relations to the EU. The IMF said Thursday that recent economic policies have drastically slowed growth and brought foreign currency reserves to a ""critically low level."" In a statement issued after two weeks of talks with officials in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, the IMF said loans could range between $14 billion and $18 billion. It said a more exact sum would only be determined, however, when authorities give a more precise assessment of their needs. Other donors, including the European Union and Japan, have already pledged further assistance to Ukraine, conditional on the conclusion of an IMF bailout and reform package. The total amount of assistance available for Ukraine will be about $27 billion over the next two years. Separately, the 28-nation EU has prepared a wider aid package including loans and grants for Ukraine expected to total more than $10 billion over the coming years.
Syrian activists call general strike as fears for Homs grow	 In the latest bloodshed, two civilians were killed by heavy machinegun fire in Kfar Takharim, in Idlib province bordering Turkey, where deserters and troops fought heavy clashes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The casualties raised to almost 60 the number of people reported killed since Friday. The general strike was being ""very widely observed"" in southern Syria's Daraa province, cradle of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad that broke out in mid-March. The Observatory said shops also kept their shutters down in most parts of Jebel al-Zawiya, another town in Idlib, on Sunday, the start of the working week. In towns near the capital, security forces tried to open shops by force and carried out arrests, said the rights watchdog and other activists. But ""90 per cent"" of businesses in Douma, in the Damascus area, were closed. The Observatory said schoolchildren and civil servants stayed at home, although life carried on as normal in central districts of Damascus. ""The strike was observed 100 per cent in districts opposed to the regime"" in the central city of Homs, such as Baba Amro, Deir Baalbeh, Khalidiyeh and Bayyada, it said. In the wake of the general strike, activists are planning a campaign of civil disobedience to shut down universities, public transport, the civil service and major highways. The opposition Syrian National Council and activists have warned of a looming bloody final assault on Homs. Witnesses in Homs, besieged by government troops, have reported a build-up of troops and pro-regime ""shabiha"" militiamen in armoured vehicles who have set up more than 60 checkpoints, the SNC said.
NASA clears SpaceX for trial run to space station	 SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon capsule lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force station in Cape Canaveral, Florida December 8, 2010. California-based Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo capsule from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on February 7. The mission would mark the second flights of the Falcon 9 and Dragon, which debuted in December 2010. ""SpaceX has made incredible progress over the last several months preparing Dragon for its mission to the space station,"" NASA associate administrator William Gerstenmaier said in a statement. ""We look forward to a successful mission, which will open up a new era in commercial cargo delivery for this international orbiting laboratory."" Since the retirement of the space shuttles this summer, the United States is relying on partner countries like Russia to transport supplies and crew to the space station. To encourage commercial cargo runs, NASA has hired SpaceX and a second company, Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp. to fly cargo to the space station, a $100 billion project of 16 countries, which orbits about 240 miles above Earth. A successful test flight by SpaceX -- as well as a similar run by Orbital scheduled for next year -- would begin restoring U.S. access to the station, which is expected to remain operational until at least 2020. The companies' contracts are worth $1.6 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively. The space station serves as an orbiting laboratory for medical, fluid physics, materials science and other experiments. It also hosts astronomical platforms, including the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector.
Japan protest over China ship's radar action	 A Chinese navy frigate has locked its weapon-targeting radar on a Japanese ship, Tokyo says, amid mounting tensions over a territorial row. Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said the incident happened on 30 January near islands claimed by both nations in the East China Sea. He said this had prompted Tokyo to lodge a formal protest with Beijing. The row, over islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, has escalated in recent months. Taiwan also claims the island chain (known as Diaoyutai in Taipei), which is controlled by Japan. Last week, tensions between Tokyo and Beijing appeared to be easing after a Japanese delegation met senior Chinese leaders and both sides later expressed hopes that relations could improve, the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo reports. But on Monday China sent patrol ships back in to the disputed waters around the islands, our correspondent adds. ""On 30 January, something like fire-control radar was directed at a Japan Self-Defence Maritime escort ship in the East China Sea,"" Mr Onodera told reporters on Tuesday. The minister said Japan's Yuudachi vessel and the Chinese frigate were about 3km (two miles) apart at the time, Japan's Kyodo News reports. Asked about the delay in filing the protest, Mr Onodera said it took the ministry until Tuesday to determine that a fire-control radar had indeed locked on the Japanese ship.
Colin Powell backs Barack Obama	 1 of 2. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks during a taping of 'Meet the Press' at NBC in Washington October 19, 2008. Republican John McCain's U.S. presidential campaign suffered a double blow on Sunday when Democratic rival Barack Obama won the support of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and announced he raised a record $150 million in September. In an appearance on NBC's ""Meet the Press,"" Powell backed Obama over fellow Republican John McCain, calling the Democratic nominee a ""transformational figure"" who could be an ""exceptional president."" Powell said he plans to vote for Obama in the November 4 election but does not intend to campaign for the Illinois senator as Obama and McCain enter the final weeks of their battle for the White House. Powell, who served in the military and government for 40 years, said he is not looking for a job in an Obama administration. However, he said, ""I've always said if a president asks you to do something, you have to consider it."" McCain, appearing on ""Fox News Sunday,"" said Powell's support of Obama did not come as a surprise and said four other secretaries of state had endorsed him. In picking Obama over McCain, Powell said either ""man would be a good president."" Powell praised Obama's ""depth of knowledge"" and ""steadiness,"" while he was critical of what he described as McCain's uncertainty over how to deal with economic crisis. Powell also voiced concern about McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. ""She is a very distinguished woman and she is to be admired,"" Powell said. ""But ... I don't believe she is ready to be president of the United States."
" Virginia State Police refused to confirm the second body was that of the gunman, but a law enforcement source told FOX News Channel the gunman was believed to be a Virginia Tech student who committed suicide. A weapon also was recovered near the body, the school said in a statement. Meanwhile authorities said there was no longer a threat on campus - the scene of a 2007 shooting rampage that claimed 32 lives. An officer reportedly observed a ""suspicious subject"" -- identified as the second victim -- but by the time the officer approached, the subject was deceased, Virginia Tech Police Department deputy chief Gene Deisinger said. In a slight twist on initial reports of how events unfolded, police said the gunman was on foot and not in the car that was stopped in the parking lot of Cassell Coliseum, an athletic facility. The gunman apparently approached the officer, a four-year veteran of the force, and opened fire, killing him on the spot, then fled to a large parking lot about 400 metres away. Within minutes of the officer's death, a campus-wide alert was sent out via email, text message and electronic classroom message boards, telling the school's students to ""stay indoors"" and ""secure in place"" on the campus. Meanwhile, representatives of several law enforcement agencies swiftly descended on the campus in southwest Virginia, and a SWAT team searched the student center. By late afternoon, about four hours after the first emergency call, a lockdown was lifted on the 25,000-student campus. Julia Fleming, a Virginia Tech freshman, told WDBJ-TV that she did not hear any shots being fired but saw the officer covered in blood."
" The General Motors logo is seen outside its headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan in this file photograph taken August 25, 2009. The recall, which now totals 2,591,665 cars, includes all model years of the Chevrolet Cobalt, Chevrolet HHR, Saturn Ion, Saturn Sky, Pontiac G5 and Pontiac Solstice made from 2003-2011. Older versions of those cars, dating from 2003-2007, were recalled in February. Even before the expansion, the recall had sparked investigations by Congress, federal regulators, the Department of Justice and GM itself. All are asking why it took GM so long to address an issue first noted by the company in 2001. GM said the newer models made after 2007 were equipped with a redesigned ignition switch, but that some of those cars might have been repaired with older replacement parts that may be faulty. The expanded recall includes 824,000 cars in the United States and 971,000 globally, GM said. GM also is recalling all the replacement ignition switches that have been sent to U.S. aftermarket distributors, the spare parts market. About 95,000 faulty switches were sold to dealers and parts wholesalers. Reuters reported this week that it was still possible to purchase GM-brand ignition switches manufactured by Delphi Automotive carrying the same parts number as the product at the center of the February recall. These switches may not be defective, but it is nearly impossible to tell unless they are taken apart or the manufacturing history is checked. GM said Friday that no deaths or injuries have been linked to faulty ignition switches in the newer models that have been added to the recall. GM Chief Executive Mary Barra said Friday that ""we are taking no chances with safety"" in replacing the ignition switches on all 2.6 million cars."
" Karen rebels fighting the government in Burma have confirmed to the BBC that their leaders have met Burma's President Thein Sein. It is the first such meeting between the two sides in one of the world's longest running civil conflicts. Karen rebels have been fighting for self-rule for more than 60 years. Western countries who have imposed sanctions on Burma have pressed the military-backed civilian government to end their various ethnic conflicts. Last month, one of the leaders of the Karen rebel group was released by the Burmese authorities, days after being given a 20-year sentence for treason. A spokeswoman for the Karen National Union (KNU) rebels described the talks as ""warm and pleasant"". BBC South-East Asia correspondent Rachel Harvey says these latest talks are part of a major push by the Burmese authorities to make deals with the various separatist groups in the country. They have already signed a number of provisional ceasefires. Thousands of people have been displaced by decades of sporadic fighting between the two sides, many being housed in refugee camps across the border in Thailand. After decades of brutal military rule, the generals handed over to a civilian-led administration under Thein Sein in March 2011."
" James Miller, 34, was shot through the neck as he and his documentary crew retreated after filming bulldozers razing Palestinian homes at the Rafah refugee camp on 2 May 2003. The producer, Daniel Edge, said the documentary crew - himself, Mr Miller, a reporter, Saira Shah, and an interpreter, Abdul Rahman Abdullah - had finished filming when they left the danger area and walked towards an armoured personnel carrier (APC) of the Israeli Bedouin Desert Reconnaissance Battalion. Night-time footage, replayed at St Pancras coroner's court in London yesterday, showed Mr Miller clearly identifying himself as a television journalist and shining a torch at a white flag to indicate his crew were non-combatants. But the soldiers opened fire. Mr Edge said: ""I heard Abdul shouting, it seemed like he was crying in pain - I thought he had been shot. I heard Saira shouting, 'he is injured, he is injured, please don't shoot' and then I heard Abdul shouting 'he is injured'. It was at that point I realised that James had been shot, that he was possibly badly injured, because he was silent."" Mr Edge said he and the two other crew members found Mr Miller alive, but with a bullet wound to his neck. They tried to lift him, but were thwarted by the muddy conditions. The producer said that after repeated cries for help, the APC moved towards them and a stretcher was tossed down. ""It was very muddy, we couldn't carry the stretcher. We dropped it and James fell off - it was terrible. At this stage, one of the soldiers did jump down and lifted the stretcher up on to the APC."" Earlier yesterday, Mr Miller's widow, Sophy, 35, accused the Israeli army of a cover-up and named the soldier who shot her husband as ""First Lieutenant Haib"", the commander of the Reconnaissance Battalion. He admitted to the shooting at an Israeli army inquest in April last year, which decided the shooting was ""reasonable"" considering the conditions. He was cleared. Mr Miller's widow and family accused the Israelis of blaming the Palestinians, destroying incriminating evidence and casting doubt on the professionalism of Mr Miller, a veteran of many conflict zones. ""The thing that is the hardest is that we were given assurances by the Israelis and the [British] Government that it was being fully investigated,'' said his widow, who is bringing up the couple's two children in north Devon. ""Yet it's our family that's done all the work to bring any justice. We had the distinct impression they would like us to leave it. You can understand that in some cases if you didn't have such a strong family, you would.''"
" James Miller, 34, from Devon, was shot by a soldier from the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) while making a film in a Palestinian refugee camp in 2003. An Israeli investigation in April 2005 cleared a soldier of misusing firearms. At St Pancras Coroner's Court in London, former weapons inspector Chris Cobb-Smith said there was no way the soldier fired by accident. A reporters' statement said Mr Miller was also under a white flag. ""This was calculated and cold-blooded murder, without a shadow of a doubt,"" Mr Cobb-Smith told the inquest. ""These shots were not fired by a soldier who was frightened, not fired by a soldier facing incoming fire - these were slow, deliberate, calculated and aimed shots."" The 10-member inquest jury heard how Mr Miller had been wearing a helmet and flak jacket with the letters TV written in bright fluorescent tape as he approached the soldiers in Rafah at about 2300 on 2 May 2003. He was holding a torch which shone on a large white flag being held by his interpreter. A shot was fired, followed by a second fatal shot 12 to 13 seconds later. Several more shots were fired at seven to 12 second intervals, hitting the Palestinian house, from which the TV crew had emerged. Mr Cobb-Smith said this illustrated that the shots were deliberate."
" The UN General Assembly has approved a resolution describing the Moscow-backed referendum that led to Russia's annexation of Crimea as illegal. It comes after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to a loan deal with Ukraine worth $14-18bn. The US Congress also passed legislation on Thursday backing a $1bn loan guarantee for Ukraine. Tensions are high between Russia and the West after pro-Russian troops annexed Ukraine's southern peninsula. The West has widely condemned the move, with US President Barack Obama warning on Wednesday of ""deeper"" EU and US sanctions against Russia if it carried out further incursions in Ukraine. One hundred countries voted in favour of approving a UN General Assembly resolution declaring the Crimean referendum on 16 March illegal and affirming Ukraine's territorial integrity. ""This support has come from all corners of the world which shows that this (is) not only a regional matter but a global one,'' Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia told reporters after the vote. But Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said ""the fact that almost half"" of the UN General Assembly members had not supported the resolution was ""a very encouraging trend and I think this trend will become stronger and stronger"". Given that the resolution was non-binding, the vote was largely symbolic, says the BBC's Nick Bryant in New York. But Ukraine hopes the resolution will act as a deterrent and dissuade Moscow from making further incursions into its territory, he adds."
" A ship loaded with aid supplies for Gaza has docked in an Egyptian port, ending the latest attempt by activists to break Israel's Gaza blockade. The vessel was intercepted by Israeli naval ships off the coast of Gaza and forced to head south, the charity which chartered the ship said. The charity, headed by Col Muammar Gaddafi's son, said it wanted to reach Gaza, but would not risk violence. In May, Israeli forces clashed with another convoy, killing nine on board. On Monday, an Israeli military inquiry said it had found mistakes were made at a senior level during the operation, which sparked international outrage, but the troops had been justified in using force. The Libyan-chartered Amalthea left Greece on Saturday, carrying food and medical equipment, as well as 15 pro-Palestinian activists and 12 crew members. Egyptian officials at El-Arish, some 50km (30 miles) to the west of Gaza, said the ship docked at the north Sinai port late on Wednesday. Continue reading the main story According to the ship's owner, Alex Angelopoulos, the Amalthea did not suffer a mechanical breakdown - the story about engine failure was a ploy, invented by the Cuban captain, after the Israelis surrounded the vessel and gave him an ultimatum to change course away from Gaza. The captain was trying to buy some time for the Libyan charity to muster international diplomatic support to pressure the Israelis to let the vessel through. He restarted the engines around midday local time and is now underway. Mr Angelopoulos earlier said this expedition was a risky venture, although he prided himself on taking chances. He said he was motivated by humanitarian reasons, but he is also acting in the tradition of Greek shipowners like Aristotle Onassis, who made fortunes by breaching embargoes. ""As soon as the ship arrives in El-Arish, Egyptian authorities will unload its cargo and hand the aid to the Egyptian Red Crescent, which will deliver it to the Palestinian side,"" Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said earlier. The vessel was intercepted by Israeli navy boats some 100km (60 miles) off the coast of Gaza and blocked from heading any further towards the east."
" JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa is planning a bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games, the country's Olympic governing body said on Tuesday. The announcement came as the country was basking in the glory of successfully staging the first soccer World Cup on African soil. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) said in a statement that it aimed to provide a world-class city to host the continent's first Olympic Games. ""SASCOC today announced that it would formally oversee a bid for the 2020 Games and encouraged potential host cities to state their intention of being involved in the process,"" it said. South Africa bid for the 2004 Games but Cape Town lost out to Athens. The cities most likely to bid for 2020 would be Durban and Cape Town, officials have said. South African President Jacob Zuma has said the country is up to the task of hosting the Games after the World Cup. ""We have decided that the way forward would be to engage government and key stakeholders on the way forward,"" the SASCOC said. Africa is the last continent not to have been awarded the Games and analysts have said a number of factors -- including the World Cup success -- have boosted South Africa's chances. The country dispelled doubts it could host a major sporting event like the World Cup and built infrastructure and stadiums for the event. South Africa also deployed a massive security force for the World Cup, which ended without any major crime incidents."
" Soccer City in Johannesburg could host the Olympic Games in 2020 South Africa hopes to follow up its hosting of the football World Cup by staging the Olympics after confirming it plans to bid for the 2020 Games. The country's Olympic committee has invited potential host cities to ""state their intention of being involved"". Organisers hope that the success of this year's World Cup will help lead to the first Olympics on African soil. The International Olympic Committee has yet to begin the selection process but a host is set to be named in mid-2013. Other cities who have expressed an interest in bidding are Budapest in Hungary, Busan in South Korea, this year's Commonwealth Games hosts Delhi in India, while Taiwan, Dubai and Italy are also expected to bid. Cape Town beat off competition from Durban and Johannesburg for the South African bid to host the 2004 Games but was well beaten into third place in the overall campaign by Athens. ""Our intention is to provide a world-class city capable of hosting Africa's first Olympic Games in 2020,"" said Sascoc chief executive Tubby Reddy. The move comes after President Jacob Zuma publicly declared the World Cup a success and expressed confidence that South Africa could do a similarly excellent job in 2020. ""For our eyes to be on 2020, we are not weary, because we have the facilities,"" he said. IOC president Jacques Rogge met with Zuma in South Africa over the weekend and attended Sunday's World Cup final at Soccer City. ""From the start, when South Africa were named as World Cup hosts, we all knew the country would be able to organise the tournament,"" said Rogge on Monday. ""Now it is up to you as a nation to decide if you want to host this [the Olympics] event."" South Africa built several new stadiums for the World Cup, while infrastructure improvements in transport, energy and communications also took place."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. World Cup runners-up the Netherlands were given a heroes' welcome by fans as they went on an open-top boat tour of Amsterdam's canals on Tuesday. Thousands of people lined the waterways to cheer the squad, with two defying warnings by jumping into the canal. The Dutch, who earlier met Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Queen Beatrix, lost 1-0 to Spain in Sunday's final at Johannesburg's Soccer City. In an ill-tempered match they had eight bookings, with John Heitinga sent off. Netherlands winger Arjen Robben admitted he was still haunted by his missed chance in the final, when he was sent clean through with only Spanish keeper Iker Casillas to beat ""You want nothing more than to score that goal,"" he said. ""It was a big chance. It hurts to miss a chance like that."" But the Dutch fans seemed in forgiving mood, with houses along the canals decked out with flags and giant footballs. There was also a banner aimed at English referee Howard Webb, criticised by the Netherlands for his handling of the final, which read: ""Webb, go to Robben Island"". That was a reference to the infamous island off Table Bay where former South African president Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were imprisoned during the apartheid era. One supporter, Dennis Nuitermans, said: ""It doesn't happen often that we are second in the world so we're coming for a great day out in Amsterdam."" But he confessed that the style of football employed by coach Bert van Marwijk was not exactly in the tradition of the famous 1970s ""total football"" era of Johan Cruyff and co. ""It was not really Dutch, but it was efficient,"" Nuitermans added. ""The final was not exactly charming. It was pretty ugly at times."" Indeed Cruyff himself expressed his disappointment with the Dutch display in the final, describing it as ""ugly"" and ""anti-football"". Earlier, Van Marwijk and retiring captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who played his last game of professional football in Sunday's finale, were knighted by Prime Minister Balkenende at his official Catshuis residence. Balkenende, sporting an orange tie, served the squad coffee and cakes with orange icing in his garden, which was decorated with orange balloons. ""The Netherlands is proud of Oranje,"" he said. The players then went by by coach to meet Queen Beatrix at her Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, before being taken by helicopter to Amsterdam. After completing their boat trip, the squad was introduced, one by one, to hundreds of thousands of fans gathered at Amsterdam's Museum Square. City police tweeted that, all told, an estimated half a million people had come along to cheer their heroes. The parade was originally scheduled to take place only if the Netherlands had returned home as champions, but Amsterdam officials released a statement saying: ""Even in second place, the Dutch team are champions in the eyes of their country."" By contrast, Germany - beaten by Spain in the semi-finals - made a low-key return from South Africa after turning down the chance of a welcome home party. After landing in Frankfurt the players went their separate ways and did not speak to fans who had gathered at the airport, prompting complaints from some. An open letter published on the national team's official website said they ""deeply regretted"" the ""displeasure and incomprehension"" caused and didn't intend to upset anyone. The letter added that they didn't want to celebrate finishing third as ""this team wants more, for itself and its fans."""
" Since the Mumbai attacks in 2008, India has accused Pakistan's ISI of aiding the perpetrators. But now in what has been called the most direct accusation yet, a senior Indian official has claimed that the ISI's role in the attacks was not just 'peripheral'. ""They (the ISI) were literally controlling and coordinating it from the beginning till the end,"" Home Secretary GK Pillai told the Indian express newspaper. So far Pakistan has categorically denied that the ISI played any role in the Mumbai attacks. But according to Pillai, as cited in the Indian daily, the ISI's level of involvement had become clear through the recent interrogation of David Headley, the key suspect in the Mumbai attacks. Headley was born to a Pakistani father and an American mother. He was arrested in Chicago last year. He has admitted inspecting the hotels and other sites in Mumbai that were targeted by the militants and has pleaded guilty to working with LeT to plan the attacks. Pillai's recent comments came as the Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna arrived in Islamabad to hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi. The meeting is to focus on the peace process. Talks between the two neighbors were halted following the Mumbai attacks. Thursday's meeting will be the third major contact between the two countries in six months. India says it has provided Pakistan with evidence incriminating the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, including LeT Chief Hafiz Saeed. But Islamabad insists there is no clear evidence to put Saeed on trial. A Pakistani court has so far charged seven people in connection with the attacks."
" Four Filipino UN peacekeepers have been abducted by armed men while patrolling in the demilitarised area between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. UN spokesmen said efforts were ""under way to secure their release now"". A Syrian rebel group, the Martyrs of Yarmouk, published a photo purportedly showing the four men and said they were being held for their own safety. It said there had been clashes and heavy shelling in the Yarmouk Valley, in the south of the separation zone. In March, the Martyrs of Yarmouk detained 21 UN observers from the Philippines, before releasing them three days later. The Golan Heights, a rocky plateau in south-western Syria, has a political and strategic significance that belies its size. Israel seized the region from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Six-Day War, and thwarted a Syrian attempt to retake it in 1973. Both countries signed an armistice in 1974, after which the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) was put in place to monitor the demilitarised zone. It has 917 lightly-armed military personnel from Austria, India, the Philippines, Morocco and Moldova. UN spokeswoman Josephine Guerrero said the Filipino peacekeepers were abducted on Tuesday while patrolling near Position 86 inside the demilitarised zone, about 4km (2.5 miles) from the Jordanian border. A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he ""strongly condemns the detention of four UNDOF peacekeepers by armed elements"" and ""calls for their immediate release""."
" Hundreds of people were arrested Sunday at a Montreal protest against police brutality -- some before the event had even begun -- in what has become an annual event marked by violence. Video footage showed police firing tear-gas canisters into the crowd as people hurled rocks and bricks at stores. Roughly 17 people were arrested before or at the start of the rally. But by early evening, that number had risen to 200. The arrests were nothing new for the annual event, which has resulted in vandalism in recent years. Last year, more than 40 people were taken into custody. A spokesperson for the Collective opposed to Police Brutality, which organized Sunday's rally, said the group does not encourage violent behaviour. Several hundred people took part in the rally, some wearing masks. The event carried added significance this year because of the August shooting of 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva. The teenager was shot by police three times, after officers opened fire on a group of youths in Henri Bourassa Park. Villanueva's family called for a public inquiry into the incident. With a report by CTV Montreal and files from The Canadian Press"
" Nawaz Sharif has been locked in a power struggle with President Zardari Pakistan opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has been placed under house arrest in the city of Lahore, his party has said. The interior ministry told the BBC there were no curbs on Mr Sharif's movements - police were protecting him. Ex-prime minister Mr Sharif had planned to lead a rally in Lahore ahead of a march on the capital, Islamabad. Police fired tear gas at protesters in Lahore. Mr Sharif told those gathered outside his home the entire country had been turned into a ""police state"". ""They have blocked all roads, they have used all sorts of unlawful tactics,"" Mr Sharif told reporters on the front step of his home, Reuters news agency reported. Mr Sharif has thrown his weight behind a nationwide ""long march"" by lawyers demanding the reinstatement of judges removed by the former government. The demonstrators are planning to converge on the capital on Monday for a sit-in outside parliament. But the government has set up roadblocks to seal off Islamabad and banned rallies, saying they could trigger violence. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the campaign over the judges has become a power struggle between Mr Sharif and current President Asif Ali Zardari. President Zardari - the widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto - promised to bring back the judges when he took office last year following his wife's assassination. Riot police surrounded Mr Sharif's home on Saturday night before blocking all access roads and reportedly baton-charging his supporters when they came to protest. Pervez Rasheed, a spokesman for the detained politician's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), said a senior police officer had said Mr Sharif would be detained for three days. Mr Sharif's brother, Shahbaz, also a senior politician, is said to be in hiding in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near Islamabad at a property also surrounded by police. PML-N says a number of opposition leaders have also been placed under house arrest. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. PML-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal told the BBC President Zardari was using ""undemocratic measures... to crack down on a very peaceful movement"". But interior ministry chief Rehman Malik told the BBC Mr Sharif was free to go anywhere and the police outside his house were for his own protection. ""I categorically confirm no restraining orders, no arrest warrant, no house arrest. He's totally free to move anywhere in the country,"" Mr Malik said. He added: ""We are under heavy threat of the terrorists... and that has been conveyed to Mr Nawaz Sahirf, Shahbaz Sharif and other political leaders."" Gen Musharraf led a military coup in 1999 that ousted then-Prime Minister Sharif, and ruled until 2008. The tensions between Mr Zardari and Mr Sharif date back to the 1990s, but the two formed a brief partnership in government after parliamentary elections in February 2008. Mr Sharif's PML-N left from the alliance in August 2008, complaining about the PPP's reluctance to reinstate former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and other judges sacked by President Musharraf. Relations have been further strained in recent weeks by a Supreme Court decision to ban Mr Sharif and his brother Shahbaz from elected office, and President Zardari's decision to put their stronghold in Punjab province under direct rule from Islamabad. But on Saturday, in a move seen as a conciliatory gesture, the government agreed to seek a review of the Supreme Court ruling. The political instability comes as Pakistan faces an economic crisis and a growing militant insurgency based in the north-west."
 UPDATE: Gov. Jack Markell has signed the bill just a short time after it passed narrowly in the Senate this afternoon. A link to this page will be included in your message.
" SHANGHAI, March 14 (Reuters) - Three people were killed when a Vietnamese ship sank in a gale in the South China Sea late on Friday, the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.  The coal transport vessel with seven crew members on board sank around 9:30 p.m. (1330 GMT) on Friday about 22 nautical miles southwest of Fangcheng Port, in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the official news agency said.  The South China Sea Rescue Bureau under China's Ministry of Transport sent a vessel to the site where the ship sank in winds of up to 90 km per hour. Rescuers found three bodies, four crew remain missing, Xinhua said. (Reporting by Jacqueline Wong; Editing by Janet Lawrence)"
" He was put on a UN helicopter expected to be heading to Sierra Leone, where he is wanted by the war crimes tribunal for his alleged role in the civil war. He was extradited from Nigeria after he was caught trying to escape custody - ending his exile of nearly three years. Nigeria has denied it was negligent in the way it handled Mr Taylor. The former leader faces 17 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his alleged role in the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone, where he is accused of backing rebels notorious for mutilating civilians. The tribunal's top prosecutor Desmond de Silva told the BBC he was delighted he had been arrested. Tribunal officials say extra troops are due to arrive in Sierra Leone to reinforce security at the UN-backed court - where a cell is waiting for him, reports the BBC's Mark Doyle in Freetown. Mr Taylor had been in exile in Nigeria since 2003 after a deal ending Liberia's civil war. He went missing on Monday from his southern villa after the country announced Liberia was free to detain him. Mr Taylor was detained earlier by security forces in the town of Gamboru-Ngala, close to the Cameroon border in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Borno. The former Liberian leader had arrived at the frontier in a Range Rover jeep with diplomatic corps number plates, a trader working at the Gamboru-Ngala border post told AFP news agency."
" Press Release The President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud confirms his support for the Council of Ministers, as"
" Syria has accused Israel of launching rocket attacks on Damascus, after a night of huge explosions near the city. Syrian state media said the rockets hit the Jamraya research centre, which Western officials have suggested is involved in chemical weapons research. Israeli radio quoted a senior security official confirming an attack, and sources said it targeted weapons bound for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. It is the second suspected Israeli strike in Syria in two days. On Friday Israeli aircraft hit a shipment of missiles near the Lebanon border, according to unnamed US and Israeli officials. The BBC's Yolande Knell in Jerusalem says the latest developments are a significant escalation in Israel's involvement in the conflict. Continue reading the main story Two air strikes in 48 hours does indeed start to look perilously like the involvement in Syria's internal crisis the Israelis have always said they want to avoid, especially when they are visibly taking out military targets on the very edge of Damascus. Politically such attacks strengthen the Syrian regime in regional and domestic terms, and embarrass the rebels, who are cast as actors in a Western-directed plot to undermine resistance to Israel. Israel has said that its only concern is to prevent advanced weapons being handed over to Hezbollah. Objectively it would be hard to see Israel's interest in helping trigger an uncontrolled collapse of the regime, leaving the field open to rebel groups among which Islamist radicals currently make the running. But if the Friday and Sunday attacks herald a pattern of mounting Israeli involvement, it may be increasingly hard to keep the two strands separate. She says Israel has already responded to fears of retaliation by locating two batteries of its Iron Dome missile defence system near Haifa, close to the Lebanese border. Damascus was shaken by repeated explosions coming from the north-western suburbs. The area houses numerous military facilities, including the Jamraya research centre, designated by Syria as a scientific research centre ""in charge of raising our level of resistance and self-defence""."
" Syria responded angrily to the overnight air strikes on military targets that it accused Israel of carrying out, warning that the attack ""opens the door to all possibilities."" Israel has not claimed responsibility, but moved anti-missile batteries to the north and shut down the air space to civilian flights as tensions rise. ""We will not accept to be humiliated,"" Syrian information minister Omran al-Zoubi said at an afternoon press conference. ""We are all in a state of anger. We are abused by this attack."" Israel hasn't confirmed or denied the series of strikes early today morning, believed to be the second set of strikes in 48 hours. On Friday, Israel hit what unidentified officials told The Associated Press was a shipment of ground-to-ground missiles bound for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Israel has long said that it would not hesitate to intervene to prevent advanced weaponry -- including chemical weapons -- from falling into the hands of its enemies. Syria said Israeli warplanes hit three military targets today around Damascus, including an airport and the same Jamraya research center accused of developing chemical weapons that Israel attacked in January. Syria accused Israel of ""coordination"" with the extremist rebel groups it is fighting, including Jabhat al-Nusra, which has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda's leadership. The chief of staff of the armed forces in Iran -- which is allied with Syria and Hezbollah -- warned that ""[Hezbollah] forces will respond to the Israeli aggression. ... Iran will not allow Israel to destabilize the region."" In the wake of the strikes, Israel moved two of its much-lauded Iron Dome anti-missile batteries to the north of the country to cover the Lebanese and Syrian borders, while shutting down the air space to commercial travel. ""There is a feeling of tension when we hear about what is happening in the area,"" the mayor of the northern town of Kiryat Shmona, Mayor Rabbi Nissim Malka, told the Haaretz newspaper. ""Residents are calling the municipal hotline and asking questions like 'are the shelters open?' or 'are classes being held as usual?' We are calming everyone who calls and continuing daily routines."""
" DAMASCUS, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Foreign Ministry charged Sunday that the Israeli airstrike that targeted military positions overnight is an indication to the coordination between Israel and the radical groups affiliated with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front. The ministry's remarks came in a letter to the United Nations, in which the ministry said that ""the flagrant Israeli aggression against positions of the Syrian army underlines the coordination between Israel and the terrorist groups affiliated with the Nusra Front."" ""The blatant Israeli aggression aims to render a direct military support to the terrorist groups after their faltered attempts to make gains on ground,"" the letter read. Earlier in the day, Israel has carried out airstrikes that targeted a number of army positions in Damascus, mainly at a military research center in the suburb of Jamraya."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. US President Barack Obama has said the people of Northern Ireland responded ""heroically"" to recent murders. The dissident republican murders of two soldiers and a policeman sparked widespread public outrage. President Obama said after watching former adversaries uniting in the face of what happened, he had never been so confident that peace would prevail. He was speaking at a St Patrick's Day ceremony in the White House after meeting Taoiseach Brian Cowen. ""I want everyone listening to know this - the United States will always stand with those who work towards peace,"" he said. The murders earlier this month by dissident republicans of a police officer and two soldiers in the space of three days has placed renewed international focus on Northern Ireland. President Obama said the ""real question"" was how the people of Northern Ireland would respond following the killings. ""Now we know the answer - they responded heroically. They and their leaders on both sides have condemned this violence and refrained from the old partisan impulses,"" he said. ""They've shown they judge progress by what you build and not what you tear down. And they know that the future is too important to cede to those who are mired in the past."" President Obama also met Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness in the office of his national security adviser. Mr Robinson said he believed both he and the deputy first minister had reassured Americans about the prospects for investment following the recent dissident republican murders. He said that several US businesses were looking to relocate to Northern Ireland. Mr McGuinness said ""the dissidents' strategy would never unite Ireland in a million years"". The DUP and Sinn Fein MPs who lead Northern Ireland's devolved government had twice delayed their departure for the US because of the killings. St Patrick's Day visits to the US by politicians from Belfast and Dublin have become a tradition, and the White House marked the occasion by putting green dye in the fountains. The idea came from First Lady Michelle Obama, who was inspired by her hometown of Chicago's custom of dyeing the river green for the day. After his meeting with Mr Cowen, President Obama said he hoped to visit Offaly, the Irish county from which his ancestor Falmouth Kearney emigrated to America. He joked to Mr Cowen: ""We may be cousins. We haven't sorted that through yet."""
" LOUISVILLE -- Splattered with mud, Orb rallied down the stretch to give Shug McGaughey, a native Kentuckian, Hall of Fame trainer and sentimental favorite in his home state, his first victory in the Kentucky Derby Saturday in the rain-soaked 139th running of the Triple Crown opener in ""sloppy"" conditions at Churchill Downs. McGaughey, 62, had been 0-6 in Derby starts. But Orb, a 3-year-old Kentucky-bred bay colt whose name was inspired by his father, Malibu Moon, earned the blanket of roses when he bested runner-up Golden Soul. Orb won by 2 1/2 lengths in a time of 2:02.89. Revolutionary was third, followed by Normandy Invasion and Mylute. Orb returned $12.80, $7.40 and $5.40, with longshot Golden Soul returning $38.60 and $19.40 and Revolutionary paying $5.40 for show. Mylute was ridden by Rosie Napravnik, bidding to become the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. Her fifth place finish was the best in the Derby by a female jockey, surpassing the previous high mark of ninth place she set in 2011 aboard Pants On Fire. McGaughey was overwhelmed by his victory in his first appearance in the Run for the Roses since 2002, before a crowd of 151,616 at rain-soaked Churchill Downs, the ninth largest crowd in history, but down from last year's record 165,307. ""It means everything to me. I've always dreamed of this day and it finally came,"" McGaughey said. ""I'm thrilled for the people who put in so much time on this horse, and of course I'm thrilled for me."" It was the fifth consecutive win for Orb, who opened as the morning line favorite earlier this week and went off as the 6-1 co-favorite with Revolutionary, who finished third. The victory was worth $1,414,800 and improved Orb's career earnings to $2,335,850 with a record of five wins in eight races. Orb is owned by the Phipps Stable and Stuart Janney. Joel Rosario, the hottest jockey in North America in recent months, was the winning rider. ""It's awesome,"" said Rosario, whose silks were covered with mud. ""I won the $10 million Dubai World Cup, and to win the Derby now it's like a dream. I'm so happy for Shug McGaughey.'' For the early part of the race, it didn't appear that Orb could deliver on the promise he offered. Shuffled back from the start, Orb was just about last as the 3-year-olds headed down the backstretch, with Palace Malice, then Normandy Invasion leading the field."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Twelve people have been arrested during disturbances in south Belfast. Police were called at about 1500 GMT to Carmel Street in the Holylands area where a car had been vandalised. Hundreds of St Patrick's Day house parties in the area had spilled out on the streets, and a small minority threw cans and bottles at police. Police remain in the area, mainly populated by students, which has been the scene of disturbances on St Patrick's Day in previous years. Carmel Street has reopened to traffic and the area is said to be calm. Local private homeowners said the disturbances proved there were too many shared houses, flats and multiple occupancies in the area. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Ray Farley of the Holyland Regeneration Association said: ""The university should think again - their policy is not working and they have let down all the residents here. ""This behaviour cannot be tolerated in a modern civilised society."" Student residents insisted that a small minority were involved in the violence. DUP MLA Jimmy Spratt said: ""The disgraceful scenes witnessed today are only the latest manifestation of a continuous problem in the area caused by the bad behaviour of a section of the student population, and some other young people in the area. ""It is time the local universities adopted a zero tolerance approach and expel those identified as being involved in this behaviour."" Alliance MLA Anna Lo said ""Students should behave themselves like the grown-ups that they are. They are part of the community and so should act responsibly. ""Both universities have done great work in trying to deal with the problems in the Holylands area, but after watching today's events it is obvious that more must be done."""
" NEW YORK -- It's bad enough to go from roaming the earth as a fearsome predator to being uprooted and dragged across three continents, but to end up in a basement in Queens? No wonder the Tyrannosaurus bataar was broken up. Literally. But not for long. Prosecutors and customs officials Monday loaded up boxes containing chunks of the 70-million-year-old dinosaur to ship him home to Mongolia, ending an odyssey driven by fossil hunters whose attempt to sell the skeleton led to their downfall and Tyrannosaurus bataar's resurrection. ""We are very pleased to have played a pivotal role in returning Mongolia's million-dollar baby,"" the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, said at a ceremony marking what customs officials said was one of the most important fossil repatriations in years. It wasn't an easy thing to organize, as the Los Angeles Times explained in January, shortly after Gainesville, Fla., paleontologist Eric Prokopi pleaded guiilty to illegally importing fossilized remains of numerous dinosaurs that had been smuggled out of their homelands. As part of a plea deal, Prokopi agreed to forfeit the prized Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton, as well as numerous other fossils he possessed. An attempt last spring to auction off the Tyrannosaurus bataar -- which when assembled is 24 feet long, about 8 feet high, and weighs in at 2 tons -- put investigators onto Prokopi, who had imported the skeleton and other fossils from a dealer in Great Britain. Prosecutors accused him of lying about what he was shipping into the United States and undervaluing the items. In fact, the bones of the Tyrannosaurus bataar were valued by Prokopi at just $15,000 when he received them in 2010, a steal for a nearly complete skeleton of a beast that ruled the food chain of the ancient floodplains that are today's Gobi Desert. ""This is an incredible, complete skeleton, painstakingly excavated and prepared,"" read the catalogue for the auction house that sold the bones last May for more than $1 million. ""It is a stupendous, museum-quality specimen of one of the most emblematic dinosaurs ever to have stalked this earth."" The sale was quickly nullified as prosecutors, the Mongolian government, and customs officials unraveled the chain of people and events that had led to Tyrannosaurus bataar ending up as a bunch of bones on the auction block. After its sale was nixed, Mongolia's government formally requested the return of the fossil, which experts believe was excavated from the Gobi Desert sometime between 1995 and 2005. The coloring of the bones -- grayish as opposed to the dark brown or black attributed to North American dinosaur fossils -- convinced paleontologists that the fossil was from Mongolia, the only country where Tyrannosaurus bataar bones have turned up. FBI says it stopped possible terror attack"
" Authorities have arrived in a remote south-eastern province of the Solomon Islands to assess the damage caused by yesterday's tsunami, which killed at least nine people. Two people are still missing after the magnitude 8.0 earthquake triggered the tsunami which wiped away entire villages. Brown Beu, the premier of Temotu province where the one-metre-high wave hit, says at least 100 homes have been destroyed. ""They need food, cooking utensils and clothes, temporary shelter like tents and that stuff,"" he said. People have cleared the airfield at Lata of debris to allow emergency supplies to be flown in. A plane carrying an assessment team and emergency supplies was scheduled to have left Honiara on the 90-minute flight to Lata earlier today. So far, only a government helicopter has managed to land and officials are assessing the damage to determine the aid required. The National Disaster Management Office says the death toll has risen to nine after two missing people were found dead. It says another five people have been injured and at least 2,500 people on the island of Santa Cruz are homeless. Spokesman Frank Menoia told the ABC those figures are likely to rise once a disaster assessment team reaches stricken areas today."
" (CNN) -- Pirates have struck again, this time capturing a Greek cargo ship in waters off Somalia on Thursday evening, a Greek government spokesman said. The ship was seized in the Gulf of Aden on its way to South Korea with a load of iron, an official with Greece's Merchant Marine Ministry said. The ship, the ""Titan,"" has a crew of 24 and is owned by Albamar Shipping, the official said. Seventeen crew members are Filipino, three are Greek, three are Romanian and one is Ukrainian, the official said. Pirating off the coast of Somalia has increased over the past four or five years as fishermen from Somalia realize that pirating is more lucrative. The crime, which is hard to prevent, has raised concerns internationally. In 2008, pirates attacked nearly 100 vessels and hijacked as many as 40 off Somalia, according to the International Maritime Bureau. In response, two Japanese destroyers set sail last week on an anti-piracy mission off Somalia, the Japanese defense ministry said."
" The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria has sought to distance itself from comments made by one of its members that there was evidence of the nerve agent sarin being used by rebels. Carla Del Ponte said testimony from victims and doctors had given rise to ""strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof"". But the commission stressed that it had not reached any ""conclusive findings"". The US said it had no information to suggest rebel fighters had used sarin. In recent weeks, Western powers have said their own investigations have found evidence that government forces have used chemical weapons. In an interview with Swiss-Italian TV on Sunday, Ms Del Ponte, who serves on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said: ""Our investigators have been in neighbouring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals. ""According to their report of last week, which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated."" Sarin, an extremely potent chemical nerve agent, is colourless and odourless. The use of chemical weapons is banned by most countries. Ms Del Ponte did not rule out the possibility that troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad might also have used chemical weapons, but said further investigation was needed. On Monday, the Commission of Inquiry headed by Brazilian Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, issued a statement ""to clarify that it has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict""."
" An earthquake with a preliminary 6.2 magnitude has struck near the Solomon Islands this evening, the US Geological Survey says, the latest in a series of aftershocks following a major tremor that sparked a tsunami which killed at least nine people. The latest quake was measured 10 km deep, 362 km east southeast of Kira Kira, near the epicentre of the 8.0 magnitude quake that hit yesterday. There was no immediate tsunami warning or word of any further damage in the remote region. The Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office has confirmed nine people died in the tsunami yesterday, including a child who was swept out to sea, and about 100 homes are believed to have been destroyed. A spokesman for the Solomon Islands prime minister, George Herming, said the 1.5 metre waves that roared into Santa Cruz Island on Wednesday were too fast to outrun for some villagers. Among the dead was a group of five elderly people and a child who were unable to escape. Solomon Islands authorities said it was hard to assess the damage caused to the island nation, but said several villages were believed badly damaged or destroyed. ""It is too early to have a clear picture of the damage caused,"" the nation's disaster management office said. ""The high number of aftershocks and the difficulties inherent in accessing Temotu makes gathering swift accurate information a challenge. ""The concern is for the more remote areas of Temotu where no reports have been forthcoming thus far."""
" BEIRUT: Gunmen shot and killed the brother of Syria's parliament speaker as he drove to work in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, the state-run news agency reported on Tuesday. It was the latest in a wave of assassinations targeting Syrian officials, army officers and other prominent supporters of President Bashar Assad's regime. Four of the president's top security aides were killed in a rebel bombing of state security headquarters in Damascus on July 18, including the defense minister and Assad's brother-in-law. The SANA news agency said Mohammed Osama Laham, brother of Parliament Speaker Jihad Laham, was killed in the Damascus neighborhood of Midan. The killing came a day after some of the most intense fighting in Damascus in months. On Tuesday, activists and state media reported clashes, shelling and air raids in different parts of Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air raids on Houla, a group of villages in central province of Homs, killed seven people. The group also reported air raids on the Damascus suburbs of Douma and Maadamiyeh saying there are casualties without giving numbers. SANA said six regime supporters were killed when 11 mortars rounds fell near a pro-government demonstration Monday night in the northern city of Aleppo. The Observatory said Syrian troops shelled two villages on the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights adding that government forces have been trying to take over the area for days. On Monday, the Israeli military said a bullet from Syria struck one of its vehicles traveling on the Israeli side of the cease-fire line in the Golan Heights. No one was wounded in the incident. The Israel-Syria border has been quiet since a 1974 armistice agreement. Such incidents have been rare. Israel is concerned that violence from Syria's civil war could spill into the country. Earlier this week, three Syrian tanks entered a demilitarized zone between the countries. Several Syrian shells, apparently misfired, have exploded inside Israel."
" Violent storms have moved through Europe causing dozens of casualties and leaving millions of people without electricity. At least six German victims have been identified, two of which - a 74-year-old man in south-western Germany and a 70-year-old woman in western Germany - were killed when trees fell on their cars. Another woman was killed when a tree fell on her while she was jogging in a wooded area just outside the western city of Cologne. Germany's national weather service issued a severe weather warning for most of the western and southwestern parts of the country on Sunday. A spokesman for the Frankfurt airport said at least 200 flights had been canceled because of the high winds. Frankfurt's central train station, one of Germany's largest transportation hubs, was also closed after wind gusts reached speeds of 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour. High winds in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany's largest state, led to the cancelation of all regional and long-distance train services. In France, authorities said at least 45 people died on Sunday after violent storms hit France's Atlantic coastal region. The storm also led to severe power outages in central and northern France. Officials at the French energy group EDF said hundreds of thousands of households had been affected. French weather service Meteo said on Sunday that the low pressure system, named Xynthia, was in the northeast of the country and that it was heading for neighboring Belgium and Luxembourg."
" Hurricane-force winds, surging seas and driving rain lashed western Europe on Sunday, leaving at least 52 people dead and more than a million households without power. Dubbed ""Xynthia"", the Atlantic storm crashed against the western coasts of France and Spain overnight, bringing with it a band of foul weather stretching from Portugal to the Netherlands and inland as far as Germany. The bulk of the casualties were in France, where gusts of 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph) and eight metre (26 foot) waves battered the west coast, flooding inland and sending residents scurrying onto rooftops. Prime Minister Francois Fillon said France would formally declare the storm a natural disaster, thus freeing up funds to help communities rebuild. ""We were warned, but I didn't think it could do this,"" said 62-year-old retiree Jean-Francois Dikczyk, who saw the sea surge several hundred metres (yards) inland and smash though the windows of his house. ""My mother was nearly killed. She's 83 and disabled. She was sleeping on the ground floor, and her mattress was floating. My son and I managed to get her upstairs, but it was really catastrophic,"" he told AFP. In the western town of La-Faute-sur-Mer, householder Jean-Pierre was left barefoot and homeless. He and his wife woke in the night to find water pouring up the stairs, filling the house in less than half-an-hour. They climbed onto the roof and waited eight hours to be rescued. All the while the shutters on the house of their elderly neighbours remained shut. ""We don't know what happened to them,"" he said, visibly in shock. In all, 45 people have been confirmed dead in France since Saturday, according to the interior ministry. Most of those lost were drowned in the flooded coastal towns of the Vendee and Charente-Maritime regions. President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and praised the work of rescuers. His office said he would head for the worst affected areas early on Monday."
" An Italian pro-Palestinian activist has been found dead in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip hours after being abducted. Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, was seized on Thursday by a radical group that has been in conflict with Hamas and is seeking the release of its leader. Police said he was found hanged in a Gaza City house after receiving a tip-off. Two people have been arrested. Italy denounced the ""barbaric murder"", calling it an ""act of vile and senseless violence"". Mr Arrigoni was the first foreigner kidnapped in Gaza since BBC journalist Alan Johnston was abducted in 2007. Friends of the activist gathered outside the hospital where his body had been taken on Friday morning. ""He came from across the world, left his country and family and his entire life and came here to break the siege, and we kill him? Why?"" asked one of his friends. Continue reading the main story Vittorio Arrigoni was a fierce critic of Israel but it is Palestinians that killed him. The 36-year-old was a passionate defender of the rights of people in Gaza and Palestinian friends have opened a mourning tent in Gaza City. There have been no kidnappings of this kind since Hamas came to power in 2007. The Islamist movement will see this as a challenge to its authority. Two members of an al-Qaeda inspired Salafist group have been arrested. Salafists practise an ultra-conservative form of Islam and regard Hamas as too moderate. Many will be watching to see whether Hamas responds with violence. In 2009, Hamas killed over 25 Salafists after one group challenged its leadership. The movement is treading a fine line. It does not want to alienate conservative Islamists in Gaza but, at the same time, Hamas has had to become increasingly pragmatic, governing a population living under much hardship. Italian diplomats have been in touch with Israel regarding the transfer of the body from the Gaza Strip, possibly on Sunday, an Israeli official has told the BBC. Vittorio Arrigoni was seized by Salafist radicals, an Islamist movement itself that considers Hamas as too moderate, BBC Gaza correspondent Jon Donnison says."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Spain's victorious World Cup squad have returned to Madrid amid scenes of joyous celebration in the capital city. An estimated one million people lined a five-mile route in the Spanish capital as the team paraded in an open-top bus. Captain Iker Casillas had earlier carried the trophy down the steps of the plane as the squad made a triumphant return from South Africa. The players then went on to meet Spain's royal family and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. And the celebrations concluded with the bus parade that snaked through the heart of Madrid, as firefighters hosed down fans sweltering in 40C temperatures and Spanish air force fighter jets flew overhead trailing the colours of the national flag. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The parade came to a halt at the esplanade near the Puente del Rey, where the festivities continued. European champions Spain won the World Cup for the first time thanks to Andres Iniesta's extra-time winner against the Netherlands in Johannesburg on Sunday. During the celebrations on Monday night, some team-mates forced Cesc Fabregas to briefly wear a Barcelona shirt as they stood on stage in front of supporters. The Barcelona defenders grabbed the Arsenal midfielder, who has been linked with a return to the Nou Camp where he played as a teenager, and managed to pull the shirt over his head. Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos and Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina had been at the centre of the players' celebrations on the team bus as the parade inched its way down Madrid's Gran Via. Once the whole 23-man squad plus the coaching and backroom staff made their way onto the stage, various members of the party spoke to the assembled supporters. Coach Vicente del Bosque said at a brief presentation: ""This cup, this triumph is for all of you, and for the whole Spanish football factory."" Casillas, the Real Madrid goalkeeper, said: ""I don't know what to say, only that I'm delighted to be here with you. We (the players) have achieved the dream that we've all had since we were small."" Thanks to the octopus, we are champions   Coach Del Bosque added: ""It's not only winning but how you win, and that's what these players have done, they are an example to all. ""Thanks for all the support you've sent to us in South Africa, you are also world champions."" Iniesta held a toy octopus in reference to Paul, the sea creature based in a German aquarium made famous for correctly predicting winning teams during the World Cup, including Spain in the final. ""Thanks to the octopus we are champions,"" he joked. The gifted playmaker added: ""I only want to say that you should be proud of this group. They're the best. I'm very proud to be part of them."" Many fans made the trip to Madrid's Barajas Airport to greet the returning heroes. Iniesta might not say much but when he does people listen   The flight landed at 1338 local time with Spanish flags flying from the cockpit windows and two fire engines making a guard of honour with their jet streams. The plane was emblazoned with the words 'Campeones' (Champions) and 'Orgullosos de nuestra seleccion' (Proud of our squad). Casillas, who was in floods of tears after the final whistle at the Soccer City Stadium on Sunday night, again appeared to be on the verge of crying as he led his team across the tarmac to a waiting coach. They were taken to a nearby hotel to eat and rest before heading to the Royal Palace for a reception with the Spanish royal family. King Juan Carlos was accompanied by his wife, Queen Sofia, his eldest daughter, Princess Elena, and his son Prince Felipe and his wife Letizia. ""Thank you champions, in the name of all of Spain and all Spaniards,"" he said after personally greeting each of the players. ""This is a well deserved victory for an exceptional team which thrilled the hearts of all Spaniards. You brought together all Spaniards, made our dreams a reality and projected the name of Spain around the world."" The squad then moved on to the Moncloa Palace to be greeted by Prime Minister Zapatero, who singled out match-winner Iniesta for special praise. Immediately after scoring the winning goal, the 26-year-old had taken off his Spain shirt to reveal a white T-shirt bearing the message: ""Dani Jarque: always with us"". Jarque collapsed and died at the age of 26 in August 2009 following a training session with his Espanyol team. ""He represents like no-one else good football and human qualities,"" Zapatero said of Iniesta. ""I want to make a special mention of somebody who yesterday remembered someone who is no longer with us when he scored the winning goal. ""There is no better role model for our youths, given his talent and personal qualities. Thank you Iniesta for remembering Dani yesterday during an unforgettable day for Spain."" While the celebrations continued across Spain, the Dutch team were also given special treatment as they returned home on Monday and were escorted through Dutch airspace by two fighter jets, one of them orange. The squad met Queen Beatrix at her palace in The Hague in the morning, followed by a boat tour through Amsterdam's canals and a party in the city's Museum Square. ""It's a little bit strange to stand here now, we haven't quite overcome the disappointment yet,"" said coach Bert van Marwijk."
" At least 50 dead in western Europe storms Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. At least 50 people have been killed in storms that have lashed parts of Spain, Portugal and France, officials say. Forty-five of the victims died in France, where many drowned or were hit by parts of buildings or falling trees. Winds of up to 140km/h (87mph) caused chaos as they moved from Portugal up through the Bay of Biscay. The storm system is moving north-eastwards and areas of France bordering Belgium and Germany are on alert for heavy rain and high winds. Worst affected have been the Vendee and Charente-Maritime regions on the western coast of France. Huge waves and strong gusts battered many coastal towns, spreading floods inland and destroying buildings. Residents took to their roofs in the Vendee region and police helicopters were in action attempting to locate and rescue them. At least a dozen people are said to be missing in France and 59 others injured. President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his condolences to relatives of victims, and said that he would visit the stricken area on Monday. The French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said France would formally declare the storm a natural disaster, freeing up funds to help communities rebuild. He said that the priority now would be to make all the homeless people and those still threatened by rising waters safe. He added that flood prevention defences would be strengthened. ""The government will, along with the local authorities, set up without delay a special plan to rebuild and strengthen the dykes, "" he said. The storm system, named Xynthia, has put five of the 95 French departments on red alert - only the second such warning since a new emergency system was introduced in 2001. More than a million homes in France have lost electricity, from the Brittany peninsula in the west to the highlands of the Massif Central in the centre of the country. According to the AFP news agency, the French national power company EDF said half a million customers were still without power at nightfall on Sunday, and Mr Fillon said it would take several days to restore power everywhere. AFP reported that in Germany, a man was killed and his wife injured when a tree fell on their car in the Black Forest region. A female jogger in the western town of Bergheim, and a man in Belgium, were also killed by falling trees. Earlier on Sunday two Spanish men died when a tree crushed their car near Burgos. A Spanish woman was killed by a falling wall in Galicia, and a Portuguese boy was killed by a tree in Paredes. Rail services were severely affected in northern Spain and a number of trains in western France were delayed because of flooded tracks. Air France said 100 of its flights had been cancelled from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Wind speeds hit 175km/h at the top of the Eiffel Tower, French radio reported. The French meteorological service said that shortly after 1700 local time (1600 GMT) the storm passed into Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, and there were reports of high winds in the Swiss Alps. Spain's Canary Islands, particularly La Palma, Gran Canaria and Tenerife, were also hit by the storm, although there was no great damage."
" 1 of 13. A crowd gathers in front of a building and car damaged after a bomb explosion in the Mezzeh 86 area in Damascus, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA, November 5, 2012. EUTERS/Sana Another day of relentless violence in Syria coincided with more unity talks in Qatar among opposition factions. Syrian state media reported that a ""terrorist"" suicide bomber had targeted a rural development centre in Sahl al-Ghab in Hama province, putting the death toll at two. Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the centre was used by security forces and pro-Assad militia as one of their biggest bases in the area. ""A fighter from the Nusra Front drove his car to the centre and then blew himself up,"" he said. ""A series of explosions followed. At least 50 were killed."" The Nusra Front, an al Qaeda-inspired group of ultra-orthodox Salafi Muslims, has claimed responsibility for several suicide bombings in Damascus and elsewhere in the past. It operates mostly independently of other rebel factions, some of which have criticized it for indiscriminate tactics. Syrian officials often blame foreign-backed Islamist militants for the anti-Assad revolt, in which about 32,000 people have been killed since it began in March 2011. In Damascus, a car bomb exploded in the mostly Alawite western district of Mezzeh 86, killing 11 people and wounding dozens more, including children, state media and the Syrian Observatory reported. An Islamist group calling itself Seif al-Sham claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said targeted a meeting point for the army, police and pro-Assad militia. Warplanes, tanks and artillery battered rebel-held parts of southern Damascus in what one Western diplomat said was an escalation in the government campaign to crush the insurgency. Opposition activists said at least 10 people were killed there."
" JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Togo goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale will return to France after being treated in a South African hospital for gunshot wounds he received when the team's bus was ambushed in Angola in January, a medical official said on Monday. Obilale underwent surgery in Johannesburg after being evacuated from Angola following the attack on the bus carrying the national team to the African Nations Cup. ""The bills have been paid and there are already plans afoot to repatriate the player back to France, where he will continue to receive health care,"" said Fraser Lamond, medical director of health assistance company International SOS. The date of Obilale's return had yet to be finalised, he added. Two members of Togo's soccer delegation and the bus driver were killed when gunmen opened fire. Seven people were injured in the attack, which was claimed by the FLEC, a rebel group fighting for secession in the Angolan province of Cabinda. Obilale, Togo's reserve goalkeeper who plays for French fourth division side Pontivy, was shot in the back and abdomen. The Togolese government recalled the team for three days of mourning after the attack, and the country was later banned from the next two African Nations Cups for withdrawing their team."
" Rescuers searched flooded houses on the western France coast on Tuesday for eight people still missing three days after a storm which killed at least 61 people in Europe. Engineers also struggled to restore power for tens of thousands of homes. French civil defence teams said 51 people were dead and eight missing after the storm, dubbed Xynthia, unleashed gale-force winds and torrential rains on Sunday, destroying roads and houses along France's Atlantic coast. At least five people also died in Germany, three in Spain, one in Portugal and one in Belgium. France's fiercest storm since 1999 made landfall early on Sunday, churning up eight-metre waves, surprising coastal residents in their beds and sending them scrambling onto rooftops. Teams of rescuers have since been wading through the thigh-deep waters and taking to boats to reach flooded houses, mostly in the Vendee and Charente regions of western France. French electricity distributor EDRF said in a statement that 49,700 homes remained without electricity and it had 5,000 staff out working to restore power. President Nicolas Sarkozy visited the region on Monday and mourned ""a national catastrophe, a human tragedy with a dreadful toll"". Criticism arose over flood defences and construction permits in the region, where dykes collapsed and houses built near the shore were flooded by the tide. Sarkozy ordered investigations and a review of the sea defences. Some flood defences ""were insufficient given the size of this disaster"", Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said Tuesday, ""and then there is the question of building in flood-prone areas""."
" 1 of 26. A voter puts his hands in the air after leaving a polling station outside Hayden Park during the U.S. presidential election in Phoenix, Arizona November 6, 2012. After a long and bitter presidential campaign, Americans cast their votes at polling stations across the country. At least 120 million people were expected to render judgment on whether to give Obama a second term or replace him with Romney. The first clues to who will win could come once results are in from the swing states of Virginia and Florida and, even more importantly, Ohio. Polls in all three will have closed by 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT) and if the results are clear, U.S. television networks could begin projecting winners in those states soon after that. Polls closed in Indiana and Kentucky - both firmly in the Republican camp - at 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT) and voting will end across the country over the following six hours. Who Americans choose will set the country's course for the next four years on spending, taxes, healthcare and foreign policy challenges like the rise of China and Iran's nuclear ambitions. Each man offered different policies to cure what ails America's weak economy, with Obama pledging to raise taxes on the wealthy and Romney offering across-the-board tax cuts as a way to reignite strong economic growth. National opinion polls show Obama and Romney in a virtual dead heat, although the Democratic incumbent has a slight advantage in several vital swing states - most notably Ohio - that could give him the 270 electoral votes needed to win the state-by-state contest. According to Reuters-Ipsos Election Day polling, one in three Obama voters said the economy was the most important issue for them, while half of Romney voters agreed. Healthcare was the second most important issue for Obama voters and the budget deficit was second for Romney voters. Unemployment was third for both. Three-quarters of both Romney and Obama supporters decided to vote for their preferred candidate before the October debates, according to the data. The Romney side was encouraged by what was described as heavy turnout in Republican areas from Florida to Colorado."
" Six New Orleans police officers have been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of civilians on a bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina. Four officers are alleged to have opened fire on unarmed people on the city's Danziger Bridge. Two died and four were hurt in the 2005 incident. Two supervisors are accused of joining the four officers in attempting a cover-up in subsequent investigations. The six accused have so far not responded to the charges. According to the US justice department indictment, police officers Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso opened fire on a family on the east side of the bridge on 4 September 2005, killing a 17-year-old boy and injuring three other people. Minutes later, officers were involved in a second shooting on the west side of the bridge, resulting in the death of Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old man with learning difficulties, the indictment says. If convicted over the deaths of civilians, the four could face the death penalty. They also face charges related to a conspiracy to cover up what happened on the bridge and a conspiracy to file charges against two of those injured in the incident, claiming that they had fired at police. Sgts Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue are accused alongside the four officers with trying to cover up what happened. US Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement: ""As our investigation of the Danziger bridge incident shows, the Justice Department will vigorously pursue anyone who allegedly violated the law."
" Houses lay wrecked by Hurricane Katrina on the eastern outskirts of New Orleans September 20, 2005 between Gulfport and New Orleans. U.S. prosecutors unsealed a 27-count indictment that charged three current officers and one former officer with the killing, and subsequent coverup, of James Brissette, a 17-year-old city resident, and Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old man who suffered disabilities and was shot in the back. The officers were armed with two AK-47 assault rifles, a shotgun and a M-4-type assault rifle, among other weapons, during two incidents that occurred within minutes of each other on the Danziger Bridge a few days after Katrina hit the city. Officers Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso and former officer Robert Faulcon were charged with the shootings and alleged coverup. Also charged were two supervisors who were accused of helping cover up the incident and obstructing the investigation. ""Today marks an important step forward in administering justice, in healing community wounds, in improving public safety, and in restoring public trust in this city's police department,"" U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference in New Orleans unveiling the charges. ""We will not tolerate wrongdoing by those who are sworn to protect the public,"" he said. The four officers charged with the killings could face the death penalty or life in prison. Faulcon quit the department in 2005. The two supervisors were Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue. Kaufman could face up to 120 years in prison while Dugue, who who is now retired, could face up to 70 years in prison. Five other former New Orleans police officers have already pleaded guilty to charges related to the shootings on the bridge. Justice Department officials defended the time it tookto bring the charges, noting they had to wait for local investigators to finish their own probe. In addition to the Danziger Bridge case, the Justice Department's civil rights division, at the request of New Orleans' mayor, recently began investigating broader allegations of excessive police force, unconstitutional searches and seizures as well as racial profiling."
" Hindus celebrate the start of the harvest season in India. The three Sikhs were abducted from the Khyber region on the Afghan border in January. The decapitated body of one of them was found last week. Government forces launched an operation early on Monday and rescued the remaining two Sikhs. ""Some terrorists have also been killed in the fighting,"" a security official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. Sikhs are a tiny minority in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, but a sizeable community has lived in Khyber and elsewhere in the northwest. Most of them run private businesses. Khyber has long been a den for criminal syndicates involved in kidnapping, smuggling, drug trafficking and car-jackings. Criminals are also believed to have established links with Islamist militants in recent years. Three militants were also killed in a shootout with security forces near the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border, while the bodies of five militants were found in the northwestern Swat region on Monday, security officials said."
" Rating agencies Moody's and Standard and Poor's have lowered their outlook on Barclays from stable to negative amid the bank rate-rigging scandal. Moody's said shareholder and political pressure was creating uncertainty about the bank's future. S&P said the emergence of ""weak business practices"" had hit the company's prospects. The move comes a day after ex-Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond told MPs the rate fixing was ""reprehensible"". One MP, however, called some of Mr Diamond's evidence ""implausible"". On Thursday, MPs rejected Labour's request for a judge-led inquiry, in favour of a parliamentary one proposed by ministers. Moody's said pressure on the bank could force it to move away from investment banking. ""Although this could have potentially positive implications over the longer term, the uncertainty surrounding such a change in direction is credit negative in the short term,"" the agency said. It added that Barclays may find it difficult to replace Mr Diamond, chief operating officer Jerry del Missier, and chairman Marcus Agius, all of whom resigned this week. Mr Agius is staying on at the bank to oversee finding a replacement for Mr Diamond, but will step down once someone has been found. S&P said ""weak compliance"" and ""current management flux"" had knocked the company's outlook."
" The widow of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Wednesday she wants his body exhumed to find out whether he was poisoned after tests showed high levels of a radioactive substance on some of his personal belongings. Suha Arafat told CNN she is requesting the body be exhumed ""to make sure 100% of the existence of polonium."" A Swiss doctor said Wednesday they found high levels of toxic polonium-210 on some of Arafat's belongings, though it does not mean he suffered radiation poisoning. ""We have evidence there is too much polonium, but we also have hints from the medical records that this may not be the case,"" said Francois Bochud, director of the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland. ""The only way to resolve this anomaly would be by testing the body."" Suha Arafat said she had not made an official request to the Palestinian Authority for exhumation because no official request is needed. The Palestinian Authority said Wednesday that it would not object to exhuming the body from its tomb if Arafat's family approves. If it turns out that Arafat, who died in 2004, was poisoned, ""Any result will be significant for us to help know the truth,"" said Suha Arafat, the former leader's widow. ""It is a form of closure for our family. Closing one wound but opening a new one, wondering who is responsible."" Bochud's research team tested Arafat's toothbrush, clothing and keffiyeh, the trademark black-and-white headscarf he often wore, Bochud said. But getting data from items like clothing ""is really tricky business,"" said Cham Dallas, a professor and toxicologist at the University of Georgia's Institute for Health Management and Mass Destruction Defense. ""We don't have enough information to make any definitive statement, but it does seem a bit of a stretch"" to conclude that Arafat was poisoned by polonium-210, he told CNN in a telephone interview. Dallas questioned how much confidence the Swiss scientists could have in their measurements and said he was looking forward to results from tests carried out on the body after it is exhumed."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. More than 300 people are feared dead after heavy rain caused a series of landslides in the mountainous eastern region of Bududa in Uganda. A trading centre in a village was flattened, leaving shops and houses buried under the mud, officials said. Rescuers are digging in the mud with hand-held tools as mechanical diggers cannot reach the affected villages. President Yoweri Museveni visited the affected area, and criticised residents for settling on a floodplain. The president also said the disaster could be partially blamed on local farmers for stripping the land of thick plant life. Some 86 deaths have been confirmed, with local officials saying at least 250 people remain missing. The BBC's Joshua Mmali, in Bududa region, says many people are living in fear, taking shelter in a school and a shopping centre. He says residents are placing their faith in the government to help them out. I only survived because my head was above the mud   Many of the survivors in the landslide-hit area are still unaware of the fate of their loved ones. Others are beginning the grieving process. ""This used to be our home. My mother died here, my brother, the children and everybody,"" said one villager, Seela Wazemba. ""Nothing is now left in my life."" One survivor said he was at a church service when the landslide hit. ""All of a sudden the church collapsed,"" James Kasawi told the Associated Press from a hospital in Bududa. ""Mud covered the whole place. Five people seated next to me died. I only survived because my head was above the mud."" The landslides have damaged roads and made it almost impossible to get the kind of earth-moving equipment that rescuers need into the site of the disaster. The Red Cross has asked the government to send army engineers to help clear the debris. But at least a month more of heavy rain is forecast, so analysts say the authorities are expecting things to get worse before they get better. The region, about 275km (170 miles) north-east of the capital Kampala, often suffers from landslides but this is an unusually high death toll."
" Syrian opposition groups have held their first day of talks in the Qatari capital Doha. The meeting could reshape the Syrian National Council, the main opposition, into a possible government in exile, but differences are already apparent. Rebel forces in Syria have criticised the SNC as out of touch, and the opposition is also split ideologically. The talks come amid continuing violence in Syria, with reports of an explosion on Sunday near a hotel in Damascus. Also on Sunday, opposition activists said that rebels had seized a major oilfield in the eastern Deir Ezzor province. The SNC is looking to broaden its ranks and agree on a common platform at the conference, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Doha. Continue reading the main story The Syrian opposition is well aware that it is widely regarded as fragmented and ineffective, and that this is becoming more and more an issue as events on the ground gather pace. The coming days will see the most concerted effort so far to pull the bulk of the opposition together and to create effective and credible structures that the outside world can work with in trying to bring about a transition in Syria. The outcome of the meeting is by no means certain. Divisions run deep, both among the opposition, and among the outside powers, who are watching this process closely. It is holding four days of intensive internal meetings aimed at overhauling its structures completely, our correspondent says, bringing in new, young elements closer to events on the ground, and producing a new leadership. It is then scheduled to hold talks on Thursday with the Syrian National Initiative, a group of influential and respected opposition figures who are proposing the creation of a unified leadership body that would later produce a government in exile, possibly as early as next month. Respected dissident Riad Seif is apparently being suggested by the US as the head of the new government in exile."
" Syrian rebels have captured a key oilfield in eastern Deir Ezzor province, activists say, after a siege lasting several days. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said al-Ward fell after fierce fighting, although the reports have not been independently confirmed. The Observatory said it was the first time the rebels had taken control of an oilfield. The news came as various opposition groups met for crucial talks in Qatar. Also on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement that on Saturday it had managed to deliver assistance to people in neighbourhoods of the flashpoint city of Homs for the first time in months. ""We have entered Homs on several occasions in recent months, but this is the first time that we have been able to reach the neighbourhoods of Khalidiya and Hamidiya in the Old City,"" said Marianne Gasser, head of the ICRC's delegation in Syria. The ICRC said it was able to deliver medical items for the treatment of up to 100 wounded people, and food and hygiene items for more than 1,200 people. The head of the UK-based Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, said: ""Rebels in the Jaafar Tayyar Brigade took control of al-Ward oilfield, east of the town of Mayadin, after a siege that lasted several days."" The Observatory also cited witnesses, residents and activists as saying rebels had shot down a warplane that had been carrying out attacks on Mayadin. The Observatory is one of the most prominent organisations documenting and reporting incidents and casualties in the Syrian conflict. The group says its reports are impartial, though its information cannot be independently verified."
" The New York City Marathon, one of the premier U.S. distance-running events, will not take place as planned on Sunday. City officials and the organizers of the marathon have been under pressure to cancel the event as the northeast struggles to recover from heavy flooding and power outages caused by superstorm Sandy. New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement: ""We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it."" Bloomberg continued: ""While holding the race would not require diverting resources from the recovery effort, it is clear that it has become the source of controversy and division. ""We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event - even one as meaningful as this - to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track."" Critics on Friday ramped up opposition to the mayor's decision earlier in the week to go forward with the marathon, saying the race would divert critical police and other resources from people in need following the storm. Some people had set up online petitions calling for runners to boycott the 26.2 mile competition, or to run backward from the starting line in protest. The New York City Marathon is one of the world's most popular sporting events and, according to pre-storm estimates, was expected to draw about 47,000 runners. Bloomberg said the New York Road Runners Club, the organizers of the race, would have additional information in the days ahead for race participants."
" A series of errors by pilots and a failure to react effectively to technical problems led to the crash of Air France Flight 447, France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis said Thursday in its final report on the disaster. The Brazil-to-France flight plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board. The report details how the pilots failed to respond effectively to problems with the plane's speed sensors or to correct its trajectory when things first started to go wrong. When ice crystals blocked the plane's pitot tubes, which are part of a system used to determine air speed, the autopilot disconnected and the pilots did not know how to react to what was happening, the report said. ""The occurrence of the failure in the context of flight in cruise completely surprised the crew of flight AF 447,"" the report said. The crew responded by over-handling the aircraft, which destabilized its flight path and caused further confusing readings, the report said. ""In the first minute after the autopilot disconnection, the failure of the attempt to understand the situation and the disruption of crew cooperation had a multiplying effect, inducing total loss of cognitive control of the situation."" The Airbus A330 went into a sustained stall, signaled by a warning message and strong buffeting of the aircraft, the report said. ""Despite these persistent symptoms, the crew never understood they were in a stall situation and therefore never undertook any recovery maneuvers."" The pilots responded to the situation by pointing the nose upward, rather than downward, to recover."
" The whistle-blowing website Wikileaks says it is releasing more than two million emails from Syrian political figures, ministries and corporations. ""Ground-breaking"" news stories derived from the ""Syria files"" will be published over the next two months, Wikileaks said. Its founder Julian Assange was quoted as saying the material was embarrassing - not only to Syria but its opponents. The emails are said to date from August 2006 to March 2012. Syrian authorities have been fighting an internal rebellion for some 16 months. Some 15,800 people have died, activists say. Emails from the Syrian ministries of presidential affairs, foreign affairs, finance, information, transport and culture are all represented among the data to be released, Sarah Harrison from Wikileaks told reporters in London. ""The range of information extends from the intimate correspondence of the most senior [governing] Baath party figures to records of financial transfers sent from Syrian ministries to other nations,"" she said. Mr Assange remains in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he is trying to avoid extradition to Sweden over accusations of rape and sexual assault. But Ms Harrison quoted him as saying that this material ""helps us not merely to criticise one group or another, but to understand their interests, actions and thoughts. It is only through understanding this conflict that we can hope to resolve it."" Some of the 2,434,899 emails would reveal, Wikileaks promises, ""how the West and Western companies say one thing and do another""."
" WikiLeaks said Thursday it has begun publishing some 2.4 million e-mails from Syrian politicians, government ministries and companies dating back to 2006. The e-mails, which are in a range of languages including Arabic and Russian, come from the ministries of presidential affairs, finance, information and foreign affairs, among others. According to WikiLeaks, the e-mails ""shine a light on the inner workings of the Syrian government and economy, but they also reveal how the West and Western companies say one thing and do another."" One e-mail shows an Italian company trying to get around U.S. sanctions on Syria and another indicates that the company was sending engineers and helicopter radio equipment to Syria as recently as February 2012. Syrian forces began their crackdown against protesters in March 2011 and that has sparked a grass-roots uprising and a bloody regime offensive against dissenters. WikiLeaks, which facilitates the anonymous leaking of secret information, has published about 250,000 confidential U.S. diplomatic cables, causing embarrassment to the government and others. It has also published hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. documents relating to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its founder, Julian Assange, was arrested in Britain in 2010 over allegations of rape and sex crime charges in Sweden. Two women have accused Assange of sexually assaulting them in August 2010 when he was visiting Sweden in connection with a WikiLeaks release of internal U.S. military documents. He has been arrested in absentia, Swedish prosecutors have said. Swedish authorities want to question him about the allegations, which he denies. Assange has been fighting extradition ever since, saying the allegations are retribution for his organization's disclosure of American secrets. His bail conditions included staying every night at the home of a supporter outside London."
" Updated 12:31 a.m. President Barack Obama signed a last-minute Congressional deal early Thursday morning to avert a damaging debt default and to reopen the government after a more than two-week shutdown. The Office of Management and Budget said previously furloughed federal workers should report to work Thursday morning and Congressional leaders began to appoint budget negotiators to find a longer term budget solution. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the stopgap bill shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday. It got through relatively easily: 285 members voted for the legislation and 144 against it. After much opposition, House Speaker John Boehner was one of 87 Republicans to vote for the plan; Representative Paul Ryan was among those who voted against it. The Senate passed the same bill 81 to 18 shortly after 8 p.m. ""I want to thank the leaders of both parties for getting us to this point,"" Obama said shortly after the Senate vote. ""We'll begin reopening our government immediately, and we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty and unease from our businesses and from the American people."" ""We welcome the bipartisan action Congress is taking to resolve this crisis,"" Lew said in a statement late Wednesday. ""At the same time, we remain committed to reaching agreement on a balanced fiscal package that will create jobs, grow our economy, and put us on a path toward long-term fiscal sustainability. Without question, it will require difficult choices."" While the deal in Congress is a temporary solution that sets up another showdown early next year, Wall Street reacted positively. Major U.S. stock indexes rose more than 1 percent Wednesday on optimism that lawmakers were finally reaching a deal to end the 16 day fiscal impasse. U.S. stock futures also rose in after-hours trading. Earlier Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the top Democrat, and Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced an agreement after days of bickering. Key Republican opponents Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Boehner said they would not block the deal. Cruz nonetheless called the deal ""terrible"" shortly before voting no. ""The fight against Obamacare must continue in the face of Washington's apathy,"" he said."
" At least 21 people have been killed by an explosion that struck a minibus in southern Syria, activists say. Six women and four children were among those who died when the vehicle hit a landmine in the town of Nawa, in the province of Deraa, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The area is in rebel-held territory, but is close to the Tal al-Jumaa army base, which is currently under siege. The UN says more than 100,000 people have been killed in the fighting that has ravaged Syria for two-and-a-half years - with civilians often in the firing line. The Syrian Observatory also reported on Wednesday that at least 41 people had been killed in violent clashes between Kurdish fighters and al-Qaeda-affiliated rebels in the oil-rich north-eastern province of Hassaka. Twenty-nine of the dead were from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and al-Nusra Front, while the others were Kurdish fighters. The group also said government forces had been shelling rebel-held areas in Daraa province and the outskirts of the capital, Damascus, and carried out air raids in Hama and Idlib provinces. ISIS rebels were also involved in an incident on the border with Turkey, close to the Syrian town of Azaz. The Turkish army said it fired four artillery shells at ISIS positions in response to a mortar round that landed close to a military post inside Turkey. In a separate development, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it had established a joint mission with the UN to ""achieve the timely elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons programme in the safest and most secure manner possible"". Sigrid Kaag had been appointed special co-ordinator for the OPCW-UN Joint Mission in Syria, a statement added."
" Republican and Democratic leaders in the US Senate have struck an agreement to end a fiscal impasse, hours before Washington hits its debt limit, a senator says. ""I understand that they've come to an agreement,"" said Senator Kelly Ayotte, a Republican from New Hampshire. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the senate, led the negotiations to avert a potentially devastating debt default after an earlier bid collapsed in a bitterly divided House of Representatives. ""I hope that we're nearing the end of this ordeal, this impasse which never should have happened in the first place,"" said Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who has led efforts to broker a compromise. Details of the latest agreement were not known, as politicians went in to conference to learn what the leaders had agreed to. Senate approval of the deal still would have to be ratified by the Republican-controlled House, where a core Tea Party faction has until now vehemently resisted compromise. The move comes with a midnight deadline. On Thursday the US is expected to hit the limit of its $US16.7 trillion ($A17.5 trillion) borrowing authority, raising the threat of a default with potentially catastrophic effects on the world economy."
" 1 of 6. A security guard walks past the bell tower church of historic Basilica Minore of Sto Nino that fell down after an earthquake hit Cebu city, central Philippines October 15, 2013. Low-rise buildings collapsed on at least two islands and historic churches in the predominantly Catholic country cracked and crumbled during the quake, which sparked panic, cut power and transport links and forced hospitals to evacuate patients. At least 65 people died in collapsed structures and landslides on the island of Bohol, 630 km (390 miles) south of the capital, according to a report from the region 7 office of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). The report said eight others died in Cebu and another on Siquijor island. An earlier report had put the death toll in Cebu at nine. More than 260 were wounded on Cebu and Bohol islands. President Benigno Aquino said he would visit earthquake-damaged areas on Wednesday. ""Many of the structures there are old,"" he told reporters after attending the briefing. The death toll looks bound to rise. Dennis Agustin, Bohol provincial police director, said in a radio interview as many as 77 people had died in 11 towns on the island, much of which was left without power and communications. Four bridges and some government buildings collapsed in Bohol. Roads cracked, with many declared impassable due to landslides, prompting the authorities to declare a state of calamity in the province, along with Cebu. Renato Solidum, head of the state seismology agency, said the magnitude 7.2 tremor had struck near Carmen town on Bohol island at 8:12 a.m. (8.12 p.m. ET). ""A magnitude 7 earthquake has energy equivalent to around 32 Hiroshima atomic bombs. Compared to the 2010 Haiti earthquake -- that had a magnitude of 7.0, this one had a magnitude of 7.2, slightly stronger,"" he told a news conference."
" Manama: Hours after the announcement of the parliamentary elections' first round results, rumours about the expected Cabinet reshuffle swept the kingdom. Al Wefaq Society, Bahrain's largest opposition society, in its constitutional political debut after it boycotted the elections in 2002, won 16 seats.  It hopes to boost the figure in Saturday's run-off polls by winning three more seats through opposition candidates running under the National Democratic Action banner. But Bahrainis have already started talking about how ministers from Al Wefaq will be appointed to the new government that will be formed early next month. Al Wefaq leader Shaikh Ali Salman said the government had not made any suggestion about nominating any of its members, but added that he would welcome such a move. ""Giving ministerial portfolios to the opposition will certainly create new bridges of cooperation and understanding between the legislative and executive branches and will have positive effects on Bahrain's political reality,"" Salman said in a press statement. The appointment of an opposition figure would not be new in Bahrain. In November 2002 following Bahrain's landmark legislative elections, King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa appointed Majid Al Alawi, who was formerly living in exile in London, to the post of Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. According to the rumours, the former health minister Dr Jawad Al Arayyedh would become the deputy prime minister, and Mansoor Bin Rajab would be the next minister of municipalities and agriculture. But sources close to the incumbent minister Ali Saleh Al Saleh promptly denied the rumour, saying that the veteran politician was not aware of such a plan. The current justice undersecretary Shaikh Khalid Bin Ali Al Khalifa would be promoted to the post of minister while Dr Ali Al Aradi would be the next health minister."
" French Mirages attacked rebel positions in Ouadda and N'Dele in support of government forces. A rebel spokesman told the BBC that five of his fighters had been killed. It is the second time this week that French forces have fought the rebels. The UN has warned CAR's conflict is linked with fighting in Chad and Sudan. CAR shares its northern borders with the two countries, which have been plagued by insecurity since trouble erupted in Sudan's western Darfur region in 2003. Earlier this month, France promised to provide logistics and intelligence to CAR in their struggle against rebels who have recently seized several towns. The government says the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) rebels are operating from Darfur with the support of the Sudanese authorities. The BBC's Joseph Benamse in Bangui says France recently added 100 troops to its 200 soldiers stationed in CAR. Under bilateral accords, France's military provides logistical and intelligence support to some of its former colonies in Africa. The UFDR rebels say they are fighting against corruption and mismanagement under President Francois Bozize, who seized power in a 2003 coup. The United Nations says 46,000 people have crossed over to neighbouring Chad because of the unrest and another 90,000 are internally displaced within eastern CAR."
" NEW YORK/LONDON, October 15 (Fitch) Fitch Ratings has placed the United States of America's (U.S.) 'AAA' Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) on Rating Watch Negative (RWN). The ratings of all outstanding U.S. sovereign debt securities have also been placed on RWN, as has the U.S. Short-term foreign currency rating of 'F1+'. The Outlook on the Long-term ratings was previously Negative. The U.S. Country Ceiling has been affirmed at 'AAA'. Fitch expects to resolve the RWN by the end of Q114 at the latest, although timing would necessarily reflect developments and events, including the duration of any agreement to raise the debt ceiling. KEY RATING DRIVERS In line with Fitch's previous statements, the RWN reflects the following key rating drivers and their relative weights: High - The U.S. authorities have not raised the federal debt ceiling in a timely manner before the Treasury exhausts extraordinary measures. The U.S. Treasury Secretary has said that extraordinary measures will be exhausted by 17 October, leaving cash reserves of just USD30bn. Although Fitch continues to believe that the debt ceiling will be raised soon, the political brinkmanship and reduced financing flexibility could increase the risk of a U.S. default. - Although the Treasury would still have limited capacity to make payments after 17 October it would be exposed to volatile revenue and expenditure flows. The Treasury may be unable to prioritise debt service, and it is unclear whether it even has the legal authority to do so. The U.S. risks being forced to incur widespread delays of payments to suppliers and employees, as well as social security payments to citizens - all of which would damage the perception of U.S. sovereign creditworthiness and the economy. - The prolonged negotiations over raising the debt ceiling (following the episode in August 2011) risks undermining confidence in the role of the U.S. dollar as the preeminent global reserve currency, by casting doubt over the full faith and credit of the U.S. This ""faith"" is a key reason why the U.S. 'AAA' rating can tolerate a substantially higher level of public debt than other 'AAA' sovereigns. Medium - The repeated brinkmanship over raising the debt ceiling also dents confidence in the effectiveness of the U.S. government and political institutions, and in the coherence and credibility of economic policy. It will also have some detrimental effect on the U.S. economy. The 'AAA' rating reflects the U.S.'s strong economic and credit fundamentals, including: - Its highly productive, diversified and wealthy economy; extraordinary monetary and exchange rate flexibility; and the exceptional financing flexibility afforded by the global reserve currency status of the U.S. dollar and the depth and liquidity of domestic capital markets - in particular the U.S. Treasury market. The U.S. sovereign credit profile also benefits from the respect for property rights, the rule of law and a high degree of social stability. - Fitch continues to judge that the U.S. economy (and hence tax base) remains more dynamic and resilient to shocks than its high-grade rating peers. Fiscal and macroeconomic risks emanating from the financial sector are generally low and diminishing and becoming supportive of, rather than a drag on, economic growth. Fitch forecasts economic growth to pick up from 1.6% in 2013 to 2.6% in in 2014 and to average 3% over 2015-17, before reverting to its assumed long-run trend growth rate of 2.25%. The projected recovery is supported by easing headwinds from private sector debt deleveraging, a pick-up in the housing market and a gradual decline in unemployment. - The 'AAA' rating also reflects the halving of the federal budget deficit since 2010, which is now approaching a level consistent with debt stabilisation. The Budget Control Act passed in August 2011 implied significant fiscal consolidation and Congress and the Administration have adhered to the automatic spending cuts - the sequester - specified under the Act in the absence of agreement on an alternative and equivalent set of deficit-reduction measures. In addition, the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act on 1 January 2013, which implied a tax increase of more than USD600bn, has also contributed to the deficit reduction effort. - Fitch's medium-term fiscal projections imply federal and general government (which includes states and local governments) gross debt stabilising next year and over the remainder of the decade at around 72% and 104% of GDP, respectively. This is below the 80% and 110% thresholds that Fitch previously identified as being inconsistent with the U.S. retaining its 'AAA' status. - Nevertheless, public debt stabilisation at such elevated levels still render the US economy and public finances vulnerable to adverse shocks and in the absence of additional spending reform and revenue measures, deficits and debt will begin to rise again at the end of the decade. The U.S. is the most heavily indebted 'AAA' rated sovereign, with a gross debt ratio equivalent to double that of the 'AAA' median. RATING SENSITIVITIES The RWN reflects the following risk factors that may individually or collectively result in a downgrade of the ratings: - Failure by the government to honour interest and/or principal payments on the due date of U.S. Treasury securities would lead Fitch to downgrade the U.S. sovereign IDR to 'Restricted Default' (RD) until the default event was cured. We would also downgrade the rating of the affected issue(s) to 'B+' from 'AAA', the highest rating for securities in default in expectation of full or near-full recovery. Debt securities approaching maturity or those with approaching coupon payments would be vulnerable to a downgrade. The Country Ceiling would likely remain 'AAA'. In the event of a deal to raise the debt ceiling and to resolve the government shutdown, which Fitch expects, the outcome of a subsequent review of the ratings would take into account the manner and duration of the agreement and the perceived risk of a similar episode occurring in the future. It would also reflect Fitch's assessment of the following main factors: - The impact of the debt ceiling brinkmanship and government shutdown on our assessment of the effectiveness of government and political institutions, the coherence and credibility of economic policy, the potential long-term impact on the U.S. sovereign's cost of funding and cost of capital for the economy as a whole, and the implications for long-term growth. - Our assessment of the prospects for further deficit-reduction measures in future years necessary to contain government deficits in the face of long-term spending pressures and place public debt on a downward path over the medium to long term. KEY ASSUMPTIONS Fitch continues to believe that an agreement will be reached to end the current political impasse and raise the U.S. debt ceiling. Even if the debt limit is not raised before or shortly after 17 October, we assume there is sufficient political will and capacity to ensure that Treasury securities will continue to be honoured in full and on time. Fitch's federal debt projections reflect its economic and fiscal policy assumptions and were detailed in the Special Report, 'U.S. Medium-Term Fiscal Projections - An Update' (dated 28 June 2013; see link below). Subsequent to that analysis, the Bureau of Economic Analysis revised the level of GDP up by around 3.4% due to revisions in the way GDP is calculated, including reclassifying spending on R&D and intellectual property as investment. This has had the statistical effect of lowering debt/GDP ratios, but has not significantly affected the trajectory of debt dynamics or its sensitivity to shocks. Since the June review, Fitch has revised down its forecasts for GDP growth for 2013 to 1.6% from 1.9% and for 2014 to 2.6% from 2.8%. Fitch's medium-term fiscal projections incorporate assumptions regarding the medium-term growth potential of the US economy and do not incorporate potential upside benefits from shale gas or downside risks emanating from the eurozone and elsewhere. They draw heavily upon Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections, including CBO assumptions and judgements regarding the take up of various benefits as well as the rate of growth of health care spending. Financial sector risks are currently judged to be low as reflected by Fitch's stable outlook for the U.S. banking sector.  Applicable Criteria andALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: here. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE."
" Shia parties have won a total of 18 out of 40 seats. The rest went to minority Sunnis, who traditionally dominate government in the Gulf State. Liberals in both camps fared badly, leaving Bahrain with an overall Islamist-dominated parliament. Final power rests with King Hamad and his appointed council which can veto any legislation from parliament. Last week's first round gave the Shia Al Wefaq group 16 seats. On Saturday's second round the Shia opposition gained another two seats. It was the first time Shia groups had taken part in a Bahraini election. They boycotted the first parliamentary poll in 2002"
" The explosion on Sunday happened in the upscale Bole district of the capital, about 5 km (3 miles) from Addis Ababa Stadium where thousands of fans were gathering for the match. ""They were Somali nationals and plotted to carry out a suicide attack disguised as fans on either the stadium or areas where large crowds gathered to watch the game,"" government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said. Explosives, arms, hand grenades and football shirts were found at the scene of the blast, at a residential address an hour before kick-off, Shimeles said. Three suspects were detained. The Bole district has a small Somali refugee community. ""Heavy police presence must have caused their nervousness and state of agitation which led to the detonation that caused their own death,"" Shimeles said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist rebels have vowed to exact revenge on Ethiopia for sending troops to Somalia to fight the al Qaeda-linked militants, alongside African Union forces from Uganda, Burundi and Kenya. Ethiopia says it has thwarted attacks over the past two years which it has blamed on domestic rebel groups as well as the Somali insurgents. However, it has so far been spared the sorts of attacks carried out in nearby countries - such as the siege at the Nairobi mall last month and an attack on football fans in Uganda in 2010."
" Gunmen kidnapped a team of seven workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross after stopping their convoy early Sunday along a roadside in northern Syria, a spokesman said. Simon Schorno, a spokesman for the ICRC in Damascus, said the abduction took place near the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province around 11:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT) as they team was returning to Damascus. Six of the people kidnapped are ICRC staff workers and one is a volunteer from the Syrian Red Crescent, he said. Schorno declined to provide the nationalities of the six ICRC employees. Syria's state news agency, quoting an anonymous official, said the gunmen opened fire on the ICRC team's four vehicles before seizing the Red Cross workers. The news agency blamed ""terrorists,"" a term the government uses to refer to those opposed to President Bashar Assad. Schorno said the team of seven had been in the field since Oct. 10 to assess the medical situation in the area and to look at how to provide medical aid. He said the part of northern Syria where they were seized ""by definition is a difficult area to go in."" Much of the countryside in Idlib province, as well as the rest of northern Syria, has fallen into the hands of rebels over the past year, and kidnappings have become rife, particularly of aid workers and foreign journalists."
" Representatives from the different parties are observing the count   Vote counting has started in Sudan after the five-day landmark elections. They were the first multi-party polls since 1986 and part of a north-south deal to end two decades of war. There have been widespread allegations of ballot-rigging, both by supporters of President Omar al-Bashir in the north, and by ex-rebels in the south. Former US President Jimmy Carter, whose organisation has been helping monitor them, told the BBC it was too early to judge whether they were free and fair. Results are not expected for several days. But President Omar al-Bashir is expected to win another five years in office as his two main challengers withdrew from the race just before the vote, alleging fraud. Polls to elect president and 450-member national assembly, as well as governors and legislative bodies for 25 states Complicated process, with some in the south having to cast 12 different votes Several opposition parties have boycotted the polls, alleging fraud Mr Carter acknowledged there were problems with voting, but said he could not be sure whether they had given any particular candidate an advantage. He said the fact that a significant part of the opposition had announced a boycott would not affect the legitimacy of the poll. ""As you know, almost all the candidates remained in the race until the end of the campaigning period was over,"" he told the BBC's World Today programme. This meant the ballot papers had been printed with all the candidates' names on them. ""The National Election Commission unanimously told us that if any candidate gets a vote, whether that party has withdrawn or not, the candidate's vote will be counted. ""And if any of the candidates get a majority of the vote they will be declared to have won the election and they can hold office if they wish."" Mr Bashir, who is wanted by the UN for war crimes in Darfur, where a low level conflict continues, has asked rival parties to join his government if he wins. Just as he is certain to win the presidential vote, the southern former rebels - the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) - are likely to dominate the polls in the south. The country's ruling party said on Thursday that soldiers from the semi-autonomous south had killed at least five of its supporters in the first reported incident of deadly violence during polling. In Darfur, though, the authorities were keen to highlight there was no major security incident during the elections. However areas controlled by rebels did not vote, and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people did not register."
" More than 30, mostly civilians, were injured in the blast at about 1450 (1050 GMT) in eastern Mashatal area. The explosion was so powerful that body parts were thrown onto the roofs of adjacent buildings, said the police. It was the worst attack since a suicide bomber blew up a tanker last week killing nearly 100 people. Insurgents have often targeted police in an ongoing effort to destabilise the country. The police station is surrounded by concrete barriers and the bomb exploded outside the perimeter. The blast - which came in the middle of a sandstorm - left a giant blackened crater at the scene. ""It appears that the bomber who was driving the lorry wanted to enter the police station, but for some reasons the explosives exploded 20m before the police station,"" an unnamed interior ministry official was quoted by AFP news agency as saying. More than 200kg (440lb) of explosives are thought to have been loaded onto the lorry. Other cars were set on fire and shops in the area damaged. Police say most of the victims were civilians, some of them so badly burnt they have been hard to identify."
" The National Earthquake Information Center is located in Golden, CO at: Tours are free, by appointment only.   A reservation is required.   Please call 303-273-8420 to schedule a tour. Because of limited resources and operational constraints, public tours are restricted to Monday (9-10:30am and 2:00pm) and Thursday (9-11:00am and 2:00pm). Because of limited resources and operational constraints, public tours are restricted to Monday (9-10:30am and 2:00pm) and Thursday (9-11:00am and 2:00pm). The NEIC tour consists of a 30 to 45 minute lecture about the NEIC operations, the Earthquake Early Alerting Service, and earthquakes in general. Tours are conducted in groups of 25 or less, and student groups must be in the 4th grade or higher. Parking is limited so please plan your visit accordingly. There are 3 visitor and 4 handicap-accessible spots available in our lot on a first-come, first-served basis. Our lot is located off of 18th street on the east side of our building. Additional parking is available on the Colorado School of Mines campus - please see the detailed CSM Parking Information. From Denver, take 6th Avenue (US Highway 6) west to Golden.   Turn right at the traffic light on 19th Street.   Turn left at the traffic light on Illinois Street.   Our building is on the northeast corner of 18th and Illinois.   Please call 273-8500 when you arrive for admittance to the building."
" At least 100 people are feared to be buried or trapped after a landslide triggered by torrential rain in south-west China, state media reported. The landslide happened at 1430 local time, and engulfed a number of homes in Dazhai village in Guizhou Province. Officials said rescue work was being hampered by continued heavy rain. Southern and eastern China have been hit by flooding this month, with at least 235 killed and more than 100 missing. An estimated 2.4 million people have been displaced. At least 107 people were trapped or buried, a local official told Xinhua news agency. Dazhai village had experienced torrential rain in the days before the landslide. Villager Cen Chaoyang told Xinhua that he had rushed out of his house when he heard the landslide and managed to escape. ""I called the others to flee. But it was too late. I saw some people behind me being buried,"" Mr Cen said. China's Premier Wen Jiabao said rescuers should do all they could to dig out those trapped."
" The Irish Aviation Authority has extended the closure of Irish airspace until 1pm on Sunday because of the dangers to air travel posed by the cloud of volcanic ash. The decision was made following the latest reports from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in London. The IAA will issue another update on the situation at 11am on Sunday. Ryanair has cancelled all UK, Ireland and Northern European flights until Monday. Aer Lingus has confirmed that all UK, European and US flights scheduled to depart tomorrow, Sunday 18 April, have been cancelled from Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Belfast, London Heathrow and Gatwick, including Aer Lingus Regional flights. Restrictions on flights in and out of the UK will remain in place until at least 1pm Sunday. Passengers are being advised to check airline websites for updates before travelling to airports. Met Eireann has said weather forecasts show that the current situation with the volcanic ash cloud may remain unchanged up to the end of next week. Speaking after the latest meeting of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning, Evelyn Cusack of Met Eireann said the weather forcast indicates that there will be no change until next Friday at the earliest The Environment Protection Agency said there was no evidence of any changes to air quality."
" Olympic gold medallist Katie Taylor has choked back tears and dedicated her historic boxing victory to her home town. It was one of the sunniest days of the summer as the 26-year-old took to a stage on the seafront of Bray, waving and shadow-boxing before more than 20,000 adoring fans. ""This medal belongs to everyone here and without their support I wouldn't be in this situation,"" she said with her hair blowing in the breeze. Taylor laughed and cried amid a shower of confetti and streamers, while the crowd chanted her name. ""I'm just overwhelmed to be honest, this is just incredible,"" she told the sea of green, white and orange. This is unbelievable. I wouldn't be in this situation without all the support I've gotten over the last couple of weeks. ""The support I got in the ExCel Arena - it blew my mind. Without the support, I would be nothing."" The devout Christian also thanked the town for their prayers during her Olympic campaign, which saw her win gold in a nail-biting final against Russian Sofya Ochigava on Thursday. ""I had a whole nation praying for me and I felt the presence of God in that stadium,"" she said. The sun was shining all day on the picturesque Co Wicklow town, as it greeted the boxing champ - fresh off a flight from the games in London. There was music, a barbecue, facepainting and funfair attractions along the strip, while Taylor travelled through the town in an open-top bus. She was joined by fellow Olympic boxer and Co Wexford native Adam Nolan, who also took to the stage later to thank those who turned out for their support. Sisters Geraldine, Modesta and Christie Kandiwa - originally from Zimbabwe - were among the crowd."
" Volcanic ash from the Icelandic eruption is falling across the UK, with health authorities warning the fine dust particles could pose a risk to people with breathing difficulties. The Met Office said fine sulphurous ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano had been detected at its monitoring stations in northern England, the Midlands and the Thames Valley and there were reports of it reaching the ground. Ash has fallen as far south as Swindon, Brize Norton, Kent and the west London suburb of Chiswick, with a thin layer also observed at monitoring stations near Peterborough, Leeds and Stoke on Trent. ""We're not expecting many major problems from it but whatever is up in the sky will have to come down,"" said Graeme Leitch of the Met Office. Ash fell had earlier fallen across the Shetland Islands and residents reported sore throats after venturing outside. A coastguard rescue helicopter had to mount a risky mission to ferry a seriously ill patient from the Out Skerries islands to hospital in Lerwick through the ash cloud. The helicopter returned coated in the fine glass-like dust. The World Health Organisation has warned people living under the plume to stay indoors if ash starts falling. The particles could enter the lungs and cause respiratory problems, said a spokesman, and people going outside might consider wearing a mask. The WHO could not fully predict the health risks, he said. The UK Health Protection Agency said people may suffer from itchy or irritated eyes, a runny nose, sore throat or dry cough and anyone noticing a dusty haze in the air or the smell of rotten eggs should return indoors. The British Lung Foundation said the ash did not pose a significant risk to human health. But its spokesman, Professor Malcolm Green, said those with existing respiratory conditions such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema or asthma should keep their inhalers or medications to hand ""as they may experience a short term worsening of symptoms"". A Met Office commissioned research flight over the North Sea detected three distinct layers of ash in the atmosphere, from fine particles at low levels to large particles at about 2,400 metres (8,000ft)."
" DUBLIN, April 17 (Reuters) - The Irish Aviation Authority said it had extended the closure of Irish airspace to commercial traffic until 1200 GMT on Sunday because of the volcanic ash cloud over Europe. The airspace had initially been shut until 1700 GMT on Saturday. Former state airline Aer Lingus (AERL.I), which earlier said it would not fly on Saturday, cancelled its flights for Sunday as well. Ireland's other major carrier Ryanair (RYA.I), Europe's biggest low-cost airline, has already said it would cancel all flights to and from northern European countries until 1200 GMT on Monday. (Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Jon Hemming)"
" Gunmen who identified themselves as members of the Gulf drug cartel attacked a bar in Monterrey, the capital of the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, and killed 10 people, a spokesman for the state security council said Tuesday. The gunmen arrived at the Matehuala bar in downtown Monterrey around 11:00 p.m. Monday and opened fire on the people inside, Nuevo Leon Security Council spokesman Jorge Domene told Efe. The gunmen told the bar's patrons and employees that they belonged to the Gulf cartel, one of Mexico's largest criminal organizations. Four people were pronounced dead at the scene and four others died while being treated at a hospital in Monterrey, Mexico's largest industrial city, Domene said. Investigators later found the bodies of two more people in the bar's air ducts, where they had apparently tried to hide, Domene said. Four of the victims worked at the Matehuala bar, Domene said. A July 8, 2011, attack on the Sabino Gordo bar blamed on the Gulf cartel left 20 people dead. The Los Zetas cartel has been battling the Gulf cartel for control of the Monterrey metropolitan area and smuggling routes into the United States. Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, known as ""El Lazca,"" deserted from the Mexican army in 1999 and formed Los Zetas with three other soldiers, all members of an elite special operations unit, becoming the armed wing of the Gulf drug cartel. After several years on the payroll of the Gulf cartel, Los Zetas, considered Mexico's most violent criminal organization, went into the drug business on their own account and now control several lucrative territories."
" The number of military officials, members of parliament and diplomats who quit Bashar al-Assad's regime is increasing.     Following former Prime Minister Riad Hijab and Prime Ministry spokesman Mohammed Itri's defection from the Syrian Army, one journalist, three lieutenant colonels and one auditor joined to Free Syrian Army (FSA) on Tuesday.     Salih Omar from Syrian TV channel, colonels Hassan Bedawi, Whalid Hassan and Khalid Hassan, and Bedawi's wife, auditor Lalia Khredi defected to FSA.     On the other hand, former Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab, who defected to Jordan last week, said that he had quitted the Syrian Army with his own will.     ""I have not been discharged, for the favor of my country and my conscience I left the regime with my own will. I could not bear anymore the regime that shells Aleppo, Homs and Hama with fighters,"" said Hijab."
" She has already spent more than 36 hours trying to get back to Berlin from San Francisco and on the latest leg, Merkel is heading north from Rome to Bolzano, in northeast Italy, in an armored limousine. An entourage of some 60 officials and reporters are following close behind in a bus. It is unclear what Merkel will do from Bolzano, said frenzied officials, who have been improvising each stage of the chancellor's odyssey. Bolzano is on the main highway between Italy, Austria and Germany. Merkel's plane was diverted to Portugal on Friday, enabling her to spend a night in Lisbon due to the cloud of ash from Iceland that has brought hundreds of flights across Europe to a halt. She flew as far as Rome on Saturday but could get no further by air. Despite the disruption, Merkel looked relaxed on her arrival in Rome and not a grumble was to be heard. Indeed, something of a holiday atmosphere appears to have taken hold, with government officials saying the journey resembled a school adventure trip. Known in Germany as the ""climate chancellor"" thanks to her international efforts to stop global warming, Merkel told reporters she would ""take things as they come."" Her priorities were to gradually get as close to Berlin as possible, to avoid any danger and to keep the group of people she was traveling with together, said officials. There was no appetite to take any risks, especially after last week's plane crash in Russia which killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and nearly 100 other mostly senior political and military officials in heavy fog. It was unclear how Merkel spent her Friday night in Lisbon while many of her group dined at a restaurant with Embassy officials."
" Update: 3.20PM Britain has condemned the army coup in Fiji and said it was suspending military assistance to the South Pacific island nation. Fiji army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama took over the role of president in a bloodless coup last night, dismissing Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and dissolving Parliament. British Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman called for all those involved to respect democracy. ""As with all coups we condemn it,"" he said. ""We are suspending immediately our bilateral military assistance to Fiji and we urge all parties to recognise the sovereignty of the elected government."" A government spokesman said the suspension would mean military training and support from Britain would be halted. Britain is also talking to its Commonwealth partners, in particular Australia and New Zealand, about further action on Fiji, Blair's spokesman said. Both Australia and New Zealand have said they will impose sanctions on Fiji's military and New Zealand said it would seek Fiji's expulsion from the Commonwealth. In London, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett blasted the military takeover as ""wholly unconstitutional"". Finland, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, called on coup leaders to return power to Fiji's elected government. ""This is a major setback to the process of democracy in Fiji and has damaged Fiji's economy, international reputation, as well as its relations with the international community, Ms Beckett."
" ISLAMABAD, April 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 people were killed and dozens of others injured in two back to back explosions near an Internally Displaced Persons's (IDP) camp in northwest Pakistan 's Kohat on Saturday, police sources said. Local officials told Xinhua that one blast occurred at the registration point while the second occurred when people gathered on the spot. According to local sources, both blasts were suicide attacks. The blasts took place one after another in 10 minutes at a relief distribution camp near the city of Kohat for people displaced as the result of a military operation in Orakzai tribal agency, police said. When the people rushed to the camp site for relief activities, the second blast happened, according to witnesses. Police said that the second blast caused serious damage. Gunshots were heard soon after the blast in the IDP's camp, witnesses said. Several buildings were damaged in the blasts. The security forces and law enforcement agencies put security cordon around the blast site. The camp called ""Kacha Pakha"" is located some 20 kilometers from Kohat, main city in the region. Officials said that some 300 IDPs were living in the camp."
" 1 of 3. Men carry the coffin of a man who was killed in a suicide attack in the village of Kacha Pakha, at a hospital in Kohat, located in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province April 17, 2010. The first of two male attackers, disguised as a woman in an all-enveloping burqa dress, was followed seconds later by a teenager who blew himself up, said local commissioner Khalid Khan Omarzai. ""It was huge and caused most of the deaths,"" he said of the second explosion. They struck as about 300 people displaced by fighting were registering at an office in the village of Kacha Pakha in the northwest of the country, hoping to get food items, officials said. Pakistan's military has carried out a series of crackdowns against homegrown al Qaeda-backed Taliban fighters seeking to topple the government, destroying some of their bases. But the measures have failed to weaken the resolve of the Taliban, whose violent suicide bombings have raised questions over the stability of U.S. ally Pakistan. ""The blasts were so powerful that the limbs of people scattered throughout the area. People are searching limbs of their dear ones in nearby crop fields,"" said resident Mohammad Qasim. Shoes and bloodstained clothes lay strewn on the ground. A group affiliated with Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks. The military says its latest operations, in the Orakzai and Khyber and Kurram regions, have killed hundreds of militants, tolls that were not possible to confirm independently. The Taliban usually disputes casualty figures released by the military. Suicide bombings and the Taliban's version of Islamic rule, which can involve public beheadings and floggings, have angered many Pakistanis."
" Iran's Red Crescent says it has put off an aid shipment it was going to send to Gaza after being told it would be prevented from using the Suez Canal. A Canal official denied that permission had been refused. Israel insists that aid shipments for Gaza have to go through its territory in order to check that nothing of military use slips through. Iran organised its aid shipment after the clash between Israeli forces and a Turkish-led aid flotilla in May. The Iranian Red Crescent said its ship was loaded and ready to leave the port of Bandar Abbas. One Iranian parliamentarian has suggested the slightly unlikely alternative of sending the aid via the landlocked Caspian Sea on Iran's northern border. Other options including airlifting the shipment are being examined. In the meantime, for all Iran's fiery rhetoric, it seems that a direct confrontation with Israel has once again been avoided."
 The violence in Mexico continues as police are looking for several suspects who killed a Chihuahua State police commander overnight.  Investigators say the gunmen shot the 37-year-old as he was leaving a night club in north Juarez early Sunday morning.  He was with a woman who was not hurt. Police put the area on lockdown to search for the suspects.
" MEXICO CITY -- Police say gunmen have shot down the mayor-elect of a town in San Luis Potosi state and a campaign adviser while they were riding in a vehicle with another person. The local public safety secretary says Matehuala Mayor-elect Edgar Morales Perez and aide Francisco Hernandez Colunga were returning from a birthday party when they were ambushed early Sunday in the town. Hernandez Colunga's wife was also in the car but survived the attack. The assailants remain at large. Morales Perez had belonged to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which regained the country's presidency last month. He was scheduled to take office in September. The National Action Party had governed Matehuala for years before his electoral win. A car filled with 14 corpses was found Thursday by a gas station along a highway in San Luis Potosi state."
" The London 2012 Olympics have ended with a spectacular musical closing ceremony and the official handover to the next host city, Rio de Janeiro. The three-hour show featured some of the biggest names of British pop from decades past, including the Spice Girls, George Michael and Elbow. Games chief Lord Coe said: ""When our time came - Britain, we did it right."" The official Games flag was handed to the mayor of Rio before the flame at the Olympic Stadium was extinguished. President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, who declared the Games of the 30th Olympiad closed just before midnight, said: ""We will never forget the smiles, the kindness and the support of the wonderful volunteers, the much-needed heroes of these Games. ""You, the spectators and the public, provided the soundtrack for these Games. ""Your enthusiastic cheers energised its competitors and brought a festive spirit to every Olympic venue."" At the close of the ceremony, watched by 10,000 athletes and 80,000 spectators in the stadium along with 26 million TV viewers, the flame was extinguished in dramatic fashion. Each nation will receive one of the cauldron's 204 petals. On Sunday, at the closing ceremony, fireworks went off above the east London stadium, the Who performed My Generation and the venue was transformed into a sea of red, white and blue confetti."
" 1 of 2. Smoke rises after what activist said was a fire near Damascus International Airport October 23, 2013. ""A terrorist attack on a gas pipeline that feeds a power station in the south has led to a power outage in the provinces and work to repair it is in progress,"" Electricity Minister Emad Khamis told state news agency SANA. A resident in the center of Damascus who asked to remain anonymous said ""the whole city just went dark"" and she could see the glow of a fire near the international airport and hear heavy machinegun fire. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that reports on abuses and battlefield developments using sources on both sides of Syria's civil war, said the explosion was caused by rebel artillery that hit a gas pipeline near the airport. The Observatory said the rebel shelling was aimed at the town of Ghasula, a few miles (km) from the airport. It said residents of other areas of Syria, including coastal cities in the west and parts of Aleppo province in the north, were also experiencing power cuts. Rebels have been trying to push into the capital, a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for four decades. More than 100,000 people have been killed since government forces moved to crush a pro-democracy uprising in March 2011. Millions have been displaced in the ensuing civil war."
" BEIRUT, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Islamist rebels battled Syrian government forces on Tuesday to retain control of a historic Christian town which the insurgents has stormed a day earlier, residents said. ""There is a huge on-off battle here now, the army even used fighter jets,"" said one female resident of Sadad, a town that was mentioned in the Bible. The town is located amid several villages that support the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. It also lies next to several arms depots and opposition activists said the raid by the al Qaeda linked-rebels was for military reasons, not religiously motivated. The clashes could nevertheless raise anxieties among the Christian minority, who have generally tried to stay on the sidelines of sectarian conflict pitting majority Sunni Muslims against the Alawite minority and which has overshadowed the revolt against four decades of Assad family rule of Syria. ""After rebels stormed the town yesterday, they entered the main square and spoke to us on loudspeakers, telling us to stay inside. They killed anyone found in the streets,"" said a resident named Elias, speaking by phone. ""They didn't come inside people's homes though."" Residents estimated that nine people were killed then. They also said no government soldiers or paramilitary forces other than police had been in Sadad. Opposition activists said the town was used to launch rockets into nearby rebel-held areas. Sources on both sides said another aim of the rebel assault was to break into Sadad's hospital to seize medical supplies. One resident said that by Tuesday morning the rebels seemed to have disappeared."
" But the new laws, expected to see the first same-sex unions by December, are already headed for a High Court challenge by the Abbott Government. The ACT Legislature today passed the Marriage Equality Same Sex Act 2013 by 9 votes to 8 with the support of the Labor Government and its one Greens member. Opposed by the Liberals, it is the first time such laws have been passed by an Australian Government. As a large continent of supporters watched from the public gallery, Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said she was sorry a federal threat hung over this bill, but she would not put off the joy of people's weddings. ""We are prepared to challenge outdated legal notions,"" she said, promising to rigorously defend the laws in the High Court. ""It doesn't deter us, it doesn't rattle us and it doesn't change our path. ""We will stand by the view that we are not acting above our station."" It was the responsibility of publicly-elected officials to remove inequality from the community it represented, she said. The laws will cover same sex couples only, leaving heterosexual marriages under the Federal Marriage Act. Late amendments were yesterday made to strengthen the laws against challenge."
" Ahmadinejad says U.S. must disarm first Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad drew applause at a nuclear disarmament conference in Tehran attended by representatives of 60 countries when he called for the destruction of all atomic weapons, starting with those in the U.S. arsenal. The two-day forum, which employed the catchphrase ""nuclear energy for all, nuclear weapons for none,"" came about a week after the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, to which the Islamic republic was not invited. The United States was not invited to the Tehran conference. Ahmadinejad took particular aim at President Obama's announcement this month of a new U.S. policy that does not rule out the use of nuclear weapons against Iran and North Korea. ""Threatening with nuclear weapons only dishonored the American government officials and more fully exposed their inhumane and aggressive policies,"" Ahmadinejad said. Taking direct issue with the consensus reached in Washington to take steps to reduce the world's stock of nuclear weapons, Ahmadinejad called for more rigorous action. He demanded an end to what he called the United States' ""blind support"" for Israel, which he said has 200 atomic warheads but has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Ahmadinejad also called for veto power for all members of the United Nations, a right now accorded only to the five permanent members of the Security Council. Talks on nuclear disarmament should henceforth be controlled by states that do not have atomic weapons, Ahmadinejad said, adding, ""The involvement of the government of America will prevent any new treaty from being fair."" Obama has 'no plans' to respond to letter Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter to President Obama last month, the White House confirmed Saturday, although neither the United States nor Iran disclosed details about what it said. ""We are not going to get into details on the content of the correspondence at this time,"" said Mike Hammer, a spokesman for the National Security Council. He added, ""We have no plans to respond to the letter because there was nothing to respond to."""
" Turkey has barred an Israeli military flight from Turkish airspace, in apparent retaliation for Israel's raid on an aid convoy bound for Gaza. Turkey's prime minister confirmed that a ""ban"" had been implemented after the raid, which left eight Turkish citizens and one Turkish-US citizen dead. Military flight bans are now being considered on a case-by-case basis, Turkish officials said. The banned flight was carrying Israeli officers to Poland to tour Auschwitz. The plane was denied permission to cross Turkish airspace and was therefore forced to fly an alternative route. Meanwhile, Israel's commission of inquiry into the flotilla raid opened on Monday. A senior Turkish foreign ministry official told the BBC there was now an official policy in place of banning Israeli military aircraft from Turkish airspace, but on a case-by-case basis. Continue reading the main story Turkey, one of the first countries to recognise the state of Israel, signed two military co-operation agreements in 1996, on joint military training and arms sales. Since then Israeli aircraft have used Turkish airspace for exercises, and there have been several joint military ventures. Israeli firms won contracts to modernise Turkish aircraft and tanks and Turkey agreed to buy 10 Israeli Heron pilotless aircraft. By some estimates military contracts have made up more than half of the total trade between the two countries over the past 14 years. Ties deteriorated sharply after the Israeli operation against Gaza in 2008. The government of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan is more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause than its predecessors. Israeli aircraft were barred from joint exercises with other US allies in Turkey last year. Turkey announced that all military co-operation would be reviewed following the flotilla raid. Existing military contracts are being honoured. This case-by-case ban on Israeli military flights is Turkey's first publicly announced measure. He said it was not necessarily a blanket ban, but would depend of the kind of flight and the state of relations between Turkey and Israel at the time. The official said this particular flight was banned purely because it had been the first such request from Israel and had nothing to do with the nature of the flight."
" The leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, released a statement on Saturday at the Tehran disarmament conference, saying: ""The one and only nuclear criminal of the world now falsely claims to be fighting the spread of nuclear weapons but has definitely not taken and will not take any serious action regarding the issue."" Iran's Press TV reported that Khamenei accused the US government of committing nuclear crimes against innocent Japanese people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. The Tehran disarmament conference is being attended by representatives from 60 countries, including China, Russia, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey and France."
" The downing of a warplane would be a rare event for lightly armed rebels faced with the superior weaponry of President Bashar al-Assad's forces. In recent months the government has begun to use its air power to try to crush a 17-month-old uprising. The state news channel Syria TV said the plane crashed due to technical problems during a ""regular training mission"" and a search party was under way. State news agency SANA said the pilot had ejected from the plane before it crashed. Anti-Assad activists uploaded videos on YouTube, said to be from the town of Mohassen in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zor and showing a warplane streak through the skies amid heavy gunfire. The jet suddenly erupts into flames and begins to swirl, leaving a trail of smoke. ""God is greatest! A MiG fighter jet has been hit in the town of Mohassen,"" the activist shouted. There was no indication from the video as to whether the jet had been struck by rebel gunfire or an anti-aircraft missile. Another video distributed by the ""Revolutionary Youth of the Land of the Euphrates"" shows a man identified as pilot Mufid Mohammed Suleiman, surrounded by three armed men. ""My mission was to bomb the town of Muhasen"" in Deir Ezzor, said the man. It was also not possible to verify the location or date of the videos. An opposition source working with rebels in the area told Reuters the insurgents used anti-aircraft guns to down the jet. ""It was a MiG-21 brought down by a 14.5 anti-aircraft gun, the biggest in the rebel arsenal. The plane was flying too low and was within range. We have no information whether the pilot survived,"" the source said. Rebels, whose armoury is made up mostly of assault rifles, explosives and rocket-propelled grenades, have said they are unable to compete with the army's air power."
" Foreign ministers of Islamic countries have agreed to suspend Syria from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a non-binding vote that sets the stage for the group's two-day emergency summit in Saudi Arabia. Syria is one of the main items on the agenda of the Mecca meeting, which opens Tuesday. The ministers met in Jeddah ahead of the summit. ""There is an agreement to support the Syrian people and standing by their side, we are agreeing on freezing the membership of Syria until it retains its balance,"" Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafiq Abdul Salam said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The heads of state must approve the suspension before it can take effect. The move by the foreign ministers came after Syrian rebels claimed one of their biggest achievements yet -- the shooting down of a military jet. Video posted by the rebel forces shows a jet framed in a cloudless sky being shot at, catching fire and falling out of frame. ""A MiG warplane shot down in Mouhassen!"" says an excited man off-camera, citing a location in Deir Ezzor. ""God is great!"" The government denied the jet was shot down, blaming the crash instead on a ""technical failure."" It said the jet fighter was on an ""ordinary training flight"" and that the pilot ejected safely. The search for the pilot was still under way late Monday, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) A few hours after the rebels made their claim, the opposition Local Coordinating Committees of Syria posted a video showing what it said was the pilot, whom it identified as Col. Mufeed Mohamad Suleiman. No identification card was shown."
" Iran is holding its own nuclear summit after one in Washington Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has labelled the US an ""atomic criminal"" at a conference on nuclear disarmament in Tehran. He also said that the use of nuclear weapons was prohibited by religion. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said an independent body should be set up to oversee nuclear disarmament. Iran has been angered by a recent US review of nuclear policy, which Tehran sees as a threat to use nuclear weapons against it, a BBC correspondent says. Iran's leadership has used this conference on nuclear disarmament to underline what it says is its moral opposition to nuclear weapons, says our Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne, reporting from London. He says it is clearly meant as an answer to those who fear Iran is itself trying to develop its own nuclear arsenal. Ayatollah Khamenei said in a message read out at the conference: ""Only the US government has committed an atomic crime. ""The world's only atomic criminal lies and presents itself as being against nuclear weapons proliferation, while it has not taken any serious measures in this regard,"" he said. He also told the conference that the use of nuclear weapons was ""haram"" - prohibited under Islam. President Ahmadinejad called for the US and all countries who possessed nuclear weapons to be suspended from the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. He said there should be an independent international body set up to oversee nuclear disarmament. Our correspondent says the debate will no doubt intensify as a conference approaches that will review the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, just at a time when Washington rallies support for new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme. The US hosted a big international conference of 47 nations last week to discuss nuclear security. Iran was not invited as the US fears Tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear programme is for purely peaceful purposes."
" Emails obtained via a hack of intelligence agency Stratfor have shed light on a secret, comprehensive U.S. surveillance effort led by Virginia-based TrapWire. The details were released by whistleblower site Wikileaks, but an ongoing distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against Wikileaks.org has made it difficult to access the TrapWire docs. ""Yes, WikiLeaks revealed a whole bunch of documents on #Trapwire, no, you can't read them easily, because of the current DDOS attack,"" Wikileaks tweeted on Friday. As of 11:30 a.m. Eastern this morning, Wikileaks.org was still inaccessible. ""Attacks on #WikiLeaks are not only intended to prevent secrets from being revealed, but also to maintain an monopoly on influence,"" according to the Wikileaks press Twitter feed. Back in February, Wikileaks started publishing more than 5 million emails from Texas-based Stratfor. The emails spanned a seven-year period beginning in July 2004 and detailed Stratfor's dealings with big corporations such as Dow Chemical, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon, as well as government agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and the Defence Intelligence Agency. Last week's Wikileaks data dump included emails from Stratfor that detailed how TrapWire's surveillance efforts work. As RT.com reported, TrapWire staff is a who's who of former U.S. intelligence officials; the ""Management"" section of TrapWire's website, however, is currently offline. TrapWire, founded in 2004, describes itself as a firm that designs, build, and deploys ""counterterrorism technologies and services for the protection of critical infrastructure and personnel."" ""The genesis of our company started with a project initiated in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks,"" TrapWire said. ""The objective of that project was to develop a capability that would prevent such attacks from occurring in the future. This project evolved into our flagship product, TrapWire, and its related methodologies and supporting capabilities."" The released emails, however, were surprising in that they discuss a far-reaching surveillance effort about which many Americans are likely unaware."
" Iran has appealed for ""atomic criminal"" the United States to be suspended from the UN nuclear watchdog at a disarmament conference it's hosting. At the opening of the two-day meeting on Saturday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled out any use of atomic weaponry as ""haram"", meaning religiously banned under Islam. Iran also called for changes to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Iraq, Lebanon and Syria voiced support for Tehran's ""peaceful"" nuclear program and demanded Israel join the NPT ""without conditions"". Khamenei branded the United States an ""atomic criminal"" in a message read out by an aide at the nuclear disarmament conference, Tehran's answer to a summit held in Washington earlier this week. Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went a step further and called for Washington's suspension from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) along with all other nations which possess nuclear arms. ""Only the US government has committed an atomic crime,"" said the message of the all-powerful Khamenei who formulates Tehran's foreign policy, including its nuclear strategy. ""The world's only atomic criminal lies and presents itself as being against nuclear weapons proliferation, while it has not taken any serious measures in this regard,"" he said. Ahmadinejad, under whose presidency Iran has defiantly pushed ahead with its controversial nuclear programme despite three sets of UN sanctions, attacked the present structure of the UN Security Council, the IAEA and the NPT. ""An independent international group which plans and oversees nuclear disarmament and prevents proliferation should be set up,"" he told the conference attended by several foreign ministers and UN officials. He said those countries which ""possess, have used or threatened to use nuclear weapons should be suspended from the IAEA and its board of governors, especially the US""."
" Anyone who takes a photograph at high-risk locations is logged as a suspected terrorist on a vast network of secret spy cameras linked to the U.S. Government, according to leaked emails. People pointing cameras in New York are regarded as suspicious and the facial recognition images of them from the civilian CCTV are fed into a data centre run by U.S. firm Abraxas. The system then connects with hundreds of other cameras in a bid to pinpoint potential terrorist activity, it is claimed. Details of the system emerged from emails released by whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. The issue has caused outrage among privacy campaigners amid fears that it could be abused. It has disturbing echoes of the film, The Bourne Identity starring Matt Damon, in which CIA officials use a network of spy cameras to track around the world someone they though they had assassinated.  According to the email released by Wikileaks, pictures of people's faces are encrypted and sent to a fortified data centre at a secret location.  The TrapWire system is linked to civilian CCTV cameras. TrapWire is used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in a bid to deter terrorist attacks - or catch those responsible once an incident has happened. According to the company's own documents from 2007, TrapWire is 'a unique, predictive software system designed to detect patterns of per-attack surveillance.' This includes 'photographing, measuring and signaling'. More than 500 cameras using the technology have been installed on the New York subway. There are estimated to be thousands more around various U.S. cities and in London at potential terrorist targets such as Downing Street."
" A state of emergency is in effect across New South Wales as authorities warn of an unparalleled fire emergency and a potential mega-fire across hundreds of kilometres. Three large fires are burning in the Blue Mountains at Lithgow, Springwood and Mount Victoria, and the Rural Fire Service (RFS) is worried they could merge. The State Mine fire near Lithgow, which has burned nearly 40,000 hectares, is of most concern today and RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says he expects it will connect with the blaze at Mount Victoria. Firefighters have spent the night building containment lines ahead of predicted hot and windy weather. Residents in some affected areas have been advised to leave ahead of deteriorating conditions over the coming days, with the worst of the weather due on Wednesday. As of Monday morning, a total of 56 bushfires were burning across the state and 12 are out of control. Premier Barry O'Farrell says the emergency declaration gives authorities additional powers for the next 30 days, including the right to order the public to leave areas and cutting gas and power supplies if needed. ""We're planning for the worst but hoping for the best,"" Mr O'Farrell said. Mr Fitzsimmons says the worst-possible scenario would see the three large fires burning in the Blue Mountains join up. He says fire crews are dealing with ""unparalleled conditions"" and the situation is extremely serious."
" LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) - British airspace will be closed to flights until at least 0600 GMT on Monday because of the danger posed by clouds of volcanic ash from Iceland, UK aviation officials said on Sunday. The air traffic body NATS said it would continue to review weather information and would issue an update around 2000 GMT. ""NATS is maintaining close dialogue with the Met Office and with the UK's safety regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in respect of the international civil aviation policy we follow in applying restrictions to use of airspace,"" it said. ""We are currently awaiting CAA guidance. ""We are working closely with government, airports and airlines, and airframe and aero engine manufacturers to get a better understanding of the effects of the ash cloud and to seek solutions,"" it added. (Reporting by Tim Castle, editing by Tim Pearce)"
" London, England (CNN) -- A few dozen test flights Sunday offered hope that the skies over much of Europe may be safe for air travel, but officials made no promises that the massive disruptions due to volcanic ash are about to go away. ""The results coming from these flights is... there's no impact in the area,"" European Union Secretary of State Diego Lopez Garrido said. EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said if the ash cloud continues ""moving as it moves, then tomorrow almost 50 percent of European [Union] space will be risk free."" That would allow more flights to resume, he said. ""But we'll see [Monday] what the picture shows."" Two key air travel groups issued a joint statement pushing authorities to ease flying restrictions. Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, which represents airports, and the Association of European Airlines (AEA) said they question ""the proportionality of the flight restrictions currently imposed."" But an expert who has flown into the skies to check conditions said he believes it will be ""a few days yet"" before it's safe to fly. A spokeswoman for KLM, one of the airlines that conducted test flights, told CNN the flights show European airspace is safe, with the exception of Iceland. CNN's Gary Tuchman in Iceland reported that there were airspace problems in eastern Iceland. In the capital, Reykjavik, flights were taking off and landing. British Airways, which conducted a test flight Sunday, said ""conditions were perfect and the aircraft encountered no difficulties."" The plane will undergo ""a full technical analysis"" next. European transport ministers plan to discuss the results of flight tests at a technical meeting Monday. The Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) announced it will re-open the entire Italian air space to all flights Monday. The British government said British airspace will be closed for at least another 24 hours."
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 Photo released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Sunday allegedly shows soldiers inspecting the site of a car bomb attack in Hama in central Syria. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
" A sign outside the headquarters of JP Morgan Chase & Co in New York, September 19, 2013. The tentative deal does not release the bank from criminal liability for some of the mortgages it packaged into bonds and sold to investors, a factor that had been a major sticking point in the discussions, the source said. As part of the deal, the bank will likely cooperate in criminal inquiries into certain individuals involved in the conduct at issue, the source, who declined to be identified, said. Officials at JPMorgan and the Justice Department declined to comment. Another source close to the discussions characterized a deal as likely, but cautioned that parts of the agreement are still being hammered out, and the settlement could conceivably fall apart. The record settlement could help resolve many of the legal troubles the New York bank is facing. Earlier this month JPMorgan disclosed it had stockpiled $23 billion in reserves for settlements and other legal expenses to help cover the myriad investigations into its conduct before and after the financial crisis. The deal is being hammered out by some of the most senior officials at the Department of Justice and the largest U.S. bank. Attorney General Eric Holder and JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon spoke on the phone on Friday night to finalize the broad outlines of the broad deal, the first source said. The bank's general counsel Stephen Cutler and Associate Attorney General Tony West are negotiating a statement of facts that will be part of a final agreement, the source said. Long considered one of the best-managed banks, JPMorgan has stumbled in recent years, with run-ins with multiple federal regulators as well as authorities in several states and foreign countries over issues ranging from multibillion-dollar trading losses and poor risk controls to probes into whether it manipulated a power market. In September, as the Justice Department prepared to sue the bank over mortgage securities that the bank sold in the run-up to the financial crisis, JPMorgan tried to reach a broader settlement with DOJ and other federal and state agencies to resolve claims over its mortgage-related liabilities stemming from the bust in house prices."
" Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has called for an end to political and racial violence as the country celebrates 30 years since independence. Speaking at a ceremony marking the anniversary, he urged Zimbabweans to ""foster an environment of tolerance"". He also said he would press ahead with a controversial plan to hand over foreign-owned firms to black people. The policy is opposed by Mr Mugabe's partner in the unity government, the Movement for Democratic Change. Addressing supporters at Harare stadium, Mr Mugabe said: ""The leadership of the inclusive government urges you to desist from any acts of violence."" He added: ""As Zimbabweans, we need to foster an environment of tolerance and treating each other with dignity and respect irrespective of age, gender, race, ethnicity, tribe, political or religious affiliation."" Mr Mugabe also promised to press on with the planned transfer of 51% of shareholdings in foreign companies to black Zimbabweans, completing a process that began with the seizure of white-owned farms a decade ago. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who attended the ceremony as prime minister, has opposed the plan, saying it will discourage foreign investment. Mr Mugabe, a former guerrilla leader, won elections which followed independence from Britain in 1980. The country experienced growth in its first decade but the economy began to decline in the 1990s. In 2000 Mr Mugabe launched his controversial land reform programme."
" A state of emergency has been declared in New South Wales as Australian firefighters battle bushfires that have already destroyed more than 200 homes. The announcement comes as conditions look set to deteriorate with soaring temperatures and strong winds expected to fan the flames in the coming days. The Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, has been the worst-hit region with some fires still raging out of control. State officials say they are the most dangerous conditions in 40 years. New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell said the declaration would give emergency services additional powers over the next 30 days. These could include cutting gas and power supplies if needed and ordering mandatory evacuations. Continue reading the main story In the middle of the bush around the community of Winmalee in the Blue Mountains, firefighters are again working through the night. The air crackles with fire. We have just driven a few hundred yards past one of the main fire fronts. The night sky glows orange, lit up by the flames that lick through the gum trees. Hundreds of homes have already been destroyed in this area. One of the fire crew who brought us out here told us these have been the worst fires he has seen in 30 years of service. And most here think things will get worse before they get better. The forecast hot weather, strong winds and little prospect of rain will make their jobs increasingly difficult in the coming days. And all this in springtime - summer has not even arrived yet. ""We're planning for the worst but hoping for the best,"" he said. One man has died - possibly of a heart attack - while trying to protect his home. Hundreds of people have been left homeless by the bushfires. One firefighter, 24-year-old Tim Boxwell, said he had lost his own home in Winmalee, on the eastern edge of the Blue Mountains, to the fire while he was on duty."
" The volcanic ash cloud that is shutting down air traffic over Europe is also seriously affecting Israeli airlines and other companies in the aviation industry. If the crisis continues, it will cost El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) an estimated $20 million a week in revenue. El Al's flights to Europe account for half its activity and 60% of its seating capacity, since most flights are made by wide-bodied jets. The economic impact on El Al over the weekend was reduced because the airline does not fly on Saturday. However, its charter subsidiary Sun D'Or International Airlines Ltd. has cancelled 90% of its flights, costing it millions of shekels a week. European flights account for 20% of Arkia Airlines Ltd's operations in this season, since it also flies to numerous destinations in the Mediterranean basin, which are not affected by the volcanic ash cloud. The company currently estimates its losses at hundreds of thousands of shekels. CEO Gadi Tepper said that the airline has cancelled three flights so far, and one plane has been stranded on the ground in Paris since Thursday. ""Like everyone else, we're monitoring developments, and we're trying to adapt to the situation and respond accordingly. We'll try to go to destinations where it is possible to fly to in order to offer Israelis a way back home. We're considering increasing flights to Mediterranean basin destinations to offer alternatives to Israelis whose European vacations have been cancelled,"" Tepper said. Arkia has announced more flights to Rome. European flights account for 60% of Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd's activity. The airline makes 24 weekly flights to European cities. CEO Ofer Green estimates the airline's losses at $230,000 a day. ""We're still flying to Rome on schedule, and as long as we do so, our losses will be slightly smaller. If the crisis lasts for a long time, it could change the face of the global aviation industry, but in events of this kind it's sometimes better to be small."" The economic damage is not limited to airlines, but is spreading to other companies affiliated with the industry. The Israel Airports Authority is losing tens of thousands of dollars a day from passenger fees, airport taxes, and landing fees. Airline service vendors are also taking a hit in revenue. In-flight meals provider to many foreign airlines in Israel, ISS, reports an 80% drop in work, compared with the corresponding period of 2009. Duty free shop James Richardson Ltd. reports a slump in revenue, although it declines to get excited about the crisis for now."
" The Consular Crisis Centre set up by the Department of Foreign Affairs to assist those stranded overseas has taken 300 calls this afternoon. These are emergency cases and all embassies have been taking calls too. The main problem has been people with health problems running out of medicines. The Department has been able to provide assistance in these cases. There have been a few emergency cases in Cherbourg ferry port but with the help of Irish Ferries the Department has been able to get these people on sailings to return home for family reasons. The crisis centre lines will reopen at 9am tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of travellers face a fifth day of disruption tomorrow as the volcanic ash plume continues to drift south and east of Iceland. The cloud of volcanic ash that has covered much of Northern Europe still is not clearing and it remains unsafe for planes to take to the skies. Ryanair has cancelled all flights into and out of Ireland and the UK, as well as most services in Northern Europe, until at least 1pm on Wednesday 21 April. Aer Lingus has confirmed that all UK, European and US flights scheduled to depart tomorrow, Monday 19 April have been cancelled. The International Civil Aviation Authority says the disruption to air travel is greater than the shutdown of airspace following the 11 September attacks in the US."
" SUVA - Fiji faces international isolation and economic distress after military leader Frank Bainimarama last night sacked the Government and took over as President. Ending days of tension, Commodore Bainimarama announced the imposition of virtual martial law and appointed a doctor interim Prime Minister. He said he would act as President for one week, then ask the Great Council of Chiefs to reappoint Josefa Iloilo, the 86-year-old who was President until yesterday. >> In pictures: Fiji coup  >> Fiji's fate in hands of its people, Clark says >> Are you in Fiji? Please share your views and eyewitness accounts by emailing nzherald.co.nz or send your photos to newsdesk@nzherald.co.nz. Members of the ""former"" Government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase had one month to clear out their offices, and would be given one month's severance pay. In his role as President, Commodore Bainimarama appointed Dr Jona Senilagakali, president of the Fiji Medical Association and a military doctor, interim Prime Minister and said he would oversee the dissolution of the Qarase Government. Dr Senilagakali is not a member of the military and has not served as a politician. He is reportedly Commodore Bainimarama's own GP. The military leader said there were no plans to arrest members of Mr Qarase's Government."
" Update: 5.15PM The former President of the Fiji Medical Association, Dr Jona Senilagakali has been sworn in as interim Prime Minister by the army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, who has taken executive control of the country. Dr Senilagakali, a respected medical practitioner, was sworn in the presence of senior military officers and a military council that is advising Commodore Bainimarama. The interim Prime Minister is also the current head of the military's hospital. Dr Senilagakali was recently honoured by the International Biographical Centre, in Cambridge, England, which awarded him with the IBC Achievement Award in recognition for his outstanding contribution to health services in Fiji. He hails from Lakeba in the Lau Group and is married with five children and five grandchildren and received his secondary school education at Queen Victoria School. Dr Senilagakali's children include the former Dean of the Fiji School of Medicine, Dr Wame Baravilala."
" A memorial for the 96 victims of last Saturday's plane crash in which Polish president Lech Kaczynski died was held in Warsaw today, with an estimated 100,000 mourners filling the capital's Pilsudski Square. A giant white stage with a large cross in the centre was flanked by photos of the dead, which included Kaczynski's wife Maria and many other high-ranking members of Poland's government. The names of the dead were read aloud, starting with the president and his wife, while Marta, their only child, and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the president's twin brother and former prime minister, looked on. Others at the service included former president Lech Walesa, prime minister Donald Tusk and acting president Bronislaw Komorowski. Holding Polish flags tied with black ribbons, the crowd held a two-minute silence before emergency sirens and church bells rang out. A state funeral for the president and his wife is set for Sunday, but some world leaders have had to pull out as the volcanic ash cloud hanging over Europe leaves many airports closed. However, Poland said it still expects nearly 100 dignitaries, including US president Barack Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, to attend. Kaczynski's presidential jet crashed in thick fog near Smolensk in Russia while he was on the way to attend a ceremony commemorating the second world war Katyn massacre in which thousands of Polish troops were killed by Soviet forces. ""Our world went crashing down for the second time at the same place,"" said Komorowski. The cause of the crash is being investigated, although pilot error is thought to be responsible."
" Police say the two were seized outside a restaurant in the western Mansour district by attackers in two cars. Fellow diplomat Abdel Wahab Fellah said he saw the kidnapping - which he called well-planned - but could not stop it. The capture follows the abduction and killing earlier this month of Egypt's ambassador-designate in Iraq, which insurgents say they carried out. Mr Fellah told the AFP news agency he was nearby when his colleagues were seized: ""I was on the other side of the main road when I saw people in two cars pull them out of their land cruiser and take them. ""They must have been waiting for them. I couldn't do anything. I just called the police,"" he said. Algeria and the United States have condemned the seizure of Mr Balarousi and fellow diplomat Azzedin Belkadi. Mr Balarousi, Algeria's charge d'affaires in Baghdad, has been stationed in Iraq for nearly two years. Mr Belkadi arrived last month. Since the kidnapping of Egyptian diplomat Ihab al-Sherif, gunmen have attacked vehicles carrying Pakistani and Bahraini diplomats in Iraq. Officials say insurgents have launched attacks on diplomats to try to dissuade Arab countries from raising the level of their diplomatic representation. Egypt's decision to designate Mr Sherif an ambassador made Egypt the first Arab country to upgrade ties with Iraq."
" Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder purposely lost a confidence vote on 1 July to pave the way for the early elections, but needed the president's backing. Mr Schroeder's move followed a humiliating loss for his Social Democrats in regional elections in May. The opposition Christian Democrats, led by Angela Merkel, are currently well ahead in opinion polls. Despite the apparent prospect of defeat, Mr Schroeder opted for the early elections to seek a fresh mandate for a controversial reform package. His government has lost much support because of Germany's poor economic performance, high unemployment and the tough welfare reforms it has been trying to push through. On Friday, Mr Schroeder cut short his holiday and returned to Berlin. At a news conference he welcomed the president's move, saying he would fight the election with all his energy. While all the main political parties and the majority of Germans are in favour of early elections, Mr Koehler's decision could be overturned by Germany's highest court, the BBC's Tristana Moore in Berlin says. Several lawmakers have threatened to mount a legal challenge, arguing that an early election is in breach of Germany's constitution, our correspondent says. In a televised address, President Koehler said that the poll was most likely to be held on 18 September."
" NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has urged Russia to pull back its troops from Ukraine's borders and enter a dialogue respecting Ukraine's sovereignty. The alliance's chief said Russia's attempts to draw new dividing lines in Europe by force, to limit the sovereignty of Ukraine, and to recreate a new sphere of influence over other countries run contrary to international norms. After meeting Friday with Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev, he said NATO is taking steps to deal with the instability created by Russia's ""illegitimate"" actions. Bulgaria, Ukraine and Russia border the Black Sea. Rasmussen called for a political solution for the crisis, saying the alliance was not discussing military action over Ukraine. He also urged a halt to the decline in defense budgets. On Thursday he visited the Czech Republic."
" TEHRAN, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here on Sunday that the interference of foreigners served the root cause of all tensions and divisions in the region, demanding foreign forces to leave the region. ""The region has no need for alien troops and they should return home and let the regional states take care of their own affairs,"" he said while addressing a ceremony of the Army Day which was held Sunday morning in Tehran. The past experiences have proved that the best way to establish and safeguard a durable security in the region is the coordination and cooperation of all regional governments and nations, he said. In his speech, the Iranian president also attributed the regional turmoil to Isreal, saying that ""this regime is main instigator of sedition and conflict in the region."" ""The Zionist regime is on its way to collapse,"" he said. He also stated that ""I want its supporters and creators to stop backing it and allow the regional nations and the Palestinians to settle things with them."" Currently, the U.S. armed forces are stationed in some countries including Iraq, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in the region. Iran wants peace, progress and security for all, the president said. Praising the strength of the Iranian army, he said the Islamic Republic of Iran's army was so powerful that no enemy dared to invade the country. Iranian top military and political officials, as well as foreign diplomats, were also present at the event."
" The country is now over halfway through its nine days of voting for a new parliament in the world's biggest ever election, with the ruling Congress party struggling to hold ground against the Hindu nationalist opposition. Narendra Modi, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) candidate for prime minister, has been wooing voters with promises to rouse India's economy from its slowest growth in a decade and create jobs for its booming young population. A decision by the Election Commission to reprimand a senior Modi aide for making speeches deemed to stir tensions with minority Muslims underlined critics' assertions that the party is a divisive force. But in the latest large opinion poll, taken in the first week of April, the BJP and its allies were forecast to win a narrow majority in the 543-seat lower house of parliament, compared with previous surveys predicting that they would fall short. ""Modi could be the change we need,"" said software engineer Murali Mohan, after casting his vote in a suburb of Bangalore, the centre of India's outsourcing sector and the capital of Karnataka. ""I want to see constructive work, economic development in this country,"" said Mohan, 39. Voting took place in 120 constituencies across 12 states, with election materials airlifted to parts of the fractious Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir, while mobile polling stations in vans were used in the deserts of Rajasthan. One rural constituency in Maharashtra had three candidates with the same name, an apparent use of the ""clone candidates"" strategy that parties sometimes employ to confuse voters and split support for rivals. Voting runs until May 12 and results are due on May 16. Modi's image remains tarnished by Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat, the western state where he is chief minister, on his watch 12 years ago. More than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in the violence."
" Ukraine's foreign minister has said that operations against pro-Russian militants in the east of the country have been suspended over Easter. Andriy Deshchytsia told the BBC the security services would resume military action if the separatists continued to occupy government offices. They are refusing to leave buildings in several cities, defying an agreement reached on Thursday to ease the crisis. The US has threatened more sanctions if Russia fails to abide by the agreement. The Kremlin responded by accusing the White House of treating Moscow like a ""guilty schoolboy"". In a separate development, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would award medals to Russians who took part in the seizure of Crimea from Ukraine last month. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Deshchytsia said the aim of the military operation in the east was to ""bring life back to normal and protect the population"", but it would be stopped over Easter. ""The anti-terrorist operation was put on hold for the Easter time and we will be not using force against them at this moment,"" he said. The Ukrainian foreign minister added that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was willing to start a negotiation process with the separatists. In response to separatist calls for pro-European protesters in Kiev to also vacate sites they were occupying, he said that those camped in the capital's Maidan Square had ""asked permission from the city council"" and their camp was therefore not an ""illegal occupation""."
" SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- The government is considering declaring the areas connected to the deadly ship sinking on Wednesday a special disaster zone, the prime minister's office said Saturday. ""There is a need for swift, government-level support for the area as physical and emotional damages to Ansan city and Jindo-gun are growing,"" an official from the prime minister's office said. Ansan is the location of the high school attended by the 325 students aboard the sunken ship. Only 75 out of the 325 students have been rescued with the remaining 250 still missing since their 6,825-ton passenger ship, Sewol, sank in waters off Jindo early Wednesday. Once declared a special disaster zone, the areas will be entitled to additional government support, including up to 80 percent of the costs associated with the disaster. Such a declaration is made by the president following a review and approval by a state commission on public safety, the official from the prime minister's office said. Thousands of rescue workers from both the military and coast guard have been mobilized, along with hundreds of ships and aircraft, to search for any survivors from the sunken ship that was en route to the southern resort island of Jeju from the western port city of Incheon. The ship was reportedly carrying 476 passengers and crew members, 174 of whom have been rescued, with 30 others confirmed dead so far. The other 272 remain missing."
" The indications are that the disease is a bacterial infection spread by contact with dead pigs, and not a virus, officials in Sichuan province said. At least 58 people showed symptoms, which include high fever, nausea and vomiting, during June and July. The World Health Organization has urged calm, saying the disease is unable to spread from human to human. ""I can assure you that the disease is absolutely not Sars, anthrax or bird flu,"" Zeng Huajin, a Sichuan health official, told the China Daily newspaper. The number of people infected with the illness has risen steadily as health officials searched through remote villages in the province for people with symptoms. A total of 17 people have died, with just two discharged from hospital. Twelve people remain in a critical condition while 27 are described as ""stable"", doctors said. Health officials said the illness could be a variant of the streptococcus bacteria, often found in pigs. The symptoms cannot be spread from human to human, and those most at risk from animal carcasses are people with vulnerable, low immune systems, officials said. Experts had expressed fears that pigs, which can also carry human influenza, could accelerate mutation of the bird flu virus into a form which can be transmitted between people."
" Government officials say initial tests at the Pulawy test centre have confirmed the presence of the H5 virus, however whether it is the deadly (H5N1) strain has not been confirmed. Further tests for the H5H1 strain are being carried out in Britain. According to agriculture minister Krzysztof Jurgiel, Poland is well equipped to deal with the outbreak. He says Polish authorities have been in contact with the European Commission and the situation is being monitored. The deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus has spread from Asia to Europe and Africa, infecting 174 people since late 2003, killing at least 94 of them. Two hundred million birds across Asia, parts of the Middle East, Europe and Africa have died of the virus or been culled. Experts continue to worry that if the virus acquires the ability to pass easily from person to person, it could cause a pandemic that would kill millions. More birds are being culled in Romania amid yet another scare in a village there. New cases in Switzerland have brought the total there to 11, while France has also reported new cases among wild birds. The French poultry industry is still counting the cost after becoming the first country in the EU to announce bird flu in commercial poultry."
" Officials at Poland's national laboratory said they had identified the virus in birds found near a river in the northern city of Torun. Poland has imposed emergency measures near the site to fight the outbreak. Authorities in the country had been on the lookout for bird flu after outbreaks of H5N1 were reported across Europe in recent weeks. Jan Zmudzinski, deputy director of Poland's Pulawy laboratory, said that the virus was ""definitely H5N1"". Samples would now be sent to the EU laboratory in Weybridge, UK, for further examination, he said. ""We are following all the procedures in force in the European Union,"" he said. On Sunday, the authorities imposed restrictions around the site on the bank of the River Vistula, where the birds were found. A crisis centre has also been set up. On a visit to the area at the weekend, Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said Poland was ready to tackle an outbreak of the virus. Concerns had risen since Friday when a dead swan with the H5N1 virus was found on the River Oder, the border between Poland and Germany. Germany confirmed its first cases of the virus in February."
" Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter to President Obama last month, the White House confirmed Saturday, although neither the United States nor Iran disclosed details about what it said. ""We are not going to get into details on the content of the correspondence at this time,"" said White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer. He added, ""We have no plans to respond to the letter because there was nothing to respond to."" Ahmadinejad, who sent his letter as the Obama administration is stepping up efforts to impose new U.N. sanctions on Iran over its continued enrichment of uranium, has argued in recent days that his country holds the keys to the United States' problems. ""Mr. Obama only has one hope and that is Iran. I'm not being emotional. What I'm saying is based on logic,"" Ahmadinejad told Iranian television April 10. ""The era when they thought they could harm Iran has ended. It has come an end."" The Iranian president also sent an 18-page letter to then-President George W. Bush in 2006 as the United States was pushing for sanctions. Ahmadinejad posted the text of that letter on his Web site, but Bush did not respond. Iranian news media have reported that Obama has written at least twice to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Thomas Erdbrink in Tehran contributed to this report."
" Israeli aircraft struck targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing two Palestinians, in the first such attack since a deadly naval raid on a humanitarian aid flotilla heading for the territory last month. The Israeli army said the strikes were in response to the firing of a dozen mortar rounds toward Israel on Thursday. It said the targets were two tunnels running between the southern Gaza Strip and Israel and a weapons storage building in the northern part of the territory. Palestinian medical teams said that they recovered the body of a man from one tunnel and that a second body remained buried under rubble. Israel announced an easing of its blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza this week, bowing to intense international pressure after the raid on the flotilla, in which nine Turkish activists were killed. Also Friday, Israelis marked the fourth anniversary of the capture of Gilad Shalit, a soldier who was seized by militants from Hamas and allied groups who had tunneled from Gaza into an army post in southern Israel. Hamas is demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in return for Shalit, now 23. Human Rights Watch accused Hamas on Friday of ""cruel and inhuman treatment"" and violating the laws of war by denying the soldier contact with his family and the Red Cross. The Vatican said it was astonished and outraged Friday that Belgian police investigating sex abuse by clergy had conducted raids targeting the graves of two archbishops. The Vatican summoned the Belgian ambassador to the Holy See to convey its anger over the raids, which included the home and offices of a retired archbishop of Belgium. In a statement, the Vatican said any sinful and criminal abuse of minors by members of the church must be condemned and amends made, but it expressed ""astonishment at the way in which the search took place."""
" (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has penned a letter to President Obama, telling his American counterpart that Iran is Obama's only option for success, state-run media reported. ""Obama has only one way to remain in power and be successful. This way is Iran,"" Ahmadinejad said in a nationally televised speech Tuesday, according to the Iranian Republic News Agency (IRNA). ""Obama should start cooperation with Iran in practice,"" he said. ""I have written a letter to Obama which will be published soon."" Ahmadinejad spoke just days after the conclusion of a 47-nation nuclear summit convened by Obama to raise global awareness of the threat of nuclear terrorism. The White House has been pressing for a fourth round of United Nations sanctions on Iran for its nuclear ambitions. Iran says its nuclear programs are designed for civilian use. ""The time when they imagine that they can do any harm on Iran is over,"" Ahmadinejad said, according to IRNA. The Iranian leader urged cooperation between the Islamic republic and America. He said Iran was not the nation that was being isolated. Instead, he said, it was the United States that was in that position. ""We don't need you to do anything for us to come out of isolation, rather we want to help you come out of isolation,"" he said. ""Once [the United States was] at the height of glory,"" he said. ""Now they are collapsing. They have many economic and cultural problems. They have security problems in the world and their influence in Iraq and Afghanistan is vanishing."" He said the United States would like to dominate the Middle East but cannot do so without Iran. The nuclear issue, he said, veils America's real intentions."
" Washington, Apr 17(ANI): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that he has written a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, contents of which will be published soon. ""I have written a letter to Obama, which will be published soon,"" Politico quoted Ahmadinejad, as saying in an interview on Iranian TV. ""Obama has only one way to remain in power and be successful. This way is Iran. Obama should start cooperation with Iran in practice,"" he added. e further said that Iran does not need the U.S. ""to do anything for us to come out of isolation"". ""Rather we want to help you come out of isolation,"" Ahmadinejad added. The Iranian President also said that he has sent a message to Obama, and told him that Iran welcomes change. It is not the first time that Ahmadinejad has opted to send a letter to the U.S. President. Earlier in 2006, he wrote to George Bush suggesting they turn over a new leaf in relations between the two countries. Bush had ignored the letter. (ANI)"
" Algerian police violently dispersed an attempt by opposition activists to stage a protest in the capital against the president's running for a fourth term in Thursday's elections. Only a few members of the grass-root organization Barakat were able to assemble in central Algiers Wednesday before police tackled them and forced them to march away in front of a group of international journalists. Past protests by Barakat -- which means ""enough"" in Arabic -- were allowed to take place in Algiers. The group has protested against the political system, and particularly President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Despite failing health, Bouteflika is expected to dominate Thursday's election."
" Millions of Indians have voted in the biggest day of the general election pitting the ruling Congress party against the main opposition BJP. Nearly 200 million voters were eligible to cast their ballots in 121 seats in 12 states, including Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The nine-phase vote began on 7 April and will conclude on 12 May. Votes will be counted on 16 May. More than 814 million Indians are eligible to vote in the polls. Election Commission officials say voter turnout in most states in the general election so far has been higher than in 2009. Thursday was one of the most critical days of voting spread across 12 states, from Indian-administered Kashmir in the north, to the information-technology hub of Bangalore in the south, Rajasthan in the west and the tea-growing Himalayan town of Darjeeling in the east, the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder reported. Continue reading the main story The Maharaja's High School is more than 100 years old and one of Jaipur's oldest schools. It's a stunning building with a massive arched entranceway, huge wooden doors leading you into the courtyard and the classrooms, now converted into polling stations. And the voters have been coming in steadily, women in colourful saris, young men in western wear, older ones wearing bright turbans. The city's Muslim minority is out in large numbers as well, many of the women in all-black veils. Rajasthan sends 25 MPs to parliament and is a key swing state. In what is turning out to be a bitterly fought campaign, every vote counts and the mood here is unforgiving. ""I want a clean government. One that is corruption free and that can take decisions in the interest of our country,"" a young woman voter in Rajasthan's Jaipur city told our correspondent. A young man said he was voting for BJP as its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ""represented change"". A Muslim voter, however, said people should vote for a ""leader who will represent all communities, one who will take everyone along""."
" * New Syria envoy Brahimi: urgent need to clarify UN support for mission BEIRUT, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Syria denied reports on Saturday that President Bashar al-Assad's deputy had defected and its forces pursued an offensive against rebels, bombarding parts of Aleppo in the north and attacking an insurgent-held town in the oil-producing east. Vice-President Farouq al-Shara ""never thought for a moment about leaving the country"", said a statement from his office broadcast on state television in response to reports that the veteran Baath Party loyalist had tried to defect to Jordan. Assad, battling a 17-month-old rebellion led by Syria's Sunni Muslim majority that has escalated into civil war, has suffered a string of defections including by his prime minister Riyadh Hijab two weeks ago. Shara, whose cousin - an intelligence officer - announced his own defection on Thursday, is a Sunni Muslim from Deraa province where the revolt began against Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect that is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. The 73-year-old former foreign minister kept a low profile as the rebellion mushroomed but appeared in public last month at a state funeral for three of Assad's top security officials killed in a bomb attack in Damascus. The statement said he had worked since the start of the uprising to find a peaceful, political solution and welcomed the appointment of Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi as a new international mediator for Syria. Brahimi, who hesitated for days before accepting a job that France's U.N. envoy Gerard Araud called an ""impossible mission"", will replace former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is leaving at the end of the month in frustration over jostling among world powers that undermined his peace mandate. Annan's six-point plan to stop the violence and advance towards political negotiations was based on an April ceasefire agreement which never took hold. The conflict has deepened since then with both sides stepping up attacks. Assad's forces have resorted increasingly to air power to hold back lightly armed insurgents in the capital Damascus and Aleppo, a northern commercial hub. More than 18,000 people have died in the bloodshed and about 170,000 have fled the country, according to the United Nations."
" Pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk say they will not leave the government building there, defying the Kiev authorities and threatening a new international deal on Ukraine. The separatists' spokesman said that the Kiev government was ""illegal"" and so they would not go until it stepped down. Russia, Ukraine, the EU and US earlier agreed that illegal military groups in Ukraine must leave official buildings. The deal was reached in Geneva. The sides agreed that illegal military groups in Ukraine must be dissolved, and that those occupying buildings must be disarmed and leave them. The foreign ministers also agreed that there would be an amnesty for all anti-government protesters. US President Barack Obama has cautiously welcomed the Geneva deal. But he warned that the US and its allies were ready to impose new sanctions on Russia - accused by the West of supporting the Ukrainian separatists - if the situation failed to improve. A tense standoff continues in eastern Ukraine, where separatists - many of them armed - are occupying official buildings in at least nine cities and towns. Alexander Gnezdilov, spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said his group would evacuate the government building in the eastern city only when the ""illegal"" Kiev government vacated parliament and the presidential administration. Another protest leader in Donetsk said the separatists would not leave unless pro-European Union demonstrators in Kiev's Maidan Square - the vanguard of the protest movement that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych, an ally of Moscow - packed up their camp first."
" U.S. officials Thursday denounced what one called a ""grotesque"" leaflet ordering Jews in one eastern Ukrainian city to register with a government office, but the Jewish community there dismissed it as a ""provocation."" The fliers were handed out by masked men in front the main synagogue in Donetsk, where pro-Russian protesters have declared a ""People's Republic,"" Jewish leaders there said. The document warned the city's Jews to register and document their property or face deportation, according to a CNN translation of one of the leaflets. Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, told CNN's ""The Lead with Jake Tapper"" that a respected Jewish leader in Ukraine showed him a photograph of one of the leaflets. He called the document ""chilling."" And in Geneva, where diplomats held emergency talks on the Ukrainian crisis, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the leaflets ""grotesque"" and ""beyond unacceptable."" But the Jewish community statement said relations between the Jews of Donetsk and their neighbors were amicable, and the self-proclaimed head of the ""People's Republic,"" Denis Pushilin, denied any connection to the fliers. Pushilin told CNN the handwriting on the flier wasn't his, and the title attached to his name was not one he uses. It wasn't clear who had distributed the leaflets, but the chief rabbi of nearby Dnipropetrovsk said, ""Everything must be done to catch them."" ""It's important for everyone to know its not true,"" said the rabbi, Shmuel Kaminezki. ""The Jews of Donetsk will not do what the letter says."" The reports come as Ukraine's Western-backed interim government has been struggling to contain uprisings by pro-Russian political movements in several eastern cities, with both sides invoking the historical horror of Nazism in their disputes. Pyatt told CNN that radical groups may be trying to stir up historic fears or create a provocation to justify further violence. ""It's chilling. I was disgusted by these leaflets,"" Pyatt said. ""Especially in Ukraine, a country that suffered so terribly under the Nazis, that was one of the sites of the worst violence of the Holocaust. To drag up this kind of rhetoric is almost beyond belief."" The leaflets were handed out on Tuesday, during the Jewish holiday of Passover, the Jewish community statement said. They stated that registration was required because Jewish leaders had supported the ""nationalists and bandits"" in Kiev, where a popular revolt ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in February."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. UK health experts have advised people to return indoors if they start to get respiratory symptoms due to volcanic ash falling to ground level. The Health Protection Agency in conjunction with Scottish advisors stress the small amounts of ash are unlikely to cause any serious harm. But if people notice symptoms such as a runny nose, itchy eyes or cough they may want to go inside, they advised. Those with conditions such as asthma may notice the effects more, they said. The World Health Organization said it was unclear what exact health risks there would be from the ash cloud but Europeans should try to stay indoors if ash from Iceland's volcano starts raining down from the sky. WHO spokesman David Epstein said the cloud mostly remained high in the atmosphere on Friday but they were monitoring the situation closely. The updated UK recommendations come after reports of a small concentration of particles reaching the ground in Scotland. People may notice notice a dusty haze in the air, the HPA said, but any health effects are likely to be short-term. We would advise people living with a lung condition in affected areas to carry their medication as a precaution as they may experience a short-term worsening of symptoms   They also said that low levels of sulphur dioxide are likely to be found in the plume but this is also not expected to be a threat to human health. If people smell sulphur, rotten eggs, or a strong acidic smell, when outside they may wish to limit their activities outdoors or return indoors. Anyone with respiratory conditions such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma should ensure they have any inhalers or other medications with them, the recommendations said. Spokesman Professor Malcolm Green said: ""We would advise people living with a lung condition in affected areas to carry their medication as a precaution as they may experience a short-term worsening of symptoms."" Wednesday's eruption occurred near the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier. The glacier water melted by the ongoing volcanic activity in the region generated large volumes of steam, which made this latest eruption explosive. The Met Office is monitoring the plume of volcanic ash which has grounded flights across the UK. Dust and odours were detected in the Northern Isles and the dust is being analysed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Scientists have pointed out that, at ground level, volcanic ash can cause serious health problems. Dr Dougal Jerram, a volcanologist from the Department of Earth Sciences at Durham University explained: ""One of the most influential ever eruptions was the 1783-1784 event at Laki in Iceland when an estimated 120 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide were emitted, approximately equivalent to three times the total annual European industrial output in 2006. ""This outpouring of sulphur dioxide during unusual weather conditions caused a thick haze to spread across Western Europe, resulting in many thousands of deaths throughout 1783 and the winter of 1784."" Following that event, many people reported seeing a ""volcanic haze"" near the ground. The current ash plume is not visible from ground level. This was also a much smaller eruption and scientists have said that this is a relatively diffuse ash cloud that will blow away within one or two days."
" All he needs is an iPad and and outlet to run Norway. Jens Stoltenberg, the country's prime minister, was stranded Friday with thousands of other fliers at Kennedy Airport by a huge black cloud of volcanic ash that turned the skies over a large swath of Europe into a no-fly zone. But that didn't prevent Stoltenberg from conducting the daily business of Norwegian government on Apple's newest gizmo in an airport lounge. Nearby, British Airways passengers were fuming about the lack of information and complaining about shabby treatment. ""It's rubbish,"" said 44-year-old Sasha Watson, who was trying to get a flight home to London with her two kids and mother. ""They haven't given us a meal voucher, said nothing about a hotel, and the only flights are going to Glasgow -- and that's hours from now."" ""I know it's out of the airline's control, but we haven't been given adequate information,"" added Brian Jones, 48, a London teacher who had been celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary in New York with wife Sara, 47. ""We just want to go home to see our children."" Stoltenberg was later able to catch an overnight flight to Spain. In his latest Tweets, the intrepid PM reported he was riding in a car through southern Germany bound for a train that would get him closer to home. Meanwhile, the monster cloud emanating from Iceland threatened to upend plans for President Obama and other world leaders to attend the Sunday funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski in Krakow."
" (CNN) -- Running a country? There's an app for that. When Norway's prime minister found himself stuck in New York as a volcanic cloud grounded flights to Europe, he fired up his new Apple iPad and did the job remotely. In what could be a first for the new gadget, Jens Stoltenberg told CNN he used the iPad to manage the situation at home as Norway closed its airspace under threat from the ash. A photograph of Stoltenberg using the device was posted on the Internet by Norwegian officials under the title ""The prime minister is working at the airport. ""There are good means of communication, I have close contacts with my office all the times, and there are a lot of activities in Norway where we try to reduce the consequences of the volcano in Norway,"" Stoltenberg told CNN. ""It's very normal for a PM to travel abroad so this is not different from the other travels, it's just lasts some days more than expected. We have the internet, the mobile phone. ""I also use an iPad, which is excellent."" Like many other travelers grounded by the volcanic ash cloud, Stoltenberg has sought alternative routes to reach home, catching a flight to Madrid, Spain before completing the journey overland. ""I am afraid we won't be back before Saturday because I think most of our travel is going to be by car because the most of the airports in the Northern part of Europe are now closed,"" he said."
" TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian lawmakers protesting at Israel's blockade of Gaza plan to travel on an aid ship that plans to leave from Lebanon, an official said on Saturday. Lebanon said last week it would allow a Gaza-bound ship called the Julia to sail, via Cyprus, despite warnings from Israel that it reserved the right to use all necessary means to stop ships that tried to sail from Lebanon to Gaza. Mahmoud Ahmadi-Beighash, a member of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, said Iranian parliament delegates could sail on the ship rather than attempt to enter Gaza via Egypt. ""A ship is going from Lebanon to Gaza in the course of the current week and the lawmakers are following up to go to Gaza via this ship,"" he said in comments carried by semi-official news agency ISNA. Ahmadi-Beighash said the decision to use the ship in Lebanon rather than Egypt's land border with Gaza was taken in a meeting with parliament speaker Ali Larijani. Ships with Iranian aid for Gaza left this month but it was not clear if they would unload in Egypt. Earlier this year, Egypt refused permission to an Iranian aid boat to unload after an Israeli warship told the aid boat to leave as it approached the coastal enclave of Gaza. Israel has announced steps to ease a land blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, after an international outcry over an Israeli commando raid in May on an aid flotilla that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists. The Israeli blockade was conceived more than three years ago as a way suffocating popular support for Hamas, which refuses to recognise Israel and which seized control of Gaza in 2007. Israel suspects Iran of supplying Hamas with weapons. Iran is under U.N. sanctions for its nuclear energy programme which the West suspects is a cover for developing nuclear weapons."
" The number of people known to have been killed by a massive quake in China's Qinghai province has risen to 1,144, officials say. Another 417 are still missing in the remote mountainous region and 11,744 have been injured, a rescue spokesman told the Xinhua news agency. Thousands have been left homeless, with many having to sleep outdoors in freezing temperatures. Premier Wen Jiabao has promised ""all-out effort"" to rebuild the area. Heavy lifting equipment began arriving on Friday in the remote Himalayan region by road from hundreds of kilometres away. Food, tents and medical supplies are arriving too but rescue workers say there is a critical need for further supplies. An estimated 15,000 houses have been destroyed in Yushu county, leaving thousands of people homeless people and casualties waiting for help. Soldiers, civilian rescue workers and Buddhist monks have been using pickaxes, shovels and their bare hands to pick through the rubble for survivors. ""For us monks, the most important thing is life,"" said Danchujiasi, a monk who travelled to the scene from neighbouring Sichuan province. ""We have come here to help rescue people. So many people have died, and we want to save the ones still living."" A teacher at a school in Yushu county said he and other staff members had been digging students out of the rubble with their bare hands. ""We didn't have any kind of tools. We couldn't lift the bigger rocks so we found some ropes and pulled them,"" Chen Guangming told the Associated Press news agency. ""This way we were able to pull out five. Three of them are still alive."" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Tens of thousands of people were injured in the quake, and one doctor in Jiegu said he had lost track of how many people he had treated. ""They just keep coming one after the other,"" said Myima Jiaba, working at a makeshift hospital in the town's sports stadium. ""Right now, what we need is a lot of medicine. We need antiseptics and antibiotics. And overall, we need more tents and food, and sanitation."" The monks have also been helping to collect bodies and prepare them for funerals. At a foothill under the main monastery of Jiegu township, monks chanted Tibetan Buddhist mantras in front of piles of dead, Reuters news agency said.  ""I'd say we've collected a thousand or more bodies here,"" said Lopu, a monk. ""Many of the bodies you see here don't have families or their families haven't come looking for them, so it's our job to take good care of them."" Rescuers in Yushu, which lies at about 4,000m (13,000ft), are facing freezing weather and high altitude. Ninety-seven percent of Yushu's population is ethnic Tibetan, and state media said that 500 interpreters were being sent to aid rescuers. The quake, which struck on Wednesday morning at the shallow depth of 10km (six miles), knocked out phone and power lines, and triggered landslides, blocking vital roads. Premier Wen Jiabao visited the affected area on Thursday and Friday, promising ""all-out efforts"" to rebuild the devastated region. He said the people would ""overcome the disaster and improve national unity in fighting the calamity"".   Are you in the area? Have you been affected by the quake, or have you seen or heard anything? Send your comments using the form below. You can also send your pictures to yourpics@bbc.co.uk, text them to +44 7725 100 100, or if you have a large file you can upload it here. At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. A selection of your comments may be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" Palestinian suspected of car theft shot to death during chase in Gush Etzion settlement bloc (Haaretz) U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)"
" Jiegu, China (CNN) -- As rescuers raced against the clock to pull survivors from the rubble, Premier Wen Jiabao traveled to China's earthquake-devastated zone Thursday night to inspect the damage and assure victims that the search would continue. ""Your suffering is our suffering,"" Wen said. ""We are going through the same pain as you are. The family members you lost are also our family members, and we grieve for them as you do."" Wen climbed over the rubble of buildings and spoke with residents in the predominantly ethnic Tibetan region. ""As long as there is a slight hope, we will never give up,"" he said. ""We need to unite as one, to do a good job in our rescue work. At the same time, I assure everyone, that we will definitely make life good here again."" Are you there? Send your photos, video, stories Both Wen and Chinese President Hu Jintao postponed planned foreign trips because of the disaster. Wen postponed a scheduled visit to Brunei, Indonesia and Myanmar. Hu called the presidents of Chile and Venezuela to postpone his mid-April visits to those countries. ""During this difficult time, I need to be home as soon as possible together with our people providing relief,"" he said. How to help: Impact Your World The death toll from Wednesday's 6.9-magnitude quake that struck the predominantly Tibetan prefecture of Yushu China's southern Qinghai province soared to 760 on Thursday, with more than 11,000 injured, state-run Xinhua news agency reported."
" In a message to the Afghan people ahead of the Eid al-Fitr festival ending the holy Ramadan fasting month, the one-eyed leader said insurgents should ""employ tactics that do not cause harm to life and property of the common countrymen"". ""The instructions given to you for the protection of civilian losses are, on you, a religious obligation to observe,"" Mullah Omar said in a seven-page statement released late on Thursday and translated into five languages. ""Any violation readily incurs loss in this world and in the world to come. Therefore, I urge you emphatically to be careful about the civilian losses and take this on yourselves as an explicit responsibility."" Amid mounting anger among Afghans over civilian deaths caused by both the insurgency and NATO, the statement is probably aimed at presenting a more moderate face for the Taliban as efforts continue to re-start peace talks which could foster a power-sharing deal for the insurgency. A recent UN report said the Taliban were responsible for 80 percent of civilian casualties. Islamist suicide bombers on Tuesday targeted markets crowded with Ramadan shoppers and a provincial hospital in Afghanistan, killing scores and wounding 148 in the worst attack since a series of sectarian bombings against Shi'ite Muslims late last year. The Interior Ministry said the Taliban had not let up on attacks during Ramadan and security forces had stepped up security ahead of the three-day Eid al-Fitr festival. But Mullah Omar, who is thought to be sheltering in Pakistan despite government denials there, boasted that his forces had successfully infiltrated Afghan security forces to mount rogue shootings of foreign troops that have killed 39 soldiers in 30 attacks this year. A police militia member, in his late 60s, on Friday turned his guns on U.S. military trainers in western Farah province, killing two before he was shot dead. ""Mujahideen have cleverly infiltrated in the ranks of the enemy according to the plan given to them last year,"" he said. ""They are able to (safely) enter bases, offices and intelligence centers of the enemy. Then, they easily carry out decisive and coordinated attacks."""
" Two US soldiers have been shot dead by a local policeman in Afghanistan, officials for the international Nato-led force in the country say. The policeman, reportedly a member of a local defence force being trained by international troops, was also shot and killed, officials said. The incident happened in the western province of Farah. It is the latest in a series of so-called ""green on blue"" attacks by members of the Afghan security forces. ""Two US Forces-Afghanistan service members died this morning as a result of an insider threat attack in Farah province,"" the US-led International Security Assistance Force was quoted by Agence-France Presse news agency as saying. ""A member of the Afghan local police turned his weapon against two USFOR-A service members. The attacker was shot and killed."" About 130,000 (""blue"") coalition troops are fighting insurgents alongside 350,000 (""green"") Afghans. But there is mounting concern over attacks on Nato troops by their Afghan allies. Members of the Afghan security forces have killed at least 36 international coalition soldiers this year, in 27 incidents, officials say. On 10 August, two separate gun attacks on Nato-led troops in southern Afghanistan left a total of six US soldiers dead. In one an Afghan civilian employee shot three soldiers, all from the US, at a base in Helmand province."
" 1 of 5. Free Syrian Army fighters hold their weapons during clashes in the Salaheddine neighbourhood of central Aleppo August 17, 2012. President Bashar al-Assad's forces have turned increasingly to air power to hold back lightly armed rebels in the capital Damascus and Aleppo, a northern commercial hub. More than 18,000 people have died and some 170,000 have fled the country as a result of the fighting, according to the U.N. Brahimi, who hesitated for days to accept a job that France's U.N. envoy Gerard Araud called an ""impossible mission,"" will replace former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is stepping down at the end of the month. ""The (U.N.) Secretary-General appreciates Mr. Brahimi's willingness to bring his considerable talents and experience to this crucial task for which he will need, and rightly expects, the strong, clear and unified support of the international community, including the Security Council,"" U.N. spokesman Eduardo del Buey said. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby back Brahimi's appointment, said del Buey, who added that achieving a diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis remained a top priority for the United Nations. The announcement confirmed what diplomats told Reuters on Thursday. Brahimi, a Nobel Peace laureate, will have a new title, Joint Special Representative for Syria. Diplomats said the change was to distance him from Annan, who had complained that his Syria peace plan was hampered by a divided Security Council. U.N. officials told Reuters that Brahimi was expected to arrive in New York next week to meet with Ban and discuss plans for a fresh approach to Syria. In an interview with France 24 television, Brahimi said he would soon meet with the Security Council. ""We are going to discuss very seriously how they can help,"" he said. ""They are asking me to do this job. If they don't support me, there is no job. They are divided, but surely they can unite on something like this and I hope they will."""
" Almost a fifth of China's soil is contaminated, an official study released by the government has shown. Conducted between 2005-2013, it found that 16.1% of China's soil and 19.4% of its arable land showed contamination. The report, by the Environmental Protection Ministry, named cadmium, nickel and arsenic as top pollutants. There is growing concern, both from the government and the public, that China's rapid industrialisation is causing irreparable damage to its environment. The study took samples across an area of 6.3 million square kilometres, two-thirds of China's land area. ""The survey showed that it is hard to be optimistic about the state of soil nationwide,"" the ministry said in a statement on its website. ""Due to long periods of extensive industrial development and high pollutant emissions, some regions have suffered deteriorating land quality and serious soil pollution."" Because of the ""grim situation"", the state would implement measures including a ""soil pollution plan"" and better legislation. Levels of pollution ranged from slight to severe. About 82.8% of the polluted land was contaminated by inorganic materials, with levels noticeably higher than the previous survey between 1986 and 1990, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying."
" Almost 300 people remain unaccounted for after a ferry carrying 459 people capsized and sank off South Korea. The ferry, carrying mainly school students, was travelling from the port of Incheon, in the north-west, to the southern resort island of Jeju. Continue reading the main story South Korean TV networks are constantly replaying dramatic footage of the rescue efforts before the ferry sinks. It shows an armada of small boats motoring right up beside the ferry, which listed heavily on its side before sinking. Rescuers are seen desperately grabbing teenagers out of the water before they are swept away by the currents and undertow. Other footage shows helicopters throwing orange life rafts to passengers bobbing on the sea. Some of the passengers are then winched to safety. What makes this accident even more distressing is the fact that among those on board were high school students on a trip to a holiday island. Relatives and friends of those on board are posting on social media sites asking for any news or information about loved ones. On Facebook many South Koreans are re-posting a yellow ribbon to symbolise the hope that the missing may still be found alive. ""Please, please survive and come back,"" the message reads. ""We love you guys."" Emergency teams are using floodlights and flares to search the stricken vessel through the night. Those rescued have been taken to a nearby island. Four people are now said to have died and dozens of others have been hurt. South Korean officials had earlier said that 368 people had been plucked to safety, but later said there had been a counting error. They have now revised down the number rescued to 174. Images showed the ferry listing at a severe angle and then later almost completely submerged, with only a small part of its hull visible. It sank within two hours of sending a distress signal, reports said. There are fears this could turn out to be South Korea's biggest maritime disaster for more than 20 years, says the BBC's Martin Patience in Seoul. Several coast guard, military and commercial vessels were involved in the rescue effort, which unfolded rapidly on Wednesday morning."
" South Korean rescue teams, including elite navy SEAL divers, raced to find up to 293 people missing from a capsized ferry carrying 459 passengers and crew - mostly high school students bound for a holiday island. Two people - a male student and a female crew member - were confirmed dead as the vessel sank 20 kilometres off the southern island of Byungpoong. On Wednesday the government retracted an earlier announcement that 368 people had been rescued, and said it could only confirm that 164 people had been brought to safety. ""The remaining 293 are unaccounted for,"" Lee Gyeong-Og, the vice minister of security and public administration, told a press briefing in Seoul. The revision raised concerns that the final death toll could be far higher than originally feared, after the 6825-tonne ship listed sharply, capsized and finally sank all within two hours of sending a distress signal at 9.00am (1000 AEST). Dramatic television aerial footage showed terrified passengers wearing life jackets clambering into inflatable boats as water lapped over the rails of the vessel as it sank. Some could be seen sliding down the steeply inclined side of the ferry and into the water, as rescuers, including the crew of what appeared to be a small fishing boat, struggled to pull them to safety. Lee said the inflated figure for the number of rescued had resulted from confused information arriving from multiple sources. Of the 429 passengers on board the ferry, which had been bound for the popular southern resort island of Jeju, more than 300 were students travelling with 14 teachers from a high school in Ansan just south of Seoul. Many of those saved appeared to have been rescued by fishing and other commercial vessels who were first on the scene before a flotilla of coastguard and navy ships arrived, backed by helicopters."
" Ukrainian troops have entered the eastern town of Kramatorsk a day after an operation began to recapture areas seized by anti-government separatists. But the Ukrainian defence ministry says six armoured personnel carriers were captured by pro-Russian militants. Other reports suggest the Ukrainian troops may have abandoned their vehicles or changed sides. Tension is increasing across eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian protesters have seized public buildings. The crisis escalated this month after pro-Russian rebels occupied buildings in about 10 towns and cities, demanding greater autonomy or referendums on secession. In the city of Donetsk, which has seen weeks of unrest, pro-Russian gunmen have taken control of the mayor's office. Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers are believed to have massed on Ukraine's borders since Russia took control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea last month, following a controversial referendum on self-determination. Continue reading the main story People are very nervous. Many have not slept for several nights. When Ukrainian armoured personnel carriers appeared in the town, people quickly surrounded them. Some accused soldiers of ""acting against their own people."" ""Why did you come to our land?"" a man from the crowd asked. ""Why are you driving over our fields? We are peaceful people! And we just want our demands to be respected!"" Soldiers were sitting on the APCs with automatic guns, in full combat gear. ""I know they can shoot at us, but we are miners, we see death every day,"" the man said. ""So we are not afraid. We will stand here until victory. We want a referendum to be held. We should decide our future for ourselves."" ""We are just obeying orders, let us go!"" the commander shouted. ""We didn't come here to fight. We are just moving around. I will never shoot at my own people!"" As tensions rose, Ukraine's acting Defence Minister Mykhailo Koval headed for the east of the country to monitor the progress of the ""anti-terrorist operation"" announced by acting President Olexander Turchynov on Tuesday. The interim Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, called on Russia to ""stop supporting terrorists in Ukraine""."
" Jordanian warplanes have targeted and destroyed several vehicles trying to cross the border from Syria, the Jordanian military has said. A statement said the ""camouflaged"" vehicles tried to enter from a rugged area. When warning shots were ignored, the fighter jets opened fire, it added. Photographs given to the BBC showed two unmarked pick-up trucks riddled with bullets, one of them on fire. Syrian state media cited the army as saying it was not linked to them. A Jordanian security source told the Reuters news agency that the vehicles were thought to have been driven by Syrian rebels. Spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said the government was increasingly worried about ""cases of infiltration"" and ""reports that talk about armed groups that are close to the border and the absence of security there"". The kingdom sees the many hardline Islamist and jihadist rebels fighting in Syria as a domestic security threat, and has boosted security along the 370km (230-mile) border to prevent them entering. Although it publicly denies supporting either side in the Syrian conflict, the Jordanian government is reported to have provided a staging ground for secular and moderate Islamist rebel factions and their foreign backers."
" A rebel fighter carries his weapon as he walks along a damaged street in the Mleha suburb of Damascus April 16, 2014. They said the chemical attack, the fourth the opposition has reported this month, was in the Harasta neighborhood. Reuters could not independently verify the footage or the allegation due to restrictions on reporting in Syria. Activists posted a video on YouTube on Wednesday of four men being treated with oxygen. A voice off-screen gave the date and said Assad's forces used ""poison gas in Harasta."" It did not say if there were fatalities. The face of one of the men appeared to be covered in vomit. He was shown shaking and moaning as doctors treated him. The voice off-screen said chemical weapons were also used in Harasta on Friday. A U.N. inquiry found in December that sarin gas had likely been used in Jobar in August and in several other locations, including in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Ghouta, where hundreds of people were killed. The inquiry was only looking at whether chemical weapons were used, not who used them. The Syrian government and the opposition have each accused the other of using chemical weapons during the three-year-old civil war. Both sides have denied it. The Ghouta attack caused global outrage and a U.S. threat of military strikes, dropped after Assad pledged to destroy his chemical weapons arsenal. But the Syrian government failed to meet a February 5 deadline to move all of its declared chemical substances and precursors, some 1,300 metric tons, out of the country. Syria has since agreed to remove the weapons by late April."
" ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Five American men sentenced last week to serve 10 years in a Pakistani prison on terrorism charges appealed against their conviction Monday, their defense lawyer said. The five Americans, all students in their 20s, were sentenced Thursday for contacting militants online and plotting attacks by a court in Pakistan, fighting its own battle with Islamist radicals. ""We believe all evidence we produced in their defense were not considered by the court and it relied on prosecution witnesses,"" defense lawyer Hassan Katchela told Reuters. The appeal will be heard by the Lahore High Court, but no date has been set for the hearing. Waqar Hussain Khan, Ahmed Minni, Ramy Zamzam, Aman Yemer and Umar Farooq were each charged with five counts of conspiracy, raising funds for terrorist acts, planning war against Pakistan, directing others to launch attacks and attempting to cross the Afghan border illegally. They were detained in December in Pakistan's central city of Sargodha, 190 km (120 miles) southeast of Islamabad. Immediately after last week's court appearance, Deputy Prosecutor Rana Bakhtiar said the men were convicted on two counts each, with one carrying a 10-year sentence and the other carrying five years, to be served concurrently. They were also fined a total of 70,000 rupees ($820). Bakhtiar said the court issued the 10-year sentences for conspiracy and five years for raising funds. The other charges were dropped. (Writing by Chris Allbritton; Reporting by Kamran Haider; Editing by Alex Richardson)"
" At least 11 people have died in Senegal after the terrace where they were watching a World Cup football match collapsed, police say. A large group of people had gathered at the home of the local head of the national electricity company to see the game on TV, Senegalese radio said. The collapse happened as the fans watched the Uruguay-South Korea match on Saturday in Matam, northern Senegal. Police said on Sunday some people may still be trapped in the rubble."
" Diplomats meeting for emergency talks on the crisis in Ukraine issued a joint statement Thursday aimed at de-escalating the tensions and ensuring the security of all Ukrainians. The statement -- which appears to be the biggest step toward calming the situation in days -- followed talks lasting several hours between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, his acting Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Deshchytsia, and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. The pact calls for all illegal armed groups to be disarmed, all illegally seized buildings to be returned to their legitimate owners and all occupied public spaces to be vacated. It promises amnesty for protesters who leave buildings and give up their weapons, apart from those convicted of capital crimes. It also urges a halt to violence in Ukraine and condemns all extremism, racism and religious intolerance, including anti-Semitism, in the country. Kerry, speaking alongside Ashton, said the sides had worked hard to narrow the differences between them. But he stressed that the agreement was just words and that the proof of it would be in its swift implementation on the ground. ""What is important is that these words are translated into actions and none of us leave here with the sense that the job is done, because the words are on the paper,"" he said. ""The job will not be done until these principles are implemented and are followed up on."" Kerry warned that Russia could face ""further costs"" if the situation does not de-escalate in line with the concrete steps set out in the statement. Ukraine's leaders must also play their part in calming the situation, he said. Asked about what NATO has said is a large Russian troop build-up near the border with Ukraine, Kerry said ""our hope is"" that Russia will withdraw more troops from the area as steps to de-escalate the Ukraine crisis are implemented. Russia indicates that it has withdrawn one battalion from the area in response to the West's calls for deescalation, Kerry said."
" A wave of shootings and bombings that Iraqi officials said bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda killed more than 80 people and wounded more than 270 across the country Thursday. Insurgents carried out attacks in Baghdad and Kirkuk, Salaheddin, Anbar, Wasit and Diyala provinces, according to police and Interior Ministry offiicals. The violence came in the final days of the holy month of Ramadan, when Iraqis traditionally fill shops and markets to prepare for the Eid feast. Iraqi authorities blame al Qaeda for what they describe as coordinated assaults targeting mostly Shiite areas. In the latest violence on Thursday night, a car bomb followed by a roadside bomb exploded outside shops on a busy road in Baghdad's Zafaraniya district, killing 31 people and wounding 56, police officials told CNN. Meanwhile, 15 gunmen killed 10 Iraqi soldiers in an attack on a military post north of Baghdad, police said, while in the southern city of Kut in Wasit province, a car bomb killed five people and wounded 70, according to police and health officials said. In addition, three car bombs and two roadside bombs exploded in three separate locations in Kirkuk, killing seven people. Gunmen also attacked a police checkpoint and a police station in and near the Anbar city of Falluja, killing seven people, including six police officers. In Baghdad's Sadr City, a car bomb explosion outside a popular restaurant killed 16 people and wounded 49, police said, while two other car bombs in Baghdad neighborhoods killed six other people. Bombs also killed one person east of Tikrit in Salaheddin and another in Diyala. The tally of wounded included 146 in Baghdad, 70 in Kut, 49 in Kirkuk and 21 in Diyala, Salaheddin, Anbar and at the military post north of the capital, according to police. Violence had generally dropped in Iraq in recent years compared to the middle of the last decade, when Sunni-Shiite conflict raged during the height of the Iraq war."
" 1 of 9. Paramilitary soldiers guard near the main entrance of the Minhas in the town of Kamra in Punjab province on August 16, 2012. The attack was repelled and only one aircraft was damaged, said an air force spokesman, adding that the Minhas air base at Kamra, in central Punjab province, did not house nuclear weapons. ""No air base is a nuclear air base in Pakistan,"" he said. The gun battle raged for hours, and eight militants and one soldier were killed, the spokesman said. Commandos were called in to reinforce base security forces and police armored personnel carriers could be seen heading into the base. Pakistan's Taliban movement, which is close to al Qaeda and seen as the biggest security threat to the South Asian nation, claimed responsibility for the assault. ""We are proud of this operation. Our leadership had decided to attack Kamra base a long time ago,"" Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said by telephone from an undisclosed location. The militants moved through a nearby village under cover of darkness and climbed a nine-foot (2.7-meter) wall strung with barbed wire to break into the base, the air force spokesman said. Some were wearing military uniforms. The assault cast doubts over official assertions that military operations had severely weakened militants waging a violent campaign to topple the U.S.-backed government and impose strict Islamic rule. Security forces opened fire when militants strapped with suicide bombing vests approached aircraft hangars, prompting other militants to fire rocket-propelled grenades from outside the base's walls, said the air force spokesman. Base commander Air Commodore Muhammad Azam, who led the operation against the attackers, was shot in the shoulder but is in stable condition, said spokesman Captain Tariq Mahmood."
" The cause of the crash, which Afghan authorities said was in the Shah Wali Kot district of the southern province of Kandahar, was under investigation, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement. ""The crash resulted in the deaths of four International Security Assistance Force service members, three United States Forces-Afghanistan service members, three members of the Afghan National Security Forces, and one Afghan civilian interpreter,"" ISAF said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter, although the insurgents often exaggerate their victories and are quick to claim responsibility for any incident involving the death of foreign troops. The area where the helicopter went down is an insurgent hotbed and supply route, lying north of Kandahar city near Zabul and Uruzgan provinces. A spokesman for NATO said all the foreign troops on board the helicopter were American, adding to a grim week in the country which included multiple suicide bombings which killed 63 civilians in one day, most of them shoppers in markets. The Taliban shot down a CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter in August 2011, killing all 38 people on board, including 25 U.S. special operations soldiers."
" (CNN) -- Friday was another deadly day in what has become the deadliest month for international troops in Afghanistan. Three service members were killed on Friday in attacks in the east and south, the NATO-led command reported. A fourth died in a bombing on Thursday. All four casualties were Americans, it said."
" Washington (CNN) -- West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, the self-educated son of a coal miner who became the longest-serving member of Congress, died early Monday at age 92, the senator's office said. Byrd, a nine-term Democrat, was known as a master of the chamber's often-arcane rules and as the self-proclaimed ""champion of the Constitution,"" a jealous guardian of congressional power. His speeches were laced with references to poetry and the Greek and Roman classics, often punctuated by the brandishing of his pocket copy of the national charter. He was also known as the ""King of Pork,"" using top positions on the Senate Appropriations Committee to steer federal spending to his home state -- one of the nation's poorest. ""Pork, to the critic, is service to the people who enjoy some of the good things in life, and I've been happy to bring to West Virginia the projects to which they refer. I have no apology for it,"" he said. ""When I am dead and am opened they will find West Virginia written on my heart."" He was an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq, calling his 2002 vote against a ""blind and improvident"" authorization of military action the proudest moment of his career. West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin -- a Democrat -- has the power to appoint a replacement for Byrd, whose current term is set to expire in 2013. When Byrd entered Congress in January 1953, a postage stamp cost 3 cents and American kids were clamoring for a new toy called Mr. Potato Head. Harry Truman was president, Winston Churchill was Britain's prime minister, and Josef Stalin was still the Soviet Union's leader. In November 2009, two days before his 92nd birthday, Byrd passed Arizona Democrat Carl Hayden's record to become the longest-serving member of Congress."
" MAALOULA, Syria: Syrian government troops seized at least three border communities, including an ancient Christian hamlet, north of Damascus on Monday, state media and activists said, in a dramatic one-day sweep that suggests rebel strongholds along the Lebanese frontier are near total collapse. The capture of Sarkha, Maaloula and Jibbeh was the fastest series of army successes against rebels in the Qalamoun region along the border with Lebanon since the government launched an offensive in the mountainous terrain in November. The government gains have allowed the military, backed by the Lebanese Shiite militant Hezbollah group, to squeeze a key rebel supply route that has long funneled weapons, supplies and fighters to rural Damascus. Syria's state news agency said forces loyal to President Bashar Assad captured Sarkha early Monday before also sweeping rebels out of Maaloula, an ancient Christian village set into the rocky hills. Hours later, a Syrian military commander said troops also seized the nearby town of Jibbeh. The seizure of the border communities came a day after government troops backed by Hezbollah fighters captured the nearby town of Rankous. By Monday afternoon, only the towns of Arsal al-Ward, Hawsh Arab and Jbaadin remained in rebel hands, said the commander who spoke to an Associated Press reporter on a government-led tour of the area. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. A pro-rebel activist in Qalamoun who uses the name Amer confirmed the military had taken the communities, but said Jibbeh and Jbaadin had never been in opposition hands. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that both communities had never been under rebel control. Instead, it appeared that pro-government fighters had pre-emptively seized the towns to ensure rebels would not take them. Now in its fourth year, Syria's civil war has killed more than 150,000 people and taken on deep sectarian overtones. The armed opposition is dominated by Syria's Sunni Muslim majority. Islamic extremists, including foreign fighters and Syrian rebels who have taken up hard-line al-Qaida-style ideologies, have taken on an increasingly prominent role among the opposition, dampening the West's support for the rebellion to overthrow Assad. The government, meanwhile, has drawn heavily on the president's heterodox Alawite sect for support. Christians and other minorities have largely either stayed on the sidelines or thrown their support behind the government."
" In Quito, the Ecuadorean government said that any such action would be considered a violation of its sovereignty a ""hostile and intolerable act."" ""Under British law we can give them a weeks' notice before entering the premises and the embassy will no longer have diplomatic protection,"" a Foreign Office spokesman said. ""But that decision has not yet been taken. We are not going to do this overnight. We want to stress that we want a diplomatically agreeable solution."" In Quito, the government bristled at the threat and said it would announce its decision on Assange's asylum request on Thursday at 7 a.m. (1200 GMT). ""We want to be very clear, we're not a British colony. The colonial times are over,"" Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said in an angry statement after a meeting with President Rafael Correa. ""The move announced in the official British statement, if it happens, would be interpreted by Ecuador as an unfriendly, hostile and intolerable act, as well as an attack on our sovereignty, which would force us to respond in the strongest diplomatic way,"" Patino told reporters. Ecuador, whose government is part of a left-leaning bloc of nations in South America, called for meetings of regional foreign ministers and the hemispheric Organization of American States to rally support in its complaint against Britain. The Australian has been in the embassy for eight weeks since losing a legal battle to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he has been accused of rape and sexual assault by two WikiLeaks supporters. ""The UK has a legal obligation to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden to face questioning over allegations of sexual offences and we remain determined to fulfill this obligation,"" a Foreign Office spokesman said earlier. Swedish prosecutors have not yet charged Assange, but they have moved forward with their investigations and they believe they have a case to take to trial. Assange fears Sweden could send him on to the United States, where he believes authorities want to punish him for publishing thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables on WikiLeaks in 2010 in a major embarrassment for Washington."
" TORONTO -- President Obama warned Sunday that the world economic recovery remains ""fragile"" and urged continued spending to support growth, an expansionist call at the end of a summit marked by an agreement among developed nations to halve their annual deficits within three years. The president's remarks tempered the Group of 20's headline achievement at the summit, a deficit-reduction target that had been pushed by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the host of the meeting and a fiscal conservative. Although there is broad agreement that government debt in the developed world needs to be reduced, there is concern that cutting too fast and too deeply will slow growth and possibly spark a new recession. In a news conference at the meeting's conclusion, Obama said that the world's largest economic powers had agreed on the need for ""continued growth in the short term and fiscal sustainability in the medium term."" ""A number of our European partners are making difficult decisions,"" Obama said. ""But we must recognize that our fiscal health tomorrow will rest in no small measure on our ability to create jobs and growth today."" The group's closing statement included the specific deficit-reduction target, but it was couched in caveats -- that deficit reduction needed to be ""calibrated"" to avoid harming growth, paced differently in each country and paired with other reforms to strengthen the economy. Obama and European leaders, in particular, came to the meeting with sharply different views of the strength of the global economic recovery, with the U.S. president more pessimistic. The declaration, in the works for weeks, gave each side what it wanted, although the specific deadlines went further than the Obama administration had preferred before the meeting. The administration accepted the deadlines in order to avoid standing against Harper and such important economic powers as Germany. In his closing remarks, Obama stressed that ""every country will chart its own unique course, but make no mistake -- we're moving in the same direction."" The International Monetary Fund's managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, called the deficit target an ""oversimplification"" of the problem; he said it was more important for individual countries to craft the right economic policies to sustain growth, not blindly cut for the sake of meeting a goal. Along with pledging to cut their annual budget deficits by 2013, the developed countries committed to stabilizing their overall debt by 2016. Obama recently set similar goals for the United States. Despite the seeming division between the United States' deficit-reduction target and the slower approach favored by Canada and Germany, Obama said there was ""violent agreement"" within the group about the need to find proper balance -- with some highly indebted countries such as Greece needing to cut immediately and others supporting the recovery with higher spending."
" A diplomat told the Reuters news agency that Maher lost a leg during an explosion when the regime's security cabinet was attacked in July. A Gulf source confirmed the report to Reuters saying: ""He lost one of his legs. The news is true."" Reports at the time suggested Maher had been injured in the suicide attack which killed Gen Daoud Rajha, the defence minister, Assef Shawkat, Bashar's brother-in-law and Gen Hassan Turkmani, head of government's crisis operations . Maher al-Assad, the younger brother of the president, has been referred to as the ""most feared man in the country"", ""the Butcher of Dera'a"" or ""the enforcer"". He has not been seen in public since the attack. As the commander of the elite Fourth Division and Republican guard, he took an active part in supressing the protests in Dera'a last year. There were also reports that Farouq al-Shara, the vice-president of the regime, had defected, but this was later clarified - it was actually a cousin of Mr al-Shara - Yarab al-Shara. Earlier today, Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, said Bashar al-Assad was""butchering his own people"" as Syrian refugees urged Paris to help them fight. ""France's position is clear: we consider Assad to be butchering his own people. He must leave, and the sooner he goes the better,"" Mr Fabius said in a tent at the UN-run Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, which houses around 6,000 Syrians. ""We are, at the international level, encouraging the Syrians to find a political transition. I stress that a political transition must come soon - this is the obvious solution,"" he added as dozens of Syrian refugees gathered outside the tent, chanting ""Allahu akbar (God is greatest). President Assad has been battling a 17-month-old uprising against his rule. The United Nations says at least 18,000 people have died in the revolt. He issued a surprise decree on Thursday appointing three new ministers, state television said, in a reshuffle following the defection of his former premier."
" Democratic Senator Robert C Byrd, who has died aged 92, was for many the embodiment of the ways and history of the US Senate. His long career in politics began in 1952 when he was elected to the House of Representatives, but six years later he stood for a Senate seat to represent West Virginia - a position he occupied for the next 52 years. Senator Byrd's oratorical skills and his ability to draw on his knowledge of the US Constitution, the Bible, ancient history and poetry enabled him to speak at length in Senate debates. The Almanac of American Politics described him as coming closer than anyone to the kind of senator the founding fathers had in mind. Mr Byrd was a fierce defender of the Constitution, often producing a battered copy from a pocket in his trademark three-piece suit. He was for many years the chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which controls a third of the federal budget. He also put his grasp of the rules of the Senate to effective use. ""Bob is a living encyclopedia and legislative graveyards are filled with the bones of those who underestimated him,"" former House Speaker Jim Wright once said of him. Senator Byrd's personal political history also encapsulates the transformation in US life during the 20th Century. He was briefly a member of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan. His membership lasted only from the middle of 1942 to the beginning of 1943, he later suggested."
" Airborne troops have seized back a key Ukrainian air base, as Kiev launched an ""anti-terrorist operation"" against pro-Russian separatists. Shots rang out from inside the facility in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, after Ukrainian troops disembarked from two military helicopters. Ukraine's Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov says troops have taken control of the facility. Reuters reported that the troops withdrew into barracks at the airport following a ""scuffle"" with several hundred pro-Russian protesters. Russian news reports initially said up to 11 people were killed in clashes at the base, but Ukraine's defence ministry says none of its troops were killed or injured. The Ukrainian state security service announced that a similar operation was launched in the town of Slavyansk, some 12 miles away. The two cities are among 10 locations in the Russian-speaking east where separatist rebellions have broken out. Video footage emerged on Tuesday of a group of separatists stopping a Ukrainian tank and questioning its crew near the village of Rodinskoye. Mr Turchynov has accused Russia of harbouring ""brutal plans"" to destabilise the region by backing separatists and refusing to force them to stand down. ""The plans of the Russian Federation were and remain brutal,"" he said."
" Around 100 girls are thought to have been abducted in an attack on a school in north-east Nigeria, officials say. Gunmen reportedly arrived at the school in Chibok, Borno state, late last night, and ordered the hostel's teenage residents on to lorries. The attackers are believed to be from the Islamist group, Boko Haram, whose militants frequently target schools. On Monday, bombings blamed on the group killed more than 70 people in the capital, Abuja. Boko Haram, whose name means ""Western education is forbidden"" in the local Hausa language, has been waging an armed campaign for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria. A government official in Borno state told the BBC around 100 girls were thought to have been abducted from the school. The exact number of missing students had yet to be established, as some of the girls had managed to return to their homes. Parents had earlier told the BBC that more than 200 students had been taken from the school. Residents in the area reported hearing explosions followed by gunfire last night, said BBC reporter Mohammed Kabir Mohammed in the capital, Abuja. ""Many girls were abducted by the rampaging gunmen who stormed the school in a convoy of vehicles,"" AFP news agency quotes Emmanuel Sam, an education official in Chibok, as saying."
" Ukraine's acting President Olexander Turchynov has announced the start of an ""anti-terrorist operation"" against pro-Russian separatists. He told parliament it was being conducted ""stage by stage, in a responsible... manner"". Hours later, gunfire was heard at an airbase which officials said had been in the hands of militants. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the escalation of the conflict had put Ukraine ""on the verge of civil war"". The Kremlin said Mr Putin made the warning in a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Continue reading the main story The most dangerous moment in the Ukrainian crisis so far may well have arrived. The security operations undertaken by the Kiev government have been received by Russia with alarm. ""Events are beginning to develop under the worst case scenario,"" said one senior official in Moscow. As yet, amidst a torrent of social media and conflicting local reports, it is impossible to determine the extent of any casualties. But in a sense, it is not the facts but the perception of what is happening that matters. Russia's narrative has been clear. It sees itself as the champion of Ukraine's Russian-speakers in the east. With separatists taking over buildings in several Ukrainian cities, the Kiev authorities have effectively been goaded into a response. The question now is whether that response will be seized upon by Moscow as a pretext for military action. It said that both leaders ""emphasised the importance"" of planned talks in Geneva on Thursday between Russia, Ukraine, the US and the EU. Mr Turchynov said the airbase at Kramatorsk had been ""liberated"" from ""terrorists"". Pro-Russian rebels have seized buildings in about 10 towns and cities across Ukraine's eastern provinces, its industrial heartland. Thousands of Russian troops are reported to be deployed along the border, kindling fears that any crackdown on the rebels could trigger an invasion."
" (CNN) -- Exposure to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in 162 cases of illnesses reported to the Louisiana state health department, according to a report released Monday. Of those cases, 128 involved workers on oil rigs or individuals involved in the oil spill cleanup efforts, the report said. Among the most common reported symptoms were throat irritation, shortness of breath, cough, eye irritation, nausea and headaches, according to the department's oil spill surveillance report. The weekly report gathers data from a surveillance network of doctors, clinics, emergency care locations and medical facilities. According to the most recent report, since the beginning of the oil spill, of the workers who reported illnesses, 120 were male and eight were female. Of the general public affected, nine were male and 25 were female. Most of those who reported symptoms were between the ages of 18 and 64, the report said. There were six illnesses reported the week of June 20, a sharp decrease from a high of 38 reported illnesses the first week of June, the report said. Several of the workers who fell ill reportedly had been exposed to fumes from the dispersants being deployed in the Gulf, the report said. Most of those affected worked on the cleanup efforts in some way. Twenty-three of those with symptoms worked on an oil rig, the report said. Most workers went to an emergency room or an urgent care center when they developed symptoms. At least 21 people were briefly hospitalized. In a related development, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine asked Monday that BP pay $10 million to fund six months of mental health services to people affected by the spill."
" Public outrage over the BP oil spill fouling the Gulf of Mexico has focused on water pollution. But an air pollution health threat may also be serious, according to UCI researchers. A team of UCI scientists, including Nobel laureate F. Sherwood Rowland and Chemistry department Chairman Donald Blake, has detected concentrations of toxic chemicals such as alkyl nitrates, methane, hexane and butane compounds that can irritate or burn skin and eyes or cause dizziness, according to studies. So far, air samples from about 400 canisters the group collected on a recent trip to the oil spill do not show levels above government safety thresholds. But the concentrations are higher than those found over heavily polluted urban areas, such as Los Angeles, Mexico City or Oklahoma oil tank farms. The blown-out well is 50 miles off Louisiana and is gushing oil into the gulf at a rate between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels a day. Several cleanup workers have been hospitalized with respiratory complaints. UCI researchers say it is unclear whether the noxious gases in the air around the spill are the result of oil, of chemical dispersants or of other sources. More funding and government coordination are needed, they said. The scientists have submitted their findings to the Environmental Protection Agency and to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA followed up with a monitoring flight, but the results have not yet been released. The UCI team is collecting more samples with an eye toward publishing a peer-reviewed paper in the near future. Photo: A dispersant-carrying plane passes over an oil skimmer as it cleans oil from the explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Credit:Patrick Semansky/Associated Press"
" 1 of 5. Tourists watch the waves as they walk on the beach in Cancun, June 26, 2010. Alex, the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, was forecast to move slowly away from the Yucatan Peninsula over southern Gulf waters and curl northwest away from major oil-extraction facilities. It is expected to hit the coast of southern Texas or northern Mexico around mid-week. As worries over drilling disruption eased, U.S. crude oil prices for August fell $2.31, or 2.95 percent, to settle at $75.94 a barrel. While most forecaster models showed Alex passing south of major offshore oil and natural gas platforms, some energy companies evacuated personnel and shut down some production as a precautionary measure. Shell Oil Co shut subsea production over the weekend at the Auger and Brutus platforms that produce 210,000 barrels per day while Marathon halted production at its Ewing Banks platform, which produces 9,700 bpd. The storm was not expected to damage oil capture systems that BP Plc has mounted over its huge Gulf oil spill, or interrupt the company's plans to drill a pair of relief wells intended to plug the leak by August, a BP executive told reporters in Houston. But waves as high as 12 feet would delay plans to hook up a third oil capture system, said Kent Wells, a BP executive vice president. Alex was packing sustained winds of about 70 mph and was located about 290 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas. It was moving northwest at 13 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said at 4 p.m. EDT. Forecasters expected Alex to become a hurricane in the next few hours and hit land on Wednesday night, bringing 6 to 12 inches of rain to northeastern Mexico and southern Texas as well as dangerous storm surges along the coast. Officials in south Texas readied rescue vehicles, shelters in San Antonio and Laredo and rushed supplies to the Rio Grande Valley. Bob Pinkerton, mayor of South Padre Island, a coastal community where the entire economy rests on tourism, urged residents and visitors to evacuate."
" 1 of 16. A man carries the body of a boy after a Syrian Air force air strike in Azaz, some 47 km (29 miles) north of Aleppo, August 15, 2012. On a day when Lebanese captives held by Syrian rebels were among the wounded in a deadly air strike by government forces, citizens of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, key backers of the mainly Sunni Muslim insurgency, were seized along with about 20 Syrians by Beirut Shi'ites in an area run by Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Their threat to take more Saudi, Turkish and Qatari hostages to secure the release of a kinsman held by Syrian rebels in Damascus bore ominous echoes of still deeply polarized Lebanon's own, long civil war - and Gulf Arab governments lost no time in urging visitors to leave Beirut's popular summer tourist haunts. ""The snowball will grow,"" warned Hatem al-Meqdad, a senior member of the powerful Lebanese Shi'ite Meqdad family who said his brother was detained by the Free Syrian Army two days ago. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose Alawite minority is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, has long relied on support from Shi'ite Iran and its Hezbollah allies. He accuses the Sunni powers of the Gulf and Turkey of promoting the revolt against him, which grew out of Arab Spring demonstrations 18 months ago. While his opponents, and the Western powers which sympathize with them, insist they want to avoid the kind of sectarian blood-letting seen in Iraq, rebels who mostly come from Syria's disadvantaged Sunni majority have seized Iranians and Lebanese there in recent weeks, saying they may be working for Assad. On Wednesday, the Meqdad clan said it was holding more than 20 people, including a Saudi, a Turkish businessman and several Syrians they described as anti-Assad fighters. Its action was a blow to a Lebanese economy for which Gulf tourists have played a part in recovery after 15 years of civil war ended in 1990. ""We still haven't even done one percent; we still haven't really moved,"" said a man who told reporters late on Wednesday in Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled Dahiya district that he and his fellow masked gunmen from the Meqdad clan's ""military wing"" were ready to take more action against Syrian rebels in Lebanon. Fighting in Syria has triggered violence across the border before - some of it linked to Syrian rebels bringing arms and supplies across Lebanon. But the round of hostage-taking, on both sides, adds a new factor for regional states engaged in advancing their strategic interests while the world powers are deadlocked by a split over Syria between Russia and the West. Against that backdrop, the bloodshed in Syria continues."
" (CNN) -- Five Americans who were convicted of conspiracy and terror charges in Pakistan are appealing, their lawyer said Monday. The lawyer, Hassan Dastagir Katchela, filed the appeal on behalf of the five on Monday, he said. The appeal argues that an anti-terrorism court did not consider evidence the defense submitted, he said. The five Americans were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison last week -- five years on criminal conspiracy charges and five years for terror charges. The five used to worship at a mosque in northern Virginia. They were reported missing in November and turned up later in Pakistan."
" 1 of 12. A pro-Russian protester holds a shield at a check point, with black smoke from burning tyres rising above, in Slaviansk April 13, 2014. Angered by the death of a state security officer and the wounding of two comrades near the flashpoint eastern city of Slaviansk, acting president Oleksander Turchinov gave rebels occupying state buildings until 0600 GMT to lay down their weapons. ""The National Security and Defence Council has decided to launch a full-scale anti-terrorist operation involving the armed forces of Ukraine,"" Turchinov said in an address to the nation. He blamed Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimea region when Moscow-backed former president Viktor Yanukovich fled after months of pro-Western protests, for being behind the rash of rebellions across Russian-speaking towns in eastern Ukraine. ""We will not allow Russia to repeat the Crimean scenario in the eastern regions of Ukraine,"" Turchinov said. Russia's foreign ministry called the planned military operation a ""criminal order"" and said the West should bring its allies in Ukraine's government under control. ""It is now the West's responsibility to prevent civil war in Ukraine,"" the ministry said in a statement. A United Nations Security Council diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the council would meet at 8 p.m. (0100 GMT) in New York at Russia's request. Another diplomat said negotiations were under way on Ukraine's participation. Earlier, the American ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, said on ABC's ""This Week"" that the latest events in Ukraine bore ""the telltale signs of Moscow's involvement"". ""The president has made clear that, depending on Russian behaviour, sectoral sanctions in energy, banking, mining could be on the table, and there's a lot in between,"" she added."
" Ukraine's president says a full-scale operation involving the army will be launched in the east after pro-Russian militants seized government buildings. Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said he would not allow a repetition of what happened in Crimea which was annexed by Russia last month. His live televised address from parliament came after pro-Russian forces targeted half a dozen cities. An urgent meeting of the UN Security Council is under way in New York. The meeting was called for by Moscow, which has strongly criticised Kiev's plan to use its armed forces in eastern Ukraine. Continue reading the main story The warning by Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is clear and to the point. Many of the units (I use the word advisedly) involved in the initial takeover of buildings in several cities in eastern Ukraine look like organised, professional military forces. This is exactly what was seen at the outset of Russia's Crimea operation - armed men with no clear insignia, but with all the hallmarks of the Russian military. The Ukraine crisis looks to have moved into a higher gear this weekend. Experts say that the events look neither spontaneous nor unplanned. The fear is that, just as in Crimea, the Russian government is seeking to use the lack of clarity as to who exactly is involved to gain time to create facts on the ground. At the same time it is threatening that any response by Ukrainian security forces will only make matters worse. Earlier, Nato's secretary general voiced concern at events in the region. And the US ambassador to the UN said the attacks this weekend bore the ""tell-tale signs of Moscow's involvement."" But the Kremlin denies involvement in events in eastern Ukraine. Eastern Ukraine has a large Russian-speaking population and has seen a series of protests since the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in February. ""We will not allow Russia to repeat the Crimean scenario in the eastern regions of Ukraine,"" said President Turchynov."
" In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry dated April 8, the head of Syria's National Coalition, Ahmad Jarba, also rejected accusations that rebels had targeted Christians and desecrated holy sites in the province of Latakia, on the Mediterranean coast. ""In the last weeks, the Assad regime has been conducting a particularly intense bombing campaign on Aleppo ... with crude barrel bombs, indiscriminately killing and maiming scores of civilians ... destroying entire neighborhoods and causing a new mass exodus of refugees,"" Jarba said in the letter. ""We are still waiting for an appropriate and proportionate response to these massive crimes against humanity, and urge the leaders of the international community, especially the United States and its allies, to take position on this genocide of the Syrian people,"" he said. Once Syria's commercial hub, Aleppo remains partly rebel-held in the three-year-old civil war which has killed 150,000 people. The assault on the city intensified in December with the Syrian military hitting civilian areas with scores of barrel bombs - oil drums packed with explosives and shrapnel - drawing international condemnation but no decisive action. Last month, Islamist rebels including fighters from al-Nusra Front launched an offensive in Latakia taking the border crossing with Turkey and the Armenian Christian village of Kasab. The U.N. Security Council has been unable to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court because Russia, which as a permanent member has veto power, is opposed to the move, diplomats say. Russia, supported by China, has shielded ally Syria from Security Council action during the civil war."
" Adam Scott (L) of Australia presents Bubba Watson of the US the Masters winner's green jacket (AAP) American Bubba Watson has won the 2014 US Masters. American Bubba Watson has captured his second US Masters title in three years with victory at Augusta National on Sunday. The 2012 champion carded a final round of 69 to finish at eight-under - three shots clear of debutants Jordan Spieth and Jonas Blixt. Spieth had a two-stroke lead heading to the eighth hole, but Watson turned things around with back-to-back birdies while Spieth slipped with two straight bogeys. The 35-year-old stretched his lead at the 13th with a booming drive to set up a two-putt birdie, taking his score to eight-under."
" Macedonia's citizens are voting for a new president this Sunday (13.04.2014), though opinion polls suggest that none of the candidates can achieve an absolute majority in the first round. The head-to-head race is likely to result in a runoff election on April 27. The most promising candidates are President Gjorge Ivanov from the ruling conservative VMRO-DPMNE party and the social-democratic (SDSM) candidate, Stevo Pendarovski. While VMRO-DPMNE receives a lot of votes in rural areas, most of SDSM's supporters are city dwellers. The two opponents and their supporters represent two mutually hostile camps. Meanwhile, Macedonia's large ethnic Albanian minority is also polarized, with one side embedded in the ruling coalition and the other supporting the opposition. The two sides present themselves not as opposing political movements but as bitter enemies. According to political scientist Petar Arsovski, this is a symptom of imperfect democracy. ""Whenever a political opponent is mentioned, it turns into an attack or an insult, and mud-slinging is not uncommon,"" Arsovski told DW. Foreign observers have come to similar conclusions. A report published by US NGO Freedom House in 2013 describes the country - a former Yugoslav republic - as a half-consolidated democracy. Another serious problem facing the country, as documented in the European Commission's progress reports on Macedonia, is governmental pressure on the media. In the latest press-freedom ranking compiled by Reporters Without Borders, Macedonia occupies the 123rd spot out of a total of 179. In 2009 it was 34th. Over the last few years, several prominent investigative journalists in the country have been threatened and given hefty prison sentences for allegedly revealing confidential information. One journalist's death still remains unexplained. In addition, government-critical television channel A1 and three daily papers have been shut down by authorities, with the owner accused of financial irregularities. ""There are very harsh, aggressive attacks on press freedom in Macedonia and their purpose is to silence critical journalists,"" Christian Mihr, head of Reporters Without Borders in Germany, told DW. The election in Macedonia is a double one. Together with the predicted runoff election, a parliamentary election will also take place on April 27. Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, leader of the VMRO-DPMNE, has a good chance of maintaining his post. In his campaign he has repeatedly pointed out the achievements of his eight years in office. This includes lowering unemployment from nearly 39 percent to around 28 percent through the creation of 120,000 new jobs. He has also mentioned that the farming sector has received 590 million euros (819 million dollars) in subsidies and nearly 2 billion euros in direct foreign investment has been recorded. According to Gruevski, his government has turned more of its promises into reality than any previous Macedonian government. The opposition, meanwhile, focuses on Macedonia's poverty levels, pointing out that the country is one of Europe's poorest. The average monthly wage is 350 euros and the largest employer is the state. Unemployment is particularly high among young people. At the same time, a lot of funds have been invested by the Macedonian government into the controversial Skopje 2014 project, which involves the construction of new museums, government buildings and monuments in Macedonia's capital. ""We want a Macedonia that gives young people perspectives - a country with quality education, a higher living standard, free citizens and an independent judiciary and media,"" said Renata Deskoska from the social-democratic opposition party in an electoral campaign speech. And party leader Zoran Zaev stated, ""The SDSM offers a new concept, new ideas and solutions for Macedonia."" However, he did not specify any details."
" 1 of 3. An armed man stands in front of the police headquarters building in Slaviansk, April 12, 2014. At least 20 armed militants wearing mismatched camouflage outfits took over the police and security services headquarters in the eastern city of Slaviansk, about 150 km (90 miles) from the border with Russia, seizing hundreds of handguns. Police said gunmen later took over the local headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security service. Ukraine's acting foreign minister, Andriy Deshchytsia, urged Russia to end what he called ""provocative actions"" by its agents in a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Government buildings in two other Russian-speaking cities, Donetsk and Luhansk, have been occupied by separatists since last weekend, in what the new pro-Europe leadership in Kiev says is part of a plan drawn up by the Kremlin to dismember Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine have been locked in confrontation since protests in Kiev forced the Moscow-backed president from office, and the Kremlin seized and then annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. Moscow denies having any designs on other regions of Ukraine and says it has not provided support to the militants. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine must be protected from possible persecution by the interim authorities in Kiev. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov promised a ""very tough"" response the building seizure in Slaviansk by what he described as ""terrorists"". There was no sign of Ukrainian police or military around the building, which was guarded by masked men armed with pistols and rifles."
" 1 of 2. Lebanese army soldiers ride on their military vehicles after being deployed to tighten security after days of clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in the northern port city of Tripoli October 28, 2013. Tripoli, a city that, like much of Lebanon, is divided along sectarian lines, is only 30 miles from the Syrian border and its majority Sunni Muslims, who back the Syrian rebels, have often clashed with the minority from Assad's Alawite sect. The two dead were from the Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbaneh, where gunmen clashed with the Lebanese army, which has taken on both sides in the fighting. A soldier and twelve people from the area were wounded, security and medical sources said. In the nearby Alawite neighborhood of Jebel Mohsen, which the army entered on Sunday as part of an increased presence throughout the city, another resident was wounded, the sources said. Lebanon's population is deeply divided over the Syrian war, with Shi'ite Islamist guerrilla and political movement Hezbollah and its allies supporting Assad and the country's Sunni-led opposition bloc, March 14, backing the revolt. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called on Monday for the army to take full control of Tripoli, as government officials discussed a security plan for the restive city. ""This is the only solution: to summon the Lebanese army and the security forces and to cooperate with them,"" Nasrallah said in a televised speech in which he suggested that the alternative was allowing al Qaeda-linked Syrian rebel militia to operate in the city. Nasrallah has blamed such factions for attacks on his Iranian-backed group's Beirut base and other Shi'ite areas in Lebanon. Members of Tripoli's Sunni Muslim and Alawite sects have clashed on-and-off for decades and the Syrian conflict has worsened the tensions, with each side accusing the other of using the city as a base for sending fighters and weapons in and out of Syria. In August, two car bombs at Sunni mosques in Tripoli killed 42 people, and wounded hundreds."
" After more than a decade of battle and the loss of 40 Australian soldiers, Mr Abbott arrived at Tarin Kowt under unprecedented security for a ""recognition ceremony"" to lower the flag on the war. The Prime Minister told a large crowd of Australian and coalition forces the war was ending, ""not with victory, not with defeat, but with, we hope, an Afghanistan that is better for our presence here"". ""Our armed forces and our officials have done their duty. That duty never ends, although our duty here has,'' Mr Abbott said. The Prime Minister and officers from four countries laid wreaths at the base memorial wall, carrying the names of 114 fallen soldiers, including the Diggers who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Governor of Oruzgan Province Amir Mohammad Akhunzada thanked Australia and other countries involved in the province from the bottom of his heart. ""I hope that friendly countries will continue their help through the central Government in order to keep Afghanistan stable and self-sufficient,"" Mr Amir said. He said the enemies of Afghanistan should understand that their ideas of regaining power are ""delusionary and mad.'' Following a secret dash from Sydney to the Middle East, Mr Abbott arrived at Camp Holland for his first visit as Prime Minister, accompanied by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, Defence Minister David Johnston and Defence Chief General David Hurley. Mr Shorten said this was his first overseas trip as Opposition Leader. ""You make us proud to be Australian. This is an uncertain place,"" Mr Shorten said."
" Violence has risen in Afghanistan this year as most foreign combat troops prepare to leave by the end of 2014. ""They were going to attend a wedding party when their minibus was hit by a roadside bomb... which killed 18 mostly females, including children,"" said the governor's spokesman, Shafiq Nang Safai. The Taliban did not immediately claim responsibility, although it usually denies having a hand in attacks that kill civilians. The local government said, however, it believed the insurgency was to blame. Improvised explosive devices, like the latest bomb that struck the wedding party, are the single biggest killer in the Afghan conflict, causing over a third of civilian casualties in the first six months of the year, according to a U.N. report. Although roadside bombs kill civilians almost daily in Afghanistan, Sunday's death toll was unusually high."
" Commuters are being warned of travel disruption on Monday as a storm bringing severe gale-force winds starts moving across England and Wales. Train companies have cancelled early-morning services, and flights into London have been reduced. Gusts of up to 80mph (130km/h) are predicted as the weather hits the South West then moves north and eastwards and there are fears of flooding and damage. The prime minister has chaired talks about plans to protect the public. Meanwhile the search for a missing 14-year-old boy who was swept away by the sea in East Sussex has been stood down. Robin Gisby, network operations managing director for Network Rail, said commuters should expect considerable disruption. ""This will impact up to Birmingham and up to Nottingham and the Midlands. If we get through this in the morning, restore the service during the afternoon and are able to start up a good service on Tuesday morning, in the circumstances I'll be pretty pleased,"" he said. In a conference call, joined by staff from organisations including the Met Office and the environment and highways agencies, David Cameron heard the storm could have a ""widespread impact"", his spokesman said. But he was told there were plans in place to minimise the effect on public services such as schools, the NHS, transport and power supplies. Continue reading the main story BBC weather forecaster Michael Fish was left famously red-faced when, on the eve of the Great Storm of 1987, he assured the British public there would be no ""hurricane"". Though he failed to predict a ferocious storm was about to turn north and hit the UK, he was correct on the hurricane point. Britain cannot experience hurricanes - the word is used for tropical cyclones when they form in the Atlantic and north-east Pacific. These are low pressure systems which develop over tropical or sub-tropical waters - not the cold waters around Britain - which become ""cyclones"" once wind speeds reach 74mph (119km/h). If a hurricane did head for Britain it would be reclassified as an ""extra tropical storm"" before arriving. Such storms can be powerful - but even if the winds exceeded 74mph it would not be called a hurricane. In any case the storm currently expected to hit the UK is no such thing. Far from forming over warm waters, it is expected to form close to the coast before hitting the South West and heading across the country."
" Georgia is voting in presidential elections that will bring to an end a decade in power for pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili. The frontrunner among the 23 candidates is a close ally of Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, Mr Saakashvili's bitter rival. Following the polls, constitutional amendments will significantly reduce presidential powers. Mr Saakashvili is barred from standing as he has already served two terms. Mr Ivanishvili's win in parliamentary elections last year ushered in the former Soviet republic's first legal transfer of power. The billionaire businessman also intends to resign within weeks of the vote, saying he has achieved his aims. He has called Sunday's vote Georgia's ""first European-style election"". Polling stations are open from 08:00 local time (04:00 GMT) until 20:00. Final results must be published no later than 16 November. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, a run-off between the two top-placed candidates must be held two weeks after the results of the first round are published. Opinion polls suggest a win for philosopher and former Education Minister Giorgi Margvelashvili, a member of Mr Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition."
" Two Kenyan soldiers have been sacked and jailed for looting during last month's attack on the Westgate shopping centre, the army chief has said. Julius Karangi told reporters that a third soldier was under investigation. However, he denied there had been ""widespread looting"" and said there had been an attempt by the media to paint the soldiers as ""unprofessional"". Somali Islamist group al-Shabab says it was behind the attack, which killed 67 people over four days. CCTV footage leaked to local media seems to show soldiers helping themselves to goods in a supermarket in Westgate during the siege. Gen Karangi has previously said that soldiers had only taken water because they were thirsty but on Tuesday, he said two soldiers had been sacked after being found with items such mobile phones and cameras stolen from the shopping centre. Army spokesman Col Cyrus Oguna said a local commander had given the soldiers the go-ahead to take snacks from the supermarket. Gen Karangi added: ""There might have been poor judgement on the part of the commander, which is an issue we are dealing with."" Several shop-owners have said that their premises were looted during the siege. Speaking at the same briefing Gen Karangi, Police Criminal Investigation Department head Ndegwa Muhoro said a phone call had been made to Norway during the siege."
" At least 13 people were killed and thousands of homes left without power in the worst storm to hit northern Europe in a decade. Hurricane-force winds and heavy rain brought down trees and powerlines, causing severe travel disruption with trains, flights and ferries being cancelled and major roads closed. A 17-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell onto a caravan in Kent, while a man was crushed to death when a tree fell onto a car in north London. A man and a woman died in west London when a tree fell onto a house, causing a suspected gas explosion and three properties to collapse Six people were killed in Germany - four by trees falling onto cars and a fisherman and a sailor were killed in separate incidents at sea, the BBC reported. A woman was swept out to sea in northern France, and a tree crushed a woman near a canal in Amsterdam. The last comparable UK storm was in 2002, a Met Office spokesman said. Gusts of up to 160 kilometres per hour were recorded as the storm lashed southern England and Wales on Sunday night (local time), and into the rush hour, before hitting the continent. In the UK, power supplies to up to 600,000 homes were affected, although many were quickly reconnected. A crane smashed into the Cabinet Office, a ministry in central London, forcing deputy prime minister Nick Clegg to cancel a news conference."
" Thousands of Syrian civilians have finally been allowed to leave the besieged Damascus suburb of Moadamiya. The BBC's Lyse Doucet, who was at the scene, describes a tide of desperate people leaving the area, which has been closed off since March. Supplies in Moadamiya had been running desperately short, and residents had pleaded to be saved from starvation. The exodus of civilians has been made possible by an apparent relaxation of a blockade by government forces. The Syrian army had previously said that rebel-held areas of Damascus such as Moadamiya could surrender or starve. At least three of Damascus's suburbs - Yarmouk, Eastern Ghouta and Moadamiya - have been besieged by government forces for several months. Continue reading the main story A tide of people fled Moadamiya today - some on stretchers, some crying, all showing the severe strain of a life under siege. ""We didn't see a piece of bread for nine months,"" one woman told me. ""We were eating leaves and grass."" A little girl in a pink dress showed me her trembling hands. ""We are all sick,"" she said, as she and her little sister clutched pieces of bread distributed by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society. Some 20 buses were waiting at the entrance to Moadamiya to take residents to a government shelter. But men, young and old, were kept in a separate queue. They will now be questioned about what side they are on, and what was their involvement in the fight. The situation has become so desperate that earlier this month Muslim clerics issued a religious ruling allowing people to eat cats, dogs and donkeys just to survive. Those animals are usually considered unfit for human consumption in Islam. For months, the UN and other aid agencies have been calling for urgent help, fearing the worst for the people of Moadamiya."
" Waves crash onto the cliffs surrounding Porthleven, Cornwall, southwest England, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013. A severe storm hit the southern half of Britain later Sunday, bringing heavy rains and gusts of 60 to 80 miles per hour with the potential to cause widespread and severe disruption from falling trees, power cuts and flooding. Ben Birchal,AP Photo/PA LONDON Driving rains and high winds lashed the U.K. on Sunday evening, as officials warned that the storm forecasters are calling one of the worst in years will cause widespread disruptions for early morning commuters. Officials said a 14-year-old boy is feared dead after being swept out to sea while apparently playing in the surf in southern England. Coastguard and police rescuers searched late Sunday for the boy in high seas with poor visibility, but after several hours the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said it had turned into a search and recovery operation. Sussex Police urged people to stay clear of the seashore until the storm -- dubbed St. Jude and #Stormageddon on social networks -- abates. With winds expected to pick up through the night and into the early hours of Monday, railways and airports canceled many services pre-emptively amid warnings over treacherous road conditions and the risks of debris from falling trees and flooding. Prime Minister David Cameron told government agencies to ensure that contingency plans were in place for transportation, schools and power supplies during the storm, which could have gusts stronger than 80 mph - akin to those in hurricanes. Britain does not get hurricanes due to its geographic location. A regular National Football League game in London between the San Francisco 49ers and Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium on Sunday evening went on as planned, but elsewhere contingency planning and cancellations were put into effect. Heathrow Airport canceled at least 60 flights ahead of the storm's arrival in full force, warning travelers to be prepared for disruptions. Rail networks canceled many trains preemptively up through Monday morning, citing the high risk of trees and other debris expected to fall on train lines. Eurostar said it would not be able to run any cross-Channel rail services until 7 a.m. on Monday to allow for train lines to be inspected."
" U.S. drone kills seven militants in Pakistan, official says (DPA) Lieberman to reveal Yisrael Beiteinu list on Monday, vows to get 16 Knesset seats (Haaretz) Schoolbus catches fire near Jerusalem suburb of Pisgat Ze'ev; no injuries (Haaretz) Two men reach top of Yosemite's El Capitan in historic climb (AP) Republican 2016 convention to take place July 18-21 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio (AP)"
" 1 of 3. Afghan National Army soldiers keep watch near the site of a gunfight on the outskirts of Kabul October 26, 2013. So-called ""insider attacks"" are severely straining ties between the NATO-led alliance and the Kabul authorities and further undermine waning support for the war in the West. They have become one of the Taliban insurgents' most effective weapons against the coalition. ""There was an argument between an Afghan and foreign soldier inside a military base... where they opened fire on each other. An investigation is ongoing,"" defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said. The soldier killed was Afghan, a spokesman for the NATO-led force said. A number of others were reported to have been injured. Insider attacks have been on the rise in recent months, with at least five reported since Sept 21, compared to 11 incidents since the start of the year. A flurry of attacks last year prompted the coalition to briefly suspend joint military operations, a cornerstone of its mission, and adopt measures limiting interaction between troops. ""If it gets worse it'll make the coalition plan for post-2014 come apart pretty quick,"" said an army strategist working on those plans. Most foreign combat troops are due to leave by the end of next year, but a small mission may remain in Afghanistan to continue supporting its newly-formed military and police forces. Afghanistan and the United States have not yet agreed on several issues in a bilateral security pact and Washington has threatened to pull out its troops next year unless differences are ironed out soon."
" Poland's president and first lady lie in state Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The bodies of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and First Lady Maria Kaczynska are now lying in state in the capital, Warsaw. Maria Kaczynska's body arrived earlier from Moscow amid emotional scenes after Saturday's plane crash in Russia that killed the couple and 94 others. Parliament has held a special session to honour those killed in the disaster. The first couple are to be buried on Sunday, a day after a memorial service for the victims in the Polish capital. US President Barack Obama has said he will attend the funeral on Sunday. A guard of honour stood to attention in the rain at Warsaw airport as the body of the first lady arrived on a military plane. President Kaczynski's remains were repatriated on Sunday. After a brief religious ceremony, mourners took turns to kneel at Maria Kaczynska's casket and pay their respects as it stood on the tarmac. Warsaw's neo-classical white presidential palace has become the focal point of national mourning in Poland. Crowds have gathered outside the building every day since Saturday's crash to light candles and lay flowers. Flickering flames in red or yellow glass pots cover the road and pavement in front of the palace. There's so many that street cleaners have to remove large swathes of them every morning leaving streaks of dried candle wax across the pavement flags. Poles are getting on with their daily working lives now, but the people of Warsaw are still taking time in their busy days to make their way in their thousands to the palace to pay their respects. The streets around the palace are thronged with families with pushchairs, senior citizens and teachers leading schoolchildren in single file. Some, like 26-year-old teacher Karolina Czurak, made a special 320-mile round-trip from her home in Bialystok, in north-east Poland, just to spend a few minutes outside the palace. They included the late first couple's only child, daughter Marta, and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, identical twin of the late president. Maria Kaczynska's coffin, draped with Poland's white-and-red flag, was then driven through the streets of Warsaw to the presidential palace. Thousands of Poles lined the 10km (6 mile) route to the city centre, covering the hearse with flowers, then took turns to file past the coffins. The first couple will be laid to rest on Sunday at Wawel Castle in the southern city of Krakow, according to Poland's PAP news agency. A special session of both chambers of parliament was held on Tuesday to pay tribute to those who died in the disaster. An investigation is ongoing into the crash; the plane clipped tree-tops as it tried to land in fog at a former air base north of Smolensk city on Saturday morning. Russian officials say the pilots of the Soviet-built Tu-154 airliner had ignored weather warnings and repeatedly tried to land. Polish prosecutors have stressed there is no evidence the crew were pressured by those onboard to ignore the advice. The president and his party of senior Polish military and political officials had been due to attend a memorial for the Polish victims of a World War II massacre by Soviet secret police at Katyn, near Smolensk. Relatives are in the Russian capital helping forensic scientists identify the bodies. Family members are being supported by Polish and Russian psychologists. Forty-five of the victims have been identified, the Russian health minister said on Tuesday, reports AFP news agency. Some of the bodies are so badly disfigured that DNA evidence will be needed. President Kaczynski's body was identified on Saturday in Smolensk by brother Jaroslaw, who is a former prime minister. Poland is in the middle of seven days of mourning over the tragedy. President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have devoted much time to dealing with the aftermath of the crash. The Russian president is expected to be among leaders attending Sunday's state funeral for Mr Kaczynski, who was an outspoken nationalist known for his distrust of Russia. Moscow's handling of the tragedy has been widely appreciated in Poland, though others suggest the thaw in relations may not last, the BBC's Duncan Kennedy reports from Warsaw. Meanwhile, Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski said he would announce on Wednesday the date of the country's presidential election, expected in May or June, reports Reuters news agency. Mr Komorowski, who is parliamentary speaker, had been expected to run against the late president. Opinion polls before the crash indicated Mr Komorowski, the official candidate of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's governing Civic Platform Party, would have comfortably beat Lech Kaczynski, who had become increasingly unpopular. There is now speculation that Jaroslaw Kaczynski may step in to represent the Law and Justice party. Analysts say he may benefit from an outpouring of public sympathy following his brother's death."
" The names of the New Zealand soldiers killed in Afghanistan overnight have been released during a press conference this morning at the Beehive. The trio have been named as Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker (26), Private Richard Harris (21) and Corporal Luke Tamatea (31). They deployed with the NZ Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamyan, Afghanistan in April 2012. All three were from 2nd/1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (2/1 RNZIR) based in Burnham. The group were travelling in the last vehicle in a convoy that was hit by an improvised explosive device in Bamiyan about 9.20pm local time. Corporal Tamatea joined the army in February 2000. He had previously been deployed to Timor-Leste, the Solomon Islands and Sumatra. His first deployment to Afghanistan was in 2007. Lance Corporal Baker joined the army as a medic and was posted to Burnham Regional Support Company in April 2007. She received a Chief of Army Commendation in 2011 for professionalism and courage in June 2008. She is the first female New Zealand soldier to be killed in action since troops were sent to the country, and the first woman to be in killed in conflict since nurse Lesley Estelle Cowper of the New Zealand Surgical Team was killed in Vietnam in 1966. Private Harris joined the NZ Army in February 2009. He had previously deployed to Timor-Leste in 2009/2010."
" Two masked attackers have opened fire in a mosque in Russia's troubled North Caucasus region of Dagestan, wounding eight people, local officials say. Most of the injured in the town of Khasavyurt suffered gunshots to the chest and stomach. Hours later, an explosive device went off in the same mosque, reportedly injuring more people. The attack comes as Russia's Muslims are preparing to celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. About 70 worshippers were in the mosque when the gunmen opened fire on Saturday evening. Some reports say the attackers planted two explosive devices, one of which failed to go off. Experts are now trying to defuse the second device. Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim, multi-ethnic republic which borders Chechnya, has seen some of the worst militant violence in the North Caucasus in recent years."
" More than a decade after federal forces toppled a separatist government in a war in Chechnya, Russia is still struggling to contain an Islamic insurgency that has spread to other southern provinces in its mainly Muslim Caucasus mountains region. Militants fighting to carve an Islamic state from the North Caucasus attack officials and law enforcement personnel almost daily but have also increasingly targeted mainstream Muslim leaders backed by the authorities. The seven policemen were killed and 11 wounded when a suicide bomber attacked a wake being held on Sunday for a fellow officer shot a day earlier in the Malgobek district in the north of Ingushetia, Russian news agencies reported. Witnesses told Reuters a man wearing camouflage clothing detonated a suicide belt after walking up to the group of officers, who had just arrived at the funeral. A pool of blood lay in the street outside the home in the village of Sagopshi. ""A suicide bomber went into the yard of a private home, where police officers had come to offer condolences to their late colleague, and activated a bomb device attached to a belt,"" a spokesman for the local investigators, Zurab Geroyev, told the Interfax news agency. The bombing came hours after two masked gunmen opened fire in a mosque in the nearby Dagestan region, killing one Muslim worshipper and wounding eight who were celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan. A man who was injured in the attack said some 50 people were gathered in the mosque at the time. ""We were sitting, just finished our prayer and wanted to break our fast,"" said Rukhit Samedov, wearing a blood-stained T-shirt and cradling his bandaged hand. ""People just sat down, started eating, and the door opened and there was shooting from automatic guns,"" he told Reuters. ""They wore masks and some sort of camouflage."" Law enforcement officers sent in a robotic device to defuse bombs left by the attackers at the mosque in the city of Khasavyurt."
" Boonrawd Somtat said the emergency powers would be lifted in 41 of the country's 76 provinces, as suggested by coup leader Sonthi Boonyaratglin. Martial law would remain in areas still considered unstable, mostly along the borders, Mr Boonrawd added. Martial law has been in place since the coup on 19 September. The decision now goes to King Bhumibol Adulyadej for his final approval. Mr Boonrawd told reporters that martial law would remain in 35 provinces ""due to both domestic and foreign security concerns, as well as concerns about drug smuggling and illegal immigration"". ""Martial law will remain in some provinces on the borders and some areas in the interior of the country,"" he added. He said the emergency powers would be lifted in Bangkok and nearby provinces ""because we care about the international community and tourism"". But they will remain in Chiang Mai and two other towns in northern Thailand, where support for ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is strongest. Coup leader and army commander General Sonthi Boonyaratglin recommended on Monday that martial law should be lifted in parts of the country. ""Everybody wants to see peace and order in our country and the lifting of martial law will have a positive political and psychological impact,"" he said."
" A French army spokesman said troops had reacted in self defence when they came under rebel fire near Birao's airport. Earlier this month, France promised to provide logistics and intelligence to CAR in their struggle against rebels who have recently seized several towns. The UN says thousands of people have fled fighting in the region. The CAR government says it has retaken Birao, 800km (500 miles) north-east of the capital, Bangui, but fighting is reported to be continuing. Birao is near eastern Chad and Sudan's western Darfur region and has been plagued by violence and insecurity in recent years. The government says the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) rebels are operating from Darfur with the support of the Sudanese authorities. French armed forces spokesman Christophe Prazuck said a French military transport plane flew CAR troops to Birao to retake the airport on Monday. ""During this operation, the troops were attacked and retaliated. So French troops shot in self defence at rebels who were attacking them,"" Reuters news agency reports him as saying. Rebel spokesman Diego Albator Yao has denied that rebels had lost control of the town and said French soldiers were occupying Birao airport. ""Our men are still there, but we don't need to attack the French because they are not interfering in our domestic problem,"" he told the BBC's Joseph Benamse by phone."
" Video: Putin promises full investigation into the cause of plane crash  Soldiers carry the coffin with Polish First Lady Maria Kaczynska during a ceremony at the airport in Warsaw, Tuesday, April 13, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)  WARSAW, April 13 (Xinhua) -- A plane carrying the body of Polish First Lady Maria Kaczynska, who was killed in an air crash in western Russia, landed in Warsaw on Tuesday morning. A brief ceremony was held at the airport, similar to that for the return of late President Lech Kaczynski's coffin on Sunday. The First Lady's coffin will be transported to the presidential palace to be placed next to that of her husband in a presidential chapel. Following a family ceremony, the couple's coffins will be placed in the Column Hall of the presidential palace for public viewing."
" Mamoun Darkazanli, 46, who was fighting extradition to Spain, was released from custody in Hamburg, where he had been in detention since last October. The court ruled the new European arrest warrant violated German law. The case was a test of the new warrant introduced last year to speed up the handover of terror suspects. Mr Darkazanli appears in a 1999 wedding video with two of the three 11 September 2001 suicide hijackers who had lived in Hamburg. Mr Darkazanli has not been charged in Germany, whose constitution prohibits the extradition of its own citizens. German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries said the ruling by the federal constitutional court was ""a blow for the government in its efforts and fight against terrorism"". After the 2001 attacks, the US froze the assets of Mr Darkazanli's Import-Export Company, saying it was a front for terrorism. He is among 41 suspects, including Osama Bin Laden, indicted by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon. Mr Darkazanli's lawyers argued that handing him over under the European arrest warrant would be against the German constitution. He has always denied any involvement in terrorism, saying he only knew the 9/11 hijackers by sight. A spokesman for the European Commission voiced regret that Germany had failed to implement the arrest warrant and urged it to bring its national legislation into line with EU policy."
" * More than 130 people killed on Sunday - activist group BEIRUT, Aug 20 (Reuters) - United Nations military observers left Damascus on Monday after a four-month mission in which they became helpless spectators of Syria's spiralling conflict, instead of monitoring a ceasefire between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels. Seven U.N. cars were seen leaving a Damascus hotel on Monday morning, carrying some of the last members of a mission which at its height deployed 300 observers across the country. The unarmed monitors suspended operations in June after coming under fire and most have already left the country, leaving a small 'liaison office' in Damascus in case a chance for a political settlement to the bloodshed ever emerges. ""Our mission failed because the two sides did not abide by their commitments,"" one uniformed U.N. observer, who declined to be named, said at the Damascus hotel. Battling a 17-month-old uprising against his family's 42-year rule, Assad has used fighter jets and helicopter gunships to pound rebel strongholds. Insurgents have stepped up their attacks, hitting tanks, military convoys and security buildings. The mandate of the monitoring mission, known as UNSMIS, expired on Sunday night after diplomats at the United Nations said conditions for continuing operations had not been met. The last monitors are expected to be out of the country by Friday. After a brief lull, violence intensified during the monitors' presence in Syria and at least 9,000 people have been killed since they arrived to oversee a ceasefire declared on April 12 by former U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan. The truce never took hold. At least 18,000 people have now been killed in Syria since the anti-Assad revolt began. At least 170,000 people have fled the country, according to the United Nations, and 2.5 million need aid inside Syria. Rebels seized control of districts in Damascus and Aleppo last month, as well as several border crossings and swathes of northern territory, before Assad's forces launched counter-offensives in the country's two main cities."
" Julian Assange has urged the US to end its ""witch-hunt"" against Wikileaks, in his first public statement since entering Ecuador's London embassy. He also called for the release of Bradley Manning, who is awaiting trial in the US accused of leaking classified documents to the Wikileaks site. Mr Assange spoke from a balcony at the embassy and thanked Ecuador's president, who has granted him asylum. He faces extradition to Sweden over sexual assault claims, which he denies. The 41-year-old said the United States must also stop its ""war on whistleblowers"". He added: ""The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters. ""The United States must pledge before the world that it will not pursue journalists for shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful. Mr Assange also said the United States was facing a choice between re-affirming the ""revolutionary values it was founded on"" or ""dragging us all into a dangerous and oppressive world in which journalists fall silent under the fear of prosecution and citizens must whisper in the dark"". Continue reading the main story The show for today is over, but the stand-off at the Ecuadorean embassy and the diplomatic row over Julian Assange's fate are not. Britain says it won't grant the Wikileaks' leader safe passage so he can go to Ecuador, but it has had to back away from a warning it made last week that it could find a legal basis to enter the embassy and arrest Mr Assange. That deeply riled not only Ecuador, but other countries in South America. It also provoked doubts about its legality. Given the potential international ramifications, it's highly unlikely British police will storm into the ground-floor mission. But neither is it likely that Britain or Sweden will give the guarantees that Ecuador and Mr Assange want - that he won't face onward extradition to the US. So for now the stalemate continues. Police are posted at both the front and back of the Ecuadorean embassy to ensure Julian Assange doesn't escape - and Britain is faced with a costly security operation. The US is carrying out an investigation into Wikileaks, which has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables, embarrassing several governments and international businesses."
" Mr Assange, who is wanted in Sweden for questioning on sexual assault allegations, entered the Ecuadorian embassy seeking asylum on 19 June and has been inside for the last two months. Last week it was announced he had been granted asylum, sparking a diplomatic row between Ecuador, Sweden and the British government, which insists it is legally obliged to hand Mr Assange over to the Swedish authorities. Mr Assange appeared on the balcony of the building in London's exclusive Knightsbridge. If he were to step outside the building, which is guarded by a heavy police presence, he would face immediate arrest. Mr Assange denies the allegations and fears being transferred on to America if he travels to Sweden to contest them. He enraged the US government in 2010 when his WikiLeaks website published tranches of secret US diplomatic cables. He told the waiting crowd the US had to decide whether it stayed true to its founding principles or creates a ""dangerous and oppressive world"" for journalists. He added: ""I ask President Obama to do the right thing. The United States must renounce its witch hunt against WikiLeaks. The United States must dissolve its FBI investigation. The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters. ""The United States administration's war on whistleblowers must end."" Mr Assange called for the release of whistleblowers including Bradley Manning, a US army intelligence analyst suspected of leaking the information, who is being held at an American military base and faces up to 52 years in jail. The WikiLeaks founder thanked Ecuador's President Rafael Correa for granting him asylum, a move backed by other Latin American states this week. President Correa has justified granting asylum by saying Ecuador wanted ""to guarantee that he is not extradited to a third country, which could put his life in danger""."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Nearly 600 people have died and thousands been injured after a magnitude 6.9 quake hit western China's Qinghai province, officials say. The powerful tremor struck remote Yushu county, 800km (500 miles) south-west of the provincial capital Xining, at 0749 (2349 GMT), at a shallow depth of 10km. Most of the buildings in the worst-hit town of Jiegu were wrecked, and landslides have cut off roads. Police said hundreds of survivors had already been pulled from the rubble. As survivors in the mountainous region passed the night in freezing temperatures, local rescue officials said the death toll had risen to 589, Chinese state media reported. The main task now is to get warm clothing, blankets and medical supplies to the people who are out in the open in temperatures that will plunge to below freezing in this high-altitude region. There is an airport near Jiegu where some planes have landed but it is very small. Other rescuers are flying in to Xining about 800km away and taking the very long road down to Jiegu. It is going to take them about 12 hours, perhaps more. It is going to be some time before the supplies that are needed - the heavy-lifting equipment, medical supplies, tents and clothing - get to where they are needed. State broadcaster CCTV earlier reported that at least 10,000 people were injured. A local official in Jiegu told the BBC that almost all of the buildings in the town had been destroyed. ""The death toll will definitely go up,"" he said. By nightfall on Wednesday, the local airport was operating with emergency power and receiving flights bringing rescue workers with sniffer dogs. Crews were working on clearing the road to the airport, which was blocked by landslides. About 5,000 specialist quake rescuers have been dispatched from neighbouring provinces plus tents, clothing and blankets. China's Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu has gone to Yushu county to oversee the rescue effort. Many people have fled to the surrounding mountains, amid fears that a nearby dam could burst in the string of aftershocks hitting the area. State media reported that officials were trying to drain a reservoir after a crack appeared in the dam. Most of the damage has occurred to houses built of wood and mud, but some larger concrete buildings have been badly damaged as well. A spokesman for the local government, Zhuo Huaxia, told China's state news agency Xinhua: ""The streets in Jiegu are thronged with panic - injured people, with many bleeding in the head. ""Many students are buried under the debris due to building collapse at a vocational school. ""I can see injured people everywhere. The biggest problem now is that we lack tents, we lack medical equipment, medicine and medical workers."" Another local official told CCTV that contact had been made with 40-50 people buried alive under the rubble of a government building. Karsum Nyima, the deputy head of news for Yushu TV, told CCTV that houses had gone down ""in a flash"". He said: ""It was a terrible earthquake. In a small park, there is a Buddhist tower and the top of the tower fell off. ""Everybody is out on the streets, standing in front of their houses, trying to find their family members."" One man living in a town near Jiegu told the BBC the damage was extensive. ""As far as I can see, not many buildings have been left standing... Because the houses are flattened, it is very difficult to dig out survivors or the dead."" Survivors are struggling to stay warm in the mountainous region of about 4,000m (13,000 feet) elevation where temperatures drop below 0C (32F) overnight. Power and water have been cut off and rain is forecast. Feb 2010: Magnitude 8.8 quake in central Chile kills at least 450 Jan 2010: About 230,000 die in magnitude 7.0 tremor in Haiti May 2008: 87,000 die in 7.8 scale tremor in Sichuan province, China In 2008, a huge quake struck in neighbouring Sichuan province, about 800km from Yushu, which left 87,000 people dead or missing and five million homeless. The dead included many schoolchildren, prompting a storm of controversy over alleged shoddy construction of school buildings. After the Sichuan quake, the disaster response was widely praised, but the BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing says the remoteness of Yushu means this rescue effort will pose very different challenges. Although the high-altitude region is prone to earthquakes, officials from the US Geological Survey said this was the strongest tremor within 100km of the area since 1976. The Yushu region, home to 250,000, mostly ethnic Tibetans, is dotted with coal, tin, lead and copper mines. The region is roughly half-way between Xining and Lhasa, about 400km from the Qinghai-Tibet railway line."
" At least 400 people have been killed and more have been injured or trapped in rubble after a series of earthquakes in north-west China. Officials said more than 10,000 people were injured and six quakes hit Yushu county, Qinghai province. Army trucks have been sent to the remote area, 480 miles away from the provincial capital, Xining, to aid rescue and relief efforts. Witnesses reported the collapse of many brick and wood buildings, with people scrabbling through the debris to free those trapped inside. Half the buildings at the Yushu vocational school are said to have collapsed. Xie Caishu, Qinghai armed police corps captain, told state media more than 600 rescuers from the paramilitary police had arrived in the country, but that there was a shortage of disaster relief gear and equipment. ""The need of relief equipment far exceeds supply, including tents, temporary housing, mobile kitchens, power generators. We have reported it to higher levels, who guarantee that relief supplies will be airlifted to Yushu in hours,"" Xie said. Power and water supplies have been cut although some early reports suggested larger buildings had stood firm. The population is relatively scattered, making it hard to assess damage. The China Earthquake Networks Centre put the biggest shock at magnitude 7.1, although the US Geological Survey put it at 6.9. The Haiti quake which killed more than 200,000 and left 1m homeless in January was magnitude 7. The China Earthquake Administration said phone lines were down, hindering rescue efforts, while workers were racing to release water from a cracked reservoir. In Jiegu, a township near the epicentre, more than 85% of houses collapsed, while large cracks appeared on buildings still standing, the official Xinhua News Agency cited Zhuohuaxia, a local publicity official, as saying. ""The streets in Jiegu are thronged with panic and full of injured people, with many of them bleeding from their injuries,"" he said. One local official was quoted by the BBC saying: ""We have nothing now. The loss is huge."" The provincial government and Red Cross are sending supplies of tents, warm clothing and blankets amid fears that thousands have been left without shelter in near-freezing temperatures."
" WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange urged President Barack Obama to end a so-called ""witch hunt"" against his secret-spilling website, appearing in public Sunday for the first time since he took refuge two months ago inside Ecuador's Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden on sex crimes allegations. The 41-year-old Australian, who has fought for two years against efforts to send him to Sweden for questioning over alleged sexual misconduct against two women, addressed several hundred supporters and reporters as he spoke from the small balcony of Ecuador's mission, watched by dozens of British police. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa on Thursday granted Assange asylum and he remains out of reach of British authorities while he is inside the country's embassy. Britain insists that if he steps outside, he will be detained and sent to Sweden, as by law it must meet the obligations of a European arrest warrant. Praising Correa, Assange said ""a courageous Latin American nation took a stand for justice,"" in offering him sanctuary, but did not refer to the Swedish allegations against him. Instead, he attempted to shift attention to what he claims are preparations in the U.S. to punish him for the publication by WikiLeaks of a trove of American diplomatic and military secrets -- including 250,000 U.S. Embassy cables that highlight sometimes embarrassing backroom dealings. Assange and his supporters claim the Swedish case is merely the opening gambit in a Washington-orchestrated plot to make him stand trial in the U.S. -- something disputed by both Swedish authorities and the women involved. ""I ask President Obama to do the right thing. The United States must renounce its witch hunt against WikiLeaks,"" Assange said, speaking from a first-floor balcony decorated with an Ecuadorean flag, standing just yards (meters) away from British police officers. ""The United States must dissolve its FBI investigation. The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters,"" he said, wearing a formal blue shirt and red tie. In purportedly targeting WikLeaks, the U.S. risks ""dragging us all into a dark, repressive world in which journalists live under fear of prosecution,"" Assange said. The White House declined comment Sunday, but on Saturday it said Assange's fate is an issue for Sweden, Britain and Ecuador to resolve. A Virginia grand jury is studying evidence that might link Assange to Pfc. Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier who has been charged with aiding the enemy by passing the secret files to WikiLeaks and is awaiting trial. No action against Assange has yet been taken."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. At least 10 Japanese nationalist activists have landed on a group of disputed islands, amid an escalating territorial row with China. The activists swam ashore after a flotilla carrying about 150 people reached Japan's controlled Senkaku islands, called Diaoyu in China. Japan's coast guard is now questioning the activists, who had earlier been denied permission to visit the islands."
" Manama: Upbeat by the high voter turnout, opposition leaders yesterday said they expect their coalition to score big in the parliamentary elections. They were divided on the possibility of winning a majority in the new Council of Representatives. In the key opposition stronghold areas like the Northern Region and some parts of Al Muharraq Island, voters came out in hundreds to vote. In the Jid Hafs area, where Ali Salman, the leader of Al Wefaq Islamic Society, the Shiite largest opposition group, is running, men and women lined up and waited, sometimes for 30 minutes to cast their votes. In Al Muharraq's fourth constituency, Al Wefaq's ally, Abdul Rahman Al Nuaimi, the veteran leader of Waad, a secular leftist group, was greeted by dozens of voters when he stepped out of the polling station. ""If things go as planned, we will break the 20 seat barrier,"" Salman told Gulf News inside the polling centre. ""Al Wefaq alone will win 17 seats,"" exactly the number of the group's candidates, he added confidently. Al Wefaq and Waad need a majority in the 40-seat house to be able to implement their programmes, which according to Salman, focus on constitutional changes and ""real development projects."" The constitutional issue was the major contention bone of contention over the past four years. King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa, who launched Bahrain's reforms five years ago also introduced a new constitution that gives the appointed Shura Council equal legislative powers. The opposition is seeking to change that article to give the elected Council of Representatives the exclusive powers of legislation. But Waad leader, Al Nuaimi was less optimistic. ""We are doing well so far. The coalition will definitely win significant number of seats. But I doubt we will be in majority,"" he told Gulf News."
" HELSINKI - The United Nations Security Council alone can authorize the use of force against Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday, warning against what he called imposing ""democracy by bombs."" Lavrov's warning against intervention comes as Syria's 17-month uprising against President Bashar Assad grinds on with no sign of a ceasefire and as the United States and others consider what further steps they can take to end the bloodshed. ""We find it appropriate to defend the UN Charter that states the use of force can be only be decided by the Security Council,"" Lavrov said in a speech in Helsinki, where he was meeting Finnish government leaders. ""Syria's situation is important and causing worry not only because of the bloodshed but also because the outcome of this drama will impact the way conflicts will be resolved; either following the UN Charter, or democracy by bombs, will win."" Russia has consistently defended Assad at the United Nations, blocking sanctions against him and ruling out the use of outside force to end the conflict. It has also supplied his government with arms, while complaining that Syrian rebels are receiving large amounts of Western-made arms.   Lavrov has said Moscow would not approve any political transition that was forced on Syria. UN military observers left Damascus on Monday after a four-month mission. At least 18,000 people have now been killed in Syria since the anti-Assad revolt began, and at least 170,000 people have fled the country, according to the United Nations. 'Syrian rebels getting lots of Western arms'"
" YUSHU, Qinghai, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in northwest China's Qinghai Province has risen to 617, rescuers said Thursday. The latest statistics show that 313 people were missing and 9,110 injured, 970 severely, said a spokesman with the rescue headquarters in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in southern Qinghai. Almost 2,000 soldiers, police officers and fire-fighters were carrying out search and rescue operation in the Gyegu Town, the seat of the Yushu prefecture government, the spokesman said. More rescuers were en route to the town that is close to the epicenter and home to 100,000 residents, he said. The quake struck the Yushu County in the Yushu prefecture at 7:49 a.m. Wednesday with a depth of about 33 km. The epicenter was calculated to be 33.1 north and 96.7 east, the China Earthquake Networks Center reported. A series of aftershocks have been reported so far, with the biggest being at 6.3 magnitude. The epicenter is at the Rima Village in the Shanglaxiu Township, a pasturing and sparsely-populated area about 50 km west of Gyegu and about 800 km away from the provincial capital Xining. Many people are still buried in the debris as more than 85 percent of houses in Gyegu, mostly made of mudbrick and wood, had collapsed. BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday urged all-out efforts to save lives and provide assistance to people affected by a 7.1-magnitude quake. Full story YUSHU, Qinghai, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Most of the survivors have to stay in the open area overnight after a 7.1-magnitude quake toppled houses, cut off power and first-aid materials supply in northwest China's Qinghai Province Wednesday while rescuers face difficulties in searching for the buried. Full story"
" BRASILIA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have postponed planned overseas visits because of a strong earthquake in northwestern China that has killed at least 760 people. Hu postponed visits to Venezuela and Chile after a scheduled summit of Brazil, Russia, India and China slated for Thursday and a state visit to Brazil. Before arriving in Brazil, Hu took part in the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on April 12-13. Premier Wen has postponed a scheduled visit to Brunei, Indonesia and Myanmar on April 22-25. The 7.1-magnitude earthquake that hit China's northwestern Qinghai Province on Wednesday has left at least 760 people dead, 243 missing and 11,477 others injured. About 100,000 people were left homeless. Hu held separate telephone talks with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, informing them of the situation in China's earthquake-hit region. The Chinese government has been organizing relief efforts in Qinghai and Hu told Pinera and Chavez he had to postpone visits to their countries in order to return home as soon as possible to participate in the relief work. China wishes to work with Chile to deepen political relations between the two countries, strengthen pragmatic cooperation and open a new phase of China-Chile all-round relations of cooperation and partnership, he added. President Hu also said that China attaches great importance to relations with Venezuela and hopes to enhance pragmatic cooperation in various fields and promote the relations of strategic partnership between the two countries to a new high. Pinera said he fully understands and supports Hu's decision to return home earlier, and expressed condolences and sympathy for the heavy casualties on behalf of his government and people."
" GAZA CITY (CNN) -- The Israeli air force unleashed airstrikes on three Hamas weapons labs late Friday, just hours after launching strikes that Palestinian sources said killed seven militants. The latest attacks were carried out in the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City and in the Palestinian refugee camp of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, the sources said. The Israel Defense Forces said the targets were laboratories used by Hamas to make Qassam rockets, mortars and other devices. Video showed a warehouse explode into flames and emergency crews and residents rushing to the scene. At least one person was shown being carried into a hospital. In recent days Palestinian militants have fired the crudely made Qassam rockets at Israel. A rocket struck a home just north of Gaza Thursday, killing an Israeli woman and wounding another. Earlier Friday, the Israeli military launched airstrikes at Hamas militants in Gaza and the West Bank. The Israeli army said its airstrike in the West Bank targeted a car carrying two Hamas militants in the village of Wadi Shifra near Nablus. Palestinian security sources reported three Hamas militants were killed. Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist organization, has been labeled by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization. The group's military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, has admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians as well as attacks against the Israeli military. In the Gaza incident, an Israeli airstrike on a van targeted four senior militants, who were known manufacturers of Qassam rockets and mortars, the Israeli army said. It said they were on their way to fire the weapons. Palestinian security sources reported four Hamas militants were killed in the explosion, including a nephew of Ismail Haniya, a Hamas leader in Gaza. The Israeli army did not confirm any deaths. The blast happened near a residence of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, but he wasn't there at the time, sources said. Shortly after the strikes, Palestinian militants in northern Gaza fired three Qassam rockets into southern Israel, slightly wounding two people, according to the army. The increased violence comes ahead of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She'll arrive in Israel next week with the aim of getting Israelis and Palestinians to follow through on preparations for the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank. Earlier this week, a Palestinian suicide bomber self-detonated in the Israeli town of Netanya, killing four Israeli women. That was followed by a deadly Palestinian rocket strike Thursday and retaliatory airstrikes by Israel. In other violence Friday, Palestinian security sources said one civilian was killed and more than a dozen people wounded in the second day of clashes between security forces and Hamas supporters. The escalating tension prompted Palestinian Interior and National Security Minister Nasr Yousef to declare a state of emergency in Gaza. Earlier this week, Israel closed access to Gaza settlements by nonresidents ahead of Monday's planned march by activists to protest Sharon's disengagement plan. In shutting down access, the army closed Kissufim Crossing -- the only entrance to the main Gaza settlement block. (Full story) In a Thursday speech to Israeli police, Sharon called the Gaza pullout ""the most important thing to the state of Israel."" Israel has controlled the 138-square-mile area of Gaza since capturing it from Egypt during the 1967 Six-Day War. CNN's Talal Aburahma and Elise Labott contributed to this report. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more."
" Mr Abbas spoke as Gaza militants fired rockets at Israeli towns for a third day, at the end of a violent week. Last night Israeli troops raided at least three West Bank towns, seizing 26 suspected militants. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the region next week to urge an end to the new upsurge in violence. Ms Rice added the stop onto a planned trip to Africa after the breakdown of the ceasefire, agreed in February. Mr Abbas blamed Israel for effectively undermining the ceasefire, but warned Palestinian groups that he would not tolerate renewed infighting or new attacks against Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has promised a ""strong and harsh"" response to the return of attacks on Israelis. The fresh violence began with a series of Palestinian rocket attacks on an Israeli town, in which one woman died, and a suicide bombing that killed six Israelis - the first in four months. Overnight Israeli troops rounded up suspected members of the Palestinian militant movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Hebron, Nablus and Bethlehem. Later on Saturday, Israeli aircraft hit targets in Gaza, wounding two people. One Israeli missile hit a workshop in the east of the city and another was aimed at a storeroom near the sea."
" A historic peace deal ending 11 years of civil war between Maoist guerillas and the Nepalese Government was signed in Kathmandu early today. Maoist leader Prachanda, a 52-year-old teacher turned revolutionary, and Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala appeared together in public for the first time to formalise the deal to bring the Maoists into a unity government until a general election can be held next year. ""We are breaking a 238-year-old history of feudal rule today, and it also marks the end of 11 years of civil war,"" Prachanda, dressed in civilian clothes, told hundreds of politicians, diplomats and journalists gathered to witness the event. ""Through our own efforts, the people of Nepal are signing this peace treaty,"" he said, referring to the people's movement that forced the king to return Nepal to a democratic state in April. The future role of Nepal's previously autocratic king will be decided by a vote in the new Parliament after the general election. Mr Koirala said that, with the peace deal, killing and intimidation had stopped and politics of reconciliation had begun. ""I would like to thank Prachanda for finding a peaceful solution. Nepal has entered into a new era and it has opened the door for peace. Now we need to meet together in co-operation and understanding to make sure this agreement is fully implemented,"" the 85-year-old Prime Minister said. The event was broadcast live on Nepalese television and, on the streets of Kathmandu, small groups gathered with candles to celebrate the move to peace. More than 12,500 people are thought to have died since the Maoists declared their ""people's war"" in 1996. ""It's the end of the war and the end of the time when Nepalese were killing Nepalese,"" said Rupa Joshi, a middle-aged Kathmandu woman who gathered a group of friends, via SMS, to celebrate on the street near the convention centre where the documents were signed."
" It was the most devastating series of attacks in Iraq's capital in a single day since the US-led invasion in 2003. The bombings in Sadr City were followed by mortar attacks on Sunni areas. The Iraqi authorities have put Baghdad under curfew and closed the airport, and Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki went on TV to appeal for restraint amid the violence. ""We denounce sectarian practices that aim to destroy the unity of the nation,"" Mr Maliki said. Leaders of Iraq's Shia, Sunni and Kurdish communities also appealed for calm, while Iraq's most prominent Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, ""urged people not to react illegally and maintain self-restraint and calm,"" one of his officials said. In Washington, a White House spokeswoman said they condemned ""such acts of senseless violence that are clearly aimed at undermining the Iraqi people's hopes for a peaceful and stable Iraq."" UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett also condemned the ""barbaric"" attacks, saying that such actions ""show how little the terrorists have to offer the Iraqi people and the importance of building national reconciliation"". The blasts brought panic to the streets of Sadr City, a densely populated, largely Shia neighbourhood, as distraught residents searched for family and friends. Several car bombs, at least three of them believed to be suicide attacks, exploded minutes apart. Among the targets were a busy square, a food market and a street where people catch buses."
" The Islamists have repeatedly declared Jihad, or Holy War on Ethiopia, accusing it of backing their rivals in Somalia's interim government. ""This group represents a clear threat,"" Mr Meles said in Ethiopia's first prime minister's question time. Some fear a regional war, as Ethiopia's rival Eritrea is seen as pro-Islamist. The Union of Islamic Courts has denied claims by Ethiopia and the Somali government that it has links to al-Qaeda. Some Islamist leaders want Somalia to take control of Somali-speaking areas of Ethiopia and Kenya. Mr Meles said he did not believe the peaceful path of negotiations with the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) was completely exhausted but he said they could not close their eyes or look the other way when the country was being attacked. Opposition politicians said a resolution put forward by the ruling party calling on the house to back whatever moves the government thought necessary amounted to a declaration of war on Somalia. A UN report this month accused Ethiopia and Eritrea, among other countries, of breaking an international arms embargo by supplying arms to Somalia. The UIC further accuses Ethiopia of having thousands of troops backing government forces in Somalia. Mr Meles has denied these claims but admits to having hundreds of military trainers in Somalia."
" ISLAMABAD: Five security personnel were killed and several others injured when a suicide attacker blew up his explosives-laden vehicle after he was intercepted by security forces in Quetta city of southwest Pakistan today.Security personnel began chasing a vehicle after its driver refused to stop at a check post in Sharifabad area early this morning.The man then blew up the explosives-laden vehicle, killing himself and five security personnel who were chasing the car, police officials said.Several persons were injured by the explosion. Witnesses said the powerful blast shook nearby buildings.Law enforcement agencies cordoned off the area and found three grenades and a pistol at the site of the blast.No group claimed responsibility for the attack."
" Suspected al-Qaeda militants have attacked the intelligence headquarters of Yemen's southern city of Aden killing 14 people, officials say. The militants attacked the building from two sides, firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons inside. The ""well-planned"" attack took place in Aden's coastal Tawahi neighbourhood. Al-Qaeda remains active in the area, after a security vacuum was created in a year of protests against former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Militants have seized large parts of the south and east of the country. A recent, two-month military offensive backed by the US drove them from their strongholds in towns in the southern Abyan province but many escaped into nearby mountains from where they continue to launch attacks. Among the dead in the Aden attack were at least 11 soldiers, many of whom were reported to be sleeping when hand grenades were thrown into their rooms. The militants launched the attack from both sides of the intelligence complex, situated next to a state television building. They then managed to escape. ""The operation seemed to have been well planned,"" a security source told Reuters, adding he believed the attackers belonged to al-Qaeda. A few weeks ago, suspected al-Qaeda militants carried out a suicide bombing that killed at least 45 people during a funeral in the city of Jaar."
" A top Taliban commander and his deputy have been killed in an air strike carried out by Nato in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance has said. ""Maulawi Nur Mohammad, and his deputy, Atiqullah were among the dozens of heavily armed insurgents killed in a precision air strike,"" Nato said. They were the senior commanders in the Chapa Dara district of Kunar province, on the border with Pakistan. The area is regularly shelled from the Pakistani side. Pakistanis and Afghans accuse each other of failing to act against militant attacks inside each other's territory. Senior officials in Kunar told the BBC the militants arrived in ""dozens of vehicles"" to burn houses of villagers and ""possibly execute people"". In its statement, Nato said that Afghan and coalition security forces had seen ""a large group of heavily armed insurgents engaging in insurgent activity"" before launching ""a precision air strike"". It said the troops had confirmed that ""the strike had not injured any civilians or damaged any civilian property"". The statement said ""Muhammad, also known as Turabi, was the senior Taliban leader for Chapa Dara district"". It gave no second name for Atiqullah, who was also known as Khalid. Taliban leaders, however, said 13 had been killed and 10 wounded."
" Israeli aircraft have carried out a strike near the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, a US official says. The official said the strike targeted Russian-made missiles intended for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Latakia is a stronghold of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, where his Alawite community is concentrated. This is believed to be sixth Israeli attack in Syria this year. Israel does not comment on specific operations. Israeli officials have repeatedly said it would act if it felt Syrian weapons, conventional or chemical, were being transferred to militant groups in the region, especially Hezbollah. Continue reading the main story Israeli air-raids on military targets inside Syria have become one of the strangest sub-plots of the civil war. This is thought to be the fifth or sixth such attack this year but it is Israeli policy not to offer any public comment on specific operations. Syria too - for all its decades of hostility towards Israel - hasn't offered any military response and has tended to say little or nothing about the operations. Israel has said publicly that it won't allow the Assad regime in Damascus to transfer powerful rockets and missiles to its allied Shia militia Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where they could threaten targets in Israel. The Syrian government caught in a grinding civil war of attrition within its borders does not have the capacity for any kind of military confrontation with Israel - avoiding public comment may be a way of reducing pressure from its own people and from the wider Arab world for some form of retaliation. Israel's silence gives it some kind of deniability - even if no-one really doubts it is responsible. The US, Israel's closest ally, may be a little concerned. The consignment of expensive weapons destroyed is thought to have come from Russia, and Washington won't want to see Russian displeasure provoked at a moment when its co-operation is needed to keep alive any hope of peace talks. Reports of the strike came as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said all Syria's declared equipment for making chemical weapons had been destroyed, one day before a deadline. Action by the OPCW was agreed following allegations, denied by the Syrian government, that its forces had used chemical weapons in civilian areas - and after the US and France threatened military intervention. A US official said the Israeli strike took place overnight from Wednesday into Thursday. Reports circulated on Thursday of explosions near Latakia, but the cause was not clear."
" European countries extended their airspace restrictions on Saturday, choking international air travel and stranding thousands of passengers, as an Icelandic volcano continued to spew ash into the atmosphere. London, England (CNN) -- European countries extended their airspace restrictions on Saturday, choking international air travel and stranding thousands of passengers, as an Icelandic volcano continued to spew ash into the atmosphere. Airspace over the United Kingdom and Belgium will be closed until Saturday night, according to the British air traffic control provider NATS and the Brussels Airport. British Airways canceled all flights to and from London for all of Saturday. Several flights from North America due to arrive at British destinations Friday night were headed to Scotland instead, the airline said. Irish budget carrier Ryanair canceled all flights to northern European destinations and Milan, Italy, until Monday because of the ash, the airline said. The ash cloud is drifting south and eastward over Europe. Although barely visible in the air, the ash -- made up of tiny particles of rock, glass, and sand -- poses a serious threat to aircraft, stalling engines and causing electrical failure, experts have said this week. Past incidents of aircraft trying to fly through volcanic ash clouds and suffering damage and engine failure led European officials to shut their air spaces rather than risk a catastrophe, said Joe Sultana, an official at Eurocontrol, the intergovernmental body that manages European air travel. ""I cannot say whether it's an overreaction or underreaction,"" Sultana said Friday. ""I think everybody is working in the interest of safety. We understand the impact to the airlines ... but safety comes first."" It was unclear when the situation would end, because the volcano was still erupting and spewing ash Saturday, said Agust Gunnar Gylfason, a project manager at Iceland's Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management. ""We cannot tell how long an eruption like this will go on,"" Gylfason told CNN."
" DUBLIN, April 16 (Reuters) - Irish airline Ryanair said on Friday it would cancel flights to and from northern European countries until 1200 GMT on Monday because of the huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano. The decision by Europe's biggest low-cost carrier will affect flights to and from Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, northern France, northern Germany, Poland and the Baltic states. ""All of Ryanair's flights in central and southern continental Europe are operating as normal,"" Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said in a statement. (Reporting by Andras Gergely and Marie-Louise Gumuchian; editing by Andrew Dobbie)"
" HUNDREDS of thousands of stranded air passengers who hoped for lift-off this weekend will remain grounded until next week at the earliest as the plume of volcanic ash shut down most of European airspace yesterday. Ryanair last night cancelled a further 400 flights into and out of the country, with the no-frills airline grounding its Irish fleet until Monday lunchtime at the earliest. The airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary described the situation as ""unprecedented"". Aer Lingus will not be flying anywhere in Europe from Ireland ahead of a further review of the situation at lunchtime today. However, Met Eireann is not predicting a significant improvement in conditions so that window is likely to be extended. More than 17,000 flights across Europe were grounded yesterday in what has become the biggest disruption to air travel since the Twin Tower terrorism attacks. Some 100,000 travellers to and from Ireland have been inconvenienced in the first two days of the travel chaos, with just 11 of the 460 flights scheduled to arrive or depart Dublin Airport getting the green light yesterday. And with the ash cloud predicted to hold steady above much of the UK and southern Ireland, the problem is set to continue. ""All the Ryanair flights into and out of Ireland, the UK, Scandinavia and the north European coastline are cancelled until 1300 hours or lunchtime on Monday,"" Mr O'Leary said last night. ""That is because all the weather indications show that this volcanic ash is going to continue to be blown down across the UK, across Ireland, and it's not going to be safe."""
" Pro-Russia activists have stormed several official buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk. They seized the regional government's headquarters and prosecutor's office before opening fire with automatic weapons at the main police station. Interim President Olexander Turchynov criticised local police for their ""inaction"" and ""criminal treachery"". The US accused Russia of seeking to ""change the security landscape"" of Eastern and Central Europe. Continue reading the main story The pro-Russian gunmen in Ukraine's east seem to be following a strategy of constant expansion and pressure on the Kiev government. Hardly a day goes by without another incident. Just recently, official buildings in Kostyantynivka have been taken over, Western military monitors detained, peaceful demonstrators in Donetsk attacked, and now the regional administration building in Luhansk has been seized. It is difficult to say what their ultimate goal is. Perhaps it is to keep government officials in Kiev on the defensive, forcing them to put out a number of fires at once, while others pop up throughout the region. Or else it is simply to keep the situation unstable, in order to prevent the presidential election scheduled to take place on 25 May. Or it could be just the opposite, as many in Kiev and throughout the country fear: to provoke the Ukrainians into a full crackdown, which would in turn spark a Russian invasion. The militants have called on Moscow to intervene on more than one occasion. In a speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington, Secretary of State John Kerry told the Kremlin to ""leave Ukraine in peace"" and warned: ""Nato territory is inviolable we will defend every single inch of it."" In other developments on Tuesday: Moscow has said it has no intention of invading eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russia activists have seized government buildings in more than a dozen towns and cities. Until now, only the local office of the State Security Service (SBU) in Luhansk, a city of 465,000 people less than 30km (20 miles) from the Russian border, had been targeted. But on Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of people shouting ""Russia, Russia"" gathered outside the headquarters of the regional government to demand a referendum on greater autonomy."
" He made the demand as several thousand protesters filled a central square in Minsk, amid claims of vote rigging by President Alexander Lukashenko. Preliminary official results show President Lukashenko won re-election with 82.6% of the vote. The president has warned he will crush any attempt to stage a popular revolt. Central Election Commission head Lidia Yermoshina said Mr Milinkevich had obtained 6% of the vote. Turnout was 92.6%, the commission said. About 10,000 people braved the freezing temperatures and threat of government reprisals to show their support for the opposition and gather in Oktyabrskaya Square. They shouted slogans, waved national flags banned under Mr Lukashenko, and booed pictures of the president being shown on a large television screen. But the BBC's Emma Simpson in Minsk, says there is no evidence of any popular uprising such as the large-scale street protests which led to the fall of leaders in other ex-Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Georgia. Mr Milinkevich told the crowd that claims his rival Mr Lukashenko had won a landslide victory, and thus a third term in office, were a lie. ""We demand new, honest elections. This was a complete farce,"" he said."
" The main opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich called for a re-run, as thousands of protesters filled a square in Minsk, amid claims of vote-rigging. A senior European MP called the ""whole election a fake"". OSCE poll monitors are due to deliver their verdict later. The US has labelled Mr Lukashenko ""Europe's last dictator"". The BBC's Emma Simpson in Minsk says there has been growing concern in Belarus and abroad over how the election has been conducted, and, she adds, the OSCE, Europe's main election-monitoring body, is not expected to mince its words. The opposition are urging their supporters to take to the streets again on Monday evening but it is not clear if President Lukashenko will let them protest for a second night. There has been no evidence so far of any Ukrainian-style Orange Revolution, our correspondent adds. About 10,000 people braved a heavy snow storm, freezing temperatures and threat of government reprisals to show their support for the opposition and gather in Oktyabrskaya Square. They shouted slogans, waved national flags banned under Mr Lukashenko, and booed pictures of the president being shown on a large television screen. Mr Milinkevich - who received 6% of the vote - told the crowd that claims his rival Mr Lukashenko had won a landslide victory, and thus a third term in office, were a lie. ""We demand new, honest elections. This was a complete farce,"" he said."
" Fresh protests were held in Belarus on Monday, a day after President Alexander Lukashenko won 82.6% of the vote. The White House, which has previously labelled Mr Lukashenko a dictator, says it does not accept the results. The EU says it is likely to impose sanctions. Mr Lukashenko denounced the statements as ""foreign pressure"", while Russia - a key ally - sent him congratulations. Main opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich has described Mr Lukashenko as an ""illegal, illegitimate president"". Thousands of supporters heeded his call and turned out in the capital, Minsk, on Monday night, but it appeared their numbers were only about half Sunday's crowd of 10,000. ""Our protest will be strong and long,"" Mr Milinkevich told the crowd, urging them not to disperse. ""We will never recognise this election. It's not an election but an anti-constitutional seizure of power."" A number of protesters set up tents at the scene, but most demonstrators were later reported to have dispersed. A large presence of riot police was also on the streets, the Associated Press news agency reported. Official figures say the election had a turnout of 92.6%. The result gives the president, in power since 1994, a third term in office."
" The Australian Defence Force (ADF) will send helicopters and transport medical personnel to battered north Queensland, which has been hit by Cyclone Larry. People made homeless by the natural disaster will be eligible for ex-gratia payments of up to $1,000 under federal government assistance programs. The cyclone swept through the north Queensland town of Innisfail early on Monday, damaging hundreds of homes and businesses with heavy rain and winds of up to 300kph. Reports suggest one in five homes in Innisfail had suffered structural damage because of the storm. Prime Minister John Howard said the government had authorised ex-gratia payments for people who had lost their homes or whose principal dwelling had been made uninhabitable. Applications for $1,000 for each eligible adult and $400 for eligible children are to be made through Centrelink. ""This will be over and above the support to be given by the Australian government to the Queensland government under the long-standing natural disaster relief arrangements,"" Mr Howard said. As part of a mission christened Operation Larry Assist, the ADF will despatch a range of equipment and personnel in response to requests for help from the Queensland government. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said Emergency Management Australia had formally asked the ADF for several forms of assistance. It includes helicopter aerial reconnaissance to conduct low-level damage assessment and rescue and recovery tasks as well as transport to take a six-person medical team and equipment from Townsville hospital to Innisfail."
" Flu viruses which target man tend to attach to cells further up the airway - maximising their chances of being passed on by coughing or sneezing. Researchers found the bird flu virus attaches itself to cells deep down in the human airways. The University of Wisconsin research is published in the journal Nature. But it still cannot jump easily from human to human. Scientists fear that if it mutates and gains that ability, it could result in a human flu pandemic, with millions of deaths world-wide. The Wisconsin team investigated why the virus could not spread easily between humans despite the fact that it could replicate efficiently in human lungs. Flu viruses infecting humans and birds are known to home in on slightly different versions of the same molecule, found on the surface of cells which line the respiratory tract. The latest study found the version of the molecule targeted by human viruses was more prevalent on cells higher up in the airway. The molecule targeted by bird viruses, on the other hand, tended to be found on cells deep within the lungs, in structures called alveoli. Thus the bird flu virus tended to be buried so deep in the lungs that it was unlikely to be spread by coughing or sneezing."
" 1 of 10. Smoke rises from Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district after being shelling by, according to activists, forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad August 21, 2012. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking after meeting China's top diplomat, said Moscow and Beijing were committed to ""the need to strictly adhere to the norms of international law ... and not to allow their violation"". The remarks were a reminder of the divisions hampering efforts to end the 17-month old conflict that increasingly sets a mainly Sunni Muslim opposition against President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority. The United Nations says more than 18,000 people have been killed in a war which is affecting neighbouring states. In Lebanon, at least five people were killed in sectarian violence linked to the Syria conflict, and Turkey, an opponent of Assad, investigated possible Syrian involvement in a car bomb that killed nine people on Monday. Russia and China have opposed military intervention in Syria throughout the revolt. They have vetoed three U.N. Security Council resolutions backed by Western and Arab states that would have put more pressure on Damascus to end the violence. After meeting Lavrov in Moscow, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said Obama's talk of action against Syria was media fodder. He said the West was seeking an excuse to intervene, likening the focus on Syria's chemical weapons with the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led forces and the focus on what proved to be groundless suspicions that Saddam Hussein was concealing weapons of mass destruction. ""Direct military intervention in Syria is impossible because whoever thinks about it ... is heading towards a confrontation wider than Syria's borders,"" he told a news conference. In one of the latest battle zones, troops and tanks overran the Damascus suburb of Mouadamiya on Tuesday, the second day of an offensive to regain control of the area."
" Three Americans have been shot dead by a policeman at a hospital in the Afghan capital, Kabul, US officials say. A spokesman for Afghanistan's interior ministry described those killed as ""medical staff"". The hospital, which specialises in children's and maternal health, is run by Cure, a small US Christian charity. Two others were reported wounded. Family members identified one of the dead as Dr Jerry Umanos, who lived in Chicago. The attacker, who reportedly shot himself, is in police custody. His motive remains unclear, officials say. Afghanistan suffered a spate of deadly attacks in the run-up to presidential elections on 5 April. The US embassy in Kabul tweeted that it was ""with great sadness we confirm that three Americans were killed in the attack on Cure Hospital"". No other information would be released for the moment, it added. ""Our families and friends have suffered a great loss, and our hearts are aching,"" said Jan Schuitema, Dr Umanos' wife, from outside the family home in Chicago on Thursday. ""We don't hold any ill will towards Afghanistan in general or even the gunman who did this. We don't know what his history is."" The two other victims have not been identified."
" MANILA (Reuters) - Divers have recovered the body of the Philippines' interior minister from the wreckage of a light aircraft that crashed into the sea near the central island of Masbate three days ago, a senior official said on Tuesday. The body of Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo was pulled out from the six-seat Piper Seneca plane that had been carrying him, Transportation and Communication Secretary Mar Roxas told reporters. The bodies of the two pilots, one of whom was a Nepalese flight student, were still being removed from the wreckage, Roxas said. ""Sad as it is, we are now in search and recovery and retrieval,"" Roxas said. Robredo, part of Aquino's cabinet since he took office in June 2010 and a member of the ruling political party, was on his way home to Camarines Sur province from Cebu island when his plane malfunctioned On Saturday, forcing the pilots to try to land on Masbate. Witnesses said they saw the plane crash into the sea about 500 meters from the airport runway."
" Missouri Congressman Todd Akin, the Republican who's challenging Democrat Claire McCaskill for the U.S. Senate seat, said in a television interview Sunday that it's ""rare"" for women to become pregnant when they are raped. ""If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,"" he said in an interview with KTVI, a St. Louis television station. Akin was being interviewed on KTVI's The Jaco Report on a wide variety of issues. His comments on rape came when he was asked whether there were any circumstances under which he'd support a woman's right to an abortion. Here's more from The Associated Press: ""Akin, who has said he's Missouri's most conservative congressman, indicated there may be an exception to his stance against abortion. But, when asked if he supported abortions for women who have been raped, Akin said: 'It seems to me first of all from what I understand from doctors that's really rare.' He also said he would prefer that punishment for rape be focused on the rapist and not 'attacking the child.'"" On Twitter, McCaskill said she was ""stunned"" by Akin's comments. Later Sunday, Akin walked back from his comments, calling them ""off-the-cuff."" ""In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it's clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year,"" he said. ""Those who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low in our society and their victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate to help ensure they have the justice they deserve."" As NPR's Ari Shapiro is reporting for our Newscast Unit, the Romney campaign is distancing itself from Akin's original remarks. Akin, a six-term congressman, comfortably won the Republican Senate primary earlier this month. Poll show him leading McCaskill in the run-up the November election."
" Five men were arrested this morning in connection with last month's London protests against cartoons satirising the prophet Muhammad. A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan police said four of the men were being held on suspicion of incitement to murder and all five were being held on the public order offence of ""using words or written material to stir up racial hatred"". Four of the men were arrested at their London homes in Tower Hamlets, Redbridge, Southall and Waltham Forest and were taken to a central London police station for questioning. The fifth man was arrested in Birmingham and is being questioned there. The arrests relate to the February 3 demonstrations when most of the vehement protest placards appeared. Among the written slogans touted by protesters that day were ""butcher those who mock Islam"" and ""slay those who insult Islam"". Some evoked previous al-Qaida suicide bombings with ""Europe you will pay, your 9/11 is on the way"", or ""7/7 is on its way"". One man who dressed as a suicide bomber was sent back to jail for breaching the terms of his parole on a drug dealing conviction. The cartoons were originally published in Denmark and included an image of the Prophet Muhammad with a fizzing bomb in his turban. They were reproduced in countries from France to Yemen, but were not printed in the national media in the UK. Today's arrests come over a month after the protests, which were widely filmed and photographed allowing identification of the protesters. Shortly after the event, the assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Steve House, said the decision not to intervene and make arrests had prevented the situation from becoming ""inflamed"". The Met established a dedicated investigation team named Operation Laverda on February 3 to look into the protests. Asked if there were likely to be more arrests related to the demonstrations, the Met today said they expected ""further developments later on""."
" They describe it as the biggest airborne operation in the country since the US invasion in 2003, involving more than 50 aircraft and 1,500 troops. But correspondents are sceptical, saying the operation, near Samarra, is not as huge as has been suggested. No air power has been used and it is unclear if there have been engagements. However, the operation involves more helicopters airlifting American and Iraqi troops into the target area than any similar campaign in the three years since Saddam Hussein was toppled. The troops carrying out the operation are said to have detained about 40 suspects, but 17 of them were later released. The Iraqi foreign minister said the aim was to stop insurgents from turning the town into a stronghold. But a senior Sunni Arab politician criticised the operation, which came a day after the new Iraqi parliament met for its inaugural session. ""[The US forces] are surprising us with meaningless acts at the time Iraqis are looking forward to the first session of the parliament, preferring the political solution, not the military one,"" Saleh al-Mutleq told Reuters news agency. A bomb attack last month on the al-Askari shrine in Samarra, 100km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, sparked widespread sectarian violence. The violence continued on Friday, as gunmen in Baghdad opened fire on Shia Muslims on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala, killing three and wounding two. Three more were wounded in a second attack."
" 1 of 14. Syrian rebel fighters run for cover from heavy fighting in the Saif al-Dawla district in the centre of Aleppo city August 22, 2012. The army has this week used tanks and helicopter gunships in an offensive around Damascus that coincided with the departure of U.N. military observers, their mission to stop the bloodshed and nudge Syria towards a peaceful transition a failure. The United Nations estimates that more than 18,000 people have been killed in what has become a civil war after the state's violent response to peaceful street protests triggered an armed rebellion in the pivotal Arab country. Anti-Assad activists said at least 47 people had been killed in Damascus in what they called the heaviest bombardment this month. ""The whole of Damascus is shaking with the sound of shelling,"" said a woman in Kfar Souseh, one of several districts hit in the military offensive to root out rebel fighters. The United Nations said some of the weapons being used by government forces appeared to have been supplied by Iran, in violation of a U.N. resolution which banned such exports. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will raise the Syria crisis with Iran at a summit of non-aligned developing nations in Tehran next week, a U.N. spokesman said. As the army continued to shell southern Damascus, activists said at least 22 people had been killed in Kfar Souseh and 25 in the nearby district of Nahr Eisha. One of the dead was named as Mohammad Saeed al Odeh, a journalist employed at a state-run newspaper who was sympathetic to the anti-Assad revolt. Activists said he had been executed in Nahr Eisha. ""There are 22 tanks in Kfar Souseh now and behind each one there are at least 30 soldiers. They are raiding houses and executing men,"" an opposition activist in Kfar Souseh, who gave his name only as Bassam, told Reuters by Skype. More than 250 people, including 171 civilians, were killed across Syria on Tuesday, mostly around Damascus, Aleppo and the southern city of Deraa, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition monitoring group."
" John XXIII and John Paul II were canonized Sunday by Pope Francis in an unprecedented ceremony witnessed by huge crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Millions more around the world watched as two former pontiffs were for the first time installed as saints in a dual canonization. The faithful and the curious packed the streets of Rome around the Vatican before dawn, hoping to gain entry to St. Peter's Square and catch a direct glimpse of church history in the making. Vatican Radio put the crowds at some 800,000 in the St. Peter's area, including the square and the roads and gardens around it. Another 500,000 followed the proceedings on giant screens set up around Rome, according to estimates based on police aerial shots. In another first on a historic day, two living popes were present for the ceremony. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who resigned from the papacy a year ago citing health reasons, was not at the altar but was greeted warmly by Francis both before and after the event. Many of those gathered in the square for the solemn open-air ceremony carried flags and banners. The red and white Polish flag was prominent among them, a reflection of the affection felt for John Paul II in his homeland, Poland. Another read simply, ""Thank you."" With the canonization, a holy relic for each of the popes was formally presented to the altar before the crowds. Giant banners showing the faces of the two late popes hung on the facade of St. Peter's Basilica. In his homily, Francis described the pair as ""men of courage"" who bore witness to God's mercy. ""They were priests, bishops and popes of the 20th century,"" he said. ""They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful, faith was more powerful."""
" 1 of 9. Pro-Russian protesters take part in a rally near the seized office of the SBU state security service in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, April 27, 2014. U.S. President Barack Obama called for the United States and Europe to join forces to impose stronger measures to restrain Moscow. The White House said it will add names on Monday of people close to President Vladimir Putin and firms they control to a list of Russians hit by sanctions over Ukraine, and also impose new restrictions on high tech exports. The European Union is expected to follow suit by adding to its own list of targeted Russian people and firms, but Washington and Brussels have yet to reach agreement on wider measures designed to hurt the Russian economy more broadly. In Donetsk, where pro-Russian rebels have proclaimed an independent ""people's republic"", armed fighters seized the headquarters of regional television and ordered it to start broadcasting a Russian state TV channel. Speaking during a visit to Malaysia, Obama said restraining Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitions in Ukraine would depend on the United States and its allies finding a unified position on tighter sanctions. ""We're going to be in a stronger position to deter Mr. Putin when he sees that the world is unified and the United States and Europe is unified rather than this is just a U.S.-Russian conflict,"" Obama told reporters. White House deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said the new U.S. measures would be imposed on Monday, mostly focused on adding to a list of those barred from travel to the United States and hit by asset freezes. ""We will be looking to designate people who are in (Putin's) inner circle, who have a significant impact on the Russian economy. We'll be looking to designate companies that they and other inner circle people control,"" Blinken told CBS television. ""We'll be looking at taking steps, as well, with regard to high-technology exports to their defense industry. All of this together is going to have an impact."" The stand-off over Ukraine, an ex-Soviet republic of about 45 million people, has dragged relations between Russia and the West to their lowest level since the end of the Cold War."
" Abdullah finished top with 44.9 percent, followed by Ghani with 31.5 percent, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) said. Zalmay Rassoul, also a former foreign minister, was a distant third with 11.5 percent. ""This is a preliminary outcome and will now go to the Independent Election Complaints Commission and they will work on this. As soon as they share their findings with us we will also announce it,"" IEC chairman Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani told reporters. The final result is due to be announced on May 14. In the meantime, authorities will investigate allegations of fraud involving up to half a million ballots. It is unlikely, however, that Abdullah could be pushed to the 50 percent-plus-one required for victory if the suspect votes are cleared and included in the count. ""We have a tentative schedule of June 7 to start the second round,"" Nuristani said. The April 5 election was widely seen as a success. Around 7 million of an eligible 12 million voters braved the threat of Taliban attacks to cast ballots in what will be the first democratic transition of power in their country's history. President Hamid Karzai was constitutionally barred from standing for a third term. His successor will face a range of challenges, including leading the country to sovereignty after more than a decade of foreign military occupation that followed the U.S.-led invasion to rid Afghanistan of the Taliban in 2001. Foreign combat troops are set to withdraw on December 31, leaving security to Afghanistan's military and police, trained and funded by the country's Western supporters though their readiness to stand alone has been questioned. Amid concerns that voter turnout will not be as high in the run-off as it was on April 5, both Abdullah and Ghani have dismissed suggestions that they strike a deal to avert a second round. They have said the democratic process should be completed, a sentiment echoed by the country's Western allies. The U.N. envoy to Afghanistan, Jan Kubis, applauded the election. ""The Afghan electoral institutions should be commended for their work to make the process more transparent than ever before,"" he said in a statement."
" US Representative Todd Akin, under fire for controversial remarks on abortion and rape, has resisted pressure from fellow Republicans to drop out of the Missouri Senate race. Mr Akin, who is a staunch opponent of abortion, has vowed to stay in the race, saying he represented a conservative movement that must be heard. There had been calls from throughout the Republican Party for him to step out of the contest against Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill. ""We are going to continue in this race for US Senate,"" Mr Akin said on a radio programme hosted by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. ""I believe there is a cause here, and there is a part of the message that's missing, and a lot of the people feel left out of the parties,"" Mr Akin added. His comments came hours after he released an online video advert in which he again apologised for saying in a weekend television interview that it was extremely rare for women to get pregnant from ""legitimate rape"". US presidential candidate Mitt Romney has joined a chorus of Republicans calling on Mr Akin to quit. Mr Romney said: ""Today, his fellow Missourians urged him to step aside, and I think he should accept their counsel and exit the Senate race."" Mr Akin's comments caused concern in the Republican Party at a time when it is trying to reach out to women and other voters in advance of its national convention next week in Tampa, Florida. The controversy has also given new hope to Ms McCaskill, who in recent polls has trailed Mr Akin in a race that is widely viewed as an indicator of whether Republicans can gain the four seats they need to take control of the US Senate."
" The move to ban visas and freeze assets of the likes of Putin's friend Igor Sechin, head of oil giant Rosneft, also drew fire from President Barack Obama's domestic critics, who called it a ""slap on the wrist."" EU states added 15 more Russians and Ukrainians to their blacklist and will reveal them on Tuesday. The new round of U.S. sanctions, following those imposed last month when Russia annexed Crimea, barely registered in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow rebels were holding a group of German and other OSCE military observers for a fourth day. Despite a Ukrainian military operation to contain them, the militants extended their grip by seizing key public buildings in another town in the Donetsk region. In the regional capital, Donetsk, club-wielding pro-Russian activists broke up a rally by supporters of the Western-backed government in Kiev. The high-profile mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, was badly wounded by a gunman, raising fears of further unrest in a Russian-speaking region that has seen less trouble of late than the neighboring provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. U.S. sanctions were aimed, Washington officials said, at ""cronies"" of Putin. Seven men, including Sechin, were targeted by visa bans and freezing of any U.S. assets, and 17 companies were also named. ""The goal is not to go after Mr. Putin personally,"" Obama said. ""The goal is to change his calculus with respect to how the current actions that he's engaging in Ukraine could have an adverse impact on the Russian economy over the long haul."" Washington will also deny export licenses for any high-technology items that could contribute to Russian military capabilities and revoke any existing export licenses that meet these conditions, the White House said. In addition to Sechin, the Russians sanctioned by the United States included another Putin ally, Sergei Chemezov, head of Rostec, a Russian state-owned high-tech products company. The others named were Oleg Belavencev, Putin's presidential envoy to Crimea, Dmitry Kozak, deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation, Evgeniy Murov, director of Russia's federal protective service, Aleksei Pushkov, a state Duma deputy, and Vyacheslav Volodin, a Putin adviser."
" 1 of 12. People take part in a candlelight vigil for missing passenger onboard the South Korean ferry Sewol, which capsized on last Wednesday, in Ansan April 21, 2014. Sixty-four people are known to have died and 238 are missing, presumed dead, in the sinking of the Sewol ferry last Wednesday. Most of the victims are high school children. Captain Lee Joon-seok, 69, and two other crew members were arrested last week on negligence charges, with prosecutors announcing four further arrests - two first mates, one second mate and a chief engineer - on Monday. Lee was also charged with undertaking an ""excessive change of course without slowing down"" while traversing a narrow channel. Several crew members, including the captain, left the ferry as it was sinking, ahead of the passengers, witnesses have said. Park said the crew's desertion was tantamount to murder. ""Above all, the conduct of the captain and some crew members is unfathomable from the viewpoint of common sense, and it was like an act of murder that cannot and should not be tolerated,"" she told aides. Lee, the captain, said in a promotional video four years ago that the journey from the port city of Incheon to the holiday island of Jeju was safe - as long as passengers followed the instructions of the crew. He also told a newspaper that he had been involved in a sea accident off Japan years before. The irony of the video is the crew ordered the passengers to stay put in their cabins as the ferry sank. As is customary in hierarchical Korean society, the orders were not questioned."
" 1 of 6. The Phoenix International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Artemis is craned over the side of Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the Southern Indian Ocean in his picture released by the Australian Defence Force on April 20, 2014. The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board, has narrowed to a 10 sq km (6.2 sq mile) patch of sea floor about 2,000 km (1,200 miles) west of the Australian city of Perth. Search authorities and the Australian and Malaysian governments have said a series of sonar signals, or ""pings"", traced to the area may have emanated from the plane's ""black box"" and present the most credible lead as to its whereabouts. However no pings have been detected in almost two weeks and authorities now fear that, with the flight data recorder's battery several weeks past its expected expiry date, the black box may not emit further signals. A U.S. Navy remote controlled submarine, the Bluefin-21, was on its ninth mission scanning the largely unmapped stretch of sea bed where the pings are believed to have come from, with still no trace found, Australian search officials said on Monday. ""Bluefin-21 has searched approximately two-thirds of the focused underwater search area to date. No contacts of interest have been found to date,"" the Joint Agency Coordination Centre said in a statement. The center added that the search, which has so far been largely unimpeded by weather, may be affected as Tropical Cyclone Jack continued to move south over the ocean. ""Widespread showers are developing with isolated thunderstorms to the north and east south-easterly winds,"" the center said of the weather forecast in the search area. On Saturday, the center said the Bluefin-21 was expected to complete its search of the targeted area within a week. But with the prospect of that search ending without finding any sign of the plane drawing ever more likely, the authorities are under pressure to determine their next strategy. The search coordinator, retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, said on April 14 that an air and surface search for debris would end within three days."
" 1 of 2. Members of the Syrian parliament attend a session to set a date for voting for the presidential election,in Damascus April 21, 2014, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. Western and Gulf Arab countries that back Assad's opponents have called plans for an election a ""parody of democracy"" and said it would wreck efforts to negotiate a peace settlement. U.N.-backed talks in Geneva collapsed in February with both sides far from agreement - not least over the question of whether Assad should go. Monzer Akbik, of the Western-backed National Coalition opposition group, told Reuters the election was a sign Assad was unwilling to seek a political solution to the conflict. ""This is a state of separation from reality, a state of denial. He didn't have any legitimacy before this theatrical election and he will not after,"" Akbik said. ""We do not know what actor he is putting up as an opponent but we are not taking this seriously."" Infighting has fragmented the anti-Assad forces, and several major opposition figures did not attend the Geneva talks. The European Union reiterated its stance against holding an election now. It said such a vote ""conducted in the midst of conflict, only in regime-controlled areas and with millions of Syrians displaced from their homes would be a parody of democracy, have no credibility whatsoever, and undermine efforts to reach a political solution."" U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: ""Such elections are incompatible with the letter and spirit of the Geneva communique,"" referring to a June 2012 agreement on seeking a political transition in Syria. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: ""The Syrian regime under the Assads has never held a credible, free and fair election and has taken legal and administrative steps to ensure that this vote will not be fair."
" The first American man to win the Boston Marathon since 1983 crossed the finish line Monday, triumphant in a storied race that has become a national symbol of resiliency and determination. Meb Keflezighi, 38, won the men's division with an official time of 2:08:37, according to the Boston Marathon's Facebook page. The women's elite group began the 26.2-mile journey around 9:30 a.m. ET, and the elite men's group at 10. Waves of other runners started after them. For Kenya's Rita Jeptoo, 33, it was a second consecutive victory. She again won the women's division with an unofficial -- and course record -- time of 2:18:57, according to the event's official Twitter account. But for most of the 36,000 runners, the race had nothing to do with competition. The 2013 race was marred by bombings near the end of the course that killed three people and wounded more than 260. At the start Monday, as competitors stood shoulder to shoulder, the race announcer shouted to them, ""Take back that finish line!"" Lee Ann Yanni told CNN before the race that she planned to run wearing a necklace with a silver stingray charm that her father gave her before he died of cancer. The force of the blasts as she ran in 2013 along Boylston Street failed to tear the memento from her body. She would not be stopped then, and she wouldn't be stopped Monday, she vowed. Unable to walk for five and a half weeks, she eventually got back to training and finished the Chicago Marathon in October in 5 hours and 44 minutes. ""I'm running for those who can't,"" she told CNN. ""I don't run very pretty ... but at the finish line, everybody is going to be represented."" Krystle Campbell, 29; Lu Lingzi, 23; and grade-schooler Martin Richard, 8, were killed in the 2013 bombing. Some of the wounded lost limbs."
" The confirmed death toll from the South Korean ferry that capsized last week has reached 113, as divers recovered more bodies from the sunken hull. Rescuers searching for bodies have been able to take advantage of better weather on Tuesday, officials say, with more than 190 passengers still missing or presumed trapped inside the vessel. The ferry tipped over and sank within two hours, but it is not yet clear why. The crew have been criticised for allegedly failing to save passengers. Five have been charged with not fulfilling their duty to evacuate passengers safely, officials told the South Korean Yonhap news agency. At least six other crew members are reported to have been detained. As the ship listed passengers were told to remain in rooms and cabins, reports suggest, amid confusion on the bridge over whether to order them to abandon ship. The first distress call from the sinking ferry was made by a boy with a shaking voice, officials told Reuters. It reported that his plea for help was followed by about 20 other emergency calls from children on board the ship. A crew member quoted by local media said that attempts to launch lifeboats were unsuccessful because of the tilt of the ship. Only two of the vessel's 46 lifeboats were reported to have been deployed."
" The Ukraine crisis simmered Wednesday, if not with actual fighting, then with fighting words from the key outside players in the conflict: the United States and Russia, whose foreign minister accused Washington of ""running the show"" in Kiev. In an interview with state-run RT, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lamented how he felt U.S. officials were quick to blame his nation for everything awry in Ukraine and to insist Moscow can unilaterally solve it all. Lavrov said that while those in Ukraine's east and south who defiantly oppose the Kiev-based government are ""not puppets"" of the Kremlin, such a characterization would describe the relationship between Ukraine's leadership in Kiev and the United States. ""(Americans) have, I think, overwhelming influence,"" he said. ""They act in a much more open way, without any scruples, compared to the Europeans ... You cannot avoid the impression that they are running the show very much, very much."" As proof, Lavrov pointed to the timing of the Ukrainian government's relaunch of its security operation just after a two-day visit from U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. He claimed acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has ""ordered the army to shoot at ... people if they are engaged in peaceful protests,"" yet hasn't disarmed extremists and what he called ""the right sector."" Some in Ukraine's east are occupying official buildings, defying the Kiev government and openly siding with Russia""after several months of total neglect of their interests,"" Lavrov said. The minister faulted the new Kiev government for not doing more, including taking the necessary ""first step"" to implement an international deal brokered in Geneva, Switzerland. About a week after being reached, that deal has done little to defuse the crisis. On the contrary, both sides appear to be digging in. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Vitaliy Yarema said Wednesday that ""the active phase of the anti-terrorist operation continues"" in the eastern cities of Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Donetsk and Luhansk, according to state-run news agency Ukrinform. Militants in those cities have shown no inclination to leave the government buildings they have seized or disarm, as was mandated by the Geneva agreement. Meanwhile, NATO estimates that Russia has massed 40,000 troops near its border with Ukraine, which has fueled speculation the conflict could only get bigger and more violent, with Russia possibly taking over some, if not all, of Ukraine and possibly neighboring nations. Lavrov didn't say any military intervention was imminent, but he didn't rule it out, either."
" Russia has ordered new military exercises on its border with Ukraine in response to an operation by Kiev against pro-Russian separatists. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow had been ""forced to react"" after Ukrainian commandos moved on the separatist stronghold of Sloviansk. Pro-Russian separatists are occupying key buildings in a dozen eastern towns, defying the central government. Mr Shoigu was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying: ""If this military machine is not stopped, it will lead to greater numbers of dead and wounded. ""We are forced to react to such a development of the situation."" The exercises will be in Russia's southern and western military districts, with Mr Shoigu adding that ""the air force will conduct flights to train for manoeuvres along the state borders"". Moscow has tens of thousands of troops along its side of the border. Ukraine's acting President, Olexander Turchynov, called on Russia to pull back its troops from the border and end what he called its ""blackmail"", adding that Kiev would not yield to ""Russian-backed terrorists"". Continue reading the main story We drove into Sloviansk expecting to see signs of a major confrontation between Ukrainian security forces and heavily armed pro-Russian militiamen. Earlier, Ukraine's interior ministry reported that a number of ""terrorists"" had been killed in a gun battle and three roadblocks cleared. We saw people strolling through the town centre, children walking down the street, and traffic on the roads. The makeshift checkpoints, set up by the militiamen remained. We've also been to Artemivsk. The interior ministry said a military base there had been attacked by up to 70 armed separatists and that they had been repelled. Apart from a broken window and a damaged door, there was little sign of a battle. Kiev says its military operations against pro-Russia militants continue. But what we saw suggests the need for caution about claims and counterclaims in this conflict. Continue reading the main story On Thursday morning, Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov updated his Facebook status with news that government troops had freed the administrative building in Mariupol. But when we got there the picture was very different. The building is still surrounded by barricades made of barbed wire and tyres, and dozens of angry protesters are still in control of the entrance. Protesters said that soldiers and civilians stormed the building overnight. A fight broke out and police said five people were hurt. Among the civilians, they said, was the mayor. His office confirmed he went into the building to ""assess the situation"", but would not give further details. Police here do not seem to know, or are not willing to disclose, much either. They told me they were treating what happened overnight as a ""criminal incident"" rather than an anti-terrorist operation - another sign that Kiev is struggling to control local law-enforcement."
" JINDO, South Korea -- The grim work of recovering bodies from the submerged South Korean ferry proceeded rapidly Wednesday, with the official death toll reaching 156, though a government official said divers must now rip through cabin walls to retrieve more victims. Looming in the background is a sensitive issue: When to bring in the cranes and begin the salvage effort by cutting up and raising the submerged vessel. The government has warned that the work might eliminate air pockets that could be sustaining survivors, but for some relatives that is a long-lost hope. ""Now we think we have to deal with this realistically,"" said Pyun Yong-gi, whose 17-year-old daughter is among the missing. ""We don't want the bodies to decay further, so we want them to pull out the bodies as quickly as they can,"" Pyun said on Jindo island, where recovered bodies are taken for families to identify. That view is not shared among all relatives of the missing, however. One of them, Jang Jong-ryul, was sensitive about the mere mention of the word ""salvage"" and said most families don't want to think about it. The victims are overwhelmingly students of a single high school in Ansan, near Seoul. More than three-quarters of the 323 students are dead or missing, while nearly two-thirds of the other 153 people on board the ferry Sewol when it sank one week ago survived. Even with about 150 people still missing, the funeral halls in Ansan are already full, Oh Sang-yoon of the government-wide emergency task force center said in a statement. He said the center ""is taking measures to accommodate additional bodies by placing mortuary refrigerators at the funeral halls in Ansan,"" and directing mourning families to funeral homes in nearby cities. On Jindo island, where bodies recovered from the ferry are taken, descriptions of the dead are read over a loudspeaker. Relatives rush over to the main notice board and peered at details added by an official. Some relatives cry out and run from the tent. Others stand red-eyed and shell-shocked. The number of corpses recovered has risen sharply since the weekend, when divers battling strong currents and low visibility were finally able to enter the submerged vessel. But task force spokesman Koh Myung-seok the work is becoming more difficult, and divers must now break through cabin walls to retrieve more bodies."
" The accident on Tuesday involved a goods train that was also carrying people near Likasi, a mining town between Lubumbashi and Kolwezi in the copper and cobalt-rich southeast. Dikanga Kazadi, Katanga's interior minister, gave a provisional toll of 56 dead and 69 injured but said the toll was expected to rise and a team had been sent to investigate the incident. A witness said he counted 37 bodies at the scene. ""There were two train engines and two carriages overturned,"" he told Reuters, asking not to be named. Congo's infrastructure is in tatters after decades of neglect and conflict so people struggle to travel around the vast nation, which is roughly the size of Western Europe. More than 100 people were killed in a 2007 accident involving people travelling onboard a goods train in the province of Kasai Occidential."
" Samresh Jung might have missed out on a record seven gold medals but the ace Indian marksman more than made up for it after being adjudged the 'Best Athlete of the 18th Commonwealth Games' in Melbourne on Sunday. Jung, who won five gold, a silver and a bronze in pistol shooting competition, becomes the first Indian to bag the honour in Commonwealth Games' history. The 35-year old CISF Inspector from Delhi had set a target of winning an unprecedented seven gold in a single edition of the Games at the start of the event. But a wandering mind in a shoot-out forced him to settle for bronze in the 25 metre centrefire pistol individual event before a malfunctioning gun in the standard fire pistol individual competition saw him end up ninth. Jung has already left for China, where he will be competing in the ISSF Shooting World Cup. H J Dora, chef de mission of the Indian contingent in Melbourne, said: ""It is a rare honour for an Indian athlete and it will inspire the younger generation in the country to come up with more medal-winning performances in the international arena. ""The whole Indian contingent is proud of Jung's exploits. The long periods of training and hard work put in by him has borne fruit."""
" From private talks between George Bush and UK PM Tony Blair, the memo makes it clear the US was determined to go to war whether or not he had UN backing. He is quoted discussing ways to provoke Saddam Hussein into a confrontation. A UK lawyer quoted the note in a book published in January but this is the first time it has been seen in full. White House spokesman Scott McClellan refused to discuss the contents of the memo but said that up until the last moment, President Bush was interested in pursuing a diplomatic solution to the Iraq issue. The five-page memo, dated 31 January 2003, was written by Mr Blair's then chief foreign adviser, David Manning, the New York Times says. Summarising the two-hour White House meeting, the memo says: ""Our diplomatic strategy had to be arranged around the military planning."" Mr Bush is paraphrased as saying: ""The start date for the military campaign was now pencilled in for 10 March. This was when the bombing would begin."" Although the US and UK pushed for a second UN resolution on Iraq, the memo cites Mr Bush saying he did not believe one was needed. ""The US would put its full weight behind efforts to get another resolution and would twist arms and even threaten,"" Mr Bush is paraphrased as saying. ""But he had to say that if we ultimately failed, military action would follow anyway."""
" He denied direct involvement in the New York attacks, but said he was training to attack the White House in a fifth hijacked plane on 11 September. Moussaoui said he was to be accompanied by British shoe bomber Richard Reid. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Moussaoui, who has pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy. Earlier, court-appointed defence lawyers tried to stop Moussaoui giving evidence in an effort to stop him incriminating himself on the stand. British-born Richard Reid was caught after an abortive attempt to blow up an American Airlines plane heading from Paris to Miami in December 2001. He was sentenced to life in January 2003. Under cross-examination by prosecutor Robert Spencer, Moussaoui told the court he had lied after being arrested in Minnesota in August 2001. Although he did not know exactly when the attacks planned against New York and Washington were due to take place, Moussaoui said he realised that misleading investigators would ensure they were carried out. Instead he described how he was training as part of the plot that saw planes smash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001. Moussaoui said he and Reid were due to hijack a fifth plane and fly it into the White House."
" Zacarias Moussaoui is the only person tried in the United States in connection with the September 11 attacks. ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui told a stunned courtroom Monday that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid were supposed to hijack a fifth plane on September 11, 2001, and crash it into the White House. In a day of startling revelations, an unrepentant Moussaoui also said for the first time that he knew about al Qaeda's plot to hijack planes and fly them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Under cross-examination, Moussaoui said he rejoiced at seeing the smoldering rubble and hearing a recording of a doomed flight attendant begging for her life. Moussaoui explained to jurors why he doesn't trust his defense team: ""I consider every American my enemy."" (Watch details of Moussaoui's testimony -- 2:14) Moussaoui's boldest revelations focused on the 9/11 plot, his role, and what he knew in advance of the terrorist attacks. ""I had knowledge that the two towers would be hit, but I did not have the details,"" Moussaoui told jurors. Moussaoui said that while he didn't know the ""precise date to the day"" of the planned terrorist attacks, he knew they would come soon after his arrest in August 2001 in Minnesota. He said he made sure he had a radio in his jail cell. When the first news reports on September 11 described a fire at the trade center, Moussaoui said, ""I immediately understood."" Three days later, as he was flown from a Minnesota jail to New York, Moussaoui said he saw the trade center ruins and told the federal marshals transporting him: ""It is smoking good."" Moussaoui testified that had he not been arrested he would have tried to fly into the White House on a fifth hijacked plane. That claim was contradicted by alleged September 11 architect Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, whose testimony was read from a written interrogation summary. Mohammed said Moussaoui ""was never slated to be a 9/11 operative"" and the sequel was on the ""back burner."" Moussaoui identified Reid as one of his team members. Both men lived in London in the 1990s and attended the Finsbury Park mosque, reportedly an al Qaeda recruiting hub. Reid was subdued by passengers in December 2001 when he attempted to set off a bomb in his shoe on board an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. The plane was diverted to Boston, where it landed safely and Reid was arrested. He is serving a life prison term. Reid has written Moussaoui at least once during their incarceration. The courtroom was packed and silent as Moussaoui took the stand against the wishes of his lawyers. Four 9/11 family members occupied the courtroom's third row and the jurors sat at attention, their pens and notepads poised. There were no dramatic outbursts and no speeches. But by the time he stepped down three hours later, Moussaoui seemed to have undone more than four years of work by his defense team. Under cross examination, Moussaoui repeatedly expressed no remorse for what happened on September 11. Referring to Moussaoui's glimpse of trade center rubble, prosecutor Rob Spencer asked, ""You were happy that happened?"" Moussaoui also said he had ""rejoiced"" at hearing a United Flight 93 attendant beg for her life on a recovered flight recorder. Earlier, under questioning by one of his attorneys, Gerald Zerkin, Moussaoui dispelled the idea that he was intended to be the 20th hijacker -- the missing fifth man on Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Moussaoui admitted his ""dream,"" sanctioned by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, to crash a plane into the White House, when he pleaded guilty 11 months ago to joining the conspiracy. But at that time, he said the White House attack was to follow 9/11. He testified that his knowledge of the conspiracy was compartmentalized and that he had ""specific involvement only for my own plane."" Prosecutors contend that Moussaoui, 37, a French citizen of Moroccan heritage, deserves to die. Had he not lied after his arrest, they contend, investigators could have uncovered the September 11 conspiracy. Asked by his lawyer why he lied, Moussaoui replied, ""Because I am al Qaeda."" ""The Prophet says, 'war is deceit,' "" Moussaoui later told prosecutor Robert Spencer. ""You're allowed to lie for jihad. You're allowed any technique to defeat your enemy."" After Moussaoui's testimony, the defense introduced the statements from Mohammed. Moussaoui was a ""problem from the start,"" Mohammed said. He eventually ordered plot coordinator Ramzi Binalshibh to wire Moussaoui money for flight school and cut off ties. Moussaoui had a hard time following instructions and was ""lax with operational security,"" sending too many e-mails and making too many phone calls, according to Mohammed's testimony. The potential targets for the second wave of attacks -- the White House, the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, California -- were not even finalized, he said. The only question for the jury is whether Moussaoui will be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison. To condemn him to death, jurors must agree that he committed an act that contributed to at least one of the 2,793 deaths on September 11. Prosecutors contend Moussaoui's lies to federal agents who arrested him in mid-August 2001 after he aroused suspicions at a Minnesota flight school furthered the conspiracy. ""I believe in destiny,"" Moussaoui told jurors. ""I just have to speak the truth, and God will take care of the rest."" 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" All of those supposed to have been guarding him have been detained. At the weekend, Nigeria said it would let him be arrested, but both Liberia and the US said Nigeria should send him to a UN-backed war crimes court. Mr Taylor stepped down as president in 2003 under a deal to end the Liberian civil war, which he started in 1989. He went into exile in Calabar, in south-eastern Nigeria. The BBC's Mark Doyle in Freetown says there are powerful political forces at play over Mr Taylor's fate. Mr Taylor's whereabouts are not clear but his spiritual advisor Kilari Anand Paul told the BBC News website that Mr Taylor was in the Liberian bush, from where he first launched his rebellion. He also said the former Liberian leader would be happy to face justice in The Hague but not in Sierra Leone. The AP news agency reports that members of Mr Taylor's entourage have been leaving Calabar for several days. Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo is ""very shocked"" by Mr Taylor's disappearance on Monday, Information Minister Frank Nweke told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. Nigeria has set up a panel to investigate the matter, and to establish whether he escaped or was abducted, Mr Nweke said."
" One of the rockets, which are bigger than the makeshift Qassam missiles militants usually launch, fell near a kibbutz in southern Israel. There was no damage or casualties reported at the Itfah kibbutz. Earlier in the day, as Israel voted in a general election, two Arab Israeli shepherds were killed in a blast caused by an unexploded shell in a field. Katyushas, a favoured weapon of the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, have a range several times greater than Qassams, which have caused few Israeli casualties in hundreds of salvoes. An Israeli TV commentator said their deployment would be a ""dramatic development"", which Israel's military had long feared. The Israeli town of Ashkelon - with more than 100,000 inhabitants and the site of important desalination and power facilities - lies within striking distance of Katyusha rockets. The Arab shepherds - a father and his teenage son - died on Tuesday morning in a blast near Nahal Oz farming community just a few hundred metres east of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said the explosion might have been caused by a rocket that had lain dormant for some time. However, the army did confirm that three rockets had been fired from Gaza during the day. The dead were Bedouin Arabs, who make up about 10% of Israel's Arab community, which itself represents about one-fifth of Israel's total population."
" Men inspect a site hit by what activists said was a barrel bomb dropped by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the Dahra Awad neighbourhood of Aleppo April 20, 2014. Also on Monday, state news agency SANA said two people were killed when mortars struck central Damascus. The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air strikes killed 29 people on Sunday, including women and children, in the southern Al-Ferdous district of Aleppo, a city that was once Syria's largest and a major commercial hub. Another 14 people were killed in the Baeedeen neighborhood in ""barrel bomb"" attacks - strikes in which helicopters drop highly destructive improvised explosives - the group said. A further five died in barrel bomb attacks in the village of Tlajabin, it added. Western powers have condemned the use of barrel bombs as a war crime, but they continue to fall nearly every day in Aleppo and other parts of Syria. SANA said two people were killed in Damascus when mortars fired by ""terrorists"" - its term for rebel fighters - hit the Al-Salihiya neighborhood of the capital and a nearby area. More than 150,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict, which started as a peaceful protest movement against President Bashar al-Assad's rule in March 2011 and turned into civil war after a government crackdown."
" Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has extended his lead over his rival Ashraf Ghani, according to latest partial results from the presidential election. Dr Abdullah, a former foreign minister, has 44% of the vote while Mr Ghani has 33%, election officials say. About half the votes have been counted. About seven million people voted across 34 provinces in the 5 April poll. A runoff will take place in late May if no candidate gets a majority. Final results are expected on 14 May. Independent Election Commission chairman Ahmad Yousuf Nouristani has warned that the current statistics are ""partial"" and ""changeable"". Speaking after the latest results were announced, Dr Abdullah said he was ready for a second round. ""It's important that the process is a free and fair one,"" he told AP news agency. ""If it goes to the second round in accordance to the rule of law, we are ready for that as well. At this stage, we believe that another round might not be needed."" Zalmai Rassoul, another former foreign minister, who is believed to be President Hamid Karzai's preferred successor, has 10% of the vote from the first round. The Taliban failed to disrupt the first round but warmer weather, at the height of the so-called fighting season, would make a second round more of a security challenge, the BBC's David Loyn in Kabul reports."
" Voters in Tajikistan have cast their ballots, with incumbent President Emomali Rakhmon widely expected to win a new seven-year term. Mr Rakhmon, 61, faces five challengers, but the only genuine opposition candidate was barred from standing. The authoritarian leader has been in office for more than 20 years in the impoverished former Soviet republic. The EU and the US have not recognised a single election in the Central Asian country as free and fair. Polls across the mountainous country were due to open at 01:00 GMT and close at 15:00 GMT. Continue reading the main story Central Asia is widely known for its obscure ""Stans"" - to be found at the bottom of most democracy rankings. Tajikistan is not the worst in the region but presidential elections there are hardly any different from its neighbours. For Emomali Rakhmon, these will be his fourth elections and there is little doubt he will win again. He is competing against virtually unknown politicians and the only credible opposition candidate has criticised what she called artificial obstacles and intimidation, which prevented her from running for the presidency. However, analysts say the elections may bring some change, although not necessarily in the government or its policies. People's perceptions and attitudes towards the government could change if mass irregularities take place on voting day. The international community will also be watching the elections closely. As part of the withdrawal campaign, Nato and the US will ship some of their equipment out of Afghanistan through Central Asia, including Tajikistan. Preliminary results are expected on Thursday. Tajikistan's official electoral commission has already declared the presidential election as valid. The head of the electoral commission, Shermuhammad Shohiyon, told Tajik state television that 68% of registered voters had already cast their ballots by 14:00 local time (09:00 GMT) - easily surpassing the minimum 50% participation required to validate the vote. Mr Rakhmon, who secured 79% of the vote in the 2006 election, did not campaign actively this time. Instead, the president relied on extensive media coverage of his visits around the country, which his opponents say was heavily biased in his favour."
" Benedict XVI on Wednesday said the Roman Catholic Church was taking action against the scourge of paedophile priests amid snowballing scandals in Europe and the United States. Recalling his meeting on Sunday with victims of predator priests in Malta, the Pope said: ""I shared their suffering and, with emotion, I prayed with them, assuring them that the Church was acting"" to address the crimes. A victims' group in the United States rejected the remarks saying: ""When the pope promises 'action,' what he means are 'policy tweaks'."" ""He's making verbal promises, and will soon make written promises, neither of which will have much impact,"" Brenda Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said in a statement. During his lightning visit to Malta, the Pope prayed with the victims ""and assured them that the Church is doing, and will continue to do, all in its power to investigate allegations (and) to bring to justice those responsible for abuse"", a Vatican statement said on Sunday. Benedict promised the victims ""effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future"". The Pope addressed a pastoral letter to Irish Catholics last month expressing ""shame and remorse"" for the sexual abuse of children by priests and rebuked Irish bishops for their ""serious mistakes"" in responding to allegations. He also announced ""concrete initiatives"" including a mission to Irish dioceses affected by sex scandals that would include a review of their conduct. On April 12 the Vatican published on its website the procedure for bishops to follow over allegations of child molestation by priests, notably that guilty clerics should be reported to the police. ""We want the Vatican to take concrete action to really protect children, like firing corrupt bishops and establishing a website with a database of the names of those who have molested children,"" Blaine told AFP."
" There are almost daily reports of new attacks The Nigerian military has exhumed seven fresh corpses from shallow graves near the city of Jos, in the latest apparent revenge killing. There are almost daily reports of attacks on people in rural villages and of disappearances in Jos itself. The bodies of two local farmers were discovered earlier this week - three other people are still missing. Clashes between rival communities - Hausa Muslims and Berom Christians - have left hundreds dead this year. The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says tensions were high in Plateau State at the weekend - because a Christian pastor and his wife were abducted and murdered in the next door state, Bauchi. Divisions accentuated by system of classifying people as indigenes and settlers Hausa-speaking Muslims living in Jos for decades are still classified as settlers Settlers find it difficult to stand for election Communities divided along party lines: Christians mostly back the ruling PDP; Muslims generally supporting the opposition ANPP No end to Nigeria cycle of violence On Monday, aid workers found the mutilated bodies of an elderly man and a woman, Berom farmers close to Rim village, south of Jos. They had machete wounds and acid burns. Aid workers photographed a trail of blood - they believe it is that of three more missing villagers. Now the military has unearthed the remains of seven people from shallow graves close to the village of Rahoss. Our reporter says they are thought to be Hausa Muslim travellers hacked to death in a machete attack. The killings are not thought to be directly linked but part of the hostility between local farmers and Hausa Fulani herdsman. Farmers experience regular attacks and low-level raids and killings from Fulani herdsmen in remote areas. Outside the city, the violence is about a struggle for farmland, and grazing rights, our reporter says. But in Jos itself, the friction is deeply political, she says. Violence is often sparked by settlements spilling into new land - or by tension in local government."
" Nine police and two government militiamen pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder charges in last year's massacre of 57 people, the Philippines' worst political violence allegedly orchestrated by members of a powerful clan. The officers are among 198 suspects charged in the Nov. 23 killings of journalists, supporters and family members of a political candidate _ an unprecedented slaughter even in a country notorious for election violence and political killings. The officers were arraigned three months after principal suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr., former town mayor in the southern province of Maguindanao, also pleaded not guilty to charges that he led police and government paramilitaries in the killings. The emotional trial _ the Philippines' largest criminal case since World War II _ opened in January. But doubts have emerged of political interference, stoked by a sudden decision last week by Acting Justice Alberto Agra to clear Ampatuan's brother and a cousin of murder charges, citing lack of evidence. Agra's move triggered protests from his own prosecutors, journalists' groups, human rights organizations and the victims' families, who questioned President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's commitment to seeking justice. The Ampatuans have been Arroyo's close political allies for years, helping her win 2004 elections. Arroyo spokesman Gary Olivar said the president was studying Agra's decision and consulting lawyers. In another decision criticized publicly, authorities at the maximum-security jail housing the massacre suspects allowed Ampatuan to hold a news conference Tuesday, during which he said that Arroyo remained a family friend. He professed his innocence again and even endorsed a presidential candidate. Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno expressed surprise Wednesday that prison officials allowed Ampatuan to address reporters and said he would investigate. ""I was shocked to be honest. It looked like he was on vacation. He did not look like an inmate,"" Puno said, describing a smiling Ampatuan sitting at a table, looking fresh and relaxed."
" ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey seized a truck loaded with 1,200 rocket warheads and other weapons near the border with Syria on Thursday and detained nine people, the private Dogan news agency reported. The truck, which was also carrying bazookas, explosives and guns, was seized in Turkey's southern province of Adana, Dogan quoted provincial governor Huseyin Avni Cos as saying."
" In the past month since the sexual abuse crisis has exploded, with allegations mushrooming in the United States, Austria and his native Germany, he has used vague terms such as how the Church was ""wounded by our sins"" or needed ""penance."" Speaking at his general audience, he used the word ""abuse"" in public for the first time in more than a month, a period in which the scandal has spread extensively and developed into the greatest crisis of his five-year pontificate. Summarising his weekend trip to Malta at his weekly general audience in St Peter' Square, Benedict said: ""I wanted to meet some people who were victims of abuse by members of the clergy. I shared with them their suffering and with emotion I prayed with them, promising them action on the part of the Church."" Victims groups had demanded the pope say something directly in public instead of using indirect reference and generalities. A statement Sunday in Malta after his meeting with eight abuse victims said the pope promised them the Church would do ""all in its power to investigate allegations, to bring to justice those responsible for abuse and to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future."" That was one of the clearest statements yet from the Vatican that it wanted local bishops to cooperate with civil authorities in prosecuting priests who abused children. Hundreds of cases of sexual and physical abuse of youths in recent decades by priests have come to light in Europe and the United States in the last month as disclosures encourage long-silent victims to finally go public with their complaints. Many cases date back so far that the statute of limitations has expired. In the past month, the pope himself was accused of turning a blind eye in 1980, when he was archbishop of Munich in Germany, to the case of a priest who was sent there for therapy after sexually abusing children and soon transferred to parish work."
" The commander of the M23 rebel group in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has surrendered in Uganda, sources have told the BBC. Sultani Makenga is said to have handed himself over along with hundreds of M23 fighters in the Mgahinga National Park. A Ugandan spokesman said no decision had yet been made on whether he would be handed over to DR Congo. Earlier this week the M23 said it was ending its insurgency, hours after the DR Congo government claimed victory. Reports say Col Makenga and about 1,700 fighters have been disarmed and are being held in a secret location. The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga in Kampala says Col Makenga poses a tough diplomatic challenge for Uganda. He is wanted back home for war crimes for his leadership of the rebellion and is also under UN sanctions. A Ugandan government spokesperson told the BBC a decision on whether to hand him over would have to wait until a peace deal is signed between DR Congo and the M23 rebels, which is expected this weekend. Both DR Congo and the UN are adamant that the M23's top commanders will not be given amnesty, our correspondent says. Uganda has been hosting peace talks between the rebels and the DR Congo government."
" Pakistan's Taliban have named Mullah Fazlullah as their new leader, after the death of Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone attack. Mullah Fazlullah is a particularly hardline commander whose men shot the schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai. Mehsud was killed when missiles struck his vehicle in the North Waziristan region on 1 November. The government had been trying to set up peace talks, but the new leader has already rejected the initiative. The BBC's Richard Galpin in Islamabad says the Taliban have indicated that Mullah Fazlullah wants revenge for the killing of Mehsud. A Taliban spokesman told the BBC the militants would target the military and the governing party. Continue reading the main story The choice of Mullah Fazlullah as the new head of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) is unlikely to please many Pakistanis. He was among the TTP's more vocal opponents of talks with Islamabad, so the group appears set to continue on the path of violence. Mullah Fazlullah led the bloody occupation of the Swat Valley in 2008-09, and pioneered a violent campaign against polio vaccination. Since his eviction from Swat in an army operation in 2009, he has moved to north-eastern Afghanistan from where he has launched several attacks against the Pakistani military, including one in September that killed an army general. He also said he was behind the assassination attempt on education activist Malala Yousafzai last year. But he starts out with two major disadvantages - he is not based in Pakistan and he is not a native of the Waziristan tribal region, the main militant sanctuary. Many expect him to face problems in controlling the disparate, and at times fractious groups within the TTP, the bulk of them locals from Waziristan. The Mehsud killing had angered the Pakistani government. Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan said that the drone strike was ""not just the killing of one person, it's the death of all peace efforts"". The announcement of the new leader was made by the Taliban's caretaker leader Asmatullah Shaheen at a news conference at an undisclosed location. When the news was announced, there was reportedly heavy celebratory gunfire in the area around Miranshah, the main town in the tribal area of North Waziristan."
" No results have been declared nearly seven weeks after the election. The protests are another sign of political instability in Afghanistan, already facing a growing Taliban-led insurgency. Joined by hundreds of supporters, the candidates and members of parliament who had sought re-election in Kabul denounced the September 18 election as illegal and urged a new poll. They marched from the palace of President Hamid Karzai past U.N. headquarters to deliver a resolution to the U.S. embassy. ""We said that the results of the election will further worsen Afghanistan's security and force millions of people to head to the mountains"" to take up arms, lawmaker Daoud Sultanzoy, an outspoken critic of Karzai's government, told Reuters after the demonstration. ""We said this election should be scrapped."" A small group of candidates held a similar protest in Jalalabad, about 150 km (95 miles) east of Kabul. They denounced the vote as fraudulent and warned that the new parliament could be seen as illegitimate but did not call for another election. The United Nations was the key election organizer. The United States, which has the bulk of some 150,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, was among major donors for the elections. Nearly a quarter of the votes for the lower house of parliament have already been disqualified by the Independent Election Commission (IEC). Allegations of fraud have also been leveled against the IEC itself, including senior members in the commission. Two weeks after the election, the IEC said its provincial election chief in the eastern province of Khost had been arrested over fraud complaints. The lawmakers and candidates accuse IEC officials of bribe-taking and having their own votes unfairly tossed out."
" BEIRUT Nov 6 (Reuters) - A car bomb killed at least eight security personnel in a rare attack on a military intelligence headquarters in the southern Syrian city of Suweida on Wednesday, and a separate blast killed eight people in Damascus. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the car bomb in Suweida, which had largely spared violence in Syria's civil war, had also wounded dozens. The Observatory's head, Rami Abdelrahman, said a major - earlier identified as a colonel - was among security officers killed in the blast at the regional Air Force Intelligence headquarters. He was believed to be the head of the branch and locals told the Observatory a second officer may also have died. Local opposition activists said a suicide bomber had sped through a checkpoint outside the headquarters and blown up his car. Rebels then tried to storm the building and clashes erupted, they said, killing several opposition fighters. A photograph uploaded by activists showed a thick column of smoke rising above the Suweida skyline. The state news agency SANA said the Suweida blast wounded 41 people but made no mention of the target, saying only that a ""terrorist"" car bomb had hit a square in the city. State media often use the word terrorist to describe rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad in a struggle that has cost well over 100,000 lives since it began in March 2011. The government-controlled Suweida region is home to many Druze, who have mostly stayed neutral in the conflict, although some have joined paramilitary forces supporting Assad. Earlier in the day, SANA said an improvised bomb had exploded in Hejaz Square in the crowded heart of Damascus, killing eight people and wounding at least 50. The British-based Observatory, which has a network of activists across Syria, put the toll there at seven dead and at least 20 wounded. It cited conflicting reports from activists as to whether the explosion was caused by a bomb or a mortar shell."
" Eight people have been killed in a blast in the centre of the Syrian capital, Damascus, the Sana state news agency reports. It said 50 were also wounded in the Hijaz Square explosion, which hit the offices of the railway company. Eight people were also killed by a rare blast in the town of Suweida, home to Syria's Druze minority, say reports. Suweida has remained under government control through the conflict, and had so far been largely free of violence. Wednesday's blast there went off outside the headquarters of the Air Force Intelligence, the most feared security service in Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, said it had been a suicide car bomb and that the intelligence branch chief was among those killed. Sana blamed the attack on ""terrorists"", the government's way of referring to rebels forces. Syria's Druze minority - adherents of an offshoot of Shia Islam - numbers about 700,000. Its main leadership has so far stayed out of the conflict publicly. The Observatory said were conflicting reports about whether the Damascus explosion had been caused by a bomb or a mortar shell. No group has said it was behind the blast but Sana again quoted police sources blaming ""terrorists."
" Mr Chavez says Washington would be guilty of protecting international terrorism if it refused extradition. Mr Posada Carriles - the 77-year-old former CIA employee - was charged last week with illegal entry into the US. US immigration officials said that he would be held in custody until an immigration court hearing on 13 June. Washington has up to 60 days to consider Venezuela's extradition request under a 1922 treaty between the two countries. ""If they don't extradite him (Mr Posada Carriles) in the time allowed in our agreement, we will review our relations with the United States,"" Mr Chavez said in his regular Sunday TV programme. He said Caracas would decide ""if it worth having an embassy in the United States, wasting money, or for the United States to have an embassy here"". ""It is difficult, very difficult, to maintain ties with a government that so shamelessly hides and protects international terrorism,"" Mr Chavez said. The president last week described Mr Posada Carriles as ""a self-confessed terrorist"". Mr Posada Carriles - who was born in Cuba but now holds Venezuelan nationality - has denied involvement in the attack on the Cuban airline passenger plane on a flight from Caracas to Havana. Mr Posada Carriles escaped a Venezuelan prison in 1985 while awaiting a trial on appeal."
" If his government loses the vote, parliament will be dissolved and elections held by mid-September. The move, announced by the chairman of his Social Democrat Party, comes after they lost a key regional election. Mr Schroeder said the defeat in North Rhine-Westphalia had undermined the government's programme of reform. ""The bitter result... jeopardises the political basis for the continuation of our task,"" Mr Schroeder said. ""I think that, for the reforms to be pursued, the majority of Germans must clearly back them now."" Social Democrat Party Chairman Franz Muentefering announced the date for the planned confidence vote on Monday. If parliament brings down Mr Schroeder's government, German President Horst Koehler will have 21 days to dissolve parliament. After that, new elections must be held within 60 days. Early elections in Germany are highly unusual. But a similar tactic was adopted by Mr Schroeder's predecessor Helmut Kohl, who forced elections in 1983 by calling a confidence vote in which his supporters abstained. The Social Democrats (SPD) had governed in North Rhine-Westphalia for 39 years before their defeat by the Christian Democrats (CDU). Ms Merkel is likely to challenge Mr Schroeder and she may now have a good chance of becoming Germany's first female chancellor. Her party enjoys a strong lead in national opinion polls."
" Several protesters in a crowd at Baruch College tried to interrupt Mr Sharon's speech, with one of them shouting: ""Jews don't expel Jews."" The protesters were removed before Mr Sharon was able to continue to loud cheers from most of about 1,000 people who came to the Manhattan auditorium. He said the pullout would be on time in mid-August and would improve security. Mr Sharon is well aware of the influence of organised pro-Israeli Jewish groups in American politics, the BBC's Jeremy Cooke in New York reports. Mr Sharon also knows his plans are drawing fierce criticism from his political opponents back home. ""Usually I handle these things myself,"" Mr Sharon said, after the protesters were removed from the auditorium. ""This plan will improve our security and offer a chance to start a political process with the Palestinians,"" he said to the overwhelmingly supportive crowd. ""It will guarantee a Jewish majority in the state of Israel."" Mr Sharon said the pullout would begin as scheduled on 16 or 17 August, despite the reported reservations of military commanders who has been urging a delay of up to six months because of security concerns. During his further meetings in the US, Mr Sharon's message is expected to contain hawkish language, our correspondent says."
" Relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq took a letter to Downing Street earlier this month demanding the inquiry. Treasury Solicitors said the families' case was ""fundamentally flawed"". Tony Blair had already rejected the call. Andrew Burgin a spokesman for the families, said they would now seek a judicial review of the refusal. The government solicitors rejected the families' argument that the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) obliged Mr Blair to set up an independent public inquiry. In a statement they said: ""Those servicemen regrettably lost their lives due to a variety of circumstances ... ranging from a road traffic accident in Kuwait and a US helicopter crash to a gun attack and improvised explosive device attack. ""The legality of the decision to take military action in Iraq has no bearing on the circumstances which led to their deaths."" The families have condemned the solicitors' argument that the military action ""was in no sense the immediate and direct operative cause"" of the deaths. Ann Lawrence, whose son Marc was killed when two helicopters crashed at sea said her son and Tom Keys, who was killed near Basra in June 2003, ""wouldn't have been within a million miles of Iraq had Mr Blair not sent them there"". ""They had a Queen's Commission and were duty bound to take orders, "" she said. The letter sent to the families' lawyers also defended the war in Iraq."
" The Pope has been under pressure to refer directly to the crisis Pope Benedict XVI has promised that the Roman Catholic Church will take ""action"" over child abuse by priests. The comments are the most explicit he has made in public about a series of recent allegations against the Church. Speaking in Rome at his weekly general audience, he referred to his weekend meeting with abuse victims in Malta. ""I shared with them their suffering and, with emotion, I prayed with them, promising them action on the part of the Church,"" he said. The Pope met eight men, during his visit to Malta on Sunday, who have complained of abuse during their childhood at an orphanage. ""I wanted to meet some people who were victims of abuse by members of the clergy,"" he said. One of the men, Lawrence Grech, said the meeting was ""very emotional"" and that ""everybody cried"", and that it had given him huge spiritual courage. The Vatican said afterwards that the Pope had had tears in his eyes. It said he had ""prayed with them and assured them that the Church is doing, and will continue to do, all in its power to investigate allegations, to bring to justice those responsible for abuse and to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future"". However, Wednesday was the first time in recent weeks that the Pope has made his own public comments referring directly to the issue. Previously he has called on Roman Catholics to ""do penance"" for their sins, and made other allusions to the crisis, but he has been criticised for making no direct verbal reference to the storm engulfing the Church. There has been a wave of allegations that Church authorities in Europe and North and South America failed to deal properly with priests accused of paedophilia, sometimes just moving them to new parishes where more children were put at risk. The Pope himself has been accused of not taking strong enough steps against paedophiles when he had that responsibility as a cardinal in Rome. However, his supporters say he has been the most pro-active pope yet in confronting abuse. On Tuesday he accepted the resignation of the bishop of Miami, US, who has been accused of covering up abuse cases, and it is thought he will do the same with an Irish bishop on Thursday. Last week the Vatican made it clear that the policy of zero tolerance of sexual abuse of minors by clergy, adopted by Catholic bishops conferences in the US and in England and Wales, is now applicable worldwide."
" Hundreds flooded into the compound as police opposition melted away, waving a flag from a second floor window and scattering documents, reporters said. Earlier opposition protesters - who are demanding that President Askar Akayev step down - fought running battles with pro-government forces. Protesters also took over state TV and announced the government had fallen. Until now the channel has not covered the growing protests on the news, showing nature programmes instead. But unidentified people appeared on Kyrgyz TV for a special news bulletin at 1700 (1200 GMT) announcing that power had passed to the opposition and government leaders had gone. At the palace - also the seat of government - officials were seen fleeing by the back door. Mr Akayev's whereabouts were unknown, but there was speculation he was talking to officials from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in the outskirts of Bishkek. ""He is most likely in the OSCE mission. There is nowhere else he can be now,"" former foreign minister and opposition figure Muratbek Imanaliyev told the Russian government news agency Ria. An OSCE spokesman in Bishkek denied the reports. The events in the capital follow growing unrest in the south."
" Protesters confronted supporters of President Askar Akayev before flooding into government offices. A prominent Kyrgyz opposition leader, Felix Kulov, made a televised appeal for calm after being freed from jail. Demonstrations were stepped up after recent parliamentary elections, which the opposition said were rigged. An unconfirmed report by Interfax news agency said Mr Akayev and his family have left Bishkek by helicopter. Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court has annulled February's controversial elections and recognised the former parliament as the legitimate legislature, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted court chairman, Kurmanbek Osmonov, as saying. At the palace - also the seat of government - police melted away as hundreds of protesters flooded into the compound. Some appeared in windows, where one demonstrator was seen waving a flag as another threw out documents. Officials were seen fleeing by the back door. Mr Kulov, a former vice-president who was jailed for embezzlement in 2000, appealed to Mr Akayev to ""meet with opposition leaders in order to peacefully and constitutionally transfer power"". Observers say 56-year-old Mr Kulov, who is also the former head of the National Security Ministry - successor of the Soviet-era KGB - is emerging as the leader of what is a fractious opposition."
" The allegations are made by the peace campaigner Maya Evans, from St Leonards, East Sussex, who yesterday went to the High Court to seek a judicial review of the Government's detainee transfer policy in Afghanistan. Ms Evans claims that the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office adopted the approach ""of seeing no evil, hearing no evil and speaking no evil"" so they did not have to take responsibility for Taliban suspects after they had left British hands. She is being represented by Public Interest Lawyers (PIL), who have gathered material which they say shows a wide range of abuse of suspects handed over to the National Directorate of Security (NDS), a secret service organisation in Afghanistan. Among the nine cases are allegations of beatings, electrocution, sleep deprivation and whipping with rubber cables. One detainee said he was punched and hit on the head, while a second prisoner said he was subjected to stress positions and sleep deprivation. Two others said they suffered electric shocks and were beaten with a cable. PIL say the ""horrific brutality"" of NDS is well-documented, and that the UK detainee transfer policy violates Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against inhuman and degrading treatment. Ms Evans's lawyers argue the UK government has chosen to rely on a ""manifestly unsafe"" memorandum of understanding with the Afghan authorities that human rights obligations would be observed by the NDS. Michael Fordham QC, appearing for Ms Evans, said in court: ""The issue in this case is whether the practice of handing over of suspect insurgents to the NDS is compatible with Article 3."" He told Lord Justice Richards, sitting with Mr Justice Cranston: ""We will submit emphatically that it is not."""
" Taliban gunmen have shot dead the deputy mayor of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. Azizollah Yarmal was killed while praying at a mosque late on Monday, officials said. The gunmen escaped. The militants later said they killed Mr Yarmal. He is the latest in a series of officials to be targeted in the area. The attacks come as Nato and Afghan troops prepare for a major offensive against the Taliban in Kandahar province, a key insurgent stronghold. Provincial spokesman Zalmai Ayubi said Mr Yarmal was shot while he and dozens of others were praying. No arrests have been made. ""This is the work of the enemies of Afghanistan. They don't want these honest people to serve the Afghan people and work in government institutions,"" Mr Ayubi said. Correspondents say mosques provide little security for officials, making them vulnerable to attacks while at prayer. The deputy mayor's death is the latest in a string of killings in the city of Kandahar and the surrounding province. Kandhar was the country's designated capital during Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001 and has been the centre of their increasingly violent insurgency since they were overthrown in the US-led invasion of 2001."
" Repeat polls for Sri Lanka's April parliamentary elections are being held in two districts where the ballots were annulled because of violence. Security is tight in Nawalapitiya and Trincomalee districts and monitors have reported no violence so far. The result will make no difference to the outcome of the elections in which President Mahinda Rajapaksa's governing coalition has already won a majority. His United People's Freedom Alliance won 117 of 180 seats announced so far. The president's main rival, Gen Fonseka, stood for election from within jail. An independent group, the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections, said there were problems with the vote. It said a majority of Tamil refugees in the north had been denied the right to vote. The poll was the first parliamentary election since Sri Lanka's civil war ended in 2009."
" Polls opened Tuesday morning in the re-poll in two areas affected by violence during the parliamentary election held on April 8, election officials said. Officials from the Department of Elections said 50,107 voters in 37 polling station are expected to vote in the central district area of Nawalapitiya and 977 people are to vote at the Kumburusiddy polling station in the eastern port district of Trincomalee. The poll in the two areas were annulled by Elections Commissioner Dayanada Dissanayake following complaints of intimidation and malpractice. This forced the delay in announcing the final result of the general election and the parliamentary composition. However, the two ruling party strongmen alleged to be responsible for the intimidation, Mahindanada Aluthgamage and Susantha Punchinilame have both denied wrongdoing. They blamed their ruling party colleagues for conspiring against them in continuation of the intra-party violence which marred the polls lead-up. Extra security measures have been enforced in both areas to prevent recurrence of violence, authorities said. Source: Xinhua"
" An international aid effort is underway to assist the Philippines in the wake of the devastating Typhoon Haiyan. The weakened system has made landfall in Vietnam as the massive clean-up and relief continues in the Philippines, where at least 10,000 people are feared dead in one province alone. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the Australian Government will contribute $10 million in aid, which will include $390,500 of emergency supplies previously announced by Ms Bishop on Saturday. ""I have approved a $10 million package of humanitarian assistance. This comprises the urgent deployment of an Australian medical assistance team - at a cost of about $1 million, $3 million to be deployed through Australian non-government organisations, $4 million to the United Nations flash appeal,"" she said. ""[We will also contribute] $1 million for additional food items and non-food items, which includes the funding already announced - so tarps, mosquito nets, water containers and the like, and $1 million to the Red Cross to assist in their disaster response efforts."" When questioned about the size of the donation, the Foreign Minister defended the $10 million figure calling it a ""substantial package"", but left the door open for more aid in the coming days. ""This $10 million is on a scale with other countries, but we will obviously stand by ready to support the Philippines in whatever way we can,"" she said. ""Our offer to president Aquino stands that if more assistance is needed, and in what form, we are certainly ready to assist,"" she said. The head of the Australian Red Cross, Robert Tickner, says the Coalition Government's cut to Australia's foreign aid budget will not impact on its response to the current disaster. ""It's a different issue, a different order of magnitude. It's a crisis response and the Australian Government has a long history of responding positively in times like this and I'm sure they will,"" he said."
" Voters in the Maldives have been going to the polls to elect a president after two previous attempts failed. Candidates came to a last-minute agreement earlier this week to agree and sign the voter lists required for the election to take place. But turnout was lower than expected, amid disappointment about political rows throughout the election process. In 2012, ex-President Mohamed Nasheed was forced from office, sparking a political crisis. He is seeking to regain power at these elections. Tensions are high after one vote was annulled and a re-run halted by police. Supporters of Mr Nasheed's opposition Maldivian Democratic Party allege the government and judiciary are attempting to influence the electoral process, fearing he will return to power. Mr Nasheed won the Indian Ocean archipelago's first-ever democratic vote in 2008, ousting Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ran the country autocratically for three decades. Continue reading the main story February 2012: President Mohamed Nasheed forced from office in disputed circumstances, sparking protests; his deputy, Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, takes over 7 September 2013: Mr Nasheed wins 45% in first round of elections; his two nearest rivals get 25% and 24% respectively 7 October 2013: Supreme Court annuls 7 September results after claims of irregularities by one candidate 19 October 2013: Planned re-run of vote is stopped by police 6 November 2013: Candidates agree to sign voter lists and take part in elections scheduled for 11 November His main rival at the ballot box is Mr Gayoom's half-brother, Abdullah Yameen. The other major contender is Gasim Ibrahim, a wealthy resort owner and a former minister under Mr Gayoom."
" Ivory Coast's constitutional council has validated the results of last week's presidential election, despite an opposition challenge. The move points the way to a second round run-off between President Laurent Gbagbo and opposition leader Alassane Ouattara on 21 November. Mr Ouattara had earlier called for a recount. The results also need to be certified by the UN. The poll aims to reunify the country after years of partial rebel control. In a public sitting, the council confirmed preliminary results which gave President Gbagbo around 38% of the vote, short of the 50% needed to avoid a second round, followed by Mr Ouattara, with 32%. The coalition of four opposition parties demanded a recount of the votes in the 31 October election, according to a statement read by Alphonse Djedje Mady, spokesman for the Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP). ""Serious irregularities"" in the first round ""led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of votes for RHDP candidates to the benefit"" of Mr Gbagbo, he said. The election, due since 2005, had been postponed six times and turnout was around 80%. One observer said this was one of the highest rates ever seen in Africa. International observers said last week's polls were credible, despite some organisational short-comings. Mr Ouattara, a former IMF economist, won an overwhelming majority in the mainly Muslim north, where many people have complained that they have faced discrimination."
" March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Kyrgyzstan's government should address opposition charges of irregularities in this month's parliamentary elections and start talks to end unrest in southern towns, the U.S. State Department said. The U.S. sent Nicholas Burns, its undersecretary for political affairs, to Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, yesterday to call on the government of President Askar Akayev to open talks, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said in an e-mailed statement sent today from Washington. ``The United States urges opposition leaders to join this dialogue without preconditions,'' Ereli said in the statement. ``We condemn the use of force by any side and the seizure and destruction of government property.'' Opposition supporters have occupied government offices in southern towns to protest the March 13 run-off elections that were won by parties backing Akayev, who has ruled the central Asian nation of 5 million people since 1991. Akayev yesterday said he won't resign and called on opposition groups to settle differences through negotiations, Interfax reported. Addressing voting irregularities will ``lay the groundwork for free and fair presidential elections'' scheduled for October, Ereli said in his statement. Burns yesterday met Alikbek Djekshenkulov, Akayev's foreign policy adviser, according to the statement. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on May 21 called on both sides to exercise restraint. Opposition supporters took over government offices in a third southern town late yesterday, Interfax reported. The protesters occupied offices in Kyzyl-Kiya, the news agency said, citing unidentified police officials. Protests have taken place in Osh and Jalal-Abad in recent days. ``All problems should be settled in a political way and through negotiations,'' Akayev said yesterday in an address on national television, according to Interfax. Opposition groups, though, have a variety of demands and ``it is unclear who to negotiate with,'' Interfax cited Akayev as saying. The president told parliament yesterday he won't declare a state of emergency in Kyrgyzstan, saying the protests are aimed at making the government use force, Interfax reported. Akayev, 60, last week warned of a possible civil war and has said that popular protests such as those that resulted in leadership changes in the former Soviet republics of Ukraine last year and in Georgia in 2003 won't be tolerated in Kyrgyzstan."
" Up to 200 people gathered in Bishkek's main square, but police broke up the rally before it could get going. Police reportedly hit some of the crowd with sticks and arrested 10 organisers. It is not clear how closly the event was linked to protests in the south, where the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad are under effective opposition control. The new Kyrgyz Interior Minister, Keneshbek Dushebayev, warned protesters in the south that the authorities could use force to restore order. ""The law gives us every right to take action, including by using physical force, special means and firearms,"" he was quoted as saying. The wave of unrest was sparked by disputed parliamentary election results earlier this year, and protesters want President Askar Akayev to step down. A BBC Central Asia correspondent, Monica Whitlock, says protesters in the southern city of Osh, where demonstrations have been staged for days, are now trying to organise a bus convoy to travel to Bishkek for a larger rally later in the week. The authorities will be especially sensitive about opposition actions in the government's seat of power, and our correspondent says this may be the reason why Wednesday's protest was broken up so quickly. Earlier on Wednesday, President Akayev sacked those responsible for security - his interior minister and prosecutor general. A presidential spokesman said Bakirdin Subanbekov and Myktybek Abdyldayev were dismissed due to their ""poor work""."
" A presidential spokesman said Bakirdin Subanbekov and Myktybek Abdyldayev were dismissed due to their ""poor work"". The unrest was sparked by parliamentary elections earlier this year which the opposition said were rigged. But President Akayev has insisted the poll was valid, and on Tuesday he branded the protests a coup attempt. The ministers' departure comes as a result of mounting protests sparked by elections in February, and a second round on 13 March, which saw the opposition reduced to just a handful of seats in the 75-member parliament. Opposition protesters have seized control of several towns in the south, including Osh and Jalal-Abad. The north of the country is more loyal to Mr Akayev, but if protests spread to the capital Bishkek, analysts say Kyrgyzstan could face an uprising like those seen in two other former Soviet states, Georgia and Ukraine. Osh and Jalal-Abad were both quiet on Wednesday morning. A small group of protestors gathered in the main square in Osh, reiterating an opposition demand that Mr Akayev should stand down. Protesters are still occupying official buildings, the television station and the airport, and security forces have all but disappeared from the city centre. But the tension of the last few days has evaporated, according to the BBC Central Asia correspondent Monica Whitlock."
" March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Kyrgyzstan's government and opposition must exercise restraint after violent protests in southern towns over the results of this month's parliamentary elections, said United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. ``The secretary general is opposed to the use of violence and intimidation to resolve electoral and political disputes,'' the UN said in a statement on its Web site. Annan ``calls on all parties to apply restraint.'' President Askar Akayev yesterday offered to hold talks with the opposition, a move welcomed by Annan, the UN said. Protesters took over government buildings and blocked the airports in Osh and Jalal-Abad in the past two days, Agence France-Presse reported, citing witnesses in the towns. The opposition charges fraud in the March 13 run-off election won by parties supporting Akayev, who has ruled the central Asian nation of 5 million people since 1991. Kyrgyzstan's economy depends on agricultural production with cotton and tobacco its main exports. About 50 percent of people lived below the poverty line in 2003, according to U.S. government data. Akayev last week warned of a possible civil war and has said that popular protests such as those that resulted in leadership changes in the former Soviet republics of Ukraine last year and in Georgia in 2003 won't be tolerated in Kyrgyzstan, AFP reported. Akayev has said he won't stand in presidential elections scheduled for Oct. 30. The president yesterday said he ordered investigations into charges of voting irregularities in the parliamentary polls, AFP reported. Voting in most of the country took place without violations, AFP cited Akayev as saying. ``The authorities are ready for negotiations with the opposition at any time,'' AFP cited Abdil Segizbayev, a presidential spokesman, as saying yesterday in a television broadcast. The opposition only wants talks with Akayev, AFP cited Kurmanbek Bakiyev, an opposition leader, as saying yesterday. ``It doesn't suit us to have negotiations with the prime minister or other members of the government because it doesn't solve the problem,'' Bakiyev said, according to AFP. ``Events in the south are not in their competence.'' The U.S. State Department said two days ago it ``strongly endorses'' a call on March 20 by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for nonviolence and immediate talks between the government and the opposition. The March 13 voting was an improvement over the February polls, which were subject to media bias and deregistration of candidates that restricted genuine competition, the OSCE said at the time. The second round of voting had ``significant shortcoming,'' the OSCE said in a statement on its Web site."
" The people of Burma have voted in the country's first national elections for 20 years. Ruling generals say the polls mark a transition to democratic civilian rule but critics say they are a sham. The National League for Democracy, the main opposition party led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, boycotted the vote. Observers say voting proceeded calmly while opposition parties say it was manipulated. ""The authorities of various levels forced the people to cast advance votes,"" said Sai Ai Pa O - president of Shan National Democratic Party, which is fielding the fourth largest number of candidates. ""We are not allowed to send representatives to the polling stations at the time of advance voting,"" he said. ""If the election was free and fair, I am sure we would win at least 80% of seats."" One soldier based near Rangoon told the BBC that rank-and-file troops from 10 army regiments had refused orders to vote. His testimony could not be verified. Reports from Burma's largest city, Rangoon, suggest turnout was light at many polling stations. Foreign journalists and monitors have not been allowed into the country for the election. EU ambassador David Lipman said that people voted in a calm atmosphere with no visible presence either of the army or police."
" Israel is imposing a full closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip starting Wednesday morning to secure Purim festivities, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz declared Tuesday. As a result of the closure, which will last until Sunday,Palestinian workers and merchants in the territories will not be able to enter Israel. In the meantime, Israeli defence ministry had finalized its security plan during the festive period, including reinforcing police patrol at sensitive sites. Purim, a holiday of costumes and merry-making that celebrates the salvation of the Jews in Persia during the Second Temple period, takes place on Thursday night and Friday and lasts through Sunday in Jerusalem. Purim celebrations have previously been the targets of Palestinian attacks. Earlier Tuesday, Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser told the Knesset (parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the Palestinian National Authority security forces are foiling just asmany terror attacks as Israeli forces are since the Egypt's Sharmel-Sheikh summit."
" Israel has banned the entry of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza during this week's celebration of the Jewish Purim holiday. The five-day ban, announced for security reasons, means that more than 10,000 Palestinians with permits to work in Israel will not be allowed in. Militants have previously carried out suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis over the holiday."
" The Palestinian committee investigating the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004 has said Israel is the ""only suspect"". A Swiss report published this week said specimens from Arafat's exhumed body contained unexpectedly high levels of the radioactive element, polonium-210. The Palestinian investigators said the report showed Arafat did not die because of old age or ill health, but was the victim of an ""assassination"". Israel's government has dismissed any suggestion that it was involved. The Palestinian leader died in Paris, less than a month after being taken ill in the West Bank. His medical records said he had a stroke resulting from a blood disorder. His widow, Suha, objected to a post-mortem at the time but agreed to allow Swiss, Russian and French experts to take samples from her late husband's remains last November after traces of polonium-210 were found on Arafat's personal effects in 2011. Continue reading the main story While Palestinians have long accused Israel of assassinating Yasser Arafat they now feel there is mounting scientific evidence that proves the case. ""My opinion from the first minute was that he was killed,"" Abdul Salam Abuaskar, a customer in a Ramallah coffee shop, told me. ""The most important thing for Arafat after his people was his health. He was in good health then suddenly he collapsed and his health deteriorated."" Another Palestinian, Rozanne Liftawi, said she now felt ""more sure"" that Arafat was poisoned. ""Our mission now is to figure out who helped Israel to commit this crime?"" she said. But the latest accusations being levelled at Israel are causing fresh tensions. While the Palestinians are sounding more adamant, Israel is getting more irritated at what it sees as spurious claims without, it says, ""a shadow of proof"". At a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday, the head of the Palestinian committee, Tawfik Terawi, directly blamed Israel for Arafat's death. ""It is not important that I say here that he was killed by polonium,'' he said. ""But I say, with all the details available about Yasser Arafat's death, that he was killed and that Israel killed him."" Mr Terawi did not present evidence of Israeli involvement, other than what he said were ""statements by Israeli leaders who at the time said that Yasser Arafat should go, and should disappear""."
" BEIRUT - Syrian rebels pleaded for military and medical aid in the embattled border town of Qusair on Thursday, saying they were unable to evacuate hundreds of wounded under an onslaught from government forces backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters. ""We have 700 people wounded in Qusair and 100 of them are being given oxygen. The town is surrounded and there's no way to bring in medical aid,"" said Malek Ammar, an opposition activist in the besieged town. Rebels in Qusair sent out an appeal for support using social media outlets, saying the town near the Syrian-Lebanese border - straddling supply lines critical to both sides in Syria's civil war - could be devastated."
" Two American service members died following bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan, the military said Wednesday.June is on track to becoming one of the deadliest months for U.S. and international forces in the nearly nine-year Afghan war. Including the latest deaths, 69 international forces have been killed so far this month, 43 of them American.The ratcheting violence has been matched in recent days by uncertainty about the military leadership following a magazine article that reported deep rifts between the top commander in the war and the U.S. administration.Gen. Stanley McChrystal has been summoned to Washington to explain disparaging comments about President Obama and his top aides in the Rolling Stone piece. McChrystal has publicly apologized for the article.He is prepared to submit his resignation at a meeting with Obama on Wednesday at the White House, CBS News has learned - leaving theThe Americans died Tuesday in separate attacks, said Lt. Col. Joseph T. Breasseale, a U.S. military spokesman. He did not provide further details.The deadliest month of the conflict for U.S. forces was October 2009, when 59 service members were killed. For NATO forces overall, the deadliest month was July 2009, when 75 troops were killed."
" BP's Tony Hayward handed over management of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Wednesday after enduring weeks of criticism and ridicule in the United States for his handling of the disaster. Bob Dudley, an American senior manager known as a skilled trouble-shooter who is also conveniently a native of the affected state of Mississippi, will take charge ""effective immediately,"" BP said in a statement. Hayward, the British chief executive of the energy giant, made a series of insensitive gaffes in the past two months since the disaster and turned in an unsympathetic performance at a grilling from angry US lawmakers. ""The new organization will manage all aspects of the response to the Deepwater Horizon incident and the oil and gas spill in the Gulf of Mexico, ensuring that BP fulfills its promises to the people of the Gulf Coast and continues its work to restore the region's environment,"" BP said. Hayward said his successor, BP's managing director, had a ""deep appreciation and affinity for the Gulf Coast"" having grown up in Mississippi. The shake-up comes a day after the White House vowed to issue a fresh moratorium on deepwater oil drilling, after a judge blocked an earlier freeze ordered in the spill's aftermath by President Barack Obama. Judge Martin Feldman ruled in favor of 32 oil firms, backed by many desperate workers in the Gulf region, that the blanket freeze was ""arbitrary and capricious."" But the White House immediately vowed to appeal the decision and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he would issue a new order ""in the coming days"" to enforce the freeze. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama continued to believe that ""to drill at these depths without knowing what happened... does not make any sense."" Oil workers and executives along the southern US coast have criticized the moratorium for driving business out of the Gulf and costing them their livelihoods."
" A moderate earthquake of a 5.0 magnitude rocked Ottawa and surrounding area on Wednesday afternoon, overwhelming emergency services and sending thousands of panicked people into downtown streets. ""It undermines your faith in all that is solid,"" said a rattled Douglas Baum who fled the courthouse when the ground began to move. The rumbling and shaking began at 1:41 p.m. and radiated out from an epicentre near Val-des-Bois, QC, about 56 km northeast of Ottawa. The effects rippled outwardsacross Quebec, Ontario, and the eastern U.S. with reports streaming in from as far away as Boone, Iowa, more than 1,500 km away, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Vibrations were felt anywhere between 20 and 30 seconds. A state of emergency was declared in Gracefield, Que., about 100 km north of Ottawa, after extensive damage to buildings was reported. Giant cracks snaked through some buildings and part of La Visitation Church collapsed. Residents braced for aftershocks, but no serious injuries were reported. A bridge on Hwy. 307 collapsed into the Escalier reservoir near Bowman, Que., about 75 km north of Ottawa and close to the epicentre. In Ottawa, only minor property damage was reported as ceiling tiles fell on frightened workers in office buildings and glass panes on a downtown highrise shattered onto the sidewalk below, narrowly missing passersby. Lawyer Ian Vallance was changing his clothes in his Lisgar St. law office for a 2 p.m. court appearance when the quake struck. He grabbed a client's jacket and ran from the building, which filled with dust as a chimney collapsed. ""I didn't even think I was running out in my underwear,"" Vallance said. Thousands of people crowded onto downtown streets as buildings were evacuated, including City Hall and the courthouse. The Parliamentary Precinct experienced a prolonged closure as engineers were called in to assess whether the older structures were safe to re-enter."
" Spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said the MPs - led by parliament speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan - did not have a mandate to negotiate. The MPs went to Mogadishu a week ago after Arab League mediation efforts in the Sudanese capital Khartoum failed. The seven-point agreement called on both sides to agree to return to talks. It also pledged to maintain an arms embargo and prevent any foreign interference in Somalia. However, the transitional government - which has little influence outside the town of Baidoa where it is based - has called for the arms embargo to be lifted and for a foreign peacekeeping force to protect it. The Islamists have taken control of most of southern Somalia since seizing the capital, Mogadishu, in June. The deal was struck late on Friday in Mogadishu. The government responded after a cabinet meeting the next day. ""The government does not accept this initiative,"" Mr Dinari told the Associated Press news agency. ""It is totally unacceptable."" ""Reconciliation is the task of the government,"" he added. The deal is an attempt to prevent war between militias loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts and the fragile government."
" The deal was sealed by the Islamists and a parliamentary delegation led by Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan. However, Mr Adan does not carry the authorisation of the transitional government, which has made no comment yet on the agreement. The Islamists have taken control of most of southern Somalia since seizing the capital, Mogadishu, in June. The deal is an attempt to prevent war between militias loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts and the fragile transitional government, which is based in the town of Baidoa. The Islamist leaders and Mr Adan also pledged to continue Arab-league sponsored talks in Khartoum. Among the key points of the deal are a request for foreign countries to stay out of Somali affairs, and for the United Nations to maintain an embargo on arms supplies to the country. Ibrahim Hassan Adow, the Islamic Courts spokesman for foreign affairs, said: ""This is a first step, and we are headed for peace."" The two parties called on the transitional government to back the deal, but some in the administration have previously accused Mr Adan of trying to undermine its authority. Correspondents say Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf sees the speaker's move as ominous, amid concerns that it may lead to a power-sharing agreement that excludes the rest of the government. Somalia has been in the grip of warlords and militias for years and has not had a functioning national government since 1991."
" The draft, which also condemned Israeli military operations in Gaza, followed Wednesday's attack in Beit Hanoun. The US ambassador at the UN, John Bolton, described the text as unbalanced and politically motivated. Ten of 15 Security Council members backed the resolution. Four abstained - Denmark, Japan, Slovakia and the UK. This was the second time this year the US used its veto on a draft resolution on Israeli military operations in Gaza. The US has a history of vetoing resolutions condemning Israel which it feels are biased against the country, says the BBC's Laura Trevelyan at the UN in New York. The draft resolution - backed by Arab, Islamic and non-aligned states and formally proposed by Qatar - called for a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. It also asked the UN secretary general to set up a fact-finding mission into the deaths in Beit Hanoun. The draft urged the Palestinian Authority to act to end violence - including rockets fired at southern Israel. The US ambassador said he regretted the Palestinian loss of life, but disagreed with the language used in the resolution. ""This resolution does not display an even-handed characterisation of the recent events in Gaza, nor does it advance the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace to which we aspire and for which we are working assiduously,"" he said."
" Noam Livnat told the BBC News website up to 20,000 soldiers had signed a petition vowing to disobey orders to remove Jewish settlers. The Israeli army says the claim is exaggerated. The withdrawal from Gaza and four small West Bank settlements is due to start in the middle of August. ""We already have proof that IDF soldiers will not disrupt the mission. We believe the way the soldiers dealt with the pro-settler demonstrations at Kfar Maimon shows how the soldiers will behave. ""Our soldiers performed superbly in blocking the protesters from getting to Gush Katif."" Thousands of Israeli protesters were prevented from entering Gaza to attempt to disrupt the disengagement plan. In recent weeks, a growing number of soldiers have faced disciplinary action, saying they will refuse to follow orders to remove settlers from Gaza. Mr Livnat - the brother of Israeli Education Minister Limor Livnat - said soldiers would try to thwart the plan by not following orders properly. ""When the time comes, soldiers will go on the mission but they won't do it right, they will fail to do what they are supposed to. ""It is not a political game for us, it is not that we want to show Ariel Sharon that we can object - what we want to do is simply to stop this, to prevent this terrible mistake from happening,"" he said."
" The attack on Friday occurred in the northern Iraqi town of Rabia, about 80km (50 miles) north-west of Mosul and close to the Syrian border. The man was wearing an explosive belt which he detonated, a police general told the Associated Press news agency. Meanwhile, a special tribunal in Iraq has been questioning Saddam Hussein. The suicide attack in Rabia is the latest to target police and army recruits. The bomber detonated his explosives amid a crowd of recruits in a high-security area and may have been allowed to slip into the recruiting tent unopposed, AP reported. Seriously injured victims were rushed to hospital in Mosul, some 10km (6 miles) away. ""I was waiting in the court in the middle of the recruitment centre with four of my friends when there was a blast behind us,"" survivor Raduane Muayyad said. US officials say that an estimated 1,000 to 1,400 young recruits sign up to join Iraq's army each month, despite the danger of attacks. The US is aiming to build up Iraqi police and security services to assume major responsibility for providing security and fighting insurgents within Iraq. But a recent Pentagon report indicated that poor vetting procedures are allowing insurgents and criminals to infiltrate Iraq's ranks of recruit."
" Syria's largest Kurdish party has said it plans to form an transitional administration. The administration would rule Kurdish-majority areas in the northeast until the broader conflict is over. Kurdish groups in northern Syria have tried to stay out of the civil war between the government and rebels. However, Islamist rebels have moved into Kurdish-controlled areas in recent months, causing increasing clashes between them and Kurdish militias. The Democratic Union Party (PYD) announced the move after two days of talks in the town of Qamishli in north-eastern Syria. Alan Semo, the PYD's UK-based representative, told the BBC his party was not seeking to carve out a separate Kurdish state. Mr Semo said the region would be ""integrated in future in a united, democratic, plural Syria"", adding that neighbouring Turkey, which has fought a long war against Kurdish rebels, had nothing to fear from the move. ""I think Turkey will realise that this step is not a threat to any regional or international or global stability, it is temporary,"" he added. The PYD planned to introduce a constitution and regional parliament, with representation for non-Kurds in the area, he went on. However, it is not clear whether all Kurdish factions will take part in the administration."
" BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Four Palestinians were killed during clashes in a Syrian refugee camp Wednesday, a Syria-based Palestinian group said. According to a report by the Workforce for Palestinians in Syria, four refugees living in Yarmouk camp died as a result of a bombing that targeted the al-Ouroba neighborhood. Two of the bodies were identified as Hassan Awwad and Ibrahim Tu'ma, the report said.  Refugees in Yarmouk camp were reportedly awaiting the delivery of food and medical aid from UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, at the time of the attack. Meanwhile, houses were destroyed in an attack on Khan al-Sheikh refugee camp southwest of Damascus, the Workforce for Palestinians in Syria said in a separate report. Residents of the camp are suffering from a serious food and medicine shortage, the report said.   At least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in the ongoing Syria conflict. Some 250,000 Palestinian refugees have been forced to leave their refugee camps in Syria due to violence in the country."
" 1 of 4. A soldier loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad poses with the national flag in Hujaira town, south of Damascus, after the soldiers took control of it from the rebel fighters,in this handout photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA on November 13, 2013. Syrian state television and al-Manar, the channel of the Lebanese group Hezbollah whose fighters helped drive rebels out Hujaira, broadcast live footage showing soldiers in control of otherwise empty streets flanked by shelled buildings and ruins. ""Southern districts that have been under rebel control for more than a year are falling one by one,"" Damascus-based activist Rami al-Sayyed said, referring to gains by Assad's forces around the capital. The capture of Hujaira came a day after Islamist rebels in Aleppo declared an emergency and summoned all fighters to confront Assad's forces who have taken towns to the southeast of the contested northern city and also challenged rebel control in the center of Aleppo itself. Since September's deal between the United States and Russia to eliminate Syrian chemical weapons averted the threat of Western attack, Assad's forces have also consolidated control around other cities along Syria's north-south highway such as Deraa and Homs. Large, mostly rural and desert, regions remain under the control of rebel brigades, mainly in the eastern Syria and in the countryside bordering Turkey. Assad's gains put him in an increasingly secure position ahead of proposed - but long delayed - peace talks in Geneva aimed at finding a political solution to the 2-1/2 year civil war. Syrian authorities have scoffed at suggestions he should hand power to a transitional government. Assad's military resurgence this year has relied to a great extent on support from Shi'ite Iran and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iraqi militias, some of them based around a Shi'ite shrine southeast of Damascus. They have helped turn the tide against the Sunni Muslim rebels, whose ranks are increasingly dominated by Islamist fighters and al Qaeda-linked foreign jihadists. ""In the last few months Assad has been increasingly leaving the fighting in the urban areas, especially Damascus and its environs, to his Shi'ite allies,"" a Middle East security official said."
" U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is pictured with U.S. troops at a Patriot missile site in southern Turkey on May 27, 2013 in this picture released via McCain's Twitter account. Spokesman Brian Rogers confirmed McCain's meeting with the rebels, but declined to give any details about the visit, which may fuel pressure on Washington to intervene in a conflict that is believed to have claimed 80,000 lives. The visit came as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pledged to do their utmost to bring Syria's warring parties together, and new allegations surfaced about chemical weapons use in the civil war. General Salem Idris, who leads the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army, told the Daily Beast in an interview that McCain's visit came at a critical time for the rebels, who have stepped up their calls for U.S. support, including heavy weapons, creation of a no-fly zone and air strikes. ""The visit of Senator McCain to Syria is very important and very useful especially at this time,"" the publication quoted Idris as saying. ""We need American help to have change on the ground; we are now in a very critical situation."" McCain is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Syria since Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, crossed the border into northern Syria to meet with Syrian opposition leaders earlier this month. It was not immediately clear if McCain, a fierce critic of the Obama administration's handling of the Syrian crisis, told government leaders about his plans to visit the country. The White House had no immediate comment. A senior State Department official, in Paris with Kerry, confirmed that McCain did ""cross into Syrian territory"" but referred all questions to McCain's office. McCain entered Syria from the country's border with Turkey and stayed there for several hours before returning to Turkey, according to the Daily Beast report. It said McCain met with assembled leaders of Free Syrian Army units in both Turkey and Syria."
" Moscow, May 29: A Russian government plane left Syria Tuesday with some 130 people from Russia and other former Soviet republics who decided to leave the country amid the ongoing conflict, said a spokesperson for Russia's Emergencies Ministry. An Ilyushin Il-62 departed from Latakia, a major port city in Syria's northwest, with 128 people aboard, spokeswoman Irina Rossius said. Two Russian planes had arrived earlier that day bringing more than 20 metric tonnes of humanitarian aid. Over 380 citizens of Russia and other former Soviet republics have fled civil war in Syria on Emergencies Ministry planes since January."
" EU foreign ministers agreed to extend an arms embargo and a travel ban for a number of top officials. But they did agree to resume low-level talks, acknowledging recent moves by Uzbek President Islam Karimov to address concerns over his policies. Eyewitnesses say hundreds of people were killed during the Andijan unrest. President Karimov said 187 people were killed, and blamed the unrest on Islamic militants. In a statement, the 25 EU foreign ministers said they were ""profoundly concerned by the human rights situation"" in the resource-rich Central Asian state. The EU ""urges Uzbekistan to implement fully its international obligations related to human rights and fundamental freedoms"", the statement added. The ministers agreed to extend the arms ban for another 12 months and the visa restrictions for 12 senior officials for another six months. The measures will be reviewed in three months. However, ministers did agree to lift a freeze on technical meetings at ministerial level. This will allow for a meeting between EU and Uzbek officials to discuss the events in Andijan, as agreed by the Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov in talks with EU officials in Brussels last week. Some countries, including Germany, have been pushing for an easing of sanctions and greater dialogue, backing the view that sanctions have done little to improve the human rights situation in Uzbekistan and simply pushed the country closer to Russia."
" A bomb blew up near a convoy of British Embassy four-wheel drive vehicles south-west of the city on Saturday, UK officials said. The Foreign Office said the attack, using a home-made bomb, had happened at 0630 BST on the outskirts of Basra. The pair worked for Control Risks Group, which provides security for the consulate in Iraq. A Foreign Office spokesman said: ""A British Embassy convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device. Two security contractors have been killed."" A spokeswoman for Control Risks Group, which employs about 500 people in Iraq, said the company could not comment further on the guards' identity until next of kin had been informed. One contractor working for the company was killed in an attack in Iraq about 15 months ago, she added. Britain has about 8,500 troops in Iraq, mostly based in the south of the country. At least 21 British civilians have been killed in Iraq since March 2004, according to the Foreign Office website. It says: ""The security situation is dangerous. The threat to British nationals remains high."" Basra is home to the British military headquarters and also the consulate general's office, which has about 20 employees."
" The unprecedented natural disaster that came in the form of Typhoon Haiyan is a potential medical disaster for the Philippines, according to emergency crews on the ground. The Red Cross says it has ordered 10,000 body bags in preparation for the number of bodies it believes it will have to retrieve. The official death toll, currently in the hundreds, is likely to grow quickly as rescue crews are better able to assess the situation. What is left behind are some 4.2 million people who have been affected by the storm, many of them injured, thirsty or hungry. The Philippines storm -- some three and a half times more forceful than Hurricane Katrina -- has created serious food and water shortages. Typhoon Haiyan: 3 days in, little relief for survivors A second round of deaths may be imminent, given limited food and water, along with pools of standing, possibly polluted water amid a breakdown in ordinary sanitation. Relief agencies are worried about outbreaks of disease and infections in the storm's wake. ""We don't have the full picture yet, but there is a lot of destruction, which means that next to a high number of deaths the possibility of wounds will be high,"" said Meinie Nicolai, the president of Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders in Belgium. ""We worry about more deaths because of infection."" Medecins Sans Frontieres says in the first stage of its recovery efforts, it will work to keep infection rates down and then work to vaccinate people for tetanus. The bacteria that causes tetanus when it enters a deep flesh wound can be deadly. The agency will also provide ongoing psychological help to the victims of the disaster many of whom will be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Nicolai said. ""People in the Philippines are used to typhoons, but the scale of this is completely unprecedented. People will suffer a lot of trauma from the death and destruction they are seeing and will be scared for future typhoons. We will make room for people to speak with a professional and will set up group sessions where people can talk through their trauma."" People are so desperate for food and water there are reports of crowds breaking into warehouses and stores."
" (CNN) -- A 1-by-5-mile sheen of crude oil mix has spread across the Gulf of Mexico's surface around the area where an oil rig exploded and sank, a Coast Guard lieutenant said Thursday. ""This is a rainbow sheen with a dark center,"" Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry told reporters Thursday afternoon. Officials do not know whether oil or fuel are leaking form the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig and the well below, but BP Vice President David Rainey said ""it certainly has the potential to be a major spill."" BP PLC operates the license on which the rig was drilling. A remotely-operated vehicle is surveying the area and cleanup efforts are already under way, Landry said. The sheen ""probably is residual from the fire and the activity that was going on on this rig before it sank below the surface,"" she said. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard continued to search for 11 people missing after an explosion late Tuesday set the rig ablaze forcing workers to be evacuated from the vessel. Officials are still unsure what caused the blast. ""We do continue with search and rescue,"" Landry said. ""As time passes, however, the probability of success in locating the 11 missing persons decreases."" Adrian Rose, a vice president for rig owner Transocean Ltd, told reporters that the missing workers may not have been able to get off the rig. ""Based upon our reports from crew workers we met as they came in last night, they believe that they [the missing workers] may have been on board the rig and not able to evacuate. We have not confirmed that yet,"" he said. The company is still investigating the incident, but Rose said conversations with evacuated workers when they arrived onshore revealed ""really quite heroic stories of how people looked after each other."" The mobile rig was about 52 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana, when the explosion occurred Tuesday night. There were no indications it was a terrorist incident, the Coast Guard said."
" Eleven workers missing from an offshore oil platform may not have escaped after a massive explosion, officials said Thursday. Crews continued to search by air and water for those missing from the Deepwater Horizon, which burned for nearly a day before sinking into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday. Adrian Rose, vice president of rig owner Transocean Ltd., said crew members who survived Tuesday's explosion indicated the missing may have been near the blast and unable to escape. Officials had hoped they might have been able to get to a covered lifeboat with supplies. The rig was doing exploratory drilling about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Rescue crews have covered a 1,940-square-mile search area by air 12 times and by boat five times. Carolyn Kemp of Monterey, La., whose grandson, Roy Wyatt Kemp, 27, was among the missing, said family members have been told it's unlikely anyone survived. Roy Kemp would have been on the drilling platform when it exploded. ""They're assuming all those men who were on the platform are dead,"" Carolyn Kemp said. ""That's the last we've heard."" Other relatives waited anxiously for hourly updates. Family members of one missing worker, Shane Roshto of Amite, Miss., filed a lawsuit in New Orleans on Thursday accusing Transocean of negligence. The suit said he was thrown overboard by the explosion and is feared dead, though it did not indicate how family members knew that was what happened. The suit also names oil giant BP, which contracted the rig. A Transocean spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment and BP wouldn't discuss the suit. The family of Dewey Revette, a 48-year-old from southeast Mississippi, said he was also among the missing. He worked as a driller on the rig and had been with the company for 29 years. ""We're all just sitting around waiting for the phone to ring and hoping for good news. And praying about it,"" said Revette's 23-year-old daughter, Andrea Cochran."
" Six people are now reported to have been killed during yesterday's rioting in the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa. The deaths were said to have occurred when the offices of the Shoreline power company were destroyed by fire. Police Commander Sinilau Kolokihakaufisi said six bodies had been found inside by police at the Shoreline and Tonfon offices, Radio New Zealand International reported. The Associated Press reported Tongan Lord Chamberlain Filikepi saying the dead were believed to be looters or rioters, as staff of the power company were all accounted for after the building was torched. Akanesi Makakaufaki of Vaiola Hospital said the remains of the six found in the Shoreline office were at the morgue. >> Laughing and looting as Tonga's capital burns  >> NZ will consider Tongan appeals for help, says Peters  >> Audio: Osi Maama, editor of the Tongan Times ""Five or possibly six people appear to have been killed,"" Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told ABC radio. Downer said the situation was serious, and Australia and New Zealand had troops and police on standby to fly to Tonga, but Tongan authorities have said they can control the situation."
" Mirza Tahir Hussain, behind bars, with members of his family The family of a British man whose death sentence in Pakistan has been commuted to life imprisonment say they hope he will be returned to Britain soon. Mirza Tahir Hussain, 36, of Leeds, West Yorkshire, was convicted in 1989 of murdering taxi driver Jamshed Khan. His brother Amjad said: ""At last these 18 years of nightmare appear to be coming to an end."" But the family of the victim have said they are furious and plan to appeal against the decision. The Khan family's lawyer Malik Rab Nawaz Noon told the BBC Asian Network: ""(The) victim's family (is) very much perturbed, they're very much upset. ""When they got the news, the whole family is crying. ""They want him to be hanged by neck until a doctor declare him dead. I will take it further, to the courts of law, and try my level best to get him hanged."" Hopefully, Mirza will be returning back home to Leeds very, very soon   President Pervez Musharraf intervened in the case following a long campaign to prevent Hussain's hanging. He was convicted in 1989 of murdering taxi driver Jamshed Khan. His brother Amjad said: ""At last these 18 years of nightmare appear to be coming to an end."" Speaking to reporters at his home in Brudenell Grove, Hyde Park, Leeds, he said: ""We are awaiting the news that finally Tahir will be able to come back to us and start rebuilding his shattered life. We are hoping it is soon."" The family of Jamshed Khan say they will appeal against the decision He said the intervention of Prince Charles, who had urged clemency during a recent visit to Pakistan, had been ""very important"". Prince Charles was ""very pleased"" with the decision, Clarence House said. Foreign secretary Margaret Beckett said: ""We're very grateful to President Musharraf for the decision he's made in commuting the sentence and very much appreciate the steps the Pakistan government has taken and I'm sure his family will be particularly grateful and pleased."" Prime Minister Tony Blair previously said he had raised the matter personally with General Musharraf during the president's visit to the UK. Sajjad Karim, who led a delegation of European Parliament members (MEPs) to lobby President Musharraf earlier this year, praised the role Prince Charles had played during a recent visit to Pakistan. ""He is somebody who is held in very high regard by the Pakistan Government,"" he said. Amjad Hussain said his brother had ""suffered beyond belief"" ""The next step we will be pushing for is an immediate release. ""Hopefully, Mirza will be returning back home to Leeds very, very soon."" Yorkshire and Humber MEP Edward McMillan-Scott said he has been working to ensure Hussain's release. He said: ""I have been working with the family to secure Hussain's release and was planning a last-minute plea next month which will now become a plea for his return to Leeds for Christmas."" Greg Mulholland, Hussain's local MP, called for an official statement confirming Hussain would be released and allowed to return to his family in Leeds. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad said it was not immediately clear where he would serve the sentence or whether he might be freed. Hussain's hanging was due to take place during the royal trip by the prince and the Duchess of Cornwall in October, but it was initially delayed until 31 December after the prince wrote to Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. He had been cleared by a high court in 1996 but an Islamic Sharia court took the case over and imposed the death penalty. The sentence could have been revoked if Mr Khan's family had accepted an offer of blood money, but they refused."
" Pope Benedict XVI is expected to accept the resignation of the Bishop of Kildare on Thursday. Bishop James Moriarty offered to resign in December following publication of the Murphy Report into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Bishop Moriarty, who served as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1991-2002, was barely criticised in the Murphy Report. He said, however, that he ""should have challenged the prevailing culture"". Bishop Moriarty told the Irish Catholic newspaper he did not anticipate resigning when he first read the Murphy Report because he was not directly criticised. ""However, renewal must begin with accepting responsibility for the past,"" he said. ""Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that we needed a new beginning and that I could play my part in opening the way''. Bishop Moriarty's resignation is expected to be announced in Rome at 1100 GMT on Thursday. His departure leaves Bishops Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field, who resigned on Christmas Eve, awaiting a decision on whether their resignations will be accepted. The Bishop of Limerick, Dr Donal Murray, resigned in December following criticism of him in the report."
" Fr Lawrence Murphy died in 1998 with no official blemish on his record A man who says he was the victim of an American paedophile priest is bringing a lawsuit against the Pope and the Vatican in a US federal court. His lawyers want the Church to release any files it has on abuse cases involving priests. The alleged victim, whose identity has not been disclosed, says he was abused by the late Father Lawrence Murphy. Fr Murphy is accused of attacking up to 200 children during his 20 years at a school for deaf children in Milwaukee. He was finally moved from the St John school to another diocese in 1974, but was never prosecuted or defrocked. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A Church trial was opened after the Vatican received a letter from Fr Murphy's bishop in 1996, but it was not concluded by the time Fr Murphy died in 1998. The alleged victim's lawyer, Jeff Anderson, says the Vatican has been negligent. ""What we want the Vatican to do is step up to disgorge the secrets that they have in their files,"" he told the BBC. The victim wrote to the then-Vatican Secretary of State Angelo Sodano in 1995 asking the Pope to excommunicate Fr Murphy. The BBC has seen copies of the documents submitted to the court. They include a seven-page letter to Fr Murphy graphically describing the alleged abuse and the effect it had on him. ""Do you know that you really ruined my life?"" he writes. The writer also says one boy abused by Fr Murphy later committed suicide. ""God must punish you and send you to hell to stay forever,"" he adds. There is a grave and serious problem, and all trails and responsibility for that leads to one place, to the Vatican   The plaintiff says the Vatican did not reply to his letter, or to another one sent several months later. The fact that the alleged abuse was linked to the confessional meant the case should have been referred to the Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). At the time this body was run by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. The CDF says the first it knew about the Murphy case was in 1996. The lawsuit names the Pope and two cardinals. Mr Anderson says his client is not seeking money but wants the Church ""to fundamentally come clean, to come forth with all documents that have evidence of crimes against children for decades"". He adds: ""Until and unless all of those things are done, there is a grave and serious problem, and all trails and responsibility for that leads to one place, to the Vatican, to the pontiff."" The Vatican has not responded to the lawsuit so far. In an earlier interview the Pope's spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi, told the BBC that Benedict XVI had taken a clear line of transparency. Last month a Vatican newspaper editorial said media claims that the future Pope had failed to act against Fr Murphy were ""ignoble"", and that there had been no cover-up. There has been a wave of allegations that Church authorities in Europe and North and South America failed to deal properly with priests accused of paedophilia, sometimes just moving them to new parishes where more children were put at risk. You can hear Simon Cox's full investigation into this story on The Report, BBC Radio 4, on Monday 26 April at 2030 BST."
" Rioters smashed windows in the prime minister's office and other government buildings and overturned cars. Calls for more democracy have grown over the last year, and were fanned by the old king's death in September. The South Pacific nation's king and hereditary noblemen hold the majority of seats in the country's parliament. The rioting began after the government assembly failed to pass democratic reforms before it rises for the year later on Thursday, Radio New Zealand International said. Thousands of pro-democracy supporters were demanding that a vote on a new democratic constitution be held this year. ""People threw stones at the prime minister's office,"" said the RNZI reporter in Nuku'alofa. ""They turned over police vehicles and vehicles of the prime minister's office,"" said Mateni Tapueluelu. Pro-democracy demonstrations last year culminated in a series of strikes that brought the capital Nuku'alofa to a standstill. A government committee was set up to examine reforms. After the death of King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV in September, it recommended that that all lawmakers be elected by the public, rather than appointed by nobles or the king."
" Major traffic delays are reported in Kiryat Malachi, Ashdod and many other southern district municipalities as thousands of anti-Disengagement protestors continue making their way to the rally. Police report that there are five-mile long traffic jams in all directions surrounding the town of Sderot. Thousands of people were also seen walking toward the western Negev town on the shoulders of the roads.(Click ""play"" button to view footage from the rally)Israel National Radio's Eli Stutz reports that 40,000 people have arrived in Sderot. ""There is a gigantic grassy field in front of a large stage where pop/folk music legend Ariel Zilber is performing,"" Stutz reported at 8:40 p.m. ""There is a big sign in the front of the city saying, 'Our Town is Your Town.' All these towns bordering Gaza are represented here - they know full well that the rockets that are now hitting them will multiply following a pullout.""The father of Ella Abukasis, the teenage girl who was killed by a Kassam rocket that hit her home in Sderot, addressed the crowd, angrily pointing a finger at the government.""Why are there 30,000 soldiers and police here today to make sure good Jews don't walk to Gush Katif?"" Abukasis boomed. ""Where were they when my daughter was killed? Where are they when murderers fire rockets at us daily?""MK Ayoub Kara (Likud), a Druze member of the Knesset, arrived in Sderot to participate in the rally, as well. He told Arutz-7: ""I came here to identify with the protesters and to help preserve Israeli democracy, which is in grave danger.""""The checkpoints and demands that citizens show their identity cards in order to pass remind me of darker days this nation has faced,"" Kara said. ""This Prime Minister uses the police and military so aggressively in order to enforce his personal doctrine. I believe, though, that justice and faith will win by way of this public gathered here.""Following the Sderot event, participants plan to continue on toward Ofakim where they will spend the night. Many demonstrators told Arutz-7 that on their way into town they received invitations from residents, some yelled from balconies, to spend the night at their homes. An estimated 500 families in Sderot have opened their homes in this way. Other families prepared large pots of food earlier in the day, to have it ready to offer to the protestors.The Yesha Council has announced that from Ofakim, protesters will march to Gush Katif on Wednesday.Over 6,000 IDF soldiers were sent to Ofakim Tuesday to strengthen the force already present in a bid to ensure that anti-Disengagement activists do not succeed in entering Gush Katif.Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz had declared Monday that the rally would not be permitted to take place. On Tuesday, following 24 hours of negotiations between the police and the Yesha Council, an agreement was reached enabling the rally to take place. Shortly after, however, Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra declared that only 5,000 protesters would be allowed to attend the Sderot rally.Yesha Council head Bentzy Lieberman told Arutz-7 that he is certain the difficulties faced by organizers were the direct doing of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. ""The entire time, both police and IDF officials made it clear to us that from their perspective, democracy dictated that we be authorized to carry out the rally.""Lieberman said the only limitation agreed to by the Yesha Council was that the Sderot rally would conclude at 9:30 PM, and that from there, protesters would be transported by car and bus to Ofakim.""From Ofakim, we will continue to join our heroic brethren in Gush Katif,"" Lieberman said."
" Settler leaders say they will defy security forces and march to Gush Katif in Gaza on Wednesday. Up to 15,000 police and soldiers have been deployed to try to prevent protesters from making it through. The disengagement from Gaza ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is due to begin in two weeks' time. Settler leaders claimed 40,000 people had come to Sderot for the protest though police estimated the figure between 10,000 and 15,000. The right-wing protesters, many dressed in the orange colour adopted by the anti-withdrawal movement, planned to spend the night in the nearby town of Ofakim, out of range of Palestinian rockets. The settlers agreed to leave Sderot by late evening. ""We will continue on as planned to Ofakim, where, at night, we will get organised for the continuation, on to Gush Katif,"" settler spokesman Pinchas Wallerstein told Israel's Haaretz newspaper. Most of the protesters now seem to agree that they will not be able to prevent the Gaza pullout but they appear to want to make it as difficult and as traumatic a process as possible, says the BBC's Matthew Price in Sderot. They hope that will make it less likely that future Israeli governments will try to withdraw from other occupied Palestinian land, notably the West Bank. Chief among the protesters' tactics is to tie down security forces to police large-scale protests."
" Kerry says he may meet Iranian foreign minister in Paris (Reuters) U.S. drone kills seven militants in Pakistan, official says (DPA) Lieberman to reveal Yisrael Beiteinu list on Monday, vows to get 16 Knesset seats (Haaretz) Schoolbus catches fire near Jerusalem suburb of Pisgat Ze'ev; no injuries (Haaretz) Two men reach top of Yosemite's El Capitan in historic climb (AP)"
" Leaders of 11 southeastern European countries started a regional cooperation summit in Istanbul on Wednesday.  Turkish President Abdullah Gul is hosting the meeting of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP).  At the opening session of the summit, Slovenia was approved to become a member of the organization. Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk said that his countries was looking forward to cooperation with other countries in the region.  Other heads of state attending the meeting include Albanian President Bamir Topi, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and Montenegro President Filip Vujanovic.  Representatives from the United States and Russia and Stephan Fule, European Union's commissioner for enlargement and European neighborhood policy as well as officials from UNESCO, the Black Sea Cooperation Organization, are also present at the meeting.  The SEECP was launched upon Bulgaria's initiative in 1996. At the Bulgaria-chaired meeting in Sofia, the southeastern European countries laid the foundations for regional cooperation for the purposes of creating an atmosphere of trust, good neighborly relations and stability.  The basic goals of regional cooperation within SEECP include the strengthening of security and the political situation, intensification of economic relations and cooperation in the areas of human resources, democracy, justice and battle against illegal activities.  It is the intention of the SEECP to enable its members to approach the European and Euro-Atlantic structures through the strengthening of good neighborly relations and transformation of the region into an area of peace and stability. Source: Xinhua"
" Palestinian suspected of car theft shot to death during chase in Gush Etzion settlement bloc (Haaretz) U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)"
" At least eight people died when crowds ransacked much of the centre of the Pacific nation's capital, Nuku'alofa. The city is now said to be calm but a state of emergency has been declared. The unrest was sparked by concern about the slow pace of democratic reform. The government has now announced major changes ahead of elections in 2008. Australia has sent about 85 of the troops and police officers deployed, with New Zealand providing the remainder. Australia's Prime Minister John Howard and his New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark announced the mission at a joint press conference in Vietnam, where they are attending a regional summit. ""Being the largest and wealthiest countries in the region, part of our responsibility is to help,"" said Mr Howard. Many buildings in Nuku'alofa have been destroyed in the rioting, including the government and prime minister's offices, the power company, Nuku'alofa's only bank and a number of Chinese-owned shops. The trouble has been blamed on gangs with links to pro-democracy groups, says the BBC's Phil Mercer in Sydney. They have been agitating for political reform in a country where the king wields enormous power. The embattled government of Prime Minister Fred Sevele has now announced sweeping reforms, which it is hoped will soothe tensions in Nuku'alofa, our correspondent says."
" US President Barack Obama was angered by a magazine profile in which the top military commander in Afghanistan criticised senior administration officials, the White House says. The general has been summoned to Washington over the Rolling Stone article, for which he has apologised. Administration officials have so far declined to say that his job is safe. Mr Obama said he wanted to talk with the general in person before deciding what action to take. US media reports said Gen McChrystal had submitted his resignation, but it was up to the president to decide whether to accept it. There has been no official comment on the reports. In the article by Michael Hastings, entitled The Runaway General, Gen McChrystal is characterised as facing up to a key enemy in the war in Afghanistan: ""The wimps in the White House."" Gen McChrystal is quoted as sharply criticising the US ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry. Continue reading the main story Robert Gibbs appeared to give an indication of what may be in store for Gen McChrystal. Asked whether the general's job was safe, he declined to answer. Later he added ""all options are on the table"" and ""our efforts in Afghanistan are bigger then one person"". In other words, we can do this without him. But the public humiliation of Gen McChrystal could still be meant to make Mr Obama look tough in the face of an impertinent general. Calls are growing in Washington for his sacking, particularly from Democrats. But that too is likely to have an impact on the war efforts in Afghanistan, even if that war is ""bigger than one person"". President Obama will have to choose between continuity in leadership in Afghanistan at a crucial time, and a unified leadership which shows him respect as commander-in-chief. Aides to the general are quoted as saying he was ""disappointed"" when meeting President Barack Obama for the first time. Other targets include Vice-President Joe Biden, National Security Adviser James Jones and the special US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke."
" The death toll from the riots in Tonga is now eight, with two more bodies found in the supermarket belonging to the prime minister, Dr Feleti Sevele, which was one of the first buildings razed in the rampage. Earlier six bodies, believed to be those of looters, were uncovered in the rubble of the Shoreline Power company. It is believed that the six were trapped after an LPG tank exploded during the arson. Meanwhile King George V has made a public announcement promising that the looters will be brought to justice. He has expressed his grief for the businesses and families affected . There has been no confirmation yet on the nature of international help being sought but our correspondent, Mateni Tapueluelu, says the pro-democracy advocates have indicated they would prefer overseas police because the locals security forces are too closely linked to the King."
" Pro-Russian separatists have seized back the city hall in the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol, hours after being ousted by security forces. Government forces first raised the Ukraine flag on the building but later left - allowing the rebels who captured it last week to be back in control. Kiev has sent in troops to try to take back official buildings occupied by pro-Russian rebels in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Russia has urged rebels to postpone an independence referendum. President Vladimir Putin said the series of votes, planned for Sunday in south-eastern Ukraine, should be postponed ""in order to create the conditions necessary for dialogue"". Continue reading the main story The situation outside Mariupol police station has now calmed down. Earlier, special force police fired volleys of warning shots into the air as an angry crowd gathered at the police gates. They came to protest against the detention of 16 anti-government activists, seized when police temporarily regained control of the occupied city administration building. The police were armed with AK47s. The crowd had been calling the police ""murderers"" - claiming they were ultra nationalist ""right sector"" militants, loyal to Kiev. As the mood turned, two minibuses and a truckload of several dozen additional, heavily-armed police arrived at the police station. More warning shots were fired. The special forces have now gone. It seems they were sent to remove their colleagues and calm the mood. He also said, after talks with the chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Moscow, that he was ready to ""seek ways out of this crisis"". Russia was again accused, by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, who was meeting Ukrainian leaders in Kiev, of ""trying to orchestrate conflict and provocations"" in eastern and southern Ukraine. Mr Hague said Moscow's ""immediate goal"" was to disrupt Ukraine's presidential election on 25 May, ""although of course they might also be trying to provide a pretext for intervention"". Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said government troops had taken over Mariupol's city hall following a joint operation by ministry troops and the army."
" Two IDF soldiers lightly wounded by machine gun blast during training at southern base (Haaretz) Woman dies in Egypt of H5N1 bird flu, second death this year (Reuters) Tires of 11 cars slashed in Arab village of Beit Safafa (Haaretz) Resident of Arab town in Israel's north seriously wounded in shooting; gunman arrested (Haaretz)"
" In an interview with John Simpson in Baghdad, Mr Maliki said the decision to hang the former president would not be affected by any pressure. ""We would like the whole world to respect the judicial will of Iraq,"" he told the BBC. The former Iraqi leader was sentenced to death two days ago after being convicted of crimes against humanity. Mr Maliki told the BBC that if the appeals court confirmed Saddam Hussein's sentence ""it will be the government's responsibility to carry it out"". Saddam Hussein appeared in court again on Tuesday to continue his trial on a different set of charges which also carry the death penalty. The former president is being tried with six others - all different from his previous co-defendants - for his role in a military campaign against ethnic Kurds in the late 1980s. More than 180,000 people are alleged to have died in the Anfal campaign. It is not clear if the Iraqi authorities will wait until the second trial is complete before they carry out the sentence in the first case. An automatic appeal against the guilty verdict will be launched, to be decided by a panel of nine judges. If the death sentence is upheld, the execution must be carried out within 30 days. Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty over the killing of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail following an assassination attempt on him in 1982."
" The roadside bombing in which they were killed was one of the deadliest attacks on US forces since the 2003 invasion. It happened near the north-western city of Haditha, in the same area where seven marines were killed on Monday. Washington is worried such strikes could affect the public mood in the US, the BBC's Adam Brookes says. The latest attacks brought the US death toll to more than 1,800 since the Iraq invasion. More than 13,000 US troops have been wounded. Polls in the US show a fairly constant level of pessimism among Americans at the prospects for a successful outcome in Iraq, our Pentagon correspondent says. Privately, senior US officers say their greatest concern is the effect on public opinion in the United States of the deaths of American troops: If we lose America, said one general, we lose the war. ""We're at war. We're facing an enemy that is ruthless. If we put out a (pullout) timetable the enemy would adjust their tactics,"" Mr Bush said in a speech in Texas. ""They want us to retreat. They will fail. They do not understand the character and the strength of the United States of America,"" the president said. He added that the best way to honour the US dead was to complete the mission in Iraq. In the face of rising casualty figures, the Bush administration is now portraying Iraq's political process as the true measure of the country's progress, our correspondent says."
" Democrats went to bed not knowing whether their candidate for governor -- Mike Hatch -- won, but very early yesterday evening DFLers enthusiastically celebrated their Senate candidate's triumph. Just minutes after the polls closed at 8, the Associated Press declared Amy Klobuchar -- not Republican 6th District Congressman Mark Kennedy -- the winner. When Democratic Sen. Mark Dayton announced early last year he would not seek re-election to a second term, the consensus locally and nationally was that Minnesota's 2006 Senate race would be one of the nation's most fiercely contested. But after the parties settled on their candidates and the campaign got underway, polls consistently showed Klobuchar was more popular among Minnesota voters than Kennedy. From the podium in a ballroom of a hotel at the DFL's downtown St. Paul election headquarters, Klobuchar, her husband, and young daughter at her side, quoted former Minnesota Sen. Hubert Humphrey. It's Humphrey's seat Klobuchar will soon occupy. ""As he once said, 'I have loved my country in a way that some people consider sentimental and out of style. I still do and I remain an optimist with joy without apology about this country and about the American experiment in democracy.'"" Following Humphrey's death his widow, Muriel, became the first woman to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate. She served in her husband's place for several months by appointment. Klobuchar has become the first woman Minnesotans have elected senator. ""Today you had the chance to raise your voice for change and you did it,"" she said. Throughout her campaign, Klobuchar criticized Kennedy for his record of almost always voting with President Bush and the Republican Party. During her victory speech, Klobuchar vowed to represent all Minnesotans. She talked about placing more emphasis on renewable energy, affordable health care and a new direction in Iraq. ""In this campaign we have reached out to Democrats, to Republicans and to Independents. We have reached out to all of you who have told me you are tired of that 24-hour TV shoutfest about what's right and what's left and you want to talk about what's right and what's wrong,"" Klobuchar said."
" Vietnamese naval ships and Chinese vessels have collided in the South China Sea, Vietnamese officials say. The incident happened as the Vietnamese navy was trying to prevent the Chinese from setting up an oil rig in an area claimed by both nations. No shots were fired, reports say. But Vietnamese officials said that water cannons were used on their ships. The incident is the most serious between the countries at sea in years, with dozens of boats now in the area. Vietnamese officials said on Wednesday that the Chinese ships intentionally rammed their vessels. Several sailors were injured, AP quoted one official as saying. Vietnamese maritime police official Ngo Ngoc Thu told media in Hanoi on Wednesday that Chinese boats had collided with Vietnamese vessels three times since 3 May. Continue reading the main story Details are sketchy, but there is no doubt that this is one of the highest escalations of tension in many years between the two neighbours. China wants to establish an oil rig and start drilling soon in the area only 120 miles (193km) from Vietnam's coast. This is the first time China has tried to explore the disputed waters between the two countries using its own rig and Vietnam does not want China to set a precedent. Hanoi said it would do everything possible to protect its rights and does not rule out taking legal action against China at an international tribunal. The US called China's plan ""provocative"" and urged restraint from both sides. But with dozens of ships from both sides confronting each other in the area, any careless move could ignite a bigger and potentially much more damaging conflict. Chinese officials said during a regular briefing on Wednesday that the oil rig was within China's territorial waters. ""The disruptive activities by the Vietnamese side are in violation of China's sovereign rights,"" Hua Chunying said."
" Hundreds of rebels have been evacuated from their last stronghold in the central Syrian city of Homs. Two convoys of buses have so far left the Old City under a deal brokered by Iran and facilitated by the UN. The withdrawal is part of a deal that will also see rebels release dozens of captives and ease two sieges. It marks the end of three years of resistance in the central city, once dubbed the ""capital of the revolution"" against President Bashar al-Assad. Much of Homs fell to the opposition in 2011, but over the past two years government forces have gradually regained control by subjecting areas once home to tens of thousands to continuous siege and bombardment. Continue reading the main story The damage to buildings in the Old City, particularly those in the Warsha district, is substantial. No shots are being fired, but smoke is rising from the Khalidiya, Jib al-Jandali and Bab Houd areas. Residents said the rebels had set fire to their bases and possessions before heading to the buses. No journalists were allowed to observe the evacuation of the first batch of rebels and members of their families. Sources are saying that the operation in Homs is happening in tandem with the delivery of food and medical aid to the besieged towns of Nubul and Zahraa, on the outskirts of the city of Aleppo. In February, the government allowed about 1,400 people to be evacuated from the Old City. The BBC's Paul Wood in Beirut says the rebel fighters and their families were sad and bitter as they said goodbye to a place they swore they would never leave. They buckled finally, our correspondent adds, after the government's forces employed the tactic of what some Syrian army officers called ""surrender or starve"". ""The rest of the world failed us,"" one activist told the BBC as he prepared to leave."
" Russia's President Vladimir Putin says Ukraine's presidential election on 25 May is a step ""in the right direction"". But he said the vote would decide nothing unless the rights of ""all citizens"" were protected. Ukraine's PM described as ""hot air"" Mr Putin's call for an independence referendum, planned this weekend by separatists in the east, to be delayed. Mr Putin also said that Russia had pulled back its troops from the border, as tension remains high. Continue reading the main story The one thing Vladimir Putin is not known for is performing U-turns. But his latest comments on Ukraine do suggest a shift in the Kremlin's position - and that raises hope, at least, of a diplomatic solution to the conflict. The West is likely to treat these comments with some caution and wait to see what effect they have on the ground - and whether or not the Kremlin's pronouncements will de-escalate the tension. Moscow has said it will protect the rights of the largely Russian-speaking people in the south and east against what it calls an undemocratic government in Kiev. Kiev has rejected pro-Russian activists' demands for greater autonomy, fearing it could lead to the break-up of the country, and has sent in troops in recent weeks to seize back official buildings occupied by rebels. Mr Putin suggested that Kiev's military operation in eastern Ukraine could be halted in exchange for a postponement of the referendum scheduled to take place in several areas on Sunday. But Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Mr Putin of ""talking through his hat"". Earlier on Wednesday, pro-Russian separatists took back the city hall in the southern port of Mariupol after it was briefly taken over by Ukrainian government forces."
" Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he wants a delay in a referendum on whether certain eastern Ukrainian residents want sovereignty from Kiev and that presidential elections scheduled for this month are ""a step in the right direction."" But he said that the planned May 25 presidential vote Kiev wants to hold would ""not solve anything unless all of Ukraine's people first understand how their rights will be guaranteed"" once the election has taken place. The comments, according to a transcript published by the Kremlin, came after Putin met with the chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Separatists in Ukraine's Donetsk region have scheduled a referendum for Sunday. Putin called for the delay ""in order to give this dialogue the conditions it needs to have a chance."" He said that direct talks between Kiev authorities and representatives of the pro-Russian sympathizers in southeast Ukraine were key to settling the escalating crisis. Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk dismissed Putin's comments on the referendum as ""hot air."" ""There is no point in dealing in hot air, especially for the President of a big country. Since Russia is asking to postpone some referendum on May 11, I think the Russian President needs to be informed that there was no referendum planned on May 11 in Ukraine to begin with. ""But if terrorists and separatists supported by Russia got an order to postpone something that doesn't exist, then this is an internal matter,"" he said. In March, voters in Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula approved a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine and join Russia, which subsequently annexed the Crimea region. That event highlighted the turmoil rocking Ukraine. Meanwhile, NATO has ""no indication"" that Russia has moved its troops from the Ukrainian border, a NATO military official said Wednesday on the condition of anonymity."
" Palestinian officials said a barrage of tank shells hit civilian homes, and women and children were among the dead. Israel has expressed regret for the civilian deaths and says it is investigating the incident. Palestinian leaders have called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to force Israel to stop military raids. Later on Wednesday, at least one Palestinian was killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, Palestinian security and medical source said. Several others were reported to have been wounded in the missile strike. The Palestinian prime minister, Hamas's Ismail Haniya, denounced the Israeli attack as an ""awful massacre"" and said talks on forming a Palestinian unity government would be suspended. The shelling was condemned across Europe and the Middle East. The European Union expressed ""profound shock"", and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference accused Israel of war crimes. Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz ordered the halt in artillery attacks and called for an urgent inquiry into the incident, while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered humanitarian assistance to the wounded. Palestinian hospital officials said 13 of the dead belonged to the same family, and two of them were women and six were children. More than 60 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in a week-long operation that Israel says was aimed at stopping militant rocket fire into Israel from Gaza."
" It is the deadliest attack by militants on the army since it began operations against pro-Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters close to the Afghan border. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. It happened in the town of Dargai in North West Frontier Province, not far from where the army said it killed some 80 militants last week. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan says Wednesday's attack could undermine recent agreements between the military and pro-Taleban militants in other border areas. Emotions in the region have been running high since an air strike on a religious school (madrassa) last week in the neighbouring area of Bajaur, in which the army said 80 militants were killed. The army base targeted in Wednesday's suicide bombing is about 40km (30 miles) south-east of the bombed madrassa. ""The attack was carried out by a man who got down from a car wearing a chaddor [cloak] and walked into the parade,"" Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said. ""After the Bajaur incident this was expected, but we will continue the fight against terror. We condemn it, innocent lives were lost."" The US government condemned the army camp attack and praised the efforts of the Pakistani government in tackling militants. An eyewitness, Aurangzeb, told the BBC he saw soldiers picking up scattered body parts minutes after the explosion."
" 1 of 7. A customer holds a candle as he gets his haircut at a barber's shop during a power-cut in Kolkata July 31, 2012. Grids supplying electricity to half of India's 1.2 billion people collapsed on Tuesday, trapping coal miners, stranding train travellers and plunging hospitals into darkness in the second major blackout in as many days. Stretching from Assam, near China, to the Himalayas and the northwestern deserts of Rajasthan, the outage covered states where half of India's 1.2 billion people live and embarrassed the government, which has failed to build up enough power capacity to meet soaring demand. ""Even before we could figure out the reason for yesterday's failure, we had more grid failures today,"" said R. N. Nayak, chairman of the state-run Power Grid Corporation. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had vowed to fast-track stalled power and infrastructure projects as well as introduce free market reforms aimed at reviving India's flagging economy. But he has drawn fire for dragging his feet. By nightfall, power was back up in the humid capital, New Delhi and much of the north, but a senior official said only a third was restored in the rural state of Uttar Pradesh, itself home to more people than Brazil. The cuts in such a widespread area of the world's second most populous nation appeared to be one of the biggest in history, and hurt Indians' pride as the country seeks to emerge as a major force on the international stage. ""It's certainly shameful. Power is a very basic amenity and situations like these should not occur,"" said Unnayan Amitabh, 19, an intern with HSBC bank in New Delhi, before giving up on the underground train system and flagging down an auto-rickshaw to get home. ""They talk about big ticket reforms but can't get something as essential as power supply right."" Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde blamed the system collapse on some states drawing more than their share of electricity from the over-burdened grid, but Uttar Pradesh's top civil servant for energy said outdated transmission lines were at fault. Asia's third-largest economy suffers a peak-hour power deficit of about 10 percent, dragging on economic growth."
" Hundreds of millions of people have been left without electricity in northern and eastern India after a massive power breakdown. More than half the country was hit by the power cuts after three grids collapsed - one for a second day. Hundreds of trains have come to a standstill and hospitals are running on backup generators. The country's power minister has blamed the crisis on states drawing too much power from the national grid. The breakdowns in the northern, eastern, and north-eastern grids mean around 600m people have been affected in 20 of India's states. In a statement on national TV on Tuesday evening, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said he had appealed to states to stop trying to take more than their quota of power. ""I have also instructed my officials to penalise the states which overdraw from the grid,"" he said. Media reports in India have suggested that Uttar Pradesh is among the states that government officials have been blaming for the grid collapse. But officials in the state denied this, saying there was ""no reason to believe that any power operations in Uttar Pradesh triggered it"". Anil K Gupta, the chairman of the state's power company, called for ""further investigation to ascertain the real cause""."
" India suffered its second massive power failure in two consecutive days Tuesday, depriving as many as 600 million people -- half the country's population -- of electricity and disrupting transportation networks for hours. The first power grid collapse, on Monday, was the country's worst blackout in a decade. It affected seven states in northern India that are home to more than 350 million people. Tuesday's failure was even larger, hitting eastern and northeastern areas as well. Both blackouts cut power in the capital, New Delhi, where residents sweltered. Several hours later, by 9:30 p.m., power had been largely restored, the Power Grid Corporation of India reported on its website. Power in New Delhi and in the northeastern region was fully restored; electricity was 86% restored to the northern region, and 79% restored in the eastern region, it said. The two days of disruption in the third-largest Asian economy has raised questions about its investment in infrastructure. With about 1.2 billion people, India has the world's second-largest population, behind China. At least 300 trains were held up in the affected regions, said Anil Kumar Saxena, a spokesman for Indian Railways. New Delhi's metro system also suffered delays before power was restored, causing chaos for many travelers. Traffic signals also were out, resulting in major jams. During the blackout, one traveler in New Delhi told CNN-IBN that her journey home had taken almost three hours, rather than the usual 40 minutes. ""Long night ahead, with no lights -- I've got my trusty solar lamp ready for the night,"" she said."
" Russia's foreign minister has ruled out holding fresh talks in Geneva to defuse the Ukraine crisis, unless pro-Russian opposition groups are involved. Sergei Lavrov added there was no point as an April accord between the US, EU and Russia had not been implemented. He spoke after a Council of Europe meeting which was expected to support Ukraine's plans for a 25 May election. But Mr Lavrov called an election ""unusual"" at a time when the army was being used against the population. Continue reading the main story Russia's goals in this crisis have not changed. Moscow insists that it is simply acting to protect fellow Russian speakers. But Western leaders believe that it is intent upon wrecking any chance of holding truly national presidential elections in Ukraine later this month. Its longer-term aim is to undermine and weaken the government in Kiev. However, on the ground, the balance of advantage may be subtly changing. While many buildings and road blocks remain in separatist hands, the Kiev government's ability to mount a reasonably effective security operation has raised the stakes for Moscow. Russia hoped that by massing troops on Ukraine's frontier while seeking to infiltrate and undermine Kiev's authority from within, it could achieve a looser, more decentralised Ukraine. For a while, this seemed to be working. Kiev's authority was cowed and the willingness of its troops to fight was questionable. That seems to have changed; Kiev is in effect calling Moscow's military bluff, bringing closer the moment when Russian President Vladimir Putin must decide whether or not to use overt military force. Ukraine was ready to back a new round of talks in Geneva, acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia said, as long as Moscow supported presidential elections. He later appealed for international observers to be sent to Ukraine to monitor the May election. OSCE Chairman Didier Burkhalter said there should be a ceasefire in Ukraine ahead of the poll - as holding it was very difficult in the current situation, the AFP news agency reports. In other developments in Ukraine: At a news conference in Vienna on Tuesday, Mr Lavrov said holding further international talks on Ukraine would be like ""going round in circles""."
" A woman leading protests over the abduction of more than 200 girls in Nigeria has been detained on the orders of the president's wife, activists say. Naomi Mutah took part in a meeting called by First Lady Patience Jonathan and was then taken to a police station, they say. Mrs Jonathan reportedly felt slighted that the mothers of the abducted girls had sent Ms Mutah to the meeting. Ms Mutah, a representative of the Chibok community where the girls were seized from their school more than two weeks ago, last week organised a protest outside parliament in the capital, Abuja. The protesters, and many Nigerians, feel the government has not done enough to find the missing girls, who are thought to have been kidnapped by militant Islamist group Boko Haram. Boko Haram has not commented on the accusation. President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday night spoke for the first time about the abductions. In a live TV broadcast, he said he did not know where the girls were but said everything was being done to find them. Pogo Bitrus, another Chibok community leader, told the BBC he had been to the Asokoro police station where Ms Mutah is reported to have been taken but could find no written record of her being there. He described the detention as ""unfortunate"" and ""insensitive""."
" LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - North Korea's Kim Un Guk won his country's second weightlifting gold of the Olympics, breaking the overall world record for the men's 62 kg class category. Twenty-three year-old Kim's total of 327 kilograms across the two styles of Olympic lift added 1 kg to the world record which had previously been held by Zhang Jie of China since 2008. Zhang had to settle for fourth place on this occasion, as Colombia's Oscar Albeiro Figueroa Mosquera took silver with a total of 317 kg, edging out Irawan Eko Yuli of Indonesia who managed the same total but was relegated to third because his bodyweight was higher. (Reporting by William James; Editing by Ossian Shine)"
" U.S. swimmer Dana Vollmer competes in the 100-meter butterfly, at the London Olympic Games, July 29, 2012. Vollmer set a new world record and won the gold medal. Daniel Kopatsch/dapd/AP Images (AP) LONDON - Dana Vollmer won a gold medal at the Olympics and set a world record, too. Not bad for someone who didn't even qualify four years ago. On a night featuring a relay duel between the Australians and the Americans, Vollmer got things started with a bang Sunday in the 100-meter butterfly. She was third at the turn but powered to the wall for a time of 55.98 seconds, beating the record of 56.06 set by Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom in a since-banned high-tech bodysuit at the 2009 world championships. The American dropped back her head when saw the time, then broke into a huge smile, slapped the water and pumped her fists. ""I'm on top of the world right now."" she said. ""I still know I can go faster."" Olympics: China, U.S. medal in synchronized diving Olympics: U.S. gymnasts breeze through qualifying round Men's basketball: Team USA tops France 98-71 Lochte wins 400 IM final for first U.S. gold"
" Israel has asked the UN to suspend attempts to organise an international inquiry into a deadly raid on a ship trying to break the blockade of Gaza. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said any inquiry should be shelved because new attempts to breach the blockade were still being organised. Nine pro-Palestinian activists died when Israeli soldiers stormed a Turkish aid ship in May. The UN has called for an impartial and credible inquiry into the raid. Israel has announced its own inquiry but some governments have expressed scepticism about its credibility. Mr Barak spoke after talks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has been trying to organise the international inquiry called for by the Security Council. ""We expressed our view that for the time being, as long as new flotillas are in preparation, it is probably better to leave it on the shelf for a certain time and we are moving ahead with our independent investigation, which we believe is clearly independent, reliable, credible and should be allowed to work,"" Mr Barak said. He said one ship was preparing to leave Lebanon and he warned that Israel would hold Lebanon responsible for any resulting violence. ""About the coming flotilla, we've heard in the media that some organisation, probably backed by a terror organisation, (is) once again trying to send a vessel into Gaza,"" he said. ""We think it's a bit irresponsible to do that."""
" Washington (CNN) -- Portions of a taxpayer-funded $2.1 billion Pentagon contract to truck supplies to U.S. troops in Afghanistan are being indirectly paid to Afghan insurgents and corrupt public officials as protection money, a congressional investigation revealed. The U.S military outsources much of the security for truck convoys carrying food, water, equipment, fuel and ammunition to remote and dangerous areas in Afghanistan, and those contractors hire local Afghans who pay bribes for safe passage, according to investigators. ""United States tax dollars are feeding a protection racket in Afghanistan that would make Tony Soprano proud,"" Rep. John Tierney, D-Massachusetts, said Tuesday, referring to an organized crime boss in the popular TV show ""The Sopranos."" Tierney make the remark at a hearing on the issue the National Security Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. ""This contract appears to have fueled warlordism, extortion, corruption, and maybe even funded the enemy,"" said Tierney, who is chairman of the subcommittee. The hearing comes shortly after the release of a 79-page congressional report that details findings ranging ""from sobering to shocking,"" Tierney said in the report's introduction. CNN reported on Monday that the military is also investigating the issue. The results of the six-month investigation indicate that outsourcing the Afghanistan supply chain to contractors has resulted in ""significant unintended consequences, fueling warlordism, extortion, and corruption, and it may be a significant source of funding for insurgents,"" the report's executive summary said. ""In other words, the logistics contract has an outsized strategic impact on U.S. objectives in Afghanistan,"" the report said. Investigators found that Department of Defense ""has been largely blind to the potential strategic consequences of its supply-chain contingency contracting,"" and that the U.S. military has little understanding of how the security is provided. When contractors reported to the Defense Department that they were being extorted by warlords for protection payments for safe passage and that these payments were ""funding the insurgency, they were largely met with indifference and inaction,"" the report said."
" The top US commander in Afghanistan has been summoned to Washington in the wake of a magazine article that quotes him and aides criticising senior Obama administration officials and diplomats. Gen Stanley McChrystal has apologised over the article in Rolling Stone. In it, he is quoted as sharply criticising the US ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry. And the general's aides say he was ""disappointed"" when meeting President Barack Obama for the first time. Other targets of criticism by the general or his aides include Vice-President Joe Biden, National Security Adviser James Jones and the special US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Afghanistan says the article highlights the long-suspected divisions between the US military and administration officials. A White House official said Gen McChrystal had ""been directed to attend [Wednesday's] monthly meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan in person"" rather than by teleconference ""to explain to the Pentagon and the commander-in-chief his quotes in the piece about his colleagues"". And in a strongly worded statement, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Gen McChrystal had made a ""significant mistake"" and ""exercised poor judgment"". The Rolling Stone article - a profile of Gen McChrystal entitled The Runaway General, written by a journalist who was given access to the commander and his staff over several weeks - is due out on Friday. In it, Gen McChrystal says he felt ""betrayed"" by Eikenberry during the White House debate on troop requests for Afghanistan."
" The lights in Delhi and seven states went out about 2 a.m and had not been restored by the morning rush-hour, leaving the capital's workers sweltering overnight, then stranded at metro stations in the morning as trains were cancelled. Blackouts are frequent in much of the country, including major cities. Chaos reigned on Delhi's always-hectic roads as stop lights failed. ""I'm 45 minutes late for work. First, no power since 2 in the morning, then no water to take a shower and now the metro is delayed by 13 minutes after being stuck in traffic for half an hour,"" said 32-year-old Keshav Shah, who works in a multinational software company 30 km outside the capital. ""As if I wasn't dreading Monday enough, this had to happen."" Authorities made restoring services to hospitals and transport systems a priority. By mid-morning electricity had returned to parts of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, a state with more people than Brazil. Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir were also hit. ""We'll find out the reason and see that such kind of things are avoided in the future,"" Ram Nayak, the head of India's state-run Power Grid Corporation, said. ""The biggest priority is to connect essential loads back to public transport systems, whether it be the rail or the airport, hospitals and other places,"" he told TV network CNN-IBN. Officials at Delhi's international airport said flights were unaffected. India has a peak-hour power deficit of about 12 percent, slowing the economy. Delhi's private power company, BSES , said northern India last suffered such a major outage in 2001. About 40 percent of Indians, or 500 million people, lack electricity. Delays in opening new power plants and coal mines, among other things, have held back capacity. (Additional reporting by Anurag Kotoky, Matthias Williams and Nandita Bose; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Nick Macfie)"
" Some 200,000 people have fled intense fighting in Syria's second city Aleppo in the past two days, the UN has said. UN humanitarian chief Baroness Valerie Amos said others were trapped in the city and needed urgent help. Government forces launched a ground assault on Saturday after a week of sporadic shelling and sorties by fighter jets. The BBC's Ian Pannell, in the Aleppo area, says residents are facing food shortages and power cuts. He says the rebels are outgunned by the army, but they are fighting an effective guerrilla war in the streets. Fighting has focused on the Salah al-Din neighbourhood in Aleppo's south-west, where the rebels had embedded themselves. Continue reading the main story A hole-in-the-wall bakery had just reopened its doors after being closed for more than a day. Most food shops in the turbulent districts are now closed. Rebel fighters tried to marshal the crowds as hundreds of hungry and increasingly desperate residents clamoured for the thin round loaves. Suriya had finally reached the front of the queue and the middle-aged mother thrust her hand through the railings outside the bakery, grasping for the bread. Like many poor Syrians she has a large family to feed and with no fresh fruit or vegetables available this is her only chance to get food. ""A lot of poor people are suffering from a lack of food and water,"" she complained. ""Many are going to bed hungry."" Their suffering does not seem likely to end soon. Food, water and power shortages have made life hard for residents. The ever-present danger from bombs and bullets is making it intolerable. Syrian state television showed footage from the city and interviewed soldiers who said they had taken complete control of Salah al-Din late on Sunday. On Monday, officials in Damascus again said they had ""purged"" the area. But activists have denied that the quarter has been overrun by the army, saying rebels are still in control."
" On the same day peace delegates met at the United Nations in Switzerland on Monday to talk again about how they want calm to come to Syria, European Union nations agreed Monday to end an arms embargo against Syrian rebels, Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said. ""It was a difficult decision for some countries, but it was necessary and right to reinforce international efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Syria,"" he said in a written statement. The violence continued in the war-torn nation as bloody children were rushed into a dirty makeshift clinic in the Syrian city of Qusayr. Qusayr, near the border with Lebanon, is a strategic area where food, medicine and other supplies are hustled along routes used by government fighters and those trying to oust the government. CNN talked via Skype on Monday with a citizen journalist who described a desperate and horrid situation. The main hospital in Qusayr has been obliterated by fighting, the source said, not wishing to be named out of concern for security. The wounded are being crammed into homes. And, as one YouTube video shows, they apparently being treated at a makeshift clinic. CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the video. It's hard to watch. A boy wearing a purple shirt comes in screaming, his head bloody. The camera closes in on a baby. The child wails as people holding a steel instrument trying to dislodge something from the child's ear. The walls are smeared with blood. Catherine Ashton, EU High representative, announced the end of the embargo, reading a declaration from the organization's Foreign Affairs Council. Part of it states: ""With regard to the possible export of arms to Syria, the Council took note of the commitment by Member States to proceed in their national policies as follows: The sale, supply, transfer or export of military equipment or of equipment which might be used for internal repression will be for the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces and intended for the protection of civilians."" In Geneva, the United Nations' human rights commissioner spoke as she has several times before during the two-year war in Syria. Navi Pillay, in opening remarks at the first session of the U.N. Human Rights Council's three-week conference, said the situation has deteriorated to an ""intolerable affront to the human conscience,"" and the International Criminal Court must mete out justice to those who've violated the rights of Syrians."
" European Union foreign ministers have said they will not renew an arms embargo on the Syrian opposition, due to expire on Saturday. But there was no immediate decision to send arms to Syrian rebels and all other sanctions remained in force. Even so, Russia said it would ""directly harm"" the prospects of an international peace conference on Syria. Meanwhile, the BBC has heard evidence that 200 people were killed in a massacre in western Syria this month. Opposition activists said they had documented the civilian deaths in al-Bayda and Baniyas after government troops and militias entered the towns. The government described the operation as a strike against ""terrorists"". Continue reading the main story While the lifting of the EU arms embargo is theoretically good news for the fractious Syrian opposition, it is clearly going to be some time before it has any effect on the battlefield. Its authors, especially Britain, hope the decision itself will send a strong enough signal to President Bashar al-Assad that it is time to hand over power. That is extremely unlikely. For a government that has shown every sign of determination to fight to the end, it is hard facts on the ground that count. Government forces have recently been making significant gains. To reverse that trend will take time and sacrifice by the rebels - and the kind of quality weapons they have so far been denied, especially armour-piercing and anti-aircraft projectiles. The Americans in particular insist that much-needed shoulder-fired ground-to-air missiles must not be given, lest they end up with extremists. But for the rebels at least the eventual possibility of carefully-controlled arms deliveries is there, in what looks like being a bloody, long-haul struggle. The EU declaration on Syria came after 12 hours of talks in Brussels. Foreign ministers were unable to reach the unanimous decision required to extend the current arms embargo, and so agreed to renew the other sanctions - including an assets freeze on President Assad and his aides, and restrictions on trade in oil and financial transactions - without it. The BBC's Jim Muir, in Beirut, says it is clear that the EU decision will not make much difference on the ground in the immediate future. Member states can now decide their own policy on sending arms to Syria, but agreed not to ""proceed at this stage with the delivery"" of equipment."
" Both the UK and Russia want to see an end to the violence in Syria, David Cameron has said after holding talks with Vladimir Putin in London. Mr Cameron said he and the Russian president had ""differences"" over their approach but both wanted an end to the conflict and a ""stable Syria"". The two men also discussed trade and security issues on Mr Putin's first trip to Britain for seven years. They travelled afterwards to the Olympics to watch the judo competition. BBC Political Correspondent Carole Walker said Downing Street described the 45-minute conversation as ""open and frank"" with clear differences expressed over Syria. The UK has condemned attacks by the Syrian army and state-backed militia on opposition-held areas as the government seeks to regain full control of the country's biggest city, Aleppo. The UK has long called for President Bashar-al Assad to stand down but Russia opposes foreign intervention on either side in the conflict. Russia and China vetoed the latest UN attempt to end the fighting and Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday it would not endorse a UN General Assembly resolution on Syria calling for a political transition - saying it was ""one-sided and unbalanced"" against the Syrian government. Mr Cameron told reporters: ""While of course we have had some differences in the position we have taken over the conflict we both want to see an end to that conflict and a stable Syria."" In response, Mr Putin said the UK and Russia saw ""eye-to-eye"" on aspects of the situation in Syria and would work together to find a ""viable solution""."
" ISLAMABAD, August 1 (Xinhua) -- At least 23 people were injured when two blasts hit a fruit market in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday night, reported local media. Local Urdu TV channel Geo quoted police as saying that the blasts took place at about 10:00 p.m. at a fruit market in the Badami Bagh area of Lahore, the largest city in eastern Pakistan, which is close to Indian border. According to local media reports, one bomb was planted under a fruit cart inside the market while another was planted insider a car nearby the entrance of the market. Both bombs were detonated simultaneously through a remote controlled device, said police. Police and rescue team rushed to the site shortly after the blasts were reported. All the injured people have been shifted to Meo Hospital in the city and hospital sources said that at least five out of the injured were in critical condition. High alert has been declared in the nearby places following the twin blast. So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet."
" KABUL, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Afghan police and army, backed by the NATO-led coalition troops, have killed two dozen Taliban insurgents within the past 24 hours in different provinces, the country's Interior Ministry said Thursday morning. ""During the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan National Army, Afghan intelligence agency and coalition forces launched 16 joint clearance operations in Laghman, Kunduz, Baghlan, Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Wardak, Logar, Ghazni, Khost and Paktika provinces, killing 24 Taliban insurgents,"" the ministry said in a statement. Two more insurgents were wounded and three others detained by the joint forces, the statement added. They also found and seized weapons, the statement said, without mentioning if there were any casualties on the side of security forces. The Taliban insurgents, who have been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, have yet to make comments. Separately, three militants were killed when their roadside bombs went off prematurely along a main road in Bala Marghab District of western Badghis province Wednesday, according to the statement. ""Meanwhile, the ANP discovered and defused three anti-vehicle mines a as a result of security operations in the Nahar Saraj District and Lashkar Gah City, capital of southern Helmand province, yesterday,"" the interior ministry statement added. Earlier Thursday, a policeman was killed and another police officer was injured when two men armed with knives attacked them in the Safyano area of Lashkar Gah city, provincial government spokesman Daud Ahmadi told Xinhua. Afghan forces and some 130,000 NATO-led coalition troops have intensified cleanup operations against Taliban and other militant groups throughout the country recently as spring and summer, known as ""fighting season"", draw near. Records kept by Xinhua, based on figures released by the Afghan Interior Ministry, reveal that more than 480 insurgents have been killed, 56 wounded and nearly 380 detained over the past one month by the joint forces across the country."
" Canada's long wait for a first Olympic gold medal on home soil is over after Alexandre Bilodeau won the men's moguls event in Vancouver. It ended a 34-year wait and sparked wild celebrations at Cypress Mountain. Canada had never won an Olympic gold medal in their homeland, failing to capture any at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games or the 1988 Calgary Winter Games. ""I don't think I really realise it,"" said Bilodeau. ""It's too good to be true."" Vancouver will be sleeping that little bit better tonight - the spell is broken   A day after his moguls team-mate Jennifer Heil failed to live up to expectations and win Canada's first gold medal, Bilodeau stepped up and flew down the course in a speedy, near flawless run. After qualifying with the second best time, Bilodeau was the penultimate skier. He then blazed through the slushy moguls, tore down the course in 23.17 seconds and posted a score that was 0.17 points better than Canadian-born Begg-Smith, who won gold for Australia in Turin four years ago. When the final skier, Guilbaut Colas of France, had his sixth-place score flashed on the board, the Canadian crowd went wild. ""It's been a dream since I was a little kid and it's come true,"" said Bilodeau. ""I can't think. There are more golds to come for Canada. It's just the beginning of a good party in Canada."" It is a moment that will be played and replayed for the next two weeks and beyond - one that will be celebrated again come Monday, when Bilodeau receives the Olympic gold in a ceremony downtown in Vancouver. He and Wilson were the only two men in the finals who dared try a backflip with two twists on the top jump. And bronze medallist Wilson said: ""A year ago, I would've been just happy to make the Olympics, that was my first goal. ""When I got down to the bottom, I saw the score, I hoped it would hold out and it did. And it was pretty amazing."""
" Officials believe the ""main battle"" is about to begin in the Syrian city of Aleppo, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said Thursday. ""The focus is now on Aleppo, where there has been a considerable buildup of military means, and where we have reason to believe that the main battle is about to start,"" said Herve Ladsous, the United Nations under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations. Ladsous spoke to reporters and briefed the U.N. Security Council Thursday, hours after Syrian rebels battered a military base near Aleppo as the battle for the nation's most populous city raged. Rebels used tanks seized in previous clashes with government troops to pound the Menagh military airport, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The base is north of Aleppo, Syria's commercial capital. The main military airfield in the region is southeast of the city. The government-run Syrian Arab News Agency said authorities were ""killing or wounding dozens of terrorists"" in the countryside outside Aleppo. Regime warplanes shelled the western and northern parts of the city, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. Communication was spotty inside the besieged city. Cellular phone service was cut off, and power outages were reported in neighborhoods where there was heavy shelling, according to Deama, an activist there who asked that her full name not be used for her protection. Thursday's fighting comes amid unsuccessful international diplomacy. Kofi Annan, who championed a six-point peace plan this year, said he has resigned as the U.N. and Arab League joint special envoy to Syria. While diplomats debate how to handle the situation, there has been stepped-up help for the emboldened rebel forces, dominated by military defectors who have streamed into the opposition's arms for months."
" The Badminton World Federation has charged eight female Olympic doubles players with ""not using one's best efforts to win a match"". Four pairs - two from South Korea, one from China and one from Indonesia - face a disciplinary hearing. Meanwhile, Team GB's gold medal hopes on day five of the Games lie mainly with rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, and cyclist Bradley Wiggins. Spectators booed the two badminton matches played at Wembley Arena on Tuesday, in which the four accused pairs of players appeared keen to lose. China's Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli and South Koreans Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na are among those facing charges. Both pairs were already through to the quarter-finals. Reports have suggested they both wanted to lose to secure an easier draw. Meanwhile, in other developments on Wednesday: Following Tuesday's badminton match, the South Korean players - who eventually won - did not comment, but Yu said she and Wang were saving energy for the knockout stages. A later match between South Korean third seeds Ha Jung-Eun and Kim Min-Jung and Indonesian pair Meiliana Juahari and Greysia Polii is also under scrutiny by the Badminton World Federation. A statement from the BWF confirmed that all four pairs would face charges of ""not using one's best efforts to win a match"" and ""conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport""."
" ADEN: Suspected Al-Qaeda militants killed 18 Yemeni soldiers in separate ambushes Tuesday as the army launched a ground offensive against their remaining strongholds in the south, medical and security sources said. Twelve militants were also killed when the ambush in Shabwa province sparked a firefight, tribal sources said. Ten soldiers were also wounded and 15 captured, medics and an officer said. The ground offensive, which was launched just hours before the opening of a donors' conference in London, seeks to capitalise on Al-Qaeda losses in a blistering US-backed air offensive last week in which nearly 60 suspected militants were killed. Commanders are seeking to expel the jihadists from a series of smaller towns and hill districts in Abyan and Shabwa provinces where they retained a presence after a 2012 offensive in which the army recaptured the major towns. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- a merger of the network's Yemeni and Saudi branches -- is regarded by Washington as its most dangerous franchise and has been subjected to an intensifying drone war this year. The jihadists took advantage of a 2011 uprising that forced veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh from power to seize large swathes of the south and east, from which the army has struggled to evict them, despite backing from militia recruited among the local tribes. Militants ambushed the army convoy near Al-Saeed, one of several towns in Shabwa province where troops backed by militiamen advanced overnight, an officer said. Armed with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades, they seized a troop carrier and captured 15 soldiers inside, and also destroyed three other vehicles, he added. The army sent ""massive"" reinforcements to the area, another officer said."
" One of the women vying to become the presidential candidate for Chile's ruling coalition has quit the race. Former Foreign Minister Soledad Alvear cleared the way for Michelle Bachelet to be nominated, throwing her weight behind her former rival. Ms Alvear, who had been trailing Ms Bachelet in the opinion polls, said she was pulling out for the sake of unity. The same polls suggest Ms Bachelet will win December's election and become Chile's first woman president. ""For the sake of Chile, my party and our coalition, I have decided to put an end to my presidential candidacy,"" said Ms Alvear, of the Christian Democrats, one of the parties in the centre-left Concertacion coalition. ""This way Michelle Bachelet becomes the only candidate of the Concertacion and the future president of Chile."" Until recently the Concertacion nominee would have faced a single opposition candidate. But 10 days ago the right-wing opposition split after 15 years, leaving a three-horse race for president. The other two contenders are conservative Joaquin Lavin and newly declared centre-right businessman Sebastian Pinera. Ms Bachelet, a former defence minister and health minister, has outlined few policies but has conducted her campaign based mostly on her charisma and history. She was imprisoned briefly and went into exile after the coup of 1973 that put Gen Augusto Pinochet in power, while her father died in the regime's custody."
" About 1,000 protesters took control of the regional government building and forced police to flee, reports said. The move followed the opposition's effective seizure of parts of the nearby town of Jalal-Abad on Sunday. The opposition wants President Askar Akayev to resign, and says recent elections for parliament were unfair. Protests have been gathering momentum in the south of Kyrgyzstan since run-off elections on 13 March, when opposition parties won only a handful of seats in parliament. The protests have drawn comparisons with other popular upheavals in the former Soviet states of Georgia and Ukraine, although Mr Akayev has warned that such an development would risk civil war in Kyrgyzstan. In Osh, protesters first stormed the regional government building on Friday, but were forced out. On Monday, many of the returning protesters carried shields dropped by riot police who turned and fled as the crowd rushed the building. The BBC's Central Asia correspondent, Monica Whitlock, says most security forces seem to have escaped unhurt, but rioters caught two, beat them up, and paraded them on horseback around the square. The demonstrations came after about 10,000 people besieged and then burnt down the police station in Jalal-Abad on Sunday and blocked the airport's runway to prevent the government flying in re-enforcements. Police said four officers were killed in the protests."
" More than two dozen people were reported injured in the blast, including several passengers on a bus hit by shockwaves. Two workers and an unidentified woman were also killed. Investigators have suggested that maintenance workers were to blame, the Xinhua state news agency said. The explosion in China's principal commercial city blew out the windows of nearby buildings, Xinhua said. More than 30 people were being treated for injuries in a local hospital, but few of them were seriously hurt, the Associated Press news agency reported."
" High-speed TGV services from Paris are running as usual. In the capital, metro services were being restored, though few lines were back to 100% operation. ""The worst of the crisis is over,"" presidential aide Raymond Soubie told radio station Europe-1. But reports suggest the unions could return to strike action next month if current talks fail to reach a deal. The unions oppose plans to scrap the ""special"" pension system that allows some 500,000 transport and utility workers to retire early, bringing them in line with other state employees. The government has signalled it is willing to discuss how the reforms are implemented, but President Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed not to compromise on the core of the changes - and Mr Soubie reiterated this stance on Friday. ""We have always said that there are some principles of harmonisation which we would not give up. ""We have not given them up. We won't give them up,"" he said, though he added there were many ""perfectly legitimate"" issues to be discussed. On Thursday most local union committees voted to return to work while talks with the government continue. The number of trains running on the state-owned national rail network SNCF and the Paris underground was returning to normal on Friday. While TGV high-speed services from Paris were near normal, regional services continued to experience only 50-70% of usual service levels."
" Former Foreign Minister Soledad Alvear cleared the way for Michelle Bachelet to be nominated, throwing her weight behind her former rival. Ms Alvear, who had been trailing Ms Bachelet in the opinion polls, said she was pulling out for the sake of unity. The same polls suggest Ms Bachelet will win December's election and become Chile's first woman president. ""For the sake of Chile, my party and our coalition, I have decided to put an end to my presidential candidacy,"" said Ms Alvear, of the Christian Democrats, one of the parties in the centre-left Concertacion coalition. ""This way Michelle Bachelet becomes the only candidate of the Concertacion and the future president of Chile."" Until recently the Concertacion nominee would have faced a single opposition candidate. The other two contenders are conservative Joaquin Lavin and newly declared centre-right businessman Sebastian Pinera. Ms Bachelet, a former defence minister and health minister, has outlined few policies but has conducted her campaign based mostly on her charisma and history. She was imprisoned briefly and went into exile after the coup of 1973 that put Gen Augusto Pinochet in power, while her father died in the regime's custody."
" Voting ends for the 7th phase of LS polls in 7 states and two UTs. Huge voter turnout reported from across the regions which went to polls today. Stay with TOI Live Blog for latest news and updates. Sidhu would have been a tougher contestant: Amarinder ""Let me also tell now that all is over ... Had he (Sidhu) been there, I would have had a difficult fight. At the moment there is no fight. Arun Jaitley is no candidate. He may be the nominal candidate but my fight is with Akalis on the ground,"" Singh said. Brisk polling was reported in parts of Telangana in the initial hours of election as an air of expectancy enveloped the region that is soon going to be 29th state of the country. Governor ESL Narasimhan and Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal were among the first to cast their votes as polling began at 7am on a peaceful note in 17 Lok Sabha and 119 assembly constituencies across ten districts of Telangana, amid unprecedented security."
" Media feel the seventh phase of India's general election is ""a make or break day"" for many prominent politicians. Voting is in progress on Wednesday in 89 constituencies spread across seven states and two union territories. ""The seventh phase is crucial for both the ruling Congress and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the two parties won 35 and 23 seats respectively from this lot in the last general elections,"" says The Deccan Chronicle. ""It is a make or break day for many political big guns... Round seven of the nine-phase polls has Congress president Sonia Gandhi and a number of BJP bigwigs, including prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, party patriarch LK Advani, chief Rajnath Singh, facing the voter test,"" the Hindustan Times reports. Wednesday's voting will also decide the fate of regional leaders like Farooq Abdullah from Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir and Rashtriya Janata Dal's Sharad Yadav from Madhepura in the eastern state of Bihar. Papers say the seventh phase will decide the role of these politicians in the formation of the next government. Meanwhile, newspapers are highlighting a political controversy over the legacy of Indian war hero, Captain Vikram Batra. Captain Batra died in the 1999 Kargil military conflict with Pakistan-backed forces which had infiltrated into the Kargil mountains in Indian-administered Kashmir. Mr Modi on Tuesday used Captain Batra's name while appealing to the voters in the soldier's hometown of Palampur in the northern Himachal Pradesh state. But Captain Batra's mother, Kamal Kanta, has criticised Mr Modi for using her son's name for political gains."
" Hundreds of pro-Russian militants have seized the regional prosecutor's office in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. The attackers threw rocks at police before storming the building and raising the flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. Militants disarmed the police and ejected them from the building. There are reports of injuries on both sides. Ukraine blames Russia for organising the seizures of a number of offices in the east. Moscow denies the claim. Also in the Donetsk region, separatists seized the town council of Amvrosiyivka, local media reported. In a separate development, German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Russia in a phone call to President Vladimir Putin to help free foreign monitors held in eastern Ukraine. The military observers were seized by pro-Russia separatists at a checkpoint in the flashpoint town of Sloviansk last Friday. On Wednesday, a Russian military attache was detained in Ukraine on suspicion of spying and ordered to leave the country. In Donetsk, the pro-Russian militants attacked the prosecutor's office, accusing those inside of siding with the government in Kiev. The crowd later forced its way into the building, stripping weapons and shields from the police officers."
" Gen Musharraf won the vote easily after opposition boycotts and abstentions, but the previous judges in the court had questioned the poll's validity. Many of those judges were sacked when Gen Musharraf imposed emergency rule. Meanwhile, the former PM Nawaz Sharif is to once more return to Pakistan on Sunday, his brother has announced. The new judges said Gen Musharraf must resign as army chief before being sworn in for his next term as president. Gen Musharraf has come under intense international pressure to lift the state of emergency, which has seen thousands of opponents arrested and a clampdown on the media and independently-minded judges. Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court upheld Gen Musharraf's imposition of the emergency on 3 November. The court has also dismissed all legal challenges to Gen Musharraf's eligibility in the October poll. When Gen Musharraf imposed emergency rule he gave the need to rein in the judiciary as one of his justifications. Now the new judges have told the Election Commission ""to take all the necessary steps by 1 December, 2007 for final announcement"" of the poll result. And it said that Gen Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, ""shall relinquish the office of the chief of army staff"" before being sworn in."
" Before pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud left the presidential palace at midnight (2200 GMT) he issued an order that the army should take over control. But pro-Western PM Fouad Siniora rejected the move and says that under the constitution he and his cabinet are in temporary power. The latest in a series of attempts to find a new president failed on Friday. The president is elected by parliament, but a vote was scuppered after the pro-Syrian opposition did not allow the necessary quorum to be achieved. A new vote has been scheduled for 30 November. Mr Lahoud refused to recognise Mr Siniora's government and analysts say his security move was effectively a call for a state of emergency. The US has urged all parties to remain calm and said that under the constitution the Lebanese cabinet should ""temporarily assume executive powers and responsibilities until a new president is elected"". Shortly before midnight, Mr Lahoud, 71, walked out of the Baabda presidential palace as the national anthem played, ending nine years in office. AFP news agency quoted him as telling reporters: ""If they do not elect a new consensual president, with the required two-thirds majority, we have men who can stand up."" The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Beirut says that opponents of Mr Lahoud have been celebrating the departure of man they see as the last remnant of Syrian influence over the country. She says the country appears to be in the ultimate political limbo, with the rival parties even in disagreement over whether a state of emergency exists."
" The Commonwealth had failed to appreciate Pakistan's ""serious internal crisis"", the foreign ministry said. It added that it would review its ties with the group after the decision. Pakistan's Supreme Court, now staffed by judges seen as loyal to President Pervez Musharraf, has upheld the imposition of the emergency. ""All acts and actions taken are also validated,"" the new chief justice of the court, Abdul Hameed Dogar said, the Associated Press news agency reports. After imposing emergency rule on 3 November, Gen Musharraf sacked Supreme Court judges who were preparing to rule on the legality of emergency rule and his next term as president. On Thursday Pakistan's Supreme Court dismissed the final legal challenge to Pervez Musharraf's re-election as president. The president has said that would allow him to step down as head of the army. In recent days Gen Musharraf's government says it has also released more than 3,400 people who had been detained under the emergency rule which the president imposed earlier this month. And following a visit by US envoy John Negroponte, opposition leader Imran Khan was freed. Meanwhile there are signs that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif may be making another attempt to return from exile in Saudi Arabia to challenge Gen Musharraf."
" It will be the earliest ever primary and maintains the state's tradition of always being first - though officials had considered holding it in December. In the primary process, voters choose which nominee for each party goes on to the head-to-head ballot on 4 November. Iowa will hold its nominating caucus - a different kind of selection procedure - on 3 January, kicking off the season. Iowa Republicans and Democrats opted to move the state's date from 14 January, after Florida and Michigan brought their votes forward, to 29 and 15 January respectively. That calendar meant New Hampshire, which by state law has to hold its primary election at least a week before any other, could hold its vote no later than 8 January - the earliest date ever. With only five days between the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, candidates will have little time to recover should they do badly in Iowa, analysts warn. Primaries and caucuses are both methods of selecting candidates for election. A primary is a vote held to nominate a candidate, whereas a caucus is a meeting where members of a political party choose a candidate through discussion. States have been keen to move up the timetable in order to increase their influence over the selection process and attract more attention to issues affecting their voters. But both Michigan and Florida's dates break Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules, which say only four states are allowed to hold contests before 5 February."
" Terms were first reported by Reuters on July 30. The disclosure of the record-breaking deal, which will put GM's Chevrolet brand name on the soccer team's famous red jerseys, came as Manchester United supporters called for a boycott of sponsors' products to pressure the club's American owners to shelve a plan to float the club's stock. Manchester United Supporters Trust, which has 180,000 members, has fought a high-profile campaign against the American Glazer family, which plans to list United on the New York Stock Exchange this month. The agreement with GM starts in the 2014-2015 season, but the club will start to reap some financial benefits as soon as this year, Friday's filing said. GM will pay fees of $18.6 million in this year's and next year's season, it said, before paying $70 million in the 2014-2105 season. GM's payments will rise 2.1 percent each season thereafter, through the 2020-2021 season, it said. U.S. automaker's global marketing chief was ousted in connection with a deal with the popular English soccer club. GM's payments are more than double the current fee paid by insurance broker Aon. The agreement was announced the day after the Detroit automaker said it was removing its global marketing chief, Joel Ewanick, because he ""failed to meet the expectations that the company has for its employees."" Sources told Reuters Ewanick didn't properly report financial details about the jersey deal."
" In the first incident three members of the 3rd Infantry Division died as a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad as their patrol passed along the road. Shortly afterwards it was announced that four members of II Marine Expeditionary Force were killed in an attack in Haswa, 50km south of Baghdad. More than 100 Iraqis have also been killed or injured in wave of bombings since Monday morning. Details of the anti-US attacks are still coming in and the dead soldiers have not been identified as next of kin are being informed. Earlier on Tuesday car bomb exploded in central Baghdad with reports saying at least five Iraqis were killed. The blast happened in the Alwiya area at about 1030, damaging least three cars and several buildings were also damaged. The attacks came as American and Iraqi forces continued searching for insurgents in western suburbs of Baghdad. The US military announced that 428 suspects had been picked up in just over 30 hours during the sweep dubbed Operation Squeeze Play. Late on Monday, a bomb destroyed a Bradley fighting vehicle in the city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, wounding three US soldiers, none of them seriously, the army said. As the surge in violence hampers Iraq's economic rehabilitation, the government has been criticised by a body set up to scrutinise the way it manages oil revenue."
" MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russian opposition leaders Garry Kasparov and Eduard Limonov were detained after a protest meeting in central Moscow, city police said on Saturday. ""Kasparov and Limonov were detained for violating meeting procedure rules, and were taken to the Krasnoselsky Borough police station,"" a spokesman for the Moscow city Internal Affairs Main Administration said. Police previously denied that they had been detained. Protesters clashed with police during an authorized opposition rally in central Moscow earlier on Saturday. City authorities had given the go-ahead for a meeting, but turned down a request for a march. After the rally, known as Dissenters' March, a group of about 20 people broke through police lines and walked onto Moscow's major road, the Garden Ring. City authorities said fewer than 1,000 people had turned up for the meeting, with about 300 reporters covering the event. Earlier, Garry Kasparov, a leading figure in the opposition movement The Other Russia, said the Dissenters' March would be held in Moscow November 24 and in St. Petersburg November 25. The Other Russia organization includes the People's Patriotic Union, led by former premier Mikhail Kasyanov, the banned National Bolshevik Party, headed by Russian writer Eduard Limonov, as well as chess grandmaster Kasparov's United Civil Front. Human rights advocates in Russia and abroad have criticized the Kremlin for tightening its grip on democracy and human rights ever since Vladimir Putin became president in 2000."
" Just a week before Russia elects a new lower house, or Duma, opposition politician and former chess world champion Garry Kasparov was sentenced to five days in jail after being arrested with dozens of others during a rally in Moscow. Kasparov was sentenced for violating laws regulating public assembly, The Interfax news agency reported Saturday. After the protest against President Vladimir Putin and his government in Moscow, which was attended by some 3,000 members of the opposition alliance Another Russia, scuffles broke out with police, Echo Moskvy radio reported. Many people were taken away in buses. Kasparov told the radio station that the police used force. Human rights activist Lev Ponomarev, who was also arrested, accused the authorities of a ""completely exaggerated reaction"". Police said that the demonstrators had presented a ""directed provocation"". The authorities gave permission for the rally, but banned a protest march to the Central Election Commission one week ahead of Dec 2 elections for the State Duma for ""security reasons"". Some protestors tried to break through the police cordon to hand in a petition for fair elections to the commission. More than 1,000 OMON security forces and soldiers blocked the demonstrators' way, Russian media reports said. Leader of the liberal Union of Rightist Forces (SPS) Boris Nemzov accused Putin of being a ""coward"", who was scared of peaceful people. Nemzov was a surprise participant at the rally."
" Officials in the Philippines say seven people have been killed in two provinces in flooding ahead of typhoon Mitag. The typhoon is expected to hit land in the northern Philippines later today. About 100,000 people in coastal villages and flood-prone areas in the north-eastern parts are being evacuated to safer ground. Power failures in some northern provinces have been reported, while more than 3,000 passengers have been stranded in ports due to the suspension of sea travel. The Philippines military has declared a unilateral suspension of military operations against communist rebels in affected areas to allow soldiers to focus on disaster response operations."
" North Korea has conducted a live-fire drill near the disputed maritime border, Seoul officials say, but no shells fell in South Korean waters. It is the second time in a month that Pyongyang has carried out such drills. Last time, the exercises led to an exchange of artillery fire between North and South Korea. But on this occasion, North Korea's live rounds fell short of the disputed western sea border and so South Korea did not respond. ""The North's shells fell in waters about 3km (2 miles) north of the NLL [Northern Limit Line, the disputed border],"" Yonhap news agency quoted a spokesman from the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying. ""The South Korean military is currently monitoring North Korean artillery units, while maintaining high military readiness."" South Korea's defence ministry said it was notified early on Tuesday that drills would take place near islands west of the Korean peninsula. Firing began around 14:00 (05:00GMT), with around 50 shells fired at two locations, Yonhap said. The western sea border has long been a flashpoint between the two Koreas. The UN drew the border after the Korean War, but North Korea has never recognised it. A similar North Korean exercise at the end of March resulted in the two sides exchanging hundreds of rounds of artillery fire, after South Korea said rounds landed in its territory."
" A lion dance troupe performs during a temple fair to celebrate upcoming Chinese New Year in Beijing February 12, 2010. The Chinese New Year begins on February 14th and according to the Lunar calendar will be the Year of the Tiger. ""In 2010, China will face a more complicated situation, both at home and abroad,"" the state news agency Xinhua paraphrased Wen as saying, in remarks carried in major newspapers. People must ""keep a sober mind and an enhanced sense of anxiety about lagging behind,"" the premier added. Priority should be given to ""persistence in taking economic development as the central task, forcefully promoting reform and opening up ... and doing a better job responding to the global financial crisis, in order to keep steady and relatively fast economic development."" The government is trying to maintain a balance between the economic growth needed to create jobs for the country's 1.3 billion people, and not letting the economy overheat and drive up the cost of basic goods and housing for residents. China raised the level of reserves banks must hold for the second time this year on Friday, spooking financial markets on the eve of its New Year holiday by showing it was intent to curb lending and inflation. China powered to 8.7 percent growth last year, by far the strongest of any major economy, driving demand for everything from Chilean copper to Australian iron ore. ""Shanghai house prices must fall, they cannot go higher, this year they must fall,"" said Shanghai resident Ge Jieyou, 53. ""We have a lot of corruption here, I don't think that will change this year."" Wen, who in previous years has spent the holiday with everyone from AIDS patients to survivors of 2008's devastating Sichuan earthquake, this year visited a drought-struck part of the southern region of Guangxi, state television said. President Hu Jintao, by contrast, first visited Taiwan investors in the coastal city of Zhangzhou in the southeastern province of Fujian, before going to an old revolutionary base further inland."
" At least 37 people have been killed in explosions in the Syrian city of Homs, officials say. The attacks, which involved at least one car bomb, also injured dozens. Earlier, at least 14 people were killed and more than 80 wounded in a mortar attack on a technical institute in central Damascus. The attacks come a day after President Bashar al-Assad registered to stand for re-election, defying calls to step down as a way of ending Syria's civil war. There are conflicting details about the number of deaths in the government-held, predominantly Alawite district of Zahra, east of the Old City in Homs. A government official said at least 37 people were killed and 85 hurt. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave the same death toll figures, with 80 injured. AFP news agency quoted the provincial governor as saying 45 had died in total, including 36 killed by the car bomb and another nine by a rocket that followed, Talal al-Barazi said. Homs has been a key battleground between government forces and rebels, with large parts of the city in ruins. The Damascus attack involved four shells which struck the mainly Shia district of Shaghour, police say. Two hit the Badr al-Din al-Hussein technical institute, where most of the casualties come from."
" Train and bus stations overflowed and airports were packed on Saturday as tens of millions of Chinese rushed home to be with their families for the start of the lunar New Year holiday and the Year of the Tiger. The annual holiday is the most important of the year in China, with families expected to welcome in the New Year at midnight on Saturday with a roar of fireworks that will last for hours. It is the only time in the year when China's massive army of migrant workers, who work on building sites and in factories in major cities, get a chance to return home to see their families. The year of the tiger is believed to bring with it mythical heroic powers, even if soothsayers say it is an inauspicious one for marriage. The year is seen as being good for the economy. Beijing and the commercial capital Shanghai reverberated with huge, ad hoc firework displays and the sound of firecrackers, whose smoke filled the streets. Firecrackers are believed to scare off evil spirits and entice the god of wealth to people's doorsteps once New Year's Day arrives. Celebrations will carry on into the early hours of Sunday, officially the first day of the Lunar New Year. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned his people to keep a ""sober mind"" about the challenges ahead in the new year as the country welcomed the arrival of the Year of the Tiger with noisy celebrations. ""In 2010, China will face a more complicated situation, both at home and abroad,"" the state news agency Xinhua paraphrased Wen as saying, in remarks carried in major newspapers."
" The web of blame in the South Korean ferry sinking is getting wider, and now the country's president is accepting some of the heat. President Park Geun-hye apologized to the nation Tuesday over the government's initial response to the Sewol ferry tragedy. ""I am losing sleep as there is no news about saving more lives and because there are many families who don't know whether their loved ones are dead or alive still,"" the president said. ""I am at a loss for words for an apology that can be enough to console the pain and suffering even for a little while over insufficiency in efforts made to prevent the accident and also in the initial response to the accident,"" she added. ""I am sorry, and my heart is heavy that so many precious lives are lost because of the accident."" Earlier Tuesday, Park attended a memorial in Ansan, the Seoul suburb where hundreds of students on board the ship were from. She talked to family members and laid flowers at the memorial site. ""We'll fix the problems and change our practices so we'll have safer nation and won't let them die in vain,"" Park said. The ferry sank April 16 on the country's southwest coast. The number of dead now stands at 210. Another 92 are still missing. ""All we are asking for is, 'Bring the dead bodies out,'"" a father wailed Tuesday. ""We know they are not alive now."" On Monday, South Korean authorities arrested three people on suspicion of destroying evidence connected to the ferry sinking. Investigators also raided a Coast Guard office in a probe of how officials handled the first emergency call from a passenger."
" The team-mate of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was killed in a training accident on Friday, has withdrawn from the Vancouver Games. Levan Gureshidze pulled out before the event at the Whistler Sliding centre on Saturday following the death of 21-year-old Kumaritashvili. The event went ahead after safety changes were made to the track. Britain's Adam Rosen was one of 36 entrants to go down the track, where he dislocated a hip in October. Rosen conceded he had had reservations before making his opening practice run on Saturday, while there were three non-starters in training, including Gureshidze, who later decided not to compete at all. ""It was difficult as someone lost their life,"" Rosen, 25, told BBC Sport. ""But I'm sure that he would have liked us to race and we all put a black stripe on our helmet this morning. ""It's a new track and it's a dangerous sport so sometimes bad things happen, unfortunately."" The men's event was moved to the lower women's start, which was expected to cut speeds by around 10kph (6.25 mph). Kumaritashvili died when his sled flipped and he hit a steel pole during a training run on Friday. International Luge Federation president Josef Fendt told a news conference: ""We have been competed for almost 50 years and it was the worse event that has happened. ""We have not had a fatal accident in 35 years on artificial tracks. Nobody could have predicted the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, but that doesn't mean that it couldn't have been avoided   ""We are all sad and very shocked by the tragic accident and I would like to express my condolences to the family and the Georgian association."" The starts for the women's and doubles luge events were lowered, while a decision on skeleton and bobsleigh on the same track will be made by that sport's governing body. The decision to continue was taken after probes by local coroners and the International Luge Federation (FIL). Officials concluded the track was not unsafe but that the athlete ""did not compensate properly"" going into a bend. As a precaution, the walls at the exit of the final curve, where Kumaritashvili was thrown from the track, have been raised. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Wolfgang Staudinger, coach of the Canadian luge team, put the blame firmly on Kumaritashvili himself. ""It was not a track issue, it was a driving error, 100%,"" said Staudinger, a German. ""We had issues like this before and that happens when you have so-called exotic sliders. ""The guys must know when they enter a track like this that it's serious business, it's not a joke. ""The International Federation has to put much tighter rules into place to avoid this in the future."" A statement on the Vancouver 2010 website said: ""It appears after a routine run, the athlete came late out of curve 15 and did not compensate properly to make correct entrance into curve 16. ""This resulted in a late entrance into curve 16 and although the athlete worked to correct the problem he eventually lost control of the sled resulting in the tragic accident. ""The technical officials of the FIL were able to retrace the path of the athlete and concluded there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track. ""Based on these findings the race director, in consultation with the FIL, made the decision to reopen the track following a raising of the walls at the exit of curve 16 and a change in the ice profile. ""This was done as a preventative measure, in order to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again."" The crash happened hours before the opening ceremony, which was dedicated in his honour. Georgia confirmed they will compete in the Games as a tribute to Kumaritashvili and marched as scheduled at the ceremony, wearing black arm bands and looking visibly upset. During the past week there have been several accidents, including one involving gold medal favourite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy and several during women's luge training runs on Wednesday. Among those who crashed, Romania's Violeta Stramaturaru was knocked unconscious for a few minutes and taken to hospital. Former luger Patrick Singleton, who inspected part of the track a few months ago, said he didn't feel it was adequately tested. ""I just don't think there were enough training runs allowed in advance of this competition to properly check the track and allow athletes time to get used to it. ""I can't imagine what some of those athletes must be thinking. ""There will be some who are able to shut it out of their minds and compete, but there will be others for whom this will have terrible consequences."""
" South Korean President Park Geun-hye has apologised over the ferry disaster, in a statement to cabinet shown on national television. Ms Park said that the government had failed to prevent the disaster and bungled its emergency response. Her apology comes amid ongoing work to retrieve bodies from the sunken hull. The ferry sank with 476 people aboard - most of them high school students and teachers - off South Korea on 16 April. A total of 174 were rescued. The remainder have been confirmed dead or missing presumed drowned. Officials have retrieved almost 200 bodies and divers are continuing to search for those still unaccounted for. ""I don't know how to apologise for the failure to prevent this accident, and for the insufficient first response,"" Ms Park said in the statement. ""I am sorry to the people and heavy-hearted that many precious lives were lost."" Ms Park's apology comes amid mounting public anger and criticism over the disaster. Most of those on board were on a trip from Danwon high school in Ansan, south of Seoul. President Park had earlier paid her respects at a memorial altar set up near the school. Local media reports said she was heckled by angry family members."
" Gunmen killed five young men early Sunday in Escobedo, a city in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, state officials said. The victims, one of whom is a minor, were gunned down outside a house in the Ricardo Flores Magon district of Escobedo, which is in the Monterrey metropolitan area, the Nuevo Leon state Security Council said in a statement. Masked gunmen drove up to the house and opened fire on the young men with AK-47 assault rifles, the council said, citing statements from eyewitnesses. The gunmen fled the shooting scene in three SUVs, state officials said. Nuevo Leon Attorney General's Office investigators found more than 100 bullet casings from AK-47 assault rifles at the crime scene. The Los Zetas cartel has been battling the Gulf cartel for control of the Monterrey metropolitan area and smuggling routes into the United States. Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, known as ""El Lazca,"" deserted from the Mexican army in 1999 and formed Los Zetas with three other soldiers, all members of an elite special operations unit, becoming the armed wing of the Gulf drug cartel. After several years on the payroll of the Gulf cartel, Los Zetas, considered Mexico's most violent criminal organization, went into the drug business on their own account and now control several lucrative territories. The wave of drug-related violence in Nuevo Leon claimed the lives of 2,003 people in 2011, official figures show. EFE"
" In one video, the captain of the sinking South Korean ferry scrambles to safety. In another, stranded passengers panic. ""Wow, it's tilting a lot. We're tilting to this side. Can't move,"" one says. ""You think I'm really going to die?"" another cries. The two recordings fueled fresh outrage Monday over the Sewol ferry's sinking as questions swirled over why so many perished in the disaster while many members of the ship's crew survived. The video capturing passengers' panic was recorded by a teenage boy on the vessel, according to South Korean national TV network JTBC. The teen's father gave the network the footage after authorities recovered his son's body and found the cell phone. Its memory card was still intact, JTBC reported. The network shared a roughly three-minute audio clip of the video with CNN, which translated the exchanges. The clip provides a horrifying glimpse into the uncertainty and desperation inside the ferry as it rolled. Meanwhile, outside the ferry, rescuers were circling, a video released by South Korea's coast guard shows. The video shows the coast guard's rescue of Lee Joon-seok, the ship's captain, who scrambles off the stricken vessel in his underwear. Speaking out about it for the first time on Monday, the men who rescued him said they had no idea who he was until later."
" Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak holds a news conference after a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers with non-ISAF contributing nations in Brussels April 19, 2012. The fractious parliament voted to remove Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and Interior Minister Bismillah Mohammadi over a series of recent insurgent assassinations of top officials, as well as the cross border fire incidents infuriating many ordinary Afghans as well as politicians. It was unclear whether President Hamid Karzai would accept the vote by MPs as his administration tries to bolster stability ahead of 2014 presidential elections and NATO's pullout the same year. The president's office released a statement saying the beleaguered president, whose popularity has been hit by corruption problems and deteriorating security, would decide on Sunday whether to keep the pair in place, possibly in an acting role. Karzai's powerful finance minister, Hazarat Omar Zakhilwal, is also under a cloud over accusations aired on Afghan television that he stashed away more than $1 million in overseas banks, with an investigation launched on Saturday by the country's top anti-corruption chief. Afghanistan has rushed additional troops and long-range artillery to the mountainous Pakistan border as tensions continue to rise over cross-border shelling which Afghan officials blame on Pakistan's powerful military. Afghanistan has for months accused Pakistan's army of firing hundreds of rockets into the two eastern provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, targeting insurgent havens, but also forcing Afghan villagers to flee their homes. ""The defense ministry has reinforced army corps 201 and 203 and has specially created another division from which two battalions have already been sent there,"" Defense Minister Wardak told lawmakers before the vote to remove him. ""We have also sent long-range artillery and ammunition for use by all army corps,"" he said, adding that some artillery was being specially refurbished for the eastern border. While both sides and NATO-led foreign troops have been holding top-level meetings to improve border security, Afghanistan's foreign ministry summoned Pakistan's Kabul ambassador last week and warned that continued shelling would damage already fragile bilateral ties."
" At least nine people, including three other Italian soldiers, were reported wounded in the attack, which targeted a bridge the Italians were working on. Civilians had gathered round to watch the work in the Paghman district, about 10km (six miles) north-west of Kabul. It is the latest in a series of suicide bombings by militants in Afghanistan. Many of the wounded were injured by ball-bearings packed inside the bomb, Afghan police said. They denied rumours that Italian soldiers had opened fire after the attack. Suicide attacks are a comparatively recent tool in the armoury of the insurgency there, but they are now far more frequent, says the BBC's David Loyn in Kabul. There have been more than 130 suicide attacks in Afghanistan this year, by far the highest annual total since the Taleban were pushed from power six years ago. They are mostly aimed at foreign forces, but aid projects are increasingly targeted, particularly where foreigners can be hit, our correspondent says. Italy has nearly 2,400 troops serving in Afghanistan. Most are based in the west of the country, but some have been posted to Kabul to work on reconstruction and development projects."
" One of the blasts hit a bus packed with members of the security forces. Another explosion at a checkpoint left officers badly hurt, and there are fears the death toll will rise. It came as former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif - ousted in 1999 by President Pervez Musharraf - said he would return to Pakistan from exile on Sunday. Mr Sharif - leader of the Muslim League-N party - previously tried to return in September but was immediately deported back to Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile Pakistan's Electoral Commission has confirmed Gen Musharraf's victory in last month's presidential election, ratifying a second five-year term. The result was initially put on hold until a reconstituted Supreme Court verified Gen Musharraf's right to stand while remaining head of the armed forces. Witnesses said the bus entered a compound housing Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), followed by a small car, which blew up seconds later. Soldiers and police quickly sealed the scene, and forced bystanders and journalists back. Both vehicles were destroyed in the blast, which also damaged surrounding buildings. An intelligence agent at the scene told the Associated Press news agency that the destroyed bus was a 72-seater, but that more people were on board."
" Gerry Adams is being questioned for up to 17 hours a day by detectives investigating the murder of Jean McConville, a source close to him says. The Sinn Fein leader, who denies any involvement in the killing, has spent a fourth night in police custody. Police have until 20:00 BST on Sunday to charge or release Mr Adams. The source said there would need to be a significant development for a charge. If charged he would appear at a special court sitting on Sunday or Monday. Mrs McConville, a mother of 10, was murdered in 1972. On Friday, a judge gave police an extra 48 hours to question Mr Adams. Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister, Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, has said Mr Adams's arrest was part of an effort by some police officers to ""settle old scores, whatever the political cost"". Speaking at a rally in Belfast on Saturday, he referred to ""an embittered rump of the old RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary)"". The RUC was replaced in 2001 by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Mr McGuinness said: ""Allegations contained in books and newspaper articles which the PSNI are presenting to Gerry as evidence that he was in the IRA in the 1970s have been around for 40 years."
" More than 60 people arrested over Friday's violence in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa have been freed by police after protesters attacked the main police station. Several hundred pro-Russian protesters besieged the police headquarters, breaking through windows and doors. The clashes on Friday left more than 40 dead, mostly pro-Russian separatists killed in a building fire. Ukraine's interim PM has accused police of failing to prevent Friday's unrest. Continue reading the main story The mood has hardened in the towns around Sloviansk. Many people are horrified by Friday's deaths of dozens of pro-Russian activists in Odessa, something that they say ""cannot be forgiven"". But even in this Russian-speaking heartland, there are occasional signs of support for a united Ukraine: the odd blue and yellow national flag poking from a window, or those colours painted onto a lamppost. But the overwhelming mood is defiance and anger at Kiev for sending troops here. Outside the police station-turned rebel HQ in Konstantinovka men were making Molotov cocktails in beer bottles. Locals brought carrier bags full of food, for those inside. And a crowd gathered, demanding to know how they could defend their town, asking for weapons. There are a lot more barricades than when the Ukrainian military operation began. The pro-Russian groups want to slow the advance of any troops - even if they can't stop them. Arseniy Yatsenyuk has ordered a full investigation, and said the violence was ""part of a plan fomented by Russia to destroy Ukraine"". ""Russia's aim was to repeat in Odessa what is happening in the east of the country,"" he said. Ukrainian troops are carrying out operations in the east to wrest control of government buildings from pro-Russia separatists. The troops have encircled Sloviansk, where pro-Russians appear to control the centre. But Mr Yatsenyuk insisted Kiev had not lost control entirely."
" The first U.S. case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus has been reported in Indiana, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The patient is a health-care provider who recently traveled to Saudi Arabia to provide health care, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general with the U.S. Public Health Service and director for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The person, an American male, traveled on April 24 from Riyadh to London, then to Chicago, and took a bus to Indiana, officials said. He began experiencing shortness of breath, coughing, and fever on April 27, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. The patient was admitted to Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana, on April 28, the same day he visited the emergency department there, the health department said. He has been isolated and is in stable condition. He is receiving oxygen support, but does not require a ventilator, Schuchat said. The virus poses a ""very low risk to the broader general public,"" Schuchat said, as it has not been shown to spread easily from person to person. The CDC and the Indiana State Department of Health are conducting a joint investigation into the case, according to a CDC statement. The CDC confirmed Indiana test results on Friday. ""The CDC, IDPH (Illinois Department of Public Health) and CDPH (Chicago Department of Public Health) do not consider passengers on the flight or bus to be close contacts of the patient and therefore are not at high risk,"" said Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck, director of the IDPH. Passengers on the same plane and bus as the patient will be contacted by the CDC as a precautionary measure, starting Saturday, the Illinois statement said. If the CDC identifies ill individuals with possible MERS-CoV, it will notify health officials in Chicago and Indiana. ""There is no reason to suspect any current risk to travelers or employees at O'Hare Airport at this time,"" said CDPH commissioner Bechara Choucair. The coronavirus, known as MERS-CoV, was first reported in the Middle East -- specifically, the Arabian Peninsula -- in 2012."
" The troubled Vancouver Olympics continued to be hit with bad news on Saturday, as the men's downhill skiing event was postponed due to the continuing unsuitable weather. Rain and high temperatures have made the course too slushy for racers to ski down, meaning the opening Alpine event of the 2010 Winter Olympics must take place another time. The women's super-combined event due to be held on Sunday was already postponed on Friday, and now the opening men's event has been shelved with no new date yet released, but they will most probably try for Monday. The build-up to the Games had been plagued by poor weather, with rain, fog and high temperatures causing a slushy slope much too dangerous to race on. Organisers have even had to ship in snow from higher ground as warm temperatures threaten to badly disrupt the Olympic schedule, and already they are two days behind in the skiing. International Ski Federation race director Gunter Hujara said that the piste was unacceptable for high speed racing after yet more unsuitable weather. ""The piste has been badly affected these last two days by the mild temperatures and the humid conditions with snow and rain,"" Hujara said. Conditions are expected to improve on Monday when officials will most probably try and get the men's downhill in progress, but it is more bad publicity that Vancouver chiefs could do without after a troubled and tragic start."
" The men's downhill skiing, the flagship event of the Winter Olympics, has been postponed by two days because of slushy conditions on the course. Heavy snow, rain and fog, combined with rising temperatures, have made the Whistler track unfit for racing. The competition was scheduled to take place on Saturday, the first full day of the Vancouver 2010 Games. The event will now be staged on Monday when the weather conditions are expected to have improved. The poor weather in Whistler has been giving organisers a headache all week and had already caused the postponement of the women's super-combined skiing. Only one of six training runs for men and women has been completed as planned. The first men's downhill training session on Wednesday was abandoned because of fog, while a shortened session was held on Thursday and no practice was possible on Friday. Only two skiers started the opening women's training on Thursday before it too was abandoned. Italian Lucia Recchia of Italy made it safely down, but the second skier, American Stacey Cook, lost control and smashed into the safety netting at high speed. Whistler's notoriously poor weather has already forced International Ski Federation officials to remove the venue from the World Cup calendar after a number of events were cancelled."
" Ukrainian security forces battled pro-Russian militants in the eastern flashpoint city of Slovyansk on Monday as Kiev tackled the gunmen who have overrun the region. Military gains were evident on the main highway into Slovyansk, a rebel stronghold, as government forces moved in. A CNN team on the ground saw a substantial number of militants bolster their defensive positions and checkpoints inside the city. One civilian car was hit in the fighting, its exterior damaged by bullet holes. At a local hospital, the CNN team saw several people injured from the heavy clashes. One woman had been shot in the head, probably in a crossfire, and two pro-Russian militants were also brought in. Ukraine's Interior Ministry said four people were killed and nearly 30 injured in the city. It quoted local residents as saying the attackers had shot at residential buildings and set them on fire. Militants blamed Ukrainian forces for the civilian casualties. In a separate statement, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said a military helicopter was shot down ""during a combat mission and patrolling in the area"" of Slovyansk on Monday, but the pilots survived after it crashed into a river. They were later rescued. Ukraine's embattled new leaders have launched their most intensive effort yet to dislodge pro-Russian separatists who have reportedly seized government buildings in nearly a dozen cities and towns. Kiev authorities describe the separatists as ""terrorists."" But the rebels say they are defending Russian-speaking areas of the east against Ukrainian ""fascists"" trying to root out Russian influence in the country. In a statement Monday, Russia's Foreign Ministry accused the Kiev government of ""continuing a war against the people of their own country."" ""We again urge the Kiev organizers of terror against their own people to come to their senses, stop the bloodshed, withdraw troops and sit down, finally, at the negotiating table to start a normal dialogue on ways to resolve the political crisis,"" the ministry said."
" The Sunday Herald has become the first newspaper publicly to back a ""Yes"" vote in the Scottish independence referendum. The front page of the weekly title states ""Sunday Herald says Yes"" and is decorated with a giant thistle and saltires in a design by artist and ""Yes"" supporter Alasdair Gray. The paper supported the SNP in the 2007 and 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. It said it would remain balanced in its reporting. An article on the newspaper's website said: ""The Herald & Times Group, publisher of the Sunday Herald, The Herald and the Evening Times, is giving the titles' editors freedom to take their own editorial position on the constitution. ""The company is non-political and neutral. Continue reading the main story The Sunday Herald's decision to formally back independence comes as no surprise to anyone who has so much as glanced at the newspaper in recent months. Its striking front pages have been consistently favourably to the ""Yes"" side of the argument, as have its star columnists, Ian Bell and Iain MacWhirter. But for supporters of independence, the title's case for ""the chance to alter course, to travel roads less taken, to define a destiny"" will still be warmly welcomed. ""The Herald has not declared an opinion on the referendum question. It will be up to its editor to decide when and if to do so."" A spokesman for the pro-Union Better Together said: ""This is not exactly a surprise. Anybody who has read the Sunday Herald since the campaign started would know that they favour breaking up the UK. ""Newspapers are perfectly entitled to back one side or the other, and we would expect a number of Scottish newspapers to support Scotland remaining in the UK."""
" Mr Sharif says he will not stand for election unless President Pervez Musharraf lifts the state of emergency. Benazir Bhutto has now filed papers for three parliamentary seats. There are signs that Gen Musharraf will step down as head of the army and be sworn in for another term as president this week. Mr Sharif, who was toppled by Gen Musharraf in 1999, returned to Pakistan on Sunday after seven years in exile. There were jubilant scenes as cheering supporters met him at Lahore airport. He handed in his nomination papers in Lahore for two seats in January's general elections on Monday, the closing date. Benazir Bhutto, another former prime minister who recently returned to Pakistan, filed a nomination paper on Sunday for one of the seats reserved for women. On Monday she filed papers in her Larkana constituency for two regular seats. She, too, has left open the possibility of a boycott. Mr Sharif's return to Pakistan on Sunday was his second attempt in the past three months to end his exile. The last time, in September, he was deported within hours of his arrival. The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Lahore says it is believed that Gen Musharraf is hoping that Mr Sharif will be able to dent Benazir Bhutto's prospects in the forthcoming parliamentary elections."
" Sergei Mironov said the decision would be published officially on 28 November, launching the election campaign. President Vladimir Putin is not allowed to run for a third term in office. He has chosen instead to accept the top spot on the pro-Kremlin United Russia list in parliamentary elections to be held on 2 December. According to Russian law, candidates must submit their presidential bids no later than 25 days after the official announcement of the election date. Mr Putin has ruled out any change in the Russian constitution which would allow him to run for a third term, but he is expected to retain political influence, although the nature of his new position is not yet clear, correspondents say."
" A final rebel withdrawal from the city once dubbed the ""capital of the revolution"" would mark a significant and symbolic military advance by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, one month before his likely re-election as president. Assad's forces, backed by fighters from Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group and Iraqi Shi'ite gunmen, have pushed back the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels and foreign jihadis from around Damascus and central Syria over the last year. Hundreds of civilians were evacuated from central Homs in early February during a humanitarian ceasefire overseen by the United Nations and Red Crescent. Food and medicines were also allowed into the besieged area. Many rebel fighters stayed on. But outgunned and surrounded, they have little prospect of holding out in the long term. Hezbollah's Al Manar Television and regional broadcaster said fighting stopped at around noon when the ceasefire came into effect, and that rebel fighters would be allowed to head north out of the center of the city. ""The agreement stipulates a ceasefire and withdrawal of Islamist and other fighters and brigades from the besieged districts of Homs towards northern rural Homs province,"" the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. There was no immediate confirmation of any fighters leaving."
" The Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony was launched in a flurry of ticker-tape in an event dedicated to Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died earlier in the day following a horror smash. The domed BC Place stadium in Vancouver was packed with thousands of people clad in white in an event involving a host of stars and linking Canada's past with the modern nation, including a welcome from Native peoples. Ahead of the start of the ceremony, organisers said it would include several elements in honour of Kumaritashvili who was killed after flying off the luge track at high speed and smashing into a metal pillar during a training run. As the Georgian team, dressed in red and wearing black armbands, marched into the stadium, the crowd cheered and stood to applaud. The show was being staged in front of International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, Canadian governor general Michaelle Jean and the chiefs of the Four Host First Nations. Ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky was due to be among the torchbearers while flagbearers included ice hockey legend Bobby Orr, former Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve and actor Donald Sutherland. Performers featured on the programme included teenage musical prodigy Nikki Yanofsky and international stars Bryan Adams and Joni Mitchell. The two Korean teams were kept apart as the teams marched into the stadium. North Korea, listed as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, entered the stadium at number 23 while the South entered at number 45."
" Opposition fighters are to be allowed to withdraw from besieged parts of the Syrian city of Homs under a deal with the government, reports say. Rebels will be allowed to pull back to opposition-held areas north of Homs, activists say. The Syrian government has not commented on the reports. Fighters have held areas around the Old City despite a two-year siege. Earlier this year civilians were let out. Also on Friday, two bombs in Hama province reportedly killed at least 18. Eleven children were among the dead after suicide bombers struck in the villages of Jibrin and al-Humeiri, both under government control, state media said. The attack comes three days after scores of people were killed and injured in car bombings in government-controlled parts of Homs city. There has so far been no claim of responsibility for the Hama bombings, correspondents say, but al-Qaeda affiliated rebels of the Nusra Front have carried out several car bombings in recent weeks. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group, said about 1,000 fighters were expected to pull out from rebel-held areas of Homs under the terms of a ceasefire. The city has seen some of the worst fighting in the three years of the Syrian conflict. The SOHR said rebels will be allowed to withdraw to the north of the province, while the army will take control of areas of the Old City which they have vacated."
" (CNN) -- Togo have decided to launch an appeal against their suspension from the next two African Cup of Nations tournaments. The west African nation were banned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) -- and fined $50,000 -- after the team opted to withdraw from this year's tournament in Angola in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on their team bus which killed three people. However, the Togolese government have now taken the matter to the Swiss- based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to overturn the ruling. A senior CAF officer told the official Reuters Web site that he hoped Togo would be successful in having their ban overturned. ""I am Togolese and I sincerely hope that they will lift this ban,"" said Seyi Memene, the CAF's first Vice-President. ""A team of high-level lawyers has been put together and I hope to see they find the best solution possible."""
" Many pro-Russia rebels have been killed, injured and arrested in the Ukrainian government offensive in the eastern city of Sloviansk, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has said. In a statement, he said the operation in the rebel-held city was not going as quickly as hoped. Separatists shot down two Ukrainian army helicopters, killing a pilot and a serviceman. Seven have been injured. The UN Security Council met in emergency session at Russia's request. Moscow's ambassador warned of ""catastrophic consequences"" if Kiev's military operation in eastern Ukraine continued, while the US called it ""proportionate and reasonable"". Moscow came in for an onslaught of criticism from other nations which claimed it had sponsored the rebels and armed them with weapons capable of bringing down two Ukrainian helicopters, says the BBC's Nick Bryant in New York. Continue reading the main story I am standing at a bridge where there is a stand-off going on between the Ukrainian armed forces and a large group of pro-Russian locals. I can see about 300 people waving Russian flags, singing and chanting - as if they are daring the military to go closer. A heavy downpour of rain and a lightning storm have pushed people back a little bit. But it is a very tense situation here. At the moment the troops are standing around in the field and the protesters are keeping to their part of the bridge. It is difficult tell in which direction this will go. The atmosphere in a place like this can change very quickly. In his statement earlier, acting President Turchynov said the fight against rebel forces was ""greatly complicated"" by the fact that the conflict in eastern Ukraine was taking place in population centres. He accused pro-Russian forces of hiding behind civilians and hostages. All pro-Russian checkpoints around the city had been captured, Mr Turchynov added, though separatists have spoken of several still being under their control."
" At least 38 people were killed in a fire today in the trade union building in Odessa [REUTERS] Separatists holed up in a trade union building were forced to jump from windows after it was set on fire by pro-Ukrainians. There were ""many bodies lying on the ground covered with Ukraine flags"", reported URIAN news agency which cited emergency sources saying ""not less than 30 people are dead"". Another account claimed 38 were killed, many by smoke fumes but others suffered bullet wounds. At least 50 were wounded, including at least ten police, many from from gunshot wounds, in a night of chaos. The horrific scenes came as President Barack Obama threatened Moscow with new tough sanctions if it refused to stop stirring the Ukrainian troubles. Gunmen on the roof shot at demonstrators below who were pelting the building with stones."
" Pervez Musharraf stepped down Wednesday from his powerful post as Pakistan's military commander, a day before he was to be sworn in as a civilian president in a long-delayed pledge not to hold both jobs. During a change of command, Musharraf relinquished his post by handing over his ceremonial baton to his hand-picked successor, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani. ""(You) are the saviors of Pakistan,"" Musharraf said in an emotional final speech to the troops. He appeared to be blinking back tears as the guard of honor performed a final march-by. Musharraf's retirement from the military has been a key opposition demand and the move may help defuse a possible boycott of parliamentary elections in January by parties opposed to his rule. Since seizing power in a coup in 1999, Musharraf has served as president while retaining his post as head of the armed forces. Musharraf was re-elected to serve a new presidential term by parliament in October, but his confirmation was held up by the Supreme Court following complaints that a military man could not constitutionally serve as an elected head-of-state. He reacted by proclaiming a state of emergency on Nov. 3, sacking the chief justice and other independent judges and replacing them with his appointees. The reconstituted top court then duly approved his election. On Wednesday, hundreds of senior officers, politicians and other civilians watched from the stands as an unsmiling Musharraf, wearing a phalanx of medals and a green sash across his uniform, reviewed the ranks to the strains of ""Auld Lang Syne."" ""I'm proud of this army and I was lucky to have commanded the world's best army,"" Musharraf said. ""I will no longer command ... but my heart and my mind will always be with you."" Opponents on Tuesday welcomed Musharraf's belated conversion to civilian rule and appeared to pull back from a threat to boycott the elections. Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf ousted in a 1999 coup, said Musharraf's conversion to a civilian president would make ""a lot of difference,"" and he would only refuse to participate in the vote if all opposition parties agreed to do so as well."
" The death of a luge competitor who left the track at high speed has cast a shadow over the 2010 Winter Olympics. Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili's sled flipped and he smashed into a steel pole at the Whistler Sliding Centre, killing the 21-year-old. Georgia confirmed they will compete in the Games as a tribute to him, while organisers said the luge event will take place following an investigation. The Georgian team were given a standing ovation at Friday's opening ceremony. Kumaritashvili's sled struck the inside of the track's last turn during his sixth and final training run, sending his body into the air and over a concrete wall. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. His sled remained on the track, and the visor from his helmet appeared to continue down the ice. Medical staff at the track and doctors at a local hospital tried to resuscitate Kumaritashvili, part of a seven-strong Georgian team, but the country's Olympic delegation later confirmed he had died as a result of his injuries. ""We are all in deep shock, we don't know what to do. We don't know whether to take part in the opening ceremony or even the Olympic Games themselves,"" said delegation head Irakly Japaridze. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. ""This tragedy casts a shadow over these Games,"" said a visibly upset International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge, while International Luge Federation chief Josef Fendt said the incident was ""the gravest thing that can happen in sport"". The decision to go ahead with the luge competition on Saturday was taken after probes by the Coroners Service of British Colombia and the International Luge Federation (FIL). Officials concluded the track was not deficient but that the athlete ""did not compensate properly"" going into a bend. BBC Sport's Colin Bryce, a former British bobsleigh competitor, said Kumaritashvili was ""clearly nervous going down the final run - you could see his head sticking up."" Average speed at Whistler is 15mph greater than at other tracks Average vertical drop at Whistler is 28m greater than at other tracks Bryce added: ""He was very scared going down the fast corners. ""It's up to the organisers whether there is such a small percentage chance of that happening again that we continue with the race, or whether we stop."" The track at Whistler, which is shared by the sports of luge, skeleton and bobsleigh, already has a reputation as one of the fastest - and most dangerous - in the world. In the build-up to the Games several teams had raised concerns about the safety of athletes, who regularly exceed 90mph as they compete, though Kumaritashvili crashed at a corner which had not been previously identified as a danger area. Before the incident, British skeleton slider Amy Williams told BBC Sport: ""I just hope Whistler is safe and that there aren't too many crashes and serious injuries."" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Australia's Hannah Campbell-Pegg added: ""I think they are pushing it a little too much. ""To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we're crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives."" Their comments followed earlier accidents, including one involving gold medal favourite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy and several during women's luge training runs on Wednesday. Among those who crashed, Romania's Violeta Stramaturaru was knocked unconscious for a few minutes and taken to hospital. The track is where British competitor Adam Rosen crashed during training in October last year. He suffered a dislocated hip as well as nerve and tendon damage. After intensive rehabilitation, Rosen made the team for his second Winter Games and was taking part in the same training session when Kumaritashvili crashed. ""We are a family in luge, so a sudden and tragic loss such as this impacts everyone deeply,"" said Rosen in a statement released by the British Olympic Association. ""We know that the international federation, the IOC and (Vancouver organisers) have no higher priority than ensuring our safety, on and off the field of play. ""I know they are looking into this and, should it be deemed necessary for them to introduce additional measures, they will do so."" British skeleton's performance director, Andi Schmid, said before the Games that a lack of track time for athletes in the run-up to the Games had increased the risk of accidents. ""To what extent are we just little lemmings that they throw down a track? I mean, this is our lives""   ""I would say especially for speed sports you need to have more access to tracks and whoever organises the Olympics needs to offer that,"" said Schmid in January. ""Not only so that everyone has a fair chance but also because of the danger. We need to be careful so that these sports stay great action sports and don't become dangerous killer sports. ""I'm not saying that will happen but some athletes from other nations are less experienced."" Kumaritashvili competed in five World Cup races this season, finishing 44th in the world standings. He had already crashed in the second of his six training runs, emerging shaken but unhurt. His average speed in others runs - 88mph - was considerably less than speeds achieved by top competitors so far. Prior to the Vancouver Games, no Winter Olympic athlete had been killed during an event. But the 1964 Games in Innsbruck were overshadowed by the deaths of two competitors before it began. British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski was killed during practice two weeks before on the Igls Olympic track, and Australian skier Ross Milne died during training for the same Games."
" (CNN) -- Three faculty members were killed and three other school employees were wounded Friday in a shooting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a school spokesman said. A female shooting suspect was in custody and a second person was detained, ""not arrested,"" spokesman Ray Garner told reporters. Huntsville Police Chief Henry Reyes left open the possibility that more than one person had been detained. ""We have a suspect and possible persons of interest,"" he said late Friday. ""Until we go through everything, we're not going to say exactly how many or who we have."" He said police were questioning the suspect, whom he would not identify. Of the wounded, two were faculty members and the third was a staff member, he said. Garner said the incident occurred shortly before 4 p.m. in Shelby Hall. Police arrived at 4:01 p.m.; residence halls were locked down at 4:10 p.m.; the building was secured by 5:45 p.m., he said. The suspect was taken into custody outside the building, said Reyes. No weapon has been recovered, he said. The 6-year-old, $60 million facility houses the chemistry department and is named for U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama and his wife, Annette Shelby. Garner identified the dead as Gopi Podila, chairman of the biological sciences department; Maria Davis, associate professor of biology; and Adriel Johnson, associate professor of biology. He identified the injured as Joseph Leahy, associate professor of biology, in critical condition; Luis Cruz-Vera, assistant professor of biology, in stable condition; and Stephanie Monticello, staff assistant, also in stable condition. The wounded were taken to Huntsville Hospital."
" Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suicide bomber killed seven people Sunday at a police station in Kohat -- the same northwest Pakistani town where attackers targeted a camp for displaced people and killed at least 41 a day earlier. In the latest incident, the bomber rammed his vehicle into a police station, killing six adults and one child, said police official Abdullah Khan. The blast wounded 25 others, including seven police officers, Khan said. The car was packed with about 250 kg (551 lbs) of explosives that created a 10-foot wide and 4-foot deep crater. It destroyed part of the police station and damaged a nearby school building, Khan said. Kohat is a town in the North West Frontier Province where the Pakistan military has stepped up its offensive against the Taliban in recent weeks. The fighting has caused a flood of displaced people to pour into camps. More than 250,000 people are registered as internally displaced people in the towns of Kohat and Hangu after fleeing the fighting between government troops and the Taliban in Orakzai and Kurram, two districts in the country's tribal region. On Saturday, two separate suicide attacks targeted one such camp as people lined up at a humanitarian assistance registration center, officials said. At least 41 people were killed; 61 others were wounded, officials said. Police said both suicide bombers were wearing burqas. When people came to help those injured in the first blast, a second one went off, wounding and killing more people."
"The plan is adopted,"" Christian Chartier, a spokesman for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, told AFP after a meeting of its 41-member executive council in The Hague. The agreement came after Albania refused a US request to help destroy Syria's arsenal in that country. Friday was the deadline for the OPCW to agree ""destruction milestones"" for the more than 1000 tonnes of dangerous chemicals in Syria, according to the terms of a US-Russian deal that headed off US military strikes on President Bashar al-Assad's regime. The talks at OPCW headquarters in The Hague broke off twice before agreement was reached around 2000 GMT, as delegates thrashed out the final draft. Under the deal, Syria's weapons will be taken out of the war-ravaged country, where an estimated 120,000 people have been killed during uprising, to ensure their destruction in the ""safest and soonest manner"", the OPCW said in a statement. ""The plan provides a clear roadmap. It sets ambitious milestones to be met by the government of Syria,"" OPCW director-general Ahmet Uzumcu said. ""Continuing international support and assistance for this endeavour will remain crucial,"" Uzumcu said. Under the plan, almost all of Syria's chemicals and precursors, except for isopropanol which can be used to make sarin nerve gas, must be removed from the country by February 5, 2014. The ""most critical"" chemicals must be removed by the end of the year, the OPCW said. Declared chemical weapons facilities will be destroyed between December 15 and March 15, 2014, ""according to a risk-based criterion"", the watchdog said.	
Oakland police chief: Protesters 'tearing up' the city	 Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Authorities in Oakland, California, said unruly marchers were ""tearing up the city"" as they protested a two-year sentence for a former transit police officer convicted for killing an unarmed man. They were throwing rocks, bottles and trash, and ripping up fences late Friday, Police Chief Anthony Batts said. It started out as a peaceful and organized expression of grief, but by nightfall, a small number of people acted out in a violent manner, he said. Somoeone ripped a gun from a police officer's holster, and another officer was hit by a car, according to Batts. ""I want to be clear that people have a right to assemble, a right to protest and a right to free speech,"" the police chief said. ""But people do not have a right to tear this city up. Oakland already has a lot of pain, and it's not fair. This city has been torn up too many times."" At least 152 people were arrested, according to Oakland police spokesman Officer Jeff Thomason. They face charges of unlawful assembly and failure to disperse, Batts said. The group marched down several streets and broke an agreement on what streets to rally on, Batts said. Batts decided to declare the march an unlawful assembly after someone ripped a gun from a police officer's holster and pointed the weapon at him. The person was taken into custody, Batts said.
Car bomb in north-west Pakistan city of Kohat	 Seven people have been killed and more than 20 wounded in a car bomb attack in north-western Pakistan. A senior police official in the city of Kohat said a suicide bomber had driven a vehicle into the rear wall of a police station. He suggested the incident was a response to a military operation that is under way in the area. On Saturday two suicide bombers killed more than 40 people and wounded at least 60 at a displaced people's camp. That attack occurred about 40km (25 miles) away from the site of Sunday's attack. On Friday a suicide attack at a hospital in the south-west Pakistani city of Quetta killed at least 10 people and injured 35 more. The attacker detonated a bomb in a waiting room at the Civil Hospital where people had gathered following the fatal shooting of a Shia businessman.	
Zimbabwe marks 30 years of independence	 President Robert Mugabe on Sunday issued an unprecedented appeal for an end to politically and racially driven violence in Zimbabwe, as the nation marked 30 years of independence. ""The leadership of the inclusive government urges you to desist from any acts of violence that will cause harm to others and become a blight on our society,"" he told a ceremony in Harare marking the anniversary. ""As Zimbabweans, we need to foster an environment of tolerance and treating each other with dignity and respect irrespective of age, gender, race, ethnicity, tribe, political or religious affiliation."" It was the first time Mugabe had ever issued such a call for non-violence, in a nation that has been wracked by political turmoil through much of its recent history. Traffic jams clogged the streets around the National Sports Stadium as Zimbabweans gathered by the thousands for Sunday's celebrations, including township residents bused in early in the morning. The stadium was decked out in Zimbabwean flags, but participants wore normal street clothes after a warning earlier in the week that political gear and party regalia would not be allowed. It is the second year running that Zimbabweans across the political divide have joined in the commemorations, which in previous years had turned into rallies for Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. Mugabe - who at 86 is Africa's oldest leader - delivered his speech as his rival in the power-sharing government, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, looked on. Fanuel Chikwakwaire, a jobless 30-year-old from Glen View township, called for a change in leadership after three decades' domination by Mugabe of the political landscape. ""On this day I am hoping for change, especially for the president,"" Chikwakwaire told AFP at Sunday's ceremony. ""He is not going to go on and on. The talks must end now so we can vote."
" KARACHI: At least 21 people, including some foreign nationals, were feared killed when a small aircraft belonging to a private charter service crashed soon after take-off from the airport in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi.The Beechcraft 1900C aircraft of JS Air, which had been chartered to ferry employees of a US oil company, had 19 passengers and two crew members on board, Civil Aviation Authority officials were quoted as saying by TV news channels. The officials said some foreigners were on the aircraft.Immediately after the twin-engine turboprop aircraft took off from Karachi aircraft at 7.15 am, the pilot informed the control tower that one of the engines had failed. The pilot was advised to turn back and land.However, the aircraft crashed into a plot of land near the airport that is controlled by the Pakistan Army's aviation wing and burst into flames. TV news channels reported the aircraft did not hit any structures on the ground.Army personnel cordoned off the area and launched a rescue operation after dousing the flames. Witnesses told the media that it appeared no one had survived the crash. Ambulances of the private Chippa rescue service took at least 10 bodies to the Jinnah Hospital.The aircraft was taking a group of workers to the Bhitshah oilfield. JS Air had been chartered by the US oil company to ferry its workers as part of a weekly change of shift at the oilfield. Due to security concerns, the workers are flown directly to the oilfield."
" Albania will not allow the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons on its soil, the country's prime minister says. Edi Rama was responding to days of protests in Tirana and other cities. The Balkan nation recently destroyed its own chemical stockpile, and the US had requested that it host the dismantling of Syria's arsenal. Despite the move, the global chemical arms watchdog said late on Friday it had adopted a final roadmap to destroy Syria's chemical arms by mid-2014. Under a deal brokered by Russia to remove the weapons, it had been agreed that they should be destroyed outside the country if possible. However, Mr Rama said in a televised address: ""It is impossible for Albania to get involved in this operation."" The prime minister attacked the Albanian opposition for having criticised his government's willingness to consider the idea. The US embassy in Tirana said in a statement that it respected the government's decision, adding that America ""will continue to work with allies and partners as well as the OPCW and the United Nations to ensure the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons programme"". A key meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) - the international watchdog supervising the destruction - had adjourned for several hours in The Hague, awaiting Albania's decision. The deadline for accepting the detailed plan was to run out on Friday."
" Mary Joy Ducusin holds his picture after finding her missing six year old son, British citizen Jairo Ben among the bodies brought to one of three mass burial sites where they so far have received more than one thousand typhoon victims in Tacloban on November 19, 2013. (ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images) Two boys on a bicycle covers their nose and mouths as they pass body bags with 170 dead collected from the rubble at the 'Cemetery of the hills', one of three mass burial sites where they so far have received one thousand typhoon victims in Tacloban on November 19, 2013. (ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images) A man and woman wash hospital stretchers they retrieved from typhoon debris, at the Divine Word hospital which still operates without electrical power on the 7th day of the Typhoon Haiyan disaster in Tacloban, on the eastern island of Leyte on November 15, 2013. (PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images) Jennifer Purga checks on her husband as she keeps him alive by manualy pumping air into his lungs following his leg amputation that led to an infection, at the Divine Word hospital which still operates without electrical power on the 7th day of the Typhoon Haiyan disaster in Tacloban, on the eastern island of Leyte on November 15, 2013.(PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images) Typhoon victims carry a panel of wood to build a shack in Tacloban on November 19, 2013. The United Nations has confirmed at least 4,500 killed in the disaster, which brought five-metre (16-foot) waves to Tacloban, flattening nearly everything in their path as they swept hundreds of metres across the low-lying land. AFP PHOTO/ Nicolas ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)"
" A construction worker sits on a steel beam atop a new 30-floor high-rise building in Kuwait city on July 6, 2004. Gulf Arab countries must end their sponsorship system for migrant workers that leaves labourers beholden to employers and exposed to potential abuse, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said. Hindus celebrate the start of the harvest season in India. ""Reports concerning this region consistently cite ongoing practices of unlawful confiscation of passports, withholding of wages and exploitation by unscrupulous recruitment agencies and employers,"" Navanethem Pillay said in a speech at Saudi Arabia's first mixed-gender university in the port city of Jeddah. ""Some are held in prolonged detention after they escape abusive employers and may be unable to obtain access to judicial recourse and effective remedies for their plight."" The world's largest oil exporting region has attracted tens of millions of mostly blue-collar migrants from Asian countries, many of whom work in construction or as domestic maids. Under the sponsorship systems in place in much of the Gulf, nationals or companies can hire large numbers of migrant workers who are dependent on their employers for food and shelter. Many workers complain that agencies or employers confiscate their passports for the duration of their contracts, do not pay them regularly or deduct housing or health costs from their pay. Some Gulf countries such as Bahrain are scrapping the sponsorship, or kafala, system, while others such as Kuwait are overhauling labour laws or introducing a minimum wage to improve the conditions for millions of foreign workers. But the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, where expatriate workers comprise 7 million of the 25 million-strong population, has yet to make such reforms as diplomats say there is resistance among businesses who benefit from the system. Pillay said she welcomed plans by some Gulf countries to reform the kafala system, but urged others to follow suit."
" PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber targeting a mosque Friday killed at least 40 people and injured around 90 in northwest Pakistan, officials said. The bomber blew up himself in a mosque near Darra Adam Khel tribal region, some 30 kilometers from Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said. Pakistani Taliban from Darra Adam Khel area claimed responsibility for the attack. Officials said that the bomber wanted to target a pro- government tribal elder, who was believed to be in the mosque for Friday prayers with some 500 others. Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that over 40 people were confirmed dead in the attack. Commissioner of Kohat district Khalid Omarzai said that about 90 were also injured in the blast. The injured were shifted to Peshawar and doctors said several were in critical condition. Police has reached the site and cordoned off the area. Security forces confirmed that the attack was a suicide bombing. Local television channels reported that many people were stuck under the debris after the roof of the mosque collapsed due to the intensity of the blast."
" Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Authorities in Pakistan are reporting a second deadly mosque attack Friday in the country's volatile northwestern region, a strike that killed four people and injured 18 others. This follows a fatal blast that killed at least 67 people and wounded more than 80 others in a suicide attack that targeted anti-Taliban members at another mosque in the northwest, said government official Khalid Umarzai. Both incidents occurred in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, with the latest taking place during Friday prayers at Salman Khel village on the outskirts of Peshawar. Mian Iftikhar Hussain, provincial information minister, said four hand grenades were hurled into the mosque there. The earlier incident occurred in Darra Adam Khel, about 40 kilometers south of Peshawar, during Friday prayers, a strike claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, which was targeting a local anti-Taliban group. Police said the group, known as a peace committee, had formed in the area and the Taliban had targeted some of the members. Tariq Afridi, a local Taliban chief of Darra Adam Khel, said in a telephone call that the Taliban warned members of local peace committees many times through letters and calls not to support the Pakistani military. He said they asked them to dismantle all the peace committees and when they didn't, they faced the result. ""Whoever supports the military will see its results,"" Afridi said. Speaking of the suicide attack, Hussain said ""the attackers are wild, not human; anything can be expected from them."""
" A statement that appeared on Islamist websites on Friday, attributed to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), also vowed more strikes on the United States in comments addressed to President Barack Obama. ""We say to Obama, we have struck your jets three times in one year and we will continue, God willing, to strike the interests of America and its allies."" In Washington an official said the United States could not confirm that AQAP was behind the September 3 crash of the aircraft operated by the U.S. parcel delivery firm UPS. ""There are very strong indications that AQAP was responsible for plotting last week's disrupted cargo plane plot,"" a U.S. counter-terrorism official told Reuters. ""But we can't confirm at this point their claims about the early September incident,"" added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. AQAP's statement also blamed Saudi Arabia for tipping off security services and allowing them to intercept the bombs, addressed to two Chicago synagogues, in Britain and Dubai last Friday. ""Our devices were headed to Jewish Zionist temples but you intervened with your treachery to protect them,"" it said. The militant group claimed responsibility for the UPS crash, in which two crew members died, even though the United Arab Emirates' civil aviation authority said on Sunday that there was no evidence of an explosive device aboard the jet. ""Because the act was not attributed to us, we were able to wait until we could return and strike again,"" the AQAP statement said. A UPS spokesman in the United States said the company had no independent verification of what caused its Germany-bound Boeing 747-400 plane to crash after the pilot reported fire and smoke in the cockpit. ""We certainly have no independent knowledge of these claims...we have to rely on investigators, and the investigators are telling us there was no bomb,"" he said."
" HANOI (Reuters) - Flooding in Vietnam has killed at least 28 people since Friday, with nine others missing and nearly 80,000 displaced, state media and government reports said, after a tropical depression dumped heavy rains across central regions of the country. In Quang Ngai province, where nine were killed and four people are missing, flood waters rose above a previous peak measured in 1999, submerging many houses, the official Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper reported on Sunday. Flood waters rose quickly after 15 hydro power plants in the central region opened their sluice gates to release water in reservoir protection, the newspaper reported. Around 100,000 houses were submerged and nearly 80,000 people have been evacuated, the government-run committee on floods and storm protection said in a report. Roads have been closed due to floods and some national train services canceled. The central region, incorporating the Central Highlands coffee belt, often suffers from floods and storms between July and October. Rain since Friday disrupted the coffee harvest and bean drying in central highland provinces, thus delaying the bean flow to sea ports. Vietnam is the world's top robusta producer, accounting for around 17 percent of the world's output. More rain was forecast in the coffee-growing region on Sunday, state forecasters said."
" (RFE/RL) -- Kyrgyzstan's fledgling interim government struggled to maintain order amid an eruption today of fresh violence coming nearly two weeks after massive political unrest forced the ouster of the country's president, Kurmanbek Bakiev.The government of interim leader Roza Otunbaeva was forced to call out troops and armored vehicles after clashes over land rights broke out in a suburb of the capital, Bishkek.At least two people were reported dead and more than a dozen injured in the violence, in which hundreds of young men carrying sticks and metal bars attacked landowners and set houses alight in the village of Maevka before moving on to the capital to confront city officials.An interim government official, Edil Baisalov, told Reuters a total of five people had been killed in the attacks.In southern Kyrgyzstan, some 1,000 supporters of Bakiev rallied in his native city of Jalal-Abad to denounce the interim government and call for the ousted leader to be returned to power.Reuters reports that loyalists of the ousted president have installed a pro-Bakiev regional governor, Faizulla Rakhmanov, after seizing a local government office.In a televized address, Otunbaeva pledged to preserve stability.""We will do everything to preserve interethnic tolerance and integrity in Kyrgyzstan,"" she said. ""Those who break laws and regulations will be severely punished. Everyone involved in organization of disorder in the country will be held accountable.""The rallies came as Bakiev, who had spent the past several days sheltering in neighboring Kazakhstan, departed for an unknown location, prompting speculation he might be attempting to stage a return to Kyrgyz soil.Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka also reiterated an offer to provide haven for Bakiev and his family in Belarus.Bakiev was flown to Kazakhstan on April 16 after an agreement for his departure was brokered jointly by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the United States, and Russia.In an interview today with RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, a spokesman for the Kazakh Foreign Ministry, Ilyas Omarov, confirmed Bakiev had left Kazakhstan.""Yes, as you know, [Bakiev] arrived in Kazakhstan some time ago and stayed here, in the city of Taraz [in southern Kazakhstan],"" Omarov said. ""He has now left the territory of our country. I cannot say where he left for, because he didn't reveal that information. It is believed that he left the country this past weekend.""The fresh clashes in Kyrgyzstan may dash hopes that the course of the Central Asian nation's latest political transition will flow smoothly.The interim government -- which seized power after a bloody uprising in early April overthrew Bakiev and left more than 80 people dead -- has promised fresh elections and reforms.But incidents like the latest wave of clashes and rallies suggest Otunbaeva and her aides may need to spend more time wrestling with public unrest than pursuing political reforms.The Interior Ministry today reported its forces had arrested dozens of people following today's clashes outside Bishkek. Police reported they were deploying additional manpower overnight.Witnesses said the clashes were instigated by ethnic Kyrgyz, who attacked and looted the homes of ethnic Russian and Meskhetian Turks living in Mayevka.The report has stirred concerns of ethnic unrest in a country that is predominantly Kyrgyz, but which has a large Russian population as well as Uzbeks, Kazakhs, and other minority residents.The interim government today called for calm and urged citizens to avoid displays of violent unrest.In a statement, it said, ""We will do everything to preserve interethnic tolerance and integrity in Kyrgyzstan,"" adding ""those who break laws and regulations will be severely punished.""RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported from Bishkek that many of the Maevka rioters were people with no access to homes or property of their own. Clashes over land occur frequently in mountainous Kyrgyzstan, where land available for settlement and home-building is in short supply.The protesters briefly surrounded the office of Bishkek's acting mayor, Isa Omurkulov. In an interview with RFE/RL, he referred to the rioters as ""provocateurs"" attempting to seize land in a bid to destabilize the country.""There are some four or five places in Bishkek where people, under pressure by organized groups, are trying to seize land,"" Omurkulov said. ""Two other places around Bishkek belong to local communities. There is land in Bishkek seized by squatters that is meant for building schools or kindergartens.""Resistance to the interim government remains high in southern Kyrgyzstan, considered a stronghold of ousted leader Bakiev. Today's rallies in Jalal-Abad came after Bakiev supporters this weekend seized control of the regional government office and named their own governor and provincial interior affairs head.RFE/RL's correspondent in Jalal-Abad reported protesters today still had the regional government office under their control and had also seized the interior affairs headquarters. Sporadic gunfire could be heard in the area.Additional rallies also took place today in neighboring Osh and Batken provinces, with demonstrators protesting the interim government's choice of several regional officials.Several hundred law-enforcement workers in Osh protested the appointment of Bolot Sherniazov as interior minister, echoing similar protests in Bishkek. Sherniazov was a leader of the antigovernment protests in Talas on April 6 that led to larger demonstrations in Bishkek that eventually forced Bakiev to leave the capital.Within hours, officials in the capital had dismissed Sherniazov, fearing a mass walkout by ministry forces, replacing him with Bakyt Alymbekov, a former deputy minister under Bakiev. Police workers pronounced themselves ""satisfied"" with the change.Otunbaeva said she was making the change in order ""to protect citizens' rights and the rule of law in the country."" She also announced the establishment of a so-called Assistance Council consisting of some former interior ministers to help coordinate the activities of the Interior Ministry.The interim government's appointment of a new mayor of Kyzyl-Kya in Batken Province also sparked protests in that town. The demonstrations prevented the mayor, Elmira Arapova, from entering her office building today.The unrest has forced the suspension of flights from the air base the United States maintains in Kyrgyzstan to support the war in Afghanistan and has resurrected the competition for influence in the Central Asian nation between Washington and Moscow.The United States has offered support to Otunbaeva but has not formally recognized the interim government. Russia, which opposed Bakiev's rule since his rise to power in the Tulip Revolution in 2005, has offered Kyrgyzstan $50 million in aid since his ouster.Kyrgyzstan also received a pledge of support from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the regional body grouping Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Meeting today with Otunbaeva in Bishkek, SCO Secretary-General Muratbek Imanaliev said the organization was ready to offer economic help to Kyrgyzstan.RFE/RL's Kyrgyz and Kazakh services contributed to this report, with agency reports"
" A TV campaign against abuse of domestic workers was lanched in 2008 The UN high commissioner for human rights has begun a visit to Saudi Arabia, a country much criticised by human rights organisations. High Commissioner Navi Pillay said countries in the region need to address the issues of abuse against foreign workers and improve women's rights. But the government has improved its co-operation with the UN rights body, the high commissioner said. Saudi Arabian law does not grant equal rights to women or foreign workers. The high commissioner is on a 10-day trip to the Gulf region, in which she will visit six countries. ""Some countries are reconsidering the sponsorship system that rigidly binds migrants to their employers, enabling the latter to commit abuses, while preventing workers from changing jobs or leaving the country,"" Mrs Pillay said in a speech at a university near Jeddah. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. There are an estimated 12 million foreign workers in the Gulf region. They are admitted into Gulf countries under a system known as Kafala, where the employee, labourer or servant must surrender their travel documents to a guarantor, which in effect renders them bonded labour human rights groups say. Domestic workers are often subject to abuse, and in 2008 the government began an awareness campaign to combat the abuse of domestic workers. Much more needs to be done by Gulf states to improve women's rights, the Ms Pillay said. ""Discriminatory barriers continue to hamper women's right to shape their own lives and choices and fully participate in public life. These barriers must be removed."" Kafala A system that, applied to migrant workers, allows migrants to work in Gulf states as long as they have a guarantor who is responsible for them Mehrem The system of male guardianship which bestows control over marriage, divorce, child custody and a woman's freedom of movement to her male relatives It was also time to ""lay to rest"" the concept of ""male guardianship"" which bestows control over women to their male relatives. There is an ""encouraging level of government activity"" around women's rights in recent years, Mrs Pillay said. ""[But] positive developments for women's civil and political rights are still patchy and uneven in the region,"" she added. Women continue to face severe discrimination and are inadequately protected against domestic and other violence, according to Amnesty International."
" An ongoing computer attack has knocked Burma off the internet, just days ahead of its first election in 20 years. The attack started in late October but has grown in the last few days to overwhelm the nation's link to the net, said security firm Arbor Networks. Reports from Burma say the disruption is ongoing. The attack, which is believed to have started on 25 October, comes ahead of closely-watched national elections on 7 November. International observers and foreign journalists are not being allowed into the country to cover the polls. It will raise suspicions that Burma's military authorities could be trying to restrict the flow of information over the election period. The ruling generals say the polls will mark a transition to democratic civilian rule. But as the BBC's Sue Lloyd-Roberts reports from Burma, many believe the election is a sham designed to cement the military's grip on power. In the last elections in 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory but the junta ignored the result and have remained in power ever since. The Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, as it is known, works by flooding a target with too much data for it to handle."
" Police using tear gas and baton charges were unable to control crowds calling for Bangladeshi feminist writer Taslima Nasreen to leave India. Rioters blocked roads and set cars alight. At least 27 people were hurt. More than 100 arrests have been made. Crowds were also protesting at recent attacks on Muslims in the Nandigram area in the east of West Bengal state. A number of people have been killed and thousands left homeless in Nandigram after violence over now-abandoned state plans to industrialise farm land in the area. Wednesday's trouble in the state capital began after the predominantly Muslim All-India Minority Forum called for blockades on major roads in the city. The group said Ms Nasreen had ""seriously hurt Muslim sentiments"". Many Muslims say her writing ridicules Islam. Police arrived in strength to disperse the demonstrators. Violence then broke out in Ripon Street in the north of the city and spread to Park Circus, Moulali and many other areas of central Calcutta. The BBC's Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta says he saw two army columns, one in Park Circus and one in Moulali. For most of the day, parts of the city centre were a no-go area, with main roads closed to traffic and commuters stranded."
" The Australian airline Qantas has grounded its six-strong fleet of Airbus A380 airliners after one of the superjumbos made an emergency landing. Qantas flight QF32 experienced engine trouble shortly after taking off from Singapore on its way to Sydney. One of the engines exploded with a bang, a passenger told the BBC, and debris was found on an island below. Singapore Airlines said its A380 flights would be delayed pending technical checks. Engine maker Rolls-Royce said it was in the process of checking the 20 A380 planes currently in service - with Qantas, Singapore and Lufthansa - that use its Trent 900 engines. It said ""the safe operation of our products is our number one priority"". The other 17 A380s in service - with Air France and Emirates - use another engine. One area of investigation will be a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) airworthiness report in August that flagged up one potential problem with the engine. There is no evidence that this is linked to the latest incident. Qantas said flight QF32, with 433 passengers and 26 crew on board, experienced an ""engine issue"" over western Indonesia shortly after taking off from Singapore at about 1000 (0200 GMT). ""It's a significant engine failure,"" Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said at a news conference. ""We do take our safety reputation and our safety standards unbelievably seriously. And we're not going to take any risks with passenger safety - and as a precaution, we're suspending the flights of the A380 aircraft until we're comfortable that we understand the reasons for this."""
" Qantas has grounded its A380 superjumbos after a mid-air engine explosion forced a jet carrying 459 people to make a dramatic emergency landing in Singapore. The explosion tore through the aircraft's second engine about 15 minutes after the Sydney-bound QF32 plane took off from Singapore's Changi Airport on Thursday morning. The explosion rained debris on a downtown area of the Indonesian island of Batam. None of the 433 passengers of 26 crew members were injured but there were unconfirmed reports that two people on the ground were hurt by debris. The Qantas pilots immediately sought clearance to return to Singapore and the double-decker superjumbo, trailing smoke, touched down safely at about 11.45am local time (1445 AEDT). Just hours later the carrier's chief executive, Alan Joyce, announced all six of its A380s had been grounded until further notice. ""We will suspend those A380 services until we are completely confident that Qantas safety requirements have been met,"" he said. ""It's a significant engine failure so we do take our safety reputation and our safety standards unbelievably seriously. ""We're not going to take any risks with passenger safety."" Mr Joyce said the incident appeared to have been an ""uncontained engine failure"" but that Qantas would conduct a detailed investigation along with manufacturer Airbus and engine manufacturer Rolls Royce."
" Three separate attacks carried out by a suspected drone have killed at least 13 militants in north-west Pakistan, local officials said. The missiles struck hours apart in the North Waziristan tribal region. The dead included five foreign nationals. The lawless region, a haven for members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, has been repeatedly targeted by US drones. More than 70 drone strikes have killed over 200 people in North and South Waziristan since the start of 2010. In the first attack, officials say that missiles were fired at a vehicle in the Qutab Khel area of Miran Shah, the region's main town. Reports said the five dead insurgents were from Uzbekistan. In the second attack, missiles struck a house and a vehicle in Khaso Khel village near Mir Ali, killing four suspected militants. Four missiles fired in the third strike hit a vehicle in Pai Khel village in Datta Khel town killing four militants, officials said. Pakistan publicly criticises drone attacks, saying they fuel support for militants. But observers say officials privately condone the strikes. The US military and CIA do not routinely confirm that they have launched drone operations, but analysts say only US forces have deployed such aircraft in the region."
" Gen Musharraf's opponents had argued that his election was illegal because he was still head of the army. The move clears the way for the general to resign as army chief, as promised, and be sworn in as a civilian leader. He has vowed to ""do his utmost"" to end emergency rule before elections in January, UK leader Gordon Brown says. President Musharraf is widely believed to have declared the 3 November state of emergency in order to purge the Supreme Court that he suspected was about to rule against his re-election, says the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad. ""Dismissed,"" Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar said in court after hearing the last petition on Thursday, reports Reuters news agency. Gen Musharraf's top legal adviser, Sharifuddin Pirzada, told Reuters there was now no legal obstacle to his re-election. ""Now the court has to give us this in writing,"" he said. The verdict was expected to go in Gen Musharraf's favour since he has appointed new judges to the bench who are considered more loyal. President Musharraf has still not lifted emergency rule, despite pressure from his Western allies. He says the parliamentary and provincial elections, due to be held in January, can take place under the emergency decree."
" Secretary General Don McKinnon said Pakistan was being suspended ""pending restoration of democracy and the rule of law"". Pakistan has criticised the decision as ""unreasonable and unjustified"". The president has said that would allow him to step down as head of the army. In recent days Gen Musharraf's regime has also released more than 3,400 people who had been detained under the emergency rule which the president imposed earlier this month. And following a visit by US envoy John Negroponte, opposition leader Imran Khan was freed. But the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), the group reviewing the status of Pakistan's membership, decided that despite these changes, not enough had been done. The BBC's Peter Biles in Kampala says that some Asian nations had reportedly resisted the suspension. The decision was not put to a vote, our correspondent says, but after a day of fraught negotiations an agreement was eventually reached. Mr McKinnon said the 53-member Commonwealth had reached the decision by consensus. ""CMAG agreed that notwithstanding some progress by the Pakistan government since its last meeting, the situation in Pakistan continued to represent a serious violation of the Commonwealth's fundamental values,"" Mr McKinnon said, reading from a statement."
" The poll pitch for today's voting in 64 Lok Sabha seats in seven states offers little respite to Congress. Stay with TOI for live updates. At the end of polling in Amethi, both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party claimed that Rahul Gandhi, who won from the constituency in 2004 and 2009, will certainly lose. The Congress brushed aside the claim. ""We should keep all our options open. Why should we be in hurry to support somebody. We have no pre-poll alliances. All our options are open,"" Jaganmohan Reddy said. Balloting in Uttarakhand for all its five Lok Sabha seats began, officials said. As many as 74 candidates are in the fray. In Hardwar, the Congress has fielded Renuka Rawat, wife of chief minister Harish Rawat, against former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank of the BJP. In Garhwal, BJP candidate and former chief minister Major General (retd) B C Khanduri is pitted against Harak Singh Rawat of the Congress. Balloting in Himachal Pradesh for its four Lok Sabha seats and bypoll for one assembly seat began at 7 am, officials said. As many as 38 candidates are in the fray for the parliamentary seats and four are in contention in the assembly bypoll for Sujanpur seat. Over 4.8 million electors are eligible to exercise their franchise. Balloting is being held at 7,382 polling stations. Polling began today in Bihar for seven Lok Sabha seats, officials said. Bypolls for two assembly seats are also being held. As many as 118 candidates are in the fray for the Lok Sabha seats of Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, Maharajganj, Saran, Hajipur and Ujiarpur. Voting on Wednesday will put to test the Congress strategy in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the hill states which rattled the party leadership with rebellion in UPA-2 and forced it to surrender to regional satraps. Andhra Pradesh, where simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assembly will be completed today, has accounted for nearly 47.5% of the nationwide cash seizures and around 63% of the liquor seizures until May 5."
" A worker prepares parts of the skeleton of an Argentinosaurus at the Museum Koenig in Bonn November 25, 2009. Scientists on Tuesday unveiled body weight estimates for an astounding 426 different dinosaur species using a formula based on the thickness of their leg bones, crowning the truly immense long-necked Argentinosaurus as the biggest of them all. That plant-eating dinosaur weighed a earth-shaking 90 tons when it lived about 90 million years ago in Argentina. It is the largest known land creature in the planet's history. ""Argentinosaurus, that's the champion,"" Oxford University paleontologist Roger Benson, who led the study, said in a telephone interview. ""It's colossal."" In their dinosaur ""weigh-in', the scientists included birds, which arose roughly 150 million years ago within a group of feathered dinosaurs called maniraptorans. A sparrow-sized bird called Qiliania that lived about 120 million years ago in China earned the distinction of being the smallest dinosaur, weighing a mere 15 grams. Benson noted that Argentinosaurus was about 6 million times the weight of Qiliania, and that both still fit within the dinosaur family. ""That seems amazing to me,"" added Benson, whose study was published in the scientific journal PLOS Biology. The largest meat-eating dinosaur was Tyrannosaurus rex, which weighed 7 tons and is also the largest known land predator of all time. The T. rex edged out another super predator that some scientists had once figured was bigger based on the length of its skull, Giganotosaurus, which lived alongside Argentinosaurus in ancient South America. The study estimated Giganotosaurus at about 6 tons, pretty darned big, but just a bit shy of dethroning T. rex. Dinosaurs had a remarkable run on Earth. They first appeared about 228 million years ago during the Triassic period, achieved stunning dimensions during the ensuing Jurassic Period and then disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous Period about 65 million years ago. All but the birds, that is. The mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, caused by an asteroid that hit Mexico, doomed most creatures but some birds survived. Benson said this study underscores the reasons that birds made it while their bigger dinosaur brethren did not."
" Malnutrition rates in children under five have almost doubled since the US-led invasion - to nearly 8% by the end of last year, it says. The report was prepared for the annual meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. It also expressed concern over North Korea and Sudan's Darfur province. Jean Ziegler, a UN specialist on hunger who prepared the report, blamed the worsening situation in Iraq on the war led by coalition forces. He was addressing a meeting of the 53-nation commission, the top UN rights watchdog, which is halfway through its annual six-week session. When Saddam Hussein was overthrown, about 4% of Iraqi children under five were going hungry; now that figure has almost doubled to 8%, his report says. Governments must recognise their extra-territorial obligations towards the right to food and should not do anything that might undermine access to it of people living outside their borders, it says. That point is aimed clearly at the US, but Washington, which has sent a large delegation to the Human Rights Commission, declined to respond to the charges, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva. Mr Ziegler also said he was very concerned about the lack of food in North Korea, where there are reports that UN food aid is not being distributed fairly. In Darfur, the continuing conflict has prevented people from planting vital crops, he said."
" Pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine have decided to go ahead with an independence referendum on Sunday, despite a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone it. The move was announced by separatist leaders after consulting supporters. On Wednesday, Mr Putin called for a postponement to create the conditions necessary for dialogue. Ukrainian authorities say they will disregard the results and that ""anti-terror"" operations will continue. Millions of ballot papers have been prepared for the referendum. Continue reading the main story Inside the building which has become the headquarters of the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, there was an air of defiance. The leaders of the self-declared ""People's Republic of Donetsk"" flexed their muscles in front of the world's media, apparently demonstrating they would not be pushed around by Russia's Vladimir Putin. In total 78 self-appointed ""deputies"" acting on behalf of those who no longer want to be part of Ukraine had taken the decision to ignore Mr Putin's suggestion that the referendum be postponed. One of them, a man called Vladimir, told the BBC that they respected the Russian president. ""But we have our own opinion and the people want a referendum like they had in Crimea,"" he said. The head of the commission organising the referendum even joked that he was delighted Mr Putin had called for a delay. Thanks to the Russian president, he said, everyone even in the furthest corners of eastern Ukraine now knows about it. The question put to voters is: ""Do you support the act of proclamation of independent sovereignty for the Donetsk People's Republic?'' The decision to press ahead with the vote was announced by separatist leaders in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. The leader in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, said the decision had been unanimous. ""We just voice what the people want and demonstrate through their actions,"" he said."
" Troops are patrolling key positions and have set up roadblocks. The army has urged people to remain calm and asked parents to control their children. An army spokesman said 280 soldiers had been deployed with 220 held in reserve. Violence broke out when the state opposition accused the governing party of rigging state polls. Kano is one of the few states that is controlled by the national opposition, while Nigeria's ruling PDP is in opposition locally. Voters in Kano cast ballots on Saturday for local constituency leaders. By Sunday PDP supporters had set up barricades and lit fires, destroying state property and burning down local government buildings. Police say they arrested many people and recovered weapons including guns and machetes. The army spokesman said it was helping the police to restore law and order. The BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says although these were only local elections, political office in Nigeria means the prospect of considerable money and power, so political violence is never far away."
" The ousted leader of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, is in Belarus, the country's president has said. Alexander Lukashenko's announcement ends uncertainty over the whereabouts of Mr Bakiyev, who was overthrown in a violent uprising earlier this month. He had flown to neighbouring Kazakhstan on 15 April but on Monday officials in Astana said he had left. Kyrgyzstan's interim leaders have said he should stand trial over the unrest, in which more than 80 people died. Mr Lukashenko had previously said Mr Bakiyev would be welcome in Minsk. On Tuesday, he told the Belarussian parliament Mr Bakiyev had been in the country with four members of his family as guests since the previous evening. ""He is with us under the defence of our state and president,"" said Mr Lukashenko. ""He is the president of a state with which we are friendly."" Mr Bakiyev flew out of Kyrgyzstan after failing to secure support in his home region in the south of the country. The new interim government, led by former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva, has said he is responsible for the deaths during the 7 April uprising and will be arrested if he returns. On Monday, Mr Lukashenko had said Mr Bakiyev would be welcomed as ""the dearest guest, as my colleague"". ""If the president of Kyrgyzstan and his family need support and assistance at this difficult time, it will be shown in Belarus,"" state media quoted him as saying. A spokesman for the interim Kyrgyz government, Omurbek Tekebayev, said the two countries had ""always been friends and we shall remain friends"". But he said the administration would request Mr Bakiyev's extradition from Belarus. He said that on Mr Bakiyev's orders, ""his people and relatives have been trying to destabilise the situation and to trigger inter-ethnic and inter-religious clashes, and all that is a reason enough for us to demand his extradition"". The new administration is working to restore calm amidst reports of sporadic unrest in the country. Ms Otunbayeva has pledged to hold elections in late September or early October."
" China's President Hu Jintao has accepted an invitation for a state visit from US President Barack Obama, the White House has said. The invitation was made on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Canada. Officials from the two countries are to set a date for the state visit, Mr Hu's first to the US under President Obama. The two countries have disagreed recently on currency exchange rates, trade and how to deal with Iran's nuclear programme. China has agreed recently to let its currency float more freely from its previous peg to the US dollar, but many in the US say it is undervalued, giving China an unfair trade advantage. ""The president extended an invitation to President Hu to visit the United States on a state visit. President Hu accepted and the two sides will work out the timing,"" White House aide Jeffrey Bader said. Mr Obama told Mr Hu that China's move to greater flexibility on its currency exchange was welcome and that ""implementation of it was very important,"" Mr Bader said. ""The president stressed the need for balanced and sustainable growth and the role that China can play in achieving balanced and sustainable growth,"" he added."
" President Barack Obama was interrupted by Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin three times during a major foreign policy speech Thursday when talking about closing Guantanamo Bay and discussing his administration's policy on drone strikes. The second time she interrupted, Obama became irritated. ""Part of free speech is you being able to speak, but also me being able to speak. And you listening,"" Obama said to applause. Obama conceded after she left, however, that she had a point. ""The voice of that woman is worth paying attention to,"" Obama said. ""Obviously, I do not agree with much of what she said. And obviously, she wasn't listening to me in much of what I said. But, these are tough issues. And the suggestion that we can gloss over them is wrong."" The first time Benjamin spoke up to interrupt, the crowd applauded her. ""Let me finish, ma'am,"" Obama said. ""It's not Congress. It's you, sir!"" she shouted back. ""... You are Commander-in-Chief!"" ""Ma'am, thank you,"" Obama said, after a few failed attempts to get in a word. ""You should let me finish my sentence. Today, I once again call on Congress to lift the restrictions on detainee transfers from Gitmo."" Here's the video of her first interruption, which centered on drone policy. This was when she was escorted out of the speech:"
" The blindfolded men said they were Ali Balarousi, Algeria's top envoy to the country, and colleague Azzedin Belkadi. They were seized in Baghdad last week. A statement accompanying the video said it was posted by al-Qaeda in Iraq, the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Earlier an internet statement attributed to the group said it had decided that both men would be killed. Algeria announced on Monday that it had pulled all its diplomatic staff out of Iraq. Algerian minister Bouguerra Soltani said his government was trying to secure the men's release. ""We are still expecting a happy ending. I'm still hopeful,"" he said in Algiers. Iraq has been trying to encourage other countries to set up embassies in Baghdad, but diplomatic staff have become a target for militants. Egypt's top envoy has already been abducted and killed. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has also claimed to be behind that attack."
" The attackers followed two buses as they left the government-owned company in the Abu Ghraib area, a security official was quoted as saying. Hospital officials said 32 people had been injured in the attack. Insurgents have been targeting Iraqis believed to be working for the US-backed government. The latest attack targeted the employees of a firm owned by the ministry of industry and minerals, security official Barakat al-Khazraji was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying. They were heading home to Baghdad's Shia neighbourhoods of Sadr City and Shula, said a police sergeant, Ahmed Ali said. Police put the death toll at 12 but hospital sources said the final number could be as high as 17."
" The demonstrators, chanting ""Die America"", were angry at the arrest of a number of villagers on Monday night. Some threw stones at military vehicles. Piles of tyres were burned on the main road near the base, sending clouds of black smoke billowing over the area. Eyewitness say US troops fired warning shots at the demonstrators. The US military are denying this. Crowds dispersed after being told the Americans would hand the detainees to Afghan authorities. The BBC's Andrew North in Kabul says it is thought to be the first major protest by people living near Bagram since the US took over the airfield in 2001. Some analysts see the demonstration as a further sign of a hardening in the mood among Afghans - who have generally welcomed the foreign military presence in their country over the past few years. Eight people planning to attack US and Afghan forces had been arrested in an operation close to Bagram on Monday, the US military said. ""Afghan and US forces attempted to contact local leaders to involve them in the operation but were unable to do so,"" a statement said. Afghan troops used batons to beat back the protesters as they tried to push down the base's outer gate. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties. The protesters said that the Americans should have consulted local authorities first before arresting the villagers."
" HUNTSVILLE, Canada, June 26 (Xinhua) -- France will host the next Group of Eight (G8) summit in 2011, it was announced here at the end of the 2010 Muskoka G8 summit in Canada on Saturday. ""Leaders welcomed the offer of France to host the next Summit in France in 2011,"" said the Muskoka Declaration issued upon the conclusion of the G8 summit. France will take over the rotating G8 presidency from Canada next year. Canada, which is also hosting the Fourth Summit of the Group of 20 (G20) in its largest city Toronto just hours after the end of the G8 summit, has become the first country to host the two important international forums back to back. It remained unknown when and where exactly the next G8 summit in France will take place, or whether it will once again go side by side with the G20 summit."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The Royal Navy is being drafted in to rescue Britons stranded abroad by flight chaos caused by a volcano dust cloud from Iceland. Speaking after a meeting of the emergency planning committee Cobra, Gordon Brown said HMS Ark Royal, HMS Albion, and HMS Ocean will all be mobilised. Mr Brown, who was flanked by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis and Foreign Secretary David Miliband, also defended the current flight ban."
" Jerusalem (CNN) -- A Palestinian was killed after Israel bombed two tunnels in the south of Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said on Friday. Israel -- which also bombed a weapons storage facility in northern Gaza -- said its strike was in response to mortars that were fired into Israel and hit a government building in the southern district. A search is going on for another Palestinian thought to be in the rubble. In a statement, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it ""remains committed to protecting"" Israeli citizens against terror. ""The IDF holds Hamas solely responsible for terror emanating from the Gaza Strip,"" the statement said."
" Kenya's horticulture industry has lost $12 million to the volcano-induced European airspace closure and it will take several weeks to recover even if flights resume now, its association of exporters said on Monday. Horticultural exports are the leading hard currency earner in east Africa's largest economy, raking in 71,6 billion Kenya shillings ($924 million) last year. The sector provides thousands of jobs in a country with a high unemployment rate. ""It is bad. We have lost $3 million a night so that is a total of about $12 million as of last night,"" Stephen Mbithi, the head of the Fresh Producers Exporters Association of Kenya told Reuters by phone. FPEAK is an umbrella body that brings together 150 firms including growers of vegetables, flowers and fruit. Some 82% of total output is exported to the European Union. Mbithi said the country flies out 1000 tones of fruit and vegetables every night at this time of the year and only about 100 tonnes left on Monday morning, destined for Spain. ""We want to see if we can open a corridor into Spain then we can send everything from Spain straight to Germany, Netherlands Belgium and everywhere we sell,"" he said. He said more workers would be asked to stay away from farms after 5000 employees, mainly harvesters, stopped working over the weekend when refrigerated stores reached capacity. ""The stores are full, there is no more space to keep anything, we are looking to suspend more work today ... we are only stopping harvesting workers,"" he said. Foreign exchange traders said the Kenyan shilling was likely to remain under pressure against the dollar as the flight ban was bound to hit hard currency inflows."
" Mr Jaafari was speaking in a joint press conference with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is in Baghdad on a surprise visit. Mr Jaafari asked the US to train Iraqi troops faster and to begin handing security control over to local forces. The top US commander in Iraq has said a withdrawal could begin in the spring. Gen George Casey, speaking before Mr Jaafari made his comments, said if elections went ahead as planned at the end of the year and security improved, ""we will still be able to make fairly substantial reductions... in the spring and summer of next year"". Mr Jaafari said any US withdrawal had to be co-ordinated with the Iraqi authorities. ""We do not want to be surprised,"" he said. Mr Rumsfeld urged Iraqis to complete their new constitution on time as he arrived in Baghdad on his unannounced visit. ""Now's the time to get on with it,"" he said, calling for the committee writing it to meet its 15 August deadline. He also had strong words for Iraq's neighbours Iran and Syria, who he said turned a blind eye to insurgents crossing their borders into Iraq. He said Iraqi leaders should insist the two countries ""stop foreign terrorists"" entering Iraq."
" It's been 6 days since the devastating earthquake hit Yushu in northwest China's Qinghai province. As of 10 am Sunday, the tremor had left at least 1,944 people dead, more than two hundred missing and over 11 thousand injured. Of those, more than 14-hundred are in a serious condition. Rescuers have expanded the search area in the hunt for survivors. Some 30 thousand tents and 50 thousand cotton-padded clothes have been sent to the quake zone. Qinghai authorities, say the province has so far received donations totaling more than 400 million yuan in cash, along with 180 million yuan worth of materials. The 7.1-magnitude earthquake affected an area of about thirty thousand square kilometers and a population of a hundred thousand."
" The announcement by the president's office came after a group claiming to be al-Qaeda in Iraq posted an internet message saying it had killed the pair. Top envoy Ali Balarousi and colleague Azzedin Belkadi were seized by armed gunmen in the capital last Thursday. Their deaths follow the killing of Egypt's ambassador-designate, which insurgents say they carried out. Officials say insurgents have launched attacks on diplomats to try to dissuade Arab countries from raising the level of their diplomatic representation. Algerian radio interrupted its programming to report the killings. ""In the most cowardly fashion, the kidnappers have... carried out their vile threats,"" he said in a statement. Earlier on Wednesday, a group claiming to be al-Qaeda in Iraq said it had killed the Algerians because of their government's support for the US. ""Iraq will not be safe for God's enemies. Haven't we warned you against allying yourselves with America,"" the group said. The two Algerians had appeared in a video made public on Tuesday. An earlier internet posting from the group, which is thought to be led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, warned that the two men would be killed after being tried in an ""al-Qaeda court""."
" The bomber attacked security forces at the entrance of the Numan hospital in the capital's northern Adhamiya district, say Iraqi police. Reports say the bomber, travelling in a car, rammed into army vehicles in front of the hospital. Militants have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks in a bid to destabilise Iraq's new Shia-led government."
" Kumaritashvili's death was the first of a luge athlete in competition since 1975 Luge chiefs have admitted the track on which the Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili died at the 2010 Winter Olympics was faster than it was designed to be. The International Luge Federation report said a top speed of 136kmh (85mph) was expected but the actual top speed recorded was 153.98kmh (96mph). But the FIL also said ""no single reason"" could account for his death during training for the Games. He died at Whistler Sliding Centre, hours before the opening ceremony. The 21-year-old's sled struck the inside of the track's last turn during his sixth and final training run, sending his body into the air and into an exposed steel pillar. The FIL's secretary general Svein Romstad cited ""a complex series of inter-related events"" as leading to the young luger's death. His death was the first of a luge athlete in competition since 1975 and the first at a Winter Games since 1964 when British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski was killed during practice as was Australian skier Ross Milne, who was only 19. Romstad said in a statement: ""What happened to Nodar has been an unforeseeable fatal accident. ""After an in-depth analysis we concluded that there was no single reason, but a complex series of inter-related events which led to this tragedy. ""The FIL is determined to do what it can to avoid a tragedy like this from occurring again."" The report said: ""Nodar did commit driving errors starting in curve 15-16, which as an accumulation ended in the impact that resulted in him leaving the track and subsequently hitting a post."" His sled also behaved in an unusual manner: ""This bowing of the sled has not been seen before and was therefore not predictable by technical and safety experts. ""No athlete would have control in dealing with this type of 'catapult' effect,"" the report added. The document, written by Romstad and vice president Claire DelNegro, was requested by the International Olympic Committee. The British Columbia coroner's service is due to publish its examination of how Kumaritashvili died next month. The debate will continue at the FIL Congress scheduled for June in Sochi, Russia, which will host the 2014 Winter Olympics and will soon begin building its own sliding track."
" Afghan security forces have fought Taliban insurgents for hours in the centre of Kabul, after a major explosion shook the city. A Nepali guard and an off-duty policeman were killed, along with a number of militants. The attack hit a guesthouse used by the International Organization for Migration, one of whose employees was badly injured. The Taliban told the BBC it was targeting CIA trainers. The attack began at about 16:00 local time (11:30 GMT) with a car bombing, and it was late evening in Kabul by the time interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said the last of the assailants had been killed. The militants, who officials said numbered five or six, had been holed up in the area, home to a number of buildings used by foreign workers. ""We are dealing with a well co-ordinated attack,"" Kabul police chief Gen Ayub Salangi told the BBC as the attack unfolded. He said seven policemen had been injured. A Taliban spokesman said the group had targeted CIA trainers instructing Afghans at the National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence agency. The IOM, which is affiliated to the UN, said three of its employees had been injured, one of them seriously burned by a grenade. An employee of the International Labour Organization was also wounded."
" She died after detonating her bomb near Israeli soldiers in Beit Hanoun, focus of a six-day military offensive. Earlier, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy was killed in an air strike on the northern town of Jabaliya. Israel says it is targeting rocket-firing Palestinian militants operating from northern Gaza. But Palestinian officials have accused Israel of carrying out a ""massacre"". About 50 Palestinians have died in the country's latest military incursion into the area. The Islamic Jihad militant group said the female suicide bomber was one of its members, the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says. A radio station linked to Hamas reported that many civilians were injured when the woman blew herself up, AP reports. During the Jabaliya air strike, at least four people were hurt in the attack near a school, Palestinian officials told Reuters news agency. The Israeli military said its aircraft had attacked a group of militants retrieving a device used to fire a missile, in Monday's attack. But the Palestinians said the plane missed its target and, instead, struck close to a school."
" Indonesia's vice president says between 1,000 and 2,000 people may have died when an 8.7-magnitude earthquake rattled northwestern Indonesia late Monday, three months after a similar quake caused a devastating tsunami. Earlier, police officials had said at least 300 people died on Nias island when the earthquake struck just after 11 p.m. local time, as people were sleeping. But Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters that he expects as many as 2,000 fatalities, based on the damage to the buildings on Nisa. For example, about 70 per cent of the homes and buildings in the town of Gunungsitoli on Nias had collapsed, killing and trapping scores of people in the region known for its spectacular surfing. Adding to the chaos, a huge fire was raging in Gunungsitoli as survivors dealt with aftershocks every half hour, witnesses told international media agencies. Tsunami alerts were issued in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia as news of the earthquake spread throughout the countries rimming the Indian Ocean. They were gradually lifted as only a small amount of wave action was observed in the hours after the quake. Even that was directed in a southern direction, away from the areas devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami. News footage from Indonesia showed people fleeing coastal areas in cars, in buses and on foot. Jan Egeland, the United Nations' emergency relief co-ordinator, said it will likely be morning before more precise information is available on damage and injuries. ""The hard-hit population of western Sumatra have been again struck by a very large earthquake,"" he told a news conference at UN headquarters."
" The 8.7 magnitude quake struck just before midnight, destroying buildings on the Sumatra island of Nias. Thousands of people fled their homes in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka - areas still recovering from the deadly tsunami in December. But three hours after the quake, tsunami alerts were scaled down. But he said this figure was based on an assessment of damaged buildings, not a body count. Local officials said about 300 people were feared dead. Around 80% of buildings had been affected in the town of Gunungsitoli, Mr Kalla said. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono postponed a planned trip to Australia and said he would fly to the island to assess the damage. ""We are busy now trying to pull people or bodies of children from the collapsed building,"" said a police officer on Nias. ""It is very hard also because there is no power."" Agus Mendrofa, deputy mayor of Gunungsitoli, told Indonesian TV: ""Gunungsitoli is now like a dead town. The situation here is in extreme panic."" A Christian missionary working outside the town said hundreds of wounded had come to the mission seeking help. The tremor struck at around 2315 local time (1615 GMT) and lasted up to three minutes, Indonesian monitors said."
" BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Saddam Hussein could be sentenced Sunday to death by hanging for his role in a brutal crackdown nearly 25 years ago in Dujail -- the once obscure Iraqi town that is now a symbol of his regime's cruelty. The Iraqi High Tribunal is to convene in Baghdad to render verdicts and sentences for Hussein and seven co-defendants for their roles in a widescale, systematic attack on the Shiite town after someone tried to assassinate Hussein during a visit on July 8, 1982. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for the former dictator and two other defendants -- Barzan Hassan, Hussein's half-brother and former head of the intelligence agency, and Taha Yassin Ramadan, a former member of Hussein's Revolutionary Command Council. The five-member tribunal will meet amid heavy security and sweeping curfews in Baghdad and elsewhere, as authorities brace for violent reactions to the verdicts. This chapter of the much-criticized trial, which began in October 2005, comes nearly three years after U.S.-led forces plucked Hussein out of hiding and a few days before U.S. midterm elections on November 7. Court and government officials painted a picture for reporters of what might unfold on Sunday. Because the judgments could amount to hundreds of pages, the judges may read summarized versions. It is expected that the lower-ranking defendants will be dealt with before Hussein. Reaching a verdict and sentence requires a majority vote among the five judges, and it is up to the trial's chief judge whether to allow defendants and their attorneys to speak. If a defendant is found guilty, he can appeal. But the appeals process is dependent on the sentence. A sentence of life imprisonment or death allows for an automatic appeal. There is no limit on how long the appellate judges have to review the case file, but the statute states that a death sentence should be carried out within 30 days after all appeals are exhausted."
" The former Iraqi leader was convicted over the killing of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail following an assassination attempt on him in 1982. His half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and Iraq's former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar were also sentenced to death. Former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan got life in jail and three others received 15-year prison terms. Another co-defendant, Baath party official Mohammed Azawi Ali, was acquitted. Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants will be given the right to appeal, but that is expected to take only a few weeks and to end in failure for the defendants. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki hailed the conviction in a televised address, saying that the sentence was ""not a sentence on one man, but a sentence against all the dark period of his rule"". ""Maybe this will help alleviate the pain of the widows and the orphans, and those who have been ordered to bury their loved ones in secrecy, and those who have been forced to suppress their feelings and suffering, and those who have paid at the hands of torturers,"" Mr Maliki said. US President George W Bush welcomed the verdict as a ""milestone"" in the efforts of the Iraqi people ""to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law"". But the European Union urged Iraq not to carry out the death sentence. When called to court, Saddam Hussein, dressed in his usual dark suit and white shirt and carrying a Koran, walked to his seat and sat down."
" Israel is marking the 4th anniversary of the capture of soldier Gilad Shalit, held by the ruling Islamic militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Shalit was kidnapped by Palestinian gunmen in a cross-border raid in 2006 and has not been seen publicly since. Hamas released a video of the soldier last year and he appeared to be in good health. Shalit's family is marking the anniversary with a new campaign to rally public support for his release. A 12-day march begins on Sunday from the Shalit home in northern Israel to the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem.  ""We are going to demand from the Israeli government to free Gilad after four years, and we won't wait for the fifth years and the sixth years and so on,"" said Noam Shalit, the captive soldier's father. So far, Israel has refused to pay the price demanded by Hamas - 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the soldier. Though Israel has carried out lopsided prisoner swaps in the past, the current government is reluctant to release top militants involved in deadly attacks.  Many Israelis say it is part of the national ethos to bring captive soldiers home at any price. But others, like parliamentarian Danny Denon of the ruling Likud party, say that would lead to a new wave of Palestinian terror.  ""We know that if we will release some of the terrorists that [are] today in prison, it's a matter of weeks until they will start to implement their expertise, which is causing terrorism in Israel,"" said Denon. Hamas says it is prepared to hold Gilad Shalit in captivity for many more years, until Israel meets its demands for a prisoner exchange.  But four years on, the group's treatment of the captive soldier is coming under international scrutiny. The New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement accusing Hamas of violating the rules of war by prohibiting Shalit from having contacts with his family and the Red Cross."
" WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday targeted three Belize-based associates of Mexico's most-wanted man, cocaine king Joaquin Guzman, by freezing their U.S. assets as well as those of five of his companies including a banana farm, grocery store and marina.  The U.S. Treasury accused John Zabaneh, his nephew Dion Zabaneh and Daniel Moreno of being key associates of Guzman, who is the head of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel. Americans and U.S. companies are now prohibited from doing business with the three Belize men and the five companies controlled by Zabaneh and Moreno.  Guzman and the Sinaloa Cartel have been identified by the United States as significant foreign narcotics traffickers under the U.S. Kingpin Act.  The companies blacklisted on Tuesday are Mayan King, Mid-South Investments, Crown Paradise Enterprises, Belize Chemicals and D's Supermarket Company.  Guzman, nicknamed ""El Chapo,"" escaped a Mexican prison in a laundry cart in 2001 to become the country's most high profile trafficker."
" LONDON -- American judo fighter Nick Delpopolo was expelled from the Olympics for doping Monday, saying he unintentionally ate something before the games that had been baked with marijuana. Delpopolo is the first of the 10,500 London Games athletes to fail an in-competition doping test. His case is the fifth positive test for a banned substance reported by the IOC since the Olympic body started its London testing program in mid-July. The other four were caught before competing. The International Olympic Committee said it disqualified him from the 73-kilogram class, where he placed seventh. He beat opponents from Hong Kong and Belgium, then lost to fighters from South Korea and Mongolia. The IOC added that he tested positive for metabolites of cannabis after competing on July 30, the day of his event. He is to be stripped of his accreditation immediately, and the IOC will ask the International Judo Federation to change the standings in Delpopolo's event. The IOC also requested that judo's governing body ""consider any further action within its own competence."" The 23-year-old judoka from Westfield, N.J., said his positive test was ""caused by my inadvertent consumption of food that I did not realize had been baked with marijuana"" before he left for the Olympics. ""I apologize to U.S. Olympic Committee, to my teammates, and to my fans, and I am embarrassed by this mistake,"" he said in a statement released by the USOC. ""I look forward to representing my country in the future, and will rededicate myself to being the best judo athlete that I can be."" USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said in a statement his group is ""absolutely committed to clean competition and stringent anti-doping penalties. Any positive test, for any banned substance, comes with the appropriate consequences and we absolutely support the disqualification."" Delpopolo was born Petra Perovic in the former Yugoslavia and was adopted by an American family. Before the games, Delpopolo said in his official Olympic biography that he found training for London to be intense and he would like to return to study. ""I would also like to try and get a job wherever; it wouldn't matter to me,"" he said on the website. ""These two things would be a good change of pace from the 'always train' life I live now. Don't get me wrong, I would still practice, train and compete judo but not as intense or as much as I am now. But in 2014 I would start preparing for the 2016 Games again."""
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Flights have landed at a number of UK airports for the first time in six days following the lifting of restrictions caused by a volcanic ash cloud. The Civil Aviation Authority allowed a phased reopening of airspace after a reassessment of the risk to aircraft. It said its safety tests showed that plane engines had ""increased tolerance levels in low ash density areas"". BAA, which operates many of the UK's airports, said people should contact their airlines before travelling. ""Not all flights will operate during the early period of opening, and we will do everything we can to support airlines and get people moving,"" a spokesman said. Some restrictions will remain on flights in UK airspace, but they will be much less stringent than before. Dame Deirdre Hutton, of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), said there had been detailed consultation with experts to reassess the tolerance of planes to the ash cloud. The CAA said it was a ""situation without precedent"" and that decisions had been made based on ""thorough gathering of data and analysis"". ""The major barrier to resuming flight has been understanding tolerance levels of aircraft to ash,"" the CAA said. ""Manufacturers have now agreed increased tolerance levels in low ash density areas."" Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, who made the initial announcement, denied the decision to reopen airspace was the result of pressure from the airline industry. He told BBC Two's Newsnight programme: ""The issue at stake here has been the assessment of the safety authorities as to what is the safe way in which planes can fly when there is a presence of ash. ""The fact which has changed in the last week is we have had a volcanic eruption and having to assess safe levels of ash content in the atmosphere within which planes can fly has been an urgent issue which the safety authorities have had to deal with."" Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: ""This solution has been reached as a result of the close working between the government, the Civil Aviation Authority, airlines and the manufacturers, and will allow the thousands of UK citizens stranded abroad to return home to their families. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. ""We will of course continue to monitor the situation closely; as we have said throughout safety is our primary concern,"" he added. But shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said Labour's ""misjudgement and mismanagement"" had ""badly let down"" the travelling public and urged the Prime Minister to immediately announce a full inquiry into the ""fiasco"". She added: ""Six days into the crisis, we're suddenly told that there are actually levels of ash which are compatible with safe flying. The question angry passengers and airlines are already asking is why the government hadn't worked this out before the crisis occurred."" After the lifting of the restrictions, the first British Airways flight to touch down from Heathrow was a service already in the air from Vancouver, which landed shortly before 2200 BST. The airline's chief executive Willie Walsh said he was pleased with the decision, but said it would take weeks to get back to normal levels of operation. ""We're now at British Airways going to start the difficult task of getting our stranded customers back home but I think this is an airlift that is unprecedented but we will make every effort to get our people back home."" He said ""lessons can be learned"" and added: ""There will be plenty of time for a post-mortem of what has happened over the last few days."" Everyone felt that if the pilot was happy to fly then we were happy to get on   He said parts of the UK airspace could have been opened several days ago. ""My personal belief is that we could have safely continued operating for a period of time. I think there were occasions when the decision to close airspace could have been justified."" EasyJet said it planned to resume ""some services across the UK and continental Europe from tomorrow morning,"" but added that the level of disruption meant it would be several days before the schedule returned to normal. Flights have been grounded across the UK and much of Europe since Thursday following the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull. The eruption sent vast amounts of ash into the atmosphere which poses a threat to aircraft jet engines. Despite the lifting of the ban, it will be some time before flights return to normal. Flight restrictions had already been eased across much of Europe earlier in the day but it was thought likely that it would be a few days before regular flight schedules would return. Some flights have left Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, but airspace in Germany and Ireland remains restricted. As tens of thousands of Britons prepare to return home, the UK Border Agency warned people to expect long queues at passport as staff attempt to process large numbers of returning travellers. A spokesman said: ""We are manning as many passport desks as possible."" The first passenger off the first flight into Heathrow - the BA84 from Vancouver - was Neil Rogers, from Little London, near Reading, who said the atmosphere on board was ""great"". ""It's good to be back. It's quite something to be the first back,"" he said. Asked about the volcanic ash, he said: ""It's one of those things you can't do anything about. ""As we were coming into land I was quite concerned as we were coming through the cloud."" Among among early arrivals at Heathrow was TV presenter Laurence Llewelyn Bowen who had been on holiday with his family in Mauritius. An estimated 150,000 Britons have been stranded abroad during the six-day shutdown of UK airspace to commercial flights. Anyone concerned about the safety of a British national who is still stranded abroad can call a Foreign Office helpline on 020 7008 0000, or visit its website. Stranded Britons should contact their local embassy, high commission or consulate."
" CNN's Gary Tuchman reports live from the scene in Iceland, where a volcano is creating a travel nightmare. Tune into ""AC360,"" 10 ET on CNN. London, England (CNN) -- A British Airways flight from Vancouver, British Columbia, landed at London's Heathrow airport late Tuesday, the first commercial airliner to do so in five days after ash from a volcano in Iceland disrupted air travel across Europe. Passengers aboard British Airways Flight 084 broke out in applause as the plane landed shortly before 10 p.m. (5 p.m. ET), just over an hour after Britain's Civil Aviation Authority announced that it would reopen British airspace. No commercial flight had landed at Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world, since Thursday afternoon. All other British airports were also set to reopen at 10 p.m., Transport Secretary Lord Andrew Adonis said after the aviation authority's announcement. Airspace will reopen in phases, and some ""no-fly zones"" will remain in place where concentrations of ash are at unsafe levels, the CAA said. The restrictions, however, will be much less than what commercial airliners faced in the past week. NATS, the country's air traffic control agency, issued a statement late Tuesday saying that most restrictions on British airspace had been lifted ""with the exception of an area over the northwest of Scotland which continues to be affected by a dense concentration of volcanic ash."" The flight from Vancouver was one of more than two dozen British Airways flights already in the air bound for London when the CAA announcement was made. They took off hoping there would be a window of opportunity to land the planes at Heathrow or Gatwick airports, a company representative said. The 25 planes took off from the West Coast of the United States, Africa, India and other locations in Asia. A 26th plane that had hoped to reach London was sent to Brussels, Belgium, instead, British Airways said. ""We are very pleased that the aviation authorities have opened U.K. airspace to enable us to begin in earnest the task of bringing our stranded customers home,"" British Airways said in a statement."
" Flights are resuming across northern Europe today for the first time since a massive volcanic ash cloud grounded hundreds of planes and stranded thousands of passengers nearly a week ago. Eurocontrol, Europe's aviation safety organization, reported it expects half of the scheduled flights to take off today including transatlantic flights. But not all planes will be taking off and one of Europe's largest hubs, London's Heathrow airport, remains closed in the face of a second wave of ash that has settled over it's airspace. ""It's difficult to say when we will be back at full capacity,"" Eurocontrol's deputy head of operations Brian Flynn told ""Good Morning America"" today. ""A good expectation [is] that in about two days time we would return to very near normal situation."" The volcano in southern Iceland is still spewing smoke and lava, but the ash plume is lower than it previously was, posing less threat to high-flying aircraft. Upon returning from a helicopter trip over the volcano's crater, one of Iceland's top scientist said today there's reason to hope the worst is over. ""What I can say about the situation now is that the activity is now much lower than it was on Saturday,"" Magnus Gudmundsson of the University of Iceland told ABC News of the ash-producing crater. Gudmundsson said scientists ""cannot be sure"" the situation will continue to improve. The sound of jets taking off was music to the ears of stranded passengers. ""We were in the hotel having breakfast, and we heard an aircraft take off. Everybody got up and applauded,"" said Bob Basso, 81, of San Diego, who has been staying in a hotel near Charles de Gaulle since his flight Friday was canceled. The Eurocontrol said it expects 13,000 flights over Europe to go ahead today, a marked improvement over the last few days. The organization predicted that by the end of the day, a total of 95,000 flights will have been cancelled since Thursday. The volcano in southern Iceland that created the ash cloud is still spewing the potentially dangerous combination of dust, glass-like debris and ice into the air, but Eurocontrol said it coordinated with meteorologists from across the continent to establish safe flying zones."
" The trial was to begin at 0700GMT, but it is believed the judges are still discussing the verdicts. Stringent security measures have been imposed on Baghdad as Iraqis wait to learn their former leader's fate. Fearing violence from his Sunni Arab supporters, the government imposed a curfew and cancelled all army leave. Few Iraqis think the trial verdict will ease conflict, the BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad says. Almost three years since Saddam Hussein was captured, soaring sectarian violence has brought Iraq to the brink of civil war. Even those Iraqis who want to see their former leader dead do not believe his execution would make things any better, according to our correspondent. Many critics have dismissed the trial as a form of victors' justice, given the close attention the US has paid to it. Lawyers for Saddam Hussein have also accused the government of interfering in the proceedings - a complaint backed by US group, Human Rights Watch. The former leader's lawyers have also attacked the timing of the planned verdict - days before the US votes in mid-term elections. US President George W Bush's Republican Party is at risk of losing control of Congress in part because of voter dissatisfaction over its handling of the Iraq conflict."
" Two IDF soldiers lightly wounded by machine gun blast during training at southern base (Haaretz) Woman dies in Egypt of H5N1 bird flu, second death this year (Reuters) Tires of 11 cars slashed in Arab village of Beit Safafa (Haaretz) Resident of Arab town in Israel's north seriously wounded in shooting; gunman arrested (Haaretz)"
" One of the women told the BBC they had dressed the militants in women's clothes to help them escape. The Israeli military said the women were used as ""human shields"" and that there had been armed men in the crowd. Reports said at least 16 Palestinians were killed on Friday, the third day of a major Israeli raid on Beit Hanoun. Several of the dead were killed during a series of air strikes which took place after dark on sites across Gaza. At least one Palestinian died at a building used as a mosque in Beit Hanoun, another was killed close to nearby Beit Lahiya; two more were killed in the Jabaliya refugee camp, also in northern Gaza. In Rafah in southern Gaza, a member of a security force linked to Hamas was killed and three wounded when their vehicle was hit in an air strike. An Israeli military spokesman said five air strikes had taken place, targeting suspected militants who were planting explosives or involved in rocket attacks on Israel. In the dramatic mosque rescue, Hamas radio issued an appeal to local women when a tense stand-off developed between Israeli forces surrounding the building and up to 15 militants who had taken refuge inside. One of the women, Nahed Abou Harbiya, described what happened to the BBC Arabic Service. ""We entered the mosque and indeed we got all the resistance men out and put female attire on them so that the Israeli occupation forces wouldn't arrest them,"" she said."
" The deaths bring the number of those killed since Wednesday to at least 42. A top Hamas militant is among the dead. At least 17 people were killed on Friday, including two women shot during the siege of a mosque in Beit Hanoun. Israel says it is targeting militants but Palestinian officials accuse Israel of a ""massacre"". Israeli forces have made regular incursions into Gaza and the West Bank following the capture of an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants on 25 June. The young girl was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper in Beit Hanoun, during a day of violence. The army said one of its soldiers had been aiming for a gunman but missed and hit the girl. An Israeli military spokesman said five air strikes had taken place after nightfall on Friday, targeting the towns of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, Jabaliya and Rafah. A number of Hamas militants were among those killed in the latest strikes, along with one civilian buried in the rubble of his home. One of the Hamas militants killed was senior member, Louay al-Borno, who died when an air strike set ablaze a minivan in Gaza City. Two other Hamas members were wounded in the incident. The Israeli army also said it had blown up three buildings near the mosque that witnessed Friday's siege in Beit Hanoun. Israel said weapons were being stored in the buildings."
" Turkish police have fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands of protesters in the eastern town of Soma, where some 300 miners died on Tuesday. The demonstrators in the town shouted anti-government slogans. The protest occurred after the mine operators held a news conference to deny any negligence over the disaster. There have been angry anti-government rallies across Turkey for the last three days over what has become the country's worst-ever mine disaster. An explosion sent carbon monoxide gas into the mine's tunnels while 787 miners were underground. Up to 18 are still missing. Another 363 escaped, while 122 are injured. Several thousand demonstrators gathered in the centre of Soma on Friday, shouting: ""People of Soma, show your solidarity with the miners."" They scattered into side streets as police intervened. ""We have done nothing wrong here,"" one woman told the BBC. ""They don't even let us feel our pain."" Earlier, representatives from Soma Holding defended their response to the disaster, telling a news conference that their priority had been to save lives."
" Evangelical preacher Merrick 'Al' Miller was hit with criminal charges late yesterday, 48 hours after a nationwide manhunt ended with fugitive Christopher 'Dudus' Coke being found in his sport utility vehicle. Miller, who pastors the high-profile Fellowship Tabernacle church in St Andrew, was charged with harbouring a fugitive and perverting the course of justice after he was questioned on Wednesday and Thursday by detectives from the Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID). He was granted bail in the sum of $200,000 and is scheduled to face the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court next Friday. However, Miller, who posted bail and was released from OCID's downtown Kingston offices shortly after 5 p.m., was defiant, calling his ordeal a ""small price to pay for national transformation"". ""We are on course for some good things in Jamaica, so absolutely no regrets, man,"" he told reporters before he was driven away. An arrest warrant was out for Coke when he was captured in Miller's SUV in a police dragnet along Mandela Highway on Tuesday afternoon. Miller, who heads the National Transformation Programme (NTP), told police on the scene that he was taking Coke to the United States Embassy in Liguanea, St Andrew, where the fugitive wanted to turn himself in. The pastor, who thrashed out the controversy in an early-morning meeting with church leaders yesterday after being heavily criticised for his involvement, was not detained at the scene on Tuesday. But hours later, the police issued a public notice asking him to turn himself in as ""he was a major person of interest in a matter currently being investigated"". The Opposition People's National Party (PNP) broke its silence on the matter yesterday, calling for Miller to be sacked as director of the NTP, which falls under the Office of the Prime Minister."
" Seven athletes from Cameroon's delegation to the London Olympics have gone missing, the country's head of mission said Tuesday. The missing athletes include five male boxers, a female footballer and a male swimmer, Paul Ekane Edingue, said David Ojong, Cameroon's head of mission to London 2012. Ojong said the missing boxers, named as Thomas Essomba, Christian Donfack Adjoufack, Yhyacinthe Abdon Mewoli, Serge Ambomo and Blaise Yepmou Mendouo, had not been seen since Monday. Footballer Drusille Ngako, who was one of the team's reserve players, went missing on July 26, he said. The Cameroonian delegation approached the London Games organizers, LOCOG, and the High Commission of Cameroon in London as soon as they became aware of the missing athletes, Ojong said. Nothing has been heard from the athletes since they went missing, he said, but their compatriots ""hope and believe"" the athletes will rejoin the group before they return to Cameroon. UK authorities say athletes visiting the United Kingdom for the Games are free to come and go as they please from the Olympic village, where visiting delegations are housed. Athletes and team officials have been allowed to seek permission to enter and remain in the United Kingdom without a visa from March 30 to November 8. Their right to be in the country ends on November 8. The UK Home Office, which is responsible for border security, declined to comment on the missing athletes. The director of protocol at the Cameroonian Ministry for External Relations in Yaounde also declined to comment."
" At least 19 people have died in severe floods in the Philippine capital, Manila, and nearby areas. More than 80,000 people are being looked after in emergency shelters, with torrential rain leaving low-lying areas underwater. Rescuers are using rubber boats to reach stranded people, but some have refused to leave amid fears of looting. The flooding - neck-deep in some parts of the city - forced the closure of offices and schools. More than half the amount of rain normally seen in August has fallen in the capital in 24 hours, reports say. In the worst reported incident of casualties, nine members of one family died when a landslide hit shanty houses in Manila's Quezon City. Others died from drowning and electrocution, according to the country's disaster response agency. A state of calamity has been issued in at least four areas, it added. Continue reading the main story The head of the Philippine disaster response agency has described Manila as a ""waterworld"", in reference to the Hollywood movie about a completely flooded planet. It feels like that out in the streets. Last night, I had to drive all over the city to find a route back to my apartment, which if the roads hadn't been flooded, should only have been a few blocks away. This city has not seen anything like this level of rain since the devastation of Typhoon Ketsana in 2009. But there's a common feeling here that the government's evacuation procedure has been more organised this time. This is probably being helped by modern technology. People stranded on roof tops are texting for help, and the Twitter hashtag #rescueph has quickly been adopted by both those who are stuck and others trying to find them. Benito Ramos, head of the country's disaster response agency, said that at least 60% of the city was underwater. ""We're still concerned about the situation in the coastal areas,"" he added. ""It was difficult to distinguish the sea from the flood waters."""
" A missile strike that killed close to 80 people at an Islamic school in Pakistan early Monday was launched because of U.S. intelligence reports that senior al-Qaeda figures were hiding there, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The strike generated angry protests by religious and tribal leaders, who accused the government of doing Washington's bidding at the cost of Pakistani lives. The country's major Islamic party charged that U.S. military planes carried out the attack, which demolished the school, located near the border with Afghanistan. Pakistani and U.S. military officials denied that, saying the raid was the work of Pakistani helicopter gunships and forces, though U.S. intelligence had prompted it. ""This was a training camp, and they had been warned to stop their activities,"" said Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani, Pakistan's ambassador in Washington. ""They did not pay heed, so they were hit by our gunships and all the people there were killed. There will be a lot of unhappy or misguided people saying we are killing our own people for the sake of the Americans, but we had a commitment to fight terrorism on our soil, and we made a decision."" Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are widely believed to be hiding in the rugged Afghan-Pakistani border region, home to fiercely independent tribal peoples. Afghan officials also contend that Pakistan's side of the border is serving as a sanctuary for newly aggressive Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. The attack in the Bajaur tribal district near the village of Khar caused the highest number of deaths of any single anti-extremist attack in Pakistan since 2001, when Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, agreed to side with the United States to help overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan. The raid on the Islamic studies school, known as a madrassa, seemed to represent an abrupt shift from the Musharraf government's recent policy of seeking peaceful negotiations with extremists in the border regions. In the past several months, two peace deals were signed in the tribal areas of North and South Waziristan after sustained attacks there by the Pakistani military drew strong local opposition and caused heavy casualties on both sides. A third such agreement was due to be signed in Bajaur this week, but it seemed almost certain to collapse now. Monday's events are bound to compound problems for Musharraf, whose domestic political support has been steadily eroding. ""What a stupid operation, just one day before an accord between the local Taliban and the government. It has killed the entire spirit and the peaceful atmosphere in the tribal areas,"" said Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khan, who heads one of two major religious parties in parliament. Protesters who turned out in many towns Monday pledged to return to the streets Tuesday. A similar strike occurred in January, when U.S. missiles devastated a nearby compound that authorities believed Zawahiri was visiting. Officials initially denied, then acknowledged, reports that a U.S. drone had carried out the strike, which killed 18 people. The incident set off protests across Pakistan and forced the Musharraf government to publicly condemn the U.S. action. Among those killed Monday was Maulana Liaquat, an Islamic cleric allied with al-Qaeda who is believed to have hosted a dinner for Zawahiri in January that led to the missile strike in Damadola village. At a mass funeral for Liaquat and his followers Monday afternoon, news agencies reported, thousands of armed men shouted, ""Down with Musharraf! Down with Bush!"""
" Tropical Storm Haikui made landfall Wednesday morning in Zhejiang province, where hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated from its path. ""The rain is the bigger impact going forward,"" said CNNI Meteorologist Taylor Ward, who noted that Haikui had diminished from typhoon status before hitting land about 225 kilometers (140 miles) south of Shanghai. ""We have already had up to 8 inches in some locations."" Ward said another 6 to 10 inches of rain were expected to fall, with ""maybe isolated amounts greater."" Haikui was moving northwest at 20 kph (12 mph) but was expected to slow over the coming two days, he said. Chinese officials had evacuated 374,000 people from Shanghai and 250,000 from Zhejiang, according to the state-run China Daily. Haikui, which had been a typhoon on Tuesday, is the third tropical storm to hit China's east coast in less than a week."
" Iran flotilla organizers note Israel sees vessels from Iran, Lebanon as 'sign of war'. Iranian MP: Different boat to sail next week An Iranian organization announced Thursday evening that the vessel carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, which was to have started its journey on Sunday from Iran, will not set sail. An Iranian member of parliament said a different boat, carrying four Iranian lawmakers and many other Iranians would set off from Turkey instead. The secretary general of an Iranian organization supporting Palestinians, Hussein Sheikh el-Islam, said during a press conference that the main reason for the cancellation was ""the violent and inhuman attitude of the Zionist regime to humanitarian aid."" The vessel's intended voyage was originally announced by the Iranian Red Crescent. The secretary general of an Iranian organization supporting Palestinians, Hussein Sheikh el-Islam, said during a press conference that the main reason for the cancellation was ""the violent and inhuman attitude of the Zionist regime to humanitarian aid."" The vessel's intended voyage was originally announced by the Iranian Red Crescent. Preparing for flotillas like on eve of war / Ron Ben-Yishai IDF examining ways of improving non-violent siege-enforcement methods ahead of next aid sails to Gaza while political rank holds frequent status evaluation meetings, which some say are unnecessary ""The vessel was supposed to leave for Gaza on Thursday, but because of hurdles put up by the Zionist regime regarding the impossibility of getting some of the goods (into the Strip), it was decided to postpone the departure to Sunday, but now this too will not happen,"" Sheikh el-Islam was quoted by the Iranian news agency IRNA. ""The vessel was supposed to leave for Gaza on Thursday, but because of hurdles put up by the Zionist regime regarding the impossibility of getting some of the goods (into the Strip), it was decided to postpone the departure to Sunday, but now this too will not happen,"" Sheikh el-Islam was quoted by the Iranian news agency IRNA. "" Israel sent a letter to the UN announcing that the arrival of vessels from Lebanon and Iran to the Gaza area would be a sign of war and it would act against them,"" he added. Sheikh el-Islam, former Iranian ambassador to Sheikh el-Islam, former Iranian ambassador to Syria and currently secretary-general of the international committee for the support of the Palestinian intifada in Iran, said the aid would be sent in other ways, apparently overland or by air. ""The Zionist regime has turned assistance to people under siege in Gaza into a political issue, and we do not want to turn such humanitarian acts into political acts because the most important thing is breaking the Gaza blockade,"" he said. ""The Zionist regime has turned assistance to people under siege in Gaza into a political issue, and we do not want to turn such humanitarian acts into political acts because the most important thing is breaking the Gaza blockade,"" he said. ""The aid collected by the Red Crescent was to have included food products, medicines and construction materials, among other things,"" he continued. ""The fact that the Zionist regime is in crisis and each day retreats from its stated positions shows that it is nearing the end of its life and the opposition in Palestine will be victorious."" ""The aid collected by the Red Crescent was to have included food products, medicines and construction materials, among other things,"" he continued. ""The fact that the Zionist regime is in crisis and each day retreats from its stated positions shows that it is nearing the end of its life and the opposition in Palestine will be victorious."" However, other Iranian figures are not ready to give up. Iranian Member of Parliament Mahmoud Ahmadi clarified that another Iranian vessel is due to leave next Tuesday or Wednesday to show solidarity with the people of the Gaza Strip. The ship will carry some 50-60 Iranians, food products and medicines. It will sail from the Caspian Sea to Turkey and from there to Gaza. However, other Iranian figures are not ready to give up. Iranian Member of Parliament Mahmoud Ahmadi clarified that another Iranian vessel is due to leave next Tuesday or Wednesday to show solidarity with the people of the Gaza Strip. The ship will carry some 50-60 Iranians, food products and medicines. It will sail from the Caspian Sea to Turkey and from there to Gaza.       Please wait for the talkbacks to load"
" (AP) TUCSON, Ariz. - With life behind bars now a certainty for Jared Lee Loughner, federal prison officials will have to determine just where to put him. The 23-year-old college dropout who went on a deadly shooting rampage at an Arizona political gathering in January 2011 could end up back in a prison medical facility like the one in Springfield, Mo., where he's been treated for schizophrenia for more than a year. Or he could end up in a prison such as the federal ""Supermax"" lockup in Florence, Colo., which houses some of the country's most notorious criminals, including Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols and ""Unabomber"" Ted Kaczynski. Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke said Wednesday that placement will be determined after Loughner is sentenced for the January 2011 shooting that killed six and wounded 13, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The exact placement will depend on the nature of his mental illness and what's required to treat him. All federal facilities can treat some level of mental illness, with more severe cases sent to special facilities. Mental health problems are rampant in the nation's jails and prisons, with more than half of all inmates exhibiting some illness, according to a 2006 Department of Justice report. In federal prisons, 45 percent had mental health issues. Loughner looked relaxed and attentive in a packed Tucson courtroom Tuesday as he pleaded guilty to the shooting rampage as part of an agreement with prosecutors that will send him to prison for life and spare him a possible death sentence. He even cracked a smile when a court-appointed psychologist talked about the special bond that he formed with a prison guard. Loughner was not the man who rocked back and forth in court in May 2011 before blurting out, ""Thank you for the free kill. She died in front of me. Your cheesiness."" The changes in his behavior led a judge to declare Loughner competent. Victims and federal prosecutors praised the agreement, saying it brought some measure of justice. They said it spares victims and their families from having to go through a potentially lengthy and traumatic trial and appeal. As part of the agreement, Loughner will be ineligible for parole."
" * Most of Syrian opposition not of ""al Qaeda ilk"" WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - A senior aide to President Barack Obama did not rule out on Wednesday the eventual creation of a no-fly zone over a patch of Syria that increasingly appears to be controlled by anti-government rebels. Some Republican critics of Obama's handling of the Syria crisis have been advocating international enforcement of a no-fly zone to prevent Syrian warplanes from operating over designated zones, as well as more directly arming the opposition forces fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. The United States has so far declined to provide weapons directly to a fragmented opposition as U.S. officials say it is difficult to identify factions and who they represent. Instead, Washington has focused on humanitarian aid, communications gear and other non lethal support. ""The United States government always looks at situations and looks at what types of scenarios might unfold, and then accordingly looks at what types of contingency plans might be available to deal with certain circumstances,"" said John Brennan, Obama's senior counter-terrorism adviser. ""So rest assured that various options that are being talked about in the press, and sometimes being advocated, these are things that the United States government has been looking at very carefully, trying to understand the implications, trying to understand the advantages and the disadvantages,"" he said. Asked during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations more pointedly about a no-fly zone, Brennan replied: ""I don't recall the president ever saying that anything is off the table."" Brennan's remarks came as the Obama administration is incrementally increasing its backing for Syrian rebels, and accelerating planning for a post-Assad Syria. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to have talks on Syria in Turkey on Saturday. She said as recently as Tuesday that the rebels reportedly held territory from northern Aleppo, Syria's largest city, to the Turkish border. Still, the United States sees few good options in the 17-month-old Syrian uprising and is wary of becoming involved in another military conflict as it seeks to leave behind wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
" At least 150 bodies were pulled from vehicles buried by an avalanche in the Salang Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday Basir Salangi, governor of Parwan province, said miles of highway were affected by the series of avalanches that struck Monday and Tuesday, The New York Times reported. ""We are going to find a lot more people under here,"" Salangi told reporters at one section about 1,000 feet below the summit of the Salang Pass. Officials in Kabul said heavy winds and rain touched off 17 avalanches that buried more than two miles of highway on the Salang Pass, which connects Kabul with northern Afghanistan. As of Tuesday night, about 2,500 people were extracted from their vehicles and about 1 1/2 miles of roads were cleared, the Times reported. The Afghan National Army deployed 500 troops to help with rescue operations. In a statement, Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered officials ""to use all possible means to get the roads unblocked and rescue those trapped and stranded in the heavy snow."" NATO and Afghan National Army helicopters also participated in the effort."
" Haiti's government says about 230,000 people died in last month's earthquake, 18,000 more than its previous estimate. The toll from the 12 January quake is approaching that of the 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed 250,000 people. Communications Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue said the toll was not definitive. About 300,000 were injured. But later, Interior Minister Paul Bien-Aime issued a slightly different total, saying the ""verified"" death toll was ""more than 217,000"". He said: ""There are people who put forth the figure of 230,000, but we have counted a bit more than 217,000. These are verified figures."" The latest figure does not include bodies buried by private funeral homes in private cemeteries, or the dead buried by their own families. The one-month anniversary of the catastrophic quake is to be marked with prayer vigils and fasting. A BBC correspondent in the capital Port-au-Prince says there is increasing concern that with the rainy season approaching, the lack of tents and temporary shelter could lead to the outbreak of disease. In the biggest of the camps that sprang up in the city after the earthquake, people are still living under sheeting strung across wooden poles. Aid agency officials said there was a plan to get thousands of the most vulnerable homeless people into tents ahead of the rains."
" The men had been kidnapped Wednesday in the northern state of Coauhuila, where the vehicle was stolen in an armed robbery, said the official from the attorney general's office of San Luis Potosi. The corpses were found early Thursday morning. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Assailants kidnapped and murdered 14 men and left their corpses in a Mercedes Benz van on a major highway in the state of San Luis Potosi in central Mexico, a prosecutor said Thursday. The attack bore the hallmarks of drug cartels but it was not immediately clear which group carried out the murders or who the victims were, said the official, who asked that her name not be used for security reasons. The bodies were left close to the site where a U.S. official was killed in an armed assault on his vehicle in 2011. The attack is the fifth time assailants have dumped 14 corpses in Mexico in recent months, signaling the number may be some sort of code for drug traffickers. In April, assailants strung up the corpses of 14 men in Nuevo Laredo, on the border with Texas, and then the following month assailants dumped the heads of 14 other men in an icebox in the city. In June, police then found 14 corpses in a vehicle near the town hall of Mante, in Tamaulipas state, and another 14 on a road in neighboring Veracruz state. In total there have been more than 55,000 gangland murders and execution style hits since President Felipe Calderon took power in December 2006 and declared a national crackdown on drug gangs. Many of the victims have been identified as innocent civilians unconnected to the drug trade. Incoming President Enrique Pena Nieto takes power in December and has promised to reduce the rate of homicides as well as those of extortion and kidnappings."
" In one of Israel's biggest raids into Gaza in recent months, troops carried out three air strikes and moved to encircle the town of Beit Hanoun. Some 60 people were wounded as troops, backed by tanks and helicopter gunships, carried out the raid. An Israeli military spokesman said the operation was aimed at stopping rocket fire into Israel. Both the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya, have described the Israeli military action as a massacre. The director of the Beit Hanoun hospital told the Associated Press news agency that all the hospital's blood supplies had been used up. The Israeli army confirmed the death of one of its soldiers some hours after Palestinian militant groups issued statements saying they had killed an Israeli. Witnesses said Israeli tanks backed by helicopter gunships entered Beit Hanoun overnight, amid heavy exchanges of fire. Sixty tanks were involved in the attack, AFP news agency said. It reported that Israeli soldiers took positions on rooftops during exchanges of fire with militants. Israeli bulldozers razed three houses in Beit Hanoun, and another dozen homes were hit by tank shells, the agency reported."
" Arab League foreign ministers have postponed a meeting in Saudi Arabia to debate the crisis in Syria. The ministers had been due to discuss a new envoy to Syria to replace Kofi Annan, who resigned earlier this month. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the US and Turkey are working together on detailed plans to support the Syrian opposition. Fighting has continued in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the second city of Aleppo. Speaking on a visit to Istanbul, Mrs Clinton said both the US and Turkey were making preparations to respond to the possible collapse of President Bashar al-Assad's government, the use of chemical weapons and increases in the number of cross-border refugees. Mr Annan resigned from his position as UN-Arab League envoy to Syria earlier this month, after his proposed six-point peace plan failed to come into effect and violence escalated. His replacement had been due to top the agenda for foreign ministers who had been due to gather on Sunday in the Saudi city of Jeddah. But the Arab League's deputy secretary general, Ahmed Ben Helli, told reporters the meeting has been postponed, and no new date had yet been set. He did not say why the meeting had been delayed. The man tipped by diplomats to be given the job is veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi."
" Israeli soldiers walk together during a training close to the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria on the Israeli occupied Golan Heights May 7, 2013. A statement said a military vehicle was damaged by shots fired from Syria but that there were no injuries. It said that soldiers ""returned precise fire"". Gunfire incidents across the frontier from Syria have recurred in past months during an escalating a civil war there in which rebels have sought to topple President Bashar al-Assad. Israel's Army Radio said Tuesday's was the third consecutive cross-border shooting this week. The Israeli military added in its statement that it viewed these incidents ""with concern"". Israel captured the Golan territory from Syria in a 1967 war and later annexed the area. Negotiations aimed at resolving that conflict ran aground in 2000. Israel has not taken sides in Syria's internal conflict, but has been worried about the involvement of its Iranian-backed foe, Hezbollah, in the fighting. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held out the prospect on Sunday of Israeli strikes inside Syria to stop Hezbollah and other opponents of Israel getting advanced weapons. Netanyahu said Israel was ""preparing for every scenario"" in Syria. He added ""we will act to ensure the security interest of Israel's citizens in the future as well"". Israel has neither denied nor confirmed reports it attacked Iranian-supplied missiles stored near Damascus this month that it believed were waiting delivery to Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel in 2006 and is allied with Assad."
" Syrian warplanes have pounded rebels in Aleppo as more than 20,000 troops assembled around the city. Britain will give 5-million-pounds ($AU7.8million) worth of equipment to Syrian rebels trying to topple President Bashar Al-Assad, the Foreign Office (FCO) said today. Britain will give 5-million-pounds ($AU7.8million) worth of equipment to Syrian rebels trying to topple President Bashar Al-Assad, the Foreign Office (FCO) said today. The aid will include radios and medical supplies but not weapons. Foreign Secretary William Hague is expected to reveal more details later. An FCO spokesman said: ""As the Foreign Secretary says, we need to work with the Syrian opposition to ensure they prepare for the inevitable day of Assad's fall, including representatives of the Free Syria Army. ""We are therefore meeting political elements of the Free Syria Army. ""This is not taking sides in a civil war. The spokesman added: ""The risk of total disorder and a power vacuum in Syria is so great that we must build relationships now with those who may govern Syria in the future. ""If we do not work with those Syrians who want to see a democratic and open Syria, we leave a void to be exploited by al Qaeda and others with extremist agendas who wish to hijack the conflict."""
" Clinton flew in on Saturday after wrapping up a nine-nation Africa tour. The visit comes after Washington on Friday announced sanctions on Syrian state oil company Sytrol for trading with Iran, in a bid to starve the regimes in both Tehran and Damascus of much-needed revenue. The US Treasury also said it was adding the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, which has close ties with Iran and Syria, to a blacklist of organisations targeted under Syria-related sanctions. Washington already classes Hezbollah a ""terrorist organisation"" and it is under US sanctions, but Friday's move explicitly ties the group to the violence in Syria, where Assad is attempting to put down a 17-month revolt. The sanctions are designed to increase pressure on the Assad regime as the conflict escalates sharply after the failure of former UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan and his dramatic resignation. In Istanbul, Clinton will have ""lengthy and in-depth conversation"" with Turkey's president, prime minister and foreign minister to discuss a three-pronged strategy, a US official said. The first aspect is ""how we judge the effectiveness of what we are doing in terms of supporting the opposition"", the official said, adding that pressure and isolation of the regime was part of the strategy. Clinton is expected to discuss with Turkey's leaders ways to effectively enforce sanctions against Damascus. Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, has become a vocal opponent of the regime since it launched a brutal crackdown on dissent in March last year. Relations hit an all-time low after a Turkish fighter jet was shot down by Syrian fire in June, killing its two-man crew and leading Ankara to brand Damascus a ""hostile"" opponent."
 The country's most active volcano has killed at least 141 people and forced thousands to flee
" Moscow: Russia is gearing up for hugely patriotic celebrations of its victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on Friday, but festivities in neighbouring Ukraine will be muted amid fears of provocations. The May 9 commemorations come at an extremely sensitive time for the two Slavic nations that fought side by side against Nazi Germany but are now locked in an unprecedented confrontation that threatens to tip Ukraine into civil war. Russian media reported that President Vladimir Putin could make a triumphant Victory Day trip to Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in March, but his spokesman refused to confirm that. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it would be a ""pity"" if Putin were to ""use"" the commemorations to visit the peninsula. Whereas Russia plans to mark the day with a display of military hardware and a show of patriotic fervour on Red Square, authorities in Kiev plan a low-key wreath-laying ceremony.  And while there will be a parade in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, Kiev has discouraged public gatherings and stepped up security amid fears pro-Russian militants might try to stoke violence on such a symbolic day. ""Roadblocks have been set up around our capital, where serious checks are being carried out, because we expect that provocative actions may occur on May 9,"" said Ukraine`s interim president Oleksandr Turchynov, urging vigilance. Complicating matters further, Russia`s tough-talking deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin plans to celebrate Victory Day in Moldova`s breakaway region of Transdniestr, near Ukraine`s flashpoint city of Odessa. ""Victory Day no longer brings Ukraine and Russia close,"" political analyst Vladimir Pribylovsky told AFP.Ahead of the celebrations, Kiev has cast Russia as an aggressor bent on sowing chaos in Ukraine, while the Kremlin has accused its neighbour`s pro-Western authorities of siding with ""fascists"" and ultra-right groups. Fuelling tensions is the hugely divisive legacy of the nationalist movement in western Ukraine, which was occupied by the Soviet Union and whose Ukrainian Insurgent Army collaborated with Nazi Germany."
" Russia on Thursday test-launched several ballistic missiles during planned exercises overseen by President Vladimir Putin, news reports said, as a crisis raged in neighbouring Ukraine. The Russian military fired a Topol intercontinental ballistic missile from its northern test site in Plesetsk, as well as ""several"" shorter-range missiles from its submarines in the Northern and Pacific Fleets, news agencies cited defence officials as saying. Other military manoeuvres involved the launch from an undisclosed location in western Russia of air-to-surface rockets by Tu-95 strategic bombers, and the entry into the English Channel of a Northern Fleet armada led by the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. The exercises, overseen by Putin and four visiting presidents from Kremlin-allied ex-Soviet states, were staged ahead of Russia's commemoration on Friday of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Putin stressed in televised comments that the war games had been planned in November, implying that they were not directly linked to events in Ukraine. But he told the visiting presidents from Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan that Russia's nuclear defence capabilities remained strong and on constant alert. ""You have been able to witness the great readiness and cohesion of our country's offensive and defensive strategic forces,"" said Putin."
"Emergency rule is not compatible with free, fair and credible elections,"" said John Negroponte, a day after meeting the Pakistani leader. Gen Musharraf imposed emergency rule two weeks ago following growing opposition and unrest. He has insisted it can only be lifted once the security situation improves. Mr Negroponte, the US deputy secretary of state, said he had urged Gen Musharraf to stick to his pledge to step down as head of the army, and encouraged him to release political prisoners. ""Recent political actions against protesters, suppression of the media and the arrests of political and human rights leaders, runs directly counter to reforms that have been undertaken in recent years,"" he said. However, the US envoy praised Gen Musharraf as a valued ally in the war on terror and welcomed the Pakistani leader's promise to hold elections on 9 January. On Saturday an aide to Gen Musharraf said he had told Mr Negroponte that the constitution could only be restored when law and order had been re-imposed. ""He told the envoy that the emergency is meant to reinforce and strengthen the law enforcement apparatus in the fight against militancy and extremism,"" the aide told AFP news agency. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says Mr Negroponte made it clear that the US did not accept Mr Musharraf's arguments for emergency rule. He did not signal what kind of pressure might be brought to bear on the Pakistani leader, although American officials said he had raised the issue of cuts in aid to Pakistan.	
US seeks to end Pakistan crisis	 Diplomats said John Negroponte had delivered a very strong message for an end to Pakistan's state of emergency. Ahead of the meeting, Gen Musharraf told the BBC his country was safe as long as the military was in charge. He warned that if polls he has promised for January were held under disturbed conditions, the country's nuclear arms could fall into the wrong hands. Mr Negroponte, the US Deputy Secretary of State, is expected to try to revive a deal between opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and Gen Musharraf. He spoke to Ms Bhutto on Friday, saying ""moderate forces"" should work together to get Pakistan back to democracy. Mr Negroponte is expected to call for the release of thousands of lawyers and political prisoners and an end of emergency rule as a pre-requisite for a fair election. But Gen Musharraf had insisted that emergency rule could only be lifted once the security situation in Pakistan improves, a presidential aide said. ""President Musharraf made it clear to the visiting US envoy that the emergency can only be lifted once the situation regarding law and order improves,"" Gen Musharraf's aide told AFP new agency. ""He told the envoy that the emergency is meant to reinforce and strengthen the law enforcement apparatus in the fight against militancy and extremism,"" he added. Mr Negroponte also met General Ashfaq Kiyani, Pakistan's deputy army chief of staff and Gen Musharraf's chosen successor if he resigns as head of the army as promised.	
HK democrats in heavy poll losses	 Pro-Beijing parties took 115 seats, almost double their showing in the last election in 2003. The main Democratic Party slumped, winning just 60 seats, down from more than 90 in the last poll. Local officials have little power but the vote is seen as an important test ahead of assembly elections next year. Democrat Party leader Albert Ho offered his resignation after the result, but his colleagues refused to accept it. ""[The party] needs me to stay during this difficult time to stabilise the situation,"" he said. His opponent, Tam Yiu-chung of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, hailed his party's success as reflecting people's desire for stability. ""Hong Kong people now attach more importance to the society's stability and harmony as well as sustainable economic development,"" he said. Analysts say the pro-Beijing parties benefited from a strong economy and good organisation at district level. China's communist rulers pledged to introduce democratic rule in Hong Kong when they took over the territory from the British in 1997. But Beijing has been vague about the timing of reforms.
Asean rules out suspending Burma	 Speaking in Singapore on the eve of Asean's annual summit, Secretary General Ong Keng Yong said he did not advocate a confrontational approach. ""The rest of the world think they know what is good for all of us,"" he added. US Senators have called for Burma to be suspended from Asean until it shows an improved commitment to human rights. Burma's military government has acknowledged that 15 people died during the crackdown on anti-government protests in September, when security forces fired on crowds and thousands of people were jailed. Mr Ong said Burma would sign an Asean agreement this week committing the 10 member states to strengthening democracy and protecting human rights. But he warned against alienating Burma through suspension. ""Myanmar (Burma) is part of our family and it is the principle involved,"" he told reporters. ""It's like you as a parent, if you have a troubled child, do you say, 'Go to the sanatorium, go out of the house, I don't want to talk to you'?"" ""Our approach is not to take such a confrontational, drastic action, especially when it doesn't yield good results,"" he added. The US Senate passed a resolution on Friday night urging Asean to consider ""appropriate disciplinary measures, including suspension"" against Burma.
Khan protest at Pakistan mission	 They were protesting against the state of emergency established in the country by President General Pervez Musharraf since 3 November. About 150 demonstrators called for the release of all political prisoners. Mr Khan was arrested last week along with thousands of other political opponents of General Musharraf. Ms Khan, 33, who helped set up the Free Pakistan movement with the help of lawyers, journalists, doctors and other professionals, attended the demonstration with the youngest of her two sons. The eight-year-old boy held a picture of his father with the words ""Release Imran. Release my Aba"" - which is Urdu for father. Ms Khan handed over a petition to the High Commission alongside Supreme Court lawyer Hina Jilani and Dr Aamer Sarfraz. She told reporters: ""I think it is time for Musharraf to resign. ""It's gone too far, he needs to go, but there are other things we are calling for: for the judiciary to be restored, for the press to be freed, for the conditions of democracy to be restored, for all political prisoners to be released, and for the right to protest. She added: ""We have to protest here because our friends in Pakistan are being arrested for protesting in Pakistan. ""I'm doing this because Imran and my friends in Pakistan have asked us to make noise here because they are not able to in Pakistan, but I am doing it because I care about Pakistan and I care about the issue of democracy and human rights."
" BEIRUT: Lebanon's Saad Hariri, the son of the country's assassinated former Premier, made a clean sweep in the first stage of the country's elections according to preliminary results. But the start of Lebanon's first free elections in more than 30 years was marred by a very low voter turnout of just 28 percent, the smallest participation in an election 13 years. Yesterday's voter apathy is in stark contrast to the euphoric scenes earlier this year when hundreds of thousands of Lebanese took to the streets following the murder of Rafik Hariri in a show of unity to oppose Syria and Lebanon's pro Damascus government. The Beirut polls have still to be followed by other districts over the next four week-ends and it remains to be seen if yesterday's turnout represents a blip because Hariri was virtually assured of victory, or whether it will be repeated across the country. In Christian areas, turnout was even less, hitting a low of 11 and 10 percent in some areas. Prior to the election Christian opposition politicians had criticized the legal framework for the polls, insisting it failed to properly represent Christian voters. Hariri's bloc had already secured more than half of the Beirut districts' 19 seats before polling day as other candidates withdrew as it became certain Hariri would win the seats. Speaking last night, Hariri said: ""This is a victory for Rafik Hariri. The blood of Rafik Hariri was not shed in vain."" He added: ""Today is the victory of democracy that they tried to violate."" Hariri failed to mention the low turnout. But Michel Aoun, leader of the largely Christian Free Patriotic Movement, said voter apathy meant Hariri ""failed in the elections."" Although he is fielding candidates in other districts, Aoun urged Beirutis to boycott yesterday's poll and hundreds of FPM supporters clad in orange, toured the capital urging voters ""not to waste their votes."" The low turnout was widely blamed on the unfair electoral law, which was drawn up in 2000 when Syrian control of Lebanon was at its peak and was widely seen as favoring pro Syrian political groupings. Despite last month's withdrawal of Syrian troops, Parliament failed to adopt a new law."
" Mexican security officials say one of the founders of the Zetas drug cartel has been killed in a gun battle in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas. Galindo Mellado Cruz is accused of being one of the original members of the Zetas, which first emerged as a group of enforcers for the Gulf cartel. The two groups later split and became bitter rivals, their fights accounting for much of the violence in the area. He is believed to be among five gunmen shot dead by the army on Friday. A Tamaulipas state official told the Associated Press news agency that while Mellado no longer held a command position within the Zetas, he had been one of the 30 ex-special forces members to found the group. Analysts say the Zetas now control more territory than any other criminal gang in Mexico. They are infamous for their extremely violent methods, routinely decapitating rivals and hanging their bodies from bridges. The war between the Zetas and their former paymasters, the Gulf cartel, has turned Tamaulipas into one of Mexico's most violent states. Mellado was on the run after escaping from prison where he had been jailed after being accused of armed robbery, rape and murder, the official said. He was killed in a raid on his hideout in the city of Reynosa along with four other armed men. One soldier also died in the fire fight."
" Islamist militants Boko Haram have released a video apparently showing about 130 girls kidnapped from a school in northern Nigeria on 14 April. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said the children would be held until all imprisoned militants had been freed. Interior Minister Abba Moro rejected the deal, telling the BBC that it was ""absurd"" for a ""terrorist group"" to try to set conditions. Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls and threatened to sell them. Continue reading the main story It will come as a relief for the parents to see at least some of the kidnapped girls alive. The video shows 136 girls sitting on the floor, wearing hijabs and repeatedly citing the first verse of Koran, followed by the words: ""Allah is the only God who should be worshipped and the Prophet Muhammad is the only messenger."" This is a pronouncement of their conversion to Islam. The Boko Haram leader later says they have become ""sisters of the militants"" following their conversion. Next he goes on to say he may consider swapping the girls for imprisoned militants - but only those who have not converted. The interior minister has said ""terrorists"" cannot set conditions, but the government is likely to come under pressure to bow to the militants' demands to see at least some girls released. The BBC's John Simpson in the northern city of Maiduguri says Boko Haram's comments show signs that the group is willing to negotiate. Three of the girls - wearing full-length cloaks - are shown speaking in the 27-minute video, obtained by French news agency AFP. Two girls say they were Christian and have converted to Islam, while the other says she is Muslim. ""These girls, these girls you occupy yourselves with... we have indeed liberated them. These girls have become Muslims,"" Abubakar Shekau says in the video. He said his offer to swap the girls for imprisoned militants only referred to the children who had not converted to Islam."
" Speaking after a five-day visit to the country, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro called for the international community to unite to help end the crisis there. The envoy said he would publish a full report in two weeks on September's protests and the subsequent repression. Meanwhile, a rights group has called on Asian leaders to take action on Burma. The country's rulers provoked a global outcry after the military crushed anti-government protests, firing on crowds and jailing thousands of people. Mr Pinheiro, on his first trip to Burma since 2003, was charged with investigating rights abuses during the crackdown. Speaking in Bangkok, he said he had met some political prisoners - including a 78-year-old called Win Tin, who had been in jail for 18 years. Mr Pinheiro gave no details of the man's condition, but said he was allowed out of his cell for only one hour a day. The envoy appealed to the Burmese authorities to allow the International Committee for the Red Cross access to the prisoners. The BBC's South East Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head, said the effectiveness of Mr Pinheiro's visit had been limited by the fact he had spent most of his five days talking to ministers. Government buildings are in the remote new capital, Naypyidaw, rather than in Rangoon where the worst violence took place."
" The Sudanese justice minister said 15 men would stand trial. The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Sudan says it is the first time that Sudanese security personnel have been arrested over atrocities committed in Darfur. Khartoum says it would reject any UN vote which refers war crimes suspects to the International Criminal Court. The UN Security Council is expected to vote on Wednesday on a French-drafted resolution on whether to send suspects in Sudan to the new court in The Hague. The pro-government Janjaweed militia in Sudan's Darfur region are accused of killing thousands of villagers and forcing two million from their homes. A UN commission earlier this year found the atrocities committed in Darfur could be crimes against humanity, and said the culprits should be tried at the ICC - which was created to deal with cases of war crimes and genocide. Justice Minister Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin told reporters a government committee had arrested 14 people in West Darfur and one in North Darfur state. The committee had not yet finished work, he said. ""The objective of the commission is to investigate criminal offences,"" he said. ""They are going to investigate... rape crimes, human rights violations, crimes against humanity and war crimes,"" he added."
" Analysts say the election is likely to be close Official campaigning has begun in the Philippines for the first presidential elections in six years. President Gloria Arroyo is not allowed to run again in the vote on 10 May. Competition is intense between two opposition figures, with Mrs Arroyo's nominee and a former president lagging in the polls. Long proud of its democratic traditions, the Philippines has still failed to find a leader able to deliver peace and prosperity. For the wealthiest candidates, the political advertising has been going on for months. The violence that has been part of every Philippine election started early too - the mass killing of 57 people in the southern province of Maguindanao in November has set a grim tone. Election campaigns in the Philippines usually deliver showmanship, drama, personality clashes and genuine idealism. What they rarely offer is any cogent debate of ideas or contest of policies. This campaign is no exception. ""It's going to be a very tight race,"" says political analyst, writer and journalist Marites Vitug. ""Manny Villar is running a disciplined campaign and has enormous funds at his disposal - he could be our Thaksin, or our Berlusconi,"" she said, in reference to the wealthy former Thai and current Italian leaders. The wealthiest candidate, Mr Villar, claims an affinity with the poor, the vast voting majority. He was once a fish market seller and is now the biggest home-builder in the Philippines. Mr Villar is up against Benigno ""NoyNoy"" Aquino, son of the revered former President Cory Aquino. He enjoyed an early surge soon after her death last year, but is now neck-and-neck with Mr Villar. Lagging behind is Gilberto Teodoro, the current president's favourite, and the former movie star and former president Joseph ""Erap"" Estrada. The Maguindanao killings set a grim tone for the presidential elections Also in the race is the former Mayor of Olongapo Richard Gordon, someone known as a good manager. But as always in the Philippines, it will be the money, and the personalities, that count. ""It will really take a lot of resources, and I'm not referring to money alone,"" said Ronald Holmes, of the political science department of Manila's De La Salle University and president of the survey group, Pulse Asia. Spending limits do exist, but an apparent lack of manpower has prevented the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from ever prosecuting anyone for over-spending. ""The primary issues are the old issues of economic growth and the problem of poverty,"" said Mr Holmes. Alongside a widespread desire for cheaper commodity prices is the topic of corruption. There is little indication, however, that any of the current crop of candidates will make any more progress on that than the country's rich ruling class has managed in the past."
" Thousands of schools collapsed during the quake in May 2008 A Chinese activist who investigated whether shoddy construction contributed to deaths in the 2008 Sichuan quake has been sentenced to five years in jail. Tan Zuoren was formally charged with inciting subversion in connection with the bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. But human rights groups say the real reason for the action taken against him was his investigations. Many school children were among the 80,000 people killed in the earthquake. Tan's wife, Wang Qinghua, said the verdict was ""ridiculous"". ""This isn't justice,"" she said as she left court. Tan was arrested while preparing a report into the collapse of school buildings during the Sichuan quake. Tan's 'crime' was entirely one of speech, of conscience   ""He was sentenced to five years in prison for inciting subversion of state power and deprived of his political rights for three years,"" said one of his lawyers, Pu Zhiqiang. ""There were no charges related to the quake. All of the proceedings were linked to 4 June (1989),"" Mr Pu told AFP news agency by telephone. Tan's supporters and the London-based rights group Amnesty International has said that his independent investigation was probably the real reason for his detention. Roseann Rife, of Amnesty International, said it was unusual that the quake was not mentioned in verdict. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. She said Tan had strong public backing for his work after the quake and the authorities risked a backlash if they convicted him over that. Tan's trial in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, was adjourned without a verdict in August last year. Tan's brother said that while he had not agreed with Tan's actions at the time, he knew he had ""always worked for society and for the country"". ""I think that as a citizen, you can't change the reality of society. But today, I have to stand up for him and support my younger brother. Now I understand him,"" said Tan Liren. The verdict and sentence, thought to be the maximum possible, was then read out in less than 10 minutes on Tuesday. Mr Pu said his client planned to appeal. ""I think this is a very important case for China... It shows the Chinese legal system has taken a big step backwards. Tan's 'crime' was entirely one of speech, of conscience,"" said Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who has also campaigned for earthquake victims. Mr Ai, who compiled a list of the children who died in the quake, was roughed up when he travelled to Chengdu to attend the August trial. A Hong Kong television crew was also prevented from attending that trial and had their hotel room searched under the pretext that they were hiding drugs. Several thousand school buildings collapsed during the earthquake, fuelling angry allegations by parents that corruption had led to poor construction standards. In many of the affected towns, schools collapsed but other nearby buildings withstood the quake. Government officials promised an investigation while, at the same time, pressurising parents to keep their grief - and anger - to themselves. Tan asked internet users and people who had lost their children in the quake to help compile a detailed database of the victims. He also asked volunteers to detail any evidence of poor construction at the schools."
" The relative calm in the Negev was disturbed Saturday morning when a Qassam fired by Palestinians in north Gaza exploded in the region. There were no reports of injury or damage. The rocket landed in an open field within the limits of the Sdot Negev Regional Council. Just last week Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar told the London-based Al-Hayat daily that the Islamist organization would not violate the ceasefire with Israel agreed on after Operation Cast Lead ""There is an agreement about a state of calm which was reached after the war with the help of Egypt and all the factions agreed on it,"" he said. Al-Zahar criticized Palestinian terrorists who fire rockets towards Israel, saying they ""rebel against their own factions and this is proved by the fact that no one has ever taken responsibility. Do they expect us to shake the hand of a man who rebels against his own factions? Opening the door would lead to chaos. Some of the factions didn't fire a single shot during the war and now they want to market themselves."""
" The opposition leader was placed under a seven-day detention order on Tuesday in Lahore, where she had been planning a mass protest march. Police said the order had been lifted - but there are reportedly still dozens of officers outside her residence. A new prime minister, Mohammedmian Soomro, has been sworn to act as the head of an interim government until parliamentary elections next year. President Pervez Musharraf says the move, which follows the dissolving of parliament at the end of its five-year term on Thursday, marks a transition to democracy. But General Musharraf's critics say he has demonstrated no commitment to democracy in the past. Opposition leaders say the interim government is not neutral and will rig the elections. ""The government has withdrawn Bhutto's detention order, and from now, she is free to move wherever she likes,"" Aftab Cheema, police chief of the eastern city of Lahore, told the news agency Reuters. ""Police will remain [outside] for her security, but there will be no restriction on her movement,"" he added. On Thursday Ms Bhutto reportedly told Dawn TV she had conclusively ruled out the possibility of sharing power with Gen Musharraf, whom she accuses of taking Pakistan back towards military dictatorship. ""Too much water has gone under the bridge,"" she said."
" ISLAMABAD - Senate Chairman Muhammadmian Soomro Friday took oath as Pakistan's prime minister of the caretaker cabinet, according to the state-run PTV. President General Pervez Musharraf administered the oath at the Aiwan-e-Sadr presidential palace in the capital of Islamabad. At the ceremony, Musharraf said that it was the smoothest government transition in Pakistan's history. Mohammedmian Soomro was appointed as the caretaker prime minister after the National Assembly, lower house of the parliament, and the government led by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was dissolved on the completion of the five-year term. The oath taking ceremony was attended by outgoing Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, former ministers, services chiefs and top civil and military officials. Mohammedmian Soomro, a former banker, was working as Senate chairman till his new assignment. The 57-year-old Mohammedmian Soomro, a close confidant of Musharraf, is from a renowned political family of the southern Pakistani province of Sindh that has been active in public life since 1923."
" She told reporters the new interim government that is overseeing elections was ""not acceptable"". She was speaking shortly after being freed from house arrest. US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte has arrived in Islamabad, with Washington insisting that Gen Musharraf resign his military post. Ms Bhutto was placed under house arrest in Lahore on Tuesday to stop her from leading a march to Islamabad. The move was part of a huge clampdown that has seen thousands of people arrested since emergency rule was introduced on 3 November. ""There can be no fair and free elections under the emergency,"" Ms Bhutto said after her release. She dismissed the interim government sworn in on Friday: ""This caretaker government is an extension of the (governing PML-Q party) and is not acceptable."" And she again appeared to rule out resuming talks on a power-sharing deal with Gen Musharraf. ""I can't see how I can team up with somebody who raises hopes and dashes them... He talked to me about a roadmap to democracy and imposed martial law,"" she said. Ms Bhutto says she will meet other opposition leaders soon to discuss a boycott of January's assembly elections."
" The men belonged to the Jaish-e-Mohammed group and were planning to kidnap a ""very important political person"", the police said. Local reports suggested the target could have been Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi. Police said the arrested men were all Pakistanis. The chief of Uttar Pradesh police Vikram Singh said the three men were arrested on the outskirts of the state capital, Lucknow. He said the men were travelling from Delhi in a car. Mr Singh said militants planned to kidnap a ""very important person"" in exchange for 42 militants lodged in various Indian prisons. Ammunition, rifles, grenades and explosives were seized from the men, he said."
" At least 17 people have been killed after an explosion and fire at a coal mine in western Turkey, officials say. Hundreds were reported to be trapped underground at the mine in Soma, Manisa province, but Turkish media suggest as many as 157 have died. A huge rescue operation has begun and some 20 people are reported to have been brought out so far. Turkish President Abdullah Gul has ordered the regional governor to deploy all resources to rescue the miners. They are thought to be 4km (2.4 miles) from the entrance, at a depth of 2km. While it is estimated that 580 workers were underground at the time of the blast, it is thought many of them managed to escape. Union officials said as the blast occurred at shift changeover time, there was uncertainty about how many miners were still inside, Reuters news agency reports. Large crowds of worried family members gathered near the privately-owned mine. A senior local official, Mehmet Bahattin Atci, said thick smoke was hampering rescue efforts. Energy Ministry Taner Yildiz said it was a ""serious accident"" and that he was going to Soma to oversee the rescue operation."
" An Afghan army soldier carries a child, Tuesday Feb. 9, 2010, during an evacuation from the avalanche which struck the Salang Pass, some 100 km north of Kabul, Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)"
" An interior ministry spokesman said the situation was ""back to normal"". The move came as President Mikhail Saakashvili announced he was replacing PM Zurab Noghaideli, and appointing Lado Gurgenidze, a banker, to the post. Mr Saakashvili accused Russia of inciting the recent unrest to oust him. Both Moscow and the opposition in Georgia deny the allegations. The crackdown on protests drew international criticism of the pro-Western leader who has met a key opposition demand for early elections. Announcing the change of prime ministers, Mr Saakashvili said in a televised address: ""We are putting forward new tasks that must be implemented by new people."" His new PM, the 36-year-old Mr Gurgenidze, is chairman of the private Bank of Georgia. Opposition supporters had called on Mr Saakashvili to resign, accusing him of corruption and authoritarianism. The protests earlier this month were the largest Georgia has seen since the ""Rose Revolution"" that brought Mr Saakashvili to power in 2003. The early election has been set for 5 January."
" Most of France's rail network remained disrupted for a third day on Friday. But there are signs that support for the strike is waning, with increasing numbers of employees returning to work. Unions have said they are still waiting for an agreement on the conditions under which talks between government, unions and employers can take place. Labour minister Xavier Bertrand has said talks can begin only when union leaders call off the strike. The unions want to continue the walkout during any negotiations. Friday saw a slight increase in the number of trains and metros running but millions of people still faced long delays and struggled to get to and from work, with many resorting to going on foot, cycling or roller-blading along traffic-choked roads. Only 200 of the usual 700 TGV high-speed trains were running. Two metro lines in Paris were closed completely, and about one in three buses was running. Fewer than one third of train drivers took part in the strike on Friday, down from 61.5% in the first full day of walkouts on Wednesday, the state-run SNCF train company said. Millions of commuters in Germany are also experiencing big delays on the third day of a national strike by train drivers over a pay dispute."
" The move came after militant group Hamas said it would boycott the partial re-runs, ordered after its rival Fatah contested the results. The ruling Fatah party emerged as the overall victor in the 5 May elections. But Hamas did better in the more populous towns of Rafah, Beit Lahia and al-Bureij. Egyptian mediators have been trying to heal the rift. Correspondents say the dispute could threaten a fragile truce with Israel that has kept violence to a minimum since February. International observers say they found no evidence of election fraud in the three areas where Hamas came out on top. Announcing its boycott, Hamas angrily accused Fatah of breaking promises made during negotiations. ""Hamas has decided not to take part in what is another vote in Rafah, Beit Lahia and al-Bureij,"" said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. ""Fatah will shoulder direct responsibility for ignoring the agreement reached,"" he said. There has been no immediate comment from Fatah."
" Mir Balaach Marri, alleged head of the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), was killed in Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence sources told the BBC. The BLA and rebel tribesmen have been fighting Pakistani security forces for more provincial autonomy since 2000. Nationalists say the mineral-rich province has been deprived of its rightful share of its own resources. Mr Balaach's brother, Sardar Gazain Marri, said he had learnt of the rebel leader's death on Tuesday evening. ""Some of his comrades informed me he had been martyred,"" he told the BBC. ""I cannot disclose the location as it would further threaten the lives of those with him."" Sardar Marri says he believes his brother was killed in an army operation in Balochistan. ""I believe there were a clashes in the province on Tuesday in which Mir Balaach was killed."" However, intelligence officials in Pakistan told the BBC the rebel leader had been killed in Afghanistan. They also declined to discuss the circumstances surrounding his killing."
" The insurgents were killed in Shangla district in Swat valley on Tuesday and Wednesday, army spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said. There has been no comment from the militants yet and there was no independent confirmation of the claim. The Swat valley, next to Pakistan's tribal areas, has been in the grip of an insurgency since October. Last week, the army said they had killed 16 pro-Taleban militants in the same area. Troops ""have cleared a hub of resistance of militants from a prominent height"" overlooking a road leading to Alpurai, Shangla's main town, Maj Gen Waheed was quoted by news agency Associated Press as saying. ""The operation is continuing today in several parts of Swat."" The situation in Swat valley has worsened since October after a pro-Taleban cleric, Maulana Fazlullah, and his supporters sought to enforce his brand of Islamic law. The militants have since taken over large parts of the outlying areas of the valley, as well as at least four small towns in the district. Observers say the security forces' largely inhibited movements have increasingly emboldened the militants. Heavy fighting has caused damage to civilian areas, forcing large numbers of residents to flee."
" Iftikhar Chaudhry tried to leave his Islamabad residence but was stopped from doing so by security forces. Meanwhile, President Musharraf has amended the constitution to prevent future legal challenges to his actions. His government has urged the Commonwealth to delay a decision on suspending Pakistan from its meetings. Gen Musharraf imposed emergency rule on 3 November, saying the measure was needed to rein in the judiciary and fight extremists. He is under pressure to end the state of emergency ahead of general elections promised for 8 January. Former Chief Justice Chaudhry was removed from his post on 3 November and has been under house arrest ever since. On Tuesday, the government announced it had released more than 3,000 people jailed under emergency rule. Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said judges would also be ""free to go home if they so wish or desire"". ""They are living in the judges colony of their own accord - they can leave if they want to,"" he said. Mr Chaudhry tried to leave his residence on Wednesday but was stopped from going to the Supreme Court by large numbers of security forces ringing his residence."
" The former cricketer was arrested by police last week after attending a protest at Punjab University in Lahore. On Monday, Mr Khan began a hunger strike in protest at his detention. He is demanding the restoration of the constitution and the reinstatement of supreme court judges who were sacked after emergency rule was declared. Mr Khan's release comes a day after Pakistani authorities freed more than 3,000 people who were detained under emergency regulations imposed by President Pervez Musharraf on 3 November. A spokesman for the interior ministry said many others would be released soon. A senior leader of Mr Khan's Tehrik-i-Insaf party, Omar Cheema, told the BBC that he had been released from Dera Ghazi Khan jail on Wednesday. The prison's superintendent, Sheikh Inamur Rehman, later confirmed the release, adding that it had been carried out on the instructions of the provincial government at 1945 local time (1445 GMT). ""I personally saw him off at the prison gate,"" he told the AFP news agency. The BBC's Chris Morris had travelled to the prison with three of Mr Khan's sisters earlier on Wednesday, only hours before his unexpected release. After visiting him inside, Mr Khan's sister Allema confirmed he had eaten no food since Monday and drunk as little as 100ml of liquid over the past two days."
" First Published by IANS on 15 May, 2014 at 12:32 AM IST under Nation Hyderabad: Three people were shot dead and eight injured Wednesday when police opened fire to disperse two clashing groups in Hyderabad, officials said. An indefinite curfew was imposed to bring the situation under control in Sikh Chowni in Kishanbagh, a part of Cyberabad police commissionerate. Trouble broke out after miscreants attacked houses and shops of a particular community in the early hours of Wednesday after some unidentified people burnt a religious flag overnight. Police opened fire to disperse the clashing groups, killing three people and injuring eight, a police spokesman of Cyberabad told IANS. In the clashes, 15 people, including 10 policemen, were also injured. Few houses and shops were set afire by the attackers and some cars and two-wheelers were also damaged. Bodies of two victims, both in their 20s, were shifted to government-run Osmania General Hospital and the third, aged 38, was taken to Gandhi Hospital for autopsy. The injured were admitted to the two hospitals. Relatives of the victims alleged that the assailants armed with swords and knives entered their houses and attacked them. They said police opened fire without using teargas or batons. A police officer, however, justified the firing, saying it was inevitable to control the situation. Cyberabad police commissioner C.V. Anand said the situation was brought under control. He appealed to people to maintain calm and cooperate with the police in restoring peace."
" At least 29 people were killed and dozens were wounded Thursday by a car bomb in Syria near the Turkish border, an opposition group said. The blast took place at the Sajo bus station near the Bab al-Salama border crossing, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A civil war in Syria has left more than 100,000 people dead and millions displaced, according to the United Nations. More than 100 civil society groups from around the world put their names Thursday to a statement urging the U.N. Security Council to back a resolution that would refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. The statement, posted online by the New-York based Human Rights Watch, said it is time to end a culture of impunity that has seen atrocities committed by all sides. ""Neither Syrian authorities nor the leaders of non-state armed groups have taken any meaningful steps to ensure accountability for past and ongoing grave human rights crimes,"" it reads. ""The failure to hold those responsible for these violations to account has only fueled further atrocities by all sides."" The groups said the ICC, as a permanent court set up to try war crimes, is the forum ""most capable of effectively investigating and prosecuting"" those responsible for the most serious crimes and for providing justice for the Syrian people. The statement was issued as a core group of 11 foreign ministers from the so-called ""Friends of Syria"" met in London. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Ahmad Jarba, were among those present for the talks, hosted by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague. Asked about French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius' assertion this week that France has seen indications the Syrian regime used chlorine gas some 14 times in recent months, Kerry said he had seen ""raw data"" suggesting there may have been ""a number of instances in which chlorine has been used in the conduct of war."""
" The man, Social Democratic Party leader Alexander Kozulin, was also beat up by police in Minsk, witnesses said. He was detained after trying to gain entry to a conference being addressed by President Alexander Lukashenko. Thousands of supporters of another opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, held a rally in Minsk. There was a stand-off as the streets were filled with riot police. The authorities had said the rally was illegal. ""I wanted to tell the truth about the dictatorship we live in,"" Mr Kozulin was quoted as saying. International election monitors say they heard gunshots outside the police station where he and several supporters were detained. The Belarussian news agency Belapan reported that more than 20 Kozulin supporters were detained by police later. The BBC's Steve Rosenberg, in Minsk, says the two-day congress is President Lukashenko's version of Communist congresses that used to be held in the USSR. At the congress President Lukashenko accused the West of trying to interfere in the Belarussian election to provoke a transfer of power like neighbouring Ukraine's Orange Revolution. ""The strategy of the West and the domestic opposition is to drag Belarus backwards,"" he told the delegates."
" A senior army commander said on Saturday that the army was launching a full scale offensive in the area. Swat has been the centre of fighting which has claimed some 100 lives since hostilities began in October. The fighting began after supporters of a pro-Taleban cleric moved to implement his version of Islamic law in the area. Meanwhile in Washington the Pentagon has announced plans to nearly double its spending on training and equipping Pakistan's Frontier Corps which operates in the border region with Afghanistan. ""Thousands of people are leaving, with whatever belongings they can carry,"" a local journalist in Swat told the BBC. ""I saw the entire village of Kabal, near the city of Mingora, empty over night."" Locals say two other militant strongholds, Matta and Charbagh, are also rapidly becoming ghost towns. Most of the refugees are reported to have moved to Mingora or Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province. There were more reports of fighting on Tuesday. Militants said they had recaptured two checkpoints they had retreated from after coming under fire from helicopter attacks."
" Most were held in Karachi and several detained in Hyderabad. Police baton-charged the Karachi journalists after they tried to stage a protest march. Some of them were hurt. When President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule on 3 November, radio and TV news was banned, as was criticism of the government. Heavy contingents of police were deployed on roads to the Karachi Press Club to stop the rally there. It was part of a country-wide protest organised by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) against the media curbs. The journalists were planning to hold a demonstration outside the Karachi offices of the ARY TV channel, one of half a dozen news channels that cable operators stopped airing after the emergency was imposed. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Karachi says police beat up a number of journalists in front of the press club entrance. The arrests came shortly after the government said it released some 3,400 people jailed under emergency rule. The release of political opponents has been a key demand of opposition parties who are threatening to boycott parliamentary elections in January. A number of leading political figures are still being held."
" The release of political opponents has been a key demand of opposition parties who are threatening to boycott parliamentary elections in January. A number of leading political figures are still being held. President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule on 3 November, saying the measure was needed to rein in the judiciary and fight extremists. Senior members of the Pakistan People's Party led by Benazir Bhutto are meeting in Karachi on Tuesday to decide their next step in the current crisis. Meanwhile, more than 100 journalists have been arrested, most of them in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi. They were protesting at the state of emergency and the clampdown on the media. Another 2,000 activists will be released shortly, an official told the BBC, but that will not necessarily include anyone facing criminal charges, such as the former cricketer and opposition leader Imran Khan. The BBC's Chris Morris in Islamabad says that Gen Musharraf appears to be responding to domestic and international pressure. The state of emergency remains in place and the constitution suspended. That means, in theory, that anyone being released now could be detained again at any time."
" Kano police commissioner Mohammed Aminu Yesafu said his officers had arrested dozens of people and recovered weapons including guns and machetes. Violence erupted between government supporters and opposition party members as election results started to come in. Voters in Kano cast ballots on Saturday for local constituency leaders. ""We have arrested 254 persons across the state for crimes ranging from assault (and) burning of government properties to killing,"" said Mr Yesafu, confirming the six deaths. ""Violence erupted spontaneously in all the local government areas following disagreements between political party supporters,"" Reuters news agency reported him as saying. The BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says although these are only local elections, political office in Nigeria means the prospect of considerable money and power, so political violence is never far away. Kano state is one of the few in the country that is governed by the opposition. So it was supporters of Nigeria's ruling party who said the results were rigged and decided to vent their anger. Kano is now said to be relatively calm, but there are more results to come and there is concern the violence could flare again. Our correspondent says that after the chaos, sponsored violence and massive vote-rigging of Nigeria's general elections in April, the president pledged to reform the electoral system."
" The governor of south-western Nimroz province Ghulam Dastageer was on his way to his office when he was attacked. He escaped unhurt. The Taleban said they carried out the attack in which at least 15 people were injured, including four civilians. Meanwhile, in Kabul, Afghan soldiers say they have foiled a suicide attack targeting a bus carrying soldiers. Officials said the attacker in Nimroz detonated the explosives strapped to his body just as people were coming to work. Governor Dastageer had moved inside the building housing his office shortly before the blast. ""Just as I got into my office today [Monday], there was a suicide attack outside the compound. Apparently I was the target of the suicide attacker,"" Governor Dastageer was quoted by news agency AFP as saying. Provincial police chief Mohammad Daud Askaryar said four of the wounded were civilians. ""The attack was aimed at creating an atmosphere of fear in our province,"" AFP quoted him as saying. The Taleban said 30 police officers had been killed or injured, and five police cars were destroyed. They denied there had been any civilian casualties."
" Six out of seven unions agreed to extend the walk-out to Monday, though more services are expected to run than at the beginning of the strike. The number of strikers has reportedly been dropping since the strike began last Tuesday. And unions have agreed to attend negotiations with the state rail company management on Wednesday. ""It has been agreed that the union federations will go there, bringing a joint platform of demands,"" said Didier Le Reste, head of the railway workers' section of the CGT union. But the government has said it would not enter talks unless strikers return to work. The strike is seen as a key test of President Nicolas Sarkozy's efforts to reform the French economy. On Monday around 300 TGV high-speed trains out of 700 and 40% of buses were set to run. One in five trains on the Paris Metro were scheduled to operate. Union leaders are hoping to keep the transport strike going until Tuesday, when separate strikes are planned by civil servants, lawyers and magistrates. The strike, which began on Tuesday night, was triggered by plans to scrap ""special"" pensions privileges enjoyed by 500,000 workers, mainly in the rail and energy sectors, as well as by 1.1 million pensioners. The French government last tried to overhaul ""special"" pensions in 1995. The move sparked three weeks of strikes that forced then-President Jacques Chirac to climb down."
" They said 11 soldiers were among those killed in the clashes between Shia and Sunni Muslims in Kurram agency. The military's intervention in the tribal region has brought a lull in the fighting, officials said. The area has a history of sectarian violence. In April, similar clashes left some 55 people dead. The latest violence broke out when unidentified men fired at people coming out of a mosque after Friday prayers last week. Pakistani troops took up positions in the main town of Parachinar, forcing the two warring sides to vacate their positions. Three days later the toll stands at more than 80 people dead and a 100 wounded, the military says. ""The situation in Parachinar area has improved,"" military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said on Monday. ""There was no fighting this morning and clashes have stopped."" On Monday, streets were deserted and shops, schools and offices remained closed under an indefinite curfew. The town faced shortages of electricity and drinking water supplies after wires were badly damaged in the shelling."
" New measures include an embargo on imports of gemstones, timber and metal, and a wider visa ban against members of the Burmese military government. The EU already has a travel ban on top officials, an arms embargo and a freeze on the junta's assets in Europe. The new move came as south-east Asian leaders met for talks in Singapore. The leaders of the 10-nation Asean bloc, which includes Burma, are coming under increasing pressure to take action against the junta. EU ministers said Asean's leaders should ""use every opportunity... to maintain the pressure for a credible and inclusive process of national reconciliation"" in Burma. They renewed calls for meaningful dialogue between the Burmese authorities and the opposition. Detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has held her third meeting with an official from the military government since the protests. Financial restrictions on Burma going back more than a decade have left the EU with relatively few economic interests in the country. France remains a major investor, with a joint gas project between the US firm Chevron and French Total. And the EU's restrictions are not as stringent as those adopted by the US, which can stop anyone with links to the junta from accessing US banking systems."
" He has promised to resign as army chief if and when the court validates his victory in October's presidential poll. Gen Musharraf sacked a number of independently-minded judges who had been due to consider the case. The judgements come a day after senior US envoy John Negroponte urged Gen Musharraf to lift emergency rule. Mr Negroponte also urged him to free opponents ahead of elections due in January. Gen Musharraf has insisted the emergency, imposed on 3 November, can be lifted only once the security situation improves. President Musharraf is due to visit Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah on Tuesday, the kingdom's official news agency has reported. It would be his first trip abroad since he declared the emergency. Pakistani government officials were not immediately available for comment. Attorney General Malik Qayyum said that five petitions against Gen Musharraf's re-election had been dismissed. The main petitioners had said they did not recognise the new bench because it had taken oath under a provisional constitution order set up under emergency rule. A sixth petition was brought by a civil servant, Zahoor Mahdi, who wanted to be considered eligible to stand in October's presidential election."
" The regional group's new charter, which would commit members to promoting human rights and bolstering democracy, is due to be signed at a summit on Tuesday. Burma's suppression of mass protests in September was widely condemned. The United States has warned that Asean's credibility was at stake over its handling of the crisis in Burma. The county's military government has acknowledged that 15 people died during the crackdown, when security forces fired on demonstrators and thousands of people were jailed. Earlier on Monday, the EU formally adopted tighter sanctions against Burma in response to the crackdown, including an embargo on imports of gemstones, timber and metal, and a wider visa ban against officials. In a statement published after she met Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein in Singapore, President Arroyo said Burma would be committing itself to restore democracy and releasing Aung San Suu Kyi if it signed the charter. ""Those who will sign the charter agree to the objective, spirit and intent of establishing a human rights body - the full protection of human rights within Asean,"" she warned. ""Until the Philippine Congress sees that happen, it would have extreme difficulty in ratifying the Asean charter,"" she added. The charter will fail unless it is ratified by the parliaments of all its 10 member states. The Burmese authorities have not yet responded to Ms Arroyo, but they have already forced the cancellation of a planned address by the UN envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari."
" The UN has warned of an ""alarming deterioration"" in human rights in eastern Ukraine, where separatists are fighting security forces. It also found ""serious problems"" of harassment and persecution of ethnic Tatars in Crimea, the mainly ethnic Russian region Moscow annexed in March. Russia condemned the report, saying it ignored abuses by Ukraine's government. Meanwhile, a third-party initiative to restore law and order in one troubled city, Mariupol, seems to be succeeding. Violence between separatists and pro-Ukrainian forces has left dozens dead in the east and south this month. Separatists control towns in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where they have been skirmishing with units of the Ukrainian security forces, sent in to reassert government control. The revolt in the east gained momentum after Russia annexed Ukraine's mainly ethnic Russian region of Crimea in March. Moscow acted after the overthrow of Ukraine's elected pro-Russian President, Viktor Yanukovych, during unrest in the capital Kiev in February, and his replacement with an interim government, backed by Ukrainian nationalists. A new Ukrainian president is due to be elected on 25 May. In another development, former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt has accused EU officials of risking war with Russia by displaying ""megalomania"" in Ukraine. Mr Schmidt, chancellor from 1974 to 1982, told German newspaper Bild: ""The danger that the situation gets ever more tense, as it did in August 1914, is growing day by day."""
"If an accord were reached, our party will become stronger and with a better presence locally and regionally,"" Hassan Nasrallah said of the nuclear talks at a religious gathering on Wednesday night marking Ashura. On Thursday, before a crowd of hundreds of thousands, Nasrallah made it clear that Hezbollah fighters will remain in Syria on behalf of Assad's government. He described the Syrian regime as an important bulwark against Israel and Sunni Muslim insurgents who are fighting to oust Assad. ""As long as the reasons stand, our presence in Syria remains,"" he told the crowd. Nasrallah has appeared in public on only a handful of occasions since the end of the group's 2006 war with Israel, a fact that lent special power to his unexpected twin appearances marking what's considered a day of mourning for Shi'ites. Security precautions were unprecedented in the southern Beirut suburb where Nasrallah spoke on Thursday. Hezbollah forces fanned out throughout the area, and the group banned most car traffic. Hezbollah security officials said that hundreds of the group's fighters had been deployed along the mountains overlooking Beirut to prevent anti-Assad rebel groups from firing rockets into the capital. A handful of rockets fired from along the border with Syria targeted several Shi'ite villages in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley but caused no casualties. Several border villages have come under repeated rocket attack from Syrian rebels in the last year, and at least two car bombs and a handful of rockets targeted Shi'ite areas of Beirut over the summer.	
Egypt denies building iron wall on Gaza border	 CAIRO, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Egypt denied building an anti-smuggling underground iron wall on its border with the Gaza Strip, local Al-Shorouk daily reported Thursday. ""Egypt is dealing with smuggling seriously and capable of stopping it without this wall,"" the report quoted a security source as saying. Earlier, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Egyptian engineers were carrying out major excavation work at the Gaza border on Wednesday as an anti-smuggling barrier was under construction. According to Haaretz, the assumed wall will extend 20 to 30 meters underground in a bid to block the smuggling from Egypt to Gaza. Egypt beefed up security measures along its border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip to combat smuggling to the Israeli-blockaded enclave.
US Elections 2010: Candidates make last push for votes	 Candidates have made their final push for votes, with the US Congressional mid-term elections due to start within hours. President Barack Obama's Democratic party is expected to lose its majority in the House of Representatives and is struggling to keep the Senate. Mr Obama spent Monday at the White House, while First Lady Michelle Obama campaigned in Nevada and Pennsylvania. Republicans hope to capitalise on voters' discontent with the economy. ""We're hoping now for a fresh start with the American people,"" Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said. ""If we don't live up to those expectations, then we'll have a problem in two years."" Up for election on Tuesday are all 435 House seats, 37 of the 100 seats in the Senate, governorships of 37 of the 50 states and all but four state legislatures. The Republican Party needs to gain 39 House seats to win control of the lower chamber of Congress - an amount opinion polls suggest they will easily win - and 10 to take over the Senate. Democrats are hoping to hold on to the Senate by at least one or two seats. In addition, voters will decide on ballot measures ranging from marijuana legalisation in California to a referendum in Oklahoma on forbidding judges from using Islamic Sharia law in rulings.
Egypt digs underground wall to stop Gaza tunnels	 Residents of Rafah, the border town which has become the centre for a major smuggling operation, say engineers have brought in earth moving-equipment and are placing deep steel tubes at short intervals into the ground. The government has not confirmed the claims but one security source said the plan was to build a blast-proof, impenetrable steel wall of adjoining two inch thick sheets across stretches of the frontier known to be used by smugglers. Another official said engineers were installing tunnel detection equipment along the border, which is about seven miles long. He refused to confirm that a wall was also being planned. Both Israel and Egypt have made strenuous efforts to counter the tunnels, built since Israel began to enforce a semi-blockade of Gaza after it was seized by the Islamist movement Hamas in 2007. It allows some basic supplies through, while Egypt opens the Rafah crossing once a month for up to three days to allow people to cross. The construction of a wall would renew vociferous criticism Egypt has endured from parts of the Middle East for being complicit in Israeli policies. Egypt refused to open the border even during the Israeli attack on Gaza last winter, and has also arrested alleged Hizbollah sympathisers, among other things for trying to infiltrate weapons into Gaza from Egyptian territory. Attempts by its border guards to close off tunnels, and even Israeli bombing raids, have failed to prevent a thriving trade, which is overseen by Hamas. New tunnels are built as others are discovered. A wall, however, would be a different matter and would throttle the Gazan economy even further. The first security source said the barrier's components were made in the United States. The project, in its six month, would take a year and a half to be completed.	
Thailand's red-shirted people stage rally in Bangkok_English_Xinhua	 BANGKOK, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) or the red-shirted people Thursday staged a rally in Thailand's capital Bangkok. By Thursday afternoon, approximately some 3,000 red-shirted people are protesting near the Democracy Monument in the center of capital Bangkok, while they said they will not march to other places. The red-shirted people have claimed they are gathering in a bid to demand for democracy as Thursday, Dec. 10 marks Thailand's Constitution Day. The UDD group is holding an academic discussion concerning the democracy and will stop their activities and disperse at 24:00 p.m. local time. Meanwhile, in a bid to maintain law and order, security check points by policemen have been set up surrounding the rally site, Thai News Agency reported. The Bangkok Metropolitan Police has deployed some 1,500 policemen to ensure security at the rally site as some 1,500 other policemen have been on standby. The First Army Area Command is willing to help the police at the rally site if requested by the Bangkok Metropolitan Police. The people nearby the rally site have been asked to help report to police if they discover any abnormal event.
Pakistan and FBI confirm US Muslims arrested	 Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The US and Pakistan have confirmed that five suspected militants arrested during a raid on a house in Pakistan are US nationals wanted by the FBI. FBI officials said they were the same men who disappeared from their homes in the US state of Virginia last month. Their families reported them missing after finding a farewell video message, showing scenes of war and calling for Muslims to be defended. Police said the men were arrested after offering their services for attacks. They say that the expectation is that they will be deported. The men hold US passports. Two of them are Pakistani-Americans, while the remaining three are of Eritrean, Ethiopian and Egyptian origin, officials said. The five were arrested earlier this week in the city of Sarghoda, about 190 km (120 miles) south-east of the capital, Islamabad, officials said. They were offering their service to carry out attacks   They were detained in a raid on a house belonging to an uncle of one of them, the Pakistani embassy in Washington said. A statement from the FBI said: ""Five missing individuals from the Washington DC area have been located and are in the custody of Pakistani police. ""The men were detained without incident and four were found to have US passports."" An FBI special agent and two other US government officials had spoken to some of the men, the statement added. The house was raided after a period of surveillance Dr Usman Anwar, Sarghoda's police chief, said laptops, mobile phones and maps of Pakistani cities were recovered from the property during the operation. Dr Anwar said the men had been in direct contact with various militant groups in Pakistan since August. ""They were offering their service to carry out attacks, although we don't know what their target was at the moment,"" he told the BBC. He said the FBI was in Sarghoda and was examining the evidence retrieved from the scene of the raid. The five men, all students, were reported missing from their homes in northern Virginia by their families in late November. The families reportedly passed on a video to members of the US Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair). Nihad Awad, the council's executive director, said the video appeared to be ""like a farewell"". ""One person appeared in that video and they made references to the ongoing conflict in the world, and that young Muslims have to do something,"" Mr Awad told Associated Press news agency. He said the video had made him ""uncomfortable"" and he had advised the men's families to contact the FBI. The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says that while it is not unusual for foreigners with suspected hardline Islamic links to be arrested in Pakistan, it is unusual for Americans who may be wanted by the FBI to be detained.
Bankruptcy an option for energy giant	 Jody Freeman, director of the environmental law program at Harvard Law School, said that without government support BP faced an ""avalanche of litigation"" that threatened to cripple the oil company and could take decades to resolve in the US courts. ""It is going to be overwhelming,"" she said. ""People within the company will now be quietly looking at possible bankruptcy as a way out."" Professor Freeman said the US government's decision to raise its estimate for the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico to 35,000-60,000 barrels a day was potentially devastating for BP. The figure is up to 60 times BP's initial estimate of 1000 barrels and represents a spill equivalent to the Exxon Valdez incident, in Alaska in 1989, every four days. Under US law, BP will be fined for the spill according to its size, at the rate of $US1100-$US4300 a barrel. The formula suggests BP's civil fines have been increasing at the rate of up to $US258 million a day for the past 59 days - and are likely to continue until a relief well can be drilled in August. Further billion-dollar penalties will also be incurred for violations of the Clean Water Act and other legislation. The figures exclude a $US20bn compensation fund agreed yesterday with President Barack Obama for victims of the spill. BP had profits of $US17bn last year and sales of $US239bn. The company has denied talk of bankruptcy.
A Bad Day for Joe Barton and Tony Hayward	 BP's embattled CEO Tony Hayward arrived on Capitol Hill this morning to a swarm of cameras, still photographers and reporters waiting for him the moment he enterned the Rayburn House Office Building. Hayward made a beeline to the hearing room, ignoring reporters' questions, but found a whole other scrum of journalists waiting for him inside. He had to withstand an awkward five minutes just standing by the witness table as dozens of still photographers snapped photos and about 20 cameras surrounded him to get their shots. When the hearing finally began, Hayward sat all alone at the witness table with a cup and a pitcher of ice water in front of him. He looked exhausted as he listened to members' opening statements for almost two hours before he began his own. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman came out swinging, saying that top executives at BP were ""oblivious"" to saftey issues with the Deepwater Horizon rig. Waxman also reminded Hayward that when he first became CEO of BP, he'd promised to focus on safety ""like a laser."" Hayward sat through members questioning whether he should still hold his job, as well as members who played tapes of widows of the oil rig workers who died, asking for those responsible for the spill to be penalized harshly so their husbands' deaths would not be in vain. But then there was a moment of great reprieve for the CEO. ""I apologize,"" said Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, to Tony Hayward. Audible gasps could be heard in the hearing room. Barton was objecting to the $20 billion escrow account to pay claims that the White House pressured BP to accept. He said it amounted to a ""shakedown."" Barton's apology caused a firestorm. He may have actually had a worse day than Tony Hayward. House Republican Leader John Boehner almost immediately told reporters that he disagreed with Barton's categorization. One Republican who represents Pencsacola, Fla. even called for Barton to step down from the top GOP post on the Energy and Commerce Committee. While Barton, who'd left the hearing, huddled with GOP leadership in Boehner's office, Hayward played a game of dodge ball that infuriated lawmakers. To almost any specific question about cement bond logs or the Macondo oil well, Hayward refused to answer, saying that he could not until the investigation into the spill is complete. He did divulge that no employee at BP has been fired yet because, he said, ""the investigation is ongoing."" Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) sarcastically asked Hayward if he could answer whether today is Thursday or not.
North Korea agrees nuclear 'co-operation' with US	 The Yongbyon nuclear facility is the North's key nuclear site North Korea says it will continue to co-operate with the US on ending its nuclear programme and agrees that stalled talks need to resume. The country's foreign ministry said Pyongyang would work with the US to ""narrow remaining differences"". The announcement comes following a visit to Pyongyang by US President Barack Obama's special envoy Stephen Bosworth. This was the country's first official reaction after three days of talks. State media quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying: ""[North Korea] and the United States agreed to continue cooperation in order to narrow remaining differences. Feb 2007 - North Korea agrees to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for fuel aid Oct 2008 - The US removes North Korea from its list of countries which sponsor terrorism Dec 2008 - Pyongyang slows work to dismantle its nuclear programme, after a US decision to suspend energy aid April 2009 - Pyongyang launches a rocket carrying what it says is a communications satellite 5 August 2009 - Former US President Bill Clinton visits to help secure the release of two detained US journalists 6 October 2009 - North Korea tells China it may be willing to return to six-party talks ""The two sides were able to deepen mutual understanding, narrow differences in views and find considerable common ground. ""A series of mutual understandings were also reached on the need to resume [six party talks]"". Mr Bosworth had earlier described the talks as ""useful"" but said he did not know when talks would be resumed. These were the first official discussions between the US and North Korea since Mr Obama took office. North Korea walked away from six-party nuclear talks earlier this year, but then said it could return. These discussions - involving the US, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas - are aimed at getting rid of the North's nuclear capabilities in return for aid and security guarantees. North Korea had said it would never again get involved in the talks. But China managed to persuade officials in Pyongyang to consider returning. The BBC's Michael Bristow says that Mr Bosworth's trip was aimed at showing North Korea the ""different future"" that awaited it if it rejoined talks and eventually gave up its nuclear ambitions. Mr Bosworth met several top officials, although not the leader, Kim Jong-il. Mr Bosworth is now due to fly to Tokyo, Beijing and Moscow to brief officials from the other nations involved in the six-party talks before heading home.	
The matches of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil?	 Your device doesn't seem to support Adobe Flash plug in.	
Kaita kick opens door for Greece victory	 BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) - A moment of schoolyard silliness by Nigeria's Sani Kaita reversed the match dynamic and opened the door for Greece to seal their first ever World Cup finals victory with a 2-1 win in Group B on Thursday. The result -- which also saw Greece's score their first goals in the World Cup finals -- kept alive their chances of progressing to the second round, although they face a surging Argentina in their final group match. Kaita was sent off in the 33rd minute with Nigeria already a goal ahead for shoving and kicking out at Vassilis Torosidis when the ball was out of play. A Kalu Uche free-kick had given Nigeria the lead in the 16th minute and the Super Eagles were playing with the grace and power that had made them one of Africa's great hopes in the continent's first World Cup. ""We started the game well, controlled the game, got the goal and then had a sending off. That caused us problems, especially in the first half,"" Nigeria coach Lars Lagerback said after the match. ""I couldn't see what happened from my position, what I heard they said he kicked him with the underside of his shoe. I see the Greek player laying, holding his head, so I really don't know. It looks very strange,"" Lagerback said. With Kaita off the pitch, coach Otto Rehhagel replaced defensive midfielder Socratis Papastathopoulos with striker Giorgos Samaras, who minutes later had a shot cleared off the line.
UN appeals for 4.4 billion USD to aid people in Syria - Xinhua	 UNITED NATIONS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The UN on Friday launched an appeal for 4.4 billion U.S. dollars, the largest aid request in the world body's history, to help the estimated 6.8 million people in need of dire humanitarian assistance in Syria this year, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters here. ""In Geneva on Friday, the United Nations launched an appeal for Syria, asking for 4.4 billion dollars for the whole of 2013,"" Nesirky said at a daily news briefing. At this time, the ""UN appeals for Syria have already received about 1.24 billion dollars in funding so far, leaving 3.1 billion dollars in unmet requirements until the end of the year,"" he said. The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos, said that ""an estimated 6.8 million people now need urgent help,"" Nesirky said here. ""That is one in three Syrians in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, in addition to the more than 80,000 people who she said have been killed,"" Nesirky said, quoting Amos, who is also the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Meanwhile, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, Antonio Guterres, said, ""The situation in the region has worsened dramatically, with over 1.6 million Syrians now sheltering in the neighboring countries and in North Africa."" DAMASCUS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Foreign Ministry hailed Friday the Russian offer to replace Austrian peacekeepers in the Golan Heights after Austria decided to pull out its troops due to the rising tension on the Syrian borders with the Israeli-occupied territory. UNITED NATIONS, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission is slated to announce an additional 400-million- euro urgent humanitarian aid for Syria and neighboring countries on Friday, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters here Thursday, adding that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the upcoming announcement. BRUSSELS, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union (EU) on Friday announced to extend the economic sanctions against Syria for one year, said a EU statement. According to the statement, the restrictive measures will apply until 1 June 2014 and include a number of export and import bans, such as oil embargo, as well as restrictions on investments, financial activity and the transport sector.
More than 3,000 Chinese evacuated from Vietnam after violence - Xinhua	 Chinese nationals cross to Cambodia from Vietnam at the Bavet international checkpoint in Svay Rieng province May 15, 2014. The violence was triggered by China's positioning of a $1 billion oil rig in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Hanoi, a move described by the United States as provocative. It is the worst breakdown in ties between the two Communist neighbours since a short border war in 1979. The evacuation followed days of clashes between Vietnamese rioters and Chinese workers. Crowds of thousands massed as rioters turned against Chinese workers and Chinese-owned businesses, or those thought to be Chinese, smashing windows, gates and walls and torching vehicles and factories. The trouble broke out in Vietnam's south on Tuesday after nationalist rage boiled over during protests around industrial parks near Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. Two Chinese nationals were killed in the violence and more than 100 others injured, Xinhua said, citing China's foreign ministry. China is to send five ships to Vietnam on Sunday to evacuate more Chinese nationals, Xinhua said, citing the transport ministry In Beijing. Sixteen critically injured Chinese nationals were evacuated from Vietnam early on Sunday aboard a chartered medical flight arranged by the Chinese government, the foreign ministry said in a separate statement. Workers from the China 19th Metallurgical Corporation, a contractor for an iron and steel plant being built by Formosa Plastics Group, Taiwan's biggest investor in Vietnam, were evacuated back to China early on Sunday, Xinhua said. On Saturday, China's Foreign Ministry advised Chinese nationals to hold off from travelling to Vietnam and told its citizens in Vietnam to avoid leaving their premises. Separately, China's Spring and Autumn Airline said it plans to suspend all charter flights from Shanghai to Vietnam from Monday, according to Xinhua.	
'Hundreds killed' in Uzbekistan violence	 A human rights campaigner today said that 500 people may have died in violent clashes in Uzbekistan in which government troops fired on protesters to put down an uprising. The Uzbek president, Islam Karimov, claimed that authorities tried to negotiate a peaceful end to protests, but that troops were forced to open fire when insurgents who had seized a government building attempted to break through an advancing line of police and soldiers. Mr Karimov blamed Islamic militants for the violence saying that the rebels who seized the state building belonged to the outlawed Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. He said 10 police and troops were killed and 100 wounded, but made no mention of dead or wounded among protesters. But a human rights campaigner in Andijan, Saidzhakhon Zainabitdinov from the Uzbek rights group Appeal, told Reuters by telephone: ""The total number of deaths could reach 500 people from both sides."" Soldiers loyal to Mr Karimov, who has maintained tight control over the Central Asian nation, fired on thousands of demonstrators Friday to put down an uprising that began when armed men freed 2,000 inmates from prison, including suspects on trial for alleged Islamic extremism Relatives of the victims today condemned the government, accusing troops of killing innocent civilians. Hundreds of protesters gathered in Andijan placing six bodies on display from among the scores that witnesses said were killed in fighting. Lutfulo Shamsutdinov, the head of the Independent Human Rights Organisation of Uzbekistan, said he had seen bodies of about 200 victims being loaded onto trucks near the square in the city of Andijan. Mr Karimov said negotiations with the militants collapsed after they demanded all their followers be released from jails across the Fergana valley, the conservative heartland of Central Asia. ""To accept their terms would mean that we are setting a precedent that no other country in the world would accept,"" Mr Karimov said.	
Man with fake bomb killed at embassy in Tashkent Israel News	 U.S. drone kills seven militants in Pakistan, official says (DPA) Lieberman to reveal Yisrael Beiteinu list on Monday, vows to get 16 Knesset seats (Haaretz) Schoolbus catches fire near Jerusalem suburb of Pisgat Ze'ev; no injuries (Haaretz) Two men reach top of Yosemite's El Capitan in historic climb (AP) Republican 2016 convention to take place July 18-21 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio (AP)
Turkey mine disaster: 25 arrested over Soma deaths	 Turkish police have arrested 25 people following the country's worst-ever mining disaster, remanding three of them in custody. Those held - who include the general manager of the mine - were questioned in the western town of Soma. The bodies of the last missing workers were recovered on Saturday. The final death toll stands at 301. There have been fierce protests against the government and the operators of the coal mine in recent days. Among those arrested on Sunday were general manager Ramazan Dogru and the mine's operations manager Akin Celik, Turkey's Dogan news agency said. Muzaffer Yildirim, a miner whose brother died in Tuesday's incident, told the BBC the managers were responsible for the disaster and ""should be punished"". It occurred when an explosion sent carbon monoxide gas into the mine's tunnels while 787 miners were underground. Soma Holding insists it was not caused by negligence. A representative said on Friday that an unexplained build-up of heat appeared to have led to the collapse. On Saturday, hundreds of people marched through the western city of Izmir and there were protests in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara. In Soma local authorities have banned demonstrations. Police have set up checkpoints and detained dozens of people on Saturday.	
China evacuates thousands of citizens from Vietnam after deadly attacks	 China has evacuated more than 3,000 of its citizens from Vietnam and is sending ships to retrieve more of them after deadly anti-Chinese violence erupted last week over a territorial dispute between the two countries. Five Chinese ships will travel to Vietnam to help with the evacuation, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Sunday, citing the Ministry of Transport. One of the ships has already set off from the southern island province of Hainan, the ministry said. Sixteen critically injured Chinese citizens were flown out of Vietnam on Sunday morning on a chartered medical plane organized by Chinese authorities, Xinhua said. Two Chinese citizens were killed and more than 100 others were injured in the violence that hit parts of Vietnam last week, according to the news agency. Some of the worst violence appeared to have taken place in the central coastal province of Ha Tinh. Foreign factories, particularly those run by companies from China and Taiwan, were burned and looted by rioters outraged over Beijing's decision to send an oil rig into waters of the South China Sea that both countries claim as sovereign territory. Vietnamese authorities initially allowed protests, which are usually forbidden in the country, to take place over the Chinese move. But after the unrest spiraled lethally out of control, the government tried to rein in its angry citizens. On Saturday, the government sent out a series of text messages to cell-phone users saying Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was urging people ""not to participate in illegal protests that cause public disorder and harm social safety."" Chinese officials have repeatedly called on Vietnam to take action over the riots, protect Chinese citizens and help victims. Vietnamese authorities have arrested hundreds of suspects and started legal proceedings against several of them, Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA reported Saturday, citing Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang. He described the attacks as regrettable, saying dozens of police officers were injured as they tried to bring the situation under control.
South Korea to break up coastguard after ferry disaster	 South Korea plans to break up its coastguard in the wake of the ferry disaster in which more than 300 people died, says President Park Geun-hye. In a televised address, Ms Park apologised formally for the sinking. A new safety agency would handle rescue duties, with investigative functions passing to the police, she said. The Sewol ferry disaster on 16 April killed 286 passengers, most of whom were high school students. Another 18 are still missing. ""The ultimate responsibility of the poor response to this accident lies with me,"" Ms Park said. She said the coastguard had ""failed to fulfil its original duties"" and ""had it actively carried out rescue efforts immediately after the accident"", more lives could have been saved. Ms Park added that in its current form, the coastguard would be unable to prevent another large-scale disaster. ""The coastguard continued to get bigger in size but did not have enough personnel and budget allocated for maritime safety, and training for rescue was very much insufficient,"" she said, according to Reuters. Ms Park's office told agencies that her plans had to be approved by the National Assembly, in which her Saenuri party maintains a majority. The planned disbanding of the coastguard is one of several reforms the South Korean leader announced on Monday. 
" The Pope is due to visit Birmingham and Scotland in September The Foreign Office has apologised for a ""foolish"" document which suggested the Pope's visit to the UK could be marked by the launch of ""Benedict"" condoms. Called ""The ideal visit would see..."", it said the Pope could be invited to open an abortion clinic and bless a gay marriage during September's visit. The Foreign Office stressed the paper, which resulted from a ""brainstorm"" on the visit, did not reflect its views. The Bishop of Nottingham said, if anything, it was ""appalling manners"". The Rt Rev Malcolm McMahon said: ""I think it's a lot worse that we invite someone into our country - a person like the Pope - and then he's treated in this way. ""I think it's appalling manners more than anything else."" The junior civil servant responsible had been put on other duties, the Foreign Office said. Details of the document emerged after it was obtained by the Sunday Telegraph. The UK's ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Campbell, has met senior officials of the Holy See to express regret on behalf of the government. Foreign Secretary David Miliband is said to have been ""appalled"" by the incident. It's clear that what the Foreign Office has called ""this foolish document"" did not reflect government policy. Its tone is clearly frivolous, and it came from junior officials. But it has, nevertheless, the potential to cause considerable damage. Whether fairly or not, it will leave some Catholics with the impression of a culture within official circles in which their Church's teaching is not taken seriously. Some will suspect prejudice against faith groups. Perhaps most damaging of all, it could leave an impression that the Pope might be regarded as a figure of fun less than five months before his visit to Britain. Apart from the pressure on the papal visit from public feeling about sex abuse, and the threat of demonstrations against the Pope, the government needs the Vatican's help in a global diplomatic effort to curb climate change and fight poverty. How serious and far-reaching the effect of the document is depends partly on how the Church itself responds. The paper was attached as one of three ""background documents"" to a memo dated 5 March 2010 inviting officials in Whitehall and Downing Street to attend a meeting to discuss themes for the papal visit. It suggested Benedict XVI could show his hard line on the sensitive issue of child abuse allegations against Roman Catholic priests by ""sacking dodgy bishops"" and launching a helpline for abused children. The document went on to propose the Pope could apologise for the Spanish Armada or sing a song with the Queen for charity. It listed ""positive"" public figures who could be made part of the Pope's visit, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair and 2009 Britain's Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle, and those considered ""negative"", such as Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney and prominent atheist Richard Dawkins. The civil servant responsible for sending round the memo said in a cover note: ""Please protect; these should not be shared externally. The 'ideal visit' paper in particular was the product of a brainstorm which took into account even the most far-fetched of ideas."" An investigation was launched after some recipients of the memo, said to have been circulated to a restricted list, objected to its tone. A Foreign Office spokesman said the department was ""deeply sorry"" for any offence the document had caused. ""This is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect UK government or Foreign Office policy or views. Many of the ideas in the document are clearly ill-judged, naive and disrespectful,"" he said. ""The text was not cleared or shown to ministers or senior officials before circulation. As soon as senior officials became aware of the document, it was withdrawn from circulation. ""The individual responsible has been transferred to other duties. He has been told orally and in writing that this was a serious error of judgement and has accepted this view."" The Foreign Office said the memo had resulted from discussions by a group of three or four junior staff in a team working on early planning for the papal visit. A source told the BBC News website the individual since moved to other duties had called the group together for ""some blue-skies creative thinking about how to make the visit a success"", but their discussions had become ""a joke that has gone too far"". The source added that others in the group had been spoken to about the incident, but had not faced any formal action. I think it's a joke that has gone wrong - light relief that has gone out of control.   Bishop McMahon said he hoped it was meant to be ""light hearted"". But he added: ""That in itself can be dangerous if these memos move around the departments, they tend to gain momentum."" He said he did not think Catholics would be upset by the memo as they ""are used to getting a bad press"". Jack Valero from the organisation Catholic Voices said he was not taking the memo seriously. ""I think it's a joke that has gone wrong - light relief that has gone out of control. And I think Catholics will just take it like this, you know, that they'll think about it today and then they will forget about it."" He said those that have been scarred by abortion would find the joke ""a bit thin"". But he added: ""In the Catholic church we are used to forgiveness, it's part of our culture to forgive people's mistakes."" Earlier this year the Pope announced 2010 would see the first papal visit to the UK since John Paul II's visit in 1982. Pope Benedict XVI's visit will take place from 16 to 19 September, during which time he is expected to visit Birmingham, as part of the planned beatification of Cardinal John Newman, and Scotland. The visit will come in the autumn of what is proving to be a difficult year for the Pope with a wave of allegations that Church authorities in Europe and North and South America failed to deal properly with priests accused of paedophilia. The Pope himself has been accused of being part of a culture of secrecy and of not taking strong enough steps against paedophiles when he had that responsibility as a cardinal in Rome. However, his supporters say he has been the most pro-active Pope yet in confronting abuse."
" ISLAMABAD, June 19 (Xinhua) -- At least five policemen were killed and 14 others injured in four separate attacks against the police forces which were launched by terrorists from late Friday night till Saturday afternoon in different parts of Pakistan. The first attack took place in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh late Friday night when four unknown gunmen fired at a police van patrolling on the street in Sanghar, a city in the central part of Sindh province, killing two policemen and injuring three others. One of the injured cops is said to be in critical condition. The second attack report came in from Pakistan's northwest province of Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa (formerly called North West Frontier Province) at about 8 am (local time) Saturday morning. During the attack, a remote-controlled bomb blast near a police van injuring five cops and four civilians. About 14 suspects were arrested by the police during the search operation following the blast, which went off in the province's southern district of Dera Ismail Khan. Shortly after this, another report came in from the country's southwest province of Balochistan, saying one police officer was killed and three of his colleagues were injured by unidentified gunmen while on a routine patrol Saturday morning in the province' s capital city of Quetta. The fourth attack occurred at about 3 pm (local time) Saturday afternoon when an unknown number of terrorists attacked a city court in Karachi, the largest city located on the southern tip of Pakistan, by throwing hand grenades and opening fire at the police near the court, killing at least one policeman and injuring three others."
" (CNN) -- Gunfire at a combat post in Afghanistan killed a French soldier and wounded an Afghan translator, French officials said Saturday. The soldier died at a hospital in Kabul from injuries suffered in the gunfight Friday, a statement from the French president's office said. The statement said President Nicolas Sarkozy sent his condolences to the soldier's family and hoped the injured translator would quickly recover. ""The head of state reaffirmed his support to the Afghan people and Afghan authorities,"" the statement said. ""He strongly condemned this blind violence and expressed France's determination to continue to work as part of the International Security Assistance Force."""
" Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A missile attack on a militant hideout in North Waziristan killed at least 13 people and injured six others Saturday morning, officials in northwest Pakistan said. A local government official and a Pakistani intelligence official said a suspected U.S. drone fired the two missiles involved in the attack. The officials asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Officials said the militant hideout was in a village near the capital of North Waziristan, one of seven districts of Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan. U.S. officials normally do not comment on suspected drone strikes. The United States is the only country in the region known to have the ability to launch missiles from drones, which are controlled remotely."
" Gen Musharraf has promised to step down once the Supreme Court validates his new term as president - a decision is expected in the next few days. Meanwhile, Gen Musharraf is finalising a new, caretaker government to run the country once the current parliament's term expires at midnight local time. State television said an announcement was expected later on Thursday. The interim government is expected to take Pakistan into parliamentary elections due in January. It comes as the two main opposition leaders, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, say they have begun talks on forming an alliance. The Supreme Court is to rule on whether Gen Musharraf's re-election last month was legal, and is also hearing a challenge to the emergency rule. Correspondents say he is expected to win both cases after changing the make-up of the court when he declared the emergency on 3 November, sacking several judges who had shown judicial independence. Meanwhile, the international television channels BBC and CNN have returned to Pakistani screens, and two of the four main national news channels are back on air. The government took the independent broadcast media off cable as part of strict curbs under the state of emergency. Gen Musharraf had accused some broadcasters of adding to the political uncertainty that led to emergency rule."
" Mohammedmian Soomro is set to be formally sworn in on Friday, after the end of the five-year parliament term. The announcement came as key opposition leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif considered forming an alliance. In the first reported deaths since the state of emergency was imposed, three people died in protests in Karachi. Two boys, said to be aged around 11 or 12, and an adult died when gunfire broke out during a demonstration against Ms Bhutto's detention, police said. Several other people were reportedly wounded. The National Assembly dissolved at midnight after its five-year term came to an end. A caretaker government will be sworn in on Friday. Mr Soomro, a member of Gen Musharraf's ruling Pakistan Muslim League Q party, will take over as prime minister from Shaukat Aziz, who is leaving office after three years. Mr Musharraf confirmed the appointment at a dinner on Thursday, at which he wore a black suit instead of his military uniform, reported AFP news agency. ""We are introducing a new culture of smooth transition which is as it should be in civilised societies. The assemblies are completing their five-year term in a better way than before,"" Mr Musharraf was quoted as saying. The appointment came as the Supreme Court heard a challenge to emergency rule imposed earlier this month."
" Rashid Rauf faced charges of being in possession of false identity papers and bomb-making materials. Relatives of Mr Rauf told the BBC that he had been taken from jail on Thursday in a police convoy. However, police say he is still being held in jail because they have not been told to release him."
" The troops attacked rebel positions in the mountains of Swat using helicopter gunships and artillery. Two soldiers were also killed in the attack, the army said. Located near the country's restive tribal area along the Afghan border, Swat has been the scene of recent clashes between the two sides. The authorities say there are fears that the Swat valley is becoming a haven for al-Qaeda and the Taleban and last month the army sent reinforcements to the area. The men were killed on Wednesday in a series of attacks in Swat, a valley about 160kms (100 miles) northwest of the capital, Islamabad, army spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said. ""Helicopters were used in the operation. They shelled known militant positions on hill tops,"" he said. ""In one incident a vehicle carrying 17 militants was targeted, the vehicle fell from a hilltop and all were killed. They were militants, there is no doubt, they had arms,"" he added. Officials said the dead militants were loyal to a pro-Taleban rebel cleric, Maulana Fazlullah. An army statement said militants fired six mortar rounds on Wednesday at the airport near Mingora, the region's main town, killing two troops and injuring five more. Ringed by mountains, the Swat Valley is a scenic area traditionally popular with tourists, but has been overrun by militants in recent times."
" Some of those freed from jail are leading the protest, and include 23 local businessmen who were facing trial on charges of Islamic extremism. Their families say the men are innocent and have been unfairly targeted. President Islam Karimov reportedly left for Andijan several hours ago but his current whereabouts are unknown. Earlier, shots were fired into the crowd. Nine people were killed and 34 injured, according to government officials. Protesters are calling for ""justice"" and ""freedom"". The BBC's correspondent in Tashkent, Monica Whitlock, says the unrest feeds on long pent-up anger in Andijan regarding the treatment of prisoners, poverty, unemployment and other social problems. Overnight, a group of unidentified armed men broke open Andijan jail, freeing everyone inside - perhaps as many as 4,000 inmates, both political prisoners and ordinary criminals. They poured out into the city, some of them carrying guns. ""The people have risen,"" AP news agency quoted Valijon Atakhonjonov, the brother of a defendant in the long-running trial. Some protesters have occupied the mayor's office in Andijan, while the majority are in the main square."
 Arsenal fans have lined the streets of north London for the team's victory parade after the Gunners won the FA Cup with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Hull City at Wembley yesterday. The triumph ended the club's nine-year trophy drought.
" Ruling military authorities in Myanmar said opposition forces found guilty of encouraging a boycott of Sunday's general election could face jail time. Myanmar has general elections scheduled Sunday, the first time for such a vote in more than 20 years. Opposition groups in the country are calling for a boycott of the polls. Authorities, however, said anyone ""inciting the people to boycott"" faces a financial penalty, one year in prison, or both, opposition newspaper Democratic Voice of Burma reports. Myanmar authorities said the general election is a positive step toward civilian leadership, though international observers have raised doubts about the claims. There are 37 parties slated to take part in the Sunday election, though the military junta is slated to win as it is fielding more than 1,000 candidates. Opposition groups are fielding about 10 percent of that number. The United Nations said Myanmar could ease international concerns by releasing opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. Authorities said she could be freed by Nov. 13, though the opposition newspaper said authorities may find more reasons to extend her detention."
" Thousands of protesters surged through the streets of an eastern Uzbekistani city on Friday, enraged by the government's decision to jail 23 Muslim businessmen on charges of religious extremism. An armed crowd took over the high-security jail in Andijon shortly after midnight and released as many as several thousand prisoners. The Uzbek human-rights group Appeal said the gunmen also seized the regional administration building, but a government spokesman denied it. Thousands of people were said to be rallying outside the building, amid reports of gunfire between protesters and police. Several buildings were torched. ""It is not clear who is in charge of the town,"" said a spokesman for Appeal, Faidjahon Zainobidinov. He said more than 2,000 prisoners were freed, but estimates from other people ranged from as little as a few dozen to more than 4,000. President Islam Karimov flew to the city, which lies about 480 kilometres southeast of Tashkent in the Ferghana Valley. Peaceful demonstrations have been held for weeks to demand the release of the 23 men, who are currently awaiting a verdict after a trial that ended Wednesday. They're accused of belonging to an extremist cell that plotted to overthrow the government and establish an Islamic state. But their defenders insist the charges were trumped-up by a government that wanted to crack down on independent-minded community leaders who might challenge its authority."
" State media in Burma has urged people to cast their ballots ""without fail"" in Sunday's polls, warning against a boycott. Voting was a ""national duty"", the reports said, and calls for people to refrain from voting should be ignored. One commentary went further, suggesting the military could remain in power if voter turn-out was not deemed adequate. The elections will be the first to be held in the military-ruled nation for two decades. The junta says the polls will mark a democratic transition from military to civilian rule - and wants a strong turn-out. But critics say the elections are a sham aimed at further entrenching military rule albeit in a civilian mask. The main pro-democracy party, led by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is not taking part. In recent days a number of articles have appeared in state-run media telling Burmese people to vote in the 7 November polls. ""Every citizen who values democracy and wants democratic rule must cast their votes without fail,"" said an editorial in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Sunday. ""However, some people are inciting the people to refrain from voting in the elections. They are attempting to mislead the people who are walking along the road to multi-party democracy,"" it said."
" But Condoleezza Rice appealed to Muslims to resist calls for violence, after at least seven deaths in three days of protests in Afghanistan. The US authorities say they are investigating the allegations. Ms Rice said desecration was abhorrent and disrespect for the Koran would not be tolerated. The Saudi government has voiced ""deep indignation"" at the reported desecration, in the first official reaction from an Arab state. Riyadh said the inquiry should be rapid and, if the allegations are found to be true, measures should be taken to prevent it ever happening again. Speaking before a Senate committee, Ms Rice urged Muslims in America and throughout the world to stop the violence. ""I am asking that all our friends around the world reject incitement to violence by those who would mischaracterise our intentions,"" she said. ""Disrespect for the holy Koran is not now, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be, tolerated by the United States,"" she said. At least seven people have died and many more have been hurt in the last few days as hundreds rioted in Afghanistan. The protests followed reports in Newsweek magazine that interrogators at the US Guantanamo Bay prison had flushed at least one copy of the Koran down a toilet."
" Riyadh called for a quick investigation into the alleged incident and for the perpetrators to be punished. It is the first Arab state to comment officially on the reports. Reaction in the Arab world has been muted. On Thursday the US secretary of state promised prompt action if allegations of desecration prove true. At least seven people have died in Afghanistan in anti-American protests sparked by the reports. But Condoleezza Rice appealed to Muslims to resist calls for violence. The US authorities say they are investigating the allegations. But head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, told a Pentagon press conference that investigations so far had not turned up any evidence to back the claims. ""The government of Saudi Arabia is closely following, with indignation, media reports of desecration of the holy Koran at Guantanamo,"" a statement carried by the official news agency said. Saudi Arabia ""appeals to the concerned American authorities to carry out a quick investigation in the matter"". Riyadh ""stresses that in case the reports were true, deterrent measures should be taken against those perpetrators to prevent its recurrence and to protect the sentiments of Muslims all over the world""."
" Hungary's conservative opposition party Fidesz has won a two-thirds general election victory, second round results have confirmed. With 99.22% of votes counted, the party had nearly 68% of the popular vote and 263 of the 386 seats in parliament, the national election committee said. Almost a third of the seats were left to be decided on Sunday following the first round two weeks ago. The ruling Socialists were in second place on 15% (59 seats), the far-right Jobbik had 12% (47 seats) and a new Green party called Politics Can be Different had 4.1% (16 seats). One seat went to an independent. Fidesz leader Viktor Orban is set to become prime minister. Mr Orban welcomed the result, saying he would rule ""with humility"". He told supporters: ""We saw a revolution in the polling stations."" The entire leadership of the Socialist party, who had governed for the past eight years, tendered its resignation after the results were revealed. The second round of the election was fought in 57 constituencies where no single candidate had won more than 50% of the vote in the first round. A two-thirds majority will give Fidesz the chance to change the constitution, the BBC's Nick Thorpe reports from Budapest."
" With nearly all second round votes counted, conservative Fidesz had won 263 seats, above the 258 needed for the two-thirds majority, ousting the Socialists after eight years and securing a mandate to enact reforms and revive the economy. ""Revolution happened today in the polling booths,"" said Viktor Orban, the country's next prime minister. ""Hungarian people today have ousted the regime of oligarchs who misused their power, and the people have established a new regime, the regime of national unity."" Fidesz was last in power between 1998 and 2002 and Mr Orban can now form the first non-coalition government with a two-thirds mandate in Hungary's 20-year post-communist history. The newly formed far-Right Jobbik gained 47 seats, behind the ruling Socialist Party, who will have 59 deputies in the next parliament. Fidesz, which led the governing coalition in 1998-2002, has pledged to reduce bloated national and local government payrolls, simplify the tax system, grant citizenship to ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries and halve the number of parliamentary deputies. Jobbik has used the economic crisis to revive traditional Hungarian scapegoating of Jewish and gipsy, or Roma, communities for joblessness and poverty. It has close links with the Magyar Garda, or Hungarian Guard, a banned paramilitary group with insignia modelled on the Arrow Cross of Hungary's wartime Nazis. Gabor Vona, 31, Jobbik's leader, has vowed to be sworn in as an MP wearing the banned uniform."
"So far as I heard, about 20 ministers ... and some deputy ministers will officially give up their military positions effective this week,"" a government official told Reuters by telephone from the capital, Naypyitaw. ""However, they will remain in their present cabinet positions for some time,"" added the official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. Among those due to resign from their army posts will be Prime Minister Thein Sein, the official said. The move means the ministers could potentially take parliamentary seats not included in the 25 percent quota allocated to serving armed forces personnel. The general election, a date for which has not yet been set, has been widely dismissed as a move by the military to extend its five-decade hold on power by creating a facade of civilian rule. Under the 2008 constitution passed in a disputed referendum, the armed forces chief will still be the country's most powerful figure and key ministries will remain under military control. Analysts say the legislature will act only as a rubber stamp for the military's policies and will be dominated by the army and its civilian proxies, with independent lawmakers in the minority and largely powerless. ""It's just part of the military's attempt to secure its grip on state power in the post-election period,"" a retired senior civil servant said of the resignations from the military. He also requested anonymity. So far, 19 organizations have requested permission to form political parties to run in the election. Five have been given the go-ahead, most of them believed to be close to the junta. Only four of the existing 10 parties have applied. The deadline for registration is May 6.
Myanmar ministers resign military posts	 Myanmar's prime minister and at least 17 other ministers and deputy ministers Monday resigned their military posts in what appears to be a step towards contesting upcoming polls, military sources said. 'Prime Minister Thein Sein has resigned his post as General in the army, so he is now just U (Mr) Thein Sein,' said a source, who asked to remain anonymous. Myanmar state-run media did not immediately confirm the mass resignation, which appears to be in preparation for ex-military men to contest an upcoming election this year at a still unspecified date. Myanmar's ruling junta has promised polls some time this year as part of their 'seven-step roadmap to democracy.' Regulations on party registrations to contest the election were issued in March, which effectively forced the main opposition party the National League for Democracy (NLD) to choose between dropping their leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, from their ranks or not contesting the polls. The NLD chose not to contest. The regulations bar any person currently serving a prison term for being a political party member, a clause which seems aimed at Suu Kyi, who is serving an 18-month house detention sentence. The junta is expected to register its own party soon which will be led by ex-military men. People holding military positions are not permitted to contest the election. Observers believe the polls will bring a pro-military 'elected' government to power that will assure the generals' stranglehold on the country, which has been ruled by military dictatorships since 1962.
Burma leaders 'shed uniforms for polls'	 Thein Sein (second left) is said to be among the top leaders stepping down Several senior leaders in Burma have stepped down from their military posts so that they can run in forthcoming elections, reports say. PM Thein Sein was said to be among about 20 ministers who retired from military posts late on Monday night. They are expected to run as civilian politicians in Burma's first election in two decades, although it is not yet clear what platform they will use. Critics say Burma's generals are using the polls to strengthen their control. The polls will be the first since those of 1990, which were won overwhelmingly by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD). The NLD was never allowed to take power and it is boycotting these elections because of what it says are unjust electoral laws designed to exclude most of its key leaders. Twenty-five per cent of the seats in Burma's new parliament have already been reserved for the military. But if military officials contested the polls as civilians, the armed forces could potentially take many more seats in the chamber. Analysts say they could form a political party or run under the auspices of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), the junta's mass organisation. Burma's pro-democracy leaders and many Western nations have roundly criticised the laws under which the polls will be conducted. Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior dissidents are banned from participating because of convictions linked to their political activism. No date has yet been set for the elections but they are expected some time this year.	
Woman diplomat accused of passing secrets to Pakistan, arrested	 NEW DELHI: A senior Indian woman diplomat of the level of second secretary in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, has been arrested for passing on Indian state secrets to Pakistan intelligence agencies for two years.53-year-old IFS Group B officer Madhuri Gupta was working in the press wing of the Indian High Commission, according to intelligence sources. It is unlikely that she was a lone spy operating on her own. But there is so far no confirmation of any others arrested or interrogated. According to sources, simultaneously, the station head of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Islamabad R K Sharma has also come under the scanner, according to sources.Home secretary G K Pillai said Gupta had been passing information to Pakistani agencies. ""She has been arrested,"" he said.According to sources, Gupta, a spinster, is alleged to have been taking information from the RAW station head in Islamabad, which was passed to the Pakistani spy agencies.The sources said that the role of Sharma had also come under scanner for allegedly abusing his position and passing information to Gupta. However, it was not clear whether he knew the woman officer's real designs, the sources said.The internal security establishment is extremely cagey about the role of Indian diplomats abroad. The four independent anonymous sources, who confirmed this information to TV channel Times Now, were reluctant to reveal exactly what kind of information the alleged mole was privy to. However suffice to say for now that the officer may have been on the pay-role of the Pakistani establishment, and was allegedly passing on crucial strategic information belonging to Pakistan.The Ministry of External Affairs sources said an official statement will be given out the complete facts in the case. However sources did mention that Gupta, who is also believed to be an Urdu interpreter and a staffer for 30 years who has served in Delhi, Kuala Lumpur and Islamabad, has confessed to the crime.This is the first-ever case of a senior Indian diplomat being arrested for such a crime. What is more, Indian agencies believe that the 45-year-old is just a part of a massive Pakistani spy ring and there may have been others in the Indian diplomatic establishment also engaged in counter espionage. Currently the exact nature of the inducements to Gupta for her services is not known.But the revelation is shocking and will have wide ramifications, coming as it does as the SAARC summit is underway at Thimphu in Bhutan and will doubtless have to be taken up with Pakistan at the highest level. The extent of damage done will also have to be assessed.""She is in the information wing, which is isolated from the political wing and not in the most vital departments and could not have been privy to the most sensitive of documents. However it is a penetration. We earlier had a penetration by East Europeans, but this is a first from Pakistan,"" said former MEA secretary K C Singh reacting to the news.Gupta was apparently being tracked for nearly a year by the Indian government both in Islamabad and in New Delhi at her residence, before being carefully brought over to India on the excuse of SAARC related work. She was detained in New Delhi four days ago, and interrogated by a special group comprising members of different agencies like the Intelligence Bureau , RAW and Delhi police, before being arrested. A court remanded her to further police custody of another five days on Monday.Government sources say Gupta, who was liaising officer between Indian and other embassies in Islamabad, has risen through the ranks and was engaged in espionage for the Pakistanis for about two years. She has been produced in a local court in East Delhi where she stays, and remanded to 10 days police custody.""I am not trying to discriminate on the basis of class, but a person who has not been properly trained and brought up in the values of the services can perhaps be more susceptible to foreign inducements easily. Nevertheless, given the fact that all those working in Islamabad know that they are under watch and being targeted by Pakistani intelligence which is on the lookout for chinks - that they were able to penetrate the embassy is shocking,"" said Union minister Kapil Sibal . He said it was imperative to ascertain what information had been leaked.Speaking in the development, Times Now strategic affairs expert Mahroof Raza said, ""The Indian government would have found it extremely difficult to hold an Indian officer in the High Commission if she was working for the Pakistani government. She would be having patrons in the Pakistani system who would make it extremely difficult to get her back and put her through legal and administrative proceedings. This is perhaps the first time an Indian diplomat has been caught spying overseas and working against Indian interests. This gives a completely different dimension to Pakistan's desire to know what India is up to on foreign policy."
" NEW DELHI, April 27 (Xinhua) -- An Indian diplomat, posted in the Indian High Commission in Pakistan, has been arrested on charges of alleged espionage for Pakistan, Indian Home Secretary G. K. Pillai said on Tuesday. The second secretary-level official, 53-year-old Madhuri Gupta, has been arrested four days ago from her home in east Delhi for alleged passing on information to Pakistani intelligence agencies in Islamabad. She was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs Ministry on the pretext of discussions on the current South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit meeting held in Bhutan. ""Gupta has been passing information to Pakistani agencies. She has been arrested,"" Indian Home Secretary GK Pillai told the media. The official has been suspended and is currently in police custody, sources said. The Press Trust of India said that the station head of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) -- the official spying organ of India -- in Islamabad, R. K. Sharma has also come under the scanner."
" A one-year-old child has died in Malawi after a house collapsed in a series of earthquakes and aftershocks in the northern Karonga district, police say. ""A kitchen collapsed on the child in a village,"" Karonga police spokesman Enock Levason told the BBC. The authorities say at least six other people have been hospitalised since Sunday when the tremors began. Several mainly mud-and-thatch houses in the region have crumbled while the stronger brick ones have cracked. The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre says there are fears that there could be more casualties as the tremors continue. ""Since Sunday we haven't been able to sleep in our house,"" Sailesi Nyirongo from from Kaporo north of the Karonga district centre told our reporter by phone. ""I have two big cracks in my walls and I am afraid [that] although my house may look strong, it might crumble if a stronger earthquake returns."" Leonard Kalindekafe, director of the Malawi Geological Survey, told the BBC the largest tremor was recorded on Tuesday morning with a magnitude of 5.9. Parts of Malawi lie on the Great Rift Valley and so are prone to earthquakes."
" Oil is burned off the surface of the water near the source of Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, July 13, 2010. Stripping out one-off costs, including an additional $7.7 billion charge related to capping the blown-out well, BP said underlying results rose 18 percent, compared to the same period in 2009, to $5.53 billion. This was well ahead of an average forecast $4.60 billion from a Reuters poll of seven analysts, although it lagged an 88 percent rise in underlying profits at rival Royal Dutch Shell Plc and a 55 percent rise in net income at Exxon Mobil, the largest western oil major by market value. The outperformance was due to a big drop in the effective tax rate and strong performance from BP's refining unit. The results, upbeat comments about lifting investments next year and comments suggesting the oil giant could reinstate its dividend in 2011 lifted its shares. These were up 1.2 percent to 430 pence at 1400 GMT, against a 1.0 percent rise in the STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index. ""A lot of the uncertainty is out of the way, and it is slowly but surely getting back to business,"" Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital, said. However, some analysts said the result was not necessarily a harbinger of better things as the tax rate would likely revert toward normal levels and BP itself said it would be hard to repeat the strong profits from the refining unit. ""The underlying beat is therefore of low quality,"" Oswald Clint, oil analyst at Bernstein said in a research note. BP and its rivals benefited from a 12 percent rise in crude prices in the quarter, compared to a year earlier, a 29 percent hike in U.S. natural gas prices and a doubling in British gas prices."
" Mr Schroeder had urged deputies to vote his government down, so he could seek a new mandate for controversial reforms. President Horst Koehler must now decide if there are grounds to call elections a year ahead of the original schedule. An early election is expected to hand power to the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU). After Friday's Bundestag vote Mr Schroeder met President Koehler to request a dissolution of parliament. CDU leader Angela Merkel told the Bundestag that Mr Schroeder's SPD-Green coalition ""can no longer govern"". Polls show 70% of Germans want early elections, which would probably be held on 18 September. Mr Schroeder pointed out in his speech that all Germany's parties wanted early elections. He said his government now had a diminished capacity to act after a string of defeats in regional elections. ""Without a new mandate my political programme cannot be carried forward,"" he said. Some experts questioned whether Mr Schroeder's confidence vote move was constitutional."
" What happened: A massive explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 workers and caused an uncontrollable fire on April 20, destroying the $500-million (U.S.) station. In less than two days, the rig had sunk beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, just 80 kilometres off the Louisiana coast, which is home to a variety of wildlife and seabird reserves as well as the fish and shrimp that help feed the region. The rig was being leased from the Swiss company Transocean by BP Exploration and Production, which initially said the environmental impact from the disaster would be manageable. But on Saturday, a leak near the ocean bed was discovered to be releasing more than 160,000 litres (42,000 gallons) of oil every day - the equivalent of about five large tanker trucks full. BP is now working with the United States Coast Guard, U.S. Minerals Management Service, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Marine Spill Response Corp. to try to contain and clean up the spill. What happens next: The rig had been drilling for crude oil in a reservoir in the Rigel gas field about 1,500 metres beneath the seabed. When the rig sank, its pipeline to the reservoir crumpled, and the major leak is coming from the first fold in the pipe, with a secondary leak located about two metres from the wellhead, at the seabed. The U.S. Coast Guard has sent robot submarines to try to stop the leaks by activating the blowout preventer, a series of pipes and valves at the wellhead designed to automatically clamp shut over the base of the leaking well pipe. It failed during the explosion, which is believed to have been triggered by the uncontrolled escape of gas from the well. The submarines are equipped with cameras and remote-controlled arms to activate the blowout valves manually. The work will be done 1.5 kilometres below the ocean surface and was expected to take 24 to 36 hours - if it works. BP's chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, described the plan as a ""highly complex task."" If that doesn't work: If they can't turn off the leak, the clean up group plans to cut the oil off at its source. On Monday, a second oil rig, called the Development Driller III, arrived to start drilling a relief well into the oil reservoir beneath the ocean. The relief well would relieve pressure at the leak site, and be used to inject cement to block the flow of oil. The original well will then be permanently sealed. ""We are attacking this spill on two fronts - at the wellhead and on the surface offshore,"" said Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive. The thing is, this option could take several months to complete. In the meantime: In an office set up in Houma, La., more than 500 people are working to monitor the size and location of the oil that has already been spilled. By Monday morning, the oil slick on the ocean surface measured approximately 1,500 square kilometres. The prevailing weather pattern is helping keep the slick about 80 kilometres off the coast, where it could do untold damage, and waves are helping break up the heavy crude oil, which will eventually harden and sink back to the ocean floor. BP has deployed 378,541 litres of dispersant to thin the oil and make it easier to skim from the water's surface. There are 32 boats working to contain and collect the oil, as well as five helicopters and airplanes deploying the dispersant. By Sunday, the group had retrieved about 1,052 barrels of oily water. And at some point: There is also the matter of the rig itself, which is believed to contain about 2.6-million litres (700,000 gallons) of diesel. Mr. Suttles told a news conference that the rig was ""intact and secure"" on the seabed about 500 metres from the well site."
" The government supporters want more action against the red-shirts Thailand's pro-government yellow-shirts have called for the government to act, as weeks-long red-shirt protests spread to provinces outside the Thai capital. The yellows said martial law was needed in Bangkok and a state of emergency in provinces dominated by the red-shirts. The reds began building roadblocks in several provinces on Sunday to prevent more police reaching the capital. The red-shirts have been camped out in Bangkok since 14 March. On Saturday the PM rejected a new offer of talks. Late on Monday, Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej made his first public comments since the protests began. Speaking to a group of judges from the hospital where he has been staying since September, the 82-year-old monarch did not directly address the political crisis. ""Do your job with honesty,"" he told them. ""In this country there may be some people who forget their duty. You should be an example by working honestly and properly, your job is very important."" The BBC's Rachel Harvey says that as Thais look for guidance amid the current crisis, many will be searching for hidden meaning in the king's words. The stand-off began when red-shirt protesters occupied part of Bangkok's historic district. They have since moved to the commercial district and currently occupy a swathe of the city stretching south to the business district, living behind highly-fortified barricades. 16 Mar: Protesters splash their own blood at Government House 30 Mar: A round of talks with the government ends in deadlock 10 Apr: Troops try to clear protesters; 25 people are killed and hundreds injured 22 Apr: Grenade blasts kill one and injure 85 near protest hub; each side blames the other An attempt by the government to clear one area on 10 April left 25 people dead and hundreds injured. Grenade attacks last week that killed one person further raised tensions in the capital. Over the weekend, Mr Abhisit rejected a conditional offer of talks from the red-shirts, saying ""intimidation"" should not bring about political change. He promised that Bangkok's commercial district would be cleared of protesters but said ""the process, the measures, how and when it will be done we cannot disclose because it depends on several things"". The yellows - a group known as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) who shut down Bangkok's two main airports in 2008 in a separate political protest - had given the government a deadline of 25 April to deal with the protesters. ""There should be an announcement of martial law,"" said Suriyasai Katasila, a spokesman for the yellows. ""If the situation does not improve, PAD will consider intensifying its measures."" But red-shirt leaders said that they were staying put - and escalating action around the country. ""Reds everywhere will stop police and army from coming to Bangkok,"" said Nattawut Saikuar, a red leader. ""We will step up our peaceful measures to stop the reinforcement. Our people will ask the police and army to return to their barracks."" Around the country, several confrontations between police and protesters were reported. In Udon Thani, in the north-east, protesters blocked a major highway on Sunday and prevented a convoy of police from reaching Bangkok. Roadblocks were also set up in Nong Kai province and to the north of Bangkok, again aimed at police heading to the Thai capital. Several arrests were reported in one incident on Monday on Bangkok's northern outskirts. Late on Sunday in Bangkok a grenade was hurled at a guard post near the home of Banharn Silapa-Archa, a former prime minister whose Chart Thai Pattana party is part of the current governing coalition. At least 8 people were hurt. On Monday Bangkok was said to be calm. Many red-shirts changed into different clothes after leaders told them they would be less visible to security forces if a crackdown came. The red-shirts - many of whom back ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra - believe that the current government is illegitimate. They want Mr Abhisit to call fresh elections - something he has so far refused to do."
" The deadliest bombings were in Tikrit, where at least 33 died, and the town of Hawija, where at least 32 were killed. Suicide bombings and shootings rocked Baghdad, killing at least four people. The attacks continue an upsurge in violence that has claimed more than 400 lives since the start of May, as US forces fight rebels in the west. Laith Kubba, an Iraqi government spokesman, told the BBC that rebels were lashing out wildly, knowing their ""days are numbered"". But the insurgency appears to be gathering pace rather than running out of steam, the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says. The attacks came a day after the US Senate unanimously approved an emergency spending bill authorising a further $82bn for US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other activities. Wednesday's wave of bombings began in the northern city of Tikrit - Saddam Hussein's hometown, which is dominated by Iraq's minority Sunni Muslim community. At least 33 people were killed and about 70 injured in a car bombing in a crowded marketplace, police said. The bomber had apparently been targeting a police station, but police forced him to swerve into the market. Almost all the dead are said to be Shia Muslim civilians who had gathered to look for work."
" She joined a rally by journalists against a partial news blackout, and called for a fresh wave of protests. But the former PM was stopped from meeting the dismissed chief justice, who remains under virtual house arrest. US President George Bush has offered qualified support for President Pervez Musharraf, who declared the emergency. Gen Musharraf introduced the measure a week ago, blaming militant violence and interference by the judiciary. Under the measures, the Pakistani constitution was suspended, opposition supporters arrested, Supreme Court justices replaced, and mass public gatherings banned. Ms Bhutto has strongly condemned the state of emergency, calling on Gen Musharraf to step down as army chief of staff by 15 November, and to hold elections by mid-January as planned. On Saturday, she met officials of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and briefly joined journalists protesting against media restrictions. Ms Bhutto, who was briefly placed under house arrest on Friday, called for an immediate return to democracy when she spoke to foreign diplomats. ""Pakistan under dictatorship is a pressure cooker,"" she said, in comments quoted by the Press Trust of India. ""Without a place to vent, the passion of our people for liberty threatens to explode... There is not enough barbed wire, or bullets, or bayonets to defeat my people's unquestionable desire for democracy."""
" Two British soldiers, identified as only 'X' and 'Y' due to legal reasons, have been sentenced at a court martial in Germany after they admitted to sexually and racially abusing civilians while serving in Afghanistan, it was announced Tuesday. Nevertheless, their patrol commander, who was identified as 'Z,' was cleared of ignorance and failure in dealing with the offenses. The three defendants appeared in court at the British army barracks in Sennelager on Tuesday for the court martial. Soldier 'X' had earlier admitted to pulling an Afghan boy's hand towards his crotch while serving in Afghanistan in December 2011, and to insulting another Afghan boy between October 2011 and January 2012. The soldier 'X', a former private who left the army after his tour of duty in Afghanistan, had pleaded guilty to conduct to the prejudice of good order and service discipline. He was fined 1,000 British pounds by Judge Advocate Alan Large, who noted that there had been no sexual motive behind the soldier's behavior. Soldier 'Y', a serving lance-corporal, had admitted to having an Afghan man photographed with a racially-offensive sign which read ""Silly Paki"" between October 2011 and January 2012. The soldier, who was accused of racist conduct ""likely to cause harassment or distress"" to the victim, had his rank reduced at the court martial. All the three defendants were granted anonymity amidst fears that naming them might endanger their and their families' lives. Judge Advocate Alan Large refused to lift the anonymity order saying that it would be wrong to name the soldiers in wake of the recent murder of Drummer Lee Rigby outside the military barracks at Woolwich. ""Very especially in the light of recent events in London and the threat posed by lone wolves it seems to me that it would be wrong to lift the restrictions. I accept that it would usually be wrong to make such an order and this should not be seen as an attempt by the military to hide behind the law. It was made in response to very specific circumstances and on specific grounds,"" the judge advocate said."
" France said on Tuesday it was certain that the nerve agent sarin has been used in Syria on several occasions following tests it has carried out on samples recovered from the country. ""These tests show the presence of sarin in various samples in our possession,"" Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement, adding that the test results had been handed to the United Nations. Earlier on Tuesday, United Nations human rights investigators said they had ""reasonable grounds"" to believe that limited amounts of chemical weapons had been used by government forces in Syria. In their latest report, based on interviews with victims, medical staff and other witnesses, they said they had received allegations that both Syrian government forces and rebels had used the banned weapons, but that at least four instances related to their use by state forces. ""There are reasonable grounds to believe that limited quantities of toxic chemicals were used. It has not been possible, on the evidence available, to determine the precise chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrator,"" Paulo Pinheiro, who chairs the UN commission of inquiry, told a news conference in Geneva. The commission examined four reported toxic attacks in March and April but could not determine which side was behind them. ""The witnesses that we have interviewed include victims, refugees who fled some areas, and medical staff,"" Pinheiro said, declining to be more specific for reasons of confidentiality. The team, composed of more than 20 investigators, conducted 430 interviews from January 15 to May 15 among refugees in neighboring countries and by Skype with people still in Syria. Britain's UN ambassador has said his government is shocked by the growing evidence of the repeated use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government. Mark Lyall Grant told reporters Tuesday the evidence Britain has suggests Syria has used different chemical agents and a combination of agents in some cases, at times including sarin."
" United Nations human rights investigators say they have ""reasonable grounds"" to believe that limited amounts of chemical weapons have been used in Syria. In their latest report, they said they had received allegations that Syrian government forces and rebels had used the banned weapons, but that most testimony related to their use by state forces. The commission examined four reported toxic attacks in March and April but could not determine which side was behind them. ""There are reasonable grounds to believe that limited quantities of toxic chemicals were used,"" Paulo Pinheiro, who chairs the UN commission of inquiry, told a news conference in Geneva. ""It has not been possible, on the evidence available, to determine the precise chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrator. The witnesses interviewed include victims, refugees who fled some areas and medical staff, Mr Pinheiro said, declining to be more specific for reasons of confidentiality. President Bashar al-Assad's government and its opponents have accused each other of using chemical weapons. The UN team of more than 20 investigators conducted 430 interviews from January 15 to May 15 among refugees in neighbouring countries and by Skype with people still in Syria. Vitit Muntarbhorn, one of its members, said the team had cross-checked testimony about chemical weapons and viewed videos including on YouTube. But the team said the findings remained inconclusive and that it was vital a stalled separate team of experts named by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon be given full access to Syria to collect samples from victims and sites of alleged attacks."
" The unrest spread from nearby Andijan, where local sources said several hundred people died when troops opened fire at protesters on Friday. Some refugees near Korasuv said troops shot at them as they tried to cross the border into Kyrgyzstan - and some died. UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw said his Uzbek counterpart had pledged to allow diplomats access to Andijan on Tuesday. Uzbek President Islam Karimov said 10 soldiers and ""many more"" protesters were killed in Andijan, and blamed the unrest on Islamic extremists. The protests were sparked by a long-running trial of local businessmen accused of Islamic extremism. Their families say they are innocent and have been unfairly targeted. There is also long-term pent-up anger in Uzbekistan regarding poverty, unemployment and other social problems, observers say. On Saturday, as news of the violence in Andijan filtered into Korasuv, residents went to the mayor demanding that a border crossing to the Kyrgyz side of the town, shut by the authorities two years ago, be reopened. Correspondents say locals saw the closed border as an attempt to grind them down by denying them access to the thriving market on the other side. When the mayor refused, he was beaten. Angry crowds set fire to the militia headquarters, the road police and the tax inspector's office - the three most visible representatives of the central government. Korasuv residents have been meeting to discuss how to run their own affairs. The town is currently calm, although there are rumours that the central authorities may move to take control, says the BBC's Ian MacWilliam in Kyrgyzstan."
" Security forces have killed the leader of Egypt's deadliest militant group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, along with three senior members overnight, officials say. Several high-ranking security officials confirmed the death of Shadi el-Menei, considered to be the head of the Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem), but it was not immediately possible to obtain confirmation from independent sources. The al-Qaeda inspired militant group has spearheaded a wave of attacks targeting security forces since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July. Security forces opened fire on the four men as they were in a car in central Sinai and about to carry out an attack on a gas pipeline, officials said. However, other security officials said Menei and five other members of the group were shot by unknown assailants. Since Morsi's ouster, militants have stepped up their attacks against security forces in retaliation to a state crackdown on Morsi supporters that has left more than 1,400 killed and at least 15,000 jailed. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has claimed some of the deadliest and high-profile attacks on Egyptian security forces, including a failed assassination attempt against the interior minister in September. The group is thought to have been founded primarily by Egyptians in 2011 after the uprising that toppled strongman Hosni Mubarak. In recent months, the group has also seen support coming from the Nile Delta and some areas of Cairo, experts say. Before Morsi's ouster, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis mainly targeted Israel, through attacks on gas pipelines supplying the Jewish state and in January its fighters fired a rocket at Israel's Red Sea resort of Eilat."
" Five people involved in the Xinjiang attack that killed 31 people ""blew themselves up"", a Chinese report says. The attack took place early on Thursday in a market place in Urumqi. More than 90 other people were injured as attackers in two vehicles drove into crowds and threw explosives. One of the vehicles then blew up. China called the attack a ""violent terrorist incident"", while the US called it an ""outrageous act of violence against innocent civilians"". UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said there was ""no justification for the killing of civilians"". The latest information came from the state-run Global Times, which said it had ""got information that five suspects who participated in the terrorist attack blew themselves up"". Police were investigating whether they had accomplices, the paper added. It was not clear whether the five were included in the death toll. The BBC's John Sudworth, who is in Urumqi, said a heavy security presence had been deployed at the scene of the attack. Some shops have opened again and there are a few signs of returning normality, but the shock over the brutality of what happened here remains, he says. Why is there tension between China and the Uighurs?"
" Four gunmen attempted to attack the Indian consulate in Afghanistan's western Herat province early Friday, a spokesman for the governor's office said. A member of the Indian Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), who was guarding the consulate in Herat City at the time, fired at the assailants as they attempted to barge into the building, said Deepak Kumar, a spokesman for the ITBP in New Delhi. The attackers were armed with machine guns and grenades, he said. A car bomb also exploded near the scene but caused no damage. The attackers were eventually surrounded by Afghan security forces as they approached the consulate, according to Herat governor's spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi. Two of the gunmen were killed, Ahmadi said. The consulate was not damaged and no one there was injured. The identity of the attackers or motive for the attack is not yet known. Meanwhile, India's external affairs spokesman, Syed Akbaruddin, said in post on Twitter that New Delhi was in touch with Kabul and that Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh was monitoring the situation."
" After an extraordinary session in London, they also said President Pervez Musharraf had to step down as army chief and release political detainees. In Pakistan, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was given a seven-day detention order hours before she was due to lead a march from Lahore to the capital. The march was aimed at pressuring Gen Musharraf to ease current restrictions. The Pakistani leader says a parliamentary poll will be held in January, but opposition leaders want an end to emergency rule first. The United States has been pushing him to accept a power-sharing deal with Ms Bhutto to help shore up his war against Islamist extremists. Ms Bhutto returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile last month with the approval of Gen Musharraf. However, in the wake of the current crisis, she said on Monday there would be no more talks with Gen Musharraf. When asked if this marked a change in policy, she said: ""Yes, it is a change, it is a change from my party's past policy."" The BBC's Jill McGivering at the Commonwealth talks in London says that some bloc members had wanted Pakistan's immediate suspension, others no action at all. In the end, our correspondent say, the ministers hit upon a classic Commonwealth compromise. The 53-nation bloc is also pushing for the lifting of all media restrictions."
" A group of 21 Filipino UN peacekeepers captured by rebels in Syria have arrived in Jordan after being released. Rebels moved the hostages themselves after a UN team hoping to collect them inside Syria was prevented from doing so by government shelling. Fighters from the Martyrs of Yarmouk group seized the soldiers on the Golan Heights, near Israel, on Wednesday. UN observers have been stationed in the Golan Heights since 1974 to monitor a ceasefire between Israel and Syria. According to the UN, the Filipino peacekeepers were on a regular supply mission when they were stopped by armed men near an observation post. They were held in the village of Jamla, about 1.6km (1 mile) east of the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and 10km north of Jordan. Some appeared in videos online, saying they were being treated well. The rebels demanded the withdrawal of Syrian government forces from the area before proceeding with the release. A UN team had been due to go into Syria on Saturday afternoon to collect the peacekeepers, under a truce between the warring sides. However, the convoy stopped several kilometres away because of continuing fighting between government and rebel forces."
" A spokesman said that Ms Bhutto would not be allowed to break the law. The march, due to start on Tuesday, is part of her campaign against President Pervez Musharraf's emergency rule. Commonwealth foreign ministers meeting in London gave Pakistan until 22 November to lift its emergency rule or face suspension from the body. Other steps they want Mr Musharraf to take include: When Ms Bhutto returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile last month, more than 130 people were killed in a twin bomb attack on her convoy. But she said she had to go ahead with the ""Long March"" from Lahore to Islamabad to put pressure on Gen Musharraf. ""I know it is dangerous but what alternative is there when the country is in danger?"" she said in Lahore. Later on Monday Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim made clear that the march would not be allowed to take place. ""All processions, rallies, political gatherings at present are outlawed,"" he told the Associated Press (AP) news agency. He told AP and other media that Ms Bhutto would have to face the consequences if she broke the law. Gen Musharraf promised on Sunday to hold parliamentary elections by 9 January."
" North Korea has fired shells into disputed waters near a South Korean warship, South Korean military officials told media. This happened near Yeonpyeong island, on the disputed western maritime border, Yonhap news agency said. On Tuesday, South Korea fired warning shots at three North Korean ships that crossed the maritime border. The North had said it would retaliate. In 2010, North Korean shelling of Yeonpyeong killed four people. The latest incident happened after 18:00 local time (09:00GMT) on Thursday, reports citing South Korean officials said. ""The shells fell near our ship which has been on regular patrol in our territory, but it did not cause any damage to our ship,"" a spokesman from South Korea's defence ministry told the Agence-France Presse news agency. According to local news reports, South Korean forces fired several shells into northern waters in response. Local television network YTN reported that residents on Yeonpyeong were being evacuated to bomb shelters. Tensions have been rising again between the two neighbours recently, with Pyongyang directing shrill insults at the leaders in Seoul and Washington, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul. The North and South regularly conduct drills near the western sea border, which has long been a flashpoint between the two Koreas."
" The pirates said they had abandoned the UAE-owned MV Royal Grace, which was seized off Oman on March 2 last year. ""We got off the vessel late last night. We happily divided the cash among ourselves,"" a pirate who identified himself only as Ismail told Reuters by telephone. The European Union's anti-piracy taskforce, EU Navfor, said its flagship, ESPS Mendez Nunez, had sighted the Royal Grace during a counter-piracy patrol 20 nautical miles off the northern Somali coast. The tanker was sailing north from its pirate anchorage at a speed of 4 knots. ""Shortly afterwards, ESPS Mendez Nunez received a radio call from the master of the MV Royal Grace, who confirmed that his ship was now free of pirates,"" EU Navfor said. A medical team boarded the tanker with food and water. The crew were checked over, with two being given medical treatment, the taskforce said in a statement. It said the Royal Grace was now sailing to Muscat under escort from another EU Navfor warship, ESPS Rayo. Civil war after the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 left Somalia without effective central government and full of weapons. The turmoil opened the doors for piracy to flourish in the Gulf of Aden and deeper into the Indian Ocean. Said Mohamed Rage, minister of ports and anti-piracy for Puntland - a region in northeast Somalia - confirmed the ransom and the release of the Panama-registered Royal Grace. It was not clear what cargo the tanker was carrying or who paid to free the vessel, but typically ship owners and the owners of cargo pay ransoms through insurance policies. In 2011, Somali pirates preying on the waterways linking Europe with Africa and Asia netted $160 million and cost the world economy about $7 billion, according to U.S.-based think tank the One Earth Future foundation. But the number of successful pirate attacks has since fallen dramatically as international navies have stepped up patrols to protect marine traffic and struck at pirate bases on the Somali coast, prompted by soaring shipping costs, including insurance."
" Attackers in China's restive Xinjiang region have crashed two cars into shoppers at a market, killing 31 people, Chinese media reports say. They also threw explosives during the attack in the regional capital Urumqi. More than 90 people were injured, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. The Ministry of Public Security called it a ""violent terrorist incident"". Xinjiang, which is home to the Muslim Uighur minority, has seen a spate of attacks in the past year. Information about incidents in the region, where ethnic tensions between Uighurs and Han Chinese continue, is tightly controlled. Pictures on Weibo microblogs - China's equivalent of Twitter - appeared to show Thursday's attack taking place at one end of a busy market street lined with vegetable stalls. One of the two vehicles exploded. The Chinese government's effort to mount a ""people's war"" against terror has made little headway in a climate where many Uighurs feel they are victims of discrimination, religious repression and economic marginalisation. A foreign ministry spokesman said Beijing had the confidence and capability to crack down on terrorists. But that must now be in doubt. The number of attacks is growing. They are no longer confined to the north-west, and targets now include civilians, raising credibility questions for a government which prizes security. During a visit to Xinjiang last month, President Xi Jinping promised greater integration and warned terrorists would be isolated ""like rats scurrying across a street"". But attacks like today's serve to escalate mistrust between Uighurs and the majority Han population making it even harder to resolve the underlying problems that feed the violence."
" Russian officials say four ships have sunk, including an oil tanker, and four others could break up. The bodies of three sailors have been found. Up to 2,000 metric tons of fuel oil have leaked from the tanker in the Kerch Strait, which links the two seas. A big clean-up operation is under way, amid fears of an environmental disaster in the region. At least two other ships were carrying potentially hazardous cargos when they sank, including nearly 6,000 tons of sulphur. A new storm warning in the region was issued again on Monday. The Russian oil tanker Volganeft-139 came apart after it was smashed by 108km/h (67 mph) winds and 5m (16ft) waves in the narrow Kerch Strait between Russia and Ukraine. The tanker's 13 crew were rescued after several hours. So far, 35 sailors from the sunk vessels have been plucked to safety. The bodies of three sailors from the stricken ships were found on Monday morning, but five others are still missing, Russian officials say. Some 300km (187 miles) to the south-west, rescue teams are continuing their search for another 15 sailors missing after a a scrap metal ship went down near the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol. A second oil tanker in the region is being monitored closely because its hull has developed cracks."
" Alexander Tkachev, governor of Russia's Krasnodar region, said the incident was an ""ecological catastrophe"". Some 2,000 tons of fuel oil leaked into the straits between the Black Sea and the Azov Sea after a fierce storm broke a tanker apart on Sunday. About 10 ships sank or ran aground in the region and 20 sailors are missing. So far, 35 crew members from the stricken vessels have been plucked to safety by rescue teams. The bodies of three sailors were found on Monday morning. At least two other ships were carrying potentially hazardous cargo when they sank, including nearly 6,000 tons of sulphur. The Russian tanker Volganeft-139, with more than 4,000 tons of fuel aboard, came apart after it was smashed by 108km/h (67 mph) winds and 5m (16ft) waves in the narrow Kerch Strait between Russia and Ukraine. Officials estimate that nearly half the tanker load has already leaked out in the water. ""Some 30,000 birds have died and it's not possible to count how many fish,"" Mr Tkachev was quoted as saying by Russia's Interfax news agency. ""The damage is so great that it's hard to assess. It can be equated with an ecological catastrophe,"" the governor said. Oil-soaked birds have been seen struggling in the polluted water, and a number of them have been found dead on the sandy shores."
" Troops are on the streets, hunting the leaders of anti-government protests and roads into Andijan are closed. It is still not known how many people died when soldiers opened fire on demonstrators in the city square. Estimates vary from dozens to hundreds. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the BBC there had been ""a clear abuse of human rights"" in Uzbekistan. Mr Straw said the situation was ""serious"" and called for more transparency from the Uzbek government. The city of Andijan was quiet on Sunday, with most people staying at home. Relatives are frantically searching morgues, hospitals and the city's streets for those who died. ""I have been looking for two days for the bodies of my brothers,"" Bakhadyr Yergachyov told the AFP news agency. ""I know that they had gone to the square to participate in the demonstrations."" Armed guards dressed in tracksuits are patrolling the grounds of the hospitals and outsiders, like journalists, are not allowed in. There have been a few funerals, but many people said the authorities have not released the bodies of all those killed."
" BISSAU (Reuters) - Former finance minister Jose Mario Vaz won a high-stakes presidential run-off election in Guinea-Bissau meant to draw a line under a 2012 coup, the elections commission said on Tuesday, but the losing candidate rejected the result. The looming dispute over the outcome of Sunday's vote threatens to stir further unrest in the tiny, chronically unstable West African nation as it seeks to repair frayed relations with its regional and international partners. Weak state institutions, along with its maze of islands and unpoliced mangrove creeks, have made the former Portuguese colony a paradise for smugglers of Latin American cocaine destined for Europe. Vaz, the candidate of the dominant African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), took 61.9 percent of votes, according to results announced by elections commission president Augusto Mendes. ""The time has come to turn the page and opt for a policy of inclusion in Guinea-Bissau without religious or tribal discrimination in order to lead a crusade, together, against poverty,"" Vaz said in a speech late on Tuesday. He defeated Nuno Gomes Nabiam, an independent candidate who comes from the Balanta ethnic group - the country's largest - and is seen as close to the army. He garnered 38.1 percent of ballots, the commission said. ""I will not accept the result, because the figures collected by my campaign in four of eight regions are different from those announced by the National Electoral Commission,"" Nabiam told journalists in the capital Bissau. He was speaking after a meeting with Vaz, the incoming prime minister, the country's current interim president, and General Antonio Indjai, the powerful head of the army. Later, Nabiam released a statement saying he would seek to have the result annulled through the elections commission and courts over what he said were instances of serious fraud in several regions. Guinea-Bissau's last election in 2012 was abandoned after soldiers under General Indjai stormed the presidential palace just days before another PAIGC candidate, Carlos Gomes Junior, appeared poised for victory in a scheduled run-off. Sunday's election was intended to end a transitional period that followed the military takeover. ""Everyone knew the elections would not be the problem. The announcement of results would be the problem,"" said Elizabete Azevedo-Harman, a research fellow with Chatham House's Africa programme. ""I think there is still space for negotiations and mediation. We'll have to see what happens in the coming days...It was always a really risky game."""
" Ms Bhutto made the call after police mounted a massive security operation to prevent a protest march in Lahore, where she is under house arrest. It was her most direct challenge to Gen Musharraf's rule and was welcomed by key opposition figures - including ex-PM Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan. They told the BBC it was meaningless to hold elections under emergency rule. Mr Sharif said he was looking forward to co-operating with Ms Bhutto - and would back an election boycott if Gen Musharraf refused to lift restrictions and ""restore the judiciary"". ""We should now be looking towards the greater cause, which is to save the country from a catastrophic situation,"" he said. Imran Khan, leader of the Movement for Justice Party, said he and Ms Bhutto had agreed on the telephone that there should be no negotiations with Gen Musharraf, just a call for free and fair elections. ""I am glad that all the opposition parties have come round to our point of view, which is that there should be no compromise with a military dictator,"" he added. Pakistan's government has refused to bow to pressure to lift emergency rule, which was imposed on 3 November on the grounds of rising militancy and ""interference"" by the judiciary, but has attracted growing international condemnation. The US Deputy Secretary of State, John Negroponte, will travel to Pakistan later this week to urge Gen Musharraf to lift the state of emergency and hold free elections, a state department spokesman has said. Earlier, police in Lahore imposed a seven-day detention order on Ms Bhutto, ahead of a planned ""Long March for Democracy"" to demand the end of emergency measures."
" Rail services were severely disrupted and energy production reduced in the open-ended action over cuts affecting some 500,000 public sector workers. Unions have vowed to extend the strike into Thursday. On Wednesday evening, Mr Sarkozy urged a speedy end to the action, saying conditions for talks had been met. ""The president of the republic has always considered that there is more to be gained for all parties in negotiation than in conflict,"" said Mr Sarkozy's spokesman David Martinon. The strikes ""must stop as quickly as possible in the interest of passengers"", he said. There are fears the stoppage, which began on Tuesday evening, could last for several days. The latest disruption comes on the heels of crippling transport strikes on 18 October. The BBC's Alasdair Sandford in Paris says that with students, teachers, civil servants and even magistrates also threatening strike action in the coming weeks, the fear for the government is that this becomes a general wave of protest against economic hardship. Predicting a ""hellish day for travellers"", Labour Minister Xavier Bertrand met Mr Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon and also held talks with unions to seek a resolution. Nationwide, fewer than a quarter of trains ran normally and only 90 of the country's 700 high-speed TGV trains were operating."
" This comes after another breakout from a jail earlier this month in a different part of the country. The man now said to be on the run is Otto Roberto Herrera Garcia. Until his April 2004 arrest at the city's airport, he was one of Central America's most wanted, accused of moving tons of cocaine into the US. He is alleged to be a boss of a Guatemala-based drugs trafficking gang. The US had offered $2m for information leading to his capture. It is thought that Mr Herrera Garcia has links to Mexico's most notorious drugs baron, Joaquin ""El Chapo"" Guzman, who also escaped from prison four years ago. Mexico's federal authorities discovered that Mr Herrera Garcia was missing from prison during a security operation on Friday night. He may have escaped several days ago. Forty-five jail employees have been detained for interrogation. It is unclear why such a high-profile inmate was not being detained at a maximum security penitentiary."
" The ballot count in Kenya's presidential elections has been rigged, says the running mate of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is trailing behind his rival, Uhuru Kenyatta. Kalonzo Musyoka said they had evidence the results had been doctored and called for vote-counting to be stopped. The election chief has rejected the claims, as has Mr Kenyatta's party. The International Criminal Court has postponed the trial of Mr Kenyatta, due on charges for crimes against humanity. His trial was due to begin next month. He is accused of organising attacks on members of ethnic groups seen as supporters of Mr Odinga during post-election violence in 2007-2008. He denies the charges. More than 1,000 people were killed in the violence which broke out after Mr Odinga claimed he had been cheated of victory by supporters of President Mwai Kibaki. Mr Kibaki is stepping down after two terms in office. The judges agreed to postpone the trial of Mr Kenyatta and the former head of civil service, Francis Kirimi Muthaura, and set a new start date of 9 July 2013. Meanwhile, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan has denied the allegations that the election results had been tampered. ""There is no room to doctor results whatsoever,"" he said. He said that the ongoing counting of the presidential election results would not be stopped, as it was a legal process."
" The four MCC workers killed were double the number of fatalities previously confirmed by the Vietnamese and Chinese governments. Thousands of Vietnamese set fire to factories and stormed industrial zones in the south to protest against Chinese oil drilling in a part of the sea claimed by Hanoi. MCC said protesters smashed, looted and burned foreign enterprises in Vietnam on May 14, including the construction site of Formosa Plastics' Ha Tinh Steel Plant, where some of its employees were working. Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Group, one of the companies worst affected by the anti-China riots, told Reuters on Monday that work at its steel facility in central Vietnam had partially resumed and it hoped all operations would return to normal as soon as possible. ""The lives and safety of the company's 3,565 employees were under severe harm and threat,"" the Chinese engineering contractor said. The first group of people injured at the Ha Tinh project, totaling 307 Chinese, had been evacuated to Chengdu in China's Sichhuan province on Sunday and were in hospital, it said. A second batch of workers, totaling 3,567, were evacuated to Haikou port in Hainan province. Most of the Chinese employees from the steel project in Ha Tinh had returned to China safely, the company said, although a handful stayed behind. Fighting between Vietnamese and Chinese workers broke out in central Ha Tinh province last Wednesday, killing two people and wounding 140, the government in Hanoi said. China's foreign ministry also put the casualties at two dead and 100 injured, state news agency Xinhua said. Most large companies operating in industrial parks hit by anti-China riots in Vietnam have resumed operations, underscoring the irresistible pull of Vietnam as a low-cost manufacturing hub with a relatively skilled workforce."
" 1 of 2. The 2007 Chevrolet Aveo makes its global debut at the 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California in this file photo taken January 5, 2006. The two recalls are the latest announced by GM, the largest U.S. automaker. The recall with the highest profile was of cars with defective ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths. The Detroit company has been criticized by safety advocates and fined by U.S. safety regulators for its delayed response in catching the faulty switch. A day after recalling 2.6 million vehicles globally, most of them in the United States, GM is recalling 284,913 Chevrolet Aveo and Optra cars in the United States and other markets from model years 2004 to 2008. The problem with the cars stems from a faulty part in their daytime running lights that could overheat and cause a fire, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). GM said it was aware of some fires related to the problem but did not say how many. It said there were no reports of injuries or fatalities. Meanwhile, GM Chief Executive Mary Barra met on Wednesday with Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who chairs a Senate panel investigating GM's ignition switch recall, as well as other Democratic lawmakers including Senator Charles Schumer of New York, Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado and Rep. John Dingell of Michigan. McCaskill spokesman Andy Newbold said Barra gave the senator an update on GM's progress on its internal investigation, which the company expects to complete within two weeks. He added that the senator still intends to hold a follow-up hearing after GM's internal probe is complete. GM also said North American general counsel Lucy Clark Dougherty is now advising global vehicle safety chief Jeff Boyer on legal issues in a move to speed up the process around recalls. But the company downplayed speculation about a larger overhaul of its legal department and said general counsel Michael Millikin has been asked to remain in his position. Last week, GM recalled almost 3 million vehicles globally and was fined a record $35 million by NHTSA. It also faces probes by the U.S. Department of Justice, Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission and several states for its handling of the faulty ignition switch, which engineers first discovered in 2001. GM has been criticized for not recalling the vehicles affected by the bad ignition switch before this year. Wednesday's two recalls bring the number of vehicles affected by its recalls this year to almost 13.8 million in the United States. That tops the previous full-year high of 10.7 million vehicles that the company recalled in the U.S. market in 2004. It pushes the number of vehicles that GM has recalled globally this year to more than 15.8 million. GM took a $1.3 billion charge in the first quarter for recall-repair costs and said Tuesday that it expects to take another $400 million charge in the second quarter for the same reason."
" A British national has been detained in Ukraine, the Foreign Office has confirmed. The station said he had been detained in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday. The National Guard later said it intended to transport him to Kiev. The Foreign Office said it was ""in contact with the Ukrainian authorities"" and was ready to provide ""consular assistance"". Mr Phillips, 35, who grew up in Nottingham before moving to Scotland, works as a freelance journalist and had been a stringer for Russia Today. In a statement, the organisation said he had not been in contact with anyone via phone, email or Twitter since 15:20 Moscow time on Tuesday. It said he had been detained that morning and was believed to have been taken for ""interrogation"" by the Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU. Ukraine's National Guard confirmed the journalist had been detained and passed to the SBU. It told the BBC he would be transported to Kiev and passed to British embassy officials, after which he should go free. Russia Today said its repeated attempts to speak to representatives of the Ukrainian security service had been rebuffed. It appealed to the British consulates in Russia and Ukraine, as well as to the UK Foreign Office, requesting their help with Mr Phillips's release. Russia Today said he had called to tell them of his detention but they had since lost all contact with him."
" Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey smiles during a meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy at Leahy's office on Capitol Hill, October 16, 2007. A divided Senate confirmed Mukasey on Thursday, setting aside concerns he might support interrogation methods decried worldwide as torture. Mukasey, 66, takes over as chief U.S. law enforcement officer and succeeds Alberto Gonzales, who was resigned under bipartisan pressure in September with critics questioning his competency and honesty. Senate lawmakers initially praised Mukasey, predicting the retired judge and former prosecutor would renew confidence in a scandal-rocked Justice Department. But many Democrats turned against him after he declined to denounce as illegal torture an interrogation technique that involves simulated drowning, known as waterboarding. Enough Democrats joined Republicans to approve Mukasey's nomination Thursday night by a vote of 53-40. Mukasey took the oath of office after flying down from New York, Justice spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said. He was expected to receive briefings on national security and wiretapping before heading home for the weekend. He will start full-time next Tuesday, Roehrkasse said. A District Court judge in New York for 18 years, Mukasey presided over a number of high-profile cases, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. In a more recent case, Mukasey found that the government had a right to hold U.S. citizen Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant without charging him with a crime, but ordered the administration to allow Padilla to meet with a lawyer."
" ATHENS/BOSASSO, Somalia, March 11 (Reuters) - Somali pirates have released a Greek-owned oil tanker and its 26 crew members who were seized 10 months ago in the Arabian Sea, the vessel's owner, Dynacom Tankers Management, said on Monday. The MT Smyrni, which was carrying one million barrels of crude, was hijacked in May last year off the Gulf Arab state of Oman. Pirates said they released the vessel last week after receiving ransom. ""We took $9.5 million in ransom money and got off from the crude tanker on Friday night,"" Isse Abdulahi, who is understood to be one of four pirates who financed the hijacking operation, told Reuters by telephone. The company declined to comment on the ransom claim. It said in a statement that all the crew members - 14 Filipinos, 11 Indians and one Romanian - were safe and that the vessel was sailing to a port of refuge. Abdulahi said that two crew members were ill. Global ship tracking data showed MT Smyrni had left the northern tip of Somalia on Saturday. It sailed south to central Somalia before changing course and heading away from the Somali coast towards India on Sunday. The hijacking in May 2012 as MT Smyrni was sailing to Indonesia was one of the last successful attacks on a large oil tanker by Somali pirates in the Horn of Africa region. The number of successful pirate attacks has dropped as international navies have stepped up patrols to protect marine traffic and struck at pirate bases on the Somali coast as piracy has driven up shipping costs, including insurance. Shipping firms have also increasingly deployed armed guards and laid out razor wire on their vessels to deter attacks. MT Smyrni was the second tanker to be freed by Somali pirates within the last few days. A chemical tanker hijacked a year ago with more than 20 crew on board was also released last week. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens and Abdiqani Hassan in Bosasso, editing by Deepa Babington and Mark Heinrich)"
" Tuesday's election in Malawi is one of Africa's most competitive - the closest since the re-introduction of multi-party politics in Malawi in 1993. Four of the 12 candidates in the presidential race have a chance of winning. They are preacher-turned-politician Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), Atupele Muluzi representing the United Democratic Front (UDF), Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the incumbent Joyce Banda representing the People's Party (PP). Mr Mutharika is the younger brother of former President Bingu wa Mutharika while Mr Atupele is the son of ex-President Bakili Muluzi. None of the four has contested a presidential election before. Joyce Banda is one of three of female presidents in Africa and the current chairwoman of the regional body, the Southern African Development Community (SADC). She became president following the sudden death of Bingu wa Mutharika in April 2012. If she loses she will become the first serving female African head of state and first serving Malawian president to have lost an election. These elections are also significant because this is the first time in Malawi's history that the country is holding presidential, parliamentary and local government elections on the same day. The last local government elections were held 14 years ago. And with polls just hours away from opening many voters are still undecided. The economy is one of the issues that could decide the election. As recently as 2008, Malawi was second only to Qatar as the world's fastest-growing economy. But by the time President Mutharika died, the economy was in tatters. Inflation was rising at a fast pace, foreign reserves were depleted and there was a huge fiscal deficit. As one of the world's poorest countries, Malawi's economy is heavily dependent on aid. Donors provide 40% of Malawi's budget."
" London won a two-way fight with Paris by 54 votes to 50 at the IOC meeting in Singapore, after bids from Moscow, New York and Madrid were eliminated. Paris had been favourites throughout the campaign but London's hopes were raised after an impressive presentation by Lord Coe, the bid chairman. It will be the first time the Olympics has been held in Britain since 1948. Coe said: ""This is just the most fantastic opportunity to do everything we ever dreamed of in British sport."" The Queen, in a message to Coe, said: ""I send my warmest congratulations to you and every member of the London 2012 team for winning the bid for the UK. ""It's a really outstanding achievement to beat such a highly competitive field."" News of London's victory delighted flag-waving supporters who had gathered in Trafalgar Square and Stratford in the East End of London, where the new Olympic park will be built. Shares of British construction companies soared, while mortgage lenders predicted house prices in the capital would rocket. But raindrops began falling on disappointed Parisians outside the Hotel de Ville in the French capital shortly after the result. Mr Blair had helped London's late momentum with a whistlestop 48-hour visit to Singapore, before flying back for the G8 summit in Scotland."
" Members of the French team arrive Wednesday for their presentation. Which city do you think will be chosen to host the 2012 Olympics? (CNN) -- After a final, furious lobbying effort by an elite who's who of politicians and athletes, members of the International Olympic Committee are meeting in Singapore to decide which of five cities will host the 2012 Olympic Games. New York, Paris, London, Moscow and Madrid are vying for the 2012 Summer Games at the IOC meeting in Singapore, with Paris and London widely considered the front runners. The day-long session began at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. Tuesday ET), with the ceremony to announce the winning city scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (7:30 a.m. ET). Among the dignitaries who have traveled to Singapore to lobby IOC members are British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, Queen Sofia of Spain and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the committee via a live video hookup during Moscow's final presentation, according to the city's bid committee. London organizers have enlisted the star power of David Beckham, one of the world's most famous soccer players. The New York delegation is led by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and includes Sen. Hillary Clinton, U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth and a host of decorated Olympians, including Muhammad Ali, Nadia Comaneci, Ian Thorpe, Janet Evans and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Ali, who won an Olympic gold medal in boxing in 1964, lit the torch at the last summer Olympics held in the United States, the 1996 Atlanta games. Ueberroth was the man in charge of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. New York's bid took a hit last month when a controversial plan to build the main Olympic stadium on the west side of Manhattan was voted down by a state board. However, organizers came up with an alternate plan to build the stadium in Queens and made a last-minute change to their bid. Cities began making their hour-long presentations to the IOC at 9 a.m. (9 p.m. Tuesday ET). Paris goes first, followed by New York, Moscow, London and Madrid. Following the presentation, the IOC commission that evaluated the bids will make its final report, before voting begins. With IOC members from candidate countries barred from voting in the first round, 100 of the 116 delegates would be eligible to vote, though the total could vary if not all of them attend. If no city gets a majority on the first ballot, the city that received the fewest votes is eliminated and a second vote taken -- a process that continues until a winner is selected. The eliminated city will be announced between ballots, at which point IOC members from that candidate's country become eligible to vote in later rounds. In three of the last four votes to pick a host for the Summer Games, the voting went on for at least four ballots. The only exception was in 2001, when Beijing was selected for the 2008 Olympics on just the second ballot. Among the candidate cities, New York and Madrid have never hosted an Olympic games, though the United States and Spain both hosted the international sporting event during the previous decade (Atlanta in 1996 and Barcelona in 1992.) Paris has hosted the Olympics twice, but not since 1924. London, too, has twice played host, but not since 1948. Moscow was the host for the 1980 Olympics, but those games were boycotted by the United States and a number of other countries in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. London has been boosted by a survey of the world's top sports officials who favored its bid ahead of Paris. The race though is considered too close to call, with Madrid and New York rated strong outsiders. The survey, by the Web site Sportcal.com, found there was little to choose between the bids technically, which means Wednesday's presentations will be ""extremely influential"" on the thinking of IOC members when they vote later in the day. ""London received the strongest backing, partly on the basis that its presentations were thought to be the most professional of the five bidding cities,"" said the Web site. The London-based site surveyed the secretaries general of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and international sports federations by telephone and e-mail over the past two weeks. The officials, who work alongside some of the IOC members due to cast the vote in Singapore, were asked which of the contenders they favored and why. ""Of almost 70 NOCs and federations surveyed, London's bid was the clear leader ... with 44 percent of respondents backing its bid, compared with 29 percent backing for Paris, 10 percent each for Madrid and New York and 7 percent for Moscow,"" Sportcal.com said in a statement. ""London received the backing of 31 percent of the federations, compared to Paris's 28 percent, New York's 19 percent and 11 percent backing for ... Madrid and Moscow."" As the clock counts down to the final vote, the lobby at the Raffles City Convention Center, the venue for the vote, has been crammed with representatives of the bidding cities as they make their last-minute appeals. IOC President Jacques Rogge has insisted all five cities have a chance and the outcome could be decided by just one or two votes after several rounds of voting. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has taken a prominent role in London's bid, holding a string of meetings with IOC delegates. ""I just want to tell you why I am so passionate about this bid,"" Blair said at a media event in Singapore on Tuesday, before flying home to host the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland this weekend. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more."
" The move came as she tried to leave her Islamabad residence to join a planned rally in nearby Rawalpindi. The United States has criticised the move saying that she must be ""permitted freedom of movement."" Ms Bhutto has vowed to wage a campaign aimed at forcing President Pervez Musharraf to stand down as army chief. Police in Rawalpindi clashed with members of Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) who were trying to defy a ban on rallies imposed under emergency rule. A three-day detention order was served on the former prime minister after she tried to cross the heavy police cordon set up outside her home on Friday. Earlier reports said the order would apply for 30 days. Speaking outside the house, in front of police barricades, she repeated opposition demands that Gen Musharraf should lift the state of emergency, resign as army chief and hold elections by mid-January. ""We are calling for the revival of our constitution and respect for our judiciary,"" she said. ""We are calling for General Musharraf to keep his commitment and retire as chief of army staff on 15 November."" The BBC's Chris Morris in Islamabad says Ms Bhutto's defiance raises the possibility of mass protests."
" LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain's Environment Agency reduced the number of flood warnings for eastern England Friday morning and declared the worst was over after a storm surge, which had been forecast to cause heavy flooding, peaked at lower-than-expected levels. Surge levels reached a peak of 2.75 meters (9 feet) around 8 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) Friday. That was 20-30 cm (7 to 11 inches) lower than forecasters predicted the night before as high winds and high tides pushed water toward England's North Sea coast, leading the agency to issue severe flood warnings for eight coastal areas. By Friday afternoon, severe flood warnings remained in effect for only three areas and high tides were receding. ""The worst is over,"" said Environment Agency spokesman Adrian Westwood. The agency reported no properties flooded by the high water, but it still warned people to stay away from the coast as a precaution. Westwood said there would be continued high tides over the weekend with a forecast of light rain. The Environment Agency raised the Thames Barrier, the flood defense for the city of London, Friday morning as a precaution and planned to lower it again in the afternoon. ""We're not expecting to use it again for this storm surge,"" he said. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown chaired an emergency meeting with government ministers early Friday to assess the impact of the surge. He told journalists that helicopters, sandbags, and pumps were being put in place to keep the floodwaters out. Severe flood warnings remained in effect for three areas along England's eastern coast. They covered the city of Lowestoft (LOW-uh-stoft), England's easternmost point, as well as low-lying areas along the Rivers Yare and Waveny, which stretch inland from Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. Norfolk police were operating five shelters at schools around Great Yarmouth, where residents spent the night after police knocked on their doors to tell them to evacuate."
" The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed tougher sanctions against North Korea Thursday targeting the secretive nation's nuclear program hours after Pyongyang threatened a possible ""preemptive nuclear attack."" ""These sanctions will bite, and bite hard,"" U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said after the vote. China, North Korea's key ally, could have used its veto power to block the sanctions. Instead, after weeks of negotiating, it signed on to the final draft. ""China is a country of principle,"" China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said. ""We are firmly committed to safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean peninsula."" Leading up to the vote, Pyongyang ratcheted up its bellicose rhetoric. A spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry suggested the United States ""is set to light a fuse for a nuclear war."" As a result, North Korea ""will exercise the right to a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors and to defend the supreme interests of the country,"" the country said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Despite the strong language, analysts say North Korea is years away from having the technology necessary to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile and aim it accurately at a target. And, analysts say, North Korea is unlikely to seek a direct military conflict with the United States, preferring instead to try to gain traction through threats and the buildup of its military deterrent. But the threat came amid increased concern over Pyongyang's dogged efforts to advance its nuclear and missile technology after a recent long-range rocket launch and underground atomic blast. On Tuesday, North Korea said it planned to scrap the armistice that stopped the Korean War in 1953 and warned it could carry out strikes against the United States and South Korea."
" 1 of 10. North Korean soldiers attend military training in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang March 7, 2013. The White House said North Korea's threats would only lead to Pyongyang's further international isolation and declared that the United States was ""fully capable"" of defending against any North Korean missile attack. China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said Beijing wanted to see ""full implementation"" of the new Security Council resolution, which tightens financial restrictions on Pyongyang and cracks down on its attempts to ship and receive banned cargo. North Korea has accused the United States of using military drills in South Korea as a launch pad for a nuclear war and has scrapped the armistice with Washington that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War. A North Korean general said on Tuesday that Pyongyang was scrapping the armistice. But the two sides remain technically at war as the civil war did not end with a treaty. North Korea threatens the United States and its ""puppet,"" South Korea, on an almost daily basis. ""Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to preemptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest,"" the North's foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. North Korea conducted a third nuclear test on February 12, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, and declared it had achieved progress in securing a functioning atomic arsenal. It is widely believed that the North does not have the capacity for a nuclear strike against the mainland of the United States. With tensions high on the Korean peninsula, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to expand its sanctions on North Korea. The new sanctions were agreed after three weeks of negotiations between the United States and China, which has a history of resisting tough measures against its ally and neighbor. The resolution specifies some luxury items North Korea's elite is not allowed to import, such as yachts, racing cars, luxury automobiles and certain types of jewelry. This is intended to close a loophole that had allowed countries to decide for themselves what constitutes a luxury good."
" North Korea amplified its threatening rhetoric as the U.N. Security Council approved new sweeping sanctions, vowing to launch a first-strike nuclear attack against the United States and threatening to engulf Washington in a ""sea of fire."" An unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for ""a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors"" because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North. At a mass rally in Pyongyang on Thursday, Army Gen. Kang Pyo Yong told the crowd that North Korea is ready to fire long-range nuclear-armed missiles at Washington. ""Intercontinental ballistic missiles and various other missiles, which have already set their striking targets, are now armed with lighter, smaller and diversified nuclear warheads and are placed on a standby status,"" Kang said. ""When we shell (the missiles), Washington, which is the stronghold of evils, .... will be engulfed in a sea of fire."" White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a briefing that the U.S. is fully capable of defending itself after a North Korean missile attack. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice reacted to the warnings Thursday, saying North Korea will ""achieve nothing"" with threats. ""North Korea will achieve nothing by continued threats and provocations. These will only further isolate the country and its people and undermine international efforts to promote peace and stability in northeast Asia,"" Rice said. The U.N. Security Council unanimously endorsed a fourth round of sanctions against Pyongyang in a fresh attempt to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The vote Thursday by the U.N.'s most powerful body on a resolution drafted by North Korea's closest ally, China, and the United States sends a powerful message to North Korea that the international community condemns its ballistic missile and nuclear tests -- and its repeated violation of Security Council resolutions. The new sanctions are aimed at making it more difficult for North Korea to finance and obtain material for its weapons programs."
" The UK home secretary has hailed the verdict of a New York court which found radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri guilty of supporting terrorism. Theresa May said the conviction came after the government's successful bid to have him extradited from the UK, where he rose to prominence for his fiery sermons at a north London mosque. Abu Hamza, who is due to be sentenced on 9 September, could face a life term. The court heard he aided the kidnappers of 16 tourists in Yemen in 1998. The 56-year-old was also accused of attempting to build a terror training camp in Oregon in the north-western US. He showed little emotion in court as the verdict was read out, only answering ""yes"" when his lawyer asked if he was OK. He was extradited from the UK, where he preached at the Finsbury Park mosque, after having been jailed for seven years for inciting murder and racial hatred. Continue reading the main story The conviction of Abu Hamza in New York marks the end of a 16-year long global saga. I first heard his name in Yemen in 1998 while covering the violent kidnapping of 16 western tourists by a gang of jihadists. Three Britons and an Australian died when Yemeni forces rescued the hostages. Working with the late Times journalist Danny McGrory, we discovered that the kidnappers had been in contact with an extremist imam in a London mosque: Abu Hamza in Finsbury Park. Later it transpired that his son, stepson and several other British radicals had been arrested days earlier in Yemen and Abu Hamza was hoping to trade the western hostages for their release. Incredibly, Abu Hamza then remained free to preach hatred and intolerance for years afterwards, before being ousted from the mosque and continuing his sermons in the street in front of a small but fanatical group of followers. He styled himself 'Sheikh' but this former nightclub worker lacked the religious knowledge and authority of the Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada. For years before his arrest in 2004 the security services failed to take him seriously, a mistake they later came to regret. In New York the jury of eight men and four women reached a unanimous guilty verdict on all 11 terror charges. Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said: ""The defendant stands convicted, not for what he said, but for what he did."
" Bouts of intense sectarian conflict since last year have undermined attempts at national reconciliation in Yemen, a neighbor of major oil exporter Saudi Arabia and home to one of al Qaeda's most active wings. The sources said the fighting erupted when fighters loyal to the Shi'ite Houthi tribe attacked military and security outposts near the city of Omran, in the province that carries the same name, killing six soldiers and one officer. The army responded to the attack, killing nine of the fighters. But a Houthi source said the army opened fire on civilian supporters of the group holding a sit-in and that civilians were killed in the attack. Violence last erupted there on Saturday when a group of armed Houthi fighters marched to the provincial capital and demanded to stage a demonstration, but were refused entry by the army. Three people were killed. Fighters loyal to the Houthis, who have repeatedly fought government forces since 2004, are trying to tighten their grip on the north as Yemen eyes moves towards a federal system that will devolve more power to regions. Earlier this month at least 40 people were killed in clashes between Houthis and tribesmen near Sanaa. In the southern province of Shabwa, where the army has been waging an offensive against al Qaeda, three militants were arrested, according to state news agency Saba. The air force also bombed several areas where al Qaeda militants were present, a military source told the agency. Around 21,000 people have been displaced as a result of the government offensive against al Qaeda in various regions of the impoverished and disordered Arabian Peninsula state."
" International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal. In a startling break with the official White House and Downing Street lines, Mr Perle told an audience in London: ""I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing."" President George Bush has consistently argued that the war was legal either because of existing UN security council resolutions on Iraq - also the British government's publicly stated view - or as an act of self-defence permitted by international law. But Mr Perle, a key member of the defence policy board, which advises the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said that ""international law ... would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone"", and this would have been morally unacceptable. French intransigence, he added, meant there had been ""no practical mechanism consistent with the rules of the UN for dealing with Saddam Hussein"". Mr Perle, who was speaking at an event organised by the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, had argued loudly for the toppling of the Iraqi dictator since the end of the 1991 Gulf war. ""They're just not interested in international law, are they?"" said Linda Hugl, a spokeswoman for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which launched a high court challenge to the war's legality last year. ""It's only when the law suits them that they want to use it."" Mr Perle's remarks bear little resemblance to official justifications for war, according to Rabinder Singh QC, who represented CND and also participated in Tuesday's event. Certainly the British government, he said, ""has never advanced the suggestion that it is entitled to act, or right to act, contrary to international law in relation to Iraq"". The Pentagon adviser's views, he added, underlined ""a divergence of view between the British govern ment and some senior voices in American public life [who] have expressed the view that, well, if it's the case that international law doesn't permit unilateral pre-emptive action without the authority of the UN, then the defect is in international law""."
" Secret program that began in 2007 extracts e-mail, audio, video, photos, documents, search history and logs. Under watch from the National Security Agency and the FBI, Internet traffic of people outside the USA is being closely monitored by Silicon Valley Internet giants in a massive data-snooping agreement. The National Security Agency and the FBI are siphoning personal data from the main computer servers of nine major U.S. Internet firms, The Washington Post and the London-based Guardian reported Thursday night. James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, acknowledged existence of the program Thursday night and blasted the reports as ""reprehensible"" and inaccurate. Clapper said the program does not allow the targeting of U.S. citizens or any person in the United States. He ordered information about the program declassified so that the public can understand what information is being collected. ""I believe it is important for the American people to understand the limits of this targeted counterterrorism program and the principles that govern its use,'' he said. ""In order to provide a more thorough understanding of the program, I have directed that certain information related to the 'business records' provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act be declassified and immediately released to the public. ""The unauthorized disclosure of information about this important and entirely legal program is reprehensible and risks important protections for the security of Americans,'' Clapper said in a statement Thursday night. Clapper said the data collection is authorized by Congress and ""is designed to facilitate the acquisition of foreign intelligence information concerning non-U.S. persons located outside the United States.'' ""It cannot be used to intentionally target any U.S. citizen, any other U.S. person, or anyone located within the United States,'' Clapper said."
" Syrian activists say rebels have seized key security buildings in the northern city of Raqqa where opposition fighters had been battling the last pockets of resistance by government troops. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the strategic city on the Euphrates is now completely under rebel control. If confirmed, it would be the first major city to fall completely into rebel hand since Syria's conflict began nearly two years ago. It also would consolidate recent rebel gains in the towns along the river, which runs from Turkey to Iraq. The Observatory and other activists said rebels seized control of the Military Intelligence headquarters and another security building in Raqqa on Wednesday after three days of fighting, and freed scores of detainees inside."
" Manchester United's Champions League ambitions ended in controversial circumstances that left manager Sir Alex Ferguson and his players enraged at Old Trafford. United looked on course for a place in the quarter-finals at Real Madrid's expense after Sergio Ramos's own goal just after half-time gave them a platform to build on the 1-1 draw from the first leg at the Bernabeu. The tie was transformed by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir's decision to send off Nani for an aerial challenge on Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa after 56 minutes - a red card that reduced Ferguson and his players to fury. Jose Mourinho's side, a subdued force until then, took advantage ruthlessly with two goals in three minutes from ex-Tottenham midfield man Luka Modric and former United golden boy Cristiano Ronaldo to move into the last eight. United responded superbly with a typical late rally that brought a series of fine saves from Real keeper Diego Lopez, but events midway through a dramatic second half settled the destiny of an enthralling game. Ferguson's body language after Nani's dismissal screamed anger and injustice and he had good reason to feel United could well have been taking their place in the latter stages until the referee's intervention. Mourinho now moves on towards his target of a third Champions League with three different clubs while United must concentrate on domestic matters as they close in on a 20th title with a commanding 12-point lead in the Premier League and a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Ferguson's decision to drop Wayne Rooney was another of the bold selection decisions the Scot is adept at taking - he also gave Ryan Giggs his 1,000th professional appearance - and he was rewarded with a first half display that mixed strict defensive discipline with attacking threat on the break. Ronaldo received a rapturous reception that echoed around Old Trafford, responding with a wave and a tap of the hand on his heart in return. Real's superstar was kept at arm's length in the first half, wasting a free-kick then being frustrated by a fine challenge from United captain Nemanja Vidic when he finally found space in the area."
" The top UK diplomat in the city, Consul-General Roger Short, was among at least 14 people killed in the attack on the consulate, its chaplain Ian Sherwood said. The Turkish authorities say the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers, reportedly linked to al-Qaeda. The explosions follow last Saturday's suicide bomb attacks against two synagogues in Istanbul that killed 25 people. Responding to news of the blasts, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said there could be ""no holding back"" in confronting the ""menace"" of global terrorism. US President George Bush said the bombers had shown ""utter contempt"" for human life. Istanbul was thrown into chaos by the twin blasts. Traffic blocked ambulances as they tried to reach the wounded and much of the city's phone network was cut off. The bomb at the consulate was so big, buildings hundreds of metres away had their windows blown out. The BBC's Tim Franks, in Istanbul, says that hours after the event those shopkeepers who had not simply turned off the lights and gone home were trying to repair the damage. A man who called the semi-official Anatolia news agency claimed that al-Qaeda and the Turkish Islamic militant group IBDA-C had jointly carried out the attacks."
" The local MTI news agency said tear gas was used outside parliament, where local and foreign officials had laid flowers to commemorate the revolt. Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany has faced bitter opposition after admitting that he lied to win re-election. Some veterans of the 1956 uprising refused to shake hands with him. MTI reported that tear gas was also used at Budapest's Western Railway Station and that water cannon was used at another location. The agency said that the protesters had been throwing stones and pieces of metal at security forces. A Reuters cameraman said 20 tear-gas canisters had been fired, along with rubber bullets. Police had earlier broken up angry protests ahead of formal ceremonies to mark the 1956 uprising and cleared hundreds of protesters from Hero's Square in the city centre. Protesters have been present outside parliament for weeks. He said the entire nation shared the demand for Hungarian independence during the uprising, which was suppressed in a bloody intervention by Soviet forces. Monday's events began with dignitaries taking turns to place white roses at the black marble monument to the uprising outside parliament, before heading inside to adopt a declaration of freedom."
" UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations said about 20 peacekeepers had been detained by around 30 armed fighters in the Golan Heights on the border between Syria and Israel on Wednesday and that it has sent a team to resolve the situation. The United Nations confirmation came in response to YouTube videos purporting to show Syrian rebels with the seized convoy. Syria's two-year civil war, which has killed more than 70,000 people, has been spilling over into the Golan Heights area. ""The U.N. observers were on a regular supply mission and were stopped near Observation Post 58, which had sustained damage and was evacuated this past weekend following heavy combat in close proximity, at Al Jamlah,"" the United Nations said in a statement issued in New York. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in a 1967 war. Syrian troops are not allowed in the area of separation under a 1973 ceasefire formalized in 1974. Israel and Syria are still technically at war. The area is patrolled by U.N. peacekeepers. Israel warned the U.N. Security Council on Monday that it could not be expected to ""stand idle"" as Syria's civil war spills over its border, while Russia's U.N. envoy Vitaly Churkin accused armed groups of undermining security between the states by fighting in the Golan Heights."
" Arab foreign ministers have offered the Syrian opposition coalition the country's seat at the Arab League on condition that it first forms a representative executive council. Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby announced to offer to the Syrian National Coalition, the Western- and Arab-backed opposition umbrella group, on Wednesday in Cairo. The 22-member Arab League suspended Syria's membership in 2011 after President Bashar Assad's government did not abide by an Arab peace plan that aimed to end the conflict."
" Pakistan's new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called for an end to US drone strikes in his first address since being re-elected to the post. ""We respect the sovereignty of others and they should respect our sovereignty and independence. This campaign must come to an end,"" he told MPs. Mr Sharif, who was ousted in a 1999 coup, was later in the day sworn in for an unprecedented third term as PM. In his speech to parliament after 244 MPs approved him in the 342-seat chamber, Mr Sharif also pledged to tackle corruption and reduce unemployment and power cuts. Continue reading the main story In his maiden speech to parliament, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chose his words and subjects carefully. He did restate his election promise to stop US drone strikes in Pakistan, but made it clear that Pakistan needed to address the concerns that led to them. Mr Sharif skipped any mention of his oft-repeated plan to hold talks with Taliban militants, or the normalisation of relations with India. The prime minister is treading a fine line. The army has been shaping policies about militancy and India, and Mr Sharif feels he will need wider support across the political spectrum to handle these problems. He must also deal with severe electricity shortages, a sinking economy and rampant corruption. Such major challenges prompted Mr Sharif to make a strong appeal to all political groups and ""other stake-holders"" - which many assume means the military - to sit together and hammer out a joint strategy to resolve them. He told MPs that it was necessary to work out a joint strategy to stop drone strikes. ""We must learn others' [American] concerns about us, and express our concerns about them, and find a way to resolve this issue,"" he said. ""These drone strikes that rain in every day have to stop."" The BBC's M Ilyas Khan - who was in parliament to hear Mr Sharif speak - says that the underlying message was that US concerns about militancy need to be addressed. But the prime minister gave few details on how he might bring about an end to drone strikes, which many in Pakistan see an affront to Pakistani sovereignty. Washington regards the drone attacks as a vital weapon against militants fighting US-led forces in Afghanistan."
" Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died after a two-year battle with cancer, ending the socialist leader's 14-year rule of the South American country. The 58-year-old leader had undergone four operations in Cuba for a cancer that was first detected in his pelvic region in mid-2011. His last surgery was on 11 December and he had not been seen in public since. ""We have just received the most tragic and awful information. ""At 4.25 pm (8.55pm Irish time) today March the 5th, President Hugo Chavez Frias died,"" Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced in a televised address, his voice choking. ""It's a moment of deep pain,"" he said in the address, in which he appeared with senior ministers. Mr Chavez easily won a new six-year term at an election in October and his death will devastate millions of supporters who adored his charismatic style, anti-US rhetoric and oil-financed policies that brought subsidised food and free health clinics to long-neglected slums. Detractors, however, saw his one-man style, nationalisations and often harsh treatment of opponents as evidence of an egotistical dictator whose misplaced statist economics wasted a historic bonanza of oil revenues. His death paves the way for a new election that will test whether his socialist ""revolution"" can live on without his dominant personality at the helm. The vote should be held within 30 days and will likely pit Mr Maduro against Henrique Capriles, the centrist opposition leader and state governor who lost to Mr Chavez in the October election."
" Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela for the last 14 years, died Tuesday following his treatment for cancer. His death was announced by the country's vice president Nicolas Maduro, ending a months-long period of speculation surrounding his health -- a period often marked by secrecy and rumor. He was 58. The popular but controversial leader had won his fourth presidential term in 2012 but was never sworn in due to his failing health. The career military officer-turned-politician won friends and enemies as he launched poverty-fighting programs, nationalized key industries and forged alliances with other leftist leaders in Latin America -- particularly the Castro brothers in Cuba. The Associated Press reported that Maduro will serve as interim president and that elections will be called within 30 days, Foreign Minister Elias Jaua told the Telesur network. In a statement issued by the White House, President Obama said: ""At this challenging time of President Hugo Chavez's passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government. As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights."" Rep. Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, issued a statement following news of Chavez's death: ""Hugo Chavez was a destabilizing force in Latin America, and an obstacle to progress in the region. I hope his death provides an opportunity for a new chapter in U.S.-Venezuelan relations."" Just hours before Chavez' death was announced, Venezuelan Vice President and Chavez chosen successor Nicolas Maduro suggested the fatal cancer may have been introduced by ""enemies"" and declared two U.S. diplomats persona non grata accusing them of trying to organize government opposition among the Venezuelan military. Chavez's political development took him from social democracy to what he called ""Socialism of the 21st Century."" His opponents, mostly from the upper-middle class and the wealthy, accused him of becoming a dictator in the mold of his mentor, Fidel Castro, who Chavez once described as being like a father to him. In a 2002 profile on ""60 Minutes,"" Chavez acknowledged his polarizing effect. ""I have been compared to Hitler, the devil himself. And what I do is struggle for a people. I am a true democrat,"" he told Steve Kroft."
" Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has died aged 58, after 14 years in power. Mr Chavez had been seriously ill with cancer for more than a year, undergoing several operations in Cuba. Crowds of supporters gathered outside the Caracas hospital where he died, chanting ""We are all Chavez!"" A self-proclaimed revolutionary, Hugo Chavez was a controversial figure in Venezuela and on the world stage. A staunch critic of the US, he inspired a left-wing revival across Latin America. Following his death, Vice-President Nicolas Maduro will assume the presidency until an election is held within 30 days, Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said. ""It is the mandate that Comandante President Hugo Chavez gave us,"" Mr Jaua told state television, adding that Mr Maduro would also be the candidate of the governing United Socialist Party (PSUV). It was not immediately clear when the election would take place. Mr Chavez's illness prevented him from taking the oath of office after he was re-elected for a fourth term in October. The exact nature of his cancer was never officially disclosed, leading to continuing speculation about his health, and he had not been seen in public for several months. Seven days of national mourning have been declared and his body will lie in state until a funeral on Friday."
" WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The FBI has collected information about tactics and training used by antiwar protesters in an effort to blunt potential violence by extremist elements, a federal law enforcement official said Sunday. The FBI warned of tactics used by such groups in a weekly bulletin circulated to 15,000 law enforcement agencies around the country last month before large demonstrations in Washington and San Francisco to protest the Iraq war. The bulletin discussed tactics, training and organization of groups, some of which have Web sites that refer to training camps to teach activities like disrupting traffic and law enforcement during large public events, the official said. It described activist strategies like videotaping arrests to intimidate police and using the Internet to recruit and raise funds. The memorandum was first reported by The New York Times in its Sunday editions, and the contents were confirmed to Reuters by a federal law enforcement official. ""It contains information that we gleaned through investigation and through other means,"" the official said. ""In the experiences that law enforcement agencies have had in other cities such as Seattle, Washington D.C., San Francisco, where there have been large scale protests, where there was a potential for violent activity, that information was then passed on ... to law enforcement agencies for future planning,"" the official said. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he was concerned about reports that the FBI was monitoring antiwar protesters. ""We have the stories going on this morning where they're using the FBI to look into demonstrations in order to find out who is demonstrating and getting into their background. That reminds me to the old Nixon times and the enemies list,"" he said on ABC's ""This Week."" White House officials in the administration of former President Richard Nixon kept a list of political enemies. Kennedy said the Bush administration had gone to ""extraordinary lengths"" to attack lawmakers who question the White House policy on Iraq and that was a ""fundamental flaw"" of the administration. ""How could we be fighting abroad to defend our freedoms and diminishing those freedoms here at home?"""
" 1 of 9. Kenya's Deputy Prime Minister and presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta (C) casts his ballot inside a polling station in Kenya's town of Gatundu, March 4, 2013. Counting since Monday's vote has been slow, and a new electronic voter system has been plagued by hitches, leading to complaints by political parties and anxiety among voters fearful that a flawed process could lead to another violent dispute. Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, 51, has kept an early lead since results started trickling in after polls closed on Monday, but some strongholds for his rival Prime Minister Raila Odinga, 68, have yet to declare their results. After problems with the electronic system, the electoral commission said it would rely instead on results being delivered manually to a national tallying center overnight. It said it hoped to declare the winner on Wednesday and urged Kenyans to remain calm. Results released on Tuesday with half of ballots counted showed Kenyatta, son of Kenya's independence leader and one of Africa's richest men, leading with 53 percent, against 42 percent for veteran politician Odinga. Kenyatta and his deputy presidential running mate are both wanted in the Hague on charges of unleashing death squads after the last vote in 2007, which both men deny. The last election saw some 1,200 people killed in ethnic violence after outgoing president Mwai Kibaki was declared the victor over Odinga. This time, Monday's vote saw at least 15 people killed in pockets of violence but no repeat so far of unrest on such a large scale. If neither major candidate wins 50 percent of the vote, Kenyatta and Odinga would have to face each other in a second round run-off, penciled in for next month if necessary. ""We can confirm that our returning officers are expected to bring the physical results at anytime now, which will lead to the final results. What matters here is the final result and they are coming in,"" Ahmed Issack Hassan, chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries commission, told a news conference on Tuesday evening. Hassan repeated that despite the hitches, he expected the vote to be fair and credible."
" Pro-Taleban militants were killed as fighting continued in the Swat valley for a third day, the military said. There has been no comment from the militants. A partial curfew has been imposed in the district. On Monday, the military took over operations against the militants on the orders of President Pervez Musharraf. The 16 alleged militants were killed in raids near the towns of Mingora and Shangla on Wednesday, military spokesman Gen Waheed Arshad said. ""The militants were killed in three different incidents... We will use ground troops where necessary,"" Gen Arshad said. Earlier on Wednesday an army convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in nearby Malakand agency as it travelled to Swat. Gen Arshad said eight soldiers had been injured. Locals said at least two of the soldiers were killed and two army vehicles completely destroyed. There has been no independent confirmation of any of the reports. The Swat valley, next to Pakistan's tribal areas, has been in the grip of an insurgency since October. The situation worsened after a pro-Taleban cleric and his supporters sought to implement his brand of Islamic law."
" The former cricketer was detained after going to the University of Punjab in Lahore to address a protest by students against President Pervez Musharraf. Mr Khan was initially held for an hour by students from the Jamaat-e-Islami party after a confrontation on campus. On Tuesday, Mr Khan said there should be no negotiations with Gen Musharraf. In a series of interviews with the foreign media on Wednesday, Gen Musharraf insisted he was not a dictator and that he was the man to lead the country back to democracy. The emergency rule was necessary in order to hold ""peaceful, free and fair elections"", the president said in an interview with the French newspaper, Le Monde. He went on to say that politicians in detention in Pakistan would be released to take part fully in elections. But he warned that if they caused trouble or broke the law, the authorities would act against them. Mr Khan is well known around the world from his sporting days, but his Tehrik-i-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party has little support in Pakistan. Witnesses said there were chaotic scenes at the university when Mr Khan arrived to try to address a rally of his student supporters on Wednesday morning. ""I hope to start the movement for the restoration of democracy amongst the student community,"" he had earlier told the BBC."
" 1 of 5. A soldier loyal to the Syrian regime rides a bicycle in Qusair, after the Syrian army took control of the city from rebel fighters, June 5, 2013. Two weeks of heavy fighting reduced much of the town to piles of concrete, whole blocks flattened by shelling, with glass and rubble littering the roads as tired, delighted Syrian soldiers gathered at the bullet-riddled clock tower. Street after deserted street lay in ruins, windows blown out, facades crumpled and trees blackened and burnt. The dome of the local mosque was damaged by rocket fire, and the walls of a church smashed open. ""We will not hesitate to crush with an iron fist those who attack us. ... Their fate is surrender or death,"" the Syrian armed forces command said in statement. ""We will continue our string of victories until we regain every inch of Syrian land."" The fall of Qusair, which lies on a cross-border supply route with Lebanon, might make it harder to convince both sides to attend a proposed peace conference in the coming weeks, with Assad's fortunes on the rise and the opposition in disarray. Signaling the diplomatic difficulties, international envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said in Geneva that the date for the conference had slipped back to July from June. ""The only sticking point is ... the Syrian component of the conference,"" he said after meeting U.S. and Russian officials. In a frank assessment of their defeat, an opposition group from Qusair said more than 500 rebels had died in two weeks of combat, with a further 1,000 wounded, leaving just 400 outgunned men struggling to hold onto the town. Facing determined Hezbollah guerrillas from neighboring Lebanon, who swung the fight Assad's way, the survivors decided to escape in the night through a corridor that the attackers said they had deliberately left open to encourage flight. ""We went in, there was some fighting, and then (the rebels) withdrew,"" said one fighter heading home to rest after four sleepless nights. ""We saw them leaving in about 400 cars."""
" The military chief of the main umbrella group of Syrian rebels says his men are ready to fight Hezbollah militants inside neighbouring Lebanon. Gen Selim Idriss of the Free Syrian Army told the BBC that Hezbollah fighters were ""invading"" Syria and Lebanon was doing nothing to stop them. Gen Idriss denied rebels were losing the war, despite recent setbacks. Early on Wednesday Syrian state TV claimed that government forces had gained full control of Qusair. There was no way of immediately verifying the claim, which was also reported by Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV channel. Gen Idriss also said the rebels would not accept any role for President Bashar al-Assad in a post-conflict Syria. ""If the price of peace is that Bashar still has the power in Syria, we don't need that kind of peace,"" he said. He said he had told commanders, including those near the strategic town of Qusair, to fight Hezbollah militants ""just inside Syria"". But he added: ""There are now a very large number of Hezbollah fighters in Syria, in Qusair, in Idlib, in Aleppo, in Damascus and I can say everywhere in the country. ""Hezbollah fighters are invading Syrian territory. And when they continue to do that and the Lebanese authorities don't take any action to stop them coming to Syria, I think we are allowed to fight Hezbollah fighters inside [Lebanese] territory."""
" The Syrian government hailed a strategic victory on Wednesday after the border town of Qusair fell to Hezbollah forces following a siege that pitched the Lebanese Shia militia against several thousand Sunni rebels in what had been billed as a defining battle of the country's civil war. Rebel groups fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad confirmed early on Wednesday that they had pulled out of the town in the early hours, with fighters taking refuge in hamlets near Syria's third city, Homs, 20 miles to the north. Outgunned since the siege began, rebels inside the town said that they had no option but to flee ""in the face of this huge arsenal and lack of supplies and the blatant intervention of Hezbollah"". Opposition statements blamed ""Assad regime forces aided by Iranian militias"" and pledged to ""continue to fight the thousands of Lebanese mercenaries"". The fate of residents who remained as the battle raged remains unclear. Rebel leaders from the town who contacted the Guardian earlier this week said more than 15,000 people had stayed in their homes from a prewar population of 30,000. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had not been given permission by Damascus to enter the town, despite winning assurances of access earlier in the week. ""We can't give any concrete information on numbers killed, wounded, or remaining in Qusair,"" an ICRC spokesman said. ""We're still in dialogue with the Syrian authorities on reaching Qusair, particularly with a view to getting in medical supplies."" Underlining the difficulty of finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis, the UN's Syria envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, said that a peace conference that was originally scheduled to be held in Geneva this month would now not take place before July. Qusair had come under heavy bombardment from artillery and shells dropped by the Syrian air force and rebel supply lines had been severed by regime forces to the north and east while Hezbollah had advanced from the south and west. Hezbollah has led the attack. Its large-scale role has drawn strident criticism in Lebanon and across the Sunni Arab world, where inter-Muslim sectarian tensions have reached dangerous highs, especially since the assault on Qusair began."
" The envoy, former Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, was believed to be carrying a message from China's President Hu Jintao calling for restraint. The meeting came as a North Korean official hinted at another test. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned of ""more grave consequences"" if a second test is carried out. China's Foreign Ministry warned on Thursday against ""wilfully"" expanding UN sanctions against North Korea. Ms Rice, who is in South Korea on the second leg of an Asian tour to rally opposition to North Korea's nuclear testing, said she hoped China's envoy had sent a ""strong message"" to Pyongyang. Her visit follows a UN Security Council vote backing sanctions in response to North Korea's 9 October test. A North Korean official gave the country's first indication it may be preparing a second nuclear test. The deputy head of North Korea's foreign ministry, Li Gun, speaking on ABC TV in the US, said a second test would be ""natural"" and that the US should not be surprised if one were carried out. President George W Bush said North Korea would face ""grave consequences"" if it tried to transfer nuclear weapons to third parties such as Iran or al-Qaeda. Following what she called ""fruitful"" talks with South Korea's president and foreign minister, Ms Rice said they had discussed ways of preventing the trafficking of nuclear material by North Korea."
" French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for a speedy end to transport strikes against his pension reforms. His spokesman said the action ought to stop ""in the interest of passengers"" now that conditions for talks with the unions on the package had been created. Rail and bus services were crippled in Wednesday's action and more disruption is expected on Thursday. Germany is also facing rail disruption, as train drivers hold a three-day strike over a pay demand. Deutsche Bahn says it will not make a new pay offer, and drivers' unions have raised the prospect of open-ended strikes. The company estimates that 50% of regional trains will run on Thursday, but only 20% in greater Berlin and 40% in the Hamburg area. Hopes of a breakthrough in the French disputes were raised after Mr Sarkozy said conditions for talks had been met. ""The president of the republic has always considered there is more to be gained for all parties in negotiation than in conflict,"" said Mr Sarkozy's spokesman David Martinon. The strike began on Tuesday night and follows a previous walkout on 18 October. Prime Minister Francois Fillon was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying the government was outlining a deal to unions to stop ""a strike that is... annoying millions of French people"". Labour Minister Xavier Bertrand has been holding a series of meetings with unions, whose leaders signalled their readiness to make a deal. Jacques Voisin, head of the CFTC union, said after meeting the minister: ""Let's not waste any time... let's negotiate."" Applies in 16 sectors, of which rail and utilities employees make up 360,000 people Some workers can retire on full pensions aged 50 Awarded to Paris Opera House workers in 1698 by Louis XIV Bernard Thibault, head of the powerful CGT union, appeared to retreat from a previous demand for national talks by saying he would accept negotiations on a company-by-company basis. In Paris on Wednesday, more than 50,000 people took to the streets to protest against Mr Sarkozy's reforms. Other demonstrations were held across France. Nationwide fewer than a quarter of trains and only 90 of the 700 high-speed TGVs ran normally, while just one in five subway trains on the Paris metro and only 15% of bus services were operating. Across France, commuters were forced to find other ways to get to work - car sharing, cycling or roller blading along traffic-choked roads. French electricity grid power output was down by 8,000 megawatts amid walkouts by EDF electricity and GDF gas workers Shows at the Paris opera and Comedie Francaise were cancelled as performers joined the strikes Thirty-five of France's 85 campuses were disrupted by blockades as students protested against a law letting universities accept private donations and charge tuition. It is not clear if energy workers will continue to strike on Thursday, although they have voted to continue a blockade of the liquefied natural gas terminal at Fos-sur-Mer to Friday. The last time a French government tried to overhaul ""special"" pensions was in 1995 and it sparked three weeks of strikes that forced then-President Jacques Chirac to climb down. But the polls have so far broadly supported Mr Sarkozy, who says France can no longer afford to let some public service employees retire on a full pension as early as 50."
" The IAEA also found in a report that Tehran was still enriching uranium in defiance of the UN Security Council. Iran said the report was a clean bill of health but the US said it showed Tehran was not co-operating. The BBC's Jon Leyne says Iran probably has done enough to fend off any new UN sanctions and has deferred the crisis. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agreed a deal in August with Iran to answer outstanding questions as part of a four-year probe into its nuclear drive. The confidential IAEA report will form the basis for deliberations when representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, along with Germany, meet on Monday in Brussels. The BBC's Bethany Bell in Vienna says that while a number of questions about Iran's past nuclear work have been answered, the report says the IAEA's knowledge about Tehran's current nuclear programme is diminishing. The report, a copy of which was obtained by the BBC, found Tehran had been operating 3,000 centrifuges, the machines used to enrich uranium, at its plant at Natanz. ""Contrary to the decisions of the Security Council, Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities,"" the document says. But the IAEA also noted the answers Iran had given about the history of its centrifuge programme were consistent with the agency's own findings. The report by IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei praised Iran for making progress in responding to questions about its past nuclear activities."
" The UN's nuclear watchdog said Tehran had made moves towards transparency, but was continuing to enrich uranium in defiance of the Security Council. The White House said ""selective co-operation"" was ""not good enough"". The US and its allies fear Iran is building a nuclear weapons capability. Tehran denies this and insists the report gave it a clean bill of health. The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reached a deal in August with Iran, according to which Tehran would answer outstanding questions as part of a four-year probe into its nuclear drive. The latest IAEA report praised Iran for making progress in responding to questions about past activities. ""Iran has provided sufficient access to individuals and has responded in a timely manner to questions and provided clarifications and amplifications on issues raised in the context of the work plan,"" the report said. However, it said Iran's co-operation had been ""reactive"" rather than ""pro-active"" and that the IAEA was continuing to check whether Iran's declarations were complete. The report also found that the agency's knowledge about Tehran's current nuclear programme was diminishing. It says the government had been operating 3,000 centrifuges, the machines used to enrich uranium, at its plant at Natanz. ""Contrary to the decisions of the Security Council, Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities,"" the document says."
" A woman in a red dress recoils from a tear-gas assault by a Turkish riot policeman. Another young woman gasps out her last breath on a Tehran street. A student brings a column of Chinese tanks to a halt with nothing more than two supermarket bags. In historic events involving tens of thousands, often hundreds of thousands, sometimes a single image of a single person can capture the spirit of the moment. So it is with the mass demonstrations this week in Istanbul's Taksim Square. Captured by a Reuters photographer, Osam Orsal, the defiance of the mostly young and secular protesters was epitomised by, in the initial absence of her name, the Woman in Red. In the past few days her image has been reproduced not just in publications and on news websites, but on posters, stickers and walls across Istanbul. In a simple but elegant outfit more suitable for a garden party than a riot, the woman, identified as Ceyda Sungur, an academic at Istanbul Technical University, has become a symbol of the innocence and naivety of the city's young in confronting the brutal machinery of authority. Such images linger in the public consciousness long after the events they evoke have passed into history. Perhaps the most famous of all occurred in June 1989, near Beijing's Tiananmen Square. A column of tanks sent in by the government to crush mass demonstrations was halted by a lone man, who blocked their path. Out of the estimated one million people who gathered in the square, this one man came to symbolise their cause. Known to this day only as Tank Man, his identity and fate have been fiercely debated but never resolved. Anonymity, and with it the ambiguity of motive, can sometimes play an important factor in the iconography of these photographs."
 The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey against a decision by officials to deny them refugee status. The decision backs up refusals by lower courts to hear their cases. The Immigration and Refugee Board ruled in 2005 that the two were not refugees in need of protection and that they faced no risk of persecution in the US. The two men deserted their units and went to Canada when they learned they were to be deployed to Iraq. Both have said they believe the war to be illegal and immoral.
" More trains were running than on Wednesday, but millions of people still struggled to get to and from work. The misery looks set to continue after state rail and Paris transport workers voted to continue striking on Friday. Mr Sarkozy has called for a speedy end to the strike, saying conditions for talks with the unions have been met. Germany also faces rail disruption in its worst ever transport strike, with only two-thirds of trains running on main lines. Passenger and freight train drivers have taken the action over a pay demand. Deutsche Bahn says it will not make a new pay offer, and drivers' unions have raised the prospect of open-ended strikes. France's largest rail union, the CGT, said 46% of employees at the state-run SNCF train company were on strike on Thursday, compared with 64% the day before. Only 150 of the usual 700 TGV high-speed trains were running. The Paris public transport company RATP said 27% of metro workers were on strike Thursday, down from 44% on Wednesday. Major roads in the Paris region were clogged, with a reported 300km (180 miles) of traffic jams early in the day."
" Mohammed Shahadeh, leader of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the camp, was shot outside his home, officials say. Fatah officials blamed Hamas for the killing - the latest in the current stand-off between the two Palestinian rivals that has left about 20 dead. Meanwhile, Palestinian police blocked streets to protest over non-payment of salaries by the Hamas-led government. The protest, which began on Saturday, has forced many shops to close. Tyres were set on fire on main roads, sending black smoke billowing over Gaza. On Saturday, prominent Palestinians met Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and asked him to consider naming a cabinet in an effort to halt the ongoing violence. Bassam Assalhi, one of the group said: ""We stressed the first priority and choice is to form a government of national unity but if peace efforts [between Fatah and Hamas] falter then we think a government of national figures should be considered."" The Hamas-led Palestinian Authority has struggled to pay municipal salaries since it came to power in March. Principal international donors, including the United States and the European Union have boycotted the Palestinian government over Hamas's refusal to recognise the Jewish state or to renounce violence."
" Heavy rains have turned vast regions into lakes, cut off villages, severed transport links and left historic city centres under muddy brown water. The inundations have also brought back dark memories of devastating floods that killed dozens in 2002. The largest volumes of water have travelled down two of Europe's great river systems: the Danube, which runs from Germany through Austria and central Europe into the Black Sea, and the Elbe, which flows from the Czech Republic through eastern Germany into the North Sea. Ms Merkel travelled by helicopter over the flood zone and visited three impacted areas, starting in Passau, Bavaria, where the Danube meets two other rivers and peaked late Monday at 12.9 metres, the highest level since 1501. The chancellor vowed the emergency cash would be disbursed in an unbureaucratic way because ""what's important now is that the aid quickly reaches the people"". Property damage in Passau alone was estimated at 20 million euros ($26 million) by the city mayor. Some people have paddled canoes down flooded streets in Passau, where drinking water, power and phone services were cut. Elsewhere stranded residents were evacuated from their soggy homes by rescue personnel using inflatable boats. ""The damage and the loss of income is a long-term matter. And that's why our support will not cease,"" said Merkel, who faces an election in less than four months and was later photographed helping to fill sandbags. Across the region, the official death toll rose to 11 as Czech emergency services recovered the body of a man from the swollen Male Labe river in the northern Krkonose mountain range, near the border with Poland. The deluge killed seven others in the Czech Republic, including a woman who was hit by an uprooted tree as she walked her dog. Two others died in Austria and one in Switzerland. Several more people were missing. Across much of the swamped region, rail, road and river traffic links were cut, crops destroyed, schools and factories closed and hospitals evacuated. In Prague, the flood water hit its highest level on Tuesday after inundating the city centre, displacing more than 8,000 people and forcing a night-time operation to move animals in the city's zoo to higher ground."
" Miami, Florida (CNN) -- Tomas continued to lose brawn in the Caribbean Sea on Monday morning after pummeling the island of St. Vincent over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said. As of 5 a.m. ET Sunday, Tomas, a tropical storm with sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph), was located about 135 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Curacao, according to the Hurricane Center. The storm was moving west at about 14 mph (22 kph). Tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 175 miles (280 kilometers) from the center of Tomas. Tomas moved over the Caribbean Sea after leaving heavy rain and wind on St. Vincent. More than 1,000 people entered shelters on St. Vincent as Tomas struck the island, an emergency official said. Two people were injured, including one critically, when they tried to repair roof damage during the storm, said Michelle Forbes, acting director of National Emergency Management. Tomas also left downed trees that blocked many roads, Forbes said, and large areas of the island lacked power. More than 100 homes sustained roof damage, she said, and authorities expected the number to rise. The main hospital on the island, Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, lost power temporarily but was able to get a generator up and running, according to Forbes. Tomas was forecast to continue heading west over the next day or two. The Hurricane Center said restrengthening could begin by late Tuesday. A projection map shows the storm turning north later this week. Tomas could approach Haiti on Friday, possibly as a hurricane. Tomas could deal a harsh blow to Haiti as the impoverished nation is still recovering from a devastating earthquake in January and is currently dealing with a cholera outbreak. But ""Tomas could still hit anywhere from the Dominican Republic to eastern Cuba,"" CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward said."
" Are you in Haiti? Please share your photos and videos with CNN iReport. (CNN) -- The death toll from a cholera outbreak in Haiti has risen to more than 330, and officials believe Hurricane Tomas may worsen the situation as it approaches, a U.N. spokeswoman said Saturday. The number of confirmed cholera cases has climbed to 4,764, with 337 deaths, said Imogen Wall, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Haiti, citing information provided by the Haitian government. Those numbers represent the people that were able to make it to the hospital, she said. Another 200 cases are suspected in the nation's West Department, or province, she said. U.N. peacekeepers said Thursday that preliminary tests on a suspected source of the cholera outbreak were negative. The U.N. mission in Haiti is testing waste and sewage water at the back of a Nepalese military base that is part of the U.N. operations. The first tests showed no signs of cholera, officials said earlier this week. The mission said it ""has taken very seriously the allegations that sewage water coming from latrines at the back of the Nepalese military base in Mirebalais could be the source of the cholera outbreak in Haiti."" Suspicions about the Nepalese base arose from reports that water was collecting at the back of the base. It was believed to be overflow from the latrine or a septic tank. U.N. engineers examined the base and concluded that the standing water was not from the latrine of septic tank, but from a soak pit that receives water from the kitchen and the shower area, the U.N mission said. ""This soak pit is located three meters from the latrines, hence misleading passers-by into believing that the soaked ground close to latrines is caused by the overspill of human waste,"" it said."
" CAPE Town, South Africa, June 20 (Xinhua) -- After refusing to train on Sunday, the French players released a statement protesting against the Chelsea striker's exclusion from the squad. ""All the players in the French squad without exception wish to affirm their opposition to the decision taken by the French Football Federation to exclude Nicolas Anelka,"" said the statement. The players' refusal to train prompted top French Football Federation official Jean-Louis Valentin, whose job is to liaise between the team and the federation, to announce he was resigning. ""I am disgusted, I am quitting my post,"" said a disappointed Valentin.""It's a scandal for the French, for the young people here. It's a scandal for the federation and the French team. They don't want to train. It's unacceptable."" The latest chaotic scene came one day after striker Nicolas Anelka was expelled for verbally insulting coach Raymond Domenech during the defeat to Mexico which left France facing elimination. The French squad arrived at the training court as usual on Sunday. But before the training session started, captain Patrice Evra and team fitness coach Robert Duverne burst into furious argument before Domenech walked over to intervene. The wroth Duverne stormed away and the squad left the ground and returned to their team bus. France only got one point from their opening two group matches, with no goal scored. They will face hosts South Africa in the last group round on Tuesday and even a win can not guarantee France to enter the knockout stage."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. France's players refused to train on Sunday following Nicolas Anelka's expulsion from the squad for verbally abusing coach Raymond Domenech. Domenech read out a statement from his squad which said: ""The French Football Federation did not at any time try to protect the group. ""To show our opposition to the decision taken [on Anelka], all the players decided not to take part in training."" Moments before a public training session was about to begin, Domenech had to separate captain Patrice Evra and fitness coach Robert Duverne. Duverne is understood to have stormed away from an argument with the Manchester United defender, throwing his accreditation badge to the ground. The players then left the pitch and walked to their bus where they had a meeting with Domenech behind closed curtains. Domenech (right) chose Anelka to start France's first two games ""I am disgusted, I am quitting my post,"" FFF managing director Jean-Louis Valentin said immediately after the incident between Evra and Duverne, before driving off in his car. ""It's a scandal for the French, for the federation and the French team. ""They don't want to train. It's unacceptable. As for me, it's over. I'm leaving the federation. I'm sickened and disgusted."" FFF vice-president Christian Teinturier said: ""I confess that I understand nothing. We're in another world here. French football is in a catastrophic situation."" Later on Sunday, the federation distanced itself from what it called ""the unacceptable behaviour of the players representing our country"". French sports minister Roselyne Bachelot said President Nicolas Sarkozy had asked her to extend her stay in South Africa and that she would meet with Evra, Domenech and FFF chief Jean-Pierre Escalettes on Monday. Was it right to send Anelka home? 100% yes. Sulky, arrogant, obnoxious, childish. Although the English were awful against the Algerians, they put the effort in. The French do not want to play for their manager.   ""We are taking note of the indignation of the French people and... calling for dignity and responsibility,"" she told TFI television. Asked whether there would be penalties for the fiasco, she said: ""It's not yet the right time to take disciplinary action but that time will come very soon."" Earlier, Domenech had played down his row with Anelka and insisted the striker could have stayed with the squad had he apologised. Anelka was sent home after insulting Domenech during the defeat by Mexico which has left France unlikely to qualify for the last 16. ""I had another chat with him and left open the possibility for him to apologise,"" said the 57-year-old. ""[That was] something which he did not want to do."" Read the France squad's statement on their decision to boycott training But Domenech insisted the incident could have been dealt with without such damaging repercussions, had a leak to the media not escalated the problem. ""People cannot imagine the pressure,"" said Domenech, who took France to the final of the last World Cup in 2006. ""We are in a dressing room, the coach says something to a player who is already under pressure, he can react angrily, and with strong words. ""He did not react in the most suitable fashion. But it was just a guy sitting in his corner and muttering - that would not have mattered had it stayed there. ""What was important was that it made the front page of a newspaper, and that exposes the internal life of the squad."" He continued: ""I sorted out the problem internally, and as far as I was concerned it was done and dusted. ""[But] the decision to exclude him was the right one. I am sorry for the children for whom the French team represents something. Anelka does not have the right to say such things."" Duverne later denied he was the source of the dressing room leak, and explained his fall-out with Evra. ""He came to tell me that the players were not going to participate in training. I was angry because we play a big game in two days and we have no right to destroy our last chance."" Anelka's Chelsea team-mate John Terry, who is playing for England in South Africa, said he disagreed with the decision to send the former Arsenal and Real Madrid player home. ""As a person, you won't find a better man in football,"" he said. ""It's obviously the wrong decision. He's a great player as well."" Domenech's six-year stint as France coach ends at this World Cup and and he will be replaced by Bordeaux boss Laurent Blanc. His last match in charge could be on Tuesday unless his team convincingly beat hosts South Africa in their final Group A encounter, and Uruguay and Mexico do not draw the other match."
" Dilma Rousseff has been elected president of Brazil to succeed Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, electoral officials have confirmed. Ms Rousseff, 62, who has never before held elected office, becomes the country's first woman president. She promised to ""honour the trust"" Brazilians had put in her and work to eliminate poverty. Ms Rousseff was the preferred successor of President Lula, who is leaving after two terms with record popularity. Thousands of supporters of the governing Workers' Party took to the streets across Brazil to celebrate her victory. The Superior Electoral Court said that with almost all the votes counted, she had won 56% against 44% for her rival, Jose Serra of the Social Democratic Party. Although voting is compulsory in Brazil, there was a high rate of abstention at 21.5%. The second round of voting was forced after Ms Rousseff fell short of the 50% needed in the 3 October first round, winning 47% to Mr Serra's 33%. In her victory speech, she said her first priority would be to lift 20 million Brazilians out of poverty. ""I reiterate my fundamental promise: the eradication of poverty,"" she said."
" (CNN) -- Brazil's new president-elect vowed to continue her predecessor's move to fight against inequality and promote human rights and fight poverty in her victory speech Sunday night. ""My mission is to eradicate poverty,"" Dilma Rousseff said after the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal declared her the winner in Sunday's runoff election. As the nation's first woman to hold the office, Rousseff said she has a mission to fight for more gender equality in Brazil. ""I hope the fathers and mothers of little girls will look at them and say yes, women can."" Rousseff -- President Luiz Inacio da Silva's right-hand woman -- has served as his chief of staff. Previously, as energy minister, she claims to have helped turn Brazil into one of the world's leading energy giants. A left-wing guerrilla fighter during the military dictatorship rule in the 1960s, Rousseff said during a congressional hearing that she was ""barbarically tortured"" after she was charged with subversion by the military regime. Her opponent, Jose Serra, also suffered persecution during Brazil's military rule and was forced into exile during the 1960s. A centrist politician, he served as health minister during Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government. He recently left his job as governor of Brazil's richest state, Sao Paulo, to run for presidency. Millions of voters lined up across Brazil's vast territory to vote in the heated runoff."
" The blast struck the soldiers' vehicle as they travelled west of the capital. Three more were killed in the restive Diyala province, north of Baghdad. The three others died in separate attacks. The deaths come as US-led forces in Iraq experience a surge in casualties in insurgency attacks; more than 60 US troops have been killed this month. The BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad says that, with an average of three Americans dying every day, this is one of the highest casualty rates sustained by US troops since January 2005. The US military gave no further details about the deaths in Diyala, apart from saying they occurred during operations in the province. One soldier died in northern Baghdad when his patrol was attacked with small-arms fire. Another was killed when his patrol was hit by a roadside bomb. In western Anbar province, a marine died from his wounds after coming under fire, the military said. Commanders say American troops are more exposed to attack at the moment because of stepped-up operations to tackle sectarian violence in Baghdad and elsewhere. The sharp increase in deaths comes as debate intensifies in Washington and Iraq over possibilities of a new strategy for addressing the worsening security situation. On Tuesday, at least two special police commanders were moved from units at the centre of allegations about Shia death squads carrying out sectarian killings of Sunni Muslims."
" 1 of 3. Colombia's presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos casts his vote accompanied by his wife Maria Clemencia (3rd R) and sons Martin and Esteban (R) during presidential elections in Bogota June 20, 2010. Colombians voted on Sunday in a presidential run-off that former Defense Minister Santos was expected to win after vowing to continue the incumbent president's policies on security and the economy."
 The incoming United Nation's secretary-general said the UN vote sent North Korea a ''strong and clear message.'' Ban Ki-moon told the BBC the claimed nuclear test by North Korea was a ''serious and grave threat to peace and stability.''
" (CNN) -- The shipping containers filled with illegal weapons seized in Lagos, Nigeria, earlier this week came from Iran, a leading global shipping company said Saturday. The company, CMA CGM, said it was a victim of false cargo declaration. The shipper -- who the company identified as an Iranian trader -- had listed the materials inside the containers as ""packages of glass wool and pallets of stone."" The containers in question were loaded in Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran, and discharged in Lagos in July, the company said. They were then transferred to a depot. Last week, the shipper asked that the containers be re-loaded and sent to Gambia, CMA CGM said in a statement, adding that the trader had obtained the necessary documentation and clearance for customs. Authorities in Nigeria intervened before the containers were moved. Nigeria's security service said earlier this week that it had seized 13 shipping containers in the Lagos port filled with illegal weapons, including rockets, grenades and bullets. Each shipping container carries 20 wooden crates. The seizure comes as Nigeria prepares for the 2011 elections, which analysts say are likely to be one of the most-controversial and potentially most-violent elections in the country's history."
" Israeli tanks entered northern Gaza near the town of Jabaliya overnight and Palestinian militants confronted them. The Israelis say they are trying to stop missiles being fired on Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip. Nineteen Palestinians, most of them militants, have died in Israeli attacks in Gaza over the past few days. Meanwhile, the home of a prominent Palestinian militant was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on the border with Egypt. Israel issued a warning before the strike and no one was killed or injured, says the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza. An Israeli army spokeswoman told the French news agency AFP that the house ""hid a tunnel used for arms smuggling."" The violence is the worst in the area since June, when the Israelis launched an offensive to try to rescue a captured soldier. More than 220 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have been killed since then; two Israeli soldiers have been killed, one by ""friendly"" fire. Three Israelis were wounded on Friday from crudely-made Palestinian missiles launched from Gaza at the nearby Israeli town of Sderot. Ghazi Hamad urged the international community to ""impose a sanction on Israel to stop their crime, their massacres against our people."""
" Resolution 1718 imposes weapons and financial sanctions but is not backed by the threat of military force. North Korea's UN envoy said he totally rejected the resolution and walked out. After hours of talks, China agreed to back the resolution but said it had ""reservations"" about provisions for cargo checks on North Korean ships. US President George W Bush said the UN had taken a ""swift and tough"" step to show its determination to keep the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons. North Korea's UN envoy, Pak Gil Yon, left the UN chamber after rejecting the ""unjustifiable"" resolution and accusing the Security Council of neglecting US pressure on North Korea. He warned that any increase in US pressure would be considered as a ""declaration of war"". John Bolton, the US envoy to the UN, warned the Security Council that stronger measures might be required if North Korea did not comply. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said that both Moscow and Beijing believed the sanctions should not be viewed as indefinite. ""If North Korea returns to six-party talks and these talks achieve progress, sanctions... should be automatically lifted,"" he said. China and Russia have been concerned that the cargo inspections permitted in the resolution could spark naval confrontations with North Korean boats."
" At least 88 people have been killed and another 44 are missing in the wake of flooding in southern China over the last week, state media say. About half a million people have been evacuated because of the flash flooding, caused by heavy rain. The downpour has swollen rivers including the Pearl river in Guangdong province, a manufacturing hub. China's rainy season, which began in May, follows the worst drought in a century in the south-west. State news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday that the heavy rains had caused landslides that have killed 35 people. Other provinces badly hit have been Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guizhou and Sichuan. The National Meteorological Centre warned of more heavy rain in the region until Sunday. Pictures from Chinese state television, CCTV, showed people stranded on the rooftops of almost submerged homes. A number of highways and more than 33,000 homes have been damaged by the flooding, officials said."
" A 580-run stand for the second wicket, a first-class record, between Water and Power Development Authority's Rafatullah Mohmand and Aamer Sajjad was the highlight of their tame draw against Sui Southern Gas Corporation at the Sheikupura Stadium. Rafatullah, who almost made it to the national squad in 2006, went on to a career-best unbeaten 302 while Sajjad fell 11 short of a triple century as the pair bettered the existing mark of 576 between Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama against India in Colombo. They easily overhauled SSGC's first-innings total of 466 as WAPDA finished on 671 for 2, picking up three points. Rafatullah, 33, was in the news earlier this year when the ICC barred him from the World cup Qualifiers after he was deemed to have not satisfied the rules to represent Afghanistan. He has now set his sights on making the Pakistan national team. ""What happened earlier is behind me and I hope that this triple hundred will help me revive my career as I want to play for Pakistan at the international level,"" he told AFP. PCB chairman Ijaz Butt congratulated the pair on their achievement. Habib Bank Limited stretched their lead at the top of the group to 12 points with a five-wicket win over Pakistan Customs at the Diamond Club ground. It wasn't all smooth for HBL after starting the day 90 runs short of the target; they lost two wickets for the addition of 26 runs, and three more wickets fell before reaching the 143 they needed to win. Both opener Shan Masood and first-innings hero Humayun Farhat made 38 to steer HBL home. Second-placed Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited slipped up, getting no points in their draw against Pakistan International Airlines at Jinnah Stadium. They had slipped to a perilous 133 for 7, an overall lead of 70, but were saved by a 85 from No. 7 Raza Ali Dar. He added 57 for the eighth wicket with Imran Ali and 67 for the ninth with Rizwan Akbar to set PIA an almost impossible target of 210 in little more than a session. Opener Agha Sabir's 66 took PIA to 119 for 2 in 27 overs before the match was called off. It was a draw at the Gaddafi Stadium as well, but a far more exciting one as Khan Research Laboratories came within two wickets of winning against Lahore Shalimar. On a day in which only 81 overs were played, opener Abid Ali (53) and Sohail Idrees (79) resisted for Lahore, but the rest of the top order flopped to keep KRL's hopes of a victory alive. It required a 50-minute unbeaten 34 from No. 9 Mohammad Saeed, who swung two fours and two sixes despite the need for caution towards the end of the game, to deny KRL the win. Left-arm spinner Nauman Ali was the most effective of the KRL bowlers, collecting the second five-wicket haul of his career. Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited pulled off a six-wicket win over Karachi Whites at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex to move into joint fourth position. Karachi started the day at 209 for 3 - a lead of 45 - and lost regular wickets to fold for 338 with left-arm spinner Zohaib Khan taking five wickets. Karachi's batsmen used up 46.2 overs on the final day in setting ZTBL a target of 174, with less than half the day remaining. Powered by opener Inam-ul-Haq's 66-ball 72, including five fours and four sixes, ZTBL knocked off the runs in 34.1 overs. Nasrullah Khan took 5 for 70 to bowl Islamabad to a 37-run win against Sialkot on a closely-contested final day at the Jinnah Stadium. The day began with Islamabad struggling on 145 for 7 in their second innings and they were soon dismissed for 155, setting Sialkot 255 for victory. Faisal Rasheed was the best Sialkot bowler, taking 5 for 45. Islamabad's defence, however, got off to a terrific start when their new-ball bowlers, Rauf Akbar and Nasrullah, each dismissed an opener for a duck. Sialkot went for 1 for 2 to 34 for 4 before Mohammad Ayub began to steady the innings with an aggressive half-century. Nasrullah, however, cut through the middle order and wickets fell at regular intervals as Sialkot were dismissed for 217. Faisalabad's bowling attack dismissed Rawalpindi for 163 in 50 overs during the chase to complete a 181-run victory at the Iqbal Stadium. Defending a target of 345, Ijax Ahmed jnr took 4 for 57 while Ahmed Hayat claimed 3 for 24. Zahid Mansoor's 37 was the top score for Rawalpindi during a disappointing second innings, which suffered from a lack of partnerships. Earlier in the day, Faisalabad's lower order rallied to extend their total from 69 for 5 to 202. No. 10 Hayat struck five sixes during his innings of 47 off 39 balls. Lahore Ravi's bowlers finished the job they'd started on the third day, skittling Abbottabad cheaply in the second innings, and gave their batsmen enough time to chase down a modest target on the final day in Muridke. Abbottabad began the day on 103 for 7 and were soon shot out for 161, leaving Lahore Ravi a target of only 186. The chase suffered a jolt when Lahore Ravi lost their second and third wickets with the score on 70 but Asif Khan's half-century and Mohammad Asim's unbeaten 45 ensured victory by five wickets. Peshawar were always going to struggle to avoid a thrashing on the fourth day and they were dismissed for 197 in the second innings, giving Multan victory by an innings and 124 runs at the Multan Cricket Ground. Peshawar resumed on 147 for 5, still trailing by 174 runs, and Zulfiqar Babar ran through the lower order, finishing with figures of 6 for 37."
" The US army private, Bradley Manning - accused of being behind the biggest leak of military secrets in history - goes on trial tomorrow."
" Governing party candidate Juan Manuel Santos has won the final round of Colombia's presidential elections. With almost all the votes counted, Mr Santos had won 69% of the ballots and was more than 40 points ahead of his rival - Green Party candidate Antanas Mockus. In his victory speech, he told the country's main rebel group, Farc, that its ""time had run out"". He said there would not be ""the slightest chance of negotiations"" with the rebels and demanded they unilaterally release the hostages they hold. Last week, the Colombian security forces rescued three police officers and a soldier who had been held captive by Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) for almost 12 years. Mr Santos, a former defence minister, praised the country's armed forces for the rescue, as well as their day-to-day work to keep Colombians safe. He said he would not rest until they had secured every inch of the country. But in a week when two soldiers were sentenced to 28 years in prison for carrying out extrajudicial killings, he warned the military to abide by the constitution and respect human rights. Mr Santos also praised his predecessor Alvaro Uribe, for whose Social National Unity Party he ran. Even after eight years in office, Mr Uribe's approval ratings remain as high as 60%, and Mr Santos said he was keen to build on his success."
" Twin bomb blasts tore through a busy market in Pakistan's second city of Lahore late on Monday, killing 36 people and wounding scores more as the nation struggles to quell a worsening Taliban insurgency. Another 10 people were killed by a suicide bomber outside a court in the northwestern provincial capital of Peshawar, which has borne the brunt of Taliban attacks avenging a major offensive against the hardline militants. Attacks blamed on Islamist fighters have surged this year as Pakistani troops battle the Taliban in the rugged tribal regions near the Afghan border, under fierce US pressure to do more to destroy extremist strongholds. The popular Moon Market in the centre of the eastern city of Lahore was transformed into a scene of flames and rubble as night fell, when two bombs exploded 30 seconds apart outside a police station and a bank, officials said. ""There were two blasts, at least 36 people were killed,"" doctor Rizwan Naseer, the head of Lahore's rescue service, told reporters. He put the number of wounded at 95. Lahore police chief Muhammad Pervez Rathore put the death toll slightly lower, while bodies were still being pulled from the rubble. ""Twenty-seven people are confirmed dead but the death toll may rise. A total of 137 people were injured,"" he said. ""The blasts knocked out the electricity. Fire engulfed the whole of the market. ""We fear there are still dead bodies inside."" Lahore is a cultural hub of nearly eight million people, and is increasingly in the Taliban's cross-hairs with five previous militant strikes this year killing more than 70 people. In Peshawar, a suicide bomber in a rickshaw approached a district courthouse and blew himself up, killing 10 people."
" ISLAMABAD, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme Court of Pakistan started hearing petitions challenging the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) on Monday, according to local TV channel reports. A 17-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is conducting hearing. The hearing is related to petitions filed by former Pakistan People's Party stalwart Dr. Mubashar Hasan and retired bureaucrat Roedad Khan at the Supreme Court. The petitions challenge the NRO on the grounds that it violates the fundamental rights of the people, is against political justice and also contravenes the United Nations Convention against corruption to which Pakistan is a signatory. Acting Attorney General of Pakistan Shah Khawar told media Monday that the Pakistani government will not defend NRO cases in the SC, and all provincial governments will also refuse to defend the NRO. The Chief Justice has appointed three amicus curiae to assist the court on the issue. These advocates had also been appointed as amicus curiae in Oct. 2007 to assist the Supreme Court on the NRO issue. The apex court has issued notices to the Attorney General of Pakistan, the petitioners and the respondents for the above date of hearing. The court will also be hearing other petitions against the NRO. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf promulgated the NRO in 2007 as part of a political deal to allow current President Asif Ali Zardari's wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, to return from years of exile to Pakistan. The NRO provided immunity to leaders and officials from cases registered during 1985-1999. The Pakistani government released thelist of the beneficiaries of the NRO on Nov. 21. A total of 8,041 people were benefited from the ordinance including many bureaucrats, diplomats and government officials. Zardari, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, were also on the list of beneficiaries."
"Abdullah Comert was seriously wounded ... after gunfire from an unidentified person,"" the NTV television station said, quoting a statement from the local governor's office in the Hatay province. He died in hospital, the private station added. With the latest casualty, the death toll rose to at least two in what has become a wave of protests against the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in cities across the country. Hasan Akgol, a main opposition party lawmaker, said Comert was a member of the youth branch of the Republican People's Party (CHP). Police have launched an investigation into the incident. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing down some of the fiercest protests in his decade-long rule. His critics denounce what they say is his authoritarian approach to government, accusing him of trying to impose conservative Islamic reforms on secular Turkey. The unrest, which began on Friday after police cracked down on a demonstration in Istanbul, quickly blew up into anti-government protests across the country. The country is now posed for a two-day strike by public sector workers in support of the protesters. Kesk trade union, a left-wing organisation of some 240,000 members, has accused the government of enacting ""state terror."
" Support is growing across Europe for the protesters in Turkey. Demonstrators gathered outside the EU Parliament in brussels, and another group joined together in France."
" When relatives identified three mutilated bodies dug up near a former US special forces base as their missing family members, they decided to take the corpses to the capital of restive Wardak province and organise a protest to spread word of their loss. By noon on Tuesday, hundreds of people had flooded the streets of Maidan Shar town, blocking the main road to Kandahar and Kabul and shouting ""Death to America"" and ""Death to special forces"". By early afternoon two more men were dead and one seriously injured after police opened fire to control what they said was an increasingly violent crowd. The three bodies were just the latest grisly discovery in the troubled Nerkh district, where locals say a string of civilians disappeared into a military base housing US special forces. They claim they were then tortured and killed. Their families blame American forces, although the base was shared with Afghan troops and a US military spokesman strongly denied any abuses by foreign soldiers. But locals have continued to blame US forces. ""We have found 10 bodies of people killed by Americans in total, seven before and three more today, on the west side of the US base,"" said Sediqullah, a de-miner whose brother's body was one of the three found on Monday. ""His name was Atiqullah, he was 38 years old and a shopkeeper in Maidan Shar,"" said the 42-year-old, before going on to list the names and professions of the other dead, who included a teacher, a taxi driver, a government worker and casual labourers. He said their bodies bore signs of torture. ""They cut their fingers and beat their stomach and head with rocks,"" he said by phone from his home just outside Maidan Shar. ""They were poor people who just had ordinary business and were just working to feed their families."" A senior Wardak politician said the 10 men all vanished at the end of last year, and their families had been seeking news of them for months. ""When there was a lot of snow, about 10 people disappeared in Nerkh and already about a month and a half ago seven bodies were found. The last part of the process was today, when three more bodies were found,"" said Hazrat Mohammad Janan, deputy head of the provincial council. ""It is not clear who killed them, though protesters were accusing the US soldiers."" Wardak was at the heart of a showdown between the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, and US forces earlier this year. Karzai ordered all foreign special forces troops out of the province after receiving reports claiming that the elite units had been involved in the disappearance of civilians in Nerkh. Eventually the two sides agreed that while special forces would leave that district, they would stay on in the rest of Wardak, a province with a heavy Taliban presence, until Afghan forces were better prepared to battle the insurgency alone."
" The Africans were leading when Kaita clashed with Vasileios Torosidis on the touchline, aiming a kick at his Greek opponent. Kaita was shown a red card and Nigeria went on to concede two goals to put their qualification for the knockout stage in jeopardy. After the match Kaita said he had received a number of threats via email. ''Yes, I have received some threats to my life,'' he told the German media. ''They were sent to my email but I'm not disturbed about that because as a Muslim, only God decides who lives and who dies. ''Everything on this Earth is in God's hands, whether it is your life or whatever and unless God allows it, no one has the power to kill me. ''Only God knows what will happen tomorrow. He holds our destiny. That is what my religion teaches me.'' The incident has chilling echoes of Colombia defender Andres Escobar, who was murdered on his return to his homeland after the 1994 World Cup. Escobar was shot in an incident believed to be linked to his own goal which eliminated the South Americans and allowed hosts United States to progress to the next round of the 1994 World Cup, which reportedly resulted in huge gambling losses for a number of the country's major drug cartels. However, Kaita played down such a link."
" Nigeria midfielder Sani Kaita has had more than 1,000 death threats since being sent off during Thursday's 2-1 loss to Greece at the World Cup. ""Kaita has received more than 1,000 threats to his e-mail from Nigeria,"" said team spokesman Peterside Idah. ""We are taking these threats very seriously. We've spoken to the Nigerian government and also written to Fifa."" Nigeria were leading 1-0 when Kaita saw red for kicking out at Greece's Vassillis Torosidis in the 33rd minute. The Super Eagles went on to concede two goals, seriously damaging their chances of reaching the knockout stages in South Africa. ""We consider it a very serious matter because this is a young man who is putting his best at the service of his country and football,"" stated Idah. ""That is why the team received the news of the threat to his life with shock and disappointment and is urging the authorities in Nigeria to take measures to protect him."" Idah added that the 24-year-old midfielder was ""terribly shaken, but, fortunately, he is receiving great support from his team-mates and team officials"". Nigeria take on South Korea at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban on Tuesday and must win to stand any chance of qualifying for the last 16."
" He has reportedly confessed to taking part in last September's siege that led to the deaths of more than 300 people but denies murder. The trial is expected to last several months and hear from many survivors. Security is tight around the court in the North Ossetian capital, Vladikavkaz. All roads leading to the supreme court have been sealed off and there is a heavy police presence. Relatives carrying pictures of some of the victims stood outside the court as Mr Kulayev arrived by police convoy an hour before the hearing was due to start. He was led handcuffed into a packed courtroom by six guards and placed in a cage, the Associated Press reported. Many relatives said they were dreading the proceedings, fearing it would bring back painful memories. At least 40 were able to crowd into the small courtroom as the trial began. ""I want to look him in the face,"" Liza Matzgoyeva, 75, who lost her 34-year-old son, told AP outside the court. ""I want to see his face, look into it and see if he's a human or not."" But other relatives were sceptical about what the trial would achieve."
" Bad weather is again obstructing efforts to get aid to the survivors of Monday's tsunami in Indonesia. Heavy rain and high tides are making it hard for boats to deliver supplies to the isolated Mentawai islands off the west coast of Sumatra. More than 400 people are confirmed dead, but many bodies have yet to be recovered from coastal areas and more than 300 people are still missing. The tsunami was triggered by a 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake. Disaster-relief officials plan to start dropping aid by air, but reports say there are not enough helicopters to reach many of the devastated areas. The government has pledged millions of dollars for the relief effort, but aid agencies said people on the islands still urgently need food and shelter. Meanwhile, an Indonesian government official has told the BBC the earthquake was so close to land that the early warning system in the area did not have a chance to send out an alert before the giant waves broke. The epicentre was 80km from the Mentawai islands. The government is now planning to install new earthquake detection equipment, said Kusuma Habir from the foreign ministry. Disaster official Ade Edward says the 3m (10ft) surge is likely to have carried many of the missing out to sea, or buried them in the sand."
" ADEN, Yemen, May 24 (Reuters) - At least 27 people were killed in an overnight raid by dozens of al Qaeda militants on Yemeni government buildings and military posts in Seyoun, the second largest city in the south-eastern Hadramout province, a local official and residents said. The gunmen targeted the main military posts, the local police headquarters and bank branches and briefly captured some buildings before they withdrew in the morning, they said. Al Qaeda has conducted many hit-and-run attacks since the Yemeni army drove it from its strongholds in Abyan and Shabwa provinces, also in the south, last month. Gulf Arab countries and the United States are concerned about violence in Western-allied Yemen, a neighbour of major oil exporter Saudi Arabia and home to one of al Qaeda's most active wings. The militants arrived in 15 pickup trucks from desert areas outside Seyoun and proceeded to attack various government buildings, a local security official said. ""They wanted to capture the city and control it,"" the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. The official put the death toll among the militants at 20, saying they took away 18 bodies. Five members of the security forces and two soldiers died in the fighting, he said. (Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)"
" Yemen's security forces killed five al-Qaida members and captured four in a raid north of the capital Sana'a on Sunday, a government official said, escalating a campaign against militants responsible for a wave of attacks across the country.    Anti-terrorism units raided a cell in Bayt al-Othdri, in the Arhab region, the official, who asked to remain anonymous, said.    ""The forces exchanged fire with the wanted men who were holed up inside a house,"" he said. ""Five were killed and four were captured."" An officer of the country's intelligence service also died in the gunfight, he said.    President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said last month that Yemen was at war with al-Qaida, as the militants have stepped up attacks on government facilities after being driven out of strongholds in southern Shabwa and Abyan provinces.    Yemen has been in turmoil since 2011, when mass protests forced long-ruling president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.  "
" Malawi's High Court has rejected a decision by President Joyce Banda to annul this week's general election - in which she was a candidate. Ms Banda had earlier said Tuesday's vote had been marred by rigging, multiple voting and computer-hacking. She said a new vote should be held within 90 days but she would not stand again in any new poll. However, the head of the electoral commission said the president did not have the power to annul the vote. The High Court made its ruling after the commission said that despite problems involving the electronic transmission system, the poll remained valid and vote-counting would go on. Malawi's election was chaotic, with one BBC correspondent reporting people voting two days on from election day because of delays in distributing polling material. Frustrated voters set one polling station alight and smashed election material at another. In some places, voting boxes or lids did not arrive so officials used buckets and plastic wrap. Late on Friday, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) said Joyce Banda's rival candidate Peter Mutharika had taken a lead of 42%, with 30% of votes counted. Ms Banda was in second place with 23%, the commission said. ""I am nullifying the elections, using the powers invested in me by the Malawi constitution,"" Ms Banda told a news conference."
" The 27 leaders of European Union member states on Friday gave way to German demands to slight amendments to the bloc's guiding Lisbon Treaty in order to prevent future debt crises. The announcement came early in the morning after seven hours of intense talks at the start of a two-day EU summit in Brussels. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the leaders had had a ""profound and difficult discussion,"" and other participants described the discussions as heated and emotional. Merkel added that she was satisfied with the outcome of the debate: ""We have promoted our essential points,"" she said. ""Everyone is in agreement that a limited change to the Lisbon Treaty is necessary."" EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy told a news conference that ""important decisions to strengthen the eurozone"" had been taken. ""We recommend a robust and credible permanent crisis resolution mechanism to safeguard the financial stability of the eurozone as a whole,"" he said. Merkel stressed that the current, limited protection of loan guarantees for euro states was not a permanent solution under the current treaty conditions. She said the new crisis mechanism would only be ""valid for cases where the stability of the euro as a whole is at risk."" ""We said once more that ... should a country ever need to make use of this, it would be faced with very strict requirements,"" she said. Some non-eurozone states threw around their weight in the discussions, like the United Kingdom, which sought to cap the EU's budget next year, and Poland, which wants the calculation of its national debt to take into account costly pension reforms. Merkel chimed in, saying, ""If we have to reduce our budget at home - we do this at the federal level by more than 3 percent - it cannot be that the European budget rises by nearly 6 percent."" The leaders asked Van Rompuy to prepare potential changes to the Lisbon Treaty ahead of another EU summit in December. The changes are to be agreed on by mid-2013, the expiration date of a 750-billion euro ($1 trillion) fund set up last May to reassure markets that Greece's debt crisis would not spill over to the rest of the continent. Germany, Europe's largest economy, led the calls at the summit for tougher penalties on states that exceed the eurozone's limit on budget deficits of 3 percent of gross domestic product."
" Both Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left with flowers) and Robert Mugabe (right with flowers) are under Western sanctions   Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has arrived in Zimbabwe, despite protests by the MDC party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. The MDC has called Mr Ahmadinejad a ""war-monger, a trampler of human rights [and] an executioner"". It has also expressed concern that the visit could affect an attempt to improve relations with the West. Mr Ahmadinejad was invited by President Robert Mugabe, who has been hit by Western sanctions. Mr Tsvangirai was due to visit Europe for talks this week on getting the sanctions lifted but his trip was delayed by the volcanic ash flight ban. Mr Ahmadinejad is due to open a trade fair in the second city Bulawayo on Friday, which the MDC compared to ""inviting a mosquito to cure malaria"". ""Hob-nobbing with dubious political leaders confirms stereotypes that we are a banana republic,"" says the hard-hitting statement from the Movement for Democratic Change. Iran is under a range of UN diplomatic and trade sanctions aimed at stopping it enriching uranium. Iran denies it is planning to make a nuclear weapon. Block on import/export of ""sensitive nuclear material and equipment"" Assets freeze and travel restrictions on people involved in nuclear programme EU: Assets freeze and travel ban on some Mugabe allies, arms-sale ban US: Trade ban on 250 Zimbabwean individuals and 17 companies Other countries: Canada, Australia and UK among nations to have imposed their own targeted sanctions Zimbabwe is believed to have uranium deposits in the north of the country, but as yet but no exploration contracts have been awarded and the size of the deposits are unknown, according to the Reuters news agency. Mr Ahmadinejad's government has faced widespread protests in Iran following his disputed re-election in 2009. However, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, an ally of President Mugabe, said Zimbabwe would benefit from the trip by signing several trade and co-operation agreements with the oil-rich nation. And the state-owned The Herald newspaper has argued the Iranian president's visit is an effort to strengthen ties between countries targeted by the West. Western countries have labelled Iran part of an ""axis of evil"" and Zimbabwe a pariah state, says the paper. ""The West's neo-colonial agenda should only make us stronger,"" it added. After Zimbabwe, Mr Ahmadinejad is due to visit Uganda, where oil has recently been discovered. The MDC joined a power-sharing government in 2009 in an attempt to revive the ruined economy. Since the European Union and the US imposed a travel ban and assets freeze on Mr Mugabe and his close allies, he has tried to improve relations with other nations, such as China and Malaysia. Mr Mugabe previously tried to portray the MDC as a stooge of the former colonial power, the UK. He has criticised it recently for failing to get the sanctions on him lifted. They were imposed after the US and the EU accused Mr Mugabe of rigging elections. He says they were really a punishment for his policy of seizing land from white farmers."
" 1 of 2. People vote during the presidential elections in Bogota May 25, 2014. Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, a former finance minister, won 29.3 percent of the vote in the first round of voting with Santos trailing on 25.7 percent. The two men now go into a runoff on June 15 and will spend the next three weeks scrambling to win over voters who backed the three candidates eliminated from the race on Sunday. Zuluaga has run an aggressive campaign, saying Santos' peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) will damage national security and allow guerrilla leaders to escape prison sentences for war crimes. Santos, a 62-year-old center-rightist, staked his presidency on the peace talks, saying they offer the best hope of finally ending a 50-year war that has killed 200,000 people. For months, he had a comfortable lead in polls but Zuluaga surged in the last three weeks, backed by popular former President Alvaro Uribe, who turned against Santos over his decision to negotiate with the FARC. Santos congratulated Zuluaga for his strong showing on Sunday but said the country needs to push for peace. ""We will now choose between the past and the future, we will choose between fear and hope, between those who deny peace and those who are ready to look for it,"" he told supporters in Bogota. Santos will now seek the backing of losing candidates. Both Clara Lopez and Enrique Penalosa support negotiations with the FARC and they won a combined 23.5 percent of the vote on Sunday. Against that, third-placed candidate Marta Lucia Ramirez is skeptical of the talks and many of her supporters are likely to swing behind Zuluaga. She won 15.5 percent support."
" BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Marine Le Pen's far right National Front scored a stunning first victory in European Parliament elections in France on Sunday as critics of the European Union registered a continent-wide protest vote against austerity and mass unemployment. Without waiting for the final result, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls went on television to call the breakthrough by the anti-immigration, anti-euro party in one of the EU's founding nations ""an earthquake"" for France and Europe. Anti-establishment far right and hard left parties, their scores magnified by another low turnout, gained ground in many countries although in Germany, the EU's biggest member state with the largest number of seats, the pro-European center ground held firm, according to exit polls. A jubilant Le Pen, whose party beat President Francois Hollande's ruling Socialists into third place, told supporters: ""The people have spoken loud and clear... they no longer want to be led by those outside our borders, by EU commissioners and technocrats who are unelected. ""They want to be protected from globalization and take back the reins of their destiny."" The National Front was set to win more than 25 percent of the vote, comfortably ahead of the conservative opposition UMP on 21 percent, with the Socialists on 14.5 percent, their second defeat in two months after losing dozens of town halls in March. First official results from around the 28-nation bloc showed the pro-European center-left and center-right parties will keep control of the 751-seat EU legislature, but the number of Eurosceptic members will more than double. The center-right European People's Party, led by former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, was on track to win 212 seats, preliminary results issued by the parliament showed. ""We did win the elections,"" Juncker told reporters, saying his party had earned the right to head the executive European Commission. The center-left Socialists led by outgoing European Parliament President Martin Schulz of Germany were in second place with 185 seats followed by the centrist liberals on 71 and the Greens 55. Eurosceptic groups were expected to win about 143 seats, and the far left another 45."
" Eurosceptic and far-right parties have seized ground in elections to the European parliament, in what France's PM called a ""political earthquake"". UK Independence Party and French National Front both performed strongly. The three big centrist blocs all lost seats, though still hold the majority. The outcome means a greater say for those who want to cut back the EU's powers, or abolish it completely. UK PM David Cameron said the public was ""disillusioned"" with the EU. Mr Cameron said their message was ""received and understood"". French President Francois Hollande has called an urgent meeting of his cabinet, as Prime Minister Manuel Valls promised tax cuts a day after the results which he described as ""a shock, an earthquake"". Chancellor Angela Merkel - whose party topped the poll in Germany - described the far right victories as ""remarkable and regrettable"" and said the best response was to boost economic growth and jobs. Jose Manuel Barroso, outgoing president of the European Commission, stressed that the pro-EU blocs still had ""a very solid and workable majority"". He said a ""truly democratic debate"" was needed to address the concerns of those who did not vote, or ""voted in protest"". EU supporters will be pleased that election turnout was slightly higher, at 43.1%, according to provisional European Parliament figures."
" Two supporters of a defeated candidate in Sudan have been shot dead by police during demonstrations. The protests followed the announcement that the ruling party in Southern Sudan retained the key governorship of the oil-rich Unity state. Four others were injured in the clash after police opened fire on the crowd in the state capital, Bentiu. It is the first serious violence reported since the election results have begun to be announced. The elections were the first multi-party polls in 24 years, but have been marred by irregularities and alleged fraud. A radio announcement on Friday said incumbent Taban Deng, the official candidate of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), had defeated independent candidate Angelina Teny. The results triggered a clash between supporters of Ms Teny and security forces. Ms Teny ran as an independent candidate, but is also a member of the SPLM and married to Riek Machar, south Sudan's vice-president. The BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum says the incident reveals a real split within the SPLM. Our correspondent also says the Unity state has huge strategic importance because of its oil reserves and its location on the North-South border."
" Authorities in Bangladesh have closed a leading university indefinitely after students went on a rampage demanding to be allowed to watch the World Cup on TV. Fights broke out at the University of Engineering and Technology in the capital Dhaka when some senior students said they wanted classes to continue. Four students were hurt in the clashes. Bangladesh's national team did not qualify for the finals but the country is gripped by World Cup fever. The national team is ranked a lowly 157th in the world. Earlier, authorities had asked factories to stop work in the evenings to ensure there was enough electricity for people to watch World Cup matches on televisions. The government's request followed protests over power cuts which have interrupted coverage of the football. Angry fans attacked several distribution centres. Businessmen have raised concerns the move will affect production."
" Mr Netanyahu said ""there will be no freeze in Jerusalem"" Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has again rejected US calls to halt construction in occupied East Jerusalem. He spoke as US Middle East envoy George Mitchell arrived in the region for separate talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. It is his first visit since a row broke out between Israel and the US over home construction plans in East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the UN said it could not educate thousands of Palestinian pupils because of Israel's blockade of Gaza. The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, John Ging, said the blockade made it impossible to build new schools to accommodate the growing numbers of students. Israel imposed a tightened siege on Gaza after the militant Hamas movement seized control over the Gaza Strip in 2007. ""I am saying one thing: there will be no freeze in Jerusalem,"" Mr Netanyahu said on Israel's Channel 2 TV. ""There should be no preconditions to talks [with the Palestinians],"" the Israeli premier added. Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become a US strategic imperative   However, he added that he hoped to resolve the differences with Washington, without giving any further details. Mr Mitchell is expected to begin a round of separate meeting with Israeli and Palestinian officials on Friday. The US State Department spokesman said Mr Mitchell only decided to on the visit to the Middle East on Wednesday evening, after talks other US officials had held in Israel in the preceding days suggested it would be ""fruitful"" for Mr Mitchell to travel. PJ Crowley said there had been ""good give and take"" in talks in recent weeks aiming to reach a compromise, but the Israelis had not done everything the US wanted. ""The status quo is not sustainable,"" he warned. The Wall Street Journal quoted unnamed US officials on Thursday as saying that Mr Netanyahu officially rejected the request to freeze construction in East Jerusalem, but offered a series of measures to boost Palestinian confidence, such as easing the blockade on Gaza, releasing prisoners and agreeing to discuss borders and the status of Jerusalem. The report also suggested Israel was offering to freeze for two years the controversial building project in Ramat Shlomo which sparked the US-Israel row. Mr Mitchell had to postpone his visit in March In March, during a visit by US Vice-President Joe Biden, it was revealed that the Israeli government was planning to build 1,600 apartments in the Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood. Palestinians then walked away from the ""proximity talks"", or indirect negotiations with the Israelis, which Mr Mitchell had been attempting to arrange. Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967. It annexed the area in 1981 and sees it as its exclusive domain. Under international law the area is occupied territory and the international community does not recognise Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Meanwhile, Martin Indyk, former US ambassador to Israel - said to be close to Mr Mitchell - earlier this week wrote in the New York Times that Mr Netanyahu faced a choice between taking on the US president, or the right-wing of his own coalition. Mr Netanyahu has said that no other Israeli prime minister in the past 46 years has been asked to stop building in Jerusalem, which would be unacceptable to his political allies. But Mr Indyk said Mr Netanyahu's government had failed to notice a shift in US perceptions, which increasingly viewed progress on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as connected with the US's wider security interests. ""With 200,000 American troops committed to two wars in the greater Middle East and the US president leading a major international effort to block Iran's nuclear programme, resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become a US strategic imperative,"" he wrote. There has been speculation in the past two weeks, based on unnamed senior US officials quoted in the Washington Post, that the Obama administration is considering proposing its own peace plan if the two sides fail to resume negotiations. Talks between the two parties broke down after the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip at the end of 2008. Many of the UN schools in Gaza were destroyed in Israel's bombardment of the territory in that campaign. John Ging, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said Israel should allow more materials in to Gaza so schools could be rebuilt. Speaking to reporters in New York, he welcomed Israel's recent easing of its Gaza blockade, but said much more was needed. ""A drop in the bucket is not a half-full glass,"" he told reporters. Israel has allowed in some shipments of aluminium, wood, clothes and shoes, but continues to block cement and steel on the grounds that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, could use them for military purposes. For the past three years of the Israeli blockade, Gazans have been getting most of their consumer goods through smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt. Egypt also keeps its mainly pedestrian crossing with Gaza closed most of the time."
" The deaths were the first serious violence reported during the announcement of results in Sudan's complex presidential, legislative and gubernatorial ballots. Sudan is in the closing stages of its first open polls in 24 years, a process already marred by delays, boycotts and opposition accusations of widespread vote rigging. The elections, set up under a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of north-south civil war, were designed to help transform Africa's largest nation into a democracy. The violence erupted in the state capital Bentiu after a radio announcement said Angelina Teny had lost the race to become Unity governor to incumbent Taban Deng Gai, a member of Teny's campaign team told Reuters, asking not to be named. ""From what I understand there was some sort of a demonstration over a gubernatorial radio announcement,"" U.N. regional coordinator for southern Sudan David Gressly told Reuters. ""It's not clear how it happened but there seems to have been some shooting and two people were killed and four were wounded."" Gressly said it appeared security forces had tried to disperse the crowd. The dead and injured were all civilians, he added. Teny, the wife of South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar, told Reuters she had reports one of the injured people died later from their wounds. Sudan's National Elections Commission (NEC) announced late on Friday that Gai, from the south's dominant Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), won the gubernatorial race with 137,636 votes, with Teny in second place with 63,500 votes. Teny said that she would contest the outcome. During the election period she complained her agents had been harassed and arrested."
" The US has tabled a UN resolution - agreed with China - for sanctions that would target North Korea's diplomats and cash transfers. Washington's UN ambassador Susan Rice said they would be ""some of the toughest sanctions"" the UN had imposed. Li Baodong, China's UN envoy, said a ""strong signal"" had to be sent following North Korea's third and most powerful nuclear test last month. North Korea's military command said it would end the truce with South Korea on 11 March because of the threat of sanctions and the current military exercises taking place in South Korea. ""We aim to launch surgical strikes at any time and any target without being bounded by the armistice accord and advance our long-cherished wish for national unification,"" the statement said. The Korean War ended with an armistice in 1953 - not a peace treaty - meaning the peninsula is still technically at war. ""For the first time ever, this resolution targets the illicit activities of North Korean diplomatic personnel, North Korean banking relationships [and] illicit transfers of bulk cash,"" Susan Rice said after a closed-door consultation on the draft with the 15 members of the Security Council. ""The breadth and scope of these sanctions is exceptional and demonstrates the strength of the international community's commitment to denuclearisation"" of the Korean peninsula, she told reporters. The resolution also pledges to take further measures should North Korea carry out another missile launch or nuclear test, she said. She said she hoped the Security Council would vote on the draft resolution this week."
" U.N. Security Council to meet over sanctions against N. Korea's nuke test SEOUL, March 5 (Yonhap) -- The U.N. Security Council is set to hold a meeting on Tuesday (New York time) to discuss sanctions on North Korea for last month's nuclear test after Washington and Beijing tentatively agreed on a draft resolution, a senior Seoul diplomat said.""The Security Council will hold a meeting at 11:00 a.m. in New York on Tuesday over North Korea's nuclear test,"" the diplomat said on the condition of anonymity.""The meeting was called after the U.S. and Beijing reached a tentative agreement on a draft resolution against North Korea,"" the diplomat said.The diplomat said he did not know details of the draft resolution nor what kind of sanctions were included in it.North Korea's Feb. 12 nuclear test, its third since 2006, raised the prospect that Pyongyang might be a step closer to a workable long-range nuclear missile.Seoul and Washington have been seeking to convince the U.N.'s most powerful body to adopt a resolution against Pyongyang that would include Articles 41 and 42 of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allow all U.N. members to enforce sanctions by military means.If passed, the resolution will theoretically enable Navy ships to intercept and board North Korean vessels suspected of carrying illicit weapons or nuclear and missile components.South Korean diplomats have admitted that China, the North's last-remaining ally and one of the veto-wielding council members, has expressed opposition to including Chapter 7 in the new resolution.(END)"
" Malaysian soldiers have launched an assault on armed members of a Filipino clan in an ongoing conflict that has left at least 27 dead on Borneo island. The ground troops are backed by fighter jets, with reports of several explosions near Lahad Datu, where the group of about 180 Filipinos are. The operation to oust the clan began at 07:00 (23:00 GMT on Monday), the Malaysian government said. Seven army battalions were deployed to the area on Monday to reinforce police. Among the aircraft used in the assault were an F-18 and a Hawk fighter aircraft, Malaysian state news agency Bernama reports. Helicopters were also seen flying in the area. Continue reading the main story This was initially a small incursion by a few hundred people, which took both the Malaysian and Philippine governments by surprise. But it reawakened a dormant row about which country owns the state of Sabah - and now this standoff has turned violent, there could be serious political damage to both sides. Malaysia is facing elections within weeks - and Prime Minister Najib Razak knows he needs to take a firm stance on this issue, or he could suffer in the polls. The Philippines is also facing elections in May - in congress and the senate. President Benigno Aquino does not want to look insensitive to the claims of voters, especially those in the southern Sulu islands, from where this ""Royal Army of Sulu"" came. But neither does he want to do anything to derail the peace deal that was recently signed with a major Muslim rebel group in the southern Philippines. The Malaysians are acting as facilitators for these talks. Malaysian National Police Chief Ismail Omar said they achieved their targets in the offensive and that there were no troop casualties. He did not provide any details about the Filipinos, who he said fired at the Malaysian troops. But a spokesman for the group told Philippine television the men were safe, Reuters news agency reports. The Filipinos landed at a coastal village in Lahad Datu district on the island of Borneo last month, saying that the territory was theirs. Calling themselves the Royal Army of Sulu, the clan members said they were descendants of the Sultanate of Sulu in the southern Philippines, which ruled parts of northern Borneo for centuries, and demanded that the Malaysian government pay more money to lease their land."
" George Galloway today accused US senators of manufacturing ""the mother of all smokescreens"" as he defended himself from charges that he profited from Iraqi oil sales. The anti-war Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, in east London, told the Senate subcommittee it had made a ""schoolboy howler"" in its investigation of illegal Iraqi oil sales. He said it was attempting to divert attention from the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq. In a defiant performance on Capitol Hill, Mr Galloway said senators had confused the dating of evidence against him and relied too much on the testimony of a former Iraqi vice president held prisoner in Abu Ghraib. ""I know that standards have slipped over the last few years in Washington, but for a lawyer you are remarkably cavalier with any idea of justice,"" he told Senator Norm Coleman, the Republican subcommittee chairman. ""I am here today - but last week you already found me guilty. You traduced my name around the world without ever having asked me a single question, without ever having contacted me, without ever having written to me or telephoned me, without any contact with me whatsoever - and you call that justice."" Mr Galloway's testimony rested on two key points: that the documents naming him in the senate report were the same documents the Daily Telegraph had relied upon in a story he later successfully sued over, and that the subcommittee had no evidence he had made the financial gains from Iraqi oil that it alleged. ""What counts is not the names on the paper. What counts is where's the money, senator? Who paid me money, senator? Who paid me hundreds of thousands of dollars? ""The answer to that is nobody - and if you had anybody who paid me a penny, you would have produced them here today."" The senate report claimed Mr Galloway and Charles Pasqua, the former French interior minister, were given potentially lucrative oil allocations as a reward for their support in calling for sanctions against Saddam Hussein's regime to be loosened. Mr Pasqua also denies the claims. Mr Galloway told the senators they had made a ""schoolboy howler"" in dating their evidence against him to almost a decade earlier than the Daily Telegraph and a period from 1992-93 when the UN oil for food programme - the centre of the investigation - was not even in existence."
" The only building of any real authority in Karasuu, on the Uzbek border with Kyrgyzstan, was deserted yesterday. The office of the khokim (mayor) had been destroyed by the same militants who had fled jail in Andijan on Friday. Yesterday Karasuu's mayor stayed at home, too afraid to venture out on to his own streets. One elderly woman, who, like many refused to give her name for fear of reprisals, said: ""We don't need that kind of khokim."" Her outburst, which would have got her arrested in more normal times, summed up the mood of many Uzbeks here, driven by poverty and despotism to retake their own town. Yesterday, large numbers of Uzbek troops loyal to the regime in the capital, Tashkent, massed around Karasuu, as fears grew that they were about to quash another uprising. But the militants who had torched the town on Saturday were thought to have fled to Jalal Abad, across the border in Kyrgyzstan. Karasuu had turned to its elders to restore order. Crowds gathered at the river Shahrihan-Say, by a bridge that provides a lifeline to the rich markets of Kyrgyzstan. The town is on the fringe of a region long repressed by Tashkent. Two years ago, the authorities tore down the bridge to prevent trade. It has been rebuilt. Yesterday, locals were ferrying in goods from across the border. ""At last they're repairing the road of life and we can visit our relatives and work at the market,"" a man called Zafar told the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. The head of the Uzbek region of Qorghantepa, within which Karasuu lies, was criticised by his Kyrgyz counterpart, head of the nearby Osh region, where protesters forced out the country's president, Askar Akayev, in March. ""We had more people taking part in rallies in March, but we were able to come to terms with them and persuade them not to ransack buildings,""' the institute quoted him as saying. One report that 200 people had been shot dead in Pakhtabad, 30 miles north-east of Andijan, proved untrue. Yet refugees, many of whom trekked for 30 miles to reach the border, brought with them tales of shooting and bloody repression. In Teshektosh, 13 men were apparently shot dead when 570 refugees fled to the town, chased by Uzbek soldiers."
" Flowers dotted the streets and freshly dug graves scarred the earth across this eastern Uzbek city yesterday as residents mourned what witnesses said were hundreds killed by security forces last week -- the worst unrest since the former Soviet republic won independence in 1991.       The story you are searching for is available in its entirety via email, fax or mail for $10.00, payable with credit card (include expiry date).   Just call the Sun Media News Research Centre at 416-947-2258 or toll free at 1-877-624-1463 with information about the story and supply the following:   Name of credit card, number and expiry date on card   Your name, mailing address and phone number (we will mail you a receipt).   Fax number, if you wish the story to be faxed.     "
" Prime Minister David Cameron says the device in a package sent from Yemen and found on a US-bound cargo plane was designed to go off on the aircraft. But Mr Cameron said investigators could not yet be certain about when the device, intercepted at East Midlands Airport, was supposed to explode. A second device containing explosives was found on a cargo plane in Dubai. The US suspects al-Qaeda involvement. In Yemen, police have arrested a woman suspected of posting the packages. She was detained in the capital, Sanaa, after being traced through a telephone number she had left with a cargo company, officials said. The unnamed young woman, described as a medical student and the daughter of a petroleum engineer, was arrested on the outskirts of the city, a security official told AFP news agency. Her mother was also detained but was not a prime suspect, the arrested woman's lawyer said. President Ali Abdullah Saleh said the US and the United Arab Emirates had provided Yemen with information that helped identify the woman and pledged that his country would continue fighting al-Qaeda ""in co-operation with its partners"". ""But we do not want anyone to interfere in Yemeni affairs by hunting down al-Qaeda,"" he added, as heavily armed troops patrolled Sanaa. The Yemeni authorities also closed down the local offices of the US cargo firms UPS and FedEx, who had already suspended all shipments out of the country and pledged full co-operation with investigators. US President Barack Obama's national security adviser, John Brennan, has phoned Mr Saleh to offer US help in fighting al-Qaeda, the White House said."
" The Chinese government has confirmed that it has asked Tibetan monks to leave Qinghai's earthquake-hit region so as not to hinder relief operations. Hundreds of monks had rushed to Yushu County in the wake of the 14 April earthquake, which left more than 2,000 people dead and thousands homeless. The population of Yushu - high on the Tibetan plateau - is 97% ethnic Tibetan. China's State Council said the monks should return to their monasteries. ""The duties of rescue workers in the quake zone are basically over, and the focus has moved to disease prevention and reconstruction, which need specialised people,"" it said in a statement issued by its information office. ""While fully recognising the positive contributions of the monks that came from other areas, we suggested to them that they return to their monasteries to ensure the high effectiveness and order of quake relief work."" The statement confirms earlier reports that the monks had been told to go home. But the Yushu prefectural governor, Wang Yuhu, was later quoted by state news agency Xinhua as saying that no such orders had been given or received by him. ""Actually, we are very grateful for the role Tibetan monks played in the relief effort,"" the agency quoted him as saying. The monks began arriving in Yushu shortly after the earthquake and played a major role digging people out of rubble and tending to survivors."
" Russia's President Vladimir Putin has said he will respect the outcome of Ukraine's presidential election. Speaking in St Petersburg, he said Russia was prepared to work with whoever was elected Ukraine's president in Sunday's vote. It is the first time Mr Putin has explicitly indicated that he will accept Ukraine's election result. Violence in the east, particularly Donetsk and Luhansk, has seriously disrupted preparations for the polls. Presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko, who is lagging behind frontrunner Petro Poroshenko in opinion polls, has called for a referendum to be held next month on Ukraine joining Nato, describing membership as a ""strategic solution on how to bring peace back to Ukraine"". Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in February, before the insurgency in eastern Ukraine erupted, that membership was still a possibility provided that Ukraine fulfilled the ""necessary criteria"". But with the absence of territorial disputes a key condition, Ukraine's friction with Russia over its annexation of Crimea are likely to overshadow any bid. Some pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have warned people against voting, while election officials and voter lists have been seized at gunpoint. At least 14 government soldiers were killed in clashes with pro-Russia separatists in the Volnovakha area south of the city of Donetsk on Thursday. Ukrainian officials have also given details of an attack on a military base on Thursday involving hundreds of militants near the village of Rubizhne. According to the defence ministry, up to 20 separatists were killed. One Ukrainian soldier was killed overnight in another attack on a military convoy in the same village, the ministry added."
" Mr Ahmadinejad won 62% of votes, defying predictions of a close race, to defeat the more moderate ex-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. After his win, Mr Ahmadinejad said he planned to create a ""modern, advanced and Islamic"" role model for the world. His victory means all the organs of the Iranian state are now in the hands of conservative hardliners. Mr Ahmadinejad, 49, who campaigned on a conservative Islamic platform, had surprised observers by beating five other candidates in the first round to reach the run-off. The BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran says his taped statement, broadcast on state radio after the result was announced, was aimed at easing worries about his conservative views. Some 22 million people voted in this run-off poll - a turnout of 60%, down from 63% in the first round a week ago. Our correspondent says it was Mr Ahmadinejad's appeal to the poor that seems to be the secret to his success. Despite Iran's huge oil wealth the country has high unemployment and a big gap between rich and poor. Mr Ahmadinejad has also pledged to tackle corruption and resist Western ""decadence"". The US said the election was ""flawed"" and described it as ""out of step"" with regional trends towards democracy. In Washington, a state department official said the US would judge Iran under Mr Ahmadinejad by its actions."
" Irish and Czech voters will be going to the polls on Friday to choose their next members of the European Parliament on the second of four days of polling across the 28-nation European Union. Polls in Ireland, where just over 3 million people can participate in the vote, opened at 7 a.m. (0600 UTC). Turnout on the island could be boosted by local elections, which are taking place at the same time. Two days of voting in the Czech Republic get under way at 2 p.m. (1200 UTC). The Czech protest party Ano, led by billionaire Andrej Babis, is expected to win most of the 21 seats up for grabs in the country, with its government coalition partner, the Social Democratic party (CSSD), likely to come second. No official results from the elections will be released until late on Sunday after polls have closed in all 28 EU member states. However, an exit poll from the opening day of elections in the Netherlands on Thursday indicated that the party of anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders appeared to have lost support. An IPSOS exit poll published by Dutch state broadcaster NOS said Wilders' Party for Freedom had won just 12.2 percent of the vote, down from 17 percent at the last election in 2009. The result would seem to go in the face of predictions that far-right and far-left parties might make considerable gains on the continent as Europe struggles to recover from an economic crisis. Britain also voted on Thursday, but no exit polls have been released. Latvia, Malta and Slovakia are to vote on Saturday, and the rest of the countries in the bloc on Sunday. Altogether 388 million Europeans are entitled to vote for 751 deputies in the European Parliament. However, pollsters forecast a low turnout. Elections in 2009 saw just 43 percent of eligible voters casting a ballot."
" June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a founder of the group that stormed the U.S. Embassy in Iran in 1979, won Iran's presidential election, giving the backers of the Islamic revolution full power over state institutions. Ahmadinejad, 48, won 61.7 percent of votes, beating former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 70, who got 35.9 percent, the Interior Ministry said on its Web site today. Participation reached 60 percent, compared with 63 in the first round. ``Ahmadinejad was better than Rafsanjani at addressing bread-and-butter issues,'' said Albrecht Frischenschlager, a partner at Tehran-based Atieh Bahar consulting, which advises companies including British-American Tobacco Plc. ``The economic situation of the majority of Iranians has deteriorated in recent years, and the vote was mainly about that in the end.'' A victory by Ahmadinejad gives Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's supporters absolute control of Iran, holder of the world's second-largest oil and gas reserves, after they won a majority in parliament in February 2004. Ahmadinejad has rejected dialogue with the U.S., which accuses the country of seeking to develop nuclear weapons and sponsoring terrorism. ``My mission is creating a role model of a modern, advanced, powerful and Islamic society,'' Ahmadinejad said on state radio after his victory. Yesterday, supporters of Ahmadinejad, who puts himself in the ``fundamentalists'' camp, painted the U.S., Israeli and British flags outside the mosque where he voted so that people could walk on them. The Tehran Stock Exchange main index fell 126.9 points, or 1 percent, to 12368.6 when trading ended at 12:30 a.m. local time today. The U.S. remains ``skeptical'' the new Iranian leader will address ``either the legitimate desires of its own people, or the concerns of the broader international community,'' Agence France Presse reported, quoting U.S. State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore. Iran is ``out of step with the rest of the region and the currents of freedom and liberty that have been so apparent in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon,'' the spokeswoman told AFP. Iran is under growing pressure from the U.S. and the European Union to abandon its uranium-enrichment plan. Tehran says the program is only for power generation, while the U.S. says it is a clandestine effort to develop nuclear weapons. The U.S. has imposed unilateral economic sanctions on the country of 70 million, forbidding U.S. companies from investing or selling goods such as computers or aircraft there. As a result, Iran has had to rely on European and Asian companies for technology to develop its economy."
" Both Mr Ahmadinejad (left) and Mr Mugabe (right) are under Western sanctions   President Robert Mugabe has backed Iran's ""just cause"" on seeking nuclear power, as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues his Zimbabwe visit. Zimbabwe's leader said both countries had been ""unjustly vilified and punished by Western countries"". Iran is subject to a range of UN diplomatic and trade sanctions, although it insists its nuclear project is for energy, not to build a weapon. Mr Ahmadinejad has opened a trade fair in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo. The only sin... we have committed is the cancelling of the concessions that the West had in our country   Iran's leader also castigated Western nations, saying: ""They want to seize the markets of the countries [Iran and Zimbabwe] and destroy their economies,"" reports the AFP news agency. The visit has exposed the deep divisions in Zimbabwe's power-sharing government. The Movement for Democratic Change of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has condemned the visit and did not send anyone to welcome Mr Ahmadinejad at Harare's airport on Thursday. It said inviting him to open a trade fair was like ""inviting a mosquito to cure malaria"". The leader of oil-rich Iran is due to travel to Uganda later on Friday. Oil has recently been discovered in Uganda, which currently holds a seat on the UN Security Council. Block on import/export of ""sensitive nuclear material and equipment"" Assets freeze and travel restrictions on people involved in nuclear programme EU: Assets freeze and travel ban on some Mugabe allies, arms-sale ban US: Trade ban on 250 Zimbabwean individuals and 17 companies Other countries: Canada, Australia and UK among nations to have imposed their own targeted sanctions At a state dinner in honour of Iran's leader in Harare, Mr Ahmadinejad said: ""The only sin... we have committed is the cancelling of the concessions that the West had in our country. ""The United Nations' organ of the Security Council is being used to serve the powerful countries to put pressure on the smaller countries like Iran and Zimbabwe."" Zimbabwe is believed to have uranium deposits in the north of the country, but as yet no exploration contracts have been awarded and the size of the deposits are unknown, according to the Reuters news agency. Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, an ally of President Mugabe, said Zimbabwe would benefit from the Iranian leader's visit by signing several trade and co-operation agreements. Mr Mugabe and some of his closest allies are subject to targeted sanctions by several Western nations. These include a travel ban and an assets freeze but not trade measures. The MDC has expressed concern that the trip could affect attempts to improve relations with the West. Mr Tsvangirai was due to visit Europe for talks this week on getting the sanctions lifted but his trip was delayed by the volcanic ash flight ban. The MDC joined a power-sharing government in 2009 in an attempt to revive the ruined economy. Mr Mugabe previously tried to portray the MDC as a stooge of the former colonial power, the UK. He has criticised it recently for failing to get the sanctions on him lifted. They were imposed after the US and the EU accused Mr Mugabe of rigging elections. He says they were really a punishment for his policy of seizing land from white farmers."
" Iran faces a possible new round of United Nations sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. The West accuses Tehran of trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran says it aims only to generate electricity. ""Be also assured, comrade president, of Zimbabwe's continuous support of Iran's just cause on the nuclear issue,"" Mugabe said at a banquet he hosted for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who arrived in Harare on Thursday for a two-day visit. There was no official indication of any link between Ahmadinejad's visit and Iran's nuclear programme but Zimbabwe does hold uranium deposits which have yet to be exploited. Zimbabwean state media quoted the Iranian president as saying the West was using the U.N. Security Council to exert pressure on his country to abandon its nuclear programme. ""Unfortunately, the United Nations Security Council, which is supposed to serve the whole world, has been used by the powerful to increase pressure on our countries,"" Ahmadinejad is quoted as saying. Zimbabwe itself escaped U.N sanctions in 2008 after Mugabe's re-election in a second round poll marred by political violence, which forced his rival, Morgan Tsvangirai to pull out despite outpolling Mugabe in the first round voting. Mugabe eventually bowed to international pressure and agreed to form a power-sharing government with Tsvangirai, now prime minister, in February 2009. The Iranian president's visit has widened rifts within the coalition government, with Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party describing Mugabe's decision to invite Ahmadinejad as a ""colossal political scandal."" Tsvangirai and officials from his MDC boycotted a welcoming ceremony for the Iranian president. Quoting unnamed government sources, the state-controlled Herald newspaper said the boycott was in solidarity with Western nations opposed to Ahmadinejad's government. MDC national chairman and speaker of parliament Lovemore Moyo was the only high-ranking official from Tsvangirai's party who attended a trade show opened by Ahmadinejad in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city, on Friday."
" The Supreme Judicial Court today became the nation's first state supreme court to rule that same-sex couples have the legal right to marry. ""We declare that barring an individual from the protections, benefits and obligations of civil marriage solely because that person would marry a person of the same sex violates the Massachusetts constitution,"" Chief Justice Margaret Marshall wrote in the 4-3 decision. The ruling won't take effect for 180 days in order to allow the Legislature ""to take such action as it may deem appropriate in light of this opinion,"" the court ruled in its 50-page decision. Since the SJC is the ultimate authority on the state constitution, however, the Legislature cannot overturn today's decision -- nor would the US Supreme Court agree to interpret a state's constitution. Opponents could fight for a constitutional amendment, but the soonest that could be placed on the ballot is 2006. The Legislature has already been considering several bills, including one that would allow gay marriage, that would grant benefits to same-sex couples. The SJC ruling held that the Massachusetts constitution ""forbids the creation of second-class citizens."" The state Attorney General's office, which argued to the court that state law doesn't allow gay couples to marry, ""has failed to identify any constitutionally adequate reason for denying civil marraige to same-sex couples,"" Marshall wrote. The court rejected the claim of a lower court judge that the primary purpose of marriage was procreation. Marshall was joined in the majority opinion by Justices John Greaney, Roderick Ireland, and Judith Cowin. Justices Francis Spina, Martha Sosman, and Robert Cordy opposed the decision. In the dissent, Cordy wrote that the state's marriage statute historically described the union of one man and one woman. The law did not violate the Massachusetts constitution because ""the Legislature could rationally conclude that it furthers the legitimate state purpose of ensuring, promoting and supporting an optimal social structure for the bearing and raising of children,"" Cordy wrote. The SJC case began in 2001 after seven same-sex couples from Boston to Northampton to Orleans went to their local city or town offices and applied for marriage licenses. When their requests were rejected, they filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court. The couples sued the state Department of Public Health, which administers marriage laws and requires blood tests. In May 2002, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Thomas E. Connolly threw out the case before it went to trial."
" A commercial cargo ship built by SpaceX successfully attaches to the International Space Station today, two days after thruster problems threatened to derail the resupply mission. After recovering from thruster problems and flying a near-perfect rendezvous, a SpaceX cargo ship pulled up to the International Space Station early today and stood by while commander Kevin Ford, wielding the lab's robot arm, locked onto a grapple fixture to secure the spacecraft for berthing. Operating the Canadian-built arm from a robotics work station in the multi-window Cupola compartment, Ford grappled the Dragon cargo ship at 5:31 a.m. EST, an hour earlier than expected, as the two spacecraft passed 253 miles above northern Ukraine. Flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston congratulated the crew for ""a brilliant capture."" ""Let me just say congratulations to the SpaceX and Dragon team in Houston and in California,"" Ford replied. ""As they say, it's not where you start but where you finish that counts, and you guys really finished this one on the mark. You're aboard, and we've got a lot of science to bring aboard and get done."" Capture came a day later than originally planned because of problems pressurizing rocket thruster propellant tanks shortly after the ship reached orbit Friday. But SpaceX flight controllers at company headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., were able to coax the system into normal operation. While the root cause of the problem is not yet known, the thrusters worked normally throughout the replanned rendezvous and the approach and capture went off without a hitch. ""Great job this morning, guys,"" spacecraft communicator Kathy Bolt radioed from mission control in Houston. ""Always nice to see something that plays back exactly the way you trained."" ""I remember exactly where I was the very first time I ever heard of this scheme ... when I was a young astronaut,"" Ford recalled. ""And I said, 'We're going to do what?' That was when it was an idea, and now it's starting to become routine. So great job to everybody who dreamed it up and who made it all work. It's really something to see."" Making the company's third space station visit -- the second fully operational flight under a $1.6 billion commercial contract with NASA -- the Dragon capsule is loaded with some 2,300 pounds of supplies, spare parts, and science gear."
" Former military chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has won an overwhelming victory in Egypt's presidential election, according to provisional results. He gained more than 93% of the vote with ballots from most polling stations counted, state media say. Turnout is expected to be about 46% - far lower than Mr Sisi was hoping for as an endorsement. Islamist and some secular groups boycotted the vote. ""I accept my defeat and respect the people's choice,"" Mr Sabahi said in a televised press conference. However, he also said there were ""violations"" in the voting process, and rejected the 46% turnout announced by the government, describing it as an ""insult to the intelligence of Egyptians"". He has overseen a bloody crackdown on Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement in which more than 1,400 people have been killed and 16,000 detained. The Brotherhood boycotted the vote, as did many liberal and secular activist groups. The Islamist movement rejected the vote on Thursday with Tariq Al-Zumur, head of the Construction and Development Party, calling the process a ""theatrical play which did not convince anybody"". Supporters of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi started celebrating even before the polls closed in Egypt. His victory was never in doubt. The Muslim Brotherhood, the winner of the last presidential election, is banned. It had urged its supporters to boycott the vote. Egypt is a troubled country. Its most fundamental problem is the weakness of the economy. It has a big, young, growing population, and not nearly enough jobs to go round. About 40% of the population live in poverty. More than 40% of the poorest Egyptians are illiterate. Healthcare and education don't meet the needs of the people."
" Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have shot down a military helicopter near Sloviansk, killing 12 people, the Ukrainian military says. It says the rebels used a Russian-made anti-aircraft system, and that an army general was among the dead. The town of Sloviansk, Donetsk region, has seen fierce fighting between separatists and government forces in recent weeks. President-elect Petro Poroshenko has vowed to tackle ""bandits"" in the east. Russia has reiterated calls for Ukraine to stop its military campaign against the pro-Moscow rebels and ""start a real national dialogue"". The Russian foreign ministry also urged the United States and European Union ""to use all their influence on Kiev to stop Ukraine's slide into national catastrophe"". The helicopter arrived at Karachun [near Sloviansk], to unload and pick up a group of people who were finishing their tour and going on leave. They were shot down after take-off. I had talked to the pilot and also to Gen Kulchytskiy. The pilots were very nice guys - polite, correct, friendly. Gen Kulchytskiy was very capable and very accessible. A good commander who would fly to the checkpoints where his soldiers were. He would personally bring them food and water. He kept an eye on everything. The fighting here has become more frequent recently. In the last few days, it broke out even during the daytime. Previously, it happened only at night. However, the last two days were relatively quiet. The army man checkpoints, preventing the forces of the People's Republic of Donetsk from moving about freely. The mood is good among the soldiers. No desertion or talk about giving up. People are in good fighting spirit."
" At least 40 Syrian soldiers and several Iraqis have been killed in western Iraq, officials in Baghdad say. They were among a group who fled across the border into Iraq at the weekend to escape an attack by rebel fighters. They were being driven back to the border in Anbar province when they were attacked by gunmen, officials said. Inside Syria, opposition activists said rebels had overrun the northern city of Raqqa, in what would be one of their biggest victories of the conflict. Unverified video footage was posted online, showing a cheering crowd pulling down a statue of Hafez Assad, the previous president and father of the current President Bashar-al Assad. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the rebels had ""near-total control"" of Raqqa after days of fierce fighting. A police chief was killed and two government security officials were detained, SOHR said. Opposition fighters already control suburbs of the capital, Damascus, and parts of other major cities such as Aleppo and Homs. Raqqa has been a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Syrians who fled the violence in other parts of the country; many others have fled to neighbouring countries. Some 70,000 people have died in the conflict which began with the uprising against President Assad's rule two years ago."
" JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel restricted the flow of fuel to Hamas-controlled Gaza on Sunday, a move it vowed to take in response to ""the incessant firing of rockets into Israel,"" an adviser to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said. Ten Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups are petitioning Israel's Supreme Court to stop the reduction. The Israeli company Dor Alon supplies fuel to Gaza. Dor Alon had previously halted fuel shipments following Hamas' takeover of Gaza earlier this year, but restarted them. It's unclear how the new reductions will affect Gaza's power plant, which is fueled by Dor Alon. The Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported the power plant received a full supply of fuel Sunday. But Ahmed Ali, deputy director of Gaza's Petroleum Authority, told The Associated Press that fuel shipments on Sunday were more than 30 percent below normal. He said Israel delivered 52,835 gallons of diesel fuel, compared to the typical 92,500 gallons on a normal day, and 23,775 gallons of gasoline, instead of the regular supply of 40,000 gallons. He said Gaza keeps about four days of fuel reserves, the AP reported. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved the fuel cuts Thursday as part of a plan by Israeli security officials looking to stem rocket attacks on southern Israel. Olmert's government has been under mounting pressure to do something about the rocket attacks. According to the Israel Defense Forces, about 800 rockets were fired into Israel from June to September, 60 percent more than were fired during the same period in 2006. Some Israeli officials downplayed the significance of the reduction. Speaking on Israel Army Radio, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said the plan would ""gradually [cut] the electricity supply without harming humanitarian sources like hospitals."""
" Latvia has formally applied to join the euro in 2014, in a move which could see it become the 18th member of the bloc. The move had been expected and comes after the small Baltic state met the required financial criteria. Latvia suffered a deep recession in the wake of the financial crisis that saw it receive an international bailout. PM Valdis Dombrovskis imposed big public spending cuts that helped the recovery. Latvia is now one of the fastest-growing economies in the EU. The European Commission and the European Central Bank are likely to decide on the request in June. Latvia says it has met the five requirements needed to gain entry into the eurozone, which relate to levels of debt, deficit, inflation, long-term interest rates and having a stable peg to the euro. Latvia's currency, the lat, has been pegged to the euro since 2005 and Mr Dombrovskis argues that joining is the next natural step. However, opinion polls in the country suggest that nearly two-thirds of the population are against joining the single currency."
" The Israeli army says the man was one of three attackers who fired anti-tank missiles and rifle rounds at the Jewish settlement from an abandoned house. Israel has threatened tougher military action against Palestinian militants in Gaza if they continue a recent spate of attacks on settlements. BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston says the attack will put further strain on the fragile ceasefire in the area. The three month-old truce is seen as a crucial element in the effort to restart the Middle East peace process. The Palestinian assault on the settlement of Kfar Darom, in the centre of the Strip, began with a mortar attack before dawn. The army says three militants took over a nearby abandoned building and opened fire into the settlement with six anti-tank missiles and light arms fire. Troops shot back and killed one of the attackers but the others appear to have escaped. There were no reports of casualties on the Israeli side. Israel has called for the Palestinian Authority to act to stop such attacks. ""This continued indifference and inaction by the Palestinian Authority, which allows these terrorists to operate in broad daylight and under their very nose, allows these incidents to keep recurring,"" government spokesman David Baker said."
" More than 140 Catholic cardinals met Monday at the Vatican, where the process of selecting a new pope edged toward beginning. The cardinals met twice during the day, in the morning and in the evening. After the evening session, most left by car, though some departed on foot. Few spoke as they left the meeting. After the morning session, a decision had not been made on when the conclave to select Pope Benedict XVI's successor would start, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters. ""It's on the table, but no decision has been reached,"" Lombardi said. The General Congregations meeting is a key step before the conclave, in which all cardinals younger than 80 are to meet in the Vatican to vote for the next pope. CNN Radio: Betting on the new pope Of the 142 cardinals who attended Monday morning's session, 103 were cardinal electors, Lombardi said. Another 12 cardinal electors were expected to arrive later Monday and Tuesday, he said. During the afternoon meeting, four more cardinals joined those who had already been here; the group decided that congregations on Tuesday and Wednesday would take place in the morning only, he added. And the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the Pontifical Household, held the first meditation as outlined by the Apostolic Constitution, Lombardi said. Benedict announced his intention to step down on February 11 and resigned Thursday, becoming the first pope to do so in 600 years. The transfer of papal power has almost always happened after the sitting pope has died."
" Uhuru Kenyatta had an early edge as Kenya continued the count in a presidential election that brought out millions of voters despite pockets of violence that killed at least 15 people. Kenyans, who waited patiently in long lines, hope the vote will restore the nation's image as one of Africa's more stable democracies after tribal blood-letting killed more than 1,200 people when the result of the 2007 vote was disputed by rivals. Early counts from Monday's broadly peaceful voting gave an early lead to Kenyatta, the 51-year-old deputy prime minister, over rival Prime Minister Raila Odinga, 68. That edge could still be overhauled as it was based on a count of about 10% of votes cast, provisional figures from the election commission indicated. Election officials had said turnout was more than 70% of the 14.3 million eligible voters but have not given a precise total. The United States and Western donors have watched the vote closely, concerned about the stability of a nation seen as a regional ally in the fight against militant Islam and fretting about what to do if Kenyatta wins. He faces charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) related to the violence five years ago. For an outright victory, a candidate needs more than 50 percent of votes cast, otherwise the top two face a run-off, provisionally set for April. Odinga and Kenyatta ran neck-and-neck in polls before the race, well ahead of six other rivals."
" Voters queue to cast their ballots during the presidential and parliamentary elections in Kisumu, 350 km (217 miles) west of Nairobi March 4, 2013. The attackers, who struck a patrol near the port city of Mombasa, could not immediately be identified, but Ambrose Munyasia, chief of police intelligence in the Coast area, said he suspected they were linked to a regional separatist movement. The Kenyan authorities have worked hard to ensure a peaceful vote to restore Kenya's image as one of Africa's most stable democracies. Candidates have also appealed for a calm election. If the attack is proved to be linked to the separatist Mombasa Republican Council, it would suggest entirely different motives than the 2007 post-vote violence that was between tribal loyalists of rival candidates who disputed the election result. Such a motive could prevent it from having a broader national impact. The council had sought and failed to have the national vote scrapped and to hold a referendum on independence in its place. ""Our officers who were on night patrol were attacked by a gang of youths wielding machetes and as a result four of the officers were killed. Two among the dead are senior officers who were overseeing the patrol,"" Munyasia said. ""We suspect the attackers were members of the Mombasa Republican Council, but we are yet to confirm,"" he said. Julius Marwa, district commissioner in the area of Mombasa, had earlier reported the attack on the police patrol, saying it had occurred in the region of Changamwe, a few kilometers outside the port city."
" Long queues are reported nationwide as Kenyans vote in an election that observers describe as the most important in the country's history. Polls were due to close at 17:00 (14:00 GMT) but officials said those in queues at that time would be allowed to vote. There has been violence around the port town of Mombasa, with at least five police officers killed in one attack. Early provisional results suggested the two main presidential candidates were far ahead of the rest of the field. Partial preliminary results from areas where polling ended on time gave Uhuru Kenyatta a lead over Prime Minister Raila Odinga, although analysts cautioned that these results came from Kenyatta strongholds. The two front-runners were well ahead of the other presidential candidates, Mr Kenyatta is due to face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) next month in connection with the widespread bloodshed that followed the disputed 2007 election - he denies organising attacks. Mr Odinga says he was cheated of victory last time. Authorities had urged Kenyans to avoid a repeat of the 2007 ethnic and political violence that killed more than 1,000 people amid claims the poll had been rigged. As thousands continued to queue to cast their ballots, voting was extended by up to seven hours to cope with long queues at polling stations."
" Bakhtior Rakhimov said that the town's people would take charge of local government and that they were willing to fight for freedom if necessary. Mr Rakhimov, a farmer from a prominent local clan, said people could no longer tolerate President Islam Karimov. Mr Rakhimov has no official position, but is greeted with respect in Korasuv. He has a large group of active supporters, but the exact nature of the group is unclear. They say they are simply farmers, and they wear the traditional white smock and high leather boots of an Uzbek farmer. Religion plays a strong role in their plans. Mr Rakhimov said they want to establish an Islamic administration based on the Koran. But they also seem to want a society based on the traditional Uzbek rural life of this fertile Fergana region. It is unclear whether they may have any connections to wider Islamic groups, or to what extent they might be connected to the mysterious organisers of the anti-government protest in nearby Andijan last week, where troops shot dead possibly hundreds of demonstrators. But it is clear the underlying problem feeding resentment of the government here is growing poverty, and Tashkent's many restrictions of free trade and private enterprise. Local people say with no jobs they can no longer afford to feed their families"
" A convoy of chemical weapons inspectors and UN staff that was travelling to a site of an alleged chlorine gas attack in Syria has come under attack. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said they were all safe and well, and were travelling back to their operating base. It did not say whether they had been kidnapped in Hama province, as the Syrian government earlier claimed. OPCW director general, Ahmet Uzumcu, expressed his concern for their safety. ""Our inspectors are in Syria to establish the facts in relation to persistent allegations of chlorine gas attacks,"" he said in a statement. ""Their safety is our primary concern, and it is imperative that all parties to the conflict grant them safe and secure access."" The OPCW inspectors were trying to reach the rebel-held village of Kafr Zaita, where there have been six alleged chlorine attacks in two months. The first report of the attack on their convoy came from the Syrian foreign ministry, which said six inspectors had been ""kidnapped"" along with their five Syrian drivers. The state news agency, Sana, quoted a statement as saying that shortly after leaving their government escort on Tuesday morning in the village Tayyiba Imam, a bomb had exploded beside one of the four UN-marked vehicles in the convoy. The remaining three vehicles then turned around and headed back to Tayyiba Imam, but two were ""hijacked by armed terrorist groups"" en route, the statement added."
" Heavy rain caused waterways to burst their banks, washing away roads and bridges and knocking down power lines. Some of the victims were electrocuted, others drowned or were crushed when their homes collapsed. Officials said the number of people killed could rise as relief workers reach districts cut off by the floods. The torrential rain began falling late on Thursday and continued until Friday morning. Government officials have set up a committee to deal with the crisis. A particularly heavy rainy season across a broad stretch of Africa since June has led to the worst floods in 30 years, the United Nations has said. The latest floods in the DR Congo brings the number killed to more than 400. Two million people across the continent have been affected, with many requiring shelter and food aid."
" If you thought the military's BigDog robot was scary before, then get a load of what it can do now. The four-legged robot, developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from the U.S. Army's Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance, can now pick up and hurl cinder blocks. Boston Dynamics on Thursday posted a YouTube video (below) showcasing BigDog's new skill. In the video, the 240-pound robot picks up a concrete cinder block, moves it to the left, then tosses it over its right shoulder before the block hits the ground and smashes into pieces. ""The goal is to use the strength of the legs and torso to help power motions of the arm,"" according to the video's description. ""This sort of dynamic, whole-body approach is routinely used by human athletes and animals, and will enhance the performance of advanced robots."" Big Dog, dubbed ""the most advanced rough-terrain robot on earth"" can run at speeds up to 4 mph; climb 35-degree slopes; trek through muddy trails, rubble, snow, and water; and even carry a 340-pound load on its back, according to Boston Dynamics. The goal for BigDog is to eventually go anywhere people and animals can go. Besides BigDog, Boston Dynamics is also working on several other animal-like robots. The company is developing a robotic pack mule, dubbed the Legged Squad Support System (L3), which can walk up to 20 miles carrying 400 pounds of gear, even up and down hills. See the video below for a look at BigDog in action. Also check out PCMag's ""7 Cool Robot Animals"" slideshow above."
" DHAKA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were shot dead and hundreds of others including cops injured in Bangladesh on Saturday, as riots continued for the third consecutive day after an Islamist opposition leader was sentenced to death for war crimes. Three people were killed in Chittagong district, some 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka, where dozens of shots were fired by law enforcers. In retaliation, activists of Bangladesh Jamaat-e- Islami party also reportedly fired back at the law enforcers. Another death was reported from Nilphamari, some 360 km northwest of Dhaka, where a youth died after police and paramilitary troop opened fire to disperse the Islamic party's protesters who have been staging demonstrations since Thursday. Scores of people including law enforcers were injured in the clashes in Nilphamari and Chittagong on Saturday. Clashes have also been reported in parts of Dhaka and elsewhere in the country. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets against opposition activists in the capital city. Over 100 leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its key ally Jamaat were injured in the incidents of clashes on many major Dhaka streets which turned into battle grounds for several hours on Saturday evening. Police say roughly a dozen vehicles were smashed or set on fire. Opposition BNP led by ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Friday declared a nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal for Tuesday and countrywide rallies for Saturday to protest what it said government's corruption, misrule, oppression and ""mass killings"" on Thursday. The violence erupted soon after the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 pronounced the verdict on Thursday afternoon on a crime against humanity case, giving death sentence to the vice president of Jamaat, Delawar Hossain Sayedee, who is believed to be the second most important leader of the party. Rejecting the verdict against Sayedee, Jamaat on Thursday called a nonstop 48-hour countrywide hartal for Sunday and Monday."
" Reuters journalists saw black smoke billowing from the area of the airport after repeated explosions and gunfire, while jets roared overhead. A security official also said paratroops had landed in one of the fiercest clashes since violence broke out in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine some two months ago. DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukrainian government warplanes carried out airstrikes against pro-Russian rebels who seized Donetsk international airport on Monday, triggering a battle in and around the complex in a show of force by both sides after the election of a new president. Loud thuds sounded from the area but after four to five hours Ukrainian soldiers appeared to have pushed back at least some of the separatists towards the town, though it was not clear if the army had recovered control of the airport. There was no full account from either side of casualties. But the press service of the regional administration said one man had been killed and two injured from shrapnel of a shell which struck a part of the railway station serving the airport. Saying that a deadline had passed at 1 p.m. (0600 ET) for separatist militants to lay down their arms, a spokesman for the Ukrainian joint forces' security operation in the region said two Sukhoi Su-25 jets had carried out strafing runs, firing warning shots around Sergei Prokofiev International Airport. ""In reply, the guerrillas opened fire at random from all types of weapon,"" he said, before a MiG-29 jet also took part. A second spokesman, Vladislav Seleznyov, said: ""A MiG-29 carried out an airstrike on the area where the terrorists were concentrated."" The first spokesman said the militants had then spread out across the territory of the airport, whose state-of-the-art main terminal was built only for the 2012 European soccer championships held in Ukraine. ""Right now at the airport, paratroops have landed and are cleaning up the area."" He appeared to mean that troops had landed by helicopter. The action, after an overnight move by rebels of the Donetsk People's Republic to take over the airport, looked like a forceful first act by Petro Poroshenko, the billionaire who swept to the presidency on Sunday. He said he would not treat with ""terrorists"", despite calls from Russia for Kiev not to step up its halting military operations in the east of Ukraine."
" The US state department said reports painted a disturbing picture and called for a credible and transparent inquiry. Uzbek officials say 169 people died, but an army source said 500 were killed when troops opened fire on protesters. A leader in the nearby town of Korasuv has told the BBC his region wants to form an Islamic administration. Bakhtior Rakhimov said his town was willing to fight for its freedom. Washington has been under pressure to take a tough line against the repressive Uzbek regime, which is a key US ally in its ""war on terror"". Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan re-iterated US calls for ""a more open and responsive government"". But he appealed to both sides to show restraint and avoid violence. The unrest began when a group of men stormed the town's prison and freed 23 businessmen accused of being Islamic extremists. These men joined a large protest, which correspondents say was also fuelled by long-term frustration over poverty and unemployment. Locals say troops then fired indiscriminately into the crowd."
" 1 of 3. Security forces inspect the site of a bombing in Thailand's southern Yala province March 2, 2013. The motorcycle bomb explosion on Saturday killed two rangers and injured 13 other people in Thailand's troubled Yala province, police said. The blast on a road in Yala province, in which two civilians were among the wounded, followed a similar motorcycle bombing in neighbouring Narathiwat province on Friday that wounded six people. The attacks come two days after a landmark agreement between the Thai government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) rebel group to start talks aimed at ending a conflict that has claimed more than 5,000 lives since 2004. The agreement, brokered by Malaysia, was signed in Kuala Lumpur and the two sides are expected to begin preliminary talks in two weeks. Various shadowy rebel groups are active in the southern provinces bordering Malaysia and successive Thai governments and the military have made contact with some of the groups and are believed to have held secret talks, but have never had open discussions. Analysts said it was far from clear whether all rebel groups supported peace talks with the Thai government. ""Attacks in the aftermath of the signing of the peace dialogues fit in with the pattern of radical elements who oppose holding talks with Thai authorities and who know that the agreement took place within the Thai constitution and that there will be no autonomy for the southern states,"" Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch told Reuters. An escalation in attacks by rebel groups in the coming weeks would be a test of Thailand's commitment to holding peace talks with the BRN, he said. The provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat were once part of a Malay sultanate before being annexed by Thailand in 1909 and resistance to Buddhist rule from Bangkok has existed for decades in the predominantly Muslim provinces. The conflict waned briefly in the 1990s before resurfacing violently in 2004. Since then, 5,300 people have been killed according to Deep South Watch, which monitors the violence."
" A number of explosions and some gunfire was heard, but the takeover seems to have been largely peaceful with no reports of loss of life. The uprising's leader, Bakhtior Rakhimov, who said he intended to build an Islamic state, has been arrested. The uprising in Korasuv followed a bloody crackdown in nearby Andijan. Uzbek officials say 169 people died, but an army source told the BBC 500 were killed when troops opened fire on protesters last Friday. Hundreds of government forces are said to have arrived in Korasuv overnight. According to residents, they arrested Mr Rakhimov, a farmer, and several of his employees. One employee told the BBC there were signs of shooting during the arrest, with a bullet hole in a television. ""People here aren't happy with what's happened. Everyone is sorry that Bakhtior has been arrested and that they won't let people hold meetings. What can people do?"" the employee said. In Korasuv, local people are being allowed to cross the newly constructed bridge to Kyrgyzstan. But journalists are no longer being allowed to cross, according to the BBC's Ian MacWilliam, who is on the Kyrgyz side. The residents of Korasuv - which has a population of about 20,000 - drove out police and officials last Saturday, and were reportedly in control of the town until troops took it back on Wednesday night."
" WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration on Wednesday called for an international investigation into last week's violence in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan, and said it was becoming increasingly clear that Uzbek forces deliberately fired on protesters. ""Reports being compiled paint a very disturbing picture of the events and the government of Uzbekistan's reaction to them,"" U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. The U.S. move follows an earlier call by the United Nations for an independent investigation into the killings and an assessment of reports of excessive use of force by authorities. In a statement, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour urged the Uzbek government ""to guarantee the rights Uzbekistan has pledged to uphold under international law, including the freedoms of assembly and expression."" The violence began last Thursday when a group of citizens -- angered by the arrest of several prominent business owners -- stormed the prison where they were being held on charges of religious extremism. At one point, about 10,000 protesters gathered in the city center to demand the resignation of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, a U.S. ally. Boucher voiced concern about reports of hostage-taking and the release of members of the terrorist group Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, after the armed assault on the prison. Still, he said, it was becoming apparent that ""very large numbers of civilians were killed by the indiscriminate use of force by Uzbek forces."" A senior State Department official said although Uzbekistan was battling a difficult problem with terrorists, the attack on the square was ""certainly an overreaction to the kind of threat they are faced with."" Dan Fried, assistant secretary of state for European affairs, met this week with officials from countries belonging to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe about the concerns."
" Western policies have ensured that even if Karimov were toppled in an internal power struggle, his replacement would only be another dictator. From EurasiaNet. In the aftermath of the Andijan massacre, Western leaders may be wondering what to do with Uzbek strongman Islam Karimov. The United States, along with the European Union, should start any policy reevaluation by admitting that they bear a significant share of the blame for enabling Karimov's authoritarian rule. Since the 11 September terrorist tragedy, the United States and EU have preferred to prop up dictatorships in Central Asia, rather than promote democratic values. The U.S. Defense Department has long been the dominant Western influence in Central Asia - which comprises Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The Pentagon broadened its security ties with Uzbekistan in the late 1990s, when Islamic militants first became active in the region. The CIA and MI6 followed suit, training and reorganizing the Uzbek security services. Defense cooperation took a quantum leap forward following 11 September, as Uzbekistan suddenly emerged as one of Washington's main strategic allies in the anti-terrorism struggle. Since then, Tashkent retained its status as valued partner, even though human rights groups, and even the U.S. State Department, have condemned the Uzbek government's reliance on repression. During a visit to Tashkent in February 2004, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld praised Uzbekistan as a ""key member"" of the anti-terrorism coalition, while ignoring the Karimov administration's deplorable human rights record, along with its failure to implement promised reforms. Cementing the U.S.-Uzbek partnership is the Karshi-Khanabad air base, which American forces use to fly support missions for ongoing anti-Taliban military operations in Afghanistan. Cooperation reached a point where U.S. defense officials used Uzbekistan essentially as a torture chamber, transporting suspected Islamic radicals from US custody to Uzbekistan for interrogation, in a process known as rendition. The New York Times, which published a lengthy investigative report into the practice, suggested dozens of prisoners were dispatched to Uzbekistan. Given Uzbekistan's lengthy record of systematic torture, it is hard to believe that US officials were unaware that detainees transported to Uzbekistan would be exposed to coercive interrogation methods that are plainly illegal in the United States, and that violate international human rights norms. Some US and British diplomats - especially Craig Murray, the former British envoy in Tashkent - sought to change Washington's and London's approach toward Karimov's regime, advocating the conditioning of economic assistance to Tashkent on Karimov's implementation of reforms. The Bush administration, along with EU member-state governments, frequently called on Karimov to promote change and the Uzbek leader repeatedly pledged to carry out reforms. But nothing ever happened beyond the usual rhetoric. The U.S. State Department decertified Uzbekistan in July of 2004, revoking $18 million in aid. However, this move was effectively undermined by the Pentagon when visiting U.S. General and Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Meyers extended $21 million in military assistance in August of that same year. The United States and EU remained largely silent when Karimov, sensing that the democratization trend unleashed by Georgia's Rose Revolution in 2003 posed a threat to his regime, cracked down on non-governmental organization activity. Among the international NGOs targeted was the Open Society Institute's Tashkent office. (EurasiaNet operates under the auspices of the Open Society Institute.) Karimov sent numerous signals that he would employ force against any and all domestic opponents. At the same time, his disregard for outside interference with his domestic strategy became blatant. In March, Tashkent called off a visit by British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell because he announced in advance that he would raise human rights issues during his planned visit."
" Chechnya's Moscow-backed leader insists he has not sent troops to Ukraine to fight alongside pro-Russia separatists. In a statement, Ramzan Kadyrov said that as part of the Russian Federation, Chechnya had no armed forces - and that any Chechens operating in Ukraine were there in a personal capacity. Monday saw some of the worst fighting since rebels seized much of the east. The separatists say they lost up to 100 fighters as they tried to seize Donetsk airport from pro-Kiev forces. Ukraine's interior ministry says the military is now in full control of the airport, although gunfire was reported in Donetsk itself on Wednesday. A government fighter jet was seen flying over the city. New President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to tackle the eastern uprising. ""We will no longer let these terrorists kidnap people and kill them,"" he told Germany's Bild newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday. Many of the separatists involved in the clashes at the airport were reported to be part of a unit called the Vostok (East) Battalion, said to include fighters from the northern Caucasus. In a statement released on Wednesday, Mr Kadyrov said: ""Ukrainian sources have been circulating reports that some Chechen units from Russia have invaded Donetsk. I officially declare that this is not true."" He added: ""There are three million Chechens and two-thirds of them live outside the Chechen Republic, including in the West. We cannot know and are not supposed to know which of them goes where."""
" At least 16 people have died in clashes in Bangladesh at the start of a strike called over a death sentence given to an Islamist party leader. Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, of Jamaat-e-Islami, was sentenced on charges including murder, rape and torture during the war of independence in 1971. Thursday's sentence sparked riots that have left about 60 people dead. The Islamists say the tribunal is politically motivated, something the Bangladesh government denies. Jamaat-e-Islami called a two-day strike across the country, beginning on Sunday, in protest at the court ruling. Continue reading the main story Everyone expected some sort of a backlash after the verdict against Delwar Hossain Sayedee, vice president of the Jamaat-e-Islami, but the intensity of the violence and the increasing casualty figures have surprised and shocked many people. Some believe that as Jamaat is fighting for its survival it is bound to intensify its protests. The rallies have now moved to various districts and in some places the police were outnumbered. A few policemen were beaten to death. It is difficult for the the authorities to despatch officers and border guards to every corner of the country. I visited a few villages near Chittagong where the situation is tense and Jamaat supporters are angry with the ruling Awami League party. Very few will disagree that the ongoing war crimes trial has divided the nation. But there is no doubt that majority of the people want the trial to go on. Just 10 days ago the government was indirectly benefitting from the Shahbagh Square protests, which were demanding the death penalty for alleged war criminals. But a week is too long in politics. The coming weeks will be a big challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is known to be tough, resilient and determined. Troops were called in in the northern district of Bogra, where police said thousands of Jamaat activists armed with sticks and home-made bombs attacked police outposts early on Sunday. At least eight people were killed and dozens hurt in clashes in the district. There were at least two further deaths in the north-western town of Godagari. Border guards and police opened fire on protesters who were attacking police with sticks and stones, an official told the news agency AFP."
" 1 of 3. A vehicle burns in front of the police after activists from Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) set fire to it during a clash in Dhaka March 2, 2013. Bangladesh has been rocked by protests and counter-protests since January, when a tribunal set up by the government to investigate abuses during the war of independence against Pakistan handed down its first conviction, sentencing a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party in absentia to death. About 60 people have been killed in protests since the tribunal's third conviction on Thursday, when another member of the Islamist party, Delwar Hossain Sayedee, 73, was sentenced to death for abuses including murder and rape during the war. He denied the charges and his lawyer said he would appeal. Another party member was sentenced to life in prison on February 5. Thousands of Jamaat-e-Islami activists took to the streets of Bogra town, 220 km (140 miles) north of the capital, Dhaka, on Sunday and attacked police with crude bombs, swords and sticks, police and witnesses said. They stormed a police station and set fire to houses including those of leaders of the ruling Awami League party, reporters said. ""We had to open fire after rubber bullets and teargas failed to disperse the attackers,"" police officer Atiur Rahman told Reuters. An army spokesman in Dhaka said two platoons of troops had been deployed in the town. Eight people were killed in Bogra on Sunday and eight were killed in clashes elsewhere, according to reports from police. Bogra is a political stronghold of Begum Khaleda Zia, head of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and arch rival of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina."
" 1 of 2. Noraziah Noor (seated L) and Nurunisa Abu Bakar (2nd R), the wives of Inspector Zulkifli Mamat and Corporal Sabarudin Daud respectively, who are the members of the Malaysian Police 69th Commando Battalion killed on Friday in the standoff between Malaysian security forces and armed followers of the Sultanate of Sulu, recite a prayer as they wait for the arrival of their bodies at an airport in Subang, outside Kuala Lumpur March 2, 2013. A standoff between Malaysian security forces and armed Filipinos ended in violence on Friday, with at least two police officers killed amid conflicting reports of casualties as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak declared his patience had run out. Malaysian state news agency Bernama said that two police commandos had been killed in a mortar attack and two wounded after security forces tried to force out the group of at least 100 Filipinos who have been holed up in eastern Sabah state for more than two weeks. Police on Friday tried to end the standoff with scores of followers of the sultan of Sulu, a south Philippine region, who occupied a Sabah village in February to press their claim. Two policemen and 12 followers of the sultan were killed. The killing of the five policemen late on Saturday, in an ambush on police hunting followers of the sultan, will reinforce fears that insecurity is spreading in a region rich in resources that has been of increasing interest to investors. Malaysia's inspector general of police, Ismail Omar, tried to ease any worries on Sunday, saying the situation was under control. ""I don't want speculation that Sabah is in crisis,"" Ismail told a news conference in the town of Lahad Datu. ""We have our security forces at three places to respond."" The confrontation had threatened to reignite tension between the Philippines and Malaysia. Ties have been periodically frayed by security and migration problems along their sea border. Economic interests are also at risk. Oil majors like ConocoPhillips and Shell have poured in large sums to develop oil and gas fields in Sabah. Chinese companies have been investing in hydro-power and coal mining. Much of Borneo's forest has been cleared, to the horror of indigenous people and environmentalists, and replanted with palm oil. Tens of thousands of migrants have come to Sabah from the Philippines to clear the timber and work the plantations. For generations Borneo, one of the worlds' biggest islands, was a forbidding expanse of jungle, thinly populated by head-hunting tribesmen, and claimed by Muslim sultans and later European colonialists based in coastal trading towns."
" At least five police officers have died in an armed clash with gunmen in eastern Sabah state, officials in Malaysia say. Police are investigating whether the firefight in Semporna on Saturday night was linked to an armed incursion by Filipino men 150km (90 miles) away. At least 100 Filipinos landed by boat in the Lahad Datu district last month. They say documents dating back to the 19th Century are proof that the area belongs to them. The Muslim clan, which calls itself the Royal Army of Sulu, has occupied the village of Lahad Datu since early February. On Friday, 12 Filipinos and two Malaysian police officers were killed in a gun battle there. In the latest incident, national police chief Ismail Omar said that five policemen were killed in an ""ambush by unidentified gunmen"". One report said two attackers also died. The Lahad Datu crisis began when a group of at least 100 clan members were led into the region in early February by Agbimuddin Kiram, the younger brother of the self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III. The Sulu Sultanate once spread over several southern Philippine islands as well as parts of Borneo, and claimed Sabah as its own before it was designated a British protectorate in the 1800s. Sabah became part of Malaysia in 1963, and the country still pays a token rent to the Sulu Sultanate each year."
" (CNN) -- Dramatic new data from the December 26, 2004, Sumatran-Andaman earthquake that generated deadly tsunamis show the event created the longest fault rupture and the longest duration of faulting ever observed, according to three reports by an international group of seismologists published Thursday in the journal ""Science."" ""Normally, a small earthquake might last less than a second; a moderate sized earthquake might last a few seconds. This earthquake lasted between 500 and 600 seconds,"" said Charles Ammon, associate professor of geosciences at Penn State University. The quake released an amount of energy equal to a 100 gigaton bomb, according to Roger Bilham, professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado. And that power lasted longer than any quake ever recorded. The quake, centered in the Indian Ocean, also created the biggest gash in the Earth's seabed ever observed, nearly 800 miles. That's as long as a drive from Los Angeles, California, to Portland, Oregon. Scientists estimated the average slippage (ground movement up and down) along the entire length of the fault was at least 5 meters (16.5 feet) -- with some places being moved nearly 20 meters (50 feet). Scientists have also upgraded the magnitude of the quake from 9.0 to between 9.1 and 9.3, a dramatically more powerful event. As a comparison: the ground shook 100 times harder during December's earthquake than what was felt in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake in California. That 6.9 magnitude quake caused extensive damage from Santa Cruz to San Francisco. The stunning power of Asia's earthquake and tsunamis last December has left even veteran scientists in awe. ""I think it was humbling for everyone that analyzed the earthquake,"" said Thorne Lay, professor of earth sciences and director of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. ""We're sitting in our laboratories working on the signals from this earthquake, trying to understand what happened scientifically, and then watching TV at night and seeing the death toll rising for weeks,"" he said."
" Vietnam and China trading accusations Tuesday over who was the aggressor in an incident that led to the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat in the South China Sea, sharpening already dangerously high tensions between the two nations over their overlapping territorial claims in the waters. Hanoi accused a Chinese vessel of ramming a smaller Vietnamese boat Monday and then fleeing the scene. Beijing said the Vietnamese boat rammed into one of its vessels, and then sunk. The incident occurred around 30 kilometers (18 miles) south-southwest of large oil rig that China deployed on May 1 in a disputed section of the sea. The rig deployment infuriated Hanoi and set off violent anti-China protests that further soured ties between the neighboring communist countries with close economic relations. Vietnam sent patrol ships to confront the rig, and China has deployed scores of vessels to protect it. The two sides have been involved in a tense standoff, occasionally colliding with each other. China and Vietnam have long sparred over who owns what in the oil- and gas-rich waters. Incidents between fishing crews are quite common, but Monday's incident was the first time a Vietnamese boat had been sunk, said Tran Van Linh, president of the Fisheries Association in the central port city of Danang. ""I call this an act of attempted murder because the Chinese sank a Vietnamese fishing boat and then ran away,"" Linh said. ""We vehemently protest this perverse, brutal and inhumane action by Chinese side."" Linh said about 40 Chinese steel vessels surrounded a group of smaller, wooden Vietnamese fishing ships on Monday afternoon. He said one then rammed into the Vietnamese ship, tossing 10 fishermen into the water and sinking the boat. The fishermen were picked by the other Vietnamese boats and there were no injuries. The sunken fishing boat with its equipment and seafood catch was worth $240,000, and the association was demanding compensation, Linh said. China's state-owned news agency Xinhua the Vietnamese fishing boat capsized when it was ramming a Chinese fishing boat, adding that ""personnel from the Vietnamese boat were rescued in a timely manner."""
" 1 of 6. Residents stand in front of a damaged building after a bomb blast in a residential area in Karachi March 3, 2013. ""It's like doomsday to me. I was watching television when I heard an explosion and my flat was badly shaken,"" said Mariam Bibi. ""I saw people burning to death and crying with pain. I saw children lying in pools of their own blood and women running around shouting for their children and loved ones."" Senior city official Hashim Raza said at least 45 people had been killed and 149 wounded in the blast in Pakistan's biggest city. Military offensives and U.S. drone strikes against the Taliban in Pakistan have reduced the number of suicide attacks on government and military targets over the past year. But Sunni groups, most prominently the al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), have escalated attacks against Shi'ites, who they believe are non-Muslims. With a few hundred hard-core cadres, the LeJ aims to trigger sectarian violence that would pave the way for a Sunni theocracy in U.S.-allied Pakistan, say Pakistan intelligence officials. Its immediate goal, they say, is to stoke the intense Sunni-Shi'ite violence that has pushed countries like Iraq close to civil war. Bombings targeting Shi'ites have killed nearly 200 people in Quetta alone since the start of the year, and residents of the city say they are under siege by LeJ death squads who seem to act with impunity. The bloodshed has prompted human rights group to accuse the Pakistani government, which receives billions of dollars in American aid, of turning a blind eye to the bombings."
" At least 45 people have been killed by a bomb explosion in the Pakistani city of Karachi, police say. The blast in the mainly Shia Muslim area of Abbas Town destroyed several buildings and set others on fire. Some reports spoke of a second explosion. No group has yet said it planted the bomb, which went off near a mosque as worshippers left evening prayers. Pakistan's Shia minority are the target of frequent sectarian attacks from Sunni militant groups. Continue reading the main story Shia Muslims make up about 20% of Pakistan's population of 180 million, and while sectarian violence targeting them is by no means a new phenomenon it is on the rise. Human Rights Watch says that last year more than 400 Shias were killed in such attacks across the country. Just in the first two months of this year, nearly 200 Shias - members of the Hazara community - have been killed in the south-western city of Quetta. Karachi, where this latest anti-Shia bombing has taken place, is notorious for violence of various kinds. But it is clear that the ability of the authorities to protect Shias is now being tested even more severely - and this as new elections are around the corner. Political and religious leaders were quick to condemn the Karachi attack and promise help to the victims. The explosion sent a huge column of smoke into the sky above Karachi and caused a power cut in part of the city. Police are investigating whether it was a suicide attack. Rescuers have been struggling to reach people trapped under the rubble. Residents have been using car headlights to help the search for survivors, local media reports said. Around 150 people were wounded by the explosion, officials said."
" General Sir Richard Dannatt is quoted in the Daily Mail saying British troops ""exacerbated"" Iraq's security problems and should withdraw ""sometime soon"". The general later told BBC Radio 4 he meant that troops should leave ""when the mission is substantially done"". Mr Blair said Sir Richard was saying ""the same as we all are"", but had been taken out of context in the newspaper. In the Daily Mail interview, Sir Richard, who took on his role in August, said British troops should ""get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems"". And he said planning for what happened after the initial military offensive was ""poor, probably based more on optimism than sound planning"". He later told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that when he talked about pulling out of Iraq ""sometime soon"", he meant ""when the mission is substantially done, we should leave"". And he said the view that the presence of UK troops exacerbates the problems was ""not right across the country"", but in parts of it. His intention was to ""speak up for what is right for the Army"" because that was his job, he said. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said Sir Richard's remarks were little different from what other officers had been saying in private. But the comments had given added urgency to finding an early and effective exit strategy, our correspondent said."
" A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan on Sunday, killing at least one and sending panicked residents dashing to the streets. The quake rattled buildings in central Taipei. Its epicenter was near Jenai town in Nantou county. The quake was 20 km deep (12.4 miles), and hit 728 km (452 miles) east northeast of Hong Kong."
" The troops shot 50-year-old Terry Lloyd in the head while he was in a makeshift ambulance, having already been hurt in crossfire, the coroner said. Mr Lloyd's interpreter was also killed and his cameraman is missing believed dead following the incident, which took place near Basra in March 2003. The coroner is to ask the attorney general to consider pressing charges. Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker said he would also be writing to the director of public prosecutions asking for him to investigate the possibility of bringing charges. Mr Lloyd's Lebanese interpreter, Hussein Osman, was also killed and French cameraman Fred Nerac is still officially classed as missing, presumed dead. Belgian cameraman Daniel Demoustier was the ITN crew's only survivor. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said Mr Lloyd's killing was a ""war crime"" and this was echoed by Mr Lloyd's widow, Lyn. In a statement she said: ""This was a very serious war crime, how else can firing on a vehicle in these circumstances be interpreted? ""This was not a friendly fire incident or a crossfire incident, it was a despicable, deliberate, vengeful act, particularly as it came many minutes after the initial exchange. ""US forces appear to have allowed their soldiers to behave like trigger happy cowboys in an area where civilians were moving around."" Mr Lloyd's daughter Chelsey said: ""The killing of my father would seem to amount to murder, which is deeply shocking."""
" 1 of 4. A duck sits on a bench, partially submerged by the water from the rising Vltava river, in Prague June 2, 2013. Prague authorities limited public transport and planned to close underground stations in the center of the city as water from the Vltava River overflowed into picturesque areas popular with tourists. The main train line connecting the capital and the east of the country was also shut. Necas pledged 300 million Czech crowns ($15 million) for relief efforts and said another 2,000 troops were ready to support the 300 soldiers already helping to erect temporary barriers and pile sandbags in Prague and other areas. ""The government approved the declaration of a state of emergency which will enable a more effective rescue effort,"" said Necas after an emergency cabinet meeting, adding that there was another 1.3 billion crowns available to help fund the clean-up operation. In neighboring Austria, torrential rain caused widespread flooding and landslides, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate their homes. The historic area of Prague is a UNESCO heritage site boasting hundreds of well-preserved buildings, churches and monuments dating back centuries, including the Charles Bridge straddling the Vltava which was closed due to high water. The floods have killed at least two people and several people are missing across the Czech Republic. A Prague hospital and parts of the zoo were also evacuated. Rising rivers have forced the closures of highways and railway lines throughout western and southern Bohemia. Utility companies reported outages throughout the region after floods damaged a number of substations. ""The water is about 50 meters from my house but it's only 1 or 2 meters from other houses,"" said Rory Pattison, an expatriate worker living in a village just outside Prague. ""We haven't had an evacuation notice yet but everyone is making preparations just in case."""
" Judge Timothy Workman ruled on Thursday that rebel envoy Akhmed Zakayev would not get a fair trial in Russia and could even face torture if returned. Moscow accuses Mr Zakayev, a former rebel field commander, of committing crimes from abduction to murder. Relations had suffered a ""serious blow"", the Russian foreign ministry said. ""While speaking in favour of uprooting terrorism in all its forms... in reality [the UK] gives shelter to terrorists on its territory,"" it said. Mr Zakayev was detained at London's Heathrow Airport in December 2002 after arriving from Denmark and was on bail up until Thursday's extradition verdict. Speaking after his release, he vowed to continue to fight Russia's ""criminal regime"" and said he hoped to see Russian President Vladimir Putin eventually tried as a war criminal. ""Just as I had to defend myself against accusations I was a terrorist, I believe he will have to defend himself against charges he is a war criminal,"" Mr Zakayev said. 'No right to appeal' Moscow's charges against Mr Zakayev relate to the first of two bloody wars fought by separatists in Chechnya, a tiny, mainly Muslim province in Russia's North Caucasus region. Since the 1994-96 war, when he took part in dramatic rebel attacks such as the surprise capture of Grozny, Mr Zakayev has been a familiar face as the main envoy of Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov."
" The court accepted a plea by lawyers for Mr Zakayev that he would not get a fair trial - and could even could face torture - in Russia. ""It would be unjust and oppressive to return Mr Zakayev to Russia,"" Judge Timothy Workman ruled on Thursday. Moscow responded by accusing the court of double standards and trying to politicise a criminal case. Mr Zakayev has been accused of a range of crimes including kidnap, taking part in the murder of Russian soldiers and levying war. Mr Zakayev's defenders - who include the actress Vanessa Redgrave - had said the charges were politically motivated and that he would face torture if he was sent to Russia. The judge at the hearing, Mr Workman of Bow Street Magistrates Court in central London, agreed, quoting evidence of torture given by witnesses. ""I have come to the inevitable conclusion that if the [Russian] authorities are prepared to resort to torturing witnesses, there is a substantial risk that Mr Zakayev would himself be subject to torture,"" he said. ""The widespread use of torture and ill-treatment by the Russian authorities had given rise to well-based fears for Akhmed Zakayev's physical safety if sent back to Russia,"" the human rights organisation said. But the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office said the court had attempted to find a political overtone in what was a purely criminal case. ""Once again, terrorists are being split into two groups - good terrorists and bad ones,"" the office said in a statement."
" The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said a quake of magnitude 5.9, located 6.2 miles deep, struck the uranium-rich region early on Tuesday, after an earlier series of tremors in the same area. Gasten Macheka, chief executive officer of the Karonga District Assembly, said tremors occurred throughout the night. ""The tremors continued mildly until we felt the intense one this morning,"" he told Reuters, adding people were evacuated from their homes after the first quakes on Sunday. ""Houses are continuing to fall in the villages and people are continuing to sleep outside their homes,"" Macheka said. Police spokesman Enock Levason said a one-year-old child was killed and two other people were injured in Tuesday's tremors. ""A kitchen collapsed on the child in a village called Mwangomba,"" he said. The epicenter was 110 miles north of Mzuzu, Malawi's third largest city, and 75 miles southeast of the Tanzanian town of Mbeya. Authorities in Karonga were on high alert after the tremors, which injured six people, two seriously, on Sunday and damaged houses, schools and some government offices. The director of the Malawi Geological Survey, Leonard Kalindekafe, said the epicenter was near Chilumba, a small port and trading center on Lake Malawi. He said Malawi's position in the Great Rift Valley meant tremors were common. The area is near the Tanzanian border."
" A missile hit a Hamas official's house after nightfall, but the target survived and two adults and a girl aged 10 died, Palestinian sources said. Earlier, a boy aged 14, four militants and another person died in an Israeli air attack in southern Gaza. Israel confirmed both attacks, saying it had been targeting militants. There have been frequent raids on the Gaza Strip since an Israeli soldier was kidnapped in June by Palestinian gunmen. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed. The Israeli military said its evening air strike had been aimed at the house of Ashraf Farawana, a Hamas leader allegedly involved in attacks on Israel and supplying weapons to Hamas militants. Local people said one of the adults killed was a brother of Mr Farawana, who himself survived. At least seven people were also wounded. The earlier attack came before dawn in Abassan, a village to the east of Khan Yunis, where troops were engaged in a search operation. The Israelis said they had struck at a gathering of armed men who were moving in to attack their troops. Five of those killed are said to be from the same family."
" Kabul: A suicide bomber targeting an American patrol outside a busy market in eastern Afghanistan killed 20 people Monday, including 10 schoolchildren and two international service members, officials said. Ap Kabul: Afghanistan's Taliban Monday confirmed it sent a delegation to Iran for three days of talks, signaling that Tehran could be seeking the role of regional mediator in negotiations to end its neighbour's 12-year war. Spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said in an email emissaries from the Taliban political office met with Iranian officials over the weekend. Ap UNITED NATIONS: More than 60 countries signed the landmark treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade Monday and the US announced it will sign soon, giving a strong kickoff to the first major international campaign to stem the illicit trade in weapons that fuel conflicts and extremists. AP Please read our before posting comments TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s)."
" The research compares mortality rates before and after the invasion from 47 randomly chosen areas in Iraq. The figure is considerably higher than estimates by official sources or the number of deaths reported in the media. It is vigorously disputed by supporters of the war in Iraq, including US President George W Bush. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimate that the mortality rates have more than doubled since the invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein, causing an average of 500 deaths a day. In the past, Mr Bush has put the civilian death toll in Iraq at 30,000, and hours after details of the latest research were published he dismissed the researchers' methodology as ""pretty well discredited"". The Johns Hopkins researchers argue their ""cluster sample"" approach is more reliable than counting dead bodies, given the obstacles preventing more comprehensive fieldwork in the violent and insecure conditions of Iraq. ""I stand by the figure that a lot of innocent people have lost their life... and that troubles me, and it grieves me,"" Mr Bush told reporters at the White House. ""Six-hundred thousand or whatever they guessed at is just... it's not credible,"" Mr Bush said. The researchers spoke to nearly 1,850 families, comprising more than 12,800 people in dozens of 40-household clusters around the country. Such a trend repeated nationwide would indicate a rise in annual death rates from 5.5 per 1,000 to 13.3 per 1,000 - meaning the deaths of some 2.5% of Iraq's 25 million citizens in the last three-and-a-half years."
" One of Turkey's big trade union groups is staging a two-day strike to support continuing anti-government protests in a number of cities. The left-wing Kesk trade union confederation, representing some 240,000 workers, accused the government of committing ""state terror"". Protests and clashes with police continued into the night on Monday. A second death in the protests has been confirmed by the governor's office in the southern city of Antakya. Abdullah Comert, 22, a member of the youth wing of the opposition Republican People's Party, was ""seriously wounded... after gunfire from an unidentified person,"" the governor's office said, adding that he died later in hospital. Earlier, the Turkish Doctors' Union said 20-year-old Mehmet Ayvalitas was hit by a car on Sunday which ignored warnings to stop and ploughed into a crowd of protesters in the Mayis district of Istanbul. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan went ahead with a trip to Morocco and insisted the situation was improving. The strike, which will last for two days from 12:00 on Tuesday (09:00 GMT), is expected to affect schools and universities along with government offices. In a statement, Kesk said: ""The state terror implemented against entirely peaceful protests is continuing in a way that threatens civilians' life safety."" The confederation, representing 11 unions, accused the government of undermining democracy."
" It started all too typically, with a rather minor event. Last week, a few thousand people protested against plans to allow construction of a shopping mall in a park on Istanbul's central Taksim Square. An unexpectedly harsh crackdown by police armed with tear gas provoked tens of thousands more to pour into the area. Soon the protests spread to other districts of Istanbul and on to the major cities of Ankara and Izmir.By the second and third days of unrest, the protests began to focus more on the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and less on the plans to raze the park. The protests, though largely limited to Turkey's three largest cities, seemed to have united young and old, secular and conservative-religious, and rich and poor.Right after the first crackdown, the ruling Justice and Development (AK) party's leading figures -- such as Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc and Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas -- were conciliatory and apologetic. ""Protesting is the people's right,"" said Arinc. ""We should have convinced the people instead of using tear gas.""But his boss, Erdogan, took the tough approach, as he increasingly has during his decade-long tenure. He called the protesters a ""bunch of hooligans"" being used by the opposition. ""We won't yield to a few looters coming to that square and provoking our people,"" Erdogan said.Many people, including leading political scientists in Turkey, have noted that Erdogan's personal style has grown alarmingly authoritarian since the AK party came to power in 2003. Comfortably ruling with a majority of 40- to 50-plus percent of the nation's votes -- an exception to crisis-driven governments of recent decades -- the AK party has undertaken economic and political reforms that no other party has been able to pull off. Turkey is now the 16th-largest economy in the world, boasting high single-digit growth that might be envied in many developed countries.Amid the outpouring of comments from Turks found on social networks and mass media in recent days, not many expressed concern about the economy. ""Thank you for the flourishing economy, Sir!"" read a tweet addressing Erdogan from an angry protester in Ankara. ""But we have enough of your strong-arm way of treating people like slaves."" And one very short commentary by Gulse Birsel, one of Turkey's most prominent writers and artists, quickly went viral. She summarized the feeling of the protesters in one striking title: ""Ohhhh! Enough is enough!""In the last 10 years, the AK party and Erdogan -- overconfident of the success of their political and economic reforms, as well as the rising share of national votes that has let them rule without any need to be in coalition with other parties -- have generally ignored concerns and criticisms of their policies towards the military, the new constitution, and Ankara's foreign policy toward Syria.Many political scientists, such as Martin Lipset and Giovani Sartori, note that the longer a government rules the more its rulers tend to use its powers in an authoritarian way. Incidentally, Kemal Dervis, a former Turkish economy minister and ex-director of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in a recent interview with CNN Turk, warned the government that too much self-confidence and disregard for public opinion and criticism could provoke a dangerous political crisis even in good economic times.It seems that Turkish developments over the next weeks and months will depend largely on Erdogan's decision to be cohesive or not. He might listen to those who are critical of him and his government's policies. Or he might simply continue following a confrontational policy, as he did in the first days of the recent unrest by referring to protesters as ""extremist elements.""On the fourth day of demonstrations Kadir Gursel, a prominent commentator, wrote in the ""Milliyet"" daily: ""Nobody should misunderstand occasional calls in the demonstration for the government to resign. It's about discontent and protest, not about overthrowing a government that has received 50 percent of the popular vote. In the next few days we will see if the message has been received.""Meanwhile, the conservative ""Zaman"" daily quoted President Abdullah Gul -- also from the ruling AK party but rumored to be a more cohesive personality than the prime minister -- calling for calm and saying ""the messages of goodwill have been received."""
" At least 14 people have died in clashes to end the siege of a village in Malaysia's Sabah province by a Philippines clan, police say. Sabah Police Chief Hamza Taib said two police officers and 12 Filipino rebels had been killed at Lahad Datu. Lahad Datu was occupied in early February by members of a Muslim royal clan from the Philippines calling itself the Royal Army of Sulu. They are demanding recognition as the rightful owners of Sabah province. The group - some of them armed - had been urged to end their siege by both the Malaysian and Philippine governments. Hamza Taib said the killings happened during a 30-minute shoot-out on Friday morning, when members of the clan opened fire as the security forces were tightening a security cordon around the village. He told the Associated Press that the stand-off was continuing. ""We don't want to engage them but they fired at us. We have no option but to return fire,"" he said. But confusion remains over what exactly has happened in the remote part of Sabah. The leader of the gang, Agbimuddin Kiram, told a Philippines radio station that police had surrounded them and opened fire. ""They are here, they entered our area so we have to defend ourselves. There's shooting already,"" he told Manila-based DZBB radio."
" Mr Bush urged President Musharraf to quit his post as head of the army and hold elections as soon as possible. But he also made clear the US would continue to work with Pakistan's leader - a key ally in the ""war on terror"". The Pakistani cabinet is expected to meet later to discuss parliamentary elections, which are due by January. On Monday, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the vote would be held ""according to the schedule"" in a ""smooth, transparent and peaceful manner"". However, Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim later told the BBC that parliament might vote to delay elections by as much as a year. ""It is possible, and it is an option available to the legislators,"" he said. ""It is a position that will become clear in the next two or three days, when parliament meets. When they meet, they will decide whether they want an extension as laid out in the constitution."" Gen Musharraf said he had declared the state of emergency on Saturday because of a crisis caused by militant violence and an unruly judiciary. Critics, however, believe he was acting to pre-empt a judgment by the Supreme Court on whether his re-election last month was legal. Lawyers have called for three days of protests and strikes against the suspension of the constitution, but police stifled their demonstrations on Monday and have deployed in large numbers to prevent any more."
" The council is now considering its next steps, including sanctions that could be enforceable by military means. The US has proposed a draft resolution which includes powers to inspect cargo and close air and sea ports to North Korean ships and planes. President George W Bush said the US was working to confirm the test claim, branding it a ""provocative"" act. He said he and regional leaders agreed North Korea's actions were unacceptable and deserved an immediate UN response. Current Security Council President Kenzo Oshima, of Japan, urged North Korea to refrain from further testing and return to six-party talks. The Americans have circulated a 13-point draft resolution seeking targeted sanctions. The proposals include: The US also wants to see the sanctions brought under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, which means they would be mandatory and ultimately enforceable by military means. UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett also said London would be ""pushing for a robust response"" under Chapter Seven. US ambassador to the UN John Bolton told the BBC: ""If the Security Council of the United Nations can't deal with a threat like that then we have to ask what role it could have in dealing with weapons of mass destruction around the world. But North Korea's ambassador, Pak Gil Yon, said the Security Council should congratulate Pyongyang instead of issuing ""useless"" resolutions."
" The scene of the attack in the province of Baghlan was left littered with bodies and splattered with blood in one of the worst attacks in recent times. The attack was condemned by the Afghan president, the White House and the UN. Analysts say suicide attacks are rare in this area, and the bombing shows the reach of the insurgency is growing. The Taleban, al-Qaeda and other militant groups are fighting thousands of Afghan and foreign troops in Afghanistan. The bomb exploded at a sugar factory in a town in Baghlan province while a delegation of parliamentarians was visiting - at least six of whom died. Among the MPs killed was Mustafa Kazimi, a former mujahideen fighter and prominent opposition figure. Schoolchildren who had gathered to welcome the politicians were also killed. ""I saw bodies lying in the streets and some of the people were stealing the weapons of the dead soldiers,"" local resident Mohammad Rahim told Reuters news agency. ""Children are screaming for help. It's like a nightmare,"" said Mr Rahim, who said the blast had killed his two cousins, both schoolgirls. The deputy mayor of Baghlan province said that two disembodied legs were all that remained of the bomber following the attack. The bomber's identity is unknown."
" Azerbaijan, Baku, May 31 /Trend S.Isayev, D. Khatinoglu/    Today, eight of Iranian presidential candidates started debates on live television, IRIB News reported live.    Former Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Gharazi was asked about inflation and unemployent.    He said that during the last 100 years the inflation rate constantly arised, and the national currency dropped in value, adding that his plan is to strengthen the currency as it would lead to decrease of unemployment rate and economic growth. ""In 33 years since the revolution, the country has been facing increasing inflation,"" he said. Lawmaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said that unemployment and job creation is more important than attempting to raise national currency value.  "
" The center of Noel was about 810 miles west-southwest of Bermuda by 8 p.m. EDT and its maximum sustained winds had reached near 75 miles per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Noel is now a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest level on the Saffir/Simpson scale. A hurricane watch was in effect for the northwestern Bahamas as Noel moved farther away on a long-anticipated shift to the north-northeast that would eventually bring it as a possibly fierce but nontropical storm to Nova Scotia, Canada. A tropical storm warning remained in effect for the central Bahamas, but the hurricane center said the watch and warning would likely be discontinued on Thursday night. The British mid-Atlantic territory of Bermuda posted a gale warning, just in case Noel veered more to the east than forecast, U.S. hurricane forecasters said. The center of Noel was 115 miles north-northeast of Nassau, Bahamas, and was moving north-northeast at a brisk 17 mph, the hurricane center said. The storm's speed was expected to increase over the next 24 hours. The storm is expected to douse eastern Cuba with another 1 to 2 inches of rain, and North Carolina's Outer Banks could receive an inch. The northernmost islands of the Bahamas were still feeling Noel's onslaught on Thursday and several churches opened as shelters on the island of Abaco. ""We are laying on food and the people are bedding down on the floors of the churches,"" Red Cross volunteer Barbara Johnson said. Residents of Long Island in the central Bahamas suffered ""devastating"" losses as the storm dumped a record 15 inches (38 cm) of rain on the island over two days, the National Emergency Management Agency said. The storm caused flood levels on the island not seen for 60 years and families at several settlements were forced to evacuate homes and businesses as water reached a depth of 3 feet in some places."
" The Navy team after the final whistle of the Notre Dame vs Navy game at Aviva Stadium on September 1, 2012 in Dublin, Ireland. Photo by Barry Cronin/Getty Images WASHINGTON The U.S. Naval Academy is investigating allegations that three members of its football team sexually assaulted a female midshipman at an off-campus house last year, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday, and a lawyer for the woman says she was ""ostracized"" on campus after she reported it. The names of the players were not made public and the athletic director deferred comment to a Naval Academy spokesman, who said school leadership were monitoring the investigation but declined further comment. The allegation is the latest in a string of sexual assault cases that has drawn attention in Congress and at the highest levels of the Pentagon. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the chiefs of each military branch, are scheduled to testify next week at a Senate hearing. The alleged assault occurred in April 2012 at an off-campus house in Annapolis. The woman woke up after a night of heavy drinking and later learned from friends and social media that three football players claimed to have had sex with her while she was intoxicated, her attorney Susan Burke said in a statement Friday. She said her client reported the allegations to Navy criminal investigators, but was disciplined instead for drinking. The athletes were permitted to continue playing. ""My client was reprimanded for having been drinking, as were many other people, but the football players themselves -- nothing happened,"" Burke told CBS News' David Martin. Burke said her client decided to no longer cooperate with the NCIS after ""one of the football players came to her and asked her not to cooperate with NCIS."" The victim hired Burke earlier this year, and the investigation was reopened. ""Naval Academy leadership is monitoring the progress of this investigation and evaluating the appropriate options for adjudication,"" Schofield said, according to Military.com. ""It is completely inappropriate to make any other public comment on this investigation or any ongoing investigation as we risk compromising the military justice process."" Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren confirmed the investigation Friday but said he had no further details. He said academy officials are monitoring the investigation and evaluating options for adjudicating the case. Warren said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is determined to stamp out the problem."
" The crowd also called for early parliamentary elections. They accused Mr Saakashvili of heading a corrupt, authoritarian government and want him to be ousted democratically. The government rejects the claims. It is Georgia's worst political crisis since the 2003 Rose Revolution that swept Mr Saakashvili to power. Elections are not due until late 2008. Many protesters arrived in convoys from the provinces early on Friday. As evening fell, an opposition leader, Levan Gachechiladze, told the crowd to remain in the square until their demands were met. ""We need to stay. We need only a few days before victory,"" the AFP news agency quoted him as saying. The agency estimated that some 10,000 protesters had stayed on after nightfall. The government has accused the opposition of using the protest as a form of blackmail. The country's previously weak and divided opposition parties formed a united front last month, and began a nationwide protest campaign against the Georgian leader."
" A Norwegian court has found that mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is sane and sentenced him to 21 years in jail. Breivik, who admitted killing 77 people when he bombed central Oslo and then opened fire at an island youth camp, told the court he would not appeal. He insisted he was sane and refused to plead guilty, saying last year's attacks were necessary to stop the ""Islamisation"" of Norway. Prosecutors had called for him to be considered insane. Breivik was convicted of terrorism and premeditated murder, and given the maximum sentence of 21 years' imprisonment. However, that can be prolonged at a later date if he is deemed to remain a danger to society. Continue reading the main story Many relatives and survivors reacted with relief as Judge Wenche Arntzen declared Anders Breivik to be sane, sentencing him to at least 21 years in prison. The mother of one 16-year-old girl who Breivik shot dead on Utoeya island said she felt ""a little happiness"" at the fact he was found to be sane. Still, she said, she had wished he could have been sentenced to 21 years in prison for each of the 77 lives he took. Others said Breivik the man had for some time now been irrelevant to them, and that the outcome of the trial could never bring their loved ones back. Delivering the verdict, Judge Wenche Elisabeth Arntzen said that the court considered Breivik to be suffering from ""narcissistic personality characteristics"" but not psychosis. She imposed a sentence of ""preventive detention"", a special prison term for criminals considered dangerous to society. She set the minimum length of imprisonment to 10 years."
" The crew of a Dutch warship has arrested 13 suspected pirates following an attack by fast boats on a cargo vessel in waters south of Oman, the EU naval mission said in a statement on Thursday. ""In total there were thirteen pirates and two of the original crew on board. Ladders, grappling hooks, and nine automatic weapons, one RPG (rocket propelled grenade) with three grenades and cases with ammunition were found,"" it said. ""The suspected pirates have been detained."" The arrests came after a failed attack on Wednesday by pirates in two fast boats on an Antigua and Barbuda flagged cargo ship BBC Togo, some 150 nautical miles south of Salalah, Oman. The pirates fired automatic weapons, but failed to breach barbed wire and other undisclosed defences used by the cargo ship. No casualties were reported. The suspects were detained by the crew of the Dutch warship Evertsen, part of the EUNAVFOR contingent operating in Indian Ocean waters. The world's naval powers last year deployed warships in the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to curb attacks by ransom-hunting pirates that were seen as a threat to one of the globe's most crucial maritime trade routes. Pirates have since shifted their focus to the wider Indian Ocean, a huge area much more difficult to patrol, and have ventured as far as the Seychelles and beyond. - Sapa-AFP"
" AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch navy has captured 13 Somali pirates and freed two Tanzanian fishermen after seizing a pirate vessel that had attacked a German cargo ship off the coast of Oman, the Dutch Defence Ministry said on Thursday. The pirates fired several shots at the German-owned ship BBC Togo, which sails under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, but the crew fought off the attackers who were unable to board it, a ministry spokesman said. It was the latest of many attacks by heavily armed pirates from the lawless Horn of Africa nation on vessels in shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean and the strategic Gulf of Aden, which links Europe to Asia through the Red Sea. The attack, using small motor-boats, took place on Wednesday afternoon, and the Dutch marine ship Evertsen boarded the pirate craft that night and captured the pirates, who all appeared to be Somalis, the spokesman said. ""The pirates apparently thought they were safe. The marine ship was able to approach them without being noticed -- lights out -- and boarded the ship,"" the spokesman said. The naval vessel captured the pirates, who surrendered without a struggle, in the Gulf of Aden, about 150 miles south of Oman's port city of Salalah. The Dutch also freed two Tanzanian fishermen held captive for three months after the pirates seized their fishing boat, a dhow, the spokesman said. On board the pirates' vessel, the Dutch navy found a dozen guns including AK-47s, several grenades, two rocket launchers and several ammunition chests. The pirates will be handed over to authorities in Kenya or the Seychelles, which have agreements with the European Union to try suspected pirates, the spokesman said. Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke plans to visit the Netherlands next week to attend a conference in The Hague on Somali piracy and its impact on the the world economy."
" FIFA, on Sunday, said that it would help Middle-Eastern television network al-Jazeera track down the cause of black-outs in its broadcast of the World Cup's opening match in South Africa. ""FIFA is supporting al-Jazeera in trying to locate the source of the interference in the transmission of the FIFA World Cup,"" FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot said. The black-outs are ""unacceptable to FIFA"", said Maingot, whose organization has sold the broadcasting rights of the tournament to al-Jazeera Sports and to other broadcasters in some 100 countries around the world. The Doha-based broadcaster faced the wrath of viewers over the weekend after leaving them staring at blank screens for long periods during the opening game of 2010 World Cup between South Africa and Mexico. In addition to picture outages, viewers were also exposed to sudden changes in the broadcast's language, with the commentary switching among Arabic, French and English - and sometimes to no sound at all. Al-Jazeera has said the signal problem was caused by an act of sabotage on the Nilesat satellite, with one official describing what had happened as ""television piracy"". But Nilesat, an Egyptian company operating satellites and their associated ground control station, maintains that it was an internal error on the part of the broadcaster."
" It is known who tempered with the station's signal at he opening match of the ongoing tournament ""FIFA is supporting Al Jazeera in trying to locate the source of the interference in the broadcast of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. FIFA is appalled by any action to try to stop Al Jazeera's authorised transmissions of the FIFA World Cup as such actions deprive football fans from enjoying the world game in the region. It is not acceptable to FIFA,"" said FIFA in a statement to The Zimbabwean. Meanwhile, the technical disruptions that occurred during the inaugural match of World Cup 2010 raised the ire of soccer fans who paid R600 subscriptions and has led to a spat between Qatars Al Jazeera Sport network and Egypts Nilesat, which is carrying the signal. Al Jazeera Sport Managing Director Nasser bin Ghanem Al-Kholeifi accused Nilesat of intentional disruption, calling it an act of piracy in an article published on Saturday in Dubais Emarat Al-Yom newspaper. Egyptian officials denied any involvement in the sabotage and said that it was looking into the matter. Have your say:"
" The summit of the Nonaligned Movement (NAM) has opened in Tehran with the host nation's foreign minister calling on delegates of the 120-member organization to promote dialogue between civilizations and to be alert to those practicing the ""egotistic politics of interference.""Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi started the summit, urging delegates from developing nations to resist ""unilateral economic sanctions...enacted by certain countries against nonaligned countries.""Salehi called on NAM to strengthen peace and eliminate discrimination and warned of the growing power of the UN Security Council and the need for its reform.Iran was expected to propose a Syrian peace plan at the summit.The head of Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Borujerdi, will meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad later in the day.Around 35 heads of state or government are attending the summit of the Nonalignment Movement, whose membership stretches from developing giants like India to tiny Caribbean islands.The guest list also includes UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who resisted diplomatic pressure to boycott the event after Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad repeated his stance that Israel is a ""cancerous tumor"" that has no place in the Middle East.Last week, the U.S. State Department said Iran was not ""deserving"" of hosting the event and would try to ""manipulate participants."""
" In central Java, Mount Merapi has erupted for a second time, hours after victims of Tuesday's eruption were buried in a mass grave. Meanwhile aid is beginning to arrive in the region hit by Monday's tsunami, where more than 340 people are known to have died and hundreds more are still missing."
"A swarm"" of several hundred earthquakes, the strongest measuring a 5.5 magnitude, were centered east of San Diego near California's border with Mexico on Sunday afternoon but caused little damage, seismologists said. Sunday's shaking in Southern California's Imperial Valley was the most activity recorded there since the 1970s, according to U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones. ""We are having a swarm,"" Jones said. ""We expect thousands of events (like this) over several days."" In Brawley, the town closest to the center of the swarm, a Fire Department dispatcher said there were no reports of injuries so far. Brawley is about 100 miles east of San Diego and about 200 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Only minor damage had been reported, said Robert Graves, another USGS seismologist. Graves told reporters that about 300 quakes had been recorded by Sunday evening. More than 30 had a magnitude over 3.5, and the biggest ""are a little bit larger than what we have seen in these types of processes in the past."" Graves said the area is a ""zone of transition"" between the Imperial and San Andreas faults and tends to have more frequent earthquake activity than other parts of California. He said that previous swarms -- some of which were recorded as early as the 1930s -- weren't precursors to a bigger quake, but ""that's not to say it won't happen."" ""At the very least, use this is a reminder: We live in earthquake country,"" he said. ""If we're going to have an earthquake, it's as likely today as it is tomorrow or next week. So the message here, if nothing else, is make sure you're prepared, you have your emergency kit, your emergency supplies and know what you're going to do."" Are you there? Share your earthquake images and videos.	
Indonesia volcano erupts again	 (CNN) -- Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano erupted again Friday, sending a plume about 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) above the mountaintop, an extreme weather chaser said. Ash drifted to the south after the eruption about 10 a.m. local time, weather chaser James Reynolds said. Residents started streaming down the mountain, heading for safer ground. Some were being evacuated after having already returned home following eruptions earlier in the week, observers from the Volcanology Agency near Merapi said. No injuries or deaths were immediately reported Friday. The volcano killed at least 32 people when it exploded earlier in the week, medical officials said. Rescue and recovery efforts continue to unfold, with the Indonesian government scrambling to help tens of thousands of residents displaced by the eruption. Mount Merapi, which looms on the horizon north of the major city of Yogyakarta, is one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes and lies in one of the world's most densely populated areas. The volcano has a summit elevation of nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 meters). Hundreds of displaced residents have crammed a small government building in Yogyakarta. Many had fled with only the clothes on their backs. Some residents refused to flee, holding out to watch over their crops and livestock. Some residents awaited word from the traditional gatekeeper of Mount Merapi. But Maradjin, the gatekeeper, fell victim to the volcano as well. He was buried Thursday. He died in his 80s, after being appointed about two decades ago by the last Sultan of Java.
No reports of damage, injuries after 7.3 magnitude quake strikes off coast of El Salvador	 A strong magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of El Salvador followed an hour later by a magnitude-5.4 aftershock, authorities said early Monday. There were no immediate reports of damages or injuries. A tsunami warning was put into effect for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico after the quake struck at 10:37 p.m. Sunday. The warning was later rescinded. David Walsh, an oceanographer with the Pacific Tsunami Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, said a minor, 3.94-inch tsunami was registered off Acajutla, El Salvador. The quake was located 86 miles south-southwest of San Miguel, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on its web site. The temblor took place at a depth of 32.9 miles. The second quake registered about an hour later in the same area at a depth of 35.9 miles. Alfonso Lara, a technician with El Salvador's Civil Protection agency said authorities were alerted to the threat of a tsunami. ""We are doing a general monitoring of the entire coast through our technicians and representatives,"" he said. On Sunday, dozens of small to moderate earthquakes struck southeastern California, knocking trailer homes off their foundations and shattering windows in a small farming town east of San Diego. The largest quake registered at a magnitude 5.5 and was centered about three miles northwest of the town of Brawley, according to the USGS. Another quake about an hour and a half earlier registered at magnitude 5.3. No injuries were reported.
Gaza borders closed for weekend	 GAZA (Ma'an) -- Israeli crossings authorities operating on the Gaza borders informed their Palestinian counterparts on Friday that the borders would not be open for goods transport that day.  While crossings are scheduled to open on Friday, the Muslim holy day, Israeli officials have announced their closure every week since August 2009, barring one where emergency fuel supplies were delivered at the request of officials.  Palestinian crossings official Raed Fattouh said he was told that crossings would shut Friday, stay closed on Saturday for the scheduled closure and re-open on Sunday.	
Minister: Democracy icon Suu Kyi may be released	 Indonesia's Foreign Minister says Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi may be released from house arrest following national elections next month. Marty Natalegawa said Thursday when he pressed his Myanmar counterpart Nyan Win about whether the Nobel laureate would be freed in November, Nyan Win did not dispute that Suu Kyi's detention period was due to expire Nov. 13. Natalegawa said: ""Our understanding is that the term of her sentence will be expiring in November. And that understanding was not disputed."" Democracy leader Suu Kyi has been imprisoned or under house arrest for 15 of the past 21 years. Southeast Asian leaders have repeatedly pushed Myanmar's government for her release. However, it has resisted those calls.
First joint U.S.-Russian drugs operation in Afghanistan yields good results / Sputnik International	 Russian and U.S. drug control services have carried out their first joint anti-narcotics operation in Afghanistan, destroying four major drug laboratories, the head of Russia's Federal Drug Control Service said on Friday. Viktor Ivanov, the head of Russia's Federal Anti-Narcotics Committee, said during a joint press conference with Deputy Head of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Russia Eric Rubin that the operation destroyed four drug labs in Afghanistan on the border with Pakistan. ""The operation began on October 28 at 6:30 a.m. and four drug laboratories were destroyed by 10:20 a.m.,"" Ivanov said, adding the joint operation was carried out by a total of 70 personnel. Ivanov had no information on casualties or the number of detained during the operation. The operation, which took three months of planning, destroyed three heroin labs, including one large drug hub near the village of Achin, and one morphine lab. Ivanov praised joint efforts by Russian and U.S. anti-drug services and said the effective work of a Russian-U.S. presidential commission in the sphere of drug trafficking was a good example of a ""reset"" in relations between the two countries. He said 932 kilograms (more than 2,000 pounds) of high quality heroin and 156 kilograms (344 pounds) of opium was seized, or 200 million doses with an estimated value of $250 million. Rubin also praised the results of the operation. ""This investigation is a very concrete example of real cooperation,"" he said. ""We cannot succeed alone. This was the first step and we will continue to destroy labs."" Rubin said that one of the main goals of U.S.-Russian operations in Afghanistan was to ""identify, disrupt, and destroy the drug trade."
" MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian and U.S. agents destroyed four drug labs and nearly one tonne of heroin in a joint raid in Afghanistan this week, anti-narcotics officials said on Friday. The Russian and U.S. officials hailed the unprecedented operation as a powerful result of efforts to improve strained relations between Washington and Moscow. Russian anti-drugs tsar Viktor Ivanov said Russian and U.S. agents, supported by helicopters and Afghan police, raided a network of heroin and morphine production labs in mountains near the Pakistani border early on Thursday. ""Four laboratories were found and destroyed -- three for heroin and one for morphine,"" Ivanov said. ""As a result, 932 kg (2,055 lb) of very highly concentrated heroin and 156 kg of opium was destroyed."" He added that the drugs could have a street value of about $250 million. Eric Rubin, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, said it was a ""very big"" seizure. ""We are talking about almost one metric tonne of heroin, which is a lot of heroin,"" Rubin told a joint news conference with Ivanov. ""Just in terms of disruption, this was a very important operation, but it was also part of a larger strategy to attack the drug flows."" Russia's role suggested the Kremlin wanted to respond to U.S. and NATO calls for more support against the Taliban, and to increase its own influence in Afghanistan, without sending troops to the site of a Soviet-era war that still haunts Moscow. Ivanov said the raid followed three months of preparation based on Russian intelligence about the location of the labs near the Pakistani border in the eastern province of Nangarhar."
" The deaths would bring the toll from an offensive by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on Daraya, a working class Sunni Muslim town on the southwestern edge of Damascus, to 270, according to a tally by opposition activists in the capital. Abu Kinan, an activist in Daraya, said most of the victims were found in houses and basements of buildings and had been shot by troops conducting house-to-house raids. Due to restrictions on non-state media, it was impossible to independently verify the accounts. ""In the last hour, 122 bodies were discovered and it appears that two dozen died from sniper fire and the rest were summarily executed by gunshots from close range,"" Kinan said. The Daraya Coordination Committee activists' group said in a statement that among those found with shots to the head were eight members of the al-Qassaa family: three children, their father and mother and three other relatives. Their bodies were found in a residential building near Mussab bin Umeir mosque in Daraya, the group said. Video released by activists showed numerous bodies of young men side-by-side at the Abu Suleiman al-Darani mosque in Daraya, many with what looked like gunshot wounds to the head and chest. ""A massacre,"" said the voice of the man who appeared to be taking the footage. ""You are seeing the revenge of Assad's forces from the people of Daraya: more than 150 bodies on the floor of this mosque."" Mohammad Hur, another activist in Daraya, said 36 bodies of young men were found in the morning in one building, along with several badly wounded people who could not be transferred to hospitals in the area because the army had occupied them."
" At least nine Mexican police officers have been shot and killed in an ambush on their convoy in western Jalisco state - the sixth multiple killing in Mexico in less than a week. Earlier, five women in Ciudad Juarez were killed when buses taking them home from work were ambushed by gunmen. In Mexico City, six youths were shot dead in what police say may have been a gang-related feud. Mexico is suffering a wave of violence, mostly linked to the drugs trade. The 20 officers in the convoy in Jalisco were on patrol when they were attacked by gunmen in at least 10 sport utility vehicles, said a police statement. Nine officers were killed, while a 10th is still missing. Separately, at least five people were injured in grenade attacks in a suburb of Guadalajara, the state capital of Jalisco. Two of those wounded were toddlers, reported the Associated Press news agency, and a third was a 17-year-old girl. The killings in Mexico City may have been drug-related, said Miguel Angel Mancera of the attorney-general's office, but there had also been disputes between local car-jacking gangs. The Tepito district, just north of Mexico City's historic centre, is a poor neighbourhood with a high crime rate."
" UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed alarm at the scale of inter-ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan. At least 117 people have been killed in three days of fighting between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in the city of Osh and surrounding areas, officials say. Tens of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks have been forced to flee the country. The exact cause of the latest clashes is unclear, but it comes two months after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in a violent uprising. Mr Bakiyev still has supporters in the south of the country and there have been concerns that his overthrow might exacerbate historical tensions between the ethnic groups. Mr Bakiyev has denied any involvement in the latest violence. Witnesses have spoken of Kyrgyz men shooting ethnic Uzbeks and setting property alight; a BBC correspondent in the city of Osh reported heavy gunfire. On Saturday, the interim government in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, gave security forces shoot-to-kill powers. It also urged Russia to send in troops to help quell the violence, but Moscow said it had no plans to intervene. However, Russia sent a battalion of paratroopers - at least 150 soldiers - to protect a Russian air base in the north of Kyrgyzstan. Mr Ban's envoy was travelling to Bishkek to assess the situation, his office said."
" Lanseria airport has re-opened after the wreckage of a plane which had to belly-land was removed from its runway on Sunday. ""Things are very rapidly returning back to normal"", said Johan Opperman, marketing and public relations manager for Lanseria airport. South African Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Kabelo Ledwaba said the investigation into the cause of the emergency landing would continue off-site. The Metroliner twin turboprop airplane was removed from the main runway after the belly-landing at around 11am. Nobody was hurt, said Opperman. ""The plane took off with 13 passengers and two crew on the way to Polokwane. After take-off they realised there were problems with the undercarriage. They decided to return to Lanseria."" Opperman said they obtained ""emergency technical advice"" on how best to do this. Thembisa Fakude, the executive director of Al-Jazeera for Southern Africa, said the majority of people on the plane were Al-Jazeera journalists. ""They are all fine."" He said some of the journalists who had alternative transportation went on to cover the Polokwane World Cup match between Algeria and Slovenia as originally intended. Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has commended the crew of the airplane and the emergency services at the airport for their role in ensuring the emergency landing was safe."
" Jerusalem (CNN) -- Palestinian residents of Israel threw stones and police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them Wednesday as right-wing Israeli activists marched in the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. Several hundred police officers were deployed in northern Israel ahead of the march, according to police. The activists, led by Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben Gvir, are marching to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the murder of the radical Rabbi Meir Kahane and to call for the outlaw of the Islamic Movement in Israel. Ben Gvir shouted into a megaphone, ""We demand to outlaw the Islamic Movement. Only in Israel can Raed Salah [leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement] come and say that Israel needs to be erased ... and nothing is done to stop it. We demand that those who are responsible outlaw the Islamic Movement. Our message is to treat the Islamic Movement with a tough hand."" Police had denied requests for the right-wing activists to hold the protest, citing security concerns. But an Israeli court overruled, saying the march could take place. ""This march is a provocative march,"" Hasan Sanallah of the Islamic Movement told CNN. ""This is a march for inciting violence. They are coming here to show that the Arab minorities in Israel are barbaric, and we want to prove them the other way."" Sanallah described the activists as ""trying to incite violence in Arab towns."" Kahane was an Israeli-American rabbi who founded the Jewish Defense League. He started a political party called Kach, which advocated the imposition of Jewish law in Israel and the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel. The Israeli government banned Kach in 1988 for inciting racism. Kahane was murdered in 1990 in New York by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-American terrorist convicted of involvement in the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993."
" The Central Bank of Russia is going to focus its energies next year on reducing the inflation rate to 9-12 percent. And in the next three years, the Bank's ambition will be to bring the rate below 8 percent, the bank's press service announced. In its policies, the Bank of Russia will stick to its floating exchange rate regime. In 2002, the rouble has risen by 2.6 percent against the dollar, but has dropped 4 percent against the euro. As for the consumer prices, they have this year been rising at a slower pace than the previous year. They rose 9 percent in the first six months of 2002, as compared with 12.7 percent in the same period of last year. As far as the country's economic outlook is concerned, the Bank of Russia has unveiled two possible scenarios for next year, depending on how the world economy develops. World economic growth in 2003 is predicted at 2 percent or, in the best-case scenario, at 3-3.5 percent. In the former case, Russia's gross domestic product will grow by 4.4 percent while in the latter, 3.5 percent. In either cases, Russia will be able to maintain a sustainable balance of payments, the Central Bank assured."
" Opposition candidate Peter Mutharika has been declared the winner of Malawi's disputed presidential election. The leader of the Democratic Progressive Party obtained 36.4% of the vote, the electoral commission announced. A protester died earlier after police dispersed an angry crowd demanding a recount of last week's ballot. Outgoing president Joyce Banda has alleged the vote was rigged. The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) had asked for a 30-day extension to declare the results so that a recount could be carried out. However, the High Court refused to delay the release of results and ordered the commission to make its announcement on Friday. ""The law is clear, there is no extension,"" judge Kenyatta Nyirenda said. Mr Mutharika is the brother of the late President Bingu wa Mutharika, and had served as his foreign minister. Former preacher Lazarus Chakwera came second with 27.8% of the vote. He represented the Malawi Congress Party, which governed from independence in 1964 until the first multi-party poll in 1994. Mrs Banda, who came to power after the death of Bingu wa Mutharika two years ago, was third with 20.2% of the vote."
" Pfc. Bradley Manning is escorted by military police as he departs the courtroom at Fort Meade, Md., April 25, 2012. AFP/Getty Images FORT MEADE, Md. A U.S. Army judge has accepted an offer by a private to plead guilty to violating military regulations in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history. Pfc. Bradley Manning admits to sending hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports, State Department diplomatic cables and other files to WikiLeaks while working as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad. An Army judge accepted the pleas to 10 charges at a hearing Thursday. Manning could face a maximum of 20 years on those charges alone. Prosecutors say they plan to move forward with an additional 12 charges against him, including aiding the enemy. That charge could carry a life sentence. Earlier, Manning offered to plead guilty Thursday, saying he spilled the secrets to expose the American military's ""bloodlust"" in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was the first time Manning directly admitted leaking the material to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks and detailed the frustrations that led him to do it. Sitting before a military judge, the slightly built 25-year-old soldier from Oklahoma read from a 35-page statement through his wire-rimmed glasses for more than an hour. He spoke quickly and evenly, showing little emotion even when he described how troubled he was by what he had seen. ""I believed that if the general public, especially the American public, had access to the information ... this could spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general,"" Manning said. Retired Lt. Col. Jeffrey Addicott, a former Army lawyer, told CBS Radio News that the defense's move was ""pretty gutsy."""
" The US soldier accused of leaking large numbers of secret documents to Wikileaks has pleaded guilty to 10 of the 22 charges against him. But Pfc Bradley Manning, 25, denied the most serious charge against him, aiding the enemy, and may still be prosecuted. A military judge later accepted the guilty pleas, with which he could face up to 20 years in prison. On Thursday, Pfc Manning told a court he divulged the documents to spark public debate about US actions. At the military court in Fort Meade, Maryland, Judge Col Denise Lind accepted Pfc Manning's guilty pleas, but prosecutors can still pursue a trial on the remaining 12 charges, including aiding the enemy. Continue reading the main story Bradley Manning does not deny providing Wikileaks with around half a million classified documents, but he does dispute the charge that he did this to aid America's enemies. For the first time, the young private had an opportunity to explain to the court why he did what he did. Despite the objections of the prosecution, he was allowed to read from a 35-page statement in which he said the classified documents represented what he called ""the underground realities"" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The soldier's supporters continue to regard him as a heroic whistleblower, subjected to cruel and humiliating punishment by a vindictive military. The Army may still want to prove him a traitor. Pfc Manning read out a statement to the court on Thursday saying he believed the leaked material would stimulate public discussion. ""I believed that if the general public, especially the American public, had access to the information... this could spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general,"" Pfc Manning told the court. He said he would plead guilty to sending the documents to Wikileaks in violation of military regulations but would not plead guilty to a violation of federal espionage laws. ""I thought these cables were a prime example of the need for a more open diplomacy,"" said Pfc Manning, who addressed the court in uniform."
" Army Private First Class Bradley Manning is escorted in handcuffs as he leaves the courthouse in Fort Meade, Maryland June 6, 2012. Private First Class Bradley Manning, 25, entered the pleas prior to his court martial, which is set to begin on June 3, in a case that centers on the biggest leak of government secrets in U.S. history. Military judge Colonel Denise Lind accepted the guilty pleas late in the afternoon. Manning pleaded guilty to a series of 10 lesser charges that he misused classified information and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for those offenses. ""I believe that if the general public ... had access to the information ... this could spark a domestic debate as to the role of the military and foreign policy in general,"" Manning, dressed in full military uniform, testified calmly. Reading from a 35-page statement as he remained seated next to his lawyers, the short, slight private described his feelings after he submitted the secret information to WikiLeaks. ""I felt I accomplished something that would allow me to have a clear conscience,"" said Manning, who spoke under oath for more than an hour. ""This was the type of information... should become public,"" he said. At the hearing, through his attorney Manning pleaded not guilty to the most serious charge, of aiding the enemy. Manning, who has been jailed at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia for more than 1,000 days, could face life imprisonment if convicted of that charge at his June trial. Under a ruling last month by Lind, Manning would have any sentence reduced by 112 days to compensate for the markedly harsh treatment he received during his confinement. While at Quantico, Manning was placed in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day with guards checking on him every few minutes."
" So the question is not whether Afghanistan has riches but whether the Obama administration can help one of the world's poorest countries develop its riches -- and maybe help its own cause in the war against the Taliban in the process, since economic development is a key to success in counter insurgency warfare. So far, all that has happened is that the Pentagon has assigned advisers to the Afghan Ministry of Mines to put them in contact with international companies interested in extracting the minerals. You can expect the Taliban to come along shortly with a propaganda campaign that the United States wants to rob Afghanistan of its wealth. This is a decades long undertaking. Even without the war, Afghanistan has little or no infrastructure to support the heavy industrial requirements of mining. If it took nearly 30 years to get from the initial Soviet surveys to the present, it could easily take another 30 years to exploit Afghanistan's minerals."
" MENTAWAI ISLANDS, Indonesia -- The death toll from a tsunami and a volcano rose to more than 340 Thursday as more victims of Indonesia's double disasters were found and an official said a warning system installed after a deadly ocean wave in 2004 had broken from a lack of maintenance. Hundreds were still missing after Monday's 10-foot wave spawned by a massive quake struck the remote Mentawi islands off western Sumatra, where rescue officials -- kept away for days because of stormy seas and bad weather -- started arriving at the scene to chart the scope of the devastation. Some wore face masks as they wrapped swollen corpses littering roads and beaches in black body bags. Huge swaths of land were underwater and houses lay crumpled with tires and slabs of concrete piled up on the surrounding sand. At least 311 people died as the tsunami washed away hundreds of wooden and bamboo homes in 20 villages, displacing more than 20,000 people, said Ade Edward, a government disaster official. About 800 miles to the east in central Java, the Mount Merapi volcano was mostly quiet but still a threat after Tuesday's eruption that sent searing ash clouds into the air, killing at least 33 people and injuring 17, said Agustinus, a doctor at the local health department who like many Indonesians goes by one name. A mass burial was planned for later Thursday. Among the dead was a revered elder who had refused to leave his ceremonial post as caretaker of the mountain's spirits. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rushed home from a state visit to Vietnam to deal with the catastrophes, which struck within 24 hours along different points of the Pacific ""Ring of Fire,"" a series of fault lines prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity. The first cargo plane loaded with tents, medicine, food and clothes landed Wednesday in the tsunami-hit area, Edward said. Vice President Boediono toured devastated villages on hardest hit Pagai Utara island and met with survivors and local officials, his office said. At one point, he paused solemnly in front of several corpses in body bags. The charity SurfAid International is getting ""grim news"" from village contacts, said Andrew Judge, head of the group founded by surfers who have been helping deliver aid. He said he is hearing of ""more death, large numbers of deaths in some villages."""
" JAKARTA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Fatalities caused by the eruption of Mount Merapi in Indonesia's Yogyakarta province rose to 28 people who were stung by hot ash, detikcom online news reported on Wednesday. Data from the Sarjito Hospital in the province showed that four new victims are 70-90 percent burnt. Mount Merapi last erupted in 2006, when sending an avalanche of blistering gases and rock fragments racing down its slopes, killing two people. A similar eruption in 1994 killed 60, while 1,300 people died in an eruption in 1930. Volcano eruption of Mount Merapi started on Tuesday afternoon in Central Java, Indonesia, and over 15,000 people fled their homes. Heru Krisno, head of the Sardjito Hospital, said at a press conference that there are 14 people being treated due to burn. ""They are in a critical condition as 80 percent of their bodies were burned (by hot ash),"" he said. Mount Merapi, 2,968 meters high, erupted three times. The first eruption was at 17:02 p.m. Jakarta time (1002 GMT) on Tuesday."
" US Marine - whose murder conviction has been overturned - has been freed after serving four years in jail San Diego: A US Marine whose murder conviction was recently overturned was released on Monday after serving four years in prison for a major Iraqi war crimes case, his lawyer said. The overturning of the conviction and the Marine's subsequent release is a major blow to the government's efforts to prosecute Iraqi war crimes. Prosecutors say Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III led a squad of seven troops who killed a 52-year-old man in the Iraqi village of Hamdania in 2006, and then planted a shovel and AK-47 to make it appear that he was an insurgent. A military court in Washington in April ruled Hutchins was not given a fair trial because his lead defense lawyer left the case shortly before his 2007 trial. The Navy is appealing and has sent the case to the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which can either affirm or overturn the Washington court's ruling. Hutchins says he was not with his squad at the time. An emotional Hutchins vowed to be the best Marine he could be while he waits for the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces to review his case, defense lawyer Babu Kaza told The Associated Press on Monday after leaving the closed hearing at Camp Pendleton. ""He's packing his things right now,"" Kaza said. ""He told me there are no words to describe what he is feeling after four years. ""He's looking forward to calling his family not from jail for the first time in a long time."""
" (CNN) -- Fifteen people were killed Wednesday at a carwash in the western Mexican state of Nayarit, the state attorney general's office told CNNMexico.com. The attack happened at a business called the Gamboa carwash in the capital, Tepic, and is presumed to be the work of a drug cartel, the state-run Notimex news agency reported, citing local police. A man had been killed the night before in the same area, police said. Initial reports by investigators said witnesses heard the gunfire Wednesday morning, only two blocks away from the offices of the federal police, Notimex reported. The federal police responded to the scene to find 15 people dead, including clients and employees of the carwash, the news agency said. The mass slaying resulted in the closure of nearby businesses and schools."
" Thousands of women and children have fled Osh for the border with Uzbekistan to escape gangs armed with assault rifles, machetes and iron bars. Those that remain blockaded the entrances to their neighborhoods with trucks. ""We are standing at the barricade waiting for them to attack again,"" said Bakhram Magrafimov, 45, a taxi driver in the mainly Uzbek area of Pyanny Bazar. Residents complained their hunting rifles were no match for the automatic weapons of their enemies. ""They said: 'Go back to Uzbekistan.' They are attacking our women and children,"" said Magrafimov. But residents said armed troops had refused to escort Uzbeks to the border, only 10 km (6 miles) away in a region where the borders drawn by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin intertwine the two countries in the volatile Fergana valley. Kholbek, an ethnic Uzbek who gave only his first name, said residents were afraid to leave: ""There are snipers out there."" Kyrgyzstan's worst ethnic clashes in two decades have spread across the south of the impoverished Central Asian state, which hosts U.S. and Russian military bases. At least 97 people have been killed and more than 1,200 wounded in three days of violence. The interim government of Kyrgyzstan, which assumed power in April after a popular revolt toppled the president, has ordered a shoot-to-kill policy for its troops in the south. But Roza Otunbayeva's government has only limited control in the south, which is separated by mountains from the capital Bishkek, about 300 km (190 miles) away. Otunbayeva has accused the ousted president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, of stoking ethnic violence in his southern stronghold. Bakiyev, exiled in Belarus, has denied this."
" At least 30 people have died in clashes in Bangladesh sparked by a death sentence handed to a senior Islamist leader for war crimes. A tribunal sentenced Delwar Hossain Sayeedi to death for crimes including murder, torture and rape during the country's 1971 war of independence. The verdict was cheered by his opponents but supporters of his Jamaat-e-Islami party clashed with police. Jamaat say that the tribunal is biased against the party. Sayeedi is the third person to be convicted by the tribunal so far, and the most senior. As well as those killed, hundreds were injured in clashes between police and Jamaat supporters across the country. In the northern Gaibandha district, three police officers were beaten to death when about 2,000 Jamaat supporters went on the rampage in protest at the verdict and attacked a police station. Police reported that a Hindu temple and houses belonging to Hindu families had been attacked in Noakhali. Violence was reported in several other locations across the country. Thousands of police were deployed in the capital Dhaka to maintain security there."
" France's National Assembly has voted to raise the pension age by two years after weeks of industrial action across the country. The bill still faces a legal challenge before President Nicolas Sarkozy can sign it off next month. While the protest movement has lost steam, a new day of action has been declared for Thursday. Aviation officials predict half of flights at Paris Orly airport will be cancelled and 30% at other airports. Union leaders say they will also pursue the protest in other ways. Mr Sarkozy is hoping that Wednesday's vote will extinguish any further appetite for confrontation, the BBC's Christian Fraser reports from Paris. It is expected that he will be in a position to sign off the bill, which raises the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, by the middle of November. Opinion polls suggest that Mr Sarkozy's approval ratings have plummeted to record lows of below 30%, 18 months before the next presidential election. An Ifop poll taken last week also suggested that 59% of French people opposed the blockade of refineries, road junctions and companies by strikers. The National Assembly, France's lower house, voted through the bill on Wednesday afternoon by 336 votes for to 233 against."
" SYDNEY May 29 (Reuters) - Australian search officials said on Thursday they had finished searching an area near where four acoustic signals thought to be related to a missing Malaysian jetliner had been picked up, and had now discounted it as the final resting place of the plane. Authorities narrowed the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet last month after picking up a series of pings near the site where analysis of satellite data put the last location of the plane some 1,600 km (1,000 miles) off Australia's northwest. ""The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has advised that the search in the vicinity of the acoustic detections can now be considered complete and in its professional judgement, the area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370,"" the agency in charge of the search said in a statement. Plans to continue searching in an expanded area with a specialist commercial operator were unchanged, it added. (Reporting by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)"
" WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. federal government remains on track to report a record-high deficit this year, according to Treasury Department report released Wednesday. The government reported a deficit of $84.0 billion in January. This compares with a surplus of $17.84 billion in the same month one year ago. Lower corporate taxes are dragging receipts lower, while spending has jumped given the financial rescue plan. Experts are forecasting a deficit above $1.6 trillion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The government has spent $286 billion on the bank rescue package, called the troubled asset relief program, or TARP."
" Heavy fighting is taking place in and around the rebel-held city of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian and Russian media report. Ukrainian troops shelled the city in the morning, Russia's Itar-Tass said, with warplanes flying overhead. One member of the security services was reported by local media to have been killed and 13 injured when separatists attacked posts near Sloviansk. The interior ministry said separatist roadblocks had been destroyed. For weeks, eastern Ukraine has been the scene of deadly clashes between government troops and pro-Russian insurgents who have taken over key buildings across the region. On Tuesday, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov urged residents of Sloviansk and also nearby Kramatorsk and Krasnyi Lyman to stay indoors while the ""the active phase"" against pro-Russian militants was in progress. He said on his Facebook page that separatist checkpoints near Semenivka had been destroyed. Separatists in the area claimed to have destroyed a Ukrainian warplane, a helicopter and several tanks - but these claims could not be independently confirmed. Itar-Tass said there had also been fierce clashes throughout Monday night in Kramatorsk, about 10km (6 miles) from Sloviansk. It said explosions and artillery fire were heard at the local airfield and three separatists were killed elsewhere in the area."
" TOKYO Feb 10 (Reuters) - Russia will request negotiations with European and other foreign banks to postpone repayment on up to $400 billion of its private sector debt, Japan's Nikkei business daily said on Tuesday. The newspaper quoted a Russian banking industry official as saying up to $400 billion in debt was at stake. A proposal for postponing repayment had been submitted to the government and some foreign banks have already agreed to start negotiations, the Nikkei said. (Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Rodney Joyce)"
" Separatist rebels have taken two Ukrainian military bases in the eastern region of Luhansk as fighting continues near the rebel-held town of Sloviansk. Separatists seized a border guard base after days of fierce combat, and a National Guard base after an attack which began on Tuesday. An apparent air attack in Luhansk city on Monday killed a number of civilians. Meanwhile, in the neighbouring Donetsk region, troops are closing in on the rebel stronghold of Sloviansk. Pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Ukraine's industrial heartland, declared independence after holding referendums last month which were declared illegal by the government in Kiev. The rebellion began amid the turmoil which followed the downfall in February of the elected Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, whose pro-Moscow policies sparked mass street protests in Kiev during the winter. Reports of casualties in the fighting in Luhansk could not be verified independently. Ukraine's border service announced on its website that the personnel in the base of the Luhansk border detachment had been ""redeployed to safer places"" as a result of sustained attacks by large rebel forces. The National Guard base came under sustained fire from mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, machine-guns and assault rifles on Tuesday after the soldiers rejected an ultimatum from a large rebel force to surrender, according to a report on the National Guard's website. Three soldiers were wounded and all of the base's vehicles and its headquarters building were destroyed in the fighting, the statement said. The garrison, it added, had now been ""redeployed to a different, safe place""."
" Thailand's anti-government protesters have accepted the government's roadmap to reconciliation but they have not yet announced when they will end their protest. The Red Shirts have given qualified agreement to the prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's plan but they want to see more detail before they pack up and go home. Specifically, they want to know when the parliament will be dissolved ahead of an election in mid-November. And while Red Shirt leaders say they unanimously agree with the plan to avoid further loss of life, they are not yet ready to end their two-month sit-in in central Bangkok. In essence, they say they will not move until the parliament is dissolved. Mr Abhisit has not announced when that will happen in his roadmap. Tens of thousands of Red Shirts listened to the announcement that the plan will be accepted, minus the inherent request to move."
" Pakistani intelligence gives funding, training and sanctuary to the Afghan Taliban on a scale much larger than previously thought, a report says. Taliban field commanders interviewed for the report suggested that ISI intelligence agents even attend Taliban supreme council meetings. Support for the Afghan Taliban was ""official ISI policy"", the London School of Economics (LSE) authors suggest. A spokesman said the allegations were ""rubbish"" and part of a malicious campaign against the country's military and security agencies. The LSE report comes at the end of one of the deadliest weeks for Nato troops in Afghanistan, with more than 30 soldiers killed. Links between the Taliban and Pakistan's intelligence service have long been suspected, but the report's author - Harvard analyst Matt Waldman - says there is real evidence of extensive co-operation between the two. ""This goes far beyond just limited, or occasional support,"" he said. ""This is very significant levels of support being provided by the ISI. ""We're also saying this is official policy of that agency, and we're saying that it is very extensive. It is both at an operational level, and at a strategic level, right at the senior leadership of the Taliban movement."" Mr Waldman spoke to nine Taliban field commanders in Afghanistan earlier this year. Some alleged that ISI agents had even attended meetings of the Taliban's top leadership council, the so-called Quetta shura. They claim that by backing the insurgents Pakistan's security service is trying to undermine Indian influence in Afghanistan."
" Police in Nigeria's capital have banned all protests planned in support of the more than 200 girls kidnapped in April. Commissioner Joseph Mbu said the proliferation of such protests ""is now posing a serious security threat"" to those living around, and driving through, demonstration sites in the capital city of Abuja. ""I cannot fold my hands and watch this lawlessness,"" he said in a statement Monday. ""Information reaching us is that too soon dangerous elements will join the groups under the guise of protest and detonate explosive(s) aimed at embarrassing the government. Accordingly protests on the Chibok Girls is hereby banned with immediate effect,"" the commissioner continued. More than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped in northern Nigeria in April by Boko Haram, in an act that drew international condemnation. The terror group abducted an estimated 276 girls on April 14 from a boarding school in Chibok. Dozens escaped, but more than 200 girls are still missing. Nigerians and others have accused their government of not acting swiftly or efficiently enough to protect the girls seized in the dead of night. Boko Haram translates as ""Western education is a sin"" in the Hausa language. The militant group says its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south. READ: CNN exclusive: Nigerian girl who escaped Boko Haram says she still feels afraid"
" New York (CNN) -- Charges filed Tuesday against Times Square car bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad paint him as a would-be terrorist who sought explosives training in Pakistan's volatile Waziristan region, where government forces have been working to root out Taliban militants. The court documents show Shahzad apparently continued to have contact with Pakistan upon his return to the United States, receiving a series of 12 phone calls originating from his country of birth in the days leading up to the incident -- five of which were made on the same day he bought the Nissan Pathfinder used in the attempted attack Saturday night. Those phone calls ceased just three days before the failed bombing, the documents show. ""It is clear that this was a terrorist plot,"" Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday. It could have caused ""death and destruction in the heart of New York City."" Five federal charges were filed against Shahzad on Tuesday in U.S. District Court: attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, use of a destructive device in connection with criminal violence, transporting and receiving explosives, and damaging and destroying property by means of fire. If convicted, Shahzad faces up to life in prison on the charges. Shahzad has waived his right to remain silent and his right to an attorney, and is cooperating in the investigation, a source familiar with the probe said. Shahzad, 30, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan who was living in Connecticut, was arrested at New York's John F. Kennedy airport late Monday after boarding a flight bound for Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He was due in federal court later Tuesday, but that appearance was delayed until at least Thursday as he continued to be questioned by authorities. ""This incident is another sobering reminder of the times in which we live,"" President Obama said Tuesday. ""Around the world and here at home, there are those who would attack our citizens and who would slaughter innocent men, women and children in pursuit of their murderous agenda. They will stop at nothing to kill and disrupt our way of life."""
" BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor: The police and federal investigators say they have their man, the man who parked an SUV in Times Square here in New York on Saturday night and tried to blow it up . Their chase led them to a departing jumbo jet at Kennedy airport , where he was taken off the plane . His name is Faisal Shahzad . He's 30 years old, lived in Connecticut , a naturalized American citizen . Officials say he was trained in Pakistan . As you're about to hear, his arrest came just over 53 hours after the Nissan SUV was found with smoke coming out of it. While his bomb-making skills have been described as wildly incompetent, in the would-be terrorism business, it is the thought that counts, and the motivation, and desire. Our team is on this story tonight, led by justice correspondent Pete Williams in Times Square . Pete , good evening . PETE WILLIAMS reporting: Brian , good evening . Officials say since Shahzad was arrested, he's been cooperative, admitting that he drove an SUV here Saturday night loaded with bomb components. And though he now faces serious charges, there was a moment last night when he must've thought he was going to get away with it. About 11:00 last night , on the tarmac at New York's Kennedy airport , Faisal Shahzad , trying to flee the US, must have felt an enormous sense of relief. The overseas flight he had just boarded, an Emirates Airlines plane to Dubai and then Pakistan , had just closed the door. But he didn't relax for long. The door suddenly opened again, and he was hauled off by customs and border protection agents after he was added only hours before to the no-fly list. Continuing the drama, the plane pulled back from the gate, but then an abrupt command from ground control . Unidentified Controller: Emirates 202, have the Kennedy tower runway 22 right position. Actually, I have a message for you to go back to the gate immediately, so make the left turn when able. P. WILLIAMS: And two others were taken off and questioned about their possible association with him. It all began at 6:30 Saturday night in Times Square and ended just before midnight Monday. Mr. RAY KELLY (New York Police Commissioner): It was 53 hours and 20 minutes . Now, we know that Jack Bauer can do it in 24 minutes , but in the real world , 53 is a -- is a pretty good number. P. WILLIAMS: The breakthrough evidence turned out to be the vehicle identification number . That led to the registered owner in this house in Connecticut , who sold the SUV last month for cash through Internet ads. The FBI traced phone calls to the seller from the buyer, who turned out to be Faisal Shahzad . Other evidence tied him to the attempted bombing, officials say. In the SUV were keys to his house and another car he owned. A prepaid cell phone he bought was used to arrange the purchase of the car and to call a Pennsylvania fireworks dealer. More than 150 M-88 firecrackers were a component of the bomb designed in the SUV . So was a fertilizer. Officials say a search of his house turned up more fireworks of the type used to make the bomb and bags of the same kind of fertilizer. Mr. ERIC HOLDER (Attorney General): We believe that this suspected terrorist fashioned a bomb from rudimentary ingredients, placed it in a rusty SUV , and drove it into Times Square with the intent to kill as many innocent tourists and theater-goers as possible. P. WILLIAMS: In custody, officials say Shahzad was cooperative, talking immediately and continuing to do so after he was read his rights, admitting his role in the bombing and claiming he acted alone. So far officials say there's nothing to suggest anyone else was directly involved, either here or overseas. No word, they say, on why he wanted to bomb Times Square . But prosecutors say Shahzad admitted during questioning that he received bomb-making training during a recent five-month stay in Pakistan , in an area where the Taliban is dominant. Despite that training, officials said today, the bomb he assembled was badly designed. Mr. JOHN PISTOLE (FBI): It does not appear, from our opinion, to be the most sophisticated device. There are a number of opportunities for the device to fail. P. WILLIAMS: Shahzad was formally charged today with the attempted bombing, but investigators still want to know who trained him in Pakistan and who from there called him four times on April 24th , just before he bought the SUV ."
" Negotiators in the House of Representatives and Senate overcame an apparent last-minute snag on funding to help states plug growing budget deficits and money for school construction that Obama had sought. The huge package is aimed at reversing a deep recession and news of the agreement sent U.S. stock markets higher. The negotiators approved the compromise, setting up votes in the House on Thursday and likely soon after in the Senate. Obama, whose early hopes for strong bipartisan support for the strategy were crushed by reluctant Republicans, said the deal would help save or create millions of jobs and ""get our economy back on track."" The compromise stimulus package is ""a plan that will provide immediate tax relief to families and businesses, while investing in priorities like health care, education, energy, and infrastructure that will grow our economy once more,"" he said in a statement. Without a stimulus bill, Obama has said the country faces a possible economic ""catastrophe."" With some 3.6 million jobs shed since the recession began in December 2007, heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc would be able to to rehire some of its 20,000 laid-off workers if the stimulus package passed, Obama said. About 36 percent of the package is geared toward tax cuts, with the rest in spending, according to a Senate aide. The huge emergency spending will add to a federal budget deficit already spinning out of control. The Treasury Department said on Wednesday a $569 billion deficit was recorded just for the first four months of the fiscal year that began last October 1, a record for that period. Democrats control both chambers in Congress and fellow Democrat Obama has pushed them for a quick conclusion to the legislation in hopes it would begin to create and save up to 4 million jobs. His stimulus plan has won little support from Republicans who argued it was merely expanding big government spending, underlining the scale of his task after he won election in November pledging to reach across party lines from the White House."
" Hundreds of separatists in eastern Ukraine are continuing their assault on a border command centre near the city of Luhansk, the border agency says. It says five militants were killed and eight wounded when the centre came under sustained attack. Seven border guards are said to have been wounded. A Ukrainian military aircraft was called in to support the centre. In Luhansk, there was an explosion in the main regional building seized by the separatists several weeks ago. It was not immediately known what caused the blast. Unconfirmed reports say there were casualties. Pro-Russian groups accused Ukraine's military of carrying out an air strike. Kiev denied the claim, suggesting that separatists in the building could have mishandled a portable anti-aircraft missile system. In Moscow, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement: ""The Kiev authorities committed another crime against their own people."" A spokesman for Ukraine's border agency, Oleh Slobodyan, said the militants had attacked the border centre with heavy weapons early in the morning. As many as 500 pro-Russian gunmen are believed to be involved in the assault."
" North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (2nd R) visits the Hungnam fertilizer complex at the undisclosed place in North Korea, in this undated picture released by North Korea's official news agency KCNA February 7, 2009. In another move that could stoke tensions, U.S. and South Korean news reports said the North has made further preparations to test its longest-range Taepodong-2 missile, with a launch possible in about a month. North Korea usually orders its vessels to stay out of Yellow Sea waters off its west coast when it conducts short-range missile tests. China is the closest thing the North can claim as a major ally and is the impoverished state's biggest benefactor. ""The (Chinese) fishing boats have disappeared, but no other unusual moves have yet been detected,"" said an official with South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff who asked not to be named. During its last test launch of short-range missiles in that area in October 2008, the North issued a no-sail order to its ships a few days before firing off missiles, South Korean government officials have said. North Korean short-range missiles have a range of about 100-150 km (60-95 miles), which means they can hit all of the Seoul area and many U.S. military bases in South Korea. Experts say the North may have hundreds of short-range missiles, and that the missiles have a proven capability due to recent successful tests. CNN reported on its website (edition.cnn.com/) that North Korea also appeared to have positioned telemetry equipment at an east coast missile base it used when it last launched its Taepodong-2 missile in 2006. The missile, which has never successfully flown but is designed to hit U.S. territory, fizzled seconds after it was fired in that test. There was no evidence of a Taepodong-2 being moved to a launch pad, the U.S. official was quoted as saying."
" United Nations (CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced off with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations on Monday, accusing Tehran of ""flouting the rules"" of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and calling for ""a strong international response."" Iran ""will do whatever it can to divert attention from its own record and to attempt to evade accountability,"" Clinton said at the opening of a monthlong conference on nuclear nonproliferation. Clinton called Ahmadinejad's comments at the conference earlier in the day, ""the same tired faults and sometimes wild accusations"" against the United States and other countries. The Islamic republic has continuously defied the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency and its Security Council, Clinton said, adding that Iran was the ""only country in this hall that has been found by the IAEA board of governors to be currently in noncompliance with its nuclear safeguards obligations."" Iran's actions have ""placed the future of the nonproliferation regime in jeopardy,"" Clinton said. She called on Ahmadinejad and his regime ""to join with all the other delegations represented at this meeting to go ahead and fulfill our international obligations and work toward the goal of a safer world."" Her comments came as the United States was leading an effort in the U.N. Security Council to impose tough new sanctions against Iran over suspicions their uranium enrichment is designed to produce nuclear weapons. ""I hope that we can reach agreement in the Security Council on tough new sanctions,"" Clinton told reporters after her speech, ""because I believe that is the only way to catch Iran's attention."" Earlier Monday, Ahmadinejad -- the only head of state taking part in the conference -- criticized the United States and its allies for not providing ""even a single credible proof"" to substantiate their allegations about Iran's nuclear program. The majority of his 35-minute address was devoted to criticizing the massive U.S. nuclear arsenal and suggested the U.S. nuclear posture threatened other countries and justified their pursuit of nuclear weapons to protect themselves. He called the provision in the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review retaining an option to use nuclear weapons against countries a noncompliance of the very treaty it accuses Iran of violating."
" The deposed Iraqi leader will get the justice he denied to millions, Mr Bush told a news conference in Washington. Mr Bush said it was for Iraqis to decide whether Saddam Hussein should face the death penalty. The ex-leader has reportedly given no direct intelligence to interrogators since being captured at the weekend. But US military officials say two key figures have been arrested on the basis of information ""gleaned"" from Saddam Hussein's capture. ""The Iraqis need to be involved,"" Mr Bush said when asked what will now happen to Saddam Hussein. ""There needs to be a public trial and I'm confident it will be done in a fair way."" ""This is a brutal dictator...But my personal views are not important in this matter...It's going to be up to the Iraqis to make those decisions."" He also said the work of US-led forces in Iraq remained difficult and would require further sacrifice, but Iraq was on the path to freedom. These words echoed those of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who warned that what he called ""terrorists and Saddam's sympathisers"" would continue their operations despite Saddam Hussein's capture. Underlining US and UK warnings, two car bombs exploded in Baghdad on Monday, killing at least eight people."
" The front-runner in Afghan's presidential election, Abdullah Abdullah, has survived a suicide bomb attack targeted at his convoy in Kabul. Police told the BBC that six people were killed - including one of Mr Abdullah's body guards - and at least 22 injured when two blasts hit a rally. He appeared live on television to reassure his supporters that he was unharmed in the attack. The run-off round of the presidential election takes place next week. No group has said it carried out the attack but the Taliban have repeatedly threatened to target the poll campaign. The first blast was detonated by a suicide bomber in a car, a Kabul police spokesman told the BBC's Bilal Sarwary. The spokesman said the second explosion was probably caused by what he described as a ""sticky bomb"" but our correspondent says details about it are still unclear. The dead and injured include policemen and civilians. Correspondents say that this appears to be the first attack on a presidential candidate since the campaign began. Both the two presidential candidates are holding several rallies daily in Kabul and across Afghanistan."
" Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko have called for a quick end to the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine, Russian officials have said. The two leaders were meeting for the first time since Mr Poroshenko's election, at a D-Day event in France. Immediate ceasefire was vital to create conditions for talks, Mr Putin said. Separately US President Barack Obama spoke to Mr Putin of the need to de-escalate the situation. The Ukrainian authorities have announced an ""active phase"" of what they call an anti-terrorist operation in and around Sloviansk, which was seized by pro-Russian militants several weeks ago. The BBC's Steve Rosenberg, who was near the town on Thursday, says it was clear Ukrainian forces had encircled it and moved in a lot of weaponry. Separately, Ukrainian media reported that one member of the security forces had been killed and several wounded in a mortar attack outside the city. The three leaders are said to have chatted for about 15 minutes, in between a photo for world leaders and a meal organised by French President Francois Hollande. ""During the brief conversation, both Putin and Poroshenko called for a quick end to the bloodshed in south-eastern Ukraine, and also to military activity by both sides"", said Kremlin aide Dmitry Peskov. ""It was also confirmed that there is no alternative to settling the situation by peaceful political means."""
" Doctors believe they have found the first evidence that a new deadly virus has been transmitted from a camel to people. The animals have been suspected as the source of Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers). A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found ""identical"" Mers viruses in camels and their owner. The 44-year-old man, from Saudi Arabia, died of the infection. There have been 681 cases of Mers, leading to 204 deaths, since the virus was first detected in June 2012. The precise source of the infection has been unclear. The man, who was treated at King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah, kept nine camels that had been sick shortly before he was infected. Medical notes show he had treated his camels with nose drops. An analysis of viral samples taken from both the camels and the patient showed that ""the full genome sequence from the two isolates was identical"", the report said. It added: ""These data suggest that this fatal case of human Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection was transmitted through close contact with an infected camel."""
" Hindus celebrate the start of the harvest season in India. SEOUL (Reuters) - Somali pirates have released an oil tanker and its crew of 23 sailors from South Korea and the Philippines after holding them hostage for three months, South Korea's foreign ministry said on Saturday. The Chemstar Venus, a Japanese-operated combined chemical and oil tanker, was hijacked off the coast of Somalia in mid-November. It had a crew of 18 Filipinos and five South Koreans. ""The sailors are all safe and the South Korean crew will return home,"" the ministry said in a statement. There was no mention of whether a ransom was paid for the release of the sailors and the 20,000 deadweight tonne vessel. Last year, gunmen from the anarchic Horn of Africa nation hijacked dozens of ships and won tens of millions of dollars in ransom payments. The South Korean government would send a navy vessel soon to the Gulf of Aden to protect the country's commercial vessels from pirates, the statement added. Other nations have sent naval ships to the region to combat the threat of pirates."
" The United States has concluded that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime has used chemical weapons in the fight against its own people, the White House announced today. ""Following a deliberative review, our intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year,"" Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said in a written statement. ""The use of chemical weapons violates international norms and crosses clear red lines that have existed within the international community for decades."" While traces of chemical weapons in Syria were detected by the U.S. intelligence community months ago, President Obama and his administration had delayed making a determination on who had used the deadly agents. Faces of the Syrian Rebel Force: See the Photos The president has said repeatedly that the use of chemical weapons would cross a ""red line"" and be a ""game-changer"" that would prompt greater American involvement in the crisis. ""The president has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has,"" Rhodes said. The intelligence community estimates that 100 to 150 people have died from chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date. Rhodes told reporters on a conference call late this afternoon that the administration has prepared for many contingencies in Syria but that ""we are going to make decisions on further actions on our own timeline."" ""We have not made any decision to pursue a military operation such as a no-fly zone,"" he added. Rhodes said the U.S. will increase ""direct support"" to Syrian rebels in an effort to make them more effective, but he stopped short of saying whether the White House was planning to arm them."
" Escalating ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan has prompted tens of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks to flee the country. A third day of fighting in the south of the country has claimed nearly 100 lives, officials say. Witnesses speak of Kyrgyz men shooting ethnic Uzbeks and setting property alight; a BBC correspondent in the city of Osh has heard heavy gunfire. Kyrgyzstan's interim government has urged Russia to send in troops to help quell the violence, but Moscow says it has no plans to intervene. A battalion of paratroops would be sent to protect Russian facilities in the country, Interfax news agency reported, quoting a security source. Both Russia and the United States have military bases in the north of the country. Continue reading the main story We tried to get to the centre of Osh but had to retreat because of heavy shooting. We drove through several Uzbek neighbourhoods and the situation there is extremely tense. We saw groups of ethnic Uzbek men who didn't have guns from what we saw - just sticks and knives. They said that they hadn't slept for three days. They didn't have any food. I saw smoke on the skyline as more properties were set on fire. At the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border there are hundreds of women and children trying to make their way to safety. There is no international presence here and people are desperate for help. Kyrgyzstan's interim government extended a state of emergency to cover the entire southern Jalalabad region, as ethnic clashes spread there from neighbouring Osh. One resident in Jalalabad said fighting was going on throughout the city. ""At the current moment, there are shoot-outs going on in the streets,"" he told the AFP news agency by telephone."
" Ayman Sabawi Ibrahim was arrested at the beginning of May during a raid north of Tikrit, the government said. He and his brothers have been active in the anti-US insurgency by ""providing financial support, weapons and explosives,"" it said in a statement. Mr Tikriti is the half-brother of Saddam Hussein on his mother's side. Formerly the head of the intelligence service, he was number 36 on a US list of the 55 most-wanted members of the ousted regime. Another of his sons was seized on 10 April."
" The bomber posed as a volunteer to get into the compound and mingled with young men seeking jobs before setting off explosives, Kurdish officials said. It was the bloodiest single attack in the region since the war, and follows an escalation in violence across Iraq. It came less than 24 hours after a new but incomplete government was sworn in. Members of Iraq's police force and police volunteers are frequently targeted by insurgents, who view them as collaborators with US-led forces. Last year, at least 101 people were killed in twin suicide bombings in Irbil, about 350km (217 miles) north of Baghdad. A message on an Islamist website purportedly from the militant group Ansar al-Sunna, which is believed to have links to al-Qaeda, said that the group had carried out the Irbil attack. The blast happened at a local office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) which also housed an interior ministry compound for northern Iraq's regional government. Television pictures showed pools of blood on the street as police tried to keep bystanders at bay. There were scenes of chaos as ambulances and taxis ferried victims to local hospitals. One witness said piles of bodies were taken away in pick-up trucks."
" Mr Downer made the plea in an interview for the Arabic TV station al-Jazeera, saying that Douglas Wood, 63, wanted to be reunited with his family. It came as an emergency team of officials and police from Canberra arrived in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Mr Wood's brothers later released their own appeal to his captors. ""We are extremely concerned for Douglas's welfare. He is not a well man, with several medical problems needing constant care,"" said his younger brother Malcolm in a tape released to al-Jazeera. ""He has a serious heart condition. In his current stressed environment, without medication, his health could fail him altogether,"" he added, as another brother, Vernon, stood beside him. Mr Downer, who also said Mr Wood had a problem with one of his eyes, earlier said in his appeal that Australia was making a ""very big effort"" to get him out alive. ""We would appeal to the people who have taken him hostage to release him and not to involve a man who is just providing assistance to the Iraqi people ... in politics,"" he said. Pictured sitting on the floor flanked by two armed men, the hostage is heard, on a tape released to journalists on Sunday, to call for US, British and Australian forces to withdraw from Iraq. Mr Wood's wife, Pearl, has said she is sure the man featured is her husband. A sign on the tape gives the name of a militant organisation, the Shura Council of the Mujahideen of Iraq, which has claimed previous attacks on US and Iraqi troops."
" 1 of 7. Policemen escort suspected Canadian paedophile Christopher Paul Neil to the national police headquarters in Bangkok October 19, 2007. Thai police appealed for more victims to come forward after nabbing Neil at a rented house. Neil is also accused of raping young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia after being unmasked by nifty police computer work and hunted in a unique Internet appeal. ""From pictures on the Internet, there were five to seven children under age 10 who have been abused by him, including one girl,"" Deputy National Police Chief Wongkot Maneerin told a packed news conference in Bangkok. Neil, 32, caught in the northeast Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima, 250 km (150 miles) from Bangkok and well off the normal tourist trail, refused to answer reporters' questions. Police said Neil, who arrived in handcuffs at national police headquarters, his head covered by a blue T-shirt, had confirmed his identity to investigators but said nothing else. Neil was no stranger to Thailand, having once taught in a Bangkok language school, but his hiding place was revealed by a trace on the mobile phone of his 25-year-old Thai boyfriend, identified by transvestites in the seedy beach town of Pattaya. ""They went together to different provinces, probably on the run, and the last call made was from Nakhon Ratchasima. So I sent my men there,"" tourist police chief Chuchart Suwannakom told Reuters. Thai police issued a warrant for Neil's arrest on Thursday, a week after he fled South Korea, after two Thai teenagers accused him of paying for oral sex when they were nine and 14, grounds for prosecution under Thai law. Neil could face up to 20 years in jail if convicted in Thailand. Wongkot said he would be prosecuted in Bangkok, but left open the possibility he could be extradited once he had served his sentence. ""He has to be prosecuted in Thailand first,"" he said."
" Thailand's government has signed its first-ever peace talks deal with Muslim rebels aimed at ending a decades-long conflict in the south. The deal was signed in Malaysia by the National Revolution Front (BRN), one of several groups operating in Thailand. More than 5,000 people have been killed since the conflict reignited in the Muslim-majority region in 2004. The deal came ahead of a meeting in Kuala Lumpur between Malaysian PM Najib Razak and Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra. Speaking after their talks, Ms Shinawatra said the talks should ""move forward as soon as possible"", AFP reports. She said Thailand was ""willing to engage in the process of inclusive dialogue with all relevant stakeholders and groups concerned to address root causes of the problem... within the framework of the constitution"". Mr Najib said the ""series of dialogues"" would be held in Kuala Lumpur ""in two weeks' time"". Malaysia has been acting as a facilitator for the negotiations between the Thai government and the Muslim rebels and is likely to host any peace talks. Full details of the deal and a timeframe for talks have yet to be released. 'Do our best'"
" Republican Sen. Sam Brownback abandoned his 2008 presidential bid Friday, his White House aspirations dashed by a lack of support and money. Said the Kansas senator: ""My yellow brick road came just short of the White House this time."" The conservative managed to gain the support of only 1 percent of Republicans in this month's Associated Press-Ipsos poll after peaking at 3 percent in June. Fundraising reports this week showed that his campaign was struggling financially, with $94,000 available to spend. Brownback is expected to run for Kansas governor in 2010 when his second term expires. He has said he won't run for the Senate again. He had previously said he would stay in the presidential race through Iowa's first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses in January but would drop out of the field if he finished worse than fourth there. Throughout the summer, Brownback spent considerable time and money in Iowa leading up to an August straw poll. He finished third in that event, to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, in a blow to his candidacy. Huckabee could stand to gain by Brownback's departure, especially among religious conservatives who share the two candidates' opposition to abortion and gay marriage. Brownback, 51, is a former Kansas agriculture secretary who won a seat in the U.S. House in 1994, the same year voters angry with Democratic President Clinton swept the GOP back into congressional majorities. Two years later, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole resigned his seat to run for president, and Brownback captured Dole's seat. He won a full term in 1998 and was re-elected easily in 2004."
" Former pro-reform Iranian presidential candidate, Mohammad Reza Aref, waves to his supporters at the conclusion of his campaign rally in Tehran, Iran, June 10, 2013, a day before withdrawing from the election. AP TEHRAN, Iran A pro-reform candidate withdrew Tuesday from Iran's June 14 presidential election to support a centrist whose campaign has gained momentum in recent days. The decision by Mohammad Reza Aref is seen as a major boost for Hasan Rowhani, who now faces off against five conservative candidates. Aref's website Draref.ir said he made the decision at the urging of reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami. State TV and media also reported his withdrawal. Aref said he received a message from Khatami telling him that his continued candidacy ""is not in the interest"" of Iran's reformers. Aref has been a close ally of Khatami's since his presidency in 1997-2005. Rowhani meanwhile has close ties with both Khatami and another influential former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was barred in May from running in the election by a clerically run constitutional watchdog. On Monday, a hardline candidate withdrew to avoiding splitting the vote with other conservative candidates. Under the Iranian system, if no candidate gets a majority in the first round, then the top two have a run-off. The election will choose a successor for outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadineajd who under the law cannot run for another term."
" The explosion took place in the town of Dera Bugti in Balochistan province. Some reports say the explosion was in a market, while others say the bomb was on a bus at a bus station. Militants in Balochistan have been fighting for greater autonomy for the mineral-rich province for the last five years. The Balochistan explosion was not thought to be directly related to Thursday's bomb blasts in Karachi, which killed 130 people. The Karachi blasts were an unsuccessful attempt on the life of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, as she returned to Pakistan after eight years' self-imposed exile."
" Officials named the dead man as Omar al-Farouq, a top lieutenant of Osama Bin Laden in South East Asia. Farouq was captured in Indonesia in 2002 but escaped from a US military prison in Afghanistan last year. Security sources say although he was hiding in Basra, al-Qaeda was not known to be actively operating in the area. British military spokesman Maj Charlie Burbridge said Farouq, whom he called a ""very, very significant man"" had been tracked across Iraq to Basra. He said about 200 troops surrounded the house, from where they came under fire. A gun battle erupted and Farouq was killed in the exchange. Maj Burbridge said there was apparently nobody else in the building and there were no further casualties. Born in Kuwait of Iraqi parents, Farouq is believed to have joined al-Qaeda in the early 1990s and trained in Afghanistan. In what the BBC's Jim Muir describes as a considerable embarrassment for the US, Farouq and three others escaped from the US military prison at Bagram airbase in Kabul last year. He even appeared in a video on an Arab TV station to boast about it."
" 1 of 56. A home in the path of a fast moving wildfire burns out of control in the northern part of Poway, California October 22, 2007. More than 120,000 residents have been evacuated and numerous homes have been lost due to the multiple fires burning in San Diego county. More than a dozen fires, driven by gale-force winds, burned out of control across the drought-stricken southern half of the state, quickly charring about 200,000 acres, killing one person and injuring a number of others. With fire crews and state emergency services overwhelmed, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said 1,500 National Guard troops had been summoned, including 200 from the Mexican border, to help with firefighting, evacuations and crowd control. ""This is a tragic day for San Diego County and for California,"" Schwarzenegger said. ""As you know, 250,000 people have been evacuated."" The fires also closed major state highways, schools and businesses and sent plumes of thick black smoke drifting across much of the state, blotting out the sun. ""We live on a mountain and there is only one way out,"" said Janice Edmunds, 47, who fled her San Diego County home. ""We could see flames coming over the hills in Escondido at 3:30 in the morning and we started packing."" Local radio reports said 13 people had been treated at a major San Diego burn center. One person was killed on Sunday by a fire near the Mexican border. Two fires that merged north of the city of San Diego and scorched 18,000 acres prompted authorities to order 250,000 people evacuated from an area roughly 12 square miles encompassing clusters of upscale communities, ranches and country clubs. ""It has multiple heads in multiple directions,"" said spokeswoman Roxanne Provaznik of the state Department of Fire and Forestry. At least one area hospital was closed by the threat of the so-called Witch Fire, along with several nursing homes."
" Zeng and two other politicians, Luo Gan and Wu Guanzheng, were dropped from the Communist Party's central committee at its five-yearly congress. The announcement is seen as the first stage in a widely expected reshuffle in favour of a new generation of leaders. The three men cannot now be elected to the standing committee on Monday when their replacements will be named. The nine-member standing committee is the country's supreme decision-making body. A fourth member, Huang Ju, died in the summer and will also be replaced. The congress also decided to include President Hu Jintao's ""scientific concept of development"" in the party constitution. President Hu is widely expected to be given a second term as general secretary of the party when the central committee meets on Monday. Mr Zeng, whose father was a veteran revolutionary, was ranked fifth in the party hierarchy and has previously been linked with former President Jiang Zemin. The BBC's Michael Bristow, who was at the congress in the Great Hall of the People, says his retirement could be taken as a sign that President Hu is solidifying his grip on the country's political system. Wu Guanzheng, in charge of party discipline, and Luo Gan, who oversaw national security as head of the party's politics and law committee, also stepped aside. Our correspondent says there has been considerable speculation about who will be part of the new generation of leaders."
 Judi Kaufman meditates during a yoga class at her home in Beverly Hills. Kaufman has battled brain cancer for 18 years and is certain that it has made her a better person. Judi Kaufman meditates during a yoga class at her home in Beverly Hills. Kaufman has battled brain cancer for 18 years and is certain that it has made her a better person. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
" Reformist-backed cleric Hassan Rouhani has won Iran's presidential election, securing just over 50% of the vote and so avoiding the need for a run-off. Crowds gathered in Tehran to hail Mr Rouhani, who said he had achieved a ""victory of moderation over extremism"". Some 72.2% of the 50 million eligible Iranian voters cast ballots to choose the successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The US said it was ""ready to engage directly"" with Iran over its disputed nuclear programme. ""I urge everyone to help the president-elect and his colleagues in the government, as he is the president of the whole nation,"" he said. Ayatollah Khamenei will ratify the vote on 3 August and the new president will then take the oath in parliament. Mr Rouhani, who has pledged greater engagement with Western powers, said: ""This victory is a victory for wisdom, moderation and maturity... over extremism."" But he also urged the world to ""acknowledge the rights"" of Iran. He said: ""The nations who tout democracy and open dialogue should speak to the Iranian people with respect and recognise the rights of the Islamic republic."" Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar announced that Mr Rouhani had won 18,613,329 of the 36,704,156 votes cast. This represented 50.71% of the vote."
" THE risk of Australian troops being left in the lurch in Afghanistan has receded, with two European countries promising to send troops to support the joint Australian/Dutch taskforce in the south of the country. The offers, from Georgia and Slovakia, have eased pressure on the Netherlands Government, which is debating whether to extend the deployment of its 1600 troops beyond August. The Federal Government had warned that it would not be able to leave the 970 Australian troops based in Oruzgan province if the Dutch withdrew or substantially reduced their commitment. Intense lobbying by the Netherlands led to the troop offers from Georgia and Slovakia. Georgia has offered 200 troops, supported by helicopters, while Slovakia has offered 35 soldiers. The Netherlands Government, facing strong public opposition to the NATO-led deployment that has cost the lives of 11 Dutch soldiers, has delayed a decision on whether it will keep its troops in Afghanistan. According to Dutch news reports, the Government is likely to extend the mission but with fewer troops. A spokesman for Defence Minister Brendan Nelson declined to comment on the impact of the Georgian and Slovakian offers on Australia's commitment, saying it was a matter for NATO, of which Australia is not a member. But last month Dr Nelson revealed that Australia was working with the Dutch and NATO to find another partner for the Oruzgan mission. The level of NATO contributions to Afghanistan is expected to dominate a meeting of NATO defence ministers in the Netherlands this week."
" A powerful typhoon has moved past the Japanese island of Okinawa, causing blackouts and forcing thousands of residents indoors. Typhoon Bolaven is forecast to be moving towards the Korean Peninsula and is likely to move west of Seoul. At least four people were injured, but reported wind speeds on Okinawa and nearby Amami were lower than forecast. About 57,000 people on the islands were left without power, Japanese media reported. Residents had been told to stay at home and protect themselves against the strong winds and heavy rain. Forecasters had predicted slow-moving Typhoon Bolaven could be the strongest storm to hit the area in over 50 years. Public broadcaster NHK said gusts could overturn cars, while waves around the island could reach 12m (40ft). Japan's meteorological agency estimated wind speeds near the storm's centre at around 180km/h (112 mph), with extremely strong gusts reaching 252 km/h. But NHK reported early Monday morning that the strongest gusts measured on the islands - on Amami, north of Okinawa - reached just 140km/h, according to the AP news agency. ""The winds weren't as strong as expected. We're glad there's no major damage so far,"" crisis management official Yoshimitsu Matsusaki was quoted as saying by AP."
" An Afghan soldier opened fire on NATO troops Monday, killing two in the latest ""green-on-blue"" attack in the country, a military statement said. The attacker fired on troops with NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in eastern Afghanistan, according to the coalition. ISAF troops returned fire, killing the soldier who committed the attack. Information on the nationalities of the dead soldiers was not immediately available. The incident is being investigated by Afghan and ISAF officials."
" DAMASCUS, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Raging clashes continued on Monday in several Syrian areas, most notably in the two key cities of Damascus and Aleppo, while rebel fighters claimed to have shot down a helicopter in Damascus' countryside. Syrian state media said the Syrian troops have purged a district in northern Aleppo province of armed insurgent groups and hammered those groups in other areas. Syrian troops purged Monday al-Izza'a street in Aleppo, the state-run SANA news agency said, adding that many gunmen were killed in Aleppo. The Aleppo clashes also coincided with other military showdown in the capital Damascus, as its residents woke up to the sounds of blasts, gunshots and shelling. SANA said a helicopter gunship was downed at the Damascus district of Qaboun, disclosing no further information. While the opposition activists said the rebels shot downed the gunship which was strafing the area, showing the photo of the rebel fighter that allegedly downed the helicopter. The pro-government media, however, said that the crewmen are all safe and in good condition. The Damascus clashes took place Monday in Jobar, Ain Tarma, al- Wadi, and surrounding areas in the southern and eastern parts of Damascus. Meanwhile, the oppositional Local Coordination Committees said 34 people have so far been killed nationwide. Syrian activists said August is the bloodiest month in Syria since the outbreak of protests in the country in mid-March 2011, citing the death toll of at least 4,000 and the discovery of 200 unidentified bodies, according to their unconfirmed reports. They claimed that 440 people were killed on Saturday alone across Syria, 300 of whom allegedly died in mass killings in the Damascus suburb of Daraya."
" The Gaza Strip will not be ""a liveable place"" by 2020 unless action is taken to improve basic services in the territory, according to a UN report. Basic infrastructure ""is struggling to keep pace with a growing population"", the UN Country Team (UNCT) in the occupied Palestinian territory said. It estimates Gaza's population will rise from 1.6m to 2.1m by 2020. Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza after the Islamist movement Hamas seized power in the coastal territory in 2007. Israel says the restrictions, which are policed with Egyptian co-operation, are necessary to prevent weapons reaching Hamas. Palestinians and human rights group denounce them as ""collective punishment"". The UN report, ""Gaza in 2020: A liveable place?"", estimates the territory will need double the number of schools and 800 more hospital beds by 2020, and says it is already suffering from a housing shortage. The report also says the coastal aquifer, the territory's only natural source of fresh water, may become unusable by 2016. UN officials point to the difficulty of improving the situation given ""the closure of the Gaza Strip, violent conflict, and the pressing need for Palestinian reconciliation"". ""An urban area cannot survive without being connected,"" said Maxwell Gaylard, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator. Gaza has no air or sea ports, and the economy is heavily dependent on outside funding and smuggling through tunnels under the Egyptian border."
" Safia Amajan, head of the province's women's department, was leaving her home for work when a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire, police said. She may have been targeted by Taleban militants because of their opposition to women taking part in politics and education, the BBC's Dan Isaacs says. Hundreds have died in clashes between troops and Taleban fighters this year. Nato-led forces have been battling a resurgent Taleban militia, with some of the fiercest fighting taking place in the south of the country. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack on Safia Amajan. She had served as head of women's affairs in Kandahar's provincial government since the Taleban government was toppled by US-led forces in 2001. An eloquent public speaker, Safia Amajan was fierce in her criticism of what she saw as the Taleban's repression of women. After the US-led invasion in 2001, the former teacher took charge of women's affairs in Kandahar's provincial government. In a conservative region where most families keep wives and daughters cloistered indoors, she was able to attract hundreds of women to schools and vocational courses. Her requests for secure official transport and personal bodyguards had not been granted by the government."
" 1 of 50. Resident Richard Booth, 61, works to save his home in Lake Hodges, near San Diego, California October 23, 2007. Wildfires stoked by fierce winds burned unchecked across Southern California for a third day on Tuesday with 300,000 people in San Diego alone evacuated as flames destroyed or threatened homes from humble forest cabins to luxury villas. More than a dozen fires blazed from the horse country north of Los Angeles to the Mexican border 150 miles south, torching more than 1,500 houses and other buildings, blotting out the sun with smoke and raining ash on the streets. Most of the destroyed homes were in the southern end of the state near San Diego, where three major wildfires burned unchecked and half a million people were ordered to evacuate to beat the flames, some 8,000 taking refuge in a football stadium. Two deaths have been reported and more than three dozen had been injured, including 18 firefighters. As the firestorms raged, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said 6,800 homes were threatened statewide and 6,000 men and women were manning the fire lines, sometimes hunkering down in fire shelters when shifting winds trapped them. ""We have had three things come together -- very dry areas, very hot weather and a lot of wind. This makes the perfect storm for fire,"" Schwarzenegger said at Lake Arrowhead, where blazes threatened two nearby mountain communities. Both Schwarzenegger and San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders put the number of evacuees at half a million. President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency for much of California and authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief. Bush planned to visit the fire-stricken area on Thursday. Running Springs, a town of about 5,000 people nestled in the San Bernardino Mountains, was surrounded by fire by Tuesday afternoon as crews made a furious effort to save several thousand homes. Firefighters in the Mexican border city of Tecate tried to control fires that sent up black smoke and covered houses and cars with gray ash. Fires also burned on the outskirts of the Mexican city of Tijuana, 20 miles from San Diego."
" A suicide bomber was stopped at a checkpoint in the town of Lashkar Gah in volatile Helmand province, when he triggered his device, officials said. Separately, a bomb placed under a bridge has struck a convoy of Nato-led troops in the Afghan capital, Kabul. A Nato soldier, named as Corporal Giorgio Langella, and an Afghan child were killed. Nato's mission in Afghanistan, Isaf, said five soldiers were injured in the blast, along with five Afghan civilians. It is thought they were travelling in a vehicle behind the Nato convoy when the explosion happened. The attack in Lashkar Gah took place at the first ring of security outside the compound housing the governor of Helmand province, Mohammed Daoud Safi. He was inside the compound and not hurt in the blast, police said. ""This was a suicide attack. A man carrying explosives attached to his body was stopped by police at a control point and then activated his bomb,"" police General Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhail told the AFP news agency. He said three of the dead were police officers. It was reported that 12 were civilians and another three were from the Afghan army."
" BEIRUT (Reuters) - Twelve people were killed and dozens wounded when a car bomb exploded on Tuesday at a funeral in Damascus, state television reported, in an attack that an activist group said had targeted supporters of President Bashar al-Assad. Witnesses said the bomb exploded at the entrance to a Druze cemetery in the Jaramana district of southeast Damascus, hitting the funeral procession of two men killed in bombings a day earlier. One witness said as many as 150 people had been wounded. Another said she saw charred bodies including children. Syrian television said 48 people had been wounded in the ""terrorist car bombing"". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition body which monitors the violence in Syria, said the two men being buried on Tuesday were supporters of Assad, who is fighting to crush a 17-month-old uprising against his rule."
" In a video published on the Internet, Ayman al-Zawahiri called Mr Bush a ""lying failure"" and said al-Qaeda was stronger than ever. The message follows a video issued for the anniversary of 9/11, in which Zawahiri said Western forces were doomed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the new message, he also spoke about Darfur and attacked Pope Benedict XVI. The Egyptian militant, who is seen as the group's ideologue, has eluded capture despite a $25m bounty on his head. In the latest video, Zawahiri said: ""We have gained more strength and we are more insistent on martyrdom. ""Bush, oh failure and liar, why don't you be courageous for once and confront your people and tell them the truth about your losses in Iraq and Afghanistan."" He urged Muslims to fight a holy war in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur against ""crusaders"" masked as United Nations troops. He also called Pope Benedict XVI a ""charlatan"" because of his remarks on Islam, Reuters reported. ""This charlatan accused Islam of being incompatible with rationality while forgetting that his own Christianity is unacceptable to a sensible mind,"" he said. The Pope caused controversy earlier this month when he quoted a medieval text which said Prophet Muhammad had brought the world only evil."
" (CNN) -- Calling President Bush ""the murderer and spiller of Muslim blood,"" al Qaeda's top deputy released a videotape Friday accusing the U.S. president of being a ""deceitful charlatan"" who has lied to the American people. Ayman al-Zawahiri also blasts the Bush administration for holding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, an alleged 9/11 conspirator, in a secret prison and alleging that Mohammed gave interrogators ""valuable information which has helped the crusaders to kill and arrest a number of al Qaeda."" ""I ask this lying failure, who are the leaders of al Qaeda whose killing or capture was facilitated by the information extracted from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?"" al-Zawahiri asks. ""Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, may Allah free him, has hurt you thousands of times more than you have hurt him."" On another portion of the tape, which appears to have been recorded at a different time and location, the terror leader addresses recent controversial remarks by Pope Benedict XVI and the situation in Darfur, Sudan. (Watch al-Zawahiri rail against Bush and the pope -- 1:33 ) Notably missing from al-Zawahiri's remarks is any mention of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who has been the subject of unconfirmed reports that he is dead or ill. (Full story) The tape, which runs almost 18 minutes, was posted on the Internet with English subtitles. On it, al-Zawahiri warns that al Qaeda will exact revenge for any harm to Mohammed and others in U.S. prisons. The mujahedeen ""are a people who do not sleep under oppression and who do not abandon our revenge until our chests have been healed of those who have aggressed against us."" Mohammed, who al-Zawahiri described as ""leader of a march, pioneer of an awakening and vanguard of a nation,"" was among 14 ""high-value detainees"" who transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, earlier this month to prepare for trials. Al-Zawahiri goes on to say that the U.S. military casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq indicate that the mujahedeen is still strong, ""attacking, seeking martyrdom, advancing and injuring you on a daily basis with Allah's help."" ""Can't you be honest at least once in your life and admit that you are a deceitful liar who intentionally deceived your nation when you drove them to war in Iraq under the pretext of the presence of nuclear weapons there and under the pretext of al Qaeda's connections with Saddam Hussein, following which evidence proved that you intentionally lied and misled?"" al-Zawahiri asks."
" MANILA, Philippines ? (UPDATE 4) High-powered firearms, enough for one battalion, and which have the markings of ?Department of National Defense and PNP [Philippine National Police] Camp Crame? were unearthed from the diggings near the compound of a powerful clan that has been linked to the election-related killings in Maguindanao in November, PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa said Friday. ?Our estimate is that the weapons found are enough to arm one battalion,? Verzosa told a press conference, following reports from the military in Shariff Aguak, the capital of Maguindanao, that more sophisticated firearms were uncovered Thursday night in the area of Barrio 3, some 300 meters away from the compound of the Ampatuans. Among those recovered were:  ? 90-millimeter Recoiless Rifle (2),  ? 57-mm Recoiless Rifle (1),  ? 60-mm mortar tubes (3),  ? M60 light machinegun (4),  ? 8-mm mortar tubes (2),  ? Caliber 50 Barret Siner rifle (1),  ? Ultimax automatic rifle (1),"
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Nato's top official says countries will send at least 7,000 extra troops to support the US surge in Afghanistan. Speaking at a Nato summit in Brussels, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said there would be ""more [troops] to come"". ""At least 25 countries will send more forces to the mission in 2010,"" the Nato secretary general told reporters. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the response from Nato allies as ""positive"", and urged them to rally behind the new US Afghan strategy. Some major countries are holding back, however. France and Germany, for instance, have not yet committed themselves to sending extra troops. Meanwhile more than 1,000 Nato soldiers, most of them from the US, as well as Afghan troops, launched a major offensive in southern Afghanistan on Friday. A US military spokesman said Operation Cobra's Anger in the northern part of Helmand province was aimed at cutting off insurgent supply and communication lines. Earlier this week, US President Barack Obama announced he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to help battle the Taliban insurgency. US calling for about 10,000 extra foreign troops Nato expects 7,000 troops from 25 of 43 nations in Afghanistan Not all have gone public with their intentions France still considering response; Germany may delay decision until January 2010 Will more US troops change things? The US is calling on allies among the 43 nations with troops in Afghanistan to send about 10,000 extra soldiers. Speaking at the Brussels talks, Mrs Clinton urged Nato and its partners to rally behind a new strategy to combat the insurgency and to ""finish it together"". She said it was essential additional forces and non-military assistance be provided as quickly as possible. ""The need for additional forces is urgent, but their presence will not be indefinite,"" she told the meeting of Nato foreign ministers and representatives of non-Nato countries that have forces in Afghanistan. Mr Rasmussen told delegates at Nato HQ that the coming year would ""see a new momentum in this mission"". The BBC's Nick Childs, in Brussels, says the main thrust of Mr Rasmussen's speech was to insist on a message of solidarity, despite the challenges, and of unity behind the mission. ""In addition to the clear pledges already tabled, we have heard indications... that other allies and partners will probably be in a position to announce contributions in the coming weeks and months,"" Mr Rasmussen said. ""Isaf [International Security Assistance Force] will have at least 37,000 more soldiers in 2010 than it did this year. ""That is solidarity in action."" White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the US was ""extremely pleased"" by Nato's promised contribution. But many Nato governments face publics even more sceptical about the mission than those of the US and Britain. Italy has promised to send about 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan Even if more public announcements are forthcoming, turning these into firm pledges of the right troops at the right time and for the right missions may take longer, our correspondent adds. Mr Rasmussen said several countries had pledged additional funds for development assistance as part of the mission's new approach in providing basic services to benefit the local people in Afghanistan. But he warned that Kabul had to play its part in the reconstruction process. ""None of these initiatives are of any use if it is not backed up by good governance, efficient governance in Afghanistan, including a determined fight against corruption, a determined fight against the drug trade,"" he said. ""So the international community stands ready to assist Afghanistan in promoting economic and social development but it also takes a strong effort from the Afghan people and not least the Afghan government."""
" Preparations for today's World Cup finals draw in Cape Town have been disrupted by two separate bomb scares, with South African police making two arrests. Explosives experts and sniffer dogs checked a bag at an entrance to Cape Town's International Convention Centre a few hours before delegates and an array of celebrities were due to arrive for the draw, that will decide where the 32 qualifying teams will play and who their first-round opponents will be. A police spokesman, Vishnu Naidoo, said the entrance was closed for more than an hour, blocking entry to hundreds of journalists and other visitors, after a man who said he was a foreign reporter dropped a bag he claimed contained a bomb and ran away. He was caught and arrested, Naidoo said. He added that another person was arrested early in the morning after making two hoax calls warning of a bomb at the city's international airport. The person was traced to a city suburb and arrested. Naidoo, who did not say whether the person was male or female, promised more details on both arrests later. ""Unfortunately we have a situation where we have mischief-makers who are trying to disrupt proceedings,"" Naidoo said. ""It was a hoax ... but we have to react to everything."" The draw, to be presented by the Oscar-winning South African actress Charlize Theron, is expected to be watched by a television audience of about 350 million people. South Africa's police minister, Nathi Mthethwa, said yesterday the country was prepared for every security threat ahead of the World Cup, including chemical and nuclear scares. While South Africa is not seen as a major target for terrorism, it has one of the world's highest rates of violent crime"
" WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Supporters of a congressional resolution that would have declared the Ottoman-era killings of Armenians ""genocide"" dropped their call for a vote on the measure Thursday. The resolution spurred fierce criticism from NATO ally Turkey, where officials acknowledge the killings of Armenians during World War I but vehemently object to the designation ""genocide."" Turkish leaders threatened to curtail U.S. access to bases vital to supporting the more than 160,000 American troops in Iraq if the measure passed. The Bush administration, which is trying to persuade Turkey not to launch cross-border raids against Kurdish rebels in Iraq, had lobbied aggressively against the resolution as well. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a House committee Thursday that the resolution's consequences on the war in Iraq would be ""quite dire."" The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the resolution earlier this month. But Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the No. 3 Democrat in the House of Representatives, conceded last week that ""the votes are not there"" for the resolution to clear the full House. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, its major sponsors wrote that the measure would pass ""if the timing is more favorable."" Pelosi, D-California, had promised to schedule a floor vote if the resolution made it out of committee, but told reporters Thursday that she accepted the sponsors' request to set the matter aside. Though the sponsors, led by California Democrat Adam Schiff, suggested the measure could be brought back later this year, a senior Democratic leadership aide said the issue is off the table indefinitely. ""This is not going to be taken up until next year at the earliest,"" the aide said. Historians estimate about 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire -- the predecessor of modern Turkey -- during World War I. But Turkey, now a secular and democratic Muslim nation, and masses of its people reject the term genocide, viewing the deaths as part of a war that claimed lives among all peoples in the region."
" JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved a measure Thursday to begin cutting off electricity to Gaza, which Israel recently declared a ""hostile territory,"" according to a spokeswoman for Barak. ""The recommendation is to begin gradually cutting the electricity supply without harming humanitarian sources like hospitals,"" Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said in an interview on Israel Army Radio. Barak's spokeswoman would not say when the measure will begin, but the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that cuts to power and fuel supplies will begin in the coming days. The move is part of a plan put together by Israeli security officials in response to ongoing rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel. The first step of the plan came when the Israeli Cabinet labeled Gaza a ""hostile territory"" last month. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas criticized that decision, saying it would ""sabotage"" his government's efforts to extend its mandate into Gaza. Earlier this year, Hamas seized control of the Palestinian territory of Gaza from forces loyal to Abbas' Fatah party, in what Abbas called a ""coup."" That caused a split in the Palestinian leadership, with Fatah leaders consolidating their power in the West Bank. ""There should be no sanctions against the Palestinian people, neither individual nor collective punishment,"" he said days after the Cabinet's decision. ""It will harm our bilateral relations, it will harm our discussions and negotiations, it will harm the atmosphere and even sabotage it."" Abbas has aligned himself with the United States and European Union, which restarted millions of dollars in aid that was frozen after Hamas won elections in January. The government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been under mounting pressure to do something about the rocket attacks."
" About 76 people are believed to have been killed and about 60 were hospitalized in a blast that hit a cafe in the Urals city of Perm late on Friday, an emergencies ministry source said on Saturday. The blast occurred at 23:15 Moscow time [20:15 GMT], and was followed by fire. Firefighters have already brought the blaze under control. The building of the cafe is detached to a residential house, which was not damaged in the blast. A local police source said most casualties were due to smoke and stampede that followed. The majority of victims were cafe employees and their relatives, as the cafe marked its anniversary."
" At least 109 people have died following an explosion at a nightclub in the Russian city of Perm, 1,400km (870 miles) east of Moscow. Officials said fireworks caused the blast and that most victims had died from smoke inhalation. More than 140 people were reported injured in the accident, which happened at 2315 local time (1815 GMT). The Lame Horse nightclub had been celebrating its eighth anniversary, emergency services said. Regional public security minister Igor Orlov told Itar-Tass news agency: ""There were fireworks launched at the scene, and one hit the plastic ceiling, setting all ablaze. People panicked and succumbed to burns, general crush and gas poisoning."" Russian state-run TV channel Vesti-24 showed bodies piled in the street outside the club. Perm has a population of 1.2 million and is the sixth largest city in Russia. Svetlana Kuvshinova, who was in the club when the fire began, said the flames ""took seconds to spread"". ""It was like a dry haystack. There was only one way out. They nearly stampeded me,"" the Associated Press quoted her as saying. Another eyewitness told local TV: ""When the merry-making started, when they were warming up, they set off fireworks."
" Kyrgyzstan has entered its fifth night of violence in the deadliest ethnic violence to hit the Central Asian nation in 20 years. Calls are growing louder for urgent action in Kyrgyzstan and the country's interim government has admitted they are struggling to cope with the crisis. Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president, says the situation has become extremely dangerous and has turned into a ""regional emergency"". The official death toll stands at 124, but that is a conservative estimate and could turn out to be much higher. Al Jazeera's Clayton Swisher reports from the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek on how army reservists are now being called into action."
" According to local media, the situation in Osh on Monday night was generally calm but residents in the city complained about food shortage. Bakiyev was ousted in April when riots broke out across the country. At least 85 people were killed and thousands of others injured in the clashes. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz interim government Azimbek Beknadzarov said on Monday that a tendency toward a beginning of stabilization has been observed in Jalalabad city and the Suzak region. He said the conflicting parties in some areas of southern Kyrgyzstan had agreed to stop fighting and signed agreements to disarm and organize joint patrol to prevent sabotage and new clashes. Both the United States and Russia have military bases near Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, while Russia, who declined the interim regime's request to reign in the unrest by military means but promised to provide aid, has sent a battalion of troopers to protect its facilities there. The United States also urged a concerted worldwide response to the situations in Kyrgyzstan. MOSCOW, June 13 (Xinhua) -- A battalion of Russian troopers have been sent to Kyrgyzstan to protect the Russian facilities in the Kant military base, Interfax news agency reported on Sunday. Three Ilyushin Il-76 military cargo aircraft, carrying humanitarian aids and the paratroopers, have landed at the Russian air base on Sunday afternoon, a military source told Interfax. URUMQI, June 14 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday dispatched a chartered plane to bring home Chinese nationals in Kyrgyzstan, where ethnic clashes in the south have left more than 100 people dead and some 1,400 others injured. BRUSSELS, June 14 (Xinhua) -- In reaction to reports of intensifying interethnic fighting in the south of Kyrgyzstan, the European Commission has decided to dispatch a humanitarian expert to the country to assess humanitarian needs and stands ready to mobilize funds."
" Debris is seen on Sipora island October 26, 2010 after a 7.5 magnitude quake hit 78 km (48 mi) west of South Pagai, one of the Mentawai islands, late on Monday. The 7.5 magnitude quake hit 78 km west of South Pagai, one of the Mentawai islands, late on Monday. Local legislator Hendri Dori Satoko told Metro TV the latest toll was 108 dead and 502 missing. Most buildings in the coastal village of Betu Monga were destroyed, said Hardimansyah, an official with the regional branch of the Department of Fisheries. ""Of the 200 people living in that village, only 40 have been found. 160 are still missing, mostly women and children,"" he told Reuters by phone. ""We have people reporting to the security post here that they could not hold on to their children, that they were swept away. A lot of people are crying."" Hardimansyah, who has only one name, said 80 percent of the houses in the area were damaged and food supplies were low. A tourist boat carrying between eight and 10 Australians has been out of radio contact since the quake, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement. The Macaronis surfing resort on North Pagai island was also hit. In an official press release, World Surfaris said Macaronis had ""experienced a level of devastation that has rendered the resort inoperable."" Reports via Facebook from a surfer at the resort suggested that all villas had been ""wiped out"" by the tsunami. A report posted on the Surfaid website by one of the aid organization's staff members described a three-meter-high tsunami crashing through the resort and boats knocking together, then bursting into flames. Guests and crew from one boat were washed into the jungle and took more than an hour to find their way back to the beach, the staff member, Tom Plummer, said."
" JAKARTA, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Tsunami after strong quake in West Sumatra of Indonesia on Monday evening killed 23 people and left 169 others missing, emergency relief aids will be sent immediately, officials said on Tuesday. The tsunami hit two islands of Pagaiselatan Mentawai and Pagaiutara Mentawai in West Sumatra after the 7.2 magnitude quake, West Sumatra Disaster and Mitigation Management Agency Ade Edward told Xinhua by phone from West Sumatra. The USGS reported the quake was 7.7 magnitude. ""The latest data of casualty now is 23 people and we are searching the 169 others,"" he said. Head of crisis center of the health Ministry Mujiharjo said that 12 medical men from Padang the capital of West Sumatra will leave for the island at 17:00 p.m. Jakarta time. The Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency admitted that small tsunamis occurred five minutes after the main shock at 7.2 magnitude at 21:42 p.m. Jakarta time Monday (1442 GMT), although it lifted the warning about a half hour after the main shock. West Sumatra was hit by powerful quake of 7.9 magnitude in September 2009, killing more than one thousand people and caused massive damages on infrastructures."
" (CNN) -- The Somali government Tuesday condemned weekend killings, allegedly committed by extremist groups, of Somalis who were watching a World Cup soccer match. ""The Somali people, like everyone else in Africa, should be able to watch the tournament without fear of loss of life,"" the Somali Ministry of Information said. ""The recent killings by Al Shabab and Hisbul Islam highlight yet again their barbarism, brutality and intolerance of Somali culture and values."" Gunmen believed to be from radical Islamist groups shot two people dead and detained 10 others when raiding a house where people were watching a World Cup match Saturday night, according to eyewitnesses. The incident happened in Suqa Holaha, a neighborhood in northeast Mogadishu, Somalia, the witnesses said. The killings are ""the latest in a long line of un-Somali and un-Islamic activities,"" according to the Somali government, which compared the World Cup watcher deaths to recent looting and intimidation incidents allegedly committed by Islamic radicals against a Mogadishu radio station broadcasting the World Cup event. A member of one group later said the watching of the World Cup is anti-Islamic. One witness, Aisha Abdi, said the militants ""stormed into the house"" and fired at the World Cup watchers, killing two. Leaving the two bodies in the home, the militants rounded up the other fans, Abdi said. Abdi blamed the Islamist group al-Sgabaab, but there was no claim of responsibility from that group or the group Hizbul Islam. Somali Islamists rarely claim responsibility, instead issuing warnings over such issues and carrying out punishments for those who defy them. ""Football is an inheritance from the primitive infidels, and we can never accept people to watch it and we are directing a final warning to those who want to watch it,"" said Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Aros, a spokesman for Hizbul Islam. Hizbul Islam reportedly has detained at least 30 World Cup fans in Afgoye, an agricultural town which is about 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of Mogadishu. Residents said the militants raided houses on Afgoye where people were watching the matches."
" A lawsuit filed by a family that was a victim of the melamine-tainted milk scandal saw its day in court on Friday - the first trial for the families suing the milk company since the incident broke out more than one year ago. Several courts nationwide have previously accepted compensation cases from parents of sickened children who were not satisfied with the government-led compensation, but no court has ever held a public hearing against the company until Friday. Ma Xuexin, father of a 20-month-old boy from Henan province, requested compensation totaling 55,184 yuan ($8,080) from collapsed dairy maker Sanlu Group in Hebei province and a Beijing-based supermarket, where he bought the Sanlu-brand infant formula milk powder before the scandal went public last year. The 30-year-old also requested that the medical costs for his son, until he reaches adulthood, be covered by the 1.1 billion yuan State-run compensation fund, of which 900 million was paid by Sanlu Group last December. ""Since my son was born last March, he has suffered from a stone in his left kidney after consuming hundreds of packages of Sanlu-brand infant formula milk powder,"" Ma said in the hearing. The two defendants, the bankrupted Sanlu Group and the Longhua supermarket in the Shunyi district, both said they should not be held responsible for the plaintiff's requests because the central government has already set up the fund for victim families. ""There is no official document from the hospitals showing the direct link between melamine-tainted milk powder and the child's kidney problem,"" said Zhou Xiaolong, a lawyer with the Jimin Law Firm from Hebei province, where Sanlu Group was formerly located. The hearing came just three days after two criminals were executed by injection in Hebei for their roles in producing and selling toxic milk, which killed six children and made more than 300,000 sick nationwide. There was not a flurry of media attention at the hearing on Friday. Only representatives from the plaintiff and the defendants were sitting in the small No 9 courtroom at the Shunyi district court, about 30 km northeast of downtown Beijing. ""Being the first case held by a Chinese court, more such cases may have a chance to be heard in the near future,"" said Xu Zhiyong, a Beijing-based law scholar."
" JAKARTA, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian government declared an emergency response in the tsunami-affected area of Mentawai isles in West Sumatra within 14 days after the status was declared, an Indonesian senior official said on Tuesday. After receiving orders from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is now on his visit program to China and Vietnam, Indonesian Public Welfare Minister Agung Laksono declared an emergency response. The emergency response is aimed at easing the mitigation efforts towards the victims of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake followed by tsunami on Monday night. The minister planned to visit the tsunami-stricken area within two days, to bring the relief aid to the victims directly. He said the only possible transport to the tsunami-hit area was by helicopter. ""The tide is still high. It would endanger ships carrying relief aid to the victims in Mentawai isles. We have prepared food, blankets, clothes, drinking water for the victims. The social minister has also sent 500 million rupiah (about 50,000 U.S. dollars) of fund to finance the relief efforts,"" the public welfare minister was quoted by the detik.com as saying. The latest report said the tsunami and earthquake in Memtawai isles has claimed 40 lives with more than 380 people reported missing, following the 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Monday night."
" George Osborne has said that better-than-expected UK economic performance figures show the recovery is ""steady"" The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests the economy grew at 0.8% between July and September - twice the rate expected by many analysts. The chancellor said this would improve confidence, with Treasury sources adding it showed the risk of a ""double-dip"" recession was being overplayed. But Labour said the speed of spending cuts could damage the recovery. The latest gross domestic product (GDP) figure follows 1.2% growth in the second quarter of the year, and is double the 0.4% expected by analysts. But the data is only a first estimate, and may be revised. The Cabinet, which met for 45 minutes earlier on Tuesday, was dominated by discussion of the GDP figures and the government's growth strategy, Downing Street said. The economic situation was still ""relatively choppy,"" the prime minister's official spokesman said, but the growth figure ""is something we can take confidence from"". Mr Osborne, as chairman of the cabinet's economic affairs committee, would now be leading a ""ruthless focus on growth"" by going through each government department in turn to push for greater efficiencies and deregulation and ""clear any bottlenecks,"" the spokesman added. Commenting on Tuesday's economic data, Mr Osborne said: ""Today's figures show the economy continuing to grow, at double the rate the market expected and the fastest rate for the third quarter since 1999. ""Just like the second quarter, the growth is broadly based and the lion's share is coming from the private sector."
" The UK's economy grew at 0.8% between July and September, official figures show, suggesting the economy is recovering faster than expected. It follows 1.2% growth in the second quarter of the year, and is double the 0.4% expected by analysts. Meanwhile rating agency Standard and Poor's upgraded its outlook for the UK's triple-A credit rating. Chancellor George Osborne called both reports ""a vote of confidence in the new government's economic policies"". The gross domestic product (GDP) figure released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is only a first estimate, and may be revised. Analysts had expected a slowdown after weak retail sales and housing data. ""This is the second major GDP growth surprise in a row and suggests that the UK economy is more resilient than many had feared,"" said James Knightley, economist at ING. ""The government will no doubt take this as a sign that the private sector can fill the gap created by public sector cuts, but with consumer confidence, hiring intentions surveys and housing activity data all softening we remain cautious."" But chancellor George Osborne said that, along with the government's Spending Review announced last week, the ONS data should help underpin confidence in the UK economy. ""The ONS believe that the underlying growth in the third quarter was 'broadly similar' to the strong second quarter,"" he said."
" London, England (CNN) -- The British government Tuesday released a damning report into the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre, placing blame overwhelmingly on the British soldiers who killed 14 people in Northern Ireland that day. The 1972 shootings at a civil rights march in Londonderry hardened anti-British sentiments in Northern Ireland, according to analysts, and led to many fresh recruits to the Irish Republican Army. Three decades of violence followed, known as The Troubles, in which almost 3,000 people died. There was some provocation by the Irish Republican Army in Derry on that day, but nothing that justified the shootings of civilians, the report found. British paratroopers on that day had no reason to believe they were under threat from the victims, gave no warnings before firing, and lied to the far-reaching official inquiry into the seminal event, the inquiry concluded. Only one casualty was associated with the IRA, and he was probably not posing a threat when he was shot fatally, the report found. Members of the British Army fired more than 100 rounds in violation of orders issued to every British soldier serving in Northern Ireland at the time, the report found. ""Some members of our armed forces acted wrongly ... and for that, on behalf of the government, indeed on behalf of our country, I am deeply sorry,"" British Prime Minister David Cameron said after the release of the long-awaited report. Why was Bloody Sunday so important? The crowd in Londonderry that gathered to hear the verdict of the inquiry cheered when Cameron announced that the first shot was fired by British soldiers, and that none of the victims had been armed. Tony Doherty, the son of one of the victims, told the crowd ""the truth has been brought home at last."""
" A powerful earthquake struck waters off western Indonesia, leaving at least one person dead, damaging 150 houses and triggering tsunami warnings that sent thousands of residents fleeing to high ground in panic, officials said Tuesday. The 7.7-magnitude quake struck 13 miles (20 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor at 9:42 p.m. (10:42 a.m. EDT, 1442 GMT) Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, jolting the Mentawai islands and towns along the western coast of Sumatra island, 175 miles (280 kilometers) to the south. ""Everyone was running out of their houses,"" said Sofyan Alawi, a resident in the city of Padang, adding that the roads leading to surrounding hills were quickly jammed with thousands of cars and motorcycles. ""We kept looking back to see if a wave was coming,"" said 28-year-old resident Ade Syahputra. A group of Australians said the temblor created a wall of water that sent a boat crashing into theirs in a bay off the Mentawai islands. Rick Hallet told Australia's Nine Network that his boat exploded and caught fire. ""I ordered everyone up to the top deck,"" Hallet said. ""We threw whatever we could that floated -- surfboards, fenders -- then we jumped into the water."" One farmer was killed on Pagai, located within the sparsely populated Mentawai island chain, and with more than 150 homes damaged, at least 2,000 people were seeking shelter in makeshift camps, said Ade Edward, a disaster management agency official. Crews from several ships were still unaccounted for in the Indian Ocean, he said. Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity due to its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire. The city of Padang was badly shaken one year ago by a 7.6-magnitude quake that killed at least 700 people and flattened or severely damaged 180,000 buildings."
" Fears had been growing for a vessel which was carrying eight Sydney surfers, including former NSW MP and Pittwater mayor Alex McTaggart, and skippered by Melbourne-born Chris Scurrah. But after more than 20 hours with no word, the men finally made contact late last night with the Padang-based company Sumatran Surfariis that owns the charter boat Southern Cross. ""They are now safe, they have been found,"" staff member Yuli Rahmi said. ""They only lost their phone signal, they didn't even feel any tsunami."" They are now on the island of South Pagai.Sandra Scurrah, mother of skipper Chris, almost wept with relief when told her son was alive.""I'm so relieved, we were really really worried this time,"" she said.His boat did not have a satellite phone, was out of radio range and in a mobile phone black spot.It was near the epicentre of the 7.7 magnitude quake, which split the ocean floor next to the Mentawai Islands, off West Sumatra, at 9.42pm on Monday local time (early yesterday morning AEDT).About 113 people have died on nearby islands, with hundreds more injured and scores missing. With few rescuers able to get to the islands to help with searches, fisherman have been left to find the dead and look for the living. Mentawai district chief, Edison Salelo Baja said corpses were strewn about because there were not enough people to dig graves. Though hundreds of disaster officials were unable to get to many of the villages on the Mentawai islands - reachable only by a 12-hour boat ride - they were preparing for the worst. ""We have 200 body bags on the way, just in case,"" said Mujiharto, who heads the Health Ministry's crisis centre. Harmensyah, the head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency in West Sumatra, said: ""There are no Westerners who have died or are injured. They are all safe."" For Mr Scurrah, it is the second time he has been caught up in a tsunami scare in Indonesia. He survived last year's deadly 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Padang, texting his family that he was running inland."
" At least 13 people have been killed in Indonesia after the country's most volatile volcano erupted. Mount Merapi, in central Java, began erupting just before dusk on Tuesday, spewing plumes of hot ash and rocks. Officials say the volcano victims, including a small baby, were killed by the heat and burning ash. Thousands of people have been evacuated amid fears pressure building up beneath Merapi's lava dome could lead to one of the most powerful blasts in years. But a further 13,000 people need to be evacuated from within a 10-mile (16km) radius of the volcano, officials say. It is thought that 5,000 people live on or near the volcano. Television footage showed thousands of people fleeing the area, some covered in the volcano's white ash which rained from the sky. People with severe burns were seen being taken away on stretchers. An eyewitness said he went to help a family trapped in their home but could not reach them. ""I was 10 metres away from the family but couldn't get any closer because the ash was very hot, so we couldn't handle it,"" the Associated Press (AP) news agency quoted him as saying."
" European football's governing body, Uefa, has called for proof in response to allegations of corruption in the bidding race for Euro 2012. Former Cyprus football official, Spyros Marangos, has claimed that money changed hands before Ukraine and Poland were awarded the championship. Uefa says the claims are unsubstantiated but will be investigated if evidence is provided. It has given Mr Marangos two days to provide ""tangible elements of proof"". Lawyers for Mr Marangos, a former treasurer of the Cyprus Football Association, told the BBC that he had tried for the past two years to draw Uefa's attention to the allegations for which he had witnesses. They said that Mr Marangos had been due to meet the head of Uefa's disciplinary committee in August, but the meeting had been cancelled by Uefa four days beforehand. The allegations come at an unfortunate moment for Uefa, as world football's governing body, Fifa, is investigating allegations of vote selling in the race to host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022. In a statement, Uefa said it took the fight against corruption very seriously and threatened to start legal proceedings if evidence was not submitted by 27 October at the latest. Mr Marangos' lawyers said he wanted the truth to come out and would decide how to respond."
" KHARTOUM, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senator John Kerry on Sunday disclosed a document from the Sudanese government reiterating its commitment to abiding by the results of south Sudan referendum and to cooperating with the region. ""Just today, the government of Sudan handed me a resolution, vowing in concrete language to abide by the outcome of the referendum whatever it is and pledge its cooperation with its neighbor to the south on a wide range of economic, political and security issues,"" said Kerry at a press conference at the conclusion of his three-day visit to Sudan. ""The document does represent one of the many positive steps moving towards Jan. 9 and future stability,"" he added. Kerry further urged the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) parties, the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), to work together to overcome their differences over the country's disputed oil-rich area of Abyei where a referendum is to be held simultaneously with south Sudan referendum on Jan. 9, 2011. Kerry, chairman of the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, affirmed commitment of the United States and the administration of President Barack Obama to helping Sudan overcome its issues. In the meantime, Kerry acknowledged the great progress made by the Sudanese government concerning the conduction of the referendum, but urged the two parties to overcome the outstanding issues. He expressed confidence that the two parties would overcome their differences ""if everyone involved stays focused and acts in good faith."" Kerry started his visit to Sudan on Friday. He visited Juba in south Sudan and held talks with Sudanese First Vice President and President of south Sudan government Salva Kiir Mayardit. In Khartoum, he met with Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, Presidential Adviser Salah Abdalla Gosh and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Ahmed Karti. The south Sudan referendum faces many difficulties, namely the border demarcation between north and south Sudan and the difference over the country's disputed oil-rich area of Abyei. U.S. senator says implementation of CPA condition for normalizing US-Sudan ties"
" A senior US senator has said Sudan's government has assured him it will hold a referendum on independence for the south and is committed to the outcome. John Kerry added that Sudan - which is under US sanctions - could benefit in important ways if it kept that promise. The chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee was speaking after a three-day visit to the country. Earlier, Sudan's president said the referendum should lead to further negotiations between north and south. ""It is without doubt a crucial event that is mixed with anxiety due to its importance and historical significance,"" Omar al-Bashir said. ""No matter what the outcome of the referendum will be, it will result in a new situation that will require consultations and negotiations with the peace partner."" The vote - due on 9 January - is the result of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended the 21-year civil war between north and south, which left an estimated 2 million people dead. The BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum says Sudan has been subject to US sanctions since 1997, and the economic impact on the country is of great concern to President Bashir and his ruling National Congress Party. Typically, US officials favour the language of diplomatic threats when they talk to Sudan, but Sen Kerry instead spoke of the rewards on offer if Khartoum did not obstruct the referendum, our correspondent says. He said he had received a written ""resolution vowing in concrete language to abide by the outcome of the referendum, whatever it is, and pledging its co-operation with its neighbours to the south""."
" UK energy giant BP has outlined a strategy to revive the public's belief in its ability to operate in a responsible manner. ""We will earn back trust in BP and begin to restore the company's battered reputation,"" chief executive Bob Dudley told business leaders in London. His comments came in his first external speech since taking the helm of BP. Six months ago, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, causing a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Central to attempts to rebuild BP's reputation is the story about its efforts following the leak, Mr Dudley believes. ""The first thing to say is that we have stopped the leak and made huge progress in cleaning up the spill,"" Mr Dudley said. ""Second, our containment and clean-up efforts have gotten results. ""Third, we are meeting our commitments as a responsible party of this accident."" Mr Dudley insisted BP was ""committed to learning the lessons from these shattering events at all levels"". Some of the new knowledge would come from ""other hazardous industries, including nuclear and chemicals industries"", he said."
" The deal negotiated by Sufi Mohammad has been well received in Swat   Pakistani President Asif Zardari will sign an order implementing Sharia law in Swat valley only once peace there is fully restored, his office says. President Zardari's spokesman said that this would require the laying down of arms by Islamic militants. Meanwhile, pro-Taleban cleric Sufi Mohammad has arrived in the Swat valley to try to convince local Taleban leaders to agree to the deal. Locals have largely welcomed it but critics say it is unacceptable. Sufi Mohammad is the father-in-law of Maulana Fazlullah, the current head of the Taleban in Swat. Mr Mohammad's TNSM party has already signed the deal to implement Sharia with the government of North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The deal has been welcomed by locals in the region. Hundreds turned out to greet Sufi Mohammad as he arrived in Mingora, the largest town in the Swat valley. But critics - especially in the US - have expressed concern over what they see as capitulation to the Taleban. They believe introducing a separate system of justice sets a dangerous precedent for other militias in parts of Pakistan. Information Minister Sherry Rehman denied the government had made any ""concession"". ""It is in no way a sign of the state's weakness. The public will of the population of the Swat region is at the centre of all efforts and it should be taken into account while debating the merits of this agreement,"" she said. ""The president will approve the Nizam-e-Adal Regulation after the restoration of peace in the region."" Sufi Muhammad arrived in Mingora with a caravan of some 300 vehicles - a day after he agreed to the truce with the NWFP government. Hundreds of people lined the route, waving and cheering the procession. We will soon open dialogue with Taleban. We will ask them to lay down their weapons. We are hopeful that they will not let us down   He has pledged not to leave Swat until peace is secured. ""We are happy. People are welcoming us,"" Swat resident Shah Wali, who was travelling with the motorcade, told The Associated Press news agency. Correspondents say that many in the caravan wore black turbans - a Taleban trademark. On Monday regional officials urged the Taleban to lay down their arms permanently, a day after the militants agreed a 10-day truce. Once one of Pakistan's most popular holiday destinations, the Swat valley is now mostly under Taleban control. Thousands of people have fled and hundreds of schools have been destroyed since the Taleban insurgency in 2007. NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Hussain Hoti said on Monday that a bill had been signed that would implement a separate system of justice for the whole region. Many took the day off to welcome the deal The BBC's M Ilyas Khan, who was recently in Swat, says the Taleban had already set up their own version of Islamic justice. The NWFP government now hopes that a grand jirga (council) led by Sufi Mohammad will be able to persuade all the factions to comply. The Taleban have said they will examine the document before ending hostilities permanently. More than 1,000 civilians have died in shelling by the army or from beheadings sanctioned by the Taleban. Thousands more have been displaced."
" NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- President Obama on Tuesday signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. But he's far from being able to declare ""mission accomplished."" ""Today does not mark the end of our economic troubles,"" Obama said before signing the bill at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. ""But it does mark the beginning of the end - the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling in the wake of layoffs; to provide relief for families worried they won't be able to pay next month's bills; and to set our economy on a firmer foundation."" Indeed, even though debate over the legislation was fraught with partisan fighting and what some characterize as strategic missteps by the nascent administration, getting the law passed was the easy part. Far more difficult will be gauging whether the legislation's trademark initiatives - which include improving physical infrastructure, investing in energy projects and providing financial relief for families by way of tax cuts and increased government benefits -- are really doing the trick. The first step is to stem the recession in the near term. In the longer term it will be to put the economy on a path to sustained growth and greater efficiencies in energy production, health care and other areas. So how will we know if it's working? What will be the signs? The president and economists say the biggest marker will be an improvement in the jobs picture. ""That's bottom-line number one, because if people are working, then they've got enough confidence to make purchases, to make investments,"" Obama said last week before the bill's passage. ""Businesses start seeing that consumers are out there with a little more confidence, and they start making investments, which means they start hiring workers. So step number one, job creation."" The official benchmark estimates from the White House: 3.5 million jobs will be created or saved over the next two years, and over 90% of them will be in the private sector. (See the White House's state-by-state estimates of how many jobs could be created or saved in the map at right.) But measuring the numbers of jobs saved as a result of the economic recovery package promises to be an elusive task."
" NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors and Chrysler LLC said Tuesday they could need an additional $21.6 billion in federal loans between them because of worsening demand for their cars and trucks. The two firms, in documents submitted to the Treasury Department, also detailed plans to cut 50,000 jobs worldwide by the end of the year. GM said it plans to close five more plants in the next few years and confirmed it will drop some of its weaker brands. When all is said and done,GM (GM, Fortune 500) said that by 2011 it could need a total of $30 billion, which includes the $13.4 billion in Treasury loans it has already received. In the near term, GM will most certainly need $9.1 billion in additional loans and could require another $7.5 billion in the next two years if auto sales don't improve. Chrysler said it now needs a total of $9 billion, up from the $4 billion Treasury loan it received in December. Chrysler said it will need that money by March 31. GM also accelerated its job cut plans, saying that it would eliminate 47,000 jobs over the course of 2009. The company said it would cut about 20,000 jobs in the United States, or about 22% of its remaining U.S. staff. Previously, GM called for U.S. job cuts of between 20,000 to 30,000 workers, but it had stretched out those reductions through 2012. The company said it plans to close five additional U.S. plants by 2012 --in addition to the 12 planned closings announced in December. Executives would not identify the plants that would be closed. ""Our plan is significantly more aggressive because it has to be,"" said GM Chairman Rick Wagoner. Experts said that the request for additional dollars are not a surprise, given how bad auto sales have been since the December plea for help. ""The most important issue is not what the automakers are going to do to cut costs, but rather what the government is going to do to stimulate car sales,"" stated Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of car sales tracker Edmunds.com. ""No automaker is viable under the current market conditions, and so far the spending package appears to spread money too thin to actually make much of a difference in any one area."""
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" Petro Poroshenko has been sworn in as president of Ukraine, setting out a plan to bring peace to the conflict-torn east of the country. The 48-year-old tycoon, who won the 25 May election, offered political concessions to people in the east and said he did not want war or revenge. But he also said he had told Russia's president that Crimea, which Moscow has annexed, would ""always be Ukrainian"". Some separatists dismissed the speech, saying they would ""never surrender"". Russia's ambassador said the address was a ""promising declaration of intent"". Mikhail Zurabov, who attended the inauguration, said Ukraine should end its military operation in the east, provided that militias called a ceasefire and allowed humanitarian access. Kiev says Moscow is backing armed militants in the eastern Donbass area, an accusation that Russia denies. Clashes continued in some eastern areas on Saturday, with reports of the army shelling the rebel stronghold of Sloviansk and of shooting further south in Mariupol. Mr Poroshenko was inaugurated in the presence of dozens of foreign dignitaries - including US Vice-President Joe Biden - in parliament in the capital Kiev. Mr Poroshenko, the owner of the Roshen chocolates group, laid out a programme for ending the crisis that included an offer of early regional elections in the east and a decentralisation of power to the regional administrations."
" A major earthquake has struck off the coast of western Sumatra, Indonesian officials say. The 7.5 magnitude quake near the Mentawi Islands at a depth of 14km (8 miles) triggered a tsunami watch, but officials later gave the all clear. Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the quake struck at 2142 (1442 GMT) and was felt in towns in Bengkulu and west Sumatra provinces. There have so far been no reports of damage or casualties. Initial reports put the depth of the quake at 33km (20.5 miles), but this was later revised by the US Geological Survey. The shallow depth of the earthquake prompted the US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to issue a ""watch"" bulletin. ""There was shaking that went on for about three seconds or so,"" Indonesian disaster management agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono told AFP news agency. ""Residents panicked and ran to the hills but now they are starting to come down. There is no report of casualties or damage."" More than 1,000 people were killed by an earthquake off Sumatra in September 2009. In June at least three powerful earthquakes struck the region, bringing down homes and leaving three people dead."
" Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesian officials have gone on high alert and have started evacuations as they warily monitor Mount Merapi, a volatile volcano in central Java that might erupt at any time. ""The local government is coordinating to evacuate around 40,000 villagers to the pre-assigned shelters,"" Neulis Auliasari of the national disaster coordination board said Monday. Seismic activity has intensified, signaling that an eruption is imminent, according to Indonesian volcanologists. The 3,000-meter Merapi is famously unpredictable, though. A pyroclastic flow -- a fast-moving burst of blistering gases and rock fragments -- is a key concern. One killed two people in 2006 and another killed more than 60 villagers in 1994. About 1,300 people died when Merapi erupted in 1930."
" Petro Poroshenko will be sworn in on Saturday as Ukraine's president, buoyed by messages of support from the West but still seeking a strategy to deal with Russia's Vladimir Putin, who opposes Kiev's military drive against pro-Russian separatists.Government forces are almost certain to be fighting rebel fighters in the east even as Poroshenko takes the oath of office and delivers his inaugural speech. Kiev began an intensified campaign against the rebels the morning after Poroshenko's May 25 election, and the fighters have fought back, turning parts of the east into a war zone.The billionaire confectionary magnate, 48, will be Ukraine's fifth president since independence and its first since 1991 to win election with more than half the vote in a single round, after promising to bridge the east-west divide that has split the country and thrust it into a battle for its very survival.Western governments and Russia, locked in a geopolitical fight over Ukraine's future, will be watching for clues on how he intends to handle the eastern rebellions.Poroshenko says he wants closer relations with Europe, and won support and encouragement for his policies to stabilise Ukraine when he met U.S. President Barack Obama and European leaders in Poland and France this week.He also briefly met Putin in France during ceremonies marking the World War Two D-Day landings on Friday, and may have discussed a possible ceasefire with the rebels. Putin said he welcomed Poroshenko's plans to stop the bloodshed, but Ukraine must stop its ""punitive"" military operation.Russia rejects charges by Kiev and the West that it is actively supporting the rebels in the Russian-speaking east. The fighting since Poroshenko's election has revealed that many of the rebels are from Russia, with dozens of dead bodies of fighters sent back across the frontier.In a small sign of a thaw, Moscow is sending its ambassador - withdrawn after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich was toppled in February - back to Kiev to attend the swearing in. Moscow has also begun withdrawing some of the tens of thousands of troops it had massed on the frontier.Ukrainians hope Poroshenko's election brings an end to the most tumultuous period in Ukraine's 22 years of independence.More than 100 people were shot dead by police in Kiev in January and February in protests against the Moscow-leaning Yanukovich. After Yanukovich was ousted and fled to Russia, Putin declared Russia's right to intervene by force in Ukraine.Moscow quickly annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March and massed troops on the border, while separatists occupied towns and strategic points across the east. Scores of people have since been killed in fighting.The uprising in the east is not the only challenge facing Poroshenko, who inherits a country on the verge of bankruptcy, still dependent on Russia for natural gas and rated by watchdogs as one of the most corrupt and ill-governed states in Europe.Poroshenko, who won election on the slogan ""Live in a new way"", is expected to lay out a programme for rolling back the sleaze of the Yanukovich years, during an open-air speech in Kiev after taking the oath.Poroshenko served in cabinets under both Yanukovich and the ousted leader's foes, giving him a reputation for pragmatism that most Ukrainian voters saw as offering a chance to heal divisions. He won nearly 55 percent of the vote in a field of 21 candidates, against less than 13 percent for his closest rival.He was also the first Ukrainian presidential candidate since 1991 to win both in the mainly Ukrainian-speaking west and in the Russian-speaking east, despite the separatists having prevented most voting in two eastern provinces where they have declared independent ""people's republics"".Though he will stand firm in saying he will have no truck with the men of violence, Poroshenko may seek, in his speech, to address the grievances of ordinary people in the east and put an accent on the need for reconciliation and national dialogue.He will try to ally fears in the east - relentlessly stoked by Russian media - that Kiev's new rulers will launch a nationalist drive against their use of the Russian language.He may also lay out plans for decentralisation to give local authorities in the east greater say by allowing them to keep a proportion of taxes for regional development.Despite his commitment to European integration, diplomats believe Poroshenko might make a trip soon to Moscow to try to find a compromise to end the fighting. But on the ground in the east, people expect more battle.In Izvaryne, about 70 km (43 miles) from Luhansk on the Russian border, some people were leaving the area because they feared the violence was just beginning, and things would get worse after Poroshenko's inauguration.""We got all our documents together as fast as we could to leave before the inauguration. We think there may be an emergency military rule after that,"" Ekaterina Sarkisova, 30, who was travelling with her five-month-old son, seven-year-old daughter and husband."
" JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Fatah political movement was the clear winner in municipal elections held in 84 cities across the West Bank and Gaza, according to preliminary results released by a Palestinian election official Friday. According to Firas Yaghi, director general of the local election commission, Fatah won around 55 percent of the seats in Thursday's elections, with militant Islamic group Hamas picking up about a third of the seats. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is the head of the Fatah movement. According to the official Palestinian Authority newspaper Al-Ayyam, Fatah won a majority of seats in Beit Lahiya, Hawara and Tulkarem. Hamas won the majority in Qalqiliya and El Boureij. Election participation was 70 percent in the West Bank and 10 percent higher in Gaza, the paper said."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Angry agency staff have confronted union officials at BMW's Mini Cowley plant in Oxford, after the carmaker confirmed 850 job cuts at the site. Casual staff, who had been laid off with immediate effect, threw fruit at leaders of the Unite union, claiming they felt betrayed. Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, described BMW's treatment of the workers as ""disgraceful"". The site will now close for a week, and weekend working has been scrapped. A BMW spokesperson said weekend workers had effectively been given a week's notice as they would be paid for next weekend as well. The carmaker also said it had identified 150 surplus workers at its Mini plant in Swindon. The workers would be offered a transfer to work in Oxford, it added. Mr Woodley said Unite had demanded an ""urgent meeting"" with the chairman of BMW. ""It is unacceptable that workers can be viewed as cannon fodder when a company needs shelter from recession,"" he added. A spokesman for the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform said it intended ""to launch a consultation in the near future about how the UK will implement the Agency Workers Directive"". Work at the Cowley plant will not restart until 23 February. The changing shift patterns, and the resulting job losses, will come into force on 2 March. ""Mini plant Oxford will be bringing in a new shift pattern in response to continuing volatile market conditions,"" a BMW statement said. The Cowley plant shut down for four weeks at Christmas ""As of Monday 2 March, the plant will go from a three-shift to a two-shift pattern, operating five days per week instead of the current seven."" ""The company regrets that this change will result in the release of around 850 agency workers from the business,"" it added. BMW had said that all staff at the factory, including remaining agency workers, would be paid their basic wages during the closure. However, many agency workers said they were unclear what the future held after being told the weekend shift had been axed. Javid Najibi said he had been told to leave after four years at the plant and that he was likely to get no payout. Bentley: Worked a three-day week in October and longer Christmas break. Closing Crewe plant for seven weeks from the beginning of March Honda: Four-month shutdown between February and May Jaguar Land Rover: Series of one-day shutdowns and production cuts late 2008 plus 450 redundancies planned Toyota: One of the night shifts suspended ""It's bad news for everybody. There's no work any more for the weekend shift. No-one knows about the future plans,"" he said. Another agency worker told the BBC that he felt like a ""second class"" employee compared to the permanent staff. ""It's a disgrace,"" he said. ""I've worked here for three-and-a-half years and now I'm being sacked for no reason. I've been used."" A Mini spokesperson had confirmed at the weekend that the company was in discussions with Unite union representatives over changes to shift patterns at the plant. ""Our first priority is to communicate with the workforce,"" the spokesperson had said. However, staff were angry about the way in which they were told about their job losses. Bernard Moss, from the union Unite said: ""[The workers] obviously weren't very happy and the biggest issue was being told one hour from the end of the shift that they hadn't got a job."" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Worker Silvia Fernandes said: ""I've been here for four years and I've never been sick, I've never missed work and they tell me one hour before that I've been sacked. That's not on. ""That's why people are angry and so upset with BMW and the union."" The company's 4,500 staff had returned to work on 5 January after an extended four-week Christmas holiday. In December, 300 agency staff were told there would be no more work for them at the plant after the Christmas holiday. BMW, like most carmakers across the world, has been struggling in the face of falling sales during the economic downturn. Overall, BMW sales fell by 4.3% in 2008, to 1.4 million vehicles, although Mini sales actually rose by 4.3% last year, to 232,425 cars. The carmaker is the latest in a long line of car manufacturers in the UK to announce plant closures and redundancies. For example, Honda has closed its plant in Swindon for four months between February and May."
" The move came after local officials signed a deal with a militant leader to enforce Islamic law in the district. The ceasefire halts fighting between Pakistani security forces and Taleban militants in Swat that has raged since November 2007. Once one of Pakistan's most popular holiday destinations, the Swat valley is now mostly under Taleban control. Hundreds of civilians have died in an increasingly bloody insurgency there, while thousands of others have been forced to migrate. The Taleban have set up their own system of Islamic justice, as they understand it, and have closed down schools, denying education to tens of thousands of children, says the BBC's M Ilyas Khan, who was recently in Swat. Pakistani President Asif Zardari has warned that the entire country is fighting for its survival against the Taleban, whose influence he said has spread deep into the country. In an interview with US TV network CBS, President Asif Zardari said the Taleban had established a presence across ""huge parts"" of Pakistan. The agreement was signed by Taleban cleric Sufi Mohammad after talks with the North West Frontier Province's government. The agreement binds the provincial government to implement Sharia law in the Malakand division, which comprises Swat and its adjoining areas. Many people in Swat now would favour an early exit by the army as the they have failed to roll back the Taleban or protect the Taleban's opponents   A militant spokesman, Muslim Khan, said the ceasefire was a ""goodwill gesture to the ongoing talks between Sufi Mohammad and the government"". Talks on how Sharia law will be implemented are to continue on Monday between Taleban representatives and officials of the provincial government in the capital of North West Frontier Province, Peshawar, said Reuters news agency. Details are to be formally announced at that time. There has been no reaction so far from the Pakistani central government. The Taleban say they will examine the document thoroughly before announcing a permanent end to hostilities. A Chinese engineer held hostage for five months had also been released as a sign of good faith, the militants said. Long Xiaowei, who was captured last August in the Dir region with a Chinese colleague, arrived at China's embassy in Islamabad earlier on Sunday and was in good health, a Chinese official said. The colleague escaped in October, the Taleban said at the time. The people of Swat have been caught between the army and the Taleban, says our correspondent. More than 1,000 civilians have died in shelling by the army or from beheadings sanctioned by the Taleban. Thousands more have been displaced. The Taleban now control the entire countryside of Swat, limiting army control to parts of the valley's capital, Mingora. Many people in Swat now would favour an early exit by the army as the they have failed to roll back the Taleban or protect the Taleban's opponents, says our correspondent."
" An army spokesman said all 10 of the gunmen who attacked Jinnah International Airport's old terminal had also been killed. Army commandos were called in, and gunfire lasted for more than five hours before the airport was secured. But all operations at the terminal remain suspended and all flights are being diverted to other airports. At least 14 people were wounded. The dead terminal staff were said to be mostly security guards from the Airport Security Force (ASF) but also airline workers. Dawn News said the gunmen had infiltrated from the Fokker Gate area. The attackers are believed to have entered the area using fake ID cards. Other reports suggest they cut through a barbed wire fence. There is no indication yet who carried out the attack. Smoke was seen billowing from the terminal. An ASF spokesman earlier told Agence France-Presse that the gunmen had reached the runway and that a ""gun battle is continuing between terrorists and [armed] forces""."
" World Cup organisers faced protests at home and abroad Wednesday as the Netherlands condemned ""absurd"" arrests over a marketing stunt and thousands of South Africans protested the tournament bill. While the national side took to the field, South African authorities were accused of scoring an own goal by charging two Dutch women with ambush marketing over a stunt featuring dozens of fans wearing orange mini-dresses. Campaigners also took on the government over how it could spend hundreds of millions of US dollars on staging the world's most popular sporting event when some 40 percent of the population live on less than two US dollars a day. The Dutch government's ire was provoked by the decision to charge two of its nationals over the stunt at a match on Monday, although a group of South Africans arrested at the same time were told they would not face charges. The group were all wearing bright orange dresses sold with packs of Bavaria beer in the Netherlands in defiance of FIFA commercial regulations. While FIFA said it did not plan to press charges against the South African women recruited for the stunt, charges were filed against the two Dutch women it says organised the campaign. ""It is absurd that the two women have a jail term hanging over their heads for wearing orange dresses in a football stadium,"" Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said. ""If South Africa or FIFA wants to take a company to task for an illegal marketing action, they should start judicial procedures against the company and not against ordinary citizens walking around in orange dresses."" Bavaria, the brewery behind the stunt, also defended the two women charged. ""There is no way FIFA can hold these ladies responsible for having attended a match in the colours of the Netherlands,"" said Bavaria in a statement."
" Two Dutch women have appeared in court in South Africa over an alleged ""ambush marketing"" stunt at a World Cup match. They were released on bail. More than 30 women were ejected from the Johannesburg stadium on Monday during the match between Denmark and the Netherlands. They were accused by Fifa of breaking strict rules on World Cup marketing. They had all been wearing identical mini-dresses in Dutch orange, sold as part of a gift pack by a Dutch brewery. The two women appeared in a Johannesburg court on Wednesday under the Contravention of Merchandise Marks Act. They were released on bail and ordered to return to court next Tuesday. ""It is outrageous that the two women have a jail term hanging over their heads for wearing orange dresses in a football stadium,"" he said in a statement. ""If South Africa or Fifa wants to take a company to task for an illegal marketing action, they should start judicial procedures against the company and not against ordinary citizens walking around in orange dresses."" The case has already led to the sacking of English football commentator and former footballer Robbie Earle. He was found to have passed on some of the tickets used by the women from his allocation for friends and family, in breach of Fifa rules, and was promptly sacked by employer ITV. Fifa, the world footballing body, said it had launched legal action against the Dutch brewery, Bavaria, but not the women in question. It said it was up to the police how they should proceed."
" 3D films: the wave of the future Asian film directors expressed a cautious attitude towards 3D technology during a forum of the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival yesterday, though 3D blockbuster ""Avatar"" had done extremely well at the China box office.Industry officials, however, decided to continue expanding into 3D sectors due to huge market demand.    ""Without 3D, 'Avatar' is an impressive story,""said Hong Kong film director Pang Ho-Cheung. ""There are also many copycat 3D films, with nothing more than technology."" The 3D film has ""gradually developed"" in China and its still has a long way to go. People, including directors and film fans, should not care only about technology but also storytelling.  A 3D film requires huge investment and it's still a challenge for Asian directors and producers to get the investment back. People may like 3D but they have different tastes and understanding of 3D titles in Japan, China and Korea, according to Pang.  The 3D equipment for cinemas, like projectors and audio systems, are not ready in China, especially in second or third-tier cities, said Chinese director He Ping.But no one can deny the huge market demand for 3D content and it's time to penetrate the sector, industry officials told the forum.  Boosted by the ""Avatar"" effect, China is going to digitize 2,000 cinema screens this year, double the number of last year, according to Belgium-based Barco, a major digital (3D) projector provider for Chinese cinemas.  Shanghai Media Group, the country's No. 2 media group, is going to establish a national video and cartoon creative zone in Songjiang District of Shanghai, Xue Peijian, SMEG's president told the forum.  ""We will develop all new media and new technologies in the industry zone, including 3D content and mobile TV,"" Xue said.  Industrial Light & Magic's digital artist, Dean Yurke, a 15-year-veteran of the film industry, showcased the latest 3D technologies and trends during the forum. Yurke, who joined George Lucas'Industrial Light and Magic to work on the Star Wars films in 1997, contributed animations and effects to titles including ""Star Wars,"" ""Transformers,"" ""Harry Potter,"" ""Star Trek,"" ""Iron Man"" and ""Avatar."""
" President George Abela accidentally sustained an injury before leaving his hotel in China this morning and is recovering in hospital. The Department of Information said the President was admitted to Ruijin Hospital where he was diagnosed as suffering from an incomplete fracture of his second lumbar transverse process, combined with bruising in his left chest and the soft tissue of his waist. He is being kept in hospital for further observation and treatment. The President had to cancel his presence at the official inauguration of the Shanghai Expo 2010. Updates on his status will be released as soon as they become available from the hospital's orthopaedic department. The first update is expected sometime tomorrow morning. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi spoke to Dr Abela on the telephone and wished him well. He also spoke to Foreign Minister Tonio Borg, who is accompanying the President, and offered whatever help is necessary to Dr Abela. Both the Nationalist and Labour parties hoped Dr Abela would be well soon."
" China''s Vice President Xi Jinping met with leaders from the UN General Assembly and Algeria on separate occasions Friday ahead of the Shanghai World Expo.Ali Abdussalam Treki, president of the 64th session of the UN General Assembly, and Abdelkader Bensalah, president of Algeria''s Council of the Nation, are here to attend the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo in the evening.During the meeting with Treki, Xi said the World Expo is an international grand event to showcase the achievements of development of the human society and the mankind itself.""We are willing to cooperate with the international community to make the Shanghai Expo a successful, spectacular and memorable gathering"" to contribute more to the development of human civilization, technological innovation and common progress of all nations, he said.Treki expressed his condolences to the victims in the April 14 earthquake in Yushu in northwest China''s Qinghai Province.Treki said the Expo has offered a great opportunity for the international community to gather together.During the meeting with Bensalah, Xi expressed gratitude for Algeria government''s aid to the Yushu quake zone."
" Militants armed with guns, grenades and rocket launchers attacked Pakistan's main airport in Karachi, leaving at least 23 people dead after a six-hour siege. Explosions and gunfire rang out as the gunmen, some in military uniforms, battled security forces in one of the most brazen attacks in years on Pakistan's biggest city. Authorities said all 10 militants had been killed and at least 11 dead bodies, including security personnel and two civilians, had been taken to the city's main Jinnah Hospital. 'Update: Area cleared. No damage to aircraft, fire visible in pics was not plane but a building, now extinguished. All vital assets intact,' military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said in a tweet. The assault on forced the closure of the Jinnah International Airport but Bajwa said it would be ready to resume services later on Monday. The attack will raise fresh concerns about Pakistan's shaky security situation, and questions about how militants were able to penetrate the busy airport. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the assault but it came as talks between Pakistan and the Taliban, which began earlier this year, hit an impasse. Officials said the gunmen entered from at least two sides of the airport around 11pm on Sunday - the terminal used for the hajj pilgrimage and an engineering section close to an old terminal that is no longer operating. Armed with guns, grenades and rocket launchers, they clashed with the airport's security force, police, paramilitaries and later commandos. Smoke was seen billowing from the airport as fires raged close to planes parked on the runway."
" After nearly eight years of preparation and six rounds of trial runs, Shanghai will kick off its massive World Expo tonight with fireworks and an opening extravaganza, a day before the showcase opens its gates to visitors from all over the world. The foreign ministry revealed Thursday that 20 heads of state and government will attend the opening ceremony, and Chinese President Hu Jintao, who paid a visit to the Expo park Thursday, was scheduled to meet them. Their arrival means Shanghai will see the largest number of foreign leaders gather in the city since 1843, when it became an open port. ""The Expo is yet another important international gathering following the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,"" Hu said when meeting Denis Sassou Nguesso and Ali Bongo Ondimba, his counterparts from the Republic of Congo and Gabon, respectively. ""With the strong support from other developing nations, China was sure to host a successful, spectacular and memorable exposition."" Shanghai, China's most cosmopolitan city, has made unprecedented efforts in preparation for the Expo. Local officials said that direct investment in the Expo, both governmental and private, is 28.6 billion yuan ($4.2 billion), including the venue's construction and six-month operation. If the cost of infrastructure is included, the total budget would be between 300 billion and 400 billion yuan ($44 billion to $58.5 billion), the Shanghai-based 21st Century Business Herald reported. The city has spruced up the Bund, a strip of historic riverfront buildings, added hundreds of kilometers of subway lines and built new terminals at its domestic and international airports. In a tightening of security, subway stations are conducting more baggage checks, and guards have been stationed on all buses of the 42 Expo routes and at thousands of bus stops. In all, 8,000 firemen will be on fist-degree alert today and tomorrow. Expo visitors to will have to pass through airport-style safety checks before being allowed to enter the park, following the same standards as the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games."
" Chinese President Hu Jintao use sign language to express greetings to a volunteer at Life Sunshine Pavilion in the expo site in Shanghai, east China, April 29, 2010. Chinese President Hu Jintao paid a visit to the Shanghai World Expo Park Thursday, two days ahead of the opening of the global event."
" SHANGHAI, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The opening ceremony of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai is to kick off at the Expo Park on Friday night in good weather, local meteorological authorities said. The weather during the daytime Friday, under the control of high atmospheric pressure, will continue to be clear with enough sunshine and a maximum temperature of 25 degrees Celsius in the downtown, according to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau. The weather at night when the Expo's opening ceremony kicks off with a grand display of fireworks will also be good but the temperature is going to drop sharply, according to the bureau. On the first opening day of the Expo Park on Saturday, the weather will be cloudy and suitable for outdoor trips, according to the bureau. Tang Xu, the bureau's director, said Thursday that Shanghai did not need to adopt artificial weather interventions to clear the sky for the opening ceremony. Visitors can find out the latest weather information at the Expo Park on the website. Customized advices to visitors from different parts of the world are also provided online, according to the bureau. SHANGHAI, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with Taiwan dignitaries in Shanghai Thursday, who are here to attend the World Expo opening ceremony. Hu extended his warm welcome to the VIPs and people of various circles from Taiwan, including Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairmen Lien Chan and Wu Poh-hsiung, as well as the People First Party Chairman James Soong. SHANGHAI, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Netizens could obtain ""online Expo passports"" after the official launching of a 3-D Expo park in the virtual world on May 1, Shanghai World Expo organizers said Thursday. Zhu Yonglei, vice director of the Bureau of the Shanghai World Expo Coordination, said at a press conference that online visitors to the park could have access to ""visit"" more than 150 pavilions and obtain ""online passports and visa stamps""."
" Iraq's infamous Abu Ghraib prison has reopened, with a new name and official promises Saturday of humane treatment in a lockup notorious as a center for abuse -- under Saddam Hussein as well as the U.S. military. Judicial authorities showed off the renovated compound during a tour for journalists that included a sewing room, exercise equipment, computers, a library, outdoor recreational areas, greenhouses and a barbershop. Officials defend their decision to reopen the facility -- now called Baghdad Central Prison -- saying they need the space as the U.S. military hands over about 15,000 detainees in its custody to the Iraqis, under a security agreement that took effect Jan. 1. The British military said this week that a collision between an armored military vehicle and a bus transporting Shiite pilgrims in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Tuesday night killed four people, not seven, as it originally reported. British officials also disputed an assertion by an Iraqi army official who said British soldiers opened fire after the crash, believing they were being ambushed. Two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel, triggering an Israeli response and raising fears of renewed hostilities on the tense border. Lebanese leaders rushed to condemn the rocket attack and vowed not to allow southern Lebanon to become a launching pad for attacks against the Jewish state. The brief cross-border exchange was the third this year. Israel and the militant group Hezbollah fought a 33-day war in the region in 2006."
" Part of a monorail has collapsed in Brazil's biggest city just days before the start of the World Cup, killing a construction worker. The man is believed to have been working on an extension to Sao Paulo's metro network near Congonhas airport when he was hit by a large concrete support beam. The 11 mile (18km) line, connecting the airport to the city's metro, was supposed to have opened in time for the World Cup to alleviate congestion but is one of several infrastructure projects that have fallen behind schedule. Once built, the driverless trains are expected to carry up to 250,000 passengers a day. Sao Paulo is one of the most populated cities in the world with around 11 million inhabitants. It will stage the opening match of the World Cup on Thursday, when Brazil play Croatia at the Arena Corinthians. However, preparations have been hampered by a strike by subway staff over wages that has paralysed parts of the network and led to protests in the city. Police fired tear gas at a group of around 150 workers who set fire to piles of rubbish as they blockaded part of the business district. The employees have since voted to suspend the strike and return to work, although they have threatened to walk out again on the day the World Cup starts. The build-up to the football tournament, the first to be held in Brazil since 1950, has been beset by delays and cost overruns."
" Palestinian suspected of car theft shot to death during chase in Gush Etzion settlement bloc (Haaretz) U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)"
" At least 19 people have been killed by flash floods in south-eastern France, officials say. Several others have been reported missing after torrential rain hit the mountains above the Cote D'Azur region on Tuesday. A number of towns in the department of Var were affected, with hundreds of homes flooded. Meteo France, the national weather service, said up to 40cm (15.7in) of rain had fallen since Tuesday. Meterologists say the floods are the worst in the region since 1827. About 2,000 rescue workers have been drafted into affected regions around Draguignan - the worst-hit area - near the Mediterranean coast to help those trapped in their vehicles or houses. Water levels were said to be falling slightly in Draguignan on Wednesday, though the rain was continuing in nearby Roquebrune and Frejus. Meteo France has warned of further storms on Wednesday night. ""We have never seen so much rain in the month of June,"" Patrick Galois of Meteo France told the AFP news agency. At least 1,000 people had to leave their homes and spend the night in schools or other temporary shelters, and some 175,000 houses were estimated to have been left without electricity."
" In a reversal, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling will pursue a $1 billion federal lawsuit against the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver, and withdraw his support for the sale of the team negotiated by his wife. ""I have decided that I must fight to protect my rights,"" Sterling said Monday in a letter circulated widely among those involved in the sale and obtained by ESPN.com. ""While my position may not be popular, I believe that my rights to privacy and the preservation of my rights to due process should not be trampled."" Sterling's attorney Max Blecher earlier told ESPN.com in an email, ""The deal is off."" Sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday that Shelly Sterling and her lawyers intend to seek an emergency order from a California probate court Wednesday morning for an expedited hearing to resolve the situation with her estranged husband. Last week, both Donald Sterling and Blecher indicated publicly that they would accept the record $2 billion sale to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. In an interview with NBC4 during a charity function, Sterling said he was ready to ""move on."" However, Sterling has since changed course. Whether he will be successful in this new challenge remains to be seen. ""From the onset, I did not want to sell the Los Angeles Clippers,"" he said in the letter. ""I believe that Adam Silver acted in haste by illegally ordering the forced sale of the Clippers, banning me for life from the NBA and imposing the fine. Adam Silver's conduct in doing so without conducting any real investigation was wrong. ""The action taken by Adam Silver and the NBA constitutes a violation of my rights and fly in the face of the freedoms that are afforded to all Americans."" Blecher and another Sterling attorney, Bobby Samini, declined Monday to comment on whether the NBA's refusal to drop Sterling's lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine is the impetus for his change of heart. ""There was never a discussion involving the NBA in which we would modify Mr. Sterling's penalty in any way whatsoever,"" NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. ""Any suggestion otherwise is complete fabrication."""
" President Shimon Peres will invite Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu to his office in Jerusalem at 2:15 pm on Friday in order to charge him with the task of forming the next coalition. President Peres met separately Friday morning with both Netanyahu and Kadima Chairman Tzipi Livni, who said upon leaving the meeting, ""Whoever is prepared to forsake his values in order to sit in the coalition is unworthy of sitting in that spot."" (Ronen Medzini)"
" At least 25 people have died in a bomb explosion at a funeral procession in north-western Pakistan, police say. The suicide blast targeted the funeral of a Shia Muslim cleric who was gunned down on Thursday. There are fears Friday's death toll could go higher. The blast took place in Dera Ismail Khan, a town close to Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal area. The town has a history of sectarian violence between its Sunni and Shia Muslim communities. A curfew has been imposed in the town, 270km (170 miles) south-west of the capital, Islamabad. The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says Shia mourners were making their way to a graveyard early on Friday morning when the bomber struck. The funeral was of a prominent local Shia leader, Sher Zaman, who was shot dead in a busy market on Thursday by unidentified gunmen on a motorbike. Blast witness Gulzar Hussain told Agence France-Presse a man rushed into the centre of the funeral procession and there was a deafening explosion. ""All I could see after the blast were body parts lying in a pool of blood. Everyone around me was injured, crying and moaning. I saw injured children crying with pain. It was a scene from a slaughterhouse."" Our correspondent says that with police resources stretched, the administration called in the army to deal with rioting by incensed locals."
" (CNN) -- France has asked that the official Hamas-run TV channel Al-Aqsa not be broadcast through French-based satellite provider Eutelsat on the grounds that the station has violated a prohibition on incitement to hatred or violence based on race, religion or nationality, the French broadcasting monitoring agency said in a release. The station has broadcast ""several programs ignoring this prohibition,"" the Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel said in a June 9 release obtained Tuesday by CNN. Hazem Al-sha'rawi, the head of Al-Aqsa, said the decision was politically motivated. ""What is new is the decision is now coming from France after the success of Aqsa TV in broadcasting the campaign of the 'Freedom Flotilla' and exposing the wrongdoings of the Israeli practices that took place,"" Al-sha'rawi told CNN. ""Always after the success of media outlets in exposing the wrongdoings of the Israeli practices, decisions are made and usually are blackmail decisions. A short time is left for France to reverse this decision,"" he said. Israel says the commandos were acting in self-defense, pointing to videos that show people on the boat swinging clubs at the Israeli military members as they lowered themselves onto the ship on ropes from helicopters."
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" Floods have driven almost 13,000 people from their homes in the southern Brazilian state of Parana two days before the FIFA World Cup begins, officials have said. The state's civil defence department reported that flooding hit 132 cities, killing at least nine people. It is unclear if the floods have affected Arena da Baixada stadium in the state capital Curitiba, which will host the first of four games on Monday when Iran and Nigeria do battle in Group F. Defending champions Spain trained in the city on Monday."
" Palestinian suspected of car theft shot to death during chase in Gush Etzion settlement bloc (Haaretz) U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)"
" Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, center, with federal officials at a press conference on the response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Friday, April 30, 2010. Coast Guard, Interrior Secretary Ken Salazar, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Homeland Security Secretary Janet napolitano CBS Oil from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico oozed into Louisiana's ecologically rich wetlands Friday as storms threatened to frustrate desperate protection efforts.At a press conference this afternoon Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said President Obama has ordered the administration to use ""every single available resource"" in response to the oil spill that has spread through the Gulf of Mexico and has already reached ashore.She also said an investigation has been ordered into the cause of the April 20 explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig, in which 11 workers were presumed killed.At the same press conference Gov. Bobby Jindal thanked President Obama for the help his administration has put forth in efforts to halt the spread of the massive oil spill. He said British Petroleum did not have adequate resources and capabilities to prevent the situation from worsening.Jindal also said officials are doing everything they can to protect the state's fragile coastline from the oil slick, which is growing as oil spews from the seabed.""These next few days are critical, and that's why we must do everything necessary and possible to protect our coast,"" said Jindal.Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he has asked other oil companies to offer their expertise to help BP resolve the crisis.""We cannot rest, and we will not rest, until BP secures the well head and cleans up every drop of oil,"" Salazar said.Boats patrolled coastal marshes early Friday looking for areas where the oil has flowed in, the Coast Guard said, and the state of Louisiana diverted thousands of gallons of fresh water from the Mississippi River to try to flush out the wetlands, though that effort was being hampered by wind.The Defense Department has approved the use of two U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo planes to spray chemicals to help break up the Gulf Coast oil spill, Pentagon officials said Friday as they considered what more the military could do to assist.The two C-130 Hercules cargo planes were staging for their flights at Lake Charles, La., after getting their orders Friday, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said. The planes were sent from the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Ohio on Thursday.Defense Secretary Robert Gates also was considering a request from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal for the federal government to pay for 6,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen who were mobilized Friday to help with security, medical needs, engineering and other tasks.The Louisiana National Guard has also mobilized for the fight, announcing Friday that it will send communication equipment, boats, all-terrain vehicles and other equipment to Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Terrebonne, Lafourche and Jefferson parishes.The Guard also is planning to send dump trucks and security vehicles to help deal with the oil spill.Asked if he was confident the military was doing all it could to help, Morrell said: ""We are confident that we are providing what has been asked of us and what is required of us at this point.""But he noted the situation continued to evolve as oil seeped into Louisiana's wetlands and threatened to push deeper inland.""This is a dynamic, changing situation,"" Morrell said, and the military will help as needed.The Navy said Thursday that it was sending booms, skimmers and contractors to and opening two of its bases in Mississippi and Florida as staging areas.The help was provided under existing agreements the two services have with the Coast Guard for such efforts. U.S. Northern Command has officers on the coast working with the Department of Homeland Security to figure out what more may be needed, Morrell said.The White House also put a hold on any new offshore oil projects until safeguards are in place to prevent rig explosions like the one that caused the spill.The National Weather Service predicted winds, high tides and waves through Sunday that could push oil deep into the inlets, ponds and lakes that line the boot of southeastern Louisiana. Seas of 6 to 7 feet were pushing tides several feet above normal toward the coast, compounded by thunderstorms expected in the area Friday.An animal rescue operation at Fort Jackson, about 70 miles southeast of New Orleans, had its first patient Friday, a young northern gannett found offshore.The bird is normally white with a yellow head and long, pointed beak but was covered in thick, black oil. Workers with Delaware-based Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research used Dawn blue dishwashing soap to scrub it.Volunteers started arriving in Venice, La., though there wasn't much for them to do because the weather was so bad. About two dozen workers in hard hats and lifejackets were stuck on shore at a marina, lounging on small work boats, some laden with boom, ready to go to work. Some smoked cigarettes and spat sunflower seeds as they waited for assignments.Volunteer Valerie Gonsoulin, a 51-year-old kayaker from Lafayette who wore an ""America's Wetlands"" hat, said she hoped to help spread containment booms to hold back the oil.""I go out in the marshes three times a week. It's my peace and serenity,"" she said. ""I'm horrified. ... I've been sitting here watching that NASA image grow and it grows. I knew it would hit every place I fish and love.""President Barack Obama on Friday directed that no new offshore oil drilling leases be issued unless rigs have new safeguards. Mr. Obama ordered Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to report within 30 days on what new technologies are needed.""We are making sure any leases going forward have those safeguards,"" said Mr. Obama at a White House Rose Garden event. He recently lifted a drilling moratorium for many offshore areas, including the Atlantic and Gulf.Meanwhile, the Pentagon approved the use of two Air Force planes to dump chemicals on the oil spill, which civilian planes have already been doing.The Navy also sent equipment for the cleanup, and Pentagon officials were talking with the Department of Homeland Security to figure out what other help the military could give.President Obama reassured Gulf Coast communities that the federal government is ""fully prepared"" to meet its responsibilities to them as the spill gets worse.The leak from a blown-out well a mile underwater is five times bigger than first believed. More than 200,000 gallons of oil a day are spewing from the site of the rig, which was operated by BP and owned by Transocean Ltd. It sank two days after the explosion.The Coast Guard is working with BP to deploy floating booms, skimmers and chemical dispersants, and has set controlled fires to burn the oil off the water's surface.Faint fingers of oily sheen began reaching the Mississippi River delta late Thursday, lapping the Louisiana shoreline in long, thin lines. Thicker oil was farther offshore. Officials have said they would do everything to keep the Mississippi River open to traffic.The Coast Guard defended the federal response so far. Asked on all three network television morning shows Friday whether the government has done enough to push oil company BP PLC to plug the underwater leak and protect the coast, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Sally Brice-O'Hara said the response led by the Coast Guard has been rapid, sustained and has adapted as the threat grew.Brice-O'Hara was also asked on ABC's ""Good Morning America"" about the possibility of dispersing chemicals about a mile beneath the surface to break up oil. She replied: ""That is a technology that is in new stages. We are working closely with our scientific support from NOAA, and there will be careful scrutiny. But if it has applicability, which we think it does, we want to get that in place very quickly.""The oil slick could become the nation's worst environmental disaster in decades, threatening to eclipse even the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the Exxon Valdez, the grounded tanker that leaked 11 million gallons in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989. The sheen measured about 70 miles by 130 miles as of Thursday, and officials expected to update that figure Friday.It imperils hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world's richest seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters and other marine life.""This is a very, very big thing,"" David Kennedy, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told The Associated Press about the spill. ""And the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling.""Volunteers were preparing to help wildlife that might be affected. Oil clumps seabirds' feathers, leaving them without insulation - and when they preen, they swallow it. Prolonged contact with the skin can cause burns, said Nils Warnock, a spill recovery supervisor with the California Oiled Wildlife Care Network at the University of California-Davis. Oil swallowed by animals can cause anemia, hemorrhaging and other problems, said Jay Holcomb, executive director of the International Bird Rescue Research Center in California.BP shares continued falling early Friday. Shares were down 2 percent in early trading on the London Stock Exchange, a day after dropping 7 percent in London. In New York on Thursday, BP shares fell $4.78 to close at $52.56, taking the fall in the company's market value to about $25 billion since the explosion.BP has requested more resources from the Defense Department, especially underwater equipment that might be better than what is commercially available. A BP executive said the corporation would ""take help from anyone."" That includes fishermen who could be hired to help deploy containment boom.The Coast Guard and BP have at least six remotely operated vehicles working to close an underwater valve meant to keep the oil from reaching the surface. Meanwhile, crews are drilling a relief well that will essentially suck the oil away from the original well, decreasing the pressure and slowing the leak, though that could take up to three months.Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency and asked the federal government if he could call up 6,000 National Guard troops to help.Florida Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency for the state's Panhandle, covering Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Gulf Counties."
" (CNN) -- A huge oil spill oozing toward the Gulf Coast on Thursday threatens hundreds of species of wildlife, some in their prime breeding season, environmental organizations said. The Coast Guard said Wednesday that the amount of oil spilling from an underwater well after an oil rig explosion last week has increased to as many as 5,000 barrels of oil a day, or 210,000 gallons, five times more than what was originally believed. Although efforts to minimize the damage are under way and options under consideration include asking the U.S. military for assistance, wildlife conservation groups say the oil could pose a ""growing environmental disaster."" ""The terrible loss of 11 workers (unaccounted for after the rig explosion) may be just the beginning of this tragedy as the oil slick spreads toward sensitive coastal areas vital to birds and marine life and to all the communities that depend on them,"" said Melanie Driscoll, director of bird conservation for the Louisiana Coastal Initiative, in a statement. Coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida could be at risk, the organization said. ""For birds, the timing could not be worse; they are breeding, nesting and especially vulnerable in many of the places where the oil could come ashore,"" she said. ""The efforts to stop the oil before it reaches shore are heroic, but may not be enough. We have to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, including a true catastrophe for birds."" ""The best case is, the wind shifts and the oil doesn't hit,"" said Tom MacKenzie of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. ""I'm not real confident about that. ... We're doing everything we can to prevent it, but it could be a bad one."" It's not just birds that could be affected, although they are usually the first to feel the effects, said Gregory Bossart, chief veterinary officer for the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. The birds are right at the surface, get covered in the oil and swallow it, causing liver and kidney problems. ""They need to be rescued and cleaned,"" he said. But the coastline of Louisiana, with its barrier islands and estuaries, ""is a very unique ecosystem. It's very complex,"" Bossart said."
" The document reportedly blames the three-year-old conflict for increasing the threat of terrorism and helping fuel Islamic radicalism worldwide. However, a White House spokesman said the newspaper report was ""not representative of the entire document"". The paper has not seen the report, but spoke to people familiar with it. The BBC's defence correspondent Rob Watson says this is not the first time the US intelligence community has said that the war in Iraq has made the problem of Islamist extremism worse. Indeed it had warned that might happen even before the US-led invasion in 2003. According to the New York Times, which has spoken to officials who have either read it, or been involved in drafting it, the report says the invasion and occupation of Iraq has spawned a new generation of Islamic radicalism that has spread across the globe. It also warns that Islamic militants who have fought in Iraq could foment radicalism and violence when they return to their home countries, much as returning Jihadis did after the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s. It reportedly concludes that, while al-Qaeda may have been weakened since the 11 September 2001 attacks, the radical Islamic movement worldwide has strengthened with the formation of new groups and cells who are inspired by Osama Bin Laden, but not under his direct control. But White House spokesman Peter Watkins hit back at the newspaper's report, saying: ""Their [terrorists'] hatred for freedom and liberty did not develop overnight, those seeds were planted decades ago. ""Instead of waiting while they plot and plan attacks to kill innocent Americans, the United States has taken the initiative to fight back."""
" Arsen Avakov said that a ""column"" with armoured vehicles crossed from Russia through border control points controlled by pro-Russian separatists near the Dyakove village in eastern Ukraine, according to the Interfax news agency. Mr Avakov said that ""part of this column has been destroyed"" by Ukrainian forces. He said the incursion took place despite Russian statements of interest in a peaceful solution and intent to increase border controls. The reports followed statements by Russia's foreign minister that the pro-Moscow separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine are ready for a ceasefire but that Kiev has to initiate the process. Sergey Lavrov was also quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Moscow will introduce a resolution in the United Nations on the Ukrainian crisis, but that Russia was not seeking authorisation to send in peacekeeping troops. The Ukrainian rebels have suggested that Russia should send peacekeepers, but Moscow says that could only be done with UN authorisation. Ukraine's government and Western countries allege that Russia is fomenting or supporting the uprising in the east, where insurgents have declared two regions independent and are seeking annexation by Russia. Moscow denies it has agents in eastern Ukraine, but it is unclear to what extent it has contacts or influence with the rebels. Mr Lavrov said: ""We know that the rebels in the south-east are ready to hold fire, but the first step by all rights should be made by the Kiev authorities."" He said the proposed UN resolution would concentrate on demanding fulfilment of proposals set forth in a so-called ""road map"" for resolving the conflict developed by the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)."
" NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday it scheduled a controlled burn in the Gulf of Mexico to minimize environmental risks of an oil slick coming from the site of the sunken oil rig Deepwater Horizon as concern about the accident mounts. The Coast Guard said the burn is expected to remove ""large quantities of oil"" following the April 20 explosion that resulted in the sinking of the $600 million rig and the presumed death of 11 missing workers. The well has been leaking an estimated 1,000 barrels of oil a day. The rig was owned by Transocean RIG, -3.19% and operated for a consortium led by BP BP, -1.32% Work boats will collect oil into a fire-resistant boom approximately 500 feet long, the Coast Guard said. The oil will then be towed to a more remote area, where it will be ignited and burned. The plan calls for small, controlled burns of several thousand gallons of oil lasting approximately one hour each. ""No populated areas are expected to be affected by the controlled burn operations and there are no anticipated impacts to marine mammals and sea turtles,"" the Coast Guard said. ""It is a no-win situation,"" said Jackie Savitz, senior scientist at Oceana, an environmental advocacy group. ""The only good answer is prevention and we are past that point. I am actually hopeful that this becomes sort of a reset moment when in thinking about how we develop our offshore oil resources."" She noted that burning has never been done in the ocean, although it has been used to tackle spills in rivers ""and they are lot different - not as deep, for one thing."" Ty Priest, director of Global Studies at the business school at the University of Houston and a historian of the oil rig business, said the Deepwater Horizon marks the first major leak at an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico since 1979. The Ixot I blowout at a semi-submersible rig drilling a two-mile-deep well in about 150 feet of water off the coast of Mexico lasted nine months and leaked up to 30,000 barrels of oil a day. Attempts to cap the well were initially unsuccessful. After two relief wells were drilled to relieve pressure from the well, personnel were able to cap it."
" Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has applied for a visa to visit the United States next week, the US says. The application is apparently motivated by his wish to be at the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference starting on Monday. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be among more than 30 foreign ministers attending the opening day of discussions at the United Nations. The US says Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, but Tehran denies this. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said: ""My understanding is that as of today he (Mr Ahmadinejad) has filed an application for a visa."" Tehran says its nuclear energy programme is for peaceful, civilian purposes. But the US and five other powers - Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany - are discussing proposed new UN sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a key step on the road to creating nuclear weapons."
" They also say they have assumed legislative powers and duties in the absence of a parliament. Two of ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra's ministers were detained by the military leaders, joining his deputy PM and top aide who were already being held. Mr Thaksin said he planned a ""deserved rest"", but called for quick elections. Coup leader Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin has proposed a year-long transitional period as a constitution is drafted. But opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva challenged the military's timeframe and called for elections in six months. US Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill said the country was reviewing its aid to Thailand, and described the coup as a ""very sad development"" for Thai democracy. Bangkok residents returned to work on Thursday for the first time since Tuesday's bloodless takeover, with tanks continuing to patrol the capital's streets. It also summoned the editors of a number of television stations and asked them not to broadcast opinions from the public sent in by text message. The military has been blocking broadcasts it deems harmful, and had already forbidden gatherings of more than five people. A statement said the restrictions on political activity would be reversed when normality returned."
" It took rescue workers about 36 hours to find the plane wreckage Pilot error was to blame for the 2007 crash in Cameroon of a Kenya Airways flight in which 114 people died, an official investigation has concluded. A report says the Boeing 737 took off during a storm without clearance from air traffic control in Douala. The pilot was given misleading instructions about how to stabilise the aircraft which then crashed upside down into a swamp, it says. The Kenyan authorities said lessons had been learned and safety improved. The investigation was carried out by the authorities in Cameroon in conjunction with Kenya Airways At a press conference in Nairobi following the release of the report, Kenya Airways sought to cast doubt over the degree to which human error was to blame. ""We have some reservations on the report, particularly touching on the probable cause of the accident,"" Titus Naikuni, Kenya Airways chief executive, told the BBC. The BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi says the findings make uncomfortable reading for Kenya Airways, which is partly owned by the Dutch Airline KLM. Flight recorders reveal that just 90 seconds after take-off the plane had rolled almost 90 degrees to the right. When the captain noticed the problem he said, ""We are crashing."" The first officer then mistakenly told the pilot to turn right, before correcting himself and saying, ""Captain, left, left, left."" Nine seconds later the plane crashed into the swamp, disintegrating on impact. It took rescue workers about 36 hours to find the wreckage. The report identified the age difference between the 52-year-old pilot and the 23-year-old first officer as a contributing factor, reports the Associated Press - one of whose reporters was killed in the crash. The findings speculate that the young first officer was too shy to tell the more senior pilot about the plane's problems after take-off. In January 2000 another Kenya Airways plane crashed in Ivory Coast killing more than 150 passengers. Despite these accidents the airline is widely considered one of the best in sub-Saharan Africa, our correspondent says."
" Earlier we reported that the Senate would hold a vote to cut off debate today on the nomination of Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., as secretary of Labor. Now comes word that senators have reached an agreement to avoid that and will have a straight up-or-down vote on her confirmation at 4:30 p.m. ET. The Huffington Post has the story, as does Congressional Quarterly. The CQ news alert: ""By unanimous consent, the Senate has agreed to vote at 4:30 p.m. on the nomination of Rep. Hilda L. Solis, D-Calif., to be secretary of Labor. Republicans agreed to skip a scheduled procedural vote earlier in the day."" Update at 4:55 p.m. ET: Solis has won confirmation, 80-17. Click here to read more about her."
" SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- Stalinist North Korea deployed new medium-range ballistic missiles and expanded special forces training during 2008, South Korea's defense ministry reported. The missiles can travel about 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles), possibly putting U.S. military bases in the Pacific Ocean territory of Guam within striking distance, the Ministry of National Defense said in its 2008 Defense White Paper, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday. The paper, published after weeks of delay, calls the North's 1.2 million-strong military an ""immediate and grave threat,"" according to Yonhap. The report adds that the North has recently bolstered its naval forces, reinforcing submarines and developing new torpedoes, in addition to increasing its special forces training after reviewing U.S. military tactics in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tension between Pyongyang and Seoul has increased in recent weeks, with North Korea announcing it would scrap peace agreements with the South, warning of a war on the Korean peninsula and threatening to test a missile capable of hitting the western United States. U.S. and South Korean officials have said that North Korea appears to be preparing to test-fire its long-range missile, the Taepodong-2. Pyongyang tested one of the missiles in 2006, but it failed 40 seconds after launch. The missile is thought to have an intended range of about 4,200 miles (6,700 kilometers), which if true, could give it the capability of striking Alaska or Hawaii. North Korea has been involved in what is known as the six-party talks with the United States, Japan, Russia, South Korea and China, which is an effort to end the nation's nuclear program, which the U.S. says is linked to nuclear weapons. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who returned from Asia on Sunday after her first overseas trip in the post, recently called North Korea's nuclear program ""the most acute challenge to stability in northeast Asia."""
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Seven people - including a baby - have been hurt after a shooting incident at the New Orleans Mardi Gras in the US. Police lining the parade route on historic St Charles Avenue heard the shots among the crowd at about 1340 local time (1940 GMT). The shootings happened after the parade's floats had driven past. Police arrested two suspects soon after. The infant was grazed along the back but was not seriously hurt, said police spokesman Bob Young. ""It sounded like a string of fireworks, so I knew it was more than one shooter,"" witness Toni Labat told the Associated Press news agency. ""Everybody was petrified. They hit the ground, the floats stopped, everybody on the floats ducked,"" she said, adding she saw one man dragging himself along the ground and another man bleeding from the mouth, the agency reported. Those injured in the shooting were three men aged 50, 33 and 20, two young women aged 20 and 17 and a 15-year-old boy, as well as the 20-month-old infant, it was reported. Two of the men were shot in the stomach and operated on, while the others are said to be in stable conditions with injuries not thought to be life-threatening. Doctor Jim Parry, a 41-year-old surgeon, was nearby and tended one man who had been shot in the abdomen, AP reported. ""He kept asking me, 'Was I shot? Was I shot?'"" he was quoted as saying. The two men arrested by police were reported to be aged 18 and 20. Three weapons were recovered when they were held, AP reported. No motive for the shootings has yet been determined, police said. The shootings marred what had been described as a generally peaceful event, which saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the historic heart of New Orleans for a day of street parties."
" NAIROBI (Reuters) - Pilot error was the probable cause for the crash of a Kenya Airways jet in Cameroon in May 2007 which killed all 114 people on board, a technical investigation has found. The Boeing 737-800 airliner plunged into a mangrove swamp on a stormy night minutes after taking off from Douala, the west African nation's largest city, en route to Nairobi. ""The airplane crashed after loss of control by the crew as a result of spatial disorientation ... after a long slow roll during which no instrument scanning was done, and in the absence of external visual references in a dark night,"" said the report released by the Cameroonian authorities on Tuesday. The crash report, compiled by the Cameroonian Civil Aviation Authority, found the pilot failed to notice the aircraft was banking slowly to the right as it gained altitude. Just before a warning alarm sounded, the captain grabbed the control column making erratic movements and sending the jet into a steeper turn. As the aircraft banked beyond 90 degrees, descending into a downward spiral, the first officer called out ""Left, left, left captain,"" moments before the airliner hit the ground. The airline, which is 26 percent owned by Air France-KLM, said it had reservations over the report's findings that the pilot had not properly engaged the autopilot after take off. ""One (reservation) is to do with the auto pilot, CRM (Crew Resources Management) and safety programme implementation,"" Titus Naikuni, the head of Kenya Airways, told reporters. The report also said the Boeing flight manual did not include full information on the ability of the aircraft's autopilot to roll the airplane to a safe degree of banking from a dangerous level."
" * Gulf states account for bulk of U.S. shrimp industry (Adds suit filed in Alabama, background, quotes) HOUSTON, April 29 (Reuters) - Shrimpers in Louisiana and Alabama have filed class-action lawsuits against oil giant BP Plc (BP.L) and owners of the drilling platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, as claims for economic losses anticipated from the disaster began to mount. Two similar lawsuits, filed late on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans and on Thursday in the adjacent Gulf Coast state of Alabama, accuse the companies of negligence. The huge oil slick was expected to reach a wildlife reserve at the mouth of the Mississippi River on Thursday as it menaced the environmentally sensitive coastline of four states. [ID:nN29104665] The Gulf Coast region ranks as one of the most productive U.S. fisheries, especially for shrimp, accounting for more than 70 percent of a nationwide catch valued at $442 million in 2008, the last year for which federal figures were available. The blowout comes at a particularly bad time for the shrimp industry, coinciding with the very start of the season as shrimp stocks make their way from estuaries out to sea. ""So they're moving directly into the path of the oil spill,"" said Deborah Long, spokeswoman for the Southern Shrimp Alliance trade group, which is not a party to the lawsuits. The suits were filed on behalf of three commercial shrimp fishermen -- two in Louisiana and one in Alabama -- who are named in their respective complaints, and other coastal residents whose livelihoods are threatened by the spill. The Coast Guard estimates that 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) of crude oil a day is gushing from the sea floor where the blowout occurred, and authorities have said it could take weeks to cap the leak as BP mounts what it calls the largest oil spill containment operation in history. The suits name as defendants London-based BP Plc, which holds the lease to the offshore well; Swiss-based Transocean Ltd RIGN.S (RIG.N), owner of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform that exploded in flames on April 20 and collapsed two days later; Halliburton Energy Services Inc (HAL.N), which was engaged in cementing operations of the well and well cap; and Cameron International Corp (CAM.N), which supplied the rig's blow-out prevention equipment that failed."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The US military has joined efforts to stop an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico as fears rise about its scale. Five times as much oil as previously thought could be leaking from the well beneath where a rig exploded and sank last week, the US Coast Guard says. Rear Admiral Mary Landry said 5,000 barrels a day were thought to be gushing into the sea off Louisiana. The Department of Homeland Security has designated the spill as one of ""national significance"". Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who is to go to Louisiana to oversee operations, told reporters in Washington that this designation would allow resources to be ordered in from other areas of the US. At the same briefing, a coastguard official said the oil slick was expected to wash ashore on the Gulf Coast on Friday. And Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior David Hayes said the US government had ordered inspections of all deep-water oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico to see if anti-spill regulations were being followed. The newly-discovered leak and the news that up to five times as much oil is now leaking from the sunken rig have given a new sense of urgency to the situation here on the Gulf Coast. The huge slick is now close to reaching land and if the weather turns as forecasters predict, the oil may reach the coastline sooner than thought. Attempts at controlled burns may be inevitable but Louisiana is now asking for outside help to try to stem the flow of oil. There is some dispute as to how much oil is now spewing from the sunken rig but all along this delicate coastline, officials are preparing themselves for what could be a huge environmental disaster. The oil slick caused by the leak is 45 miles by 105 miles and is heading towards the coast. If the coastguard estimate is correct, within two months the spill could match the 11 million gallons spilt from the Exxon Valdez tanker off Alaska in 1989. Oil giant BP operated the Deepwater Horizon rig. Its chief operating officer of exploration and production, Doug Suttles, welcomed the US military's offer of help. He said the company was using remote operative vehicles (ROVs) to try to find out how much oil was leaking into the sea. ""This is very, very difficult to estimate,"" Mr Suttles told reporters. ""Down below the surface we actually can't meter this oil so we can just observe it... what our ROV pictures show to us on the sea floor hasn't changed since we first saw the leak... but what we can say based on what we're picking up on the surface it looks like it is more."" Mr Suttles estimated something between 1,000 and 5,000 barrels a day was leaking. Meanwhile, a firefighting expert said the disaster may become the biggest oil spill ever. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Mike Miller, head of Canadian oil well firefighting company Safety Boss, told the BBC World Service: ""Probably the only thing comparable to this is the Kuwait fires [following the Gulf War in 1991]. ""The Exxon Valdez is going to pale in comparison to this as it goes on."" Scientists say only a quarter of local marine wildlife survived the Exxon Valdez disaster. The scale of the operation to contain the oil spill and protect both the US coastline and wildlife is unprecedented, with the military and other government agencies collaborating with BP - which had hired the sunken rig - and industry leaders. How the oil has spread  Efforts to stem the flow are being complicated by the depth of the leak at the underwater well, which is about 5,000ft (1,525m) beneath the surface. A coastguard crew has set fire to part of the oil slick in an attempt to save environmentally-fragile wetlands. A ""controlled burn"" of surface oil took place in an area about 30 miles (50km) east of the Mississippi River delta. But Mr Miller warned that burning off leaking oil was not a long-term solution. ""The object of this game is to shut off the flow,"" he said. Engineers are working on a dome-like device to cover oil rising to the surface and pump it to container vessels, but it may be weeks before this is in place. 1991: 520m gallons were deliberately released from Iraqi oil tankers during the first Gulf War to impede the US invasion 1979: 140m gallons were spilt over nine months after a well blow-out in the Bay of Campeche off Mexico's coast 1979: 90m gallons leaked from a Greek oil tanker after it collided with another ship off the coast of Trinidad 1983: 80m gallons leaked into the Gulf over several months after a tanker collided with a drilling platform 1989: 11m gallons were spilt into Alaska's Prince William Sound in the Exxon Valdez disaster In pictures: Efforts to contain leak It is feared that work on sealing the leaking well using robotic submersibles might take months. BP is also working on a ""relief well"" to intersect the original well, but this is experimental and could take two to three months to stop the flow. Seventy vessels - oil skimmers, tugboats barges and special recovery boats that separate oil from water - as well as five aeroplanes, were working to spray dispersants and round up oil, BP said. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the worst oil rig disaster in almost a decade. Louisiana's coast contains some 40% of the nation's wetlands and spawning grounds for countless fish and birds. AFP news agency reports that two Louisiana shrimpers have filed a lawsuit accusing the operators of the rig of negligence, and seeking at least $5m in damages plus undetermined punitive damages."
" Prime Minister David Cameron has been urged to launch an investigation into allegations that Britain's electronic listening post GCHQ has been gathering data through a secret US spy programme. Labour's Keith Vaz said the claims were ""chilling"" and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper demanded an inquiry. According to The Guardian, GCHQ had access to data covertly gathered from leading internet firms in the US. GCHQ said it operated within a ""strict legal and policy framework"". The Guardian says it has obtained documents showing that the secret listening post had access to the Prism system, set up by America's National Security Agency (NSA), since at least June 2010. The documents were said to show that the British agency had generated 197 intelligence reports through the system in the 12 months to May 2012 - a 137% increase on the previous year. Continue reading the main story Britain's GCHQ has an incredibly close relationship with its US counterpart - and that is now drawing it into controversy. At issue is whether America's Prism programme has been used to cast a significantly wider surveillance net over communications. Is Prism simply a means of accessing forms of communication information in a more streamlined way (by directly accessing servers) or does it involve collecting whole new categories of information? And about whom? Critics will ask whether GCHQ could have used this to get round existing restrictions on whom it collects on. That's something the spy agency seems to be pushing back against by saying that everything it does is within a legal and policy framework to make sure it is authorised, necessary and proportionate. It should come as no surprise that spy agencies spy - and that they don't like talking about how they spy or on whom. But this revelation will lead to questions from the public about whether those agencies might be spying on them. The newspaper said that the Prism programme appeared to allow the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to circumvent the formal legal process required to obtain personal material, such as emails, photographs and videos, from internet companies based outside the UK. Mr Vaz, the chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said: ""The most chilling aspect is that ordinary American citizens and potentially British citizens too were apparently unaware that their phone and online interactions could be watched. ""This seems to be the snooper's charter by the back door. I shall be writing to the home secretary asking for a full explanation."""
" Written by RFE/RL editors and correspondents, Transmission serves up news, comment, and the odd silly dictator story. While our primary concern is with foreign policy, Transmission is also a place for the ideas -- some serious, some irreverent -- that bubble up from our bureaus. The name recognizes RFE/RL's role as a surrogate broadcaster to places without free media. You can write us at transmission+rferl.org"
" Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili leaves after his news conference at the Iranian Consulate in Istanbul May 16, 2013. The June 14 vote will be the Islamic Republic's first since the 2009 re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that led to months of unrest by backers of the losing reformist side who said his victory was rigged. Security forces crushed the protests and two reformist leaders have been under house arrest since 2011. With the field narrowed to largely hardline conservative candidates, three televised debates were held to drum up public interest in the election. But with each lasting four hours and set to a complex format devoting only short periods for questions and answers, the initiative may do the opposite. Jalili has presided over a hardening in Iran's position in talks with world powers concerned that Tehran may be seeking to develop the means to build atomic bombs, which it denies. But in Friday's debate, former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati cast doubt on Jalili's ability, saying diplomacy was not just theory. ""What people are seeing, Mr Jalili, is that you have not gone forward even one step, and the pressure of (international) sanctions still exists. The art of diplomacy is to preserve (our) nuclear rights, not to see sanctions increase,"" he said. Sanctions imposed on Iran over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment and open up to U.N. nuclear inspectors have intensified over the past few years, now hitting its vital oil exports and helping trigger a plunge in its rial currency. ""When the other side is ready to take three steps and you want to take one step it is obvious that you do not want to make progress,"" Velayati said, referring to Jalili's two rounds of talks with the six powers in Kazakhstan earlier this year. Jalili rebuffed his rival's information as ""completely false"". While Jalili and Velayati are both seen as close to clerical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Velayati is considered to be more flexible on aspects of foreign policy. Iran says the nuclear program is solely an effort to develop an alternative source of electricity for a rapidly growing population and advance areas of scientific research. Leaders across Iran's political spectrum champion its right to a sovereign nuclear energy program, rejecting Western calls for a suspension. But there are some differences over strategy in talks and leeway for any deal to ease sanctions pressure."
" We followed Wednesday's story about the NSA's bulk telephone record-gathering with one yesterday about the agency's direct access to the servers of the world's largest internet companies. I don't have time at the moment to address all of the fallout because - to borrow someone else's phrase - I'm Looking Forward to future revelations that are coming (and coming shortly), not Looking Backward to ones that have already come. But I do want to make two points. One is about whistleblowers, and the other is about threats of investigations emanating from Washington: 1) Ever since the Nixon administration broke into the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychoanalyst's office, the tactic of the US government has been to attack and demonize whistleblowers as a means of distracting attention from their own exposed wrongdoing and destroying the credibility of the messenger so that everyone tunes out the message. That attempt will undoubtedly be made here. I'll say more about all that shortly, but for now: as these whistleblowing acts becoming increasingly demonized (""reprehensible"", declared Director of National Intelligence James Clapper yesterday), please just spend a moment considering the options available to someone with access to numerous Top Secret documents. They could easily enrich themselves by selling those documents for huge sums of money to foreign intelligence services. They could seek to harm the US government by acting at the direction of a foreign adversary and covertly pass those secrets to them. They could gratuitously expose the identity of covert agents. None of the whistleblowers persecuted by the Obama administration as part of its unprecedented attack on whistleblowers has done any of that: not one of them. Nor have those who are responsible for these current disclosures. They did not act with any self-interest in mind. The opposite is true: they undertook great personal risk and sacrifice for one overarching reason: to make their fellow citizens aware of what their government is doing in the dark. Their objective is to educate, to democratize, to create accountability for those in power. The people who do this are heroes. They are the embodiment of heroism. They do it knowing exactly what is likely to be done to them by the planet's most powerful government, but they do it regardless. They don't benefit in any way from these acts. I don't want to over-simplify: human beings are complex, and usually act with multiple, mixed motives. But read this outstanding essay on this week's disclosures from The Atlantic's security expert, Bruce Schneier, to understand why these brave acts are so crucial. Those who step forward to blow these whistles rarely benefit at all. The ones who benefit are you. You discover what you should know but what is hidden from you: namely, the most consequential acts being taken by those with the greatest power, and how those actions are affecting your life, your country and your world. In 2008, candidate Obama decreed that ""often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out,"" and he hailed whistleblowing as:"
" Al-Qaeda head Osama Bin Laden was 'within grasp' of US Osama Bin Laden is believed to be hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas US forces had Osama Bin Laden ""within their grasp"" in Afghanistan in late 2001, a US Senate report says. It says calls for US reinforcements were rejected, allowing the al-Qaeda leader to ""walk unmolested"" into Pakistan's unregulated tribal areas. The report was prepared by the Foreign Relations Committee Democratic staff. It says the failure to kill or capture Bin Laden had far-reaching consequences and laid the foundation for the protracted Afghan insurgency. The report comes as President Barack Obama prepares to announce a long-awaited decision on sending troop reinforcements to Afghanistan. It is highly critical of officials in former President George W Bush's administration and military commanders at the time. It says that while the ""vast array of American military power... was kept on the sidelines"", US commanders ""chose to rely on air strikes and untrained Afghan militias"" to pursue Bin Laden in the mountainous complex of caves and tunnels known as Tora Bora. Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader ""On or around 16 December [2001], two days after writing his will, Bin Laden and an entourage of bodyguards walked unmolested out of Tora Bora and disappeared into Pakistan's unregulated tribal area,"" where he is still thought to be hiding, the report says. The then US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressed concern at the time that a large US troop presence in the area could provoke a backlash and he said the evidence about Bin Laden's location was not conclusive. The report says the ""failure to finish the job"" laid the foundation for ""today's protracted Afghan insurgency and inflaming the internal strife now endangering Pakistan"". It acknowledges that removing Bin Laden ""would not have eliminated the worldwide extremist threat"". But it adds that ""the decisions that opened the door for his escape to Pakistan allowed Bin Laden to emerge as a potent symbolic figure who continues to attract a steady flow of money and inspire fanatics worldwide"". The report rebuffs claims by Bush administration officials at the time that intelligence about Bin Laden's location was inconclusive. ""The review of existing literature, unclassified government records and interviews with central participants underlying this report removes any lingering doubts and makes it clear that Osama Bin Laden was within our grasp at Tora Bora,"" it says."
" The Prime Minister of Canada has appointed a member of the opposition Liberal Party to set up an advisory committee on Afghanistan. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he is trying to create an advisory body that is apolitical, so he chose former Liberal Party deputy prime minister John Manley to head the five-person committee. While Mr Manley is considered hawkish on Afghanistan, he remains no friend of the Prime Minister. Afghanistan remains one of the most important political issues in Canada today. The current commitment to keep 2,500 soldiers in the country expires in just 16 months. Right now all three of the opposition political parties are calling for Canada's role to be reduced, if not eliminated."
" YAOUNDE, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Equatorial Guinea opened the presidential elections on Sunday morning to choose the leader of the oil rich central African country, with the current head of state, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, seen as the front runner of the five contenders, according to reports monitored here. Obiang, 67, has declared that he does not expect anything less than 97 percent of the votes cast in the elections being unfolded. Election officials said the polling stations were set to close at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT). African monitors were deployed to follow the process. The final outcome is expected within a week, although initial results could be known in one or two days. The candidate for the ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), Obiang, who has been in power for three decades, won the last election in December 2002 with 97.1 percent of the votes cast. The four other candidates are Placido Minko Abogo of the Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS), Carmelo Mba Bacale of the Popular Action for Equatorial Guinea, Achivaldo Montero of the People's Union and Bonaventura Monsuy Asumu of the Coalition of Social democrats Party. The elections are seen as a race mainly between Obiang and Minko Abogo, although the president is widely expected to win another landslide victory. Obiang led a coup in August 1979 which toppled the then leader Francisco Macias Nguema. In 1982, He was elected president for a seven-year term. Obiang was re-elected in 1989, 1996 and 2002, each time with more than 90 percent of vote. Mico Abogo is the only CPDS deputy in the Chamber of People's Representatives (parliament). His party won one out of the 100 seats in the parliamentary elections in 2008, while the PDGE and its allies took all the rest."
" The US high court did not give an explanation for its decision on Tuesday, Oct. 9, to refuse the appeal of Khaled el-Masri, a Lebanese-born German. US administration officials had called on the court to reject the case on national security grounds, arguing a public trial would reveal state secrets. ""We are very disappointed,"" el-Masri's German lawyer Manfred Gnjidic said of the decision, according to the Associated Press. ""This is going to completely shake all confidence in the American justice system."" El-Masri's lawyers turned to the Supreme Court to clarify the limits of state secrecy after suits in two lower US courts were rejected. The attorneys argued that, in the past, courts had limited evidence to what could be legally presented instead of completely stopping cases dealing with national security. ""The central facts of this case are not state secrets and do not become so simply because the government insists otherwise,"" Ben Wizner of the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in the appeal. El-Masri's accusations sparked outrage in Germany and drew worldwide attention to the CIA's ""extraordinary rendition"" program, which transported terror suspects to secret prisons in third countries for interrogation. Human rights groups, as well as several European governments and the European Union have criticized the program. Both the German government and the European Parliament launched inquires into the program to find out what their authorities may have known about the US rendition program. A German court in southern Munich in January issued arrest warrants for 13 suspects in el-Masri's alleged kidnapping, but federal officials in Berlin said in September that they would not pursue the suspects' extradition to Germany. El-Masri accused the CIA of kidnapping him on Dec. 31, 2003 in Macedonia after he was confused with a Sept. 11 terror suspect, then transporting him to Afghanistan, where he says he was interrogated and tortured for four months before being released in Albania. The United States has never admitted that it played any role in el-Masri's detention. The US administration also has asserted the so-called state secrets privilege in an effort to dismiss the lawsuits over the warrantless domestic spying program that President George W. Bush created after the Sept. 11 attacks. El-Masri's lawsuit sought damages of at least $75,000 (53,000 euros) and was brought against former CIA Director George Tenet, three private aviation companies and 20 unnamed employees of the CIA and the companies."
" The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007 was awarded jointly to Mario R. Capecchi, Sir Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies ""for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells"".  MLA style: ""The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007"". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 14 Jan 2015. 
" The suicide blasts, in the town of Baiji, targeted the town police chief and a tribal leader, they said. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has warned it will step up attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, targeting tribal groups working with US forces. Meanwhile, Nineveh province deputy police chief Brig Gen Abdul al-Thanon died in a drive-by shooting in Mosul. In Baghdad, five people were killed and 25 injured when a car bomb exploded in central al-Khulani square at about midday (0900 GMT). In Baiji, the first bomb exploded at 0600 (0300 GMT) outside police chief Saad al-Nifous' house. Police said he survived the blast. Minutes later, a second targeted Thamer Ibrahim Atallah, a senior member of the Salahuddin Awakening Council, which is a coalition of tribes fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq. One report said he had escaped unharmed, but others said his fate was unclear. Several houses and a mosque were destroyed in the blasts, which were about 1km (half-a-mile) apart. Last week, a roadside bomb killed a leader of the Salahuddin Awakening Council, Sheikh Muawiya Jebara, and three of his bodyguards near Samarra, about 100km (60 miles) from Baiji in the mostly Sunni Salahuddin province. The head of the Tikrit-based council, Sheikh Sabah Mutashar al-Shammari, recently said the tribal alliance had conducted more than 100 operations against Sunni militants."
" Turkey's prime minister remained defiant on Sunday after 10 days of anti-government protests, traveling to two cities where unrest has occurred and condemning the demonstrators as ""a handful of looters."" In the southern city of Adana, where pro- and anti-government protesters had clashed Saturday night, Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a fiery speech from the top of a bus. ""We won't do what a handful of looters have done. They burn and destroy. ... They destroy the shops of civilians. They destroy the cars of civilians,"" Erdogan told supporters who had greeted him at Adana airport. ""They are low enough to insult the prime minister of this country."" He urged his supporters to avoid violence themselves and predicted that his Islamic-rooted party would defeat his opponents during local elections in March. ""As long as you walk with us, the Justice and Development Party administration will stand strong,"" Erdogan said, referring to his party. ""As long as there is life in my body, your prime minister and your party chairman, God willing, will not be deterred by anything."" He then traveled to the city of Mersin, where anti-protests have been held, to make a similar speech and to open new sports facilities. Later Sunday, Erdogan was scheduled to travel to Ankara, the capital, where supporters are again expected to greet him in a show of force. In Adana late Saturday, a pro-government group hurled stones at marching anti-government demonstrators, the state-run Anadolu Agency said. Police evacuated women and children, but the two groups continued to clash with stones and batons. It was the second time in the last 10 days of protests that pro- and anti- demonstrated had fought with one another. On Thursday, party supporters attacked about 30 protesters in the city of Rize, on Turkey's Black Sea coast. The nationwide anti-government protests were sparked by outrage over police use of force against an environmental protest in Istanbul on May 31, and have grown into a display of discontent toward Erdogan's government."
" A Lebanese man apparently protesting against the role of Hezbollah in the Syria conflict has been killed by gunfire outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut, Lebanese security sources say. A small group was protesting at the embassy against the Shia movement and its backer, Iran, over their involvement in Syria. It is not yet known who killed the protester. Last week Hezbollah fighters helped retake the town of Qusair from rebels. Clashes broke out on Sunday between supporters and opponents of Hezbollah outside the Iranian embassy, on the outskirts of Beirut, a Lebanese army spokesman was quoted by news agency AFP as saying. The young man was injured in the fighting and later died of his wounds, the army reportedly said. Several other people were injured when Hezbollah partisans attacked the demonstrators, the spokesman told AFP. The man killed was identified by Beirut media as Hisham Salman, head of the student section of the Lebanese Option party, a small opposition group. The party's leader, like Hezbollah, is from the Shia community, however it strongly opposes Hezbollah's involvement in Syria. The protesters outside the Iranian embassy in the Bir Hassan neighbourhood made demands for Hezbollah to leave Syria."
" Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- An amnesty protecting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari from corruption charges expired on Saturday and threatened to cast the nation into political crisis. The National Reconciliation Ordinance, an amnesty passed in October 2007 under then-President Pervez Musharraf, protected more than 8,000 bureaucrats and politicians, including Zardari and his wife, late former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The supreme court could reopen corruption cases against Zardari if it declares the ordinance under Musharraf's military rule was unconstitutional and never approved by parliament. In a television interview with Pakistan's Express News on Friday, Zardari said he still had immunity as president and wasn't concerned about the reopening of cases against him. ""The president is absolutely not concerned,"" presidential spokesman Farhatullah Baber told CNN. ""The matter is now before the courts, and it's whatever the courts decide. We will cross that bridge when it comes."" Last month, the president's party tried to extend the National Reconciliation Ordinance in parliament but withdrew it after strong protest from opposition parties. On Friday, Zardari also transferred command of the country's nuclear arsenal to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. The decision followed the supreme court's ruling to reverse a series a decrees that came with Musharraf's imposition of military rule in October of 2007. In his interview with Express TV, Zardari also suggested he'd like to give up his power to dissolve parliament and dismiss the prime minister by December, but his spokesman tempered expectations. ""Actually the president did not set a deadline,"" Baber told CNN. ""The president said it has to be done by parliament and he would like to see it done before the end of the year."""
" Libya, Vietnam, Burkina Faso were elected to the UN's top body unopposed, in a UN general assembly secret ballot. Croatia and Costa Rica won seats after their respective rivals, Czech Republic and Dominican Republic, withdrew. Nations compete keenly for council membership. The five permanent members - France, Britain, China, the US and Russia - can veto any candidate. The 10 non-permanent seats on the 15-member council are allocated according to regional groupings. Five members are replaced every year, with each serving a two-year term. Libya and Burkina Faso were endorsed by the African group and faced no opposition. Vietnam ran unopposed, with endorsement from the Asian grouping. Croatia and Costa Rica failed to secure a two-thirds majority of votes in the first two rounds of voting. They won their posts after their rivals pulled out in the third round. Libya's ambassador to the UN, Giadalla Ettalhi, hailed the result as a special moment for his country: ""I think for us it has a very important meaning, being elected to the Security Council by a very high score,"" Mr Ettalhi said."
" A central square and park in Istanbul erupted Tuesday and into Wednesday in an unsettling, chaotic chorus, with tear gas canisters and water cannons from police met by fireworks, metal banging and defiant chanting from protesters. The drama followed an ebb and flow of demonstrators all day from the Turkish city's Taksim Square and the abutting Gezi Park, where they've camped out for days, in response to the actions of riot police. It is all a continuation of demonstrations that first focused on the environment -- opposition to a plan to build a mall at the park -- but has evolved into a crusade against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's allegedly authoritarian ways. On Tuesday, just before planned talks between Erdogan and protest organizers, there was no obvious resolution in sight. Certainly, neither side backed down in the latest round of clashes. Time and again, once the situation appeared to settle down, it flared up again. Right after midnight, for instance, government forces shot water cannons toward the park and toward streets adjacent to the square, and boom after boom of tear gas being fired could be heard. Around 2 a.m. Wednesday, a fresh wave of tear gas engulfed Gezi Park -- where government officials have said protesters can stay -- as a column of police broke through barricades on a side street nearby. The scene was frenzied with sirens blaring, people running, some even writhing in pain. The square itself, by then, was relatively calm. Bulldozers and dump trucks rolled in to clear debris, and fire engines put out flames from an excavator that had been set ablaze. Yet there is little suggestion that authorities will manage to douse the fury of protesters anytime soon. ""We want to be heard, respected ..."" a woman in Gezi Park told CNN on Tuesday night, explaining what she and other protesters are asking for. ""We're not vandals, we're not criminals."" Erdogan hasn't given any indication his government will alter its approach either. While he announced plans to meet with some protest organizers Wednesday, he also insisted, ""We will never allow people to push things to us."""
" Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin said new elections would be held in a year, once a new constitution had been written. A statement read on state television said Thailand's king had endorsed Gen Sonthi as temporary leader, although the monarch has not spoken in person. The coup was staged late on Tuesday as PM Thaksin Shinawatra was in New York. He has now arrived in London. The Bush administration was ""disappointed"" in the coup, White House press secretary Tony Snow said on Wednesday He called for a speedy restoration of democracy in Thailand and said talks on a US free trade agreement with Thailand depended on this taking place. The coup followed months of growing tension in Thailand, with protests against Mr Thaksin and a general election which was annulled due to concerns about its legitimacy. So far, reporters in Thailand say the atmosphere remains calm and no outbreaks of violence have been reported. In the news conference on Wednesday evening, Gen Sonthi claimed he was acting in line with the wishes of the Thai people, blaming government mismanagement for forcing coup leaders to act. But he denied the military wanted a permanent hold on power, attempting to reassure his audience by putting a deadline on how long he would remain in power. ""We have two weeks. After two weeks, we will step out,"" he said."
" ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) STORY: Hundreds of protesters in an Istanbul suburb hurled Molotov cocktails as Turkish police tried to disperse them with water cannons on Saturday. The protests started as a campaign against government plans to build over an Istanbul park, but spiraled into an unprecedented display of public anger over the perceived authoritarianism of the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. In the past week, the country has seen the worst riots in decades."
" Two men reach top of Yosemite's El Capitan in historic climb (AP) Republican 2016 convention to take place July 18-21 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio (AP) Three bodies found in clandestine grave at Honduras teen lockup (AP) After 15 convictions, criminal investigation into Bernard Madoff case appears to be over (Reuters) Two men reach top of Yosemite's El Capitan in historic climb (AP) 21-year-old Florida man sentenced to 20 years for conspiring to aid Al-Qaida (AP) Albanian police arrest eight people in drugs raid, seize 220 lb of cocaine (Reuters)"
" One of the eight candidates in Iran's upcoming presidential election has dropped out of the race, Iranian media outlets reported Monday. He is Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, 68, a conservative and former speaker of the parliament. His daughter is married to Ayatollah Khamenei's son. It was not immediately known why he made the move. The election is scheduled to take place Friday. Haddad-Adel completed a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Tehran in 1975 and holds a master's degree in physics from the same university. He has published many books on philosophy and religion, and is a member of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature and the High Council of Cultural Revolution. In the early 90s Haddad-Adel also served as the vice minister of education. Ghalibaf, Velayati and Haddad-Adel have formed a three-man pact they call the ""2+1 coalition;"" whereby two of them will eventually leave the race and join the other in support of his presidency. READ: Is Iran's next president the face of its nuclear program?"
" DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- Fulfilling her promise and ending eight years of self-imposed exile, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said Wednesday she would return to Pakistan through the southern port city of Karachi on Thursday. ""I say a prayer as I prepare to leave and I pray that God give me the strength and the wisdom to bring democracy to my country and to end extremism; to provide food, clothing and shelter, and fulfill the aspirations of the great people of my country who deserve a better future than they have had in the past."" Bhutto, 54, said more than a million people will gather in Karachi on Thursday to welcome her back. ""I have been most encouraged to hear that lots and lots of people are converging,"" she told CNN. ""... And it just proves what I've always believed in, that the moderate middle in Pakistan wants democracy, wants education and empowerment and an end to extremism which is just bringing debt and violence, and preventing our people from achieving progress and prosperity."" Earlier this month, the office of President Pervez Musharraf announced he had signed a ""reconciliation ordinance"" that dropped outstanding corruption charges against Bhutto and a number of other politicians. The move could shore up support for the embattled president and possibly strike a power-sharing deal with the former premier. According to a Bhutto adviser, the move could ""pave the way for Mrs. Bhutto's unhindered return to Pakistan and free and fair elections."" Musharraf won a third term as Pakistan's president earlier this month, taking about 97 percent of votes cast in the national parliament and the four provincial assemblies in an election boycotted by a number of opposition parties. Although Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) did not join the boycott, she said at the time that the PPP ""will not vote for him."" The boycott highlighted the opposition's demand that Musharraf abandon his role as military chief before seeking another term as president. Musharraf repeatedly promised to take off his military chief's uniform if he won a third term. The election is not yet legally official -- the country's Supreme Court is hearing constitutional challenges to Musharraf's eligibility filed by the opposition -- but the next five-year presidential term is scheduled to begin November 15."
" Afghan security forces have tackled heavily-armed militants who seized a building near the main airport in the capital Kabul. Officials said seven gunmen had been killed in the five-storey building under construction near the airport and the attack was now over. The Taliban earlier said that they carried out the assault. The BBC's David Loyn at the scene says Afghan forces dealt with the situation with no help from international forces. The incident began shortly after dawn on Monday with witnesses reporting the sound of explosions and gunfire coming from the airport. Exchanges of fire went on for some hours with the Taliban firing rocket-propelled grenades into the surrounding streets. Continue reading the main story Police say the attack on Kabul International Airport was well co-ordinated - as was the response by Afghan security forces. Soon after the insurgents opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, Afghan security personnel shut down the airport to all incoming and outgoing flights. Elite police reacted swiftly, engaging the militants in a battle that lasted nearly three hours and left all seven attackers dead. The sound of exploding grenades and machine guns could be heard several kilometres away. But the attack left several unanswered questions: For example, how did the insurgents manage to get their heavy weapons and a vehicle loaded with explosives up to the airport's perimeter despite all the security in place? Some experts said the attackers wanted to convey the message that they can strike at will in Kabul. The authorities may be praised for their response - but the attack highlights another clear failure of intelligence. All flights were cancelled in and out of Kabul international airport, which is home to a large Nato-led military base. Nearby roads were closed. Our correspondent said US Blackhawk helicopters circled above but on the ground the fighting was all carried out by Afghan police and army units, who have become far better at combating the insurgency. He said the Afghan police rapid reaction force sealed off the area and began clearing the building floor by floor."
" The protesters want France to withdraw its 3,800 peacekeepers, so they can march on rebel-held areas in the north. On Tuesday, Mr Gbagbo rejected the resignation offer of three generals, saying this would split the army. Their offer followed calls on national television by uniformed men for them to go and for a resumption of war. About 100 police, some armed with assault rifles, sealed off the French military base as protesters threw stones at them. ""We will kill the French,"" some shouted. The Gbagbo supporters have been demonstrating outside the base since Monday and on Wednesday, French schools in Abidjan were closed, said Reuters news agency. There are some 16,000 French citizens in Ivory Coast - the world's largest cocoa producer - and the former colonial power still has many economic interests. Both rebels and the government have accused France of bias during the year-long conflict. Rebel leader Guillaume Soro has accused Mr Gbagbo of orchestrating the unrest to discredit a French-brokered peace plan which set up a power-sharing government. The richest country in West Africa has been divided between rebel-held Muslim north and government-controlled Christian and animist south for more than a year."
" The attorney general said it showed that those who ordered others to kill bore the same responsibility as those who carried out the slaughter. Two worked for a radio station which broadcast lists of people to be killed and revealed where they could be found. About 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in just 100 days. Ferdinand Nahimana, who was sentenced to life in prison, and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, who got 35 years, helped set up a private radio station - Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) - which urged Hutus to ""exterminate the cockroaches"". One Tutsi student, who did not want to be named, said she remembered listening to RTLM as a child when she was hiding during the genocide. ""And it happened. He's dead,"" she said. She said it was important that those people who ran the station faced justice. ""Those who spread the message through the media and told the ordinary people to kill are far worse than people who followed their orders,"" said attorney general Gerard Gahima. The new chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Hassan Bubacar Jallow, which pronounced the verdict, said the verdict would serve as a warning for journalists and editors in other conflicts. Hassan Ngeze, who was sentenced to life, was the editor of an extremist magazine called Kangura."
" Some 50 protestors have moved from Kossuth ter to protest in front of the Hungarian Television building. The protestors returned to Kossuth ter for reinforcement, and then returned to break down the building's front door. Police vans arrived at 11.30pm. The police have announced that they were launching an investigation into the attackers and would prevent anybody entering the television headquarters. At 11.30pm, Gyorgy Balo announced in a live broadcast that protestors had broken down the building's fornt door. HVG.hu has learned that police were only able to repel the attackers by using tear gas. Protestors threw stones at the building and tore down an EU flag, which they later replaced. Protestors sung the Szekely anthum and then began singing ""Gay Socialists"" and ""Down with the government."" Just about every known football chant was sung on the square, and striking numbers of hoodies were to be seen in the front rows. The demonstrators originally wanted to read a petition on public television, but security guards prevented this. Later, protestors announced they would return with 10,000 people and occupy the building, Hir TV announced. Several thousand people are waiting in front of the Hungarian Television building, which is being defended by several dozen policeman. The crowd is advancing and retreating continuously, occasionally entering the building before being forced back out by policemen. Arpad Szabadfi of Budapest police promised that protestors would not gain entry into public television's headquarters on Szabadsag ter. The police were prepared to use all measures to prevent this, he said."
" Ferenc Gyurcsany's admission came after Hungarian radio played a tape of a meeting he had with his Socialist MPs a few weeks after the election. On it he says the party had lied to the public and his ""boneheaded"" government failed to introduce any real policies. About 3,000 people gathered outside parliament on Sunday calling for him to resign but Mr Gyurcsany has refused. The meeting concerned was on 26 May, about a month after the governing coalition had won 210 of the 386 parliamentary seats. A brief excerpt was played on Hungarian state radio and others appeared on web sites. It is not clear how they were leaked. In the excerpts, Mr Gyurcsany says harsh economic reforms are needed. ""There is not much choice. There is not, because we screwed up. Not a little, a lot. No European country has done something as boneheaded as we have. ""Evidently, we lied throughout the last year-and-a-half, two years. It was totally clear that what we are saying is not true. ""You cannot quote any significant government measure we can be proud of, other than at the end we managed to bring the government back from the brink. Nothing. If we have to give account to the country about what we did for four years, then what do we say?"" Mr Gyurcsany thanks ""divine providence, the abundance of cash in the world economy and hundreds of tricks"" for keeping the economy above board."
" Twenty-three bodies were recovered from the town of Cabaret, which was inundated by flooding, Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime said. Floods and mudslides across the country have damaged farmland and left hundreds of people homeless. Efforts are being made to evacuate people from villages in dangerous areas, civil defence agencies say. Efforts were underway to provide food and water and shelter to people in Cabaret, Mr Bien-Aime said. Aid operations have been hampered by poor communication links and infrastructure. Heavy rains have also affected other countries in the Caribbean, including Cuba and Jamaica."
" Army chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin said the military leadership had formed a council for political reform and ousted the Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. The coup leaders say the cabinet and parliament have been abolished, but power will be returned to the people. Mr Thaksin cancelled a speech he was due to give at the UN. It is unclear whether he intends to return home. The military said the country's stock market, banks and schools would remain closed on Wednesday. BBC World, CNN and other international TV news channels have been taken off the air, while Thai stations have broadcast footage of the royal family and patriotic songs. In the capital, Bangkok, soldiers seized government offices and took up strategic positions around the city. In a broadcast on all Thai television channels, the leadership of the armed forces said it had taken control of Bangkok, declared nationwide martial law and ordered all troops to return to their bases. ""We ask for the co-operation of the public and ask your pardon for the inconvenience,"" the announcement said. A spokesman for the coup leaders, Gen Prapart Sakuntanak, said the seizure would be temporary and power would be ""returned to the people"" soon. The military announced that regional commanders would take charge of their areas outside Bangkok."
" A Thai tourist guide and a boatman also drowned in the 500 meter (1,640 ft) deep Nam Talu cave in the Khao Sok national park, they said. Police earlier said four of the tourists were Swedes. The officials said that a 17-year-old British woman was found alive after a long search that began on Saturday night, park official Thirayudh Mungpaisal told Reuters. ""We found her in the cave, at the top part of the cave. We guess that the water pushed her up there and she couldn't get down,"" Thirayudh said. The woman was slightly injured and recovering in hospital, he said, declining to give names. Police Lieutenant Colonel Pichan Kalayasiri, speaking by telephone from Surat Thani province, where the forested park draws trekkers and bird watchers, confirmed the dead included four Swiss tourists. The cave on the Rachaprpa reservoir is home to bats."
" Many civilians were also hurt when the bomber took a bicycle laden with explosives into a crowd of troops and children in Panjwayi district. The blast came a day after Nato said it had driven the Taleban from Panjwayi. Hundreds have died in blasts this year in Afghanistan. Later on Monday, a bomb killed at least two policemen in Kabul. Police said the explosion in the capital also caused civilian casualties. The BBC's Lee Carter in Toronto says the fresh Canadian casualties will add fuel to an already divisive debate in the country over the mission. Thirty-six Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the country first sent troops there in 2002. Most of the deaths have been this year. Brig Gen David Fraser, who commands Canadian Nato forces in southern Afghanistan, confirmed that other troops had also been wounded in the blast in Panjwayi district, about 25km (15 miles) west of the city of Kandahar. ""The soldiers were conducting a patrol in the area to provide security in supporting the Afghan security forces,"" he told a news conference. None of the Canadian injuries was life-threatening, he said. The attack occurred about 0930 (0500 GMT), the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said."
" The background to the controversy, he said, was the ""wish of powers whose survival depends on creating crises"". The row began last week, when Pope Benedict XVI repeated criticism of the Prophet Muhammad by a medieval scholar. The speech sparked worldwide protests by Muslims. The Pope has apologised and said the views quoted were not his own. Ayatollah Khamenei said the remarks by Pope Benedict XVI last Tuesday were the ""latest link"" in ""the chain of a conspiracy to set in train a crusade"". Other links, he added, included the cartoon satirising Muhammad and ""the insulting remarks of some American and European politicians and newspapers about Islam"". ""But these remarks are very much a cause for regret and surprise from a senior Christian official."" Ayatollah Khamenei is the latest Muslim leader to condemn Pope Benedict's comments. Influential Qatari Muslim scholar, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, called for a day of anger on Friday. He also dismissed the Pope's expression of regret on Sunday, saying that the pontiff should retract his speech. Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, which controls the Palestinian parliament, said: ""We do not view the statement attributed to the Pope as an apology."""
" Men carry a victim of a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul June 11, 2013. A loud explosion was heard in the Afghan capital Kabul's diplomatic area, and a police source said it was a suicide attack not far from the U.S. Embassy. It was the second large-scale attack in Kabul claimed by the hardline Islamist group in two days. On Monday, seven insurgents, including suicide bombers, laid siege to Kabul's main airport for four hours before they were killed. Tuesday's attack appeared to underline the Taliban's readiness to target civilians, particularly court officials, whom they consider an arm of the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai. In April, Taliban gunmen killed 44 people in the main court compound in the western province of Farah. A Taliban spokesman said they had sent several warnings to court staff telling them not to work there. The attacker's car was parked on a road near the court compound and exploded when the minibuses passed, police said. A Reuters witness described seeing a damaged minibus leaning at an angle against some trees about 30 meters from the point of the explosion. The witness later saw police carry two bodies from the same area. The Supreme Court is less than 500 meters from the entrance to the heavily fortified U.S. embassy, and the bomb was heard across Kabul's diplomatic precinct, triggering numerous embassy alarms. ""We were sitting in a car when suddenly there was an explosion in the car behind me,"" Kabul resident Mira Jan, who was bleeding from a wound in the head, told Reuters. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an email from spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. ""The bomber in a car struck and killed up to 50 ruthless prosecutors and other workers,"" Mujahid said, adding that the bomber targeted four minibuses taking court employees home."
" A senior Israeli army officer has told the BBC that as long as Hamas remains in control of the Gaza Strip, another war is ""only a question of time"". He said the Palestinian Islamist group had re-armed so much since the Israeli offensive two years ago that it was now in a stronger position militarily. There has been an increase in rocket fire coming from Gaza in the past week. Earlier, Israeli defence officials said tanks fitted with a new missile defence system would be deployed near Gaza. The announcement came after Palestinian militants for the first time used a Kornet tank-piercing missile. On 6 December the Russian-made laser-guided missile - which carries 10kg (22lb) of high explosive - penetrated the tank's armour, but did not injure its crew. The UN has condemned the firing of ""indiscriminate"" rocket and mortar attacks by militants in Gaza in recent weeks. Israeli Chief-of-Staff Lt-Gen Gabi Ashkenazi said the Kornet missile was ""among the most dangerous that we have seen on this front and was not used even during the Lebanon war"". ""The situation in the south is very fragile and explosive,"" he warned. Speaking to the BBC's Jon Donnison on Wednesday, another senior Israeli army officer from the Gaza division said: ""As long as Hamas remains in power, it is only a question of time before there is another conflict."""
" A small earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale has hit Cumbria and surrounding counties. People have described hearing and feeling the earth moving ""for well over a minute"" at just after 2300 GMT. It was felt in locations across Cumbria and in Lancashire, south-west Scotland, parts of Yorkshire, Northumberland, the Isle of Man and the north Midlands. BBC News website readers have been getting in touch with their quake experiences. Here is a selection of their comments. At approximately 11 o'clock as I was getting ready to take my friend home I heard what sounded like a large lorry pull right up outside my home, or possibly a low flying aircraft. I looked out of the window and saw neither. About 15 seconds later it happened again. There was no tremors but it sounded from previous experience like an earthquake. Deborah Perry, Swadlincote, Derbyshire I felt the house shake and glass canisters in the bathroom chinked together. The quake dislodged three of my bathroom tiles. Edwina Stone, Kendal, Cumbria I was in bed at about 11pm when windows started shaking, then the house. My speakers on the wall also started to move. It lasted about 10 seconds. It was very scary, I didn't know what was happening. John Ronnie, south-west Scotland We felt the ground shaking after initially hearing what we thought was a very large lorry approaching, then the floor started shaking and an small aftershock occurred a few seconds later! Carl Morgan, Barrow-in-furness This felt very different to the series of Manchester quakes we felt when we lived in the city in the mid-90s. The Manchester ones felt like the building we were in suddenly dropped 3 inches. Tonight's quake in Cumbria felt like we wobbled for 20 or 30 seconds. All very peculiar. Andrew Lucas, Kendal I heard a small rumble and felt the house shaking I thought it was one of my sisters jumping around upstairs. Gabriel Langford, Castle Douglas, Scotland I woke up as my dogs woke up just before it happened. At 10.59pm there was a loud rumbling and then things started shaking slightly for over a minute or so. We live near Shap Quarry and I thought they were doing some midnight blasting as it was the same kind of shaking but when it lasted for more than a minute I realised it wasn't. McCall, Shap"
" UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari will brief the U.N. Security Council in an open session Friday on his recent visit to Myanmar, despite objections from the Chinese ambassador who wanted the briefing held behind closed doors. The meeting comes after Myanmar's chief military leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, said on state television Thursday he would meet with detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi -- provided she give up her calls for sanctions against the country. The Myanmar government also invited the U.S. Charges d'Affaires in Myanmar, Shari Villarosa, to meet with its leaders on Friday. They did not indicate what the agenda for the meeting would be, but U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Villarosa's message would be ""the same one we've been giving publicly, and that's that they need to stop repressing their own people, that they need to engage in a dialogue with the opposition."" ""It shouldn't take the United States and the rest of the international community having to ask the government to engage their own people,"" he told CNN International. On Wednesday, Villarosa told CNN's Anderson Cooper the U.S. Embassy was concerned over the apparent disappearance of Buddhist monks. ""It's disturbing because we've found many (monasteries) that have been vacated,"" she said. ""We've found others that have military barricades around them. We've seen a few that seem to be open again, but with a significantly reduced number of monks."" Gambari met with ruling military junta leaders as well as Suu Kyi and other pro-democracy leaders last weekend. Suu Kyi has been held in varying degrees of detention for 12 out of the last 18 years since 1989, when her National League for Democracy won the country's first free multiparty elections. The military junta refused to hand over power. Gambari on Thursday briefed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who had sent him to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, in the wake of the military's crackdown on peaceful demonstrations. China's Ambassador to the United Nations Wang Guangya said he thought a briefing behind closed doors would allow for a more frank exchange between Gambari and council members. ""My preference is that we should not have a format which might make Ambassador Gambari feel uncomfortable,"" he said. Wang also reiterated China's opposition to U.N. sanctions against Myanmar."
" Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Two suspected U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal region killed six suspected militants and 13 people respectively on Monday, intelligence officials told CNN. Two Pakistani intelligence officials said the first suspected drone fired two missiles on a militants' vehicle in the Shawal area of South Waziristan, one of the seven districts of Pakistan's volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The second suspected drone strike targeted a hideout in the Wana area, also in South Waziristan. Based on a count by the CNN Islamabad bureau, Monday's suspected drone strikes were the 37th and 38th this year, compared to 111 in all of 2010. The intelligence officials asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media."
" Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Seven civilians were killed Monday from two separate roadside mines in Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni province, the Ministry of Interior said. The first attack occurred in the Qara Bagh district of Ghazni province, the ministry said. A roadside mine struck a civilian vehicle and killed four civilians, including two children. The second incident took place in the center of Ghazni city when a civilian vehicle hit a roadside mine, the ministry said. Three civilians were killed. In a statement, the ministry said it ""strongly condemns these acts of the enemies of peace and stability and expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the victims."" On Sunday, the ministry said an 8-year-old girl was killed by ""Afghanistan enemies"" who gave her a remote-controlled explosive in a bag and told her to give it to police officers in Oruzgan province on Friday. ""When the girl (approached) the police vehicle, the enemies detonated the mine by remote control and killed the girl,"" the ministry said. No police officials were injured."
" Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan says the Pakistani military is behind recent deadly rocket attacks, but Islamabad says it is not responsible. Aminulllah Amarkhil, Afghan chief of eastern border police, said Monday that Pakistani military forces fired 35 pieces of artillery in Kunar province Sunday that, primary reports indicate, killed 20 civilians. Amarkhil said the rocket attacks began at 4 p.m. and last until midnight. Pakistani forces have been firing rockets on five districts of Kunar province, causing villagers to leave their homes, the police official said. ""During the last month, 36 people were killed and 30 people were injured in these attacks,"" Amarkhil said. Amarkhil also said the Pakistani military shot 37 rockets in the past week on the Goshta district of Nangarhar province. Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Tehran, Iran, and discussed the attacks, according to a statement from Karzai's office. In the meeting, Karzai asked Zardari for more information about the attacks in the bordering areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Zardari said the Pakistani side was not aware of such attacks and that the attacks were not carried by Pakistani army, according to the statement."
" Four US service personnel on an evacuation mission have been wounded after their aircraft were shot at in South Sudan, the US military says. The three CV-22 Ospreys were attacked as they approached Bor, which is occupied by forces loyal to the former Vice-President Riek Machar, it added. South Sudan has been in turmoil since President Salva Kiir accused Mr Machar a week ago of attempting a coup. Mr Machar told the BBC the rebels were under his control. He was in control of large parts of the country, he said, and troops loyal to him had also seized control of Unity, a state on the border with Sudan which produces much of the country's oil. He added that he was prepared to negotiate with the government if politicians arrested earlier this week were released. At least 500 people have been killed since the fighting began. The US military said the Ospreys, aircraft which can fly both like helicopters and like planes, were involved in the evacuation of US citizens from Bor. A statement said all three aircraft were damaged by small arms fire by unknown forces as they approached the town. The aircraft returned to Uganda's Entebbe airport, from where the wounded service personnel were transferred onto a US Air Force C-17 transport aircraft and taken on to Nairobi, Kenya, it added."
" A mission to evacuate Americans from South Sudan was aborted Saturday when an aircraft carrying U.S. military members was fired upon as it prepared to land in Bor, wounding four of them, the Pentagon said. The most severely damaged aircraft was thought to have been hit in the fuel line, a military official speaking on condition of anonymity said. All three aircraft -- CV-22 Ospreys -- were diverted to Entebbe, Uganda, which is not where their flights originated, the official said. Another aircraft then flew the wounded to Nairobi, Kenya, U.S. Africa Command said in a statement. The four service members were in stable condition after treatment, the statement said. Pentagon officials were trying to determine how to mount another effort to evacuate the roughly three dozen Americans in South Sudan, where they have been working for the United Nations, a senior U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was ""reviewing options,"" Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said. ""Whatever we do it will be in coordination with the State Department,"" he added. The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama was briefed before dawn Saturday while aboard Air Force One after landing in Hawaii, then met with his national security team on the matter. The fighting has displaced as many as 100,000 people, many of whom have crossed the Nile River, he said, adding that he feared a humanitarian disaster was unfolding. South Sudanese President Salva Kiir blamed soldiers loyal to his former vice president, Riek Machar, for starting this month's violence. Tensions have been high in South Sudan since July, when Kiir dismissed Machar and the rest of the Cabinet. The move inflamed tensions between Kiir's Dinka community and Machar's Nuer community."
" Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference with Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (not seen) in Strelna near St. Petersburg, November 22, 2013. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has sent 25 armored trucks and 50 other vehicles to Syria to help transport toxins that are to be destroyed under an international agreement to rid the nation of its chemical arsenal, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday. In a report to President Vladimir Putin, Shoigu said Russian aircraft delivered 50 Kamaz trucks and 25 Ural armored trucks to the Syrian port city of Latakia on December 18-20 along with other equipment, state-run news agency RIA reported. ""The Defence Ministry has very swiftly implemented actions to deliver to Syria equipment and materiel to provide for the removal of Syrian chemical weapons and their destruction,"" Shoigu was quoted as saying. Syria has agreed to abandon it chemical weapons under a deal proposed by Russia to avert potential U.S. military action after a deadly August 21 sarin gas attack the United States blamed on President Bashar al-Assad's government. Damascus agreed to transport the ""most critical"" chemicals, including around 20 tons of mustard nerve agent, out of the northern port of Latakia by December 31 to be safely destroyed abroad away from the war zone. Western powers has baulked at Syria's request for military transport equipment to transport chemical weapons material to Latakia because of concerns it could be used to fight Assad's opponents in the conflict or kill civilians. Russia has been a major seller of conventional weapons to Syria and has given Assad crucial support during the conflict, blocking attempts to punish with sanctions and saying his exit must not be a precondition for a peace process. Syrian government forces took control of a key highway connecting Damascus to the coast earlier this month, but the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has voiced concern the deadline could be missed."
" (CNN) -- Japanese researchers have found radiation in all 15 people tested last month from the area near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Cesium was found in the participants, ranging from 4 to 77 years old, through two rounds of testing conducted by Nanao Kamada at the Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine of Hiroshima University. Kamada insisted that the cesium numbers are minute and do not represent a health threat. The people tested lived in the towns of Iitate and Kawamata, located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the nuclear plant. The participants were also tested for radioactive iodine, which was found in the urine of six Fukushima prefecture residents. The urine samples from a 77-year-old man in the first round of tests indicated radioactivity as high as 3.2 millisieverts. However, no iodine was found from the urine of the same man in the second round of tests, ruling out the possibility of air contamination. ""The cause might be that they ate contaminated vegetables and mushrooms before the restrictions, not by inhaling contaminated air,"" Kamada said, referring to a large scale restriction on Fukushima produce following the incident at the plants on March 11. The data indicated that accumulated external exposure was between 4.9 and 13.5 millisieverts for the two months after the accident -- a number which could exceed the government limit of 20 millisieverts per year if they continue living in the area. ""From the perspective of protecting human health from radiation, it is clear that they unfortunately cannot continue to live in their homes,"" Kamada said. About 7,500 people were evacuated from the communities by the end of May, although some folks continue to live in Iitate. The first test was conducted May 5, while the second was conducted at the end of the month. The results were announced to the residents June 19."
" 1 of 22. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun (L) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il pose for pictures before the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, October 3, 2007. But Seoul insisted the talks between Roh Moo-hyun and the North's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il had been a success and they would issue a statement by lunchtime on Thursday. ""The leaders met twice today in the morning and afternoon. We believe there was sufficient and honest dialogue. The president said the result of the talks was satisfactory,"" presidential spokesman Chon Ho-seon told reporters in Pyongyang. He did not elaborate. Earlier, the communist state's leader invited Roh to stay on until Friday, saying it would allow the two men, who have never met before, to hold more relaxed and substantive talks. No reason was given for the rejection but a South Korean spokesman later quoted Kim as telling Roh at the end of their meeting: ""We have had sufficient dialogue so it (another day) may not be necessary. You have people waiting in the South so let's do it as we had planned."" Roh earlier told reporters he had felt a ""wall, hard to tear down"" in his talks with Kim. ""(The North) does not completely trust South Korea. To actively proceed with the things we want to do, we need to overcome this wall of mistrust,"" a South Korean media pool report quoted him as saying. He cited Pyongyang's dissatisfaction with the speed of development of an industrial park run by the South in Kaesong, a former royal capital just north of the border between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war and divided for more than 60 years. The three-day meeting comes as countries involved in six-party talks revealed an agreement with North Korea over its nuclear program. The deal includes disabling the North's Soviet-era reactor and plants that make bomb-grade plutonium within three months. Before driving north on Tuesday, Roh had said the purpose of the summit was to ease tensions and help his impoverished communist neighbor. Yet his first encounter with a dour Kim in Pyongyang on Tuesday did not augur well."
" Indonesia's Aceh province has made a ""remarkable"" recovery after the devastating 2004 tsunami but many serious challenges remain, the UN says. A UN Development Programme report said rebuilding had been impressive in Aceh. But it added that more needed to be done to lessen the impact of natural disasters and to reduce poverty. In December 2004, a quake off the coast of Aceh triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which killed a quarter of a million people in 13 countries. Aceh sits on the volatile ""ring of fire"", a belt of tectonic activity that triggers earthquakes and volcanoes. The UNDP report, which was requested by the Aceh administration, said the region's recovery was ""beyond anything imaginable six years ago"". ""The people of Aceh have achieved remarkable progress in the physical rebuilding of their communities, yet similar advances in key human development indicators remain elusive,"" the report said. In terms of poverty, life expectancy and other quality of life measurements, Aceh lags behind the rest of Indonesia. ""Long years of military and political struggle, coupled with changing economic conditions and continuing natural disasters, have left Aceh today as one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia,"" the report said. The UN co-ordinator in Indonesia, El-Mostafa Benlamlih, told the BBC that communities in Aceh must be better protected."
" US singer Beyonce made her debut at Glastonbury, bringing the three-day festival to a close. She headlined the main Pyramid Stage, making her one of a handful of women to do so over the past 40 years. Beyonce played all her biggest hits and a medley of Destiny's Child songs and got a great reception from the crowd. The 29-year-old opened her set with Crazy In Love and afterwards told the audience: ""I want you all to know right now you're witnessing my dream."" ""I always wanted to be a rock star and tonight we are all rock stars,"" she added. But there was no appearance on stage from her husband Jay-Z, who headlined Glastonbury in 2008. The couple were spotted watching Coldplay perform on Saturday and there were rumours Jay-Z may join her on stage. It is believed Beyonce has spent the last three weeks in the UK, at a rehearsal studio in London. She is supported on stage by backing singers The Mamas. Beyonce arrived on stage to a burst of fireworks and her first words to the crowd were: ""Glastonbury, are you ready?"" Her 90-minute set included all her signature songs, including Single Ladies, Independent Women, Halo and If I Was A Boy."
" Monks were seen at the railway station and bus drivers were reportedly refusing to take them, out of fear they would not be allowed petrol. Curfews and night-time police raids are continuing in Rangoon. Correspondents describe a climate of fear there. A UN envoy is preparing a report on his talks with Burma's leaders. The envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, met head of state Gen Than Shwe as well as pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest. He is expected to brief both UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council later this week. The EU has agreed in principle to toughen already existing sanctions against Burma and is reportedly looking at ways of specifically targeting its military rulers. Military vehicles patrolled Rangoon's streets before dawn with loudspeakers blaring: ""We have photographs. We are going to make arrests."" One correspondent in Rangoon told the BBC that people in the country's former capital were angry and frightened. The correspondent described how a middle-aged man in one of the city's tea shops whispered: ""I really want change - but they have guns and we don't, so they'll always win."" Reports from Rangoon said around 25 more monks were arrested by security forces in a raid on a temple overnight. Meanwhile, Reuters reported about 80 monks and 149 women believed to be nuns had been freed. They had been rounded up as part of the military's violent crackdown on protesters last week."
" A senior member of David Cameron's Tory constituency association has been found dead in a Glastonbury Festival toilet. The body of Christopher Shale, chairman of West Oxfordshire Conservative Association, was found at about 0900 BST at the music event in Somerset. Police are investigating the cause of the 56-year-old's death, which the PM said had left him ""devastated"". But following a post-mortem examination, officers said they are not treating the death as suspicious. Mr Cameron said he had lost ""a close and valued friend - a big rock in my life has suddenly been rolled away"". Mr Shale, who worked in public relations, management consultancy and marketing, was married with three grown-up children. The prime minister, who has been MP for Witney in Oxfordshire for 10 years, said Mr Shale had been ""a huge support over the last decade"". ""Christopher was one of the most truly generous people I've ever met - he was always giving to others, his time, his help, his enthusiasm and above all his love of life. ""It was in that spirit that he made a massive contribution to the Conservative Party, both locally and nationally. ""Our love and prayers are with Nikki and the family. They've lost an amazing dad, west Oxfordshire has lost a big and wonderful man and like so many others, Sam and I have lost a close and valued friend."""
" For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser . The plume of volcanic ash will prevent any Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin services flying to New Zealand today. The airlines say the services will again be suspended due to the ash from Chile's Puyehue volcano. However Air New Zealand has been flying, as it says its planes fly around and under the cloud. Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin say a decision on tomorrow's flights will be made some time today. Australian domestic and other international services are operating to schedule. In South America, flights to and from Buenos Aires are resuming normal schedule after being grounded by the ash cloud, although delays are still being felt in neighbouring Uruguay. The Puyehue volcano, which rumbled to life earlier this month for the first time since 1960, is high in the Andes mountains, 870 kilometres south of Santiago and near the Argentinian border. As it continues to spew out ash, Chilean geologists are voicing fears of further explosions, which could be bad news for air travellers around the world and farmers in the region."
" LONDON, England (CNN) -- Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has accused Islamabad of waging ""a typical disinformation campaign"" by saying it planned to lift longstanding corruption charges ahead of her planned return to Pakistan for upcoming elections. ""The charges have not been dropped against me,"" she told reporters Wednesday before a meeting of her Pakistan People's Party in London. ""This is just a typical disinformation campaign by the present regime."" She said the move has ""totally stalled"" talks on a power-sharing deal with Pakistan's President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Speaking on CNN Tuesday, minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said a majority of Pakistan's Cabinet ministers agreed that the charges against Bhutto should be lifted, allowing her to participate in parliamentary elections scheduled for later this year or early next year. He said the decision came out of an emergency session called by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and was expected to be finalized in the coming days. Following the announcement, Bhutto said she was inundated with hundreds of congratulatory calls but had heard nothing from Islamabad about the reported decision. ""I asked the Pakistan People's party president to ring up the presidency and see if it was correct,"" she said. ""They said it was not correct, even though it came from a Cabinet minister."" Bhutto said she still intends to end her self-imposed exile and return to Pakistan on October 18. Former prime minister Bhutto is walking a fine line between supporting Musharraf's regime by negotiating a power-sharing deal with him, and criticizing what she called a ""military dictatorship"" that she blamed for rigging the last elections that followed Musharraf's 1999 coup."
" The UN special envoy seeking a resolution to the bloody crisis in Burma is to meet the regime's top general today to deliver a tough message that the killings which left at least 13 protesters dead must stop. But yesterday Ibrahim Gambari, a former Nigerian foreign minister, was stalled for a day and forced to fill in his time visiting a remote corner of Burma courtesy of the military as tensions remained following 12 days of demonstrations that represented the most concerted challenge to the junta's rule since 1988. An uneasy calm returned to the streets of the main city, Rangoon, yesterday as troops withdrew cordons from the two pagodas that served as a rallying point for the pro-democracy demonstrations, sparked initially by a dramatic rise in fuel prices that hit the already impoverished Burmese people hard. However, exile groups remain deeply concerned about the fate of about 400 students and 1,000 arrested monks whose presence had provided a highly-visible lead for the protests and blessed them with moral authority in devoutly-Buddhist Burma. Many Burmese people are still shocked by the brutal treatment meted out to the monks when monasteries across the country were attacked in night-time raids by the military. But the fear of the regime that was shrugged off for a few days when more than 100,000 protesters took to Rangoon's streets has returned. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon's special representative, Mr Gambari, was kept far from the potential flashpoints. After spending an hour with the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday, he flew back to Naypidaw, the capital in the jungle 240 miles north-east of Rangoon. Yesterday he travelled further north by Burmese military helicopter to the town of Lashio, in Shan state near the Chinese border, to an obscure government-sponsored workshop. The UN gave scant information about his programme, acknowledging only that he was still ""in Burma"". The curious episode appeared to reflect the weakness of his position and the idiosyncratic nature of the 74-year-old Burmese leader, General Than Shwe. But Burmese officials said that the leader would meet the emissary today, four days after he arrived in the country. British ambassador Mark Canning said that China, Burma's closest and most influential ally, had pressed for Mr Gambari's visit to be lengthy and as far-reaching as possible. Burma's leadership has barred envoys that displeased them in the past and at times has been impervious to outside pressure. ""Mr Gambari has the full backing of the international community,"" said Mr Canning. ""Whether that's sufficient remains to be seen. It's down entirely to the government rather than the UN. But I think a number of underlying dynamics have changed fundamentally and make us hopeful something might happen."" Political analyst and Burmese exile Win Min believes Mr Gambari will now have the opportunity to conduct shuttle diplomacy, conveying a message from Ms Suu Kyi to the general, and present an unvarnished image of the scale of the violence about which the ailing and reclusive general may be in the dark. Some analysts fear that once Mr Gambari departs Rangoon could suffer a heavy-handed crackdown if protesters again take to the streets. But yesterday there were no reports of demonstrations as traffic flowed and shops reopened. Troops remained on every street corner, although the cordons and barbed-wire barricades that had ringed the Shwedagon and Sule pagodas were withdrawn and worshippers were once more allowed to visit the shrines. But the security forces' presence permitted no protesters to gather."
" Alex Gilady claims the mistake happened when a vote was cast for Paris instead of the intended recipient, Madrid. Had the vote gone to Madrid, claims Gilady, they would have finished level with Paris on 32 votes apiece in the penultimate round, behind London. Gilady suggests Madrid would have won a head-to-head vote with Paris and gone on to beat London in the final round. Gilady, from Israel, is a senior member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and a member of the IOC's London 2012 Co-ordination Commission. He told BBC News 24 that the incident occurred in the third round of voting in Singapore in July. ""London was ahead, but Paris and Madrid were 33-31 in the votes,"" said Gilady. ""Let's say what we think now happened, that one member made a mistake and voted for Paris rather than Madrid. ""If he had voted for Madrid it would be 32-32. We would have to have had a vote-off. ""In the vote-off all the votes supporting London would go to Madrid, because the fear was that Paris had a big chance to win. ""Madrid would then have won against Paris."
" Sri Lanka's National Olympic Committee (NOC) has temporarily taken over the gold medal won by boxer Manju Wanniarachchi at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games. ""The medal is under the custody of NOC now,"" its chief Hemasiri Fernando told BBC Sandeshaya. The boxer has tested positive to performance enhance drugs, he said adding that Wanniarachchi, 30, has already been informed of the findings. Wanniarachchi has admitted taking medication from a medical practitioner in Kurunegala, Mr Fernando added. The NOC head said the doctor has admitted injecting banned performance enhancing drugs to the boxer six months ago. Police have questioned Dr. MM Mudannayake from Kurunegala on information provided by Wanniarachchi related to the doping. Wanniarachchi ended seven-decades old CWG gold medal drought at the Delhi games beating Welshman Sean McGoldrick in the final round of the bantamweight category. Although performance enhancing Nandrolone has been found in his first sample. The boxer can request another urine test. He faces the risk of his medal being stripped if the second test too fails the test. Speaking to BBC Sandeshaya earlier this week, Wanniarachchi said his ultimate aim is to bring Olympic glory to Sri Lanka at London 2012 before retiring within the next few years."
" Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Four people were killed early Monday morning when a bomb exploded at one of Pakistan's largest Sufi shrines, police officials told CNN. Eight others were wounded. The bomb was placed at one of the gates of the Baba Farid shrine and exploded shortly after dawn prayers when crowds of morning worshipers usually leave the site, police said. The shrine is located in Pak Pattan, an ancient city in Punjab province about 190 km (118 miles) south of Lahore. Baba Farid is considered one of Pakistan's most revered Sufi saints. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast. But in recent months Muslim extremists have stepped up attacks against minority sects and their places of worship. Police officials said eight people were injured in Monday morning's blast."
" A powerful bomb went off outside a sufi shrine packed with devotees in a city in Pakistan's central Punjab province on Monday, killing at least six persons, including two women, and injuring 15 others.Two unidentified youths parked a motorcycle outside the gates of the shrine of Hazrat Baba Farid Gang-e-Shakkar, where some 300 people were present, in Pakpattan city and the blast occurred shortly thereafter at 6:20 am, witnesses said.They said the duo fled the scene after leaving the motorcycle there.Two women were among the six dead, police and civil administration officials said. Among the 15 injured also were eight women.Several of the injured, who were in serious condition, were sent to hospitals in Lahore.The blast, which severely damaged the walls and parts of the shrine's structure, occurred near a spot where the sitting arrangement had been made for women visiting the shrine.Police said about 10kg of explosive was used in the blast.Police evacuated the shrine, which was closed to visitors after the blast, and sealed off the area.No group claimed responsibility for the blast, which was condemned by political leaders and top clerics.The Taliban have been blamed for a series of bombings and suicide attacks targeting Sufi shrines in cities across Pakistan, including Lahore and Karachi. ( Read: 10 killed in suicide attack at a shrine in Karachi"
" ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 2 -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday picked his trusted former spy chief to succeed him as leader of the army, and signaled that exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto would be able to return to Pakistan this month without facing charges. Taken together, the moves bring greater focus to an emerging political arrangement in which Musharraf will have to share power with others, rather than wield it almost single-handedly as he has for eight years. They also indicate that Musharraf is increasingly confident he will win a new term in elections Saturday, despite a tumultuous year in which his popularity has sunk to new lows and his ability to hang on to the presidency has often been in doubt. Musharraf, who has long been reluctant to shed a uniform he considers his ""second skin,"" announced Tuesday that a close confidant, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, would take over the critical job of army chief when Musharraf retires from active duty after the election. Kiyani, who most recently served as head of the Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency, is considered moderate and pro-Western. He has been at the forefront of Pakistani efforts to battle Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents and is expected to come up with a new strategy for turning around a war that has been going badly. ""It's a very challenging assignment,"" said military analyst Talat Masood, a retired lieutenant general. ""Pakistan is faced with a very serious insurgency. For him, it will be a major task to prepare the army to counter that insurgency."" One senior military official said Kiyani is likely to change course given that two cease-fires in the restive tribal regions have fallen apart. ""We will see some crucial changes in tactics,"" said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ""General Kiyani was never an enthusiastic supporter of peace deals in the tribal belt."" Before running the spy agency, Kiyani had commanded troops in Rawalpindi, home of the military's headquarters. A graduate of military training courses in the United States, Kiyani had also investigated two assassination attempts against Musharraf in 2003. Colleagues say he is more knowledgeable about al-Qaeda than any other army general. While Kiyani is loyal to Musharraf, he will have significant independence as army chief. The nation has been under military rule for more than half of its 60 years, but even when the country is governed by civilians, the army chief is part of a power troika that also includes the president and prime minister. Kiyani is said to have good relations with some of the country's civilian political leaders, including Bhutto. He served as a go-between during power-sharing negotiations between the president and Bhutto this summer, and was once her deputy military secretary."
" LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Over two dozen Taliban militants including four commanders were killed in south Afghan province of Helmand, Deputy to Provincial Council Hajji Fazal Bari said Monday. ""The operation carried out against Taliban bastion in Baghran district Sunday night killed 25 militants including four commanders,"" Bari told Xinhua. Meanwhile, a local resident named Hajji Abdul Sattar confirmed the attack, saying it was an airstrike against Taliban hideout in Barangan village of Baghran district and the casualties including civilians could be higher. Spokesman for Helmand provincial administration Daud Ahmadi said that details would be released after investigation. The mountainous Baghran district is one of few districts where the government does not have control or poorly exists. Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi told media by telephone from undisclosed location denied insurgents had been killed in Baghran. Enditem"
" It came as UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged the Security Council to add 5,500 UN troops to the peace-keeping mission in South Sudan, and warned that those responsible for abuse would be held to account. The mass grave was found in Bentiu, officials said. At least two other mass graves are also reported to have been found in Juba. While UN officials counted 34 bodies, there are 75 people reported missing in total. The bodies in Bentiu reportedly belonged to the Dinka, who were members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the Geneva-based human rights office. Responding to the discovery, the government minister of information Michael Makuei Lueth said: ""Of course Bentiu is under the control of the rebel leader Riek Machar, so we have nothing to do with that area."" Word of the discovery came as South Sudan undertook military operations to wrest back control of the city of Bor from rebels loyal to the country's former vice president. Late on Christmas Eve the president Salva Kiir said government troops had regained control of the capital."
" ISLAMABAD, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and 20 others were injured as a blast hit a shrine in Pakpattan, a city in Pakistan's Punjab province, early Monday morning, local media reported. According to the report, the blast took place at about 06:34 a. m. local time when a motorcycle planted bomb exploded at the eastern gate of the shrine of Baba Farid in the city which is located in the eastern part of Punjab. Many people were inside the shrine praying while the blast took place, said the report, adding that two unknown man run away after they parked a milk supply motorcycle carrying milk cans containing explosives inside. Police have cordoned off the area and rescue workers have rushed the injured people to nearby hospital. Hospital sources said that at least ten people were critically injured and the death toll could further rise. No group has claimed the responsibility for the blast yet. Monday's blast is the third major attack on a shrine in Pakistan over the past four months or so. The first attack of its nature took place at the Datta Darbar Shrine in Lahore on July 1, which left about 40 people killed and over 170 others injured. The second occurred at the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Shrine in Karachi, killing 14 people and injuring more than 70 others."
" PARIS, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The French authorities have moved to strengthen their military presence and support for the armed forces of Djibouti in the wake of a series of border incidents with Eritrea, the French Defense Ministry announced on Friday. ""Paris is preparing to deploy a forward logistics base and a land force near the zone where the clashes took place,"" the French Defense Ministry announced, adding that ""its military has stepped up air surveillance over the border to monitor the activities of Eritrean forces."" France, which linked to Djibouti through a binding defense agreement, maintains its single large permanent military base in the country with about 2,900 soldiers, military ships and aircraft. Although no details have been made on the number of troops or material involved so far, there are reports that additional naval resources have been summoned to the volatile Horn of Africa region. Moreover, an additional team of military surgeons are on their way to the French military hospital in Djibouti, where over 40 Djibouti soldiers who were wounded in the two-day border skirmishes are receiving treatment. In another related development, French Defense Minister Herve Morin held discussions with his Djibouti's counterpart Ougoureh Kifleh Ahmed on Friday and promised to strengthen the French military presence in the country in case there is ""an escalation in the current border row."" Reaffirming the ""very great concern of France"" over the recent border incidents, the French defense minister, according to diplomatic sources, has ""reassured his counterpart of the full support"" of Paris, at the same time calling for a ""diplomatic"" settlement of the issue. On Thursday, the French Defense Ministry had issued a statement announcing that France was already providing logistical assistance, including medical aid as well as military intelligence, to Djibouti forces. Eritrea on Thursday denied any hostile intentions towards neighboring Djibouti following Tuesday's border clash between them, during which Djibouti said at least two of its soldiers were killed and 21 others wounded."
" Four policemen were among the dead, and at least 20 people were injured in the blast in the garrison town of Bannu. The bomb was detonated in a rickshaw, which had been stopped for inspection. It is the latest in a series of deadly attacks blamed on Islamist militants in the North Waziristan tribal region near the border with Afghanistan. Police officials said the bomber was wearing a burka, a woman's garment which covers the body from head to toe. He, or possibly she, set off explosives at a busy intersection when police approached to check the vehicle. Bombings and attacks have soared since July when security forces stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad, and a ceasefire with pro-Taleban militants in the volatile border area broke down. Many of the attacks have been directed at the security forces. More than 200 soldiers and policemen are said to be among the dead."
" Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Ukraine's Orange alliance of former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and President Viktor Yushchenko saw its lead narrow in yesterday's parliamentary elections as late results were counted. Timoshenko's bloc and Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party had 46 percent of the vote with 89 percent counted by 8:20 p.m. in Kiev, the Central Election Commission said on its Web site. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's party and allies had 41.7 percent. Former parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn had about 4 percent. Timoshenko, 46, had earlier been confident enough of victory to say she would meet Yushchenko to discuss a new Cabinet, reuniting the victors of the 2004 Orange Revolution that overturned a rigged presidential ballot. The two seek closer ties to the European Union and NATO. They hadn't met by 8:30 p.m. ``We will be able to form a coalition in one or two days,'' Timoshenko had said. ``It was a victory for the democratic forces, our common victory with the president.'' Yushchenko later complained that the vote was being counted too slowly in several parts of the country traditionally loyal to Yanukovych, and demanded that the Prosecutor General's office investigate. ``Vote falsifiers will be punished,'' he said in a statement. ``Do not test the law and fate.'' Lytvyn could emerge as a key figure after elections. ``The Lytvyn bloc could again be the spoiler this year,'' said Taras Kuzio, research associate at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University. Lytvyn ``maintained good relations with Yushchenko and Yanukovych'' and so ``could be courted by both.'' The pro-Russian Yanukovych, 57, won elections last year and his administration blocked many of the president's policies and stripped him of some powers. ``News that the Orange parties may be returning to power had little effect on the market,'' said Nick Piazza, an analyst at Kiev-based brokerage Concorde Capital. `` Trading has been quieter leading up to the elections, but more due to global volatility than political instability.''"
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Thousands of protesters have gathered outside Pakistan's parliament to demand the government reinstate judges fired last year by President Musharraf. The protesters' convoy of several hundred buses began earlier this week and finally rolled up to parliament at 0200 on Saturday (2000 GMT Friday). The crowds milled close to the floodlit parliament building awaiting speeches by senior lawyers. Mr Musharraf dismissed the judges in November when imposing emergency rule. After they won elections in February, both the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League of Nawaz Sharif (PML-N) promised to restore the judges. But they are split on the mechanics of how this should be done. Police expected the protest to swell to between 40,000 and 50,000 people. Barricades have been set up around the presidency and parliament buildings and extra security forces brought into the capital. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the authorities are nervous about potential violence. Parliament must now respect the sentiments of people, the people have spoken and they want the restoration of the judges   But neither side wants trouble and they have reached agreement on a designated route through the city, our correspondent says. The convoy travelled from the city of Lahore on the last leg of the nationwide protest. The ""long march"" - as it has been dubbed - has passed through different towns and cities on its way to the capital. Several thousand lawyers have been joined in the capital by a much larger number of activists, most of them supporters of the PML-N. Protesters were showered with rose petals as they passed through the city of Jhelum en route to Rawalpindi and the capital. ""These are Musharraf's last days,"" leading lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan told the crowd. ""We are out in the streets to save Pakistan."" Pakistan's deposed Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, and Nawaz Sharif are expected to address the protesters. President Musharraf dismissed dozens of judges, including the Supreme Court chief justice, in November when he imposed emergency rule. At the time he faced numerous legal challenges to his staying on for another term. The lawyers' convoy includes hundreds of buses and cars The move further enraged lawyers and his political opponents, who were already infuriated over his attempts earlier in the year to sack Mr Chaudhry. The PML-N now argues that the judges should be reappointed by an executive order from the prime minister. But the PPP wants to link any reinstatement to a major package of constitutional reforms. The differences led Mr Sharif to withdraw his ministers from the cabinet last month, although his party still supports the coalition government. The two parties also appear to differ over how to deal with President Musharraf. Mr Sharif has called for his removal and trial for treason, but the PPP appears wary of a confrontation with the president, who has insisted that he has no plans to resign. Before the judges were sacked, the Supreme Court was also due to rule on the legality of an amnesty President Musharraf granted former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, then the PPP leader, and her husband Asif Ali Zardari. Mr Sharif was granted no such amnesty."
" China has offered its support to eurozone countries to help them through the debt crisis that has gripped the region. ""We are ready to support the eurozone to overcome the financial crisis and realise economic recovery,"" said foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. She added that the eurozone would become ""a major market"" for China's foreign exchange investments. Some eurozone countries are struggling with high debt levels. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with the European Union (EU), has pledged tens of billions of dollars to bail out Greece and the Irish Republic. Earlier this year, Greece accepted a 110bn-euro aid package, while the Irish were forced to ask for an 85bn-euro package last month. There are fears that Portugal may also have to ask for assistance, while some commentators have even suggested that Spain may need help. China has massive reserves of foreign currency, predominantly in US dollars. Ms Jiang's comments suggest that the country will buy more euros in the future. Earlier this week, China's Vice-Premier Wang Qishan said he supported the efforts of both the IMF and EU in providing assistance to struggling eurozone countries."
" KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, June 13 (Reuters) - Nearly all of an estimated 1,150 prisoners, including some 400 Taliban inmates, have fled a prison in Kandahar on Friday after Taliban insurgents blew open the main gate, two officials said. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Taliban also fired several rockets at various parts of the mud-built prison in the province, a stronghold of the ousted Taliban movement. (Writing by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Caroline Drees)"
" 1 of 25. A street underwater in Des Moines, Iowa June 14, 2008. A levee holding back rising floodwaters broke and swamped Iowa's capital on Saturday as officials across the U.S. Midwest reinforced levees, helped displaced residents and cleaned up the mess left by the region's worst flooding in 15 years. The region got a break from the torrential rains and high winds, but some states braced for more rain, which was forecast for Saturday night. ""Thankfully we're having some dry weather right now,"" said Alan Foster, a spokesman for Iowa's state emergency management office. ""But with everything that's flowing ... we're still just hanging on."" Iowa was the epicenter of the flooding that swamped Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Indiana. In Des Moines, Iowa's capital, a levee holding back the Des Moines River broke overnight, sending water rushing into a neighborhood near downtown. In Cedar Rapids, the state's second-largest city, the waters of the swollen Cedar River crested overnight. But more than 400 city blocks remain waterlogged and 24,000 people have been forced from their homes. Mayor Brian Fagen toured the downtown streets by motorboat. He said the city's main fire station was submerged and he saw ""block upon block"" of devastation. ""Nobody expected this and planned for this,"" resident Phyllis Hikey said. ""I thought we were pretty safe, but no, we weren't."" Downstream in Iowa City, rising waters threatened the University of Iowa, the city's largest employer. A U.S. Coast Guard team was evacuating residents. Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has declared 83 of the state's 99 counties disaster areas and dispatched 2,500 National Guard troops to flooded communities."
" New Zealand threatened Fiji's military chief Voreqe Bainimarama and his wife with the loss of access to their grandchildren if he staged a coup, WikiLeaks cables reveal. Bainimarama and his wife Meli came to New Zealand in November 2006 to attend a grand-daughter's First Holy Communion in Wellington. As he passed through Auckland he told Fairfax Media that when he returned to Fiji he would stage a coup on December 4 to overthrow the government of Laisenia Qarase. This prompted then Foreign Minister Winston Peters and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to set up urgent meetings with Bainimarama and, later, Qarase who was flown down on an RNZAF flight. The surprising part of the approaches is revealed by then US Ambassador Bill McCormick who advised Washington on what was to be said to Bainimarama. He revealed that Winston Peters was ""on travel in Auckland"" and was too busy to see Bainimarama. Unusually, New Zealand's ""talking points"" were then put to Bainimarama by the British Defence Attache based in Wellington, Nigel Lloyd, at a lunch. The sharp tone of the ""talking points"" and the open threat over grandchildren probably explains Bainimarama's now abiding hostility toward New Zealand. The issued talking points even provided the line of language to use. ""I gather you are down here on a private visit for your grand-daughter's first communion - a significant family occasion. I hope you enjoy your visit,"" the cable says Lloyd was instructed to say."
" US diplomats privately pressurised the Bangladeshi government into reinstating a controversial coal mine which had been closed following violent protests, a leaked diplomatic cable shows. The US ambassador to Dhaka, James Moriarty, last year held talks with the country's chief energy adviser, urging him to approve plans by the British company Global Coal Management (GCM) to begin open-cast coal mining in the country's Phulbari area, in the west of Bangladesh. GCM were forced to shut down operations in the country in 2006 after a grassroots demonstration turned violent. Three people were killed as soldiers fired at protesters, and several hundred were injured. But the company has continued to maintain a strong presence in the country and has continued to lobby for rights to operate the coal mine ever since. Earlier this month, Steve Bywater, GCM's chairman, said that a Bangladeshi parliamentary standing committee had recommended that the country moves towards extracting coal reserves using open-cut mining methods. The government of Bangladesh has not yet given any firm assurances over whether they will give the coal mine project the go-ahead. It remains a deeply contentious issue, with activists fearing the country's natural resources are due to be sold off to a string of foreign investors. Revelations that the US government continued to push for the Bangladeshi energy adviser to reinstate the plans are likely to cause greater anger among activists, who last month staged a ""long march"" from Phulbari to Dhaka to demand Asia Energy leaves the country. In a cable posted by WikiLeaks which was sent in July last year, Moriarty says he had urged Tawfiq Elahi Chowdhury, the prime minister's energy adviser, to authorise coal mining, saying that ""open-pit mining seemed the best way forward"". Later on in the cable, Moriarty privately noted: ""Asia Energy, the company behind the Phulbari project, has sixty percent US investment. Asia Energy officials told the Ambassador they were cautiously optimistic that the project would win government approval in the coming months."" However, in the cable Moriarty also notes that Chowdhury admitted the coal mine was ""politically sensitive in the light of the impoverished, historically oppressed tribal community residing on the land"". Chowdhury, according to the cable, then agrees to build support for the project through the parliamentary process."
" In 2007, a court in Milan started trying several CIA agents in absentia for their roles in the 2003 kidnapping of Abu Omar, an Egyptian cleric who had been living in the northern Italian city. When the indictments first came down, the US government tried to intervene -- first in Milan and then in Rome -- so as to influence the investigations of the public prosecutor's office. At first, the efforts were conducted via diplomatic channels. But, later, they also took place during top-level talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. American diplomats and even the US secretary of defense were assured that the Italian government ""was working hard to resolve the situation."" And they also got to hear Berlusconi vent his rage at his own country's judicial system. These anecdotes come from secret dispatches from the US Embassy in Rome, and they are particularly embarrassing for Berlusconi, who recently survived a confidence vote in parliament. The documents provide detailed descriptions of how both the American ambassador and US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates exerted direct pressure on the Italian government in Rome. In particular, they wanted to make sure that Rome would use its influence to make sure that no international arrest warrants were issued for the CIA agents accused of being involved in Abu Omar's abduction. The case bears an uncanny resemblance to how the United States dealt with the affair involving Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen with Lebanese roots who was also unlawfully kidnapped by the CIA in Macedonia in late 2003 for having alleged ties to terrorism. In that case, US diplomats in Germany tried to prevent local officials from pursuing a case against CIA officials involved in el-Masri's abduction and issuing an international arrest warrant for them. In the wake of 9/11, the CIA had expanded such activities with the explicit approval of then-President George W. Bush, abducting several dozen suspected terrorists around the world and transporting them to secret detention centers for interrogation. Abu Omar's abduction followed the pattern exactly. Omar, who was known to Italian authorities as a hate preacher at a mosque in Milan, was seized in broad daylight on the open street, hustled into a white van, anesthetized and then flown from Italy to Egypt via Germany. There, Omar claims he was brutally mistreated by Egyptian intelligence officers. He also claims that American officials were present while he was being tortured and interrogated. After being held for 14 months, Omar was finally released, though he continues to live under a type of house arrest. An Embarrassing Trial for the CIA In the case involving Omar, the United States quickly ran into the same problem that it had faced in Germany. Italian journalists and Armando Spataro, the unflinching prosecutor in Milan, uncovered in meticulous detail the CIA agents' at-times-sloppy efforts to camouflage their actions. And the story quickly became a media sensation -- particularly after it emerged that a number of agents had rewarded themselves for the successful kidnapping operation by spending a weekend in a luxury hotel in Venice, complete with generous expense accounts. After months of investigations, the prosecutor produced an overwhelmingly detailed indictment that even included the real names of the kidnappers. When the trial got underway in Milan in 2007, it was a major disaster for the CIA. Though none of its agents were in the courtroom, just the negative attention it brought the organization was damaging enough. Indeed, the mere fact that a trial was being held might have been what prompted American officials to go much further in their efforts to put pressure on the Italian government than it had on the German government in the case of el-Masri. Indeed, already in May 2006, the American ambassador in Rome relayed a threatening message: If arrest warrants were in fact issued, it could lead to a drastic deterioration in bilateral relations. For example, in notes following a conversation with high-ranking Undersecretary Gianni Letta on May 24, 2006, the American ambassador wrote that he had explained to Letta that ""nothing would damage relations faster or more seriously than a decision by the government of Italy to forward warrants for arrests"" of the CIA agents named in connection with the Abu Omar case. It didn't take long before the Italians reacted to the threat. At a hastily called meeting, Letta suggested that the best way to get the case wrapped up as quickly as possible would be for the then-US attorney general to speak directly to Clemente Mastella, Italy's justice minister at the time."
" The United States criticized Myanmar on Friday for cutting off Internet access and called on ""all civilized nations"" to pressure the military-run government to end its violent crackdown on protesters. ""They don't want the world to see what is going on there,"" White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown talked about the situation via secure video teleconference on Friday. They agreed on the importance of a planned visit this weekend to Myanmar by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari and on ""the need for countries around the world to continue to make their views clear to the junta,"" Stanzel said. ""They need to refrain from violence and move to a peaceful transition to democracy,"" Stanzel said. Click here for photos of Myanmar. The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, said 10 people have been killed since the violence began earlier this week, but diplomats say the toll is likely much higher. By blocking public access to the Internet, the regime cut off one of the few ways of getting information about the protests out of Myanmar, where media freedom is severely restricted. Daily protests drawing tens of thousands of people have grown into the stiffest challenge to the ruling military junta in two decades. The crisis began Aug. 19 with rallies against a fuel price increase, then escalated dramatically when monks joined in, drawing world attention. The crackdown has been muted by Myanmar standards, but there are fears the government is preparing to intensify it. On Friday, soldiers clubbed and dragged away activists while firing tear gas and warning shots to break up demonstrations. The United States imposed new sanctions Thursday on more than a dozen of the junta's leaders. Bush's conversation with Brown was part of a U.S. determination to keep the international focus on the situation high, and Stanzel said there would be more such talks. ""We call on the junta to stop the violence,"" Stanzel said. ""The crackdown on the peaceful protesters there is quite barbaric."""
" Police are reported to have fired shots at demonstrators. Witnesses said at least one person collapsed. Witnesses said soldiers stormed six monasteries overnight, smashing windows and doors and beat the sleeping monks. About 200 Buddhist monks were reported to have been detained during raids on two monasteries in Rangoon. As protests resumed, only a small number of monks could be seen among the crowd. Many of the protesters were heard chanting nationalist songs. Two members of the National League for Democracy, the party led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were also arrested overnight. There were also reports of raids in the north-east of the country. The arrests come a day after five people were reported to have been killed when police broke up protests by monks and civilians. The military government has confirmed one death. In Rangoon, security forces have set up barbed wire barricades around Shwedagon Pagoda and Rangoon city hall, two of the focal points for the demonstrations. The British ambassador in Rangoon, Mark Canning, said soldiers and police had stepped up their presence. ""There are truckloads of troops in a number of locations - more than there seemed to be yesterday,"" he told the BBC."
" Burma's security forces raided several Buddhist monasteries today, arresting hundreds of the monks who have led the biggest protests against military rule in 20 years, witnesses said. At least 200 monks were detained in pre-dawn raids on two monasteries in Rangoon, a day after tens of thousands of protesters defied warning shots, tear gas and baton charges meant to quell the demonstrations. Troops also raided at least two monasteries in north-eastern Burma, where large anti-government protests have been held in the past week. Up to 500 monks were arrested at the Mogaung monastery in Yankin Township and another 150 detained at the Ngwe Kyaryan monastery in South Okkalapa Township, witnesses said. ""Only two or three sick monks were left behind,'' a person who lives near the Ngwe Kyaryan monastery said. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting today on the violent response to demonstrations and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the country's military rulers to exercise ""utmost restraint"" towards peaceful protesters. Ibrahim Gambari, the secretary-general's special envoy on Burma, briefed the council on the latest developments and Ban announced that he will then head to the region to press the UN's offer to help promote national reconciliation through dialogue. The United States and the council's European Union members - Britain, France, Italy and Belgium - have already condemned the attacks and called on the country's military rulers to stop the violence and open a dialogue with pro-democracy leaders. In a joint statement issued after a meeting of US and EU diplomats, the officials urged the Security Council to ""discuss this situation urgently and consider further steps including sanctions"". ""What's going on in Burma is outrageous,"" US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after a luncheon meeting of ministers from the eight major industrialised nations. ""The regime needs to stop using violence against peaceful people and get to a dialogue so that they can have reconciliation."""
" Rebels in the Syrian city of Aleppo have set off a massive suicide lorry bomb to seize back a strategic ruined hospital occupied by Assad loyalists. A huge fireball engulfed the al-Kindi Hospital, the blast bringing down the central section of the disused building, in Friday's daylight attack. Militants driving up in an armoured personnel carrier later piled into one of its wings. According to an unconfirmed report, 35 rebels died in the attack. Analysts say the capture of the ruined hospital does not alter significantly the balance of forces in Aleppo, Syria's battle-scarred second city, but it is a boost for the rebels and their Islamist allies after recent reverses. Regarded before the war as one of Syria's most modern clinics, the building has changed hands at least three times now in ferocious fighting. The gunmen who overran the ruined hospital included both conservative Muslim groups and factions with links to al-Qaeda, Aleppo-based activist Abu al-Hassan Marea was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. Syrian photographer Molhem Barakat, who had taken pictures for Reuters news agency as a freelance, was killed during Friday's fighting in Aleppo."
" Mauritius has launched a legal action against the UK to contest its creation of a Marine Protection Area around its Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. The case comes after a US cable released by Wikileaks revealed UK and US officials discussing the park. A UK official is quoted as saying it should put an end to any possibility of the displaced islanders returning. Some 2,000 residents were forced out when the British colony was leased to the US in the 1960s for an air base. Many of the former residents now live in Mauritius. They have been campaigning for the right to return for many years and have a case pending at the European Court of Human Rights. The marine reserve's creation was announced in April 2010 by then UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband. A US cable from May 2009 quotes a discussion about the park with Foreign Office official Colin Roberts. ""He asserted that establishing a marine park would, in effect, put paid to resettlement claims of the archipelago's former residents,"" the cable said. The Mauritian Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam said his government had filed a case before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg."
" Julian Assange has a disturbing anecdote from the time he spent in Wandsworth prison. One day, as he was tucking into a lunchtime dish of rice and beans, he noticed that something snapped in his mouth. A metallic object he had chewed on cracked one of his teeth in two. ""I don't know if it had been placed there deliberately or if it was a simple accident,"" he says. On returning to his solitary-confinement cell he wrapped the tooth in a white piece of paper. He was then let out for an hour. On his return the tooth had disappeared. ""It will soon be up for sale on eBay,"" the Australian jokes, speaking from the kitchen of the mansion owned by Vaughan Smith, his protector on British soil, who has offered Assange a home where he can be located during his time on bail. -And why do you think it was stolen? -I suppose because they didn't want there to be any evidence that such a thing could have happened. This is the first interview Assange has given since he left prison. It is the first time that two journalists have entered Smith's luxurious mansion, a Georgian-style building surrounded by ponds and a thick covering of snow. Assange, 39, looks fine. He is drinking tea and talking, as always, in a murmur.But the website editor undergoes a transformation when the tape recorder is switched on. He breathes in and adopts his role, that of a man who is fighting for freedom of expression; of the founder of WikiLeaks, a website that in recent weeks has laid bare the international diplomacy of the United States; of a man pursued by the Swedish justice system in connection with alleged rape offenses; of a man persecuted by an invisible hand, controlled by someone with an American accent. -Let's start with a very basic question. How do you feel these days? -It's wonderful to have left solitary confinement. I feel very determined. I see that we have received support from all over the world, especially in South America and Australia and it feels like everyone, everywhere is on our side. But the closer someone is to power, the less they are willing to support us, probably because they have more to lose. -There is Brazil's outgoing President Lula, who has expressed support. -He's a special case because he has retired, and that allows him to be more direct than he would have been otherwise. He doesn't have to pay homage to the US anymore. -Last Thursday on the steps of the court after being released, you spoke about..."
" Barrels packed with explosives and dropped from Syrian aircraft have killed 517 people in the northern province of Aleppo since 15 December, activists say. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 151 were children and 46 women. The city of Aleppo has been the focus of bitter fighting between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels. A Norwegian frigate is meanwhile preparing to collect chemical weapons from Syria for destruction. The arms are due to be taken from the Syrian port of Latakia to Italy. There, they will be loaded onto a US Navy ship and taken to international waters for destruction in a specially created titanium tank on board. The global watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical arms stockpile, has called on Damascus to ""intensify its efforts"" to help the operation. The OPCW said it was up to Syria to mitigate the risks involved in transporting the stockpile to the port. Syria agreed to abandon its arsenal to avert possible US military action in response to a sarin nerve gas attack on the outskirts of Damascus in August. Under a deal brokered by the US and Russia, the complete elimination of all chemical weapons material and equipment must be completed by the first half of 2014."
" ISTANBUL, June 8 (Xinhua) -- With Israel vetoing a condemnation of its raid on the Gaza flotilla by an international summit, Turkey held a separate press conference here on Tuesday to condemn Israel. Turkish President Abdullah Gul said, ""All the members, except one, expressed their grave concern and condemnation of the actions undertaken by the Israeli defense forces against the international civilian flotilla transporting humanitarian aid materials to the Gaza Strip."" The Turkish president made the statement at a press conference held shortly after the conclusion of the third Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). The final declaration by CICA summit can only be made by consensus, and Israel is the only one among the 22 members which vetoed the condemnation. ""This showed how Israel has isolated itself from the other 21 countries,"" said Gul."
" One of the 10 ships in the Gaza-bound flotilla has been sabotaged but will be repaired in time for the planned voyage to challenge Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territory, activists said Tuesday. The propeller shaft of the Juliano, a ship shared by Swedish, Norwegian and Greek activists, was cut off while the vessel was docked in the Greek port of Piraeus, according to the Scandinavian organizers. ""Based on a first on-site inspection the damage can be repaired before the planned departure toward the end of this week,"" said a statement by the Swedish activists, who blamed ""hostile divers"" for the damage. In a separate statement, Norwegian delegation leader Torstein Dahle said the incident shows ""someone is willing to go to great lengths to stop the flotilla from sailing."" The ship is part of a 10-ship flotilla due to set sail shortly in a bid to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. Israel has warned it will thwart any attempt to breach the sea blockade of the Palestinian territory. Israeli military spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich told reporters Monday that, according to intelligence reports, extremists in the flotilla have supplies of what she called ""dangerous incendiary chemicals"" to use against Israeli forces. Dror Feiler, one of the organizers, dismissed those claims, saying the hundreds of people who plan to join the flotilla have signed a declaration of nonviolence. ""No activists on the flotilla are out to harm Israeli soldiers,"" Feiler told Army Radio on Tuesday. ""If they [the Israelis] suspect someone, let them give me the information and we will talk to him. If it turns out to be true, we won't take him on the flotilla. We have no intention of clashing with anyone."" Dire warnings and diplomatic sensitivities shadow the politically charged plan to deliver aid to the Palestinian territory. The looming fear is a reprise of a similar mission a year ago that ended when nine activists on a Turkish vessel died in a raid by Israeli commandos who rappelled on board from helicopters in the pre-dawn darkness. Several hundred activists, many of them from Europe, Canada and the United States, plan to board the 10 boats, including two cargo vessels carrying medicine and other aid. They say the operation is peaceful."
" A US military analyst, Bradley Manning, has been arrested on suspicion of leaking classified combat video and documents to a whistle-blower website. Specialist Manning, 22, was detained during a tour of duty in Iraq, and is being held in Kuwait pending further investigations. The WikiLeaks website posted a video which it says shows the US military shooting civilians in Baghdad in 2007. It has not confirmed Spc Manning as its source for the helicopter footage. News of his arrest first broke on the Wired.com website. A former hacker said he had turned the analyst in out of concern for US national security. In a statement, the US army in Iraq said Spc Manning was ""placed in pre-trial confinement for allegedly releasing classified information"". WikiLeaks' organisers said they were given the footage, which they said came from cameras on US Apache helicopters. They said they decrypted it, but would not reveal who gave it to them. The WikiLeaks site campaigns for freedom of information and posts leaked documents online."
" Turn your viewing of the Emmy Awards into a multimedia experience. Bookmark this Gold Derby blog. I'll be live blogging the Emmycast in order to give you expert perspective on what's up: Is this victory an upset? An outrage? Funny? Does it set a new record? I'm appearing live on the KTLA red-carpet pre-show from 3 to 5 p.m. PT, but as soon as I get back to the press room afterward and the Emmycast begins, I'll start typing here. Join us! THAT OPENING ""BORN TO RUN"" DANCE NUMBER: It was kept so hush by Emmycast producers that I was briskly escorted from the theater on Saturday when I was discovered watching it staged during rehearsals. They didn't want any press members there to witness, but they hadn't told us ahead of time to avoid the act. So it wasn't fair that they tossed me out. And they may have ousted me, but there were other reporters in the theater who also saw the rehearsal (which went terribly bad) and they weren't tossed out. Word leaked all over the web about it. I better not be blamed for blabbing! ERIC STONESTREET'S VICTORY AS BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR: It shouldn't be surprising to those who've followed the punditry here at The Envelope. Actors are chosen based upon the episodes they submit -- one per nominee to judges. Stonestreet submitted a hilarious segment in which he appeared as a clown. But he may have won thanks to another factor too: extra face time. There are two other ""Modern Family"" costars in this category. That means they all get face time on each others' episodes when judges view all of the segments. That same phenomenon probably helped Edie Falco win best drama actress back in her ""The Sopranos"" days when she was nominated against costar Lorraine Bracco. I can say with certainty that Felicity Huffman won best comedy actress of 2005 thanks to being nominated against ""Desperate Housewives"" costar Marcia Cross. Huffman's performance on her own episode submission wasn't very good, but she was fantastic in Cross' submission. JANE LYNCH'S VICTORY: Everybody saw that victory coming. She submitted the Madonna episode of ""Glee."" She may be only a supporting player on that show, but she was the lead shining star in that knockout episode. BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR: Eric Stonestreet, ""Modern Family"" BEST WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES: ""Modern Family"" BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS: Jane Lynch, ""Glee"" BEST DIRECTION OF A COMEDY SERIES: Ryan Murphy, ""Glee"" (""Pilot"") BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES: Jim Parsons, ""The Big Bang Theory"" BEST LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES: Edie Falco, ""Nurse Jackie"""
" The election is being seen as a key test of stability in Afghanistan, where violence is at its worst since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, before U.S. President Barack Obama conducts a review of his Afghan war strategy in December. Poor security, particularly in Taliban strongholds in the south and east, already looms as the biggest challenge to the ballot, along with corruption and fraud. Four candidates have already been killed. On Saturday, unidentified gunmen killed candidate Haji Abdul Manan as he walked from his home to a mosque in western Herat province. The Taliban later claimed the attack. Last Thursday, up to 10 campaign workers for outspoken female candidate Fawzia Gilani went missing in Herat's Adraskan district. Officials originally said it was not known if they had been abducted by the Taliban or political rivals, although a spokesman for the Islamist militants later said the Taliban had seized five of them. Five of those taken later turned up unharmed. The district chief of Adraskan said the bullet-riddled bodies of the other five were found on a hillside in Adraskan, but added it was still not clear who killed them. ""We have sent the bodies to hospital,"" district chief Nisar Ahmad Popal told Reuters. The Taliban could not be reached for comment immediately. The United Nations, which helped oversee last year's fraud-marred presidential vote, said two weeks ago three candidates had been killed and that widespread intimidation of female candidates and other instances of election violence had been observed."
" The decision was announced as Moroccan Mounir al-Motassadek appeared in court in Hamburg, Germany, on Tuesday. The stance is seen as a major blow for the prosecutors. They had hoped to use testimony from Ramzi Binalshibh, an al-Qaeda suspect in US custody, to reverse the quashing of Mr Motassadek's earlier conviction. A letter from the US Justice Department read in court said terror suspects in American custody would not be allowed to testify. The Justice Department also said an FBI agent would be sent to give evidence at the retrial. The German authorities had asked Washington in May to give them direct access to Mr Binalshibh and other witnesses. But the US letter said that even information on whether a given individual was in custody was classified as secret. The court also heard a statement from Germany's interior ministry saying it was working intensively with the US to get missing information. Mr Motassadek, 30, was sentenced to 15 years in prison last year for helping the 11 September hijackers based in Hamburg. At the time of his conviction, he was the only person to have been found guilty in connection with the attacks on the US."
" A group of Somali pirates has been captured after attacking a French navy ship by mistake, apparently thinking it was a harmless cargo vessel. French military spokesman Admiral Christophe Prazuck said the pirates attacked in skiffs late at night some 500km (310 miles) off the Somali coast. But the command and supply ship, the Somme, repelled the attack and chased the pirates, capturing five of them. Once they realised they were facing a ship that was responding and was heading towards them, they stopped shooting and attempted to flee   The country has had no effective central government since 1991, leading to a complete breakdown of law and order, and pirates operate off the coast almost with impunity. Admiral Prazuck told French TV station La Chaine Info the pirates seemed to be surprised that the navy ship fought back. ""Once they realised they were facing a ship that was responding and was heading towards them, they stopped shooting and attempted to flee,"" he said. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. ""The Somme gave chase and intercepted one of the pirates' boats. All the weapons had apparently been tossed into the sea and the suspected pirates are now being held on board the Somme."" About two dozen ships from European Union nations, including Britain, France, Germany and Italy, patrol the waters off Somalia - an area of about two million square miles. Although the international naval forces have stepped up patrols in the Gulf of Aden this year, relatively few of the pirates detained have faced trial because of the legal complexities involved."
" The court ruled that San Francisco's mayor had overstepped his authority by issuing same-sex marriage licences earlier this year. Thousands of same-sex couples were married in the city between 12 February and 11 March, when the court issued an injunction halting the wedding spree. Gay marriage is a controversial issue in the US. The marriages had virtually no legal value, but they angered conservative groups, which launched legal challenges to nullify them. The first couple to receive a marriage licence in San Francisco, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, expressed sadness at the judges' 5-2 ruling. ""Del is 83 years old and I am 79,"" Ms Lyon said. ""After being together for more than 50 years, it is a terrible blow to have the rights and protections of marriage taken away from us."" San Francisco's Mayor, Gavin Newsom, gave the go-ahead to issue marriage licences, saying current legislation was discriminatory. His spokesman said at the time that Mayor Newsom was only following ""the state constitution, which explicitly outlaws discrimination of any kind"". In separate legal action, the city of San Francisco and gay rights groups are suing the state of California to get the law banning same-sex marriages overturned. That case will be heard later this year. A similar case in Massachusetts led to the legalisation of gay marriage in the state. The first gay weddings began there in May."
" A second former Blackwater contractor was sentenced to prison for involuntary manslaughter Monday in the 2009 shooting death of a civilian in Afghanistan. Justin Cannon of Corpus Christi, Texas, was sentenced to 30 months by U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar. A Virginia Beach man, Christopher Drotleff, received a 37-month sentence earlier this month for his actions in the same incident. The two were charged with murder and convicted of the lesser charge in March after an earlier trial ended in a hung jury. They are the first contractors for the Moyock, N.C.-based security company now known as Xe Services to get prison time for killing a civilian in a war zone. Rejecting defense attorneys' plea for a lesser punishment, Doumar said the sentence was meant to send a message - especially to Xe. ""They have a responsibility to hire individuals who they feel are capable of following orders and not going off on some tear,"" he said. Doumar said he was unmoved by the defendants' argument that their behavior should be excused because they were operating under dangerous conditions in a war zone. ""They tried to paint their victims as aggressors, and they weren't aggressors,"" the judge said. ""They were just victims."" Cannon and Drotleff were working for a Blackwater subsidiary providing weapons training to the Afghan army under a Defense Department subcontract. The victim, Romal Mohammad Naiem, was a passenger in a Toyota Corolla that approached the scene after a two-vehicle Blackwater convoy was involved in a traffic accident in Kabul, the Afghan capital, on May 5, 2009."
" A prominent Ukrainian civic activist and journalist was beaten on Christmas Day by a group of men who dragged her from her car outside of Kiev in the latest attack on government opponents, authorities said. In a statement on its website, the Interior Ministry said it had identified three suspects in the beating of Tetiana Chornovol, who was assaulted in the early hours of Wednesday. The ministry said it had arrested two of the suspects. A dashboard camera in Chornovol's car captured part of the attack on the 34-year-old journalist known for her muckraking investigations into corruption among senior state officials, according to the opposition Batkivshchyna party website. A still image from the dashboard camera footage showed the black SUV that struck Chornovol's car moments before the assault. The freelance journalist suffered a broken nose, concussion and numerous bruises, the online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reported. On Thursday, the U.S. embassy in Kiev sharply condemned the beating in a statement. It called for an investigation, ""which unlike previous such incidents must result in those responsible being held fully accountable under the law."" The embassy alleged that people were being targeted for their involvement in pro-European Union protests. ""These are unacceptable violations of civil liberties that have no place in a modern, democratic society,"" the embassy said. The attack on the activist journalist comes as Russia agrees to buy Ukrainian debt and slash the price Kiev pays for its gas -- an economic lifeline from President Vladimir Putin as Ukraine is rattled by protests calling for closer economic ties with Europe instead. Under the deal, Putin said Moscow would buy $15 billion in Ukrainian debt by investing in its national welfare fund. The cost of Russian gas supplied to Ukraine was cut from more than $400 per 1,000 cubic meters to $268.50."
" 1 of 4. A woman casts her ballot during a parliamentary election at a polling station in Tashkent December 27, 2009. Central Asia's most populous nation, ex-Soviet Uzbekistan has never held a vote judged free and fair by Western observers. Once critical of the leadership's intolerance of dissent, the West kept quiet before this vote because it wants to engage Tashkent more closely in U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and perhaps persuade it to reopen a key U.S. military air base. The election is certain to hand allies of President Islam Karimov, in power for two decades, all seats in the lower house of parliament. The country has no opposition parties and most pro-democracy figures are in jail or in exile abroad. Karimov, a top Communist Party apparatchik in Soviet days who has overseen a tightly-controlled economy, said a high voter turnout showed his policies were popular. ""We have been resilient to the crisis thanks to the timely implementation of our anti-crisis program,"" Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Karimov as saying after casting his ballot at a polling station from which Reuters reporters were kept out. Fearful of reprisals, ordinary people were afraid to give full names to reporters. ""People here seriously do not care. ... It's not an election,"" said one young resident of Tashkent, an ancient Silk Road city rebuilt in Soviet times after a ruinous earthquake. A 32-year-old driver called Javokhir said ""I am not going. I am not interested. What's a parliament anyway?"" Despite widespread apathy, the official turnout was high -- about 80 percent by 5 p.m. (7 a.m. EST), Russia's RIA news agency reported. In an echo of its Soviet past, voting in Uzbekistan is often compulsory in neighborhoods and companies."
" Dozens of people have been killed, including six peacekeepers from Chad, in the latest violence in the Central African Republic, officials say. The peacekeepers were attacked by a Christian militia known as anti-balaka in the capital Bangui on Wednesday. At least 40 other people have also died since Wednesday, Red Cross officials said. African Union (AU) and French troops are battling to end a Christian-Muslim conflict that has engulfed CAR. The AU has nearly 4,000 troops in CAR. France, the former colonial power, has also deployed 1,600 soldiers to help restore order. Militias from the Christian and Muslim groups have been involved in attacks and counter-attacks since Michel Djotodia installed himself as the country's first Muslim ruler in March, ousting then-President Francois Bozize, who came from the majority Christian population. Many Christians accuse the Chadian government of being allied to the Seleka rebel group which propelled Mr Djotodia to power, while Muslims allege that French forces are siding with Christian militia. The circumstances surrounding the death of the Chadians remain unclear. AU spokesman Eloi Yao said: ""Yesterday [Wednesday] the city was in total chaos and this chaos lasted until the end of the night. Today we are trying to understand what happened."" Heavy gunfire in Bangui had caused panic among civilians, who fled to the airport, which is protected by peacekeepers."
" Two US drone missile attacks have killed at least 15 people in the Pakistani tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials say. Twelve people were killed when a drone fired two missiles at a compound used by suspected militants in North Waziristan on Monday night, they added. Earlier on Monday, another drone fired two missiles at a vehicle in North Waziristan, killing three people. North Waziristan has been targeted by drone strikes for months. The US says the region is home to several militant groups involved in attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan. On Monday night, drone missiles targeted a compound at the foot of a hill in the thickly-forested Mantoi area, some 40km (24 miles) north-west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan. The compound was being used by local militants affiliated with Hakimullah Mehsud's Tehrik-e Taliban group, officials said. Earlier, three people were killed and two others injured when a drone fired two missiles at a vehicle which was travelling into Afghanistan in the Shawal region of North Waziristan. Wazir tribespeople inhabit both sides of the border here and frequently move across the border. But officials told BBC that those killed in the strike were militants. It is not clear which group they belonged to."
" The rebels, known as the Houthis after the family name of their leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, are fighting government troops in impoverished Yemen's mountainous north, complaining of social, religious and economic discrimination. The Yemeni Defense Ministry said on its website that Houthi was wounded in an attack by government forces and might have died from his wounds. ""There are increasing reports about the death of the terrorist Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, who was severely injured in an attack aimed at a gathering with a group of terrorist elements,"" the website said, adding there were reports that he had been buried in Jabel Tolan in the northern Malaheeth area. Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television also said the rebel leader was dead, citing unnamed Yemeni sources as saying he was killed in an airstrike. Yemeni news websites carried the same report. The rebels could not be reached and their website did not comment on the reports. There have been unconfirmed reports about the leader's death in the past but the latest reports appear to be stronger. The conflict drew in neighboring Saudi Arabia, the top OPEC oil exporter, after the Houthis seized Saudi territory last month, prompting Riyadh to launch strikes against them. The United States and Saudi Arabia fear al Qaeda will exploit instability in Yemen to stage attacks in the kingdom and beyond. The rebels said in a statement on their website on Sunday that Saudi Arabia launched 31 air raids on the Jaberi area -- a Saudi territory with a large Houthi concentration -- in addition to 15 air strikes on several areas in Yemen on Saturday night. ""Air strikes and missiles continued all of last night...,"" the statement said. ""This morning, the Saudi army began to advance inland into Jaberi."" Saudi officials could not be reached for comment."
" Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels occupied Mouadamiya last year and the government has been trying to win it back since with a siege that has choked off food, medicine and fuel. Children have died from malnutrition in the town, and thousands of people face starvation. Some have resorted to eating leaves to survive. The fragile ceasefire in Mouadamiya, 10 km (6 miles) southwest of the capital, began on Wednesday with the raising of a government flag on the town's tallest building. If the truce holds until Friday, the army has said it will allow food in. The ceasefire is unlikely to be repeated in other parts of Syria where more radical rebel groups operate, but it raises the prospect of a respite from violence and hunger in one of the country's most hard-hit areas. An activist close to the deal told Reuters negotiations had been conducted between the FSA military councils and local members of the government's military and political departments. If the truce holds and the government provides access to food, the activist said, a broader agreement could be implemented which might include the rebels giving up heavy weapons. ""The regime said it wanted the heavy weapons like the tanks and cannons,"" he said. ""It also said that it is willing to buy these weapons and pay for them,"" he added. ""There are no guarantees from either side. This is war."""
" Women console each other at prayer services in Aceh's mosques   Countries across the Indian Ocean have been marking the fifth anniversary of the catastrophic tsunami that killed almost 250,000 people. In Indonesia's Aceh province, where 170,000 died, thousands held prayers in public mosques and private homes. On Thai beaches, Buddhist monks chanted prayers as mourners held pictures of loved ones lost five years ago. Hundreds of tourists also returned to Phuket island to mark one of the worst natural disasters of modern times. A moment of silence was observed on Phuket's popular Patong Beach marking the time the tsunami struck. German survivor Adolf Ruschitschka, 73, and his wife Katherina waded into the turquoise seawater to lay white roses as a tribute to the dead. We came here to pray for our lost ones   ""We [still] come and stay here because we are alive,"" Mr Ruschitschka told Reuters news agency. Mourners on Phuket later lit candles and released lanterns into the sky. Other ceremonies are being held in the 14 countries hit by the massive wave, triggered by a massive undersea earthquake off Indonesian island of Sumatra. Thousands of survivors in Indonesia's Aceh province, the hardest-hit area, gathered at mosques and beside the mass graves where tens of thousands were buried. Killed more than 220,000 people, including thousands of foreign tourists Hundreds of thousands of others lost homes and livelihoods ""We came here to pray for our lost ones,"" Jallaludin, who lost his mother, brother and sister in the tsunami, told the BBC. Banda Aceh's main business district, which was completely destroyed by the tsunami, is again bustling with activity, says the BBC's Karishma Vaswani there. Our correspondent says many have rebuilt their lives thanks to billions of dollars in international aid. But five years on, the grief and trauma of the disaster are still very real for the people of Aceh, she adds. After Indonesia, Sri Lanka was the country worst hit by the tsunami. More than 40,000 people died there and some 500,000 were displaced. On Saturday, people prayed beside mass graves and also held two minutes of silence to mark the exact time the deadly waves struck the island. Visitors can still see blackened, destroyed buildings in the country's south and west, the BBC's Charles Haviland reports from Colombo. But he adds there has been good recovery too - aid grants have brought some farmers to a higher technical level than before. And one model village built by a philanthropist - which started out as 1,000 homes for victims - has now developed to take in a health centre, diving classes and more. A railway line destroyed in Sinigame, Sri Lanka, has been rebuilt   The tsunami was sparked by a 9.2-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra - the mightiest earthquake in 40 years. In Aceh province, the quake toppled homes and buildings and sent panicked residents rushing into the streets. About 20 minutes later, a wall of water up to six stories high surged in from the sea, burying thousands in thick black mud and leaving others to scramble up buildings or cling onto trees. It was a disaster on an unprecedented scale, the BBC's Rachel Harvey reports from Bangkok. Apart from the deaths, hundreds of thousands people lost their homes and livelihoods. No single agency or government could have been prepared for the challenges the tsunami presented, our South-East Asia correspondent says. Following the disaster, the UN has been designated to co-ordinate relief work in massive disaster zones. The so-called Cluster System for emergency response was used to good effect after the Padang earthquake in Indonesia in September, our correspondent says. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play."
" 1 of 9. An armoured vehicle hit by a bomb attack is lifted by a U.S. truck in Kabul December 27, 2013. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack which comes as President Hamid Karzai deliberates over an agreement allowing U.S. forces to stay in the country beyond 2014. ISAF put the death toll at three service members. The Slovak foreign ministry said two of the dead were Slovak servicemen and one was a U.S. soldier. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility in a message on his Twitter account. ""A number of foreign forces were killed and wounded and many vehicles were also destroyed,"" the militant spokesman said. Many Afghans, including a gathering of 3,000 tribal leaders and other prominent people, have urged Karzai to sign the U.S. pact quickly because they worry about security after 2014 when most foreign forces are leaving. Karzai says he does not want to sign until after a presidential election scheduled for April next year and unless the United States fulfils a number of his demands."
" Mohamad Chatah, a former Lebanese finance minister and ambassador to the United States, died Friday when a car bomb struck his convoy in downtown Beirut, Lebanon's National News Agency reported. The blast killed six others and left 71 wounded, Lebanon's state news agency said. Cars were burned beyond recognition as a wall of flames and thick black smoke shot up from the blast site. Chatah's bodyguard, Mohammed Badr, was among those killed, the news agency said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Chatah's last tweet, posted about an hour before his death, talked about Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based Shiite militant group with which Chatah was at odds. ""#Hezbollah is pressing hard to be granted similar powers in security & foreign policy matters that Syria exercised in Lebanon for 15 yrs,"" Chatah tweeted. That group decried the attack in a statement aired on Hezbollah TV, saying the it ""only benefits the enemies of Lebanon."" The group called on ""all the security and judicial agencies to be on high alert to expose the perpetrators and bring them to justice."" Chatah was known as a staunch critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom he accused of meddling in Lebanon's internal affairs. Hezbollah has sent fighters to help al-Assad's forces in the Syrian civil war. ""A united and peaceful Syria ruled by Assad is simply not possible anymore. It has been like that for some time,"" Chatah wrote in his last blog post. ""The status quo ante cannot be restored. Iran and Hezbollah realize this more than anyone else."""
" Operators of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant have begun pumping decontaminated water in as part of a system to cool damaged reactors. The government hailed the move as ""a giant step forward"" in bringing the facility under control. Some 110,000 tonnes of water have built up during efforts to cool reactors hit by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami. The tsunami destroyed both power and back-up generators at the plant, breaking the cooling systems. Three of the reactors went into meltdown, and there have been radiation leaks. It is the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986. Operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said about 1,850 tonnes of radioactive water had been recycled so far. The firm said it would continue to inject 16 tonnes of water every hour into reactors 1, 2, and 3, and that 13 tonnes of this would be the decontaminated water. ""This is critical in two aspects,"" said Goshi Hosono, an adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan. ""First, the system will solve the problem of contaminated water, which gave all sorts of worries to the world. Second, it will enable stable cooling of reactors."""
" Bomb attack on Shia march in Pakistani city of Karachi Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. At least 30 people have been killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing on a Shia Muslim march in the Pakistani city of Karachi, officials say. The attacker had been walking amidst a procession with tens of thousands of people, said the interior minister. After the explosion, marchers turned their anger on ambulance workers, security forces and journalists. Pakistan's security forces have been on high alert as Shia Muslims marked the holy month of Muharram. Ashura on Monday was the climax of the holy period, commemorating the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which comes amid an upsurge of violence by Taliban militants in Pakistan. I am hearing people are clashing with police and doctors, that is what terrorists want, to see this city again on fire   Karachi has a long history of sectarian violence between Shias and Sunnis. There have been numerous attacks on such processions across the country over the last few days, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool. On Sunday, eight people were killed when a suicide bomber targeted a Shia march in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Interior Minister Rehman Malik blamed Monday's blast on extremists who wanted to destabilise Pakistan. ""Whoever has done this, he cannot be a Muslim. He is worse than an infidel,"" he told reporters. Karachi police chief Waseem Ahmed said the severed head of the bomber had been found, reports Reuters news agency. One survivor, Naseem Raza, told AP news agency: ""I saw walls stained with blood and splashed with human flesh. I saw bloodstained people lying here and there."" Fleeing the scene of the blast, another mourner told AFP news agency: ""My sister, her husband and children are dead."" The bombing unleashed further pandemonium as angry Shia mourners fired shots in the air. Rioters torched dozens of shops and vehicles, while members of the security forces who had been guarding the procession were pelted with stones. ""I am hearing people are clashing with police and doctors. Please do not do that,"" AP news agency quoted him as saying. ""That is what terrorists are aiming at. They want to see this city again on fire."" Our correspondent says an incident like this was feared by the authorities. Stringent security measures had been put in place across the country over the last month. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in bomb attacks in recent months as Pakistan's army pursues an offensive against Taliban militants in South Waziristan and surrounding areas. Pakistan also has a long history of violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims that is estimated to have killed several thousand people in the last three decades alone. Some radicals in the Sunni majority regard Shias - who make up about 20% of the population - as heretics. Where you in the procession in Karachi? What is your reaction to the bombing? Please send us your comments using the form below. A selection of your comments may be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" A final report released Friday on the investigation of the mass shooting at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School offered snippets of the life of the reclusive and tormented young man who carried out the second deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. More than anything, the voluminous report -- thousands of pages long -- from the Connecticut State Police closes the final chapter on a massacre that triggered a national debate over gun violence, school safety and mental health. In a heavily redacted page in the report, an unidentified witness told investigators 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza hated his mother, Nancy, and Sandy Hook Elementary School. She volunteered at the school from 1998 to 2012, including years when he attended it. ""Lanza apparently felt that his mother loved the students more than him,"" the report said. However, a prosecutor's report released last month concluded that Lanza acted alone and took the motive for the bloodbath to his grave. The previous report quoted a witness who said Lanza did not have an emotional connection to his mother but also cited others who told investigators that they thought the young man was close to his mother and only talked to her. Mostly, Friday's report offered slight glimpses into the Lanza household. Nancy Lanza discussed her son's ""disabilities"" with a friend the day before her son shot and killed her, 20 first-graders and six staff members at the Newtown school. Over lunch, Nancy Lanza told the friend she had traveled to New Hampshire for a brief trip as ""an experiment to allow Adam to stay at home alone for a few days."" She traveled to New Hampshire on December 11 and returned on December 13. During the lunch meeting, the friend told investigators, Nancy Lanza ""described a difficult life but gave him the impression that she was courageous and 'handling everything.' """
" The National Security Agency notched a much-needed win in court Friday after a series of setbacks over the legality and even the usefulness of its massive data collection program. A federal judge in New York ruled the NSA's bulk collection of data on nearly every phone call made in the United States was legal. The ruling contrasts with another ruling last week by a federal judge in Washington, who called the same program ""almost Orwellian"" and likely unconstitutional. In his ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge William Pauley said the NSA's bulk collection of phone records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act was legal. The program was revealed in classified leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. ""But the question of whether that program should be conducted is for the other two coordinate branches of government to decide,"" said the ruling by Pauley, an appointee of President Bill Clinton. The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the case, said it would appeal Pauley's ruling. ""We are extremely disappointed with this decision, which misinterprets the relevant statutes, understates the privacy implications of the government's surveillance and misapplies a narrow and outdated precedent to read away core constitutional protections,"" said Jameel Jaffer, the ACLU's deputy legal director. President Barack Obama is examining a review of the surveillance efforts that recommended changes in how the NSA program was conducted. Obama said last week he would decide what to do about it in January. Last week, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said the NSA's bulk collection of metadata -- phone records of the time and numbers called without any disclosure of content -- apparently violates privacy rights. His preliminary ruling favored five plaintiffs challenging the practice, but Leon limited the decision only to their cases."
" 1 of 6. Residents search for survivors after what activists said were air strikes by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the Maysar neighbourhood of Aleppo December 28, 2013. A video posted on the Internet by local activist group Insaan Rights Watch showed residents pulling mangled corpses out of scorched and twisted car frames. One road hit by the strike was covered with debris from nearby buildings and was lined with bodies, as young men shouted for cars to help transport the wounded. The content of the video could not be independently verified. Hundreds of people have been killed by air raids around the city of Aleppo in recent weeks, scores of them women and children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group based in Britain. On Saturday, the Observatory said 25 people, at least four of them children, were killed by barrel bombing that also destroyed part of a hospital. It said the death toll was likely to rise as dozens more were wounded in the attack. Syrian authorities say they are battling rebels controlling large portions of the city, once Syria's business hub. Human rights groups and the United States have condemned the use of the improvised bombs - oil drums or cylinders which are packed with explosives and metal fragments, often rolled out of an aircraft's cargo bay. They say it is an indiscriminate form of bombardment. President Bashar al-Assad's forces have been regaining territory southeast of Aleppo in recent weeks and have made gains in suburbs around the capital Damascus as well. The move is likely an attempt to strengthen Assad's position against the opposition ahead of planned peace negotiations in Geneva next month. An army ambush in the Qalamoun mountains north of the capital killed at least 60 people on Friday. The Observatory said the dead were rebels. But the Syrian National Coalition, an umbrella group representing the opposition abroad, said the dead were civilians."
" In a message to Pope Francis, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said his government is ready to participate in next month's peace talks but noted outside countries must stop supporting what he called terrorist groups in the country's civil war, Syria's state-run news agency said Saturday. Al-Assad sent the message through intermediaries and expressed appreciation for how the Pope on Christmas urged an end to the violence and suffering in Syria, state-run SANA reported. ""The message also highlighted that stopping terrorism requires having the countries which are involved in supporting the armed terrorist groups stop providing any sort of military, logistic or training support, noting that this support was provided by some of Syria's neighbors and other known countries in the Middle East and abroad,"" SANA said. The Syrian president's message said that ""the crisis will be solved through national dialogue among the Syrians and under a Syrian leadership without foreign intervention as to enable the Syrians to determine their future and leadership through ballots."" The message was delivered during a meeting between Syrian Minister of State Joseph Sweid and the Pope's secretary of state, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, SANA said. Parolin told Sweid that the pope ""is constantly following the situation in Syria"" and ""Pope Francis affirms the need to solve the crisis in Syria through dialogue among the Syrians without foreign intervention,"" SANA said. The papacy confirmed the communique, saying the Syrian leader's ""delegation brought a message from President Assad to the Holy Father and explained the position of the Syrian government,"" the Vatican's website said. The Syrian presidency's Twitter account also posted details about the message to the pope, saying that the Syrian people ""are the only rightful owners in deciding on his future through their choices at the ballot boxes."" Al-Assad's dispatch to the pope comes before a United Nations-brokered peace conference that will be held in Geneva between the Syrian government and opposition beginning January 22. Next month's talks are called Geneva II, a follow-up to a June 2012 meeting in which international parties laid out a peace plan that calls for a transitional government body in a civil war that began in March 2011. The Geneva I meeting left open the question of whether al-Assad must leave office."
" The British team, who were training Pakistan's paramilitary border forces, the 60,000-strong Frontier Corps, have been in the country since last August and it was scheduled to run until at least summer 2013. The withdrawal of the team of 18 is understood to be a response to Pakistan's deteriorating relations with the US, after the al-Qaeda leader was shot dead by special forces last month in Abbottabad. Since bin Laden's death, Pakistan has sent home more than two thirds of the 135 US soldiers training its paramilitary border forces. Pakistan first ordered US troops to leave during the anti-American backlash after Raymond Davis, a CIA security contractor, shot dead two men in Lahore in January. The bin Laden raid worsened relations. Although Britain's relationship with Pakistan is not as bad as the US's, the expulsion was seen as an indirect consequence of Islamabad wanting to display more independence. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence last night told The Daily Telegraph: ""The UK has been asked to withdraw some of its training support teams on a temporary basis by the Pakistan Government in response to security concerns. ""We are providing training support at the invitation of the Pakistan Government and welcome their advice on these matters. The training teams will continue their own training and will be ready to re-deploy at the first possible opportunity."""
" Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan asked the British government to pull at least 18 military trainers from the country, British officials in Islamabad and London told CNN Monday. The trainers were withdrawn from Balochistan and were not expelled, the Ministry of Defence said. George Sherriff, a spokesman for the British High Commission in Islamabad, told CNN Pakistan had cited ""security concerns"" in its request. He said the British ""understood"" the concerns, but did not say what they were. Pakistan asked the United States last month to reduce the number of military trainers it has in the country after the raid by U.S. Navy SEALs to kill Osama bin Laden. A Pentagon spokesman said at the end of that the United States had begun to comply and is removing some of the more than 200 personnel who are posted there. The British experts were assigned to train Pakistan's Frontier Corps, the paramilitary force that is taking on various militant groups along Pakistan's western border, the British High Commission said. The team was asked to withdraw ""in the last couple of weeks,"" the Ministry of Defence said. The Defence Ministry said the request was to ""withdraw some of its training support teams on a temporary basis. ""We are providing training support at the invitation of the Pakistan Government and welcome their advice on these matters. The training teams will continue their own training and will be ready to re-deploy at the first possible opportunity,"" the ministry said."
" Jerusalem (CNN) -- The Israeli foreign ministry on Sunday rejected as ""ludicrous"" suggestions that Israel and the United States were using economic pressure to force fiscally strapped Greece into preventing boats from participating in an international flotilla to Gaza. ""Do these people have any proof whatsoever to such claims?"" asked Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor. ""Their entire activity is aimed at demonizing the state of Israel. What are they saying, that we have used all the Jewish bankers in the world to cancel Greece's bonds? What kind of fantasy world are they living in?"" Organizers of one boat planning to join the flotilla, the U.S.-registered Audacity of Hope, released a statement Sunday asking the Greek government to explain why the leased vessel was being prevented from leaving a Greek port. Passengers and crew say they are being told the boat cannot depart because of concerns about its seaworthiness and the need for further inspection. Trip participants rejected the explanation, claiming the boat was safe. They suggested economic pressure was being brought to bear on Greece. ""Israel has said openly that it is pressuring governments to try to stop the flotilla, and clearly Greece is a key government since several of the boats plan to leave from Greece"" passenger Medea Benjamin said in a news release by the boat's organizers. ""It is unconscionable that Israel would take advantage of the economic hardship the Greek people are experiencing to try to stop our boat or the flotilla."" In the news release, the boat organizers -- U.S. Boat to Gaza -- suggested without offering proof that political leverage was being used with the International Monetary Fund in a bid to compel Greece to block flotilla ships from departing. Palmor acknowledged that Israel was using diplomatic channels to prevent what he called ""an illegal flotilla"" from arriving in Gaza. ""These are diplomatic contacts with friendly countries"" Palmor said. ""As for their claims, they are knowingly and proudly commit an illegal act and still have complaints? Their accusations are simply ludicrous."" Meanwhile, the director of Israel's government press office, Oren Helman, sent a letter Sunday to Israel-based foreign journalists warning that ""participation in the flotilla is an intentional violation of Israeli law and is liable to lead to participants being denied entry into the State of Israel for 10 years, to the impoundment of their equipment, and to additional sanctions."""
" JERUSALEM, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Israel and Egyptian authorities have reached an understanding that ships participating in a flotilla to the Gaza Strip this week will be allowed to unload their presumed cargo of humanitarian relief at the Egyptian port of el-Arish. The goods will undergo inspection, and then be transferred overland to Gaza, the Israel Radio reported on Monday. The agreement, which was formulated with Egypt's ruling military council, is seen as a joint effort to head off possible violence after nine activists were killed in a confrontation with Israeli troops during a similar flotilla in May last year. ""Israel has decided to adopt the Egyptian option in order to show flexibility and show the world that it has provided every possible, respectable solution to enable the flotilla to achieve its declared goal of transferring humanitarian aid to Gaza,"" a source close to the Israeli government told Xinhua on Monday. In a meeting of his security cabinet on Sunday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again vowed not to allow the flotilla to breach the naval blockade imposed on Gaza in 2007, when Hamas wrestled control of the coastal enclave. The cabinet also approved allowing the flotilla's organizers the option of being towed to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, where their equipment and goods would be inspected prior to transferring to Gaza. Some 10 ships carrying anywhere from 350 to 600 pro-Palestinian activists, among them European, American and Canadian nationals, are sailing under the auspices of the Free Gaza Movement and the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza. They are scheduled to set sail on Tuesday from Greece and European ports. Barring delays, the sea craft are expected to reach the Gaza coast early Thursday. Top security officials at Netanyhu's cabinet meeting on Sunday briefed ministers on the navy's plans to stop the flotilla, if a forceful takeover is ordered. Ministers were told that the flotilla's organizers are facing difficulties in organizing ships, insurance and approval to set sail. On Monday, after deliberation, the cabinet gave the plan its final approval. ""The cabinet members decided that Israel is determined to prevent the flotilla from reaching Gaza, while maintaining minimal friction with its passengers,"" a statement from the Prime Minister 's Office read. Israel's security establishment has no current information indicating that terrorism-related groups will be participating in the flotilla. Security officials have also assessed that this time, activists on board will resort to passive resistance rather than risk a confrontation with troops."
" A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck Saturday in the Mediterranean Sea, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) south southwest of Avsallar, Turkey, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 32 miles (51 kilometers) in the seismically active region, it said. Video shot in Antalya and aired by Turkish broadcaster DHA showed chandeliers shaking. Turkey is no stranger to seismic events. A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Izmit, Turkey, killed more than 17,000 people in 1999, according to the USGS. A magnitude 7.2 tremor in Duzce the same year killed 894 people, the USGS reported. Fast facts: What you need to know about earthquakes"
" An Afghan senator was shot dead by police when his car failed to stop at a checkpoint, the interior ministry says. Senator Mohammad Younus was driving home when he was shot in Pol-e Khomri, capital of northern Baghlan province. Police say they ordered Mr Younus's car to stop and opened fire when it failed to do so. A gun battle then broke out with his bodyguards, they say. The checkpoint had been set up as part of a planned ambush of Taliban fighters following a clash on Tuesday. There are conflicting reports about whether another person who died alongside Mr Younus was his son or his driver. An investigation has been ordered, officials said. Mr Younus was a member of Afghanistan's upper house of parliament from Baghlan. The province has seen a marked rise in violence this year. Earlier this month, gunmen attacked a police post on the main highway from the capital, Kabul, to Baghlan, killing eight policemen. Reports said Tuesday's clash left four police and four Taliban dead."
" RAFAH, Egypt, June 8 (Reuters) - Egypt allowed lawmakers from the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip on Tuesday, but barred construction material contained in an accompanying aid convoy. Security sources said this week Egypt would keep its Rafah border open indefinitely, barring security threats, a move seen as an attempt to deflect criticism of its role in the blockade imposed by Israel in 2007. However, Cairo still limits the items that can cross into Gaza, mostly to medicine and food, and only permits people seeking study or medical treatment to enter Egypt. A global outcry erupted over Israel's bloody raid of an aid ship bound for the coastal enclave last week, renewing international calls to lift the blockade that has eroded living conditions for Gaza's 1.5 million residents. ""Egyptian authorities allowed us to cross into Gaza in solidarity with Palestinians there, but they held back the aid intended to break the blockade and help rebuild the Strip,"" Brotherhood parliamentarian Mohamed Beltagy said. The lawmakers, two of whom belonged to Egypt's opposition Karama Party, were granted a 24-hour stay in Gaza. Cairo has opened its border with Gaza only sparingly since the Islamist group Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, seized the territory in 2007. Opposition groups have accused Egyptian authorities of complicity in the Israeli blockade and have demanded a full, unrestricted opening of the border, which Cairo fears would allow Israel to wash its hands of responsibility for Gaza. (Reporting by Mohamed Yusri in Rafah; writing by Marwa Awad)"
" The bodies of two Australian soldiers killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan will begin their journey home on Wednesday, Australian Defense Force announced.According to Australian Associated Press, the two men will be farewelled at a ramp ceremony in Tarin Kowt on Wednesday, and Defense Minister John Faulkner will attend a second ceremony to be held at the Al Minhad Air Base.The solders' bodies will then come home, defense said.Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the deaths have been a sobering reminder that Afghanistan is a very tough military campaign.""We are up against a determined and dangerous enemy. However, under no circumstances can Australians afford to allow Afghanistan to become a free, operating, training base for terrorist organizations in the future,"" Rudd said on Tuesday.Senator Faulkner has warned of a ""particularly violent period ahead"" in war-torn Afghanistan and said more soldiers may die.""I can only say to you that Australian troops, like other ( international) forces, are at great risk,"" Faulkner told ABC Radio on Tuesday."
" Rifleman Aminiasi Toge, 26, Corporal Joseph Etchells, 22, Captain Daniel Shepherd, 28, Guardsman Christopher King, 20, and Bombardier Craig Hopson, 24, were all killed in separate incidents in Helmand Province. The men will be repatriated at RAF Lyneham, in Wiltshire, shortly after 11am. As has become tradition, coffins carrying their bodies will pass through the nearby town of Wootton Bassett, pausing at the war memorial, before heading on to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital for post-mortem examination. Hundreds of British Legion veterans, shopkeepers and residents are expected to once again line the streets to pay their respects as the fallen men's cortege passes through. Rifleman Toge, of 2nd Battalion The Rifles, from Suva, Fiji, was killed on July 16 in an explosion while he was on foot patrol close to Forward Operating Base Keenan, near Gereshk. Corporal Etchells, of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, from Mossley, Greater Manchester, was killed on July 19 in an explosion while on foot patrol, near Sangin. Captain Shepherd, of the 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, The Royal Logistic Corps, from Lincoln, died following an explosion on July 20 as he tried to clear a route in Nad-e-Ali District. Guardsman King, who served as a rifleman with 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, from Birkenhead, Merseyside, died on July 22 while on foot patrol in the Nad-e-Ali District, when he stood on an explosive. Bombardier Hopson, of 40th Regiment Royal Artillery, from Castleford, West Yorkshire, was killed on July 25 when the Jackal vehicle in which he was travelling struck a roadside bomb in Babaji. At least two of the men - Guardsman King and Bombardier Hopson - were confirmed to have died taking part in Operation Panchai Palang, or Panther's Claw, a major assault against insurgents ahead of next month's Afghan elections."
" Poland's president will sign the European Union reform treaty Saturday, completing the country's ratification process and leave the Czech Republic as the only EU nation yet to formally approve the document. President Lech Kaczynski's office said in a statement Thursday that he will sign the Lisbon Treaty in a ceremony attended by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. Ireland approved the treaty Saturday, in a repeat vote, and now only Kaczynski and Czech President Vaclav Klaus need to sign the document for it to come into force. The treaty seeks to increase the 27-nation union's influence by making more decisions through majority voting rather than through the unanimous consent of all member countries. If it is signed by Klaus, the treaty will take effect Jan. 1. Klaus says he is waiting for a ruling from the nation's Constitutional Court on a challenge from 17 senators questioning aspects of the charter. On Wednesday, Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer assured his EU partners that Prague will not derail the treaty, saying he was ""fully and deeply convinced there is no reason for anxiety in Europe."" He said the Czech Republic's high court backed the treaty last year and predicted it would do so again, enabling Klaus to give his assent. ""Everything is in place for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty ... by the end of the year,"" said Fischer."
" Kaczynski's signature now leaves just the Czech Republic to sign the Lisbon Treaty [AFP] Kaczynski's signature now leaves just the Czech Republic to sign the Lisbon Treaty [AFP] Kaczynski, known as a eurosceptical conservative, signed the Lisbon Treaty at a ceremony in the presidential palace attended by the heads of the European Commission and the European Parliament on Saturday. Lech Kaczynski, the Polish president, has signed the European Union's reform treaty into law, leaving the Czech Republic as the only country still to ratify the document. Before signing, Kaczynski stressed that the EU remained a union of sovereign nation states and said it must remain open to new members, including countries in the Balkans and Georgia. ""The EU remains a union of nation states, a strict union, and let it remain so ... Within a union of sovereign states we will achieve increasing successes."" ""We now have 27 member states. I am deeply convinced this is not the end... The EU, a successful experiment without precedent in human history, cannot be closed to those who wish to join ... not only in the Balkans but also countries like Georgia."" The Lisbon Treaty is designed to give the 27-nation bloc a long-term president and a stronger foreign policy chief. It can only take effect when all member states have approved it. Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, set out his terms on Friday for signing the treaty, demanding an exemption to protect the Czech Republic from post-war property claims and safeguard the sovereignty of the judiciary."
" WARSAW, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Polish President Lech Kaczynski will sign the Lisbon Treaty on Sunday afternoon after returning from Rome, a top aide of the president said on Thursday. ""The president always keeps his word. He announced many a time that if Ireland supported the Lisbon Treaty in the second referendum, his decision would be positive and would end the ratification process,"" head of the National Security Bureau BBN Aleksander Szczyglo told local TVN24. President Kaczynski's twin brother Jaroslaw, however, has denied that the president will sign the treaty on Sunday, as announced earlier. ""According to what I know, and I have knowledge of this, this won't happen on Sunday,"" Jaroslaw told a news conference on Thursday. The twins are political allies, and Jaroslaw heads the main opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS). After Ireland said ""yes"" to the Lisbon Treaty last Friday, the treaty ratification acts lack only the signatures of Polish and Czech presidents. The Lisbon Treaty, signed in December 2007, was designed to boost the EU's global standing through reforming its institutions. The treaty will take effect only after all 27 EU members ratify it."
" President Klaus has compared EU institutions to the old Soviet bloc The Eurosceptic Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, wants a new two-sentence footnote to be added to the EU's Lisbon Treaty before signing it, Sweden says. The new condition came up during a phone conversation between Mr Klaus and Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt, current holder of the EU presidency. Mr Reinfeldt said the requested footnote was linked to the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights. Poland's president is to sign Lisbon in a ceremony on Saturday, officials say. Poland and the Czech Republic are the only EU states yet to ratify the treaty, which is aimed at streamlining EU institutions, to improve decision-making in the enlarged 27-nation bloc.  The lesson of today is this: You can never be entirely certain that President Klaus of the Czech Republic will sign the Lisbon Treaty until he actually does... Vaclav Klaus told the Swedish PM that he would abide by the ruling of the Czech Constitutional Court - which has not come yet. Then he dropped his bombshell. He wanted a footnote added to the treaty in relation to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. It is fair to say that no one knew about this condition. The treaty has a reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which covers a wide range of EU citizens' rights. The charter will become legally binding once Lisbon enters into force, although the UK has an opt-out from it. Mr Klaus has refused to sign the treaty until the Czech Constitutional Court rules on a new legal complaint against it, lodged by senators allied to him. According to Mr Reinfeldt, Mr Klaus also wants the new footnote adopted by the European Council, the grouping of EU heads of state and prime ministers. ""I told him this is the wrong message at the wrong time for the EU. I told him clearly it is his ink on the paper that counts and I don't want this to delay the treaty going through as soon as possible,"" said Mr Reinfeldt, quoted by Reuters news agency. The Czech president told him that he would sign Lisbon if he got the extra footnote and if the Czech Constitutional Court rejected the senators' legal challenge, Mr Reinfeldt said. ""We need clarification on exactly what he [President Klaus] is asking for,"" he added. Mr Klaus's demand came only a day after the Czech Prime Minister, Jan Fischer, said he was confident ratification would be complete by the end of the year. The BBC's Dominic Hughes in Brussels says EU leaders will see the latest objection as another delaying tactic. Creates new post of EU president (President of European Council) New post of High Representative for Foreign Affairs More decisions by majority vote, rather than unanimity Ratified by all member states except Czech Republic and Poland Only Ireland held referendum on it - twice ('Yes' vote second time) Was intended to take effect in January 2009 They will be unlikely to go along with such a request, which runs the risk of opening up the whole ratification process once again - something they are desperate to avoid, our correspondent says. Mr Reinfeldt appeared baffled and a little angry about the latest development, he adds. In Poland, President Lech Kaczynski's chief of staff Wladyslaw Stasiak said ""the president will sign the treaty on Saturday at noon (1000 GMT)"". EU leaders will attend the ceremony. Earlier, there had been confusion about the president's intentions, with another aide saying the signing would be on Sunday. The treaty cleared a major hurdle on 2 October when voters in the Republic of Ireland backed it overwhelmingly, in a second referendum. The Irish had rejected it first time round, in June 2008. President Kaczynski, a Eurosceptic, had said he would wait for the Irish voters' final verdict before signing the treaty. EU leaders are anxious to get the treaty fully ratified this year - well before UK elections next spring, which could see a triumph for Conservative leader David Cameron. Many in his party oppose Lisbon and are demanding a referendum on it. EU governments see the treaty as fundamental to the 27-nation bloc's future success. Without it, they argue, the EU's decision-making processes will remain slow and cumbersome, because they date back to when the EU consisted of only 15 nations. Opponents see Lisbon as part of a federalist agenda that threatens national sovereignty."
" French Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner gestures during a news conference in Rio de Janeiro in this June 2009 file photo. The European Union cannot change its Lisbon reform treaty to meet demands by Czech President Vaclav Klaus for a footnote to be added, Kouchner said on Thursday. Kouchner also accused Klaus of ""inventing difficulties"" for the treaty, which would give the EU a full-time president and foreign minister as well as streamlining decision-making. ""We are not going to change the Lisbon treaty, it has been approved by the Czech parliament and by the Czech senate in the precise terms in which everybody has accepted it, the 27 (EU) countries including that country,"" he told a news conference. ""I have no doubt that President Klaus is going to invent many more difficulties, but I think that the Czech people accept that their representatives having voted, having said yes each time to this treaty precisely without changing one word, will influence him enough for it to finally be done,"" he added. Klaus raised a new obstacle to ratifying the treaty on Thursday, telling current EU president Sweden he wanted a footnote added to the document before signing it. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Klaus had asked for a footnote of two sentences relating to the charter of fundamental rights. There were no details of the wording."
" A suicide bomber in a horse-drawn cart has killed eight people in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, police say. Police officers apparently tried to stop the bomber but he was able to detonate his explosives near a hotel and local government office. Five of the dead were in a nearby car, with three pedestrians also killed. The care was destroyed, leading police to initially think the bomb was inside it. Previous attacks in Kandahar province have been blamed on Taliban insurgents. Security guards at the hotel became suspicious of the man and ordered him to stop. Reports said he was fired on by the guards. The target of the bombing was not immediately known, said deputy provincial police chief Fazel Ahmad Sharzad."
"According to information available to the US government, [Pakistan militant group] Tehreek-e-Taliban plans to conduct attacks against foreigners participating in the ongoing flood relief operations in Pakistan ,"" the official said. ""Tehreek-e-Taliban also may be making plans to attack federal and provincial ministers in Islamabad,"" the official told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity. Weeks of flooding have affected an estimated 17.2m people. At least eight million need emergency humanitarian aid and hundreds of thousands are still stranded and cut off from supplies. Charities and United Nations agencies have fanned out across the region, and hundreds of relief workers are operating in the north-west of the country, where militants have bases along the border with Afghanistan. Banned Islamist charities have also emerged at the forefront of aid efforts, using the emergency to win hearts and minds. It has emerged that a senior American aid official had inadvertently visited a camp supplied by a charity with links to a militant group on a terrorist list. Ravi Shah, the head of the US Agency for International Development toured a camp in Sukkur Falah-e-Insaniat, a charity with ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba and its humanitarian wing Jamaat-ud-Dawa, both blacklisted by the United Nations. However, last night's warning is the first suggestion that relief efforts might be targeted by militants although the Pakistani Taliban has previously denounced all foreign aid for victims of the catastrophic flooding. There are also concerns that the floods have choked off key supply routes to Nato forces in Afghanistan and allowed breathing space for militants in Pakistan as the military diverts helicopters and personnel to flood relief. Marine Commandant General James Conway said Pakistan's powerful Army chief, Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, had warned him that the Army was preoccupied.
Senate approves health care reform bill	 Washington (CNN) -- The Senate passed a historic $871 billion health care reform bill Thursday morning, handing President Obama a Christmas Eve victory on his top domestic priority. The bill passed in a 60-39 party line vote after months of heated partisan debate. Every member of the Democratic caucus backed the measure; every Republican opposed it. Republican Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky -- a staunch opponent of the bill -- was the lone senator to miss Thursday's vote. Should it become law, the measure would constitute the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid more than four decades ago. It is expected to extend insurance coverage to 30 million additional Americans. ""We are now finally poised to deliver on the promise of real, meaningful health insurance reform that will bring additional security and stability to the American people,"" Obama said shortly after the vote. ""If passed, this will be the most important piece of social legislation since the Social Security Act passed in the 1930s."" The bill now must be merged with a $1 trillion plan approved by the House of Representatives in November. Democrats hope to have a bill ready for Obama's signature before the president's State of the Union address early next year. Senate Republicans failed to stop the bill despite utilizing almost every weapon in their legislative arsenal. GOP leaders have repeatedly warned the measure will raise taxes while doing little to slow spiraling health costs. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, was forced to cut multiple deals in recent weeks to ensure the support of every member of his traditionally fractious caucus. Top Democrats needed the backing of all 60 members in three key procedural votes over the past four days to break a GOP filibuster. Final passage of the measure, in contrast, only requires a bare majority in the 100-member chamber.
Klaus wants opt-out on Lisbon Treaty	 Czech President Vaclav Klaus wants an opt-out on the Charter of Fundamental Rights attached to the EU's Lisbon Treaty as a condition to his signing it. Britain and Poland have an opt-out regarding the charter, which means that they have an exemption from application of some labour rights. Czech President Vaclav Klaus is the sole European leader to hold out against the treaty.	
Taliban attack Nato bases in Afghanistan's Khost area	 Taliban insurgents wearing US military uniforms have attacked two coalition bases in eastern Afghanistan, Nato forces say. Coalition forces repelled both attacks, killing 24 militants, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said. There were no coalition casualties in the fighting, in Khost province, south-east of Kabul, Isaf said. The Taliban said about 30 fighters were involved in the two separate assaults. Five attackers were captured, Isaf said. The attacks on Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost province and nearby Camp Chapman began at about 0400 (2330 GMT). Two of the insurgents managed to breach the fence at Forward Operating Base Salerno and enter the compound, but were killed, a statement from Isaf said. ""Coalition forces had the two insurgents under surveillance and when they cut the fence a quick reaction force was dispatched to the location where they were killed immediately,"" the statement said. According to the statement, its troops called in helicopters to assist in repelling the attacks. Three people, said to be involved in the attack but fleeing in a vehicle, were killed by an airstrike, the statement added.
Hostage crisis in Pak military compound after militant attack	 Captured militants, who were being interrogated at a Pakistani military intelligence compound near the US consulate in Peshawar, overpowered their guards today, sparking a hostage crisis in the northwestern city. Captured militants, who were being interrogated at a Pakistani military intelligence compound near the US consulate in Peshawar, overpowered their guards today, sparking a hostage crisis in the northwestern city. The militants overpowered guards at the army detention centre located within Peshawar cantonment and took two sentries hostage, said chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas. The militants, who were being investigated by a law enforcement agency, also took control of the building located a short distance from the US Consulate and an office of the Intelligence Bureau. Earlier reports had suggested that a group of militants had entered the high security area and engaged security forces in a gun battle. However, Abbas clarified that no terror attack had occurred and that no militants had entered the area. ""No terrorists came to the area from outside. Security forces have cordoned off the building and all-out efforts are being made to free the hostages,"" he told reporters. ""We are hopeful of resolving this problem soon,"" Abbas said. He refused to give details due to security reasons. The number of militants in the building too could not be immediately ascertained.	
Israel set to probe raid on Gaza-bound aid flotilla	 The panel would consist of Israeli jurists with recognised expertise in maritime law who would examine whether Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and its boarding of an aid convoy on the high seas were legal. Two international jurists, at least one of them American, would be invited to participate as observers, The Australian reports. Israel's most respected political analyst, Nahum Barnea of daily newspaper Yediot Achronot, dismissed the proposed panel as toothless: ""At best, this would be a learned seminar on an aspect of international law"". Although the broad outlines of the investigation were leaked by the Prime Minister's office, the panel will not be appointed until Washington has given its approval of the proposal. If the type of panel and its mandate are not acceptable to the Obama administration ""there is no point in establishing it"", Israeli officials said. The probe would not include the political decision-making process that led to the order to the navy to board the six-vessel convoy billed as a humanitarian flotilla. Nor would it address the broader question of whether the blockade of Gaza was justified and whether it was effective. ""The panel would not be empowered to examine whether the political level weighed the price Israel would pay in its relations with Turkey or its standing in the world because of the takeover (of the convoy)"", wrote Mr Barnea. ""It would not investigate whether Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak spelled out in a serious way the dangers inherent in the operation."" Some ministers have expressed uneasiness at the delay in responding to international demands for a transparent investigation. ""We must finish this quickly,"" said one quoted anonymously in the local press yesterday. ""We've already dragged it out for too long."" A separate investigation, into the operational side of the convoy boarding, was ordered yesterday by Israeli Chief of Staff General Gabi Ashkenazi. It will be a closed, internal investigation aimed at detecting errors made and drawing conclusions about future operations. Heading the probe will be a former head of the National Security Council, General Giora Eiland. The developments came as a spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Hussan Zaki, told the BBC Arabic channel that last week's events might lead to an opening of free access to Gaza from Egypt - but only if Hamas ceded control to the Palestinian Authority.	
MESS Report / Israel must change its policy on Gaza blockade Israel News	 Palestinian suspected of car theft shot to death during chase in Gush Etzion settlement bloc (Haaretz) U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)	
20-seat loss forces early exit for Dutch PM as party leader	 (CNN) -- Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende resigned Wednesday as leader of the Christian Democratic Alliance after exit polls from the country's national elections projected that his party would lose 20 of its 41 parliamentary seats. Balkenende, who also gave up his seat in parliament, will remain in office as prime minister until a new coalition government is formed, said Xander van der Wulp, political editor for CNN affiliate NOS. That process could take months because no clear winner was projected in Wednesday's elections. The exit polls showed the center-right Liberal Party and center-left Labor Party tying with 31 seats each, while the far-right, anti-Islam Freedom Party of controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders more than doubled its seats, going from nine to 23 -- far ahead of analyst expectations. With its strong showing at the polls, there was speculation that the Freedom Party could play a role in a forthcoming coalition government. Opinion polls earlier had predicted the Liberal Party, led by Mark Rutte, would come out on top. Rutte had promised to lower taxes and dramatically slash government spending to bring the country's budget quickly back to surplus. Former Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen's Labor Party was the other major contender in Wednesday's election. As mayor, Cohen built a strong reputation for easing community tensions by extending friendship and showing tolerance to the city's Muslims. It was Labor's withdrawal from the coalition government earlier this year in a dispute over troops in Afghanistan that set the stage for the current elections. The issue has barely surfaced in the campaign. The Liberal Party's Rutte has suggested he may be willing to form a coalition with Wilders' Freedom Party, but the choice could be divisive. Wilders has become internationally famous for his fight against the ""Islamization"" of the Netherlands. ""I believe we should have a stop of the mass immigration from Islamic countries,"" he said in an interview, ""not because the people are bad, but because they bring a culture that really is against everything in our own values."
" In de vier grote steden blijft de PvdA de grootste partij. In Amsterdam, waar PvdA-leider Cohen burgemeester was, boekte de partij zelfs een flinke winst: van 30,1% naar 35,2%. In de andere drie steden was er een verlies, maar bleef de PvdA ruim de grootste. In Amsterdam, Den Haag en Utrecht werd de VVD tweede; in Rotterdam de PVV. De PVV werd in Den Haag de derde partij en in Amsterdam en Utrecht de vijfde. Het CDA werd in de vier steden bijna weggevaagd; de score loopt uiteen van 3,3% in Amsterdam tot 6,9% in Den Haag. De SP werd in de vier steden grofweg gehalveerd tot minder dan 10 procent. Van de kiezers is 74,5 procent opgekomen. Bij de vorige Tweede Kamerverkiezingen was de opkomst 80 procent. Alleen in 1998 lag de opkomst lager, op 73,3 procent."
" 1 of 8. Residents and security officials stand in the midst of the aftermath of a car-bomb explosion in Peshawar, located in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province on October 9, 2009. There was no claim of responsibility but Interior Minister Rehman Malik said ""all roads are leading to South Waziristan,"" referring to the headquarters of the Pakistani Taliban in the northwest. ""One thing is clear, these hired assassins called Taliban are to be dealt with more severely,"" Malik told reporters in Islamabad. ""We think we have no other option except to carry out an operation in South Waziristan,"" he added, while declining to say when that might happen. The suspected car-bomber set off his explosives as he was passing a bus, police said. The blast hurled the bus onto its side on a road in a commercial neighborhood of the northwestern city. Several cars were destroyed. ""The bus was making a turn when the blast occurred and it threw the bus into the air,"" a witness told Duniya Television. An official at Peshawar's main hospital said 49 people had been killed including seven children. About 100 people were wounded. The bomb dented trade at Pakistan's main stock market, which has gained about 66 percent this year after losing 58.3 percent in 2008, although it ended 0.28 percent up at 9,768.63. Islamist militants who have set off numerous bombs in towns and cities including Peshawar over the past couple of years, most aimed at the security forces and government and foreign targets. Early this year, the militants pushed to within 100 km (60 miles) of Islamabad, raising fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan's stability. An exasperated U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the government appeared to be ""abdicating"" to the militants."
" >>> storms that are lurking in the atlantic including danielle which became the first major hurricane of the season overnight and al is keeping a close watch on those storms. he's in the new orleans frieench quarter with more on this. hey, al, good morning. >>> good morning to you, ann. danielle a category 4 storm. let's take a look at the latest on what danielle is doing. as we said category 4 storm. we have a triple threat here. we've got danielle , then behind it tropical storm earl , a wave coming off the african coast that could become fiona and then another wave hyped that, you can't see on the satellite. first danielle , southeast of bermuda. 135-mile-per-hour winds, a category 4 storm and the path of the storm is going to bring it thankfully to the east of bermuda because this is a powerful, powerful storm. now we also have earl to worry about. tropical storm earl . right now the minimal tropical storm , 1,400 miles east of the northern leeward islands . its winds at 45 miles per hour. the path of this storm a little more problematic as we keep an eye on that. it stays fairly westward. it takes a while before it makes a northwesterly turn some time early wednesday morning and does it affect the east coast ? we'll see. the possibility of fiona south-southeast of the cape verde islands . just coming off the coast of africa there another wave. so it's now -- we're coming into the heart and the meat of the hurricane season . ann? >> al, thank you so much."
" (CNN) -- Hurricane Danielle, a Category 4 storm, will bring large waves to Bermuda and will likely cause rip currents along the East Coast of the United States, the National Hurricane Center said on Friday. Maximum sustained winds were near 135 mph, with higher gusts, it said. A tropical storm watch was issued for Bermuda. Even though the center of the storm is expected to pass well to the east of Bermuda on Saturday night, ""large waves and dangerous surf conditions will affect Bermuda over the next few days,"" the center said. It also indicated swells from Danielle will arrive on the East Coast of the United States on Saturday, and will likely cause dangerous rip currents through the weekend. ""A turn toward the north-northwest is expected by tonight followed by a turn toward the north on Saturday,"" the latest hurricane advisory said. Friday evening, Danielle was about 410 miles southeast of Bermuda. Traveling behind Danielle, also far from land, Tropical Storm Earl's winds swirled near 45 mph Friday evening, with higher gusts. The hurricane center forecast that Earl, which was moving toward the west, could become a hurricane by Sunday. If so, Earl would be the third hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season, following Danielle and Hurricane Alex. Earl is expected to strengthen and will be closer to the United States and probably create larger waves, said CNN meteorologist Chad Myers. Although it is not currently predicted to strike the United States, a move that way can't be ruled out over the next seven days, Myers said."
" Leaders of Burma's junta are reported to have resigned from their military posts, days before the deadline to register candidates in the country's first general election in two decades. Some reports said junta leader Gen Than Shwe was among those to have stepped down, but other reports denied this. Observers believe he may want to become civilian president after the election on 7 November. Critics say the election is a sham designed to entrench military power. But the junta has said the election is a crucial step in transferring power in Burma from the military to civilians. Burmese officials told journalists on Friday that there had been a major reshuffle in the military hierarchy. News organisations run by Burmese exiles, including the Irrawaddy and Mizzima, reported that Than Shwe had relinquished his military role, but would remain as head of the government until the election. The Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) quoted sources at the country's Foreign Ministry as saying Than Shwe and his deputy Gen Maung Aye were preparing to step down, but had not yet announced their retirement. The DVB said the two men would become president and vice-president of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). A junta official also told AFP news agency that Than Shwe and Maung Aye were not among the senior military figures who had stepped aside."
" Myanmar's defence minister and other top generals resigned their junta and military posts Friday to contest the upcoming polls as civilians, officials said. Defence Minister General Thura Shwe Mann has retired both his ministerial and army posts to join the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDA), the political wing of the military regime. General Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, the first secretary of the junta, has also resigned and joined the USDA to contest the Nov 7 election, officials close to the military said. 'Thura Shwe Mann will probably become president after the election,' a source close to the regime told DPA. Another 10 lieutenant generals have also resigned, although it was unclear whether they would all stand for election or be given new posts. The resignations have led to a major reshuffle within the military establishment which has blocked democracy for the past 20 years. The 1990 election was won by a landslide by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) headed by Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar's junta this time made sure that an opposition party will not win, and even if they did the army can control the legislature through a party-appointed senate. The USDA is expected to field 1,100 candidates in the polls for lower, upper and regional houses, compared with a total of 500 candidates from the pro-democracy parties. Non-junta parties have complained the government has not given them enough time to raise the money to register their candidates before an Aug 30 deadline. The Election Commission said their offices will remain open over the weekend for candidates to register for the country's first elections in 20 years, but this may not be enough for many to raise the $500 registration fee."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Insurgents who attacked Pakistan's military HQ near Islamabad have taken 10 to 15 security personnel hostage, the army says. Military officials say the attackers are surrounded inside the compound in Rawalpindi, and efforts are being made to recover the hostages safely. Sporadic gunfire has been heard from the compound, reports from the scene say. Six soldiers and four militants were killed in the initial assault. The military at first said the situation was under control, but later added that up to five militants were holding the hostages inside a building within the compound. The army's main headquarters lies within one of the most heavily secured areas in the country. To attack it in the middle of the day, and then take hostages, shows a new level of audacity on the part of the militants. Just a few weeks ago, the government here said it was winning its fight against the militants, and that the Taliban was in disarray. The events of this week will have many questioning those claims. Speculation that the army will soon launch a ground offensive against the Taliban in the tribal areas of South Waziristan has only left many Pakistanis bracing themselves for more violence in the cities. Reports say senior officers were among the hostages and among those who died. The attack comes as the Pakistani army prepares for a major operation against the Taliban. ""Eight to 10 terrorists were involved in this attack. Four of them have been killed while six of our security personnel were martyred,"" military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told the private Geo TV station. He said the building had been surrounded and officials were assessing the timing of a rescue operation. ""We are trying to move with the minimum loss of life,"" said Gen Abbas. Another Pakistani official was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying: ""It's a hostage situation. They're demanding the release of some of their fellows."" Officials said the gunmen drove up to the army compound in a white van just before midday local time (0600 GMT) on Saturday. They took up positions, fired on the compound and threw hand grenades, security officials said. Roads to the area were sealed off and helicopters hovered over the compound. 24 Sept - Seven pro-government tribal elders killed by militants in town of Janikhel, north-western Pakistan 26 Sept - At least 16 people killed in two suicide car bombs, in Peshawar and Bannu 9 Oct - At least 50 killed in suspected suicide bombing in Peshawar Eyewitness Khan Bahadur, a van driver, said there had been ""fierce fighting"" followed by a blast. ""Soldiers were running here and there,"" he said. ""There was smoke everywhere. Then there was a break, and then firing again."" The military reported that the attack had been repelled after a gun battle lasting around 45 minutes. However, military officials later said that more militants were still at large and were now holding several hostages in the ""security office building"" inside the complex. Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said officials wanted to catch the gunmen alive so they could ""give us more information"". ""The Taliban are hired assassins. They are the enemies of Islam and Pakistan. All their actions are against the sovereignty of Pakistan,"" he told CNN. The attack follows a series of bombings in north-western Pakistan. On Friday at least 50 people died in a blast in Peshawar. The BBC's Aleem Maqbool, in Islamabad, says the latest attack, on one of the most secure areas of the country in the middle of the day, shows a new level of audacity from the militants. Islamist militants have carried out a number of attacks against high-profile, high-security targets in recent years. In March this year gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. Six policemen and a driver were killed, and several of the team were injured. In the same month, dozens of people were killed when a police training centre on the outskirts of the city was occupied by gunmen."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The Queen has used her Christmas speech to express sadness at the death toll among British troops in Afghanistan. The monarch offered her sympathy to the families of the 106 service personnel who have died this year. She said the country owed a ""profound debt of gratitude"" to all Commonwealth troops who had served in Afghanistan. The Queen also said the past 12 months had brought problems for many of her subjects, especially those affected by the economic downturn. 2009 was a difficult year for many, in particular those facing the continuing effects of the economic downturn   In her annual message to the nation, she said: ""Each year that passes seems to have its own character. Some leave us with a feeling of satisfaction, others are best forgotten. ""2009 was a difficult year for many, in particular those facing the continuing effects of the economic downturn. ""I am sure that we have all been affected by events in Afghanistan and saddened by the casualties suffered by our forces serving there. ""Our thoughts go out to their relations and friends who have shown immense dignity in the face of great personal loss."" The broadcast featured the town of Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire, where members of the public line the streets to pay their respects to fallen service personnel returned to the UK. The number of British military deaths in Afghanistan this year stands at 106, the highest figure since the Falklands War in 1982. British troops in Afghanistan celebrated Christmas as best they could The monarch said: ""But we can be proud of the positive contribution that our servicemen and women are making, in conjunction with our allies. ""Well over 13,000 soldiers from the United Kingdom, and across the Commonwealth - Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore - are currently serving in Afghanistan. ""The debt of gratitude owed to these young men and women, and to their predecessors, is indeed profound."" Footage was show of the UK's main military base in Afghanisatan, Camp Bastion, and the headquarters at Lashkar Gah in Helmand. Prince Harry, an officer in the Household Cavalry, was shown laying wreath at the Cenotaph in Whitehall at this year remembrance ceremony. The speech was recorded two weeks ago from the White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace. The Queen, who attended the Commonwealth leaders' summit in Trinidad and Tobago in November, said the organisation remained a ""strong and practical force for good"". Neither the snow lying several several inches deep nor the ice covering the roads on the Sandringham estate deterred those wishing to greet the Royal Family. They started arriving before eight in the morning with flowers and poems written especially for the Queen. There had been speculation the girlfriends of princes William and Harry might join the royal party, but neither Kate Middleton nor Chelsea Davy attended. The Queen, dressed in a deep red suit and hat, arrived at the church in the royal car just before 11am. The crowds by this time were several people deep. Travelling with the Queen was the Countess of Wessex. The other members of the Royal Family made the quarter-mile journey on foot from Sandringham House. Prince Charles walked alongside the Duchess of Cornwall. Zara Phillips walked arm in arm with Prince William. Prince Harry walked on the other side of her. After the service, which lasted less than an hour, princesses Eugenie and Beatrice helped the Queen to gather bouquets of flowers from some of the children who were waiting outside. One excited young girl who handed her flowers to the Queen herself called it a once-in-a-lifetime experience. She added: ""With continuing support and dedication, I am confident that this diverse Commonwealth of nations can strengthen the common bond that transcends politics, religion, race and economic circumstances."" The monarch was shown meeting two famous sportsmen from Trinidad and Tobago - cricketer Brian Lara and footballer Dwight Yorke - in the capital Port of Spain. The Queen finished her address on an upbeat note, saying: ""We may ourselves be confronted by a bewildering array of difficulties and challenges, but we must never cease to work for a better future for ourselves and for others."" The broadcast ended with a family in Trinidad playing the national anthem on steel drums. Earlier the Queen and other members of the Royal Family attended a Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. About 500 onlookers watched the arrival of the royals who included the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and princes William and Harry who are on leave from their military training as helicopter pilots. The Princess Royal, the Duke of York and his daughters princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and the Earl and Countess of Wessex also attended. After the service, which was led by Sandringham rector Jonathan Riviere, children lined up to give the Queen flowers. Members of the royal party greeted well-wishers before walking back to Sandringham House."
" Gunmen wearing army uniforms killed the soldiers when they attacked Pakistan's army headquarters. They shot their way through a first checkpoint before a firefight broke out at the second checkpoint. Four of the attackers were killed and an army spokesman declared the attack over. But soon afterwards it emerged that two more who were holed up inside the heavily fortified complex were still fighting seven hours later, as helicopters with snipers on board prowled the skies of Rawalpindi hunting for attackers who may have escaped. It became clear several hours into the incident that the attackers had taken hostages, thought to include several soldiers. Senior officers including a brigadier and a lieutenant-colonel were among the dead. The daring assault, a few miles from the capital, was the third significant terrorist attack in Pakistan this a week. A suicide bomb attack on a UN headquarters killed five, and more than fifty people died when a huge car bomb exploded in a bazaar in the city of Peshawar. Saturday's attack seemed intended to show that the Taliban can still strike at the very heart of Pakistan's security apparatus despite recent military operations against their forces and the killing of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in a drone attack in August. The attackers may have been trying to kill army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who was inside the complex on Saturday, although it was not clear whether he was there during the attack. Military statements said he attended meetings there and at the president's office in nearby Islamabad during the day. The attack began shortly before noon when the gunmen, dressed in camouflage military uniforms and wielding assault rifles and grenades, drove in a white van up to the army compound and tried to force their way inside, army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said. The assailants shot at the guards at one checkpoint, killing some of them, and then jumped out of the van and ran toward a second checkpoint, he said. Abbas said the guards were probably confused by the attackers' uniforms. The heavily armed attackers then took up positions throughout the area, hurling grenades and firing sporadically at security forces. After a 45-minute gunfight, four of the attackers were killed, said Maj Gen Abbas. But more than an hour later, gunshots again rang out from the compound. Mr Abbas confirmed that two more gunmen had eluded security forces and slipped into the headquarters compound in Rawalpindi. The city is filled with security checkpoints and police roadblocks. On Saturday evening, Abbas said the two men remained holed up in a room and were surrounded."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. His signature means the treaty, which is intended to streamline decision-making, remains unratified by only one country, the Czech Republic. It must be ratified by all 27 member states before it can come into force. Mr Kaczynski, a noted Eurosceptic, said he was convinced the treaty would be successful but that the EU should remain a union of sovereign states. The treaty's prospects of coming into force received a major lift last week when Irish voters approved it in a second referendum. But the Czech President Vaclav Klaus then raised fresh doubts when he said he would not sign the treaty unless his country was granted an opt-out from the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights. Mr Klaus raised fears about possible property claims by Germans expelled from the then Czechoslovakia after World War II. Mr Kaczynski said in a speech just before the signing he was ""deeply convinced"" that the ""great experiment"" of the treaty would be successful.  There is an element of farce creeping into the drama of the Czech Republic and the Lisbon Treaty. We now know what President Klaus's conditions are for signing the treaty - or rather I think we do. To start with, he did not intend to reveal his hand. He feels he was pushed into it. The Czech president is clearly irritated that, in his view, the Swedish prime minister disclosed a confidential conversation they had. ""The fact that the Irish people changed their minds meant the revival of the treaty, and there are no longer any obstacles to its ratification,"" he said. ""Today is a very important day in the history of Poland and the European Union."" But he said that the EU was a ""union of sovereign states"" and should remain so, adding that it remain open to new members such as countries of the former Yugoslavia and Georgia. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Parliament speaker Jerzy Buzek and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, attended the Polish ceremony. Welcoming the Polish signing, Mr Reinfeldt said that the EU ""eagerly awaits"" the full ratification of the treaty. ""We do not need more delays,"" he said. The BBC's Jonny Dymond in Brussels says that Mr Kaczynski's signature leaves the Czech Republic, and in particular its Eurosceptic president, entirely isolated. But, he says, that appears not to concern Mr Klaus. The president is insisting on a ""footnote"" being added to the text so as to exempt his country from the Charter of Fundamental Rights much like Poland and the UK already are, our correspondent says. ""Before ratification, the Czech Republic must, additionally at least, negotiate a similar exemption,"" Mr Klaus was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying on Friday. ""I believe that this exemption can be resolved quickly."" He said the charter would ""allow [claimants] to circumvent Czech courts and place, for example, property claims by people expelled after World War II directly at the European Court of Justice"". President Klaus has compared EU institutions to the old Soviet bloc Mr Klaus has said previously that he will not sign the treaty until the Czech Constitutional Court rules on a new legal complaint against it, lodged by senators allied to him. The Czech parliament has already approved the treaty and his critics note that it is the government, not the president, who negotiates international treaties. Nevertheless, President Klaus's move has already had an impact in Brussels, our correspondent adds. Officials say the next summit at the end of October will now probably be devoted solely to dealing with Czech objections, rather than selecting people for the new posts created by the Lisbon Treaty. France has already expressed opposition to Mr Klaus's demand. Supporters of the treaty are also concerned that if Mr Klaus holds up the treaty, Britain's opposition Conservatives may fulfil their pledge for a referendum on it should they come to power. A UK general election must be held by June next year. At the Conservative party conference this week, shadow foreign secretary William Hague restated its opposition to the treaty, saying the EU should not place its own president above any nation's."
" President Obama is scheduled to meet Wednesday with the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, in a White House session whose mission has changed in the past week. Once viewed primarily as a presidential push to turn indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks into direct peace negotiations, the meeting will now focus on how best to contain the fallout from Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last week. Abbas was supposed to follow Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the White House. But the Israeli leader canceled his visit last week to return to Israel after the raid, which killed nine civilians. So Abbas will go first. He and Obama will discuss how Palestinians should proceed with peace talks. But they will also talk about ways to improve the situation in the Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli blockade in one form or another for five years. A White House official said Obama intends to express ""U.S. support for specific projects to promote economic development and greater quality of life, as well as a long-term strategy for progress"" in the coastal strip. Gaza is run by Abbas's chief political rival, the armed Islamist movement Hamas, but Obama has spoken out harshly against the Israeli closure. The president is also expected to raise the issue of direct talks with Netanyahu, when he reschedules his White House visit, probably for some time in the coming weeks. The bodies of two more Palestinians shot dead at sea by the Israeli navy washed up on the Gaza Strip's shore Tuesday, bringing the death toll in the Monday incident to six. The Israeli military said its forces had fired upon ""a squad of terrorists wearing diving suits on their way to execute a terror attack."" On Monday, Israel allowed jam, shaving razors and the Palestinian sweet halva into the blockaded enclave, and a Palestinian coordinating committee said it was told that spices including coriander and cardamom would be allowed in starting Thursday."
" International protests have begun -- with some demonstrators threatening jihad -- in advance of a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11. Roughly 100 Indonesian Islamists protested outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta on Friday, Agence France-Press reported, with some threatening holy war if the plan to burn Korans on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks comes to fruition at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla. ""No one will be able to control this reaction,"" Roni Ruslan, of Hizbut Tahrir, a radical organization than advocates Islamic law, told Agence France-Press. ""We urge the U.S. government and Christian leaders to stop the crazy plan from this small sect. It's an insult to Islam and to 1.5 billion Muslims around the world."" Protesters at the U.S. Embassy shouted chants of ""God is greater"" while holding signs that read ""Destroy Burners of the Koran,"" among others, according to AFP. Meanwhile, Pastor Terry Jones has said he intends to proceed with plans to burn the holy text next month. The church's website even features a blog posting that provide visitors ""Ten Reasons to Burn a Koran,"" including its teaching that Jesus Christ was ""NOT the Son of God"" and claims that Islam is ""not compatible"" with democracy and human rights. ""The attitude towards women in Islam as inferior possessions of men has led to countless cases of mistreatment and abuse for which Moslem men receive little or no punishment, and in many cases are encouraged to commit such acts, and are even praised for them,"" read another. ""This is a direct fruit of the teachings of the Koran."" FBI, state and local law enforcement agencies are monitoring the threats of violence promised if the church follows through on the event, Gainesville Police Department Maj. Rick Hanna told the Gainesville Sun. ""We're on top of this, and we are taking it serious,"" Hanna told the paper, adding that agencies will have ""all hands on deck."" Evan Kohlmann, who tracks radical militant websites for the New York-based firm Flashpoint Global Partners, told the Gainesville Sun a homicide bomber has threatened to drive a truck into the church. Others have discussed setting the building on fire, he said. ""It's hard to tell how serious the discussions are, but they're talking about it,"" he told the paper."
" Each year that passes seems to have its own character. Some leave us with a feeling of satisfaction, others are best forgotten. 2009 was a difficult year for many, in particular those facing the continuing effects of the economic downturn. I am sure that we have all been affected by events in Afghanistan and saddened by the casualties suffered by our forces serving there. Our thoughts go out to their relations and friends who have shown immense dignity in the face of great personal loss. But, we can be proud of the positive contribution that our servicemen and women are making, in conjunction with our allies. Well over 13,000 soldiers from the United Kingdom, and across the Commonwealth - Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore - are currently serving in Afghanistan. The debt of gratitude owed to these young men and women, and to their predecessors, is indeed profound. It is 60 years since the Commonwealth was created and today, with more than a billion of its members under the age of 25, the organisation remains a strong and practical force for good. Recently I attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago and heard how important the Commonwealth is to young people. New communication technologies allow them to reach out to the wider world and share their experiences and viewpoints. For many, the practical assistance and networks of the Commonwealth can give skills, lend advice and encourage enterprise. It is inspiring to learn of some of the work being done by these young people, who bring creativity and innovation to the challenges they face. It is important to keep discussing issues that concern us all - there can by no more valuable role for our family of nations. I have been closely associated with he Commonwealth through most of its existence. The personal and living bond I have enjoyed with leaders, and with people the world over, has always been more important in promoting our unity than symbolism alone."
" BRUSSELS, June 11 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso welcomed on Wednesday the approval of the Treaty of Lisbon by the Estonian and Finnish Parliaments. ""The European Commission congratulates Estonia and Finland on the approval of the Treaty of Lisbon by their Parliaments today,"" he said in a statement. He expressed his personal gratitude to the two governments and their respective parliaments for the constant support and commitment to the new treaty. ""The European Union will be stronger and better equipped to serve its citizens in the face of today's global challenges with the Treaty of Lisbon,"" he said. He said that the two votes sent a strong signal, confirming the desire for the treaty to be ratified in good time to enter into force by Jan. 1, 2009. ""This would allow the Union to turn the institutional page and concentrate one hundred percent on delivering on the expectations of Europe's peoples,"" he concluded. The treaty has now been approved by 17 EU member states."
" The man, described as a ""key Taliban weapons facilitator"", was captured in Zhari district, Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, a volatile district targeted in recent coalition operations. He was targeted ""for facilitating the movement of weapons between Iran and Kandahar through Nimroz province,"" a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said. It is thought he was connected to smuggling small arms between the countries. ""The now-detained man was considered a Kandahar-based weapons facilitator with direct ties to other Taliban leaders in the province,"" the ISAF spokesman added in a statement. The news again spotlights the complex relationship between Afghanistan, Iran and the United States, whose troops make up roughly two-thirds of the coalition force that has been fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan for nine years. British newspaper The Times reported today that Iran has released a string of senior Al-Qa'ida militants from custody so they can help the network rebuild in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas. The newspaper quoted anonymous Pakistani and Middle Eastern officials accusing Iran of giving covert support to the Islamist militants, often through the Revolutionary Guards."
" Bahraini voters are heading to the polls for parliamentary elections, as tensions run high between the Sunni-led government and the country's Shia majority. The government has detained opposition leaders, shut down newspapers, and charged 23 prominent activists with plotting a coup. Prior to today's vote, ordinary Bahraini voters have been sharing their views with the BBC Arabic service. Here are some of their comments, translated from the original Arabic report by Faisal Irshaid. The fact that there is a representative parliament in Bahrain is something to be proud of and a step in the right direction for the country. It's a relatively new experience in the region and we should make the best of it. But I don't think it's the right time yet to pass a verdict on the parliament as it's relatively young. The current tensions in the country are due to a small group who are opposed to the democratic process. The elections can ease those tensions. The opposition was present in the parliament in 2006 and still is, despite recent events, and this is a good thing for Bahrain. I believe that the next parliament will be a democratic one where representatives are chosen by the people in a credible and transparent manner. Past elections point in that direction, such as the 2006 poll when the Wifaq party, the main opposition party, won many seats. If there was no transparency, why would the government allow these seats to be won by the opposition? Some important issues for me are housing and increasing wages. The elections will be lukewarm since a large segment of people has already lost any hope of change. I have decided to participate to expose the erosion of power and identify the mistakes of the current government. Many argue that the elections will ease tensions, but that is not entirely true. Tensions are caused by the government, as it discriminates against citizens and exercises oppression and humiliation on an ongoing basis. In addition, it always requests the declaration of loyalty to the throne rather than to the country. Therefore, I believe discrimination will continue and the government will continue to suppress the opposition. The government controls the parliament through an unfair system of constituencies that ensures the loyalty to the king through the unequal distribution of votes. The power of the lower house has been reduced in favour of the appointed Shura Council which is loyal to the king."
" 1 of 9. People offer funeral prayers for a soldier who was killed in an air strike by U.S. forces in Peshawar June 11, 2008. They died in the Mohmand region, opposite Afghanistan's Kunar province, late on Tuesday as U.S. coalition forces in Afghanistan battled militants attacking from Pakistan, a Pakistani security official said. The Pentagon defended U.S. forces, saying initial indications pointed to a ""legitimate strike"" carried out in self-defense after they came under attack. Frustration is growing among Western forces in Afghanistan over Pakistani efforts to negotiate pacts to end militant violence on its side of the border. NATO says such deals lead to more violence in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said the unprovoked attack was a gross violation of the international border. ""The senseless use of air power against a Pakistani border post by coalition forces is totally unacceptable,"" it said. U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson was summoned to the Foreign Ministry over the incident, a government official said. In its strongest criticism of the U.S. military since joining the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism, the Pakistani military said the killing of the 11 paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers, including an officer, was ""unprovoked and cowardly"". The attack ""hit at the very basis of cooperation and sacrifice with which Pakistani soldiers are supporting the coalition in the war against terror"", the military said. Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, told Reuters Pakistan did not view the strike as an intentional hostile act and it was not expected to lead to a Pakistani reconsideration of its U.S. relations."
" Details of the clashes that sparked the apparent air strike remain unclear Pakistan's military has condemned an air strike by Afghanistan-based US forces that killed 11 of its troops as a ""cowardly attack"". The incident happened inside Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan, as US-led forces tackled pro-Taleban militants. The US military confirmed it had used artillery and air strikes after coming under fire from ""anti-Afghan"" forces. It comes amid rising tensions between the US and Pakistan militaries. The soldiers' deaths occurred overnight at a border post in the mountainous Gora Prai region in Mohmand, one of Pakistan's tribal areas, across the border from Afghanistan's Kunar province. Eight Taleban militants were also killed in the clashes, a Taleban spokesman said. In a statement, the Pakistani military quoted a spokesman who condemned ""this completely unprovoked and cowardly act"". The spokesman said the incident ""hit at the very basis of co-operation and sacrifice with which Pakistani soldiers are supporting the coalition in the war against terror"" and added that the army had launched a ""strong protest"". The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the statement was very strongly worded, describing the incident as an ""act of aggression"". A similar government statement condemned the ""senseless use of air power"" as ""totally unacceptable"". The US military said in a statement that coalition forces had been engaged by ""anti-Afghan forces"" near the checkpoint and fired artillery rounds at the militants. It said the operation it was carrying out at the time had been co-ordinated with Pakistani forces, and that it was investigating the incident. Maulvi Umar, spokesman for a pro-Taleban militant group in Pakistan, told the BBC: ""The Afghan army and the US troops there were trying to set up a checkpost on the border. ""So we launched an attack on them from several sides and caused serious harm - and then the US and Nato forces began a series of air strikes."" A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan told the BBC that its troops had been fired on from across the border and retaliated by firing back. Both US forces and Nato-led coalition forces are operating in Afghanistan, with Nato focused mainly on peacekeeping and reconstruction and the US troops working more directly to combat militant activity. Alleged US missile strikes have sparked anger in Pakistan The US has in the past launched missile strikes into Pakistani territory from unmanned aircraft, although it does not officially confirm such attacks. Our correspondents says these strikes have caused anger in Pakistan as they are widely seen as a violation of its sovereignty, and there has been a lot of disquiet in Pakistan during the past month over the issue. She says that if one of these air strikes is confirmed to have killed some Pakistani soldiers, it will certainly not help US-Pakistan relations, which some analysts say seem to be at their lowest ebb since the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US. Pakistani troops have been killed in ""friendly fire"" on the border with Afghanistan on several occasions in the past. But the latest is thought to have been the most deadly single incident. Taleban fighters have a strong presence in the border areas of the tribal districts and local administrators have little power there, although security forces keep a presence on the border posts. Afghan and US-led forces accuse Islamabad of failing to stop infiltration by Taleban fighters who take refuge in Pakistan's tribal belt along the frontier, and are worried that the Pakistani government's recent peace talks with militants there will only give the Taleban more room for manoeuvre. Late on Tuesday, Pakistan's military denounced a report by the US-funded Rand corporation accusing Pakistan's intelligence services and its paramilitaries of supporting Taleban insurgents with information and training. The Pakistani military dismissed the claims as ""factually incorrect"" and ""yet another smear campaign maligning Pakistan armed forces"". Meanwhile, in a separate incident, three women and a child were killed in an operation by US-led forces in south-eastern Afghanistan targeting militant leaders, the coalition said. An Interior Ministry spokesman told the Associated Press 31 people had died, mostly militants. The death tolls could not be verified."
" The two sides are holding their first formal talks since 1999 China and Taiwan have agreed to establish offices in each other's territory to facilitate travel amid warming bilateral ties. The agreement came as delegations from both sides met in Beijing for the first formal talks for almost a decade. They are also hoping to finalise agreements on direct passenger flights and increasing tourist traffic. Bilateral relations have thawed since the election in March of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou. He favours closer ties with China and, when he took office in May, said maintaining regional stability was his priority. Shortly after that, Chinese President Hu Jintao met the head of Taiwan's governing Kuomintang party in Beijing, the most senior meeting between the two sides since they split at the end of a civil war in 1949. In the absence of formal diplomatic ties which would allow direct government-to-government talks, semi-official bodies have been established on both sides to conduct the discussions, which take place in Beijing's Diaoyutai guesthouse until 14 June. They are the first formal talks since dialogue was suspended in 1999, when Taiwan's leaders angered Beijing by leaning towards formal independence. Ruled by separate governments since end of Chinese civil war in 1949 China considers the island part of its territory China has offered a ""one country, two systems"" solution, like Hong Kong The talks appeared to bear their first fruit on Thursday morning, with delegates agreeing for the first time to set up permanent offices in each other's territories. The offices will help facilitate travel between China and Taiwan such as handling visa applications, but their role could expand in future, said the Taiwanese body involved in the talks, the Straits Exchange Foundation. ""The two associations should push forward for the full normalisation of trade and culture exchanges of the two sides,"" the foundation said in a statement. In another apparent gesture of goodwill, China's chief negotiator Chen Yunlin accepted an invitation to visit Taipei on an unspecified date later this year. An agreement is expected to be signed on Friday, after which Taiwan's top delegate, Chiang Pin-kung, is due to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao. Other items on the talks agenda include the establishment of direct weekend charter flights and increasing the number of mainland Chinese tourists allowed to visit Taiwan. At the moment direct flights between the two sides are restricted to major holidays and numbers of Chinese tourists limited. But economic problems - including inflation and a growing wealth gap - are high on the list of public grievances in Taiwan at the moment, and so local businesses are keen for the income a new influx of tourists would bring. Beijing also has good reason to encourage smiling handshakes and headlines about cross-straits friendliness, analysts say. Two months before the Olympics, the Chinese government is very sensitive to international criticism, and Beijing's long-standing threat to use force against Taiwan, if it takes steps towards independence, continues to be an obvious focus for concern. The two sides hope that the negotiations will pave the way for regular meetings, helping to improve cross-strait relations after decades of tensions and mistrust. ""As long as we have mutual trust and understanding... these talks are going to become an important communication mechanism for cross-strait development,"" said China's Mr Chen. But while economic growth and a reduction in cross-straits tension will certainly be welcome, an agreement on core political principles - including re-affirmation of the One China principle - may be harder to reach. Are you in the region? Would you be affected by direct passenger flights between China and Taiwan? Do you think the talks can lead to better relations? Send us your comments using the form below. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" 1 of 2. People watch as rushing water from a 'quake lake' flows through the earthquake-devastated city of Beichuan, Sichuan province June 10, 2008. Waters poured out of the Tangjiashan quake lake, the largest of more than 30 formed by the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province, after soldiers blasted away rocks, mud and other rubble blocking its path along a sluice. The muddy brown water swamped low-lying areas in the nearby wrecked town of Beichuan, washing away corpses, family mementoes and valuables along with the rubble. The toll from last month's 7.9 magnitude quake stands at nearly 87,000 dead or missing, and millions more have been left homeless. Tuesday's flooding brought more heartache to the displaced. Many said valuables were now lost for good. ""It began flooding early this morning,"" said shop assistant Zhu Yunhui, 37, who lost loved ones in the quake and said she had kept many tens of thousands of yuan in her home. ""Now we can never go back. This is heartbreaking."" Damage in Beichuan from the tremor was so extensive that authorities have decided to rebuild the town at a site dozens of kilometers away and to make the original county seat an earthquake memorial. Sichuan's Communist Party chief Liu Qibao described the quake lake breakthrough as a ""decisive victory"" after the water level in the dam fell by more than 20 meters, Xinhua news agency said. ""... The number of people under threat downstream the lake have dropped from 1.3 million to less than 50,000,"" Liu was quoted as saying. Water from the Tangjiashan lake, created when landslides triggered by the quake blocked the flow of the Jianjiang River, has so far prompted the evacuation of more than 250,000 residents downstream in case the mud-and-rock dam burst."
" WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- A proposal to tax the windfall profits earned by oil companies was defeated Tuesday by Senate Republicans on a procedural vote. Democrats failed on a 51-43 vote to get the 60 votes needed to end the Republican filibuster of the energy bill. Republicans said a windfall-profits tax would discourage production, but Democrats said investment in new production or new technologies would not be taxed."
" No new date was set for the vote, which was to have been held on 22 November. The coalition government would not agree to Maoist demands, including the immediate abolition of the monarchy, and procedural changes to voting. The elections are a key element of a peace deal signed in 2006 that ended 10 years of Maoist insurgency. ""The leaders have decided to postpone the voting, but a new date hasn't been fixed,"" Prakash Sharan Mahat, a senior leader of the country's largest party the Nepali Congress, told The Associated Press news agency. A spokesman for the Maoists, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, told reporters that the parties were trying to find solutions. ""We have all decided to postpone the election with the agreement that we will all try to resolve the political deadlocks through the special session of parliament that we have sought."" The Maoists have demanded the implementation of a proportional representation system of voting on polling day. Observers say this is because they are not expected to do well in direct elections and would benefit from the system. The former rebels complain the system of voting in its current form is stacked against them, and that they have not been treated as equal partners since the peace deal was signed in November 2006. They have threatened to launch mass protests if their demands are not met."
" Flights were cancelled and ports shut as Typhoon Krosa hit, bringing torrential rain. It is expected to move towards China where tourists in coastal areas have been evacuated and measures taken at the Special Olympics in Shanghai. In Vietnam a separate storm, Typhoon Lekima, has killed at least 17 people. In Taiwan's capital, Taipei, more than 200 trees were uprooted and several floods reported. The northern port city of Keelung suffered a massive power cut, with 400,000 homes affected, officials said. The BBC's Caroline Gluck in Taipei says Krosa's sprawling 300km (186 mile) radius ensured its strength was felt across the island. More than 100cm (39.37 inches) of rainfall was recorded in the north-eastern county of Ilan - with almost as much in the central mountain regions. Torrential downpours have triggered a number of mudslides - one was reported on a major eastern motorway. A resident of Taitung in southern Taiwan, Chuang Min-hsiang, told the Reuters news agency: ""The wind is tremendous here, and we've lost power. We're all at home doing work to protect ourselves from the typhoon."" Rehearsals for celebrations marking Taiwan's National Day on 10 October also had to be cancelled because of the storm."
" * Remnants could reach oil platforms in Gulf of Mexico * Coffee crops in Honduras, Guatemala likely to be spared (Rewrites throughout with details on storm preparations) CANCUN, Mexico, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Hurricane Richard strengthened as it bore down on the tiny Central American nation of Belize, where tourists were evacuated from hotels and some residents fled to government shelters. The storm was seen making landfall near Belize City late on Sunday before weakening to a tropical depression and entering Mexico's Bay of Campeche, where Mexico produces more than two-thirds of its 2.6 million barrels-per-day of crude output. ""We're all nervous here, just waiting to see what's going to happen,"" said Myrna Harris, who moved all her guests and furniture to the second floor of the hotel she runs in Belize City. Further south, hotel workers sent their guests inland and were chopping down fruit and coconuts from trees. ""We don't want the fruit to become missiles during the storm,"" said Rosario Villanueva, a security guard at a hotel in Placencia where guests were evacuated early on Sunday. Richard packed maximum sustained winds of 90 miles (150 km) per hour and will likely power through Belize and southern Mexico to enter Mexico's main oil producing region by Tuesday. Most computer forecasting models appeared to suggest the storm would steer clear of major oil installations in the U.S. Gulf. Mexico's state oil company, Pemex, said it was watching the storm but had not evacuated any workers from its offshore platforms. The storm would likely not strengthen again once it entered the Gulf, the NHC said."
" (CNN) -- Hurricane Richard made landfall just south of Belize City Sunday night, said CNN Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. She said the eye of the hurricane hit land around 7:45 p.m. CT (8:45 p.m. ET), some 20 miles (35 kilometers) south-southwest of Belize City. The storm known as Richard intensified in the Caribbean from a tropical storm into a Category 1 hurricane as maximum sustained winds increased to 90 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center reported. The storm is expected to weaken as it moves inland. Monday, it is seen moving across northern Guatemala and into southern Mexico. The Belize National Emergency Management Organization said Sunday all public buses have stopped running and advised private cars to also get off the road. It urged people living in Dangriga, a town in southern Belize, and in vulnerable parts of Belize City to seek shelter immediately. All vessels should remain in port, the organization also advised. Belize, a small country in Central America popular among tourists for its pristine beaches and coral reefs, has a hurricane warning in effect, the National Hurricane Center reported. A hurricane watch is in effect for areas along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Along with hurricane force winds, the main threat from the slow-moving Richard is the large amounts of rain it will dump on Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula. It is expected to produce three to six inches of rain with local amounts totaling 10 inches. These rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides, especially in the mountainous terrain. Hurricane Richard is expected to weaken over land and reemerge in the Bay of Campeche as a tropical depression. Conditions are not favorable for redevelopment in the extreme southwestern Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center expects Richard to continue to dissipate into a remnant low."
" Kate Burton, 24, was abducted on Wednesday, along with her mother and father, who were visiting her. Road blocks to inspect traffic have been set up in Rafah, where they were snatched, and nearby in Khan Younis. Palestinian officials said they were in contact with armed groups, but did not know where the family was. Protests for their release have been held in Gaza. The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza said there had been unconfirmed reports of contact with the kidnappers. In a statement, the Burton family said: ""We are a close family and are naturally deeply concerned about our parents and sister. ""Kate is a warm and loving person and has been working as a volunteer in Gaza for the past year trying to do what she can to help the situation there. ""We are grateful for the help and messages of support that we are receiving."" They appealed for privacy, saying the situation was sensitive and they did not want to make any further comment. Frank McGinley, of the British consulate general in Jerusalem, said officials were investigating. Efforts are ongoing to find out whether the kidnappers are asking for a particular local problem to be resolved or whether there is a wider issue."
" President Pervez Musharraf faced a fresh assault on his authority yesterday when Pakistan's lawyers launched a week of street protests. Thousands of black-suited lawyers gathered in Karachi at the start of the ""long march"" - actually a motor convoy - that will cross the country, finishing outside parliament in Islamabad on Thursday. The lawyers want the government to restore about 45 judges sacked by Musharraf last November, including his bitter rival, the former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. ""Today is the historic day that the lawyers and judges have come out to protect the country and the constitution,"" said Sabihuddin Ahmed, the deposed head of the Sindh high court, in Karachi. In a reprise of last year's lawyers' movement that triggered Musharraf's political slide, protesters chanted ""Go, Musharraf, go!"" and burned an effigy of the president. The protests are a potent challenge to both Musharraf and the fragile government led by the party of the assassinated politician Benazir Bhutto. Supporters include human rights activists, retired army generals and religious and right-wing political parties. Musharraf appeared relaxed at a press briefing on Saturday, vowing never to allow his presidency to be diminished to the extent that he would become a ""useless vegetable"". The president still enjoys the support of the army and the US. Amid a flurry of speculation that Musharraf was going to resign, President George Bush recently phoned to reiterate his support. The long march is also a headache for the ruling Pakistan People's party (PPP), which has found itself trapped between US policy and domestic pressure to remove Musharraf. The party has tried to ease Musharraf out of office, proposing measures under which his powers would be cut. But they have been outmanoeuvred by coalition partner Nawaz Sharif, who appears to have captured the public mood with demands that all judges be restored and Musharraf tried for treason. Yesterday the PPP moved its policy into line with Sharif's, saying it agreed that Musharraf should be impeached and prosecuted. ""The man must be held accountable,"" said a spokesman, Farhatullah Babar. The long march will be physically difficult, with summer temperatures in many areas hovering in the mid-40s C (about 113F). Lawyers' leaders say that when they reach Islamabad they will mount a sit-in outside parliament until their demands are met, but remain vague about how far they will go in confronting the authorities. There had been speculation the lawyers would march on Musharraf's residence in Rawalpindi, but a senior lawyer, Athar Minallah, ruled that out. ""There is no need for that because it appears as if president and parliament are together,"" he said."
" He is undergoing medical checks and may be sent home within hours. Mr Fujimori, 69, has been fighting extradition ever since he flew from Japan to Chile in 2005, and is currently under house arrest. He travelled there in a failed attempt to return to Peru to run in last year's presidential elections. ""We have awarded the extradition,"" Supreme Court judge Alberto Chaigneau told reporters on Friday. He added that the court's decision had been based on two charges of human rights violations and five of corruption. The ruling is final and no further appeals are allowed. It reverses an earlier decision by a judge, who said Peru had not presented enough evidence to support the charges. Peruvian Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo said his government would not politicise the case and pledged that Mr Fujimori would be given a fair trial and treated with dignity. The human rights charges against the former Peruvian leader date back to the early 1990s, when his government was allegedly responsible for killing civilians in the fight against Shining Path Maoist guerrillas. One of the alleged massacres was at a poor neighbourhood in Lima in 1991 in which 15 people died."
" The US-led forces say they have killed 70 militants in Helmand province in the last two days, but the claim cannot be independently verified. In Kabul, a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of foreign troops, killing one soldier and wounding many others. Violence has soared this year with more than 3,000 people killed as Afghan and foreign forces battle Taleban fighters. Forces led by the US military carried out air strikes in Helmand on Friday morning, killing about 40 rebels and destroying one of the largest caches of weapons they have ever found, the US-led coalition said. With this, the number of militants killed in the last two days has gone up to more than 70, the coalition said. There has been no independent confirmation of the casualty figures. But the local police officials and eyewitnesses told the BBC that the fighting had taken place and that the Taleban were hit quite hard. ""This was one of the largest caches of weapons found to date,"" news agency AFP quoted coalition spokesman Major Christopher Belcher as saying. ""Several rooms were found, filled with small arms, explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and large-calibre ammunition."" Meanwhile, in Kabul, police said a French soldier was killed and several Afghans were injured when a suicide attacker blew himself up near a convoy of foreign troops. ""The foreign national killed is a French Isaf soldier. Some Afghan civilians have been wounded,"" AFP quoted Ali Shah Paktiawal, the head of the Kabul police force's anti-crime branch, as saying."
" At least 27 people have died after consuming poisonous alcohol in southern Pakistan, police said Friday. The deaths were reported late Thursday and early Friday after more than three dozen people were brought to various hospitals in Karachi, the nation's biggest city. Their relatives told doctors that they had consumed ""poisonous alcohol,"" said Javed Bukhari, the city's police chief."
" New York - ""The American Soldier"" was named on Sunday as Time magazine Person of the Year, giving credit not to those who formulate the foreign policies of the United States but those who face bullets and grenades as they execute those policies. There was little disagreement in Time's newsroom that the US-led war in Iraq was 2003's top story, Time Managing Editor Jim Kelly told Reuters. But he said there was a spirited debate about who would best represent that story as Person of the Year. US President George Bush and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were candidates, but ""the very messy aftermath of the war has made it clear that Washington's policy was going to have to be carried out day by day by the soldiers on the ground,"" Kelly said. ""We thought the title belonged to those people."" Time made a similar decision in 1950 when ""The American Fighting-Man"" got the title as the US waged war in Korea. Kelly said Rumsfeld, in a November interview, made the unsolicited suggestion that this year's honor go to all men and women who wear the US uniform. ""It was the first time that I had ever interviewed a contender for Person of the Year who actually suggested someone else,"" Kelly said. Internationally, the S war in Iraq has been criticised as unilateral aggression. France, Germany and other traditional US allies have refused to participate in the war or the conflict that has continued since President Saddam Hussein fell. Bush calls the war part of a move toward democracy in the Middle East. But many Arabs view the Iraq invasion as carried out to serve the interests of Washington's ally Israel. In agreement with the Bush administration, Time's cover story says: ""To have pulled Saddam Hussein from his hole in the ground brings the possibility of pulling an entire country out of the dark."""
" Medical and security sources said sniper fire killed the civilian from Tripoli's Sunni Muslim Bab al-Tabbaneh district, whose residents overwhelmingly support the Sunni rebels battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Two others from the area were wounded in the fighting, in addition to four people from the Alawite neighborhood of Jebel Mohsen, which supports the Alawite Syrian leader. The latest fighting erupted in the Tripoli neighborhoods adjacent to Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jebel Mohsen, where clashes have flared several times in recent months, killing dozens. Soldiers were deployed to the districts last month following another episode of violence in Tripoli, 30 km (20 miles) from the Syrian border, where divisions reflect the sectarian gulf across Lebanon over Syria's civil war. Tensions between the Sunni Muslim majority and small Alawite community in the city have festered for decades and it has seen some of the heaviest violence in Lebanon in the past year. On Saturday, the funeral was held in the village of Hnaider close to the Syrian border for the suspected suicide bomber in Thursday's attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut. A Reuters photographer in the village said gunmen prevented journalists from attending the ceremony and reported heavy gunfire in the area. The army identified the perpetrator as 19-year-old Qutaiba Mohamad al-Satem. Lebanese media reported he was in his second year of university as a civil engineering student. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which claimed responsibility for the attack that killed at least five people, said it had targeted Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah. ISIL, an al Qaeda affiliate, is fighting to topple Assad and establish an Islamic state in Syria, while Hezbollah has sent fighters to support the government there."
" PARIS, France (CNN) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday that he will seek tougher U.N. sanctions on Iran for continuing to produce nuclear fuel, but backed away from his foreign minister's warning that Europe should prepare for war. Speaking in a joint interview with French television networks TF1 and France 2, Sarkozy said it is clear that Iran ""is trying to equip itself with a nuclear bomb."" But he said diplomatic pressure has spurred other countries to give up nuclear weapons programs before. ""How can we convince them to renounce this project, like the international community convinced Libya and North Korea? By discussion, dialogue and sanctions,"" he said. Sarkozy said he will lobby for tougher sanctions on Iran when he attends the U.N. General Assembly session in New York next week. France and fellow European Union members Britain and Germany have led Western powers in negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program, which Iranian officials insist is aimed at producing civilian electric power. The United States accuses Iran of working toward a nuclear weapon. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday it has verified that Iran's declared nuclear material has not been diverted from peaceful uses, though inspectors have been unable to reach conclusions about some ""important aspects"" of Iran's nuclear work. But the U.N. Security Council has demanded that Tehran halt its production of enriched uranium, which can be used to fuel nuclear power plants or, in much higher concentrations, to produce a nuclear explosion. Iran has so far refused that demand, arguing that it has the right to produce nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes under the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Sunday that European nations ""must prepare ourselves for the worst"" if sanctions fail to stop Iran's nuclear development. Asked what that meant, Kouchner -- co-founder of the the Nobel Prize-winning relief agency Doctors Without Borders -- replied, ""That is war, sir."" Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini condemned Kouchner's comment, saying the ""convulsive words"" ran counter to ""the historical, cultural and civilizational dignity and position of France."" And Sarkozy said, ""I wouldn't have used the word war."""
" In a new audio tape, Bin Laden promised what he called retaliation for the storming of the radical Red Mosque in the capital, Islamabad, in July. He said the army operation, in which more than 100 people were killed, made Gen Musharraf an infidel. The new audio message was heard on the internet over previously released footage of the militant leader. In the tape, Bin Laden says it is now the duty of Muslims to rebel against what he calls the ""apostate leader"". The storming of the Red Mosque ""demonstrated Musharraf's insistence on continuing his loyalty, submissiveness and aid to America against the Muslims... and makes armed rebellion against him and removing him obligatory"", Bin Laden said. The transcript of the tape was released by Laura Mansfield, an American terror expert who monitors militant traffic on the internet. Bin Laden was quoted as saying on another American web site, Siteinstitute.org, that Gen Musharraf's ministers and soldiers were ""all accomplices in spilling the blood of those of the Muslims who have been killed"". ""He who helps him knowingly and willingly is an infidel like him."" It is not the first time the al-Qaeda leader has called for the overthrow of Gen Musharraf, a key US ally in the ""war on terror"". Since the attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001 he has released a number of videos and audio messages."
" Eyewitnesses say up to 100,000 people marched peacefully through Rangoon with monks demanding better living conditions and national reconciliation. The military government has so far showed restraint over the protests. Monks are highly revered in Burma and any move by the junta to crush their demonstrations would spark an outcry. The military suppressed the last democracy uprising in 1988, killing some 3,000 people, correspondents say. The monks had called for the entire country to join them in their campaign to overthrow the government, which began eight days ago, and Monday saw marches in at least 25 towns and cities, including Mandalay, Sittwe and Pakokku. Witnesses say the demonstration in Rangoon, the largest city, was so huge they could not see the beginning or the end of it. Five columns of monks, one reportedly stretching for more than 1km (0.6 miles), entered the city centre to cheers and applause from thousands of bystanders. Civilians who joined in pinned small pieces of monks' robes on to their clothing, some of them weeping, and turnout estimates range from 50,000 to 100,000. They included officials from the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Two well-known actors, comedian Zargana and film star Kyaw Thu, encouraged the Rangoon marchers early in the day by going to the golden Shwedagon Pagoda to offer them food and water."
" Stone structures that are ""clearly man-made"" were seen on the seabed off the south coast, archaeologists say. They could be part of the mythical city of Mahabalipuram, which legend says was so beautiful that the gods sent a flood that engulfed six of its seven temples. Other relics were revealed when the powerful waves washed away sand as they smashed into the Tamil Nadu coast. The Archaeological Survey of India launched the diving expedition after residents reported seeing a temple and other structures as the sea pulled back just before the tsunami hit. The new finds were made close to the 7th Century beachfront Mahabalipuram temple, which some say is the structure that survived the wrath of the gods. ""We've found some stone structures which are clearly man-made,"" expedition leader Alok Tripathi told the AFP news agency. The ancient ""gifts"" of the tsunami are expected to be presented to an international seminar on maritime archaeology in Delhi next month. Other discoveries made at Mahabalipuram earlier this month include a granite lion of a similar age to the temple that experts believe had been buried for centuries before the tsunami shifted the sand. Archaeologists have been working at the site for the last three years, since another diving expedition discovered what appeared to be a submerged city, including at least one temple. The myths of Mahabalipuram were first written down by British traveller J Goldingham who was told of the ""Seven Pagodas"" when he visited in 1798."
" AMMAN, June 23 (Reuters) - Syrian troops massed on the Turkish border overnight, witnesses said on Thursday, escalating tensions with Ankara as President Bashar al-Assad uses increasing military force to try to crush a popular revolt. Refugees from the northwestern province of Idlib said armoured vehicles and troops were now as close as 500 metres from the border in the Khirbat al-Joz area. A Reuters photographer in the Turkish border village of Guvecci saw three uniformed Syrian soldiers with a machinegun positioned on the roof of a house on top of a hill. Syrian armoured personnel carriers were visible on a road running along the top of the hill, and machinegun fire was heard although it was not clear who the troops were firing at. (Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Umit Bektas; Editing by Louise Ireland)"
" Hundreds of Syrian refugees are fleeing across the border into Turkey to escape an assault by Syrian troops in the area, witnesses say. Tanks and snipers have entered the village of Khirbet al-Jouz - a base for makeshift refugee camps. One group of people broke through barbed wire to cross the border close to the Turkish village of Guvecci. More than 1,300 people are estimated to have been killed in the government crackdown on the popular uprising. Thousands more protesters have been detained since the crackdown began in March, opposition activists say. Several Syrian cities - including Homs and Hama - have declared a general strike after two days of deadly clashes with security forces and supporters of President Bashar al-Assad. The recent military offensive in the north of the country has forced thousands of Syrians to flee towards Turkey. Continue reading the main story President Assad's troops have now reasserted their authority in an area where Syrian dissidents had been able to move back and forth across the Turkish border, distributing the latest information and pictures from further inside the country. This is also a calculated show of defiance towards the Turkish government which has been increasingly critical of military operations against the Syrian protesters. Turkey's army is far more powerful than Syria's and the Turkish public feel strong sympathy for Mr Assad's opponents. But the government here is wary of being drawn into a messy power struggle in Syria which has no clear outcome. Many crossed the border, but a significant number opted to camp on the Syrian side of the border - preferring to remain on Syrian soil as long as possible. One man said 2,130 people in his camp had fled Khirbet al-Jouz to avoid being attacked by the army, which was surrounding the numerous camps on the Syrian side of the border."
" Sports fans are to find out if they have got a ticket to the London 2012 Olympics, organisers said. A London 2012 spokesman said: ""Those people who have been allocated tickets will receive an email confirming which events they will receive tickets for, on what day and confirming the price. ""Those who were not allocated tickets in the first round will be able to log on from 6am on Friday to begin the second round of sales."" People who applied by post will receive a letter before June 24, when the second round of ticket sales begins. Of the 1.9 million who applied in the first round of sales, 1.2 million ended up empty-handed. Those who missed out will be given the first opportunity to buy those tickets still available on a first-come-first-served basis when the next sales window opens at 6am on June 24. London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton said he was ""very sorry"" so many people had missed out but that he was determined to ensure that by the end of the whole sales process two-thirds of those who had applied would be in possession of a ticket. Some three million tickets were bought in the first round, and a further 2.3 million will go on sale though 1.7 million of these are for Olympic football matches and 600,000 for other sports. The final batch of tickets, totalling 1.3 million, will be sold in stages next year. London 2012 chiefs are aiming to ensure that two-thirds of the 1.9 million people who initially applied for Olympics tickets will eventually secure some. Deighton has said: ""We know a lot of people missed out, we are very sorry about it and we want to fix it as well as we can by the second-round process and subsequent rounds of sales. The sheer level of demand has left more people than we want disappointed."""
" Palestinians in the West Bank have been voting in the final round of local elections. The Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, cast his vote in his hometown of Al-Bireh. Afterwards he said: 'This is a great day for democracy. We will respect the results of these elections.'  The turnout was put at between 60 and 65% three hours before the scheduled close at 5pm Irish time. Approximately 148,000 Palestinians were eligible to vote in the elections for 414 council seats. Meanwhile, the Israeli army blew up a car bomb discovered outside Jerusalem today. Witnesses said the controlled explosion shook southern and central districts of the city. Earlier, Israel launched fresh air strikes against Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip. The raids demolished two buildings used by Palestinian militants but caused no casualties.  The air strikes came just hours after a series of similar attacks against two vehicles in Gaza City which killed four members of the Popular Resistance Committees, prompting vows of revenge from the militant coalition. Israel has recently launched a new campaign targeting Palestinian militants after a suicide bombing killed five Israelis at a shopping centre in the coastal town of Netanya on 5 December."
" At least five people have been killed and more than 60 hurt in a car bomb which hit a suburb of Lebanon's capital Beirut, media and officials say. The blast destroyed several vehicles and part of the facade of a building in a densely populated area of Haret Hreik district. The southern suburb is a stronghold of the Shia militant group Hezbollah. Beirut has recently been hit by attacks linked to heightened Sunni-Shia tensions over the Syrian war. Continue reading the main story Hezbollah is heavily involved in the conflict in Syria, fighting alongside government forces. The party's intervention is believed to have been forceful and decisive, and has drawn the wrath of opponents of the government. Some groups have threatened revenge on the streets of Beirut, and many will be quick to say this attack is another retaliation for Hezbollah's role. But Lebanon is in the midst of several conflicts, some local, others regional, all of them interconnected and mired in intrigue. This explosion happened less than a week after a former government minister was killed by a car bomb. Every suicide attack, car bomb or assassination is swiftly sucked into a war of narratives, and this one will not be different. Former minister Mohamad Chatah, a Sunni and a critic of Hezbollah, was killed by a car bomb last Friday. Six other people died and at least 50 were injured. Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, to whom Mr Chatah was an adviser, blamed Hezbollah for that attack but it has denied any involvement. Hezbollah's TV station Al-Manar showed large crowds gathered around twisted and burnt-out vehicles in front of a building that had been badly damaged in Thursday's blast. Lebanese military officials said the bomb was detonated in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Human remains in addition to the five confirmed dead were found near the car, suggesting a suicide attack, security sources said."
" When I saw this, after picking myself up off the floor from my fits of laughter and howling, initially I wasn't sure I wanted this to happen. What I mean is I think we all want Linux to be proven to be free and clear of the IP issue. But then I kind of fell in love with the idea. Novell (whom we somewhat trust to be one of the good guys), has just entered the ring and is throwing down another gauntlet making SCAMX prove their ownership of the property they have so loudly purported to own. Undoubtly, this will cause the IBM suit to delay until this is settled. If Novell wins this turf war, I would expect them to do whatever can be done to make sure this never happens again, by releasing it to Public Domain or some such remedy. If SCO were to survive long enough to win, I would expect IBM to crush them. I would expect to see SCO's workforce laid off and the company reduced to Darl, Kevin and Blake. They will be like many of the IP companies we see in the courts that have no workforce other than executives, lawyers & PR people. That, IMO is the only way I could see SCO sustain itself financially thru such an expensive ordeal. Of course, IANAL, ICBW, & AFAMWICIUA.  I Am Not A Lawyer, I Could Be Wrong, As Far As My Wife Is Concerned, I Usually Am. The U.S. Copyright Office says this on their FAQ page to copyright registration: In general, copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. However, registration is not a condition of copyright protection. Even though registration is not a requirement for protection, the copyright law provides several inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to make registration. Among these advantages are the following:  * Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.  * Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U. S. origin.  * If made before or within 5 years of publication, registration will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.  * If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner. This doesn't look good for SCO in any case... no prima facie evidence (everyone can simply challenge their copyright by saying ""proof it!"") plus there is no claim of statutory damages and attorney's fees possible. IBM and Novell have both walked the good walk, and fought the good fight. But let's remember that that Caldera contributed good work to Linux, and their past management ""got it"" a lot more than current management seems to. What happens after SCO is feeding the fishes? Let's say that Novell owns the Unix copyrights and IBM continues to own a patent portfolio, containing various patents that might well be applicable to code in Linux. We trust IBM and Novell, we applaud their sane and sensible participation in preserving free software and open source. But, as members of this community, we need to make sure they know how essential it is that they license and contribute that intellectual property in a broad and unconditional way, so that this won't happen again. We'd all better let IBM and Novell know that we expect them to take the necessary steps before the next problem happens. No large corporation is more than an unprofitable quarter or two away from developing litigation as a profit center. If you want to preserve Linux, Apache, GNU, etc., folks, charity begins at home You're participants in this community. For your own creditibilty, it's time to get your houses in order and guard against future abuse."
" Hundreds of supporters were waiting at a police base in Lima but his plane landed at a nearby military air base. The ex-leader denies the allegations, which date back to the early 1990s, and has fought extradition since 2005. But after the Chilean decision, he said the extradition would give him an opportunity to clear his name. After landing, Mr Fujimori was taken to a police detention centre some 30km (19 miles) outside the capital. It had been expected that the plane carrying Mr Fujimori from Chile would land at a police base near the capital's main airport, but it went to the military air base instead, flying over the heads of hundreds of supporters who had been waiting to greet him. The BBC's Dan Collyns in Lima says Mr Fujimori is a very controversial figure in Peru, arousing strong passions, both for and against. He is popular with many working-class Peruvians, who say current President Alan Garcia ruined the economy in his first term of office, before Mr Fujimori's election in 1990. The legal process Mr Fujimori now faces is unlikely to be swift, our correspondent says. Mr Fujimori said in a radio interview before his departure from Chile: ""I am certain and secure in addressing the actions of my government in this trial and will emerge with honour."" Mr Fujimori's daughter Keiko, who leads his political movement in Peru's Congress, called for his supporters to rally round and give him the reception a former head of state deserved."
" The USS Essex is seen from a helicopter about 80 nautical miles south of Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta May 16, 2008. Zarganar, who was last detained in the crackdown on fuel price protests in September, was taken from his Yangon home by secret police on Wednesday evening, the family member said, on condition of anonymity. They also seized his computer and several banned films, including the latest Rambo movie, which features the U.S. Vietnam War veteran taking on the former Burma's ruling military on behalf of Christian ethnic Karen rebels. Police also found a copy of the leaked video of the lavish ""champagne and diamonds"" wedding in 2006 of army supremo Than Shwe's daughter, which caused outrage among ordinary people in one of Asia's poorest countries. ""They searched his room and took away some CDs, including the latest Rambo film, the wedding ceremony of Senior General Than Shwe's daughter, records on damage by Cyclone Nargis and the hard disc from his computer,"" the family source said. Zarganar's current whereabouts are unknown, and he is expected to be questioned for several days, the source added. His detention is likely to cause concern for the many informal private groups who are quietly collecting aid in the former capital and trucking it to the Irrawaddy delta, where Cyclone Nargis has left 2.4 million people in need of help. More than a month after the storm, which also left 134,000 people dead or missing, many survivors have not yet been reached and Western nations and foreign aid groups say the relief effort is being hampered by the country's military rulers. After more than two weeks of waiting for a green light that never came, four U.S. warships laden with supplies and 22 helicopters set sail on Thursday for Thailand from international waters near the delta. ""Should the Burmese rulers have a change of heart and request our full assistance for their suffering people, we are prepared to help,"" Admiral Timothy Keating, the U.S. military's top regional commander, said."
" HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Feb. 25 -- Poultry breeding in Asia must undergo a radical change if a global bird flu pandemic is to be avoided, health and agricultural experts said at the conclusion of a three-day international meeting. Up to 40 million farmers in Southeast Asia raise chickens, ducks and geese in their backyards or on small farms, according to statistics. Officials at the 28-nation conference said the farmers must change their practice of letting the fowl mix and roam freely to prevent the spread of the avian influenza virus that has killed at least 45 people in the region since the end of 2003. ""This is the crux of the issue,"" said Shigeru Omi, the World Health Organization's Western Pacific director, in an interview after the conference. ""Vaccines are important. Sanitation is important. But this is the root of the problem."" The conference, organized by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), marked the first time the international group of officials, scientists and experts agreed on the need to change farming practices to avert a global pandemic. ""In the last 12 months, we have made some headway, and I think we will see dramatic improvement,"" said Juan Lubroth, a senior animal health officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization. ""But it will take several years."" U.N. officials said ""several hundred million dollars"" -- some FAO officials estimated $300 million -- would be needed to improve poultry breeding practices and sanitation, to partially compensate farmers for slaughtered chickens and to strengthen animal health services and laboratories to improve virus detection. International donor organizations are expected to contribute, but countries at risk should also raise funds from the public and private sectors, officials said. These countries include Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. So far, the international response has been lacking, said Samuel Jutzi, director of animal production and health for the FAO. ""We're rather disappointed by the international response,"" he said, ""given the enormous threat"" of the problem. But, he noted, the countries affected must also articulate clear plans of action and make specific requests for money. In the past year, health officials have seen that the mass culling of poultry is not the long-term solution, said Hans Troedsson, the WHO's representative in Vietnam, the hardest-hit country where 13 people have died from the bird flu since Dec. 30. On Friday, a 21-year-old man from a northern Vietnamese province tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus."
" HERMEL/BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army fired Monday on a Syrian warplane over the northeast border town of Arsal, in a rare military response to Syrian violation of Lebanese airspace. A military source said soldiers, with standing orders to respond to any violation to Lebanese airspace, fired anti-aircraft batteries on the Syrian air gunship after it flew over a Lebanese Army center in the Wadi Hmayyed area of Arsal. The center is used for the distribution of aid to Syrian refugees. The plane promptly vacated the area after the Lebanese Army action, the source said. Minutes later, two Syrian air gunships fired four air-to-ground rockets at Khirbit Daoud on the fringes of Arsal, the source added. There were no reports of casualties from the air strike that occurred around noon."
" At least 14 people have been killed in a suicide bombing on a trolleybus in the Russian city of Volgograd, investigators say. The blast comes a day after 17 people died in another suicide attack at the central station in the city. Security has been tightened at railway stations and airports across Russia. Moscow is concerned that militants could be ramping up violence in the run-up to the 2014 winter Olympic Games in the city of Sochi in February. The Olympics venue is close to Russia's volatile north Caucasus region, and the BBC's Moscow correspondent Daniel Sandford says it was always risky staging the Games so near to the troubled republics of Chechnya and Dagestan. Continue reading the main story For most Russians, these attacks came as a huge shock. Despite public assurances that the troubles in the Caucasus were coming under control, clashes between extremists and government troops, and some small-scale attacks, have continued. More disturbingly, extremism has recently started to flare up further north, in some of Russia's central regions, much closer to Volgograd. This industrial and transport hub is of huge symbolic importance to most Russians. The attacks there, just weeks before the opening of the Winter Olympics, have created unease across Russia. Many are now asking why the country's powerful security services failed to stop the bombers, accusing them of complacency and unprofessionalism. The threat to the games in Sochi may not be so great: there are hundreds of police officers and military personnel deployed around the area. But the fear is that the bombers may strike elsewhere. These bombs have been a brutal reminder of that, he says. In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry did not blame any particular group but called for international solidarity in the fight against ""an insidious enemy that can only be defeated together"". Regional Governor Sergei Bozhenov said the bombings were a ""serious test"" for all Volgograd residents and all Russians. The president of the International Olympic Committee has expressed full confidence that Russian authorities will deliver ""safe and secure"" Games in Sochi."
" Assange anger at 'smear campaign' after leaked police files published in The Guardian In a move that surprised many of Assange's closest supporters, The Guardian newspaper yesterday published previously unseen police documents which accused Assange in graphic detail of sexually assaulting two Swedish women. One witness is said to have stated: ""Not only had it been the world's worst screw, it had also been violent."" Bjorn Hurtig, Assange's Swedish lawyer, said he would lodge a formal complaint to the authorities and ask them to investigate how such sensitive police material leaked into the public domain. ""It is with great concern that I hear about this because it puts Julian and his defence in a bad position,"" he told a colleague. ""I do not like the idea that Julian may be forced into a trial in the media. And I feel especially concerned that he will be presented with the evidence in his own language for the first time when reading the newspaper. ""I do not know who has given these documents to the media, but the purpose can only be one thing - trying to make Julian look bad."" Assange is facing criminal allegations in Sweden over claims by two women that he sexually assaulted them while he was in the country earlier this year. Another supporter close to Assange said the leak appeared designed by the authorities in Sweden to jeopardise Assange's defence. ""There has been a selective smear through the disclosure of material. That material, in Swedish, was passed to a journalist at The Guardian,"" said a source. ""The timing appears to have been cynically calculated to have the material published in the middle of the bail application and the appeal."" Assange, 39, was arrested and held in custody at Wandsworth prison in south London after Sweden issued an extradition request. He was released on bail last week after a High Court judge dismissed an appeal by the British authorities, on behalf of the Swedes, to overturn an earlier decision to free him. He has to meet strict conditions, including electronic tagging."
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" Two U.S. sources said that media reports from Lebanon that Lebanese Armed Forces had recently captured Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid, leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades were credible. The sources did not offer further details on the circumstances in which he was captured. Lebanese media reported on Tuesday that Majid had been arrested two days ago. One report said he had lived for years in a Palestinian refugee camp before leaving for Syria a month ago, where he allegedly pledged allegiance to the leader of the Nusrah Front, one of the most extreme and violent Islamic militant groups fighting to oust the government of President Bashar Assad. According to the Long War Journal, a respected counter-terrorism blog, Majid is among 85 individuals identified on a Saudi government list issued in 2009 as most wanted for their alleged involvement with al-Qaeda. The Long War Journal said that the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, named after a founder of al Qaeda and associate of the late Osama bin Laden, were formed some time after 2005 as a spinoff of al-Qaeda in Iraq. The blog said the group's mission was to attack targets in Lebanon and elsewhere around the Middle East."
" It came hours before UN Security Council members got the latest report on the death of a former Lebanese PM, in which Syria has been implicated. The report, by German investigator Detlev Mehlis, urges Damascus to arrest Syrian suspects, Reuters agency says. Syria had said the attack was timed to damage its reputation ahead of a UN meeting. BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says the attack raises the political temperature in Lebanon at a highly sensitive moment. Mr Tueni was killed only a day after returning from Paris, where he had been staying amid fears for his life. A previously-unknown group calling itself Strugglers for the Unity and Freedom of the Levant issued a statement saying it had carried out the attack. There was no independent confirmation of the group's claim. There were emotional scenes as news of the attack spread. One elderly man wept openly at the bomb site, shouting: ""My God, Gibran, you were the only one who told the truth!"" AP news agency reported. Mr Tueni's car was travelling through the Christian-dominated Mekallis area of eastern Beirut during the morning rush hour when the attack happened. The blast was so powerful it blew his armoured car off the small mountain road and sent it rolling down the hill, the BBC's Kim Ghattas reports from Beirut."
" 1 of 6. People make their way along a flooded street after Typhoon Wipha hit Rui'an, east China's Zhejiang province, September 19, 2007. The storm toppled thousands of homes and knocked out power and water supplies as it swept ashore, state media said. Five people were killed, mostly by landslides, and three more were missing, Xinhau news agency said. About 2.7 million people were evacuated in eastern China, including the financial hub Shanghai ahead of its landfall early Wednesday morning. Torrential rains drenched Zhejiang and parts of the neighboring provinces of Fujian, Anhui and Jiangsu, submerging crops, houses and streets. Wipha grazed northern Taiwan and triggered floodwaters in Japan's southern islands, sweeping away at least two people and forcing thousands to flee. In Zhejiang, Wipha cut off power in nearly 1,900 villages, destroyed almost 2,500 houses, flooded 160,000 hectares of farmland and severed 239 roads, affecting 6 million people, Xinhua said. The storm caused estimated economic losses of 6.6 billion yuan ($878.2 million) in Zhejiang and Fujian, as rivers and reservoirs overflowed. Thousands of dyke breaches were reported, Xinhua said. Dozens of flights to and from the Wenzhou airport were cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday. But Wipha, a female name in Thai, weakened into a tropical storm after hitting land. It mostly missed Shanghai as it headed north toward Jiangsu province."
" Thousands of opposition protesters in Belarus have tried to storm the government headquarters, following the country's presidential election. The demonstrators smashed windows and doors at the building in Minsk, but were later pushed back by riot police. Seven presidential candidates were arrested, reports say. One of them was injured in an earlier incident. Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko has been declared the winner, but the opposition claims the result is rigged. Official results announced early on Monday gave President Lukashenko 79.7% of the vote. This will be the authoritarian leader's fourth term in office. During his presidency, the former Soviet republic has never held a poll seen as fair by international monitors. However, the election campaign itself was much freer than in the past, correspondents say. By late Sunday evening at least 10,000 protesters had gathered in central Minsk, denouncing the elections as fraudulent. Waving unofficial Belarusian white-red-white flags, they shouted: ""For Freedom!"", ""Down with Lukashenko!"" and ""Down with Gulag (Soviet-era labour camps)!"" The demonstrators then tried to storm the government building but were pushed back by the riot police."
" A US attempt to establish a system of caps and tax relief to cut carbon emissions has been blocked in Congress. The bill was backed by most senators, but did not get the 60 votes needed to stop a delaying tactic - a filibuster - used by the bill's opponents. Even if it had succeeded in passing Congress, President George W Bush had pledged to veto the bill. Lawmakers will now wait until next year - when there will be a new president - before attempting to pass a new bill. The bill - sponsored by Republican John Warner and Independent Joe Lieberman - would have introduced caps on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, oil refineries and factories. Carbon producers would have been granted emissions allowances, which they would have been able to trade with one another, providing them with an incentive to cut their emissions. ""It's a huge tax increase,"" said Mitch McConnell, leader of the Senate Republicans, most of whom opposed the bill. Supporters of the new system said that tax relief would be provided to help people pay energy costs. Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama were present for the vote, but both presidential candidates said that they would have supported the bill if they had been able to attend."
" With two days to go until the World Cup kicks off in South Africa, football's flagship tournament has been given a boost. This comes from the news that former president Nelson Mandela is likely to attend the opening ceremony at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium. Mandela's grandson made the announcement at the launch of a football-themed art exhibition at the Mandela Foundation offices. He said Mandela will greet fans and players first and then watch the opening ceremony. On Tuesday, Mandela visited the exhibition in his office to see works of a local South African artist, inspired and completed by children from the village where he was born."
" Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Suspected Taliban militants have executed a 7-year-old boy, accusing him of spying for the government, officials in southern Afghanistan said Thursday. The execution took place Tuesday in the Sangin district of Helmand province, said Dawoud Ahmadi -- the provincial governor's spokesman. In the past, militants have carried out similar killings of those accused of spying, Ahmadi said. Three years ago, a 70-year-old woman and a child in the Musa Qala district of the province were executed following the same allegations, he said. During a news conference Thursday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said officials were looking into reports of the execution and said he condemned the act if it is confirmed to be true. ""I don't think there's a crime bigger than that that even the most inhuman forces on earth can commit,"" Karzai said. ""A 7-year-old boy cannot be a spy. A 7-year-old boy cannot be anything but a 7-year-old boy, and therefore hanging or shooting to kill a 7-year-old boy ... is a crime against humanity."" ""If this is true, it is an absolutely hiorrific crime,"" British Prime Minister David Cameron said during the news conference on an unannounced stop in Kabul. ""If true, I think it says more about the Taliban than any book, than any article, than any speech could ever say."""
" (CNN) -- NASA managers worried Monday about the prospect of Hurricane Ivan after Hurricane Frances ripped about 1,000 4-by-10-foot aluminum panels off one side of its massive Vehicle Assembly Building, Kennedy Space Center director Jim Kennedy said. Kennedy said center staff will concentrate on protecting the 40-story, 560-foot building from further damage. ""I don't see how we could do too much to repair those openings in a few days' time,"" he said. Kennedy said the checkerboard-patterned damage was the worst storm damage in the center's history -- like 40,000 square feet of new windows opened from the 100-foot level to the 350-foot level. Roof damage, he said, was unknown. Hurricane Charley caused $700,000 in damage three weeks ago, but ""this one is going to be significantly more than that,"" Kennedy said. The center registered top sustained winds above 70 mph and gusts up to 94 mph. But nearby Cape Canaveral registered gusts as high as 124 mph. The VAB, built in 1965 to assemble the Apollo moon program's gigantic Saturn V rockets, is now used to attach the shuttle's boosters. Kennedy said two external tanks were inside the building during the storm. ""They are somewhat enclosed, and we think they are protected from the elements,"" he said. The space center had also moved cars and trucks into the building to ride out the storm."
" (CNN) -- Thousands of Filipinos who live near coastlines and mountainous areas were evacuated Friday as the storm-battered country braced for Typhoon Parma, which is expected to make landfall Saturday. Parma had maximum sustained winds of 132 mph (212 kph) and was on the doorstep of northern Luzon, in the northern part of the Philippines, early Saturday. It was expected to make landfall along the country's northeastern coast Saturday. Tropical Storm force winds extended well over 300 kilometers (186 miles) -- far enough to include Manila -- and heavy rain was expected to pound much of the country. Parma could develop into a super typhoon, the Philippines weather bureau said. Meteorologists consider a super typhoon to be one with sustained winds of about 150 mph (241 kph). Parma, known locally as Typhoon Pepeng, comes on the heels of a weekend storm that killed hundreds in the Philippines and left most of Manila underwater. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed the country ""under the state of calamity"" in preparation for Parma's landfall. She ordered evacuations as a precautionary measure against floods and landslides, and asked weather officials to issue an hourly update. She also urged local governments to implement forced evacuations if necessary. The order focuses on Camarines Norte, Aurora, northern Quezon, Polillo Island, Isabela and Cagayan. Thousands have been evacuated in Isabela and rescue crews have a ""standing order to use force if necessary"" to move adults and children, said Paul Fernandez, who is overseeing disaster relief in Isabela. The government is providing the province with relief funds, he said."
" Mr Rodriguez Orejuela and his brother, Gilberto, founded the Cali Cartel, which dominated the global cocaine trade in the 1990s. Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela was sent to the US in December. It is now up to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to decide whether his brother should join him. They both faces charges of continuing to run the cartel after being jailed in Colombia for drug-trafficking offences. Both deny the charges. The Supreme Court also approved the extradition to the US of a suspected commander of the rebel group, the Farc. The commander, Omaira Rojas, also known as Sonia, is believed to have run the Farc's finances in southern Colombia, but will also be prosecuted on drugs charges. During the 1990s, the Cali drugs cartel is estimated to have controlled 80% of the global cocaine trade. It was the richest and most powerful crime syndicate in the world, making profits of up to $8bn a year."
" Estimates of the casualties, which included patients and medical staff, varied widely in chaotic scenes outside the hospital in the remote Azra district of eastern Logar province, which is just south of Kabul. Dozens more were wounded in one of the worst attacks this year. Deen Mohammad Darwish, a spokesman for the Logar provincial government, said as many as 35 people were killed, although Afghanistan's Interior Ministry put the death toll at 20. ""The exact target is still not clear,"" Interior minister deputy spokesman Najib Nikzad said. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied responsibility and said the Islamist insurgents never attack hospitals. President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack in which he said ""tens of civilians"" were killed. The United Nations said the maternity ward was hit in the bombing. ""This is a despicable attack against civilians who were seeking medical care, as well as visiting family members and health workers,"" Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. chief in Afghanistan, said in a statement. Tensions have flared over civilian casualties, with insurgents and the Afghan government alike criticizing NATO-led forces for killing innocent Afghans while hunting for militants. United Nations figures however show that insurgents are responsible for three-quarters of civilian deaths. Military and civilian casualties hit record levels in 2010, the most violent year of the war since U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in late 2001."
" Mogadishu - Three Somali ministers quit on Tuesday, and one, a defence minister, said he was stepping down because the Transitional Federal Government had failed to fulfil its pledge to restore order. The country has had no effective central government for 19 years and while President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's administration has the support of the United Nations, he faces a stubborn insurgency from the armed Islamist groups al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam. State Defence Minister Sheikh Yusuf Mohammad Siad said the status quo could not continue because the government had failed to deliver on its promises. ""Everyone has to evaluate himself before others judge his failure, and that is what I did before resigning. I realised that my government cannot do its job,"" he told reporters. ""We cannot achieve security, therefore, there is no need to stay in office."" Higher Education Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar and the state minister for the Presidency Hassan Moalim Mohamud also resigned. Omaar and Moalim, both British Somalis, are in London, while the defence minister is in Mogadishu, officials said. ""The minister for higher education and the state minister for the presidency have so far resigned - they have taken their personal decision,"" Sheikh Abdirizak Qeylow, the Information Ministry spokesperson, told reporters. Analysts say the resignations threaten the existence of an already weak government that controls little more than a few blocks of the capital. ""These are heavyweight ministers, and their resignation will mount pressure on the prime minister, possibly forcing him to resign or lose confidence in the parliament,"" Afyare Abdi Elmi, a Somali political science professor at Qatar University, told reporters. - Reuters"
" Somalia's defence minister, who is leading the fight against Islamist insurgents, has resigned from the embattled transitional government. Yusuf Mohammed Siad, a close ally of Islamist President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, said he was leaving as the government had failed to restore order. Two other ministers tendered their resignation letters from London and another from neighbouring Kenya. Much of southern Somalia is under the control of al-Qaeda inspired militants. The country has not had a unified functioning government since 1991. BBC Somali Service analyst Mohamed Mohamed says it is a major blow to President Ahmed, a moderate Islamist who came to power 18 months ago heading a UN-backed unity government. Like the president, Mr Siad was a leader of the Union of Islamic Courts, which controlled most of southern Somalia for six months in 2006, and was spearheading the fight about the militants, he says. ""Everyone has to evaluate himself before others judge his failure, and that is what I did before resigning,"" Mr Siad told Reuters news agency after he announced his resignation in Mogadishu. ""I realised that my government cannot do its job."" The other ministers who resigned are:"
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Pakistan's army has ordered a probe into a video posted on social networking site Facebook that appears to show soldiers abusing Taliban. The 10-minute video shows men in military uniform beating suspects as officers stand by giving instructions. An army spokesman told the BBC that anybody found guilty of misconduct would be punished. It is not clear who shot the film or where. It appears to have been made recently, perhaps in the Swat valley. If the authenticity of the video is confirmed, it would be the first clear proof of such abuse. Human rights groups have accused the military of being involved in torture and extrajudicial killings in the region. Troops recently declared they had largely cleared the Swat valley of insurgents after a sustained offensive there. ""We have ordered an inquiry. Anyone found to have done wrong will face strict disciplinary action,"" Maj Gen Athar Abbas, head of the army's public relations wing, told the BBC. ""This behaviour is not condoned or accepted in the army,"" he said. ""The Pakistani army is a very disciplined organisation."" The footage shows an officer in Pakistani army battle uniform interrogating several suspects, some of whom are quite elderly and are presumably relatives of men being sought. When the officer does not receive satisfactory answers, he motions with his head and soldiers rush in to punish one suspect. They then beat him with belts, fists and what appear to be small whips. He is also kicked all over the body by soldiers wearing heavy army boots. The suspect is heard screaming and imploring the soldiers to stop in the name of Allah, repeatedly saying he has told them all he knows. In the video the men administering the beating have to be restrained by the officer on at least two occasions. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and other groups have accused the army of such violations during the recent Swat campaign. The Pakistani army has consistently denied allegations of extrajudicial killings, calling them ""baseless."""
" WASHINGTON - A man wanted by the Honduran government for a bus massacre that killed 28 people, including six children, was arrested this month in Texas, the Homeland Security Department said Wednesday. Authorities described the man, Ever Anibal Rivera Paz, who also goes by the name Franklin Jairo Rivera Hernandez, as the reputed leader of the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, gang in Honduras. The Central American gang, which has members in this country, is considered violent, and U.S. officials are concerned that they might help sneak al-Qaida terrorists into the United States. Rivera Paz was arrested Feb. 10 by the Texas Department of Public Safety about 100 miles north of the Mexican border. He was turned over to the Border Patrol for processing. Authorities suspect he was involved in a bus massacre on Dec. 23 outside the northern city of San Pedro Sula, about 125 miles north of the Honduras capital, Tegucigalpa. The bus was filled with workers returning home and Christmas shoppers. The men cut off the bus and fired inside and outside it. There were 56 people on the bus, mostly women and children. The gunmen claimed in a message left on the bus' windshield that they were part of a previously unknown revolutionary group opposed to the death penalty. Executions were stopped in the 1950s."
" Ebert Anibal Rivera, the reputed leader of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, was stopped in Texas earlier this month. Honduras says it will seek his extradition if the US does not plan to charge him. Some 28 people were killed on 23 December when gunmen opened fire on the bus in the city of San Pedro Sula. Six of those killed were children. Mr Rivera, 29, is accused of masterminding the attack. He is believed to have fled to the US in late December. Honduras and the US have begun co-operating to try to stop the gang members crossing borders with impunity. Honduras said the gangsters meant the bus attack to be a warning to the government over its crackdown on raging gang violence, and to dissuade it from reinstituting the death penalty. Police have already arrested at least nine people in connection with the attack. The Mara Salvatrucha is one of a number of Los Angeles-style youth gangs that sprang up in the region after their members were deported from the US in the 1990s. The founders of the gangs were typically Central American youngsters whose families had fled to the US to escape civil war."
" Turnout in Dublin was reported to be higher than in other areas Voting has closed in the Republic of Ireland's second referendum on the EU's Lisbon Treaty - a vote that may decide long-delayed EU changes. They previously rejected the treaty in a June 2008 referendum, by a margin of almost 7%. This time opinion polls suggest the Yes camp will win. The Republic of Ireland is the only one of the EU's 27 member states to put the treaty to a referendum. Ireland's economy has been hit hard by recession since the last vote was held. Counting will begin on Saturday morning, with the result expected by the afternoon. Turnout in Dublin averaged 44% by 1800 GMT, officials said. That contrasted sharply with other parts of the country, where turnout was as low as 10% in several areas by midday. There has been no exit polling during the day by Ireland's major newspapers and broadcasters. However, informal exit polls in Dublin suggested the electorate was leaning towards ratifying the charter, Reuters reported. More decisions by majority vote, rather than unanimity Ratified by all member states except Czech Republic, Ireland and Poland Only Ireland is holding referendum on it Was intended to take effect in January 2009 ""Exit polls so far are definitely suggesting a shift towards a 'Yes' vote, particularly in working class and inner-city areas which came out in force for a 'No' vote last time,"" an official with the governing Fianna Fail party told the agency. The treaty, aimed at streamlining decision-making in the enlarged bloc, cannot take effect unless all the member states ratify it. Around three million Irish citizens were eligible to vote on Friday. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen urged voters to go to the polls: ""It is an important day for the country and an important referendum... I'd ask everybody, we all have rights as citizens, and one of the rights that should be cherished is our right to vote."" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. At the Redeemer Boys' School in Dundalk, County Louth, enthusiasm amongst voters appears to be muted, with barely 25% of the electorate voting by late afternoon, the BBC's Chris Mason reports. In Louth, 250 jobs have been lost recently at the Coca-Cola factory, with further redundancies at Xerox - in a region that voted strongly No last time. But being close to the UK border, there are strong Republican sympathies here. Some argue that having fought for Irish independence it would be reckless to hand more power to Brussels, our correspondent adds. Apart from Ireland, the only other countries yet to ratify Lisbon are the Czech Republic and Poland. Despite opposition calls for a referendum in the UK, the treaty has been ratified there by parliament. All of Ireland's major parties campaigned for a Yes vote except the nationalist Sinn Fein. The party believes rejecting the treaty would secure a more democratic EU. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Its leader Gerry Adams said: ""Citizens want a fairer Ireland, a fairer Europe, a democratic Ireland, a democratic Europe. ""If we want to have decency and accountability and if we want a social Europe then come out... and vote No."" The Yes camp also had some lavish donations from big business. The repeat referendum is about the same treaty text, but since last year EU leaders have given specific commitments on issues which made some Irish voters nervous last time. The country will not be forced to legalise abortion, to lose control over taxation and will not have its neutrality threatened. The chances of the treaty being rejected a second time appear pretty slim, says the BBC's Jonny Dymond, in Dublin. Ireland's economic situation is so grim, he adds, that many voters are unwilling to risk further turmoil with another No vote, and while many would dearly love to punish the hugely unpopular administration, most will hold off until the next election. However, opponents continue to maintain that Lisbon undermines national sovereignty and concentrates too much power in Brussels. Ratifying the treaty would bring in some major changes within the EU. It would expand the policy areas subject to qualified majority voting (QMV), rather than unanimity. It would also establish a new post of president of the European Council - the grouping of EU states' leaders - and a high representative for foreign affairs."
" The Obama administration announced Thursday that BP agreed to speed up claims payments stemming from the massive Gulf oil spill, the Associated Press reports. Fishermen, property owners and businesspeople who have filed damages claims with BP are complaining of delays, excessive paperwork and small payments. Tracy Wareing of the National Incident Command office said administration officials raised concerns during a meeting Wednesday with BP executives about the time the company has been taking to dole out payments, the story says. She said BP will change the way it processes claims to expedite payments. BP said in statement that the response to the Gulf oil spill remains its top priority as the company's shares dropped 7% Thursday in London because of concerns about the spill's cleanup costs, the New York Times reports. BP shares were 11.9% higher Thursday in New York trading after falling 15.8% Wednesday, according to the Times. In a federal filing Thursday, it said the cost of its response has grown to $1.43 billion. Kent Wells, BP's senior vice president of exploration and production, told the AP that the company is increasing its ability to capture oil gushing from the leaking well. He said a semi-submersible drilling rig was expected to be up and running early next week and would capture and burn about 420,000 gallons of oil daily."
" Alicia Keys, Shakira and the Black Eyed Peas helped rock Soweto's 40,000-seat Orlando stadium tonight for a concert celebrating Africa's first World Cup. Thousands of fans cheered in a frenzy of flag-waving, drumming and African-inspired dancing, reports AP. Other acts included veteran South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, new South African star, Lira, blind duo Amadou & Mariam of Mali and Colombian rocker's Juanes. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in full South African green-and-yellow fan regalia, led the crowd in cheers for Nelson Mandela, who is credited with sealing South Africa's bid to host the World Cup. Tutu also acknowledged the fans from around the world: ""We welcome you all. For Africa is the cradle of humanity, so we welcome you home."""
" HOUSTON (Reuters) - U.S. government scientists on Thursday doubled their estimate of the amount of oil gushing out of a ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well as British energy giant BP scrambled to stem the leak. The news that the flow rate may be as high 40,000 barrels (1.68 million gallons/6.36 million liters) per day came after U.S. markets closed. BP shares closed 6.65 percent down in London at 365.50 pence while in New York they rebounded from 14-year lows to end 12.3 percent higher at $32.78. On Thursday the White House said that President Barack Obama and senior administration officials would meet BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg next Wednesday. BP has come under increased pressure from the Obama administration in recent days and on Thursday British Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain stood ready to help the British company deal with the spill. Speaking during a visit to Afghanistan, Cameron said he would take up the matter Obama when they speak in the next few days. Neighboring Mexico also entered the fray on Thursday. It expects oil from BP Plc's damaged Gulf of Mexico well to reach its shores by December, and is considering how to sue the company for any environmental damage, Mexico's environment minister told Reuters. Environment Minister Juan Elvira said Mexico is trying to stock up on oil booms and netting, a tough task because the United States has used up most of the gear available to protect its coastline, to try to capture oil that will start drifting south when sea currents change in October. The spill, already the worst in U.S. history, may well be much bigger than many had thought. U.S. scientists said on Thursday that between 20,000 and 40,000 barrels (840,000 and 1.7 million gallons/3.2 million and 6.4 million liters) of oil flowed from the well before June 3, when BP's remotely operated robots sawed through an underwater pipe to clear the way for a capping procedure."
" President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said in a statement today that NATO member France would make a ""progressive"" withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan ""in a proportional manner and in a timeframe similar to the pullback of the American reinforcements."" The statement came after US President Barack Obama on Wednesday ordered all 33,000 US surge troops home from Afghanistan by next summer and declared the beginning of the end of the war, saying the withdrawal would begin this July. Before making his speech Obama had a telephone conversation Wednesday with Sarkozy ""to discuss with him our common commitment to Afghanistan,"" the Elysee Palace statement said. The French president ""stressed that France shared the American analysis and objectives and that it was happy with President Obama's decision."" Following his talk with Obama, Sarkozy ""confirmed that France will remain fully committed with its allies beside the Afghan people to achieve the process of transition,"" the statement said. ""Taking into account the progress achieved, it will carry out a progressive pullback of reinforcements sent to Afghanistan, in a proportional manner and in a timeframe similar to the pullback of the American reinforcements."" Four thousand French troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan."
" The chain-smoking Czech mayor, who describes himself as not so much a 20-a-day man as a ""20-an-hour man"", has a sign taped to his parlour door declaring it the sole ""smoking room"" in a otherwise cigarette-free town hall. Yet the considerable fug over his desk makes his point clearly: at the moment, it is Czech politicians like him who decide when and where people can light up in public; in a post-Lisbon Treaty future, it may be some unknown Eurocrat. Hence his decision last week, as part of a group of 17 Eurosceptic Czech politicians, to launch what may prove - in the light of Friday's Irish ""Yes"" vote - to be one of the treaty's final hurdles. The group, mainly from the right-wing Civic Democratic Party, have filed a challenge in the Czech constitutional court, complaining that the document violates national sovereignty by handing over too much power to Brussels. Nobody, not even Mr Kubera, thinks their complaint stands much chance of being upheld, especially given that a previous, similar suit failed. But they hope it might at least delay the final Czech go-ahead for the treaty - which only awaits president's signature - in the Czech Republic until next summer, by which time their friends in Britain's Tory Party may have won power, ushering in a David Cameron prime ministership. Mr Cameron has said that if the treaty is not yet fully ratified elsewhere - the Czech Republic is now the last country where it remains in question - he will order a referendum in Britain, a commitment he reiterated in a recent letter to the Czech president Vaclav Klaus, who himself opposes the treaty. ""We have launched this action because we really believe that the Lisbon Treaty is just a cosmetically reworked version of the rejected European constitution,"" said Mr Kubera, sticking the stub of a Davidoff cigarette into an overflowing glass ashtray and lighting up yet another. ""It is not that I am against the European Union itself - far from it. It is just that it you look at the historical experiences of big empires, they always end up collapsing, and the more you try to integrate Europe, the more likely it is to collapse."" Like many Czechs, big empires are something of which Mr Kubera, 62, had bad memories. As a young man, he fell foul of the authorities for his role in Prague's anti-Soviet protests in 1968. While he does not seek to compare post-Lisbon Europe with Warsaw Pact Europe, he says the treaty's centralising tendencies remind him of life in the Russian empire. ""According to the text of the Lisbon Treaty, qualified majority voting can be used for various 'aims of the European Union', which is a very wide-ranging, non-specific term,"" said Mr Kubera, who is mayor of Teplice, a smart spa town just outside Prague, and is also a senator in the Czech upper house. ""Unlike many other European countries, we Czechs lived through totalitarianism, and with the European Union currently dominated by socialist parties, I fear that the socialism that we kicked out the door back then will return to us in another way."""
" Space drama Gravity leads the way at this year's Baftas, scoring 11 nominations including best film and best British film. Its star Sandra Bullock is up for best actress, while Alfonso Cuaron is nominated for best director. Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave had 10 nods, with five in the main categories including best film, best director and best actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor. American Hustle equalled 12 Years a Slave's tally, with nominations in all the acting categories for its stars Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. The 1970s drama, about two con artists who get entangled with the FBI, is also up for best film, with David O Russell nominated for best director and original screenplay. Ejiofor, who was previously nominated for Bafta's Rising Star award in 2006, told the BBC working on 12 Years a Slave was ""one of the greatest experiences I've had as an actor"". ""To be received this way by Bafta is a really phenomenal moment,"" he added. Ejiofor will compete for his award against Bale, Tom Hanks for Captain Phillips, Bruce Dern for Nebraska and Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street. The best actress category will see Bullock challenge Adams, Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine, Emma Thompson for Saving Mr Banks and Dame Judi Dench for Philomena. The nominations saw Dame Judi set a Bafta record, with her 15th acting nomination."
" Sher Bahadur Deuba called for restraint in a nationwide address on state radio. An indefinite curfew has been imposed in Kathmandu after angry mobs attacked a mosque and offices. Police say one protester has died in the violence. Many in Nepal are blaming the government for not doing enough to secure the release of the hostages. In his address, Mr Deuba said no community should be targeted over the killings of the Nepalis. Opposition leaders have also appealed for calm, as has the king. The authorities say three others were wounded in clashes with police after they defied the curfew order. Reports say the situation in Kathmandu and surrounding districts remains tense. Correspondents say it is the first time in living memory that the Muslim minority has been targeted in Nepal. Nepal's government confirmed the deaths after images on a website showed one man being beheaded and 11 shot dead. The news was received with anger and grief in Nepal, with one official describing it as ""one of the worst days"" in his country's history."
" They said the aircraft fired at least one missile on a car in the al-Qatan region, completely destroying the vehicle and killing two people. The United States has stepped up drone strikes as part of a campaign against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, regarded by Washington as the most active wing of the militant network, posing a serious threat to Western interest. Yemen is among a handful of countries where the United States acknowledges using drones, although it does not comment on the practice. The Yemeni army, with U.S. backing, drove al Qaeda militants and their allies from some of their southern strongholds in 2012. But the jihadists have since regrouped and mounted attacks on government officials and installations."
" The number of American troops wounded in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 is approaching 7,000, according to figures published Tuesday by the Pentagon. The death toll for U.S. military personnel is 975, plus three Defense Department civilians. The wounded total has approximately doubled since mid-April, when casualties and deaths mounted rapidly as the insurgency intensified. The death toll over that period has grown by about 300. The Pentagon, which generally updates its casualty count each week, said the number of wounded stands at 6,916, up 226 from a week earlier. In the two months since the United States handed over political sovereignty to an interim Iraq government, the wounded total has grown by about 1,500. The vast majority of casualties have been Marines and Army soldiers, although the Pentagon announced on Tuesday the 13th member of the Air Force to die in Iraq. Airman 1st Class Carl L. Anderson Jr., 21, of Georgetown, S.C., was killed by a roadside bomb on Sunday near the northern city of Mosul. He was assigned to the 3rd Logistics Readiness Squadron based at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska."
" TOKYO (Reuters) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 struck off the coast of Iwate prefecture in northeast Japan Thursday, one of the areas devastated by the March 11 quake and tsunami, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. A warning of a tsunami of up to 50 cm (20 inches) was lifted about an hour after the quake, which occurred around 6:51 a.m. (2151 GMT Wednesday), but authorities warned residents to be wary of mudslides. Tokyo Electric Power Co, struggling to control radiation leaks at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant due to damage in the March disaster, said there was no impact from Thursday's quake on its efforts to bring the reactors under control. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said there were no reports of abnormalities at Tohoku Electric Power's Higashidori and Onagawa nuclear power plants in northeast Japan. Operations of these reactors have been halted since the March disaster. The focus of the tremor was 20 km (12 miles) below the seabed off Iwate and about 500 km (300 miles) northeast of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said."
" (CNN) -- U.S. nuclear regulators say two Nebraska nuclear power plants have protected critical equipment from the rising waters of the Missouri River even though flooding has reached the grounds of one of them. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is confident those safeguards will prevent a disaster at either plant even though the Missouri is expected to remain flooded for several weeks, NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said Thursday. The Fort Calhoun plant, about 20 miles north of Omaha, was shut down for refueling in April. Parts of the grounds are already under two feet of water as the swollen Missouri overflows its banks. But the Omaha Public Power District, which owns the plant, has built flood walls around the reactor, transformers and the plant's electrical switchyard, the NRC said. ""They've surrounded all the vital equipment with berms,"" Dricks said. An 8-foot-tall, water-filled berm, 16 feet wide at its base, surrounds the reactor containment structure and auxiliary buildings, the NRC says. The plant has brought in an additional emergency diesel generator, water pumps, sandbags and firefighting equipment as well, according to regulators. Dricks said the NRC has sent additional inspectors to Fort Calhoun, which declared an ""unusual event"" -- the lowest level of alert -- on June 6 due to rising water. Six inspectors are now monitoring conditions there around the clock, Dricks said. The Cooper Nuclear Station, about 80 miles south of Omaha, remains operating at full power. The plant issued an unusual event declaration on Sunday as water levels rose, but the current level is two feet below the plant's elevation, Dricks said. The NRC will dispatch additional inspectors to the plant ""if conditions warrant,"" Dricks said. Heavy rainfall in Montana and North Dakota, combined with melting snow from the Rocky Mountains, have sent the Missouri urging downstream this summer. The river washed over and punched through levees in nearby northwestern Missouri over the weekend, spurring authorities to urge about 250 nearby residents to leave their homes. The 6 to 12 inches of rainfall in the upper Missouri basin in the past few weeks is nearly a normal year's worth, and runoff from the mountain snowpack is 140% of normal, according to weather forecasters."
" Minot, North Dakota (CNN) -- Waters rushed into an overflowing lake near Minot, North Dakota, faster and in greater amounts than expected Thursday, officials said, exacerbating the region's flood concerns. But Minot Mayor Curt Zimbelman said Thursday that no new evacuations had been ordered, even though ""the flows coming into Lake Darling are reaching the lake quicker and at a greater volume than predicted."" ""Due to this, Lake Darling has increased its outflow,"" the mayor added -- increasing flooding in the flood-plain, though not to a point that it yet changes the ""inundation zone."" Evacuations stand at about 12,000, according to Minot Fire Department Capt. Dean Lenertz. The mayor of Minot and the state's governor congratulated citizens on an organized and efficient evacuation thus far, with Gov. Jack Dalrymple saying it had ""gone extremely well."" Sirens sounded in Minot early Wednesday afternoon, urging residents to abandon their homes in the face of major flooding. Water is already overtopping the city's dikes, which are leaking in some places. Populated areas are seeing a couple inches of water on the ground at this time, and there is significant concern about dikes eroding, Lenertz said. Dalrymple said that ""all agencies are engaged"" statewide in addressing the issue. He noted, for example, that workers with North Dakota's transportation department are moving 100,000 sandbags from Bismarck to the Minot area, and there are about 500 National Guard personnel on site. The National Weather Service predicted record flooding as heavy rains and dam releases cause the river to swell at Minot. The Souris River is expected to crest on Monday, two to three days earlier than had been forecast. Zimbelman said the river is expected to rise to a level five feet higher than any previously recorded. Minot got some support from a hometown hero who was halfway around the world."
" Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is in line to become Europe's first president within weeks if voters pass the EU reform treaty, the Times reports, quoting unnamed sources. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is supporting Blair and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has softened her opposition, according to the Times. Blair could be ushered into the European Union's top post at a summit on October 29 if the Lisbon Treaty passes. Ireland heads to the polls today in a referendum on the European Union's reforming treaty which sets out the new job. Opinion polls suggest Ireland will pass the treaty after rejecting it last year."
" 1 of 7. Children look out from a window of a partially submerged house in floodwaters brought on by Typhoon Ketsana, known locally as Ondoy, in San Pedro Laguna, south of Manila September 30, 2009. Typhoon Parma, the strongest typhoon to hit the country since 2006, made landfall in the northeastern tip of the remote Cagayan province. The weather bureau said the storm would be back over the sea by early on Sunday. The system brought rain across the main island of Luzon but not as heavy as feared, especially along the densely populated west coast where floods in and around Manila from Typhoon Ketsana seven days ago killed nearly 300 people. Officials had feared rain would spark fresh floods in Manila since reservoirs and dams around the capital are full and the sewage system is inundated with mud and rubbish brought by last week's deluge. ""Our relief work slowed down because we placed our troops on standby for possible rescue operations in case of floods,"" said Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres, spokesman of the national disaster agency. ""But the typhoon was hardly felt here."" A storm signal posted for the capital region overnight was lifted, but officials warned nearly half a million people living in shelters after their homes were flooded last week to stay put. ""There is still a risk of rain,"" President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on national television. ""We ask the evacuees to stay one more night in evacuation centers."" Authorities in Taiwan issued a warning to mariners as Parma was likely to enter its southern waters in the next few days. Fallen trees and floods cut off roads in Cagayan and neighboring Isabela province. Soldiers, on rubber boats and armed with chain saws, started to clear roads and rescue marooned communities, officials said."
" Thirty-four foreign jihadists have been singled out by rival Syrian rebels and killed, say UK-based activists. It happened over the past three days in Jabal al-Zawiya, north-western Idlib province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Meanwhile, activists in Aleppo city told the BBC militants from one of the same jihadi groups, ISIS, had summarily executed at least 50 captives. A regional battle is pitting ISIS against an alliance of rival rebels. A coalition of moderates and other Islamists fighting to depose President Bashar al-Assad is ranged against ISIS in several parts of northern Syria. The al-Qaeda-linked ISIS - Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - is accused by other rebel groups of undermining the struggle against the regime of President Assad, focusing on accumulating territory and imposing a rule of terror in the areas it controls. The fighting is continuing in Raqqa, a city under full rebel control and previously an ISIS stronghold. Separately, the Observatory says the death toll from a government air campaign launched in Aleppo province in mid-December now exceeds 600, including 225 children and women. On its Facebook page, it pledged to ""work tirelessly"" for the prosecution of those responsible for the massacres in the International Criminal Court. Most of the 34 reported dead in Jabal al-Zawiya were ISIS fighters, with the remainder from a smaller allied group called Jund al-Aqsa, the Observatory said."
" In a ruling commendable for its readability as well as its cogent reasoning, King County Superior Court Judge William Downing has presented the Washington Supreme Court with the sound legal foundation for allowing same-sex marriage. Downing's summary judgment yesterday found the state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage as ""a union between a man and a woman"" to be an unconstitutional denial of civil liberties. Much of the remarkably weak case presented by the defendants -- including the state, King County and Sen. Val Stevens -- rested on a link between civil marriage and the production of children. ""The legal question is not whether heterosexual marriage is good for the replenishment of the species. It is,"" Downing wrote. ""The precise question is whether barring committed same-sex couples from the benefits of the civil marriage laws somehow serves the interest of encouraging procreation. There is no logical way in which it does."" Neither Downing's nor the state high court's ultimate ruling will impinge on religious practices. The issue is civil marriages. Among citations in support of his decision, Downing notes the state constitution's provision that ""no law shall be passed granting any citizen [or] class of citizens ... privileges or immunities which upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens ... "" The high court would demonstrate similar wisdom -- and valor -- by quickly affirming Downing's ruling."
" At least four people were killed and 53 taken to hospitals on Friday following riots in Kyrgyzstan's second largest city of Osh in the south of the country, Kyrgyzstan's health ministry said. ""A total of 53 injured are currently in hospitals in the Osh region. Four died, seven are in serious condition,"" a health ministry spokeswoman Svetlana Baitikova said, adding that the death toll reports are currently being verified. Acting deputy health minister flew to the region to coordinate medical assistance to those injured. Late on Thursday, violence broke out in various districts of Osh reportedly following a mass brawl between various groups of young people. Groups of youths rampaged through the city, setting cars on fire and breaking shop windows. The cause of the riots is unknown as participants have not put forward any demands so far. The interim government imposed a curfew in the city and its area, and declared the state of emergency."
" Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (CNN) -- At least 45 people are dead and more than 632 have suffered various injuries in the latest violence in the city of Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz officials said Friday. Speaking from the capital, Bishkek, the nation's top health official, Dinara Sagynbayeva, said casualty numbers have been rising during the day and are not final. ""Roughly half of those killed and injured have bullet wounds and the other half have injuries apparently made by some hard objects such as clubs, metal rods and rocks,"" Sagynbayeva said. According to local media reports, clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek youth groups began late Thursday night in Osh, the country's second-largest city, and developed into mass riots. Rioters set fire to a number of businesses and government buildings, and there was looting and widespread vandalism, Kyrgyz officials said. The rioting lasted throughout the night and most of Friday morning, officials said. Law enforcement officials said order had been largely restored in Osh, but local journalists reported that sporadic gunfire could still be heard in the city and the situation was far from stable. Extra army and police units have been dispatched, a state of emergency has been declared and a 6 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew has been imposed in several districts of southern Kyrgyzstan until June 20, the government announced. In a written statement issued Friday, Roza Otunbayeva, the country's interim president, said interethnic tensions in the southern areas of the country have been brewing for several weeks."
" At least 26 people have been killed in clashes in Kyrgyzstan's second-largest city of Osh, officials say. More than 400 people were wounded in the fighting, which is reportedly between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbek groups. The cause of the clashes was not immediately clear. A state of emergency has been declared in the southern city. Osh is home to a large ethnic Uzbek community and was the power base of former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was overthrown in April. According to local reports, fighting broke out between rival gangs and developed into gun battles late on Thursday. Gangs of young men armed with metal bars and stones attacked shops and set cars alight. Firefighters tried to put out the flames, but angry youths reportedly threw stones at them. Local journalists say a group of young men attacked soldiers and took their weapons. Residents say the shooting continued into Friday morning. A number of buildings, including cafes, a local TV channel and a theatre, were also said to be on fire."
" NAIROBI, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Strong earthquakes hit southern African countries Malawi and Tanzania on Sunday, causing a number of casualties, according to reports monitored here. Several people died and hundreds of others were injured early in the day in northern Malawi, after being hit by a magnitude-6.0quake. The authorities have begun evacuating more than 200,000 people in the worst-hit Karonga area, while appealing to the international community to supply tents and other materials. In southwestern Tanzania, a tremor measuring 6.2 magnitude was reported 130 km away from the city of Mbeya. There have been no reports of injuries and damage."
" Tropical Storm Fiona formed in the central Atlantic Ocean today, and it is headed west-northwest. It could develop into the Atlantic's fourth hurricane of the season, joining Hurricane Alex, Hurricane Danielle and Hurricane Earl. See the storm's projected path via Stormpulse:"
" Japan is at ""risk of collapse"" under its huge debt mountain, the country's new prime minister has said. Naoto Kan, in his first major speech since taking over, said Japan needed a financial restructuring to avert a Greece-style crisis. ""Our country's outstanding public debt is huge... our public finances have become the worst of any developed country,"" he said. After years of borrowing, Japan's debt is twice its gross domestic product. Continue reading the main story Pessimists have long warned that rising debt and a falling population mean Japan is headed for a point of no return. For 20 years the government has been borrowing to spend, hoping to revive the stagnant economy, amassing the biggest debt-to-GDP ratio in the industrialised world. The Japanese themselves have been buying those bonds at low interest rates. But as Japan ages, the thinking goes, households will save less. The Government will have to look abroad to borrow, and the higher interest rates demanded could tip the world's second biggest economy into the abyss. Now the new Prime Minister Naoto Kan has stepped into the debate in his first policy speech to the Diet, warning Japan could face similar debt problems to Europe. But not everyone is convinced Japan, with its huge trade surplus, is doomed. And Mr Kan may simply be easing the way towards raising consumption tax and reneging on spending pledges made during last year's election. ""It is difficult to continue our fiscal policies by heavily relying on the issuance of government bonds,"" said Mr Kan, Japan's former finance minister. ""Like the confusion in the eurozone triggered by Greece, there is a risk of collapse if we leave the increase of the public debt untouched and then lose the trust of the bond markets,"" he said. Despite the prime minister's hair-raising words, markets did not bat an eyelid, with the Japanese yen, the Nikkei stock market index and Japanese government bonds unmoved. ""Fiscal austerity measures are long overdue,"" said Chris Scicluna, deputy head of economics at Daiwa Capital Markets in London. He forecasts that the government's budget deficit will be 8% of GDP this year, a number that Mr Kan has promised to reduce to zero by the end of the decade."
" Is Hurricane Earl affecting you? Share images and information with CNN iReport. Miami, Florida (CNN) -- With Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and soon the East Coast in its reach, Hurricane Earl prompted warnings for those areas from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Monday. While there are currently no hurricane watches or warnings for the U.S. mainland, FEMA urged residents to be prepared for severe weather as projections show the storm could affect states up and down the East Coast, the agency said. Earl strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane Monday, with sustained winds of up to 135 mph (215 kph). The hurricane was veering away from the U.S. Virgin Islands, but severe weather was expected there and in Puerto Rico. An iReport video submitted to CNN by Khareem Cabey of Bassaterre on St. Kitts, showed strong winds blowing strongly enough to make small palm trees in a backyard bend in unison like dancers, as sprays of water crashed into roofs of neighboring houses. The storm knocked fences over and filled yards with debris. ""Hurricane Earl should serve as a reminder to all of us of the importance of being prepared for hurricanes and other emergencies,"" FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said. The public can visit the website Ready.gov to learn how to prepare for a hurricane, he said. Steps to take include developing a family communications plan, putting together a kit with 72 hours of food and water and staying informed of risks in the area, FEMA said. As of 7 p.m. ET, Earl was about 95 miles (155 kilometers) from San Juan, Puerto Rico. The eye of the storm will move away from the Virgin Islands on Monday night and is expected to pass east of the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday night and Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center reported. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Fiona formed in the Atlantic Monday with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, the center said. Fiona was about 890 miles (1,435 kilometers) east of the Leeward Islands, the center said. Officials also advised that people in the northern Leeward Islands should monitor Fiona's progress, as a tropical storm watch may be issued for part of that area Monday night."
" A storm moving through the eastern Caribbean has strengthened to a category-four hurricane, causing power outages and dumping heavy rain. So far, Caribbean islands have been spared major damage from Hurricane Earl, and the storm has now passed by the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The hurricane is expected to gain more strength before heading towards the US. Forecasters say it is a major hurricane and could cause ""catastrophic"" damage if it hits land. The hurricane is generating sustained winds of 215km/h (135mph). It is currently north-east of Puerto Rico, and moving west-northwest at about 24km/h, the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) says. The storm skirted around Puerto Rico early on Tuesday, the US territory's governor said. ""We were quite fortunate because there was no direct hit in this case,"" Luis Fortuno told CNN. He said about 174,000 people lost power and 33,000 were left without water. The centre of the storm is now expected to pass to the east of the Turks and Caicos on Tuesday night."
" Shizuka Kamei, who was minister in charge of postal reform and financial services, quit his post yesterday in protest over Mr Kan's decision to delay a bill scaling back the proposed privatisation of Japan's postal service. Mr Kamei's exit came on the same day Mr Kan gave his first major speech as Prime Minister, in which he pledged to develop ""third way"" policies to fix Japan's economy without resorting to excessive infrastructure spending or free market ""fundamentalism"". He also promised to establish control over the bureaucracy, clean out internal corruption and adopt a more ""realistic"" foreign policy than his predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama. Mr Kan said his goal was to turn Japan into a country ""genuinely"" governed by the wider public, not just a handful of bureaucrats in Tokyo. Despite Mr Kamei's exit, Mr Kan has retained the support of the former minister's People's New Party, which is a coalition partner of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan. Mr Kamei, a critic of the privatisation who recently clashed heatedly on television with Mr Kan about the issue, accused the DPJ of double crossing him. ""Because a promise between the two parties was broken, I have decided to leave the cabinet to take the responsibility,"" Mr Kamei said. The privatisation of Japan's sprawling postal service, which also acts as an insurer and a bank and has the largest book of savings deposits in the world, was put in train by reformist Liberal Democratic Party prime minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2003. The DPJ did not support the plan at the outset, and after assuming power last year, the DPJ government under Mr Hatoyama drafted a bill with Mr Kamei to water down the privatisation proposal, despite opposition from Mr Kan. The bill would keep at least 30 per cent of Japan Post in government hands and increase the limit on government-guaranteed postal savings deposits from Y=10 million ($130,000) to Y=20m."
" Miners who have been trapped underground in Chile for more than three weeks have had their first telephone contact with loved ones. Families queued to use a special telephone cabin and were given one minute each to talk to the trapped men. Psychologists have urged family members making the calls to sound optimistic. The breakthrough came as Chile's mining minister insisted that the rescue shaft drilling - due to begin on Monday - was likely to take three to four months. On Sunday reports from engineers working on a ""plan B"" option has suggested this could be cut by as much as half if an existing route down was adapted. The telephone calls lent a new immediacy to communications with the miners. Until now only handwritten notes have been passed through the bore holes. Officials are looking at several plans to rescue the 33 men, who have been stuck below ground since 5 August. Workers are due on Monday to start drilling an escape shaft going about 700m (2,300ft) underground, which is likely to take 90 to 120 days to complete. Health Minister Jaime Manalich said the men's spirits had been ""strengthened"" by the phone calls from their families. He said that psychologists had asked family members making the calls ""to be optimistic and to try not to break down with emotion""."
" Malawi has launched an emergency appeal for food and tents for victims of a strong earthquake that left three dead and about 300 injured in the northern part of the country. ""We immediately need tents, blankets, plastic sheets, maize flour and other items so that families are not separated,"" Lilian Ng'oma, commissioner for the government's disaster management department, said in a statement on Monday. Up to 4,676 people have been displaced and 1,110 houses destroyed after a series of quakes over the last two weeks in the uranium-mining Karonga district. Sunday's quake registered at least 6.0 on the Richter scale, the largest since the tremors began two weeks ago, geologists said. ""We are asking well-wishers including donors, religious organisations, business people and individuals to come forward with assistance,"" Ng'oma said. ""We will appreciate any assistance rendered,"" she added. Ng'oma said her department was also looking for ""big tents to keep pupils in schools"" after scores of classroom blocks collapsed and others developed cracks. She said she hoped that President Bingu wa Mutharika, who visited the victims last week, would ""soon declare the area a disaster."" Malawi has recorded the quake at 6.2, while the US Geological Survey put it at 6.0. Gasten Macheka, commissioner for the district which borders Tanzania, said the three dead included a child crushed by falling bricks, and two adults."
" WASHINGTON: A US Army general in Iraq has added pregnancy to the list of reasons a soldier under his command could be court-martialled. The policy, outlined last month by Major-General Anthony Cucolo, would apply to female soldiers who become pregnant while deployed in combat zones and the male soldiers who impregnate them. Civilians reporting to General Cucolo also could face criminal prosecution under the guidelines. General Cucolo told the BBC: ''I've got a mission to do; I'm given a finite number of soldiers with which to do it and I need every one of them.'' An army spokesman, George Wright, said the service typically sends home from the battlefield soldiers who become pregnant. It is not an army-wide policy to punish them under the military's legal code, he said. However, division commanders, such as General Cucolo, have the authority to impose restrictions on personnel under their command, Mr Wright said. General Cucolo oversees forces in northern Iraq, an area that includes the cities of Kirkuk, Tikrit and Mosul. General Cucolo's order outlines about 20 barred activities. Most are aimed at keeping order and preventing criminal activity, such as selling a weapon or taking drugs. But others seem aimed at preventing soldiers from leaving their unit short-handed, including becoming pregnant or undergoing elective surgery that would prevent deployment. They are also prohibited from ''sexual contact of any kind'' with Iraqis or spending the night with a member of the opposite sex, unless married to them or expressly permitted to do so."
" Married soldiers in combat zones are expected to put love lives on hold A US Army general in northern Iraq has defended his decision to add pregnancy to the list of reasons a soldier under his command could face court martial. It is current army policy to send pregnant soldiers home, but Maj Gen Anthony Cucolo told the BBC he was losing people with critical skills. That was why the added deterrent of a possible court martial was needed, he said. The new policy applies both to female and male soldiers, even if married. The male sexual partners of female soldiers who get pregnant would also ""face the consequences"", he said. It is the first time the US Army has made pregnancy a punishable offence. I'm going to take every measure I can to keep them all strong, fit and with me   Gen Cucolo told the BBC it was a ""black and white"" issue for him. He said married soldiers in combat zones should either put their love lives on hold - or take precautions. ""I've got a mission to do, I'm given a finite number of soldiers with which to do it and I need every one of them."" ""So I'm going to take every measure I can to keep them all strong, fit and with me for the twelve months we are in the combat zone,"" he said."
" TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Taiwan has decided to cancel its participation in a top film festival in Shanghai, Taipei officials said Friday, citing fears that the island would be treated as a part of China. As a result, eight films have been pulled from the Shanghai International Film Festival, which opens Saturday, the officials said. The decision comes after organisers at the just-concluded Shanghai television festival handed awards to two Taiwan-produced films but described them as being from ""China, Taiwan,"" triggering a Taiwanese protest.    ""We feared the same thing would happen in the film festival,"" Hsieh Hsiao-yun, head of the Taipei city government's Department of Cultural Affairs, told AFP. Ties between Taiwan and China have improved markedly since President Ma Ying-jeou of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang came to power in 2008, pledging to boost trade links and allowing in more Chinese tourists. --AFP"
" The 2010 World Cup is under way in South Africa. The opening ceremony took place at the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg, after which the first match between the host nation and Mexico got under way, with Mexico coming from behind to hold the hosts to a 1-1 draw. Former South Africa President Nelson Mandela did not attend the opening match following the death of his great granddaughter in a car crash. Zenani Mandela, who had just turned 13, died when the car she was travelling in overturned on a motorway after leaving last night's World Cup concert in Soweto. The driver of the car, thought to be a relative, has been arrested. The 91-year-old former president heard the news this morning. The Nelson Mandela Foundation said earlier reports that Mr Mandela's former wife, Winnie, was in the car at the time were not true. South Africa's President Jacob Zuma last night said that Africa was showing it was capable of handling events of any size. While FIFA boss Sepp Blatter said football was not only a game, but a way of connecting people. A carnival atmosphere has already taken hold in the host country with fans from the 32 competing countries flying in from across the globe."
" The Nelson Mandela Foundation spokesman Sello Hatang has said the death of Zenani Mandela meant the former president would not be attending the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Johannesburg. Nelson Mandela's great-granddaughter was killed in a car crash after a concert on the eve of the World Cup. Miss Mandela, 13, died as her car overturned as it was taking her home from the concert in Soweto. No-one else was hurt."
" A suspected drunk-driver caused a car crash today that killed the 13-year-old great-granddaughter of Nelson Mandela, according to police. The man, who has not been named, also faces a culpable homicide charge but has been released to await a further hearing. The death of Zenani Mandela, who was on her way home from a pre-World Cup concert in Soweto, stunned South Africa on the day it was celebrating hosting the tournament. Mandela, who turns 92 next month, pulled out of an eagerly anticipated appearance at the opening ceremony to stay at home with family. Jacob Zuma, the South African president, passed on a message from him that said: ""The game must start. You must enjoy the game."" Zenani, , was one of the anti-apartheid icon's nine great-grandchildren. She died in a one-car accident and no one else was injured. Her mother, Zoleka Seakamela, was ""devastated"", said Vuyisile Mafalala, a family spokesperson. Mandela's ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was not in the car but was taken to hospital to be treated for shock. Johannesburg Metro police said the driver of the car had been arrested and charged with drunk-driving and culpable homicide. ""The Metro police found that he was drunk,"" spokeswoman Edna Mamonyane said. ""He lost control of the vehicle and it collided with a barricade."" In 1969, three years after arriving on Robben Island to serve a life sentence for sabotage, Mandela received a telegram informing him that his eldest son, Madiba Thembekile, had died in a car crash. Prison authorities refused to allow Mandela to attend the funeral. ""I do not have words to express the sorrow, or the loss I felt,"" Mandela wrote in his autobiography. ""It left a hole in my heart that can never be filled."""
" Reforms of Sudan's strict security laws do not go far enough and threaten to undermine the 2010 election, southern Sudanese politicians have said. President Omar al-Bashir's party passed the new law, which shortens the amount of time suspects can be held. But it keeps the right of intelligence agents to search and detain suspects. The southern SPLM party wants those powers given to police. They say the security forces will arrest anyone campaigning against Mr Bashir. Southern Sudan became a semi-autonomous region after two decades of north-south conflict ended in 2005. The former rebel SPLM (Sudan People's Liberation Movement) governs the south and shares power at national level with Mr Bashir's National Congress Party but the two are rivals for the elections. The SPLM's US ambassador Ezekiel Lol Gatkout says the security law allows human rights to be violated. ""Anybody who is going to campaign against Bashir and say things that seem to be threatening Bashir - they will detain you and then they will release you after the election is over,"" he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. He said the law would not be put into force in areas controlled by the government of southern Sudan. While the SPLM voted against the law, some MPs belonging to smaller parties walked out of parliament in protest."
" Lanseria Airport is shut down after a plane made an emergency landing on its main runway on Sunday - and movie star John Travolta is one of the most prominent pilots who might have their flight plans delayed. ""The airport is closed unfortunately... we have lots of aircraft still to land and take off,"" said Johan Opperman, marketing and public relations manager for Lanseria airport. ""Mr Travolta is to leave at 5.30pm."" Travolta, a qualified pilot and a spokesman for Australian airline Qantas, is in South Africa to support Australia's World Cup team. He flew into the country on his own Qantas-branded 707 aircraft at Lanseria Airport on Friday. Australia are playing against Germany in Durban on Sunday night. Opperman said the airport was ""trying desperately"" to have the wreckage of a SAA-registered Metroliner twin turboprop airplane removed from the main runway. On Sunday morning, a group of journalists escaped unharmed when the aircraft was forced to make a belly landing around 11am. The plane was damaged, but the passengers and crew were unharmed. ""An SAA Metroliner took off with 13 passengers and two crew on the way to Polokwane. After take-off they realised there were problems with the undercarriage. They decided to return to Lanseria."" Opperman said they got ""emergency technical advice"" on how best to do this. ""They flew around for about an hour to get rid of excess fuel and then completed a wheels-up landing."""
" Sparks flew from the belly of the plane as it came down at Lanseria airport, northwest of Johannesburg, after experiencing problems with its undercarriage, said operations manager Mark Christoph. ""After take-off, it realised that one of its undercarriage wheels was malfunctioning,"" Mr Christoph said. ""They spent about an hour in the air, circling the airport trying to resolve the problem, going through the normal procedures, and couldn't get it right. So they elected to land without wheels on to the runway."" The plane was heading for the northern city of Polokwane where Algeria was due to play Slovenia."
" JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A small plane carrying 16 Al Jazeera broadcast staff to a World Cup game had to make an emergency landing near Johannesburg on Sunday after the aircraft's landing gear jammed, a company executive said. The wheels failed to come down as the plane approached the northern city of Polokwane, where Algeria were playing Slovenia, and the pilot turned back to an airport in the Johannesburg area to make an emergency landing. ""No one was hurt but they were shocked,"" said Nasser G. Al Khelaifi, managing director of Al Jazeera Sport. ""They came back here because the facilities in the airport they left from are better. ""We had to cancel everything, but luckily our reporter left yesterday by car,"" he said, adding that the pilot had to keep the plane in the air for three hours to run down its fuel supplies before landing. A spokesman for Lanseria airport, which lies about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Johannesburg, said the plane landed at about 11 a.m. (0900 GMT). Lanseria International Airport is privately owned and used mainly by executive travellers and for chartered flights."
" (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of Uzbeks are fleeing ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan amid what one aid official described Sunday as a ""humanitarian catastrophe,"" according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. At least 114 people have been killed in the clashes and another 1,458 have been wounded, Kyrgyzstan's national news agency AKI press reported. Earlier Sunday, the government put the figures at nearly 100 people dead and more than 700 hospitalized since fighting broke out Thursday night. According to one report, the death toll is much higher. Officials in Osh, the city most affected by the violence, said at least 500 ethnic Uzbeks have been killed, according to Ferghana.Ru, an independent news agency. An estimated 80,000 refugees have fled across the Kyrgyz border into neighboring Uzbekistan, according to ICRC spokeswoman Anna Nelson. Are you there? Send videos, photos Nelson told CNN that ICRC representatives visited refugee camps Sunday in Uzbekistan, where 30,000 adults, mostly women, have registered. Each woman, Nelson said, has two or three children with her. Uzbek authorities are providing refugees with food and shelter, but camps are already inundated by the flood of people crossing the border, Nelson said. ICRC officials said they saw 250 injured people in the camps, including about 40 Uzbek men with gunshot wounds, according to Nelson. ""We do not yet fully understand the true scale of the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding in southern Kyrgyzstan,"" said Francois Blancy, deputy head of the ICRC regional office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, armed groups were fighting each other for control of the main hospital in the Kyrgyz city of Jalal-Abad, Russia Today reported, as the clashes continue in the strategically important central Asian country."
" Russia sent at least 150 paratroopers to Kyrgyzstan to protect its military facilities as ethnic clashes spread in the Central Asian state, bringing the death toll from days of fighting to 113. Ethnic Uzbeks in a besieged neighbourhood of Kyrgyzstan's second city Osh said gangs were carrying out ""genocide"", burning residents out of their homes and shooting them as they fled. Witnesses saw bodies lying on the streets. ""God help us! They are killing Uzbeks like animals. Almost the whole city is in flames,"" Dilmurad Ishanov, an ethnic Uzbek human rights worker, told Reuters by telephone from Osh. Rights activists said the authorities were failing to stop the violence, and occasionally joining in. ""Residents are calling us and saying soldiers are firing at them. There's an order to shoot the marauders, but they aren't shooting them,"" said ex-parliamentary deputy Alisher Sabirov, a peacekeeping volunteer in Osh. Takhir Maksitov of human rights group Citizens Against Corruption said: ""This is genocide."" Renewed turmoil in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, has fuelled concern in Russia, the United States and neighbour China. Washington uses an air base at Manas in the north of the country, about 300 km (190 miles) from Osh, to supply its forces in Afghanistan. Several units of paratroopers arrived on Sunday to protect servicemen and families at Russia's Kant airbase in the north of the country, a Kremlin spokesman said. A Defence Ministry spokesman said 150 armed paratroopers had been sent, while ITAR-TASS news agency, citing ministry sources, said at least 300 were dispatched. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he believed 15 Pakistani citizens were taken hostage and one killed in Osh. The Kyrgyz government said it was checking the reports. The interim government in Kyrgyzstan, which took power in April after a popular revolt toppled president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has appealed for Russian help to quell the riots in the south."
" (CNN) -- At least six people were killed Monday night after an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 struck southeastern Iran, state-run Press TV reports. Felt as far away as the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the temblor was particularly strong between the cities of Zahedan and Bam. It struck late at night and hardest in mostly rural, relatively sparsely populated areas of Kerman province, officials said. While six are confirmed dead so far, according to Press TV, provincial officials said that they expect the death toll to rise. Citing eyewitnesses, another state-run news agency IRNA reported that scores of people are trapped in debris of buildings that have been destroyed. Many such sites are in hard-to-reach locations, making any rescue operations even more difficult. Additionally, at least seven aftershocks struck in the four hours since the 6.5-magnitude quake hit at 10:12 p.m. Monday night, according to the Iranian Seismological Center, based at the University of Tehran, and the U.S. Geological Survey. Javad Kamali, a deputy governor for Kerman province, told the IRNA that the tremor knocked down phone lines throughout the region. Military and law enforcement workers could communicate only using wireless technology, he added. Relief and recovery teams, some from outside the area, have converged around the village of Hosseinabad, between the towns of Fahraj and Rigan, Kamali said. In addition, IRNA reported that Kerman province's disaster council convened an emergency meeting to assess possible damage and coordinate potential aid and assistance efforts. The tremor was centered in Kerman province about 16 kilometers (9 miles) southwest of Hosein Abab, 213 kilometers (132 miles) southwest of Zahedan and about 1,075 kilometers (668 miles) south of Tehran. Residents of Zahedan, Khash and Iranshahr in Sistan-Baluchestan province, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan, all felt the quake, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported. Kerman Gov. Esmail Najjar told IRNA that although the earthquake's reach was significant, it hit several small villages hardest. The high-impact zone's population -- which Najjar estimated at between 5,000 and 6,000 people -- was widely dispersed."
" The US Geological Survey (USGS) listed the quake's epicenter, about 133 miles (213km) from the city of Zahedan in the southeastern region of the country, at a shallow 7.7 miles (12.4km). The tremor struck shortly after 10pm local time, USGS said. Iran sits astride several major fault lines in the Earth's crust and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating. A quake that hit the southeastern city of Bam on Dec. 26, 2003 was estimated to have left more than 26,000 people dead."
" A Kassam rocket landed near a kindergarten in a kibbutz near Ashkelon on Tuesday morning, injuring a 14-year-old girl. Four more Israelis were treated for shock. The IAF struck seven terror targets early Tuesday morning following the firing of 10 mortar shells into Israeli territory on Monday. RELATED:  10 mortar shells fired at Eshkol regional council from Gaza  'Fatah asked Israel to attack Hamas before Gaza takeover' The 'Army of Islam' organization in Gaza claimed responsibility for the Kassam rocket attack. In their statement, the Army of Islam said the Kassam was in response to the three members of the organization that were killed during an Israeli attack last month. The IDF spokesperson's office said that the Air Force hit three terror tunnels in the northern Strip and a smuggling tunnel in southern Gaza. Palestinians claimed the IAF struck several targets in the Gaza strip late Monday or early Tuesday, AFP reported. Palestinians claimed that three raids targeted the towns of Khan Younis and Beit Lahiya, AFP reported. Two terrorists from the Izzadin Kassam Brigades were reportedly injured in the Khan Younis strike.Ten mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip into the Eshkol regional council Monday.No injuries were reported and no damage was caused as a result of these attacks."
" 1 of 36. A French high school student shouts slogans during a demonstration over pension reform in Paris October 21, 2010. With a final Senate vote on the bill drawing near, the country's six main unions signaled their determination to fight on even after the passage of the legislation, calling a seventh and eighth day of protests for October 28 and November 6. ""The government bears full and total responsibility for the further protests in light of its intransigent attitude, failure to listen and repeated provocations,"" the unions said in a joint statement, after a day of negotiations in Paris. Earlier on Thursday, President Nicolas Sarkozy's government said it would use a special measure to speed the reform bill's passage through the Senate with a final vote expected on Friday, to howls of foul-play from the opposition benches. Sarkozy, a conservative who is determined to face down unions and force through an increase in the retirement age, is battling 10-day-old refinery strikes and fuel depot blockades that have dried up nearly a quarter of France's fuel pumps. His popularity at an all-time low 18 months before a presidential election, Sarkozy is fighting deep public opposition to a reform he says is the only way to stem a ballooning pension shortfall as the population ages. ""The government remains intransigent. We need to continue with massive action as early as next week,"" Bernard Thibault, head of the powerful CGT union, told RMC radio. Union leaders will meet on Thursday evening to agree on fresh action. ""We will ask the unions for strong action that will allow people to stop work and go on to the streets,"" Thibault said. Sarkozy's handling of the protests is being closely watched by other European governments implementing austerity measures, as well as by markets who see it as a test of whether France can enact other measures to protect its coveted AAA credit rating. Public anger against austerity measures also flared in Greece, where some 2,000 students chanting ""We want jobs not unemployment"" marched through central Athens, while others wielding sticks clashed with police outside parliament."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A suicide bomber has killed at least three people outside a club for journalists in the north-west Pakistani city of Peshawar, police say. A policeman, a Peshawar Press Club worker and a woman passer-by were killed. At least 17 others were wounded, several of them journalists. Peshawar has borne the brunt of recent attacks, which have left scores dead. Pakistan has seen a surge in violence ever since the army began an offensive against the Taliban in Waziristan. ""It was a suicide attack. The bomber wanted to enter the building. The police official at the gate stopped him and he blew himself up,"" AFP news agency quoted senior police official Karim Khan as saying. ""The guard room outside the gate was badly damaged. Three motorcycles parked inside the compound and one bus on the other side of the road were damaged."" He said almost all the windows of the Peshawar Press Club had been shattered. Journalists in Pakistan have been targeted by militants on numerous occasions. Peshawar, near the Afghan border, has been attacked repeatedly since Pakistan sent its troops to fight the Taliban in the tribal region of South Waziristan. On 28 October, about 120 people died when a huge car bomb ripped through the city's busy Peepal Mandi market. Hundreds more people have been killed in attacks across the country since the army operation began in the autumn. Dera Ghazi Khan, 15 December: At least 27 killed in bomb attack on market Rawalpindi: Several recent attacks, including one at a mosque on 4 December in which 35 died Islamabad: Security tightened after series of attacks - 20 October bombing killed nine at International Islamic University"
" The Vatican has clarified recent comments by Pope Benedict XVI on condoms, saying he did not mean they could be used to avoid pregnancy. The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith said some analysts had misunderstood the remarks, made by the Pope in recently published interviews. He said condoms could reduce the risk of HIV infection in certain cases, such as for a male prostitute. The interviews were published in a book entitled Light of the World. The Church's hard-line stance over contraception has led to the Vatican being heavily criticised for its position on the global Aids crisis. Some commentators suggested the comments represented a softening of this stance. The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) is the Vatican's moral watchdog, which Cardinal Josef Ratzinger led before he was elected Pope in 2005. It stressed the Pope's logic was ""in full conformity with the moral theological tradition of the church"". In a statement, the CDF said that he had not been talking about sex between a married couple or using condoms as a form of contraception. ""The idea that anyone could deduce from the words of Benedict XVI that it is somehow legitimate, in certain situations, to use condoms to avoid an unwanted pregnancy is completely arbitrary and is in no way justified either by his words or in his thought,"" said the statement. It confirmed that the Pope's attitude towards homosexuality and artificial contraception had not shifted; other passages in the book reaffirm the Vatican's opposition to both, the CDF said."
" June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Wachovia Corp. fell to the lowest since July 1995 after the bank ousted Chief Executive Officer Kennedy Thompson, signaling the company may report a second-quarter loss. Analysts speculated that Wachovia, the nation's fourth-biggest bank, will be vulnerable to a takeover or other form of distress sale after a stock slide that has cost the lender more than half its market value in 12 months. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said today it isn't ``in crisis.'' The bank had already stripped Thompson, 57, of the chairman's role on May 6 after shareholders -- incensed by the biggest quarterly loss since 2000 -- demanded his removal at April's annual meeting. He joins a half dozen CEOs at financial companies including Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. who lost their jobs to the global credit crunch. ``We figure since he's leaving there'll be a big loss provision for the second quarter,'' David Hendler, senior analyst at CreditSights Inc., said in an interview. ``They need to present a different picture on the company, which is, `We're in the restructuring mode.''' JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., U.S. Bancorp and non-U.S. banks including Banco Santander SA may be looking at purchasing Wachovia, Hendler said. Wachovia's market value is about $50 billion. U.S. Bancorp spokesman Steve Dale and JPMorgan's Joseph Evangelisti said their companies wouldn't comment. Efforts to get responses from the other banks weren't immediately successful. The bank dropped 40 cents to $23.40 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, bringing this year's decline to 38 percent. Deutsche Bank AG analyst Mike Mayo said in a research note today that the CEO's departure may trigger a transaction that boosts the stock to more than $40 a share. Wachovia Chairman Lanty Smith, 65, was appointed interim CEO, Wachovia said today in a statement that cited ``a series of previously disclosed disappointments and setbacks'' for today's change. A four-member search committee headed by Smith will seek a replacement to deal with fallout from rising mortgage defaults and writedowns tied to subprime home loans. Ben Jenkins, vice chairman and president of Wachovia's largest subsidiary, its general banking unit, will become chief operating officer, reporting to Smith. No other senior Wachovia managers are leaving, the bank said. ``This company was run under Ken Thompson without very good controls,'' Gerard Cassidy, an RBC Capital Markets analyst, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. Chances are even that Wachovia will seek a new CEO from outside the bank because there isn't a clearly designated successor, Cassidy said. Washington Mutual Inc., the nation's biggest savings and loan, said today that Chief Executive Officer Kerry Killinger would relinquish his title as chairman at the Seattle-based company, which was forced to raise about $7 billion at discount prices from new investors. Unexpected losses have led to CEO departures at some of the largest financial firms, including Citigroup's Charles O. ``Chuck'' Prince and Merrill Lynch's Stan O'Neal."
" Israeli jets have carried out air strikes in the Gaza Strip, injuring at least two Palestinian militants, doctors say. It follows a strike on Saturday in which five militants were killed. This was the deadliest attack since Operation Cast Lead - Israel's major offensive in Gaza almost two years ago. BBC Gaza correspondent, Jon Donnison, says there has been a recent rise in tension along the Gaza-Israel border in recent weeks. Israel says its latest air strikes targeted tunnels, a Hamas training centre and a weapons factory in Gaza. The rockets fired by Palestinian militant groups into Israel rarely cause injury or damage, but they do cause widespread fear. They are not fired by Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls Gaza, but by smaller militant groups. Nevertheless Israel says Hamas is responsible because it controls the territory. The Israeli military says the air strikes were in retaliation for the firing of 13 rockets and mortars at Israel this week. Israel Radio says the rocket fired by Gaza militants on Tuesday landed near a nursery school. No serious injuries were reported. This week Israel announced it was upgrading its tank force along the Gaza border."
" Violence in Mogadishu has driven away thousands of people The UN Security Council has held its first discussions with Somalia's government and its opponents as a peace mission to Africa gets underway. Somalia's Islamist opposition said face-to-face talks will not happen at the meeting in neighbouring Djibouti unless Ethiopian troops leave Somalia. Talks began as the Security Council passed a resolution permitting foreign warships to enter Somali waters. The move is a bid to crack down on the piracy gripping the nation's seas. The diplomats are also due to go to Sudan and other countries at war. BBC World Affairs correspondent Mark Doyle, who is travelling with the mission, says there is less optimism about the situation in Sudan. I am willing to do whatever it takes to promote peace and stability in Somalia   The mass displacement of civilians in the country's troubled western province of Darfur is still unresolved, and the peace agreement between the north and south of the country is in the midst of new tensions. The mission will also visit the Democratic Republic of Congo, where millions of people have been displaced by fighting in the east of the country. The Security Council is holding separate meetings in Djibouti with the Somali government and the opposition at a luxury hotel on the shores of the Red Sea, although key hard-line militia opponents are not present. ""We believe that the people of Somalia are ready to move to another stage in your history and to move towards peace and security,"" said South Africa's UN ambassador Dumisani Kumalo at the start of the talks with the government delegation. Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991. Somalia's foreign minister told the BBC that he was ready to hold direct talks with the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS). But the talks are being boycotted by the hard-line al-Shabab militia, blamed for many of the attacks on government troops and their Ethiopian supporters. They refuse to hold talks until the Ethiopian troops leave the country. But President Abdullahi Yusuf says there would be a security vacuum if the Ethiopians withdrew before being replaced by UN peacekeepers. ""I am willing to do whatever it takes to promote peace and stability in Somalia,"" he said. A small contingent of African Union troops is in Mogadishu but has done little to quell the violence. In a sign of Somalia's instability, the plane taking President Yusuf to Djibouti was delayed by a mortar attack on the airport. The plane was not hit but there are unconfirmed reports of two minor injuries in the attack blamed on Islamist insurgents. Our correspondent says Somalia is the ultimate failed state - the capital Mogadishu is destroyed by war and an estimated half of the city's population has fled. The UN says almost two million Somalis are in desperate need of outside assistance. An Islamist insurgency there has been mounting almost daily attacks on the weak government which is backed by the United States because Washington believes the Islamists are associated with al-Qaeda. Some experts on this part of Africa say the strong US backing of one side, rather than emphasising the importance of talks between the factions, has exacerbated the situation. Nevertheless, UN diplomats believe that the recent appointment of a new prime minister in Somalia, Nur Adde, who has said he will negotiate with anybody, provides a rare window of opportunity for a peace initiative. The unanimous UN resolution to allow warships to enter Somali waters is a reaction to the 26 ships that have been attacked by pirates in the past year."
" The vote means nations will be able to send warships to tackle pirates The UN Security Council has unanimously voted to allow countries to send warships into Somalia's territorial waters to tackle pirates. The resolution permits countries that have the agreement of Somalia's interim government to use any means to repress acts of piracy for the next six months. Twenty-six ships have been attacked by pirates in the waters in the past year. The vote came as the UN launched separate peace talks with factions involved in Somalia's conflict. But the Islamist opposition said face-to-face talks would not happen at the meeting in neighbouring Djibouti until the government set a timetable for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops, who are supporting the government. Somalia's coastal waters are near shipping routes connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and the country's government is unable to police its own coastline. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Consequently, piracy is rife off Somalia's 1,800 mile-long coast, says the BBC UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan. The resolution was drafted by France, the US and Panama. Our correspondent says France originally wanted to expand the motion to allow piracy to be tackled in other areas, such as West Africa. China, Vietnam and Libya said they voted for the measure because it only applies to Somalia, and does not affect the sovereignty of other countries. But diplomats say the Security Council action is significant because it is using the force of international law to allow navies to chase pirates and armed robbers. On Monday, Security Council envoys met representatives of the Somali government and the opposition at a luxury hotel on the shores of the Red Sea. I am willing to do whatever it takes to promote peace and stability in Somalia   The talks, which are being held in Djibouti because Somalia is deemed too dangerous, are part of a UN plan to broker the first official direct talks between the Somali rivals. But Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, deputy head of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) said it would not agree to face-to-face talks until a timetable was in place for the Ethiopians to leave Somali territory. ""The Ethiopian presence is the main obstacle to [the] peace process, and the main obstacle to reach a lasting solution for Somalia,"" he said. The Ethiopians helped the government oust Islamists from Mogadishu in December 2006. But President Abdullahi Yusuf says there would be a security vacuum if the Ethiopians withdrew before being replaced by UN peacekeepers. Aid agencies say 6,000 civilians have died in the past year in Mogadishu ""I am willing to do whatever it takes to promote peace and stability in Somalia,"" he said. Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991. An Islamist insurgency there has been mounting almost daily attacks on the weak government, which is backed by the United States, because Washington believes the Islamists are associated with al-Qaeda. The UN says almost two million Somalis desperately need assistance. A small contingent of African Union troops is in Mogadishu but has done little to quell the violence. The talks are being boycotted by the hard-line al-Shabab militia, blamed for many of the attacks on government troops and their Ethiopian supporters. The UN mission is due to travel to South Sudan on Tuesday. It is also scheduled to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo, where millions of people have been displaced by fighting in the east of the country."
" The African Union has asked the United Nations Security Council to back a naval and air blockade of Somalia. A blockade would stop piracy and the flow of arms reaching insurgent groups fighting the transitional government, said Ramtane Lamamra, AU commissioner for peace and security. He also repeated a call for international troop numbers to be increased from under 8,000 to 20,000. The al-Shabab militia - which now controls much of southern and central Somalia, including parts of the capital, Mogadishu - is linked to al-Qaeda. However, the government, backed by AU troops, has recently gained some ground. ""The African Union is very concerned that the insecurity in Somalia is spilling over into the region,"" Mr Lamamra told the UN Security Council. He called on the council to authorise a force of up to 20,000 troops and nearly 2,000 police. Crucially, he urged the UN to make sure they had enough money and resources, says the BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN in New York. Fewer than 8,000 soldiers have been deployed so far and they are badly paid and equipped, she adds. The calls for both the blockade and extra troops were backed by Somalia's UN-backed government. ""At this point now it's an open no-man's land. Anything goes in and out,"" Somalia's ambassador to the UN Omar Jammal told the BBC's World Today programme."
" Security forces in Belarus have arrested hundreds of people who protested against the result of Sunday's presidential election. At least seven presidential candidates were among those detained. Some of them were reportedly also beaten by police. The OSCE called the poll ""flawed"" while the US and EU condemned the crackdown. But President Alexander Lukashenko, who was re-elected for a fourth term with almost 80% of the vote, accused opposition supporters of ""banditry"". ""The vandals and hooligans lost their human face. They simply turned into beasts,"" he told a news conference in Minsk. ""You saw how our law-enforcers behaved. They stood firm and acted exclusively within the bounds of the law. They defended the country and people from barbarism and ruin."" ""There will be no revolution or criminality in Belarus."" Several hundred people were detained when police dispersed at least 10,000 anti-Lukashenko demonstrators in the centre of the capital on Sunday night, officials said. The demonstrators tried to storm a government building, but were pushed back by riot police. Dozens of people in the crowd were injured in clashes after being beaten with batons, according to eyewitnesses. Mr Lukashenko also dismissed the criticism of the election, saying he could not imagine what else he could have done to make the elections more democratic."
" (CNN) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who preliminary results show has easily won election to a fourth term, praised police actions in dispersing post-election demonstrators and castigated the protesters as ""vandals and thugs."" ""What (protesters) tried to carry out in Minsk yesterday is not democracy, it is banditism,"" Lukashenko said in a news conference Monday, according to Belarusian Telegraph Agency, or BelTA, the country's state-run news agency. ""Vandals and thugs lost their human faces. They went utterly wild."" After the announcement that Lukashenko had prevailed with 79% of the vote Sunday, according to preliminary election results, opposition candidates and their supporters took to the streets in Minsk, the capital, and clashed with police. Lukashenko said Monday that 639 people were arrested Sunday and remain in custody, according to BelTA.Those detained include presidential candidate Vladimir Neklyaev, he said. The Russian news agency Interfax earlier reported that Neklyayev was hurt in clashes with riot police. Lukashenko told reporters that Neklyayev and Vitaly Rymashevsky, another candidate, were removed from a hospital and interrogated by authorities, Interfax said. He said he was told by Health Minister Vasily Zharko that Neklyayev's injuries were not serious, and that Rymashevsky ""rushed to take shelter in a hospital"" after being struck in the head. Another candidate, Nikolai Statkevich, told state-run Russian news agency RIA Novosti that he, too, was beaten. The country's Central Election Commission told BelTA that the voter turnout was 90% and that it had not received any complaints. However, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that while the election showed improvement, ""Belarus still has a considerable way to go in meeting its OSCE commitments."" However, Belarus' Interior Ministry, in a statement on its website, said the ""overwhelming majority"" of those arrested were ""drunk unemployed people and students of various schools and universities, some of them under age."" ""Actions like those wouldn't have been tolerated in any civilized country,"" Lukashenko told reporters Monday. ""Nobody in the West would have been soft toward those thugs. Water cannons, tear gas, mass arrests of hooligans -- and they'd be done away with in no time."" The president said most of those arrested were under the age of 21. He said the court will decide their fate."
" June 5 (Bloomberg) -- Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on Denmark's embassy in Pakistan three days ago, saying it was revenge for the publication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Muhammad, Reuters reported. Denmark was targeted as it didn't apologize for the publication of the caricatures, al-Qaeda said in an Internet statement yesterday signed by the group's leader in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, according to Reuters. The authenticity of the statement couldn't be verified, the news service said. The attack was ``revenge against the infidel government ... of Denmark which published degrading drawings of the prophet ... and refused to apologize,'' Reuters cited the statement as saying. At least six people were killed when a car bomb blew up outside the embassy in Islamabad. The bombing, the first at a diplomatic mission in Pakistan in more than two years, came six weeks after al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called on Muslims to ``cause damage to Denmark'' following the publication of the cartoons. To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net."
" BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Three people are dead and many more injured after a major storm struck southwestern Germany, officials said Tuesday. Two of those killed were women who drowned in their car after it was swept away by floodwaters, said Karl Wolf, a spokesman for the crisis management center in the Zollernalbkreis region in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. A third woman died when she became trapped in her flooded cellar. Heavy rainfall set in late Monday, Wolf said, and caused the Starzel River to rise 6.5 feet (2 meters) above regular water levels, he said. The region is about 35 miles south of Stuttgart. Authorities said they cannot yet estimate how much damage the storm caused, but several roads need to be cleared and some bridges were damaged. The police and fire department began clearing roads and pumping water out of cellars Tuesday. It could take days before the situation normalizes, Wolf said."
" Continuing their Commitment to Open the Space Frontier to the Public Arlington, Va. - December 17, 2003- On the centennial anniversary of flight,Space Adventures, Ltd. announced today that the company has secured two additional seats on the Soyuz TMA spacecraft to transport tourists to the International Space Station (ISS). The new agreement provides Space Adventures with the sole rights to transport the next four private space explorers between 2004 and 2007. Space Adventures is the only company that has successfully assisted private citizens in achieving their dreams of space flight. Through its long-standing partnership with the RussianAviation & Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos) and Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (RSC Energia),Space Adventures brokered the flights for the world's first private space explorers, American businessman Dennis Tito in 2001, and the first African in space, Mark Shuttleworth, in 2002. ""Rosaviakosmos, like Space Adventures, believe that opening the space frontier to private citizens is not only of benefit for our program, but also benefits mankind. It's the evolution of human exploration,"" says Sergey Gorbunov, Press Secretary for the Director General of Rosaviakosmos. All private space tourists will train in Star City, the cosmonaut training center outside of Moscow, familiarizing themselves with the Soyuz TMA spacecraft, experiencing weightlessness in a zero-gravity jet, and learning how to live and operate aboard the ISS. The missions are planned for liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and seats aboard the Soyuz TMA are available for $20 million (USD) each. ""Since our inception in 1998, Space Adventures has been committed to providing the opportunity for the public to experience the most unique travel destination - outer space. This latest contract furthers our commitment by establishing that the next four tourists flying to the ISS will be Space Adventures' clients,"" said Eric Anderson, CEO and President of Space Adventures. ""When I first entered the space program, I was one of a select few that trained to fly in space. At that time, I would not have imagined that space travel would now be accessible to the public. Space Adventures has opened the last frontier and I congratulate them,"" said Dr. Norm Thagard,mission specialist on STS-7 (1983), STS 51-B (1985), STS-30 (1989), payload commander on STS-42 (1992), first American astronaut to live on the Russian Mir Space Station (1995). In addition to orbital flights to the ISS, Space Adventures, the world's leading space tourism company, offers a wide range of programs, from Zero-Gravity and Edge of Space flights, cosmonaut training and space flight qualification programs, to reservations on future sub-orbital spacecraft. Headquartered in Arlington, Va., with an office in Moscow, Russia, Space Adventures is the only company to have successfully launched private individuals to the ISS. The company's advisory board comprises Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin; shuttle astronauts Kathy Thornton, Robert (Hoot) Gibson, Charles Walker, Norm Thagard, Sam Durrance and Byron Lichtenberg; and Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott. Rosaviakosmos was founded in 1992 to implement Russia's space research and exploration activities. RSC Energia, established in 1946, pioneered many areas of rocket and space technology. Today, it serves as the prime contractor for Russian crewed space stations, crewed spacecraft and related space systems. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook."
" Washington (CNN) -- The Obama administration has notified Congress of plans for a multiyear, multibillion-dollar weapons deal with Saudi Arabia. The sale is meant to further align the Saudi military relationship with the United States and allow the kingdom to better protect its security and oil structure, which ""is critical to our economic interests,"" said Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary for political and military affairs, at a State Department news conference. The deal, worth up to $60 billion over 20 years, will include the sale of 84 F-15 fighter aircraft and almost 200 helicopters, and the upgrading of 70 older-model F-15s. Congress has 30 days to raise any objections to the deal. The deal also includes trainers, simulators, generators, spare and repair parts, and other related elements of program support, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the Pentagon unit charged with executing the program and processing the transaction. Some of the prime contractors involved are Boeing, Lockheed Martin and General Electric, according to DSCA Public Affairs Officer Charles Taylor. Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee received a series of briefings on the proposed sale during a pre-notification process in which key issues were addressed. Committee Communications Director Frederick Jones told CNN that ""over the coming weeks, the committee looks forward to completing a thorough review of the proposed transaction, as it routinely does with all major arms sales."" A senior congressional staffer, who would not speak on the record because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue, said the ""sticky point"" in Congress will be whether the Israelis maintain their military edge. Shapiro said that an assessment of the impact on Israel's military advantage was conducted as part of the process."
" A Saudi air force jet flies in formation during a graduation ceremony for air force officers at King Faisal military college in Riyadh December 27, 2009. Andrew Shapiro, the assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, told a news conference the U.S. administration did not anticipate any objections to the sale from Israel, traditionally wary of arms sales to nearby Arab countries. ""We think it will enhance regional security and stability rather than diminish it,"" Shapiro told a news conference. The sale, which had been expected, includes 84 new Boeing F-15 aircraft and 70 upgrades of existing Saudi F-15s. It also includes 70 of Boeing's Apache attack helicopters and 36 of its AH-6M Little Birds. In addition, the deal will include 72 Black Hawk helicopters built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp.. Shapiro said the total value of the package would not exceed $60 billion, although he emphasized that Saudi Arabia may choose not to exercise all of its purchase options during the program, which will last from 15 to 20 years. Alexander Vershbow, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, said the United States had discussed the matter with Israel, and concluded that it would not undercut Israel's qualitative military edge in the region. ""We have consulted with Israel as this sale has taken shape ... based on what we've heard at high levels, Israel does not object to this sale,"" he said. Vershbow and Shapiro both stressed that bolstering Saudi Arabia's own defense capabilities would improve U.S. security in a vital part of the world where fears are growing over Iran's nuclear program. ""This is not solely about Iran,"" Shapiro said. ""It's about helping the Saudis with their legitimate security needs ... they live in a dangerous neighborhood and we are helping them preserve and protect their security."""
" NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The population of the United States grew 9.7% to 308.7 million people over the past decade -- the slowest rate of growth since the Great Depression -- the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday. In the 1930s, the population grew by just 7.3%. Comparatively, the nation added 13.2% more residents during the 1990s. (See CNN's special Census coverage.) This is the first time the Census Bureau has released data from the population surveys filled out earlier this year. And the counts include everyone -- not just citizens or legal immigrants. ""The mandate is to count everyone living in the United States,"" said a Census Bureau spokeswoman. The U.S. Constitution charges the Census Bureau with the task of counting residents every 10 years to track population shifts in the country. And the law requires the Census to report the official population counts -- both national and by state -- to the President before Jan. 1. The numbers are used to apportion Congressional seats. ""The Census forms the backbone for our political and economic systems for years to come,"" said U.S. Commerce Secretary, Gary Locke. The results were seen as a blow to Obama and a win for Republicans because most of the states losing electoral votes and seats in the House of Representatives, such as New York, Massachussetts and New Jersey, lean toward or are heavily Democratic while many of the ones gaining seats, such as Texas and Arizona, are Republican strongholds. The winners are concentrated in two of the nation's four regions: Both the West and the South experienced double-digit growth rates, 14.3% in the South, already the most heavily populated region, and 13.8% in the West. The Midwest rose 3.9% and the Northeast grew 3.2% Nevada was the fastest growing state over the decade, followed by Arizona and Utah. Michigan was the big loser, with Rhode Island, Ohio and Louisiana also lagging badly. The five biggest states are California, ranked first with more than 37 million residents, followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois. (Table of state population is at the bottom of this story.)"
" Maj Gen Hussein Kamal told reporters that Zarqawi was detained in the central Iraqi town of Falluja, but was released when nobody recognised him. Falluja was the scene of a massive US-led operation in November 2004. Zarqawi's group, al-Qaeda in Iraq, has claimed responsibility for many of the biggest attacks of the insurgency. Gen Kamal said Iraqi police had detained Zarqawi for about three or four hours before releasing him. ""Iraqi police forces, who were in Falluja then, did not have sophisticated equipment to take pictures of him or take his fingerprints,"" he told the Associated Press. But the deputy minister insisted Zarqawi would eventually be captured. ""He is human, he does not have the power of God,"" he said. ""He got away once, he will not get away the next time. He will be tried for the crimes he committed against the Iraqi people."" A British official has told the BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, that there is no credibility to the claim that Zarqawi was detained. Zarqawi is the most wanted suspect in Iraq and has a US bounty of $25m on his head."
" NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The United Auto Workers union launched a nationwide strike against General Motors on Monday as 73,000 UAW members walked off the job and hit the picket lines at the nation's largest automaker. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger blasted GM management, saying that the company had not been willing to meet the union part way in negotiations. ""This is nothing we wanted,"" he said about the strike. ""No one benefits in a strike. But there comes a point where someone can push you off a cliff. That's what happened here."" Company officials did not respond to Gettelfinger's comments, other than to say they were disappointed that the first national strike against the company in more than 37 years had been called, and that they hoped that an agreement to end the walkout could be reached soon. Talks between the two sides resumed Monday afternoon after the union's press conference and continued more than five hours through the afternoon and into the evening before recessing for the night just before 8 p.m. Monday. The same negotiators had been at the table in a marathon session that started early Sunday and went right up to the 11 a.m. ET start of the strike on Monday. GM spokesman Tom Wickham said talks are expected to resume Tuesday morning, although he did not have any detail on when, and would not comment on progress made in the latest negotiations. Gettelfinger said at the midday press conference that the union is ready to discuss the company's key bargaining goal of shifting an estimated $51 billion in healthcare expenses for retirees and their family members to union-controlled trust funds. But he said that other issues had derailed hopes of an agreement. The union president said he was looking for assurances from the company about the job security of UAW members. He said he wanted guarantees about how much GM would invest in U.S. plants and about how many new vehicles would be built in the United States. The UAW has seen its membership at GM plummet by 70 percent since 1994, as the automaker dumped its parts unit and closed plants to try to align its production more in line with its shrinking U.S. market share."
" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said debate over Tehran's nuclear programme was ""closed"" and the issue was now in the hands of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said a nuclear Iran could threaten the world. Other issues raised by world leaders included Darfur, climate change, protests in Burma and human rights. In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Ahmadinejad reiterated his assertions that all of his country's nuclear activities had been ""peaceful and transparent"". He denounced the ""arrogant"" and ""bullying"" permanent members of the UN's Security Council, which has imposed sanctions on Iran over its uranium enrichment programme. And he offered educational programmes to help other UN member states with their own nuclear work. Representatives of the US and Israel were absent for Mr Ahmadinejad's speech, in which he also repeated his verbal attacks on Israel as an ""illegal Zionist regime"". In his speech, Mr Sarkozy said that while Iran had the right to nuclear energy, allowing Tehran to develop nuclear weapons would mean an ""unacceptable risk"" for regional and world stability. There would be no world peace if the international community showed ""weakness in the face of the proliferation of nuclear weapons"", Mr Sarkozy said. But there were dissenting views, among them Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who asked how the US - the only country to have used nuclear weapons - could challenge the rights of Iran and North Korea to a peaceful nuclear programme."
" A man named as an Abu Rish Brigades leader died when his car blew up during the night near Khan Younis in the south, and three others were injured. Earlier, Israel said it shot dead a militant he tried to plant a bomb. Then at least three Palestinians were wounded when Israeli aircraft bombed roads and a bridge in the north. Israel said the sites were used by militants firing rockets into Israel. The victims, including at least two policemen, were injured when Israeli aircraft fired at least six missiles in the Beit Hanun and Beit Lahiya areas overnight, security sources told the AFP news agency. The man killed near Khan Younis on Saturday was identified as Khaled Abu Sitta, 25, whose group is linked to the Fatah movement of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Three other people were injured in the explosion, which appeared to centre on the boot of the car and not the engine, where Israeli missiles usually hit, the Associated Press reports. An angry crowd carried the dead man away from the smouldering wreckage of the car. The Israel army, which routinely acknowledges carrying out attacks, said it was not involved. Israel confirmed that it shot a suspect in the north of the strip on Saturday as he reportedly tried to lay mines."
" WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice launched a behind-the-scenes lobbying effort this week to persuade Congress to appropriate $50 million in funding for an African Union effort to halt genocidal killings in Sudan's Darfur region. But congressional aides said yesterday that Rice's attempt may have been a case of too little, too late. They said lawmakers have no plan to add extra funding for Darfur to a federal budget that is stretched thin by Hurricane Katrina reconstruction, the Iraq war, and planning for avian flu. ''It is at the eleventh hour,"" said John Scofield, spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee. ''At this point, we're about ready to turn out the lights"" on budget commitments this year. The apparent decision not to add new funds for helicopters and other support comes more than a year after the House of Representatives voted unanimously for a resolution that called the killings in Darfur ''genocide"" and urged the Bush administration to consider intervening in the conflict. An estimated 2 million people have been displaced and hundreds of thousands have died from malnutrition, disease, and violent attacks in Darfur since 2003, when Sudan's government brutally suppressed a revolt and allegedly worked with local militias to wipe out the villages of tribes associated with the rebels. The 7,000-strong African Union force is the only protection for survivors in Darfur, but the force lacks basic equipment and has found itself increasingly under attack. Yesterday, Scofield and two other congressional aides said the major obstacle to securing funding for the African Union troops was that Rice failed to make a formal request for the money through the Office of Management and Budget, as is custom. ''A letter from the secretary is nice, but in the budget world, it's not a formal request,"" Scofield said, adding that money for Darfur could be taken out of the $179 million that the administration had set aside for other peacekeeping missions in 2006. A State Department official said that additional funding is needed badly, and that two letters that Rice sent Thursday to the chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees should have been sufficient. He said lawmakers are looking for an excuse not to fund the mission. ''Congress can do this if it wants,"" said one State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ''Time is running out. Congress needs to act quickly."" In her letters, Rice asked lawmakers to set aside ''at least $50 million"" for Darfur in a bill they are attempting to hammer out this weekend."
" The French Senate has passed a controversial pension reform bill, which has caused a series of strikes and protests around France. The senators approved President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, and it could become law as early as next week. Mr Sarkozy says the measure is necessary to reduce the deficit. But hundreds of thousands have protested against what they see as an attack on their rights. Senators passed the motion to raise the retirement age by 177 votes to 153, after the government used a special measure known as a guillotine to cut short the debate on the bill. The changes would raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 and the full state pension age from 65 to 67. The government says the reform is needed to save the indebted pension system from collapse. Unions say retirement at 60 is a hard-earned right and say the reform is unfair to workers. ""It is not by hanging on symbols of the past that we will remain a great nation,"" labour minister Eric Woerth told the Senate shortly before the vote. Continue reading the main story President Sarkozy hopes the pension bill's passage through the Senate marks the beginning of the end of the crisis. What happens next is that first thing on Monday, a joint committee of Senate and National Assembly members will meet to agree on a common text. This final version will then be put to a simultaneous vote in both houses of parliament Tuesday or Wednesday. At that point, the law will have been definitively adopted - and the government's calculation is that much of the steam will immediately be taken out of the protests. After all, why demonstrate against something you can no longer change? But for the unions and the left, it is still not the end of the story. They say that until the law is actually promulgated - written into the statute books - they can still force it to be dropped. That process normally takes two or three more weeks. In the meantime - and starting on Thursday - they will be keeping up the pressure."
" 1 of 21. French gendarmes charge to unblock the entrance of the Grandpuits oil refinery southeast of Paris October 22, 2010 as striking workers continue to block after police took over the Total installation, the CGT union said on Friday, in an attempt to end a blockade by workers striking over a planned reform of the pensions system. Police were expected to bring in workers who are not on strike later in the day. Senators voted 177 in favor and 153 against the bill after the conservative government used a special measure to speed up the debate in the upper house, having had to send in police to break up long-running blockades of fuel depots. The law to make French people work two more years for their pensions has been one of the most fiercely contested reforms among austerity measures being taken across Europe. The Senate approval means it should pass quickly into law following signatures from a joint parliamentary council and a constitutional council on the final text. ""It is not by hanging on symbols of the past that we will remain a great nation,"" Eric Woerth, the labor minister in charge of pushing the reform, said in a speech to the Senate shortly before the vote. Earlier on Friday, police rushed picket lines near Paris to break up a blockade of the main oil refinery supplying the capital as unions hardened their stance with further strike action in key sectors of Europe's second-largest economy. Signaling their determination to keep fighting the bill after it becomes law, France's six main unions have called for two more days of protest action on October 28 and November 6. ""The protests are not stopping, we just have different views on how to proceed,"" Jean-Claude Mailly, head of the more radical Force Ouvriere union told RMC radio. ""We still think that demonstrating is not enough ... we have to ramp it up ... we need a strong day of public and private sector strikes."" Police in wielding riot shields cleared pickets and burning tires at dawn at Total's Grandpuits oil refinery southeast of Paris. Scuffles broke out at the plant and one person was carried away on a stretcher after being trampled. Analysts did not expect the strikes to have any lasting impact on sentiment toward French debt. France comfortably sold short-term paper on Thursday though it paid a premium from previous issues on what analysts said may be fleeting concerns over its ability to enforce austerity measures."
" Clashes have broken out outside a major oil refinery in France after riot police moved in to clear strikers who blockaded the terminal for 10 days. Two people were hurt outside the Grandpuits refinery east of Paris, one of 12 facilities affected by strikes. President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered the authorities to lift the blockade earlier this week after thousands of petrol stations across France ran dry. The Senate will vote later on the pension reform that sparked the action. Ministers said the bill would clear its last major hurdle in a matter of hours, after the Senate was asked to halt debate on hundreds of opposition amendments and hold a single vote on all of them. Changes to the retirement and pension age could become law next week, once they pass the committee stage and a final vote is held in both houses of parliament. Police also acted to remove protesters from two fuel depots, in an attempt to restore supplies at the start of the school half-term. Teargas was used to stop 200 demonstrators blocking access to a site near the southern city of Toulouse. At a depot in Grand Quevilly in north-west France, police removed protesters for the second time in a week. The demonstrators had been cleared on Tuesday but reimposed their blockade two days later. Continue reading the main story For several days, the French government has been working to break the resolve of the trade unions. Flying pickets have blocked access to all 12 of the country's oil refineries. The reopening of Grandpuits will ease the pressure on the capital for now. But, towards the end of a second week of rolling strikes, about 2,500 petrol stations are still out of fuel. The flying pickets, which roll between fuel depots, postal sorting offices, airports and schools, continue to bring chaos to all sectors of French society. The government believes it is the prolonged passage of the pension bill through parliament that is fuelling the protests. It has now moved to cut short the Senate debate. Today, there will be a single vote on hundreds of remaining amendments put forward by opposition senators. But the signs are that the passage of the bill is unlikely to end the demonstrations. The unions have already announced two further days of action, one for 6 November - an important signal that they will continue the protests even after the bill becomes law."
" Wikileaks has released almost 400,000 secret US military logs, which suggest US commanders ignored evidence of torture by the Iraqi authorities. The documents also suggest ""hundreds"" of civilians were killed at US military checkpoints after the invasion in 2003. And the files show the US kept records of civilian deaths, despite previously denying it. The death toll was put at 109,000, of whom 66,081 were civilians. The US criticised the largest leak of classified documents in its history. A US Department of Defense spokesman dismissed the documents published by the whistleblowing website as raw observations by tactical units, which were only snapshots of tragic, mundane events. On allegations of abuse, he said it was policy always to report ""potentially illegal abusive behaviour"" so action could be taken. At a news conference in London, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said that those snapshots of everyday events offered a glimpse at the ""human scale"" of the conflict. The deaths of one or two individuals made up the ""overwhelming number"" of people killed in Iraq, Mr Assange said. The new documents and new deaths contained within them showed the range and frequency of the ""small, relentless tragedies of this war"" added John Sloboda of Iraq Body Count, which worked with Wikileaks. Speaking to reporters in Washington on Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she condemned the disclosure and suggested the leaks put lives at risk."
" They say that the abductions took place in Wardak province. They were reported to have taken place after the Red Cross officials travelled to meet Taleban militants to discuss the release of a German national. Kidnappings have soared in Afghanistan where foreign and Afghan troops are battling the Taleban. The Red Cross office in Kabul has not yet commented on the reports. The BBC's Pam O'Toole says that the ICRC has now been working in Afghanistan for 20 years, a period spanning the end of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the Afghan civil war, Taleban rule and more recently the rise of the Taleban insurgency against the elected government of President Karzai. Our correspondent says that Afghanistan is one of the organisation's biggest operations worldwide with more than 1,000 Afghan and international staff. Recently the ICRC hit the headlines when it helped to negotiate the release of a group of more than 20 South Koreans kidnapped by the Taleban. But much of its work is carried out quietly behind the scenes, visiting detainees held as a result of the conflict by the Afghan authorities or international forces, helping families trace relatives with whom they have lost contact, or helping to provide medical or other aid to civilians affected by the violence. An unnamed official told the Associated Press that the ICRC staff had gone to Wardak province to discuss the release of a German man kidnapped in July. On Monday, two Italian soldiers who were believed kidnapped last week were freed in a military operation."
" 1 of 8. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz (2nd R) and the president of the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Chaudhry Shujjat Hussain (R) shake hands with chief election commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq (L) after filing the nomination papers on behalf of President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad 27, 2007. Musharraf registered on Thursday to run in an October 6 presidential election as the Supreme Court prepared to rule on whether his bid for power is legal. A bench of nine judges is due to deliver a ruling on Friday that could have far reaching consequences for Pakistan's transition to greater democracy, eight years after General Musharraf took power in a coup. Pakistan faces months of uncertainty as Musharraf tries to keep control of a nuclear-armed country whose support for the United States is seen as crucial to the success of Western efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and battle al Qaeda. If the court blocks Musharraf's re-election, analysts say he might impose emergency rule or dissolve parliament and seek a mandate as a civilian from assemblies after a general election. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and ruling party leaders were upbeat as they delivered Musharraf's papers to the Election Commission, across an avenue from the Supreme Court. ""President Pervez Musharraf is the candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and its allies, and we are fully confident that he will succeed,"" Aziz told reporters. Security was tight in Islamabad, with riot police standing by and checkpoints on roads into the capital. Police guarded the Supreme Court and its compound. The court is hearing petitions challenging Musharraf's right to hold the posts of president and army chief, the legality of being elected in uniform, and whether he can get a mandate from outgoing assemblies before general elections due by mid-January. ""This will not be a proper and honest transition to democracy,"" Aitzaz Ahsan, a prominent opposition lawyer, told the court before it adjourned for the day."
" Envoys from the six countries involved in the talks will discuss exactly when and how Pyongyang will disclose and dismantle all its nuclear facilities. North Korea tested a nuclear device last year, but then agreed to end its nuclear programme in return for aid. It has already shut down its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. The six-party talks involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. At talks in Geneva earlier this month, North Korea agreed to disclose and dismantle its nuclear facilities by the end of the year, US officials said. Chun Yung-woo, South Korea's chief delegate, said he anticipated tough negotiations on the details. ""Because the disablement and declaration phase is a road no one has ever walked on, setting a guideline and a milestone is going to be... difficult and important,"" he said. Ahead of the talks, US chief negotiator Christopher Hill met his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan. Mr Hill said that the two sides appeared ""very much on the same wave-length"", but that more detailed talks were necessary. Mr Kim, meanwhile, said that all sides would try ""to produce the outcome and create some rapport in this six-party talks, not to discourage everyone""."
" GAZA, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Maysara al-Helou, a 30-year-old Palestinian, surprised the Gazan residents when he drove a small semi-train with joyful colors on narrow streets of the city. The small attractive Gaza tourist train, which looks like a small children train in Disneyland with an engine and wheels while driving not on a railway, is similar to a semi-train made by an Austrian company called STS Fun Train -- a jeep with four-wheel drive that pulls two locomotives. ""It took me six months to make this small train,"" said al-Helou, adding that his idea ""cheers Gaza children up and delights them after a tight blockade and a destructive Israeli war was imposed on the Gaza Strip."" The train works mainly at nights during the fasting month of Ramadan. It drives around the costal city of Gaza, passing through the main streets and picking up passengers, most of whom are children and teens, who take pictures of the train with their mobile phones. ""It is not a very fast train. The driver usually drives carefully while children are sitting in the two locomotives,"" said al-Helou, adding ""the ticket is not so expensive and the children can ride on the train just for joy and fun."" The residents of Gaza expressed happiness at this kind of train, which is called in other Arab countries, mainly in Egypt ""Taf Taf, "" which has sirens like the ancient trains do. Gaza Strip residents miss the modern means of transportation, mainly the trains, trams and the underground trains. The last train passed through the Gaza railway station five decades ago, after the 1967 war. Nowadays, trains that operate between Gaza Strip and Cairo have completely stopped. Israel has been imposing a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip after Gaza militants kidnapped an Israeli soldier in a cross- border raid in 2006. However, Israel tightened the blockade after the Islamic Hamas movement seized control of the costal enclave in June 2007. ""In fact I had faced some difficulties in making my fun train, mainly in getting the spare parts needed to build up the jeep and the two locomotives of the train due to the siege that is imposed on the Gaza Strip,"" al-Helou told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. The train whose highest speed can reach 30 km per hour has cost 50,000 U.S. dollars, said al-Helou, adding that the train was designed in accordance with the Gaza streets in order not to violate the traffic laws. The train is painted with colors of a rainbow which is a great attraction to the children, and it also has a stereo attached."
" Sept 28 (Reuters) - Here are the latest developments in the pro-democracy protests in Myanmar on Friday:  HEADLINES  * Crowds taunt soldiers and police in Yangon.  * Soldiers charge several hundred chanting protesters in central Yangon, sending people scurrying for cover down side alleys; several shots fired; few monks among crowds.  * U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown discuss need to keep up international pressure on Myanmar's rulers.  * Japan says will send envoy to investigate killing of Japanese video journalist.  * UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari is on way to Myanmar after junta consented to his visit. Singaporean Foreign Minister says he believes Myanmar government will be restrained while Gambari in country.  * Britain's Brown says death toll in Myanmar may be far higher than reported by authorities  QUOTES  ""May the people who beat monks be struck down by lightning."" - protesters chant in Yangon"
" YANGON (Reuters) - Nine protesters were killed and 11 wounded on Thursday in a crackdown in Yangon on the biggest anti-junta demonstrations in nearly 20 years, Myanmar's state television said. The evening news broadcast said 31 security personnel had also been hurt in incidents in which it said protesters had tried to seize their weapons."
" (Lincoln, Neb.) Gov. Dave Heineman has declared a state of emergency in response to severe weather that unleashed several confirmed tornados this evening in the central Nebraska area of Kearney and Aurora. The Governor is expected to travel to the area tomorrow to survey storm damage. ""Our state Emergency Operations Center has been activated and initial reports indicate some severe damage as a result of this evening's storms,"" Gov. Heineman said. ""We won't know the full extent of the damage until tomorrow, however it appears that Kearney was hardest hit and that is where our assistance will be focused overnight. A secondary operations center is being established in the area to coordinate with local emergency management and first responders."" An emergency declaration allows access to state and federal resources. The Nebraska National Guard is on standby and is prepared to respond as necessary. The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) will continue to monitor additional storm activity throughout the night. Early reports indicate that there are several dozen homes damaged in and around Kearney, and several more that sustained damage in the Aurora area. State officials have been in contact with federal emergency managers and will be working with local officials to survey damage."
" Many Nepalese are looking forward to becoming the world's newest republic Nepal is due to become a republic and end 240 years of royal rule. A newly-elected assembly is meeting in Kathmandu to discuss abolishing the monarchy. Voting is under way, after being delayed for several hours. Ahead of the meeting, at least three small bombs went off in the capital - one on Tuesday and two on Wednesday - injuring at least three people. Meanwhile thousands gathered on the streets of the capital and near the assembly in support of ""republic day"". This is the people's victory - with today's declaration of a republic we have achieved what we fought for   ""Let's celebrate the dawn of a republic in a grand manner,"" a voice blared from one loudspeaker, Reuters news agency says. ""This is the people's victory,"" former Maoist Kamal Dahal, 22, told Reuters news agency. Some 1,500 police, some with body armour and shields, ringed the conference centre where the assembly was meeting. It has also been enclosed by a ring of razor wire. Nepal stands on the brink of huge change, says the BBC's Charles Haviland in the capital Kathmandu. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The Maoists, who emerged as the largest party in last month's elections, are committed to removing the monarchy. They entered the political arena after signing a peace deal in 2006 ending a decade-long insurgency. The assembly is huge and Tuesday's ceremony, performed by an older member of the newly-elected body, saw 575 men and women being sworn in. Monarchs seen as incarnations of the Hindu God Vishnu King Birendra killed in 2001 palace massacre by Crown Prince Dipendra, after which Birendra's brother Gyanendra becomes king Oct 2002: King Gyanendra dismisses elected government, then a year later declares state of emergency Many wore traditional clothing and used their mother tongues for the occasion in this ethnically mixed country. The assembly has been given the initial task of rubber-stamping the abolition of the monarchy. But the vote was delayed while the Maoists and the other main parties settled differences about distribution of power between the president and the prime minister in an interim period. The assembly then has two years to come up with permanent arrangements for a new constitution. Reports said King Gyanendra and Queen Komal were seen driving out of the royal palace on Tuesday afternoon, but it was not clear where they were going or for how long they would be gone. Nepal's progress towards becoming the world's newest republic has been marred by bombs being planted in the capital for three days running this week. One person was injured when a bomb exploded at an open-air theatre in Kathmandu on Wednesday evening. Another went off outside the assembly venue but no-one was hurt. HAVE YOUR SAY I don't know what is going to happen but I don't see a smooth road On Tuesday, two explosive devices were left in a city centre park, but police said only one exploded, slightly injuring two people. As before, pamphlets were found in the name of a little-known hardline Hindu group. Some militant pro-Hindu and pro-royal factions are campaigning violently against Nepal's shedding of its royal - and its officially Hindu - status."
" 1 of 3. An oil-covered brown pelican sits in a pool of oil along Queen Bess Island Pelican Rookery, 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Grand Isle, in this Louisiana June 5, 2010 file photo. The lawsuit seeks damages from the well owners BP, Anadarko Petroleum Corp and Mitsui & Co Ltd unit MOEX, and well driller Transocean Ltd and its insurer QBE Underwriting/Lloyd's Syndicate 1036, part of Lloyds of London, for their roles in the Gulf of Mexico disaster. ""While today's civil action marks a critical step forward, it is not a final step,"" U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters at a news conference. ""Both our criminal and civil investigations are continuing, and our work to ensure that the American taxpayers are not forced to bear the costs of restoring the Gulf area -- and its economy -- goes on,"" he said. The suit, the first by the U.S. government after the April 20 explosion aboard the drilling rig in which 11 workers died, was filed in a New Orleans federal court which is considering private lawsuits against BP and the others for the spill. BP, which returned to profitability in the third quarter of 2010, has begun selling assets and amassing a massive warchest to pay for damages caused by the oil spill, which the oil concern has estimated could reach as much as $40 billion. The oil company said on Wednesday it was weighing the sale of its Canadian natural-gas liquids business. In response to the lawsuit, BP said it is ""solely a statement of the government's allegations and does not in any manner constitute any finding of liability or any judicial finding that the allegations have merit."" ""BP will answer the government's allegations in a timely manner and will continue to cooperate with all government investigations and inquiries,"" the company said. Legal experts have said they expect the two sides to settle eventually but it could take years. In comparison, Exxon XOM.N> settled government claims over the spill by its Valdez tanker in Alaska in 1991, two years after the oil hit the coast."
" Fourteen civilians were killed and four others injured when a minibus struck a roadside bomb while traveling to Herat, Afghanistan, an official said. Shafiq Behrazian, spokesman for the governor of Herat Province, said the minibus was traveling from Koshk-e-Kohna district to the main part of the city of Herat when it hit a bomb that had been planted on the road. All the dead belonged to a family heading to an engagement celebration, Behrazian added."
" Last year, Mr Yeddyurappa was chief minister for exactly a week The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has won assembly elections in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. The party is three seats short of an overall majority, but well ahead of the Congress, which leads the national coalition government. The victory is significant as for the first time, the party will be heading a government of its own in the south. Karnataka is politically important and its capital, Bangalore, is the hub of India's booming IT industry. Voting was held in three phases on 10, 16 and 22 May. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed a government in November last year, led by chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, together with its coalition ally Janata Dal (Secular) party. The government collapsed a week later after the alliance partner decided to oppose Mr Yeddyurappa in a confidence vote. After results were announced, Mr Yeddyurappa said that as the largest single party, the BJP should be allowed to lead a government and would be supported by other groups. ""We are confident of [forming] the government, there is no doubt about it,"" he said. Senior BJP leader, Arun Jaitley, speaking in Delhi, expressed satisfaction over the results, which he said were expected. Voting was held in three phases earlier this month ""The meeting of the newly elected (party legislators) would be held on Monday in Bangalore, where Mr Yeddyurappa will be formally elected as the leader of the BJP's legislators party,"" he said. The last assembly elections were held in Karnataka in 2004. No party gained a majority in the 224-member state assembly. The BJP was the largest party with 79 seats, but Congress with its 64 members aligned with 58 Janata Dal (S) members to form the government. The government lasted for 20 months before the two split. In February 2006, the Janata Dal (S) and BJP formed a coalition government. The two parties agreed that each would have the chief minister's post for 20 months. The state assembly was suspended on October 2007 and federal rule imposed after the Janata Dal (S) refused to give up the chief minister's chair in favour of the BJP candidate. A month later the two parties formed a government with BJP heading the coalition. A week later the coalition fell apart with the two parties failing to come to an agreement over power sharing and fresh elections were called."
" WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said Monday he would appoint a presidential commission to review U.S. intelligence on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Responding to political pressure, Bush told reporters at a Cabinet meeting he wanted to look at prewar intelligence and the findings of the Iraq Survey Group -- the U.S. team hunting for weapons programs in the country. ""We also want to look at our war against proliferation and weapons of mass destruction in a broader context,"" Bush said. ""So I'm putting together an independent, bipartisan commission to analyze where we stand, what we can do better as we fight this war against terror."" Britain, a strong U.S. ally in the war on Iraq, will conduct its own probe into the apparently flawed intelligence on Iraqi WMD, European news agencies reported Monday. Under mounting pressure, Prime Minister Tony Blair formally announced the inquiry to a parliamentary committee Tuesday. (Full story) A senior Bush administration official said Monday that the president will name the members of the commission. The official said the president had consulted some ""appropriate"" members of Congress about the appointments. The panel also will be charged with exploring the quality of intelligence gathering relating to the challenges of weapons proliferation and ""outlaw regimes"" that preside over closed societies, administration sources said. ""[The president] wants it to be more broad than Iraq,"" an official said. ""The president's view is there are a number of challenges for our intelligence community on the issues of weapons of mass destruction, and we need to look at the broader issue of closed societies and outlaw regimes and our capabilities to gather necessary intelligence."" Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, questioned the president's description of the commission. ""I think that it is important for us to have an independent commission, as I've said now on several occasions, but it truly should be independent,"" Daschle said."
" The coffin of Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, a Sunni Arab tribal leader, who was killed by a roadside bomb attack on Thursday, is placed on the back of a truck during a funeral in Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, on September 14, 2007. Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was killed in a bomb attack on Thursday near his home in Ramadi, provincial capital of what was once one of Iraq's most dangerous areas. ""All the tribes agreed to fight al Qaeda until the last child in Anbar,"" his brother, Ahmed Abu Risha, told Reuters. An al Qaeda-led group said on Friday it was responsible for the killing of Abu Risha, according to an Internet posting. The self-styled Islamic State in Iraq called the killing of Abu Risha a ""heroic operation"" and vowed to assassinate more tribal leaders who cooperate with U.S. and government forces. Its statement could not be authenticated, but it was posted on a main Islamist Web site. ""This ... is a new setback for the crusaders' plans and Bush's new strategy,"" the Islamic State in Iraq said, adding the operation took more than a month to prepare. Abu Risha, who met U.S. President George W. Bush less than two weeks ago, led the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of Sunni Arab tribes that worked with U.S. troops to push Sunni Islamist al Qaeda out of much of the vast desert area. Ahmed Abu Risha was named as the council's new head hours after the death of his charismatic, chain-smoking brother, who wore flowing white and gold robes as he shook hands with Bush. ""The killing of Sheikh Abu Risha will give us more energy ... to continue confronting al Qaeda members and to dispose of them,"" said Sheikh Rashid Majid, a leader of the al-Bufahad tribe in Ramadi. ""But his murder will make us more cautious, because the reason for the killing of Abu Risha was careless security. We are 90 percent sure that al Qaeda is behind the assassination."""
" A suicide bomber who killed seven CIA agents at a meeting at a remote base in eastern Afghanistan in January had not been properly vetted, the CIA has said. Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a Jordanian al-Qaeda sympathiser, blew himself up after promising to give crucial intelligence on top US targets. In a letter to employees, CIA director Leon Panetta cited a range of failures that gave him proximity to the agents. These included a CIA officer failing to pass on warnings about the bomber. The attack was the worst against US intelligence officials since 1983. Mr Panetta said a classified internal inquiry into the incident had found al-Balawi had already provided intelligence that had been independently corroborated, and CIA officers believed he had more to offer. ""He had confirmed access within extremist circles, making a covert relationship with him - if he was acting in good faith - potentially very productive,"" Mr Panetta wrote. ""But he had not rejected his terrorist roots."" Mr Panetta said the internal report identified shortcomings across several different parts of the US spy agency. He said warnings about the double agent were not shared, and that security measures at Forward Operating Base Chapman were insufficient. The BBC's Steve Kingstone, in Washington, says one of the most disturbing findings is that the CIA was warned by Jordanian intelligence that its prized informant might, in fact, be a double-agent working for al-Qaeda. That was almost a month before the suicide bombing, but the CIA officer in Jordan failed to pass the warning on."
" A military helicopter crashed while evacuating injured survivors of China's earthquake, underlining the lingering risks of a disaster that has left more than 68,000 dead. The chopper crashed on Saturday (local time) amid fog and strong turbulence as its crew of four was evacuating 10 injured residents from quake-hit areas in south-west China's Sichuan province, state-run Xinhua news agency said. No information on casualties was immediately available. The crash highlights the ongoing challenges as China seeks to respond to a tragedy that has also left nearly 15 million people homeless and raised fears of epidemic outbreaks in affected areas. The helicopter had ferried a team of military experts on disease outbreaks to Li county and was returning with the injured residents when it lost contact with ground command, Xinhua reported. It later confirmed the chooper had crashed. President Hu Jintao, touring quake-stricken areas in neighbouring Shaanxi province, immediately ordered a search and rescue operation, Xinhua said. The overall death toll from the earthquake, China's worst natural disaster in a generation, reached 68,977 on Saturday, with another 17,974 missing, the Government said. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Chinese waited anxiously for drainage work on a menacing lake created by the May 12 quake to take effect. Army and police crews who had toiled for a week to dig a diversion channel for the Tangjiashan ""quake lake"" wrapped up late on Saturday and authorities said the rising waters could begin spilling into the channel as early as Sunday."
" Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, 37, led what was known as the ""Anbar Awakening"", an alliance of Sunni Arab tribes that rose up against al-Qaeda in Iraq. US President George Bush met and endorsed the sheikh last week in Iraq. The White House, which has held up the movement in Anbar province as an example for the rest of Iraq, condemned his assassination as ""an outrage"". Later, President Bush is expected to announce that the US may pull some 30,000 US troops out of Iraq by the middle of next year - a move made possible partly by the progress in pacifying Anbar. Abu Risha's assassination will be a severe blow to the ""Awakening"" in Anbar, says the BBC's Hugh Sykes in Baghdad. It may undermine the new movement against al-Qaeda in Iraq, he says, or it could strengthen resolve to resist the insurgents, who are regarded by an increasing number of people in Anbar as unwelcome invaders. Abu Risha was killed, along with two bodyguards, by a roadside bomb planted near his home in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's western Anbar province. ""The sheikh's car was totally destroyed by the explosion,"" Ramadi police officer Ahmed Mahmoud al-Alwani told Reuters. It has been reported that he was the number one target of al-Qaeda in Iraq, that several attempts had previously been made on his life, and that his father and at least one of his brothers were killed by insurgents. Several top sheikhs in the same movement were killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad in June."
" One person was reported to have been killed and there were fears of flash flooding in areas already inundated in the wettest summer in 100 years. Power was knocked out in some districts by Humberto's 85mph (140km/h) winds. By mid-morning, the hurricane had weakened to a tropical storm and had moved into neighbouring Louisiana. At 1500 GMT, Humberto was 125km (75 miles) west-northwest of Lafayette in Louisiana with winds of 100km (75 miles) per hour, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported. Humberto had strengthened quickly to a Category One hurricane before making landfall early on Thursday, but then rapidly lost strength. Some 100,000 customers were without electricity in Beaumont and Port Arthur in Texas, a spokesman for Entenergy Texas said. Three oil refineries were also shut down after losing power. No evacuations had been ordered as Humberto neared the coast of Texas. ""Some areas of our state remain saturated by summer floods, and many communities in this storm's projected path are at high risk of dangerous flash flooding,"" he said. At least 40 people have been killed in flooding in Texas this year. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said four to six inches of rain (10-15cm) of rain were expected across much of Louisiana and Mississippi."
" 1 of 8. Christopher Moore of NOAA looks at computer graphs at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, concerning the earthquake and tsunami that hit American Samoa September 29, 2009. Tsunami waves hit American Samoa, a U.S. territory, killing 14 people, and also struck the nearby nation of Samoa, killing an unknown number of people, local media and officials said. There were unconfirmed reports of waves taller than 4 meters (13 ft). ""As of right now, everybody is up in the high mountain ranges,"" said Senetenari Malele, announcer for local radio station Showers of Blessings. He said the local weather authority had released a statement with 14 dead in the last hour. In nearby Western Samoa, there were also reports of an unknown number of deaths and houses destroyed, but fears of a devastating ocean-wide tsunami dissolved after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center canceled its warning for the region. The warning had been issued three and a half hours earlier after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake off American Samoa. The 2004 Asian tsunami killed about 230,000 people across 11 countries. ""I can confirm there is damage, I can confirm there are deaths and I can confirm there are casualties,"" a Western Samoa police spokeswoman said. ""I cannot say any more at the moment."" A resident of a Western Samoan coastal village, Theresa Falele Dussey, told Radio New Zealand her house had been destroyed by wave, as were houses and cars in a nearby village. ""Several people have been calling up the radio stations to report high sea swells hitting the costal areas of Fagaloa and Siumu on the eastern side of Upolu island and along to the south,"" said Samoalive News ""School has been called off for the day with tsunami warnings calling for people to head to higher grounds."""
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A tsunami triggered by a strong quake in the South Pacific has killed more than 100 people in several islands. At least 77 people were reported dead in Samoa, more than 25 in American Samoa and at least six in Tonga. Residents and tourists fled to higher ground as whole villages were destroyed. Boats were swept inland and cars and people out to sea. The 8.3-magnitude quake struck at 1748 GMT on Tuesday, generating 15ft (4.5m) waves in some areas of the islands. The Samoa islands comprise two separate entities - the nation of Samoa and American Samoa, a US territory. The total population is about 250,000. A general tsunami warning was issued for the wider South Pacific region but was cancelled a few hours later. Each and every family is going to be affected by someone who's lost their life   Separately on Wednesday a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck a different fault line off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing at least 75 people. The prime minister of Samoa, Tuila'epe Sailele Malielegaoi, said the latest death toll there was 77, including four overseas visitors, with 150 more people being treated in hospital. He said he was shocked at the devastation. ""So much has gone. So many people are gone,"" he told Australia's AAP news agency. He said there had been extensive damage but that hospitals were coping well and that he was considering aid offers from New Zealand and Australia. ""Had it happened in darkness, there could have been more disaster in terms of the number of those who died or are missing,"" he said. US President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in American Samoa, enabling federal funding to be made available to help victims. He pledged a ""swift and aggressive"" government response. American Samoa Governor Togiola Tulafono said the effects of the tsunami would touch everyone. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. ""I don't think anybody is going to be spared in this disaster,"" he said. Eni Faleomavaega, who represents American Samoa in the US Congress, said the waves had ""literally wiped out all the low-lying areas in the Samoan islands"". He said the tsunami had struck too quickly for a full evacuation. Samoa's Deputy Prime Minister Misa Telefoni told AAP that the ocean had receded, heralding the oncoming tsunami, ""within five minutes"" of the quake. ""With the location and the intensity... I don't know if anything better could have been done."" Officials at the Samoa Meteorology Division said many of those who died were killed by a second wave after they went to gather fish that had been washed up after the first. There's not a building standing... There will be people in a great lot of need around here   Sirens reportedly blared out across the Samoan capital, Apia, again late on Tuesday but the warning was thought to be a false alarm. Dr Lemalu Fiu, at a hospital in Apia, said the number of casualties was expected to rise as people arrived from coastal areas bringing reports. Mr Telefoni said there were fears the major tourism areas on the west side of Upolu island - the eastern of the two main Samoan islands - had been badly hit.   ""We've had a pretty grim picture painted of all that coast,"" he said. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd confirmed the death of two Australians - a six-year-old girl and a 50-year-old woman. Samoan officials say it could take a week before the full extent of the damage is known. A government official in Tonga said at least six people had been killed there and four more were missing. High waves damaged property and swept cars out to sea But New Zealand's acting Prime Minister Bill English said Tongan officials had told him a ""considerable number of people"" had been swept out to sea. Mr English added: ""Over the next 12 hours the picture could look worse rather than better."" The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) said the quake struck at a depth of 33km (20 miles), some 190km (120 miles) from Apia. Radio New Zealand quoted Samoan residents as saying that villages were inundated and homes and cars swept away. Graeme Ansell, a New Zealander near Apia, told the radio station the beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale had been ""wiped out"". ""There's not a building standing. We've all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need around here,"" he said. ""It's horrible... The village is gone and my once beautiful beachfront villa has now been submerged in water,"" Josh Nayangu told the BBC after fleeing the area on a small fishing boat with his wife and son."
" Dozens of aftershocks rocked the South Pacific Wednesday, 24 hours after a huge earthquake churned up towering tsunamis that killed at least 113 people when they wiped out villages and flattened tourist resorts. Huge waves that witnesses and officials said measured between three and 7.5 metres high pounded the remote Pacific islands of Samoa and Western Samoa after an 8.0-magnitude undersea quake struck early Tuesday. While the quake toppled buildings and sent thousands fleeing to high ground as the tsunami approached, many others were hit by the walls of water that swept people and cars out to sea and obliterated coastal settlements. US President Barack Obama called the incident in the outlying US territory of American Samoa a ""major disaster"" and vowed ""aggressive"" action to help survivors. ""I am closely monitoring these tragic events, and have declared a major disaster for American Samoa, which will provide the tools necessary for a full, swift and aggressive response,"" he said. Country profile: Samoa ""My deepest sympathies are with the families who lost loved ones and many people who have been affected by the earthquake and the tsunami,"" Obama added. Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said he was ""shocked beyond belief."" ""So much has gone. So many people are gone,"" he told the Australian news agency AAP. ""I'm so shocked, so saddened by all the loss."" The tsunamis swept across the Pacific, battering Samoa where hospital workers said it killed at least 84 people, American Samoa where it felled 22, and Tonga, where at least seven people died. As Australia, New Zealand and the United States led with immediate pledges of assistance, scores more people were missing feared dead in the chaos and despair that the twin disaster left in its wake. Recent major quakes, tsunamis"
" 1 of 17. A man carries an injured person in front of a collapsed university building during an evacuation after an earthquake hit Padang, on Indonesia's Sumatra island September 30, 2009. Priyadi Kardono, spokesman for the national disaster agency, gave the death toll of 100-200 in the city of 900,000. About 500 houses had caved in, according to officials in the area. By Thursday morning there were still ""thousands of people trapped in the rubble of buildings,"" said Rustam Pakaya, the head of the health ministry's disaster center in Jakarta. The 7.6 magnitude quake hit Padang, West Sumatra, on Wednesday afternoon. With communications to the area cut, officials have struggled to get details of casualties and damage. The death toll was likely to rise as many buildings had collapsed, Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a late night news conference in Jakarta. ""The big buildings are down. The concrete buildings are all down, the hospitals, the main markets, down and burned. A lot of people died in there. A lot of places are burning,"" Australian businesswoman Jane Liddon told Australian radio from Padang. ""Most of the damage is in the town center in the big buildings. The little houses, the people's houses, there are a few damaged, but nothing dramatic. It's not all a rubble heap in terms of smaller buildings."" Australia's international Aid Minister Bob McMullan said he feared the death toll would be ""large"" and offered emergency assistance if it was required. ""We are, of course, ready to assist. They are very close friends and neighbors. They know that we are here and available to help. They just have to ask,"" he said. TV footage showed piles of debris and smashed houses after the earthquake, which caused widespread panic. The main hospital had collapsed, roads were cut off by landslides and Metro Television said the roof of Padang airport had caved in."
" Hindus celebrate the start of the harvest season in India. ""There is a possibility of a destructive regional tsunami in the Indian Ocean,"" the agency said in a statement, adding that the Indian Ocean coasts of Sumatra and Java and Australia's Cocos Islands could be affected within an hour. It said all coasts of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands and all coasts of Sri Lanka could be affected between one to three hours. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake, which came about 14 hours after another powerful tremor in the same area, measured 7.5. It had earlier put its strength at 7.9."
" A second major earthquake measuring 7.6 off the coast of southern Sumatra in Indonesia has prompted a tsunami warning for Australia's Cocos and Christmas Islands. Christmas Island could be affected by 9:15am WST and The Cocos Islands could be affected by 9:30am WST. The Bureau of Meteorology is warning that beaches and harbours and low-lying areas at Cocos Islands could be affected by rising water levels Residents are being urged to find a safe area they can move to if necessary. The second quake was reportedly centred in an area just north of the first quake which hit the Sumatra region last night, measuring 8.2 on the Ritcher scale. Tsunami warnings have also been issued for India and Sri Lanka."
" Huge aftershocks rumbled across Indonesia's Sumatra island overnight, prompting repeated tsunami alerts, but officials said damage from a massive quake that killed 10 people was not as bad as first feared. As a 6.8 aftershock late on Thursday prompted officials to raise and then cancel Sumatra's fifth tsunami warning, authorities sought to ferry aid supplies to villages and outlying areas where scores of homes were flattened. But it appeared the country had been spared the scale of devastation first feared when the 8.4-magnitude quake struck at dusk Wednesday - welcome news for terrified residents who had spent the night outdoors. Officials however warned the death toll could still rise. In many places, telephone lines and electricity were down, and emergency teams were racing to remote areas to assess the extent of casualties and damage. The quake was strong enough to shake buildings in Thailand and Malaysia and triggered a tsunami alert as far away as east Africa, raising memories of the December 2004 tsunami that killed 220,000 people. It struck on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and was followed by dozens of aftershocks and several tsunami warnings. Meanwhile another quake hit the northern tip of Sulawesi on Thursday with a magnitude of 6.2, according to the US Geological Survey, some 2,700 kilometres to the east of the Sumatra epicentre. It prompted another tsunami warning, but there were no initial reports of damage and the alert was later lifted. Vice President Jusuf Kalla expressed his relief at the lack of damage from Wednesday's quake. ""Yesterday we expected massive destruction. But from the reports coming in this morning we are grateful that the damage is not as big as we thought,"" he told a press briefing."
" Naypyitawn (Myanmar), Oct 18 (DPA) Myanmar will not allow foreign observers to monitor campaigning prior to general elections Nov 7, although foreign residents will be allowed to watch voting on polling day, the officials said Monday. 'On election day, diplomats and UN agencies will be invited to poll booths and witness voting, therefore they can represent observers for their respective countries,' Thein Soe, chairman of the Union Election Commission, said in Naypyitaw, the capital since 2004. 'Therefore, it was not necessary to invite other foreign observers,' he said. Military-run Myanmar will hold its first general election in 20 years for the upper, lower and regional houses of parliament. 'The forthcoming election will be free and fair and in line with the international standards and norms,' Thein Soe said. Some observers have questioned the poll's standards, as the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi are excluded. Election regulations passed by the junta earlier this year would have forced the NLD to drop Suu Kyi as a party member if it wished to register. Under the rules, detainees and people serving prison terms were barred from party membership. Instead the NLD chose to boycott the polls. Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi is serving an 18-month sentence under house arrest that is due to expire Nov 13. 'If you do not vote, you may lose your citizen's right,' Thein Soe warned. More than 40 million people will be eligible to vote at some 40,000 polling stations for 37 parties and 3,071 candidates, including 114 women and 82 independents, the commission said."
" (CNN) -- Myanmar will not allow international monitors to oversee its elections next month. ""Since we have many experiences in election, we don't need experts on this issue,"" said Thein Soe, chairman of the election commission told foreign diplomats and reporters Monday. ""And since we have all ambassadors who are representing their countries, we don't think we need to invite any special group to observe the election since all the ambassadors are here and can watch it on election day,"" he added. The country, which is also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962. Critics say the November 7 elections -- its first in two decades -- aim to create a facade of democracy. The constitution requires more than 100 military nominees in parliament, which critics say is aimed at tightening the regime's grip on Myanmar. Democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi has said she will not vote in the elections. Her party won a landslide election victory in 1990, but the military junta rejected the results. The regime recently passed a law that made Suu Kyi ineligible to run because of a court conviction. The Nobel laureate has called the law unjust. A Myanmar court convicted Suu Kyi in August 2009 for breaching the terms of her house arrest after American John Yettaw swam uninvited to her lakeside house in Yangon and briefly stayed there. Her ongoing detention was extended to November 2010, and in February a court rejected her appeal for release."
" Election observers and foreign journalists will not be allowed into Burma for its first polls in two decades, officials say. The Election Commission said observers were not necessary because Burma-based diplomats could monitor the polls. Burma-based journalists would also be sufficient to cover the election, the commission said. Critics say the 7 November elections are a sham aimed at consolidating military rule. ""We don't need foreign observers. We have abundant experience in holding elections,"" Election Commission chairman Thein Soe told a press conference in the capital, Naypyitaw. ""Besides, the election laws enacted are very balanced and easy to understand."" On journalists, he said that representatives of international news agencies were resident in Burma and press statements would be released ""in a timely manner"", so there was no need for foreign reporters. Most foreign journalists are banned from Burma, where domestic media is tightly controlled. Burmese authorities say the elections will mark a key step on their ""road map to democracy"". But many outside the country say the laws under which they will be held are unfair and aimed at perpetuating military rule."
" Tbilisi: Russian forces Monday withdrew from  the last outpost they had occupied outside Georgia`s rebel  regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia since the two countries`  2008 war. Following an announcement hailed by international  mediators, Russian border guards dismantled a checkpoint,  withdrew from the town of Perevi and moved inside the de facto  borders of South Ossetia, Georgian and European Union  officials said. Georgia welcomed the move but said it was a ""miniscule"
" Russian troops have withdrawn from a Georgian town which they had occupied since a brief war between the two countries in 2008. Georgian officials said the Russians pulled out from Perevi, which is located just outside Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region. Moscow and Tbilisi agreed after the war that their troops would move back to their pre-conflict positions. Georgia had condemned Russia's military presence as a violation of the truce. On Monday, Shota Utiashvili, a spokesman for the Georgian interior ministry, said Russian troops had left Perevi and a Georgian army unit had moved into the town. Mr Utiashvili said the Russians had moved across South Ossetia's de facto border. ""The Russians left. There's not a single Russian soldier in Perevi any more,"" the spokesman told Reuters. The pullout was agreed at the latest round of internationally-mediated talks in Geneva. After the war Russia eventually withdrew most of its personnel, tanks and armoured vehicles to South Ossetia. But Moscow had kept a small number of its troops in Perevi, manning three checkpoints in the small town."
" Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was not the only one ejected from the House chamber during the president's State of the Union address for wearing the wrong T-shirt. Republican Rep. Bill Young's wife, Beverly, was also told to leave by Capitol police for wearing a shirt that read ""Support the Troops: Defending Our Freedom."" Today Young, the chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, decried the incident on the House floor, saying, ""shame, shame,"" and holding up the shirt his wife had been wearing. Young later told reporters he agreed with the rule prohibiting demonstrations in the Capitol but said he doesn't think wearing a T-shirt constitutes a demonstration. His wife regularly goes to visit wounded soldiers at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, he said, and she ""wears this T-shirt or something like it everywhere she goes,"" adding that she was ""insulted"" and ""embarrassed"" by what happened. He also noted that no one complained about the shirt when she went through security and that she wasn't actually asked to leave until some 45 minutes of the speech had elapsed. Sheehan, who attended the speech as a guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., was arrested and charged with demonstrating within the Capitol, a misdemeanor. She was wearing a T-shirt that read ""2245 Dead: How Many More?"" On ABC's ""Good Morning America,"" Sheehan described what happened: ""This man was yelling at me, 'Protester, you have to get out of here,'"" she said. ""They grabbed me out of my seat and put my arms behind me and rushed me out and handcuffed me. I thought that was a little excessive for wearing a T-shirt."" Young emphasized that he did not know the circumstances that led to Sheehan's arrest. But he added: ""If she was just sitting there wearing a shirt then she should not have been kicked out."" He also said he called both White House adviser Karl Rove and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, along with Capitol police Chief Terrence Gainer, to complain. Capitol police have requested that the U.S. attorney's office drop the charges against Sheehan. ""As the department reviewed the incident, it was determined that while officers acted in a manner consistent with the rules of decorum enforced by the department in the House Gallery for years, neither Mrs. Sheehan's manner of dress or initial conduct warranted law enforcement intervention,"" said Gainer in a statement today."
" GOP congressman says his wife was also ordered to leave A House security officer takes Cindy Sheehan out of the chamber gallery before President Bush's speech. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Peace activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Tuesday in the House gallery after refusing to cover up a T-shirt bearing an anti-war slogan before President Bush's State of the Union address. According to a blog post on Michael Moore's Web site attributed to Sheehan, the T-shirt said, ""2,245 Dead. How many more?"" -- a reference to the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq. ""She was asked to cover it up. She did not,"" said Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman. On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Bill Young, R-Florida, spoke on the House floor saying his wife, Beverly, had been ""ordered to leave"" the gallery during the speech for wearing a shirt that said, ""Support Our Troops."" Young, an 18-term congressman, held up his wife's shirt during his remarks, speaking with anger and emotion about her treatment. ""She has a real passion for our troops, and she shows it in many, many ways,"" Young said. ""And most members in this House know that, but because she had on a shirt, that someone didn't like, that said, 'Support Our Troops,' she was kicked out of this gallery while the president was speaking and encouraging Americans to support our troops. Shame. Shame."" Sheehan was arrested around 8:30 p.m. ET Tuesday on charges of unlawful conduct, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail, Capitol Police said. She was handcuffed and held in the Capitol building until she was driven to the Capitol Police headquarters for booking. According to her blog, she was released about four hours after her arrest. Sheehan, who became a vocal war opponent after her son was killed in Iraq, was an invited guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-California. Woolsey has called for a withdrawal of troops in Iraq and supports legislation for the creation of a Department of Peace. Sheehan gained national attention in August when she and hundreds of other protesters camped outside Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, and demanded an audience with the president. She also recently penned a book, ""Not One More Mother's Child."" In April 2004, Sheehan and other relatives of troops killed in Iraq met with Bush during a visit to Fort Lewis, Washington, shortly after the death of her son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, 24. Sheehan later said that the president wouldn't look at pictures of her son and ""didn't even know Casey's name."" The Vacaville, California, resident has said she'd like to meet with Bush again to discuss her opposition to the war. The president has declined another meeting and has taken issue with Sheehan's calls for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. ""She expressed her opinion; I disagree with it,"" Bush said in August. ""I think immediate withdrawal from Iraq would be a mistake."" CNN.com's Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more."
" 000 WTNT44 KNHC 280233 TCDAT4 REMNANTS OF HANNA DISCUSSION NUMBER 8 NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL092014 1100 PM EDT MON OCT 27 2014 The circulation of Hanna no longer appears to be well defined based on satellite imagery and surface observations. Since the cyclone center has dissipated, this will be the final advisory on the remnants of Hanna. While cloud top temperatures have warmed markedly near the earlier estimated center location, heavy rainfall remains a significant threat. The remnants of Hanna could produce 3 to 5 inches (75 to 125 mm) of rain, with isolated maximum amounts of 9 inches (230 mm), across Honduras and northern Nicaragua. These rains could produce flash flooding and mud slides. FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS INIT 28/0300Z 14.5N 84.5W 30 KT 35 MPH...REMNANTS 12H 28/1200Z...DISSIPATED $$ Forecaster Brennan"
" 000 WTNT43 KNHC 192039 TCDAT3 POST-TROPICAL CYCLONE GONZALO DISCUSSION NUMBER 30 NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL082014 500 PM AST SUN OCT 19 2014 The combined effect of sea-surface temperatures around 10C and southwesterly vertical wind shear of more than 40 kt has finally taken its toll on Gonzalo. The upper-level circulation is tilted more than 100 nmi to the northeast of the low-level circulation center, and an abundance of cold-air stratocumulus clouds has wrapped all the way around the entire low-level circulation. Gonzalo looks like a frontal low in satellite imagery, suggesting that the system has completed its transformation into an extratropical cyclone. The initial intensity has been decreased to 70 kt, which is consistent with various decay models. Only gradual weakening is expected during the next 48 hours. The initial motion estimate is 060/45 kt. Gonzalo has turned toward the east-northeast, and that general motion is expected for the next 24-36 hours, after which the cyclone is forecast to slow down considerably and turn northward and be absorbed by a larger low pressure system north of the British Isles by 72 hours. The NHC track forecast is close to a blend of the GFS and ECMWF models, and is near the latest forecast guidance provided by the NOAA Ocean Prediction Center. This is the last NHC advisory on Gonzalo. Additional information on this system can be found in High Seas Forecasts issued by the National Weather Service...under AWIPS header NFDHSFAT1 and WMO header FZNT01 KWBC. FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS INIT 19/2100Z 51.6N 41.8W 70 KT 80 MPH...POST-TROP/EXTRATROP 12H 20/0600Z 53.6N 31.5W 65 KT 75 MPH...POST-TROP/EXTRATROP 24H 20/1800Z 56.5N 15.0W 50 KT 60 MPH...POST-TROP/EXTRATROP 36H 21/0600Z 58.5N 1.0W 50 KT 60 MPH...POST-TROP/EXTRATROP 48H 21/1800Z 64.5N 1.0W 50 KT 60 MPH...POST-TROP/EXTRATROP 72H 22/1800Z...ABSORBED $$ Forecaster Stewart"
" Which do you fear more? Iran driving up the price of the world's oil (CNN) -- Iran has reacted with anger to a move by the world's top five powers to report it to the U.N. Security Council, saying the action would close diplomatic avenues to a solution of its nuclear standoff with the West. Meanwhile Russia and China are sending diplomats to Tehran to urge the Islamic republic to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), according to a Russian news agency. The Russian Information Agency reported the development ahead of Thursday's special meeting in Vienna of the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors. Foreign ministers from Russia, China, Britain, France and the United States -- the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- decided at a two-day meeting in London to ask the IAEA to take the case of Iran's nuclear program to the Security Council. The agreement was something of a compromise. Russia and China had been reluctant to escalate the case, and the deal from the London talks stopped short of recommending a formal referral of Iran to the council, where it could have then faced economic sanctions. Any decision on formal referral is now put off until after a scheduled IAEA meeting on March 6. ""A compromise was reached between the participants,"" a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said the development was not a ""positive step."" ""We view any referral or report to the (U.N.) Security Council as the end of the road for diplomacy, and this is not a positive step,"" said Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. ""For the Europeans and the IAEA board, this step will not be a bright moment, and if I may say, it will be a bad move to refer a country's nuclear file for further investigation to the Security Council. And to do this with Iran's file, it will be a bad direction to take for the Europeans."" Many countries have been concerned that Iran has intended to use its nuclear program to develop weaponry. But Iran says its program is solely for peaceful purposes. Months of talks with European nations failed to make headway in settling the issue, and talks broke off. Iran recently broke IAEA seals on its nuclear facilities, raising great concerns in the West. This set the stage for the possibility of the U.N. Security Council considering the issue and taking action that could result in sanctions against Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterparts had discussed Iran at a private dinner at the home of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. In a joint statement after their late-night talks in London, the foreign ministers said they had agreed that an emergency meeting of the IAEA board on Thursday ""should report to the Security Council its decision on the steps required of Iran."" British Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the agreement to involve the council as a powerful signal to Iran. ""I hope it's sending a message that the international community is united,"" Blair said. ""This is going to be discussed and decided upon by the U.N. Security Council. That is a very important step. We couldn't get agreement on that before, we've got agreement on it now."" Iran has warned that any move to inform the council about its case would prompt it to curtail snap U.N. inspections of nuclear facilities and resume enriching uranium, a process used to make fuel for power stations, or bomb-grade material. Libyan Energy Minister Fathi Omar Bin Shatwan said referral of Iran's case to the council would have a serious effect on world oil prices, already just shy of record highs. But Iran's Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri eased concerns that the world's fourth biggest crude oil producer could curb oil exports in reprisal, as Tehran has previously hinted it may do. ""We are not mixing oil with politics,"" he told reporters at the start of an OPEC meeting in Vienna. Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met his Chinese counterpart in London and called for Thursday's IAEA meeting to be cancelled, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported. Iran can count on support at the IAEA board meeting from Venezuela and an abstention from India but the compromise agreed in London is likely to get a comfortable majority in any vote, analysts told Reuters. Iranian officials argued more time was needed for talks. ""We have asked for talks with the Europeans which shows that Iran wants to try all amicable ways to achieve peaceful nuclear technology,"" Larijani was quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA students news agency. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said an extensive period of ""confidence-building"" was required from Iran. This month Iran removed U.N. seals on uranium enrichment equipment at its Natanz facility in central Iran. Javad Vaeedi, deputy head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Iran had no intention of backing down. ""Research and development is the Iranian nation's legitimate right and is irreversible,"" he told state television, according to Reuters. Russia, which is building Iran's first nuclear power reactor, backed Western calls for Iran to halt sensitive nuclear work in order to rebuild trust, as agreed at the London meeting. Russia has strong commercial and diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic. The Kremlin has suggested setting up a joint venture with Iran to carry out sensitive uranium enrichment on Russian soil. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more."
" MOBILE, Ala., Sept. 15 -- Hurricane Ivan clawed America's boggy Gulf Coast underbelly late Wednesday, knocking out power in southeast Louisiana and lower Alabama, lifting powerful waves onto the genteel island retreats of Mobile Bay and scattering nearly 2 million people in search of higher ground from the Florida Panhandle to New Orleans. The maddeningly difficult-to-track storm, once expected to land as far east as Miami, punched its first hurricane-force winds onto the fragile marsh towns at the toe-tip of Louisiana's distinctive boot-shaped frame and by midnight EDT, Ivan was centered about 55 miles south of the Alabama coast, and was moving north at 12 mph. At least four people were killed in Florida and Louisiana. Ivan's hurricane-force winds targeted a region of seaside resorts, high-rise casinos, historic downtowns and oil refining behemoths. The imposing storm, which is expected to make its most emphatic landfall near Mobile early Thursday, built 12-foot waves that cascaded onto Alabama's barrier island shield and shut down the miles-long casino strip along Mississippi's Gulf Coast. The 84-degree waters of the Gulf of Mexico helped strengthen the storm, keeping its winds at 135 mph. Ivan is just as powerful as Charley, which blew apart retirement towns on Florida's Gulf Coast last month, and is just as big as Frances, the hurricane that spread over nearly the entire state of Florida earlier this month. Ivan's hurricane- and tropical-force winds sprawled over an astonishing 300 miles, imperiling most of the Gulf Coast. Oil and gas companies shut down their platforms in the Gulf in advance of the hurricane, and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham told Reuters that the Bush administration would consider tapping the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve if supplies run short. ""I told all four governors the people of this country are praying for their safety,"" Bush said. ""We pray that the storm passes as quickly as possible without any loss of life or loss of property."" The storm inflicted its first damage in tiny Louisiana towns, such as Venice, that are connected only by a spindly, poorly lighted road to the more populated New Orleans area. In Plaquemines Parish, an area that fishermen and oil drillers have used for decades as a launching point for forays into the Gulf of Mexico, about 10,000 customers had lost power by 5 p.m., said parish president Benny Rousselle. By late evening, at least 40,000 were without power in Mobile. Hurricane-force winds were recorded in Plaquemines Parish, even as the eye wall was still far off to the southeast. And -- disturbingly -- the strongest gusts were expected northwest of the eye, on the opposite side. ""We're on the good side, if you can call it a good side,"" Rousselle said. ""But we're already hearing about roof damages, and trees blocking the roads. The levees have held so far, but I don't like to say that too loud."" After killing 68 on its rampage through the Caribbean, Ivan claimed its first American victims on Wednesday. Tornadoes spawned by the storm killed two people in Panama City, a resort town in the Florida Panhandle. In Louisiana, a cancer patient and a nursing home resident died in traffic while they were being moved to higher ground. New Orleans was expecting some flooding from the outer edges of the storm, but nothing approaching the huge pounding that could happen if the city's below-sea-level streets took a direct hit from a major hurricane. Flooding fears prompted a mass exodus from the city on Tuesday, rivaling the evacuation ahead of Hurricane Georges in 1998 when an estimated 325,000 fled."
" AVANA, Sept. 12 - Hurricane Ivan hammered the Cayman Islands on Sunday with winds that moved like bulldozers at 155 miles per hour, as thousands of people in Cuba and Florida braced for one of the most powerful storms to boil up out of the Atlantic. Ahead of the storm, Cuba, the most populated island in the Caribbean, evacuated nearly one million people to shelters and moved truckloads of food into fortified warehouses. President Fidel Castro spent more than two hours Saturday night on state television with high-ranking military officers and civil defense officials to inform people about the hurricane's magnitude and course. They said they expected the storm to hit the western tip of the island, known for producing some of the highest quality cigars in the world. But, Mr. Castro said in the address, ""The country is prepared for this hurricane."" In Florida residents of the Keys expressed relief that forecasters now expected the hurricane to skirt to the west, bypassing them and charging up the Gulf of Mexico to the Panhandle region of the state. But Jimmy Weekley, the mayor of Key West, said he was holding firm to his mandatory evacuation order. ""My gut feeling is that if this storm takes just a little wobble toward the east, it could be right back here,"" Mr. Weekley said Sunday afternoon. On Sunday, Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency. Over the last week, Hurricane Ivan left a trail of death and destruction during its slow march past Grenada, Venezuela and Jamaica. The authorities say Hurricane Ivan is the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. At least 65 people have been reported killed, and the authorities expect that number to rise. On Sunday, Hurricane Ivan, a Category 5 storm, battered the Cayman Islands, tearing roofs and uprooting trees three stories tall. By the time the hurricane's eye was trained toward this island, some 90 miles south of Florida, Cubans had begun calling it Ivan the Terrible. More than 800,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying areas, the official Prensa Latina news agency reported. But Hurricane Ivan has a long reach. And the authorities predicted its churning outer winds would wreak havoc across the rest of the island. ""Cuba will be ready,"" Mr. Castro, wearing his signature fatigues, said in his television address on Saturday night to this nation of 11 million people. The storm is the second to hit Cuba in a month. The coastal highway between Havana and Mariel is still littered with telephone poles, billboard and electricity towers toppled by Hurricane Charley in mid-August. ""The last storm took my roof,'' said Iraimie Reyes, sitting on the concrete floor of a government-run shelter. ""This time, I expect it to take my house. I don't expect to have anything but the clothes I am wearing when this is over.''"
" Military helicopters, patrol boats, armoured vehicles and bomb disposal robots have been deployed around the dam, the China Times said on Tuesday. The newspaper made no mention of who might want to target the project. But a US suggestion in June that Taiwan might target the dam to deter a Chinese invasion provoked an angry response from Beijing. Chinese military officials said at the time that any attack on the dam would provoke a devastating response. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory, and has repeatedly threatened to invade if the island declares independence. According to the China Times report, military police have been training a ""pool of talented anti-terrorist professionals"" to work at the dam and its massive hydroelectric project. ""The important anti-terrorism measures taken by the military police on the main bridges, dams and hydro-electric stations have basically been completed,"" the newspaper said. China has huge hopes for the Three Gorges, the world's largest dam and flood control project, which Beijing hopes will help solve China's energy problems when it is completed in 2009. But the 180bn Yuan ($22bn) project is also proving controversial, with some environmentalists doubting its ability to prevent flooding - a claim which again resurfaced during recent floods earlier this month, when the authorities were forced to close the dam to shipping. This is not the first time the project has been singled out as a possible terrorist target."
" However the ruling by federal judges allows the accused - Frenchman Zacarias Moussaoui - to use written evidence from some of the al-Qaeda suspects. The court also allowed prosecutors to seek the death penalty. Mr Moussaoui admits being a member of al-Qaeda but denies involvement in the plot to hijack planes and crash them. His lawyers say testimony from al-Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo will show Mr Moussaoui's only role was in a planned follow-up operation. US Attorney-General John Ashcroft said the ruling showed the government could provide a fair trial, while protecting national security. Mr Moussaoui - who is of Moroccan origin - was indicted two years ago on four counts of conspiracy to commit terrorism. The 35-year-old defendant had been under arrest on immigration charges when hijackers crashed civilian airliners into the World Trade Center and other targets, killing more than 2,800 people. The US government says he was a full member of the original hijack team. In preparing his case, Mr Moussaoui has been seeking to interview three major al-Qaeda suspects being held by the US - but prosecutors had objected, citing security concerns. The three judges on the Court of Appeal in Virginia also overruled a lower court decision by deciding that the death penalty could be used if there was a guilty verdict."
" Hundreds of Vietnamese have launched protests againstfor the third straight week amid escalating tensions in the disputed waters of the SouthSea, where both countries recently conducted live-fire military drills. About 300 people gathered Sunday near the Chinese Embassy in the capital, Hanoi, and marched through the streets yelling ""Down with ,"" demanding that their powerful northern neighbor stay out of Vietnam's territory. Protests are rare in Vietnam and are typically quashed quickly by security forces, but Hanoi has allowed the demonstrations to go on for the past three Sundays. Relations between the communist neighbors have hit a low point after two incidents in the past month involving clashes between Chinese and Vietnamese boats in the South Sea."
" Libyan officials say 15 civilians - including three children - were killed in a Nato attack on a building west of the capital, Tripoli. Nato has said its planes struck ""a key Gaddafi regime command and control node"" to the west of Tripoli. A BBC correspondent taken by the Libyan government to see a compound in the western area of Sorman says the building has been pulverised. On Sunday Nato said one of its missiles struck a residential area in Tripoli. It admitted a ""weapons failure"" may have led to civilian casualties. BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen was taken to see the remains of the country estate of Khweildy al-Hamidy, a member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Centre, the inner circle of government. Libyan officials told him that eight rockets slammed into the place at about 0400 or 0500 on Monday morning (0200 or 0300 GMT). There are shell holes and craters in the houses in the compound, our correspondent says, after what was a very comprehensive attack. Nato has confirmed it carried out operations in the area of Sorman, which lies halfway between Tripoli and Zawiya to the west. ""In the early hours of Monday 20 June, Nato warplanes carried out a precision air strike against a key Gaddafi regime command and control node in the vicinity of Zawiyah to the west of Tripoli,"" Nato said in a statement."
" The FBI is investigating reports that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation sought to hack the phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks. The criminal probe follows calls from a growing number of senators and a senior Republican for an investigation. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr Murdoch defended the company's handling of the crisis. Meanwhile, Mr Murdoch and his son James have agreed to answer UK MPs' questions on the hacking scandal next week. The Commons media committee issued summonses after the pair initially declined to appear. Also in London on Thursday, a former News of the World executive editor, Neil Wallis, became the ninth person involved with the newspaper to be detained by police probing phone hacking. The Murdoch-owned Sunday tabloid was shut down last week amid the mounting scandal over the alleged hacking of phones belonging to crime victims, politicians and celebrities. Continue reading the main story Unquestionably, the hacking scandal has crossed the Atlantic. The FBI's involvement takes the affair beyond the rumblings of US politicians into the much more dangerous territory of a criminal investigation. Of course, it remains to be proved whether Americans' phones were hacked. The allegation that 9/11 victims were targeted by the News of the World was made by a rival British newspaper, the Daily Mirror, which based its report on an unnamed source. If evidence of US hacking is uncovered, the scandal will take on a whole new dimension - especially if it touches upon the emotive subject of 9/11. The company could face a second line of enquiry, into whether payments to British police officers breached US anti-corruption laws. FBI sources told US media on Thursday it was looking into claims that phones belonging to victims of the September 11 attacks could have been hacked by News of the World journalists. News Corporation, based in New York, is the parent company of News International, the UK firm at the centre of the scandal over phone hacking and payments to police officers."
" Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is due to stand trial in August, is suffering from stomach cancer, his lawyer has said. ""He has a stomach cancer and the tumours are growing,"" lawyer Farid el-Deeb said. The former leader is in custody at a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after reportedly having heart problems during earlier questioning. He is charged with the deaths of protesters during Egypt's uprising. Last month, officials said he was too sick to be moved from hospital to prison while he awaited trial, because his heart condition put him at risk of a sudden attack. The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says Mr Deeb has told some reporters that Mr Mubarak has had cancer, but to others he has said that the former leader is suffering from symptoms which could be cancer. Our correspondent says that many in Egypt will treat the report with deep scepticism. Mr Deeb said Mubarak underwent ""critical surgery"" in Germany last year, during which his gallbladder and part of his pancreas were removed. He said he has asked Egypt's prosecutor-general to allow the German surgeon to visit Mr Mubarak for a medical check-up. The request had been referred to Egypt's ruling military council, he said, but no decision had been made yet."
" Afghan Energy Minister Ismail Khan has survived a roadside bomb attack in the western city of Herat, police say. At least four people died and several others were wounded when the bomb exploded as the minister was driving to the airport, officials say. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the blast in a telephone call to news agencies. On Friday, Afghanistan's rising violence prompted the top US commander to formally request more troops. Gen Stanley McChrystal has said in the past that the mission in Afghanistan is likely to fail if he is not given extra forces. The explosion in Herat happened outside a school, officials said. Police spokesman Raouf Ahmadi said that 17 people had been wounded, including four of Ismail Khan's bodyguards. He said the minister had arrived safely at the airport. The four dead included a woman and a child, Mr Ahmadi added. Ismail Khan was a key member of the Northern Alliance, whose forces helped US troops to topple the Taliban in 2001."
" The US has already sent thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan The top US military commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, has formally requested more troops. The Pentagon said it would put the request on hold until President Barack Obama decided what overall strategy to pursue in Afghanistan. President Obama has already sent 21,000 extra troops to Afghanistan this year. In a report leaked last month, Gen McChrystal wrote that his mission was likely to fail if he was not given extra forces. The details of what the general says he needs are not known. But analysts said he had been expected to submit of a range of options from 10,000 additional troops up to 40,000. There are currently about 100,000 foreign soldiers in Afghanistan from more than 40 countries - more than over 60,000 of them American. BBC defence and security correspondent Nick Childs says other Nato and non-Nato troop-contributing countries have also been waiting - perhaps bracing themselves - to receive a request from Gen McChrystal. What what we need to do is to correct some of the ways we operated in the past   Our correspondent says the fact that the Pentagon is not planning to forward the formal request to the White House will give President Obama some more breathing space. In last month's report, Gen McChrystal wrote: ""The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort."" President Obama has described himself as ""a sceptical audience"" to sending more soldiers, and says he wants to be sure the current strategy is correct first. The Taliban insurgents are growing in influence, control larger parts of the country. A Gallup poll published on Friday showed a fall in support for the war in America, with 50% opposed to sending more troops, while 41% supported it, reports say. White House advisers are reported to be split over whether to to accept Gen McChrystal's assessment or pursue an alternative strategy."
" MOBILE, Alabama (CNN) -- Remnants of Hurricane Ivan soaked the Southeast Thursday evening after the storm came ashore with full force in Alabama and spawned tornadoes that killed eight people. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush called the storm ""devastating"" and said his heart went out to the families of those who died and to all residents on the Gulf Coast whose homes were damaged. Downgraded to a tropical storm, Ivan left more than 1.1 million people without power in Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. (State-by-state impact) The insurance forecasting firm Eqecat estimated Ivan caused between $4 billion and $10 billion in damage and that 30 percent to 50 percent of Ivan's insured losses occurred in and around Pensacola. President Bush declared Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi disaster areas, making federal funding and aid available. The declaration for Florida was the third in a month, following those issued for hurricanes Charley and Frances. More than 2,000 National Guard troops were moving into northwest Florida to assist with assessment and cleanup operations, Gov. Bush said. ""Entire houses were taken off their foundations and disappeared because of the storm surge on the barrier islands,"" Gov. Bush said. ""These are newly built luxury homes that don't exist right now. That's pretty powerful."" In Pensacola, winds sheared off the exterior of a section of West Florida Hospital, said a spokeswoman, but patient wings were undamaged. Three other hospitals in the area also were damaged, officials reported. Storm damage made travel from Pensacola difficult. Highway 90 was closed, as was Interstate 10 over Escambia Bay, where an 18-wheel truck plunged into the water and trapped the driver in the rig. Winds throughout the west Florida area bent billboard signs, damaged trees, ripped roofs off buildings and scattered debris."
" He said the decision to take action in Iraq should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally. The UK government responded by saying the attorney-general made the ""legal basis... clear at the time"". Mr Annan also warned security in Iraq must considerably improve if credible elections are to be held in January. The UN chief said in an interview with the BBC World Service that ""painful lessons"" had been learnt since the war in Iraq. ""Lessons for the US, the UN and other member states. I think in the end everybody's concluded it's best to work together with our allies and through the UN,"" he said. ""I hope we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time - without UN approval and much broader support from the international community,"" he added. He said he believed there should have been a second UN resolution following Iraq's failure to comply over weapons inspections. And it should have been up to the Security Council to approve or determine the consequences, he added. When pressed on whether he viewed the invasion of Iraq as illegal, he said: ""Yes, if you wish. I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal."" Mr Annan's comments provoked angry suggestions from a former Bush administration aide that they were timed to influence the US November election."
" Nearly 2,000 Ethiopian migrants trapped in violence-hit Yemen are being evacuated, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says. It said it had so far flown out 275 Ethiopians, some of whom had gun-shot wounds. Yemen has been hit by months of instability, caused by the president's refusal to bow to opposition demands to quit. Two Somali migrants were killed in the capital, Sanaa, last month. Yemen has long been a major transit point for illegal migration from the Horn of Africa. The IOM said human traffickers were exploiting the instability in Yemen, bringing more migrants from Ethiopia and Somalia to Yemen. The UN estimates that 37,000 Ethiopians and Somalis have been brought to Yemen so far this year. They hoped to travel to countries such as Saudi Arabia, but many have been stranded at a camp on the Yemen side of the border. An evacuated Ethiopian, who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Edris, told the BBC he had been traumatised by his experiences at the hands of the traffickers. ""I escaped from the centre where the traffickers had gathered us all, controlling and abusing women,"" he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme."
" Nato has lost a helicopter drone involved in the Libyan campaign, a spokesman has said. Wing Cmdr Mike Bracken said Nato's command centre in Naples, Italy, had lost contact with the unmanned aircraft at 0720 GMT. His statement came as Libyan state TV showed images of what it claimed was the wreckage of a Nato Apache attack helicopter that had been shot down. Wing Cmdr Bracken said no attack helicopters had been lost. ""This drone helicopter was performing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance over Libya to monitor Colonel Gaddafi's forces threatening the civilian population,"" he said. ""We are looking into the reasons [for the loss]. We can confirm we have not lost any attack helicopters."" Earlier, Libyan state TV aired footage of what it said was an Apache helicopter shot down by pro-government forces in the western district of Zlitan. Nato deployed Apache attack helicopters in Libya earlier this month during its UN-sponsored mission to protect civilians from forces loyal to Col Gaddafi. Nato officials have not identified the exact type of drone helicopters being used, but analysts say the alliance has been operating the MQ-8 Fire Scout helicopter drone, made by US firm Northrop Grumman. The drone is the first aircraft reported lost by Nato over Libya since it took over the no-fly mission on March 31."
" Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- Hundreds of exiled Syrian activists meeting in Istanbul on Saturday elected a 25-member council as they sought to declare unity in their intention to oust the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The National Salvation Council, composed of independents, liberals, Islamists and members of other parties, will serve as an umbrella organization representing various factions of the Syrian opposition -- sometimes seen as fractured in their demands. ""Bashar al-Assad is finished,"" said Haitham al-Maleh, a political prisoner who was released from jail in March in an attempt to appease protesters. ""He must leave the country, leave the power. We want to build our government, our regime, without them. ""We will move together to be one opposition ... because you know we spent 50 years under a dictatorship,"" he said. ""The civil society in Syria is finished. Now we are building ourselves for the future."" The Syrian National Salvation conference -- attended by about 350 opposition members -- unfolded as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was also in Istanbul for meetings with Turkish officials, expressed support for the opposition. ""What's happening in Syria is very uncertain and troubling, because many of us had hoped that President Assad would make the reforms that were necessary without seeing what we're now seeing in the streets of Syria, which are government tanks and soldiers shooting peaceful demonstrators,"" she said. ""There must be a legitimate, sincere effort with the opposition to try to make changes,"" she said. ""I don't know whether that will happen or not."" Some opposition members were frustrated at what they perceived as a lack of response from the international community and hoped that a united Syrian opposition would ratchet up pressure on al-Assad. ""The international community seems to be still dancing around the issue of the Assad regime losing legitimacy and that could be due to a number of reasons,"" said M. Yaser Tabbara, a Syrian-American human rights lawyer. ""I think what we're trying to do is send these reassurances to the international community that a credible, competent council or body is being formed, and that we do not have to worry anymore about a vacuum of power or a vacuum for an alternative."""
" (CNN) -- A reactor at Japan's Ohi nuclear plant will be shut down following problems with an emergency cooling system, Kansai Electric said Saturday. The move follows an emergency alarm late Friday triggered when the pressure dropped in the tank for the cooling system, company spokesperson Masaki Todatake said. Pressure returned to normal within about an hour after an injection of liquid nitrogen, but engineers plan to manually stop the No. 1 reactor at the Ohi plant in Fukui Prefecture to carry out a full inspection,Todatake said. It is not known how soon the reactor might start operating again, the company said, but there is no danger of radiation leak. The reactor's closure leaves only 18 of Japan's 54 nuclear plants producing electricity, worsening power supply problems following March's earthquake and tsunami. The 15-meter (48-foot) tsunami inundated Japan's coastal Fukushima Daiichi power plant, leading to a triple meltdown, the aftermath of which Tokyo Electric Power Co. engineers are still struggling to manage. The disaster has caused Japan to rethink its commitment to nuclear energy."
" Japan's Ohi nuclear power station is being shut down, after a technical fault. Pressure in a safety tank fell for no apparent reason, and although it is now back to normal, the plant's operators said they would ""give the top priority to safety and find out the cause"". There was no release of radioactive material. The closure will compound power difficulties in the wake of March's earthquake and tsunami. There has been growing public disquiet over the continuing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was damaged by the disaster. Pressure in a tank containing boric acid, which is used to slow down nuclear fission in emergencies, dropped on Friday at Ohi's No 1 reactor. The pressure levels have since returned to normal, but the reactor will be completely shut down by 2100 (1200 GMT). The reactor, 350km (220 miles) west of Tokyo, has a capacity of 1.18m kW. With the closure at Ohi, only 18 of Japan's 54 reactors remain operational. The Kansai Electric Power Company, which operates Ohi, could not say when the reactor would be restarted."
" Pakistan's main opposition party on Thursday called on President Asif Ali Zardari to resign after a court threw out an amnesty protecting him and senior government figures from corruption charges. The Supreme Court declared on Wednesday that a 2007 National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) which contained the amnesty was unconstitutional and struck it down, paving the way for thousands of criminal cases to be revived. Zardari is immune from prosecution while in office, but that immunity and his eligibility for president could now be challenged, as a number of graft cases were pending against him when the NRO was passed. ""We are suggesting President Zardari should resign on moral grounds. All the cabinet members must immediately tender their resignations,"" said Siddiqul Farooq, spokesman for the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N). ""President Asif Ali Zardari should resign on moral grounds and should not depend upon the crutches of the constitution,"" he added. Pakistan's constitution guarantees Zardari immunity, but also states that presidential candidates must be pious, honest and truthful and never have been convicted in a criminal case. Although Zardari has spent years in jail over corruption charges, he alleges the charges were politically-motivated and questions hang over whether he was ever actually convicted of any crime. The NRO was passed in October 2007 by then-president Pervez Musharraf, under pressure to hold elections and end about eight years of military rule. It quashed charges against a number of politicians including Zardari and his wife and ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto -- who was assassinated two months later -- to allow them to stand for office. Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) went on to win elections in 2008, restoring civilian rule, but the NRO expired at the end of last month and the PPP did not have enough support to renew the ordinance in parliament."
" National newspapers are running a full-page advert with a signed apology from Rupert Murdoch over ""serious wrongdoing"" by the News of the World. The advert states: ""We are sorry for the serious wrongdoing that occurred."" Rebekah Brooks, a former editor of the paper, and senior News Corporation executive Les Hinton both resigned on Friday over the phone-hacking scandal. The printed apology expresses regret for not acting faster ""to sort things out"". ""I realise that simply apologising is not enough. Our business was founded on the idea that a free and open press should be a positive force in society. We need to live up to this. ""In the coming days, as we take further concrete steps to resolve these issues and make amends for the damage they have caused, you will hear more from us"", says the statement, signed ""sincerely, Rupert Murdoch"". Mrs Brooks is expected to appear alongside Rupert and James Murdoch in front of the Commons media select committee on Tuesday to answer MPs questions on the hacking scandal. She was editor of News of the World between 2000 and 2003, during which time the phone belonging to murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was tampered with. In a statement resigning as chief executive of News International, she said she felt a ""deep responsibility for the people we have hurt"". She said she wanted to ""reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place""."
" Foreign Secretary William Hague has defended David Cameron, saying he was ""not embarrassed"" by the extent of the PM's dealings with News International. Mr Cameron has met its top executives 26 times in the 15 months since he became prime minister, it emerged. Mr Hague defended the PM's decision to entertain Andy Coulson after the latter quit as an aide over the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. In press ads, Rupert Murdoch apologises for ""serious wrongdoing"" by the paper. The Mail on Sunday said on Saturday that its former news editor Sebastian Hamilton and ex-investigations editor Dennis Rice had been told by Scotland Yard that their phones may have been hacked by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. Mulcaire was jailed in 2007, along with former New of the World royal editor Clive Goodman, after admitting intercepting voicemail messages on royal aides' phones. A list of engagements released by Downing Street shows that Rebekah Brooks, who quit as News International chief executive on Friday, had been entertained at the prime minister's official residence Chequers in June and August last year. There were further social meetings between Mr Cameron, and James Murdoch and Mrs Brooks, last December. Mr Coulson stayed at Chequers in March this year, two months after he quit as Downing Street director of communications following fresh allegations of phone hacking under his editorship at the News of the World. ""In inviting Andy Coulson back, the prime minister has invited someone back to thank him for his work - he's worked for him for several years - that is a normal, human thing to do,"" Mr Hague told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. ""I think it shows a positive side to his character."""
"If we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we'll get hit again,"" Mr Cheney told in a rally in Iowa. Mr Kerry's running mate John Edwards accused the Republicans of scare tactics that ""crossed the line"". Both parties have been stepping up their campaigning ahead of presidential elections on 2 November. Mr Cheney, speaking to Republican supporters in Des Moines, said his party was better equipped to fight terrorism. If Mr Kerry were elected, he said, the country risked falling back into a ""pre-9/11 mindset"", believing that terror attacks were just criminals acts ""and that we're not really at war"". Mr Cheney also defended the White House's record in Iraq, saying it had removed from power a leader who used weapons of mass destruction against his own people and harboured terrorists. ""Saddam Hussein today is in jail, which is exactly where he belongs,"" he added. Mr Edwards hit back, saying Mr Cheney's comments showed ""he and George Bush will do anything and say anything to save their jobs"". ""Protecting America from vicious terrorists is not a Democratic or Republican issue, it's an American issue, and Dick Cheney and George Bush should know that,"" he added. Campaigning has intensified after last week's Republican convention, when opinion polls showed Mr Kerry slipping behind President George Bush in the race for the White House.
Millions at risk of cholera in Ethiopia, WHO warns	 Refugees and children wait to go to a refugee camp in the Ethiopian town of Dolo Ado, about 1 km north of the border with Somalia, July 9, 2011. Cholera, an acute intestinal infection, causes watery diarrhea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not promptly given, according to the United Nations agency. ""Overall, 8.8 million people are at risk of malaria and 5 million of cholera (in Ethiopia),"" WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in a note sent to journalists. Ethiopian health officials have confirmed cases of acute watery diarrhea in the Somali, Afar and Oromiya regions of Ethiopia, he told Reuters. ""It is not confined to the refugees."" WHO is delivering emergency health kits to Ethiopia and helping train health workers in treating malnutrition and in detecting disease outbreaks, he said. Drought across the Horn of Africa, now affecting more than 11 million people in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia, has increased the risk of the spread of infectious diseases, especially polio, cholera and measles, the WHO says. ""So far WHO has not received any report of polio cases, it really important to help countries to keep their polio-free status,"" Jasarevic said. Somalis fleeing severe drought and intensified fighting have been arriving at the rate of more than 1,700 a day in Ethiopia, where 4.5 million people now need assistance, nearly a 50 percent rise since April, he said. Two million children in Ethiopia are at risk of catching measles, a disease that can be deadly in children, he said. Ethiopian officials reported 17,584 measles cases and 114 deaths during the first half of the year, UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado said. The majority of cases were in children.
Somalis displaced by drought hit by Mogadishu rains	 People who have fled the drought in Somalia to camps near the capital Mogadishu have now been hit by days of heavy rain. Aid workers say five people, including three children, had died of exposure. A doctor told the BBC that people could not find shelter from the cold rain. The victims have been displaced by a drought that has devastated large parts of the Horn of Africa. Some 10 million people are said to be affected across the region. Osman Duflay, a Mogadishu doctor, told the BBC's World Update programme that camp residents were facing ""disaster"". ""Especially the under-fives and the pregnant women, they're suffering from malnutrition and communicable disease like the measles, diarrhoea and pneumonia,"" he said. Earlier this week Mark Bowden, the UN humanitarian affairs co-ordinator for Somalia, told the BBC that the country was close to famine. ""The next few months are critical,"" he said. Last week Somalia's al-Shabab Islamist militia - which has been fighting the Mogadishu government - said it was lifting its ban on foreign aid agencies provided they did not show a ""hidden agenda"". The drought is said to be the worst affecting by the Horn of Africa's in 60 years.
News Corp's Les Hinton resigns amid phone-hack scandal	 Les Hinton, one of the top executives of Rupert Murdoch's embattled News Corporation media empire, has quit. Mr Hinton was chief executive of Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal. Mr Murdoch said the resignation brought him ""much sadness"". Rebekah Brooks - chief executive of the media group's UK newspaper arm, News International - also quit on Friday. She was arrested on Sunday, the 10th arrest made by police investigating phone hacking by the News of the World. Mr Murdoch apologised for ""serious wrongdoings"" by the News of the World, in full-page advertisements signed by him, in Britain's main national newspapers on Saturday. Mr Hinton led News International from 1995-2007, when the UK's News of the World was hacking phones. Mr Hinton worked for News Corp for more than half a century after joining Mr Murdoch's business as a cub reporter with the Adelaide News in Australia. In a statement, Mr Hinton said: ""I have watched with sorrow from New York as the News of the World story has unfolded. ""I have seen hundreds of news reports of both actual and alleged misconduct during the time I was executive chairman of News International and responsible for the company. ""The pain caused to innocent people is unimaginable.
China receives Libyan opposition leader, recognizes NTC as ""important dialogue partner"
" The United States has recognised the Libyan opposition as the country's ""legitimate governing authority"". The move means billions of dollars of Libyan assets frozen in US banks could be released to the rebels. The decision was announced by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a diplomatic meeting in Istanbul. Western and Arab members of the Libya Contact Group are drawing up a plan to end hostilities, which will be presented to Col Muammar Gaddafi. ""The United States views the Gaddafi regime as no longer having any legitimate authority in Libya,"" Mrs Clinton said. ""And so I am announcing today that, until an interim authority is in place, the United States will recognise the TNC [Transitional National Council] as the legitimate governing authority for Libya, and we will deal with it on that basis."" Continue reading the main story This move means the US and other countries will be able to unblock some $30bn in frozen assets to assist the Libyan opposition. It's a financial boost for the TNC but also adds to their credibility. Because the US only recognises states and not governments, the wording - calling the TNC the ""legitimate governing authority"" - was chosen carefully. It may sound like semantics but the wording had legal implications. There were also concerns about recognising unelected representatives without a clear road map for a transition to democracy. She added: ""The TNC has offered important assurances today, including the promise to pursue a process of democratic reform that is inclusive both geographically and politically."" The TNC said it ""expressed its gratitude and respect to the people of the United States"", which it called ""the protector and promoter of democracy and freedom across the world"". In Istanbul, other foreign ministers said the whole contact group - including more than 30 Western and Arab countries - agreed to recognise the rebels."
" (CNN) -- A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck offshore some 58 miles south-southwest of Valparaiso, Chile, on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Tremors from the quake were felt in the nation's capital, Santiago, which is east of Valparaiso. Chile is on the so-called ""Ring of Fire,"" an arc of volcanoes and fault lines circling the Pacific Basic that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions."
" TAOISEACH Brian Cowen last night definitely ruled out a third Lisbon Treaty referendum or a change of Government if there is a 'No' vote. In his final plea for a 'Yes' vote tomorrow, Mr Cowen claimed that passing the Lisbon Treaty would mark the first step in Ireland's road to economic recovery. And he said that a 'No' vote would lead to a period of uncertainty and that a two-speed Europe could follow. When asked if failure to pass the treaty would prompt a change of Government, Mr Cowen responded: ""Absolutely not."" ""There won't be a Lisbon Three -- that's for sure,"" he said at Fianna Fail's last press conference before tomorrow's vote. ""I think what's clear is that we would face into a period of extraordinary uncertainty in Europe and for Europe in terms of the direction it would take. ""You could well see the development of a two-speed Europe. Several people have speculated on that. At a time of major economic challenge, what we need is stability and certainty in the direction which Europe is taking."" The Lisbon Treaty represents a ""painstaking consensus"" which has been built up for many years between 27 countries, Mr Cowen said. Rejecting suggestions that the FAS controversy could affect the outcome of the vote, Mr Cowen said he believed voters were separating the issues and examining the treaty on its own merits. Other issues would be dealt with in the following weeks, he told the conference which was attended by a huge contingent of international media."
" Charlie Gilmour, son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, has been jailed for 16 months for a rampage at a student fees protest in central London. Gilmour, 21, was accused of throwing a bin at a convoy of cars containing Prince Charles, sitting on a protection officer's car and smashing a window. The Cambridge University student, of Billingshurst, West Sussex, was bailed in May so he could finish his exams. Kingston Crown Court heard he had taken LSD and valium before the incident. Gilmour was among thousands of people who protested in Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square on 9 December 2010. He was photographed hanging from a union flag on the Cenotaph during the march, an incident for which he later apologised. He was also seen leaping on to the bonnet of a Jaguar car that formed part of a royal convoy containing the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and hurling a rubbish bin at the vehicle. The car carried royal protection officers accompanying the couple as they were chauffeured up Regent Street in a Rolls-Royce to a Royal Variety Performance. Gilmour's barrister David Spens QC argued he was ""ashamed of himself"" for his behaviour, which was sparked by his ""intoxication by drink and drugs"", and had no recollection of throwing the bin. He was described as ""out of his mind"" by the time he arrived in Parliament Square that day as he had been drinking and taking drugs since the previous night."
" Muammar Gaddafi's security forces are firing on Libyan citizens and killing scores simply because they're demanding change and accountability. Libyan authorities should allow peaceful protesters to have their say. (New York) - Government security forces have killed at least 84 people in three days of protests in several cities in Libya, Human Rights Watch said today, based on telephone interviews with local hospital staff and witnesses. The Libyan authorities should immediately end attacks on peaceful protesters and protect them from assault by pro-government armed groups, Human Rights Watch said. Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the eastern Libyan cities of Benghazi, Baida, Ajdabiya, Zawiya, and Derna on February 18, 2011, following violent attacks against peaceful protests the day before that killed 20 people in Benghazi, 23 in Baida, three in Ajdabiya, and three in Derna. Hospital sources told Human Rights Watch that security forces killed 35 people in Benghazi on February 18, almost all with live ammunition. ""Muammar Gaddafi's security forces are firing on Libyan citizens and killing scores simply because they're demanding change and accountability,"" said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. ""Libyan authorities should allow peaceful protesters to have their say."" The protests in Benghazi on February 18 began during funerals for the 20 demonstrators killed by security forces the day before. Eyewitnesses told Human Rights Watch that security forces with distinctive yellow uniforms opened fire on protesters near the Fadil Bu Omar Katiba, a security force base in the center of Benghazi. One protester told Human Rights Watch he witnessed four men shot dead. By 11 p.m. on February 18, Al Jalaa Hospital in Benghazi had received the bodies of 35 people killed that day, a senior hospital official told Human Rights Watch. He said the deaths had been caused by gunshot wounds to the chest, neck, and head. Two sources at the hospital confirmed to Human Rights Watch that the death toll for February 17 was 20, and that at least 45 people had been wounded by bullets. The senior hospital official told Human Rights Watch, ""We put out a call to all the doctors in Benghazi to come to the hospital and for everyone to contribute blood because I've never seen anything like this before."" Witnesses said that after the February 18 shootings, protesters in Benghazi continued on to the courthouse and gathered there throughout the evening, the crowd swelling to thousands. In Baida, further to the east, protesters on February 18 buried the 23 people who had been shot dead the day before. One protester told Human Rights Watch that police were patrolling the streets but he had seen no further clashes."
" BEIJING, Feb.18 (Xinhuanet) -- Brazil's World Cup organizers are adding some star power to their team. Recently retired Brazilian striker Ronaldo was appointed a member of the World Cup 2014 organising committee in Sao Paulo on Wednesday. The 34-year-old hung up his boots earlier in the week. He made the announcement at the city's football museum and received a special award from Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin. The highest goalscorer in the competition's history is enthusiastic about his new role. Ronaldo, Member of WC 2014 Organizing Committee, said, ""It was an honour to be able to help the governor of Sao Paulo, and to make Sao Paulo a better place for the best World Cup of all time."""
" Ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks has been arrested by police investigating phone hacking and bribery at the News of the World. The 43-year-old was arrested by appointment on Sunday on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption. Mrs Brooks, who has denied wrongdoing, was released at midnight. She quit News International on Friday as pressure mounted over her role in the deepening hacking scandal. Mrs Brooks was editor of the paper between 2000 and 2003, during which time the phone belonging to murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was tampered with. BBC Business Editor Robert Peston said News International was not aware that Mrs Brooks would be arrested when her resignation was being discussed at the company on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. She eventually resigned on Friday. Our correspondent added: ""It's certainly the most extraordinary development. Rebekah Brooks is incredibly close to the most powerful people in the UK - the current prime minister, the previous prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. More or less every senior person of influence within Britain."" He said it could now potentially jeopardise her appearance at the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on Tuesday, where she is due to answer MPs questions on the hacking scandal. ""I would assume having been arrested it's now almost impossible for her to appear. It's very difficult for MPs to ask her questions that wouldn't be seen to be impinging on the police investigation,"" he added. A spokesman for Mrs Brooks says the Met police notified her on Friday, after her resignation had been agreed, of an appointment with its officers."
" At least five people have been killed during widespread anti-government demonstrations in Yemen. Four people were killed in the southern port city of Aden by gunfire as police moved to disperse protesters, medical officials and witnesses said. In the city of Taiz, one person was killed and many injured when a grenade was thrown from a car at protesters. And in the capital Sanaa, supporters and opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed on the streets. During what has been described as a nationwide ""Friday of rage"", tens of thousands of protesters in several cities demanded that Mr Saleh leave office immediately. ""Ali, listen, the people want you out,"" they chanted. They are angry about corruption and unemployment in the country. In Aden, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to try to break up thousands of anti-government demonstrators. Some protesters said live rounds were fired. Four people were killed, medical officials and witnesses said. Four government cars and a local government building in the Sheik Othman neighbourhood were torched and clashes continued after dark, the Associated Press news agency said."
" The unrest in Libya has largely been centred in the eastern city of Benghazi. Ahmed, a businessman and resident of Benghazi who declined to give his real name for his own safety, told Al Jazeera that hospitals in the city were overwhelmed with the number of dead and injured and were running out of blood."
" Specialist Armin J Cruz had confessed to forcing three naked inmates at Abu Ghraib jail to crawl along a floor before making them simulate sex acts. Cruz, 24, was spotted in a photo taken during abuses committed in October. He is the eighth American soldier to be charged over the abuses but the first from military intelligence. In addition to the jail sentence - four months short of the maximum term - the court reduced Cruz to the rank of private and gave him a bad conduct discharge. Cruz is filing an appeal against the sentence. At the trial, Cruz testified that he had gone to a cell in the prison one night in October and ordered the prisoners to be stripped and then took part in actual abuse. The prosecution said the actions of Cruz and others tarnished the image of the US army and of the nation and would make future enemies readier to fight them. But the defence called him an American hero who had made one mistake. Lawyer Stephen Karns said earlier his client took ""full responsibility"" for his actions and was ""extremely remorseful [with] great sympathy for those who have suffered abuse in the prison"". The US has tried to transform Abu Ghraib since the scandal but questions remain as to how high up the chain of command the abuses were sanctioned, the BBC's Mike Donkin reports from Iraq."
" Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Gen. David Petraeus, the outgoing top commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan, formally transferred authority Monday to incoming commander Marine Corps Gen. John Allen. Several senior Afghan and NATO officials, including U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, attended the change-of-command ceremony in Kabul. ""Throughout, we will keep our eyes on the horizon -- the future of Afghanistan, "" Allen told the audience, "" a nation of free people at peace, governed under its constitution, pursuing economic enterprise and development, in a secure and stable environment free from the extremism and terrorism that has plagued this wonderful country and its people for more than a generation. In the end -- together we will prevail."" He inherits a force that is coming under renewed attack just as NATO prepares to begin the first phase of handing over provincial security to Afghan security forces. On Monday, three service members with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force were killed in a blast in eastern Afghanistan. Their deaths bring to 34 the number of international troops who have died in Afghanistan in July.. Since the start of this year, 314 coalition soldiers have died in the country. For his part, Petraeus plans to retire from the Army at the end of August and assume the CIA director's job September 6. ""I wanted this job,"" Petraeus, 58, said at his Senate confirmation hearing. ""I am taking off the uniform I have worn for 37 years to do this the right way."""
" SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- A large cloud that appeared over North Korea in satellite images several days ago was not the result of a nuclear explosion, according to a U.S. official. South Korea's Yonhap news agency is reporting a huge explosion shook North Korea's northernmost province on Thursday producing a mushroom cloud over 4 kilometers (two miles) wide. The blast coincided with the anniversary of North Korea's founding on Sepember 9 when various military activities are staged. The U.S. official said the cloud could be the result of a forest fire. South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-yong said the government was aware of the reports and is checking them. ""I have no information about the size of the damage of the explosion,"" he said on Sunday, according to Yonhap. Chung also said he believed there was no correlation between the explosion and reports of North Korea preparing for a possible nuclear test. The New York Times reported on Saturday that U.S. President George W. Bush and his top advisers recently received intelligence reports that could indicate North Korea is preparing its first nuclear test, citing senior officials with access to the intelligence. John Irvine, a reporter for Britain's ITN TV who is in Pyongyang, said there has been no official response from the North Korean government, although there is pressure to provide an explanation. ""I'm touring outside Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, right now with the British Junior Foreign Minister Bill Rammell, who has just told me that he is demanding a response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here in North Korea,"" Irvine reported Sunday."
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" Reports suggest that dozens of people were killed in the raids, including a number of civilians. The attack comes a day after clashes between Pakistani troops and militants in the South Waziristan town of Wana, in which at least six civilians died. Al-Qaeda suspects are often said to be sheltering with tribesmen in the area."
" Bahrain's biggest Shia opposition bloc says it is planning to pull out of talks set up by the Sunni-led government in the wake of pro-democracy protests. A spokesman for the group, al-Wifaq, said the national dialogue was not serious and they would not be attending Sunday's session. The bloc had complained that the opposition had been granted too few seats in the talks. The dialogue was launched on 2 July. An al-Wifaq spokesman said the decision to abandon the national dialogue would be put to the Wifaq leadership for ratification. ""We have tried but without success to make it a serious dialogue,"" the spokesman told the French news agency, AFP. Announcing the start of the talks earlier this month, King Hamad Bin Issa Al Khalifa said all options were on the table. The discussions follow months of anti-government protests in the Gulf kingdom that left more than 30 people dead. Hundreds of opposition supporters have been jailed. Al-Wifaq has said it is not seeking the fall of the government in Shia-majority Bahrain but is seeking reform."
" Nine Asian countries are now confirmed or believed to have cases of bird flu, which has killed at least seven people, including a six-year-old Thai boy, and led to the slaughter or death of around 19 million chickens. Pakistan is the latest country to announce the presence of bird flu, and a United Nations official says that Laos is also affected. Pakistan had detected a form of bird flu in its chicken population. The commissioner for livestock husbandry said it was not a strain of bird flu that can spread to humans -- something that has happened in other parts of Asia. ""We have confirmed this. The strand that jumps to humans is not in them,"" Commissioner Rafaqat Hussain Raja said. Faizullah Kakar, an official at the WHO (World Health Organisation) office in Pakistan, said it had no confirmation of an outbreak of bird flu in the South Asian nation. The disease has already hit Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam, with a weaker strain in Taiwan. In response to the swift spread of the outbreak, countries around the world have banned imports of live and frozen poultry from the infected countries. The WHO pleaded yesterday with the global scientific community to accelerate the search for a cure. Attempts to tackle the virus are being frustrated by its fast rate of mutation as well as its spread across at least eight countries. Thailand has announced it now has 10 suspected human cases of the bird flu virus as well as three confirmed cases. It earlier reported the country's first confirmed death from the disease. A six-year-old boy from Kanchanburi province died late on Sunday night in a Bangkok hospital. Suphan Buri and Kanchanaburi are the epicentre of Thailand's bird flu epidemic, which has forced a cull believed to have killed nearly 11 million chickens across 24 of the kingdom's 76 provinces. However, the agricultural ministry has revealed that the virus has now been detected in poultry in eight more provinces. South Korea has reported a new suspected case of bird flu, prompting massive quarantine efforts. An exclusion zone has been established around a farm, south of the capital Seoul, where thousands of chickens died last week. The disease has hit 16 areas in South Korea, forcing the slaughter of nearly two million chickens and ducks, since it surfaced on December 15. Vietnam has been the worst affected by the re-emergence of the bird flu. The World Health Organisation estimates that six people have since died of the human form of the disease. An eight-year-old girl has also tested positive and is in critical but stable condition, and the WHO says nine other people - some of whom have already died - could have contracted the virus. Indonesia's government has been accused of covering up a widespread outbreak of bird flu after reports that the disease was first detected up to two months ago. Until Sunday, officials had blamed an outbreak of viral disease among poultry on a contagious infection. Although no widespread cull has been ordered, the government says around 4.7 million fowl have died or been killed, mostly on the islands of Bali and Java. On January 15, Taiwan confirmed two farms in the island's south had detected a different strain of bird flu - the less virulent H5N2 variant - and ordered culls of 55,000 chickens. No detections have been made since. A farm was found to have bird flu in early January. Agriculture authorities banned the trade of poultry from farms within a 30-kilometre radius and nearly 35,000 birds were culled or died. The outbreak appears to have been contained and no human infections have emerged. Bird flu has been found in samples of chickens from a farm outside Phnom Penh that was among three where 3,000 chickens died in recent weeks. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation warns this could be the tip of the iceberg as Cambodia lacks the means to tackle the disease. A Vientiane-based UN official says thousands of chickens have died in Laos from suspected bird flu. He has urged the government to come clean about the outbreak to prevent human infections. He says until Friday, the ministry of agriculture was talking about fowl cholera. Samples from infected chickens in Laos have been sent to Vietnam for testing. Pakistan is the latest country to announce it has detected bird flu. An official of the agriculture ministry says the virus has been found in chickens in the southern port city of Karachi."
"We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war,"" Mr Kouchner said in an interview on French TV and radio. He was speaking ahead of a visit to Russia on Monday, during which Iran is likely to feature prominently. Iran's nuclear programme will also be one of the main issues for the UN nuclear watchdog's annual conference, starting in Vienna on Monday. Iran denies it is trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and says it only wants nuclear power to generate electricity for civilian purposes. But it has repeatedly rejected UN demands to give up the enrichment of uranium, which the US and other Western states fear is being diverted to a nuclear weapons project. Mr Kouchner said negotiations with Iran should continue ""right to the end"", but that an Iranian nuclear weapon would pose ""a real danger for the whole world"". He said a number of large French companies had been asked not to tender for business in Iran. ""We are not banning French companies from submitting. We have advised them not to. These are private companies."" ""But I think that it has been heard and we are not the only ones to have done this."" Mr Kouchner will seek agreement with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over tighter UN sanctions to try to force Iran to give up enrichment, the French foreign ministry says.
Indonesia falls victim to bird flu	 Indonesia yesterday admitted that millions of birds in dozens of districts across the sprawling archipelago have been dying of the avian flu virus and other illnesses for the last five months. Officials in the world's fourth most populous nation insisted that no human cases of bird flu had been reported. But independent health experts disputed the government's chicken death figures, saying the death toll was more than twice the official estimate. The director general of animal husbandry in the agriculture ministry, Sofyan Sudarjad, said 4.7 million birds in 51districts had died since August. About 60% of these had died from Newcastle's disease, which is harmless to humans, while the remainder had been infected with bird flu. ""The government is not trying to conceal that avian influenza has attacked millions of chickens in Indonesia,"" he said. ""Besides attacking egg-laying hens, the avian influenza has also attacked [other] chickens, quails and ducklings."" If correct, this would mean Indonesia's poultry industry has been affected more severely than Thailand and Vietnam, the two countries where human cases have been detected. A seventh person is sus pected of having died of bird flu in Thailand, and the virus's rapid spread has put the entire region on a health alert. More than 9 million chickens have been culled in Thailand and 3 million in Vietnam. The World Health Organisation warned yesterday that it might take six months to develop a bird flu vaccine as virus samples from all the infected areas would have to be collated before a definitive antidote could be produced. Indonesian chickens first started falling ill in August near Pekalongan, in central Java, Mr Sofyan said. The death toll reportedly peaked in November when 2.6 million died and then fell to 556,000 last month. A crisis team of officials from the health and agriculture ministries has reportedly been meeting for months to coordinate a response, particularly if human cases were detected, but an independent source close to the team said no reports of humans falling ill had been received.
US official held in Pakistan 'is CIA'	 Raymond Davis, a US contractor, has been held for more than a fortnight accused of murder after admitting shooting dead two men in Lahore in self defence. Despite the incident, the US has insisted he is entitled to diplomatic immunity, arguing that he is an ""administrative and technical official"" linked to its Lahore consulate. Pakistan intelligence officials however believe that Davis, a former special forces soldier, is employed by the CIA. ""It's beyond a shadow of a doubt,"" one official told the Guardian. Rana Sanaullah, the Punjab law minister, told the newspaper: ""This is not the work of a diplomat. He was doing espionage and surveillance activities,"" The allegations came as a US drone attack on Sunday killed at least five militants in South Waziristan, the first such attack since Davis' arrest on January 27.
Clinton unveils health care plan in Iowa	 The proposal would mandate coverage for 47 million uninsured Americans but maintain a role for private insurance companies in what she said would be a simplified system with more choices for consumers. ""It is time for us to come together and start living up to our values, to provide quality affordable health care for every single American,"" the New York senator said in a speech in the early voting state of Iowa. Clinton is the last of the top Democratic candidates to roll out all of her proposals for an overhaul of the health care system and coverage for uninsured Americans, one of the prime issues in the November 2008 White House race. Her plan includes individual mandates for coverage of all Americans, similar to the plan by rival John Edwards but not included in Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's proposal. It also provides tax credits for Americans who cannot afford insurance and small businesses straining to provide it, offers more choices for coverage, ends discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and expands Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Clinton's advisers said the plan would cost about $110 billion a year, paid for through a combination of cost savings and the expiration of some of President George W. Bush's tax cuts for the most wealthy. The plan is less dramatic than Clinton's failed 1994 initiative, when her husband Bill Clinton was president. She said she learned from that proposal, which was seen as overly bureaucratic and required employers to provide coverage through tightly regulated health maintenance organizations. ""This is not government run. There will be no more bureaucracy. This plan expands personal choice and increases competition to keep costs down,"" she said. ""These are new times and this is a new plan."" But it drew quick criticism from Republicans, who called it more of the same, and from Democratic rivals unimpressed with her claims to have learned from past failures. ""While she talks about the political scars she bears, the personal scars borne by the American people are far greater,"" said Democratic rival Chris Dodd, a Connecticut senator.
South Korea to go ahead with sensitive military drill	 South Korea has insisted it will go ahead with a controversial live-fire military exercise, despite serious concern expressed by Russia and China. A defence ministry official said the exercise, in a disputed area, would go ahead once bad weather had lifted. North Korea says the drill, on the island it shelled last month with four lives lost, would be a provocation and has threatened to retaliate. The UN Security Council is holding an emergency meeting in New York. Russia, which has expressed ""serious concern"" about the possible escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula, urged the Security Council to send a ""restraining signal"" to both Koreas. The issue threatens to divide permanent members of the Security Council, with China and Russia urging South Korea to put off the exercise but the US saying its ally is entitled to make sure it is ""properly prepared in the face of... ongoing provocations"". The South Korean military's determination to hold the drills remains unchanged, a defence ministry official said on condition of anonymity. ""There is no plan to cancel the exercise. The factor we're looking at is the weather condition,"" the official said. Pyongyang is threatening to retaliate if the South goes ahead with planned military exercises on Yeonpyeong island - close to the two countries' disputed sea border, the Northern Limit Line, and within view of the North Korean mainland. It says it will deal an ""unpredictable self-defensive blow"" at the South Koreans, ""deadlier"" than when the North shelled the island during similar live-fire exercises on 23 November.
Gbagbo orders peacekeepers to leave Ivory Coast	 Incumbent Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo has demanded that all foreign peacekeepers leave the country immediately, escalating a dispute over last month's presidential election. His spokesperson accused UN and French troops of colluding with former rebels. The UN and major powers have recognised Mr Gbagbo's rival, Alassane Ouattara, as the winner of the 28 November poll. Mr Gbagbo insists he has won. Mr Ouattara is currently under UN protection at a hotel in Abidjan. In a statement read on national television on Saturday, government spokeswoman Jacqueline Oble said Mr Gbagbo had ""requested the immediate departure of the Onuci [UN mission] and the French forces supporting it"". The UN force, the statement added, had ""interfered seriously in the internal affairs of Ivory Coast"". Earlier, the UN said one of its patrols had come under fire as it entered the mission compound in Abidjan, the country's main city. Early on Friday, opposition supporters were arrested in Grand Bassam, about 30km (20 miles) east of Abidjan, and there are reports of several people being killed there. Continue reading the main story Ever since the United Nations mission chose to certify the decision of the Independent Electoral Commission giving victory to the opposition, they have been targeted by attacks on state television. Now they have been ordered to leave in an official communique that says they were destablising the country and accused them of taking the side of the opposition and the ex-rebel movement. On Friday night a standard UN patrol was followed by armed men, who opened fire on the UN base. The 10,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission is unlikely to leave and there are few countries that recognise Mr Gbagbo's government. The UN force is currently defending the lagoon-side hotel that shelters Mr Ouattara's opposition government. Its radio station UNOCI FM is one of the few alternative news sources for Ivorians, after opposition newspapers were banned and many foreign news channels taken off the air. Non-essential UN staff have already left. Mr Ouattara's supporters have said they would take to the streets again, following gun battles which left 20 dead in Abidjan on Thursday.
Fuel imports into France surge as protests imperil transportation	 Are you affected by the strikes in France? Share your stories, photos and videos with CNN iReport. Paris, France (CNN) -- Fuel continues to flow into France -- increasingly, from refineries out of the country -- as the nation deals with the ongoing effects of strikes that have affected car, train and plane travel throughout the European nation. Jean-Louis Shilansky, the president of the French Union of Petroleum Industries, said 10 of France's 200 fuel terminals were blocked Monday by protesters opposed to a government cost-saving move that would raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. French unions had said that production has stopped at 12 of the nation's refineries. Shilansky said there is a four-week supply of fuel in France, and any shortages can be resolved with shipments from other countries. In recent days, for instance, fuel imports ""have increased substantially"" from Russia, Italy, Spain and Germany, he said. ""The trouble is really logistics,"" Shilansky told CNN, and getting fuel to terminals. About 1,000 gas stations across France have run out of fuel because strikers had blocked access to oil refineries and depots, Alexandre de Benoist, a Union of Independent Oil Importers official, told CNN on Monday. The work stoppages at refineries has had a direct effect on the two main Paris airports, Orly and Charles de Gaulle. Half the flights from Orly airport will be canceled Tuesday because of the strikes, and 30 percent of flights from other airports in the city will be canceled, the French aviation authority announced Monday. Both airports are supplied by a pipeline that comes directly from refineries that were shut down Friday, according to Trapil, the company that owns the line. But Shilansky said that French airports are not in imminent danger of running out of fuel. If necessary, he said, France always can import more jet fuel. French workers began their latest round of strikes a week ago, protesting against government plans to raise the retirement age and institute other pension reforms. The government, which contends that France can no longer afford the earlier retirement payments, has shown no sign of backing down. Analysts say pension reform will likely be a defining moment in the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy.
WRAPUP 4-French protests intensify, government stands firm	 * Government says will not permit industry blockades PARIS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - French truck drivers staged go-slow operations on highways, trains were cancelled and petrol stations ran out of fuel on Monday as strikers dug in ahead of a Senate vote this week on an unpopular pension overhaul. Wider strikes will hit everything from air travel to mail on Tuesday when unions opposed to President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age have called for one more en masse street protest against the unpopular pension bill. With a final Senate vote on the legislation expected from Wednesday, this could be a make-or-break week for Sarkozy. The centre-right government, which has stood firm through months of anti-pension reform protests, assured the public infrastructure would not freeze up despite a week-long strike at refineries that has dried up supplies at hundreds of France's roughly 12,500 petrol stations. ""The situation is critical,"" a spokeswoman at Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) said. ""Anyone looking for diesel in the Paris and Nantes (Western France) regions will have problems."" Sarkozy, in the northern seaside town of Deauville for talks with the leaders of Germany and Russia, said he would not back down. ""The reform is essential and France is committed to it and will go ahead with it just as our German partners did,"" he told reporters after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Only 13 percent of rail workers kept up a week-long strike on Monday but workers at France's 12 refineries were in their seventh day of a strike and protesters blocked access at many fuel distribution depots around the country. The UFIP oil industry lobby has said France could see serious fuel supply problems by mid-week, meaning the government may have to tap emergency reserves. The DGAC aviation authority urged airlines to reduce flights to Paris's Orly airport by 50 percent and to all other airports by 30 percent on Tuesday. Tuesday will be the sixth major work stoppage and street demonstration called by labour union confederations since June but the unrest has intensified since last week when unions at railways and refineries began open-ended industrial action, joined now by truck drivers and delivery workers.	
Israeli air strike kills five in Gaza Strip	 An Israeli air strike has killed five people in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources and the Israeli military. The five killed were militants, Palestinian hospital sources said. The strike targeted ""a squad of terror operatives"", Israel said, ""who were preparing to launch rockets towards Israeli territory"". Rocket fire from Gaza has dropped sharply since Israel's devastating 22-day offensive in December 2008. Hamas, the Islamist group which controls the Gaza Strip, says it has tried to stop rocket fire aimed at Israel. Palestinian sources later identified the five dead as members of a small militant group, Ansar al-Sunna, Reuters news agency reported. In the past 18 months one person in Israel, a Thai farm worker, has been killed by a rocket fired from Gaza. According to Israeli Defence Force figures, 180 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel by militants in 2010. The United Nations says that in 2010, 55 Palestinians, including 22 civilians, have been killed by Israeli military action in Gaza. The UN says over 200 Palestinians have been injured in the same period.	
Report: 5 Palestinians killed after Israeli airstrike in Gaza	 (CNN) -- An Israeli military strike killed five Palestinians in central Gaza on Saturday night, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency reported. The Israel Defense Forces said, in a statement, that its aircraft ""targeted"" and struck ""a squad of terror operatives who were preparing to launch rockets towards Israeli territory"" from that area. The statement did not detail if there were any fatalities as a result. Citing eyewitnesses, the Palestinian Authority-controlled news agency Wafa reported that five people had been ""martyred"" in what it described as an ""Israeli drone strike."" The incident took place in the Qarara neighborhood, east of Deir Balah. The strike comes the same week that the general heading the Israeli government's program to ease the economic blockade of Gaza cited major progress in boosting the flow of goods into the territory. Major Gen. Eitan Dangot estimated Tuesday that 300 trucks per day could soon pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing point -- up from 80 to 90 such trucks before last June. But he also sounded a note of concern regarding what he called the recent upswing of rockets and mortars fired into Israel by Palestinian militants from inside Gaza. Israel's military said Saturday that more than 200 such missiles, rockets and mortar shells have been fired onto its soil since the beginning of this year. ""In the last weeks, we are facing launching of rockets and mortar shells around Gaza, all over from the north to the south at Kerem Shalom,"" he said. But a recent report about conditions in Gaza -- entitled ""Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza Blockade"" and signed by 22 groups -- presented a much bleaker picture in Gaza. ""Israel's failure to live up to its commitments and the lack of international action to lift the blockade are depriving Palestinians in Gaza of access to clean water, electricity, jobs and a peaceful future,"" said Jeremy Hobbs, director of Oxfam International, one of the groups that signed the report. ""Only a fraction of the aid needed has made it to the civilians trapped in Gaza."
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" The aftershocks have left many people scared Aftershocks are continuing to rock the Indonesian island of Sumatra, following major earthquakes earlier this week. A temblor with a magnitude of 6.9 struck off the island's west coast on Friday, prompting officials to briefly issue another tsunami warning. The aftershock was 153km (95 miles) southwest of Bengkulu, the area hardest hit by the series of quakes. At least 13 people are known to have died and thousands more have been left homeless by the earthquakes. Earthquake survivors try to salvage their belongings The first earthquake, on Wednesday evening, had a magnitude of 8.4, making it the world's strongest this year. It was followed by a 7.8 magnitude quake and a series of shocks. A number of tsunami warnings have been issued and lifted. See where the earthquakes hit The damage is still being assessed but officials say it appears not to be as extensive as initially feared. The worst of the destruction is in the areas around the cities of Bengkulu and Padang, on Sumatra's west coast. Hundreds of buildings are reported to have collapsed. The BBC's Lucy Williamson, in Bengkulu, says the aftershocks are frightening people, especially in areas to the north of the province where up to 80% of the houses have been destroyed. The local government has begun delivering food and tents to those sleeping outside, but its relief effort is suffering from a lack of vehicles to carry the aid. Less than a third of areas in the badly-hit north Bengkulu district have so far been reached and tents are being restricted to five for each area of the district, our correspondent says. Several international aid agencies have already pledged thousands of dollars in emergency aid. But Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that an aerial survey of the area had shown that overall damage was ""minimal"". Wednesday's earthquake was one of the most powerful in Indonesia since the tremor that caused the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. That measured 8.9 and struck under the sea near the northern Sumatran province of Aceh, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people around the rim of the Indian Ocean. Two earthquakes in same area, south-east of Padang, Sumatra First earthquake at 1810 (1110 GMT) on Wednesday, magnitude 8.4 Second earthquake at 0649 on Thursday (2349 GMT on Wednesday), magnitude 7.8 Third earthquake of magnitude 6.4 at 1748 (0948 GMT) on Thursday, off northern Sulawesi"
" WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is scouring through an Iraq war database to prepare for potential fallout from an expected release by WikiLeaks of some 400,000 secret military reports. The massive release is set to dwarf the whistleblower website's publication of 77,000 classified US military documents on the war in Afghanistan in July, including the names of Afghan informants and other details from raw intelligence reports. Another 15,000 are due out soon. In order to prepare for today's anticipated release of sensitive intelligence on the US-led Iraq war, officials set up a 120-person taskforce several weeks ago to comb through the database and ""determine what the possible impacts might be,"" said Colonel David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman. The Department of Defence is concerned the leak compiles ""significant activities"" from the war, or SIGACTS, which include incidents such as known attacks against coalition troops, Iraqi security forces, civilians or infrastructure in the country. The data was culled from an Iraq-based database that contained ""significant acts, unit-level reporting, tactical reports, things of that nature,"" said Lapan, noting that Pentagon officials still do not know how many and which documents would be released. He urged WikiLeaks to return the documents to the US military, which he said found no need to redact them in the interim. ""Our position is redactions don't help, it's returning the documents to their rightful owner,"" Lapan said. ""We don't believe WikiLeaks or others have the expertise needed. It's not as simple as just taking out names. There are other things and documents that aren't names that are also potentially damaging."" For the Iraq leak, Wikileaks is believed to be teaming up with the same news outlets as it did for the Afghanistan document dump - The New York Times, Britain's Guardian and Der Spiegel of Germany - and Newsweek magazine has reported that all partners would release the material simultaneously. The July release caused uproar in the US government, with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA director Michael Hayden warning it could undermine the post-9/11 effort to break down walls between rival intelligence agencies."
" The US military has assembled a 120-member team to prepare for the expected publication of some 400,000 Iraq war documents on the Wikileaks website. The documents are thought to concern battle activity, Iraqi security forces and civilian casualties. The Pentagon said it wants the documents back to avoid potentially damaging information being released. The timing is unclear but it would dwarf Wikileaks' July publication of more than 70,000 Afghan war files. Pentagon spokesman Col Dave Lapan said the team was reviewing the files on the Iraq war to discover what the possible impact of the Wikileaks release could be. Col Lapan said the files were from an Iraq-based database that contained ""significant acts, unit-level reporting, tactical reports, things of that nature"". He said the Pentagon did not know the timing of the leak but they were preparing for it to be as early as Monday or Tuesday. Other sources said it may come later in the month. Col Lapan said the files should be returned to the Pentagon because ""we don't believe Wikileaks or others have the expertise needed. It's not as simple as just taking out names. There are other things and documents that aren't names that are also potentially damaging."" Wikileaks' release in July of thousands of documents on the war in Afghanistan prompted US military officials to warn that the whistleblower website might cause the deaths of US soldiers and Afghan civilians because some of the documents contained the names of locals who had helped coalition forces."
" Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The death toll in Friday's three drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal region has gone up to 57, intelligence officials in Pakistan told CNN on Saturday. Two intelligence officials say 15 suspected militants were killed in the first drone strike, which targeted a militant hideout. The second drone strike, which also targeted a militant hideout, killed 17 other suspected militants. In the third, which targeted a training camp, 25 suspected militants were killed. The three assaults occurred in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency, one of the seven districts of Pakistan's volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan. U.S. forces are suspected of carrying out the strikes. The officials say all three occurred in an area of 4 square kilometers. The intelligence officials asked not be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media. CNN's Chris Lawrence and Nasir Habib contributed to this report."
" Libya's leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi, has dismissed reports that he had fled amid the unrest sweeping the country, calling foreign news channels ""dogs"". Speaking to state TV from outside a ruined building, he said: ""I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela,"" after rumours that he had flown to Caracas. Col Gaddafi's statement came after security forces and protesters clashed in the capital for a second night. The UN Security Council is to meet in closed session to discuss Libya. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made the announcement, after speaking to Col Gaddafi on Monday. ""I urged him that the human rights and freedom of assembly and freedom of speech must be fully protected,"" said Mr Ban. The Arab League will also hold an emergency session. Eyewitness reports that military aircraft had fired on protesters in Tripoli have been backed up by Libyan diplomats who have turned against the leadership. But Col Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam said the aircraft had been used only to bomb army bases which had defected to the opposition. The BBC's Jon Leyne, in western Egypt, says the regime now seems to be fighting on multiple fronts, trying to put down the protests and fighting a bitter battle against a growing number of army units that have risen up against the Libyan leader."
" Syrian security forces have opened fire on anti-government protesters in cities across the country, leaving at least 28 people dead, activists say. At least 16 people died in the capital, Damascus, where about 20,000 took part in protests, reports say. The demonstrations appear to be among the largest since the anti-government uprising began in March. The government has launched a ""national dialogue"", but many protesters want President Bashar al-Assad to quit. Protests have regulary taken place following Friday prayers. There were reports of mass demonstrations in several locations including the cities of Homs, Hama, Deraa, Deir al-Zour and Idlib and in the Damascus neighbourhood of Qabun. The Syrian League for the Defence of Human Rights estimated about 20,000 people were protesting in Damascus. Rami Abdel Rahman, of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said more than one million people turned out in just two cities - Hama and Deir al-Zour. ""It's a major development and a message to the authorities that protests are getting bigger,"" he said. Rights activists said at least 16 people had died in Damascus, three in Idlib, two in Deraa and three in Duma."
" The Red Cross said the death toll from a powerful earthquake in central Colombia has risen to 11, as aftershocks shook the region. Walter Cote, director of the country's aid organization, on Sunday, told reporters that 54 people were seriously injured as a result of Saturday's 5.5 quake, which also badly damaged about 400 homes. Among the dead were five people killed on the road between Bogota and the city of Villavicencio, capital of the Meta department. Three of the five were members of the same family -- a father, mother and son -- whose car was struck by falling rocks. The road knocked out by the quake is an important connection that links the center of the country with the eastern region and is heavily used by tourists. The earthquake struck at 0050 IST on Saturday with the epicenter in El Calvario in the department of Meta. A total of 4,181 were injured in the departments of Cundinamarca, Boyaca, Meta and Casanare, according to the Red Cross. Since Saturday's quake, the state seismological service registered numerous aftershocks, with the strongest at 4.1 on the open-ended Ricther scale at 4:39 am local (1509 IST) with the epicenter 50 kilometers from Bogota. The earthquake, which shook this Andean capital for several seconds, was the strongest temblor to jolt the capital in a decade. Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno said on Saturday the capital city of seven million people suffered only minor damage and he considered the emergency over, although police and firefighters remained on alert."
" Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has refused to stand down amid widespread anti-government protests which he said had tarnished the image of the country. In his first major speech since unrest began last week, Col Gaddafi said the whole world looked up to Libya and that protests were ""serving the devil"". He urged his supporters to go out and attack the ""cockroaches"" demonstrating against his rule. Rights groups say nearly 300 have been killed in the violence so far. A defiant and angry Col Gaddafi said that he had brought glory to Libya. As he had no official position from which to resign, he would remain the head of the revolution, he said. He blamed the unrest on ""cowards and traitors"" who were seeking to portray Libya as a place of chaos and to ""humiliate"" Libyans. At other points he referred to the protesters as rats and mercenaries. During the speech there were reports of gunfire on the streets of the capital, Tripoli. In Benghazi, the second largest city, people watching the address reportedly threw shoes at screens as a sign of their anger. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton later described the violence as ""completely unacceptable"". After an emergency session on Tuesday, the UN Security Council condemned the crackdown on protesters and called for an ""immediate end"" to the violence. Continue reading the main story Even by his own bizarre and eccentric standards, the latest speech by Col Gaddafi was breathtaking in its defiance of both the wider world and the reality now facing him. Speaking from his favourite location, Tripoli's bombed-out Bab Al-Azizia Barracks, he referred to the protesters variously as ""cockroaches"" and ""traitors"" who were ""drug-fuelled, drunken and duped"". At times, the Libyan leader seemed to lose control of his temper, shouting his words in Arabic. At others, he paused to adjust his matching khaki shawl and cap. His language, while undoubtedly aimed at shoring up what support he still has in the country, was one of quaint nationalist slogans from the 1960s and 70s. To many of those opposing his rule, who use Twitter, Facebook and the internet, this was a speech from a bygone era from a man whose time they believe has long passed."
" Indian investigators looking into Wednesday's blasts in Mumbai have been examining security camera footage for vital clues, media reports say. An unnamed detective told the state-run DD News that footage from one of the sites revealed ""suspicious behaviour of some people"".. The three explosions killed 18 people and injured dozens. The attacks are the deadliest in India since 2008, when gunmen killed 165 people in a three-day raid in Mumbai. Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the blasts could have been the work of a ""small group"" who had ""worked in a very clandestine manner"". No group has said it planted the bombs but suspicion among some officials and analysts has fallen on the Indian Mujahideen, a group which has claimed to have carried out similar attacks in the past. Investigators who are going through the security camera footage and forensic evidence from the three sites are hoping to get a breakthrough, media reports say. The biggest explosion occurred at the Opera House business district in the south of the city, in an area known as a hub for diamond traders. The detective quoted by DD News said footage from the site showed people behaving suspiciously. ""But until we question them or record their statement, we cannot say anything about their involvement,"" he added. ""We are calling all those people seen in the footage to get a clear picture of the incident or any details that may help us in the probe."""
" Exports of poultry and related products have been halted from Shanghai and the provinces of Anhui and Guangdong as suspected cases there are investigated. Guangdong is on the alert for attempts to smuggle poultry to the lucrative nearby markets of Hong Kong and Macau. The WHO has said China may be missing a ""brief"" chance to halt the outbreak. ""We have repeatedly said there is a brief window of opportunity to act within China,"" said Dr Julie Hall, a WHO official in Beijing. News of the suspected outbreaks in the three new areas ""strongly suggests that the window is getting smaller with each passing day"", she added. Outbreaks of the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu were earlier confirmed in the provinces of Guangxi, Hubei and Hunan. Health officials descended on farms in the Shanghai area without warning on Friday, seizing tens of thousands of birds, spraying disinfectant and burning chicken dung. ""If bird flu is really upon us, our business will take a big hit,"" one worried worker, who did not give his full name, told Reuters news agency at Shanghai's wholesale Fowl and Egg Market. The seizure of birds without promise of compensation in the absence of confirmed cases also provoked anger as a farmer in Shanghai's southern district of Nanhui told Reuters. ""All our chickens were fine,"" said Lao Gu. ""There was nothing wrong with them. Look at me, do I look sick to you? We've lost tens of thousands of yuan. It's the [Communist] Party's fault."""
" Rupert Murdoch has attacked Gordon Brown in a fierce defence of News Corporation's handling of the phone hacking scandal. Murdoch accused British MPs of lying about allegations of corrupt practices at his newspapers. In his first interview about the crisis that has engulfed his media empire, Murdoch said some MPs' comments on the scandal were ""total lies"" and singled out Brown for criticism over the former prime minister's accusation that News International was guilty of ""law-breaking on an industrial scale"". The media baron said Brown ""got it entirely wrong"" when he alleged that Murdoch's British papers had used ""known criminals"" to get access to his personal information when Labour was in power. ""The Browns were always friends of ours"" until the Sun withdrew its support for Labour before the last general election, he told the Wall Street Journal, his flagship US paper. On Twitter, Murdoch's biographer Michael Wolff said he ""seemed genuinely distressed about Gordon Brown not liking him anymore."" Murdoch said he had agreed to appear before the Commons culture, media and sport select committee after being told he would be summoned to a hearing on the hacking scandal next Tuesday. He said he wanted to address ""some of the things that have been said in parliament, some of which are total lies."" The summons was issued after Murdoch said he would not give evidence to the committee until after having appeared before the public inquiry chaired by Lord Justice Leveson. Murdoch, who will join his younger son James and News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks at the hearing, added: ""We think it's important to absolutely establish our integrity in the eyes of the public."" The chairman and chief executive of News Corp also defended the company's handling of the crisis, claiming it had made only ""minor mistakes""."
" Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and CEO of News Corporation, is meeting the family of Milly Dowler. The murdered schoolgirl's mobile phone was allegedly hacked by the News of the World newspaper during the search for her in Surrey in 2002. The Dowlers' solicitor, Mark Lewis, said that the resignation of Rebekah Brooks, who was editor of the newspaper at the time, was ""poetic justice"". Milly's parents and sister will make a statement after the meeting. Rupert Murdoch will use adverts in national newspapers on Saturday to issue a personal apology for the News of the World's ""serious wrongdoing"". The family have already held talks with Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour leader Ed Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg this week."
" A ""humbled and very shaken"" Rupert Murdoch has apologised to the family of Milly Dowler in a meeting in London. The chairman of News Corporation requested the meeting after it emerged that the murdered schoolgirl's mobile phone was hacked by the News of the World newspaper in 2002. Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, and senior executive Les Hinton both resigned on Friday. Mr Hinton said he watched the News of the World story unfold ""with sorrow"". In a statement following the meeting between Mr Murdoch and the Dowlers, the family's solicitor Mark Lewis said: ""We told him that his papers should lead the way in setting the standard of honesty and decency in the field and not what had gone on before. ""At the end of the day actions speak louder than words. ""He was humbled, shaken and sincere. This was something that had hit him on a personal level. He apologised many times and held his head in his hands."" Mr Murdoch has written an apology for the paper's ""serious wrongdoing"", which will appear in national newspaper adverts on Saturday. The advert will state: ""We are deeply sorry for the hurt suffered by the individuals affected. ""We regret not acting faster to sort things out."""
 See the advert to run in UK national newspapers this weekend saying sorry for 'serious wrongdoing' at the News of the World
" The Phoenix mission is led by Peter Smith at the University of Arizona, Tucson, with project management at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver. International contributions are provided by the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Further information about Phoenix is online"
" The family of a Brazilian man shot dead by police in London in 2005 has called for the News Corp phone-hacking investigation to be widened. In a letter to UK PM David Cameron, Jean Charles de Menezes' relatives say the actions of police who investigated Mr Menezes' death should be probed. They say officers may have leaked confidential information to the media. The phone number of a cousin of Mr Menezes was seized from an investigator hired by The News of the World. Twenty-seven-year-old Mr Menezes was mistakenly shot dead on an underground train at Stockwell station six years ago. He was wrongly identified as a suicide bomber days after the 7 July bombings which rocked the capital. The family of Mr Menezes was officially informed on Wednesday that the mobile number of one of his cousins, Alex Pereira, was found in documents that belonged to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. The police have now collected the details of other family members to check whether they had also been hacked. A relative of Mr Menezes, Vivian Figueiredo, told the BBC that at some stages of the investigation it looked like private information on the case was being leaked to the media. In the letter to Mr Cameron, the Menezes family says some members the London Metropolitan Police were too close to journalists from Rupert Murdorch's News Corp organisation."
" India's opposition Hindu nationalists look set to gain power in southern Karnataka state, considered to be a huge blow to the ruling Congress party ahead of next year's national polls. Election commission officials say the Bharatiya Janata Party has won 110 seats, but are three short of a simple majority in the 225-member state legislature. The commission says Sonia Gandhi's Congress party, which heads the national government in New Delhi, is trailing behind with 77 seats. The party is facing a backlash over surging prices."
" Heavy rain and flooding in Chile have displaced 15,000 people and shut down the world's largest copper mine, according to the government. So far, five people are known to have died in the floods - described by some as the worst in at least two decades. Road and railway bridges have collapsed, and at least seven rivers have burst their banks. There is also a shortage of drinking water after floodwaters churned up sediment at water treatment plants. The rains started in the middle of this week and have hardly stopped since. The hardest-hit region has been the central valley, immediately south of the capital, Santiago. A railway bridge collapsed under the weight of a raging torrent of water and a road bridge fell apart on the Pan American Highway, in effect cutting the country in two. Those who have died were either swept away by rising rivers or killed by mudslides and falling trees. In the capital, five months worth of rain fell in the space of eight hours, turning streets into rivers and forcing residents out of their homes. The rain is forecast to ease over the weekend but more storms are expected on Monday."
" 1 of 44. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon (L) poses with Myanmar Senior General Than Shwe in NayPyiDaw, Myanmar May 23, 2008. In an apparent breakthrough for delivering help to millions of Myanmar's Cyclone Nargis survivors, the military government agreed to allow in 'all' aid workers, Ban Ki-moon said on Friday. The junta, criticised by the West for failing to accept a full-blown aid operation following the devastation of Cyclone Nargis three weeks ago, went ahead on Saturday with a referendum in the Irrawaddy Delta and Yangon on its new constitution. The rice-growing Delta and the former capital were hit by the vicious storm in which nearly 134,000 people were left dead or missing. Disease, hunger, lack of shelter and medical treatment threaten up to 2.5 million people, according to United Nations humanitarian aid officials. The plebiscite on the army-drafted constitution took place in the rest of the country on May 10 with a 92.4 percent approval after voters were repeatedly told by authorities to vote ""Yes"". Voting started on Saturday in Yangon, the country's biggest city, but officials said many residents had voted in advance, including opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for five years. In what was considered a breakthrough to ramp up aid to the delta, Senior General Than Shwe gave an assurance to visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday that Myanmar would allow in aid experts ""of all nationalities"" after weeks of restrictions. ""We have no more time to lose, so it's imperative that the Myanmar authorities immediately provide the international community with the practical details of the agreement,"" said Louis Michel, European commissioner for development and humanitarian aid. In one part of the delta between Bogalay and Pyapon, aid workers said conditions for villagers appeared dire as police ordered them to dismantle the small thatched huts many have built near the main road since surviving the cyclone. ""We are afraid of staying in our former villages -- even the dogs are scared when the wind blows,"" one woman said."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A major eruption of a volatile Philippine volcano is still likely, and could be just weeks away, scientists have warned. More than 30,000 people who live near Mount Mayon have now been moved to temporary shelters. Government volcanologist Renato Solidum said lava flows and at least five small ash explosions had been seen recently. He said the pattern was similar to Mayon's last eruption in 2006, when it expelled lava and steam for two months. Philippine officials first raised the alert level for Mayon on Monday, but the volcano still shows signs that it might soon erupt. Mr Solidum said that five new ash explosions, one of them reaching 550 yards (500m) in the air, had recently shaken the slopes of the volcano. Another volcanologist, July Sabit, said he had noticed the formation of two lava domes at the crater during an aerial survey on Wednesday. ""This indicates pressure is building up from the inside, and the rising magma had accumulated at the mouth,"" he told the French news agency AFP. But Mr Sabit added that scientists had not seen ""intensified lava fountainings, or big earthquakes"", which are often viewed as signs there could be a sudden massive explosion. About 30,000 of the 50,000 people living in the vicinity of Mahon have now been evacuated and officials say they might have to spend up to four months in temporary shelters. The Philippines is in the so-called Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Mayon, 330km (206 miles) south-east of the capital Manila, has erupted 48 times since records began. The most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and devastated several towns. However the volcano remains a popular tourist attraction and is famous for its perfect cone."
" HYDERABAD: The fear of bird flu has come back to haunt the poultry industry in Andhra Pradesh. With avian influenza being confirmed in Agartala in Tripura, the poultry industry in AP, which is the biggest in the country, has been put on high alert.""We have asked poultry farmers to report any unusual and large-scale deaths so as to take the necessary measures to confirm if there is any outbreak of bird flu here,"" said Dr Y Thirupathaiah, additional director, planning, directorate of animal husbandry.In 2006, bird flu fear led to losses worth crores of rupees in the state as poultry birds had to be culled in large numbers and eggs were also destroyed.In case of any signs of bird flu in the state, the serum samples will have to be sent to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal for confirmation of the virus.According to Thirupathaiah, all poultry farmers have been educated on the bio-security measures to be taken to tackle any eventuality.The staff of the animal husbandry department are also doing the rounds of poultry farms to detect any signs of the virus and are collecting blood samples. Though this happens on a regular basis, with the news from Agartala about the outbreak of bird flu, officials are on guard.Nearly two-thirds of the poultry production of the country is contributed by Andhra Pradesh which is the reason for the caution."
" LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said late Thursday it has placed U.S. sovereign credit ratings on watch for possible downgrade, saying the action ""signals our view that, owing to the dynamics of the political debate on the debt ceiling, there is at least a one-in-two likelihood that we could lower the long-term rating on the U.S. within the next 90 days."" S&P had already lowered its outlook on the U.S. AAA long-term rating to negative in April, but since then ""the political debate about the U.S.' fiscal stance and the related issue of the U.S. government debt ceiling has, in our view, only become more entangled,"" it said. The U.S. Treasury responded to the move Thursday saying it ""restates what the Obama Administration has said for some time: that Congress must act expeditiously to avoid defaulting on the country's obligations and to enact a credible deficit reduction plan that commands bipartisan support."""
" The U.S. Federal Reserve building is seen in Washington June 29, 2011. Putting the U.S. on negative watch, S&P warned that it could cut the rating as soon as this month if talks between the White House and Republicans remain stalemated. Any cut would be by one or more notches, it added. The dollar fell on the news. U.S. Treasuries were largely steady. John Chambers, the chairman of S&P's sovereign ratings committee, said ""this is the time"" for the two sides to tackle the country's long-term debt problems. ""If you get a small agreement, that will lead to a downgrade,"" he told Reuters in an interview. A downgrade could raise borrowing costs not only for the United States but also for loans that use the Treasury rate as a benchmark. Some money managers that are restricted to investing only in AAA-rated assets would be forced to dump Treasuries, which could spread disruption through global financial markets. The S&P warning comes just a day after Moody's Investors Service warned the U.S. may lose its top-notch credit rating in the next few weeks if lawmakers fail to increase the country's legal borrowing limit of $14.3 trillion and the government misses debt payments. The deadline to raise the ceiling is on August 2. ""Today's CreditWatch placement signals our view that, owing to the dynamics of the political debate on the debt ceiling, there is at least a one-in-two likelihood that we could lower the long-term rating on the U.S. within the next 90 days,"" the agency said in a statement."
" The U.S. Geological Survey said on its website the quake had a magnitude of 6.4 and was centered just off the island's east coast, 25 km (15 miles) south-southeast of the city of Hualien. There were no reports of tsunami warnings being issued. Early television reports that a building had collapsed near Taipei were not correct, a Taiwanese disaster agency said. At least four people were hurt during the quake, Taiwanese television reported later. A water tower collapsed and glass shattered in a hotel, it said, while two roads were cut outside the capital. TSMC, the worlds largest contract chipmaker, reported no damage at its Taiwan facilities. The quake was recorded at 9.02 pm local time (8:02 a.m. EST) and was centered 44 km (27 miles) below the surface, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said. Earthquakes occur frequently in Taiwan, which lies on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin. One of Taiwan's worst-recorded quakes occurred in September 1999. Measuring 7.6 on the old Richter scale, it killed more than 2,400 people and destroyed or damaged 50,000 buildings."
" A GM sign is seen outside the Medved General Motors car dealership in Arvada, Colorado August 12, 2010. The protest came just days after some veteran UAW workers at the Orion plant near Detroit were told they would have to accept wages that are about half what they had been making and as GM rushes to complete preparations for a stock offering. GM plans to employ just over 1,300 workers to build a new subcompact car for its Chevrolet brand and the Buick Verano compact at the now-shuttered Orion Township assembly plant when production begins in August. Details of the concessions granted by the UAW's national leaders have angered many workers. Rick Milkie, a nine-year Orion plant veteran, said the UAW's concession allowing GM to hire an increasing number of workers at wages of about $14 per hour was an unacceptable concession by a union credited with helping to create an industrial middle class in the years after World War Two. ""Walter Reuther is rolling in his grave,"" said Milkie, who was marching outside UAW headquarters with a sign saying, ""Call a Cop, I've Been Robbed."" Reuther was the UAW's long-serving president during the union's heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. The UAW has agreed to allow GM to run the Orion plant with 40 percent of its workers at that second-tier wage. That is about half of the nearly $29 per hour that veteran UAW-represented GM workers now make. Over time, GM plans to staff the plant entirely with workers at the lower wage level, a local union official told Orion workers. The lower wage represents an annual wage of around $30,000, down from $58,000 under the previous contract. That compares to U.S. median household income of about $52,000 in 2009. ""The object at Orion was to become an all tier-two plant as long as it was (making) small cars,"" Mike Dunn, president of UAW Local 5960 said in a webcast. ""That could take 20 years."""
" Tens of thousands of people have packed St. Peter's Square for the canonization of Australia's first saint and that of a Canadian brother considered by the faithful a ""miracle worker."" Four other people, from Poland, Italy and Spain, were also being declared saints Sunday during a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI. (AP)"
" May 15 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. may sell or seek a partner for the unit that makes refrigerators and washers, ending more than a century in an industry that helped make GE a household name, people familiar with the situation said. GE, the biggest maker of appliances for new U.S. homes, hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to explore options that include a spinoff or auction, according to one of the people, who declined to be identified by name. A sale may bring $5 billion to $8 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt, who took over from Jack Welch in 2001 and surprised investors with a decline in profit last quarter, has been paring consumer businesses to cope with a slower U.S. economy. The units he's selling don't expand fast enough to help GE reach its goal of 10 percent annual profit growth. Appliances, which like light bulbs are the GE products most familiar to consumers, accounted for about $7.2 billion in sales last year, or just 4.1 percent of the 2007 total. ``We would positively perceive a more aggressive approach to selling off slow-growth businesses,'' Robert Schenosky, a New York-based analyst with Jefferies & Co. who rates the shares ``hold'' and doesn't own any, said in an interview. Prices for some appliances have tumbled on an inflation-adjusted basis over more than a half century. In 1953, an 11-cubic-foot refrigerator was advertised for more than $500, the equivalent of about $3,900 now. Today, a basic 18.2-cubic-foot GE model lists for as little as $519 on the NexTag.com Web site. Gary Sheffer, a company spokesman, declined to comment on a possible sale. Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE fell 18 cents to $32.33 at 10:12 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange trading after U.S. government reports showed a jump in jobless claims and a drop in April industrial production. U.S. home foreclosure filings climbed 65 percent in April amid a subprime mortgage crisis. Home prices fell the most in 29 years last quarter, making it tougher for homeowners to refinance loans or borrow more money to buy goods such as refrigerators. Louisville, Kentucky-based GE Appliances accounted for about 13,000 of GE's 327,000 employees as of the end of last year. ``This isn't a piece of business at this point that has got much more incremental opportunity for GE,'' said Nicholas Heymann, an analyst at Sterne, Agee & Leach Inc. in New York, who has a ``hold'' rating on the stock. Since unveiling his basic plan to shift out of economically sensitive sectors in December 2002, Immelt has divested more than $75 billion in GE businesses, including the plastics and insurance units, while making more than $50 billion in purchases in faster-growing areas such as water treatment and aviation. Investors and analysts have been asking ever since whether he planned to shed appliances and the light-bulb unit."
" WASHINGTON May 15 (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing claims for initial jobless benefits rose by 6,000 in the latest week while the number on benefit rolls after a first week of aid hit a four-year high, a government report showed on Thursday. First-time jobless claims rose to 371,000 in the week ended May 10 from 365,000 for the prior week. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the number of new claims at 370,000. The four-week moving average of new claims, considered by economists a more reliable gauge of labor trends because it irons out weekly volatility, fell to 365,750 in the week ended May 10 from 366,750 in the prior week. ""These numbers are not good news. We are in an elevated unemployment period because of tight credit, higher oil prices, inflation hurting consumers,"" said Kurt Karl, chief U.S. economist at Swiss Re in New York. ""To me, it just continues to deteriorate. It's just grinding higher in unemployment,"" Karl said. U.S. Treasury debt prices turned higher after the jobless data and a separate New York Federal Reserve manufacturing report was weaker than expected. The dollar was little changed in trading and stock futures pared gains. The number of people who remained on the benefit rolls after drawing an initial week of aid increased 28,000 to 3.06 million in the week ended May 3, the latest period for which figures were available. It was the third consecutive week that continued claims were above 3.0 million and also the highest since March 2004. ""Continued claims are solidly above 3 millions ... As we head further into May, we continued to see layoffs outpacing hires, which means more job losses. If we are lucky, we could see another 20,000 decline like in April,"" Christopher Low, chief economist with FTN Financial in New York."
" A spokesman for the interior ministry said tighter controls on the massive crowds could have caused more deaths. Relatives have been scrutinising rows of photographs of unidentified bodies, as officials announced the higher toll. The stone-throwing ritual in Mina has seen many stampedes, but the number of dead is the highest in 16 years. After a crush in 2004, barriers were added and stewards positioned at the site to improve safety. But interior ministry spokesman Maj Gen Mansour al-Turki told the BBC's Newshour programme the dangers would only increase if crowd controls were tightened further. ""People insist that they want to finish their Hajj in the way they think is right and you have a limited effect in using policemen to control people in this regard,"" he said. ""You cannot really control them by force because if you do probably you will increase the problem because you will have people pushing you. We had so many police officers today who were injured in this situation."" Maj Gen Turki told a news conference that of the dead, 203 had been identified, of whom 85 were women, reports the AP news agency. Jawaid Aktar, the assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire police in the UK who has just returned from Saudi Arabia, said the authorities were well prepared for the Hajj. ""The authorities were very well organised given the scale of the event,"" he told BBC Radio Leeds."
" WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Industrial output of the nation's factories, mines and utilities dropped 0.7% in April in a broad-based decline led by falling production of motor vehicles, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday. ""Today's bleak industrial production report bolsters the argument that the economy is either in or heading into a recession,"" wrote Michelle Meyer, an economist for Lehman Bros. The output of factories fell 0.8%, the biggest decline since September 2005, when Hurricane Katrina disrupted the economy. Factory output was hindered by a strike at American Axle, which rippled through the automotive sector. Industrial production has risen 0.2% in the past year, and is down 1.2% since January. The decline in output was worse than the 0.6% drop expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. See Economic Calendar. Output rose 0.2% in March, revised down a tenth. Read the full report. Capacity utilization -- a key gauge of inflationary pressures -- fell from 80.4% to 79.7%, the lowest since September 2005 and 1.3 percentage points below the long-run average. Slack capacity typically leads to slower inflation, as producers underbid each other to get work. ""Weak domestic demand growth should help keep core inflation pressures under control in the near term,"" said Wachovia economist Sam Bullard. Capacity utilization in manufacturing dropped to 77.5%, the lowest since November 2004. The weakness in the factory sector continued in May, two Fed banks reported."
" The government has asked people to donate equipment to help rescuers   More than 50,000 people may have died in the earthquake that devastated parts of China on Monday, state media say. The warning came after the government confirmed the death toll had risen to 19,500, as rescue efforts continue to search for thousands still trapped. About 10 million people across Sichuan province have been directly affected by the 7.9 quake, Chinese media said. Chinese authorities said 60,000 quake victims had been rescued and that all affected areas had now been reached. The country is sending 30,000 extra troops to Sichuan to help the 50,000 already involved in rescue efforts. Some soldiers parachuted into the remotest areas, and essential supplies have been dropped from aircraft. Beijing says it will accept foreign aid and has agreed to help from rescue teams from Japan and its rival Taiwan. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Correspondents say the death toll, which rose from 14,866 on Wednesday, is expected to rise further as rescue workers dig more victims out of collapsed buildings. People are still being found alive - an 11-year-old girl was pulled from the rubble of a school in Yingxiu 68 hours after it was destroyed. The BBC's Michael Bristow in Hanwang says rescuers and relatives continue the desperate search for survivors as hope fades. Amid the remains of Dongqi Middle School are strewn poignant reminders - textbooks, satchels, a blackboard - of the pupils entombed beneath the rubble, he says. He saw the agonising wait end for one of many distraught mothers waiting outside the school - she collapsed in tears after identifying the body of her son. At Juyuan Middle School, near Dujiangyan about 50km (32 miles) from the epicentre, other parents were trying to reach 900 children still trapped in the rubble. ""It's not that we don't trust the rescuers,"" local resident Deng Yuehong told Associated Press Television on Thursday. ""They have done a lot of work to search for survivors but they couldn't search all the places in such a large area here and there may be some places that they ignored."" The Chinese government has appealed for basic equipment to help in the rescue operation. It said hammers, cranes, shovels and rubber boats were urgently needed. The health ministry says there will also be an increasing demand for medicines and sophisticated medical equipment as survivors are treated for bone fractures, crushed internal organs and kidney failure. More than 10,000 medical workers, police and volunteers have been sent to Beichuan County, one of the hardest-hit areas in Sichuan province, where up to 5,000 are thought to have died. But there were suggestions that some of those trying to help bring relief were actually hindering the rescue effort, blocking roads to the worst-hit areas. ""Passionate but inexperienced volunteers have brought little food and their vehicles are blocking roads,"" the Chengdu chapter of the Young Communist League said in a statement read out on local TV. February 2003: 6.8 quake in Xinjiang - at least 94 dead, 200 hurt January 1998: 6.2 quake in rural Hebei - at least 47 dead, 2,000 hurt Meanwhile 17 people were disciplined for allegedly spreading ""malicious rumours"" about the earthquake, two of whom were put in custody, AFP news agency quoted state media as saying. Deputy Health Minister Gao Qiang says more than 64,040 people have been treated since Monday's earthquake - 12,587 of them are seriously injured, Xinhua reports. Officials say about 10 million people have been affected by the quake. Many are in refugee camps, without proper shelter, food or clean water. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has issued an emergency appeal for medical help, food, water and tents. Gu Qinghui, a member of the Red Cross assessment team told AP television: ""I just came back from Beichuan County this morning, basically the whole county has been destroyed, there is no Beichuan County anymore. ""No-one knows what has happened in particular areas, in the villages. I am sure that the numbers [death toll] will just go up continuing day by day."""
" A document revealing that President George Bush wanted to bomb the Arabic satellite TV station, al-Jazeera, would cause the government no embarrassment if it was disclosed, claimed the lawyer representing a former MP's aide who is accused of breaking the Official Secrets Act. Neil Clark, solicitor for Leo O'Connor, a former Commons researcher, said he had read the four-page document, stamped ""Secret"", for the first time yesterday. ""I don't think there was anything in it that could embarrass the British government,"" he said. He was speaking outside Bow Street magistrates court where Mr O'Connor, 42, a researcher to Tony Clarke, former Labour MP for Northampton South, is charged with receiving information without lawful authority. David Keogh, a Cabinet Office official, is charged with disclosing information damaging to the international relations of Britain. The prosecution yesterday brought a second charge against Mr Keogh, that of disclosing information damaging the capability, or any part of, the armed forces. The document at the centre of the case allegedly also refers to British concern about US military tactics in Iraq, particularly in the assault on the Iraqi city of Falluja in 2004. It is said to be a report of a face-to-face meeting between Tony Blair and Mr Bush in Washington in April 2004 when the prime minister, with the help of Colin Powell, the then US secretary of state, opposed the bombing of al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, capital of the Gulf state of Qatar. Mr Clark said he had signed a declaration stopping him from discussing the document with anyone other than Mr O'Connor. He added: ""We will be seeking disclosure of the document in the crown court. It is important to our case, it is essential to our case, that it is disclosed."""
" 2006-01-11 04:00:00 PDT London -- A British civil servant and a former researcher appeared in court Tuesday in the latest skirmish of an unfolding legal battle over claims that President Bush proposed bombing Al-Jazeera's television headquarters. Bush's reported remarks were disclosed in a leaked document, the contents of which were published in a British newspaper in November. The comments raised questions in London about whether Britain might be drawn into questionable military operations as a result of its alliance with Washington. In an interview published Tuesday, Gen. Michael Rose, a former commander of U.N. troops in Bosnia, called for the impeachment of Prime Minister Tony Blair for taking the country to war on false pretenses. The remarks were unusually blunt for a commander of such rank. ""People have seen their political wishes ignored for reasons now proved false,"" Rose told the Guardian newspaper, referring to Blair's prewar insistence on the presence in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. He added: ""No one can undo the decision to go to war. But the impeachment of Mr. Blair is now something I believe must happen if we are to rekindle interest in the democratic process."" In the latest legal maneuvers, David Keogh, 49, a government communications officer, and Leo O'Connor, 42, a former parliamentary researcher, face charges under the Official Secrets Act. They were indicted in November. Keogh is accused on two counts. One is that he passed a memo to O'Connor between April 16 and May 29, 2004. The second, made public Tuesday, is that he, ""without lawful authority, made a damaging disclosure of a document dated April 16, 2004, which had been in his possession by virtue of his position as a crown servant."" O'Connor has indicated that he plans to plead not guilty. Keogh did not say how he would plead in the trial, scheduled for Jan. 24. The document was described last fall by the Daily Mirror as a transcript of a conversation in the White House on April 16, 2004, in which Blair dissuaded Bush from bombing Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, Qatar. The Persian Gulf country is a U.S. ally. At that time, U.S. generals were complaining publicly that Al-Jazeera's coverage of Iraq on its Arabic-language channel was inflaming anti-American sentiment."
" The death toll from the cyclone in Burma could wind up climbing to between 68,833 and 127,990, the Red Cross said Wednesday, as the United Nations warned that a second storm was forming in the region. The numbers were calculated using pooled figures from other aid groups, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. A tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal added new worries, but late in the day forecasters said it was weakening and unlikely to grow into a cyclone. The total population affected in Burma, renamed Myanmar by the ruling military junta, is somewhere in the range of 1.64 million and 2.51 million, the Red Cross said in the report issued Wednesday. ""Official government casualty figures remain significantly lower,"" the organization said. The government revised its death toll on Wednesday to 38,491. It said the number of people missing in the May 2-3 Cyclone Nargis remains at 27,838. The Red Cross figure is the highest reported so far. The U.N. has said the number of dead could be between 60,000 and 100,000. On Wednesday, the U.N. raised its estimates on the number of people impacted by the cyclone. John Holmes, the head of humanitarian affairs at the U.N., said that between 1.6 million and 2.5 million were ""severely affected"" and in desperate need of relief, up from 1.5 million people, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, a second cyclone forming could hamper relief efforts in Burma, less than two weeks after the region was devastated by the killer storm, the U.N. said Wednesday. The United Nations' weather center is tracking a nascent tropical storm that is likely to become a cyclone, said Amanda Pitt, the spokeswoman of the world body's humanitarian relief program, in Bangkok, Thailand. ""This is terrible,"" she told reporters, adding that it could further jeopardize the people who survived Cyclone Nargis on May 3 and the efforts to distribute aid for them."
" SEOUL/NAIROBI, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean fishing boat has been hijacked by Somali pirates in Kenyan waters, the foreign ministry here said Sunday.The ministry said the 241-ton trawler ""Keummi 305,"" with two South Koreans, two Chinese and 39 Kenyans aboard, was hijacked on Oct. 9 by the pirates while fishing in waters about 10 miles off Lamu, Kenya, near the Indian Ocean.A South Korean citizen living in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa told Yonhap News Agency that the boat had been in the area for about a month and was taken to Harardhere, the base for pirates north of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.""Given past instances, it would put the hostages in even more danger if the government tried to negotiate directly with the pirates,"" a ministry official said. ""We're trying to find out more about the incident using all possible channels.""One of the South Koreans aboard was a 54-year-old captain surnamed Kim. He is the president of Keummi Fishers based in the southern port city of Busan.Officials at the boat dealership for Keummi said the fisheries company shut down its Busan office in 2007 due to financial problems, and Kim had been steering the ship himself for two years to save costs.""We haven't heard from the pirates yet,"" one dealership official said. ""It could take up to four days to reach their base (from where the ship was hijacked) and we expect to be contacted soon.""The Keummi 305 had been fishing in waters considered safe from pirates since the area was more than 400 kilometers away from the pirates' base and the Kenyan navy sent regular patrols.Since 2006, there were six hijackings of South Korean boats or vessels by Somali pirates. Most recently, a supertanker, Samho Dream, with five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos aboard, was seized in April this year in the Indian Ocean. The ship remains in captivity.(END)"
" A South Korean fishing boat with 43 sailors aboard has been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Kenya, South Korea's foreign ministry says. The ministry said the crab fishing vessel was seized off Lamu Island on 9 October. South Korean media reported the boat had been taken to a pirate stronghold in northern Somalia. Kidnapping for ransom is common in Somalia, which has had no effective government for two decades. In a statement, South Korea's foreign ministry said it was investigating the incident and had set up an emergency team at its embassy in Kenya. The statement did not say if contact with the pirates had been made or if a ransom had been demanded. South Korea has a warship on anti-piracy patrol in the waters of the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden off Somalia. The area is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, leading to the Suez Canal. European naval officers fighting piracy in the waters warned earlier in October that pirates would likely be more desperate with the onset of the piracy season as their success rate was declining. The European Union's naval force, Navfor, estimates that the pirates' success ratio - the number of successful hijackings versus the number attempted - has dropped from 50% a few years ago to 20-30% this year because of international patrols."
" Pistorius is the world record holder in three Paralympic events Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius has won an appeal to compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics. In January, athletics' governing body the IAAF banned the 21-year-old South African from able-bodied events. It was claimed Pistorius' prosthetic limbs give him an unfair advantage, but he disagreed and went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas). ""We have an opportunity to chase my dream of participating in the Olympics - if not in 2008 in 2012,"" he said. ""It is such a significant day in the sport - I'm so happy with the outcome. the last few days have been very stressful. this is one of the best days of life. ""I hope this silences the crazy theories circulating about my having an unfair advantage."" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Cas said in a statement that the IAAF had not proved competition rules had been contravened. ""On the basis of the evidence brought by the experts called by both parties, the panel was not persuaded that there was sufficient evidence of any metabolic advantage in favour of the double amputee using the Cheetah Flex-Foot,"" the statement said. The panel emphasised that their verdict only applied to the individual case of the South African. It was also stressed that any advancements in the prosthetic-limb technology used by Pistorius could be contested by the IAAF again. ""The panel does not exclude the possibility that, with future advances in scientific knowledge, and a testing regime designed and carried out to the satisfaction of both parties, the IAAF might in future be in a position to prove that the existing Cheetah Flex-Foot model provides Oscar Pistorius with an advantage over other athletes."" Pistorius is hoping to make the Olympic 'A' standard time of 45.55 seconds for the 400m or the 'B' qualifier of 45.95 if no other athlete from his country attains the higher one. His best time over the distance in 2007 was 46.56 and his personal best is 46.46. ""There are some good South African runners over that distance and every national federation is allowed to take three athletes in an event provided they meet an 'A' standard and only one athlete if they can only meet the 'B' standard,"" said BBC Radio 5 Live athletics correspondent Mike Costello. ""At this stage Oscar Pistorius has only an outside chance of making that time. ""But now, with the impetus, with the incentive of the Olympic Games, if he can get invites to the big meetings around the summer, then maybe, with the conditions right, he can be dragged through to an even quicker time for what would be a landmark appearance at the Olympics. ""No other leg amputee has ever managed to compete at the Olympic Games."" The South African was born without fibulas - the long, thin outer bone between the knee and ankle - and was 11 months old when his legs were amputated below the knee. He began running competitively four years ago to treat a rugby injury, and nine months later won the 200m at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. Nicknamed the ""Blade Runner,"" Pistorius has set world records in the 100m, 200m and 400m in Paralympic events. He finished second in the 400m at the South African national championships last year against able-bodied runners. Pistorius added: ""My focus throughout this appeal has been to ensure that disabled athletes be given the chance to compete and compete fairly with able-bodied athletes. ""I look forward to continuing my quest to qualify for the Olympics."""
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" France's main airport, Charles de Gaulle, has enough fuel to last only a few days, the transport ministry has warned amid strikes against government plans to raise the retirement age. A ministry spokesman said officials were working to restore aviation fuel supplies. Economy Minister Christine Lagarde urged people ""not to panic"". Oil refineries and fuel depots have been hit by the latest strikes. Meanwhile unions are holding fresh mass protests over the pension plan. On Saturday thousands of students have joined a fifth day of demonstrations in less than six weeks. Unions have called for more than 200 marches nationwide. Police in Paris said 20,000 people were taking part in Saturday's protest when it started, shortly after 1500 local (1300 GMT), compared to 50,000 on 2 October, the last Saturday of protests. Trapil, the company that operates the fuel pipeline to the Paris airports, told French media on Friday that supplies had stopped and that Roissy-Charles de Gaulle could run out of fuel as early as next week. On Saturday a transport ministry spokesman confirmed to the AFP news agency that reserves would last until late on Monday or Tuesday. But he said the pipeline was now working intermittently, adding: ""We are exploring possible solutions to supply the airport [at Roissy]. We are confident."" All 12 oil refineries in France have been hit by the strikes. Ten have shut down or are in the process of closing."
" Earlier this week the Israeli Air Force completed a series of exercises with its Greek counterpart - a sign of the growing links between the two countries. But more than this, it is an indication of the changing political geography of the eastern Mediterranean. The exercise involved Israeli Apache and Black Hawk helicopters operating alongside Greek Air force helicopters and jets. Israel relies heavily on its advanced air power but has very limited airspace of its own in which to train. Israeli helicopters have flown in Romania - one large CH-53 helicopter crashed there in July with the loss of several lives - and the Israeli Air Force has held many exercises in Turkey. Ever since Israeli commandos boarded the Turkish-owned, Gaza-bound vessel the Mavi Marmara back in May - killing several Turkish nationals in the ensuing struggle - relations between Israel and Ankara have been in the freezer. Joint military exercises have been abandoned and this week a Turkish minister indicated his country would boycott an international tourism conference due to be held in Jerusalem. Unless Israel bows to Turkish demands for a full apology and compensation, normal ties are unlikely to be resumed. So over recent months Israel has been significantly reinforcing its friendship with Greece. The prime ministers of each country have exchanged visits."
" BEIJING (Reuters) - Forty-six seriously injured people needed to be evacuated immediately in Beichuan, at the epicenter of the Sichuan quake, where the water level of a lake is rising rapidly and may burst at any time, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting warnings from soldiers at the site. China has put the known death toll from Monday's quake at over 22,000 but has said it expects it to exceed 50,000. About 4.8 million people have lost their homes and the days are numbered in which survivors can be found."
" General Than Shwe was pictured visiting victims near Rangoon The leader of Burma's military junta has met victims of the country's devastating cyclone for the first time. More than two weeks since the storm hit, General Than Shwe visited relief camps near Rangoon. A senior UN envoy has arrived in Burma to urge the military regime to accept more international aid. UN chief Ban Ki-moon is expected to visit soon. Burma says some 78,000 people have died since the cyclone, but aid agencies say many more may die without urgent help. Than Shwe was shown by Burmese state television visiting relief camps in the Hlaing Thar Yar and Dagon suburbs of Rangoon. The general inspected relief supplies and spoke to survivors of the cyclone, which flattened and flooded villages across the Irawaddy delta, as well as parts of the main city, Rangoon. The junta has been criticised around the world for obstructing international efforts to help the cyclone victims. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week said its response was ""inhuman"". Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. However, UK Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch-Brown said on Sunday that the aid operation was finally ""starting to move"". He said there were signs that Burma might accept a compromise brokered by Asian intermediaries to allow more foreign help, including allowing Western ships to deliver aid. ""We're just going to have see what negotiations in the coming days by the Asian leaders, by the UN secretary-general, achieve. I think you're going to see quite dramatic steps by the Burmese to open up,"" he told the BBC. His comments came just before UN humanitarian envoy John Holmes arrived in Burma for talks with members of the junta about widening the relief effort. The cyclone has filled rice fields with sea water, destroying vital crops Burma: How you can help Mr Holmes is carrying a letter from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to General Than Shwe, who has refused to answer Mr Ban's calls, or answer two previous letters, a UN spokesperson said. Mr Ban will travel to Burma himself in the coming week, probably on Wednesday or Thursday. Lord Malloch-Brown says only about 25% of the cyclone's most needy victims have received the help they need. And Save the Children says 30,000 acutely malnourished children under five years of age are threatened by death from starvation. The charity says if they do not receive energy-rich food now they could starve to death within weeks. ""When people reach this stage they can die in a matter of days... We need to reach more before it is too late,"" said Save the Children UK's chief executive, Jasmine Whitbread. On Saturday, Burma took foreign diplomats on a helicopter tour of the Irrawaddy Delta. But Shari Villarosa, the top US diplomat in Burma, dismissed the visit as a ""show"". However, Bernard Delpuech, head of the European Commission Humanitarian Office in Rangoon, said the trip had at least shown ""the magnitude of the devastation""."
" CHINA Time is running out, or gone, for missing Hope drained out of this mountain valley Saturday as thousands of homeless residents came to realize a grim truth - there is precious little, if any, time remaining to find more survivors of the devastating earthquake. ""Yesterday we could still hear the kids,"" said Wang Tongtian, who was napping when Monday's quake hit, burying his son's kindergarten class. ""Today, there's nothing."" Beichuan, once a picturesque hamlet nestled in a deep valley, is about 60 miles from the epicenter of the magnitude 7.9 quake and was perhaps the hardest hit town. Few buildings were spared, and most of its 30,000 residents have fled. But thousands more remain missing, buried beneath endless piles of wrecked buildings and landslides. Rescue workers did manage to pull 33 survivors from the rubble of towns and villages Saturday throughout the larger county in the quake zone, also called Beichuan, including 11-year-old Deng Bo, who gave a slight wave as he was trundled into an ambulance. Deng's mother kept him alive for six days by bringing him food and water as he lay trapped. But the critical window for finding most survivors is passing, and parents, siblings, friends and relatives are losing hope. As survivors seek shelter, food and comfort, thousands more are believed to lie beneath the town's monumental ruins, with rescue workers unearthing and carting out bodies one by one. The official death toll rose to nearly 30,000 Saturday, with another 14,000 still missing, mostly in Sichuan province. But locals, citing far larger numbers of people buried in the rubble, say the final tally will be much higher. The bleak toll was written on the pained faces of hundreds of pilgrims traveling the roads Saturday between Beichuan county towns. Frantic parents watched worriedly as rescue workers used cranes, shovels and hands to scour the rubble of a middle school where more than 1,000 teenagers were buried. A strong smell of death remained in the air. Others paced along roadsides, waiting desperately for news of loved ones. Some walked seemingly shell-shocked over shaky roads to pick through the rubble of their homes and gather a few belongings - blankets, clothes, even televisions - to take with them. For many, the search ended with a horrible acceptance. ""We can't come back looking any more,"" said Wang Shenyong, who has hiked into Beichuan with his wife every day since Monday to look for their 5-year-old son."
" Critics say such research is immoral Gordon Brown has called on MPs to back stem cell research using human-animal embryos in a Commons vote on Monday. The prime minister, writing in the Observer, said such work was a ""moral endeavour"" and had the potential to save and improve ""millions of lives"". But Mr Brown said he respected those MPs opposed to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, which will update embryology laws, for religious reasons. He is allowing Labour MPs a free vote on controversial parts of the bill. In his newspaper article, Mr Brown said Britons should not ""turn our back"" on vital scientific advances that could speed up treatment for cancer and conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. Mr Brown's youngest son Fraser - who will be two in July - has cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening inherited disease which disrupts the way the digestive and respiratory systems work. If we want to sustain stem cell research and bring new cures and treatments to millions of people, I believe admixed [hybrid] embryos are necessary   ""The scientists I speak to are committed to what they see as an inherently moral endeavour, that can save and improve the lives of thousands and over time, millions,"" he said. Labour MPs have been given free votes on three proposals in the bill, which will be debated and voted on over two days in the House of Commons. These are the creation of hybrid embryos, ""saviour siblings"" - creating a child with a tissue match to save a sick brother or sister - and giving lesbian couples equal rights to IVF treatment. In addition, they will have a free vote on amendments reducing the upper limit for abortions from 24 weeks to 22 or even 20 weeks. The prime minister offered the free-vote deal after warnings that some Catholic Labour MPs and cabinet ministers were ready to rebel. Mr Brown said he had ""deep respect"" for those who did not agree with some of the provisions in the bill because of religious conviction, but he believed Britain owed it to future generations to introduce the measures. He went on to say that permitting human-animal ""admixed"" embryos to be created could help solve the current problem of the lack of human eggs from which to generate embryos. Stem cells can be harvested from such embryos and used to create brain, skin, heart and other tissue for treating diseases. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. ""Let me be clear: if we want to sustain stem cell research and bring new cures and treatments to millions of people, I believe admixed embryos are necessary,"" Mr Brown said. ""The question for me is not whether they should exist, but how their use should be controlled."" Scientists at Newcastle University announced last month they had created the first part-human, part-animal hybrid embryos in the UK. The research was approved by the UK's fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. Critics from the Roman Catholic Church argue the creation of such hybrids is immoral. Meanwhile, Dawn Primarolo, the public health minister, has accused Conservative backbenchers of attempting to remove women's rights to abortion by tabling amendments to the same bill. Mr Brown says he sympathises with those who have religious concerns She told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that she would be voting for the 24 week abortion limit to stay - saying there was no evidence that survival rates amongst babies born below 24 weeks had increased. But she said she could not predict how Tuesday evening's vote on abortion would go. She earlier told the Sunday Telegraph those wanting a cut ""want to prevent it (abortion) entirely and they see that gradually changing the time limit down is the way to do it"". But Nadine Dorries, the mid-Bedfordshire MP leading the campaign to reduce the abortion time limit to 20 weeks, told the newspaper ministers had hoped the embryology bill would offer Labour MPs a chance to liberalise abortion further, but that the plan had backfired. ""They don't like it because it has not gone their way,"" she said."
" GAZA, Oct 16. (Xinhua) -- The resumption of Israel's settlement building is undermining the possibility to have a two-state solution, said head of the international Elders conflict resolution group, former Irish President Mary Robinson, Saturday. Health, education and socioeconomic situations are not improving in the occupied territory, she said after her tour in the Gaza Strip. ""Let us have justice peace and security for all."" A delegation of the Elders group, chaired by Robinson, arrived Saturday in Gaza via the Egyptian Rafah crossing to inspect the humanitarian situation of the besieged Palestinian territory and mobilize support to the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process. The group including retired prominent world figures visited various facilities of the United Nations Works and Relief Agency which provides 1.2 million refugees in Gaza with food, health and education. Robinson, currently the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged that Hamas must be involved in the peace process since it has full control over Gaza. Robinson said she met with ousted Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya and discussed with him the situation in the Gaza Strip in light of the blockade as well as the latest developments of prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel. Israel closed its borders with Gaza after the Hamas movement, Israel's bitter foe, won elections in 2006. The blockade was severely tightened following the Hamas violent takeover of the enclave in 2007."
" Deposed Panamanian Manuel Antonio Noriega in a 1998 photo. A U.S. federal judge on Friday rejected an appeal seeking to block the extradition of Noriega to France after his long prison sentence in Florida ends on Sunday. The ruling by U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler, which Noriega's lawyers planned to appeal before a higher court, marked another legal setback for the 73-year-old Noriega who has been convicted in France of using illegal drug profits to buy three luxurious apartments. In the order lifting the stay that he had imposed on Noriega's extradition on Wednesday, Hoeveler rejected allegations that France would fail to treat the ex-military strongman as a prisoner of war and abide by the protections awarded POWs under the Geneva Conventions. Noriega was captured in January 1990 following the U.S. invasion of Panama a month earlier. He was granted POW status by Hoeveler when he faced U.S. drug trafficking, racketeering and conspiracy charges in the judge's court and convicted in 1992. Noriega's attorneys filed motions soon after Hoeveler's ruling saying they intended to appeal his decision before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Noriega is expected to remain behind bars in a federal detention center south of Miami during the appeals process, U.S. prosecutors said. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to delay signing the formal paperwork needed for Noriega's transfer to France pending the outcome of the appellate process, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. ""Once the legal barriers are removed and the documentation is presented to us, you will see some pretty quick action"" by the State Department, said Casey. He said the United States supported France's request for Noriega's extradition and he saw no reason why there would be any change in that position. Noriega faces far more serious charges in Panama than in France. He has been convicted in absentia of murder and human rights violations in the country he once ruled almost single-handedly."
" May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition won a veto over cabinet decisions as the country's factions agreed to form a unity government, following talks to end a crisis that sparked the worst fighting since the 1975-1990 civil war. General Michel Suleiman, Lebanon's army chief, will be elected president, Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani said today at a televised news conference in Doha, Qatar's capital. The presidential election will take place May 25, the state-run Lebanese National News Agency said. The deal gives the opposition 11 of the 30 seats in Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's cabinet. Under existing rules, a minority of one-third plus one can block any decision. Securing a veto ``was Hezbollah's main victory,'' said Amal Saad Ghorayeb, author of ``Hizbullah: Politics and Religion,'' a history of the Shiite Muslim movement. ``The United States will not be very happy about that.'' The government will be unable to disarm Hezbollah -- which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization -- as required by a United Nations Security Council resolution passed in 2004, he said. Sixteen seats will be divided among Sunnis, Christian and Druze members of Siniora's coalition. The opposition also includes the Shiite Amal party and a Christian party. The president will decide the distribution of the remaining three seats. Violence erupted May 7 when fighters allied with Hezbollah's political party stormed Beirut neighborhoods. They were protesting Siniora's threat to shut an airport surveillance system and dismantle a covert telephone network operated by the group. Siniora's government saw the installations as a challenge to its authority. Hezbollah regarded the phone and surveillance network as a shield against any invasion by Israel, with which its militia fought a 33-day war in 2006. The government asked that Hezbollah's weaponry be discussed at Doha; Hezbollah refused. Hezbollah demonstrators will abandon their encampment in downtown Beirut, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said in Doha. The U.S. described the accord as a ``necessary and positive'' step. ``There hasn't been a president. Now there will be one,'' David Welch, assistant secretary of state for Middle East affairs, told reporters in Washington. ``This is not the end of the crisis. Lebanon has to go through implementing'' the deal, he said. The agreement dispensed with proposed electoral changes, said Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous, a political science professor at Beirut's Notre Dame University. Under the new agreement, voting areas are, with modifications, still divided along sectarian lines. The plan would have filled some parliamentary seats by proportional representation, which may have weakened the pattern of sectarian voting."
" President George W Bush said the United States would be willing to consider a peace treaty with North Korea if it gave up its nuclear weapons program. Bush discussed the treaty possibility in a meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Sydney. Bush said he would offer a new ""security arrangement"" for the Korean peninsula if North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il followed through with promises to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. Prodded by Roh during a photo opportunity to be ""a little clearer"", Bush said this meant a permanent agreement to replace the fraying truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. The truce has left the two Koreas, divided by a heavily militarised frontier, technically at war. ""We're looking forward to the day when we can end the Korean War. That will happen when Kim Jong-il verifiably dismantles his weapons program,"" Bush told reporters during the picture-taking session at the end of his meeting with Roh. With a summit between Roh and Kim due in September, Bush asked the South Korean leader to urge his North Korean counterpart ""to adhere to the agreement that he made with us"". While the United States and South Korea are close allies, Bush and Roh have not always enjoyed an easy rapport. The Bush administration has often been frustrated by Roh unwillingness to follow Washington's tough line on North Korea. After news reports of apparent tension during the photo opportunity, the White House moved quickly to try and dispel such an impression, blaming the awkwardness on translation. ""There was clearly something lost in translation during the photo op,"" said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe."
" The agreement came after five days of tense talks in Doha Rival Lebanese leaders have agreed on steps to end the political deadlock that has led to the country's worst violence since the 1975-90 civil war. The Western-backed government and the pro-Syrian opposition arrived at the deal after days of talks in Qatar. Under the deal, the opposition - led by the Hezbollah political and militant group - will have the power of veto in a new cabinet of national unity. It also paves the way for parliament to elect a new president. The post has been empty since November. Correspondents say the agreement is a major triumph for Hezbollah, whose key demands have been met. In a speech at the ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha in which the deal was signed, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said it was ""an exceptional agreement at an exceptional time"". Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said there were ""no losers"" under the deal. Western-backed ruling majority to get 16 cabinet seats and choose prime minister Syrian-backed opposition to get 11 cabinet seats and veto power Three cabinet seats to be nominated by president The use of weapons in internal conflicts is to be banned Opposition protest camps in central Beirut are to be removed New law to divide country into smaller electoral districts Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League, which brokered the agreement, said it ""releases Lebanon from its shackles"". Saad Hariri, a Sunni politician who leads the governing coalition, said the agreement opened ""a new page for Lebanon"". Hezbollah delegation leader Mohammed Raad said it would help ""towards strengthening coexistence and building the state"". The agreement gives the Hezbollah-led opposition bloc enough seats in the cabinet for a veto. The controversial issue of Hezbollah's arsenal is addressed. The deal states that ""use of arms or violence is forbidden to settle political differences"". HAVE YOUR SAY A great agreement achieved for Lebanon; hopefully the beginning of new era Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has been refusing to give up any of its military capability, arguing that it is essential in the struggle against Israel. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem told Reuters news agency that Damascus was ""pleased that our brothers in Lebanon have reached an agreement"". The US also hailed the accord. David Welch, who is in charge of Middle Eastern affairs at the state department, called it ""really a welcome development"". The agreement paves the way for parliament to elect army chief General Michel Suleiman as president, which officials say will happen on Sunday. For months, Gen Suleiman has been accepted by all sides as the only candidate to succeed outgoing pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, but disagreements have repeatedly prevented a parliamentary vote to appoint him. Dozens of people died in clashes earlier this month An opposition protest camp in central Beirut is also to be dismantled, in what Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called a ""gift"" from the opposition. Hezbollah members have already started to carry away mattresses from the encampment. BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the Doha deal appears to have averted calamity by acknowledging a greater political role for Hezbollah. He adds that some in the West, while applauding Lebanon's step back from the brink, may see this as a negative development. Lebanon has been in political crisis since late 2006 when the opposition left a national unity coalition cabinet, demanding more power and a veto over government decisions. The crisis turned violent two weeks ago when street battles between armed supporters of the factions left at least 65 people dead. The clashes were triggered by government attempts to outlaw Hezbollah's private telephone network and reassign Beirut airport's security chief, who is close to the opposition."
" Putin, keen to establish Russia as an integral part of the booming Asia-Pacific region, visited Indonesia on his way to Sydney in a clear sign of his commitment to turn Moscow's face eastwards. He will hold talks with Australian leaders that are expected to climax in a deal to buy uranium for civilian use. His meeting with Bush, dominated by U.S. missile defence plans in Europe, will precede the weekend summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Russia has been seen so far in the region mostly as a supplier of weapons and energy resources. On Thursday, Putin signed a US$1 billion deal to sell Indonesia Russian tanks, helicopters and submarines. However, Russia is looking to engage in more technologically sophisticated sectors, and nuclear energy, where it has decades of experience, could become one. Russia is interested in getting uranium for its processing plants from Australia, which holds 40 percent of the world's reserves. But until lately, Australia has not been able to export uranium to Russia, where processing plants shared by the defence and energy sectors were outside international control. The problem was removed earlier this year when the government exposed the Angarsk plant in Siberia, one of Russia's four uranium processing plants, to surveilance by the U.N. watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A Kremlin official said a new intergovernment agreement, due to be signed during Putin's visit, would open doors for Australian uranium exports to Russia. Russia has promised the agreement, which needs ratification by parliaments, will be transparent to ease Australian concerns. Australian wants to to ensure that its uranium does not end up in Iran, suspected by the West of developing its own nucear weapons, or Syria, blamed by the West for supporting terrorism. Russia has close ties with both states."
" JERUSALEM, May 21 -- Israel and Syria disclosed Wednesday that they have been holding indirect talks through Turkish mediators since February 2007 and pledged in a joint statement to pursue negotiations ""with good faith and an open mind."" The announcement marked another setback for the Bush administration's campaign to isolate Syria, Iran and their allies in the Middle East, coming the same day as a Lebanon peace agreement that acknowledged the political rise of Hezbollah, a Shiite militia supported by Syria and Iran. Many in Israel and Syria greeted the first formal announcement of peace talks with skepticism, given the lack of strong support from the United States and the political difficulties facing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at home. Olmert is being questioned by police on bribery allegations while his administration pursues long-stalled peace talks with the Palestinians. Wednesday's announcement came as Olmert's chief of staff and a senior political adviser were in Istanbul for the latest round of negotiations. Israel and Syria ""decided to pursue the dialogue between them in a serious and continuous way,"" the two governments said in their statement. The talks center on Syria's demand that Israel return the Golan Heights, which Israeli forces have occupied since the 1967 Middle East war. An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the two countries opened contacts in February 2007 after Olmert visited Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During a 2 1/2 -hour, closed-door meeting, Olmert and Erdogan agreed to have top Turkish officials serve as go-betweens, the official said. Olmert disclosed in a newspaper interview last month that the two countries had exchanged messages through Turkish officials about peace talks. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad then confirmed this in a separate interview but said he believed direct talks were possible only under U.S. sponsorship and only after President Bush had left office. The U.S. response to Wednesday's announcement was polite. ""I think Turkey played a good and useful role in this regard,"" said Assistant Secretary of State C. David Welch. ""Israel and Turkey have apprised us in the past of these discussions."""
" The Pakistani government has agreed to withdraw troops and introduce Sharia law in the conflict-ravaged Swat valley in exchange for a halt to Taliban suicide bombings and attacks on government buildings. The peace deal was signed this afternoon by the newly elected government of North-West Frontier province (NWFP) and representatives of extremist cleric Maulvi Fazlullah, whose fighters engaged in full-blooded warfare against the army last year. The breakthrough is a coup for the government, which is eager to end militant violence, but will be warily regarded by the US, which advocates a strong hand against the Taliban. The US deputy secretary of state, John Negroponte, told senators in Washington yesterday that any agreement was ""something we're going to have to watch very carefully"". The Swat valley, an idyllic area of sweeping mountains and lush fields, became a battlezone last year after the army tried to tame Fazlullah's increasingly bold militants. Today's deal concedes several of their main demands. Under the 15-point pact, Islamic law will be introduced in Malakand division, Taliban prisoners will be released from jail and their headquarters, a sprawling riverside madrasa, will be converted into an Islamic University. After signing the pact militant representative Ali Bakht Khan called on the government to release 202 comrades within two weeks. ""We will follow this agreement and cooperate to bring peace to Swat,"" he said. In return the Taliban will halt their campaign of suicide bombing, shut militant training centres and hand over foreign militants operating in their area. During last year's fighting they were joined by militants from Waziristan, at the other end of Frontier province, and other countries such as Uzbekistan. The deal will stand or fall on implementation. Previous peace deals with militants in NWFP have collapsed within months. This one contains no provision for disarming the fighters, who will be allowed to keep their guns at home but not display them in public. Government officials said this was normal in tribal society. ""I don't think there is one home in the area that doesn't have a weapon,"" said Afrasiab Khattak of the Awami National Party, which rules NWFP, and one of 10 signatories to the deal."
" Doctors examine a body at a hospital in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on October 17, 2010. At least two people were killed Sunday morning, bringing the total number of people killed in the target killing to 15 in the past few days. (Xinhua/Hassan)"
" Grandmothers Kathleen Evans and Veronica Hopson will join 50,000 Catholics in St Peter's Square today to watch the Pope canonise the 19th century nun who founded the Sisters of St Joseph. Mrs Hopson, 72, who was cured of leukemia in 1961, has broken half a century of silence about her case. ""I feel very fortunate that I was given the opportunity to live my life, have a family, have grandchildren, so that's a miracle,"" she said. Mrs Evans, who was cured of lung and brain cancer in 1993, said she considered Mary MacKillop a friend as well as a great Australian because of her experience. ""I'm humbled by the example she set in her lifetime and my family and I will always be grateful for the miracle she asked for on my behalf,"" Mrs Evans told Channel 7's Sunday program. ""But more than that, I now think of Mary as a friend. I feel very close to her and the relationship means a great deal to me. ""In some ways I feel that we're going to Rome together and that she's probably just as excited as I am."" After years of inquiries and interviews, the Catholic Church determined MacKillop's intercessory powers were responsible for the recovery of the two women from what were considered incurable cancers. Both were given relics of Mary MacKillop's clothing and joined the Sisters of St Joseph in sustained prayer after being sent home to die by doctors. Mrs Hopson for years was known only as patient X. Before beatifying MacKillop in 1995 on the strength of her miracle, Pope John Paul II met Mrs Hopson in secret."
" Pope Benedict XVI has officially recognised Australia's first saint, Mary MacKillop, a Melbourne-born nun who worked with needy children. She was canonised with five others, including Brother Andre, a Canadian monk credited with miraculous healings. MacKillop, who died in 1909, clashed with senior clergy and was briefly excommunicated, in part for exposing a sex-abusing priest. Thousands of Australians are in Rome to witness the ceremony. Pope Benedict XVI, canonised the six saints in St Peter's Square in front of some 50,000 people. He declared that ""throughout the Church they be honoured devoutly among all the saints"". Among those attending the Mass were hundreds of nuns from the order MacKillop helped found, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. ""We've always believed that Mary was a saint,"" said 65-year-old Moya Campbell, a member of the order. Father Thomas Casanova, a priest from New South Wales and a distant relative of MacKillop, said it was a momentous occasion. ""I've been looking forward to this since I was a child,"" he said."
" - For more stories on Pakistan & Afghanistan, click [nAFPAK]) (Updates death toll, Zardari's comments, colour, changes dateline)  By Faris Ali  PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Two car-bomb blasts killed at least 16 people in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, evidence militants still have power to strike despite the death of a top Taliban commander last month.  A suicide bomber sitting in an explosives-laden car threw a hand-grenade towards a crowd of people in the main northwestern city of Peshawar before detonating about 100 kg of explosives in the vehicle.  ""Ten people have been killed and 71 wounded, five of them critically,"" Sahibzada Anis, the top government administrator of the city told Reuters.  The attack took place in the carpark of a commercial building close to a military hospital.  Television footage showed car parts and debris from nearby buildings scattered over the road. An elderly man wearing a blood-stained shirt was seen helping a wounded young woman walking away from the scene of the blast.  ""It was terrible. My children are very frightened. All the windows of my house are broken. It was very frightening,"" Beenish Asad, a housewife living near the site of the blast told Reuters by telephone.  Police said they detained two suspects at the scene.  POLICE BUILDING HIT"
" PESHAWAR: Two car bomb explosions killed at least 14 people and injured scores of others in the troubled northwest of Pakistan on Saturday, clear indication that insurgents have still the power and strength to strike back.An explosive-laden car, outside the Askari commercial bank, a bank affiliated with the army in Peshawar's cantonment area, went off in peak business hours killing at least nine people and wounding around 70, police officials said. The blast was so huge that it damaged the nearby buildings and blew up more than 20 cars in the area.Shafqat Malik, the head of Peshawar police's bomb disposal squad, told media that the blast was carried out by a suicide car bomber. He said the car was packed with about 100 kg of explosives.Seconds before the bomb went off, the suicide attacker lobbed several grenades from the car in an apparent attempt to clear his way and get closer to his target, Malik said.Earlier in Bannu, a town adjacent to North Waziristan tribal region, a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle outside a police station, killing six persons and wounding around 60. Among the 60 people injured were 29 policemen and 31 civilians. Dozens of nearby shops and buildings were destroyed.The attacks came after a period of relative quite from the Taliban. Taliban militants have suffered a series of setbacks, with some of their commanders being killed or captured in recent weeks.Militants have vowed to strike back after being ousted from the Swat, Buner and Dir regions in a major military offensive by the Pakistani army.Qari Hussain, a Taliban chief trainer of suicide bombers who is known as Ustad-i-Fidayeen claimed responsibility for the Bannu attack.""The government was taking undue advantage of our silence during the month of Ramadan. We will carry out more such attacks and these will be much more powerful than the earlier ones"", said Qari Hussain. ""We have enough suicide bombers and they are asking me to let them sacrifice their lives in the name of Islam"", he added.The latest strikes came two days after the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan said it was ready to stage more suicide attacks in the region after it was ousted from the Swat Valley in July by an army offensive.Bannu is gateway to North Waziristan, a volatile tribal region on the Afghan border and a major sanctuary for al-Qaida and Taliban militants fighting both in Pakistan and Afghanistan.Twelve Afghan militants were killed in a missile strike by a US drone aircraft near the house of an Afghan Taliban commander allied to al-Qaida in North Waziristan late on Thursday night.Pakistani forces have also made significant gains against the militants after they launched an offensive in northwestern Swat valley in late April. The offensive in Swat valley led to an exodus of more than two million people."
" Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su-hon said the weapons were needed for ""self-defence"" against ""US nuclear threat"". Pyongyang has said before that it had reprocessed the rods, but has not been specific about how the material was subsequently used. Seoul has estimated that 8,000 rods is enough for up to eight weapons. In his speech to the General Assembly, Mr Choe again blamed the US' ""hostile policy"" for the nuclear stand-off. He was then asked in a news conference afterwards what the North Korean nuclear deterrent entailed. ""We have already made clear that we have already reprocessed 8,000 wasted fuel rods and transformed them into arms,"" he said. Asked if the fuel had been turned into actual weapons, he replied ""We declared that we weaponised this."" Pyongyang is also known to have missiles, and in recent days US and South Korean intelligence has picked up signs a missile test may be planned. But Mr Choe, in an interview with Chinese state news agency Xinhua, denied this as ""nothing but rumours"". Six-nation talks on the nuclear issue, which were due to have resumed before the end of September, have been put on hold since Pyongyang made clear its dissatisfaction with Washington's stance."
" (CNN) -- Two civilians and a Lithuanian soldier were killed when a protest outside a NATO base in western Afghanistan against the Quran desecration incident in Iraq turned violent on Thursday, a spokesman for the alliance's military in Kabul said. Maj. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told CNN the incident occurred at the Chaghcharan Airfield in Ghor province. One ISAF soldier, 10 Afghan National Police and seven civilians were also wounded, the ISAF said. The civilians were killed or wounded when Afghan National Police fired on them after the protesters began throwing rocks and tents were set on fire, the ISAF said. O'Donnell said the tents were inside the airfield, but protesters did not enter the compound. There has been anger in Iraq and other places in the Muslim world after the desecration of the Quran by a United States soldier, who used the Muslim holy book for target practice. President Bush and the U.S. military have issued apologies for the act. Other demonstrations protesting the Quran desecration were held in Afghanistan Thursday -- in Badakhshan and Kunduz provinces in the north and in Kabul, where Afghan lawmakers staged a walkout of parliament. A Lithuanian National Defense Ministry spokeswoman told CNN the dead soldier was a 34-year-old male who was on security watch during the Quran protest when he was shot down. He was the first Lithuanian soldier to die in the Afghan conflict. It is not clear who shot him and the Lithuanian military is investigating. The official said Lithuanian troops were firing into the air and not firing back. ""There were local policemen involved. They reacted very quickly to help our troops,"" spokeswoman Jovita Bazeviciute said. Lithuania has the ISAF command in the area, where there is a provincial reconstruction team. O'Donnell said troops from about six nations operated in the area."
" May 23 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar's junta will grant entry to international aid workers for relief operations in areas devastated by a cyclone three weeks ago, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, after talks with military chief Senior General Than Shwe. ``He has agreed to allow all aid workers regardless of nationalities,'' Ban told reporters in the capital, Naypyidaw, according to the UN delegation. ``He has taken quite a flexible position on this matter.'' The military leader also agreed to allow the airport in the former capital, Yangon, to be used to distribute international aid, Ban said. More than 130,000 people are dead or missing after Cyclone Nargis hit the southern rice-growing Irrawaddy River delta, sweeping away villages, crops and livestock. The military, which has run the nation of 48 million since 1962, barred international workers from the worst-affected areas and rejected offers of helicopters, trucks and aid from U.S. and other Western warships anchored offshore. In a news conference today, Ban said the military agreed to allow shipments to be delivered by ``civilian ships and small boats,'' the Associated Press reported. ``Once again the Burmese junta is making the wrong decision,'' French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters during a visit to Luanda, Angola. ``It's pathetic to see a government refuse other nations coming to the rescue of a population which is suffering so much.'' France may transfer the 1,500 tons of aid equipment by helicopter or send its military transport ship to the nearest Thai harbor, where the aid could be transferred to civilian ships, Sarkozy said. The agreement on aid workers ``is going to help with our operation enormously,'' UN World Food Program country director Chris Kaye said by telephone from Yangon. ``We understand that they are going to be allowed to work in the delta,'' Kaye said. The agreement will help the WFP ``ramp up the scale of operations,'' he added. Ban arrived in the country formerly known as Burma yesterday to press the junta to grant international workers access to the delta and accept more aid."
" Loyalists also reportedly tried to break into the French embassy. The attacks came as regime supporters protested outside both embassies for a third day. The US and French ambassadors angered the Syrian regime last week when they visited the flashpoint city of Hama, which has seen some of the biggest protests against Assad's rule."
" The US is violating UN rules by refusing unmonitored access to the Army private who is accused of passing secret documents to WikiLeaks, the UN's chief torture investigator has said. UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez said the US had has broken rules by insisting on monitoring conversations with Pte Bradley Manning. Mr Mendez says he needs unrestricted access to Pte Manning to do his job. Pte Manning, 23, is being held in a military prison awaiting trial. The intelligence analyst, who joined the US Army in 2007, is accused of leaking 720,000 secret military and diplomatic US government documents. They were later published by the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. Advocates for government transparency have called for the released of Pte Manning, placing pressure on the US government. After being confined alone in a cell for 23 hours per day in a detention facility in Quantico in the state of Virginia, Pte Manning was transferred to Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas in April. Mr Mendez said the US had told him Mr Manning was being treated better now than when he was in Quantico. But the UN investigator said the US must allow him to determine whether the conditions at Quantico that Pte Manning experienced amounted to ""torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment""."
" The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has referred News Corporation's bid for BSkyB to the Competition Commission. The move follows News Corp's withdrawal of its proposed undertaking to spin off Sky News as part of its attempt to take over the broadcaster. The spin-off of Sky News had initially been the key condition if News Corp was to be allowed to take over BSkyB. But in light of the phone-hacking scandal, Mr Hunt had said he was seeking fresh advice from regulators. ""I am now going to refer this [bid] to the Competition Commission with immediate effect and will be writing to them this afternoon,"" Mr Hunt told the House of Commons. ""Today's announcement will be an outcome that I'm sure the whole house will welcome. ""It will mean that the Competition Commission will be able to give further full and exhaustive consideration to this merger, taking into account all relevant recent developments."" The referral is likely to delay the bid for several months while the Competition Commission investigates whether the takeover would break anti-monopoly laws. News Corp already owns 39% of BSkyB but wants to take full control of the firm. Mr Hunt's statement in the Commons came about half an hour after News Corp put out a statement saying it was withdrawing its plan to spin off Sky News."
" The limos will roll past Flagstaff Hill tonight as the leaders of nations representing 85 percent of the world's wealth officially open the Pittsburgh Summit, the long-awaited gathering of the G-20. In separate dinners at the Phipps Conservatory, the heads of government and their finance ministers will begin their discussions of the world's economy, assessing their previous efforts to heal it at summits in Washington and London over the past year. Tomorrow, the conversations shift to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, amid the tightest security Pittsburgh has ever experienced. The high-profile meetings are the culmination of negotiations across the globe that have taken place to shape its agenda and those of related forums on trade, climate change and the rules of the road for finance in a post-crisis world. ""We all know that when the circus comes to town, that is only the visible part of an ongoing process,"" Anthony Swallwood, first counselor of the European Union's Washington delegation, said during a pre-summit stop in Pittsburgh last week. Just as those meeting paved the way for the Pittsburgh session, the talks tonight and tomorrow will serve as a prelude -- whether catalyst or impediment remains to be seen -- to pending international talks on issues including trade and climate change. As has become traditional in such gatherings, the world leaders were greeted with demonstrations ranging from the whimsical to the confrontational. Protests began at mid-morning with a daring stunt by a team from Greenpeace, the environmental organization known for sometimes confrontational tactics. Two squads of Greenpeace activists attempted to simultaneously rappel down the sides of the Fort Pitt and West End bridges. Police managed to nab the five activists on the Fort Pitt Bridge, but eight protesters managed to unfurl an 80-by-30-foot banner proclaiming ""Danger: Environmental Destruction Ahead,"" while dangling above the Ohio River for several hours. As police waited them out, the group hovered over the waters as city River Rescue and Coast Guard vessels circled below. By early afternoon, the team members, described as expert climbers by Greenpeace spokesmen, climbed back up and were all arrested, along with a ninth member who remained on the bridge to assure police that the activists were peaceful, were experienced climbers and were equipped to pull themselves back up on the bridge at the end of the protest."
" MECCA, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- About 2 million Muslims from around the world began streaming out of Mecca on Sunday, the first day of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to the birthplace of the Prophet Mohammad. Moving in cars, vans and on foot, a mass of white-robed pilgrims poured into a tented city at the valley of Mena at the start of the five-day ritual. Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford the trip is obliged to perform the Hajj to Mecca once in a lifetime. (Watch an experience of the Hajj -- 2:10) Making Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islamic faith. Mecca is revered as the holiest site of Islam, and the Masjid al-Haram, or Grand Mosque, is the focal point of the rites observed. The six-day pilgrimage ends with a four-day feast called the Eid al-Adha. Among the rites during the Hajj are the circling of the Ka'aba, the stone building Muslims believe was originally built by Abraham and his son Ishmael. The Ka'aba is considered the first sanctuary on Earth dedicated to the worship of the One God. It is a symbol of unity for Muslims, because all prayers, wherever they are performed, are oriented in the direction of the Ka'aba. The Hajj has been connected with deadly incidents in the past, most of them stampedes that take place during the ceremonies. But the risks are increasing, with disease and terrorism high on the list of Saudi concerns. Last week, a hotel near the Grand Mosque in central Mecca collapsed, killing at least 76 people. Authorities were still investigating what caused the small hotel to crumble, sending chunks of debris into the street and onto sidewalks packed with Muslims in Mecca for the Hajj. The worst stampede happened in 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims were trampled to death. More recently, 251 pilgrims died two years ago in a stampede during a stone-throwing ritual that has been the trigger for previous deadly tramplings. A stampede in 2003 killed 36 pilgrims, most of them en route to the devil-stoning ritual, conducted outside Mecca. In 2001, a stampede at the same ritual killed 35. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more. CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more."
" The ex-UN commander in Bosnia General Sir Michael Rose said Mr Blair had to take responsibility for his actions. ""To go to war on what turns out to be false grounds is something that no one should be allowed to walk away from,"" he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. A Downing Street spokesman said Sir Michael was entitled to his view but had been retired for some time. ""The government is entitled to point out that there have been three democratic elections in Iraq,"" said the prime minister's official spokesman. In a Channel 4 television documentary, Iraq: The Failure Of War, General Sir Michael tells former war correspondent and independent MP Martin Bell: ""Blair should be impeached."" The general told Today the consequences for Iraq and the war on terror had been ""quite disastrous"". ""Certainly from a soldier's perspective there can't be any more serious decision taken by a prime minister than declaring war,"" he said. He claimed Mr Blair's actions were ""somewhere in between"" getting the politics wrong and acting illegally. ""The politics was wrong, that he rarely declared what his ultimate aims were, as far as we can see, in terms of harping continually on weapons of mass destruction when actually he probably had some other strategy in mind. ""And secondly, the consequences of that war have been quite disastrous both for the people of Iraq and also for the west in terms of our wider interests in the war against global terror."""
" Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam has been captured, Libyan officials say. He was taken by fighters near the southern town of Obari and flown to the city of Zintan in the north. Saif al-Islam told a journalist he was well. He is the last key Gaddafi family member to be seized or killed. Libya's new prime minister says he will get a fair trial in Libya. Saif al-Islam, 39, is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity. A militia force allied to the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) said he had been captured in the desert about 50km (30 miles) west of Obari, and taken to their base in Zintan in the north. Continue reading the main story The International Criminal Court has a warrant for the arrest of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. Ideally ICC judges would like to see him tried in The Hague. But they have quickly realised that is not likely to happen. The Libyan authorities are committed to trying members of the former regime inside Libya. Allowing Saif al-Islam to be taken out of the country would be hugely unpopular. Quite possibly the Zintan brigade soldiers who now hold him would refuse to transfer him to the central government. And Libya is not a signatory to the ICC. So instead, the court is already working to try to ensure a fair trial inside Libya. For Saif al-islam Gaddafi a trial in his own country means he could face the death penalty. That's something that would not have happened if his father had signed up Libya to the ICC, where the maximum sentence is life in prison. A commander of the Zintan militia, Wisam Dughaly, said Saif al-Islam had been captured along with several aides as they tried to smuggle him out to neighbouring Niger. Fighters said they were taken without a shot being fired. ""At the beginning he was very scared. He thought we would kill him,"" one of his captors, named as Ahmed Ammar, told Reuters news agency. Libyan TV showed pictures of Saif al-Islam on the plane to Zintan with bandages on his left hand."
" Fans were attempting to get in to see the Nigerians play North Korea Sixteen people, including two policemen, have been injured after a crush outside a South African ground hosting a World Cup warm-up game. Several fans fell under a rush of people outside the Makhulong Stadium in the Johannesburg suburb of Tembisa. Entry to the friendly between Nigeria and North Korea was free, and many more than the 10,000 capacity turned up. Football's world governing body Fifa has said it was not involved in any ""operational"" aspect of the fixture. A Fifa statement added that ""contrary to some media reports, Fifa had nothing to do with the ticketing of this game"". One fan, Japhta Mombelo, described the moment he was caught up in the chaos. ""The crowd overpowered me and I went down,"" he said. ""I fell down and people just fell over me."" The first crowd surge came when the stadium gates were opened to allow fans entry. Police soon closed the gates, but when they were re-opened, a second rush occurred, with more people falling over. ""When we were coming in, they were just stepping on us,"" another fan, Princess Mbali, who was wearing a South Africa shirt, said. ""I thought I was dying. I was at the bottom."" The incidents have provided the wrong sort of build-up to the World Cup that the South African authorities would have wanted   One policeman was seriously hurt after reportedly being crushed against a gate. He remains in a stable condition, according to the South African Police Services. The crowd was mainly made up of local South African and travelling Nigerian fans. Police said that hundreds of them were also holding photocopies of tickets and tried to break down the gates after the match had started and police had closed them. In a separate incident the game was then stopped for five minutes in the second half when a railing collapsed inside the stadium. The incidents have provided the wrong sort of build-up to the World Cup that the South African authorities would have wanted, the BBC's Piers Edwards, outside the stadium, says. The venue is not a World Cup venue, but the incident is likely to heighten security even further ahead of the World Cup opener between South Africa and Mexico at Soccer City on Friday, our correspondent says. The game itself finished 3-1 to Nigeria, with Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Victor Obinna Nsofor and Obafemi Martins scoring for the Super Eagles, while Jong Hyok Cha was on target for North Korea."
" Two people have been killed and more than 600 injured in fierce clashes between protesters and security forces in Cairo and Alexandria. The clashes came as police moved to prevent a long-term sit-in following a huge demonstration in Cairo against the military leadership on Friday. Some protesters lobbed rocks and a police vehicle was set on fire. The latest violence comes just over a week before parliamentary elections are scheduled to begin. Protesters - mostly Islamists and young activists - have been holding demonstrations against a draft constitution that they say would allow the military to retain too much power after a new civilian government is elected. Correspondents say many Egyptians are frustrated at what they see as a reluctance by the ruling military council - who took power after the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak in February - to carry out meaningful reforms. Continue reading the main story People here are deeply frustrated at the way the country is being run and also the prospects for the future - the very slow movement towards democracy. There are fears that the military are trying to hold onto power behind the scenes. The big danger now is that people will lose faith in the military. The military here have always been seen as the protectors of the revolution - the guardians of the nation. Elections are due in nine days' time. If those are blown off course by these angry demonstations, then that would blow a huge hole in the plans the military has for a handover to democracy. Saturday's violence in Cairo began when police moved to dismantle tents erected by demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square who had camped out for the night. The move to clear the square prompted thousands of protesters to return, and clashes erupted. Police fired rubber bullets as cars were set on fire, witnesses said. The numbers of protesters swelled, reportedly after a call went out on social media for people to join the demonstration following the police assault."
" At least 24 people were killed in cities across Syria during a government crackdown Saturday against those in opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, according to a U.K.-based human rights group. Gunfire and explosions could be heard in the western Syrian city of Homs, as residents contended with fuel shortages and power outages throughout the day, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. CNN cannot independently confirm accounts from the ground in Syria because the government has not provided access to Western media. Also Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that al-Assad had passed the ""point of no return -- no way that he will resume his authority or legitimacy over his people."" ""I think that the world response ... these are real signals that there is acceleration toward the end of this regime,"" he said, citing the responses of the Arab League and Jordan. The clashes come the same day as a deadline set by the 22-member Arab League to put forth a peace plan meant to stem violence against protesters which has resulted in months of bloodshed. Earlier this week, Syria accepted ""in principle"" the alliance's plan to permit observers into the country to verify whether the regime has taken measures to protect civilians, a senior Arab diplomat said Friday. Originally, 500 observers were believed to be destined for Syria. But on Friday, Arab Doctors Association Head Ibrahim Zafarani said he received an email from Arab League officials that indicated only 40 names would be submitted. U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Friday afternoon that the proposed number had been reduced to 40. Last week, the league's 22 nations voted to suspend Syria's membership, but later gave Damascus three days to implement a protocol to allow observers to enter the nation."
" Workforce storms to victory in the Derby at Epsom Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Workforce broke the track record with a blistering turn of foot as he won the 231st running of the Derby by seven lengths at Epsom. The breathtaking victory in baking sunshine sealed a Classic double for champion jockey Ryan Moore after his Oaks win on Snow Fairy. It was the fifth victory in the race for Newmarket trainer Sir Michael Stoute as Workforce finished ahead of 100-1 shot At First Sight with Frankie Dettori third on 9-2 chance Rewilding. Pacemaker At First Sight, the outsider of Aidan O'Brien's three runners, tried to steal the race but was reeled in by Dante Stakes runner-up Workforce. Moore was delighted with his mount and told BBC Sport: ""We had a really clean run. He quickened up really well and he kept extending. He's a really good horse and I'm delighted. ""He was awesome. He travelled beautifully. It's a very special day. I was delighted to win the Oaks but this is the most important race for me and to win it for the boss (Stoute) too is even more special."" The horse is owned by Prince Khalid Abdulla, a first cousin to King Abdullah of Saudia Arabia, who has won the Derby before with Quest for Fame (1990) and Commander in Chief (1993). Stoute has won the Derby with Shergar (1981), Shahrastani (1986), Kris Kin (2003) and North Light (2004). The 64-year-old trainer added: ""He was seriously good today. I think he has won one of the great Derbies in terms of the performance. I'm thrilled for Ryan. ""He's gone bang bang and the horse has answered his call. Ryan has a great temperament. ""After a poor ride in the St Leger for me with the favourite (Conduit two years ago) I wanted him to get a monkey off his back. He has done that today."" In the process, the winner rewrote the history books as no beaten Dante winner had ever gone on to land the premier Classic. O'Brien's favourite Jan Vermeer finished fourth, with stablemate Midas Touch in fifth in a race watched by a crowd of more than 100,000 on the Epsom Downs. Workforce's time of two minutes 31.33 seconds over the undulating mile-and-a-half trip smashed the previous track record set by Lammtarra, who won the 1995 Derby in a time of 2min 32.31s."
" Libyans celebrated late into the evening Saturday the reported capture of Moammar Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam, nabbed in a desert gunbattle after an 18-day stakeout. Senior Libyan military officials said they believe the potential Gadhafi successor was trying to make his way to neighboring Niger, where a brother, Saadi, was granted asylum. Revolutionary fighters caught the man wanted by the International Criminal Court between the southwestern oasis town of Obari and southern town of Sabha, military commanders in Tripoli told CNN. The 39-year-old, the last Gadhafi fugitive, was taken to the city of Zintan in the western mountains. Top officials in the town rejoiced over the development. Saif al-Islam had been on the run since shortly after the fall of his father's Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital in August. ""I hope that this is the beginning of a state of freedom, transparency and lawfulness,"" acting Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib told reporters in Zintan. ""In the name of the great nation, we would like to allay your fears and tell you that Saif and those who were with him will be tried fairly. They are ensured all their rights under the law. These are the same rights that our nation didn't have for 42 years."" The ICC in the Netherlands wants Saif al-Islam for alleged crimes against humanity, including murder, committed during the uprising this year. But officials in Libya also indicated they would like to put Saif al-Islam on trial. Although he held no high-level government office, Saif al-Islam was considered by ICC prosecutors to be Moammar Gadhafi's ""unspoken successor and the most influential person with his inner circle,"" according to an arrest warrant issued in June. The Gadhafi regime formulated a state policy that included quelling demonstrations by lethal force, attacking civilians and imprisoning hundreds, according to the warrant. Saif al-Islam ""exercised control over crucial parts of the state apparatus, including finances and logistics and had the powers of a de facto prime minister."""
" (CNN) -- Federal agents can't account for more than 1,400 guns after a widely criticized operation aimed at tracing the flow of weapons to Mexican drug gangs, sources with knowledge of the investigation tell CNN. Of 2,020 guns involved in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives probe dubbed ""Operation Fast and Furious,"" 363 have been recovered in the United States and 227 have been recovered in Mexico. That leaves 1,430 guns unaccounted for, the sources said. The ATF operation was intended to build cases against Mexican drug cartels by allowing firearms to go from the United States into Mexico. The hope was by tracing the guns in Mexico, agents would be able to determine the structure of various cartels and then bring them down. The problem was that once the guns were allowed to ""walk,"" there was no way to recover them until they turned up at crime scenes. The operation has been widely criticized in Congress, with the chairman of a House committee that investigated the issue calling it ""felony stupid."" Rene Jaquez, the ATF's former attache in Mexico City, told CNN the operation never should have happened. ""Guns traditionally are just not allowed to leave the undercover operation for fear that it will enter into the criminal element and then be subsequently used in a crime at a later date,"" Jaquez said. ""And the last thing any one of us as law enforcement officers wants to have attributed to us is the death of an innocent individual by a gun that was lost during one of our operations."" But the ATF knowingly allowed individuals to purchase weapons that they knew would end up in the hands of criminals on both sides of the border. And when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in Arizona in December, two AK-47 variants that were allowed to ""walk"" under the program were found at the scene. In Mexico, the operation drew sharp criticism from top officials, who have long said that U.S. weapons are fueling the country's bloody drug war. And ATF agents in Arizona told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in June that they cringed every time they heard of a shooting after the program had been under way for some time. Over the past several months, questions have arisen regarding who in government knew about and sanctioned this operation. Even though the operation was run out of the ATF's field office in Phoenix, Jaquez said it is highly unlikely that officials at the Department of Justice in Washington were not informed. ""You have to understand, this program was in operation 18 months or more before we had any idea it existed,"" said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. ""And as I look back on it now, it was a, it's a big joke"" -- one Grassley says isn't so funny since the guns have turned up in the hands of criminals."
" Israel will reject a proposed international commission to investigate its deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, its ambassador to the US has said. Michael Oren told US broadcaster Fox News that Israel has the ability and the right to investigate its own military. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had earlier telephoned Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu with the proposal. Nine people died when Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish ship last week. ""We are rejecting an international commission. We are discussing with the Obama administration a way in which our inquiry will take place,"" Mr Oren told Fox News Sunday. He said Israel would not apologise for the incident. Eight of those killed were Turkish, and the ninth had joint US-Turkish nationality. Mr Netanyahu was due to discuss Mr Ban's proposal with senior cabinet ministers on Sunday. But Mr Oren said: ""Israel is a democratic nation. Israel has the ability and the right to investigate itself, not to be investigated by any international board."" The proposed commission would have included representatives from the US, Turkey and Israel and could have been headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer. The UK and France have urged Israel to accept an inquiry involving international oversight."
" Palestinian suspected of car theft shot to death during chase in Gush Etzion settlement bloc (Haaretz) U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)"
" Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has said his country will not bow down to ""pressure"" and predicted its bloody conflict would continue. Speaking to the UK's Sunday Times, he said the unity and stability of Syria were at stake. An Arab League deadline for Syria to end its crackdown passed overnight with no sign of violence abating. There are reports of a grenade attack on a building of the ruling party in the capital Damascus. If confirmed, it would be the first such attack reported inside the capital since the uprising began in March. At least 27 people were killed on Saturday, according to opposition activists, including four government intelligence agents whose car was ambushed in Hama by gunmen believed to be army defectors. Foreign journalists are unable to move around Syria freely, making it difficult to verify reports. The UN believes at least 3,500 people have been killed in the conflict since March. The Arab League's plan has been the focus of efforts to find a diplomatic solution and comes as key international players such as Russia and the US warned of the danger of civil war in Syria. Syria was reported to have agreed in principle to accept the Arab League's peace plan but critics accused it of stalling for time."
" Spain's centre-right Popular Party (PP) has won a resounding victory in a parliamentary election dominated by the country's deep debt crisis. With almost all the votes counted, the PP, led by Mariano Rajoy, is assured of a clear majority in the lower chamber. The Socialist Party, which has governed Spain since 2004, has admitted defeat. Mr Rajoy, who is expected to tackle the country's debts amid slow growth and high unemployment, said he was aware of the ""magnitude of the task ahead"". He told supporters there would be ""no miracle"" to restore Spain to financial health, and that the country must unite to win back respect in Europe. Continue reading the main story The Popular Party had already erected the platform for its victory speeches at its Madrid headquarters by mid-morning. Hours before the polls closed, workmen unfurled a huge, new banner that said ""Gracias"". Somewhat premature, it was quickly removed. But there was no doubt who would win this race. Left-wing voters have punished the governing Socialist party: it is pretty tough asking to be re-elected when almost five million people are unemployed. So the mood over at PSOE (Socialist) headquarters today was distinctly subdued. Here, though, the music is pumping through loud speakers. The crowds have gathered - many wrapped in the Spanish national flag. The PP and its supporters are beginning their party. ""Forty-six million Spaniards are going to wage a battle against the crisis,"" said the 56-year-old PP leader. The PP won about 44% of the votes and the Socialists 29% in Sunday's election, according to near-complete official results. The PP is expected to take about 186 of the 350 seats in the lower house. As the results were announced, jubilant, flag-waving supporters danced outside party headquarters in central Madrid."
" HAMILTON, New Jersey (CNN) -- The mother of a soldier killed in Iraq was arrested Thursday after interrupting a campaign speech by first lady Laura Bush. As police hauled her away, she shouted, ""Police brutality."" Wearing a T-shirt with the message ""President Bush You Killed My Son,"" Sue Niederer of nearby Hopewell screamed questions at the first lady as the audience tried to drown her out by chanting, ""Four more years! Four more years!"" She pressed on, refused to leave and eventually police removed her from the firehouse rally. The first lady finished her speech, praising the administration's achievements in the war on terror and the economy. Outside, Niederer said she wanted to ask Laura Bush ""Why the senators, the legislators, the congressmen, why aren't their children serving?"" She went on to blame the president for the death of her 24-year-old son, Army First Lieutenant Seth Dvorin. He was killed while trying to defuse a roadside bomb that exploded on him. ""My son was in the Army, and he was killed February third this year,"" she said. As the Hamilton police and Secret Service agents surrounded her and reporters pressed her with questions, she held her ground, claiming ""I had my ticket"" to attend the speech by the first lady. Police subsequently handcuffed her and she was led away to a nearby van. As she was escorted, she repeatedly shouted ""Police brutality"" and demanded to know her rights and the charges. Later, she was charged with defiant trespass and released."
" A woman wearing a T-shirt with the words ""President Bush You Killed My Son"" and a picture of a soldier killed in Iraq was detained Thursday after she interrupted a campaign speech by first lady Laura Bush.Police escorted Sue Niederer of Hopewell, N.J., from a rally at a firehouse after she demanded to know why her son, Army 1st Lt. Seth Dvorin , 24, was killed in Iraq. Dvorin died in February while trying to disarm a bomb.As shouts of ""Four More Years"" subsided, Niederer, standing in the middle of a crowd of some 700, continued to shout about the killing of her son.When Bush mentioned the troops abroad, Niederer shouted, ""When are yours going to serve?"" referring to Bush's 22-year-old twin daughters, who aren't in the armed services.Last week, in an interview withLocal police escorted Niederer out of the event, handcuffed her and placed her in the back of a police van.Outside the hall, she said she had a ticket and asked why she was being arrested. She was told by police she had entered a private event and had refused to leave, the Trenton Times reported.Niederer was later charged with defiant trespass and released. The charge could lead to a fine and a jail term of up to 60 days but jail time rarely results from such offenses, said a police spokesman.The first lady continued speaking, touting her husband's record on the economy, health care and the war on terror to those attending the rally in this suburban community of 90,000 people near Trenton.Mrs. Bush made several references to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks during her speech. She said that many in New Jersey, including some in neighborhoods near the firehouse, lost family members that day.""Too many people here had a loved one that went to work in New York that day,"" Bush said. ""It's for our country, it's for our children, our grandchildren that we do the hard work of confronting terror.""""I was denied my freedom of speech,"" Niederer said at a makeshift news conference in the police station lobby.Event planners were ready for such a disruption, stationing volunteers like Karolina Zabawa, 20, in the crowd.""If anybody acts up, I just start chanting, 'Four more years!'"" said Zabawa, a Drexel University student."
" Mumbai was struck by three powerful bomb blasts during the evening rush hour on Wednesday that killed at least 21 people and injured dozens more, including businessmen from the city's thriving diamond, gold and jewellery trade. India's home minister, P Chidambaram, warned that the death toll could rise further. It is the fourth major attack by suspected terrorists on India's financial capital since 2003. The chief minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, said 113 people had been hospitalised after suffering injuries in the blasts, which he said were caused by ""powerful explosives ... planted in a scooter and a motorcycle"". Asked by television news if the state government had received any warning of the terror strike, he replied: ""No comment."" Unlike earlier multiple bomb attacks on the city, no radical organisation has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion fell once again on the Indian Mujahideen (IM), an underground terrorist group sworn to avenge the massacre of hundreds of Muslims in the neighbouring state of Gujarat. A day earlier in Mumbai, the anti-terrorist squad had arrested two car thieves allegedly belonging to the IM who had supplied stolen cars used for planting bombs in 2008 in the Gujarat cities of Ahmedabad and Surat. The fifth anniversary of the Mumbai train blasts that killed more than 180 commuters fell this week, on 11 July. Officials were careful not to blame any organisation for the early evening blasts, but the choice of neighbourhoods in south and central Mumbai suggested that, as in the past, the attempt was to terrorise the city's businessmen, particularly from among its Gujarati community. The first explosion at 6.54pm was in the crowded, bustling Zaveri bazaar, a British-era market packed with hundreds of gold and jewellery shops. The second, a minuter later, was at the Opera House, which has become a major hub for India's prosperous diamond exporters."
" Three near-simultaneous explosions have shaken India's commercial capital Mumbai (Bombay), police say. Twenty-one people were killed and 113 injured, said Maharashtra state's Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan. He called the explosions, during Mumbai's busy evening rush-hour, ""a co-ordinated attack by terrorists"". One explosion was reported in the Zaveri Bazaar, another in the Opera House business district and a third in Dadar district in the city centre. Police sources were reported as saying the explosions were caused by home-made bombs. The attacks are the deadliest in Mumbai since November 2008 when 10 gunmen launched a three-day co-ordinated raid in which 166 people were killed. Continue reading the main story Dadar is one of the old areas of Mumbai, in the middle of the city. The blast here happened in a very crowded area with lots of shops and residential buildings. The blast here was not powerful. Police have said the explosion in Zaveri Bazaar was stronger. Police say the timing of the blast - 1900 - is significant. This was the height of the evening rush hour - it was designed to cause maximum panic and casualties. One person asked why Mumbai is always the target of attacks. However, many of the people gathered here now are merely onlookers curious to see what has happened. People have come from nearby areas to see what is going on. There is no evidence of real panic here. But in other parts of the city, the story is grimmer. There is panic and people are rushing back home. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh denounced the bombings and appealed to Mumbai residents ""to remain calm and show a united face"". US President Barack Obama strongly condemned the ""outrageous"" attacks, and offered ""support to India's efforts to bring the perpetrators of these terrible crimes to justice"". The latest explosions hit the city as workers were making their way home."
" Both leaders denied suggestions of a rift between them Gordon Brown has been visiting British troops in Afghanistan to show his support in the run-up to Christmas. The prime minister inspected new equipment and held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kandahar. He said the next few months would be ""critical"" and urged the Afghan government to take a bigger role in confronting the Taliban. Unusually, Mr Brown spent the night in the country, rather than flying in and out in one day. He slept in ""basic quarters"" at the Kandahar air base, the headquarters of Nato troops in the south of the country. There are currently about one or two attacks a week by Taliban in the Kandahar area. The prime minister said: ""I wanted to be here with the troops to thank them for what they are doing. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. ""I wanted to see what it was like working with them."" This year alone, 100 British service personnel have been killed in Afghanistan. In a joint press conference with Mr Karzai, the prime minister acknowledged that casualty numbers had been high and paid tribute to their ""bravery, professionalism and dedication"". He said: ""I feel for all of those families who have lost loved ones, particularly as we move towards Christmas. ""I know this has been a difficult year."" Mr Brown said he felt more confident about the conflict following decisions by the US and Britain to send in more troops. He insisted Afghanistan's border regions were ""the epicentre of global terrorism"" and operations there were directly related to security on British streets. Both leaders denied suggestions of a rift between them. It is one thing to visit. It is another to stay over. But this is exactly what Gordon Brown has done in Afghanistan - the first prime minister since the Second World War to spend a night in a combat zone. He bunked down in a basic hut with limited heating and a shared latrine at Kandahar air base, which comes under rocket fire at least once a week. ""No frills"" was how one officer described it. This was in part down to logistics. It allowed Mr Brown to fit in more meetings. Plus it also, he said, allowed him the chance to get a small glimpse of how service personnel live out here in the dusty, concrete-clad, container-strewn military bases. Mr Brown said his Afghan counterpart had offered to send 10,000 extra Afghan troops to be trained in Helmand, where most of the British forces were based. There would also be 10,000 more Afghan police in Helmand and Kandahar, he said. Asked about corruption in the Kabul administration, Mr Brown said Mr Karzai would present plans, including improvements to governance, to a conference in London next month. Mr Karzai said he was ""very, very sorry"" when he saw British troops killed or wounded in Afghanistan. He addressed the parents of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, saying: ""I am terribly sorry for them losing their sons and daughters, as we are sorry for us losing our sons and daughters in Afghanistan. ""But we have a job to do together and we must endure, as hard as it may be."" During his visit, he revealed that British forces had destroyed almost 1,500 roadside bombs in the last six months. This, said Brigadier Dickie Davis, the Isaf chief of staff for southern regional command, might provoke a further backlash from the Taliban. Asked whether Afghan forces would be in a position to take over the control of security in the country, Brig Davis was non-committal. The prime minister slept in these ""basic quarters"" at Kandahar air base But he stressed that there had been ""remarkable progress"" within the Afghan National Army. Meanwhile Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth has said the Ministry of Defence faces ""tough decisions"" over funding. He told BBC 1's Politics Show that other areas of defence would face cuts as limited resources were shifted to support the operation in Afghanistan. ""I am being asked to live within my budget and there are tough decisions that will have to be taken in that regard,"" Mr Ainsworth said. It is reported that Mr Ainsworth will this week announce the closure of at least one RAF base and a scaling back of the UK sovereign base area in Cyprus, as well as cuts to the MoD Police and back office functions."
" The decision is regarded as a blow to Democratic Party candidate John Kerry. In the 2000 election Mr Nader attracted enough left-leaning voters in Florida - a key swing state - to cost the Democrats the presidency, analysts say. The Democratic Party unsuccessfully argued that Mr Nader's Reform Party was not a genuine national organisation. The Florida Supreme Court said it was not clear what constituted a national party, and that therefore it could not bar Mr Nader from running in the state. Mr Nader was a candidate for the Green Party in 2000, when Mr Bush won Florida by 537 votes to clinch the presidency. Most of Mr Nader's 98,000 votes would have gone to Democratic candidate Al Gore, had Mr Nader not been on the ballot, according to observers. This year Mr Nader has been endorsed by the Reform Party - which first shot to prominence in 1992 with the candidacy of populist billionaire Ross Perot. The Democrats argue that the party no longer has a nationwide following, and that it is supported by Mr Bush's camp in an effort to undermine Mr Kerry. In an angry reaction to Friday's ruling, Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said: ""In state after state, Nader has become an extension of the Republican Party and their corporate backers."" The Reform Party has accused the Democrats of stifling democracy by trying to get their candidate struck off ballot papers."
" Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gestures during his meeting with disabled individuals at the Gorki presidential residence outside Moscow November 16, 2011. Moscow has strongly opposed the expansion of the Western military alliance to include former Soviet republics such as Georgia and Ukraine. NATO promised Georgia eventual membership at a summit in 2008, but enthusiasm for Tbilisi's entry cooled after the brief war later that year, which saw Russian troops invade Georgia to protect Georgia's tiny rebel region of South Ossetia. ""If you...had faltered back in 2008, the geopolitical situation would be different now,"" Medvedev said in a speech to soldiers at a base in Vladikavkaz, just north of the Georgian border. ""And a number of countries which (NATO) tried to deliberately drag into the alliance, would have most likely already been part of it now."" Despite the end of the Cold War, Russia has had numerous disagreements with NATO on missile defence, the Balkans and most recently Libya, where Moscow was sceptical of the alliance's bombing campaign that helped topple Muammar Gaddafi. ""We abandoned direct competition (with NATO), but... we now have different visions of the solutions of a number of security issues,"" Medvedev said. Medvedev said Russia would soon announce measures it will take to respond to U.S. plans for a missile defence shield in Europe. Moscow says the shield could lead to a new arms race. The president's hawkish rhetoric comes ahead of a parliamentary election next month. Medvedev has been charged by his predecessor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, with leading the ruling pro-Kremlin United Russia party, which has seen slipping approval ratings. Putin, who steered Medvedev into office in 2008 months before the Georgia war, has announced plans to reclaim the presidency in an election next year."
" Despite Palestinian claims that the four al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades men who were killed by an Israel Navy force on Monday in waters near Gaza were not terrorists, a senior Navy officer said they were planning to carry out a terror attack deep in Israeli territory. The officer said the terrorists, who were wearing diving suits, also carried weapons on them. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military wing, reported that four of the group's men were killed in the incident and that a fifth man, who was lightly injured, was missing. The Navy officer said one of the terrorists was in a small boat, while the others were swimming beside him a few hundred meters from the beach, in what appeared to be a well-planned operation. ""The commandos, who acted with professionalism and determination, spotted the cell and fired accurately. We are currently investigating the incident, but we have already determined that the cell planned to carry out an attack in Israel,"" he said. Security officials said the incident is just another example of the efforts by armed Palestinian organizations to seek alternative ways to attack Israel's home front due to the tight security along the Israel-Gaza border fence. A few months ago a number of explosives-laden barrels, which originated from Gaza, washed up on Israel's beaches. The barrels were neutralized by sappers and caused no injury or damage."
" Israel's navy has shot and killed four Palestinians wearing diving gear off the Gaza coast, officials say. The Israeli military said it believed those on board the boat were planning a terrorist attack. Hamas officials in Gaza say four bodies have been recovered and two people are missing. It comes a week after nine pro-Palestinian activists died in an Israeli raid on an aid flotilla trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza in 2005, but still controls the sea off the territory's coast. The Israeli military said the boat was carrying ""a squad of terrorists wearing diving suits on their way to execute a terror attack"". A spokesman said a naval force had hit its target, but did not give any more details of the operation. The country's Haaretz newspaper quoted an Israeli army source as saying the incident took place at about 0430 local time (0130 GMT), and that the boat had been heading north to Israel from waters off the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group linked to Fatah, has reported that four of its men were killed and a fifth is missing, according to Israeli media. The men had been training off the Gaza coast, the militant group was quoted as having claimed."
" Egypt's cabinet has offered to resign after three days of mass protests against the military rulers. Cabinet spokesman Mohammed Hegazy said the resignation had not yet been accepted by the military council. Thousands of protesters remained in Tahrir Square overnight on Monday after a call for further mass demonstrations to take place on Tuesday. More than 20 people have been killed and nearly 1,800 injured in three days of violence in the Egyptian capital. On Monday evening, ambulances with sirens wailing were seen driving into the heart of the large city-centre square to ferry the injured to hospital. The clashes began on Saturday between police and protesters who want the military to transfer power to a civilian government. Continue reading the main story The offer from the Egyptian cabinet to resign can only deepen the political crisis in Egypt. It is bound to encourage the protesters who will feel they have secured their first scalp, and will want more. It also poses a huge dilemma for the ruling military council: whether the existing cabinet is reappointed, or a new set of ministers is sworn in, they are bound to demand more power for the civilian government. But the whole criticism of the military during the current protests is that they have been unwilling to cede real power. Or, even more dangerously for the army, they could be forced to take more direct control. That means the generals themselves would be personally responsible for all that is now going wrong inside Egypt. ""The government of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has handed its resignation to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces,"" Mr Hegazy said, in a statement carried by the official Mena news agency. ""Owing to the difficult circumstances the country is going through, the government will continue working until the resignation is accepted."" A military source told the BBC that the council was meeting to discuss the cabinet's offer, but there was still no consensus on whether to accept it. The same source said that the council was also consulting with other political groups."
" Palestinian suspected of car theft shot to death during chase in Gush Etzion settlement bloc (Haaretz) U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)"
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. At least 11 people have been killed during demonstrations in the Egyptian capital Cairo. Protesters in Tahrir Square clashed with soldiers and the police, who used rubber bullets and batons. The demonstrators are demanding that the head of the governing military council resign, amid mounting concern that the armed forces do not want to relinquish power. BBC World spoke to one witness in the square who did not want to give his real name."
" Two people were injured Monday when Syrian soldiers attacked a convoy of Turkish citizens who were passing through Syria on their way home from a hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, Turkey's state news agency reported. Three buses were damaged in the attack, which involved shooting, the Anatolian Agency reported. The incident happened at a military checkpoint between the towns of Hama and Homs after a driver took a wrong turn and asked Syrian soldiers for directions, the report said. The injured men, who included one of the drivers, were taken to a hospital in Antakya, Turkey, the report said. ""We were shocked, didn't know what was happening,"" the injured driver told the news agency. ""All passengers hit the floor of the bus."" Turkish consulate officials advised them to drive non-stop to the border, he said. ""We drove with one flat tire and reached the Cilvegozu border town,"" he said."
" Israeli forces have shot dead four Palestinians on a vessel off the coast of Gaza. Israeli helicopters and naval forces attacked the boat off the coast of Nusseirat in the early hours of this morning. Two hours later, four bodies in diving suits were pulled from the water and taken to hospital, medical sources and witnesses said. Israel described the dead men as 'commandos'. Searches are under way for another two people still believed to be missing. The Israeli military said a naval force in the area had attacked a boat carrying 'a squad of terrorists wearing diving suits on their way to execute a terror attack'. Speaking to AFP, survivor Abu al-Walid said there were seven unarmed men on board, all from the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an armed group which is loosely tied to the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. 'We were doing some regular training along the Gaza coast,' he said. 'During the early morning, we were surprised by dozens of naval boats which opened fire and began shelling us. Four of our people were killed, two of us escaped and one is still missing.' Mr Walid said there were 'no arms in the boat,' and that the group had been engaged in 'swimming training' at the time of the attack, which took place about 100 metres off the shore."
" In the Marshall Islands, early indications of vote counting show three incumbents in Majuro have a good chance of retaining their seats. Thirty six thousand voters went to the polls on Monday for their national election, held every four years. Our correspondent, Giff Johnson, says the counting of votes by hand began last night. ""Indications are from a very preliminary Majuro count, is that the three incumbents, led by President Jurelang Zedkaia will easily return to office. And we'll very likely will see former senator and current UN ambassador for the Marshall Islands Phillip Muller returning to the parliament and possibly the Telecom general manager, Tony Muller, both of whom are showing very strong results in the preliminary count."" Giff Johnson says final results won't be known until all off shore postal votes, due in by the 5th of December, are counted."
" A giant sinkhole caused by the rains of tropical storm Agatha is seen in Guatemala City, capital of Guatemala, on June 1, 2010. The government of Guatemala has raised the official death toll to 152 for the floods that followed Tropical Storm Agatha that struck the nation at the weekend, according to news reaching here on Tuesday. (Xinhua) MEXICO CITY, June 6 (Xinhua) -- A total of 172 people have been killed in the floods caused by Tropical Storm Agatha that struck Guatemala over the weekend, according to figures released by the Guatemalan government. Meanwhile, 101 people are missing, Guatemala's national disaster agency spokesperson David de Leon was quoted by Mexican media as saying on Sunday. Throughout Central America, at least 205 people have been killed by Agatha, including those killed in Guatemala. A total of 124,835 Guatemalans have been evacuated from disaster zones and 64,383 others were sent to emergency shelters, according to Guatemalan National Disaster Reduction Coordination (Conared). Conared officials also said that there were 42,286 people made homeless and 87 injured by Agatha, the first named storm of this Pacific hurricane season. The country's communications ministry added that the storm has washed out 24 bridges and damaged 19 other bridges in the country. The Guatemalan government estimated that total damage will be some 500 million Quetzales (about 63 millon U.S. dollars). Guatemala has so far received pledges of aid from Mexico, the United States, the European Union, Colombia and Venezuela."
" (CNN) -- Presidential candidate Ralph Nader will be included on the Nov. 2 ballot in Florida on the Reform Party line, after the state's highest court turned back a Democratic effort to get him tossed from the ballot. The Florida Supreme Court, by a 6-to-1 vote, rejected legal challenges brought by the state's Democratic Party and seven voters, who argued that Nader should be kept from appearing on the ballot as the Reform Party's candidate because it is no longer a viable national party. The Florida Democratic Party later announced that it would not continue to pursue the legal fight. Many Democrats blame Nader's Green Party candidacy in 2000 for siphoning enough votes away from Al Gore to swing key states, including Florida, into President George W. Bush's column. Four years ago, Nader received more than 97,000 votes in the Sunshine State; Bush beat Gore by just 537 votes. After unsuccessfully trying to persuade Nader not to run again, Democratic operatives have been actively trying to keep him off the ballot in key states -- while their Republican counterparts have been working just as hard to get him on the ballot. Nader is running this year as an independent, but he has been endorsed by the national Reform Party, with its state party affiliates deciding if he gets their ballot line. In Florida, the Reform executive committee petitioned to put Nader on the ballot under a provision of state law governing candidacies by minor parties. Secretary of State Glenda Hood, an appointee of Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, then certified him as the party's candidate. But the plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the Florida Reform Party no longer met a requirement that it be affiliated with a national party holding a national convention to nominate presidential candidates because the Reform Party USA -- the remnants of a movement spearheaded by Ross Perot in 1992 -- no longer met that definition. They charged that Nader should have been forced to qualify for the ballot under a more difficult process for independent candidates, which would have required him to gather petition signatures."
" Mumbai: Terror struck Mumbai once again on Wednesday when three bomb blasts rocked some of the most crowded places of the city killing at least 17 people and injuring 131 others. The first blast took place at 6:54 PM at south Mumbai's crowded Zaveri Bazaar. Within a few minutes Opera House and Dadar, too, were hit by powerful explosions. The explosion at Opera House, described by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan as a ""high intensity blast"", took place at 6:55 PM and was followed by the one at Dadar (7:05 PM). The blast in Zaveri Bazar took place at Khao Gali while a motorcycle was used to trigger the explosion near the two-storey JK Building at Tata Road No. 1 in Opera House. The blast at Kabootar Khana in Dadar took place in a Maruti Esteem car. Sources have told CNN-IBN that terror group Indian Mujahideen is the prime suspect in the blasts. The injured have been admitted to several hospitals including the JJ Hospital, GT Hospital, KEM Hospital and St George's Hospital. Addressing the media in New Delhi, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said that the Ministry would be issuing a statement on the blast after every two hours. ""I would appeal to the people of Mumbai and people of country to remain calm and maintain peace: Apart from three blasts. There is no information of any other blast or threat. NIA (National Investigation Authority) officers have been instructed to be associated with Mumbai Police for investigation. One CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory) team from Delhi and one team from Hyderabad have been sent to Mumbai. The NSG (National Security Guards), which has hub in Mumbai, is standing by. The number of injured could be higher and death toll could rise,"" said Chidambaram. Chidambaram has called a high-level meeting in the wake of the blasts. Wednesday blasts took place just two days after the fifth anniversary of the Mumbai serial train blasts on July 11, 2006 in which at least 186 people were killed. The blasts also evoked horrific memories of serial blasts in the past as both Dadar and Zaveri Bazar have been targeted earlier too. According to an eyewitness a fire that broke out in Zaveri Bazar following the blasts was soon brought under control. A Border Security Force plane carrying NSG personnel, forensic experts and senior NIA officials reached Mumbai from New Delhi on Wednesday night."
" Fire has damaged a pipeline in north-eastern Syria, the oil ministry has said, though it is unclear if the blaze was accidental or caused by sabotage. State media cited an official as saying the blaze in the restive Deir al-Zour province was probably the result of dry weather conditions or a pipeline leak. But other reports suggested there was an explosion. Meanwhile, rights activists said four people were killed by security forces in the province of Idlib. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops attacked villages in Jabal al-Zawya, a region close to Syria's border with Turkey and the scene of recent military assaults. The oil ministry source told Sana the pipeline fire erupted on Tuesday, and that flames spread to a wide area before being extinguished. The region of Deir al-Zour - where the pipeline is located - has seen major anti-government demonstrations in recent weeks. Officials have begun an investigation into the incident, which ""might have resulted from a fire in the surrounding dry grass or from a leak where part of the pipeline is undergoing maintenance work"", the source in Sana said. The flow of oil was not disrupted, as alternative pipelines were used. Earlier, witnesses told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that there had been an explosion."
" Aid agencies counted some 500 bodies in the northern coastal city of Gonaives alone, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti said. And the toll is climbing considerably, a Red Cross spokesman told the BBC. Two days of steady rain have washed away entire houses - sometimes reaching up to the third floor. But the emergency relief operations have just begun, and access is difficult and limited, the head of International Federation of the Red Cross, Hans Havik, said. The storm earlier reportedly killed 11 people in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, and has since moved north into the Atlantic. Mr Havik said the casualties were so high in Haiti because of widespread deforestation in the impoverished island. In Gonaives - the biggest city in the area - an estimated 80% out of a population of more than 200,000 has been affected, UN's World Food Programme said in a statement. At least 56 people have died in the town of Port-de-Paix, 18 in Chansolme, 14 in Gros-Morne, nine in Pilate and eight in Ennery, officials said. It was not clear if any lives were lost in the island of La Tortue - which was barely visible under the water, according to UN officials. But Dieufort Deslorges, a spokesman for Haiti's civil protection agency, said the government had been in contact with officials on La Tortue and ""nothing happened there""."
" Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a stern warning to Syria's president Tuesday, saying that he risks facing the same fate as Libya's slain Moammar Gadhafi if he does not step down. Erdogan condemned President Bashar al-Assad for remarks he reportedly made over the weekend that he would fight to the death to resist foreign forces, saying al-Assad is battling his own people. ""For God's sake, who are you fighting against?"" Erdogan said in remarks to party members in the Turkish capital, Ankara. ""To fight against your own people till you die is not heroism; it is cowardice. If you want to see someone who has fought until death against his own people, just look at Nazi Germany, just look at Hitler, at Mussolini, at Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania. ""If you cannot draw any lessons from these, then look at the Libyan leader who pointed weapons against his own people, used the same terms you use and who was killed just 32 days ago in a way that none of us wished. ""Without shedding more blood, just leave that seat."" Al-Assad has resisted mounting calls for his resignation in recent weeks as international outcry over his government's crackdown on pro-democracy protests has intensified. Turkey, which shares a long border with Syria, has toughened its stance against its former ally and trading partner, as have Syria's Arab neighbors. The Arab League last week suspended Syria from membership and demanded that the violence stop. The humanitarian committee of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday voted 122-13 to condemn the violence in Syria and express its support for the Arab League initiative. There were 41 abstentions."
" THE Government will today discuss the fourth major report into clerical child sexual abuse when Justice Minister Alan Shatter presents horrific findings from the Cork diocese of Cloyne. The report's findings are expected to be even graver than in Dublin and Ferns. Last night sources indicated that the Cabinet will approve the 400-page report of the Murphy Commission of Inquiry, and order its immediate publication tomorrow. Preparations were last night being made to allow victims and the media to read in advance the detailed 26 chapters of abuse complaints against 19 priests over a 13-year period from January 1 1996 to 2009. ""An hour has been allocated for a pre-publication read ahead of a news conference which Mr Shatter is planning to hold at midday,"" a source said last night. The report is said to be damning of former Bishop John Magee's failures to implement agreed child protection procedures.But it likely to highlight the failure of the gardai and health services in dealing with a number of abuse complaints."
" The campaigns of President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry have tentatively settled on a package of three face-to-face debates that both sides view as a potentially decisive chance to sway huge audiences ahead of the Nov. 2 election, Democrats and Republicans said yesterday. Bush's campaign opened the negotiations by urging just two sessions involving Bush and Kerry, but yielded to the full slate of debates that had been proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates, according to people in both parties who were briefed on the negotiations. No agreement will be final until the two sides agree on details for the format of a town-meeting-style debate that Bush at first resisted but now is willing to endorse, the party representatives said. The debates will be spread over two weeks just before the hectic homestretch of a bitter contest, which had been tied for months until Bush recently opened a small lead in a number of national polls. The nominees will focus on foreign policy during the opening session, on Sept. 30 in Florida; they will take questions from undecided voters at the town-meeting-style debate Oct. 8 in Missouri; and they will conclude with a session on Oct. 13 in Arizona that will revolve around domestic issues. Vice President Cheney and Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards will debate Oct. 5 in Ohio. Each of the four debates will begin at 9 p.m. Eastern time and will run 90 minutes. The officials, who declined to be identified because they were not supposed to be discussing the matter with reporters, would not say when an agreement will be announced. Both campaigns declined to comment on the state of negotiations. Bush-Cheney communications director Nicolle Devenish said: ""The campaign maintains its position that it will not negotiate the terms of the debates in the press."" Kerry's campaign sees the debates as especially important, coming after a period in which he has been put on the defensive by the Bush campaign and its conservative allies. Polls paint a confusing picture of the state of the race, with some showing a virtual dead heat and others giving Bush a clear advantage. In many of the key battleground states, Bush appears in stronger shape than his challenger. Bush's chief negotiator, former secretary of state James A. Baker III, agreed to add the third debate in part because of Missouri's importance as a swing state and because the president did not want to be portrayed as ducking his opponent, according to a source. Under the commission's proposal, the participants for the town meeting will be undecided voters from the St. Louis metropolitan area who are chosen by the Gallup Organization."
" John Magee, a Vatican aide to three Popes, has been blamed for ignoring complaints against priests in the Diocese of Cloyne in Co Cork between 1996 and 2009 and failing to follow official protection rules. He gave his second-in-command Monsignor Denis O'Callaghan, who admits he was more concerned with the plight of abusive priests than victims, a free hand to defy an edict to report all accusations. Both Bishop Magee and the Monsignor, the vicar general in Cloyne, refused to co-operate with a Garda inquiry into abuse in 2006. The inquiry into Cloyne - the fourth damning examination of clerical abuse and cover-ups of the Church in Ireland - found the greatest flaw in the diocese was repeated failure to report all complaints. It found nine allegations out of 15 were not passed on to the Garda. ""It is a remarkable fact that Bishop Magee took little or no active interest in the management of clerical child sexual abuse cases until 2008,"" it said. When reports of failures in Cloyne first emerged in 2009 Cardinal Sean Brady, Ireland's most senior Catholic cleric, insisted Magee should not resign. At the time the bishop was being investigated over inappropriate behaviour with an 18-year-old who was considering joining the priesthood. Bishop Magee hugged him, kissed him on the forehead and told him he had dreamt about him. It was not regarded as abuse. The Bishop excused it as a warm Italian gesture picked up during his time in Rome. The shocking 400-page report by Judge Yvonne Murphy, which follows her 2009 damning expose of the Dublin Archdiocese, found some of the Catholic hierarchy still resisted church policy 12 years after child protection rules were adopted in 1996."
" Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has announced that it is dropping its planned bid to take full ownership of satellite broadcaster BSkyB. It follows a scandal over phone hacking at News Corp's UK newspaper group. News Corp deputy chairman Chase Carey said the bid had become ""too difficult to progress in this climate"". The move came just before MPs debated a motion supported by all major parties calling on Mr Murdoch to scrap the bid. The motion was approved without a vote. The scandal has already led to the closure of the UK's biggest-selling newspaper, the News of the World. On Friday, Prime Minister David Cameron announced details of a public inquiry into phone hacking and media regulation. ""We believed that the proposed acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation would benefit both companies, but it has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate,"" said News Corp deputy chairman and president Chase Carey in a statement. ""News Corporation remains a committed long-term shareholder in BSkyB. We are proud of the success it has achieved and our contribution to it."" BSkyB's share price briefly dropped following the announcement, taking it down 4% for the day, before recovering to close 2% up. The company's share price has fallen some 20% since peaking at 850p earlier this month, and is now trading at a level not seen since News Corp first announced its bid plans in June last year."
" Nouakchott - Experts and officials from Interpol and 19 countries on Tuesday elaborated a strategy to combat terrorism and crime in Africa that envisages joint cross-border operations and better sharing of information. The countries pledged to undertake ""joint cross-border operations to better fight against the menace of terrorism and crime"" in Africa, they said in a statement after the two-day meeting. They also called on countries to share intelligence with an international task force against terrorists. Those attending the meeting included France, the United States, Britain, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Turkey, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Chad, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Benin, Burundi, Togo and Mauritania. - Sapa-AFP"
" A suicide bomber has killed three people at a Kandahar mosque during a memorial service for Ahmed Wali Karzai, the Afghan president's brother who was assassinated earlier this week. The attacker was 15 or 16-year-old boy who had a bomb concealed in his turban, the Kandahar governor said. Zalmai Ayoubi, a spokesman for the governor's office, confirmed three people were killed and 15 were wounded in the attack. However, witnesses said five people had died and more than 25 were injured. ""The suicide attacker entered the mosque. One of the people who died was Maulawi Ekmattulah, the head of the local ulema shura [the provincial religious council],"" Ayoubi said. The identity of the others killed has not yet been confirmed. Haji Padshah, who had been paying his last respects to Karzai at the service, said: ""I was on the other side of the mosque when I heard the bang. It deafened me. I could not hear anything but I saw everyone running around."" Speaking from the hospital where he had been taken, Padshah said he saw five dead bodies and more than 25 injured survivors. Ahmed Wali Karzai was shot by his personal bodyguard on Tuesday and was buried at the family gravesite in the village of Karz. The funeral was attended by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, politicians, dignitaries and thousands of other mourners. Islamic custom dictates the deceased must be buried within 24 hours of death. Thursday's memorial service was planned to allow those travelling from further afield who would not arrive in time for the burial to pay their respects. The police have launched an investigation into the killing of Karzai as it is unclear why a trusted aide would murder him. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assassination but a personal conflict has not been ruled out. Hamid Karzai was not at today's memorial service, having already returned to Kabul."
" The Israeli military says the operation - a day after mortars fired from Khan Yunis killed a Jewish settler - targeted buildings used by militants. An Israeli missile strike on the camp overnight killed a Palestinian man. The violence comes amid tight security as Israelis commemorate Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. The Israeli operation in Khan Yunis began with the missile strike. The Israelis said it targeted militants but Palestinians said a 55-year-old civilian was killed. Shortly after midnight Israeli troops, tanks and bulldozers moved into Khan Yunis and began tearing down buildings. The UN agency which cares for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said 60 families - around 230 people in total - had lost their houses or shelters. One man said he ran with his children as the bulldozers closed in and gunfire sounded in the darkness. ""We took nothing from our belongings. We ran away in our pyjamas and we have no other refuge."" But the Israeli army said the UN's figures for the scale of the destruction were exaggerated and all the buildings destroyed were uninhabited structures used by Palestinian militants for shelling the settlement of Neve Dekalim. On Friday, 24-year-old Tiferet Tratner, an Israeli-American woman, was killed when one of four mortars fired from the camp landed on her house in Neve Dekalim."
" Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Typhoon Fitow, which made landfall southwest of Tokyo about 2 a.m., was moving north over Tokyo at the speed of 30 kilometers an hour (19 miles an hour) today, disrupting train and airline services. Fitow, which Japan's weather agency counts as the ninth storm of the season, was located at Fukaya City, just north of Tokyo, at 5 a.m., local time. It has a maximum wind of about 80 miles an hour, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. East Japan Railway Co. suspended operations on the Keiyo Line and Joban Line, which connect Tokyo with nearby Chiba prefecture. Chuo Line was operating with a reduced number of trains, East Japan said on its Web site. Japan Airlines Corp. suspended most of its domestic flights, while All Nippon Airways Co. decided to ground some planes. Most subways were operating as usual, except for some suspensions on the Tozai Line In Nagano Prefecture, north of Tokyo, a 76-year-old man died last night after he was hit by a falling tree. A total of 973 households in Shizuoka, Gunma, and Yamanashi prefectures were ordered to evacuate, the report said. High waves and strong winds stopped petroleum shipments by refineries yesterday near Tokyo Bay. Idemitsu Kosan Co., Japan's second-biggest oil refiner, halted shipping operations at its 220,000-barrel-a-day Chiba refinery late yesterday, according to company spokeswoman Kumiko Yoshida. Cosmo Oil Corp. also stopped berthing operations at its 240,000-barrel-a-day facility in Chiba, spokesman Atsushi Tanaka said. Japan is regularly buffeted by tropical cyclones during the northern hemisphere's summer. Three people died last month when Typhoon Man-Yi swept across Okinawa and Kyushu. Fitow is the name of a flower found on the island of Yap in Micronesia, according to the Web site of the Hong Kong Observatory, which lists cyclone names in use in the Pacific. A record 10 tropical storms and typhoons hit Japan during 2004, killing more than 60 people and causing billions of dollars of damage."
" Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea invited experts from the U.S., China and Russia to examine nuclear sites to be disabled in the communist country, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said today. The U.S., China and Russia are part of six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear-arms program. North Korea agreed Sept. 2 to a year-end deadline to identify and dismantle its nuclear facilities. The inspectors will travel to North Korea Sept. 11-15 to survey the sites slated to be disabled as part of an ongoing effort to meet the Dec. 31 deadline, Hill told reporters at a briefing at an Asia-Pacific summit in Sydney. ``It's a sign of the seriousness of purpose,'' that all sides bring to the issue, Hill said. The U.S. made the announcement at the economic meeting because American officials had a chance to talk to participants in the six-nation talks, which also include South Korea and Japan, Hill said. President George W. Bush is at the forum and has met leaders of Russia, South Korea and China. He will meet the prime minister of Japan tomorrow. The inspectors will examine the ``scope and the technical feasibility'' of actions needed to disable the sites, Hill said. North Korea in July shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and allowed international nuclear inspectors in the country for the first time since 2002, in return for energy and economic assistance. North Korea, a nation of 23 million people, depends on outside aid, mostly from China and South Korea, because of years of flooding, drought and economic mismanagement. The United Nations and other bodies have criticized the country's government for diverting resources to its nuclear program at the expense of feeding its population. To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Dodge in Sydney at cdodge1@bloomberg.net."
" The deal to withdraw troops immediately was signed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and DR Congo President Joseph Kabila as they held talks in Tanzania. The leaders agreed to co-operate on oil exploration in Lake Albert and to lay a joint pipeline to distribute any oil. Uganda has twice invaded DR Congo, saying it was harbouring rebels. In the past month alone, skirmishes along the border have killed at least four people - three Ugandans and a British oil contractor. At the meeting in the north-eastern Tanzanian town of Arusha, Mr Museveni and Mr Kabila agreed to move their troops 150km (90 miles) from their mutual border. They will also move refugee camps 150km from the border to improve security, Ugandan Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa said. A joint team will draw up borders within contested areas of the lake as part of the deal. Mr Museveni and Mr Kabila agreed to meet once a year to improve bilateral ties. ""Black Africans are always at each other's throats,"" Mr Kabila said. ""We are determined to see long-term peace reign among the two countries. Next time we meet, we won't discuss about border problems, but we will be discussing developmental issues."""
" Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Leaders from the Pacific rim have agreed to watered-down goals to combat climate change at a meeting in Sydney. ``Each of our economies has brought quite different perspectives to the Sydney Declaration, reflecting our diversity as both developed and developing economies,'' Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporter after a meeting of leaders from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum today. Full details of the agreement will be released in a communique tomorrow. A draft of the accord obtained by Bloomberg News describes an ``aspirational'' goal of reducing energy intensity, or energy usage per unit of gross domestic product, by 25 percent by 2030. The resolution is not binding. Howard said the agreement states there should be ``long-term aspirational goals for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, to guide an effective post-2012 international arrangement on climate change.'' He did not say whether the leaders had accepted the 25 percent target for energy intensity. China, Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia have criticized Howard for putting climate change targets on the APEC agenda. They want climate talks to take place under a United Nations framework. ``The APEC meeting does not replace the appropriate forum to deal with climate change,'' Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said. He said they were not entirely satisfied with the draft but they would ``live with it.'' Wirayuda stressed that the numbers in the draft were not targets, merely ``aspirational goals.'' The APEC draft said members have ``decided to work to achieve an APEC-wide aspirational goal of increasing forest cover by at least 20 million hectares by 2020.'' ``From our perspective, the right forum to discuss this is the UN,'' said Chilean Trade Minister Carlos Furche. The APEC offer on climate change has been rejected by environmental group Greenpeace because it doesn't call for carbon emission targets and includes the use of nuclear technology as an alternative to fossil fuels."
" Iran's atomic chief Ali-Akbar Salehi is to act temporarily as caretaker of the foreign ministry, Fars news agency reported. No reason was officially given for the sudden shakeup at both the foreign ministry and the atomic energy organization. The 57-year-old Mottaki had served as Ahmadinejad's foreign minister since the president's first-time election in 2005. Salehi became Ahmadinejad's vice president and head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization in 2009 and before that he served as Iran's envoy in the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Mottaki had been criticized by several political circles in Iran, including in parliament, for not having sufficiently reflected the Iranian stance on international issues. Among others, his critics said he had failed to prevent the UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear programmes. Another reason for the sudden change, some analysts in Tehran believe, was that Mottaki was a professional diplomat and therefore a technocrat who ultimately did not fit into Ahmadinejad's main criteria. More than their qualifications, Ahmadinejad wants his ministers to be ideologically close to him, they note. But observers believe that Salehi is also a technocrat and might, if eventually appointed as foreign minister, face the same difficulties as Mottaki."
" Iran's president has fired Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in part of a perceived power struggle in Tehran. There had been no indication that Mr Mottaki - who was sacked while on an official tour of Africa - was about to lose his job. Mr Ahmadinejad has appointed the country's top nuclear official, Ali Akbar Salehi, to replace Mr Mottaki in a caretaker capacity. ""I appreciate your diligence and services as the foreign minister,"" said Mr Ahmadinejad in a letter to Mr Mottaki, Mehr news agency reported. Analysts say Mr Mottaki's dismissal may be part of a political power play among ruling conservatives in Iran. There has been mutual distrust between the president and Mr Mottaki since the 2005 election that brought Mr Ahmadinejad to power: Mr Mottaki was the campaign manager for one of Mr Ahmadinejad's rivals, Ali Larijani. Continue reading the main story Analysts believe the dismissal may be part of a fight for power within the ruling conservative movement in Iran - between the president and parliament. Mr Mottaki is widely seen as an ally of the speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani. His sacking is likely to anger President Ahmadinejad's conservative opponents in parliament. The dismissal is likely to have had the support of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. It may be another sign that the supreme leader continues to back Mr Ahmadinejad in the president's power struggles inside the country. Mr Mottaki and Mr Larijani are often described as part of a pragmatic conservative bloc that believes the president's inflammatory speeches and radical agenda have made Iran more vulnerable. Relations worsened when Mr Ahmadinejad's plans for presidential envoys stationed abroad were vetoed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei over the foreign ministry's concerns it would create a parallel diplomatic service. Mr Mottaki had faced criticism in Iran over the international pressure on the country to halt its nuclear enrichment programme."
" Nigeria's Folashade Abugan has been stripped of her 400metres silver medal after failing a drug test at the Commonwealth Games. Abugan thus becomes the third Nigerian to fail a drugs test after 110m hurdler Samuel Okon and Damola Osayemi, who claimed gold in the women's 100m. Abugan's A sample showed traces of testosterone prohormone, which is prohibited under the current World Anti-Doping Agency list and she subsequently waived the right to have her B sample analysed. Abugan's silver medal in women's 400 metres will now be awarded to Aliann Tabitha Pompey of Guyana. Besides this, Nigeria's silver medal in women's 4x400 metre relay, of which Abugan was a part, now be awarded to England, the Commonwealth Games Federation informed on Friday."
" Nawaz Sharif, the exiled former prime minister of Pakistan, boarded a flight from London to Islamabad as he headed towards a showdown with President Pervez Musharraf, who has threatened him with arrest. Mr Sharif boarded the Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-786 to Islamabad at London's Heathrow airport, said a Reuters reporter who was also on the flight. Sharif, who was overthrown by Musharraf in a 1999 coup, is hoping to capitalise on public unrest at home and end the military leader's rule - despite an appeal from Saudi Arabia to stay away for the sake of stability. ""I'm feeling great,"" Sharif told reporters as he prepared to get on the plane. Uniformed British police escorted him through a crowd of supporters on his way to the flight. ""I have a duty, I have a responsibility to fulfil at all costs and that is democracy,"" he added. Pakistani authorities have tightened security at Islamabad's airport and have detained more than 2,000 of Sharif's supporters. Sharif plans to lead a procession the 300 kilometres from Islamabad to Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, and is expected to draw huge crowds - the last thing General Musharraf wants as he prepares to try to secure another term in a presidential election. Gen Musharraf sent Mr Sharif to Saudi Arabia in 2000 as part of what the government says was an agreement that Mr Sharif would stay in exile for 10 years. In return he avoided a life sentence on hijacking and corruption charges. The Supreme Court said last month that Mr Sharif had the right to return and the government should not try to stop him."
" Mr Sharif, who was ousted by President Pervez Musharraf in a bloodless coup in 1999, has spent seven years in exile. Troops surrounded the plane, and there was a stand-off on board as Mr Sharif refused to hand over his passport. Large numbers of police have set up barricades on roads to prevent his supporters reaching the airport. As his plane landed, Mr Sharif told Reuters news agency: ""I feel great, I'm prepared to face any situation."" On Sunday, Mr Sharif's Muslim League party (PML-N) said more than 2,000 supporters had been arrested by the Pakistan authorities, and several hundred more were picked up in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad region overnight. A provincial police official admitted to detaining several hundred ""trouble-makers"". Police have fired teargas shells to disperse crowds of Mr Sharif's supporters in Rawalpindi, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan reports. Almost the entire leadership of the party there has been detained by the police, and dozens more were arrested while attempting to lead party workers towards the airport on Monday morning. Mr Sharif says he is determined to lead a campaign against General Musharraf ahead of elections. The Supreme Court ruled last month that Mr Sharif had the right to return to the country, but the government has urged him to honour the terms of an exile deal which, it says, bars him from coming back for another three years."
" The government has also banned gatherings of five or more people near Rawalpindi's international airport. The moves come days before exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has a residence in Rawalpindi, is expected to return to the country. Meanwhile, Lebanese and Saudi officials have urged Mr Sharif to honour a deal not to return to Pakistan until 2010. Mr Sharif, leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) party, insisted he would return home on Monday despite the Arab leaders' appeals. The Federal Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Syed Kamal Shah, told the BBC that Pakistan's airports had been alerted to the terror warning, but did not elaborate on the nature of the threat. Mr Sharif is expected to fly into the Rawalpindi airport on Monday from London, after being exiled from the country following a bloodless coup in 1999 by President Pervez Musharraf. Hundreds of Sharif supporters have been detained across the country ahead of his return. Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz and Lebanese MP Saad Hariri called on Mr Sharif to postpone his return after meeting Gen Musharraf. In 2000, Mr Sharif was exiled to Saudi Arabia after being sentenced to life in jail on charges of hijacking and terrorism. Mr Hariri's father - assassinated former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri - helped negotiate the Saudi deal, under which Mr Sharif was to remain in exile for 10 years."
" In an address to supporters of the militant Shia group Hezbollah, Mr Ahmadinejad declared ""Defeat to the Zionists"" as Israeli helicopter gunships patrolled Israeli airspace nearby. ""The occupying Zionists today have no choice but to accept reality and go back to their countries of origin,"" he said. Mr Ahmadinejad was in the Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jbail, which was bombed by Israel and rebuilt by Hezbollah. ""You are Lebanon's first line of defence, you are heroes, you are those who protect Lebanon's independence,"" he said. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah did not appear. Convinced Israel will try to assassinate him, he rarely appears in public. Sheik Nasrallah met Mr Ahmadinejad later and presented him with a gun reportedly seized from an Israeli soldier during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. ""The Zionists planned to destroy this community (Bint Jbail) but it stood strong against the occupiers,"" Mr Ahmadinejad said. ""The entire world should know that the Zionists are destined to disappear from the world, while Bint Jbail will remain alive. And the sons of Bint Jbail will know how to defeat the Zionist enemy."" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the formation of the state of Israel answered the comments. ""The best response to the hateful verbal aggression from across the border was given here 62 years ago,"" he said. The Jerusalem Post quoted him saying: ""Unfortunately, Lebanon is quickly turning into an extension of the Iranian ayatollah regime. This is a tragedy for Lebanon, but Israel knows how to protect itself from this development."" Earlier, Mr Ahmadinejad met Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The new pro-Western leader is close to Saudi Arabia, one of Iran's rivals. Mr Hariri won last year's election against the Hezbollah-led opposition but resigned later after he decided it would not be possible to run a government in which Hezbollah had so much influence."
" After arriving at Islamabad airport he was charged with money laundering and put on a plane to Saudi Arabia. Mr Sharif says he wants to challenge President Pervez Musharraf, who ousted him in a 1999 coup, in presidential elections due at the end of the year. Mr Sharif had travelled to Pakistan weeks after the country's Supreme Court affirmed his right to return. On board the plane which flew him to Islamabad from London, Mr Sharif told the BBC he wanted to help restore the rule of law. ""It's democracy versus dictatorship,"" he said. Pakistani troops surrounded the plane after it landed. There was a stand-off on board as Mr Sharif refused to hand over his passport to immigration officials for nearly two hours. Eventually he agreed to leave the plane and was escorted to the airport's VIP lounge. But shortly afterwards he was separated from his entourage, charged with money laundering and corruption, and flown to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. In Washington, the White House described Mr Sharif's deportation as an internal matter but added that the forthcoming election should be free and fair."
" Ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif was taken into custody this morning within hours of touching down on Pakistani soil for the first time since 1999. He was arrested on money-laundering and corruption charges, according to a government official - and has since been put back on a plane heading for Saudi Arabia. ""He has been sent to Jeddah,"" a security official, who declined to be identified, told the Reuters news agency - referring to a Saudi city.  Sharif had returned to his homeland vowing to challenge president Pervez Musharraf in forthcoming elections. It was Musharraf who sent Sharif into exile seven and a half years ago following a military coup. National and provincial elections will take place between 15 September and 15 October - with a general election to be scheduled before the end of the year. Musharraf is seeking re-election. Around 4,000 members of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party were detained by the authorities ahead of his return - and at least five people were wounded in an exchange of fire this morning, according to witnesses.  The looming showdown, which could further weaken Musharraf's faltering grip on power, comes as the country battles surging Islamic extremism that has spread from the Afghan border, where Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders are believed to be hiding. Additional reporting: PA News"
" Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted in a military coup in 1999, returned home today after seven years in exile, Cable News Network said. Sharif arrived in the capital, Islamabad, aboard a Pakistan International Airlines Corp. flight from London shortly after 8:45 a.m. local time, CNN reported, and broadcast images of his plane on the tarmac. Pakistan's government deployed hundreds of soldiers at the airport and blocked roads to keep his supporters away, Siddique-ul-Farooq, a spokesman for the former premier's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, said by telephone. To contact the reporters on this story: Khalid Qayum in Islamabad at kqayum@bloomberg.net; Khaleeq Ahmed in Islamabad at To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net; Stephen Foxwell at sfoxwell@bloomberg.net"
" Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif has left his plane in the capital Islamabad after a nearly two-hour stand-off with police and the authorities over his passport. Mr Sharif had declined to give his passport to officials on the Pakistan International Airlines flight from London, saying that he wanted to go to the immigration counter himself. Police commandos in black uniforms surrounded the plane on the tarmac as soon as it came to a halt at Islamabad Airport. Other passengers disembarked. It is unclear what authorities planned to do with Mr Sharif next. Mr Sharif had returned to his homeland after seven years in exile to challenge President Pervez Musharraf. The 57-year-old, ousted by General Musharraf in a 1999 coup and sent into exile in Saudi Arabia the following year, returned home despite a Saudi official's plea for him to stay away for the sake of stability. General Musharraf exiled Mr Sharif under what the Government claims was an agreement that he stay in exile for 10 years. In return, he avoided a life sentence on hijacking and corruption charges. His return now is a serious challenge for General Musharraf, who has lost much support since trying to dismiss the country's top judge in March. The Pakistani Government says Mr Sharif is breaking his word at a time when the country needs stability in the lead-up to elections. General Musharraf is preparing to seek another term in a presidential election in the national and provincial assemblies some time between September 15 and October 15."
" UNITED NATIONS Oct 15 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council renewed on Friday arms, financial and travel sanctions on the Ivory Coast for six months, as well as a ban on trade in rough diamonds from the West African country. But the council also pledged in a resolution adopted unanimously by all 15 members to review the sanctions within three months as soon as the world's top cocoa producer holds ""open, free, fair and transparent"" presidential elections. A failed 2002 rebellion against President Laurent Gbagbo split the country into a rebel north and government-run south, triggering a crisis that scared investment from what was once the region's star economy. Elections on Oct. 31 are meant to resolve the crisis and re-unify the country. They are five years overdue, but look increasingly likely to happen at last, now that disputes over voter registration and rebel disarmament have been resolved. A poll obtained by Reuters on Thursday showed that Gbagbo is the most popular candidate, with 46 percent of voters intending to vote for him in the first round. [ID:nLDE69D2FS] The U.N. arms embargo was imposed in 2004 over violations of a 2003 cease-fire between the government and the rebels. A U.N. report this week said both sides have continued re-arming, despite hopes that the election will reunite the country. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Doina Chiacu)"
" TEL AVIV, Israel (CNN) -- More than 100,000 people -- many Israeli settlers -- rallied in a Tel Aviv square in the first major demonstration against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to unilaterally withdraw from parts of the West Bank and Gaza. Sharon has said he will remove certain Jewish outposts to impose a unilateral boundary on a Palestinian state if peace efforts with Palestinians fail. Settler leaders oppose the plan, saying any Israeli pullout would only encourage terrorists and militant groups. ""It will bring hundreds of casualties to the Israeli side because everyone will understand that terrorism will win in this war,"" said settler leader Pinhas Wallerstein. Sharon has warned that some settlements in the occupied territories will have to go, but he hasn't said which ones or how many. But for the protesters gathered on Sunday, one settlement is one too many. ""It doesn't matter one or 10 or 100, the problem is the principle,"" said settler spokesman Shaul Goldstein. ""Surrendering is not the principle of winning. If you are fighting you have to fight."" But Sharon is standing firm, saying he is committed to the U.S.-backed ""road map"" for peace, but he is not prepared to wait forever. ""Once we approach the time where I believe that we can move forward and we should move forward, we will have to relocate,"" Sharon has said, referring to the dismantling of the settlements."
" MANILA, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Another batch of 24 Filipino crewmen of a Liberian-owned bulk cargo vessel were seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean over the weekend, the European Union Naval Force said Monday. The crewmen were taken hostage on the same day when 19 Filipino seamen of a Greek vessel, who were held captives for seven months off Somali waters, were freed. ""In the early hours of Dec. 11, the MV Renuar was pirated in the Indian Ocean, approximately 1,050 nautical miles east of the Somali coastal village of Eyl and a distance of 550 nautical miles from the coast of India,"" the European Union Naval Force said on its website. Thus, the number of Filipino hostages in Somalia has gone up to 106. The attack was launched from two attack skiffs, supported by a mother ship, with pirates firing small arms and rocket propelled grenades at the merchant vessel. Since the attack, the pirates have confirmed that they have control of the ship which is now heading West towards the Somali coast, the EU said. The Renuar was en route to Fujairah, United Arab Emirates from Port Louis, Mauritius when it was pirated. According to the EU, the 24 all-Filipino crew attempted to evade the pirates for some time causing the pirates to make several determined attacks before finally boarding the vessel. There are presently no communications with the ship and the condition of the crew is not known. As a policy, the Philippine government does not negotiate nor pay ransom to kidnappers, but gives ship owners the free hand in negotiating for the release of abducted Filipino sailors. In the past, millions of dollars worth of ransom were believed to have been paid by shipowners to Somali pirates in exchange for the release of abducted sailors and hijacked vessels."
" The rocket hit an equipment store at the Zikkim training base, sending shrapnel flying through surrounding tents where soldiers were sleeping. Four of the wounded soldiers were in a serious condition, the military said. It is the largest number of injuries sustained in a single rocket attack against Israel from Gaza. The wounded soldiers were all recent recruits undergoing basic training. Correspondents say both the government and the army will come under strong pressure to retaliate forcefully. Later, a Palestinian man and three of his children were wounded by Israeli shell fire in Beit Hanoun, Palestinian medics said. The Israeli army said its ground forces had targeted the area from where militants had launched the rocket that hit the base. The Israeli military said the Qassam rocket was fired from Beit Hanoun at about 0130 local time (2230 GMT), hitting the training base, about 1km (0.6 miles) north of the Israel-Gaza border. In addition to the four soldiers said to be in a serious condition, a further seven have been described by the military as moderately wounded. Twenty-nine soldiers, who suffered only minor injuries or shock, were discharged from hospital on Tuesday morning."
" Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is seen speaking in this video grab provided to Reuters on September 11, 2007. In a tape released on Tuesday to mark the sixth anniversary of the attacks, bin Laden's voice can be heard introducing the video testament of Waleed al-Shehri, one of two Saudi brothers who helped Mohamed Atta slam the first hijacked plane into New York's World Trade Center. Al-Shehri was a magnificent young man ""who personally penetrated the most extreme degrees of danger and is a rarity among men: one of the 19 champions"", the al Qaeda leader said, referring to the number of hijackers. The tape -- issued four days after bin Laden urged Americans to convert to Islam in his first new video for nearly three years -- followed an al Qaeda pattern of issuing statements and testaments to mark the Sept. 11 attacks and remind Americans that their author is still alive and at large. ""Bin Laden's video tapes (are) aimed to keep the wounds of 9/11 bleeding, to reassure followers that al Qaeda's operational ability has not been degraded by the war on terror, and to incite further attacks on their perceived enemies,"" said the Asia-Pacific Foundation, a think-tank based in London. ""Al Qaeda is now the strongest that it has been since 9/11,"" it added in a briefing paper, saying bin Laden's network had managed to regroup in Pakistan and train new recruits. Bin Laden has long been suspected of hiding somewhere in the virtually impenetrable mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, but Afghanistan's foreign minister told Reuters he was no longer in the country whose former Taliban rulers provided him with sanctuary until 2001. ""I know that he is not in Afghanistan, but I don't have information where he is,"" Rangeen Dadfar Spanta told Reuters in an interview. ""(Given) the enmity between him and the Afghan population ... because he was the main creator of a terrorist and dictatorship regime against the population of Afghanistan, it is impossible that he can find support among the civilians of Afghanistan."" Nearly 3,000 people died in the hijacked jetliner attacks of 2001 that destroyed the World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon and crashed a plane into a Pennsylvania field. The anniversary is often a time of heightened security alerts."
" London (CNN) -- Arguing that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has ""weakened the organization,"" a newly organized rival to the website known for leaking official secrets says it will launch Monday. The founders of Openleaks.org say they are former WikiLeaks members unhappy with the way WikiLeaks is being run under Assange. ""It has weakened the organization,"" one of those founders, Daniel Domscheit-Berg says in a documentary airing Sunday night on Swedish television network SVT. He said WikiLeaks has become ""too much focused on one person, and one person is always much weaker than an organization."" In an e-mail to CNN, Domscheit-Berg said the group hopes to launch its site Monday. Like WikiLeaks, which facilitates the anonymous disclosure of secret information, Openleaks says its goal is to help people deliver material to news outlets and other organizations without being identified. The Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, citing internal Openleaks documents, reported that the new site intends to act as an intermediary, ""without a political agenda except from the dissemination of information to the media, the public, non-profit organizations, trade and union organizations and other participating groups."" Domscheit-Berg said WikiLeaks put ""everything we had"" into the high-profile disclosures of hundreds of thousands secret U.S. documents over the past five months. ""I think the wisest thing to do would have been to do this slowly, step by step, to grow the project. That did not happen,"" he says in the SVT documentary. Assange and WikiLeaks have been the focus of worldwide condemnation since their first major release of classified U.S. documents in July. Since it began disclosing more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables in November, it has been hit with denial-of-service attacks, been kicked off servers in the United States and France and lost major revenue sources. And Assange has been held in a British jail since Tuesday as he battles extradition to Sweden, which wants to question him about allegations of sexual assault. Assange has denied any wrongdoing, and supporters have called the charges an attempt to strike back him and his organization. But Domscheit-Berg said, ""If you preach transparency to everyone else, you have to be transparent yourself."""
" Thousands of Pakistanis have attended the state funeral of assassinated Punjab Governor Salman Taseer. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani joined the mourners in the city of Lahore amid tight security. Mr Taseer, one of Pakistan's most outspoken liberal politicians, was shot on Tuesday by a bodyguard angered by his opposition to blasphemy laws. Although many have condemned the assassination, some religious leaders have praised the governor's killer. The governor - a senior member of the governing Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - had recently angered Islamists by appealing for a Christian woman, sentenced to death for blasphemy, to be pardoned. Mr Gilani has declared three days of national mourning and appealed for calm. The bodyguard, Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri, 26, was showered with rose petals by supporters as he appeared in court in Islamabad on Wednesday. Mr Gilani and thousands of supporters of the PPP attended funeral prayers at Governor's House in Lahore. Mr Taseer's coffin was then taken by helicopter to a graveyard in a military zone. Security was intense and the city virtually shut down."
" The death toll from Typhoon Haiyan has risen above 5,000, officials in the Philippines say, two weeks after the devastating storm hit the country. The country's National Disaster Agency says that 5,209 people are now known to have lost their lives, with many more still missing. That makes Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines, the deadliest natural disaster in the country's history. Floods in the Ormoc region in 1991 killed 5,101 people. Haiyan was one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded. Winds of up to 270km/h hit the central Philippines when it made landfall on 8 November. Eduardo del Rosario, executive director of the Philippines' National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said that more than four million people were displaced by the storm. Many residents in the worst hit areas are still without proper shelter as they try to rebuild their homes. Many residents in the worst hit areas are still without proper shelter as they try to rebuild their homes. Mr del Rosario told the Associated Press news agency he believed the worst was over."
" Mobile phones owned by relatives of UK soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan may have been hacked by the News of the World, it is being reported. The Daily Telegraph claims the phone numbers of relatives of dead service personnel were found in the files of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. It comes after Prime Minister David Cameron said he would set up a public inquiry into alleged phone hacking. The Royal British Legion has dropped the paper as its campaigning partner. The services charity said it was ""shocked to the core"" by the claims and was reviewing its advertising budget with the paper's owner News International, which also publishes The Sun and The Times. News International said it would be ""absolutely appalled and horrified"" if there was any truth in the allegations relating to families of dead soldiers and it would be immediately contacting the Ministry of Defence. A spokesman for the company said: ""News International's record as a friend of the armed services and of our servicemen and servicewomen, is impeccable. ""Our titles have campaigned in support of the military over many years and will continue to do so. If these allegations are true we are absolutely appalled and horrified. We will be contacting the MoD immediately to try and verify the situation."" The latest claims against the UK's biggest-selling newspaper come as Mr Cameron is due to consult other party leaders before reaching any final decision about the nature of the public inquiry. Government sources say the prime minister has ""an open mind"" about whether the probe should be judge-led, with witnesses giving evidence under oath."
" He told a news conference that he was stepping down after eight years because of declining health. However, many observers in Hong Kong believe that he was in fact sacked by the Chinese leadership. He had faced growing unpopularity over failed plans for an anti-subversion bill and his continued support for Beijing in limiting democratic reforms. It is the first leadership change since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Mr Tung told a news conference that he had tendered his resignation as Hong Kong's chief executive an hour earlier, two years before his term was due to end. He said working long hours had taken a toll on his health and he could no longer work what he described as a ""punishing schedule"". He said doctors had told him he had to change the way he worked and lived. Mr Tung looked back on his time in charge of Hong Kong, saying that he and the territory's people had ""embarked on a road never before travelled"" when he was appointed eight years ago. ""During this time, we have successfully implemented the one country, two systems principle. For the first time in history, Hong Kong citizens began to take charge of their own affairs,"" he said. Rumours of Mr Tung's impending departure began circulating last Monday after details of the 67-year-old former shipping magnate's new job emerged - a move some saw as a way of easing him out of office in Hong Kong."
" 1 of 4. A woman carries a baby on her back as she casts her vote during a legislative vote at a polling station in Lafiabougou, Bamako November 24, 2013. Officials said armed men carried off ballot boxes from some bureaux in the Timbuktu region of northern Mali, preventing some people from casting their votes in the legislative poll. It was not immediately clear who was responsible. The West African country has suffered a surge in Islamist violence since President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was elected in August in a vote that marked a return to democracy after the March 2012 coup. The military putsch plunged Mali into chaos and allowed al Qaeda-linked fighters to seize the northern two-thirds of the country. France launched a massive military operation in January that drove the Islamists from northern towns, but isolated cells have remained active. Vote counting began after some 25,000 bureaux across the country closed at 1800 GMT. Only a fraction of the 6.7 million people registered to vote appeared to have cast their ballot and there was no sign of the long queues of voters that marked the presidential vote. ""Compared to the presidential elections the turnout was very weak. In my bureau, we didn't even get a third of the voters,"" said Oumar Samake, president of a voting bureau in Bamako. ""Political parties have to do more to inform their voters."" Malian soldiers, French troops and U.N. peacekeepers protected voting stations in the north following the resurgence of Islamist violence. Gao, the largest city in northern Mali, was targeted in a rocket attack on Thursday by suspected Islamists. The election of a new parliament is supposed to complete the democratic transition in the wake of last year's coup. Donors have pledged $3.25 billion to rebuild the impoverished country and develop its lawless desert north. Despite some discontent in southern Mali with his peace overtures to northern Tuareg separatist rebels, Keita's RPM party is expected to comfortably win the election. Universally known by his initials IBK, Keita swept the August 11 presidential runoff with 78 percent of the vote. ""The aim of my vote is to give a comfortable majority to the president and his allies,"" said Boubacar Ouedrago, a butcher in Bamako. ""IBK needs this majority to complete his mission."""
" Clerics representing the majority of Spain's one million Muslims have issued what they say is the world's first fatwa against Osama bin Laden. The edict by the Islamic Commission of Spain, which represents about 70 per cent of the approximately 300 mosques in the country, called bin Laden an apostate and asks Muslims to denounce him. The fatwa came on the eve of Friday's one-year anniversary of the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people and injured 1,400. The commission's secretary general, Mansur Escudero, said the group had consulted with Muslim leaders in other countries, including Morocco, Algeria and Libya, and had their support. ""They agree,"" Escudero said. ""What I want is that they say so publicly."" The fatwa said that ""the terrorist acts of Osama bin Laden and his organization al-Qaeda ... are totally banned and must be roundly condemned as part of Islam."" ""Inasmuch as Osama bin Laden and his organization defend terrorism as legal and try to base it on the Qur'an ... they are committing the crime of 'istihlal' and thus become apostates that should not be considered Muslims or treated as such,"" it said. ""Istihlal"" in Arabic refers to making up one's own laws. Asked by Associated Press if the edict meant Muslims were bound to help authorities capture bin Laden, Escudero said: ""We don't get involved in police affairs but we do feel that all Muslims are obliged to ... keep anyone from doing unjustified damage to other people."""
" An estimated 100,000 people in the Ukrainian capital Kiev are protesting against the government's move to delay an association deal with the EU under pressure from Russia. The protest is said to be the largest since the 2004 Orange Revolution, which overturned a rigged presidential poll. Police fired tear gas as protesters tried to break through a cordon around government buildings. A pro-government rally a few miles away attracted about 10,000 people. Kiev police said they had fired tear gas after protesters threw a smoke grenade at officers in an attempt to break into the Cabinet of Ministers building. Police estimated the crowd at about 50,000, but BBC reporters there said a vast crowd thronged central Kiev and 100,000 was a better estimate. Ukraine made the decision on the EU deal last week, saying it could not afford to break ties with Moscow. Russia is trying to bring Kiev into its own customs union. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the EU of blackmailing Ukraine to sign the deal during a summit in Lithuania next week. People arrived at the rally, on European Square, with families and children, many holding banners with slogans like ""I want to live in Europe"" or ""Ukraine is part of Europe"". ""We want to be together with Europe,"" Volodymyr Mnikh, a 62-year-old retired chemist, told the Associated Press news agency."
" Typhoon Haiyan, the most powerful storm to make landfall this year, struck the central Philippines on November 8, killing more than 5,200 people, displacing 4.4 million and destroying an estimated 12 billion pesos ($274 million) worth of crops and infrastructure. The U.S. Navy has pulled out its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, but still has ten C-130 aircraft delivering relief supplies. Last week, the United States had 50 ships and aircraft in the disaster zone. Jeremy Konyndyk, director for Foreign Disaster Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said the U.S. military had started to reduce its presence to allow civilian aid agencies to step up efforts. ""What we have seen, particularly over the past week, is now civilian and private-sector commercial capacity has started coming back up again and that is taking the burden off of the military actors,"" Konyndyk told Reuters in an interview. ""You don't want the military playing that role in the long run, they are an interim bridging capacity there, but in the long run, that really needs to be civilian role."" Konyndyk said there had been significant progress in meeting people's basic needs as more roads and ports opened in the worst-hit Leyte and Samar islands. ""Food has been distributed to 3 million people, shelter kits have been delivered to tens of thousands of families. I think the situation with immediate humanitarian needs is becoming stabilized."" Aid delivery was gathering pace as access to affected areas improved, the U.N. humanitarian office said it its latest report. However, major issues remained including the distribution of food and access to clean water and shelter material. Konyndyk said the next step was for USAID and other international aid agencies to refocus their efforts on long-term recovery and reconstruction, giving priority to shelter and livelihoods for farmers and fishermen. The United States has increased its typhoon aid to nearly $52 million, but latest estimates from the United Nations showed the disaster rehabilitation plan would cost $348 million. Only 38 percent of the plan is funded."
" Medical officials said at least 90 people were also wounded in the attack, which happened in a poor neighbourhood. The bomber struck as mourners crowded into a hall next to the mosque. Iraqi officials have accused Sunni Muslim insurgents of attacking Shia targets in order to spark a civil war in the religiously divided country. Witnesses described seeing a ball of fire and hearing a huge explosion inside the courtyard of the mosque, which is still under construction. ""After the cloud of smoke and dust dispersed we saw the scattered bodies of the fallen and smelled gunpowder,"" Adnan al-Bayati, a 45-year-old witness, is quoted as saying. The force of the blast shattered car windows and left pools of blood on the ground. Mosul, an Arab-majority city in the mainly Kurdish northern region, has been the scene of fierce clashes between insurgents and US forces and Iraqi government forces since November. The attack in Mosul comes at the end of two days of violence in which a several were killed and dozens of dead bodies found. Gunmen shot dead the chief of a central Baghdad police station and at least two other Iraqi policemen during ambushes earlier on Thursday. On Wednesday a suicide car bomb attack reportedly carried out by a group linked to al-Qaeda killed at least three people and injured more than 20 people in the capital."
" 1 of 6. People search for survivors amid the rubble of collapsed buildings and tents after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on a market in Aleppo's Ahalouanah neighbourhood November 23, 2013. BEIRUT (Reuters) - Air strikes around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo killed at least 40 people on Saturday, most of them civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The pro-opposition monitoring group said there were at least six strikes on the outskirts of Aleppo and nearby towns. Dozens of people were wounded, it said. ""Some of the strikes in the neighborhood of Tareeq al-Bab appeared to be targeting rebel headquarters but instead the rockets fell in a busy street and caused heavy civilian casualties,"" Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Observatory, said by telephone."
" China has outlined an ""air-defence identification zone"" over an area of the East China Sea, covering islands that are also claimed by Japan. China's defence ministry said aircraft entering the zone must obey its rules or face ""emergency defensive measures"". The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are a source of rising tension between the countries. Japan lodged a strong protest over what it said was an ""escalation"". Continue reading the main story Since President Xi Jinping took power a year ago, he has overseen a more muscular effort to assert Chinese control over disputed territories in East and South China seas. His nationalist approach, backed-up by large increases in spending on the armed forces, is welcomed by many in China. But it has led to increasing tension with almost all of China's neighbours. Many, like Japan, have defence agreements with the United States, which has long sought to preserve the balance of power in Asia. The fear is that one small incident, for example between Chinese and Japanese vessels or aircraft, could escalate rapidly into a far wider and more serious crisis. ""Setting up such airspace unilaterally escalates the situations surrounding Senkaku islands and has danger of leading to an unexpected situation,"" Japan's foreign ministry said in a statement. Taiwan, which also claims the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands, expressed regret at the move and promised that the military would take measure to protect national security. In its statement, the Chinese defence ministry said aircraft must report a flight plan, ""maintain two-way radio communications"", and ""respond in a timely and accurate manner"" to identification inquiries. ""China's armed forces will adopt defensive emergency measures to respond to aircraft that do not co-operate in the identification or refuse to follow the instructions,"" said the statement. It said the zone came into effect from 10:00 local time (02:00GMT) on Saturday."
" KABUL - A suicide bomber killed 17 people and wounded at least 20 others Friday when he detonated his explosives in a public bathhouse where dozens of men were washing at midday before weekly prayers in the southern city of Spin Boldak on the Pakistani border. A spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province said 16 civilians and a police inspector died in the blast. NATO officials said three of its forces were also killed Friday in roadside explosions and another Afghan police inspector was shot to death by unidentified gunmen in Kandahar City. Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the bathhouse bombing, underscoring the ruthlessness of an avowedly Islamic movement that often targets fellow Afghan Muslims, including clerics and worshipers in mosques. The attack also showed that despite a sustained NATO offensive in Kandahar and the surrounding region during the past year, the insurgents are capable of inflicting serious harm to large numbers of civilians in heavily populated areas. A Taliban spokesman was quoted as saying that the blast was aimed at the deputy commander of the Afghan border patrol in Spin Boldak, one of two major crossing points into Pakistan. The commander of the area's border patrol, Abdul Razak, is an ally of U.S. forces who has been credited with maintaining a tight trip on law and order despite a poor personal reputation for abuses and corruption. The identity of the police officer killed at the bath house was not immediately clear. President Hamid Karzai, in a statement issued by his office, denounced the bombing as a ""brutal"" and un-Islamic act. ""Those behind this attack should know once again that the blood of the Muslim people has been spilled. It will not have any other result,"" Karzai said. The president did not mention the Taliban, whose leaders he has been trying to draw into peace negotiations. Karzai has often described Taliban members as ""sons of the soil"" as he has encouraged them to reintegrate into Afghan society. So far the insurgents have responded only with violence. The U.S. Embassy also issued a statement condemning the bombing as a ""callous terrorist act."" Many of the wounded, including three Pakistanis, were taken to the Pakistani border town of Chaman for medical treatment. Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been high for many months. Officials in Kabul accuse Pakistan of providing safe havens for the Taliban, but the Afghan government has also sent members of a national peace council to Pakistan this week to find ways to include Pakistanis in reconciliation efforts with insurgents."
" AK-47 short pistols, part of a weapons shipment seized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), are laid out on a table at the bureau's Arizona headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona January 14, 2008. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said last month it would tighten reporting requirements to help agents gather intelligence to target smugglers running high-powered rifles to Mexico, where 30,000 people have been killed in drug cartel violence since 2006. The measure would require around 8,500 gun dealers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to report sales of two or more high-powered semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines to the same person within a five day period. The White House Office of Management and Budget was expected to approve the emergency rule change on Wednesday. But an official with direct knowledge told Reuters that ""ATF's information collection request is still under review,"" and declined further comment until the ""deliberative phase is concluded."" Gun control activists said they hoped the delay was just procedural. ""We have been very disappointed with the Obama administration for most of its first two years in office with regard to the gun issue,"" said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. ""We're hopeful that this is just some standard bureaucratic delay, we haven't heard anything to the contrary,"" he added. The move to boost ATF's ability to target gun traffickers comes as Mexican authorities are struggling to contain raging drug violence south of the border, where shootouts, beheadings and torture killings are a daily occurrence. About 90 percent of the crime guns seized and traced in Mexico last year were initially sold in the United States, according to ATF. Investigators say around three-quarters of traces lead back to sales in the four states flanking the U.S. border. This ""iron river"" of firearms flowing south to the drug cartels includes high powered Kalashnikov and AR-15 rifles toted by cartel hitmen across Mexico, and decorative .38 caliber pistols popular with drug kingpins."
" Adolfo Scilingo, whose trial started in mid-January, faces 30 counts of genocide, 30 of murder, 93 of physical injury and 255 of terrorism. The crimes were allegedly committed in the ""Dirty War"" of the 1970s/80s when Argentina was under military rule. This is Spain's first trial involving human rights crimes committed abroad. ""The government seeks a guilty verdict as it believes that charges have been duly backed up at the trial,"" said prosecutor Dolores Delgado in the closing arguments at the National Court in Madrid. But in 1997 he went to Spain voluntarily and testified before Judge Baltasar Garzon, who was investigating crimes committed during Argentina's and Chile's military dictatorships. In a taped confession, Mr Scilingo spoke of the so-called ""death flights"", in which dissidents were stripped naked and thrown alive into the ocean from military planes. He admitted taking part in two flights and spoke of other tortures committed at the Buenos Aires Navy School of Mechanics, which was used as a torture centre at that time. Mr Scilingo later retracted his confession, saying his testimony was fabricated in order to prompt an investigation into the atrocities committed under the regime. But Ms Delgado said the descriptions of tortures and torture centres, with their ""infernal sounds"" and ""nauseating smell"" made by victims, coincided fully with those made by the former officer. ""Scilingo had a need to talk and be judged, and that has been proved in the trial,"" she said."
" The Metropolitan Police chief has said any officer found to have received ""inappropriate"" payments from News International will be disciplined. Sir Paul Stephenson said documents from the company, which allegedly showed such payments, were being investigated. E-mails allegedly showing officers were paid tens of thousands of pounds have been seen by the BBC's Robert Peston. It comes amid claims of phone hacking by the News of the World described as ""deplorable"" by owner Rupert Murdoch. Newspaper watchdog the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has announced it would launch a review of ""all aspects of press regulation"" in the wake of the allegations. Mr Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, the parent company of News International, said: ""Recent allegations of phone hacking and making payments to police with respect to the News of the World are deplorable and unacceptable. ""I have made clear that our company must fully and proactively co-operate with the police in all investigations and that is exactly what News International has been doing and will continue to do under Rebekah Brooks's leadership,"" he added, in a statement. ""We are committed to addressing these issues fully and have taken a number of important steps to prevent them from happening again."" Earlier, News International said it had appointed a former director of public prosecutions to help it co-operate with police. In a statement, the company said that the employment of Lord Macdonald QC in May demonstrated its ""not only full cooperation"" with the police, but News International's ""determination as a company to deal responsibly and correctly with the issues that have arisen""."
" Germany is taking highly visible precautions after the threats Security has been tightened across Germany after the emergence of al-Qaeda videos threatening attacks if troops are not withdrawn from Afghanistan. Germany goes to the polls on Sunday but only one party, the Left, is in favour of an immediate pullout. Germany has over 4,000 troops serving in Afghanistan, based in the north which has seen less violence than in Helmand and other southern provinces. But 35 have died and a recent poll showed 55% of Germans wanted a pullout. At railway stations and airports all over Germany extra police are on patrol, walking in pairs and toting machine-pistols. It is a highly visible precaution being taken after the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) assessed as credible a number of al-Qaeda threat videos emerging - in German - on the internet in the last few days. ""In a democracy,"" says the speaker on one video, ""only the people can order their soldiers to return home."" ""But if the German people decide in favour of continuing the war they will have handed down their own sentence."" Al-Qaeda's leadership takes a keen interest in Western public opinion and has shown itself adept at exploiting Western doubts. The threat videos, made by al-Qaeda's media production arm, warn of an impending attack within two weeks of the elections if troops are not withdrawn. Harrach is on a list of Germans considered a security threat Al-Qaeda's leadership may be hoping to repeat what happened in Spain's elections five years ago when multiple train bombings killed 191 people. Soon afterwards, the Spanish government of Jose Maria Aznar, that had sent troops to Iraq, was defeated at the polls. German political figures have reacted to the videos by denouncing al-Qaeda's attempts to dictate voter behaviour. Newspaper editorials have also mocked the appearance of the speaker on the videos, a 32-year-old Moroccan-born German national and resident of Bonn. Bekkay Harrach, who takes the nom-de-guerre of Abu Talha al-Almani, appears in an ill-fitting Western suit and tie with drooping, greasy hair and a pale face. But his unprepossessing appearance may be deceptive. Harrach, who studied laser technology in Germany, is believed to have travelled to wage violent jihad in the West Bank, Iraq and Waziristan. He is reported to be on a list of around 100 German nationals thought to be a security threat and the authorities there are taking his warnings seriously."
" A Royal Navy medic has been sentenced to seven months' detention for refusing rifle training prior to deployment in Afghanistan after developing moral objections, following revelations made by WikiLeaks. Michael Lyons, 25, was found guilty of wilful disobedience of a lawful order at a military hearing on Tuesday. He had served since 2005 as a medical assistant submariner. He was demoted and dismissed from the navy. Lyons's case had been the first heard since 1996 by the Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors, which considers appeals from serving forces personnel to resign or retire on moral grounds. His was one of only 37 cases considered by the committee in its 41-year life. The committee rejected Lyons's appeal for conscientious objector status in December, leading to Tuesday's hearing. The court martial, at Portsmouth naval base, heard that on 20 September 2010, Lyons refused pre-deployment assault rifle training, repeatedly requesting to be assigned to a non-combat role. Speaking in court, Lyons confirmed he had no physical or mental impairment preventing him following orders, but had chosen to disobey orders based on his personal convictions. ""My initial objections started with Afghanistan and I wanted to investigate the reasons why we were at war. At the time WikiLeaks came along and mentioned Iraq and Afghanistan. The reports said there had been some civilian casualties that nobody knew about and they were being covered up,"" he said. ""After a lot of deliberation I decided I was a conscientious objector."" Lyons claimed he was told he would be barred from treating Afghan civilians, and this formed part of his objection. He said: ""We were put into scenarios and in one of these a family had been walking for two days to our base. The child had a birth defect that was causing it pain and the instructor asked us whether they would get treatment. I said we would offer them whatever we could, but I was shouted down by an officer who said it was a waste of resources."" Warrant Officer Robert Bainbridge, who issued the training order, told the court he discussed Lyons's objections for hours."
" A military spokesman said Israeli forces had opened fire on a group of Palestinians who attempted to cross Israel's border fence on Wednesday night. There was no immediate word on the identities of the two men who Palestinian medical officials said were killed. Violence has escalated in recent weeks along the volatile frontier, though both Israel and Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers say they are working to avoid a full-blown confrontation."
" IDF troops killed two Palestinians near the Gaza Strip border, Palestinian medics said on Thursday. A military spokesman said forces had opened fire on a group of Palestinians who attempted to cross Israel's border fence on Wednesday night. ""Yesterday an IDF force identified a number of suspects tinkering with the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip,"" the IDF said in a statement, adding that the soldiers had shot and killed the possible infiltrators. ""Terror agents take advantage of their presence near the border fence to lay explosive devices and plan attacks and kidnappings of IDF soldiers, and this endangers the citizens of Israel as well as security forces operating in the area,"" the statement said. There was no immediate word on the identities of the two men who Palestinian medical officials said were killed. Recently violence has increased in the south, with the Air Force bombing two targets in Gaza Tuesday night. The IDF said the strike had targeted terror hubs."
" China is increasing its relief aid to the Philippines, following criticism that it was not doing enough to help its typhoon-hit neighbor. The two countries are currently involved in a territorial dispute.    The Chinese foreign ministry said Wednesday an emergency medical team from the government and a disaster relief team from the Chinese Red Cross will soon arrive in the Philippines. A 14,000-ton navy hospital ship, the ""Peace Ark,"" will also be sent.    It has been 12 days since Typhoon Haiyan tore through the central Philippines, leaving over 4,000 people dead and millions displaced. Hundreds of thousands are yet to be reached by emergency aid.    China, which has the world's second largest economy, initially offered $100,000 to Manila. Following both domestic and international criticism, it increased its aid contribution by $1.6 million in supplies.    Wu Zhengping, with the Chinese embassy in Manila, said some of that aid has already arrived.  "
" A U.S. Marine patrols with a member of an Afghan border guard unit in the desert of the lower Helmand River valley, in southern Afghanistan in this July 1, 2009 file photo. The short-term deployments were ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and come months before President Barack Obama plans to start withdrawing U.S. forces in July from the unpopular war against the Taliban. ""This will allow us to keep our momentum,"" said Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell. The troops would mainly be deployed in southern Afghanistan, he said, where fighting is the fiercest. Britain's top military officer, General David Richards, told reporters in Washington that Britain had no similar plan to boost force levels in Afghanistan but indicated that could change depending on the need of ground commanders. ""Troop levels are not set in concrete. They never have been,"" Richards, Britain's chief of Defense Staff, told a briefing at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington. ""If there's a good case for sending a few more people ... we'll remain open-minded about it."" Violence is at its worst in Afghanistan with record casualties on all sides of the conflict and with the insurgency spreading from traditional strongholds in the south and east into once-peaceful areas in the north and west. A review by President Barack Obama last month found U.S. and NATO forces were making headway against the Taliban and al Qaeda, but serious challenges remained. It said the Taliban's momentum had been arrested in much of Afghanistan and reversed in some areas. The review also said the United States was on track to begin a gradual withdrawal of its troops -- now numbering about 97,000 in a total foreign force of some 150,000 -- in July. The pace and scope of the drawdown remains unclear, however. Richards, who led NATO forces in Afghanistan from May 2006 to February 2007, said he recently returned to the country and was cautiously optimistic about the situation, adding ""the changes on the ground are quite amazing."" ""I ... have every reason to think that we can crack this and leave Afghanistan, and more importantly its people, feeling they can tackle their future with our support."""
" Eleven Egyptian military personnel have been killed and dozens more wounded in a car bomb attack near the North Sinai city of el-Arish. Al-Masri al-Youm newspaper said a convoy of buses carrying infantry soldiers was hit by a roadside bomb as it moved through the Kharouba area. Attacks on security forces in the Sinai have increased since Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was ousted in July. No group has yet admitted carrying out Wednesday's bombing. The peninsula has grown increasingly unstable in recent years, triggered by the fall of President Hosni Mubarak. Continue reading the main story The Egyptian army has been fighting a long battle to subdue the strategically important Sinai peninsula. There were crackdowns under long-time military ruler Hosni Mubarak. The latest operation - a massive offensive - was launched in September and is reported to involve as many as 20,000 troops. Their enemy is a web of militant groups, some inspired by al-Qaeda. The army has been destroying militant hideouts and arms caches, and one local source says Wednesday's car bombing is a revenge attack. Military expert Sameh Seifal al-Yazel, a retired general, believes the offensive will show results by April. ""It won't be finished by then, but things will be a lot better,"" he said. While there has been a reduction in the rate of attacks in Sinai, police and army continue to be targeted. Some analysts believe that the insurgents may be changing tactics, focusing on less frequent but more high-profile attacks. His overthrow in February 2011 left the northern Sinai vulnerable to groups of jihadists, some with links to the Gaza Strip. In September security forces launched an offensive against Islamist militants in the Sinai, but have suffered a spate of deadly bombings. In recent months some 100 members of the security forces have been killed. Wednesday's attack, which took place at around 07:45 local time (05:45 GMT) on the road from Rafah to el-Arish, is thought to be the bloodiest against the military since Mr Morsi was deposed. All 11 who died and the 37 reported injured were serving military personnel."
" Omaira Rojas Cabrera, known as Sonia, is accused of running a large drug trafficking ring for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). Sonia has taken what will most likely be a one way trip to the US. The senior Farc commander is accused of running a network that earned the guerrillas tens of millions of dollars. Sonia was captured in February last year, in a raid by elite Colombian troops. Found with her were seized documents and a laptop computer that provided much of the evidence that will be used against her in court. Sonia's extradition is a heavy blow to the Farc. Not only have they lost one of their top female commanders, but they fear that under pressure from US authorities and facing a sentence of more than 20 years in prison she may reveal crucial information about their finance system."
" Riots have erupted in the Egyptian city of Suez, after a court upheld the release on bail of policemen accused of killing 17 people during the uprising. Hundreds of family members of the victims attacked police cars and pelted the court building with stones. Similar clashes erupted in Cairo on Monday when the seven officers were originally granted bail. Anger has been growing in Egypt about the slow pace of trials for Mubarak-era officials and security forces. Activists have called for a million-strong demonstration on Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square - the epicentre of the 18-day uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak to resign on 11 February. Since then, only one policeman has been convicted in more than a dozen court cases over the deaths of nearly 850 people in the government crackdown on protesters, the AP news agency reports. He was tried in absentia. And on Tuesday, a Cairo court acquitted three ministers from the Mubarak regime who had been charged with squandering public funds. Following today's release on bail of the Suez policemen, Egypt's powerful Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement said it would back Friday's planned protest. ""The Brotherhood has decided to participate in the demonstration on 8 July [aimed at] raising the flag of justice so that all rights can be regained, and all criminals punished and all the demands of the revolution met,"" it said. Official figures show that at least 846 people died in the January-February uprising, and 6,000 more were injured."
" Palestinian militants last night launched their most daring assault on a Israeli target in weeks, detonating explosives in a tunnel dug under a military outpost in the Gaza Strip in a blast that injured at least six soldiers. The attack, orchestrated to avenge the recent killing of Palestinian militant leaders, was likely to inflame Israeli public opinion amid the debate over the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Gaza. It also provided a blunt rejoinder to Egyptian efforts to get both sides to restore a truce. The soldiers were in a post guarding the Kissufim road, the artery from Israel to the Gush Katif settlement block which Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, has vowed to evacuate by the end of 2005. It is believed the explosives were detonated at around 10pm local time. The outposts are protected with reinforced concrete and sit on mounds to give a clear view of the surroundings. The explosion collapsed the entire structure. Ambulances and armed forces which came to rescue trapped and injured soldiers came under rifle fire from Palestinian areas bordering the road which cuts through Palestinian land to reach the settlement block. Two Palestinians from nearby Khan Yunis were killed in shooting following the blast. The attack will revive debate about Mr Sharon's plans to shut down the Gaza settlements, an evacuation that is resisted by a minority of Israelis composed of settlers and rightwingers. The Kissufim road is a heavily guarded highway to the homes of around 5,000 settlers. Hundreds of Palestinian homes have been cleared to improve security and the area is dotted with observation towers and outposts. During evacuation of the casualties, ambulances came under constant fire from militants, said Yeruham Mendola, a spokesman for the Israeli ambulance service. In a call to the Associated Press, Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility. A spokesman for al-Aqsa, which is linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, said it had dug a 300 metre-long tunnel, and detonated 300lb of explosives underneath the outpost."
" A US congresswoman has been shot in the head and six other people have been killed by a gunman in Arizona. Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords, 40, was shot at close range during a public meeting in Tucson. She is in a critical condition, but the doctor treating her said he was ""very optimistic about her recove"". The dead included a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge. President Barack Obama said the shooting was a ""tragedy for our entire country"". The Associated Press news agency reported that one of Ms Giffords' political aides was also killed in the shooting. In addition to the six deaths, police said a total of 13 people - including Ms Giffords - had been shot and wounded in the attack. A suspect named by US media as Arizona resident Jared Loughner, 22, was arrested after the incident. Local police, who have not confirmed the suspect's name, said they were hunting a possible accomplice. ""[The suspect] has kind of a troubled past, and we're not convinced that he acted alone,"" said Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. ""There is some reason to believe that he came to this location with another individual."""
" Share your accounts, images from the shooting with CNN iReport. For more information visit CNN affiliates KGUN, KOLD, KVOA, KPHO and KMSB (CNN) -- A gunman intended to assassinate a U.S. representative when he opened fire outside a Tucson, Arizona, supermarket Saturday, killing six and wounding 12 including the congresswoman, the local sheriff said hours after the shooting. U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was in critical condition late Saturday after surgery for a single gunshot wound to the head. The dead included a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl, authorities said. One suspect was in custody immediately after the shooting, and investigators were ""actively in pursuit"" of a second man whom they believed may be involved in the attempted assassination, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said Saturday night. Two people tackled the suspected shooter, stopping a spray of bullets from what federal and state law enforcement sources described as a 9mm Glock outfitted with a 30-round magazine. Dupnik said the suspect in custody is 22, but declined to name him. An Arizona law enforcement source and a federal law enforcement source, meanwhile, identified the suspect as Jared Lee Loughner. The suspect was being held in the Pima County jail, Dupnik said. He was expected to appear in court Sunday morning, Dupnik said investigators are not convinced that the suspect came to the supermarket alone. He said investigators were looking for a man seen near the suspect. Authorities did not know whether the person they sought actually had any connection with Loughner, a law enforcement source told CNN. Authorities have a piece of evidence that indicates this second individual was in close proximity to the store, the source said, but declined to elaborate."
" Votes from the Texas delegation, from Mr. Cobb's native state, gave him a total of 408 during the second round of voting, topping the 385 necessary to win the party's nomination. Over 750 official delegates from 47 states participated in the vote. The contest that emerged in the final months of the campaign for Green support pitted a nomination for Mr. Cobb against endorsement of independent candidate Ralph Nader and his running mate, activist Peter Camejo. ""I look forward to doing for the next four months what I've been doing for the past 8 months -- working to build and grow the Green Party, supporting local candidates and registering more Green voters,"" said David Cobb. Pat LaMarche, noting that the Cobb-LaMarche ticket features two candidates registered in the Green Party -- unlike the 2000 campaign -- said, ""I'm proud that we have a Green Party ticket with Green candidates advancing a Green agenda."" ""The six-month Green primary has produced a truly Green ticket,"" said Ben Manski, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. ""While a year ago, few predicted that a grassroots Green would emerge from the ranks of the party, David Cobb has proven that the party has developed a high level of political maturity and self-confidence. We look forward to working with the Cobb-LaMarche ticket in challenging voters to cast their votes for a better America."" For more information on the Green Party's presidential campaign, visit Your nation (or your state, if you're in the USA) Check this box if you'd like to receive occasional Economic Justice announcements via email. No more than one every three weeks on average."
" RYANAIR chief executive Michael O'Leary and the main face of the 'No' to Lisbon campaign Declan Ganley locked horns last night in one of the most rancorous exchanges in the ongoing referendum campaign. Mr Ganley was branded a failed politician who did not get a seat in an area where ""even Dana got elected"". Meanwhile, the airline chief was dubbed a puppet of Brussels who did not know what he was talking about. Earlier this week, Mr O'Leary called for a 'Yes' vote next week, reversing his position on the previous referendum. It was during a round of press conferences that Mr O'Leary agreed to a debate with Mr Ganley. On RTE's 'Prime Time' last night, Mr O'Leary said he supported the 'Yes' campaign after Ireland got assurances on keeping a commissioner and determining tax policy into the future. This was ridiculed by his opponent. In return, Mr O'Leary threw scorn on Mr Ganley for returning to politics after committing to a withdrawal following his failure in the European elections. ""You are only here because you wouldn't accept the vote of the Irish people last year in the European elections. You couldn't get elected. ""Even Dana got elected in your constituency. You wanted to be Dana. You said you could take no for an answer and yet here you are like another failed politician,"" said Mr O'Leary. During the frequently aggressive and abusive debate, host Miriam O'Callaghan called on the pair to stop the insults. Mr Ganley said the Ryanair chief executive had been ""rolled out to defend the indefensible"". Mr Ganley added that he had got 67,638 votes ""which is more votes than anyone sitting in Dail Eireann has got at the moment""."
" Dublin: In Ireland, the vote on the Lisbon Treaty has turned into a full-blown political scrap. I sat in on The Last Word, a live radio debate held in the Irish Times building in front of an audience of 70. It was at times passionate, irritating, humorous but, above all, everyone there felt this treaty mattered to the future of Ireland. It was the kind of debate Britain has not had. The heavy hitters were Michael O'Leary, the feisty boss of Ryanair who supports the treaty, despite his fairly low opinion of Brussels in the past, and Declan Ganley, a businessman who spearheaded the ""No"" campaign the last time Ireland voted. The debate had to be briefly delayed for O'Leary's arrival. ""He only runs an airline,"" a voice said. He is a natural salesman, timing arrival for maximum attention. Having shaken as many hands as he could he propped a book with the title 100 reasons to vote 'Yes' to Lisbon 2 against his microphone. He likes humorous one-liners and enjoys politically knifing his opponents, who he reminded the audience were ""losers"" and who ""hadn't created any jobs"". For O'Leary the reason for supporting the treaty is all about the economy. He started off by saying ""we now have a bankrupt country"". In his view, the vote was ""about getting 500,000 people back to work"". He said it was important that under the treaty Ireland would keep a commissioner and that it would keep control over direct taxation. With those guarantees he said that ""if you care about jobs vote 'Yes'."" Then a hint of the reprisals that might flow from Brussels if Ireland voted ""No"". ""Europe,"" he said, had ""a long memory"". Time and again the ""No"" side denied that this was a vote about jobs and the economy. They know that it is their opponents' strongest card. Declan Ganley wanted to fight on entirely different ground. The fact that Ireland was voting again on essentially the same treaty showed the ""contempt that democracy was held in,"" he said. The treaty, he said, would ""trump Irish laws"" and ""halve our voting weight"". It would create an unelected president. In the future the treaty could be changed without a democratic vote. Time and again the ""Yes"" side returned to the economy. The Foreign Minister, Micheal Martin, said Americans and other potential investors would interpret a ""No"" vote as Ireland pulling away from Europe. Companies might not invest. ""Which ones?"" shouted Ganley - but there was no response. The foreign minister continued by saying that Ireland had marketed itself as the ""gateway to Europe"". That could now be lost. The ""No"" side retorted that no companies had turned away from Ireland after the first ""No"" vote. They insisted that you could reject the Lisbon Treaty and be good Europeans. The angriest exchange followed Declan Ganley's assertion that this was ""the same anti-democratic formula"" drawn up by a ""European elite"". It stung the foreign minister. He angrily denied that there was an elite running Europe. They are elected politicians, he insisted. These were the same people who had lent Ireland 120 billion euros. ""They're interested in helping us,"" he said. And so it came down to this. The ""No"" side believe there is something profoundly undemocratic about having to vote a second time on essentially the same treaty and that power is seeping away to institutions in Brussels. The ""Yes"" side believes Ireland needs Europe to rebuild its economy and it would be a great mistake to alienate the big European players when Ireland is weak. And that is the argument that may well influence the voters. Jobs over fears about sovereignty."
" BANGKOK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Researchers announced here Thursday a breakthrough in an experimental vaccine that has proved capable of reducing the chance of people's infection with the AIDS virus. The research shows the vaccine can reduce the risk of HIV infection by more than 31 percent in the world's largest AIDS vaccine trial of some 16,000 volunteers. The trial was carried out jointly by the U.S. Army and the Thailand Ministry of Public Health."
" Scientists say they have developed a vaccine that cuts the risk of HIV infection by more than 30%. It is the first time a vaccine has been shown to give even this limited protection against the virus that causes Aids. The vaccine trial, which was funded by the US army, involved a combination of two vaccines that individually had proved ineffective. The World Health Organisation says it offers the promise of a safe vaccine eventually becoming available for people around the world. The BBC's correspondent in Bangkok, Alastair Leithead, spoke to Dr Joseph Chiu, the representative of the US army surgeon general, who has been involved in the work. Dr Saladin Osmanov is the co-ordinator for the WHO Aids Initiative Vaccine Research. Yolishwa Notshe is an HIV/Aids co-ordinator with the charity Action Aid in South Africa, which has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world. The BBC's Dan Damon spoke to both of them about this new development, Dr Saladin Osmanov first."
" BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Ministry Wednesday lodged strong protest against Japan over the detention of a Chinese fishing boat and its crew near the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. The ministry demanded the Japanese side to release the detained Chinese ship and crew members and guarantee their safety. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue summoned Japanese ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa Wednesday to lodge the protest, which was the strongest wording so far after the incident. Within 24 hours, the Chinese government summoned the ambassador on this issue for the second time. Two Japanese patrol boats collided with a Chinese fishing boat in waters off the Diaoyu islands Tuesday. No injuries were reported from the collision, but then the fishing boat was intercepted by Japanese patrol boats. On the same day after the incident, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao summoned Uichiro Niwa and urged Japanese patrol boats to stop their illegal interception of Chinese fishing boats. Wednesday morning, Japan's Coast Guard arrested the captain of the fishing trawler despite China's requests."
" The group of unarmed European citizens of Iranian origin had refused to disembark from the jet when it arrived from Frankfurt on Thursday. Officials said three people had already left the aircraft when the police had told them they faced arrest. The group said they wanted Europe to help remove Iran's Islamic leaders. The plane was moved away from the terminal building and 90 police officers boarded the jet to remove the protesters after negotiations failed. Other passengers and crew had left the plane when it landed at 1400 (1300GMT) on Thursday with 103 people on board. ""We want the European Union to remove the Islamic leaders from Iran,"" Armin Atshgar, one of those on the plane, told Reuters news agency. He said he was a member of Anjomane Padeshahi, a group that wants to restore the country's royal family, who were ousted during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Belgium's foreign ministry said earlier that it was negotiating with the group, as they were non-violent."
" UNITED NATIONS, June 17 - Secretary General Kofi Annan harshly criticized the United States on Thursday for seeking immunity for its peacekeeping troops from the International Criminal Court. He said the Security Council should resist the American move, which he said was ""of dubious judicial value"" and particularly deplorable this year ""given the prisoner abuse in Iraq."" ""I think in this circumstance it would be unwise to press for an exemption, and it would be even more unwise on the part of the Security Council to grant it,"" Mr. Annan told reporters. ""It would discredit the Council and the United Nations that stands for rule of law and the primacy of the rule of law."" The Bush administration has argued that people could use the court to bring politically motivated actions against Americans abroad. When the court was established two years ago, Washington threatened to end its participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations if its troops were not promised such protection. Last month, the United States introduced a resolution to the Security Council that would continue an exemption first granted in 2002 and renewed a year ago, exempting American personnel in United Nations-authorized operations like that contemplated in Iraq from prosecution in the international court. Mr. Annan has opposed such action both years, but not with such a forthright statement. ""While today's statement is more explicit than the secretary general has made before, it has even greater resonance since in the current environment the idea of exempting people from the rule of law because of their nationality is obviously less defensible than ever,'' said Richard Dicker, director for international justice at Human Rights Watch. In the vote last year, three nations abstained, and diplomats said that as many as 7 of the 15 Security Council members were thinking of abstaining this year. If they do so, the United States could not get the nine votes it needs for passage. Late last month, China obtained a postponement of the debate, saying that the events at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq had changed its thinking, and it could no longer rule out a veto. At the Chinese Mission to the United Nations on Thursday, a spokeswoman said, ""Our capital is still studying this issue, and the mission does not have instructions yet."" Richard A. Grenell, the spokesman for the American Mission, said the United States intended to press for a vote before June 30 and saw no reason why the resolution should not pass. ""We still think that it should be a technical rollover,"" he said. The court is the first permanent tribunal to try cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, but it has no jurisdiction in Iraq because neither the United States nor Iraq were signatories to the 1998 Rome treaty establishing it."
" A Somali pirate asked for forgiveness from his victims and from the U.S. government in a New York courtroom today, but instead received nearly the maximum sentence allowed -- nearly 34 years in prison. Abduwali Abdiqadir Muse pled guilty last year to being part of an armed crew that stormed the Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean in April 2009 and took its captain, Richard Phillips, hostage for five days. At his sentencing Wednesday morning, Muse, clad in a green shirt and khaki slacks, apologized at length for his career as a pirate. ""I ask for forgiveness from all the people I harmed, including the U.S. government,"" said Muse. In a letter to the court, however, Capt. Phillips called Muse a ""terrorist,"" said he had endured mock killings at the hands of the pirates, and asked for justice and a ""proper sentence"" on behalf of ""all Merchant Mariners."" ""My family had to endure the five days, worrying and wondering what was going to happen,"" wrote Phillips. ""He was just as much a terrorist to them as to me."" Prior to announcing the sentence, Judge Preska read aloud from Phillips' letter and from letters written by other members of the crew about how the hijacking had affected them. Preska teared up and removed her glasses and then gave Muse the maximum permitted sentence, 33 years and nine months, citing the need for deterrence. ""For five days that must have seemed like an eternity to this victims, Abduwali Abukhadir Muse terrorized the crew of the Maersk Alabama,"" said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement after the sentencing. ""Now he will pay for those five days and the events leading up to them."" Muse and three other men stormed the Maersk Alabama, a 500-foot U.S.-flagged container ship, on April 8, 2009. After he and the other would-be pirates boarded the vessel, Muse was stabbed in the hand by a member of the 20-man crew during a struggle, and was then tied up by the crew. Unable to take control of the massive ship, the remaining three pirates grabbed Phillips and put to sea in a lifeboat. The Maersk Alabama's crew tried to trade Muse for Phillips but were rebuffed by the pirates. Prosecutors said that Muse was the first pirate to board the Maersk Alabama, fired an AK-47 at Phillips, and speaking English, threatened Phillips with death."
" S. Korea to fly bodies of pirates to Somalia SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to transport the bodies of eight Somali pirates killed in last month's commando raid on a South Korean freighter to the African nation on Wednesday, an official said.The bodies will be flown from Oman's Muscat to the Somali capital of Mogadishu on a charter plane, a foreign ministry official said. The bodies have been kept in a police hospital mortuary since they were unloaded from the freed freighter Samho Jewelry last week.A South Korean diplomat will travel on the charter plane to hand over the bodies to Somali officials. The interim Somali government's foreign minister is expected to be at the airport to take them over.South Korea has agreed to pay for the transportation cost.The eight were among a total of 13 pirates that had seized the 11,500-ton chemical carrier last month. South Korea sent naval commandos to free the ship and its 21 crew members. Five other pirates were captured and all of the crew were rescued alive, though the captain was seriously wounded.The captured pirates have been brought to South Korea for investigation and trial.(END)"
" Israeli aircraft have carried out three bombing raids on the Gaza Strip, killing one man and injuring another. Palestinian officials said at least one other person was missing after the raids, which targeted tunnels used to smuggle in goods from Egypt. The Israeli army said the raids were in retaliation for attacks against Israelis over the past week. It comes days after the start of direct peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The talks, are the first direct peace negotiation in nearly two years. Officials from the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, told the Associated Press agency that the men were smugglers working in tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border. Earlier in the day, Israeli officials said a rocket had been launched from Gaza into southern Israel. On Tuesday, four Israeli settlers were shot dead in the West Bank, in an attack Hamas said it carried out. Two Israelis were also injured in a shooting in the West Bank on Wednesday. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the latest round of direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians may be ""the last chance for a very long time"" to resolve the conflict."
" GAZA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Saturday night launched three airstrikes on southern Gaza Strip targets, mainly tunnels under the borders between Egypt and the enclave, wounding four Palestinians, witnesses said. According to witnesses, Israeli F-16 warplanes carried out three airstrikes, the first targeted a tunnel east of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, the warplanes then struck two other tunnels used for smuggling, wounding at least four Palestinian workers who were then in one of the tunnels. Medics in Rafah town said rescue teams have found a wounded worker while efforts are exerted to take the other three out of the tunnel. Israeli airstrikes came after a homemade rocket was fired earlier by Gaza militants at southern Israel. No injuries or damages were reported. The Gaza-based pro-Hamas Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) claimed responsibility for the rocket attack."
" Rome (CNN) -- The parents of Amanda Knox, an American convicted of murdering her British roommate in 2007, were indicted Tuesday for allegedly libeling police in Perugia, Italy, Knox's mother and the family's Italian attorney said. In a 2009 interview in the Sunday Times of London, Curt Knox and Edda Mellas said that their daughter ""had not been given an interpreter, had not received food and water and had been physically and verbally abused"" by police after her arrest for the murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher, according to Italy's ANSA news agency. They also said police struck her and told her ""things will get worse for you"" if she requested an attorney. ""Yes, I am going to trial for libel ... along with one of my lawyers and a group of journalists,"" Mellas told CNN Tuesday. ""We are very upset by this decision,"" said Luciano Ghirga, Amanda Knox's attorney who represents her family in this case. ""We worked towards a dismissal because there was no intent"" on the part of Knox's parents to libel the police, he said. The indictment says their claims were ""contrary to the truth,"" according to ANSA. A hearing in the case is set for July 4, Ghirga said. ""These are old charges,"" said David Marriott, spokesman for the family. ""They've been around since 2009."" The story in question was published in 2008, he said, and Knox's parents were repeating what their daughter had told them. The indictment, Marriott said, finalizes the charges the prosecutor had filed and is ""nothing surprising."" Knox's parents' focus is not on their case, he said, but on her appeal of her conviction, which is under way. There is a break in the proceedings for experts to retest forensic evidence, he said."
" BANGALORE: Players and officials have been banned from tweeting during World Cup matches because the International Cricket Council fears they may be contacted by illegal bookmakers during play. The decision, led by the ICC's anti-corruption and security unit, is intended to remove the potential for players and officials who use Twitter during matches to be approached by people with links to illegal betting. ''When it comes to issues of corruption we prefer to err on the side of caution,'' ICC spokesman James Fitzgerald said. ''We don't want to spoil anyone's fun but there is a chance that sensitive information could be passed on during matches in this way, even inadvertently, and we just feel that team managers' phones should be kept for operational purposes only.'' Australian team manager Steve Bernard had been a regular tweeter during the past six months while the team had been playing, but his reports will not be seen during the World Cup. ''This recommendation is not confined to the Australia team manager but all teams in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and is certainly not a reaction to anything the Australia team manager has said or done in the past. It's merely a precaution and is not something we are overly worried about at this stage.'' The ban comes less than a fortnight after Pakistan trio Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir received minimum five-year bans for their involvement in the deliberate bowling of no-balls in a Test against England at Lord's last year. The ICC and its anti-corruption unit were heavily criticised for the scandal having been uncovered by a British newspaper, the News of the World, rather than by its own full-time investigators. Players and officials will still, however, be permitted to tweet when matches are not occurring. Cricket Australia chief spokesman Peter Young said the in-game ban had been imposed by the ICC due to the ''heightened sensitivity about corruption in cricket''. '''Brute' [Bernard] is very judicious about what he does and doesn't say, but while he's getting it right there needs to be one rule for all,'' Young said. ''It is, as I understand, a perception issue. They don't want players or team management able to be communicating to the outside world because of the concern the information might be misused by the illegal betting industry.'' Bernard and Australian coach Tim Nielsen began tweeting last August after a request from CA, which wanted fans to get a better insight into the team. Bernard has since attracted more than 1100 followers to his @stevebernard37 account thanks to tweeting his views almost hourly during Australian matches, including the Ashes."
" WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has accused the Federal Government of helping the US investigate Australians involved with the website. Speaking on SBS's Dateline program, the Australian citizen says the Federal Government is complying with US demands because it fears being held responsible for his activities. Mr Assange says this is despite local authorities such as the Australian Secret Intelligence Service and the Australian Federal Police dropping their investigations. Mr Assange is calling on Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Attorney-General Robert McClelland to reveal all the help that has been provided to foreign governments. ""There is assistance being afforded to the United States, and that is something that really needs to come out,"" he said. ""Gillard and McClelland need to disclose all the assistance they have afforded foreign countries against Australians involved in WikiLeaks, and the Australian registration of WikiLeaks as an entity."" Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd says every form of consular assistance has been offered to Mr Assange. ""There have been a very large number of consular contacts between our officials in the United Kingdom and Mr Assange,"" he said. ""We are confident we have provided the appropriate level of support for him as we would any other Australian citizen."""
" July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Iraqi athletes have been banned from participating in the Beijing Summer Games by the International Olympic Committee because the government seized control of the country's Olympic committee. The IOC last month notified Iraq that it received a provisional suspension because of political interference. The Iraqi government dissolved all of the nation's sports bodies and replaced the country's Olympic committee with its own appointees. IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said Iraqi officials were requested to come to IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, to discuss solutions to the situation. Because the Olympic Charter forbids political interference in the Olympic movement, the IOC doesn't recognize Iraq's committee as legitimate. ``We haven't received a positive response from the government,'' Moreau said in a telephone interview today. ``Because the (entry) deadline for most sports has now passed, we had to inform them we haven't found a solution. The suspension remains. That means athletes will not be able to come to Beijing.'' The IOC ban would affect seven Iraqi athletes: two rowers, two sprinters, one archer, one weightlifter and one competitor in judo. ``We are very disappointed about that because we see that basically the government's actions have hindered participation of athletes,'' Moreau said. A spokesman at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington declined to comment. Bashar Mustafa, the interim deputy chief of Iraq's Olympic Committee, told Agence France-Presse that he was disappointed in the IOC's decision and that the country's former Olympic officials were responsible for the problems. Moreau said there is still a possibility that the two Iraqi sprinters may be able to compete if the situation is resolved because the deadline for track and field entries is after the start of the Games, which are scheduled for Aug. 8-24. Should the government withdraw its involvement in the committee, ``potentially we could see some athletes in Beijing,'' Moreau said."
" He said Russia's secret service had information on more than one occasion that Iraq was preparing acts of terror in the US and its facilities worldwide. Mr Putin said he had no information the Iraqi ex-leader was behind any attacks. It came a day after US President George W Bush insisted there had been links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. He disputed the preliminary findings of a US commission investigating the 9/11 attacks on Washington and New York that found no ""credible evidence"" of a relationship between the two. Speaking on a visit to Kazakhstan, Mr Putin said Russia had warned the US on several occasions that Iraq was planning ""terrorist attacks"" on its soil. ""After the events of 11 September 2001, and before the start of the military operation in Iraq, Russian special services several times received such information and passed it on to their American colleagues,"" he told reporters. He said the information received by Russian intelligence suggested Iraq was planning attacks in the United States, ""and beyond its borders on American military and civilian targets"". But he said it did not change Russia's opposition to the war in Iraq. ""Despite that information... Russia's position on Iraq remains unchanged,"" he said. He added: ""It is one thing to have information that (Saddam) Hussein's regime was preparing acts of terrorism - we did have this information and we handed it over."
" EU leaders at a two-day summit in Brussels announced Croatia's new status as an official candidate country. The European Commission's President Romano Prodi said: ""We are very satisfied because Croatia is going with us into Europe."" Croatia hopes to join the EU in 2007, together with Bulgaria and Romania. Ten countries joined the EU in May, taking the total to 25. EU leaders used the summit to reiterate that they want Romania and Bulgaria to join the union together in 2007. The Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, whose country holds the rotating presidency, said there were no plans to separate the two countries' entry, provided they both met membership criteria. Earlier this week Bulgaria completed negotiations on its accession, and correspondents say there has been speculation that it may join the EU before Romania, which is hoping to complete talks on its accession by the end of this year. Regarding Croatia, the 25 leaders agreed that it had met the criteria necessary to get the official status of applicant. In April, the EU's executive arm, the European Commission, said Croatia should get formal candidate status after its political and economic reforms were judged successful. It also praised its readiness to co-operate with the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague - Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's conservative government has facilitated the surrender of eight war crimes suspects to the tribunal. The EU leaders reiterated that, to meet membership criteria, Croatia needed to maintain full co-operation with the tribunal, improve minority rights and speed up the return of ethnic Serb refugees who fled the country during the wars of the 1990s."
" A police bodyguard who admitted assassinating Punjab Governor Salman Taseer last month has been charged with murder in a Pakistani court. Qadri appeared at an anti-terrorism court in a Rawalpindi city jail where supporters brought Valentine's Day cards and gifts. He said he killed Mr Taseer because the governor backed liberal reforms to controversial blasphemy laws. The assassination has divided Pakistan, with many hailing Qadri as a hero. Qadri was part of Mr Taseer's protection team but opened fire on the governor as he was about to get into his car on 4 January. Qadri's lawyers told the BBC that although he admitted killing the governor, he argued that it was not unlawful because ""he killed an apostate who insulted the prophet."" Qadri told the court: ""I haven't killed anyone unlawfully. I have taught a lesson to apostate Salman Taseer in the light of the teachings of the Koran and the Tradition of the Prophet."" A senior member of his defence team said that as a result, ""Qadri has neither pleaded guilty, nor not guilty."" But analysts say that despite his justification, his confession is likely to be taken as a guilty plea by the court. Qadri is next due in court on 26 February, when witnesses and evidence will be presented. The prosecution has lined up about 40 witnesses, including Mr Taseer's son and other policemen on duty at the time of the murder."
" His decision to call a referendum on security issues and whether or not talks should be restarted with Beijing has angered the mainland. China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province which should be reunited with the rest of the country. President Chen is standing for re-election next month, and the referendum will be held on the same day. The president faces a tough battle for re-election, lagging behind his rival Lien Chan in opinion polls. But he began to close the gap with his Nationalist party rival after he called the referendum for the same day as the presidential vote. The Taiwanese people will be asked to approve an increase in military spending, and to sanction attempts to reopen talks with Beijing. The move has angered the Chinese leadership, which fears the referendum will set a precedent and in future the mechanism could be used to try to force a vote on independence. The referendum has been criticised by the United States, France and Germany among others as a threat to the status quo. Now in what seems to be an attempt to soothe international concerns about his intentions, the Taiwanese president has renewed a promise he made before the last election that he would not declare a permanent split from China, a move that Beijing has always made clear would lead to war. Perhaps though with an eye to his pro-independence supporters, he made clear that in any case he already considered Taiwan independent."
" Officials said Abu Zubair was shot dead in the northern city of Mosul, in an ambush set by Iraqi forces. He had been wanted for his alleged role in several attacks, including a attack on a police station in Mosul last month, which killed five policemen. No other details of the operation were provided, and there is no independent confirmation of the US statement. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his group are believed to be behind the kidnapping and beheading of several foreigners in Iraq. His group - originally known as Tawhid and Jihad, but now known as al-Qaeda in Iraq - is also believed to be behind a long list of suicide bombings and attacks on Iraqi and US forces."
" At Neve Dekalim, the largest outpost, settlers, joined by Jewish hardliners from elsewhere, blocked the main gates, trying to keep the troops out. About 9,000 people now have two days to leave all Gaza settlements and some in the West Bank or be forcibly removed. More than 40,000 Israeli soldiers and police are part of the operation. This is the first time that Israel has agreed to dismantle settlements built on Palestinian land seized in the Six-Day War in 1967. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas hailed the move as ""historic"" but said Israel should also pull out of the West Bank. Hundreds of Palestinians marched through Gaza City to mark the start of the withdrawal and others headed for mosques to give thanks in a mass prayer meeting called by the militant group, Hamas. Those living in Gaza's 21 Jewish settlements, and those in four of the West Bank's 120 settlements, have until midnight on Tuesday to leave. Settlers who ignore the final deadline are to be forcibly removed and could lose up to a third of their compensation. About half of Gaza's 8,500 settlers have already left. But those remaining have been joined by about 5,000 hardliners from Israel and the West Bank. At Neve Dekalim the unarmed soldiers delivering the notices were confronted by protesters calling on them to disobey their orders."
" July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Storm Dolly strengthened to a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico and headed for northern Mexico and southern Texas. Oil prices fell as the cyclone was forecast to spare refineries and offshore rigs. Dolly's sustained winds strengthened to 80 miles (1,320 kilometers) per hour, from 75 miles per hour earlier, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory at 10 p.m. Houston time. Dolly was about 110 miles east-southeast of Brownsville in Texas and Matamoros, which lies across the Mexican border. The storm is traveling northwest at 9 miles per hour and the eye is expected to make landfall about midday tomorrow on the border. ``Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,'' the government forecaster said. Further strengthening is expected. About 1.5 million people may be affected by the storm, according to a statement from the U.S. Census Bureau. Brownsville has a population of 172,000, according to the bureau. Matamoros is a city of about half a million people, according to the Mexican government. Crude oil prices fell to near a six-week low as concern eased that supplies would be disrupted. Dolly is the season's first hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, home to more than a quarter of U.S. oil production. Energy companies evacuated some rigs as a precaution and cut production in the Gulf by 4.7 percent, according to the U.S. Interior Department. Along the Gulf coast, Texans prepared for the storm. A hurricane warning covered areas south from Corpus Christi to Brownsville and across the Mexican border as far south as Rio San Fernando. As much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain may soak parts of southern Texas and north Mexico over the next few days, according to the U.S. center. The hurricane may also push tides as high as 6 feet (1.8 meters) above normal. State officials said today flooding from Dolly may breach levees holding back the Rio Grande, the Associated Press reported. Residents in Corpus Christi boarded up homes and packed supermarkets as they bought food, water and flashlights."
" The statement appears in a report on al-Qaeda published before the final public session of the commission. It contradicts remarks by the US vice-president about Saddam Hussein's ""long-established ties"" with al-Qaeda. Iraq's alleged links with al-Qaeda were part of the justification the Bush administration gave for invading Iraq. The 11 September attacks killed nearly 3,000 people after members of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network flew three hijacked planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with a fourth crashing in Pennsylvania. The commission, drawn from both Republicans and Democrats, published two separate preliminary reports: an overview of al-Qaeda and an outline of the 11 September plot. It concludes that senior al-Qaeda suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed initially proposed a hijacking attack involving 10 planes to hit an expanded list of targets that would include the CIA and FBI headquarters, unidentified nuclear plants and tall buildings in California and Washington state. The more ambitious plan was reportedly rejected by Bin Laden. A final report on the commission's findings is due on 28 July. But preliminary statements published by the commission on a range of issues are building up into a complex picture of missed opportunities and some of it does not make pleasant reading for the Bush administration, says BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus. The report on al-Qaeda, entitled Overview of the Enemy, describes the roots of the militant network and its activities."
" The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were originally envisioned as an even more audacious assault involving 10 hijacked jetliners on the East and West coasts, but the plan was scaled back and later plagued by conflicts among al Qaeda's leaders and some of the hijackers themselves, according to a report issued yesterday by the panel investigating the attacks. The date for the attacks was uncertain until about three weeks before they were carried out, and there is evidence that as late as Sept. 9 ringleader Mohamed Atta had not decided whether one aircraft would target the U.S. Capitol or the White House, according to the report. Atta finally chose a date after the first week of September, the report says, ""so that the United States Congress would be in session."" The 20-page document represents the most vivid, detailed and authoritative account of the plot to emerge since the 19 hijackers killed nearly 3,000 people by crashing four jetliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania countryside. The document, brimming with new details, features a revealing examination of the thinking and actions of al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, and demonstrates how relentlessly the terrorists pursued the plan to its deadly ends. It also provides the most extensive view so far of what has been learned from secret interrogations of al Qaeda operatives now in U.S. custody, particularly Khalid Sheik Mohammed, mastermind of the attacks, and Ramzi Binalshibh, the would-be hijacker who could not gain entry to the United States and became the coordinator of the plot from Germany. The narrative portrays bin Laden as a micromanager deeply involved in planning the strikes. He chose all 19 hijackers himself and constantly pushed to move up the attacks, seeking to carry them out as early as the middle of 2000. Mohammed, the document shows, was the overeager lieutenant who first proposed using airplanes as missiles, but whose grandiose plans were curtailed several times in the face of logistical obstacles. The entire plot, from start to finish, cost al Qaeda only $400,000 to $500,000, the investigation found. At the same time, the report reveals serious rifts among the hijackers and within the upper ranks of al Qaeda. One of the pilots crucial to the hijack plan, Ziad Samir Jarrah, nearly abandoned the plot and probably would have been replaced by alleged conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person in the United States charged in connection with the attacks, the report concludes. But bin Laden's fervor persisted despite opposition from some of his closest aides, who urged him to abandon the plan as it neared completion in the summer of 2001. Bin Laden believed ""that an attack against the United States would reap al Qaeda a recruiting and fundraising bonanza,"" the report concludes. ""In his thinking, the more al Qaeda did, the more support it would gain. Although he faced opposition from many of his most senior advisers . . . bin Laden effectively overruled their objections, and the attacks went forward."" The findings were contained in one of two reports issued yesterday as part of the last round of public hearings held by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. The panel, which is to issue a set of conclusions on the nation's air defense system today, is scheduled to complete its wide-ranging final report by next month. Commission members and witnesses also warned yesterday of the continuing danger posed by al Qaeda, despite the United States' aggressive campaign to thwart it. FBI counterterrorism chief John S. Pistole said that counterterrorism officials have ""probably prevented a few aviation attacks"" in the United States but that some of the operatives in those plots remain at large. Al Qaeda ""is actively pooling whatever resources it has left at its disposal and, in a very centralized and methodical way, we believe that it is plotting an attack and moving an attack forward using what capabilities it has left to attack the homeland in the next few months,"" Pistole said. In their account of the Sept. 11 plot, the panel's staff investigators generally concur with the FBI that there is little evidence that knowing accomplices in the United States aided the plot. The report rules out terrorist connections to a Saudi national who helped two of the hijackers find an apartment in San Diego and found no evidence that the Saudi royal family or government funded the plot. A previous investigation by a joint House-Senate inquiry raised questions about possible complicity by other Saudis besides the 15 hijackers from the desert kingdom. But the commission raises new questions about a handful of other individuals connected to the hijacking teams, including a man recently deported to Yemen who allegedly bragged to a cellmate about helping two of the hijackers."
" DAMASCUS: The Syrian army recaptured the strategic town of Deir Attiyeh Thursday, less than a week after losing it, taking the advantage in its bid to crush rebels just north of Damascus. The takeover of Deir Attiyeh, on the Damascus-Homs highway, comes two weeks into an army offensive in the Qalamoun region, important to the regime for its proximity to the capital and the rebels as it serves as their rear base near the border with Lebanon. It also comes amid intense international efforts to hold a Geneva peace conference aimed at ending the 32-month conflict. The opposition demands any talks should lead to a transitional period during which President Bashar al-Assad's regime plays no role. But forces loyal to Assad appear to be pushing for as many battleground victories as possible for leverage at the Geneva talks to be staged on January 22. ""Our heroic army has taken total control of the town of Deir Attiyeh in Damascus province after it crushed the terrorists' last enclaves there,"" said state television, citing a military source. A high-ranking security official in Damascus confirmed the report to AFP, adding that ""operations to expel the terrorists from nearby areas are ongoing"". On Friday last week, hundreds of jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Al-Nusra Front, as well as other rebels, took control of Deir Attiyeh, according to a monitoring group. Most of the rebels who had taken up positions in Deir Attiyeh were ""crushed"" and the town had been ""cleansed,"" the security official said on condition of anonymity. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army was now in ""near-total control"" of Deir Attiyeh, though gunfire could still be heard."
" People who obtained tickets for the 2012 Olympics in the initial first round ballot are getting an opportunity to buy seats for more events. About 1.5 million tickets for football and 8,000 for freestyle wrestling are available. Volleyball was also available but the 40,000 tickets sold out by Saturday. Tickets are being sold on a first-come first-served basis in a process which finishes at 1800 BST on 17 July. Some 700,000 people are eligible to buy tickets in this phase of the second round. Another 150,000 people, who had been unsuccessful in the initial ballot, ordered tickets in an earlier second-round phase. Meanwhile, an unofficial Facebook-based ticket sharing website has been set up. Organisers of the Ticket Collective website say it is a free information site offering people unable to get tickets the chance to get some by letting them know which of their Facebook friends have spares. It is not a ticket reselling or swapping site, however, but organisers say it may help to prevent touting. Organiser Andrew Mobbs said: ""With the recent demand for Olympic tickets being so high and the confusion around who got what tickets, we decided to see if we could do anything to make the process more transparent and sociable."""
" At least 13 Afghan police and civilians have died in two incidents involving international forces, officials say. Four Afghan police and five civilians died in an apparently mistaken air strike by international coalition forces in Farah province. Separately, the Nato-led Isaf said it had ""accidentally"" killed at least four civilians in Paktika province. The incidents are the latest in a series of controversial clashes involving foreign troops. They come as US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is in Afghanistan as part of an overseas tour. Mr Obama, who wants to increase US troop levels in Afghanistan, was due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday. Mr Karzai has said no civilian casualty is acceptable. The BBC's Martin Patience, in Kabul, says there was darkness and much confusion when the Farah province fighting took place in the early hours of Sunday morning. The police had opened fire on a joint convoy of Afghan national army and foreign troops believing - incorrectly - that they were Taleban fighters. The deputy governor of Farah province, Younus Rasuli, said the foreign troops had not informed police they were coming."
" Dozens were injured in clashes that broke out later that day, June 24, between Mubarak sympathisers and opponents in what was otherwise a minor blip in Egypt's push to enact reforms and open up to greater democracy. But frustration with the pace of those reforms, plus crushing economic realities, have made some Egyptians feel that if they don't want to turn back the clock, some aspects of Mubarak's rule were not as bad as they seemed at the time. ""Whenever people become disillusioned with revolutions -- and that always happens inevitably -- they tend to look upon the past with some nostalgia,"" Shadi Hamid, director of research at Brookings Doha Centre, said. ""There is a risk that if the economic situation stays stagnant and people continue to be out of jobs or get fired, then there is a real risk that people will look back and say, 'Well, maybe things were not as bad as we thought under Mubarak'."" Always confident and never showing a trace of doubt, Mubarak liked to be seen as a benign and tireless leader protecting the security and stability of his country and serving the welfare of its people. Now 83, he is due to stand trial on August 3 for the killing of protesters and abuse of power. He has not appeared in public since stepping down and is now in a hospital bed in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh but has denied any wrongdoing. His supporters argue that he saved Egypt from chaos after militants assassinated his predecessor in 1981, kept Egypt out of wars, restored relations with the Arab world after the 1979 peace treaty with Israel and, after long delays, allowed his government to open up the economy to stimulate growth. For some Egyptians, putting the former air force chief on trial is not a pressing priority among a long list of demands for political and economic reforms in a country with one of the world's highest rates of inflation in food prices. ""As much as I'm happy that Mubarak finally no longer rules Egypt after all the corruption we've been exposed to, I sympathise with him because he is an old man,"" housewife NagwaHassan, 57, said. Activists complain that recent events, including the use of force by police against demonstrators, court rulings clearing three ministers in Mubarak's administration of graft as well as the release of some police officers accused of killing protesters, went against reforms."
" Lien Chan from the Nationalist Party said President Chen Shui-bian's decision threatened national security. Taiwan's voters are to elect a president on 20 March and will also be asked about peace talks with China and buying more defensive weapons systems. Holding both polls on the same day has angered China and attracted criticism from the US, France and Germany. This was the first time two presidential candidates had ever gone head to head in a formal debate on Taiwanese television. The polls suggest that Mr Lien, chairman of the opposition Nationalist Party, is slightly ahead of his rival, President Chen - but around a quarter of the electorate remain undecided. With just over a month to go until polling day, the candidates know they are in effect running neck and neck. Mr Lien used the debate to criticise the president's decision to hold a referendum on polling day. He said it threatened national security. China is angry about the vote, which it sees as a step towards independence. The leadership in Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province which should be reunited with the mainland. Voters will be asked whether Taiwan should buy more military equipment to protect the island from the missiles China has aimed at it, and whether the government should attempt to reopen talks with Beijing."
" Many women and children were killed or injured in the attack The BBC's Alastair Leithead is the first journalist to reach the scene of a US air raid which Afghan authorities say killed about 50 civilians in the east of the country on 6 July. He reports on what he found: On a hillside high in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan there are three charred clearings where the American bombs struck. Scattered around are chunks of twisted metal, blood stains and small fragments of sequinned and brightly decorated clothes - the material Afghan brides wear on their wedding day. After hours of driving to the village deep in the bandit country of Nangarhar's mountains we heard time and again the terrible account of that awful day. What began as celebration ended with maybe 52 people dead, most of them women and children, and others badly injured. The US forces said they targeted insurgents in a strike. But from what I saw with my own eyes and heard from the many mourners, no militants were among the dead. A big double wedding was taking place between two families, with each exchanging a bride and a groom. So Lal Zareen's son and daughter were both getting married on the same day. He gave the account with his son, a 13-year-old groom, sitting at his feet. ""This is all the family I now have left,"" he said in a disturbingly matter of fact sort of way. From his story and from those of other survivors, it appears the wedding group was crossing a narrow pass in the mountains which divides the valleys where the two families live. From nowhere a fast jet flew low and dropped a bomb right on top of the pass near a group of children who had impatiently rushed ahead and were resting, waiting for the women to catch up. Lal Zareen was waiting expectantly for the guests to arrive when he heard the explosion and began to climb up the steep mountain track to the pass. Shah Zareen was part of the group up on the path - he had narrowly escaped being caught in the first bomb and told the women to stay where they were as he rushed to help the children. Shah Zareen picked up one of the injured, ran down to the village and on his way was calling his local member of parliament on a mobile phone to say they had been attacked. The mourning groom Shah Zareen (L) and his father described the day But then he heard the second blast - the bomb had been dropped on top of the women and almost all of them had been killed. Three girls escaped, among them the bride, but as they ran down the hillside a third bomb landed on top of them. Shah Zareen explained to me how one of the many new graves contained just body parts of two or three people and the graves that had been dug and not filled were for those still missing - once their remains had been found. The BBC team I was with were the first outsiders to see where the bombs hit - even the Afghan investigators did not climb up the steep mountainside - and there was much evidence to support the story. The fact we could travel to the area in local cars was proof that Taleban insurgents, al-Qaeda operatives or foreign fighters were not present in the valley. The local people said they had not seen militants, but admitted there could have been people crossing the high pass as the next ridge along leads to Tora Bora, the notorious insurgent area. The US military says it is investigating the incident and it is understood they may have some aerial footage from hours earlier showing insurgents moving nearby. President Karzai has said that patience is wearing thin with US errors But it is obvious a huge mistake was made on 6 July. A US statement about the bombing said ""any loss of innocent life is tragic"". ""I assure you we do not target civilians and that our forces go to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties,"" said Lt Nathan Perry. The US no longer insists the dead were insurgents, as it did for two days after the bombing, but it could be some time before the investigation is complete. Civilian casualties are not new to Nangarhar province - last year a convoy of US Marines was hit by a bomb attack and in the chaos they opened fire in a bazaar killing 19 people. They were sent home and their officers charged, but a subsequent ruling cleared them of any responsibility for the deaths. I wonder how many enemies have been created in Nangahar as a result of the latest bloodshed?   Mirwais Yasini, a local MP and the deputy speaker of Afghanistan's lower house, made the point that civilian casualties widen the gap between the people and the government, and the international forces. As another memorial service took place in the mountains, Lal Zareen told me: ""I want President Karzai to make sure the people responsible for this face justice."" That will depend on the US findings and how the Afghan government acts. These mistakes are incredibly costly in a counter-insurgency campaign which relies on winning people over, not forcing them against the authorities. I wonder how many enemies have been created in Nangarhar as a result of the latest bloodshed? Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play."
" Iran slashes oil price in budget to $40 per barrel (Reuters) Kerry says he may meet Iranian foreign minister in Paris (Reuters) U.S. drone kills seven militants in Pakistan, official says (DPA) Lieberman to reveal Yisrael Beiteinu list on Monday, vows to get 16 Knesset seats (Haaretz) Schoolbus catches fire near Jerusalem suburb of Pisgat Ze'ev; no injuries (Haaretz)"
" In the years leading up to the December 2012 massacre at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School, Adam Lanza went from a merely shy pre-teen to a mentally ill recluse obsessed with school shootings. But during that long descent, Lanza never gave anyone any indication that he would one day turn a gun on his mother and then storm his onetime grade school with a semiautomatic rifle, killing 20 first-graders and six adults, investigators reported Monday. And so Connecticut authorities closed the book on the second-deadliest shooting in U.S. history with the motive still a mystery. Lanza shot himself at the end of his 11-minute rampage, and police found no sign that he ""voiced or gave any indication to others that he intended to commit such a crime himself,"" according to a 44-page summary of the investigation, released Monday. ""The evidence clearly shows that the shooter planned his actions, including the taking of his own life, but there is no clear indication why he did so, or why he targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School,"" the report states. Though he had attended Sandy Hook from first through fifth grades, investigators found no sign the 20-year-old was targeting any student, teacher or other employee at the school. ""In fact, as best as can be determined, the shooter had no prior contact with anyone in the school that day,"" the report states. Lanza ""had significant mental health issues that affected his ability to live a normal life and to interact with others,"" the report states. ""What contribution this made to the shootings, if any, is unknown as those mental health professionals who saw him did not see anything that would have predicted his future behavior."" The killings in Newtown, about 60 miles outside New York, happened less than five months after a similar bloodbath at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, outside Denver. Those mass slayings triggered a nationwide debate over gun violence, school safety and mental health -- a debate that produced some new restrictions on firearms in several states. But it also yielded a backlash against those laws by gun-rights advocates and only limited action on a federal level after a Republican filibuster blocked expanded background checks for gun buyers. Various witnesses described a fifth-grade Lanza as quiet but bright: ""He wouldn't necessarily engage in conversation, but wouldn't ignore one,"" the report states. He attended parties, enjoyed music and played the saxophone. But the same year, according to investigators, Lanza produced something called the ""Big Book of Granny"" -- in which a woman armed with a gun in her cane goes on killing sprees with her son, with children sometimes the targets. The story was related to a class project, but apparently never was handed in to the school, the report notes."
" NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors Corp. said Tuesday it will suspend its dividend, sell off $4 billion to $7 billion worth of assets and cut 20% worth of salaried cash costs in an overall plan to save billions of dollars. ""We need to take some very tough actions to ensure our survival and success,"" said Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, in a press conference, referring to the current market conditions as an ""unprecedentedly difficult time."" GM (GM, Fortune 500) stock dropped about 5% on the news, but it bounced back later and is trading about 6% higher at mid-day. In an earlier broadcast to employees, Wagoner said that these were ""difficult decisions,"" but necessary for the company to prevail in the weak economy beset by high oil prices, which he called GM's ""greatest concern."" Wagoner said the cost-cutting actions should help GM generate $10 billion in ""cash improvements"" by the end of 2009. Overall, the company plans to beef up liquidity by $15 billion through 2009. At the end of the first quarter, GM said it had $23.9 billion in liquidity and access to $7 billion worth of U.S. credit, which is enough funding to get through 2008. But the company said it is gathering more liquidity to protect itself from a ""prolonged U.S. downturn."" ""Our plan is not just a plan to survive; it's a plan to win,"" said Wagoner, noting that raised cash could aid the company in shifting from trucks and SUVs to more fuel efficient cars. ""Our stated goal is to become the fuel economy leader in every sector in which we participate,"" said Robert Lutz, GM's vice chairman of global product development. As part of its cost-cutting, GM plans to eliminate health care coverage for U.S. salaried retirees older than 65, effective Jan. 1. Wagoner said the company will increase pensions for affected retirees and their surviving spouses to ""defray the impact."" ""It's pretty ugly, but you have to do what you have to do under these conditions,"" said David Healy, an auto analyst for Burnham Securities."
" Stars including Beyonce and Adele are among those who have donated tracks to an album that will raise money for the Philippines Red Cross. The digital album of 39 songs also includes tracks from The Beatles, One Direction, U2, Lady Gaga and Bob Dylan. The artists, record companies and music publishers have agreed to donate all proceeds from the record. The death toll from Typhoon Haiyan has now risen above 5,000. The huge storm hit the Philippines on 8 November. Songs donated include The Beatles' Let It Be, Josh Groban's Brave, I Believe in You by Kylie Minogue, Madonna's Like A Prayer and Eminem's Stan. Bruno Mars, Michael Buble, Alicia Keys, Katie Perry, Enrique Iglesias, Muse, Lorde, Kings of Leon, Ellie Goulding and Lily Allen have also contributed tracks. Huge numbers - including many children - were left homeless after Typhoon Haiyan hit. Many are now living in cramped, unhygienic conditions in damaged buildings. Around 33,000 children are now being immunised against measles and polio in the typhoon-hit city of Tacloban."
" CBS has suspended star reporter Lara Logan and a producer for an erroneous 60 Minutes report about the attack on a US diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya. Logan and producer Max McClellan ran an interview with a security contractor who was later discredited by the FBI. Ms Logan later called it a ""mistake"". CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager said: ""This deception got through and it shouldn't have."" The network's internal review of the incident censured the report. Its inquiry found the 60 Minutes team should have done a more thorough job vetting the information provided by security contractor Dylan Davies. He initially reported that he had witnessed the 11 September 2012 attack, fought off an assailant, and later saw the body of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens. But other news outlets later revealed that Mr Davies had told FBI investigators and his employers he was not at the Benghazi compound on the night of the attack. The CBS News internal review also determined Ms Logan should not have done the story at all after making a speech in Chicago claiming it was untrue that the US military had suppressed al-Qaeda. Logan, who faces a forced leave of absence of undetermined length, apologised for the incident soon after the report's initial 27 October airing. ""The most important thing to every person at 60 Minutes is the truth, and today the truth is we made a mistake,"" Logan told a CBS morning news programme on 8 November."
" LONDON - In a breathtaking response to a scandal engulfing his media empire, Rupert Murdoch moved on Thursday to close down the News of the World, Britain's biggest selling Sunday newspaper. As allegations mounted this week that its journalists had hacked the voicemails of thousands of people, from child murder victims to the families of Britain's war dead, the tabloid had hemorrhaged advertising and alienated millions of readers. RELATED: N. Americans raise eyebrows over rabbis' Murdoch letter  Murdoch: Media hostility has anti-Semitic roots  Yet no one, least of all the 168-year-old paper's staff, was prepared for the drama of a single sentence that will surely go down as one of the most startling turns in the 80-year-old Australian-born press baron's long and controversial career. ""News International today announces that this Sunday, 10 July 2011, will be the last issue of the News of the World,"" read the preamble to a statement from Murdoch's son James, who heads the British newspaper arm of News Corp . Hailing a fine muck-raking tradition at the paper, which his father bought in 1969, James Murdoch told its staff that the latest explosion of a long-running scandal over phone hacking by journalists had made the future of the title untenable:""The good things thedoes ... have been sullied by behavior that was wrong. Indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our Company. Theis in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself.""This Sunday will be the last issue of the... In addition, I have decided that all of the's revenue this weekend will go to good causes.""We will run no commercial advertisements this weekend.""Steven Barnett, professor of communications at Westminster University, said he was ""gobsmacked"":""Talk about a nuclear option,"" he told Reuters.""It will certainly take some of the heat off immediate allegations about journalistic behavior and phone hacking.""Tom Watson, a member of parliament from the opposition Labour party who had campaigned for a reckoning from the paper over the phone hacking scandal, said: ""This is a victory for decent people up and down the land.""I say good riddance to the.""There was no immediate response from members of UK Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-led government, which has found itself embarrassed by the avalanche of allegations this week after it gave its blessing in principle to News Corp's takeover bid for broadcaster BSkyBIt was unclear whether the company would produce a replacement title for the lucrative Sunday market, in which, despite difficult times for newspaper circulations, theis still selling 2.6 million copies a week.One option, analysts said, might be for its daily sister paper theto extend its coverage to a seventh day.journalists were stunned. Anger may be directed at top News International executive and Murdoch confidante Rebekah Brooks, who edited the paper a decade ago during the period of some of the gravest new allegations.""We didn't expect it at all. We had no indication. The last week has been tough...none of us have done anything wrong. We thought we were going to weather the storm,"" said oneemployee who asked not to be named.The scandal had deepened with claimshacked the phones of relatives of British soldiers killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan.The military veterans' association broke off a joint lobbying campaign with the paper and said it might join major brands in pulling its advertising.The British Legion said it could not campaign with theon behalf of the families of soldiers ""while it stands accused of preying on these same families in the lowest depths of their misery"".Signaling how far the racy, flag-waving title has alienated a core readership already horrified by suggestions its reporters accessed the voicemails not only of celebrities and politicians, but also of missing children and crime victims, an online boycott petition had garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures."
" Police investigating allegations of phone hacking by the News of the World have called for patience as they contact almost 4,000 people whose names appear in documents seized in 2006. The Met's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers said she understood people were upset but police needed time. She said officers were scouring 11,000 pages of notes as well as dealing with more who feared they were targets. News International said allegations against its paper had been horrifying. Among them are claims the paper hacked into the mobile phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, the families of 7/7 bombing victims and bereaved military families. According to a Daily Telegraph report, the phone numbers of relatives of service personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan were found in the files of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who had been working for the News of the World. Police have not approached relatives of the soldiers but some families say a newspaper has contacted them suggesting they were victims of phone hacking. Dep Asst Commissioner Sue Akers, who is in charge of the police investigation known as Operation Weeting, said officers had already spoken to many people and would contact others ""as quickly as possible"". ""I have huge sympathy for those who may have been the victims of phone hacking or intrusion into their private lives,"" she said. ""It must be incredibly distressing to see details of the information held, or speculation about what may be held, about them in the media. This is forcing them to relive devastating experiences."""
" This Sunday's edition of the News of the World will be its last, News International chairman James Murdoch has said, after days of increasingly damaging allegations against the paper. The 168-year-old tabloid is accused of hacking into the mobile phones of crime victims, celebrities and politicians. On Thursday, the Met Police said it was seeking to contact 4,000 possible targets named in seized documents. Its editor Colin Myler said it was ""the saddest day of my professional career"". He added that ""nothing should diminish everything this great newspaper has achieved"". The News of the World, which sells about 2.8million copies a week, is famed for its celebrity scoops and sex scandals, earning it the nickname, the News of the Screws. Downing Street has said it had no role or involvement in the decision to close. Mr Murdoch said no advertisements would run in this weekend's paper - instead any advertising space would be donated to charities and good causes, and proceeds from sales would also go to good causes. News International has refused to comment on rumours that the Sun could now become a seven-day-a-week operation. ""What happens to the Sun is a matter for the future,"" a spokeswoman for News International said. The Sun, another News International tabloid, is currently published from Monday to Saturday."
" The SNP administration at Holyrood published its White Paper this morning, detailing how the country will be run if voters choose independence in a historic referendum to be held next September. But the pro-independence campaign, led by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), faces an uphill battle in convincing voters to end the 300-year union. Mr Salmond insists he has time to convince voters that an independent Scotland will be richer due to its North Sea oil reserves, but also more egalitarian and pro-European than Britain. However, his economic case was undermined last week by a study from independent research group the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which predicted that even under its most optimistic assessment of independence, Scotland would have to find public spending cuts or tax rises equivalent to 1.9 percent of its GDP."
" Another plane from the Russian Emergencies Ministry with humanitarian aid for Libya will take off for Tripoli from Moscow on Thursday, a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry said. On Wednesday, a Russian Emergencies Ministry's Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft delivered 36 metric tons of humanitarian aid to the Libyan city of Benghazi. The aid included rice, sugar, canned milk and fish. ""Another flight of a Russian Emergencies Ministry's plane to Tripoli carrying a similar cargo is scheduled for July 7,"" the statement said. Libya has been rocked by fighting between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces since mid-February. An international military operation in Libya began on March 19, following a UN resolution authorizing countries ""to take all necessary measures"" to help protect Libyan civilians from attacks by Gaddafi forces, and was extended until late September."
" The airstrikes on the complex at Brega, one of the countries' biggest petrochemical complexes and port for export, was designed, says Nato, to prevent regime troops from mounting attacks. Control of Brega and the adjoining city of Ras Lanuf has changed hands several times in the course of the bitter civil war. It is now under the control of the regime, denying the opposition administration based in Benghazi a highly lucrative source of income. The most senior British commander involved in the Libya operation, Rear Admiral Russ Harding, told The Independent: ""This was not done lightly, we looked at the pattern of life on the ground, and we decided that the only ones benefiting from the fuel were the Gaddafi forces and not local people. And they were using that fuel to carry out attacks on civilians. ""There are commercial aspects to this. Brega and Ras Lanuf could provide a revenue stream for the TNC (Transitional National Council, the rebel administration). But that was not something in our consideration, the decision was taken solely to protect civilians."" Rear Admiral Harding stressed that only the refuelling facilities were being hit and not the oil tanks. Speaking at Nato HQ in Naples, he continued: ""It is not the case that this will be affecting babies in incubators at Brega hospital. If the hospital in Brega is being used, it is being done by Gaddafi forces."" The bombing, however, could be seen as a risky strategy for Nato, which has insisted that its forces are avoiding targeting infrastructure. Oil storage terminals at Ras Lanuf were set alight during the early weeks of fighting following the February revolution, and since then there had been an attempt by all sides in the conflict to ensure that the facilities were not affected. However, although more than 14,000 sorties since military action began had destroyed much of Muammar Gaddafi's armour and artillery, Admiral Harding said: ""We have seen them use private cars, trucks, technicals [flatbed trucks with guns mounted at the back] sometimes hundreds at a time. ""By depriving Gaddafi of fuel we are depriving him of mobility. We have seen his forces drive deep down into the desert to pick up supplies, pick up ammunition."" Limiting fuel supplies would prevent the regime troops from carrying out attacks in the eastern front as well as moving to the west, where a rare co-ordinated attack by the rebels has brought their fighters close to Tripoli, with the most advanced in the village of Qawalish, south-east of the city and the mountain village of Kikla. In the Libyan capital, the deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim, declared that Nato's increased bombings represented the ""final phase"" of the air campaign, aimed clearing a path for the rebels. He insisted that the push ""will fail and it is the civilians who will pay the price""."
" A group of religious conservatives in Pakistan has condemned a recent event hosted by the US embassy in Islamabad in support of gay rights. The meeting was described as ""cultural terrorism"" in a statement issued by Pakistan's largest Islamic party, on behalf of various religious groups. The embassy described last week's event as its first gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender pride celebration. There is nothing explicit about homosexuals in Pakistan's constitution. But it is considered to be illegal and under Sharia laws in Pakistan, which were introduced in 1990, homosexual acts can draw punishments of whipping, imprisonment or even death. ""Such people are the curse of society and social garbage,"" the statement released by Jamaat-e-Islami read. ""They don't deserve to be Muslim or Pakistani, and the support and protection announced by the US administration for them is the worst social and cultural terrorism against Pakistan,"" the statement, which was issued in Urdu, is quoted by the AP news agency as saying. The statement also described the event as the second most dangerous attack by the US after drone and missile attacks. At the event the US deputy ambassador to Pakistan said that the US would support gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights in Pakistan. ""I want to be clear: the US embassy is here to support you and stand by your side every step of the way,"" he is quoted as saying in a statement on the embassy website."
" The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll could rise because many people were severely wounded in the raid, which came a day after 26 people were killed in a similar attack on the same town by President Bashar al-Assad's forces. The British-based Observatory said three rebels from the Tawhid Brigade were killed in Saturday's raid, which appeared to target their headquarters in Al-Bab. Sunday's attack may have been aimed at another rebel group, it said. However, barrel bombs - explosive-filled cylinders or oil barrels - are usually rolled out of the back of helicopters and are rarely delivered with any accuracy. The Observatory said 212 people were killed across Syria on Saturday, bringing the death toll since Thursday to over 600. There is little sign that diplomacy will end the conflict and the fighting has, if anything, escalated since the United Nations announced on Monday that a long-delayed peace conference would be held in Geneva on January 22. Video uploaded onto the Internet by activists in Al-Bab showed concrete fragments scattered over a street next to a destroyed building. In another, wires hung from the grey remains of a building, spilling onto the road. The state news agency SANA said the army had destroyed ""several terrorist dens"" including the headquarters of one Islamist group. The bombardment of Al-Bab, around 40 km (25 miles) north-east of the divided city of Aleppo, follows gains by Assad's forces on Aleppo's south-east approaches last month and could herald a similar ground offensive in the area. It comes at a time of heavy fighting across the country, particularly around Aleppo, in the Qalamoun region which overlooks the main highway north from Damascus, and the eastern suburbs of the capital. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the 2-1/2 year conflict, which has split the Middle East. Sunni Muslim powers such as Gulf Arab states and Turkey support the Sunni rebels, while Shi'ite Iran backs the Alawite president."
" The death toll following the fatal crash has risen to eight, with many still missing, Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House confirmed on Saturday. Three of those who died were inside the helicopter - two police officers and one civilian pilot - while the other five were in the pub building when the roof caved in. Around 100 people were inside the Clutha bar on the banks of the River Clyde when a helicopter crashed through the roof at 10.25pm on Friday night. A major incident has been declared and firefighters say they have been able to communicate with those still trapped inside the building. Thirty-two people were taken to hospital immediately after the crash, and 14 remain seriously ill in hospital, Constable House confirmed. ""We are working alongside our emergency services colleagues in the ongoing rescue operation,"" said Police Constable House. ""We are dealing with a very sensitive and complex operation and we expect that emergency services will be at the scene for some time. We would thank the public for their co-operation as our officers and other emergency service colleagues."" The helicopter dropped ""like a stone"" from the sky, according to witnesses, landing in the pub in Stockwell Street. Constable House initially said there was one fatality, but the death toll rose to eight later on Saturday. The police helipad is approximately a mile away down the river, at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC). ""The helicopters come over us all the time,"" a resident told Channel 4 News."
" An Egyptian court has acquitted three ministers from the toppled regime of Hosni Mubarak of squandering public funds. They were the first not guilty verdicts issued in a series of trials of former senior officials following the fall of Mr Mubarak in February. He fled the country in February, and has since been found guilty and sentenced in absentia on other charges. The three ministers, who include former Information Minister Anas al-Fikki, still face trials on other charges or have already been found guilty in separate corruption investigations. Mr Fikki still faces charges that he deliberately misused funds from the state-run radio and television union while Mr Boutros Ghali - who has fled the country and was tried in absentia - was convicted last month and sentenced to 30 years in prison for profiteering and abuse of state and private assets. Former Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, meanwhile, was sentenced in absentia on Tuesday to five years in prison for squandering public funds. In a separate ruling, former Housing Minister Ahmed Maghrabi was also acquitted. He has also already been sentenced to a prison term on other charges. Anger at government corruption helped fuel the mass protests that overthrew Mr Mubarak, and these trials are being seen as a test of the resolve of the military council that is ruling in his stead. Along with his sons Alaa and Gamal, Mr Mubarak has been charged with ""premeditated murder"" of some participants in the protests, charges he denies. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty. Hundreds of people died in 18 days of revolt against Mr Mubarak, who lost power in February after ruling for almost three decades."
" The protesters, singing the national anthem and chanting ""Ukraine is Europe,"" marched on Sunday to Kyiv's Independence Square, the scene of a brutal police crackdown on demonstrators a day before. The crowd reportedly removed metal barriers set up by authorities to block off the square, driving away police stationed there. There are as many as 100,000 people taking part in the rally, making it the largest since protests began more than a week ago. In the afternoon, a few thousand protesters tried to storm the nearby presidential administration building with a front loader, leading riot police to retaliate with tear gas, truncheons and flash grenades. Protetesters are calling for President Viktor Yanukovych to step down and for elections to be held. The demonstration is being carried out in defiance of a protest ban in central Kyiv and warnings from the interior minister that police would respond if there was ""mass disorder."" ""Do we want to go the way of Libya, Tunis? If there are calls (from the opposition) for mass disorder, then we will react,"" Vitaly Zakharchenko told Interfax news agency. Early on Saturday morning, Ukrainian police used rubber truncheons to brutally disperse hundreds of protesters left over from a much larger rally on Friday evening. Dozens of people were injured. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has called on Ukraine to protect peaceful protesters and grant them the right to demonstrate. ""I vigorously call on the Ukrainian government to ensure freedom of assembly and to protect the peaceful demonstrators from any kind of intimidation and violence,"" Westerwelle said in a statement. ""We share their wish to quickly bring Ukraine closer to the European Union,"" he said, adding: ""Our offer for that stands."""
" The dead - including a teenage schoolboy, a Palestinian and a Syrian - were from the Sunni Muslim Bab al-Tabbaneh district, whose residents overwhelmingly support the Sunni Muslim rebels battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Thirty-seven people, including nine soldiers, were wounded in the shooting between gunmen in Bab al-Tabbaneh and the adjacent Alawite neighborhood of Jebel Mohsen, which supports the Alawite Syrian leader. Saturday's fighting followed repeated attacks on Alawites in Tripoli, residents said. Several people were shot and wounded in separate incidents this week, and Alawite men were beaten in an attack on a bus earlier in November. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, a Sunni Muslim from Tripoli, held talks with the interior minister and other security officials in the Mediterranean city to discuss how to end the violence, which erupted despite the deployment of soldiers in both rival districts. Intermittent sniper fire and rocket-propelled grenades could still be heard after dark on Saturday, nearly 10 hours after the fighting broke out, residents said. The divisions in Tripoli, 20 miles from the Syrian border, reflect the sectarian gulf across Lebanon over Syria's civil war. But the northern city, where tensions between the Sunni Muslim majority and small Alawite community have festered for decades, has seen some of the heaviest violence this year. Two car bombs in August killed 42 people and wounded hundreds at Sunni mosques in Tripoli, just a week after a car bomb in a Shi'ite area of Beirut killed 27 people. Clashes between fighters in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jebel Mohsen have flared several times in recent months, killing dozens since the beginning of the year. In the Bekaa Valley, the Lebanese army said it defused three 107-millimetre Grad rockets on Friday near the northeastern town of al-Qaa near the Syrian border. It said the rockets were ready for launching when they were discovered. Suspected supporters of the Syrian rebels have fired several rockets at Shi'ite targets in the area, saying they were in response to the intervention by Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah militia in Syria's civil war. The conflict has also drawn in Sunni Muslim fighters from across the Middle East."
" It's believed three people have been killed and scores more injured after a police helicopter crashed into the roof of a pub in the Scottish city of Glasgow. Police in Scotland have confirmed that three people were on board the chopper at the time, while at least 120 people had gathered in the pub to watch a music gig. MP Jim Murphy told the BBC he was driving through the area ""just a few seconds after what seems like a helicopter has crashed into a pub"". Murphy said he had seen ""multiple injuries"". ""It's a well-established Glasgow pub. It's a horrible, horrible scene, but well done to the folk who were here. Everyone formed a chain of people from inside the pub to outside, and the fire brigade and everyone was here very quickly."" Eyewitness Fraser Gibson, 34, was inside the Clutha pub with his brother to see his former band, Esperanza. ""Midway through their set it sounded like a giant explosion,"" he told BBC Scotland. ""Part of the room was covered in dust. We didn't know what had happened. We froze for a second; there was panic and then people trying to get out the door."" Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was ""awful news"". ""Absolutely awful news about a helicopter crashing into the Clutha. All my thoughts are with everyone involved & the emergency services,"" she tweeted."
" BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- An magnitude-7.0 earthquake rattled a rural area in northern Argentina early Saturday, but the temblor's epicenter was so deep that it was barely noticed in nearby towns. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, and the earthquake was barely felt in Santiago del Estero, the provincial capital. Emilio Abdala, a receptionist at the 14-story Hotel Casino Carlos V in the capital city, told The Associated Press that nobody felt anything. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter, with a depth of 583.6 km, was initially determined to be about 160 km northeast of Santiago del Estero."
" The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 5.6, struck about 40 miles northeast of Bushehr on the Gulf coast, according to U.S. Geological Survey data. No damage to the nuclear plant was reported. IRNA said seven people had died, and quoted the governor of Bushehr saying there was ""total calm"" in the area. Relief teams had been sent to the affected towns and villages, he said. Helicopters will be dispatched on Friday to assess the damage, said Fars news agency, which put the death toll slightly higher, at eight. Hossein Derakhshan, a spokesman for the Red Crescent, said there had been some damage to houses in the area because they were traditionally built and not earthquake-proof, according to news agency ISNA. When the quake struck at a depth of 10.2 miles earlier on Thursday, there were reports on social media in Saudi Arabia that it was felt in the kingdom's eastern province, across the Gulf from Iran. Iran sits on major geological faultlines and has suffered several big earthquakes in recent years. Less than one week ago, an earthquake measuring 5.4 in magnitude struck western Iran near its border with Iraq."
" A 5.7-magnitude earthquake near an Iranian nuclear plant has killed seven people and injured 30, according to reports. The quake's epicentre was near Borazjan, around 60km (35 miles) from Bushehr, where Iran has its Russian-built reactor. Emergency Response Chief Hassan Qadami told IRNA news agency: ""So far, there are seven dead and 30 injured receiving hospital treatment."" Iran stands on several seismic fault lines. A massive quake in December 2003 struck the southern city of Bam, killing 26,000 people and destroying its ancient mud-built citadel. Iran's Arab neighbours across the Gulf have often raised concern over the reliability of the Bushehr plant and the risks of radioactive leaks in case of a major quake. But Iran and Russia insist it respects international standards under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A 24-hour strike organised by Sunni Muslim clerics has taken place across Pakistan to protest against possible changes to blasphemy laws. Rallies were staged in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta after Friday prayers. The government has distanced itself from a bill to soften the law, which currently carries a mandatory death sentence for anyone who insults Islam. Human rights groups say the law is often used to persecute religious minorities."
" Deputy Counter-Narcotics Minister Mohammad Ibrahim Azhar said the opium crop, which helps fuel the insurgency, had been cut by 48 percent in 2010 by a still unidentified blight. Big jumps in prices already meant farmers were earning far more for their crops than in 2009. Azhar said the price for opium, a thick paste from poppy plants processed into heroin, had risen 190 percent by the end of December 2010. Afghanistan has long been the producer of about 90 percent of the world's opium. Most of it is exported in a thriving world trade estimated at $65 billion a year, although the number of addicts in Afghanistan is also rising. The Taliban in Afghanistan derive $100-400 million dollars a year in revenues levied from drug production and trafficking, according to United Nations data, fuelling the insurgency and threatening instability across South and Central Asia and into Russia. Rising demand, and prices, without sufficient support from outside donors to provide alternatives will leave farmers few choices but to sow poppy fields again, Azhar said after delivering departmental findings for December 2010. ""Our report from the month of December shows that opium prices has jumped up to 190 percent, which has further increased our concern and fear,"" Azhar told a new conference in Kabul. ""Lack of assistance from the international community will worsen the situation,"" he said. Afghanistan's government and its Western backers have struggled to come up with viable alternatives, ranging from destroying poppy fields to promoting wheat and other crops, since the Taliban were ousted in late 2001. Azhar said destroying poppy fields would never work unless the 1.7 million farmers who grow opium, mostly in the Taliban heartland in the south and east, were offered alternatives. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report in September, farmers were estimated to have generated $604 million in income from opium in 2010, up 38 percent compared with 2009."
" One mortar round landed at the embassy's premises and the other exploded close to it, the statement posted said, killing and injuring local residents, including guards. ""We consider them (shellings) acts of terrorism, whose executors and those inciting and supervising them, should receive a deserved punishment,"" the ministry said. Russia, a staunch supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has criticized the West for aiding rebels who have been fighting to topple him for more than two years in a war that has cost well over 100,000 lives. Rebels have launched several mortar and rocket attacks in recent months into the center of the Syrian capital, where many embassies and senior Syrian officials are based. A mortar shell landed on the compound of the Russian embassy in September inflicting light injuries to two people. The Russian mission was also damaged in February when a car bomb exploded nearby on a busy Damascus highway, killing 50 people. No one was wounded at the embassy, but that blast blew out windows in the building, Russian officials said."
" (CNN) -- A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the central coastal area of Chile on Sunday, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Temuco, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of major damage or injury. The quake, which stuck around 5:20 p.m. (3:20 p.m. ET), was felt as far away as Santiago, roughly 595 km (370 miles) north of where the USGS said the quake occurred. The epicenter was more than 10 miles underground, the USGS said. Loreto Henriquez, manager of the Holiday Inn Express in Temuco, felt the quake for about a minute, describing it as loud and strong. She said people ran into the streets, but did not report any major damage. CNN Chile similarly reported no immediate injuries or damage. The temblor cut some telephone and electricity lines, according to Chile's national emergency office, which did not provide any further detail. Roughly 91,000 people felt very strong shaking, according to USGS estimates. Soon after the quake, a 5.0-magnitude aftershock rattled the area around 6:10 p.m. (4:10 p.m. ET), striking some 110 km (70 miles) northwest of Temuco. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said no widespread tsunami threat exists, but did not rule out the possibility of local tsunamis close to the quake's epicenter. In February, an 8.8-magnitude quake hit Chile near the nation's second largest city, Concepcion, killing hundreds. Sunday's quake struck roughly 100 miles south of Concepcion."
" A plan has been hatched to destroy Syria's chemical weapons at sea using US Navy auxiliary vessel MV Cape Ray. Industry sources told BBC Newsnight the plan will put a mobile destruction plant aboard that uses water to dilute the chemicals to safer levels. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has set 31 December as its deadline for removing the toxic substances from Syria. So far countries have shown a marked reluctance to take on the task. Albania and other countries rumoured to be the destination for the chemicals have insisted they will not take them, despite the international community agreeing that disposal was one of the most urgent security problems in the world. The process planned for on board MV Cape Ray - called hydrolysis - will produce an estimated 7.7m litres of effluent. The OPCW says this will be packed in 4,000 containers. The deadline for proposals as to who might then take this less toxic cargo, which is comparable to many common industrial by-products, is Friday. It isn't just the disposal that's been a problem. Nobody is willing to escort the chemicals out of Syria, where the civil war rages in its third year, or to safeguard their security, so this task will now be performed by the Syrian army itself. It is believed that the chemicals, all but 30 tonnes of which take the form of precursors - two or more of which have to be mixed to create the lethal agents - have been gathered in several marshalling areas by the Syrian army and amount to more than 600 tonnes. The other 30 tonnes consist of mustard gas. The fact that nerve agents such as sarin and VX do not exist in weaponised form has at least made the task of the OPCW, winners of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, a little easier."
" Host countries are struggling to support the more than three million Syrian refugees that have been registered across the Middle East. The number of Syrians who have fled their country has surpassed three million, the UN says, appealing for ""massive"" support to help host countries cope with the growing influx. UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) High Commissioner Antonio Guterres said that the agency had registered more than 3 million Syrian refugees across the Middle East, in addition to thousands more who have fled Syria and have gone unregistered. ""Without much more massive support, the international community cannot take for granted that the countries will be able to go on and accept hundreds of thousands or millions of Syrian refuges,"" Guterres added in the Jordanian capital Amman. ""This is the moment to preserve the asylum space in the region and much more massive support is required."" The donor-reliant UN agency has received 850 million dollars from the international community to extend assistance to Syrian refugees across the region. Jordan alone needs 1.8 billion dollars this year to assist the 600,000 refugees it hosts. There have been reports that host countries have begun restricting entry to the estimated 7,000 Syrians fleeing their homeland each day. Jordanian officials have refuted reports of border closures, saying that the country continues to receive more than 400 Syrian refugees daily. Syria's crisis started in March 2011 with pro-democracy protests, which soon developed into a devastating war after al-Assad's regime attempted to quell the demonstrations. The UN estimate that more than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict."
" Thousands of Yemenis have rallied in the capital, Sanaa, demanding that the authorities do more to protect southern towns from being overrun by militants. Al-Qaeda militants have reportedly besieged an army base in Zinjibar, Abyan province, amid reports of food and water shortages in the town. At least 135 soldiers have been killed in clashes since late-May. Yemen has been paralysed by five months of protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year rule. Mr Saleh is in Saudi Arabia, being treated for burns and injuries sustained during an attack on his compound last month. He has refused to cede power to his deputy, extending the political impasse in one of the Arab world's most impoverished and unstable countries. On Monday, thousands of demonstrators marched towards the residence of Vice-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in the capital Sanaa, demanding assistance for residents of Abyan province. ""We are against handing Abyan to elements of al-Qaeda,"" said one protester, Walid al-Amari. ""The people of Abyan are innocent,"" said Jihad al-Jafri, a female protester. ""The vice-president and Yemeni officials are not doing anything."" Some chanted slogans that accused the authorities of ""facilitating the takeover by al-Qaeda elements"" in Zinjibar, the provincial capital."
" Nato's chief has staunchly defended its operation in Libya during a meeting of the Nato-Russia Council in the southern Russian resort town of Sochi. Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the campaign was being undertaken in ""strict conformity"" with the UN Security Council resolution authorising it. Russia earlier said deep differences over the operation were hindering efforts to build deeper ties. Nato-backed Libyan rebels have rejected the latest peace plan put to them. That initiative was drawn up by the African Union, driven in part by the efforts of South African President Jacob Zuma, who has joined the talks in Sochi to add his voice to Russian concerns about the Nato operation. Pressure has been growing to find an end to the conflict in Libya, where Col Muammar Gaddafi continues to resist calls to stand down despite a three-month Nato bombing campaign. This is a routine meeting of the Nato-Russia Council which has been given special significance amid the divisions over Nato's campaign in Libya. Russia has criticised the bombing of Libya, saying the mission has lost its original focus on protecting civilians, and is now about removing the Libyan government. It abstained from the UN Security Council vote which authorised the action in Libya. In a statement, Russia called for an ""immediate ceasefire"" and talks ""with support, but not interference, from outside the country"". But during a break in the meeting Mr Rasmussen defended the Nato operation."
" Clashes have broken out at a Cairo courthouse after seven police officers accused of killing protesters earlier this year were released on bail. After scuffling with guards at the courthouse, hundreds of people then blocked the highway to Suez. The police officers allegedly killed 17 people in Suez during protests that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak. There is growing tension in Egypt over the pace of trials for police accused of using deadly force in the uprising. About 850 people were killed as the former government tried to quell an 18-day uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak from power on 11 February. After his overthrow, the new military-led government promised to reform the security services. Activists, and the relatives of those killed, have been frustrated at the slow pace of trials for police officers and senior officials accused of involvement in the deaths. Mr Mubarak and his sons Alaa and Gamal are due to go on trial in August over the deaths of protesters. After the judge in Cairo ordered the release of the seven officers and adjourned their trial until September, the victims' families tried to rush toward the defendants, who were quickly removed. A number of people then tried to storm the judge's office but were blocked by security guards."
" The official figures showing that 98% of voters backed Morocco's reform referendum are ""unbelievable"", a democracy campaigner has told the BBC. Mountazar Drissi said there were numerous cases of multiple voting, while people were bussed in from the countryside to vote in cities. He was speaking after thousands of people took to the streets on Sunday to demand further political changes. Mr Drissi says that King Mohammed VI still wields too much power. ""He can control everything - we want the power to belong to the people,"" he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. The demonstrators marched through cities such as Rabat, Casablanca and Tangier, chanting slogans such as ""The interior minister is a liar"", Reuters news agency reported. They carried empty boxes to symbolise that they thought the turnout was far lower than the 73% announced by election officials. There were also pro-government protests, which officials said outnumbered those organised by Mr Drissi's 20 February Movement. The king announced that he would give up some of his powers following previous protests but his constitutional reforms have been dismissed by some as ""window-dressing"". The concessions come after protests inspired by the so-called Arab spring."
" Syrian troops are raiding houses and arresting people in the central city of Hama, reports say, after massive anti-government protests there on Friday. Residents had set tyres on fire and blocked roads to delay the movement of troops, who were arriving in busloads and ""firing randomly"", residents said. Meanwhile, tanks that were surrounding Hama have moved towards villages in the north, sparking fears of clashes there. And in Damascus, two protesters were reportedly shot dead on Sunday. The killings took place in the Hajjar al-Aswad suburb of the capital amid ongoing arrest campaigns there too, human rights activists said. The latest deaths and detentions come at a time when the government is pushing for a national dialogue next week, says the BBC's Lina Sinjab in Damascus. The opposition has refused to take part in any dialogue while the violence continues. Activists say more than 1,350 civilians and 350 security personnel have been killed across Syria since protests began in mid-March. On Monday, a resident of Hama told the Reuters news agency that he had seen dozens of Syrian soldiers surround a house in the Mashaa neighbourhood and make arrests. Continue reading the main story Hama - a bastion of dissidence - occupies a significant place in the history of modern Syria. In 1982, then-President Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar, sent in troops to quell an uprising by the Sunni opposition Muslim Brotherhood. Tens of thousands were killed and the town flattened. The operation was led by the president's brother, Rifaat. In a strange parallel, current President Bashar al-Assad has turned to his own brother, Maher, who commands the army's elite Fourth Division, to deal with the unrest. Hama - population 800,000 - has seen some of the biggest protests and worst violence in Syria's 2011 uprising. In June, security forces shot dead 60 protesters. And in early July, 150,000 anti-government protesters marched in a central square - in one of the biggest demonstrations since the start of the uprising in mid-March. ""At least 30 buses carrying soldiers and security police entered Hama this morning. They are firing randomly in residential neighbourhoods,"" the resident, a workshop owner who gave his name as Ahmad, told Reuters by telephone."
" Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama signed the 9/11 health bill into law in Hawaii on Sunday, White House spokesman Bill Burton said. Obama signed the bill during his Hawaiian vacation, with no signing ceremony held. In a statement issued later, the president said he was ""honored"" to sign the bill, which pays for health care for responders believed to have been sickened by pollution at the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York. ""We will never forget the selfless courage demonstrated by the firefighters, police officers, and first responders who risked their lives to save others,"" Obama said. ""I believe this is a critical step for those who continue to bear the physical scars of those attacks."" The bill made a long journey in order to get signed. A printed copy of the bill flew with a White House staffer from Washington to the Hawaiian island of Oahu, so Obama could sign it from his vacation rental in Kailua. ""It came out with a member of the staff so that it could be signed in a timely fashion,"" Burton said. The legislation, officially titled the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, provides health coverage to workers who helped clear the rubble and search for human remains at the site of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. The $4.2 billion legislation also reopens the federal Victim Compensation Fund to provide economic relief to those harmed by the attacks, which killed more than 2,700 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. After a contentious battle in which some Republicans suggested the legislation was creating a new entitlement program, it finally passed during the lame-duck session of Congress in December. New York lawmakers hailed the bill's signing. ""After a long, arduous path with several near-defeats, this bill is finally law,"" said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York. ""The heroes who rushed to Ground Zero in the hours and days after the attacks will not be forgotten. These first responders were like veterans, and this law keeps with a time-honored tradition of standing by our veterans when they get harmed answering the call. We will begin work immediately to make sure this law gets renewed for another five years."" ""Today, nine years after the devastation of 9/11, the United States has honored its obligation to the heroes and survivors of 9/11,"" Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, and one of the authors of the bill, said in a statement. ""With President Obama's signing of our bill ... it is clear that the government has not forgotten the thousands who have served and suffered."" Rep. Peter King, R-New York and another bill author, said the law ""is a great victory for the heroes of September 11th, the firefighters, police officers and construction workers. Justice is finally being served. A great day for America."""
" Leaked US diplomatic cables quote IDF chief as saying army must stop Hamas from firing on Tel Aviv Israel's army chief told a US Congress delegation in late 2009 he was preparing for a large war in the Middle East, probably against Hamas or Hezbollah, leaked US diplomatic cables showed on Sunday. Israel's army chief told a US Congress delegation in late 2009 he was preparing for a large war in the Middle East, probably against Hamas or Hezbollah, leaked US diplomatic cables showed on Sunday. WikiLeaks: US frustrated with Egypt military / Associated Press Diplomatic memos show discontent with army's top brass for failing to adapt to new threats The document, dated November 15, 2009, was quoted Sunday in Norwegian by Oslo-based daily Aftenposten, which said it had obtained WikiLeaks' entire cache of 251,187 leaked US embassy cables. The document, dated November 15, 2009, was quoted Sunday in Norwegian by Oslo-based daily Aftenposten, which said it had obtained WikiLeaks' entire cache of 251,187 leaked US embassy cables. ""The rocket threat against Israel is more serious than ever. That is why Israel is putting such emphasis on rocket defense,"" Ashkenazi told the US delegation led by Democrat Ike Skelton, the cable showed. ""The rocket threat against Israel is more serious than ever. That is why Israel is putting such emphasis on rocket defense,"" Ashkenazi told the US delegation led by Democrat Ike Skelton, the cable showed. The army chief lamented that Iran has some 300 Shihab rockets that can reach Israel and stressed that the Jewish state would have only between 10 and 12 minutes warning in case of an attack. The army chief lamented that Iran has some 300 Shihab rockets that can reach Israel and stressed that the Jewish state would have only between 10 and 12 minutes warning in case of an attack. However, it was Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon that posed the most acute threat, he cautioned. However, it was Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon that posed the most acute threat, he cautioned. According to the quoted cable, Hezbollah is thought to have more than 40,000 rockets, many of which are believed capable of reaching deep into Israel. According to the quoted cable, Hezbollah is thought to have more than 40,000 rockets, many of which are believed capable of reaching deep into Israel. US officials meanwhile reportedly estimate the militant group has acquired an arsenal of around 50,000 rockets. US officials meanwhile reportedly estimate the militant group has acquired an arsenal of around 50,000 rockets. In his comments made nearly a year after Operation Cast Lead, which began on December 27, 2008, Ashkenazi said ""Israel is on a collision course also with Hamas, which rules Gaza."" In his comments made nearly a year after Operation Cast Lead, which began on December 27, 2008, Ashkenazi said ""Israel is on a collision course also with Hamas, which rules Gaza."" ""Hamas will have the possibility to bombard Tel Aviv, with Israel's highest population concentration,"" he was quoted as saying. ""Hamas will have the possibility to bombard Tel Aviv, with Israel's highest population concentration,"" he was quoted as saying. Israel had been harshly criticized for putting civilians at risk during fighting in the densely populated Gaza Strip. Israel had been harshly criticized for putting civilians at risk during fighting in the densely populated Gaza Strip. However, in the cable leaked Sunday Ashkenazi is quoted saying Israel next time will not accept ""any restrictions on warfare in populated areas,"" and insisted the army had never intentionally attacked civilian targets. However, in the cable leaked Sunday Ashkenazi is quoted saying Israel next time will not accept ""any restrictions on warfare in populated areas,"" and insisted the army had never intentionally attacked civilian targets.       Please wait for the talkbacks to load"
" Rome, 21 Sept. (AKI) - The funerals of six Italian soldiers killed in Afghanistan last week in a suicide attack claimed by the Taliban were due take place on Monday in Rome, a day after their bodies were flown to the capital. More than 10,000 people have visited the chapel of rest located at Rome's military hospital to pay their last respects to the soldiers.   The funerals were due take place at Rome's Saint Paul Outside the Walls Church, where Italian president Giorgio Napolitano as well as prime minister Silvio Berlusconi are expected to attend the state funeral.   The four soldiers who were injured in the attack - Felice Calandriello, Rocco Leo, Sergio Agostinelli and Fernando Buono - will also attend the funeral.    Schools and public offices will also hold a minute's silence for the six soldiers while flags will fly at half-mast on governments buildings throughout the country.   The suicide attack last Thursday killed six soldiers when a suicide bomber positioned his car between the two armoured vehicles which the soldiers were travelling in. One of the armoured vehicles was completely destroyed in the attack.  "
" Demonstrators clad in the symbolic orange colour of the protest movement filled Rabin Square, where successive speakers denounced the evacuation. Opponents of the plan have stepped up their protests in recent days, vowing to sabotage the withdrawal operation. Jewish settlers are due to be removed from Gaza and part of the West Bank. Protesters waving flags and banners streamed into the square in what is likely to be the last such mass show of resolve against the plan before the withdrawal gets under way. Giant posters proclaimed ""Gush Katif, I swear fidelity"" and ""Samaria, I swear fidelity"" - references to a doomed settlement bloc and the biblical Hebrew name for the northern West Bank. ""Nothing is over. We must go to the south, on the roads. God will hear us,"" Yigal Kamineski, rabbi of Gush Katif, told the crowd. Leaflets were distributed, telling supporters of the settler movement where to go as the pullout begins, to try to block the roads into Gaza and disrupt the process. The square where the rally was held is the place where former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was shot dead in 1995 by a right-wing Jewish gunman opposed to the peace accords with the Palestinians. The demonstration comes a day after tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews held a mass prayer gathering at the Western Wall in Jerusalem - Judaism's holiest site - against the impending pull-out. The withdrawal of settlers from the Gaza Strip is due to get under way on Wednesday next week, with a further withdrawal from four settlements in the West Bank soon afterwards."
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" Members of Mr Sadr's Mehdi Army freed the four Arab hostages from ""terrorist groups"" holding them in Baghdad, an aide to the cleric said. At least five Iraqis were reportedly killed in attacks, and the brother of a minister shot dead, on Friday. The issue of federalism and distribution of resources such as oil revenues are proving the most contentious issues. A BBC correspondent in Baghdad says it is hard to see how a consensus will be achieved before Monday's deadline. An aide of Mr Sadr, Sheikh Abdel Zahra Suwaidi, said in a sermon on Friday that the cleric's militia group had helped in the release of the hostages. ""Members of the Mehdi Army have freed some Arab and Iraqi hostages, kidnapped by terrorist groups who were planning to kill them in the coming hours,"" he was quoted as saying. The freed men identified themselves to an Associated Press photographer as Syrian Hisham Salem, Lebanese Mustafa Abdul-Rassoul Hussein, dual Syrian-Lebanese citizen Atta Ibrahim and Iraqi Kurd Haji Alawi. A spokesman for Mr Sadr, Amer Husseini, was quoted by AP as saying the men were freed on Thursday night during a raid on an apartment in the northern district of Shaab. He did not say what happened to the kidnappers or why the men had been seized in the first place. In other violence, three Iraqi civilians and a soldier were killed in clashes between a US-Iraqi patrol and insurgents in Samarra, north of Baghdad, said Iraqi army sources."
" Legislative elections in Macau attracted a higher turnout than usual and strengthened the democratic minority, early results have shown. The tiny gambling hub, ruled by China, can choose only 12 out of 29 seats. Election officials have said a large number of apparently spoiled ballots had been cast, and were delaying the announcement of final results. Concern has been rising about the extent of corruption among officials overseeing Macau's huge casino boom. Initial results published on Monday showed Macau's pro-democracy camp winning three of the 12 directly elected seats - one more than in the previous poll. Some analysts said that this increase, though marginal, symbolised a popular desire for more say in public affairs, especially when the 60% turnout was taken into account. ""We hope [Beijing] will now pave the road for [full] democracy,"" Antonio Ng, a democratic lawmaker, told reporters as he celebrated his re-election. He said results showed that one in five people in the China-ruled territory had voted for democratic candidates. The grandfather of Macau's casino, transport and investment worlds, Stanley Ho, is ailing and observers have started wondering about succession at his far-reaching businesses. His fourth wife, Angela Leong, is spearheading several enterprises and was seen by analysts as keen to secure legislative approval of new projects."
" The US intelligence services withheld information from George Bush that Iraqi WMD programmes had been abandoned, to justify their prewar contention that Saddam Hussein possessed banned weapons, according to the New York Times. A highly critical report due to be released later this week by the Senate select committee on intelligence is expected to lambast the intelligence community for doing a poor job of collecting information about Iraqi weapons programmes and for failing to pass on what information it did have. The committee is expected to single out the outgoing CIA director, George Tenet, and his deputy, John McLaughlin, for particular criticism, according to the New York Times. It found no evidence that the CIA made these mistakes because of political pressure from the White House or the department of defence. Mr Tenet has recently been interviewed privately by the panel, which asked him whether he had told Mr Bush that the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was a ""slam dunk"", as reported in Bob Woodward's book Plan of Attack. Mr Tenet reportedly refused to confirm or deny using the phrase, saying that his conversations with the president were privileged. The report reveals that relatives of Iraqi scientists told the CIA that Saddam had abandoned attempts to develop unconventional weapons, but the CIA failed pass these statements on to Mr Bush, even as he made public claims to the contrary. One CIA spokesman told the New York Times that the families' statements were ignored because they were ""not at all convincing"". The committee found that one Iraqi defector, whose testimony had been used as evidence of a biological weapons programme, had actually said he had no knowledge of it. They did not unearth the contradiction until they read original reports of his debriefings before the war."
" At least three Palestinians have been killed by tank fire near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, reports say. Medical staff and witnesses said Israel fired shots across the border near the town of Beit Hanoun in Gaza. One report said that two of those killed were a 91-year-old man and his 33-year-old grandson. Militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip earlier fired a rocket into Israel but no casualties or damage were reported. Adham Abu Salima, a spokesman for medical services in Gaza, told AFP news agency that the 91-year-old victim had been a caretaker at a farm. His grandson died shortly afterwards from his wounds, he said. The identity of the third victim was not yet clear. Israeli army radio described the people killed as ""terrorists"" and said that at least one of them was armed. The BBC's Jon Donnison in Ramallah says there has been an increase in rocket fire from Gaza in the past week, although it is nearly always ineffectual. One Thai farm worker in Israel has been killed by rocket fire from Gaza in the past 18 months while scores of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed over the same period."
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" Islamabad (CNN) -- The second-largest party in Pakistan's ruling coalition quit the government Sunday over fuel price increases and other complaints, leaving the country with a minority government. Sunday's announcement by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement that its 25 members would join the opposition comes after several previous threats to quit the government. But Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the ruling Pakistan People's Party would be able to function without a majority in the National Assembly, which chooses the prime minister. ""Just because one party pulls out does not mean that the government will fall or come apart,"" Gilani told reporters. The MQM is one of the largest and most liberal parties in Pakistan, with its stronghold in the southern city of Karachi. Its exit follows December's withdrawal of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal ur Rehman, a leading religious party. Muhammad Anwar, a senior coordinator for the MQM, told CNN that the last straw for the party were the fuel price increases that took effect Saturday. Pakistan's government raised gasoline prices by 9.2% and increased kerosene by nearly 6%, blaming higher crude oil costs for the move. Anwar also said the government had failed to crack down on ""rampant"" corruption and maintain law and order -- particularly in Karachi and the surrounding southern province of Sindh. Businessmen in Karachi ""are virtually hostage"" to extortion and kidnapping rings, he said. And MQM leader Faisal Sabzwari said Sunday that the PPP-led government also has imposed unfair taxes on the poor and allowed an energy crisis to fester. The party pulled its two cabinet ministers in the federal government last week, a move MQM leaders said was a warning to the government. The decision leaves the PPP-led government that came to power in 2008 with 147 seats in the 342-seat National Assembly, where members serve up to five-year terms. Anwar said the MQM doesn't want the government to fail, but ""The government is failing itself by its own deeds."" CNN's Aliza Kassim and journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report."
" The Republicans plan to hold a congressional inquiry into WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, following the organisation's release of thousands of classified US diplomatic cables. The party, which will wrest control of house committees from the Democrats tomorrow, has included WikiLeaks in a list of priorities for investigation. The move is partly political, aimed at the attorney general, Eric Holder, who the Republicans claim has been too slow and too weak in reacting to the leaks. He said last month that the justice department was looking at what action can be taken against Assange but that lawyers are struggling to find legislation under which the Australian national can be prosecuted. Darrell Issa, who will take over as chair of the House of Representatives oversight committee and is calling for Holder's resignation, said of Assange in a television interview on Sunday: ""If the president says, 'I can't deal with this guy as a terrorist,' then he has to be able to deal with him as a criminal, otherwise the world is laughing at this paper tiger we've become."" The Politico website today published a list of areas Issa's committee intends to investigate, including WikiLeaks. The committee, which has a broad remit covering fraud and waste, has the power to subpoena witnesses from the highest reaches of Washington political life. Hearings could begin later this month. Issa said his committee would investigate WikiLeaks because it wanted ""to get that right so the diplomats can do their job with confidence and people can talk to our government with confidence"". He suggested the new Congress would have to pass legislation to try to prevent similar acts of whistleblowing. Doug Schoen, a former adviser to Hillary Clinton, cautioned Issa against over-reaching himself, telling Fox News yesterday that there was a grand jury in place looking at Assange and these investigators should be left to complete their work. Charges were needed that would stick, Schoen said."
" The three Pakistan cricketers questioned by police over alleged spot fixing arrived home on Saturday. Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir will return to England when required to do so by the police. The trio, who maintain their innocence, flew from London to Lahore, before being taken out through an airport back exit to avoid media and protesters. The players are accused of accepting money to deliberately bowl no-balls during the Lord's Test with England. They have been provisionally suspended and charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and were interviewed under caution by the Metropolitan Police last week. However, Pakistani interior minister Rehman Malik said they were allowed home for the Muslim holiday Eid after requests from their parents and the Pakistan Cricket Board. A fourth player, left-arm paceman Wahab Riaz, will be questioned by police on Tuesday in relation to allegations of corruption. ""They have not been charged by the police with any offence,"" said Butt. ""They have fully co-operated with the police in their enquiries and maintain that they are innocent of any alleged wrongdoing. ""They have agreed with the police to return to England if the police request them to do so to further assist the police in their enquiries."""
" Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, who have been provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC), flew into Lahore where a large crowd, made up of both protesters and supporters, and a heavy police presence awaited them. The three players, who were interviewed by London's Metropolitan Police as part of an enquiry into allegations of spot-fixing during Pakistan's tour of England, left the airport through a back door and were driven away in waiting vehicles. Television pictures showed crowds waiting outside the terminal, some carrying banners in support of the players and others waving placards accusing them of disgracing the nation. Some people carried shoes in their hands. A large contingent of police was at the airport to avoid a repeat of the scenes last week when Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Ijaz Butt, was jeered and heckled on his return home. Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malek told the media that the three players were able to fly home after giving assurances that they would return to Britain if needed. ""We have given Scotland Yard surety that if required the cricketers will be available for further investigations,"" Malek said. The players were accused in a Sunday newspaper of fixing incidents in matches, such as deliberately bowling no-balls. They say they are innocent. A fourth player, left-arm pace bowler Wahab Riaz, who is still in England and with the one-day squad, is due to be questioned by Scotland Yard on Tuesday over the allegations."
" Prince Talal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud told BBC Arabic that ""anything could happen"" if King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz did not proceed with a program of political transformation. ""King Abdullah ... is the only person who can carry out these reforms,"" the prince told the broadcaster. ""On his departure, may that be in many years to come, latent trouble will surface and I have warned of this on many occasions. We need to resolve the problems in his lifetime,"" the prince added. Talal added that if Saudi authorities ""don't give more concern to the demands of the people, anything could happen in this country"". Talal has long called for reform in Saudi Arabia and formed the liberal political group ""Free Princes Movement"" in 1958 in reaction to the hostility between former kings Saud and Faisal. Because of his involvement with the Free Princes Movement it is unlikely that Talal, a former ambassador to France, will ever become king. Leaders throughout the Arab world are anxiously studying the spread of protests which have already unseated the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt. Bahrain is the latest country to be consumed by crisis after the army deployed across the capital Manama yesterday and vowed ""strict measures"" to restore order after a police raid on anti-regime protesters killed three people. ""Well, what is happening in this area surprised me frankly,"" Talal admitted. ""I did not expect it and nobody else expected what happened. That means any nation in this world, especially the Third World, could surprise with such uprising."""
" Afghan protesters hold a banner near a fire during a demonstration against the planned burning of copies of the Koran by a small U.S. church, in Nangarhar province September 10, 2010. The banner reads: ''There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is the messenger of Allah''. The renewed protests in the war-torn country came after obscure Florida Pastor Terry Jones called off plans to burn copies of the Koran to mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States. The plans triggered outrage in Afghanistan and across the Muslim world with President Barack Obama warning the action could deeply hurt the United States abroad and endanger the lives of U.S. troops. Four demonstrators were seriously wounded when Afghan security forces opened fire as thousands of protestors tried to storm several government buildings in Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar province, south of Kabul, a provincial official said. ""The security forces did not want any trouble but were forced to open fire when the protestors tried to force their way into the buildings,"" said Din Mohammad Darwish, the provincial governor's spokesman. Demonstrators also hurled stones at the buildings, including the department for women's affairs, causing some damage. Pul-e-Alam is located some 70km (40 miles) south of the capital, Kabul. Elsewhere in northeastern Badakhshan province, where a day earlier one protestor was shot dead, several thousand people took to the streets in three separate districts, provincial police chief Aqa Noor Kentuz said. ""Demonstrators have come in their thousands to protest the Koran burning, though so far it is peaceful. Our police force is there to prevent any violence,"" he told Reuters. A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said he was aware of two demonstrations in Badakhshan. He said no ISAF forces were involved and that the protests were not near any military bases. In a statement posted on their website, alemarah-iea.com/, the Taliban called on all Afghans to join the hardline Islamists in their fight against the Western forces and warned of more attacks if the Koran burning went ahead."
" Competing demonstrations have been held in New York on the anniversary of 9/11 over plans for an Islamic cultural centre close to Ground Zero. Hundreds of people attended both demonstrations which became heated but passed off without violent incident. The radical Dutch politician Geert Wilders addressed one demonstration, calling for an end to the plans. The demonstrations were held after ceremonies honouring those killed in the World Trade Center nine years ago. New York authorities blocked off the street passing the site of the proposed Islamic cultural centre, a short walk away from Ground Zero. Mounted police and dog units patrolled the streets, keeping the protests separated in two pens a distance away from the site of the former World Trade Center. The question of building a mosque and cultural centre so close to the scene of the devastation of the 2001 attacks has inflamed passions across US society. The competing protests attracted people from many different groups, from anti-war activists to Hell's Angels, former US Marines to Buddhists. Mr Wilders, a right-wing politician from the Netherlands who believes that Islam is comparable with Fascism, told the crowd that the planned cultural centre should not be allowed to go ahead. ""We must never give a free hand to those who want to subjugate us, draw this line so that New York will never become New Mecca,"" he said."
" The US is marking nine years since 9/11 amid controversy over plans for an Islamic centre near Ground Zero and a threat to burn the Koran. In New York, relatives read out the names of those who died when hijacked airliners hit the World Trade Center. At the Pentagon, also hit by a hijacked plane on 9/11, President Barack Obama said the US was not at war with Islam. Earlier, the pastor behind the threat to burn Korans in Florida said the event had been cancelled permanently. ""We will definitely not burn the Koran, no,"" the Reverend Terry Jones told NBC's Today show. ""Not today, not ever."" Later on Saturday, rival protests began close to Ground Zero, by groups opposed to or supporting the building of a controversial Islamic cultural centre in the area. Speaking at a memorial event at the Pentagon, President Obama paid tribute to those who died on 11 September 2001. He said that while it was tempting to dwell on their final moments, the memorial events were taking place ""to remember the fullness of their time on Earth"". Mr Obama also repeated his recent calls for unity, saying: ""It was not a religion that attacked us that September day. It was al-Qaeda."" ""We will not sacrifice the liberties we cherish or hunker down behind walls of suspicion and mistrust."""
" Police say the bomber appeared to be targeting an American military patrol in Tayaran Square. Before the area was sealed off by troops, eyewitness reports said US soldiers might be among the wounded. Earlier, 10 Iraqi policemen and a number of civilians were killed in a spate of drive-by shootings, most of them in the capital. Tayaran Square, which was hit at about lunchtime, lies in a busy part of Baghdad and is usually full of people waiting for buses. Five civilian cars, a US Army vehicle and a four-wheel drive were reported damaged in the blast. At least 91 Iraqis were injured, medical sources said. Earlier, five officers died in a drive-by shooting in east Baghdad as they slept in their car after a night shift. Police officers and recruits are a common target of insurgent attacks, but correspondents say this attack marks a change of tactics from the insurgents. The five officers inside were asleep as they awaited replacement after a nightshift at around 0800 local time (0400 GMT). Their weapons were all in the backseat, a report from the scene said. About 15 minutes later, two officers were killed and their driver was wounded in the nearby Zaytouna district."
" A government spokesman said Alaa al-Tamimi was fired on Monday, although he refused to elaborate further. However, Mr Tamimi himself said 120 gunmen stormed his office and installed the provincial governor in his place. He said tensions had broken out between him and Shia members of the provincial council in recent weeks. ""Acts like these set a very dangerous precedent for a country that wants to be free and democratic,"" Mr Tamimi told the Reuters news agency. He said he had tendered his resignation because he ""knew there would be trouble"", but it was rejected several times. Spokesman Laith Kubba had said the governor of Baghdad province, which also includes a number of towns outside the capital, would administer the city for the time being. His statement came before the mayor - who was not at his office when it was taken over - raised any complaints. Mr Kubba said the provincial council had nominated a new mayor, but no decision had been taken by the central government."
" Settlers are told their presence will be considered illegal after 15 August. The army expresses ""deep understanding for the [settlers'] pain... but as a law-abiding democratic country, we will carry out this mission in full"". It is the first formal eviction notice settlers have received, although their leaders have refused to distribute it. Separately, the army is searching for nine soldiers, some of them armed, who deserted the army in protest at the pullout, defence officials said. The manhunt has been intensified after an ultra-nationalist deserter killed four Israeli Arabs in the Galilee region last Thursday. On Tuesday, Israeli and Palestinian officials reached agreement over the disposal of rubble left behind by the evacuation - a crucial point of co-operation. ""Israel will carry out preliminary demolition work and afterward a third party, apparently the World Bank, will hire private Egyptian and Palestinian companies to do the final demolition,"" an unnamed Israeli Defence Ministry spokeswoman was quoted by Reuters as saying. ""Some of the debris will be recycled, while the rest will be buried in Egypt or Gaza. Any hazardous material will be transferred to Israel [for burial],"" the spokeswoman said. The Israeli government plans to pull more than 8,000 settlers and the soldiers that protect them out of the Gaza Strip as a unilateral security measure. Israel is also planning to withdraw from four small settlements in the West Bank."
" A high-profile Swiss football referee has been given a three-match ban for insulting fans. Massimo Busacca was pictured waving his middle finger at crowds during a match between FC Baden and Young Boys. He had asked for a warning to be played over the public address system after Baden supporters ran onto the pitch. Mr Busacca said he was provoked by the subsequent ""verbal abuse"" he received from the fans, but he apologised for his ""unsporting gesture"". ""I lost my cool,"" he said in a statement. Mr Busacca was in charge at last season's Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United and is lined up to referee World Cup matches in South Africa in 2010. The Swiss football association said he was the ""best Swiss referee"" but that the suspension was to come into force immediately."
" WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Efforts to pass a constitutional amendment that would effectively ban same-sex marriage failed in the Senate Wednesday afternoon, but supporters vowed to keep fighting for the measure. ""This is a long process,"" said Republican Sen. Wayne Allard of Colorado, sponsor of the amendment. ""Nobody on our side, I think, ever felt for a minute that this was going to be a one-shot deal and it was going to be over with at that particular point in time."" The White House released a statement from President Bush in which he said he was ""disappointed"" that the amendment was ""temporarily blocked"" in the Senate and urged the House to take up the matter. ""Activist judges and local officials in some parts of the country are not letting up in their efforts to redefine marriage for the rest of America, and neither should defenders of traditional marriage flag in their efforts,"" Bush said in his statement. The proposed amendment, championed by Bush, was killed for this session after a procedural vote to move the measure to the Senate floor for final consideration failed 48-50 -- 12 votes shy of the 60 required by Senate rules. Six Republicans -- including Sen. John McCain of Arizona -- joined 43 Democrats and one independent to defeat the measure. Three Democrats and 45 Republicans voted for it. Republicans had expected to muster the votes needed to at least advance the measure, if not the 67 required to pass it. They also expected to force the presumptive Democratic presidential ticket -- Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina -- to vote against it. A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress to pass. Then the proposal would need the approval of three-fourths of the state legislatures to be ratified. Opponents denounced the failed effort as a ""political tool"" during an election year. ""Today, we saw President Bush and the Republican leadership attempt to divide America and it backfired, instead dividing their own party,"" said Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization. ""We saw the politics of distraction fail and fail handily."""
" It will be illegal for anyone in the US or under US jurisdiction to provide material support to the dissident Irish republican group. The designation, announced on Tuesday, also means American financial institutions must freeze the group's assets, and allows the State Department to deny visas to its members. The dissident republican groups are opposed to the Good Friday Agreement and the current political process and continue to launch attacks on the security forces in Northern Ireland. The Continuity IRA has been responsible for bomb attacks across Northern Ireland. Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement: ""As part of ongoing US efforts against terrorism, the Secretary of State has designated the terrorist group Continuity Irish Republican Army, along with its aliases Continuity Army Council and Republican Sinn Fein, as a foreign terrorist organisation under the Immigration and Nationality Act."" The decision was taken by US Secretary of State Colin Powell in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury. DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said the move would restrict their operational capacity and ability to grow. ""Their supporters will be prevented from fund raising and helping this illegal terrorist organisation through providing arms,"" he said. ""Obviously if the Continuity IRA is to expand its base, it will need funds and to find supplies of arms. ""At least this closes off one potentially lucrative avenue of support."""
" BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The 10th tropical storm of the season will bring torrential rains to southern parts of China from Thursday evening, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) forecast Thursday morning. Torrential rains will pound parts of Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan, Guangxi and Hainan in the 24 hours to 8 a.m. Friday, according to a CMA statement. The storm was located 450 kilometers off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian Province, in the northeastern part of the South China Sea at 5 a.m. Thursday. The storm is moving at a speed of 10 to 15 kilometers per hour in a north-north-westerly direction, heading toward Guangdong and Fujian. It is expected to make landfall on the southern coastal regions sometime between Thursday evening and noon Friday. The CMA statement urged ships to be recalled to port and ordered the reinforcement or removal of structures vulnerable to strong winds. The statement also warned local authorities to prepare for possible flooding."
" TUNIS Feb 18 (Reuters) - Tunisian authorities renamed the main square in the capital Tunis after a vegetable seller whose suicide sparked the protests that toppled the regime. The newly named Mohammad Bouazizi Square had previously been November 7 Square, marking the date in 1987 when former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali took power. Bouazizi set himself on fire in December when police confiscated his goods and scales -- a desperate act that launched a wave of protests that led Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia in January and inspired the uprising in Egypt that led President Hosni Mubarak to step down. The renaming was announced on Thursday by Tunis municipality."
" The pastor of a small US church who planned to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11 has cancelled his protest. Terry Jones said he was calling off the event after the group behind a planned Islamic centre near Ground Zero in New York agreed to relocate it. But the cultural centre's organisers said they had no plans to move it. Mr Jones' plan had been internationally condemned and had already sparked many protests around the world. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates had telephoned him to urge him to reconsider his plans. The pastor had also been visited several times by the FBI. Mr Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, which has fewer than 50 members, had named Saturday ""International Burn a Koran Day"". But at a news conference, he said he was now dropping the plans and urged his supporters to do the same. ""We would right now ask no one to burn Korans. We are absolutely strong on that. It is not the time to do it,"" he said. He said he would travel to New York on Saturday to meet those behind the Islamic centre, saying they had ""agreed to move the location"". ""The American people do not want the mosque there, and, of course, Muslims do not want us to burn the Koran,"" he said."
" Former Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali suffered a stroke and was in a coma in a Saudi Arabian hospital, a French online journalist reported. Journalist Nicolas Beau, citing Tunisian sources, posted on his blog that Ben Ali was in critical condition in a medical facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Radio France Internationale reported Thursday. It is believed the ousted leader was admitted to the hospital Tuesday under a false name, the blogger said. The claim that Ben Ali was hospitalized also was reported by Web-zine JSSnews, although it reported he suffered a heart attack, RFI said. Ben Ali had ruled Tunisia for 23 years before a popular uprising forced him to flee the country in January."
" There have been exchanges of fire near the Israel-Gaza border, wounding five Palestinians and damaging property. Militants in Gaza have fired at least five rockets or mortar rounds into Israel since Monday. Israel said it struck two Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip late on Thursday, but Palestinian officials said five people were hurt in four separate air raids. Hours later, on Friday, Gaza militants again fired a rocket into southern Israel, a military spokeswoman said. The rocket exploded in the southern Shaar Hanegev area close to Gaza's north-eastern border with Israel. Two days ago, a mortar shell landed near a kindergarten in the same community. There were no reports of injuries or damage in either attack. The Hamas government has largely refrained from carrying out attacks since Israel's assault on Gaza in the winter of 2008, and has at times tried to rein in other armed groups from attacking. But with the resumption of peace talks, the militant group has threatened to change its policy. The latest exchanges come as Israeli and Palestinian leaders prepare to hold direct peace talks in Egypt on Tuesday. The talks - which kicked off in Washington last week - are the first direct negotiations between the two sides in almost two years."
" A Kassam rocket fired into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip exploded in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council area on Friday morning. No injuries or damage were reported in the attack. The rocket marked the fourth such attack on southern Israel from Gaza in the last two days since the Rosh Hashana holiday began. RELATED: Third Kassam rocket hits western Negev 'Kassams an obstacle to peace' In retaliation for the previous rocket attacks, the Israeli Air Force attacked several terror-related targets in Gaza Thursday overnight.  Some of the targets publicized by the IDF included Hamas offices in Gaza City, a smuggling tunnel in the southern region of the Strip and what described as a ""terror center"" in the northern Strip. No specifics regarding Palestinians casualties could be verified at the time of the report -although Palestinian security forces claimed at least five injured- and the IDF announced that all the IAF planes returned safely to their bases after the conclusion of the attack. ""The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm the citizens of the State of Israel and will continue to deal firmly and with strength against any source that seeks to terrorize the nation,"" the IDF Spokesperson's Unit explained after the attack. ""The IDF views Hamas as solely responsible for what occurs in Gaza and maintaining the quiet in the Strip."""
" Officials have confirmed reports of an inquiry into the financial transactions of Paris-based Suha Arafat. They acted after the Bank of France alerted them to transfers of nine million euros ($11.5m) from Switzerland to two of Mrs Arafat's accounts. Prosecutors say the investigation is at a preliminary stage. It was launched by the Paris public prosecutor last October after the Bank of France reported that nearly $1.27m was being transferred on a regular basis from Switzerland to Mrs Arafat's accounts in Paris. Officials said the alleged transfers were also confirmed by a government anti-money laundering body. The prosecutor's office said it was checking transfers made between July 2002 and July 2003 into Mrs Arafat's accounts at Arab Bank and French bank BNP. The investigation only came to light this week in the satirical French weekly Canard Enchaine. Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the probe was preliminary to determine whether there was sufficient grounds to take investigations further. The Palestinian leader has in the past rejected allegations of financial corruption with the Palestinian Authority. Mrs Arafat could not be contacted for comment. According to the Associated Press news agency, a lawyer who has represented Mrs Arafat in the past said he had not been approached by her about the probe."
" (CNN) -- Roughly 200 Iraqi protesters hit the streets Friday in central Baghdad, the latest in a string of Middle East cities to be affected by the wave of unrest sweeping the region. Protesters are also trying to organize a larger demonstration -- part of what they are now calling the ""Iraqi revolution"" -- for next Friday. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told reporters ""there should be no problem"" issuing official permission for a larger protest if a formal request is made. The prime minister expressed concern, however, that protesters could be ""infiltrated by saboteurs either from those who lost in (Iraq's recent) elections or by the remains of the Baathists or al-Qaeda terrorists."" Iraq, like many of its neighbors, has been convulsed by popular protests since demonstrations toppled the leader of Tunisia last month. One person was killed and 57 were injured Thursday when hundreds of protesters clashed with security forces in Sulaimaniya, a city in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, according to Dr. Raykot Hamed Salih, a health official there. Dozens of protesters attacked the Kurdistan Democratic Party headquarters in the city and destroyed furniture and computers inside the building, police officials in Sulaimaniya told CNN. Witnesses told CNN that Kurdish security forces, known as peshmerga, opened fire to disperse the protesters. The demonstrators were angry about corruption, the quality of basic services and unemployment, Salih said. iReport: Are you there? Share photos, video Meanwhile, at least one person was shot dead and 55 others -- including four police -- were wounded Wednesday when private security guards and Iraqi security forces fired on hundreds of demonstrators outside the governor's office in the eastern city of Kut, health officials said."
" DUBAI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera said on Friday its signal was being jammed on several frequencies and its website had been blocked in Libya. Al Jazeera, whose coverage of the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa is widely watched in the Arab world, reported the jamming on its website where it offered alternative frequencies on the Arabsat, Nilesat and Hot Bird satellites. Al Jazeera has closely followed events in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen, contacting protesters and government backers by telephone and often using footage of events sent via the Internet. Bahraini security forces fired on protesters on Friday, wounding dozens, and thousands of people demonstrated in Libya after a deadly government crackdown as pro-democracy unrest in the Middle East and North Africa turned increasingly violent. [ID:nLDE71H229] Earlier this month, Al Jazeera complained of similar jamming and Egypt's Nilesat cut off its signal for more than a week after the Egyptian authorities ordered the channel to stop operations in the country during the unrest that ended President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. Launched in Qatar in 1996, Al Jazeera has more than 400 reporters in over 60 countries, according to its website. It says it can reach 220 million households in more than 100 countries. (Reporting by Firouz Sedarat; editing by Andrew Dobbie)"
" The security forces' vicious attacks on peaceful demonstrators lay bare the reality of Muammar Gaddafi's brutality when faced with any internal dissent. Libyans should not have to risk their lives to make a stand for their rights as human beings. (New York) - The Libyan security forces killed at least 24 protesters and wounded many others in a crackdown on peaceful demonstrations across the country, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should cease the use of lethal force unless absolutely necessary to protect lives and open an independent investigation into the lethal shootings, Human Rights Watch said. Hundreds of peaceful protesters took to the streets on February 17, 2011, in Baida, Benghazy, Zenten, Derna, and Ajdabiya. According to multiple witnesses, Libyan security forces shot and killed the demonstrators in efforts to disperse the protests. ""The security forces' vicious attacks on peaceful demonstrators lay bare the reality of Muammar Gaddafi's brutality when faced with any internal dissent,"" said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. ""Libyans should not have to risk their lives to make a stand for their rights as human beings."" Some of the worst violence was in the eastern city of Baida. At around 1 p.m. on February 17, according to sources in Libya, hospital staff put out a call for additional medical supplies, as they became overwhelmed with the medical needs of 70 injured protesters, half of them in critical condition due to gunshot wounds. On the night of February 16, security forces had attacked peaceful protesters with teargas and live ammunition, shooting dead two protesters, according to protesters who spoke to Human Rights Watch. Geneva-based Libya Human Rights Solidarity has confirmed three of the names of those shot dead so far: Safwan Attiya, Nasser Al Juweigi, and Ahmad El Qabili. One protester told Human Rights Watch that a new protest started on February 17, after noon prayers and the funerals of those killed on February 16. Joined by hundreds of other protesters, families marched toward the Internal Security office, chanting, ""Down with the regime"" and ""Get out Muammar Gaddafi."" Some protesters filmed the protests with mobile phones and posted them online. One injured protester in a hospital in Baida told Human Rights Watch that he was sitting near the intensive care unit there and had confirmed that security forces had shot dead 16 people and wounded dozens of others. He said that Special Forces and armed men in street clothes fired live ammunition to deter protesters. A protester in Benghazi told Human Rights Watch that hundreds of lawyers, activists, and other protesters gathered on the steps of the Benghazi Court calling for a constitution and respect for the rule of law. Early in the day, sources in Libya told Human Rights Watch that security forces had arrested a Benghazi journalist, Hind El Houny, and Salem Souidan, a family member of a group that has been seeking justice for the massacre of inmates in Abu Salim prison in 1996. Security forces also arrested a former political prisoner, Abdel Nasser al-Rabbasi, in Bani Walid. The protester said he saw groups of men in street clothes armed with knives, later joined by Internal Security forces, charging the protesters to disperse them. The protester told Human Rights Watch that he believed security forces had shot dead at least 17 protesters during the day, mostly near Abdel Nasser Street. Human Rights Watch was able to confirm eight of those deaths. It appears that the government also has coordinated pro-government supporters to confront the demonstrations. On February 16, subscribers to Libyana, one of two Libyan mobile phone networks, received a text message calling upon ""nationalist youth"" to go out and ""defend national symbols."" At around 11:30 p.m. on February 17, a protester in Tripoli told Human Rights Watch that anti-government protests had started in Tripoli also."
" At least 24 people have been killed in anti-government protests in Libya in recent days, rights activists say. Many others were wounded in the clashes between security forces and protesters, the US-based Human Rights Watch said. Protests continued overnight with thousands on the streets of the eastern city of Benghazi, where there is now a heavy military presence, witnesses said. Large protests are uncommon in Libya, where dissent is rarely allowed. Pro-democracy protests have recently swept through several Arab nations, with the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt forced from power amid growing unrest. The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says violent confrontations are reported to have spread to five Libyan cities in demonstrations so far, but not yet to Tripoli, the capital, in any large numbers. Our correspondent says the reports reflect an extremely tough government response, including the use of gunfire and even denying supplies to hospitals. Funerals of some of those killed are expected to be held on Friday in Benghazi and al-Bayda, which correspondents say could spur more protests. Activists set up camps in al-Bayda after Thursday's ""Day of Rage"" protest against the government, witnesses said. Eyewitnesses believe that the death toll could be even higher, our correspondent says."
" Plaquemines Parish officials have asked state wildlife officials to investigate what they said is a massive fish kill at Bayou Chaland on the west side of the Mississippi River late Friday. Photographs the parish distributed of the area shows an enormous amount of dead fish floating atop the water. The fish kill was reported to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries and the cause has not yet been determined, the parish said. The fish were found in an area that has been impacted by the oil from the BP oil spill, the parish said. The dead fish include pogies, redfish, drum, crabs, shrimp and freshwater eel, the parish said. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said he has asked Wildlife & Fisheries for a quick determination of the cause. The parish has also requested testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. ""We can't continue to see these fish kills,'' Nungesser said in a news release. ""We need some additional tests to find out why these fish are dying in large numbers. If it is low oxygen, we need to identify the cause."" A recent fish kill in nearby St. Bernard Parish was attributed to low oxygen levels in the water."
" MEXICO CITY, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- As many as 25 people were murdered in the past 24 hours in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico's most violent city, a local prosecutor told Xinhua on the phone on Friday. The deadliest incident was the shooting of six people in the Ampliacion Aeropurto neighborhood on a public street. In two other incidents, killers entered the victims' homes and slew at least four people. There were also 11 incidents that involved the murder of one person. Ciudad Juarez is Mexico's most violent city due to an ongoing clash between drug smuggling organizations that want to use it as a base to move drugs into the United States. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has sent troops to police the city as part of a war targeting the smugglers since December 2006. According to official figures, 28,000 people have died in battles -- mostly between rival drug gangs -- since the campaign began."
" SANAA, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- About 7,000 protesters stormed into two buildings of a local council in Yemen's southern port city of Aden and set them on fire Friday evening, a local councilman told Xinhua. The protesters gathered in the neighborhood in Shaikh Othman town in Aden on Friday evening, rushed to two local council buildings and a police station and set them on fire, leaving several people injured, the councilman said. Earlier, one anti-government protester was shot dead and 40 others were injured in Aden on Friday when police fired random bullets to disperse several thousands of demonstrators calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave, a local security official said. The clashes took place in the districts of Khour Maksar and Al- Mansoura after anti-riot policemen fired warning gunfire to air to force two rallies of several thousands protesters away from some governmental facilities. The victim was among hundreds of protesters who clashes with soldiers who tried to defend themselves by randomly opening fire at the attackers, according to the security official and a local councilman. Tanks and military armored vehicles were deployed at road intersections and near governmental and foreign facilities as the anti-government protesters withdrew in order to resume the rallies later in the evening, a local councilman told Xinhua, asking not to be identified."
" BAGHDAD - At least two protesters were killed Thursday when soldiers opened fire on stone-throwing demonstrators in the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah as the unrest triggered by turmoil elsewhere in the Middle East reached the normally placid enclave of Kurdistan in northern Iraq. Forty-three people were injured when the Kurdish pesh merga fighters fired live ammunition at youths throwing stones at the headquarters of the region's dominant political party, the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), witnesses said. The shootings brought to five the number of deaths in two days of violent protests in Iraq, where long-standing grievances about inadequate services, unemployment and corruption have erupted on the streets, inspired at least in part by the successes of the recent revolts in Tunisia and Egypt. Also Thursday, the premises of a local council were burned by a mob near the southern city of Nasiriyah, and there were demonstrations in the oil-rich cities of Basra in the south and Kirkuk in the north. Protesters also took to the streets for a second day in Kut, about 60 miles southeast of Baghdad, where three people were shot dead by police Wednesday during protests targeting the headquarters of the provincial governor. The violence in Sulaymaniyah came shortly after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced that he had instructed the Iraqi security forces to act with restraint. ""It is prohibited for the security forces to use any kind of force against even one of the demonstrations,"" he told journalists. He also urged demonstrators not to set fire to buildings and to secure permission for their protests. Maliki sought to portray himself as a supporter of the demonstrators and described their demands as ""legitimate."" ""We are especially happy when people take to the streets and talk, discuss and argue,"" he said, contrasting his government with that of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein. ""Abusing me is better than their silence."" But it is clear that the unrest has rattled his newly formed government, which includes all the major political factions that competed in the March elections. Maliki has rushed to offer concessions to aggrieved Iraqis, including legislation slashing politicians' salaries and a promise not to seek a third term."
" There have been further anti-government demonstrations in Iraq, including in the northern semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Two people are reported to have been killed and at least 50 injured in the city of Sulaimaniya. The demonstrators have been calling for better living conditions and public services. Protesters have also taken to the streets of the northern city of Kirkuk and the southern city of Kut. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has urged the demonstrators to keep their rallies peaceful."
" KABUL, July 8 (Reuters) - A suicide bomb attack on the Indian Embassy in the Afghan capital bore all the hallmarks of a foreign intelligence agency, Afghanistan's presidential spokesman said on Tuesday in a likely reference to Pakistan. Afghanistan has accused Pakistani agents of being behind the April assassination attempt against President Hamid Karzai, a mass jail break in Kandahar last month and a string of other attacks. Karzai threatened last month to send troops across the border to attack militants there if Pakistan did not take action. ""Everything has the hallmark of a particular intelligence agency that has conducted similar terrorist acts inside Afghanistan in the past,"" Humayun Hamidzada told a news conference a day after the embassy attack that killed 41 people. A suicide car bomb rammed into the gates of the Indian embassy in Kabul on Monday, killing two Indian diplomats and two Indian guards. Most of the other victims were people waiting in line for visas and shoppers at a nearby market. It was the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since U.S.-led and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001. ""We believe firmly that there is a particular intelligence agency behind it,"" said Hamidzada. ""I'm not going to name it anymore, I think it's pretty obvious."" Afghan analysts say Pakistan is unsettled by the close relations between its main rival India and Afghanistan, a country it sees as being in its own sphere of influence. Pakistani agents, they argue, are aiding Taliban insurgents so that Pakistan is able to achieve strategic depth and allow its forces to concentrate on defending the border with India."
" Tens of thousands of people across Indian-administered Kashmir have joined protests against Indian rule, following prayers to mark the end of Ramadan. A government building and a police checkpoint were set on fire in separate rallies in the city of Srinagar. The demonstrators carried green Islamic flags and chanted slogans demanding autonomy and freedom. Seventy people have been killed in protests in Kashmir since June. But clashes are rare during Eid al-Fitr. Police fired warning shots and tear gas to disperse the protesters who attacked the police checkpoint near the Hazrat Bal shrine on the outskirts of Srinagar on Saturday, and burned the nearby offices of the state police force and the electricity department. ""We want freedom. Go India, go back,"" the demonstrators chanted. ""Our nation, we'll decide its fate."" At least seven civilians and six police officers were injured, officials said. ""This is the first time that an Eid congregation has been converted into a protest,"" a police statement said, according to the Associated Press news agency. Earlier, the influential leader of the moderate faction of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, had asked the tens of thousands of worshippers at the shrine to march to the centre of Srinagar. ""The protests are a form of referendum showing that Kashmiris want freedom from India,"" he told them, after reading out the names of those killed in the past three months."
" KABUL, July 7 (Reuters) - A Taliban suicide car bomb hit the Indian Embassy in Kabul on Monday, killing 41 people and wounding 139, in an attack Afghan authorities said was coordinated with foreign agents in the region, a likely reference to Pakistan. Afghanistan has accused Pakistani agents of being behind a number of attacks in recent weeks and Afghan President Hamid Karzai last month threatened to send troops across the border to attack militants there if Pakistan does not take action. The bomber rammed his car into the embassy just as two diplomatic vehicles were entering the compound. ""I saw wounded and dead people everywhere on the road,"" said Danish Karokhil, the head of the independent Pajhwok news agency, whose offices are close by. India's military and press attaches and two Indian guards were among the 41 killed, but a line of people waiting for visas and those shopping at a nearby market were the main victims of the blast, the deadliest in Kabul since U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban from power in 2001. The explosion destroyed the two embassy vehicles, blew the embassy gates off and badly damaged buildings inside the compound as well as shattering windows over a wide area. Forty-one people were killed and 139 wounded, a senior police official said. ""The Interior Ministry believes this attack was carried out in coordination and consultation with an active intelligence service in the region,"" the Afghan Interior Ministry said. The Islamist militia have vowed to step up their campaign of suicide bombings this year, demonstrating that despite the increase in foreign troops in Afghanistan and more trained Afghan forces on patrol, the militants are far from defeated. ""With this cowardly attack, the enemies of peace in Afghanistan wanted to hurt ongoing friendly relations of Afghanistan with the rest of the world, especially India,"" Karzai said in a statement. ""Such attacks will not hamper Afghanistan's relations with other nations."" India has close relations with the Afghan government and is funding a number of large infrastructure projects. ""The government of India strongly condemns this cowardly terrorist attack on its diplomatic mission in Afghanistan. Such acts of terror will not deter us from fulfilling our commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan,"" the Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement."
" A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-filled car into the gates of the Indian embassy in Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least 28 people and wounding more than 140, officials said. The blast in the heart of Kabul scattered human flesh and severed limbs outside the embassy of India, one of Afghanistan's staunchest allies as the war-torn country battles an increasingly bloody Taliban insurgency. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, one of the deadliest since the insurgency began, and the Afghan interior ministry said only that the explosion had been caused by a car bomb. The Indian foreign ministry said two Indian paramilitary troopers guarding the embassy were among the dead. But an embassy official told AFP by phone that the Indian ambassador and other senior officials were not harmed. ""We are walking on rubble,"" the official said. ""The embassy has been blown up badly."" Reporters were held back from the scene but an AFP correspondent saw a mound of rubble at the gate of the facility, which is close to the interior ministry. The powerful morning rush-hour blast sent a plume of brown smoke into the air and could be heard across the city centre. It shattered the windows of shops several hundred metres (yards) away, the correspondent said. ""The number of deaths at this time is 28, while 141 people were wounded, half of them hospitalised,"" health ministry spokesman Abdullah Fahim said, adding that the figure was based on information from several hospitals. Since being ousted from power in 2001 by a US-led invasion after refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden in the wake of the September 11 attacks, the Taliban have waged a deadly campaign to try to undermine the Afghan government. Targets have included international and US-led coalition troops from the tens of thousands of foreign forces trying to help President Hamid Karzai restore stability, but attacks have been increasing in Kabul itself."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. A suicide bomber has rammed a car full of explosives into the gates of the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital, killing 41 people and injuring 141. Five embassy personnel were killed - India's defence attache, a senior diplomat and two security guards - as well as an Afghan man. No-one has admitted being behind the attack, the deadliest in Kabul since the overthrow of the Taleban in 2001. Afghanistan has seen a sharp increase in violence, particularly in the south and east - and Taleban militants recently vowed to step up their attacks in the capital. But the latest blast - in what was supposed to be a secure area of Kabul - will greatly concern Afghan government officials, says the BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the attackers wanted to rupture good relations between Afghanistan and India, while the Afghan interior ministry said it believed the attack was carried out ""in co-ordination and consultation with an active intelligence service in the region"". It did not specify which intelligence service it suspected of involvement. But in the past, Afghanistan has accused Pakistani agents of being behind a number of attacks on its soil. In a statement, Pakistan's foreign minister said his country ""condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations"". India also condemned the ""cowardly terrorists' attack"", but vowed it would not be deterred from fulfilling its commitment to the government and people of Afghanistan. India has close ties with Afghanistan and is involved in aid and reconstruction work, including the building of Afghanistan's new parliament. The US condemned the ""needless act of violence"", as did the European Union, which described it as a ""terrorist attack targeting innocent civilians"". The United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said that ""in no culture, no country, and no religion is there any excuse or justification for such acts"". The bomb exploded as people were queuing for visas at the embassy. ""We were standing in a line to get visas, the police told us to stand on one side, the women were in another line, then suddenly I heard a huge bang and I sat down. I was very afraid,"" Khan Zaman said. March 2008: Six people die in car bomb attack on coalition convoy Jan 2008: Six people killed in Taleban attack on Serena hotel Dec 2007: At least 13 people killed in a suicide car bombing June 2007: Bomb attack on Afghan police bus kills up to 35 people Ali Hassan Fahimi said shrapnel had landed in his office, which is close to the site of the blast. ""It was so strong... and our staff were shocked,"" he said. A spokesman for the Afghan defence ministry, Gen Zaher Azimi, told the BBC the attack was ""the deadliest since the fall of Taleban"" in Kabul. Another Afghan government spokesman, Zamari Bashari, told the BBC he thought the embassy had been attacked because of India's involvement in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. He said that the terrorist enemies of Afghanistan wanted such work to stop. Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta visited the Indian embassy shortly after the attack, his spokesman said. ""India and Afghanistan have a deep relationship between each other. Such attacks of the enemy will not harm our relations,"" Mr Spanta told the personnel at the embassy, the spokesman said."
" Hurricane Bertha is seen in a satellite image taken on July 7, 2008. The second named storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season was heading west-northwest in the direction of Bermuda when it became a Category 3 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, the National Hurricane Centre said. ""A gradual turn toward the northwest with a decrease in forward speed is expected over the next couple of days,"" the Miami-based centre said. That could take Bertha near Bermuda, a wealthy mid-Atlantic British colony that is viewed as one of the more storm-proof islands in the region, with tough building codes and a storm-conscious population. The National Hurricane Centre said it did not expect Bertha to get much stronger due to unfavourable atmospheric conditions in its path. But the storm has already delivered surprises and forecasting long-range hurricane intensities and tracks is an uncertain science. At 10 p.m. British time, the storm's centre was located around 1,150 miles (1,855 km) southeast of Bermuda and it was moving at around 12 mph (19 kph) to the west-northwest. Energy markets have paid close attention Atlantic storms since the devastating 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, during which a number of powerful hurricanes ripped through the Gulf of Mexico, toppling oil rigs and severing pipelines. None of the computer models used to predict storm tracks indicated Bertha would steer south into the Caribbean or toward the Gulf. Hurricane forecasters have predicted this six-month season, which began on June 1, will be average or above average. An average season has 10 tropical storms, of which six reach hurricane strength with winds of at least 74 mph (119 kph). The record 2005 season, which included Katrina which swamped New Orleans and killed 1,500 people on the U.S. Gulf Coast, saw 28 storms."
" Total was reportedly the last major western energy firm interested in Iran The head of French energy giant Total has said it will not invest in Iran because it is too politically risky. The company had been planning to develop the huge South Pars gas field, but Christophe de Margerie says this will not now go ahead. The announcement comes a day after Iran test-fired a series of missiles amid weeks of rising tensions with Israel and the US over its nuclear ambitions. Analysts say Total's move will be a big blow to the Iranian energy industry. It means Iran is now unlikely to significantly increase its gas exports until late into the next decade, they add. In further response to the test missiles, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday that Washington would defend the interests of America and those of its allies from attacks by Iran. Total has a memorandum of understanding with the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company to develop Phase 11 of Iran's half of the South Pars field in the Gulf. Today we would be taking too much political risk to invest in Iran because people will say: 'Total will do anything for money'   What now for Iran's gas reserves? In May, Total said it was still interested in working on the project together with the Malaysian company, Petronas. But Mr de Margerie's comments now cast serious doubt on whether the French firm will invest in the Islamic Republic in the near future. ""Today we would be taking too much political risk to invest in Iran because people will say: 'Total will do anything for money',"" he told the Finacial Times. And later he told the France 24 television station: ""It is probably necessary that things get better, that Iran can again have better relations with its neighbours and the rest of the countries that today have a harsh stance towards it."" The remarks follow increasing tension between Iran and Israel over Tehran's nuclear programme. Iran has the second biggest gas reserves after Russia The US has also recently stepped up the pressure to impose tougher sanctions on the Iranian government and companies that do business with it. Total was the last major Western energy group to have seriously considered investing in the country's huge gas reserves. It was also one of the few companies in the world to have the technology needed to exploit Iran's huge, but untapped gas reserves. The BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran says it has been particularly galling for Tehran to watch as Qatar pumps vast amounts of gas from the South Pars field to its side of the Gulf, helping it become one of the world's major energy suppliers. But observers say it is not just sanctions or political pressure - international banks simply are not prepared to put up the billions of dollars needed for such investments in Iran. Mr de Margerie's remarks come a day after state media reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards test-fired a updated version of the Shahab-3 missile, said to have a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles). Gen Hoseyn Salami, the Guards' air force commander, said the tests demonstrated Iran's ""resolve and might against enemies who in recent weeks have threatened Iran with harsh language"". State media quoted him as saying: ""Our hands are always on the trigger and our missiles are ready for launch."" Tehran has tested the Shahab-3 before, but the latest launch comes amid rising tensions in the region. William Burns, the top official handling Iranian issues at the US state department, said the launch was ""very disturbing, provocative and reckless"". But US officials played down suggestions that the move had brought military confrontation with Iran any closer. ""The reality is there is a lot of signalling going on, but everybody recognises what the consequences of any kind of a conflict would be,"" said Defence Secretary Robert Gates."
" Big-shouldered Hurricane Igor kept getting stronger Sunday night, pumping out sustained winds of 150 mph far out in the Atlantic, U.S. storm watchers said. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Igor was intensifying just over 1,000 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands at 11 p.m. EDT. Igor, which was heading west at 13 mph, could become a Category 5 storm -- the most powerful level with winds of at least 156 mph -- Monday, the forecasters said. Igor was still too far out to sea to necessitate coastal watches or warnings, the hurricane center said. Igor was expected to turn toward the west-northwest and slow its forward progress Monday night into Tuesday. Hurricane force winds are extending up to 40 miles out from Igor's eye and tropical storm force winds are reaching out up to 160 miles."
" SHANGHAI, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) --More than 300 outbound flights in Shanghai have been delayed after torrential rains caused by tropical storm Meranti hit this east China city Saturday, said airport staff. The 300 outgoing flights, both domestic and international, were delayed for more than 30 minutes as of 5 p.m. at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. However, no flights have yet been canceled, according to airport security staff. Also, inbound flights have not been seriously affected, with fewer than 10 flights being delayed prior to landing, they said. Additionally, flights were not affected at the other civilian airport in the city, Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. Tropical storm Meranti struck east China's Zhejiang Province at 7 p.m. Friday, weakened to a tropical depression and then vanished by 2 a.m. Saturday, said Zhejiang flood control officials. However, torrential rains continue pounding the area, with heavy rainfall to be expected in Zhejiang, Shanghai through the next three days, according to local meteorological center forecasts. Before entering Zhejiang, Typhoon Meranti made landfall in east China's Fujian Province Friday, killing three people and affecting more than one million as of Saturday, according to a statement released by the Fujian provincial office of flood control. The three people were reported killed after strong winds destroyed their houses, the statement said. Meanwhile, more than 186,500 people were evacuated and 1.05 million people were affected by the storm. Economic losses in the province are estimated at 800.3 million yuan (about 117.7 million U.S dollars), noted the statement. Meranti made landfall at Shishi City at 3:30 a.m. Friday, with a recorded wind speed of 108 km per hour at its center."
" Chinese authorities say 82 suspected terrorists have been arrested this year for plotting to sabotage the Olympic Games in Beijing. They say they have broken up five terrorist groups in the mainly Muslim western region of Xinjiang. The news follows earlier reports that police had killed five militants who wanted to wage holy war in the region. International security experts have questioned the level of the threat that China says it faces. Human rights campaigners accuse China of exaggerating an alleged threat to the Olympics to justify repression of the Muslim Uighur population in Xinjiang. Uighurs worried about Chinese immigration and erosion of traditional culture The BBC's James Reynolds, in Beijing, says the report from China's public security bureau sums up much of what is already known. In January the police carried out a raid in the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi, in which two militants were killed, and two months later China said there had been an attempted hijacking of a flight from Urumqi. In April, China said that its security forces had broken up a number of plots to carry out suicide bombings and to kidnap athletes during the Olympics. Most recently, Chinese state-controlled media reported that the police had killed five militants in Urumqi, injured two more and arrested eight others. Our correspondent says that China has suggested the threat it faces comes mainly from a group called the East Turkestan Islamic movement. China says this movement has links to Al Qaeda but international security experts have questioned the threat that China says it faces. As the Olympics approaches, China is stepping up security measures. A dual ring of hundreds of checkpoints is due to go up around Beijing starting next week."
" 1 of 4. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks at a joint news conference after talks with Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi July 10, 2008. Rice on Thursday called on Russia to help resolve tension in Georgia's rebel regions rather than contributing to it and demanded an end to violence in the regions. Rice, on a visit to the ex-Soviet state of Georgia, was speaking a day after Iran test-fired missiles it said can hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East. ""We are also sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and ... the interests of our allies,"" she told a news conference after a meeting with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. ""We take very, very strongly our obligation to help our allies defend themselves and no one should be confused about that,"" she said. The United States and European powers suspect Tehran of trying to develop a nuclear weapon under cover of its civilian atomic programme. Tehran denies this, saying its nuclear programme is exclusively for generating electricity. The United States has said it will not rule out military action against Iran but says that it is committed to seeking a diplomatic solution to the nuclear row."
" A 6.5 magnitude earthquake which struck the central North Island has been felt across much of New Zealand, but there have been no reports of damage. The quake, which struck at 3:36pm, was 150km deep and centred 30km west of Taupo. Despite reports of people feeling the quake from as far away as Timaru, Geonet said it would be unlikely that it caused any damage because it was so deep. Aftershocks were also unlikely, Geonet said. Taupo Civil Defence said it had no call-outs related to the quake. ""We have not had any reports of damage so far, but many have reported feeling a small tremor,"" Taupo Emergency Manager Phil Parker said. Today's quake came hours after a moderate shake in Melbourne. Where it was felt ONE News received hundreds of emails from people who reported feeling the quake.  "
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages have been freed after rebels holding them were tricked into handing them over. Colombian soldiers - apparently posing as members of a non-government organisation - flew them to freedom in a helicopter. Ms Betancourt said: ""This is a miracle. There is no historical precedent for such a perfect operation."" Ms Betancourt was held by the left-wing Farc rebels for more than six years. When the head of the operation to free the hostages told them they were free, ""the helicopter almost fell from the sky because we all jumped, shouted, cried and embraced,"" Ms Betancourt said. ""We couldn't believe it,"" she added. The Farc has been fighting to overthrow the Colombian government for 40 years, and Ms Betancourt was their highest profile captive. Also released were three Americans and 11 members of the Colombian security forces, all said to be in relatively good health. President Alvaro Uribe congratulated the army on the operation, in which no shots were fired, and urged Farc to release its remaining hostages and seek peace. A pale Ms Betancourt smiled as she emerged with other hostages from a military plane in the Colombian capital, Bogota, to be greeted by her mother and husband. She appealed to Farc to free the other hostages and make peace. She thanked Mr Uribe, against whom she was running as a presidential candidate when she was kidnapped, and said he ""has been a very good president"". ""I continue to aspire to serve Colombia as president,"" she said. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had made the rescue of Ms Betancourt a foreign policy priority, was joined by her family at his residence, the Elysee Palace in Paris. The freed hostage's son, Lorenzo Delloye-Betancourt, told the news conference it was ""the best moment of my life"". His sister Melanie said it was like ""emerging from a bad dream"". The siblings are flying to Colombia to be reunited with their 46-year-old mother. Video pictures released last November had shown Ms Betancourt looking gaunt and frail. Accounts from freed hostages that she was in danger of dying had heightened the sense of urgency surrounding her fate. Also released were three US defence department contract workers who were captured after their light aircraft crashed in the Colombian jungle in 2003. The trio - Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell - have now arrived back in San Antonio, Texas, where they will undergo medical tests and be reunited with their families. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The 11 members of the Colombian security forces who were released had been captured in various rebel attacks. Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said the Farc rebels had been tricked into handing over the hostages by soldiers posing as members of a fictitious non-government organisation that supposedly would fly the captives to a camp to meet rebel leader Alfonso Cano. ""The helicopters, which in reality were from the army, picked up the hostages in Guaviare and flew them to freedom,"" he said. Intelligence agents had infiltrated the guerrilla ranks and duped the local commander in charge of the hostages, alias Cesar, the defence minister said. Cesar and another rebel who boarded the helicopter had been quickly overpowered and would now face justice, he added. Ms Betancourt later told a press conference she at first had had no idea she was being rescued until she saw her captor naked and blindfolded on the floor of the aircraft. Feb, 2008: Farc vows to hold three US hostages for 60 years April, 2008: Farc says Ecuador raid has ""gravely"" harmed efforts to free Ms Betancourt July, 2008: Colombian military frees Ms Betancourt, the three US contractors and 11 other hostages ""I saw this guerrilla commander, who had so often been cruel to us, on the floor,"" she said. ""But I did not feel happiness. I felt sad."" Armed forces chief Gen Freddy Padilla said: ""We wanted to have it happen as it did today. Without a single shot. Without anyone wounded. Absolutely safe and sound, without a scratch."" The US ambassador to Colombia, William Brownfield, said there had been ""close co-operation"" from the Americans, including sharing of intelligence, equipment and training advice. World leaders welcomed the news, and celebrations erupted on the streets of Colombian cities as crowds hailed the jungle rescue in a country plagued for decades by kidnappings. The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Medellin says the successful operation by Colombian security forces is a political and military coup for the country's government. He adds that it is a major blow to the Farc, which had hoped to exchange some 60 political hostages for hundreds of rebels held by the Colombian government, and has now lost a powerful negotiating tool with Ms Betancourt's rescue. The Farc still holds more than 40 high-profile hostages, among up to 700 other captives. Ms Betancourt has dual citizenship as the result of marriage to a French diplomat - since dissolved - which produced her two children, who worked hard to keep her captivity in the spotlight. The politician was kidnapped in February 2002 while campaigning in territory controlled by the Farc."
" In April Scotland Yard officers contacted Sally and Bob Dowler, Milly Dowler's parents, about the hacking allegations - one month before Levi Bellfield went on trial for Milly's murder. News International, publisher of The News of the World, said the allegations were of ""great concern"" and said it would be conducting its own inquiry. Private investigator Glenn Mulcaire is alleged to have illegally accessed Milly Dowler's phone messages after she went missing as she walked home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in March 2002. The voicemail messages were allegedly deleted to make room for more after Milly's inbox became full. Speaking in Afghanistan Prime Minister David Cameron said: ""If they (the allegations) are true this is a truly dreadful act and a truly dreadful situation. ""What I've read in the papers is quite, quite shocking, that someone could do this knowing the police were trying to find this person and trying to find out what had happened. And we all now know the tragedy that took place."" Mr Cameron went on to say the police should pursue the matter, regardless of where the evidence leads, in the ""most vigorous way they can"". The position of Rebekah Brooks, who was the News of the World's editor at the time of the alleged hacking in 2002, is coming under growing scrutiny. Labour leader Ed Miliband said Brooks, who is now Chief Executive of Rupert Murdoch's News International, should ""consider her position"" and ""consider her conscience"". Rebekah Brooks said she was ""appalled and shocked"" by allegations that a private investigator working for the News of the World hacked into Milly Dowler's phone."
" In a statement released to the Guardian , Glenn Mulcaire said he had worked under ''relentless pressure'' at the Sunday newspaper and there was a ''constant demand for results''. He said: ''I want to apologise to anybody who was hurt or upset by what I have done.'' Mulcaire issued the statement after allegations emerged yesterday that he illegally accessed the voicemail messages of schoolgirl Milly Dowler in the days after she went missing. Milly was abducted by Levi Bellfield as she walked home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in March 2002. But some voicemail messages on her phone were allegedly deleted by people working for the News of the World, giving Molly's parents Bob and Sally Dowler false hope that their daughter was still alive. Mulcaire, who made no direct reference to the hacking of her phone, said he had never intended to interfere with any police inquiry. He said: ""I want to apologise to anybody who was hurt or upset by what I have done. I've been to court. I've pleaded guilty. And I've gone to prison and been punished. I still face the possibility of further criminal prosecution. ""Working for the News of the World was never easy. There was relentless pressure. There was a constant demand for results."" Mulcaire and former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman were given jail terms in January 2007 after the Old Bailey heard they plotted to hack into royal aides' telephone messages."
" British News of the World newspaper has been making the wrong kind of headlines after apparently hacking the phones of celebrities and politicians. But the weekly tabloid has now been accused of hacking into the voicemail messages of a murdered British schoolgirl, Milly Dowler, shortly after she went missing in 2002. David Cameron, the British prime minister, has urged police to ""investigate vigorously"" the new allegations. Now, the teenager's family has joined the long queue of public figures seeking justice from News International, which owns the newspaper."
" Claims that murdered teenager Milly Dowler's mobile telephone was hacked by a private investigator working for the News of the World (NoW) are ""truly dreadful"", the prime minister has said. Police are to meet executives from the paper to discuss allegations that Glenn Mulcaire hacked into Milly's voicemail when she was missing in 2002. Labour has demanded a public inquiry into the claims. NoW parent firm News International said the development was of ""great concern"". Speaking during a news conference in Afghanistan, David Cameron said the allegations were ""quite shocking - that someone could do this, actually knowing that the police were trying to find this person and trying to find out what had happened"". He added: ""If they are true, this is a truly dreadful act and a truly dreadful situation."" The Guardian has claimed Mulcaire intercepted messages left by relatives for the 13-year-old and said the NoW deleted some messages it had already listened to when the voicemail facility became full. A lawyer for the Dowler family, Mark Lewis, said the alleged hacking dated from a time when the NoW had been under the editorship of Rebekah Brooks - now News International's chief executive. In a statement, he said: ""The fact that they were prepared to act in such a heinous way that could have jeopardised the police investigation and gave them false hope is despicable."" Scotland Yard launched Operation Weeting in January after new claims of phone-hacking at the NoW emerged."
" The parents of murdered Soham girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman have been visited by police investigating phone-hacking by journalists. Private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, working for the News of the World, allegedly hacked the phone of murdered girl Milly Dowler when she was missing. News International has promised the ""strongest possible action"" if it is proven Milly's phone was hacked. In a statement, Mulcaire apologised to anyone ""hurt or upset"" by his actions. Jessica and Holly, both 10, of Soham, Cambridgeshire, were murdered in 2002 by school caretaker Ian Huntley, who was jailed for life. BBC business editor Robert Peston says police are investigating whether the phone of Jessica's father, Leslie Chapman, was hacked by the press. Our correspondent says that, in relation to the phone-hacking claims involving Milly, News International executives privately say they accept that the basic allegations are true. ""Perhaps more striking, however,"" he adds, ""is that those executives also say that there may be even more embarrassing revelations to come about the way that News of the World journalists obtained information about other individuals."" Our correspondent told the BBC's Ten O'Clock News that News International has passed e-mails to police which appeared to show that the former editor of the News of the World, Andy Coulson, authorised payments to police for information. He said he had tried to put the allegations to Andy Coulson but had received no immediate response."
" Police contacted the parents of Soham murder victims Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman over allegations of phone hacking by the News of the World, it has emerged. A police source said relatives of the ten-year-olds, who were murdered by former school caretaker Ian Huntley in 2002, were visited by Scotland Yard officers several months ago. A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said: ""Both families have been contacted by officers from the Metropolitan Police and are assisting with them with their inquiries."" Allegations of hacking in the Soham case were first aired by Labour MP Tom Watson, but a statement is the first time it has been confirmed that the phone hacking inquiry, Operation Weeting, is also looking at the Soham case. The revelation follows the news that Milly Dowler's parents were told by police in April that their daughter's phone may have been hacked by the News of the World in the days after she went missing in 2002. Car giant Ford was the first company to confirm it is pulling out its advertising deals with the News of the World following claims that a private investigator working for the tabloid hacked into murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone after she went missing. A spokesman said: ""Ford is a company which cares about the standards of behaviour of its own people and those it deals with externally. We are awaiting an outcome from the News of the World investigation and expect a speedy and decisive response. ""Pending this response we will be using alternative media within and outside News International Group instead of placing Ford advertising in the News of the World."" Other companies also said they were considering pulling their advertising from the newspaper. An Npower spokesman said: ""We are currently reviewing our options"" and a Halifax spokesman said: ""We are considering our options."""
" The parents of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, the two children murdered by Ian Huntley, were contacted by Scotland Yard detectives investigating phone hacking at the News of the World, it emerged on Tuesday. A spokesman for Cambridgeshire police said they were aware that the families of Wells and Chapman were contacted by the Metropolitan police about two months ago. It is believed the families were warned there was evidence to suggest they were targeted by Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who was formerly employed by the paper. The families are thought to be seeking further clarification from the Met but are not currently commenting. Scotland Yard is conducting an investigation, Operating Weeting, into the News of the World phone-hacking allegations. Pressure is growing on Rebekah Brooks, who was editing the News of the World at the time and is now chief executive of its parent company News International, following the Guardian's revelations on Monday that Mulcaire hacked into a mobile phone belonging to Milly Dowler in 2002, the same year as the Soham murders. Schoolgirl Dowler went missing from her home in March 2002 and her body was found six months after she disappeared. The Soham murders took place in August that year. Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, said earlier on Tuesday that Brooks should ""consider her conscience and consider her position"" as he called for a public inquiry into the hacking allegations and the conduct of the tabloid press as a whole. Brooks insisted in an email to staff on Tuesday afternoon that she knew nothing about the allegations that Dowler's phone had been hacked by the paper she edited. She said she was ""sickened"" by the events and added she was ""determined to lead the company to ensure we do the right thing and resolve these serious issues"". News International executives insisted Brooks had the full backing of Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News International's owner News Corporation."
" The announcement came as a further blow for News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, who pledged her ""full co-operation"" with the police inquiry into the claims, which date back to her time as the paper's editor. In a statement, a spokesman for the car-maker said Ford was ""a company which cares about the standards of behaviour of its own people and those it deals with externally"". Two other leading companies, Npower and the Halifax, confirmed they were also considering whether to continue advertising with the paper amid a rising tide of anger at its alleged conduct. As politicians from across the political spectrum vented their fury, Ms Brooks said she was ""sickened"" by the allegations and promised the ""strongest possible action"" against those responsible. She insisted she had known nothing of the alleged actions of a private investigator working for the paper and made clear she had no intention of standing down from News International. Her comments however did little to assuage the growing chorus of demands for her to consider her position and for a full-scale public inquiry into the conduct of the press and the way that it is regulated. The pressure intensified with the confirmation by police that the parents of murdered Soham schoolgirls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, had also been contacted by officers on the hacking inquiry. The condemnation was led by David Cameron who described the allegations that a private detective hacked into 13-year-old Milly's voicemail messages while police were still trying to find her as ""really appalling"". In the Commons, Labour MP Chris Bryant - who believes his phone was hacked by the News of the World - employed a little-used procedural device to win a three-hour emergency debate on the issue to be held on Wednesday. On Tuesday night, News International said it had handed over new information to detectives. Its statement came as the BBC claimed the company had uncovered emails which appeared to show that payments to police had been authorised by the News of the World during the editorship of Andy Coulson."
" The Lindon, Utah-based company amended its claims against IBM on the eve of a hearing about what information Big Blue needs to disclose to SCO, one of numerous steps along the path to a scheduled trial date of April 11, 2005. SCO spokesman Blake Stowell declined to comment on the expanded legal attack--the company's second amended complaint against IBM--other than to say SCO plans a news announcement after Friday's hearing. In the motion requesting permission to amend the complaint, SCO said it might well amend its claims again once it begins receiving new information from IBM, a pipeline that Magistrate Judge Brooke Wells shut off at the December hearing. ""It is anticipated that IBM may reveal through discovery additional evidence relevant to the issues raised by its counterclaim and that SCO may in fact request future opportunity to align its claims once IBM's (sic) resumes the process of complying with its discovery obligations,"" SCO's attorneys said in the motion. Wells decreed at the December hearing that SCO should meet IBM's information requests but issued a stay until Friday on IBM complying with SCO's information requests. Friday's hearing will address the issue of what information IBM should provide. SCO, which licensed Unix to IBM, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics and others, argues it owns the copyright to the operating system. However, Novell, which owned Unix before selling it to SCO's predecessor in 1995, argues that it still owns the copyright. Copyright infringement is a major new element to SCO's current accusations that IBM breached its contract with SCO and misappropriated trade secrets by moving technology developed for proprietary Unix to open-source Linux. The case has injected some uncertainty into a computing industry that for the most part has eagerly embraced Linux, but analysts such as IDC say the suit doesn't appear to have slowed the operating system's growth."
" The US military has suspended shipments of equipment out of Afghanistan through Pakistan, citing protests that posed a risk to truck drivers. The move came after club-wielding activists in northwest Pakistan forcibly searched trucks for NATO supplies in protest over US drone strikes in the tribal belt. ""We have voluntarily halted US shipments of retrograde cargo through the Pakistan Ground Line of Communication (GLOCC) from Torkham Gate through Karachi,"" Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright in a statement. He was referring to the main overland route used by the Americans and NATO to withdraw military hardware from Afghanistan, as part of a troop pullout set to wrap up by the end of 2014. Trucks have been told to wait in holding areas in Afghanistan, officials said. ""We anticipate that we will be able to resume our shipments through this route in the near future,"" Wright said. A defence official said Washington believed the Islamabad government fully supported the use of the route and that it would soon restore security to the area. ""The companies that we contract with were getting nervous. And it's getting a little too dangerous for the truck drivers,"" the defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP. The United States has alternative routes available to the north through Central Asia, though those options take longer and are more expensive. ""While we favor shipping cargo via Pakistan because of cost, we have built flexibility and redundancy into our overall system of air, sea and ground routes to transport cargo into and out of Afghanistan,"" Wright said."
" Israeli forces have killed two Palestinians and wounded another in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics and Israeli sources say. The incident took place near the border fence with Israel after a two-month lull in violence along the border. Israeli military sources said the army had targeted militants who were trying to fire rockets into Israel. They seem to be the first deaths since an unofficial April ceasefire between Israel and most Gaza militant groups. ""Two people were killed and one was injured in an artillery shelling east of the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip,"" emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya told the AFP news agency. Those who were killed are believed to be from a small militant groups sometimes called Salafist jihadis, says the BBC's Jon Donnison in Gaza. Salafists did not sign up to the ceasefire but since then, Hamas - which governs in Gaza - has reined in smaller militant groups, our correspondent adds."
" Violence rocked Pakistan's biggest city today as 13 people were killed in targeted shootings including five suspected Taliban activists, a Shia scholar and two Moroccan students at a religious seminary.Police said the spate of targeted killings increased late this evening when seven people were shot dead in just an hour.In the latest incident at Nazimabad, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a car killing five people.A senior police official said on condition of anonymity that the killed included two people who had links with militant outfits and used to raise funds for them in the city.""One of them is Mushtaq Samand who was well known for raising funds for Jihadi outfits and even contested the recent provincial assembly elections as an independent candidate,"" he said.Earlier, two foreign students from Morocco studying at a religious seminary were shot dead outside the Makki mosque in the same area as they came out for a stroll while in another targeted killing in North Nazimabad three people were killed in an ambush.""All three belonged to Tableegi Jamaat,"" an official said.The city remained tense with many roads and markets closed after a leading Shia scholar and leader of the Wahidat ul Muslameen, Allama Deedar Ali and his driver were shot dead earlier in the day in Gulshan-e-Jauhar area.""The killing of Allama Deedar appears to be a sectarian-related one and in retaliation to the target killing of a leading Deobandi Sunni scholar on Monday in the city,"" SSP Imran Shaukat said.As news of Deedar's killing spread in the city, violence and firing incidents were reported from many areas with most of the Shia-dominated areas shut down while many other markets and shops also closed down out of fear.Attacks were also reported from Landhi, Itted town and Korangi where three people were killed.Karachi, Pakistan's economic hub, has for long been wracked by political, ethnic and sectarian unrest."
" A rocket attack on regime-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo has killed at least 18 people, activists have said. Aleppo is split between government and opposition-held districts and has seen some of worst fighting of the conflict. Meanwhile, the Syrian government has said President Bashar al-Assad should lead any transitional government agreed at peace talks due in January. Such a government is envisaged as a result of the talks, but the opposition has rejected any role for Mr Assad. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group with links to the opposition, said 18 people had been killed in the Aleppo attack, including 10 government soldiers. The attack on the Furqan and Meridian neighbourhoods also wounded at least 30 people, the SOHR said. The organisation said at least five government soldiers were among the dead. More than two million Syrians have fled the country, according to the UN. Since the start of unrest in March 2011, more than 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the conflict. In the early months of the uprising Aleppo, Syria's commercial capital, was largely spared the violence."
" Merrill Newman -- the 85-year-old American detained by North Korean authorities earlier this fall -- has been ""deported,"" North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported early Saturday. His son announced late Friday that he is on his way home to the United States. ""We are absolutely delighted to confirm that Merrill Newman is on his way home,"" Jeff Newman said. A senior Obama administration official said soon after the North Korean announcement that U.S. authorities have Newman ""in hand."" State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf subsequently tweeted that U.S. Embassy officials met ""Newman at the airport in Beijing and provided all appropriate consular assistance."" Video showed him smiling as he walked past a cavalcade of reporters through the Chinese capital's airport. The out-of-the-blue release became all the more real for Newman's relatives in the United States shortly before 8 p.m. (11 p.m. ET), when they talked with Merrill by phone, his family said. The KCNA report stated that investigators determined that ""Newman entered the DPRK with a wrong understanding of it and perpetrated a hostile act against it."" ""Taking into consideration his admittance of the act committed by him on the basis of his wrong understanding (and the) apology made by him for it, his sincere repentance of it and his advanced age and health condition, the above-said institution deported him from the country from a humanitarian viewpoint,"" the official North Korean report added. On Thursday, Harf said American officials had spoken the previous day with relatives of Newman and Kenneth Bae, another American being held in North Korea, but added little else. Hours later, Harf issued a statement saying Washington was ""pleased that Mr. Merrill Newman has been allowed to depart the DPRK and rejoin his family."" ""We welcome the DPRK's decision to release him. This positive decision by the DPRK throws into sharper relief the continuing detention of ... Bae,"" she added. ""... We call on the DPRK once again to pardon and grant Mr. Bae special amnesty and immediately release him as a humanitarian gesture so that he too can return home to his family."" Coincidence or not, the news of Newman's release came on the day that Vice President Joe Biden was in South Korea, where he was to lay a wreath at a memorial for veterans of the war that pitted North Korea against its southern neighbor as well as the United States."
" French troops in the Central African Republic are expanding their operations, in an effort to restore order following sectarian fighting. French reinforcements patrolled the capital Bangui as others entered from Cameroon, an army spokesman said. Troops are also heading for the divided northern town of Bossangoa. France is increasing its presence in the CAR to 1,600 troops to help peacekeepers deal with rising violence between Muslim and Christian militias. The CAR has been in turmoil since Michel Djotodia ousted Francois Bozize in March and installed himself as the first Muslim leader in the Christian-majority country. The mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition which brought him to power has been accused of atrocities against Christians. At the end of a summit on Africa in Paris, French President Francois Hollande called for the establishment of an African rapid deployment force within months. Mr Hollande said Africa must ensure its own security in the future - France was ready to help with training and weapons. Speaking alongside Mr Hollande, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said: ""I'm particularly grateful to all the countries contributing soldiers to Misca [Mission in the Central African Republic] and in particular to France for boosting its military support."" The French deployment follows a UN Security Council vote authorising its troops to join Misca."
" Witnesses said Ghazi Jabali was travelling in a motorcade on the coastal road when gunmen opened fire and kidnapped him. Mr Jabali was taken to the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, where he was held for several hours. He was freed after negotiations between Palestinian officials and the Jenin Martyrs' Brigades group holding him. Mr Jabali was reportedly held in a house in the refugee camp, where armed and masked militants were said to have manned surrounding rooftops. The Jenin Martyrs' Brigades - a little known offshoot of the larger Popular Resistance Committees - did not say why it had carried out the abduction. The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says it has been clear for some time that Mr Jabali has powerful enemies in Gaza. Some months ago he was assaulted by militants in his office and soon afterwards there was an attack on one of his homes. As police chief he has the difficult task of trying to impose order on what is often an unruly society where there are many heavily armed militant factions, our correspondent says. And, he adds, like a lot of senior officials, Mr Jabali is unpopular with many Gazans who regard the upper echelons of the Palestinian leadership in the Gaza Strip as being tainted by corruption. The abduction has fuelled concern about competition between rival factions vying for power ahead of a planned Israeli withdrawal from Gaza."
" Iran slashes oil price in budget to $40 per barrel (Reuters) Kerry says he may meet Iranian foreign minister in Paris (Reuters) U.S. drone kills seven militants in Pakistan, official says (DPA) Lieberman to reveal Yisrael Beiteinu list on Monday, vows to get 16 Knesset seats (Haaretz) Schoolbus catches fire near Jerusalem suburb of Pisgat Ze'ev; no injuries (Haaretz)"
" Costa do Sauipe - Dealing up a World Cup draw full of intrigue, FIFA on Friday set up a tantalising group phase at next year's World Cup where reigning champions Spain will open their defence with a rematch of the 2010 final against the Netherlands. The draw in the northeastern beach resort of Costa do Sauipe saw a variety of other subplots with England drawn in a group containing three former champions -- themselves, four-time winners Italy and twice winners Uruguay -- as well as Costa Rica. Spain, who won their first title in South Africa four years ago, start their Group B campaign against the three-time runners-up on June 13 in Salvador. They will also meet Chile, who they beat in the group stage in 2010, in Rio and Australia in Curitiba. ""I said to people this morning we were going to get Holland and we did, in the first game no less,"" said Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque. ""Holland will demand that we start at our highest level."" Hosts and five-time champions Brazil were drawn to face Croatia in the opening game, scheduled for Sao Paulo on June 12 -- assuming the venue is ready after a fatal accident last week delayed prospective completion until April. The Brazilians will then take on Mexico and Cameroon in a Group A that appears on the face of it unthreatening, if not easy. ""We must pay close attention to the opening phase,"" said Brazil's 2002 title-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. ""We must play every game as if it were the final right from the outset."""
" Fighters from the Islamic Front, a union of six major rebel groups, took control of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) bases at the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the northwestern border with Turkey late on Friday night, the opposition sources said. Louay Meqdad, an FSA spokesman, said the Islamic Front fighters had entered the bases after saying they wanted to help to secure them. They then asked officers and employees to leave and replaced an FSA flag with one of their own, he said. ""We believe that those brigades are our brothers, that they know that we are not the enemy,"" Meqdad said. Infighting among Syria's rebel groups has undermined their fight against President Bashar al-Assad in the 2-1/2-year-old civil war and made Western governments hesitant to back them. The rise of hardline Islamist groups among the rebels, including some linked to al Qaeda, has also unsettled powers such as the United States, who fear that if the militants came to power, they would eventually turn their weapons on Western targets. On Tuesday the Islamic Front said it had withdrawn from the military command of the FSA, notionally charged with coordinating the war, and criticised its leadership. While the Islamic Front does not include either of Syria's two al Qaeda-affiliated units - the Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - it does include radical Islamists who have coordinated with them. On Friday, the opposition Syrian National Coalition published statements by an FSA official playing down the Islamic Front's withdrawal and denying that the groups were in disagreement. But the events in Bab al-Hawa, confirmed by activists in the area, underscored the size of the task facing the Western powers as they try to unite rebel groups under FSA command and sideline more hardline groups. Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman said five rebel fighters had been killed in clashes in Bab al-Hawa, but it was not clear which side they were on."
" Royal Marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman has been sentenced to life by a court martial for murdering an insurgent in Afghanistan. Blackman, 39, from Taunton, Somerset, has been told he will spend at least 10 years in prison. It comes after one of the UK's highest-ranking Royal Marines pledged his ""full support"" for Blackman, saying he had been ""tainted"" by the ""impact of war"". The Ministry of Defence said it respected the court's decision. Continue reading the main story In the words of his commanding officer, Sgt Al Blackman, the man until recently known just as Marine A, had a proud career and promising future. That was until a momentary and fatal lapse of judgement that not only prematurely ended the life of the injured Afghan fighter he shot, but also altered his own forever. His commanding officer said that Blackman was not a bad man, but a ""normal citizen"" tainted by the impact of war. But while the Judge Advocate General said there were mitigating circumstances to this unusual case, Blackman had treated the injured Afghan with contempt and murdered him in cold blood. He said his reaction to the murder caught on tape was chilling. The sentence passed was always going to be controversial - this was a murder carried out by a man who was serving his country in a war with a ruthless enemy. But those who criticise must also reflect that the sentence was approved by a group of Blackman's peers - those in uniform who've also experienced combat. In the words of Judge Blackett, it's their reputation too that's been tarnished. While there will be sympathy, there's also anger. On Thursday, three judges at the High Court lifted an anonymity order allowing Blackman to be named. Lt Col Simon Chapman, in a letter read to the judge and board at the court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire, described how Blackman's promising career had been shattered in a ""momentary"" lapse of judgement. The Ministry of Defence, in a statement, said: ""Throughout this case the Ministry of Defence has followed the independent legal process and a sentence has now been delivered. ""We respect the authority and decision of the court and it would be inappropriate of us to comment on the sentence."" The trial - during which Blackman was referred to as Marine A - was the first time a member of the British armed forces had faced a murder charge in relation to the conflict in Afghanistan, which began in 2001."
" At least 300 people have been killed in two days of violence in the capital of the Central African Republic, says the Red Cross. The organisation said its staff stopped collecting bodies in Bangui as night fell but would resume over the weekend, and expected the toll to rise. Violence in the CAR has raised fears of mass killings along sectarian lines. Hundreds of French troops are arriving in the city as part of a UN effort to restore law and order. France was hoping to have around 1,000 troops - doubling its current force - in the CAR by Friday evening. It followed a UN Security Council vote to allow French troops to join an African peacekeeping force in the CAR. Thursday's violence is thought to have begun when Christian militias, loyal to the CAR's ousted President Francois Bozize, launched multiple attacks from the north - sparking retaliatory attacks from mainly Muslim armed fighters loyal to the new leadership. Residents spoke of gun battles in their neighbourhoods and hundreds fled to the airport seeking the protection of some of the French troops based there. Dozens of bodies were reported to have been left lying in the roads, in areas too dangerous for people to collect them. The Red Cross' president in the CAR, Pastor Antoine Mbao Bogo, said his staff had collected 281 bodies as of Friday night and expected the number to rise significantly when they resume their work."
" Israel is fully entitled to work against attempts by the upcoming Gaza-bound ""provocation flotilla"" to smuggle arms into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a speech to graduating cadets of the IAF Pilot's Course at the Hatzerim Air Base near Beersheba on Thursday. ""Israel has the full right to operate against efforts to smuggle missiles, rockets and other weapons to Hamas's terror enclave. Hamas is a ruthless enemy, who maliciously harms our cities and children,"" Netanyahu said at the graduation ceremony. RELATED: 'Holland's Hamas leader is brain behind Dutch flotilla' 'Damaged Irish ship won't join flotilla after sabotage'  Israel hopes Gaza flotilla delay will reduce participation  ""I would like to praise the many leaders throughout the world who worked against the 'provocation flotilla,' led by US and European leaders, UN Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon], and my friend the Greek prime minister [George Papandreou]."" Netanyahu also addressed kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, saying ""Hamas is holding Gilad Schalit in criminal captivity, against all treaties and international standards."" ""The international community is united in its request to release Gilad and to allow the Red Cross to visit him. The State of Israel is committed to the release of Gilad and to his return home in peace, and to the return of Ron Arad and other MIAs to Israel,"" Netanyahu said. President Shimon Peres also spoke at the ceremony, saying Iran's military capabilities are over-exaggerated and Israel is aware of the risks which it faces."
" Two French soldiers have been killed in combat in the Central African Republic, the French presidency says. It says President Francois Hollande, who is now in the CAR, ""learned with deep sadness"" that the two had been killed overnight in the capital Bangui. They are the first French deaths since France deployed 1,600 soldiers to the CAR last week in a UN-backed operation. The CAR has been in chaos since rebel leader Michel Djotodia ousted President Francois Bozize in March. Fuelled by ethnic rivalries, the conflict has also now become sectarian in nature as he installed himself as the first Muslim leader in the Christian-majority country sparking months of bloody clashes between rival Muslim and Christian fighters. Claude Bartolone, speaker of France's National Assembly, told reporters that the two paratroopers had been involved in a clash near Bangui airport. ""They were injured and very quickly taken to the surgical unit, but unfortunately they could not be saved,"" he said. A statement from President Hollande's office said the soldiers had ""lost their lives to save many others"". ""The president expresses his profound respect for the sacrifice of these two soldiers and renews his full confidence in the French forces committed - alongside African forces - to restoring security in the Central African Republic, to protecting the people and guaranteeing access to humanitarian aid,"" it said. President Hollande, who attended Nelson Mandela's memorial service in South Africa, has now arrived in Bangui. He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius."
" Members of the team have blamed Israeli secret agents for the sophisticated attack by divers. Only the action of the quick-thinking crew saved lives from being lost on the MV Saoirse, which is docked in Turkey. It was due to take part in a flotilla to the besieged Middle East zone but was ""sabotaged"" and will not now travel. Rugby player Trevor Hogan said the realisation of what happened has left crew members ""devastated"". He said the boat would have been ""well out to sea"" before the effects of the attack were felt. ""There would have been a loss of life on the boat. It's pretty devastating. We're all coming to terms with it at the moment,"" the 31-year-old former Leinster and Munster star said. ""It was definitely sabotage. It was a clear attempt to sink the boat and it would have been a gradual sinking."" The Israeli spy agency Mossad is being blamed for the sabotage. Former TD Chris Andrews told the Herald today: ""The boat would almost certainly have sank. ""We don't know the precise way they did it but they cut a shaft so that we would have got out of the port but then it would have snapped."""
" Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the Ukrainian capital Kiev seeking the resignation of the government for refusing a deal on closer ties with the European Union. Protesters, who oppose a customs union with Russia, toppled a statue of Lenin and smashed it with hammers. President Viktor Yanukovych has said he shelved the EU deal because it would put trade with Russia at risk. Protest leaders have given him 48 hours to dismiss the government. Continue reading the main story As another big crowd calls for closer relations with Europe, no resolution to the stand-off between the pro-EU protesters and the Ukrainian government is in sight. The country's opposition is sticking to its demand for the replacement of what amounts to the entire ruling structure: the president, parliament and cabinet. But President Viktor Yanukovych is not moving an inch either, forging ahead with plans for a ""strategic partnership with Russia"". The government has state power on its side, but the protesters have a no less potent weapon: people power. Tensions continue to mount, with two events on Sunday only adding to the strained atmosphere: an announcement by state security service officials that they are looking into an alleged attempt to seize power, and the toppling of Kiev's Lenin statue. Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy head, will have her work cut out when she arrives in Kiev later this week to try to defuse the situation. As darkness fell, protesters were blockading key government buildings with cars, barricades and tents. Witnesses said a group of protesters toppled the statue of Soviet leader Lenin at the top of Shevchenko Boulevard using metal bars and ropes. Then they began smashing it up with hammers. Others stood by chanting ""glory to Ukraine"". Correspondents say the statue has symbolic importance as it underlines Ukraine's shared history with Russia. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov compared the toppling of the statue to the Taliban's destruction of the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan in 2001, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported."
" Irish activists planning to sail in a flotilla to Gaza have accused Israel of sabotaging their ship. It is the second vessel due to participate that has had its propeller damaged while moored in a Mediterranean port this week. The Israeli military is under orders to prevent an international convoy of ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid from reaching Gaza. Organisers want to challenge Israel's naval blockade of the territory. More than 300 protesters on 10 ships, from North America and Europe, are due to join the latest flotilla. American writer, Alice Walker, is among those due to set sail. Last year, nine activists on a Turkish vessel, the Mavi Marmara, were killed in an Israeli raid on an aid flotilla. Each side blamed the other for the violence. Following international outcry, Israel considerably eased its blockade of Gaza, allowing in more food and humanitarian goods. The Irish Ship to Gaza (ISG) campaign noticed problems with the propeller of their vessel, the Saoirse, while berthed in the Turkish port of Gocek. The group claims it was attacked ""by saboteurs who cut, gouged or filed a piece off the shaft."" ""Israel has questions to answer and must be viewed as the chief suspect,"" the ISG said. On Tuesday, similar allegations of sabotage were made by activists on the Swedish-owned Juliano, docked in Piraeus in Greece. Israel has not commented on the allegations."
" India's top court has upheld a law which criminalises gay sex, in a ruling seen as a major blow to gay rights. The Supreme Court ruling reverses a landmark 2009 Delhi High Court order which had decriminalised homosexual acts. The court said it was up to parliament to legislate on the issue. According to Section 377, a 153-year-old colonial-era law, a same-sex relationship is an ""unnatural offence"" and punishable by a 10-year jail term. Several political, social and religious groups had petitioned the Supreme Court to have the law reinstated in the wake of the 2009 court ruling. Correspondents say although the law has rarely - if ever - been used to prosecute anyone for consensual sex, it has often been used by the police to harass homosexuals. Also, in deeply conservative India, homosexuality is a taboo and many people still regard same-sex relationships as illegitimate. The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says some politicians have spoken out against the court decision - but many believe it is going to be difficult for them to take on the anti-gay lobby. ""It is up to parliament to legislate on this issue,"" Justice GS Singhvi, the head of the two-judge Supreme Court bench, said in Wednesday's ruling, which came on his last day before retiring. Continue reading the main story The Supreme Court ruling has come as a huge surprise for activists who have described it as ""retrograde"" and say this is ""a black day"" for gay rights in India. They have campaigned for years for acceptance in India's deeply conservative society and many have vowed to carry on the fight for ""their constitutional right"". Nobody expected the Supreme Court, often seen as a last recourse for citizens faced with an unresponsive government, to reverse an order many had hailed as a landmark. As Justice GS Singhvi announced the order, activists and members of the gay and lesbian community present outside the court began crying and hugging each other. Some asked if after the court ruling, they had become criminals."
" Nelson Mandela's official memorial service is being held at Soweto's FNB stadium in front of a huge crowd It is one of the biggest gatherings of international dignitaries in recent years, with more than 90 current heads of state or government attending To cheers, US President Barack Obama hailed Mr Mandela as the ""last great liberator of the 20th Century"", but South African President Jacob Zuma was booed On his way to the stage, Mr Obama shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castro, a rare gesture of friendship between two deeply opposed nations Mr Mandela's body will lie in state in Pretoria from 11-13 December. His state funeral is on Sunday in his Eastern Cape village of Qunu"
" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has sacked the governor of the city of Hama, which saw mass anti-government protests on Friday, state TV has said. It said Mr Assad had signed a decree removing Ahmad Khaled Abdel Aziz. Friday saw some of the biggest demonstrations yet against the rule of Mr Assad. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets nationwide, with human rights groups saying that at least 24 people had been killed by security forces. Activists say more than 1,350 civilians and 350 security personnel have been killed since protests began in mid-March. Tens of thousands of people were said to have taken part in protests in Hama on Friday. The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said it was ""the biggest demonstration since the Syrian Revolution broke out"" on 15 March. One resident told BBC Arabic on Friday: ""Hundreds of thousands are chanting 'Leave, leave, the people want the fall of the regime.' All of Hama is celebrating. There are people chanting from their windows and from the fronts of their homes. All of Hama is on the streets."" State television, in a newsflash on Saturday, said: ""The Syrian president signed a decree today relieving Dr Ahmad Khaled Abdel Aziz of his post as governor of Hama."" Correspondents say there were reports the army had eased its presence in the city earlier in the week."
" Bangkok, December 12, 2013--A radio reporter was shot dead in the Philippines on Wednesday, marking the third journalist to be killed in the past two weeks in the country. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to uphold the rule of law and bring an end to the killing spree of journalists that is under way across the country. Rogelio Butalib was shot dead by an unidentified gunman at around 9 a.m. while getting on his motorcycle at a busy intersection outside of his radio station in Tagum town in Davao Del Norte province, according to news reports. Witnesses cited in the reports said the gunman fled the scene on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice. Police said they recovered six shells from a .45 caliber handgun from the crime scene. Chief Inspector Jed Clamor said police were investigating whether the journalist's murder was related to his work. Butalib hosted a regular blocktime radio show known as ""Ang Kamatuoran"" (The Truth) on 107.9 FM Radyo Natin, on which he often covered local corruption issues, according to news accounts. Unidentified colleagues said Butalib regularly received anonymous death threats, according to news reports. Radio blocktime reporters, who lease airtime from a radio station, are frequently targeted in provincial areas of the Philippines, CPJ research shows. Police official Clamor told local journalists that the killing could also be related to Butalib's election in October to councilman of Mankilam village, which was a ""hotly contested district post,"" according to news reports. In a separate case on Tuesday, unidentified gunmen shot radio journalist Jonavin Villalbal at around 11 p.m. in front of his house in the central city of Iloilo, according to news reports. No suspects were arrested in the attack, the reports said. Villalbal, a crime reporter with dyOK Aksyon Radyo Ilolio, was in stable condition at Iloilo Mission Hospital, according to reports. Butalib's murder comes within the same two-week period as the fatal shooting by unknown assailants of radio broadcasters Joas Dignos and Michael Diaz Milo. ""The killing of three journalists and shooting of another in two weeks painfully reaffirms the Philippines' reputation as one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a reporter,"" said Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative. ""Until the murderers of journalists are regularly brought to justice and the cycle of impunity is broken, the violence will inevitably continue."""
" CAIRO - The popular uprising in Egypt triumphed Friday as President Hosni Mubarak surrendered to the will of a leaderless revolution and stepped down after 30 years of autocratic rule over the Arab world's most populous nation. Mubarak became the second Arab leader in a month to succumb to his people's powerful thirst for freedom. His resignation sparked joyful pandemonium in Cairo and across the country, but the next steps for Egypt were unclear as the armed forces took control and gave little hint of how they intend to govern. For the moment, however, Egyptians were suffused with a sense that they had made world history, on par with chapters such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. In a region long devoid of democracy and stifled by repression, Egyptians celebrated with fireworks, a cacophony of horns and a sea of red-white-and-black national flags. ""I feel Egyptian, like I am a new person,"" said Mustafa Sayed, 52, among tens of thousands of protesters who marched to Mubarak's presidential palace to demand that he leave. ""I feel as though my handcuffed wrists and my sealed lips are now free."" Mubarak's abrupt abdication came just 19 hours after the 82-year-old leader had appeared on national television to declare defiantly that, despite the swelling protests against his rule, he had no plans to quit. He left it to his handpicked vice president, Omar Suleiman, to announce his resignation; Mubarak and his wife, Suzanne, then left Cairo, apparently bound for internal exile in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. While Egypt's new military chiefs pledged to allow ""free and honest"" elections, it remained unclear how and whether power might be ceded to civilians, after six decades in which the army has been the country's dominant force. It was also unclear whether demonstrators' success in winning Mubarak's removal might be followed by a quest for retribution against the former president, his wealthy family or members of his notoriously brutal security services. A group of Egyptian lawyers said they would submit a complaint to the country's attorney general seeking the prosecution of the Mubarak family on corruption charges. But for at least one day, Egyptians were able to celebrate, backed by international statements of support. ""Egypt will never be the same,"" President Obama said at the White House. "" . . . And I know that a democratic Egypt can advance its role of responsible leadership not only in the region, but around the world."" In Tahrir Square, the plaza in central Cairo where the protests began Jan. 25, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians jumped up and down, pumped their fists, waved their flags, hugged and cried. If the people were nervous about their nation's uncertain future, they submerged their anxieties for the moment. ""I feel free,"" shouted Nihal Shafiq, a 30-year-old film director. ""This is a great moment and it hit us by surprise. It is a new beginning for Egypt after 30 years of suffering."""
" Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has temporarily left Cairo, a day after transferring some power to Vice President Omar Suleiman in an effort to quell weeks of protests, CBS News has confirmed. The embattled ruler left the capital for the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. He is not expected to stay there indefinitely but will return to Cairo. Reports that he has fled the country for a safe haven elsewhere in the Arab world - or for medical care in Europe - are inaccurate, sources told CBS News. Mubarak reportedly left during or immediately after his speech to the nation last night, which was taped in advance. Anger has flared on the Egyptian streets following the speech. Mubarak was widely expected to announce he was stepping down Thursday. Instead he said he would transfer some unspecified powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman and remain president until elections in September. As Mubarak's speech was broadcast, premature victory celebrations among protesters in central Tahrir Square turned to bafflement, dismay, and rage. Mubarak's concessions seem like a half-measure - at best - to demonstrators who want nothing less than his complete removal from power. Even the installation of Suleiman is distasteful to many. Suleiman is seen in Egypt and abroad as an establishment figure and close ally not fundamentally different from Mubarak. The Egyptian military on Friday endorsed Mubarak's plan to stay in office Friday while protesters fanned out to the presidential palace in Cairo and other key symbols of the authoritarian regime in a new push to force the leader to step down immediately. The statement by the Armed Forces Supreme Council -- its second in two days -- was a blow to many protesters who had called on the military to take action to push out Mubarak after his latest refusal to step down. But soldiers also took no action to stop demonstrators from massing outside the palace and the headquarters of state television, indicating they were trying to avoid another outbreak of violence. Anti-government protesters said they were more determined than ever as the uprising entered its 18th day. CBS News correspondent Terry McCarthy reported that ""some of the biggest crowds Cairo has ever seen"" were gathering in Tahrir Square, the focal point for the nearly three-week protest movement."
" Al-Arabiya television reported on Friday that President Hosni Mubarak and his family had left Cairo from a military airbase in the suburbs and may have gone to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. It did not give a source for the series of reports on the movement of the president and his family. It said the report that Mubarak had gone to Sharm el-Sheikh was ""unconfirmed"". (Reuters)"
" Four Belarus opposition figures have been charged with organising riots after a protest against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko. The four men, who are being held along with a number of campaigners and journalists, face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Three other opposition figures are also being investigated. The US and EU condemned the post-election crackdown and said the ballot itself had been flawed. Police made some 600 arrests when they broke up the protest in the capital, Minsk, on 19 December. Hundreds of those detained, including 11 Russian citizens, were released on Wednesday. The four men charged were named by lawyers as Vladimir Neklyaev, Andrei Sannikov, Nikolai Statkevich and Vitaly Rymashevsky. Mr Neklyaev has been receiving hospital treatment after being severely beaten up on election day, his lawyer said. Also under investigation are Rygor Kostusev, Dmitry Uss and Alexei Mikhalevich. All seven men stood as candidates against Mr Lukashenko, with none polling more than 3% of the vote, according to official results."
" Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Major Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei warned of potential violent unrest after President Hosni Mubarak announced late Thursday he would not step down before September elections. Mubarak ""is gambling with his country"" in order to stay at the helm, ElBaradei told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He reiterated the message of his Twitter account, which read, ""Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now."" Major clashes between the people and the army, which Egyptians traditionally believe has been on their side, would be devastating, said ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency. ElBaradei's outlook had changed since hours before, when Egyptians, including thousands packed in Cairo's Tahrir Square, expected Mubarak to step down rather than delegate powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman. The arrangement failed to mollify opposition leaders or those who have rallied in Tahrir Square for more than two weeks. Another mass protest is planned again Friday after prayer services. ""Mubarak is only one part of this regime,"" human rights activist Gigi Ibrahim, one of the Tahrir Square protesters, told CNN. ""People have been here for 17 days, and they are not for Suleiman, either,"" Ibrahim said. ""Mubarak has lost all legitimacy, and now him handing over the power to the vice president is as illegitimate as Mubarak being in power."" ElBaradei told CNN that Egyptians will not accept the new arrangement. ""Suleiman is considered to be an extension of Mubarak. They are twins. Neither of them is acceptable to the people,"" he said. ""For the sake of their country, they should go."" ElBaradei said a leadership council and a caretaker government should rule the North African nation for one year during a transition to a more democratic process."
" Egypt has allowed an Asian aid convoy to enter Gaza via Al-Arish in Sinai, but has prevented Iranian activists from passing, reported Egyptian daily Al-Ahram on Thursday. According to the report, Cairo gave permission for the ""Asia to Gaza Caravan"" or ""Asia1"" to pass through Egypt to Gaza, said Khaled Abdel Megid, a member of the Palestinian National Congress. He stated that the Egyptian embassy in Damascus told the convoy that 120 activists could pass on to Gaza, but 46 activists from Iran and Jordan were denied entry.  Al-Ahram also reported that Egypt will not allow 10 generators donated by Iran to enter Gaza."
" RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's ""Arab Spring"" protesters said they were undeterred despite a landslide victory for King Mohammed in a referendum on constitutional changes they say do nothing to ease his autocratic grip on power. The result followed a state media campaign in favor of the ""yes"" vote that appealed to a widespread sense of loyalty to the king, who is head of the Arab world's longest-serving dynasty and a staunch Western ally. The result will also be scrutinized by Gulf monarchies who have so far dodged reform calls. Western partners of Morocco urged the king to enact reforms swiftly and to listen to the demands of representatives of citizen movements. ""We shall continue to be the only real opposition in this country, the opposition in the street,"" Najib Chawki, one of the coordinators of the leaderless ""February 20"" street movement, which wants a parliamentary monarchy under which the powers of the king and political elite are checked by the legislature. ""Tomorrow we will see how people react,"" he said of nationwide rallies the group has called for Sunday. Protests staged last Sunday drew tens of thousands to the streets of the capital Rabat, economic hub Casablanca and the port Tangiers. Mohammed, 47, has had some success in repairing the legacy of human right abuses, high illiteracy and poverty he inherited after his late father's 38-year rule ended in 1999. Yet critics say there remains a wide disparity between rich and poor, and complain of failings over human rights and the rule of law. ""I handed in my voter's card and asked if they should verify my identity. I was told 'we don't do this',"" he wrote. The street movement has failed to attract the mass support of popular uprisings that toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt, and the result raises questions over its future path. In Bahrain, which began talks on Saturday between opposition and pro-government groups after protests earlier this year, the leading Shi'ite opposition group Wafeq gave the new constitution a cautious thumbs-up and said it could serve as a model. ""Even though the king will preserve presidential powers ... such as the sole privilege of appointing the security apparatus, the progress which this new constitution has brought is an important development in Morocco's path toward democracy,"" Wafeq said."
" Debt-hit country to get next $17.4 billion tranche of existing aid package, with additional funds in the pipeline. Euro zone finance ministers have agreed to disburse a further $17.41 billion (12 billion euros) to Greece, with the final details of an additional aid package to be worked out in the coming weeks. The 17 euro zone ministers decided over a conference call on Saturday that the fifth tranche of Greece's $159.6 billion (110 billion euro) bailout will be paid out by July 15, pending International Monetary Fund (IMF) approval. The IMF is due to meet on July 8 to discuss the bailout. ""The Greek authorities provided a strong commitment to adhere to the agreed fiscal adjustment path and to the growth-enhancing structural reform agenda,"" Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the Eurogroup, said in a statement approving the release of the next aid payment. ""Ministers call on all political parties in Greece to support the programme's main objectives and key policy measures in order to ensure a rigorous and swift implementation."" Evangelos Venizelos, the Greek finance minister, welcomed the announcement, saying it ""strengthened the country's international credibility"". ""What is crucial now is the timely and effective implementation of the decisions taken in parliament, so we can gradually emerge from the crisis in the interest of national economy and the Greek citizens,"" he added. According to the statement, the ""precise modalities and scale"" of private sector involvement in the second aid package will be determined in the ""coming weeks"", after further consultations. The second aid package is also expected to amount to $159.6 billion (110 billion euros), but likely will not be finalised until September. The $17.41 billion payment agreed to on Saturday will allow Greece to pay a bond redemption of $8.56 billion (5.9 billion euros) in August, though it will still face massive debt difficulties, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of over 150 per cent. Greece has repeatedly failed to meet budget targets laid out in the first bailout programme, with the result that there is now a risk that the crisis will spread across the euro zone if matters continue as they have. The second financing programme will run from 2011 to 2014, and comes in addition to an existing assistance package. As part of the package, Greece is expected to raise about $45.53 billion (30 billion euros) from privatisation, the European Union and IMF to contribute around $72.56 billion (50 billion euros) and the private sector to provide about $45.53 billion (30 billion euros) through the rollover of debt. ""The precise modalities and scale of private sector involvement and additional funding from official sources will be determined in the coming weeks so as to ensure that ... required programme funding is in place,"" Juncker's statement read. On Friday, the influential Institute of International Finance (IIF), which represents banks, insurers and investment funds, approved of the prliminary plan for private sector involvement. ""Ministers agreed that the main parameters of a multi-year adjustment programme for Greece will revolve around a continued strong commitment to implementing fiscal consolidation measures... and concrete structural reform and privatisation,"" Juncker's statement went on to say. European leaders committed to the second programme at their last summit on June 23-24, which satisfies an IMF stipulation that the euro zone must finance Greece 12 months ahead for the IMF to contribute. Though the next tranche payment has been approved, there is growing concern among EU officials that the strictures being imposed on Greece, including a $40.63 billion austerity package between now and 2015 could cause longer term damage. The finance minister for Poland, which has just taken over the EU's six-month rotating presidency, suggested on Saturday that there is too much emphasis on austerity and not enough on Greek economic growth. ""We can't afford to relax and we need to move forward as fast as possible,  both on the eurozone and IMF side,"" Jacek Rostowski, the Polish finance minister, said. He stressed that ""mistakes"" had been made in the past. ""It's clear that everybody has made mistakes over the past year and a half,"" he said. ""We've all been behind the curve. ""The International Monetary Fund has a huge amount of experience in how to run [rescue programmes]. There are lots of things still that we can learn from the way the IMF does things,"" he said, without mentioning specifics."
" He died in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, where militants have often launched missile attacks on Israel. A BBC correspondent says militants may have been planning a rocket attack, which the residents opposed for fear of Israeli retaliation. Last month a missile fired from the area killed two people. Israeli troops moved in soon afterwards to try to prevent further attacks. They have demolished homes and orchards and blockaded residents for more than 3 weeks. The BBC's Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston says conditions in the town are difficult and dangerous. Meanwhile in Gaza City, funerals were held on Friday for two Palestinian militants killed by an Israeli missile strike on Thursday evening. The details of exactly what happened in Beit Hanoun are sketchy. Some witnesses said the young man was killed by militants whom he saw burying an anti-tank mine near his house on a track used by Israeli patrols. Other reports suggest he was shot by Israeli troops. Our correspondent reports there was an exchange of fire between the residents and the militants. Several people were injured."
" NEW DELHI Feb 10 (Reuters) - India and Pakistan have agreed to formally resume peace talks that were broken off by New Delhi after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Indian sources said on Thursday, a crucial step forward in improving ties that impact regional security."
" Rory McIlroy's goals for 2015 are tucked away in his back pocket, scribbled on a boarding pass during a flight from Dublin to Dubai, and the world number one will not look at them again until his season is over in December."
" The United States of America has lifted a ban it imposed in October last year on freight flights from Yemen, U.S. ambassador to Yemen said on Saturday. Cargo flights can now fly to the U.S. without any hindrances but there some conditions and regulations airlines companies including Yemenia Airlines should adhere to transport cargos from Yemen to the U.S., Gerald M. Feierstein said at a meeting with Transport Minister Khalid Al-Wazeer. ""The decision came under the recommendations of the U.S. technical team which visited Yemen to familiarize with air security measures at Yemen's airports after the mail bombs that triggered the ban in October 2010"". The U.S. team found Yemen has already developed its airport security measures to be in accordance with the ICAO standards, the envoy told the minister, as he added that the team urged to lift the ban because there will be no problems with resuming cargo flights from Yemen anymore. The meeting, according to Saba, dealt with aspects of cooperation between the two countries in the airport security field, with a focus on training the staff of Sana'a International Airport. Several countries suspended cargos flights from Yemen after the last year's explosive parcels and so far three countries have lifted the bans including the United Arab Emirates. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula AQAP was behind the mail bombs that had been intercepted in Dubai and London before they could reach Chicago in the U.S., to where the parcels were shipped."
" Government supporters in Yemen have broken up a pro-democracy march inspired by the Egyptian uprising. President Ali Abdullah Saleh has already promised to step down when his term ends in 2013. As well as sporadic protests and chronic poverty, Yemen has a secessionist movement in the south, a shaky ceasefire with Shi'ite rebels in the north and a resurgent al Qaeda presence. Riot police in Algiers dispersed thousands of people who had defied a government ban to demand that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika step down. The BBC reports it is estimated that 30,000 riot police were deployed across the city on Saturday. Armoured vehicles were placed at strategic points across the city, with water cannons on standby and a helicopter circling above the centre of Algiers. Public demonstrations have been banned in Algeria under a state of emergency in place since 1992."
" Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Anti-government protesters have taken to the streets of Yemen, calling for an end to the rule of President Ali Abdallah Saleh, who has been in power since 1978. The demonstrators were also celebrating the resignation of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak on Friday. Police reportedly drove several thousand protesters away from Sanaa's main square on Friday night."
" DUBAI Feb 12 (Reuters) - Yemen said on Saturday it respected the choice of the Egyptian people, whose mass protests forced the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak on Friday, and would support them in their search for progress and development. Against a background of spreading anti-government protests in Yemen itself, the official news agency Saba said the government was confident Egypt's Higher Military Council would be able to manage the country's affairs in the transition period. Saba, quoting an official source, said Yemen was keen to strengthen relations and would support the Egyptian people ""in everything that would bring them stability, progress and development."" Yemenis across the country celebrated the fall of Mubarak on Friday. President Ali Abdullah Saleh planned an unexpected meeting with military and political leaders late on Friday, but there was no official word early on Saturday on their talks. [ID:nLDE71A27K] Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for 32 years and is a key U.S. ally against al Qaeda, made his boldest move yet to stave off turmoil last week when he promised to step down at the end of his term in 2013. The opposition has yet to respond to his call to join him in a unity government. (Reporting by Mohamed Sudam; Writing by Martina Fuchs; Editing by Tim Pearce)"
" The Israeli army said that the targets had been the offices of a militant group and on an area used to launch rocket attacks on Israel on Saturday. Palestinian security officials said the missiles hit a charity belonging to the Islamic Jihad militant group. There were no reports of casualties, though overnight five Palestinians died in inter-clan fighting in north Gaza. An Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP the air strikes, the first aimed at targets in the Gaza strip since 27 October, were ""reprisals after the Palestinians fired Qassam rockets"". ""One of these attacks targeted an office organising terrorist activities and three others targeted a sector in the north of the region from where Qassam rockets have been fired at Israel,"" she said. After a lull of several weeks Palestinian militants fired three makeshift rockets at southern Israel from Gaza on Saturday. The rockets reportedly fell near the Carmilla kibbutz, south of the town of Ashkelon and on the village of Nativ Ha Assera. No-one was reported injured in the attacks. In other violence five Palestinians were killed and at least 10 hurt in a fire fight between two rival clans in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses and medics said. The two groups used assault rifles and grenades in the town of Beit Hanoun. One of those killed was a policeman. It is a latest in a series of violent incidents since the Israeli pullout from Gaza in September."
" An Angolan court has sentenced a man to 24 years in jail for the deadly attack on Togo's football team in January. Joao Antonio Puati's lawyer told the AFP news agency he was found guilty for committing ""armed rebellion"". The bus carrying the team was attacked in the province of Cabinda as it arrived for the African Cup of Nations. Mr Puati had pleaded not guilty at the opening of his trial and denied having links to a separatist group which said it was behind the shooting. Another man, Daniel Simbai, was acquitted of the same charges. Two Togolese officials were killed in the 30-minute gun attack which a faction of the Front for the Liberation of the State of Cabinda (Flec) said it carried out. ""Joao Antonio Puati was at the scene and his link with Flec was established during the trial,"" Antonio Nito, Cabinda's attorney general, told AFP. The BBC's former Angola correspondent Louise Redvers says the defence lawyers have put in an appeal to the Supreme Court. They say the link to Flec was not established during the trial, but came from police statements taken from Puati during his time in custody. Defence lawyer Arao Tempo told the BBC that his client, had been tortured in prison and forced to admit he was connected to Flec."
" The BBC has learned Sir Ronnie Flanagan is going to Iraq because of growing concerns about the infiltration of the country's police force by insurgents. Sir Ronnie is the former chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, formerly the RUC. He told the BBC it was clear ""a lot still has to be done"" to improve policing in Iraq. ""In the four provinces for which we are responsible a lot of progress has been made, but a lot still has to be done,"" he said. ""I think there's a recognition that probably in standing up and training the Iraqi army, more progress has been made in that area. ""We're probably almost a year behind in terms of progress with policing. ""And I think what needs to be done now is that a total concentrated effort needs to be made by all the Coalition forces to ensure that concentration upon policing is provided"". Defence Secretary John Reid said Sir Ronnie would be looking at the effectiveness and neutrality of the police. ""The vast majority of Iraqi security forces are courageous and are doing a very good job,"" he told the BBC. He added: ""We are almost 10 years on from the beginnings of the Good Friday Agreement and we don't even have acceptance in Northern Ireland, from the whole community, about policing there."
" BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 4 - Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi was assailed by a mob today during a campaign visit to the Shiite holy city of Najaf, police officials said. The politician, who escaped unharmed, later characterized the attack as an assassination attempt. In Baghdad, an official statement said Iraqi intelligence had uncovered a plot by insurgents to fire rockets at the courtroom where Saddam Hussein's trial is to resume on Monday. The national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, said in the statement that an insurgent group, the 1920's Revolution Brigades, planned to attack the courthouse for the special tribunal that is trying Mr. Hussein and seven others. The statement gave no further details, and did not say whether any arrests had been made. In another illustration of the difficulties of holding the trial before an Iraqi court, court officials said today that one of five judges hearing the case had withdrawn after learning that the court had a document indicating that one of the defendants might have had a role in the execution of his brother. The judge, one of four whose names have been kept secret for security reasons, will be replaced by one of two alternate judges, the officials said. The confrontation in Najaf began as Mr. Allawi, a Shiite who heads a secular coalition of Sunni and Shiite leaders, arrived at the gold-domed Imam Ali mosque, said Maj. Muhammad Ali, chief of the government's antiterrorism bureau in Najaf. A crowd hostile to Mr. Allawi gathered outside the shrine as Mr. Allawi entered the building, he said. As he left, police officials said, the mob threw stones, dirt and shoes at Mr. Allawi's entourage and his guards fired their assault rifles into the air to disperse the crowd. Television footage showed Mr. Allawi's entourage sprinting out of the mosque toward waiting cars as bursts of automatic gunfire sounded. On his return to Baghdad, Mr. Allawi told reporters that the situation was much worse inside the mosque, the holiest shrine in Shiite Islam. He told the Arabic-language television station Sharqiya that as he was praying, he was surrounded by more than 50 men armed with pistols and knives, one of whom fired his weapon at him. ""The man who tried to shoot me didn't control the pistol well because he looked scared and because of the good luck, so nobody was hurt,"" he told the television station. But Col. Najah Yassir, commander of the city's emergency security force, which helped protect Mr. Allawi's entourage, cast doubt on Mr. Allawi's account, denying in a telephone interview that anyone had entered the shrine with weapons."
" A US-drafted resolution demanding that Khartoum disarm the fighters was passed with two abstentions. The vote was only passed after the US dropped the word ""sanctions"" and added economic and diplomatic ""measures"". Sudan rejected the resolution, saying it conflicted with existing agreements with the UN. ""It pains Sudan to have to express its rejection of the Security Council resolution, which was a not correct one,"" Information Minister Al-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik said in a statement quoted by the Associated Press. He said the resolution ""does not conform with the agreements signed between the government and the United Nations"". According to AP, he said the government was capable of ""disarming all the looting and robbing gangs"", and accused the resolution of focusing on Arab militias more than humanitarian issues in Darfur. The resolution has been criticised as a ""failure"" by one major aid agency. The Janjaweed, the main Arab militia group allied with the government, has been blamed for mass rapes, killings and burning of villages in Darfur. The resolution was backed by 13 council members; China and Pakistan abstained. US Ambassador John Danforth told the Council after the vote: ""The government of Sudan has left us no choice. It has done the unthinkable, it has fostered an armed attack on its own civilian population, it has created a humanitarian disaster."
" Twelve sailors are still missing after Van Don 02, a Vietnamese cargo ship, sank in the southern area of East Sea on December 28, the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center said. The cargo ship, carrying 23 crewmembers, sank at 2:58 am, when it was heading north from Malaysia to Vietnam. Two nearby fishing boats, from the southern province of Kien Giang, plucked 11 of the crewmembers from the ocean. Two of them are seriously injured. Urgent messages have been sent to vessels operating nearby the incident to call for assistance, if they find the remaining 12 sailors. The exact cause of the sinking is still unknown. Rescue forces have been searching for the missing crew, but gusty winds and rough seas have hindered the search and rescue. The 6,900 DWT cargo ship belongs to the Quang Ninh Sea Transport, Import and Export Joint Stock Company, based in the northern city of Hai Phong."
" Mr Karroubi had joined another leading opposition figure, Mirhossein Mousavi, in asking the government for permission to hold a rally on 14 February. State prosecutor Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejehi rejected the demand on Wednesday and warned of repercussions if the rally takes place. Instead, those seeking to show solidarity with Egyptian protesters should join a state-organised rally marking the 32nd anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution on Friday, he said. Security officers were stationed at the entrance of Mr Karroubi's house in Tehran and prevented relatives, including his children, from meeting him, according to Mr Karroubi's website, sahamnews.org. A security official told Mr Karroubi that the restrictions would remain in place until after 14 February. He and Mr Mousavi are the main political adversaries of the hardline leadership. Both men ran against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in an election in June 2009 that the opposition believes was rigged. The protests that swept Iran in the months after the vote grew into the biggest challenge faced by the clerical leadership."
 Pinoys may now enjoy visa-free entry to Myanmar
" Leading US Muslim activist Abdurahman Alamoudi admitted taking part in the plot, as he pleaded guilty to three charges of illegal dealings with Libya. US Attorney General John Ashcroft said the case has provided ""critical intelligence"" in the war on terror. Libya has denied plotting to assassinate the Crown Prince. The US Justice Department described an elaborate plot, in which Mr Alamoudi - a founder of the American Muslim Council and the American Muslim Foundation - served as a go-between between top Libyan officials and Saudi dissidents. The Saudi walked out questioning how Col Gaddafi came to power, after the Libyan leader criticised Saudi Arabia for hosting US troops ahead of the Iraq war. Mr Alamoudi said he was summoned to Tripoli and asked by unidentified Libyan officials to introduce them to Saudi dissidents who could cause ""headaches"" for Riyadh. ""As the scheme continued, however, Alamoudi learned that the actual objective of the scheme was the assassination of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah,"" the statement said. The 52-year-old naturalised US citizen - who was born in Eritrea - was not charged in relation to the assassination plot. Mr Alamoudi is said to have made contact with at least two Saudis in Britain and brought them hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. In August 2003, he was caught at London's Heathrow airport carrying $340,000, according to the Justice Department statement."
" Forecasters expected the main core of the Category 4 hurricane to stay offshore as Earl moved parallel to the coast during the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend that traditionally marks the end of summer. A hurricane watch was issued for most of the North Carolina coastline as officials warned any westward deviation from the forecast track could prompt coastal evacuations or even bring the storm ashore. ""A small error of 100 miles in the wrong direction could be a huge impact difference,"" National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read told a conference call with journalists. ""Even a minor shift back to the west could bring impacts to portions of the coastline from the mid-Atlantic northwards."" The hurricane watch, issued by the Miami-based hurricane center, alerts residents that hurricane conditions -- sustained winds of 74 mph -- are possible within 48 hours. It covered the North Carolina coastline from Surf City to Duck, including the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds. Earl, the second major hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season, was moving west-northwest in the open Atlantic on Tuesday, keeping well east of the Turks and Caicos Islands. At 5 p.m. (2100 GMT), it was centered about 1,000 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Earl was forecast to clip the barrier islands of North Carolina's Outer Banks on Thursday night and bring drenching rain, rough seas, pounding surf and gusting wind to the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to New England and Atlantic Canada. Evacuations were ordered, or expected, for Wednesday for the most vulnerable spots on the Outer Banks, including the Cape Lookout National Seashore and Ocracoke Island, which has about 800 year-round residents and is accessible only by boat. It is one of the barrier islands where the pirate Blackbeard once roamed. Earl had top sustained winds of 135 miles per hour, making it a Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale. It was expected to stay just shy of a maximum Category 5."
" June 26 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. began removing North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after the communist regime released an inventory of nuclear plants and materials, removing an obstacle to future ties between the two countries. The declaration was required under a September 2005 agreement by the government in Pyongyang and the U.S., China, South Korea, Japan and Russia to rid the Korean peninsula of atomic weapons. North Korea's refusal to submit information on its programs had stalled the negotiations for months. ``The United States has no illusions about the regime in Pyongyang,'' President George W. Bush said in the White House Rose Garden, citing concerns about human rights and nuclear proliferation. ``Yet we welcome today's development.'' The twin moves -- formally declaring North Korea no longer an enemy by lifting the provisions of the Trading with the Enemy Act, and announcing that North Korea will be removed from the terrorism list -- are largely symbolic. ``The two actions America is taking will have little impact on North Korea's financial and diplomatic isolation,'' Bush said. ``North Korea will remain one of the most heavily sanctioned nations in the world.'' Today's declaration of nuclear activities totaled 60 pages, a U.S. State Department official told reporters in Kyoto, where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is meeting with foreign ministers of the Group of Eight industrial powers. A separate two-page statement delivered earlier by North Korea to China acknowledged U.S. concerns about highly enriched uranium and nuclear assistance to Syria. The North Koreans had insisted on keeping those two issues separate from today's formal declaration to the six parties about its plutonium activities. ``The North Koreans will link these other nuclear issues to a number of other political and economic incentives that they want to receive,'' said Gary Samore, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton on nuclear proliferation and an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. ``They're not going to do it for free.'' The U.S. and other nations involved in the disarmament talks will review today's declaration to see how much plutonium North Korea has produced and try to gain insight into the extent of North Korea's weapons' program, Rice said in Kyoto. ``This is a good step forward,'' Rice said. ``The United States and its partners are expecting over the next 45 days to have North Korean cooperation as we move forward to nail down the elements of verification.''"
" The policemen died when two attackers blew themselves up inside the academy at about 1245 (0945 GMT). Hours later, a suicide bomber killed three people and injured 20 near a Baghdad cafe said popular with police. The attack at the academy, claimed by al-Qaeda in Iraq, was the worst in Iraq since suicide bombers killed 74 people in two Shia mosques in November. Initial reports suggested the bombers were both women but a claim published on the internet, and purporting to come from the al-Qaeda in Iraq group, said both were men. The academy in eastern Baghdad is the capital's main police training centre and was the first of its kind to be opened. That bombers could have penetrated what should have been a safe area raises further questions about the security of Iraqi police officers who, along with Iraqi troops, are a regular target of the insurgents, the BBC's Peter Grant reports from Baghdad. As well as the Baghdad bombs, gun attacks were reported in Kirkuk in the Kurdish north, where at least three people were killed. The first bomber reportedly detonated an explosive belt in or near a classroom. As trainees and instructors tried to escape the scene there was a second explosion, apparently in a cafe inside the academy complex. ""We were sitting in the yard when we heard an explosion,"" police Maj Wisam al-Heyali said."
" More than three months after a wave of violent anti-China protests, Tibet has reopened to foreign tourists, Chinese state media says. The region was ""safe"" and overseas visitors were welcome, Xinhua quoted a local tourism chief as saying. China closed Tibet to foreign tourists after riots erupted in mid-March. The decision to allow them back in comes days after the Olympic torch's short, tightly-controlled visit to the region passed off smoothly. ""The success of the Olympic torch relay held three days ago in Lhasa demonstrated that the foundation for the social stability has been further consolidated,"" Xinhua quoted Tanor, deputy director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Bureau of Tourism, as saying. ""Tibet is safe. We welcome the domestic and foreign tourists."" Separately, an employee at the China Tibet Tourism Bureau in Lhasa told the BBC that foreign tourists were being allowed back in. Domestic tour groups have been allowed in since late April, Xinhua said. Access to the region for foreign journalists remains extremely limited. At a news conference on Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said he hoped ""reporting trips to Tibet will be arranged as soon as possible when the situation in Tibet further returns to normal""."
" Pakistan's supreme court has ordered the postponement of a parliamentary by-election that former PM Nawaz Sharif was banned from contesting. It said that Thursday's vote should not be held until it had decided on a government appeal against Mr Sharif's disqualification from the Lahore poll. A panel of three judges in Islamabad said that it would not deliberate on the issue until 30 June. The government filed an urgent appeal challenging the ban on Wednesday. It argued that election disputes should be heard by an election tribunal and not the courts, which it said had no jurisdiction in such matters. Mr Sharif was barred from running in elections in February because of convictions relating to the 1999 coup in which he was toppled. He wanted the ban lifted in time to run in Thursday's by-election, but on Monday the Lahore high court upheld the earlier ruling. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told parliament the government was appealing because Mr Sharif was a key partner in the governing coalition. Mr Sharif (l) and Mr Zardari have been at loggerheads over the judges issue ""We have filed a petition in the supreme court on behalf of the federation, challenging the Lahore high court decision to bar Nawaz Sharif from contesting the by-election,"" deputy Attorney General Raja Abdur Rehman told the AFP news agency on Wednesday. ""Our plea is that under... the Pakistani constitution, election disputes should be heard by election tribunal and not the high court. High courts have no jurisdiction to hear such cases."" Correspondents say Monday's ruling was a major political setback for Mr Sharif in his efforts to re-enter parliament. His Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) dismissed the ruling as ""politically motivated"", saying the judges who made it had been appointed by his rival, President Pervez Musharraf. Mr Sharif has been demanding the immediate reinstatement of judges sacked by President Musharraf during a state of emergency last November. Mr Sharif was deposed as prime minister by Gen Musharraf in a 1999 coup and later sent into exile, but has re-emerged as a major force in Pakistani politics. His PML-N was the second largest party in the general elections in February that saw President Musharraf's allies routed. Correspondents say the Lahore court's decision has exacerbated tensions between the PML-N and the main party in the governing coalition, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). The BBC's Barbara Plett says Mr Sharif's party joined the coalition government with the expectation that its leader was now clear to run for office. Since then, though, the coalition has foundered, and the court's decision may further strain the fragile, anti-Musharraf alliance, our correspondent says."
" Philippine rescue divers have found ""many bodies"" inside the ferry that sank with more than 850 people on board, confirming the worst fears of desperate relatives. Anxious and angry family members had been clinging to hope their loved ones might still be found alive inside the doomed Princess of the Stars, which capsized and sank Saturday when it got caught in the path of a typhoon. But with blame flying over how the 24,000-tonne ferry was allowed to set sail with the storm looming, shaken rescue divers said they had discovered the worst when they finally entered the submerged ship on Tuesday. ""We saw 15 bodies trapped in one section of the ship,"" said coastguard diver Lieutenant Commander Inocencio Rosario. ""The bodies are floating inside,"" he said, adding that most of them were not wearing life jackets. ""Two men were on the bridge, wearing the Sulpicio Lines uniform. One was holding the radio. He must have been an officer,"" Rosario said. Passage through the ship was hampered by fallen furniture, equipment and broken glass, he said, adding that they did not have enough underwater flashlights or batteries to dive for long. The vessel is sitting upside down on a coral reef off San Fernando, Sibuyan Island, with most of the bottom of its hull protruding from the water. At least three bodies were removed from the ship and placed in cadaver bags aboard a coast guard vessel, said an AFP reporter at the scene."
" BERLIN (Reuters) - Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said on Tuesday that Germany planned to increase the number of troops it can send to Afghanistan by 1,000 later this year. Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Jung said the government wanted to raise the ceiling on German soldiers in the country to 4,500. A parliamentary mandate which expires in October foresees a maximum of 3,500 German troops in Afghanistan. Germany has been under pressure from NATO partners, particularly the United States, to bolster its troop contingent in Afghanistan and shift soldiers from the north to the more dangerous south to help battle Taliban insurgents."
" CEBU, Philippines, June 23 (Reuters) - Rescuers scoured the seas around a capsized ferry in the Philippines on Monday for more than 800 people missing after it sank two days ago, as the official death toll from a typhoon rose to about 160. Coast guard boats searched the area around the ferry and divers were expected to drill into the side of the vessel where they hope survivors might be alive in air pockets. Only 33 people are known so far to have survived the ferry disaster. A U.S. vessel was en route to help with search efforts and was expected to reach the site in around 15 hours, Jesus Dureza, a spokesman from the presidential palace said. Nine male corpses believed to be passengers from the MV Princess of Stars washed ashore on the central island of Masbate on Monday. ""The bodies were bloated and decomposing. What we did was just to wrap them up and buried them right away,"" a local mayor told radio. Photographs showed only the tip of the ship's bow visible above the waves. Typhoon Fengshen, with maximum gusts of 195 kph (120 mph), pounded the archipelago at the weekend, washing away houses and roads and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate. In the worst-hit province of Iloilo, damage to agriculture and infrastructure was pegged at 1.7 billion pesos ($38 million). The Department of Agriculture said in a statement nearly 250,000 ha of farmland was damaged, mostly paddy fields, at a cost of nearly 555 million pesos. Disaster officials were worried about food supplies for evacuees, crammed into schools, churches and townhalls. ""I don't think they have enough rice to tide them over,"" Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippines' Red Cross, told local television."
" Natalie has clocked 58.97 seconds to break her own world record in the women's 100m backstroke at the US Olympic swimming trials. It marks the third time in two days that the record has fallen. Coughlin had set the world record at 59.03 in the final heat on Monday, moments after Hayley McGregory had lowered the mark to 59.15 in the penultimate heat. Aaron Peirsol then lowered his own 100m backstroke world record with a time of 52.89sec in the final. Peirsol had set the previous record of 52.98sec on March 27, 2007, at the World Championships in Melbourne."
" The teenager walked up to the parade, inside a military compound in the town of Mardan, before his deadly load was detonated. Shrapnel and explosives killed soldiers on the spot and wounded at least 20 others. ""In a suicide attack by a boy in school uniform in Punjab Regimental Center, Mardan early morning today, 20 persons embraced martyrdom while 20 were injured,"" the Pakistan military said. Abdullah Khan, a senior police officer in the town, said 19 soldiers were killed in the attack and 26 others wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Taliban have vowed to step up attacks on Pakistani security forces in the region to avenge a fresh offensive against Islamist sanctuaries in the tribal district of Mohmand. Mardan is about 30 miles (50km) east of Mohmand where Pakistan launched an offensive last month and officials said that a surge in bomb and suicide attacks was a reaction to the operation. Some 25,000 people have fled in just a week from Mohmand tribal zone, a UN official said last week. Pakistan suffers near-daily attacks blamed on Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants that have killed more than 4,000 people since government troops evicted Islamists from an Islamabad mosque in a deadly July 2007 siege. Local Taliban, who are fiercely opposed to the US-allied government, recently vowed to step up attacks on Pakistani police and security forces. Pakistan's northwest and tribal areas have been wracked by violence, mostly targeting security officials, since hundreds of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters sought refuge there after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The military has claimed victory in a number of battles against militants, perhaps most notably in 2009 in the Taliban's former headquarters of South Waziristan, but attacks have continued across the country."
" Policemen ask residents to disperse as they stand near the site of a suicide bomb attack at a paramilitary training centre in Mardan, northwest Pakistan February 10, 2011. The army has carried out a series of offensives against the Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack. Operations in lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border have failed to break the resolve of Taliban fighters determined to destabilize the U.S.-backed government. The brazen bombing in the northwestern town of Mardan suggested militants are regrouping after a lull in major attacks. In a sign of how nervous the government is about security, soldiers at the gates of the military compound searched drivers before allowing them to transport coffins inside. Militant operations in recent months have been mostly sectarian and have not focused on military targets. ""The bomber struck recruits when cadets were busy in their morning training,"" a military official told Reuters. At least 20 people were wounded. A military statement said a boy had walked into the compound and blew himself up, without giving his age. An intelligence official said he was 12 years-old but government officials later said he was around 19 or 20 years old. The Taliban said they had carried out the attack, adding it had targeted recruits because ""Pakistani army is working for American interests in Pakistan."" ""It seems the Taliban are still a very potent force because they continue to attack installations, even if they have been quiet for a time,"" said former general Talat Masood."
" Peshawar: At least 27 cadets were killed and 40 were injured Thursday in a suicide blast carried out by a teenager disguised as a schoolboy at a military training centre in northwest Pakistan, said officials. The suicide attack targeted the Punjab Regiment Center in Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said police official Zeeshan Haider. Mardan is about 50 km northeast of Peshawar. 'The blast was carried out by a teenaged boy who entered the premises in a school uniform and blew himself up,' said a security official. 'The cadets were going through their routine exercise at that time in the Punjab Regiment Center of Pakistan Army,' the official said. The injured and the dead were taken to Combined Military Hospital (CMH). The training center has been targeted by militants twice during the last couple of years but Thursday's blast was the deadliest. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister Bashir Bilour visited the blast site and said: 'Our province has become a war zone and we request the federal government as well as the global powers to pay immediate attention to the burning situation.' Banned militant outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban have also been masterminding most deadly terrorist attacks in Pakistan's urban areas and against security forces earlier as well. The province and northwestern tribal areas, bordering Afghanistan, have become a battleground ever since the country's security forces launched a crackdown against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in 2007. All those killed and injured were army men, a news agency quoted Muhammad Adil, the top civilian administrator in Mardan, as saying. A Pakistani military spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, said this week that 2,700 troops and 300 intelligence agents had been killed in such attacks since 2003."
" A young suicide bomber dressed in school uniform has blown himself up at an army compound in Pakistan, killing at least 31 people, officials say. The boy attacked as recruits exercised at a Punjab Regiment parade ground, inside an enclosed military area of the north-western city of Mardan. A Taliban militant said his group had carried out the bombing. Such attacks on the army have decreased recently as militants have largely focused on civilian targets. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says the Taliban have long been trying to launch an attack in the Mardan cantonment - the city's enclosed military area. Continue reading the main story In the aftermath of the bombing, police and soldiers are manning the entrance to the Mardan compound. There is a queue of ambulances outside the main entrance, and the security forces are checking everyone coming in and out. A group of schoolboys dressed in blue blazers stopped on their way home from school to tell us that they believed the attack was simply wrong. ""This is against humanity. A lot of people died. I don't know how a kid could do this,"" said 16-year-old Mohammed Salman, who was sitting in his classroom when he heard the explosion. Another boy said pupils would now be afraid to go to school, knowing that a child of their own age had carried out such an atrocity so close to where they live. He says the bomber managed to slip past at least six checkpoints by wearing the uniform of a college located inside the cantonment. The exact age of the boy is unknown, but the military believe he was between 10 and 12 and his bomb was concealed under his school uniform. ""Such cowardly attacks cannot affect the morale of the security agencies and the resolve of the nation to eradicate terrorism,"" he said in a statement. Mardan police official Abdullah Khan told the BBC that the teenage bomber had worn the uniform of the Aziz Bhatti College."
" The decision means the cases of eight detainees facing deportation are expected to be reconsidered by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. It is a victory for eight men who had been held without charge. Home Secretary Charles Clarke accepted the ruling but said it would have ""no bearing"" on efforts to combat terror. He said the government did not use evidence it knew or suspected had been obtained by torture but the ruling had clarified the appropriate legal test of what was admissible. Home Office minister Tony McNulty later admitted to Channel 4 news that the government could only establish ""as far as we possibly can"" that evidence had not been gathered under torture. Thursday's ruling centres on how far the government must go to show improper methods if obtaining information from suspects have not been used. The Court of Appeal ruled last year that such evidence could be used if UK authorities had no involvement. But eight of the 10 foreign terror suspects who were being held without charge, backed by human rights groups, challenged that ruling. They argued evidence obtained in US detention camps should be excluded from court hearings. It is thought some of the eight men are being held in Belmarsh or other high security prisons, pending deportation, some released on bail and others restricted by the government's new control orders. The Home Office will not confirm precise figures."
" The vehicle was leaving al-Nahda bus station heading south for the Shia town of Nasiriya when the attack occurred. Witnesses said the bus was gutted and left in flames by the explosion. Another 25 people are reported injured. Iraq has been bracing for an increase in violence by anti-US insurgents ahead of the election next Thursday for the first full-term post-Saddam parliament. Two food and drinks stalls were destroyed by flying shrapnel and their gas cylinders exploded. Reports say some passengers were trapped as fire swept through the bus. Police believe the attacker waited until the bus was pulling away slowly from the station and jumped on board to avoid security checks. ""[The conductor] tried to stop him but the man insisted. He sat in the middle of the bus and then the explosion took place,"" said a police spokesman. Four months ago the station - which serves various parts of the country including the mainly-Shia south of Iraq - was hit by a triple car bombing which killed at least 43 people and wounded 89. On Monday, two suicide bombers killed at least 36 police and cadets at a Baghdad police academy. In other violence, a US soldier was killed when a roadside bomb hit a military convoy in eastern Baghdad."
" A homicide bomber who jumped on a bus after security checks had been completed detonated an explosives belt among passengers heading to a Shiite city Thursday, killing 32 people and wounding 44, officials said. Meanwhile, a U.S. soldier was killed Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded alongside an American convoy in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The command also said an American Marine died in a bombing on Wednesday west of the capital. Several other explosions rumbled through the heart of the capital Thursday morning, including one that struck an American convoy killing a U.S. soldier, the military said. The latest deaths raised the number of U.S. service members who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003 to at least 2,133, according to an Associated Press count. The bus was gutted by flames and most of those killed were aboard the vehicle, but several people who had gathered around a nearby food stall also were killed, police said. A hospital official said at least 37 people were injured. Police said the attacker waited until the bus was slowly pulling away from the station, then jumped on board to avoid security checks. Police said the death toll was especially high because the blast triggered secondary explosions in gas cylinders stored at the food stall. The blast occurred a week before national elections, and officials had warned of a surge in violence ahead of the balloting. Witnesses told police that the homicide bomber left a car, boarded the packed bus and blew himself up as it was leaving for Nasiriyah, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, police Lt. Ali Mitaab said. Fire swept through the bus, trapping passengers who had been headed to the southern city for the weekend, which starts here on Thursday evening. Charred corpses were left in the seats, their faces starring out through the shattered windows. Police climbed over the top of the vehicle inspecting what remained of luggage. ""As the bus was going outside the station, a man carrying a bag tried to got into the bus, but the conductor was suspicious about him,"" police Lt. Wisam Hakim said. ""He tried to stop him but the man insisted. He sat in the middle of the bus and then the explosion took place."" The attack occurred at the major bus station for vehicles headed to the mostly Shiite areas of the south."
" The Spanish government has vowed to block plans by parties in Catalonia to hold a referendum on independence on 9 November of next year. ""The poll will not be held,"" Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon told journalists moments after Catalonia's President, Artur Mas, announced a deal. Mr Mas said agreement had been reached on the date and on two questions. Voters would be asked if they wanted Catalonia to be a state and if they wanted it to be an independent state. Mr Mas announced that an agreement had been reached in principle and had still to be approved formally by the parties internally. Continue reading the main story So the Catalan Government has set a date for when it plans to hold a vote in Catalonia, with two questions, the second of which implies, if a majority of people vote ""yes"", that Catalonia would no longer be part of Spain. However. the Spanish Popular Party led-government, as well as the main opposition Socialist Party have already said this can not happen. Catalan pro-independence parties, which hold a majority of parliamentary seats in Catalonia, still sound determined to hold the vote, come what may. In that case, the vote might more accurately be described as a ""popular consultation"", as, under the current terms of the Spanish constitution, the result would not be legally binding. If a majority did vote yes, to both proposed questions (and recent opinion polls are far from clear whether that would the case), then what would happen next in Catalonia is far from clear. The Catalan government has hinted in the past, that, with popular support, it might be prepared to make a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain, if all other avenues have been exhausted. Both Spain's ruling conservatives, the Popular Party of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, and the Socialist opposition have long made it clear that they oppose a referendum. Under the current Spanish constitution, referendums can only be called by the national government in Madrid, not by the governments of Spain's 17 autonomous communities, of which Catalonia is one, the BBC's Tom Burridge reports from Madrid. Mr Mas has said that ""there is time to comply with laws and democratic processes"". But for that to happen, Spain's national parliament would need to approve a change in the Spanish constitution before next November, and that looks impossible given the opposition in Madrid, our correspondent adds."
" A U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser took evasive action to avoid colliding with a Chinese warship in the South China Sea in what sources called a highly unusual and deliberate act by China, CNN has learned. The incident last Friday, which was resolved peacefully, was the latest sign of tension around recent and aggressive Chinese territorial claims in the region involving international waters and expanded airspace. Vice President Joe Biden last week pressed Beijing over the issue, which stems from a longstanding dispute with Japan that has grown tenser. Several U.S. military officials confirmed details of the incident on the high seas involving the USS Cowpens, which has just come to light. The American warship -- which U.S. officials say was in international waters -- was approached by a Chinese Navy ship. The smaller vessel peeled off from a group of Chinese Navy ships that included the carrier Liaoning. The Chinese ship failed to stop, despite radio warning from the Cowpens that it was getting too close. The Cowpens commanding officer then issued orders for an ""all stop"" when the other ship was less than 500 yards off its bow, a U.S. Navy official said. ""It is unusual to have to take evasive action at sea to avoid a collision,"" the official added. While naval vessels from different countries often come close as they observe each other, the United States sees this case as one that could have led to a collision because of the time and distance it takes for an American warship to stop. ""The Chinese knew what they were doing,"" a second U.S. military official said."
" CAIRO: A regional cold snap spread to Egypt on Friday, with some Cairo suburbs seeing snowfall for the first time in years, a weather official said. The Middle East has been hit by a fierce winter storm, with temperatures in Egypt plummeting over the past two days as torrential rain also lashed parts of the country. ""It is the first time in very many years"" that it has snowed in the suburbs of Cairo, said Ali Abdelazim, an official at the meteorological centre. ""The whole garden was white,"" Karim Kheirat told AFP by telephone from the new town of Medinati northeast of the capital. ""It's the first time in my life that I have seen it like this."" Other suburbs of the capital also saw light snow showers, residents said. In the Sinai Peninsula, the storm deposited a blanket of snow several centimetres (inches) thick in the mountainous area around Saint Catherine's monastery for the first time in decades. Mokhtar Hussein, who lives in the area, said he had not left his house since Thursday because of the weather. ""We aren't leaving the house at all because the whole town is covered in snow,"" he said. On the Mediterranean coast, gardens, streets and houses in the town of Ras al-Bar were covered by a layer of white after heavy snow, resident Rania al-Mubashir said."
" The snow that has blanketed much of the Middle East turned Cairo white on Friday - with local news reports claiming it was Egypt's capital's first snowfall in 112 years. The city averages less than an inch of rain each year, and hundreds stopped their walk to work or school to snap pictures of the falling flakes, tweeting their delights. In Jerusalem, local media reported that schools and roads were closed, and transport suspended after four inches of snow - the most since 1953. Palestinian and Israeli children shaped clusters into snowmen across the divided capital, with boys shrieking with delight as they put the finishing touches to a frosty man outside the gold-domed Al Aqsa mosque. ""Last week, the chief rabbis asked Jews around the world to pray for rain in Israel since winter had begun with a dry spell,"" Jewish online magazine Tablet reported. ""Apparently, it worked."" Snow, sleet and icy winds have covered Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, deepening the troubles of many war refugees, living in freezing tents. Many have melted snow on their stoves, their only source of drinking water."
" The Pakistani government has decided in principle to impose a 2 percent flood tax on all imports and a 5-10 percent flood surcharge on all incomes for undertaking reconstruction and rehabilitation projects after the country was hit by worst-ever floods, officials said Wednesday. A government official said these two measures were expected to generate up to 150 billion rupees (1.76 billion U.S. dollars), 50 billion rupees from flood tax on imports and 100 billion from flood surcharge on incomes, including salaries and profits, not only for individuals but also for associations of persons, companies, businesses and traders. The official said the proposed taxes would be imposed initially for the current year, but could be considered for continuation into the next financial year (2011-12). Official sources said that the two additional taxation measures were currently being discussed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and after fine-tuning they would be submitted before the federal cabinet for approval at a meeting in mid September. ""The additional taxes will be within the ambit of the IMF program under which various major adjustments would be made in the macroeconomic indicators approved by the parliament as part of the federal budget and committed to with the international lending agencies,"" said sources. The government was also considering taking all political parties in parliament into confidence over the budgetary adjustments so that they enjoyed wide ownership and may have to seek the parliament's nod, informed sources said. Floodwaters that have devastated parts of Pakistan for five weeks have headed to the Arabian Sea, leaving 1,707 people killed, 2,631 injured and over 15 million affected, according to an official report released on Wednesday.  Source: Xinhua"
" Nick Clegg has said Pakistan will need aid for years to come following the worst floods in decades, after seeing the devastation there himself. During a visit to a relief camp in Sukkur, the deputy prime minister said the international community ""didn't react with sufficient speed"" to what was ""a slow-moving, relentless, disaster"". Mr Clegg met children in a makeshift school at a camp which houses more than 3,000 displaced people."
" Chilean miners trapped underground after a rock collapse have received their first hot meal in 26 days. Meatballs, chicken and rice were piped through a tube to the 33 miners, who are stuck 700m (2,300ft) below the surface. Previously the miners have received only glucose tablets and high-protein milk. A team from the US space agency Nasa has arrived at the mine to offer their advice on keeping the miners healthy. The team of four experts was requested by the Chilean government to share their experience of coping in confined spaces. A nutritionist from the team helped put together the menu. Engineers have drilled through 20m of rock so far at the San Jose gold and copper mine, near Copiapo, after beginning their work on Monday. The rescue attempt is expected to take three to four months. Drilling was paused to shore up the shaft's wall with cement on Wednesday after a minor geological fault was detected in the rock, the rescue operation's chief engineer Andres Sougarret said. The Nasa team, who will be there until Friday, praised the work of rescue workers to keep miners healthy. ""We've been very impressed with the organisation of the team and the quality of the medical care that's been provided,"" Nasa's team leader, Dr Michael Duncan, said at a news conference on Wednesday."
" A drill machine, the Xtrata 950 (L rear), that will dig an escape hole from the top of a hill where 33 miners are trapped underground in a copper and gold mine is seen at Copiapo, some 725 km (450 miles) north of Santiago, August 31, 2010. Facing a wait of around two to four months as rescuers race to drill a narrow shaft 2,300 feet (700 metres) vertically down to extract them, the miners are in good spirits, and included wine on a wish-list of items to be sent down a tiny borehole from the surface. Health officials have sent them high-protein, high-calorie foods in narrow plastic tubes to help them build up their strength after losing an estimated 22 lb (10 kg) each during 17 days entombed after a cave-in before they were found alive. Booze will have to wait. ""From the alcohol standpoint, we need to first get their nutrition up before we make any considerations there,"" said James Michael Duncan, NASA's deputy chief doctor, who flew with a team of medical experts to Chile to help advise the government on one of the world's most challenging rescue bids. Some of the men have also asked for cigarettes, and health officials have sent them nicotine patches and gum. ""It's an environment that's pretty enclosed and we don't want to contribute to any of the problems within the atmosphere of the mine,"" Duncan added. Used to managing prolonged periods in confined areas on space missions, NASA is also advising the government on how to keep the men mentally fit for the weeks ahead. Health Minister Jaime Manalich says the men are holding up remarkably well in the hot, humid tunnel. But they face a long haul. Rescuers began drilling the escape shaft on Monday night, and by early Tuesday evening, had bored down 26 feet (8 meters) -- around 1 percent of the target depth."
" Washington (CNN) -- Ahead of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians on Thursday, President Barack Obama said Wednesday night that he was ""hopeful -- cautiously hopeful"" that the talks could achieve a two-state solution to the long running Mideast conflict. ""Though each of us holds a title of honor --- president, prime minister, king --- we are bound by the one title we share,"" Obama said on a stage with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan. ""We are fathers, blessed with sons and daughters,"" Obama said. ""So we must ask ourselves what kind of world do we want to bequeath to our children and our grandchildren."" The president was speaking at the start of a working White House dinner with Netanyahu, Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Each made remarks before the dinner. Also attending the dinner were Secretary of State Hillary Clintonand Middle East Quartet Representative Tony Blair. The Quartet consists of the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union. ""We don't seek a brief interlude between two wars, we don't seek a temporary respite between outbursts of terror,"" Netanyahu said. ""We seek a peace that will end the conflict between us once and for all... for our generation, our children's generation and the next."" Netanyahu and Abbas condemned attacks against the Israelis in recent days. ""We do not want any blood to be shed -- one drop of blood from the Israelis or the Palestinians,"" said Abbas. ""We want peace between the two countries... let us sign a formal agreement for peace and put an end to this long period of suffering forever."" In earlier remarks from the White House Rose Garden, Obama said that ""this moment of opportunity may not soon come again."""
" Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been barred from running in a parliamentary by-election this week. The high court in the city of Lahore upheld an earlier ruling that Mr Sharif was ineligible to stand because of a 1999 court conviction. Earlier this month the country's election commission had appeared to clear him to take part. Correspondents say Monday's ruling is a major political setback for Mr Sharif. It is not clear whether he will appeal. ""The decision is based on conspiracy. It's a political decision,"" a spokesman for Mr Sharif's PML-N party, Siddiqul Farooq, told Reuters news agency. The PML-N emerged as the second largest party in general elections in February that saw President Musharraf's allies routed. Neither Mr Sharif nor Pakistan's other top politician, PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari, ran. Mr Sharif was barred from standing because he had been convicted over the 1999 hijacking of a plane carrying then army chief Gen Musharraf. The alleged hijacking was part of events which led to Gen Musharraf ousting Mr Sharif in a coup. Earlier in June, it appeared the election commission had cleared the way for the former premier to stand in the by-election, but court petitions were subsequently lodged challenging his nomination."
" Twelve officials have been fired by the Chinese government for their handling of the earthquake that struck the country last month. They were sacked for dereliction of duty and misuse of relief supplies following the Sichuan quake on 12 May. The anti-corruption department received 1,178 complaints explosing ""misuse of tents, food and other relief supplies"", said Supervision Minister Ma Wen. A further 31 officials were reprimanded by the department. ""Some [complaints] revealed the slow reaction and poor ability of a few cadres,"" Ms Ma added. The quake killed nearly 70,000 people and made millions homeless, leaving the government with the massive task of finding them temporary housing. Engineers and parents of students killed have argued that weak cement and a lack of iron reinforcement may be signs that building funds were siphoned off. The announcement comes as China's ruling Communist Party begins a campaign to implement a five-year plan aimed at building a policy framework for a clean and transparent government. The central leadership has warned that their party's own survival depends on its ability to curb corruption."
" Turkey has recognised the rebel Transitional National Council as the true representative of Libya's people. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it was time for the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to go. Turkey has pledged a further $200m in aid for the rebels in addition to $100m announced last month. In another development, the rebels have rejected an initiative by the African Union to sponsor talks between them and the government in Tripoli. Rebel spokesman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga said: ""We have rejected it. It did not include the departure of Gaddafi, his sons and his inner circle."" But TNC head Mustafa Abdul Jalil has conceded that Col Gaddafi is welcome to live out his retirement inside Libya as long as he gives up all power. ""As a peaceful solution, we offered that he can resign and order his soldiers to withdraw from their barracks and positions, and then he can decide either to stay in Libya or abroad,"" he told Reuters news agency. ""If he desires to stay in Libya, we will determine the place and it will be under international supervision. And there will be international supervision of all his movements."" Turkey's foreign minister met Mr Jalil in Benghazi, the rebels' main stronghold in eastern Libya, before addressing a news conference in the city. ""Public demand for reforms should be answered, Gaddafi should go and Libya shouldn't be divided,"" said Mr Davutoglu."
" Victims of the attack were taken to nearby hospitals At least 88 people have been killed by a suicide bomb attack at a volleyball court in the troubled north-west of Pakistan, local police say. Police chief Ayub Khan said the bomber drove towards a field where people were watching a match, before detonating a load of high-intensity explosives. The attack happened near Lakki Marwat, close to North and South Waziristan. The Pakistani army has been conducting a campaign against the Taliban in the tribal areas since October. The number of people killed in militant attacks in Pakistan is fast approaching 600 in just three months. Militants have attacked both ""hard"" targets, including army or intelligence offices, and ""soft"" ones such as markets or the crowd that was hit in Friday's bombing. The latest attack killed more people than any other since a bombing at a market in Peshawar left some 120 people dead on 28 October. Dozens of people were reported to be injured in Friday's attack. Several buildings collapsed, trapping people under rubble. The Pakistani army's operation in South Waziristan, which began in October, was billed as the turning point in the country's fight against the Taliban. The military says things have gone extremely well, and that it now controls most of that former Taliban stronghold. But the period since the offensive started has coincided with a massive upsurge in militant attacks that has now claimed the lives of over 600 people right across the country. The government says the hitting of soft civilian targets, as the one in Lakki Marwat, is proof that the militants are getting desperate, and know the authorities have the upper hand. Most Pakistanis will be unconvinced of that. ""The villagers were watching the match between the two village teams when the bomber rashly drove his double-cabin pick-up vehicle into them and blew it up,"" district police chief Ayub Khan told AFP news agency. ""Every day there are volleyball matches taking place,"" said one man who was injured in the explosion. ""Today, all the people had gathered together watching, when suddenly a [Mitsubishi] Pajero came in the middle of the field and blew up."" Mr Khan told reporters the attack may have been retaliation for attempts by locals to expel militants. ""The locality has been a hub of militants,"" he said. ""Locals set up a militia and expelled the militants from this area. This attack seems to be a reaction to their expulsion."" The BBC's Aleem Maqbool reports from Islamabad that among those killed are believed to be members of a local peace committee who have been campaigning for an end to the violence. Mushtaq Marwat, a member of the group, told Pakistan's Geo TV that the attack occurred as the committee was meeting in a nearby mosque. It is a small village with very few rescue facilities   ""Suddenly there was a huge blast. We went out and saw bodies and injured people everywhere,"" he said. Other people recalled seeing a bright flash before hearing an ear-piercing explosion. One witness said that later, people were using vehicle headlights to search for victims in the dark. Khalid Israr, a senior regional official, told Reuters news agency that the military had been deployed to help local authorities. ""It is a small village with very few rescue facilities. Rescue equipment is being sent there from other places."" North and South Waziristan form a lethal militant belt from where insurgents have launched attacks across north-west Pakistan as well as into parts of eastern Afghanistan. Our correspondent says it had been feared that while the army was congratulating itself on its campaign, militants had simply escaped to neighbouring areas such as the one where Friday's attack happened. The attack came as a general strike was held in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital, in protest against a bombing there on Monday and riots that followed. The bombing, which killed at least 43 people, targeted a Shia Muslim march and was claimed by the Taliban. Lakki Marwat, 1 January: At least 60 killed in bombing at volleyball pitch Karachi, 28 December: At least 43 killed in attack on Shia Muslim march Dera Ghazi Khan, 15 December: At least 27 killed in bomb attack on market Rawalpindi: Several recent attacks, including one at a mosque on 4 December in which 35 died Islamabad: Security tightened after series of attacks - 20 October bombing killed nine at International Islamic University"
"The World Bank is committed to helping the people of Pakistan during this time of need and has made US$1 billion available to finance immediate recovery needs and longer-term reconstruction,"" the statement quoted World Bank President Robert Zoellick as telling Pakistani Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh in Washington. The funds are being diverted to flood use from money already earmarked for Pakistan. They will come from the International Development Association, the bank's fund for the poorest countries, and are concessional and carry no interest payments, the statement said. Zoellick also told Shaikh that continued economic, institutional and governance reforms were critical to maintaining donor confidence. ""We need to respond strongly to the crisis at hand, but we need to do it without losing sight of important economic reforms,"" he was quoted as saying. ""Renewed commitment to governance and fiscal reforms will be important to mobilize domestic revenues and ensure that funds reach the poor people it is intended for. The response of donors to the floods will also depend on the government's ability to deliver in this area,"" he said. Shaikh is part of a delegation visiting Washington for discussions with the International Monetary Fund about Pakistan's $11 billion IMF loan program. While vowing to remain on track with the 2008 IMF loan program, under which the country pledged to implement tax and energy sector reforms, the minister also said he would seek understanding from the international community about the troubles Pakistan faced from the catastrophic floods. Pakistani Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Wednesday the country would register economic growth of just 2.5 percent in the year to June 2011 because of the impact of flooding, trimming an earlier 4.5 percent target.	
Israel strikes Gaza targets after Grad rocket attack Israel News	 U.S. gov't puts Obamacare enrollment at 6.8 million through Jan. 9 (Reuters) U.S. judge dismisses suit against India PM Modi over 2002 riots (Reuters) At least 10 killed in Texas when prison bus strikes train (AP) Germany: More than 200,000 apply for asylum in 2014 (AP)
Tibetan writer 'jailed' over 2008 riot commentary	 A Tibetan writer, Tashi Rabten, is reported to have been sentenced to four years in jail in south-west China. The International Campaign for Tibet, a US-based campaign group, says he was convicted of editing a banned magazine. Eastern Snow Mountain grew out of literary responses to the anti-China disturbances in 2008, the anniversary of a failed uprising against Beijing. China blamed the unrest on followers of the Dalai Lama, who it said were seeking to separate Tibet from China. The case against Tashi Rabten was reportedly heard at Aba Intermediate People's Court in Sichuan province, where the population is mainly ethnic Tibetan, according to a statement from the International Campaign for Tibet. Aba is known as Ngaba by Tibetans. It has become a focus of confrontation between protesting Tibetans and Chinese security forces. Three other Tibetans, who worked for the banned journal, were jailed last year on charges of inciting separatism - an accusation that the ruling Communist Party typically levels at Tibetans campaigning for self-determination for their homeland. The 2008 unrest was the worst in the mountainous region in 20 years - China responded with a massive military crackdown and closed the region to foreigners. Beijing said at least 18 people, mostly Han Chinese, were killed, but Tibetan rights groups put the figure at about 40. Many Tibetans say Beijing is attempting to dilute their minority culture, by encouraging huge numbers of majority Han Chinese to resettle there.
Tibetan writer jailed for 4 years in China: group	 Tashi Rabten, an editor of banned magazine Eastern Snow Mountain, was sentenced on June 2 by a court in Aba prefecture, a heavily ethnic Tibetan part of Sichuan province next to the Tibet Autonomous Region proper, said the International Campaign for Tibet, a London-based group critical of Chinese policies. China's ruling Communist Party has faced persistent unrest in Tibetan regions of the country's west, where many residents chafe at the government's controls on their Buddhist religion and resent the growing presence of ethnic Han Chinese people. The banned journal ""was the first published Tibetan language commentary about the protests and crackdown from 2008 onwards, offering a critical perspective reflecting a prevailing sense of despair and loss, but also a way forward,"" said an statement from the group issued late on Friday. The statement did not say what charge Tashi Rabten was jailed for. But three other Tibetans who worked for the journal were jailed last year on charges of inciting separatism, an accusation that the ruling Communist Party often levels at Tibetans campaigning for self-determination for their homeland. Calls to intermediate court of Aba prefecture were not answered and one staff at the Aba government said he had no knowledge of the matter. Aba, which is called Ngaba by local Tibetans, where Tashi Rabten was sentenced, has become a focus of confrontation between Chinese security forces and restive Tibetans. In past months, tension in Aba rose to their highest levels since protests turned violent in March 2008, ahead of the Beijing Olympics, and were put down by police and paramilitary units. About 300 Tibetan Buddhist monks from Aba's Kirti monastery, home to about 2,500 monks, were taken into custody in April, Tibetan sources told Reuters in May. Chinese security forces clashed with residents who were trying to prevent the monks from being taken away for ""re-education,"" according to those sources. China says the monks have been handled according to the law, and it says Tibetan self-determination advocates do not give Beijing credit for the big strides made in Tibetans' living conditions.
Beefy dino sported fearsome claws	 Fossils of a new type of dinosaur, which looks like a beefy version of the predatory Velociraptor, have been unearthed in Romania. The stocky dinosaur lived some 70 million years ago; higher sea levels at this time would have made the region an island archipelago. The animal is also notable for the two large and sharp claws on each foot; Velociraptor had just one. It may have used these to rip apart its prey scientists believe. The find is reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. It has been given the scientific name Balaur bondoc, which means ""stocky dragon"". ""Balaur might be one of the largest predators in this ecosystem,"" said co-author Zoltan Csiki from the University of Bucharest, Romania. He said that while the 1.8m-2.1m (6-7ft) -long creature is extremely unusual, it is closely related to animals like Velociraptor and feathered dinosaurs uncovered in China. The new Balaur fossil is a partial skeleton that includes leg, hip, backbone, arms, hand, rib, and tail bones. It had a big toe with a large claw that it was able to extend - presumably used to slash prey - as well as a large claw on the second toe.
Triple bomb blasts hit Lahore Shia procession	 At least 25 people have been killed and 170 injured after three bombs exploded during a procession by Shia Muslims in the Pakistani city of Lahore. Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen told the BBC that at least two of the attacks had been suicide bombings. Local TV footage of the first blast showed a small explosion in the crowd, followed by panic as people fled. The capital of Punjab province has been the scene of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia in recent months. However, there had been a lull in such attacks in the past month, as floods devastated Pakistan. Officials say the first explosion came shortly before nightfall on Wednesday, at the end of a procession by some 35,000 Shia to mark the death in the Seventh Century of the first Shia imam, Ali bin Abi Talib. Footage of the moment shown on Geo television showed a small explosion amid a crowd of people near the Karbala Gamay Shah imambargah, followed by a large plume of smoke. Minutes later, as hundreds of people fled, a suicide bomber blew himself up near an area where food was being prepared for the marchers to break the Ramadan fast, a senior police officer, Zulfiqar Hameed, told the Associated Press news agency. A second suicide bomber then detonated his explosive belt at an intersection near the end of the procession, Mr Hameed added. ""The mourning process had just ended when I heard three deafening explosions after brief intervals,"" said Shahid Hussain, one of those who took part in the procession.
Lahore suicide blasts: 30 killed, 250 injured	 ISLAMABAD: In the latest wave of terrorist attacks, at least 30 people were killed and 250 injured when three suicide bombs ripped through a Shia procession in Pakistan's cultural city of Lahore.The explosions hit three separate locations as 45,000 Shias marched in a traditional mourning ceremony for the assassination of Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's cousin, some 1,300 years ago during the month of Ramadan. Shias consider Ali as their first imam.TV footages showed a small blast amid a procession on the street which was followed by another explosion in close proximity. The first two bombs of small intensity went off near Karbala Gamay Shah Imambargah, just when Muslims across Pakistan broke their fast.Hundreds of people fled from the blast, while others rushed to the area to carry the wounded to safety. Within half an hour, a third and more powerful bomb exploded at Lahore's Bhatti Chowk at about 7:20 pm. The bomb sites are near the famous Data shrine which too was targeted by terrorists last July, leaving 42 people dead.Earlier Khusro Pervez, commissioner Lahore, said that 18 bodies had been brought to the morgue while 162 people were injured. He warned the number of dead could rise.The head of Lahore police, Aslam Tareen, said that at least two of the attacks were suicide bombings. ""At least 35 of the people hurt in the blast were critically injured,"" Tareen said.Lahore has been the scene of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims in recent months.However, there had been a pause in such attacks in the past month, as floods devastated all provinces of Pakistan.After the blasts, the marchers erupted in fury and set fire to a police station and burnt a police truck. Other vehicles in the city were also torched.The police had fired tear gas in an attempt to control the angry mob.Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the blasts in a statement and said the attackers would not escape justice.The latest attacks follow two days of government air raids on militant strongholds in the northwest region.Pakistani forces killed up to 62 militants, their family members and other civilians with no ties to the fighters, officials said.
Blasts in Lahore kill 30, Punjab province to observe 3-day mourning	 ISLAMABAD, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The death toll has risen to 30 following a massive terrorist attack in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday night, and the government of Punjab province has declared three days of mourning starting from Thursday, reported local media. All the public and private institutions across the province will be closed during the three-day mourning, according to a statement issued by the provincial government. More than 200 people have been injured in three blasts that went off among large crowds of Shiite Muslims marching in the city to mark the death anniversary of Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad. A Punjab-based terrorist group named Lashkar-e-Jhangvi which comprises Sunni Muslims have claimed the responsibility for the attack. According to the reports, the first blast, which is a low- intensity explosion, took place at about 6:50 p.m. local time during a religious procession at Karbala Gamay Shah area of Lahore city, injuring a number of people. The second blast, which is reportedly a suicide blast, occurred about 25 minutes later at a nearby place named Bhati Chok. The suicide bomber blew himself up among the crowds of people during the religious procession. The third blast, also a suicide blast, happened ten minutes later at a place called Anarkali, causing a heavy casualty among the people marching in the procession. Following the three blasts, all the local hospitals in the city have declared emergency. Angry people who have lost their beloved ones in the three blasts launched protest against police by torching police stations and setting vehicles on fire. Rangers, a special task force of the Pakistani army, have been deployed in Lahore, obviously in a bid to control the situation over there.	
Singapore to deport 53 foreign workers over riot	 Singapore says it will deport 53 foreign workers for their involvement in the country's worst riot in more than 40 years. Another 28 face criminal charges for the riot, which broke out earlier this month in Singapore's Little India district. The violent protests broke out after an Indian national was knocked down and killed by a bus. The outbreak of public disorder is rare in strictly-governed Singapore. The wealthy city-state depends heavily on foreign workers, with migrant labourers from South Asia dominating low-paid sectors like construction. Many congregate in Little India on Sundays to shop, drink and socialise. The men facing deportation consisted of 52 Indian nationals and one Bangladeshi national, Police Commissioner Ng Joo Hee said. Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean said: ""We have taken strong and decisive action to charge and to repatriate those who took part in the riot, to send a strong signal that we will not tolerate actions by anyone which threaten law and order in Singapore."" Those being deported failed to disperse despite police orders and ""threatened public order, making their continued presence in Singapore undesirable"", the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday. Another 200 workers present at the riot are believed to have played a ""relatively passive"" role and will be given police advisories but allowed to stay in Singapore, the ministry said.
Sochi Olympics: Gay athletes to join US delegation	 The US is sending two openly gay sports stars to the Winter Olympics in Sochi as part of its official delegation. The move is being seen as a challenge to new laws in Russia which ban ""propaganda"" about homosexuality. Tennis legend Billie Jean King and ice hockey player Caitlin Cahow will represent the US at the opening and closing ceremonies and other events. President Barack Obama, who is not going, said the delegation ""represents the diversity"" of the US. Activists have urged world leaders to boycott the Sochi Games over human rights concerns, despite assurances by Russia President Vladimir Putin that gay athletes will not be discriminated against. But the Russian law, which bans the promotion of ""non-traditional sexual relations""- has raised questions about what could happen to athletes who wear pins or badges or carry flags supporting gay rights. The White House said in a statement that Mr Obama was ""extremely proud of our US athletes and looks forward to cheering them on from Washington"". ""He knows they will showcase to the world the best of America - diversity, determination and teamwork."" King said she was honoured to have been named. ""I am equally proud to stand with the members of the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community in support of all athletes who will be competing in Sochi and I hope these Olympic Games will indeed be a watershed moment for the universal acceptance of all people,"" she said.
Russia eyes loan, gas deal to keep Ukraine in its orbit	 In Kiev, the opposition went ahead with preparations for another big rally for Tuesday against what they see as moves by President Viktor Yanukovich to sell out national interests to Russia after backing away from a landmark deal with the European Union that would have shifted their country westwards. An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested a credit would be agreed at talks with Yanukovich in Moscow on Tuesday, and a Ukrainian minister said a deal was likely on lower prices for Russian gas. Yanukovich has turned to Moscow for money after spurning the chance of joining a free trade pact with the EU, despite the risk of protests against him swelling. ""The situation in Ukraine is now such that without loans, from one side or another, they will simply fail to maintain economic stability,"" Andrei Belousov, an economic adviser to Putin, told Interfax news agency. ""I do not rule out that, if there is a request, a credit could be provided (to Ukraine)."" Russia's Finance Minsitry confirmed talks on a loan were under way, and Ukrainian Energy Minister Eduard Stavitsky said there was a great probability a deal could be reached on reducing the price of Russian energy supplies to Ukraine. Agreement on Tuesday would be seen in Moscow as a move keeping Ukraine in its political and economic orbit, more than two decades after the Soviet Union collapsed, and preventing a historic Westward shift by Kiev. The EU's enlargement chief said on Twitter on Sunday the 28-nation bloc was halting work on a trade and political pact with the country of 46 million because the deeds of Yanukovich and his government were ""further and further apart"". Stefan Fuele's words suggested the EU had lost patience with Kiev's demands for financial aid and was irritated by the 'bidding war' with Russia over Ukraine. But divisions emerged in Brussels as other officials said the door remained open. ""I think making policy on the basis of a Twitter notice by Mr Fuele is perhaps not the best way of approaching this issue,"" Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said. Ukraine is seeking help to cover an external funding gap of $17 billion next year - almost the level of the central bank's depleted currency reserves.
Ashes: Australia v England, third Test, day five, Perth, as it happened	 Ashes: Australia v England, third Test, day five, Perth, as it happened Australia regain the Ashes from England by winning the third Test at Perth to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.	
South Sudan army says loses town as fighting spreads	 1 of 6. Civilians arrive to a shelter at the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) compound on the outskirts of the capital Juba in South Sudan, in this December 17, 2013 handout from the UNMISS. President Salva Kiir earlier said he was ready for dialogue with his sacked vice president Riek Machar - the man he accuses of starting the fighting, which diplomats say has killed up to 500 people, and plotting a coup. But the United Nations said tensions was still spreading across South Sudan's remote states as the violence, which first erupted in the capital Juba late on Sunday, moved north to Bor, the site of an ethnic massacre in 1991. Witnesses and officials said fighting had broken out in two barracks in Bor between troops loyal to Kiir, from South Sudan's Dinka ethnic group, and Machar, a Nuer, though the reports were sketchy. ""We (are) not in control of Bor town,"" South Sudan's army spokesman Philip Aguer told Reuters, without going into further details. ""The two main ethnic groups, the Dinka and the Nuer, could go into a full-fledged civil war in the country,"" Gerard Araud, France's ambassador to the United Nations and current president of the Security Council, told the BBC. He called for dialogue. Those sentiments were echoed by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who said the violence could spread. South Sudan, which declared independence from Sudan in 2011, remains one of Africa's least developed countries for all its oil reserves, which supply almost all its government revenues and hard currency. Fighting has so far appeared to stay away from the oil fields. A broader conflict could threaten aid and be exploited by neighboring Sudan, which has had persistent rows with Juba over their undefined borders, oil and security. That would further hurt efforts to build a functioning state in the south. Machar, in an interview with the online Sudan Tribune, denied having any role in the fighting and said he was not behind any coup attempt. He accused Kiir of using clashes that erupted between members of the presidential guard to punish political rivals.
Report: Chinese hackers attacked crucial government election website ? CNN Political Ticker	 Washington (CNN) - Chinese hackers tapped into the Federal Election Commission's website during the federal government shutdown in October, a report released Tuesday by an investigative news organization says. The report from the Center for Public Integrity, one of the country's oldest and largest nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative news organizations, indicates that hackers crashed the FEC's computer systems, which compiles federal election campaign finance information like contributions to parties and candidates, and how those billions of dollars are spent in each election by candidates, political parties, and independent groups such as political action committees. The attack came as nearly all of the FEC's employees, except for the presidential-appointed commissioners, were furloughed due to the government shutdown, with not even one staffer being deemed ""necessary to the prevention of imminent threats"" to federal property. And it came a few months after an independent auditor hired by the government warned that the FEC's computer systems were at ""high risk"" to infiltration, a charge the commission disputed. ""Hackers from China, in Russia, Syria, you name it are constantly targeting U.S. websites. But what happened here with the Federal Election Commission, which is the independent watchdog sponsored by the government to keep elections fair and free, effectively got hit about as hard as it ever has gotten hit,"" David Levinthal of the Center for Public Integrity said on CNN's ""New Day."" ""It came as the FEC had absolutely no regular employees actually serving at the agency because of the government shutdown. It was one of the agencies that actually went completely dark during the government shutdown, only had the commissioners themselves manning the doors, manning the systems. They are not IT experts by any stretch of the imagination,"" Levinthal told CNN's Chris Cuomo. The CPI says the hacking incident was confirmed by three government officials involved in an ongoing investigation that included the Department of Homeland Security. ""Here you have for days at a time, the FEC's website - which is part and parcel of the agency's mission to provide Americans with the ability to access information about their elections, access information about political campaigns and candidates - and nobody in America could do it during that time. So it was a huge black eye, not only for the agency but for the country's government in general,"" Levinthal added. The FEC is not commenting at this time about the hacking incident. Following the hacking incident, the FEC in November said it had moved certain data servers off-line and replace them with less powerful backup servers, that the agency said would slow the ability for users to navigate the website.	
Two French journalists abducted in Afghanistan	 Two French journalists have been kidnapped by rebels in Afghanistan's Kapisa province, northeast of the capital Kabul. An interpreter and a driver were also captured. A woman who was working with the journalists says members of the Taliban were responsible for their abduction. An Afghan police official would only say the kidnappers were anti-government elements. The Afghan government has fiercely criticised foreign troops following an incident which took place last Saturday in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar. Foreign soldiers are reported to have taken 10 civilians from their house and shot them dead. The government is demanding those responsible be handed over to the Afghan judicial authorities. photo: US troops in Kapisa (Flickr/ The U.S. Army)
Journalists kidnapped in Afghanistan, official says	 Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Two French journalists and an Afghan translator have been kidnapped by ""enemies of the government"" in Afghanistan, a military official said Thursday. Brig. Gen. Izmerai Paykan of the Afghan National Army told CNN that the three were kidnapped on their way from Soorobi district in Kabul province to Tagab district in Kapisa province. However, a statement from the French Foreign Ministry indicated there was more than one Afghan with the journalists. A reason for the discrepancy was not immediately available. France 3, a CNN affiliate, said that that two of its journalists have been missing in Afghanistan since Wednesday. The journalists' families have been notified, and the French Foreign Ministry is assisting in the matter, it said. In its main evening newscast Thursday, France 3 included an announcement about its two missing journalists. France 3 and French authorities said only that the journalists were missing, and the French defense minister noted that no group has made any claim related to them. ""We have haven't received any news from two French journalists who announced yesterday they were on going on assignment in the Kapisa Valley,"" said French Defense Minister Herve Morin. ""We don't have any news but we also don't have any claim from any group,"" he said. In a statement on the France 3 Web site, France Televisions executive Paul Nahon said the two were a journalist and a cameraman, and that there had been no news of them in 48 hours.
GOP speakers laud Bush's 'courage' in terror war	 NEW YORK (CNN) -- Speaker after speaker Monday evening at the Republican National Convention said that President Bush's decisive declaration at one of the scenes of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, demonstrated the need to re-elect him. Monday night, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani recalled that when Bush visited the rubble of the twin towers September 14, 2001, the president declared, ""They will hear from us."" And Giuliani asked, ""As long as George Bush is president, is there any doubt they will continue to hear from us?"" Giuliani said it doesn't matter to Bush ""how he is demonized. It doesn't matter what the media does to ridicule him or misinterpret him or defeat him."" ""They ridiculed Winston Churchill. They belittled Ronald Reagan. But like President Bush, they were optimists. Leaders need to be optimists. Their vision is beyond the present, and it's set on a future of real peace and security. ""Some call it stubbornness. I call it principled leadership."" The ex-mayor, the widow of a passenger on one of the flights and New York's former top cop recounted the terrorist attacks during their stints at the podium to remind viewers and convention delegates of a time when the nation in crisis rallied behind the president. Like the Democratic National Convention, the Republican gathering featured a tribute and moment of silence for those who died in the terror attacks nearly three years ago. In a night built on the theme ""A Nation of Courage,"" the GOP used the attacks and the pre-emptive assault on Iraq to return to its strategy of portraying Bush as avenging and determined, and his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry, as accommodating and indecisive. ""President Bush sees world terrorism for the evil that it is,"" said Giuliani, the night's final speaker. ""John Kerry has no such clear, precise and consistent vision. (Transcript)
Libya conflict: France air-dropped arms to rebels	 France has air-dropped weapons to rebels fighting Col Muammar Gaddafi's troops in Western Libya, the French military has confirmed. Light arms and ammunition were sent to Berber tribal fighters in the Nafusa mountains in early June, it said. Earlier, a report in Le Figaro newspaper said the arms included rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles. France, a leading force in the Nato operation in Libya, did not inform its allies about the move, Le Figaro said. ""We began by dropping humanitarian aid: food, water and medical supplies,"" said Col Thierry Burkhard, spokesman for the French general staff. ""During the operation, the situation for the civilians on the ground worsened. We dropped arms and means of self-defence, mainly ammunition,"" he told AFP news agency. He said the arms were ""light infantry weapons of the rifle type"", dropped over a period of several days ""so that civilians would not be massacred"". The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says the statement is likely to bring further criticism from the likes of Russia and China, who believe Nato and its allies have already gone beyond the remit of UN resolution 1973, which authorised international military action in Libya. The US has argued that resolution 1973 allows countries to provide arms to rebels despite an earlier resolution - 1970 - that imposed an arms embargo on the whole of Libya. Resolution 1973 authorises ""all necessary measures"" to protect civilians, ""notwithstanding"" the arms embargo in resolution 1970.	e
Official: 2 Egyptian soldiers killed, 8 wounded in operation targeting Sinai militants	 A security official in Egypt says clashes between soldiers and wanted al-Qaida-inspired militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula have killed two soldiers and wounded eight. The official says heavy gunfire Friday rocked a village called el-Mahdiya along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. He says troops backed by armored vehicles are fighting against three of the most-wanted Ansar Jerusalem militants, including Shadi el-Manaei, a suspected mastermind of the previous attacks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists. Ansar Jerusalem, like other Sinai-based al-Qaida-inspired groups, have been blamed for rising attacks against Egypt's military and police since the military ousted former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi on July 3.
" Seventy-six people, including 28 children, were killed on Sunday when Syrian army helicopters dropped ""barrel bombs"" on the northern city of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday. Barrel bombs are explosive-filled cylinders or oil barrels, often rolled out of the back of helicopters with little attempt at striking a particular target but capable of causing widespread casualties and significant damage. The Britain-based Observatory said that rebel groups in Aleppo issued a statement asking civilians in government-held parts of the city to move away from state security buildings, which they said would be targeted in retaliation for the bombings. Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces, battling rebels in a two-and-a-half year conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people, frequently deploy air power and artillery against rebel-held districts across the country. They have been unable to recapture eastern and central parts of Aleppo, which rebels stormed in the summer of 2012, but they have driven rebel fighters back from towns to the southeast of the city in recent weeks. The conflict has grown sectarian, with majority Sunni rebels battling Assad's own Alawite sect and Shi'ite militia. The Observatory - which has a network of opposition, pro-government and medical sources - also said on Monday that rebels in northern Aleppo province were threatening to strike two Shi'ite villages they have surrounded with missiles if barrel bombs were used again by the army."
" Hundreds of people are continuing their indefinite protest in Yemen's Taiz province demanding the departure of President Saleh. The protest started on Friday following the resignation of Egyptian President Mubarak forced by an 18-day revolt, when the people took to the streets blessing the victory of the Egyptian people. At dawn police arrested scores of the protesters and released them several hours later. At least 25 protesters were injured today, some seriously, as anti-riot police and bullies hired by the regime continued to attack demonstrators in several Yemeni cities seeing increasing protests, eyewitnesses said. On Sunday, tens were said to have been arrested and others attacked as the people continued their protest for the second day. Police and bullies hurled stones at the protesters fed up with bad living conditions, high unemployment rates, widespread corruption at the public institutions and oppression. They also beat them with stun batons, and police also fired live ammunition in the air in an attempt to disperse the protesters. Police in Sana'a, the capital, Taiz, Aden and Hodeida and other cities are thwarting protests inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, with protesters including activists and journalists attacked and put in custody. The government is tightening security, mainly in the capital, deploying policemen in large numbers with batons to the streets amid fears triggered by the wind of protest in the region in the aftermath of the Tunisian revolution in January. These developments come after President Saleh made concessions more than a week ago including promises not to run for president and not to bring his son to power, and as the Joint Meeting Parties, the opposition, accepted the call of Saleh for resuming dialogue. Yesterday, the opposition coalition JMP said in a news conference they were in favor of change and support protest and what the people are doing, but affirming the situation in Yemen is different from those in Tunisia and Egypt and that peaceful tools can work in the country."
" Unrest in Yemen turned ugly as protesters clashed with police and government loyalists in Sanaa on the fourth consecutive day of rallies. Thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh came up against a smaller crowd backing the veteran leader. The protesters could be heard chanting ""After Mubarak, Ali"", in reference to the recent dramatic events in Egypt. Police fired tear gas and stones were thrown, with reports of injuries. Clashes also broke out during an anti-government protest in the Yemeni city of Taez, to the south of the capital. The Middle East has seen a wave of anti-government protest this year, which began with the overthrow of Tunisia's President, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, last month and reached a new height at the weekend, when Hosni Mubarak of Egypt resigned. On Monday, violence erupted at an opposition rally in the Iranian capital Tehran, while in Bahrain, security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse dozens of protesters in the capital, Manama. In the Manama violence, there were reports of at least one death and some 20 people injured. Yemeni protesters marched towards Tahrir (English: liberation) Square - which bears the same as Cairo's main square - to demand an end to President Saleh's 32-year rule. An AFP news agency report put their number at 3,000, which would be 1,000 more than during Sunday's protest in the city."
" ISTANBUL, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral summit started in Istanbul on Friday with expectation to bring forth some concrete results and decisions. Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari are expected to take decisions for setting up a direct video conference call system between their offices, launching a joint emergency exercise against natural disasters as well as establishment of a joint platform aiming to bring together scholars from the three countries. A framework agreement aiming to enhance the capacity of the three countries to cooperate, as well as agreements for establishment of a Counter-Terrorism Excellency Center, cooperation between the police departments of the three countries and cooperation in counter-narcotics will also be signed during the meeting. On the sidelines of the summit, the fifth one of its kind, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with the Afghan president, while Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rassoul and Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi met over breakfast. Since the tripartite mechanism was launched in 2007, an interior ministers meeting is also being held regularly, and foreign ministers and chambers of commerce of the three countries also meet on the sidelines of the summit. A final declaration will be issued after the summit."
" Fresh protests and strikes have flared in Egypt as demonstrators demand better pay and conditions from the country's new military rulers. Bank, transport and tourism workers all demonstrated in Cairo after 18 days of protests succeeded in removing President Hosni Mubarak. In a TV statement, the military urged all Egyptians to go back to work. Earlier, Cairo's Tahrir Square was cleared of protesters but hundreds soon returned, joined by disgruntled police. Hundreds of uniformed and plain-clothes police marched to Tahrir Square, shouting: ""We and the people are one"" and vowing to ""honour the martyrs of the revolution"". They said they had been forced to act against their wishes in using force on protesters early in the anti-government demonstrations. But they are detested by many ordinary Egyptians, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo, and repairing relations will take time and hard work. Most of the thousands of protesters in the square had left on Sunday after welcoming the announcement by the new ruling military council that it would dissolve parliament and suspend the constitution. Meanwhile, opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei told Arabic TV network al-Jazeera that Egypt's next president should be in his 40s or 50s, Reuters reported. Appearing to rule himself out of a race for the presidency, the 68-year-old was quoted as saying: ""My only goal is to see my country transition from the path of oppressive dictatorship to a civilised ... and democratic state."""
" Nelson Mandela's coffin has arrived in his childhood home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa, the final leg of its journey. Large numbers of people lined the roads in the rural region to pay their respects as the cortege passed by. A state funeral will be held on Sunday for Mr Mandela, who died on 5 December. At least 100,000 people saw the former South African president's body lying in state in Pretoria over the last three days, but some had to be turned away. The coffin was flown from Waterkloof airbase in Pretoria on a C130 military aircraft, escorted by two fighter jets. In line with tribal custom, Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla accompanied him on the journey, speaking to his coffin to tell him he was on his way home to rest. It arrived in Mthatha, 700 km (450 miles) away, shortly before 14:00 local time (12:00 GMT). To solemn music, the coffin draped in a South African flag was moved by a military guard of honour and placed in a hearse to begin the 32km journey to Qunu, where Mr Mandela had wanted to spend his final days and where he will be buried. People waving flags and cheering and singing - in places 10 to 12 deep - lined the route taken by the cortege through Mthatha town to pay their last respects. Tears as well as smiles could be seen on the faces of onlookers."
" Australia has closed its main military base in Afghanistan and its last combat troops have withdrawn from Uruzgan province, officials have announced. The Australian military has maintained a permanent presence at Tarin Kot base in the province since 2005. But officials announced on Monday that the final batch of troops to leave the base were now on their way home. Prime Minister Tony Abbott paid tribute to the Australian troops who had served in Afghanistan since 2001. ""We know that they've paid a high price, 40 dead, 261 seriously wounded,"" he said. ""But that sacrifice has not been in vain. Uruzgan today is a very significantly different and better place than it was a decade ago."" Afghans have been in charge of security in Uruzgan for over a year. From 2014, the Australian military presence will be down to around 400 people who will train and advise Afghan security forces, Australia's Minister for Defence Senator David Johnston said in a statement. The previous Labor government announced in March that the Tarin Kot base would be closed by the end of 2013. Most international troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014."
" Are you in Egypt? Show us what's happening by sharing your stories and photos with CNN iReport. Cairo (CNN) -- The military sought Monday to persuade Egyptians to end the demonstrations and strikes that culminated last Friday in the resignation of the president, and urged their countrymen to get back to work. Though efforts are on track to ""realize the legitimate demands of the people for a true democratic environment,"" widespread strikes and demonstrations continued Monday in certain state sectors, ""even though normality has been restored,"" the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said in a statement. It cited ""negative consequences"" of continued unrest, including harming national security, adversely affecting the state's ability to get necessary goods to the public, disrupting production and operations, delaying the nation's return to ""day-to-day life,"" adversely affecting the economy and ""creating an atmosphere that gives the opportunity to irresponsible persons to commit illegitimate acts."" Hosni Mubarak's abdication leaves a council of generals, led by Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi, in charge of the Arab world's most populous nation. Since Friday, the military has dissolved parliament, suspended the constitution and vowed to remain in charge until elections can be held in six months or so. In addition, it has declared a curfew from midnight until 6 a.m. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said it would appoint a committee to propose changes to the constitution, which would then be submitted to voters. The council will have the power to issue new laws during the transition, according to a communique read on state television. The military now finds itself confronting the economic problems that fueled the revolt, including massive youth unemployment and economic underdevelopment. Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's ambassador to the United States, said Sunday that the generals have made restoring security and reviving the economy their top priorities. However, a leading opposition figure said Sunday that the military must explain its plans in more detail or see a resumption of the demonstrations that drove Mubarak from office."
" 1 of 4. A giant electronic screen displays the mission operation information of China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe as researchers work at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, in Beijing, December 14, 2013. The Chang'e 3, a probe named after a lunar goddess in traditional Chinese mythology, is carrying the solar-powered Yutu, or Jade Rabbit buggy, which will dig and conduct geological surveys. China has been increasingly ambitious in developing its space programs, for military, commercial and scientific purposes. It has moved in lock step with its emergence as a major global economic and political power. ""The dream for lunar exploration once again lights up the China Dream,"" Xinhua news agency said in a commentary. In its most recent manned space mission in June, three astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with an experimental space laboratory, part of Beijing's quest to build a working space station by 2020. The official Xinhua news service reported that the spacecraft had touched down in the Sinus Iridum, or the Bay of Rainbows, after hovering over the surface for several minutes seeking an appropriate place to land. A soft landing does not damage the craft and the equipment it carries. In 2007, China put another lunar probe in orbit around the moon, which then executed a controlled crash on to its surface. China Central Television (CCTV) broadcast images of the probe's location on Saturday and a computer generated image of the probe on the surface of the moon on its website. The probe and the rover are expected to photograph each other tomorrow. The Bay of Rainbows was selected because it has yet to be studied, has ample sunlight and is convenient for remote communications with Earth, Xinhua said."
" Assange told Britain's Sunday Times newspaper that the money would help him defend himself against allegations of sexual assault made by two women in Sweden. ""I don't want to write this book, but I have to,"" he said. ""I have already spent 200,000 pounds for legal costs and I need to defend myself and to keep WikiLeaks afloat."" The Australian said he would receive the equivalent of $800,000 from Alfred A. Knopf, his American publisher, and a British deal with Canongate is worth about $500,000. Money from other markets and serialisation is expected to raise the total to 1.1 million pounds, he said. The latest project of Assange's whistleblower website is the gradual release of tens of thousands of US diplomatic cables. Since the latest project began Assange, who is on bail in Britain fighting a bid by Sweden to extradite him over the sex assault claims, has faced problems financing WikiLeaks. Credit-card companies Visa and MasterCard and the internet payment firm PayPal have blocked donations to WikiLeaks, prompting Assange to label them ""instruments of US foreign policy"". The Bank of America, the largest US bank, has also halted all transactions to WikiLeaks. Washington has been infuriated by WikiLeaks as the site slowly releases the cache of about 250,000 secret US State Department cables. The US is believed to be considering how to indict Assange over the huge leak."
" Ten days of mourning for South Africa's anti-apartheid icon and former leader Nelson Mandela will come to an end Sunday with his state funeral. After Tuesday's vibrant, if rain-drenched, memorial service, followed by three days of public viewing of the former president's casket in Pretoria, the burial will be a slightly more private affair. About 100,000 people have paid homage to Mandela in those three days, including 50,000 who came to pay their respects Friday, the South African government said. Here is how CNN expects events to unfold, based on information from the government and sources involved in planning for the funeral -- although plans may change because of weather, security and other factors. A military plane carrying Mandela's body flew Saturday from an air force base in Pretoria to South Africa's Eastern Cape province, where Mandela's ancestral village of Qunu lies. The family farm there will be his final resting place. President Jacob Zuma and other members of South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, gathered to bid Mandela farewell from the air force base. ""We will miss him. He was our leader in a special time,"" said Zuma. Mandela's casket, draped in the national flag, was carried by soldiers to the plane. Thousands of mourners lined the streets from Mthatha Airport, the closest to Qunu, as Mandela's remains were transported to the remote village where he spent much of his childhood. Once at Mandela's house in Qunu, the military was expected formally to pass responsibility for his remains to his family. The South African flag draped over the coffin will be replaced with a tribal symbol of the Xhosa people, symbolizing the return of one of their own. At dusk, ANC leaders, local chiefs and the men in Mandela's family are expected to gather for a private night vigil, held according to the traditions of the Thembu community, his native clan, before a public funeral the next day. Villagers may gather outside the house to pay their respects."
" The death toll from Typhoon Haiyan that struck the central Philippines on Nov. 8 has passed 6,000 with nearly 1,800 people missing, officials said Friday. Twenty-seven bodies, all unidentified, were among the latest to be recovered under debris in typhoon-stricken coastal areas including the hardest hit city of Tacloban, said Maj. Reynaldo Balido, the spokesman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. The overnight tally pushed the overall death toll to 6,009 while 1,779 others remain unaccounted for, the government agency said, making the typhoon the deadliest natural disaster on record to hit the Philippines. Balido said that 20 to 30 bodies were still being found every day. Identifying cadavers in the advanced stage of decomposition and matching them with the missing is a difficult process and the reason why the number of the missing remains unchanged, he said. The homes of more than 16 million people also were either flattened or damaged by the typhoon, and officials said rebuilding will take at least three years. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said that temporary bunkhouses and emergency shelters were being constructed and residents given cash in exchange for work, including repacking and hauling relief goods. ""We will provide materials to rebuild their houses, however, we stressed to the local governments that new shelters have to be built 40 meters away from the shoreline on high tide,"" she said."
" Further violence between armed groups has broken out in the city of Jos in central Nigeria following bombings that killed 32 people. Witnesses said buildings were set alight and people were seen running for cover as police and soldiers arrived. Previous violence between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups in the region has killed hundreds. The latest unrest was triggered by explosions on Christmas Eve in villages near Jos. Nigerian Vice President Namadi Sambo is reported to be on his way to the area. Details of the latest violence were unclear,but one witness quoted by Reuters news agency reported dozens of buildings on fire and bloodied people being carried to hospital. Police commissioner Abdulrahman Akano told AFP news agency that one person had been killed. ""There were some skirmishes between the two groups and it is under control now,"" he said. Mr Sambo's spokesman said that the vice-president was travelling to Jos on Sunday ""to make an effort to quell this crisis"". Friday's bomb attacks near Jos also left more than 70 people injured."
" A US military spokesman said the minibus they were travelling in failed to stop as it approached a roadblock at about 0800 (0500 GMT). Two men and three children were killed and two women and a child were wounded, Iraqi police said. A US military spokesman put the toll at three dead and two wounded. The family was travelling to a funeral at the time, witnesses said. The roadblock had been set up to allow military vehicles to turn off a highway into the base. ""The Iraqi car wouldn't slow down and warning shots were fired,"" Maj Steven Warren told news agency AFP. He said the vehicle did not stop and came under machine-gun fire. Killed one by one Ahmed Kamel al-Sawamara, a 22-year-old who was driving the car, said he had no time to react when shots began raining down. ""The soldiers started shooting at us from all over,"" he told reporters. ""I slowed down and pulled off the road, but they continued firing."
" Two terrorists from south Gaza were killed by Israeli soldiers overnight Sunday while attempting to plant explosive devices along the security fence. The IDF said soldiers and a helicopter gunship opened fire on the group of terrorists. According to the army, two terrorists were killed in the incident. Army officials said that at around 2 am three terrorists were spotted by soldiers manning an observation point as they were approaching the security fence in south Gaza, near the Suffa crossing. The condition of the third terrorist remains unclear. The army estimates that Gaza's terror groups will continue to try and attack Israeli soldiers along the border fence and may even attempt large, more complex attacks. In early December two terrorists were shot dead while approaching the security fence. A recent flare-up along the border has threatened the calm that has largely held since Israel invaded Gaza two years ago to try to stop years of Palestinian rocket fire. Nearly 30 rockets and mortars have been fired toward Israel over the past week, causing no serious injuries. The Air Force hit back with multiple airstrikes on various targets in the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. In the most recent strike, two Palestinians, apparently from Hamas, were injured. On Saturday, Gaza's Hamas rulers warned they would escalate hostilities against Israel if tensions don't subside along the Gaza-Israel border. ""There is a truce in effect in the field. It is real if Israel stops its aggression and ends its siege. But if there is any Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip we will respond strongly,"" said a masked spokesman for Hamas' armed wing who identified himself as Abu Obeideh."
" Gunmen have kidnapped four Turkish road workers and their local driver in Afghanistan's Paktia province, close to the Pakistan border, officials say. They were snatched after a visit to a construction project in the Dand Wa Patan district, said provincial official Abdul Rahman Mangal. He said they had been taken to an unknown location. Paktia region, near Pakistan's lawless Tribal Areas, is said to be a stronghold for several militant groups. No organisation has said it carried out the kidnap. Abductions have become big business in recent years in Afghanistan, among both Islamist militant groups and criminal gangs."
" (CNN) -- Pirates in the Indian Ocean captured Saturday a general cargo ship and its 27-member Thai crew, the European Union Naval Force Somalia said. Twenty-five vessels and 601 hostages are now being held by pirates in the region, officials said in a statement. The Thai MV Thor Nexus was hijacked about 450 nautical miles northeast of the island of Socotra, officials said. The ship was on its way to Bangladesh from Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates. No details of the attack were known Saturday. Pirate attacks and subsequent ransoms have become a frequent hazard for sailors off Somalia, which has had no effective central government since 1991. Pirates on Monday hijacked another cargo ship, officials said. The attack happened about 400 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles. At least four pirates, using two small boats and rocket-propelled grenades, boarded the MV Orna, a Panama-flagged merchant vessel owned by a United Arab Emirates company. The European Union Naval Force Somalia is a multinational task force with the mission to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Programme and vessels of the African Union Mission in Somalia."
" Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a meeting with U.S. senator John Kerry at the Presidential Palace in Kabul August 20, 2010. Civilian casualties caused by foreign forces hunting militants have caused major tension between Karzai and his Western allies. The latest incident came at a bad time as U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates landed for unannounced talks. Gates's arrival was also overshadowed by renewed worries about corruption, one of Washington's biggest concerns in Afghanistan, after two officials from the country's top private bank left their positions amid allegations of graft. Gates flew into the Afghan capital from Iraq, where he attended ceremonies to mark the end of U.S. combat operations. That milestone has thrown the U.S. military focus back onto Afghanistan, where violence has reached its worst levels since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, despite the presence of almost 150,000 foreign troops, most of them American. Speaking at a joint news conference, Gates and Karzai appeared to disagree over the air strike in northern Takhar province but the Afghan leader used milder language than in an earlier statement when he attacked the strike. Those killed worked for a candidate in Afghanistan's September 18 parliamentary elections, Karzai said. U.S. officials, including Gates, said the strike was aimed at insurgents from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). ""The nature of the operation and the presence of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan's personalities or activists have to be determined. But we do know that the parliamentary candidate is wounded and 10 were killed,"" Karzai said. Gates said he knew little about the incident other than that an IMU leader was targeted and killed, and that the IMU had been responsible for attacks across Afghanistan, including in Kabul. ""This is the first that I had heard that civilians may have been killed and we will certainly look into that,"" said Gates, who also met U.S. General David Petraeus, commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, and will visit U.S. troops."
" An Afghan policeman looks through the debris of the entrance of the Kandahar prison in southern Afghanistan after a prison break June 14, 2008. The jailbreak in the southern city of Kandahar after dark on Friday came as violence has been intensifying in Afghanistan despite the growing numbers of foreign troops supporting the government. The U.S. military said coalition forces searching for prisoners used air strikes west of Rawonay, Kandahar province, on Saturday to destroy a farming compound after insurgents attacked with small-arms fire. More than 15 insurgents were killed. A large cache of munitions and bomb-making material were discovered during the search and five suspects were taken into custody, it said. It was not confirmed if those killed or detained had been prisoners from the Kandahar jail. Kandahar is the birth place and the main stronghold of the Taliban who were ousted from power in 2001. Afghan President Hamid Karzai described the incident as ""unfortunate"" and said much more needed to be done to strengthen Afghan forces to stop such attacks. ""There is all the more reason for us to work hard and to keep building Afghan institutions and intelligence and to be a lot more alert and steadfast in our resolve in confronting terrorism,"" he told a news conference. Afghan authorities have launched an investigation to find out if any government officials were involved in the ""unprecedented"" jailbreak which began when a suicide bomber drove a truck-bomb into the jail gate and blew it up. Several dozen Taliban, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and rifles, then stormed the mud-built compound and freed the prisoners. About 1,000 inmates were in the prison, including 400 Taliban, and nearly all of them escaped, said officials who declined to be identified. The government has confirmed that Taliban were among those who escaped but did not say how many."
" Pressure is mounting on Pakistan to tighten its porous Afghan border Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan has been summoned to the foreign ministry to receive a formal protest over remarks by President Hamid Karzai. Mr Karzai said on Sunday that Afghanistan had the right to send troops across the border to chase militants taking shelter in Pakistan. The Afghan ambassador in Islamabad was given a ""strong protest"" over the comments, Pakistan says. The US says cross-border raids from Pakistan are a growing problem. Pakistani officials would not elaborate on what was said when the Afghan ambassador, Mohammad Anwar Anwarzai, received the protest. In outspoken remarks on Sunday, President Karzai said: ""Afghanistan has the right of self-defence. When [militants] cross the territory from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and to kill coalition troops it exactly gives us the right to go back and do the same."" He was speaking two days after Taleban fighters attacked an Afghan jail in the southern city of Kandahar, freeing some 900 inmates, including 350 Taleban members. On Monday the Taleban said they had taken control of a number of villages in Arghandab district near Kandahar city. The Afghan ministry of defence has denied that the insurgents have made any gains in the area. But the district's police chief said three villages had been taken over. The Afghan president has long pleaded for Pakistan and international forces to confront militants in Pakistan but has never before threatened to send troops over the border. The US-led coalition said 35 suspected Taleban militants were killed on Saturday and Sunday in clashes in the southern provinces of Zabul and Helmand. Mr Karzai warned he was prepared to seek out Taleban leaders wherever they were, specifically naming Baitullah Mehsud, who is based in South Waziristan, Pakistan. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. ""Baitullah Mehsud should know that we will go after him now and hit him in his house,"" Mr Karzai said, adding that Taleban leader Mullah Omar could expect the same. Correspondents say it is the strongest language used yet by Mr Karzai regarding his neighbour. Pakistani Foreign Minister Mehmood Qureshi said it was ""regrettable that such a statement was made at a time when the two sides had agreed to close the ranks in the fight against terrorism"". He said that he wanted to make it ""absolutely clear"" that his country would defend its territorial sovereignty. ""In my view, the only way to win the war against terrorism and extremism is by showing full respect to the territorial sovereignty and non interference in each others' internal affairs,"" he said. ""Since the two countries are faced with a common enemy it is all the more necessary that Afghanistan refrain from making irresponsible threatening statements,"" he said. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that the border between their two countries was too long to police. ""Neither do we interfere in anyone else's matters, nor will we allow anyone to interfere in our territorial limits and our affairs,"" Mr Gilani told the Associated Press news agency. ""We want a stable Afghanistan. It is in our interest. How can we go to destabilise our brotherly country?"" In the wake of Friday's jail break, some 20 escapees from the Kandahar prison have been recaptured in the manhunt by Afghan and international troops, according to Afghan officials. A former Taleban stronghold, Kandahar is one of the key battlegrounds in the insurgency against Afghanistan's government and troops from Nato and a US-led coalition."
" Ten election campaign workers have been killed in an air strike by Nato-led forces in Afghanistan, officials say. The governor of the northern province of Takhar, Abduljabar Taqwa, told the BBC that two people were also wounded in the attack in the Rostaq district. President Hamid Karzai condemned the incident, saying that ""pro-democracy people should be distinguished from those who fight against democracy"". The target was a senior member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) who regularly co-ordinated and conducted attacks with Taliban insurgents, the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said. ""Intelligence tracked the insurgents travelling in a sedan on a series of remote roads in Rostaq district. After careful planning to ensure no civilians were present, coalition aircraft conducted a precision air strike on one sedan and later followed with direct fire from an aerial platform. ""The vehicle was travelling as part of a six-car convoy, but no other vehicles were hit in the strike,"" the statement added. The Isaf statement said ""initial reflections"" indicated that up to 12 insurgents had been killed or wounded, including a Taliban commander. ""Multiple passengers of the vehicle were positively identified carrying weapons,"" it added. Mr Taqwa told the BBC that the Rostaq district was peaceful and that there had been ""not a single anti-government member in the area"". ""Without any co-ordination, without informing provisional authorities, they attacked, on their own, civilian people who were in a campaign convoy."""
" AIG Chief Executive Martin Sullivan listens to speeches during a photocall to announce Manchester United's new shirt sponsorship deal with US insurance and finance company, American International Group (AIG), at the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester, northern England, April 6, 2006. Sullivan is the latest Wall Street chief -- including former Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Charles Prince and Merrill Lynch & Co's Stan O'Neill -- who have left their jobs amid large losses stemming from the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market, which triggered a global credit crunch. AIG named veteran former Citigroup banker Robert Willumstad, who was already AIG chairman, as its new CEO, effective immediately. Willumstad told Reuters that he plans to craft a turnaround plan for AIG by early September. Several large AIG shareholders had pushed in recent weeks for Sullivan's ouster after it posted back-to-back quarters of record losses, stemming from more than $20 billion in write-downs on the market value of assets linked to subprime mortgages. Willumstad told Reuters that his first priority will be to meet AIG's regulators, credit rating agencies and top managers around the globe over the next three months. He is also working to quickly hire a new CFO, after Steven Bensinger stepped aside last quarter. The company is poring over external candidates with financial services experience, he said. ""I have mixed feelings. It seems like he (Sullivan) was made a scapegoat for issues before he took over the helm,"" said analyst Donn Vickrey at research firm Gradient Analytics, noting some derivatives contracts that contributed to AIG's losses were entered into under former CEO Maurice ""Hank"" Greenberg. ""It would have been preferable to bring someone in from outside that had a core insurance pedigree,"" Vickrey said. While Willumstad does have the ""deep, financial experience"" to deal with AIG's thorny subprime exposure, its insurance operations have also posted poor results recently, Vickrey added."
" Speaking after talks in Tunisia, Mr Berlusconi said the date had been discussed with Italy's allies and the Iraqi government. Italy's defence ministry says planning will begin by January on the detail of exactly when and how the 3,000 or so troops will be withdrawn. The country's involvement in Iraq has been unpopular with Italians. Mr Berlusconi said the withdrawal would be done ""in agreement with the other allies and it will be done in agreement with the Iraqi government"". ""If you ask us what could be the date marking the end of our presence, we have spoken about the end of 2006 with our allies and with the Iraqi government,"" he said. The issue of keeping troops in Iraq has also been a recent topic of debate in the United States and among its allies. On Sunday, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld strongly defended US policy in Iraq, saying an immediate troop pull-out would be a ""terrible thing"". His comments followed a Congress debate last week in which a resolution on an immediate withdrawal was beaten. The US has about 160,000 troops serving in Iraq, but that is expected to fall to 138,000 after Iraq's elections on 15 December. The parliament in South Korea is to debate a government proposal to withdraw a third of its 3,600 troops out of Iraq. The South Korean contingent is the largest there after US and British forces."
" Police officers were lured to a market area by a small bombing, then the bomber rammed a patrol car, setting off a larger explosion. Kirkuk has been the scene of frequent attacks on police by insurgents waging war on US-led multinational forces and their Iraqi allies. At least 25 people are reported to have been injured in the latest attack. The bomber struck near the main road leading to Baghdad on the outskirts of Kirkuk, according to reports. About half those killed were police officers, a police spokesman said. Many of the wounded were also police. Correspondents say some of Kirkuk's tensions are caused by the mixture of Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen inhabitants, all of whom claim ownership of the city and the oil-rich territory around it. A week ago four policemen were shot dead in an ambush east of Kirkuk, while three others were killed and three wounded by a roadside bomb in the centre of the city. The Kirkuk attack takes to at least 160 the number of Iraqis killed in suicide operations since Friday. It came hours after insurgents fired a mortar round during a US ceremony to transfer one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces in his hometown of Tikrit to Iraqi control. No-one was injured but TV footage showed guests including the US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the US commander in Iraq, Gen George Casey, rushing for cover."
" The attorney general last night threatened newspapers with the Official Secrets Act if they revealed the contents of a document allegedly relating to a dispute between Tony Blair and George Bush over the conduct of military operations in Iraq. It is believed to be the first time the Blair government has threatened newspapers in this way. Though it has obtained court injunctions against newspapers, the government has never prosecuted editors for publishing the contents of leaked documents, including highly sensitive ones about the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, last night referred editors to newspaper reports yesterday that described the contents of a memo purporting to be at the centre of charges against two men under the secrets act. Under the front-page headline ""Bush plot to bomb his ally"", the Daily Mirror reported that the US president last year planned to attack the Arabic television station al-Jazeera, which has its headquarters in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where US and British bombers were based. Richard Wallace, editor of the Daily Mirror, said last night: ""We made No 10 fully aware of the intention to publish and were given 'no comment' officially or unofficially. Suddenly 24 hours later we are threatened under section 5 [of the secrets act]"". Under section 5 it is an offence to have come into the possession of government information, or a document from a crown servant, if that person discloses it without lawful authority. The prosecution has to prove the disclosure was damaging. The Mirror said the memo turned up in May last year at the constituency office of the former Labour MP for Northampton South, Tony Clarke. Last week, Leo O'Connor, a former researcher for Mr Clarke, was charged with receiving a document under section 5 of the act. David Keogh, a former Foreign Office official seconded to the Cabinet Office, was charged last week with making a ""damaging disclosure of a document relating to international relations"". Mr Keogh, 49, is accused of sending the document to Mr O'Connor, 42, between April 16 and May 28 2004. Mr Clarke said yesterday that Mr O'Connor ""did the right thing"" by drawing the document to his attention. Mr Clarke, an anti-war MP who lost his seat at the last election, returned the document to the government. ""As well as an MP, I am a special constable,"" he said. Both men were released on police bail last Thursday to appear at Bow Street magistrates court on November 29. When they were charged, newspapers reported that the memo contained a transcript of a discussion between Mr Blair and Mr Bush. The conversation was understood to have taken place during a meeting in the US. It is believed to reveal that Mr Blair disagreed with Mr Bush about aspects of the Iraq war. There was widespread comment at the time that the British government was angry about US military tactics there, particularly in the city of Falluja."
" 1 of 15. Rick Travis and Kate Fiedler, from Kitty Hawk, watch high waves come in as the area awaits Hurricane Earl in Nags Head, North Carolina September 2, 2010. Earl was a massive Category 3 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity and had top sustained winds of 115 mph after weakening from its expected peak on Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. As oil refineries, exploration and drilling platforms, and nuclear power plants along the Atlantic seaboard monitored Earl's path, EnCana Corp said it suspended drilling and pulled personnel from a Nova Scotia rig in Canada. Exxon Mobil said it had pulled nonessential staff from its Sable field in offshore Nova Scotia. At least 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate from North Carolina's Outer Banks islands as Earl bore down on the Atlantic shore. It was about 185 miles south of Cape Hatteras at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT). It was due to pass near the Outer Banks overnight, making its closest approach near Cape Hatteras around 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT) on Friday, before turning gradually northeast to sweep up the East Coast on Friday and into Canada on Saturday. ""Even if the center of Earl remains offshore, hurricane-force winds are expected to occur in the Outer Banks by tonight,"" the hurricane center forecasters said. ""Tropical-storm-force winds will likely reach the coast from Virginia northward to Massachusetts on Friday."" The U.S. Census Bureau estimated 26 million people in coastal counties from North Carolina to Maine could feel Earl's effects in the next two days. While a direct U.S. landfall was not forecast, Earl was due to deliver a stinging blow to the North Carolina coastline and farther northward before the Labor Day holiday weekend marking the end of the summer vacation season. Forecasters warned that hurricane-force winds from Earl extended out 70 miles from its center, so it would not need a direct landfall to inflict damage from strong wind and high seas."
" Chancellor Angela Merkel has said: ""According to current information we have to assume it is a kidnapping."" German TV station ARD says it has a video showing the woman and her driver, with kidnappers demanding Germany cut ties with the Iraqi government. The woman, Susanne Osthoff, has apparently been missing since Friday. Her driver is also believed to have been kidnapped. Ms Osthoff, an archaeologist, is a fluent Arabic speaker who is married to an Iraqi and has also been involved in aid work. Germany does not have troops in Iraq and former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's refusal to back the war weakened ties between Germany and the US. Ms Merkel says she wants to improve relations with Washington but has ruled out sending troops to Iraq. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is visiting the US and is scheduled to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday. ""The German government sharply condemns the act and urgently appeals to the perpetrators to return both safely and without delay,"" Ms Merkel said. She added that the German Foreign Ministry has set up a crisis team to help in securing the release of the hostages."
" 1 of 7. Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama waves to the audience during a campaign stop at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan June 16, 2008. According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, Obama leads McCain by 48 percent to 42 percent among all adults, while McCain has picked up support from independents who could be key to deciding the November election. Independents see McCain, an Arizona senator, as more credible on fighting terrorism and are split evenly on who is the stronger leader and better on the Iraq war, the Post reported. McCain has a 14-point lead over Obama, an Illinois senator, on the issue of dealing with terrorism and a narrow edge on who is best equipped to handle international affairs, the poll found. On Iraq, 47 percent of all respondents said they trust McCain more and 46 percent said they have faith in Obama. Independents were 45 percent for McCain to 43 percent for Obama on the question of Iraq, according to the poll. Experience appears to be Obama's clearest weakness, the newspaper said. The poll found that just 50 percent of Americans said Obama has the necessary experience to be president, almost unchanged since early March. Fifty-six percent said McCain was a safe choice, while 52 percent said that of Obama. The two candidates were evenly matched on the question of who is the stronger leader, with 46 percent of respondents rating each as top. McCain was in a far weaker position on domestic issues with Obama leading by 16 points on the economy, which continues to top the list of the campaign's most important issues, the Post reported."
" Khadim Sarhid al-Hemaiyim was the leader of the al-Batta tribe, a branch of the al-Dulaym tribe, one of the largest Sunni tribes in Iraq. Officials said gunmen dressed in Iraqi army uniforms broke into his house and opened fire with automatic weapons. The killings are the latest in a series of attacks on Sunni Arab leaders. The gunmen arrived at the house in Baghdad's south-eastern al-Hurriya district at 0400 (0100 GMT) in 10 armoured cars similar to those used by Iraqi security services. ""I saw it with my own eyes. They were soldiers,"" Mr Hemaiyim's son, Thair Khadim Sarhid, told Reuters. Mr Sarhid said that he and two of his dead brothers were policemen. ""I am going to get rid of my police badge. From now on I will be a terrorist,"" he said. Sunni leaders have frequently accused Shia militias within the Iraqi security apparatus of operating death squads with a sectarian agenda. A spokesman for the Iraqi military said that its forces were not involved in the killing and that it was likely to have been militants in disguise. ""Surely, they are outlaw insurgents. As for the military uniform, they can be bought from many shops in Baghdad,"" Maj Falah al-Mohammedawi said."
" The bomb was detonated as two Iraqi police cars drew up near the general hospital in Mahmudiya, about 20km (12 miles) outside Baghdad. A US military convoy passing by was also hit by the blast. On Thursday evening a car bomb exploded in a busy market in Hilla, killing at least two people and injuring more. At least 13 were injured in the blast, which occurred when a parked car exploded at about 1800 (1500 GMT) in the mainly Shia town, police said. Mahmudiya is a mixed Sunni-Shia town in a region where insurgents have launched many attacks on US-led forces. ""At this time it appears that four of our soldiers were wounded but they are not life-threatening injuries,"" Sergeant David Abrams said of the US troops hurt in the attack. Several Iraqi policemen were killed in the blast. Women and children were also among the many civilian casualties, including at least one medic at the hospital's emergency centre. ""I was leaving the hospital with my one-and-a-half-year-old son in my arms when the explosion happened,"" Huda Ali told the AFP news agency. ""I was knocked down by the force of the blast and when I came to, my son was no longer in my arms. I found him among the dead."""
" One man said he had been whipped with a cable and then had salt rubbed in the wound, while another said his captors had tried to pull out his toenails. The BBC was also shown inside a Baghdad bunker at the centre of a scandal over detainee abuse by Iraqi forces. More than 170 prisoners were found there last week, showing signs of malnourishment and torture. A government-ordered inquiry is under way and Interior Minister Bayan Jabr has said torture will not be tolerated. But he has also brushed aside reports of abuse, saying they have been exaggerated. There are calls for an independent inquiry from Iraqis who do not trust the government to investigate itself. There have been no findings yet. The UN has expressed concern over the number of Iraqi detainees being held and the government faces growing international pressure over their treatment. The prisoners have now been moved from the interior ministry bunker in Baghdad, as have any traces of what they went through. But the smell of overcrowding still hung in the air in some of the four rooms shown to journalists. The general in charge admitted that some of the detainees had had skin rashes and diarrhoea."
"had the work of the taliban in pakistan? they are the latest organization the u.s. considers enough of a threat they have just been officially classified as a terrorist organization . what you are looking at is eyewitness video to a massive explosion on the streets of pakistan this morning, suicide bombings today killed at least 44 people. the attack was aimed at religious pilgrims who were making a shiite religious procession. police say dozens of people were wounded, some critical. earlier this week the taliban took responsibility for triple bombings at another shiite event in the city of lahore."
" QUETTA: At least 53 people were killed and 197 have been wounded on Friday in a suicide bombing targeting a Shiite Muslim rally in the southwest Pakistan city of Quetta, police said.""According to the reports collected from hospitals, 53 people have been killed and 197 have been injured,"" Sardar Khan, chief of Quetta's police control room said over telephone.The blast occurred around 3 pm when an estimated 2000 people gathered in Quetta's Meezan Chowk to mark solidarity with the Palestinian people on Al-Quds Day. The rally was organized by the Shia Imamia Students Organization. Every year, on the last Friday of the month of Ramadan, rallies take place across Pakistan, to support the Palestinian demand for a homeland. After the blast, the mourners turned violent and armed people resorted to aerial firing which continued for some two hours.Television footage showed smoke billowing into the air on a chaotic street with people fleeing and others lying prone next to motorcycles, taking cover from gunfire. The injured were rushed to civil and police hospitals, Quetta.The attack came two days after triple suicide bombings, targeting a Shia procession, killed 39 people and wounded more than 200 others in Lahore. The Shia community was observing the death anniversary of Hazrat Ali , Prophet Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law.According to media reports, Punjab-based terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi which claimed responsibility of the Lahore attack also accepted that they carried out the Quetta blast.A day earlier, Interior Minister Rehman Malik warned of possible suicide attacks on religious gatherings and called Shia Muslims to hold their religious ceremonies indoors.The police chief of Baluchistan, Malik Iqbal told media that they warned organizers of the ceremony to stick inside a cordoned off area after intelligence officials received reports about a possible terror attack.""It was a suicide attack,"" Iqbal said.Shia leader Allama Abbas Kumaili appealed the people to stay calm, ""We understand that these are attempts to bring Sunni and Shia sects against each other,"" he told a Pakistani TV channel. Kumaili said the attacks against minority sects were a result of government failure.""Our government concentrates all its efforts to secure VIPs. Common men are not their priority,"" he said.The Quetta blast was one of three attacks reported in Pakistan on the final Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan.Earlier on Friday, at least person one person was killed and four wounded when a suicide bomber could not reach his intended target and his strapped explosives went off just outside a mosque of the Ahmadi sect.""A suicide bomber was trying to enter the Ahmadis worship place, but he was intercepted by the guards outside and blew himself up,"" Mardan police chief said. Ahmadi community was constitutionally declared non-Muslims by Pakistan in 1973.In the northwest city of Peshawar , which has often been targeted by militants, one police official was killed and three injured when a bomb exploded near their patrol vehicle.The policemen were checking vehicles on Peshawar's ring road when the bomb was detonated by remote control, said senior police official Mohammad Karim Khan."
" QUETTA, Pakistan, Sept.3 (Xinhua) -- At least 40 people were killed and over 100 others injured in a Friday afternoon suicide blast that took place in Pakistan's southwest city of Quetta, reported local media. According to the reports, the blast occurred at about 3:05 pm when a suicide bomber blew himself up among a rally at the Meezan Chowk area of Quetta city. The rally is reportedly gathered to show the support for the Palestinian people. An estimated 2,500 people reportedly took part in the rally, said an eyewitness, adding that the rally is organized by Shia muslims. On Wednesday night, a massive attack targetting Shia Muslims took place in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, during which at least two suicide bombers blew themselves up among hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims who were marching on the streets in the city to mark the death anniversary of Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad , killing at least 37 people and injuring over 200 others. Punjab-based terrorist group named Lashkar-e-Jhangvi which comprises Sunni Muslims later claimed the responsibility for the deadly attack. Shortly after today's blast in Quetta, police have cordoned off the area and reportedly fired in the air to hold back people who tried to enter the blast site in fear of possible attack by angry people who have lost their beloved ones in the blast as it did happen following Wednesday night's blasts in Lahore. All the injured people have reportedly been shifted to different hospitals in the city. At least four media people who were present to cover the rally were also injured, sources in Quetta told Xinhua. So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. ISLAMABAD, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- At least 165 people were killed in August during recent wave of target killings in Pakistan's southern coastal city of Karachi, local media reported on Wednesday. Up till now in the year 2010, August has been the worst month in which around 165 people have been killed. The month kicked off with a fresh wave of target killings in the city as eight people were killed including an activist of Awami National Party (ANP) and a young girl. Punjabi Taliban leader dies but threat still looms large in Pakistan"
" Hamas says it is fully committed to the agreement Israel has approved a ceasefire to end months of bitter clashes with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed. Under the terms of the truce, which is set to begin on Thursday, Israel will ease its blockade on the Gaza Strip. At the same time, talks to release an Israeli soldier held by Hamas would intensify, an Israeli official said. Later, Israel said it was also interested in direct, bilateral talks with Lebanon. Hamas, which controls Gaza, says it is confident that all militants will abide by the truce. After two weeks, Egypt starts talks with all sides to seek re-opening of Rafah crossing The agreement is due to begin at 0600 (0300 GMT) on Thursday and is supposed to last six months. Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007, driving out forces loyal to Fatah, the political faction led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Since then, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the international community have sought to isolate Hamas. For Hamas, the ceasefire agreement is an acknowledgement that Israel's economic blockade of Gaza is hurting its administration and is having a hugely detrimental impact on Gaza's population, says the BBC's Wyre Davies in Jerusalem. The decision to approve the ceasefire was made by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Ehud Barak. It followed the return of a defence official from Cairo, where talks were held with Egyptian mediators. Making his first public comment about the truce, Mr Olmert expressed his hope that it would succeed. But, he added: ""We should not have illusions. The terror organisations, and Hamas among them, have not changed their goals."" The White House gave the truce a cautious welcome, saying it hoped Hamas would ""give up terrorism"". The Israeli government said that it would give the truce a chance Earlier, Israeli Radio said eight rockets had been fired from Gaza towards Israel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Israel said it was ready for talks with Lebanon and would consider all issues of dispute, including the Shebaa Farms, currently occupied by Israel. Separately, Israel and Syria have been holding indirect peace talks, mediated by Turkey. A breakthrough in those discussions could bolster Mr Olmert at home, where he faces a corruption scandal, correspondents say. According to a breakdown of the truce released by Hamas, Israel will ease its restrictions for the trade of certain goods between Gaza and Israel on Friday morning, and open up the crossings for all commercial goods next week. Hamas says Israel will ease its Gaza border restrictions under the deal After two weeks, talks will start involving Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and the EU on reopening the Rafah crossing into Egypt. An Israeli security source told Israel Radio that negotiations on the return of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit were expected to resume within a few days. Confirmation of the truce coincided with the publication of a new UN report on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The UN said power cuts and fuel shortages meant that more than half of Gaza's population had access to water only every other day, while a quarter received it only every four days."
" The Mothers of Srebrenica believe the UN was bound to protect them A Dutch court is considering whether the UN can be sued for failing to prevent the massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995. About 6,000 relatives of those killed have brought a case against the UN and the Dutch government over the killings. Dutch peacekeepers, under a UN flag, failed to intervene as Bosnian Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in one week in July 1995. The enclave had been designated a UN safe haven. The UN has refused to take part in the case, claiming immunity - a position backed by the Dutch government. Dutch government lawyer Bert-Jan Houtzagers said the UN must be allowed to operate without facing the threat of prosecution. ""The Bosnian Serbs are the ones who are to blame, especially General [Ratko] Mladic. He is a war criminal,"" he said. Gen Mladic led the Bosnian Serb forces that overwhelmed Srebrenica. He has been indicted but is still at large. But Axel Hagedorn, lawyer for the victims' relatives, said: ""Functional immunity does not mean that international organisations are wholly above the law. ""Boundless immunity of the UN is both unacceptable and undesirable for the proper functioning and credibility of the UN."" A number of cases have been brought by small numbers of Srebrenica survivors or relatives - including one by two families which opened in a Dutch court on Monday - but this collective action is distinguished by its size, representing thousands of relatives, including the Mothers of Srebrenica group. If it opens the way for the Netherlands to be sued... that will add to the UN's problems   The Srebrenica massacre has been established as genocide, by the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. The Dutch cabinet resigned in 2002 after a report blamed politicians for sending the Dutch UN troops on an impossible mission. Now Dutch judges, at The Hague District Court, have to decide whether the UN can be held responsible for the tragedy, under Dutch or international law. The court will also consider whether the Dutch government can be sued. After Wednesday's hearing, the court said it would announce its ruling on 10 July. Many nations are likely to be watching the decision carefully, says the BBC's Nick Miles. If it opens up the way for the Netherlands to be sued it could make governments more wary of committing troops for peacekeeping operations - making it still harder for the UN to sustain keep them going."
" The Rafah crossing is a gateway to the outside world that is vital for Gaza. It will be the first time many Palestinians leave Gaza without being checked by Israeli forces. Israel had held the border station for nearly 40 years, but ceded control to Palestinian forces. The crossing will be supervised by European monitors. ""I think every Palestinian now has his passport ready in his pocket,"" Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said at a formal opening ceremony at the border on Friday. The EU's envoy to the Middle East, Marc Otte, said the opening would mean an ""enormous step forward toward the freedom of the Palestinian people"". Gaza has no sea port and Israel has not agreed to allow its international airport to re-open, so the Rafah border is Gaza's main gateway. BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston says Palestinians have always hated having to pass through Israeli checks at the frontier, where they were often subjected to delays and questioning. Israel closed the Rafah crossing on 7 September shortly after withdrawing from Gaza, citing concerns that it would be used to smuggle weapons and militants from Egypt into the Palestinian territories. Since then, the crossing has barely been open at all. The Israelis worry that Islamic militants might infiltrate Gaza and threaten Israel. They have insisted on the right to monitor the crossing point on television screens from a base a few kilometres away. Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brokered a deal between Israel and Egypt allowing key border crossings into the Gaza Strip to be re-opened."
" Ruichang hospital beds were moved outside for fear of aftershocks An earthquake has killed at least 14 people and destroyed thousands of homes in central China. The tremor had a magnitude of 5.7 and its epicentre was near the city of Ruichang in Jiangxi province. Hundreds of people are reported to have been injured in the quake, which also hit the neighbouring province of Hubei. In the Ruichang area a total of 420,000 people left their homes, fearing aftershocks, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. ""Basically, everyone in Ruichang is huddling in the street,"" a civil affairs official told AFP news agency. Doctors treated people outside hospitals in case of new tremors, Xinhua reported. The earthquake had struck around 0900 local time on Saturday (0100 GMT), and several aftershocks have been reported since then. ""We'd just finished our breakfast, when we heard a huge roar, like someone setting off really loud firecrackers,"" the official told AFP. Most of the damage occurred both in Ruichang and in the nearby resort town of Jiujiang. Thousands of houses are said to have been destroyed A total of about 8,000 houses are reported to have been destroyed. Chinese Television showed collapsed brick buildings and deep cracks in those that are still standing. In Beijing, the civil affairs ministry said it was sending emergency relief supplies to the affected region. A specialist earthquake task force has left the capital. The US Geological Survey said the quake occurred about 10 km (six miles) below the surface of the earth. Shockwaves were reported to have been felt in the cities of Wuhan and Changsha, respectively 100km (63 miles) and 300km (190 miles) away. Have you been or do you know anybody who has been affected by the earthquake? If so you can send us your comments using the form below. If you have any pictures of the earthquake you can send them to yourpics@bbc.co.uk Click here for terms and conditions on sending photos and video The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide."
" A senior Canadian official confirmed that two Canadian nationals were seized in the capital Baghdad on Saturday. The UK Foreign Office later named 70-year-old Professor Norman Kember as missing and believed abducted. It is estimated that over the past year and a half, at least 200 foreigners have been abducted in Iraq. Some have been executed by their kidnappers. The fourth foreigner is thought to be an American, although the US embassy in Baghdad has only said that one of its citizens is missing. In a separate incident, two Britons and an Iraqi have been killed in an attack by gunmen in Iraq after visiting holy sites. They were travelling with a group of British Shia Muslims from London who on a pilgrimage to Iraq. British officials say they have set up an urgent investigation into the abduction of Mr Kember, a veteran peace activist. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said officials had been in touch with Mr Kember's family and that he had discussed the matter with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. ""We are working on the basis it is a kidnapping,"" Mr Straw said. He added that the UK had a ""clear and consistent"" policy that it did not pay ransoms."
" Wadah Khanfar, al-Jazeera's director general, is hoping to meet UK government officials to press its case. A spokesman for al-Jazeera told the BBC News website that the channel only wanted the record set straight. Downing Street said: ""We are quite happy to talk to al-Jazeera as we are to other broadcasters."" The Italian La Stampa newspaper has reported that Mr Khanfar had ""demanded an urgent meeting"" with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Mr Khanfar told La Stampa: ""We want to know whether Bush really did want to attack al-Jazeera last year and was dissuaded from doing so by the British prime minister, as the British press has claimed. ""We will be silent only when we get the truth."" According to press reports, the memo includes a transcript record of Tony Blair attempting to persuade Mr Bush not to take military action against the al-Jazeera headquarters. The station is based in Qatar, a close ally of Washington and the location of US military headquarters during the Iraq war. The White House has dismissed reports of the conversation as ""outlandish"". UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has warned media outlets not to publish the contents of the memo, citing the Official Secrets Act. But Labour MP and former defence minister Peter Kilfoyle has tabled a Commons motion calling for it to be made public."
" Somali pirates have released a German-owned chemical tanker with 19 Indians among its crew of 22 almost eight months after it was taken hostage in waters south of Oman, the European Union Naval Force said on Tuesday. While the Marshall Island flagged vessel was set free reportedly after its hijackers received a ransom, another German-operated ship was seized in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates wielding automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades in the Indian Ocean on May 8, 2010 captured MV Marida Marguerite. With a deadweight of 13,168 tones and a crew of 22 (19 Indian, 1 Ukrainian and 2 Bangladeshi) she was bound for Antwerp, Holland, when taken by pirates approximately 120 nautical miles South of Salalah, Oman, the EU force said in a press release. Meanwhile, it also announced that in the early hours of December 27, the MV EMS River was pirated approximately 175 nautical miles North East of the port of Salalah, Oman. The 5,200 ton general cargo ship, which is Antigua/Barbuda flagged and German-owned, was on her way to San Nicolas, Greece from Jebel Ali in the UAE at the time of the attack. The vessel has a crew of 8 (1 Romanian, 7 Philipinos) and is carrying a cargo of Petroleum Coke. The pirated vessel MT Motivator was in the vicinity of EMS River throughout the attack that further enforces the current pirate modus operandi of the use of motherships, the EU force said. There are now 26 vessels and 609 hostages being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia."
" June 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. lawmakers ratified the European Union's new governing treaty, sparking opposition claims that Britain is trying to pressure Ireland into holding a new referendum. The Lisbon treaty bill cleared its final reading in the House of Lords, meaning it passes into law. The upper chamber of Parliament also rejected by 33 votes a motion to delay ratification until later this year. The decision means that 19 of the EU's 27 countries have cleared the treaty, which is intended to streamline how the bloc is run and would establish a European president and foreign minister. Irish voters rejected the agreement in a referendum last week. With the British among the most hostile to the treaty, the opposition Conservative Party accused the government of trying to ``bully'' Ireland into rerunning the ballot. ``By closing off our options this afternoon, we help those who wish to do so put pressure on Ireland,'' Lord Charles Leach, whose Conservative Party had urged the government to declare the treaty dead after the Irish rejection, said during debate today. Prime Minister Gordon Brown travels to Brussels tomorrow to discuss the future of the treaty with other EU leaders. While the Lords' vote is a technical victory for Brown, it pits him against public opinion, which is skeptical both of the treaty and the EU in general. Only 14 percent of British voters agreed with the statement that ``the government should carry on and ratify the Lisbon Treaty,'' according to a poll by YouGov Plc published yesterday. Sixty-two percent of the 1,000 voters surveyed said the U.K. should either pull out of the EU or pull out of the ``political elements'' of the EU, YouGov said. No margin of error was given. Conservative leader David Cameron ridiculed Brown, saying that the Irish vote leaves the treaty ``dead'' and should now be buried. Brown has rejected calls for a popular ballot in Britain. ``It would be ridiculous to allow the Irish to vote twice and not allow'' the British electorate to vote once, Cameron told the House of Commons. ``I have seen more spine and leadership from a bunch of jellyfish.''"
" Political parties loyal to Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara have called a general strike across the country from Monday to force the incumbent president to cede power. Our correspondent John James says the strike is not being widely observed so far in Abidjan, the biggest city. Laurent Gbagbo has refused to step aside following November's disputed election which he insists was rigged. Mr Ouattara has been recognised internationally as the victor. Regional West African grouping Ecowas has warned it may use ""legitimate force"" to remove Mr Gbagbo. He accused the US and France of leading a plot against him. Mr Ouattara's spokesman Patrick Achi said on Sunday: ""I can confirm that we have called for a general strike across the nation from tomorrow."" A statement from Mr Ouattara's party added: ""We should not let them steal our victory."" Our correspondent in Abidjan says the city is relatively quiet but a lot of people are going to work and many shops are open. He says people do not want to put their heads above the parapet at the moment - even those who may have voted for Mr Ouattara - because of the possibility that Mr Gbabgo could stay on in power."
" (CNN) -- The rape case involving WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is being reopened, Swedish prosecutors said Wednesday. ""There is reason to believe that a crime has been committed,"" read a statement from Marianne Ny, Sweden's director of public prosecutions. ""Considering information available at present, my judgment is that the classification of the crime is rape."" She said more investigation is necessary before she can make a final decision. An ongoing investigation about a separate charge of molestation will be extended, she added, but the charge will also be escalated to include a sexual component. The molestation charge was previously equivalent to a non-sexual charge of harassment, but it will now come under the heading of sexual coercion and sexual molestation, which are both crimes, she said. Assange's lawyer, Leif Silbersky, said he and his client were ""very surprised"" at the decisions. ""It's unbelievable,"" he told CNN. ""We thought that this circus had ended. Now it's happening all over again."" Prosecutors questioned Assange for about an hour on Monday, though only about the complaint of molestation, Silbersky told CNN. He said police never mentioned the rape allegation during that questioning. ""He maintains that he is completely innocent,"" Silbersky said. Silbersky said he has not been shown anything about the rape allegation and is not sure what the next step is."
" Swedish prosecutor looks into allegations against Wikileaks founder, which he insists are part of a ""smear campaign"". Julian Assange has insisted the claims are part of a smear campaign against him [EPA] A senior Swedish prosecutor is re-opening a preliminary investigation into rape charges against Julian Assange, the founder of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. Marianne Ny said the decision to reopen the investigation, which was dropped by a lower official two weeks ago, was taken after further review of the case. ""There is reason to believe that a crime has been committed,"" the chief prosecutor said on Wednesday. ""Considering information available at present, my judgement is that the classification of the crime is rape,"" she said in a statement. The development is the latest twist in a case where prosecutors of different ranks have overruled each other. on August 20 a Swedish duty prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Assange, an Australian citizen, over rape and molestation allegations. The rape charge was dropped almost immediately, but prosecutors continued to look into the accusation of molestation, which is not considered a sex offence under Swedish law. However Claes Borgstroem, the lawyer for Assange's alleged victims, lodged an appeal against Finne's decision to a special department in the public prosecutions office. Assange, 39, has said the allegations against him are part of a ""smear campaign"" aimed at discrediting his website, which published more than 70,000 secret military files on Afghanistan - in what US officials have called one of the biggest security breaches in their military history. The website plans to release another 15,000 documents imminently. Assange has said was previosuly warned by Australian intelligence that he could face a campaign to discredit him after leaking the documents in July. He was questioned by police over the molestation claim late on Monday, but could face further interrogations. ""In this investigation, I have decided it should continue and we will decide on measures, including interrogations""Ny said, but would not confirm whether an arrest warrant for Assange would be issued. Leif Silbersky, his lawyer and one of Sweden's top defence attorneys, said he expected Ny to ""drop the whole thing""."
" Several thousand protesters have converged on government offices in the Thai capital Bangkok to demand that the government step down. Police lined the streets as crowds led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) marched in Bangkok. The PAD, mostly made up of middle-class Bangkok residents, say the government is a proxy for Thaksin Shinawatra, who the military ousted in a 2006 coup. The group has been protesting in Bangkok since late May. It led the massive anti-Thaksin street protests that preceded the 2006 coup, but the demonstrations this time have so far remained small. Ahead of the protests, police closed down the area around Government House. Schools and offices nearby were ordered to shut. Thousands of police were deployed and barriers set up. The protest leaders had promised 100,000 people would join their movement to oust the government. In the end, only a fraction of that number showed up, according to the BBC's correspondent in Bangkok, Jonathan Head. But their lack of mass support belies the serious threat they still pose to the four-month-old government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, our correspondent adds."
" Four Afghan asylum seekers have been hospitalised with dehydration after pushing down a fence at the Darwin detention centre to stage a protest. Immigration Minister Chris Evans said 92 Afghan males escaped the centre early on Wednesday morning and pushed over a fence. ""All the persons involved are asylum seekers and many of them have actually had their initial claim for asylum refused, and there's is a protest activity,"" Senator Evans told reporters in Canberra. The protest was peaceful and the ""situation is calm"" but the asylum seekers could face criminal charges. ""I want to make it clear that escaping from detention and damaging detention property is a criminal offence,"" Senator Evans said. ""People may well be charged."" NT police and AFP officers are at the scene and negotiations are under way to return the asylum seekers to the centre. Water is being distributed to the asylum seekers due to the hot conditions. ""I'm also advised that four of the persons have been taken to hospital, but I understand at least two are from dehydration caused by the heat,"" Senator Evans said. Police searches of the asylum seekers had not uncovered any weapons, the immigration minister said."
" About 2,000 people have clashed with police in Yemen's capital Sanaa on the third day of anti-government protests. Violence broke out as demonstrators, inspired by the Egyptian uprising, marched through the city, demanding political reform and the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Mr Saleh, in power since 1978, has already pledged to step down in 2013, but has previously promised to quit. State media said he had postponed a trip to the US because of the unrest. An official in Mr Saleh's office said the two countries would ""communicate via diplomatic channels"" to arrange a new date, according to the Saba news agency. Demonstrators attempted to march to the presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, chanting: ""A Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution."" Witnesses said several people were hurt as police armed with batons clashed with stone-throwing protesters. At least 10 people were arrested, said reports. Hundreds of people also took to the streets in the southern city of Aden, said witnesses. A rights group has accused the government of colluding with thugs - armed with sticks, clubs, axes and daggers - to suppress the protests. ""The Yemeni authorities have a duty to permit and protect peaceful demonstrations,"" said Sarah Leah Whitson, of Human Rights Watch (HRW)."