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• Syrian rebels kill 28 soldiers, several executed
• British millionaire pleads guilty in Iran missile scheme
• Insight: Putin's Russia - more fragile than it looks
• Abbas hints has no "right of return" to home in Israel
• China struggles for solution to growing NIMBY movement
• Greek journalist acquitted in Swiss accounts scandal
• Netanyahu rival blasts his "obsession" with Iran
• At least 23 killed in Riyadh fuel truck blast
• Venice hit by worst flooding in two years
• Greek court challenges pension reform plan
• Israel confirms killing Arafat deputy in 1988
• Syrians wary of US push to overhaul opposition
• Syria rebels kill 78 soldiers, attack checkpoints
• Greek publisher acquitted in privacy case
• Guinea electoral commission swears in most members
• US college student stabbed in Rome after party
• Hit by crisis, Greek society in free-fall
• Putin lays low, spokesman's reasons seem odd
• No pigeons, planes, pingpong balls at China meet
• Northern Ireland prison guard slain in gun ambush
• Mob burns girls' school in Pakistani city over alleged blasphemy
• Report: $800 million is snuck out of Iraq each week
• Day of the Dead: Mexicans mourn loved ones
• NATO members need to step up, says UK defense minister
• Support for jihadists in Syria swells as US backing of rebels falls short
• All politics is local, even the US election as seen by Kenyans
• For some Syrian rebels, keeping classrooms open is key to fighting Assad
• Bad boys: Brazil slaps misbehaving soccer players with service, not just suspensions
• China crackdown underscores nervousness ahead of key Communist party meeting
• US backs new Syrian opposition council in bid to unite rebels

Syrian rebels kill 28 soldiers, several executed Posted: 01 Nov 2012 10:22 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Anti-government rebels killed 28 soldiers on Thursday in attacks on three army checkpoints around Saraqeb, a town on Syria's main north-south highway, a monitoring group said. Some of the dead were shot after they had surrendered, according to video footage. Rebels berated them, calling them "Assad's Dogs", before firing round after round into their bodies as they lay on the ground. The highway linking the capital Damascus to the contested city of Aleppo, Syria's commercial center, has been the scene of heavy fighting since rebels cut the road last month. ...

British millionaire pleads guilty in Iran missile scheme Posted: 01 Nov 2012 02:04 PM PDT SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - British millionaire Christopher Tappin pleaded guilty in federal court in Texas on Thursday to charges of attempting to sell missile parts to Iran, prosecutors said. Tappin, 66, from Orpington, Kent, who had previously pleaded not guilty, reversed that stance in federal court in El Paso as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that calls for a sentence of 33 months in prison and a fine of more than $11,000, according to U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman. ...

Insight: Putin's Russia - more fragile than it looks Posted: 01 Nov 2012 12:52 PM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - When Vladimir Putin celebrated his 60th birthday this month, a group of patriotic mountaineers unfurled a portrait of the Russian leader on a 4,150-metre mountain peak. Hailing him as a guarantor of happiness and stability, the climbers' leader explained: "We have stuck Putin's portrait on a rock wall we see as unbreakable and eternal as Putin". But as Putin nears the end of his 13th year ruling this vast country, Russians feel increasingly unhappy and worries over long-term political and economic stability are growing. ...

Abbas hints has no "right of return" to home in Israel Posted: 01 Nov 2012 01:26 PM PDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made a rare if symbolic concession to Israel on Thursday, saying he had no permanent claim on the town from which he was driven as a child during the 1948 war of the Jewish state's founding. Among several disputes deadlocking Middle East peace talks has been the Palestinians' demand that as many as five million of their compatriots be granted the right to return to lands in Israel that they or their kin lost. ...

China struggles for solution to growing NIMBY movement Posted: 01 Nov 2012 02:23 PM PDT SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - It looked like another victory for the people when the Chinese city of Ningbo announced the suspension on Sunday of a petrochemical project after days of street protests by citizens concerned it would pollute their community. It may turn out to be more complicated. ...

Greek journalist acquitted in Swiss accounts scandal Posted: 01 Nov 2012 01:48 PM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek journalist who published the names of more than 2,000 of his compatriots who held Swiss bank accounts was acquitted on Thursday in a case that touched a nerve over the role of tax evasion in the country's debt crisis. The trial of Costas Vaxevanis, editor of the weekly Hot Doc magazine, had aroused international concern and intense interest among Greeks hit by the impact of the country's economic collapse and angry at the privileges of the elite. ...

Netanyahu rival blasts his "obsession" with Iran Posted: 01 Nov 2012 10:40 AM PDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Kicking off his election campaign, Israeli opposition leader Shaul Mofaz on Thursday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being driven by an obsession to bomb Iran. Mofaz, head of the centrist Kadima party that quit Netanyahu's coalition weeks ago citing differences over how to rein in Iran's nuclear program, unveiled a poster of a flaming mushroom cloud emblazoned with "Netanyahu will mire us in trouble". ...

At least 23 killed in Riyadh fuel truck blast Posted: 01 Nov 2012 10:36 AM PDT RIYADH (Reuters) - At least 23 people were killed when a fuel truck crashed into a flyover in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Thursday, triggering an explosion that brought down an industrial building and set fire to nearby vehicles. State-owned Ekhbariya television news channel reported on that the death toll had risen to 23 and emergency workers were still searching the collapsed building for more victims or survivors. Health ministry spokesman Saad al-Qahtani said 135 people were injured, mostly men and including some foreigners. ...

Venice hit by worst flooding in two years Posted: 01 Nov 2012 02:30 PM PDT VENICE (Reuters) - Tourists in Venice put plastic bags over their legs and residents wore rubber boots as water rose to knee-high levels in many parts of the lagoon city on Thursday. The median level of the Adriatic Sea swelled to about 1.4 meters (1.5 yards) above normal - the highest in nearly two years - sending water from the lagoon into St. Mark's Square and many narrow alleyways. Wooden catwalks which are usually used to allow pedestrian passage over flooded areas were removed after the water rose above them, rendering them useless. ...

Greek court challenges pension reform plan Posted: 01 Nov 2012 12:57 PM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Pension reform demanded by foreign lenders may be unconstitutional, a Greek court ruled on Thursday, in a setback to the government's efforts to push through an austerity package for the near-bankrupt country. The Court of Auditors, which vets Greek laws before they are submitted to parliament, said planned measures such as increasing the retirement age by two years to 67 and cutting pensions by 5 to 10 percent could be against the constitution. ...

Israel confirms killing Arafat deputy in 1988 Posted: 01 Nov 2012 01:44 PM PDT Israel acknowledged Thursday it killed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's deputy in a 1988 raid in Tunisia, lifting a nearly 25-year veil of secrecy and allowing a rare glimpse into the shadowy world of its secret operations.

Syrians wary of US push to overhaul opposition Posted: 01 Nov 2012 02:14 PM PDT Members of Syria's opposition-in-exile bristled Thursday at the Obama administration's suggestion that Washington will handpick more representative leaders at a crucial conference in Qatar next week.

Syria rebels kill 78 soldiers, attack checkpoints Posted: 01 Nov 2012 01:52 PM PDT Syrian rebels killed 78 soldiers on Thursday, about half of them in attacks on military checkpoints in the north just hours after a wave of bombings hit the Damascus area, activists said.

Greek publisher acquitted in privacy case Posted: 01 Nov 2012 01:06 PM PDT A magazine publisher was acquitted on Thursday of breaching privacy laws by printing a list allegedly naming Greeks with bank accounts in Switzerland. The list has touched off a fierce debate in the nearly bankrupt country after governments failed to use it to check for possible tax evasion by rich depositors.

Guinea electoral commission swears in most members Posted: 01 Nov 2012 03:26 PM PDT Guinea's government swore in most members of its new electoral commission Thursday after opposition concerns earlier delayed the ceremony in a controversy that has prompted violent street protests.

US college student stabbed in Rome after party Posted: 01 Nov 2012 03:06 PM PDT A U.S. student at an American university in Rome was stabbed about 25 times by a fellow student as he slept following Halloween night partying at a club and is hospitalized in serious condition, police said Thursday.

Hit by crisis, Greek society in free-fall Posted: 01 Nov 2012 07:24 AM PDT A sign taped to a wall in an Athens hospital appealed for civility from patients. "The doctors on duty have been unpaid since May," it read, "Please respect their work."

Putin lays low, spokesman's reasons seem odd Posted: 01 Nov 2012 12:23 PM PDT What ails Vladimir Putin?

No pigeons, planes, pingpong balls at China meet Posted: 01 Nov 2012 07:39 AM PDT Don't roll down the taxi windows. Don't buy a remote-controlled plane without a police chief's permission. And don't release your pigeons.

Northern Ireland prison guard slain in gun ambush Posted: 01 Nov 2012 11:09 AM PDT Suspected IRA die-hards killed a Northern Ireland prison officer Thursday in a gun ambush as he drove to work, the first killing of a prison guard in nearly two decades in the British territory.

Mob burns girls' school in Pakistani city over alleged blasphemy Posted: 01 Nov 2012 01:27 PM PDT A mob attacked a girls' school in the city of Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, demanding that teachers hand over the principal and a teacher, after rumors emerged that the teacher had insulted the prophet Muhammad.

Report: $800 million is snuck out of Iraq each week Posted: 01 Nov 2012 11:09 AM PDT Shortly before Iraqi central bank governor Sinan al-Shabibi was fired on Oct. 16, his soon-to-be replacement charged, in essence, that Iraq's economy is among the most corrupt on the planet.

Day of the Dead: Mexicans mourn loved ones Posted: 01 Nov 2012 10:48 AM PDT As soon as darkness fell, festive crowds streamed into the candle-lit cemeteries of this southern Mexican city and nearby towns by the thousands.

NATO members need to step up, says UK defense minister Posted: 01 Nov 2012 10:11 AM PDT Britain's secretary of defense warned Thursday that NATO needs to "do things differently" after last year's intervention in Libya laid bare how imbalanced support for the alliance is among its member nations – due in large part to Europe's financial crisis.

Support for jihadists in Syria swells as US backing of rebels falls short Posted: 01 Nov 2012 09:57 AM PDT When asked about the role of Islamic jihadists in Syria's long-burning civil war, an Aleppo hospital doctor recalled what prompted one Syrian to join their ranks.

All politics is local, even the US election as seen by Kenyans Posted: 01 Nov 2012 09:00 AM PDT Kenyans are closely watching the US presidential election, with two groups in particular rooting for each of the candidates.

For some Syrian rebels, keeping classrooms open is key to fighting Assad Posted: 01 Nov 2012 07:16 AM PDT In a cave-like room lit by a single fluorescent light bulb, more than a dozen third-grade students sit in rows of small desks, their tiny backpacks beside them as they face a blackboard hung on rough stone walls.

Bad boys: Brazil slaps misbehaving soccer players with service, not just suspensions Posted: 01 Nov 2012 07:02 AM PDT Fines and suspensions for athletes behaving badly? Well, yes. But in Brazil, they get community service too.

China crackdown underscores nervousness ahead of key Communist party meeting Posted: 01 Nov 2012 06:30 AM PDT The Chinese authorities are tightly muzzling critics as they prepare for the ruling Communist Party's national congress and issuing a slew of security edicts, ranging from a ban on the sale of knives in the capital to admonitions about subversive ping pong balls.

US backs new Syrian opposition council in bid to unite rebels Posted: 01 Nov 2012 05:36 AM PDT • A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

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