| Israel vows to deny Hezbollah weapons as details of Syria raid emerge Posted: 01 Nov 2013 11:30 AM PDT  By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said it would not allow advanced weapons to fall into the hands of Hezbollah, after a raid on Syria that opposition sources said had hit an air force garrison believed to be holding Russian-made missiles destined for the militant group. Israel has a clear policy on Syria and will continue to enforce it, officials said on Friday, after U.S. and European sources said Israel had launched a new attack on its warring neighbor. Israel declined to comment on leaks to U.S. media that its planes had hit a Syrian base near the port of Latakia, targeting missiles that it thought were destined for its Lebanese enemy, Hezbollah. "We have said many times that we will not allow the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah," said Home Front Defense Minister Gilad Erdan, a member of the inner security cabinet which met hours before the alleged Israeli attack.
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| Pakistani Taliban chief killed in drone strike Posted: 01 Nov 2013 04:55 PM PDT  By Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Jibran Ahmed ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - The head of the Pakistani Taliban was killed by a U.S. drone strike on Friday, security and Taliban sources said, in a blow to the fragmented movement fighting against the nuclear-armed South Asian nation. Hakimullah Mehsud was one of the most wanted and feared men in Pakistan with a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, leading an insurgency from a mountain hideout in North Waziristan, the Taliban's stronghold on the Afghan frontier. "We confirm with great sorrow that our esteemed leader was martyred in a drone attack," a senior Taliban commander said. In Washington, two U.S. officials confirmed Mehsud's death in a CIA drone strike.
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| Syrian army captures strategic town at approaches to Aleppo Posted: 01 Nov 2013 10:32 AM PDT  By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's armed forces said on Friday they had captured a strategic northern town at the eastern gates of Aleppo, the former commercial hub long the scene of fierce fighting between government and rebel fighters. The town of Safira lies on a road the army said would be used to send in medicine and supplies to government-controlled areas of Aleppo, mired in a bloody stalemate for over a year. It is also the site of a chemical weapons installation under government control and cleared of equipment. The capture of Safira is significant in that it marks a rare victory for Assad's forces near the mostly rebel-held north.
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| U.N. envoy says no preconditions for Syria peace talks Posted: 01 Nov 2013 07:47 AM PDT  By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United Nations envoy to Syria said on Friday there would be no preconditions for long-delayed peace talks, an assertion likely to anger an opposition movement that says it will only attend if the goal is to remove President Bashar al-Assad. Lakhdar Brahimi said he hoped the conference - known as Geneva 2 - could still be held in the next few weeks despite obstacles that have held it up for months. The talks are meant to bring Syria's warring sides to the negotiating table, but have been repeatedly delayed because of disputes between world powers, divisions among the opposition and the irreconcilable positions of Assad and the rebels. Brahimi has previously said he thought Assad would not be part of the transitional government that Geneva 2 would attempt to install.
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| U.S. wants 'inclusive' Iraq: Obama Posted: 01 Nov 2013 05:12 PM PDT  By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pressed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday to build a more inclusive democracy in his country and said the United States would cooperate with Iraq as it tries to push back a resurgent al Qaeda. As Iraq experiences a rising spiral of sectarian violence two years after U.S. troops departed following eight years of war, Maliki came to Washington seeking U.S. help to counter a Sunni insurgency revived in part by Syria's civil war next door. Obama, in White House Oval Office remarks with Maliki at his side, made no mention of supplying the U.S.-made Apache helicopters the Iraqis are seeking from the United States.
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| UK: Snowden reporter's partner involved in 'espionage' and 'terrorism' Posted: 01 Nov 2013 04:22 PM PDT By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - British authorities claimed the domestic partner of reporter Glenn Greenwald was involved in "terrorism" when he tried to carry documents from former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden through a London airport in August, according to police and intelligence documents. Greenwald's partner, David Miranda, was detained and questioned for nine hours by British authorities at Heathrow on August 18, when he landed there from Berlin to change planes for a flight to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. After his release and return to Rio, Miranda filed a legal action against the British government, seeking the return of materials seized from him by British authorities and a judicial review of the legality of his detention. |
| Venezuela's government seizes US-owned oil rigs Posted: 01 Nov 2013 05:02 PM PDT CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela has quietly seized control of two oil rigs owned by a unit of Houston-based Superior Energy Services after the company shut them down because the state oil monopoly was months behind on payments. |
| '2 Germans kidnapped in eastern Lebanon' Posted: 01 Nov 2013 04:49 PM PDT  Baalbek (Lebanon) (AFP) - Gunmen kidnapped two German citizens in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa valley on Friday, and are demanding ransom money for their release, according to the official National News Agency.
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| Africans push deferral of Kenya trials with U.N. draft resolution Posted: 01 Nov 2013 04:39 PM PDT  Rwanda, Togo and Morocco circulated among U.N. Security Council members on Friday a draft resolution to defer the International Criminal Court trials of Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto for one year. The African Union asked the Security Council last week to postpone the trials of Kenyatta and Ruto so they can deal with the aftermath of the Nairobi mall attack by al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab, in which at least 67 people were killed in September. Kenyatta and Ruto face charges related to the violence after Kenya's 2007 elections, in which 1,200 people died. The Security Council can defer International Criminal Court proceedings for one year under Article 16 of the Rome Statute that established The Hague-based court a decade ago.
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| S. Africa losing 'sleep' over growing Israeli settlements Posted: 01 Nov 2013 04:34 PM PDT  South Africa has slammed Israel's plans to build new settler homes in east Jerusalem as pro-Palestinian activists launched an international campaign for the release of political prisoners. "That arrangement there in Palestine keeps us awake," South Africa's Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane on Friday told members of Cosatu, the largest trade union which is a political ally of the ruling ANC party. South Africa was chosen by pro-Palestinian activists for the launch of an international lobby seeking the release of 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners, including veteran leader Marwan Barghouti currently in Israeli detention. "The Palestinian quest for self determination remains unfulfilled," said South Africa's top diplomat.
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| Snowden seeks the world's help against US charges Posted: 01 Nov 2013 04:23 PM PDT  BERLIN (AP) — The U.S. refused to show any leniency to fugitive leaker Edward Snowden on Friday, even as Secretary of State John Kerry conceded that eavesdropping on allies had happened on "automatic pilot" and went too far.
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| Egypt TV station stops popular satire program Posted: 01 Nov 2013 04:23 PM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — A private Egyptian TV station stopped the airing of the latest episode of a widely popular political satire program Friday after it came under fire for mocking the ultranationalist, pro-military fervor gripping the country.
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| Illinois EPA asks for court-ordered probe of Citgo refinery fire Posted: 01 Nov 2013 04:09 PM PDT The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency asked that state's Attorney General to seek a court order compelling Citgo Petroleum Corp to investigate an October 23 fire at the company's refinery at Lemont, Illinois, the agency said in a statement on Friday. Citgo responded in a statement later on Friday that it looks forward to working the state agency as it repairs and restarts the unit most heavily damaged in the fire. "Citgo has worked closely with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) and all other state and federal agencies since the incident and has voluntarily provided all information that IEPA has requested." IEPA said it wants Citgo to perform a root-cause analysis of the fire and submit that analysis for review by the state. IEPA spokesman Andrew Mason declined to say if Citgo would be able to restart the 174,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery's crude distillation unit, which does the initial refining of oil coming into the plant and provides feedstock liquids to all other units. |
| German, Brazilian U.N. draft urges halt to excessive spying Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:55 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Germany and Brazil circulated a draft resolution to a U.N. General Assembly committee on Friday that calls for an end to excessive electronic surveillance, data collection and other gross invasions of privacy. The draft resolution, which both Germany and Brazil made public, does not name any specific countries, although U.N. diplomats said it was clearly aimed at the United States, which has been embarrassed by revelations of a massive international surveillance program from a former U.S. contractor. The German-Brazilian draft would have the 193-nation assembly declare that it is "deeply concerned at human rights violations and abuses that may result from the conduct of any surveillance of communications, including extraterritorial surveillance of communications." It would also call on U.N. member states "to take measures to put an end to violations of these rights and to create the conditions to prevent such violations, including by ensuring that relevant national legislation complies with their obligations under international human rights law." The resolution will likely undergo changes as it is debated in the General Assembly's Third Committee, which focuses on human rights.
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| BBC DJ Paul Gambaccini arrested in sex abuse inquiry Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:53 PM PDT  Veteran BBC broadcaster Paul Gambaccini said Friday he had been arrested as part of an inquiry set up to examine sexual abuse claims against late presenter Jimmy Savile. US-born Gambaccini, 64, denied the allegations. Gambaccini said in a statement that he was arrested shortly after watching a musical about a group of black men falsely accused of sexual offences in 1930s Alabama. "Within hours, I was arrested by Operation Yewtree.
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| Obama tells Iraqi leader that U.S. wants 'inclusive' Iraq Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:40 PM PDT By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pressed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday to build a more inclusive democracy in his country and said the United States would cooperate with Iraq as it tries to push back a resurgent al Qaeda. As Iraq experiences a rising spiral of sectarian violence two years after U.S. troops departed following eight years of war, Maliki came to Washington seeking U.S. help to counter a Sunni insurgency revived in part by Syria's civil war next door. Obama, in White House Oval Office remarks with Maliki at his side, made no mention of supplying the U.S.-made Apache helicopters the Iraqis are seeking from the United States. |
| 84 Zambian separatists in court for treason Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:34 PM PDT  Dozens of Zambian separatists appeared in court Friday on charges of treason for trying to create a new state called Barotseland in the west of the country. A total of 84 defendants, mostly from the Lozi tribe, were rounded up in a recent crackdown on those protesting for Barotseland, a state in the country's impoverished west, to secede from the copper-rich southern African country. The defiant secessionists demanded on Friday that their trial be moved from the capital Lusaka to Barotseland. One of the activists, Hillary Ntoka argued that they would not get a fair trial in Lusaka and suggested that Zambia allow the Commonwealth to organise their hearing elsewhere.
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| E. Africa pirates took up to $413 mn since 2005 Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:23 PM PDT  Horn of Africa pirates have raked in up to $413 million in ransom since 2005, with most of it used to finance "global scale" criminal operations, a new study said Friday. The study said the pirates themselves get little of the money paid them by international ship and cargo owners, with their financiers getting most of the take. The money then is spun into criminal operations including arms trafficking, migrant smuggling, and to fund militias, as well as into legitimate businesses, according to the joint study by the World Bank, United Nations and Interpol. "The international community has mobilized a naval force to deal with the pirates," said Stuart Yikona, a World Bank financial sector expert and co-author of the report.
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| Africans set to push deferral of Kenya trials in U.N. draft resolution Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:22 PM PDT Rwanda, Togo and Morocco are set to circulate to U.N. Security Council members on Friday a draft resolution to defer the International Criminal Court trials of Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto for one year. The African Union asked the Security Council last week to postpone the trials of Kenyatta and Ruto so they can deal with the aftermath of the Nairobi mall attack by al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab, in which at least 67 people were killed in September. Kenyatta and Ruto face charges related to the violence after Kenya's 2007 elections, in which 1,200 people died. The Security Council can defer International Criminal Court proceedings for one year under Article 16 of the Rome Statute that established The Hague-based court a decade ago. |
| Egypt TV suspends controversial satirist's show Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:20 PM PDT  Controversial Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef's television channel suspended his programme on Friday, a week after he returned from a four-month break and fired barbs at the country's military. Youssef, known as "Egypt's Jon Stewart" after modelling his Al-Bernameg (The Programme) on the US comedian's popular satirical news programme, had already run foul of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted by the military in July. On Friday, the CBC channel that airs Youssef's show pulled the plug.
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| Stormy Halloween in central U.S. leaves four people dead Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:10 PM PDT  By Kevin Murphy Kansas City, Missouri (Reuters) - A violent Halloween storm swept from the U.S. Gulf Coast up to the eastern Great Lakes killing at least four people, three in Texas and one in Tennessee, and contributed to the overturning of a school bus in a rain-swollen creek in Kansas. Strong winds and heavy rain lashed the region, and wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour were still being forecast for Friday afternoon in some regions. The National Weather Service said it received 230 reports of high winds across 12 states from Louisiana to Pennsylvania, and reports of tornadoes in Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky and Illinois, although none did major damage.
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| Ex-Florida GOP Gov. Charlie Crist files to seek the office again, this time as Democrat Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:06 PM PDT TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Former Florida Republican governor turned Democrat Charlie Crist has filed paperwork to run for his old job with his new party. |
| Niger orders closure of migrant camps after Sahara deaths Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PDT  Niger on Friday ordered the "immediate" closure of migrant camps in the north of the country after 92 people, mostly women and children, died of thirst trying to cross the harsh Sahara desert. In a statement read on public television, the government also announced that all those involved in trafficking migrants, many of whom pass through northern Niger on their way to Algeria or Libya, would be identified and "severely punished". The decomposed bodies of 52 children, 33 women and seven men were found on Wednesday following their grisly death in October after two trucks carrying them broke down on the way to Algeria. "This tragedy is the result of criminal activities led by all types of trafficking networks," government said as it announced the closure of the "ghettos", the name given to migrant camps in Agadez, the main town in northern Nigeria.
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| Toronto mayor's lawyer chides police Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:59 PM PDT  TORONTO (AP) — A lawyer for Toronto's embattled mayor accused the city's top cop of acting as "judge, jury and executioner" Friday, a day after police said they had obtained a copy of a long-rumored video that appears to show Rob Ford puffing on a crack pipe.
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| Obama says al-Qaida now more active in Iraq Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:53 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama pledged Friday to help combat an increasingly active al-Qaida in Iraq but stopped short of announcing new commitments of assistance sought by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
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| In-flight phones: Others likely to follow FAA lead Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:46 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says it is relaxing restrictions on the use of smartphones and other electronics inside flights by American carriers. Passengers are still barred from making calls or downloading data off a cellular network, but the OK on using laptops, consoles, e-readers, and other electronics at the beginning and end of each flight will come as a relief to many travelers. Here's a look at what may be in store for air travelers in the rest of the world.
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| British women set new pursuit world record Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:44 PM PDT  Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Great Britain's women set a second world record in two rides as they won the team pursuit final on the opening day of the Track World Cup in Manchester on Friday. Laura Trott, Dani King, Joanna Rowsell, all Olympic champions, and Elinor Barker qualified in four minutes 23.910 seconds to earn a final showdown with Canada.
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| Obama says he and Maliki discussed how to 'push back' Al-Qaeda Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:42 PM PDT  US President Barack Obama and Iraqi leader Nuri al-Maliki Friday discussed how to "push back" against Al-Qaeda after the resurgent group whipped up the deadliest surge of violence in the country in five years. Obama welcomed Maliki to the Oval Office nearly two years after the last soldier left Iraq, but as fears mount that Al-Qaeda will send the country spiraling back into civil war. "We had a lot of discussion about how we can work together to push back against that terrorist organization that operates not only in Iraq but also poses a threat to the entire region and to the United States," Obama said.
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| Officials: US drone kills Pakistani Taliban leader Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:40 PM PDT  PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A U.S. drone strike Friday killed Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, in a major blow to the group that came after the government said it had started peace talks with the insurgents, according to intelligence officials and militant commanders.
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| Excerpts from AP interview: Honduras police chief Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:34 PM PDT  TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Five-star Gen. Juan Carlos "El Tigre" Bonilla, spent eight hours talking with The Associated Press about his job heading the National Police in one of the world's most dangerous countries, a force suspected of beating, killing and "disappearing" its detainees. It was his first media interview since 2011.
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| Two men gunned down in Athens near Golden Dawn office Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:30 PM PDT  Two men were killed and another person seriously injured Friday in a shooting outside the Athens party offices of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, police said. Local Greek media reported that the two were members of Golden Dawn. The party had planned a meeting in the Athens suburb of Neo Iraklio on Friday night, where the shootings took place. According to police, two unknown assailants parked their motorbike close to the local offices of the Golden Dawn party, before approaching the victims, firing and then fleeing on the bike.
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| Shooting kills 2 Golden Dawn members in Greece Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:25 PM PDT  ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A drive-by shooting killed two members of Greece's Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn party and wounded one outside a party office in Athens on Friday night, in what officials are treating as a likely far-left domestic terrorist attack.
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| Fresh Sao Paulo clashes between protesters and police Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:05 PM PDT  Some 100 demonstrators protesting the forced eviction of squatters clashed with police in Sao Paulo Friday in a fresh outbreak of violence in Brazil's biggest city. A police spokeswoman said the disturbances erupted in a shantytown of northeastern Sao Paulo over the clearance of lands illegally occupied by squatters.
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| AP Exclusive: Honduras chief denies death squads Posted: 01 Nov 2013 01:58 PM PDT  TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — In a capital accustomed to daily bloodshed, the man in charge of law enforcement is as feared as the criminals. Few dare speak his name above a whisper.
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| Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud killed in US drone strike Posted: 01 Nov 2013 01:51 PM PDT  Peshawar (Pakistan) (AFP) - A US drone strike Friday killed Pakistani Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud, security and insurgent sources said, dealing a major blow to the militant network and casting doubt over proposed peace talks. Mehsud's death is likely to prompt revenge attacks by the Taliban and disrupt government efforts to begin negotiations, analysts said, but will also seriously weaken an outfit that has become one of the greatest security threats to Pakistan. It also represents a success for the CIA's drone programme targeting suspected militants in Pakistan's tribal belt at a time when it is under intense scrutiny over civilian casualties. Mehsud, who had a $5 million US government bounty on him, died along with three others when a US drone fired two missiles at a vehicle in a compound in the village of Dandey Darpakhel, five kilometres (three miles) north of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, officials said.
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| A look at Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Posted: 01 Nov 2013 01:37 PM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi, goes on trial starting Nov. 43 on charges of inciting murder during December clashes at the presidential palace in Cairo. The trial is part of a widescale crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood by the military-backed government after the nation's top general removed Morsi on July 3 following nationwide protests.
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| Egypt protests, clashes ahead of Morsi trial Posted: 01 Nov 2013 01:34 PM PDT  Islamist supporters of Mohamed Morsi protested and clashed with police and opponents around Egypt on Friday, three days before the ousted president is to go on trial. The most serious incident took place in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, where protesters clashed with police, who used tear gas against them, a security official said. In the Nile Delta city of Zaqaziq, five people were wounded when pro-Morsi protesters clashed with civilian opponents, the official MENA news agency reported. In Cairo, hundreds of Islamists protested outside the main presidential palace as soldiers and police looked on, an AFP correspondent said.
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| Algerian Consulate in Morocco attacked by mob Posted: 01 Nov 2013 01:33 PM PDT RABAT, Morocco (AP) — A Moroccan man climbed on top of the Algerian Consulate in the Casablanca on Friday and tore down its Algerian flag while an angry mob demonstrated outside, witnesses said. |
| Kosovo elections key in Serbia EU entry talks Posted: 01 Nov 2013 01:31 PM PDT  Kosovska Mitrovica (Kosovo) (AFP) - Key local elections in Kosovo on Sunday will be closely watched for the turnout of its minority Serb population and is seen as a vital step in Serbia's bid to join the European Union. Kosovo, the territory which sparked a war between Serb forces and ethnic Albanian rebels in 1998-1999, remains the main stumbling block to Serbia's bid to join the bloc. There are some 120,000 Serbs in Kosovo. The 40,000 living in the north, which has maintained a certain control of institutions, are torn over whether to vote in the elections, backed for the first time by Belgrade.
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| Moroccan tears down Algerian flag from consulate Posted: 01 Nov 2013 01:18 PM PDT  A young Moroccan tore down the Algerian flag from the roof of that country's consulate in Casablanca during a protest Friday over Western Sahara, sparking an angry protest from Algiers. A video widely circulated on Internet sites in Morocco shows the man climbing the walls of the building to reach the flag. Dozens of people had gathered outside the consulate in Morocco's economic capital to protest over comments by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on disputed Western Sahara.
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