| NATO denounces Russian incursion into Turkish airspace Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:09 PM PDT  By Ayla Jean Yackley and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The United States and NATO denounced Russia on Monday for violating Turkish airspace and Ankara threatened to respond, reporting two incursions in two days and raising the prospect of direct confrontation between the former Cold War adversaries. NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels of ambassadors from its 28 member states to respond to what Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called "unacceptable violations of Turkish airspace" after a Russian jet crossed its frontier with Syria on Saturday. A Russian warplane again violated Turkish airspace on Sunday, a Turkish foreign ministry official said late on Monday, prompting Ankara to summon Moscow's ambassador.
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| Afghan forces called for air strike in Kunduz: U.S. general Posted: 05 Oct 2015 12:52 PM PDT  By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Afghan forces asked for U.S. air support while fighting the Taliban in Kunduz shortly before an air strike resulted in the deaths of civilians there, the American commander of international forces in Afghanistan said on Monday. U.S. Army General John Campbell fell short of squarely acknowledging U.S. responsibility for an air strike that killed 22 people in an Afghan hospital run by aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Saturday. MSF reiterated its call for an independent investigation into the incident, though the White House said on Monday it was confident ongoing probes by the U.S. military, NATO, and Afghan security officials would provide a full account of the circumstances surrounding the strike.
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| In Guatemala mudslide, searchers find dead huddled together Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:39 PM PDT  By Enrique Pretel SANTA CATARINA PINULA, Guatemala (Reuters) - Beneath the mud and rock that engulfed the small Guatemalan town of Santa Catarina Pinula last week, search crews have found entire families who died huddled together after they were buried alive. At least 137 people were killed in Thursday's disaster just outside Guatemala City, and emergency services chief Alejandro Maldonado said on Monday at least 300 people were still unaccounted for. The Guatemalan Red Cross made an appeal on Twitter for dry ice at its provisional morgue in the town.
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| Car bomb attacks kill 57 people in Iraq: police Posted: 05 Oct 2015 10:26 AM PDT At least 57 people were killed on Monday in car bomb attacks in Baghdad and the north and south of Iraq, police and medical sources said. One attack took place near a crowded market in the town of Khalis, about 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad, killing 35 people, police said. "The driver begged police to be allowed to park his vehicle in order to buy medication from a nearby pharmacy and five minutes later it (the bomb) went off and caused huge destruction," police captain Mohammed al-Tamimi said. |
| Israel toughens measures against Palestinians, West Bank youth killed Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:16 PM PDT  By Ori Lewis JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel announced harsher measures to tackle Palestinian violence on Monday as a Palestinian teenager was killed in a clash with Israeli soldiers near the West Bank town of Bethlehem, a Palestinian hospital source said. Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jerusalem has intensified in the past few weeks and the teenager's reported death was the latest in a series of incidents that has raised fears of wider escalation. Recent bloodshed has included a drive-by shooting that killed an Israeli couple in the West Bank on Thursday and an arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents in July.
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| Taliban claim responsibility for suicide attack in Kabul Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:51 AM PDT The Taliban claimed responsibility for what it said was a suicide attack against an intelligence center in Kabul on Monday, shortly after explosions and gunfire were heard in a western area of the Afghan capital. Earlier an Afghan security source said two gunmen had attacked the house of a tribal elder in Kabul and an adjacent building belonging to a former governor of the southern Helmand province. The attack came days after the Taliban captured the northern provincial capital of Kunduz in one of its biggest military victories in 14 years of conflict. |
| A-League looks to continue fan growth in its 11th season Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:04 PM PDT SYDNEY (AP) — Australian football's A-League opens its 11th season Thursday hoping to continue surging audience growth while wrestling with player discontent and financial crises affecting some clubs. |
| Top Asian News at 12:00 a.m. GMT Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:02 PM PDT STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Nobel prize in medicine went Monday to three scientists hailed as "heroes in the truest sense of the word" for saving millions of lives with the creation of the world's leading malaria-fighting drug and another that has nearly wiped out two devastating tropical diseases. Tu Youyou — the first-ever Chinese medicine laureate — turned to ancient texts to produce artemesinin, a drug that is now the top treatment for malaria. Inspired by traditional Chinese medicine, Tu discovered that a compound from the wormwood plant was highly effective against the malaria parasite, while working on a project for the Chinese military during the Cultural Revolution. |
| US law student sues CIA over Salvadoran civil war documents Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:53 PM PDT SEATTLE (AP) — A University of Washington law student is suing the CIA over documents related to the El Salvadoran civil war. |
| Congo to vote on scrapping presidential third term limit Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:50 PM PDT  Republic of Congo's government on Monday called an October 25 referendum on a constitutional amendment allowing President Denis Sassou Nguesso to run for a controversial third term in office. Under the amendment, a presidential term could be "twice renewed", allowing Sassou Nguesso, 72, to seek reelection in 2016. In late September, thousands of people demonstrated in Brazzaville over the incumbent's attempt to follow the example of several African leaders by trying to extend his rule.
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| UN official: world's displaced population now 60 million Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:48 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — When Antonio Guterres became the U.N. refugee chief almost 10 years ago, the world counted 38 million people displaced by conflict and persecution and the number was declining. Today, it's more than 60 million and rising. |
| US postpones computer aid program to Mexico for re-design Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:41 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Embassy says it is cancelling a planned delivery of computer systems to Mexico to aid that country's judicial reform in order to re-design the package. |
| British business group calls for early EU referendum Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:22 PM PDT  Delaying a referendum on whether Britain should remain in the European Union risks poor timing for companies and politicians, the head of a leading business lobby group was to say Tuesday. British Prime Minister David Cameron is seeking to renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership before holding an in/out referendum by the end of 2017. According to extracts of his speech released to media, he will add that while IoD members "believe some uncertainty is a price worth paying to resolve EU membership, delay puts a brake on decision-making, investment and the vigour of their businesses".
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| IMF meets in hostile territory of Latin America Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:20 PM PDT  The International Monetary Fund faces a chilly reception as it meets this week in Latin America, the region that has been most hostile toward its policy prescriptions. There is loaded history lingering in the air in Peru as IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and her team jet into Lima for the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank from Friday to Sunday. In a part of the world long resent of being seen as America's back yard, the IMF and World Bank's loans and accompanying fiscal policy prescriptions -- commonly derided as the "Washington consensus" -- are often criticized as just another way for the US to maintain its dominance over the hemisphere.
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| Nine dead in historic South Carolina rains and flooding Posted: 05 Oct 2015 12:03 PM PDT  Floodwaters inundating South Carolina after unprecedented rainfall have resulted in nine deaths, more than 500 road and bridge closures and hundreds of rescues of people trapped in homes and cars by the rising water, officials said on Monday. Governor Nikki Haley warned residents to remain on alert as rain continued to fall in some of the hardest-hit areas, including the state capital of Columbia, which saw its wettest days on record over the weekend. More than 2 feet of rain have fallen in the past three days in parts of South Carolina, and moderate to heavy rain persisted on Monday in the state's saturated northeastern corner and southeastern North Carolina, the National Weather Service said.
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| Border Patrol parent agency issues custody standards Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:18 PM PDT SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Border Patrol's parent agency has issued nationwide custody standards, a little more than a year after its jails were overwhelmed with Central American children fleeing to the United States. |
| Questions arise about neighborhood where slide killed 144 Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:14 PM PDT  SANTA CATARINA PINULA, Guatemala (AP) — Emergency workers spent a fourth day digging bodies out of a massive mudslide on Monday, watching the death toll rise to 144 as questions mounted about why people were allowed to build homes at the base of a dangerous hillside next to a small river.
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| Air strike on Kunduz hospital tests cozier Afghan-U.S. ties Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:13 PM PDT By Krista Mahr and Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's reticence since a suspected U.S. air strike hit a hospital in the provincial capital of Kunduz on Saturday speaks volumes about how much he relies on Washington after 14 years of war. The air strike, which killed 22 people at a clinic run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), fueled Afghan anger over Ghani's close relationship with Washington, which contrasts sharply with the strained ties under his predecessor, Hamid Karzai. |
| Mexican judge frees 4 of 7 suspects in army slayings Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:01 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican judge ruled there is insufficient evidence to try four of the seven soldiers charged in the 2014 killing of 22 gang suspects, some of whom were apparently shot after they surrendered. Only one soldier was wounded in what the army initially described as a shootout.
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| UN asks Iran to help peace in Syria Posted: 05 Oct 2015 03:59 PM PDT  United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon urged Iran on Monday to pressure its ally Syria to reach a peaceful resolution of the brutal civil war there. During a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, Ban "reiterated that there is no military solution to the conflict and asked Iran to exercise its influence in promoting a political solution," his office said. The two leaders also discussed Yemen, where the UN is trying to revive peace talks and where Iran plays a key role through its support of Huthi rebels, who are Shiite.
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| With free trade deal, Obama solidifies US pivot to Asia Posted: 05 Oct 2015 03:59 PM PDT  The conclusion of an oft-delayed free trade agreement with Asia-Pacific nations is timely for Barack Obama, as it embodies the American president's earlier commitment: a pivot towards the globe's most populous continent. With dithering in the Middle East and in particular Syria triggering an avalanche of criticism, Obama can claim a genuine diplomatic success fewer than 16 months before the end of his presidency, provided that he can overcome the obstacle known as the US Congress. The centerpiece of his foreign policy, the rebalance or "pivot" to Asia popularized by Hillary Clinton when she served as secretary of state, is intended to devote more diplomatic, security and economic resources and attention to the continent after a decade monopolized by Middle East crises and costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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| Over 1,800 migrants rescued from six boats adrift off Libya Posted: 05 Oct 2015 03:55 PM PDT  Over 1,800 migrants were rescued Monday from six vessels found adrift in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Libya, Italy's coast guard said. A total of 1,830 people were brought ashore in six different operations to save passengers in four stricken boats and two rubber dinghies, the coast guard said. Three Italian vessels and one ship each from Britain and Ireland, which are taking part in the EU Navfor Med mission, were involved in the rescue effort.
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| U.S. court orders EPA to rewrite ship ballast water dumping rules Posted: 05 Oct 2015 03:41 PM PDT By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal appeals court in New York ordered the government to rewrite its rules regulating the discharge of ballast water by ships, in a victory for environmental groups that said the rules were too lenient and threatened the nation's waterways. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday said the Environmental Protection Agency acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" when it decided in 2013 to follow an international standard governing the discharge of harmful organisms, though technology was available to adopt a higher standard. Writing for a 3-0 appeals court panel, Circuit Judge Denny Chin also said the EPA, using its authority under the Clean Water Act, should have considered onshore facilities to treat ballast water rather than focus on pollution controls aboard ships, where a lack of space might limit their effectiveness. |
| United States, 11 Pacific Rim countries reach trade deal Posted: 05 Oct 2015 03:35 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Having hammered out an ambitious trade deal with 11 Pacific Rim countries, the Obama administration now faces a potentially tougher task: selling the deal to a skeptical Congress.
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| Ghana suspends seven high court judges over bribery allegations Posted: 05 Oct 2015 03:26 PM PDT  Ghana has suspended seven high court judges, on top of the 22 junior judges and magistrates already sanctioned over graft allegations after an undercover journalist claimed he had filmed them taking bribes. Last month, 22 circuit judges and magistrates were suspended, and 12 high court judges were placed under investigation, after they were accused of being bought off. "On the advice of the judicial council, the Vice President, Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur...on Friday, October 2, 2015 suspended from office with immediate effect, seven out of the 12 justices of the high court on grounds of stated misbehaviour," the judicial service said in a statement.
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| Springboks take a humble approach ahead of RWC game vs US Posted: 05 Oct 2015 03:24 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Of the four countries in action Wednesday, only two-time champion South Africa has a realistic chance of progressing to the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals.
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| Nature thrives in Chernobyl, site of worst nuclear disaster Posted: 05 Oct 2015 03:14 PM PDT  By Kate Kelland LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - - Some 30 years after the world's worst nuclear accident blasted radiation across Chernobyl, the site has evolved from a disaster zone into a nature reserve, teeming with elk, deer and wolves, scientists said on Monday. "When humans are removed, nature flourishes - even in the wake of the world's worst nuclear accident," said Jim Smith, a specialist in earth and environmental sciences at Britain's University of Portsmouth. "It's very likely that wildlife numbers at Chernobyl are now much higher than they were before the accident." After a fire and explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 threw clouds of radioactive particles into the air, thousands of people left the area, never to return.
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| Ivory Coast must end wave of arrests, abuse ahead of polls: Amnesty Posted: 05 Oct 2015 03:13 PM PDT  By Joe Bavier ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Authorities in Ivory Coast must put an end to what Amnesty International claims is a wave of arbitrary arrests and abuse targeting opposition supporters in the run-up to a presidential election later this month, the rights campaigner said on Monday. President Alassane Ouattara, who faces a fractured opposition, is heavily favored to win a second five-year term in a poll meant to draw a line under the crisis years and cement the West African nation's rapid post-war economic revival. In a statement, Amnesty said around 60 opposition supporters have been arrested since mid-September.
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| Israel vows crackdown as 'Hamas 5' held over settler killing Posted: 05 Oct 2015 03:11 PM PDT  Israel said Monday it arrested five alleged Hamas militants over the West Bank killing of a Jewish settler couple and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged an iron fist against unrest. Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian teenager as fresh clashes raged in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. Speaking as security forces announced the arrest of the alleged Hamas members over last week's shooting of the couple in front of their four children, Netanyahu said no attackers were beyond reach.
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| UN warns of danger after Russia-Turkey close call Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:59 PM PDT  The presence of planes from both Russia and the US-led coalition in Syrian airspace is "fraught with danger," the United Nations warned on Monday. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric was speaking after Turkey protested to Moscow because its F-16 jets intercepted a Russian fighter that violated its airspace near the Syrian border at the weekend. Two Turkish jets were also harassed by an unidentified MIG-29 on the Syrian border, Turkey's army said.
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| NATO denounces Russia for violating Turkish airspace Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:48 PM PDT  ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — In a signal of new tensions raised by Moscow's airstrikes in Syria, NATO denounced Russia on Monday for "irresponsible behavior" after its warplanes violated Turkish airspace, and Turkey warned that any future aerial intruder would be treated like an enemy.
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| US, states announce settlement with BP over gulf oil spill Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:46 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department and five U.S. states on Monday announced a $20 billion final settlement of claims arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
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| Israeli PM vows 'strong action' against Palestinian unrest Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:44 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday that he will use a "strong hand" to quell violent Palestinian protests and deadly attacks, signaling that the current round of violence is bound to escalate at a time when a political solution to the conflict is increasingly distant.
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| Chile, U.S. pledge to fight illegal fishing, create marine parks Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:42 PM PDT By Lesley Wroughton and Gram Slattery VINA DEL MAR, Chile (Reuters) - Chile said on Monday it will create one of the world's largest marine conservation parks, and Washington announced two new marine sanctuaries and an increased drive against illegal fishing to help protect the world's oceans. Addressing the second annual "Our Ocean" conference in the coastal town of Vina del Mar, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said the protected area would include remote Easter Island, part of Chile's territory some 3,800 km (2,361 miles) west of the capital Santiago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. A separate park will protect other island chains, including the Pacific's Juan Fernandez archipelago, where disputes have arisen between commercial and artisanal fishermen. |
| Air France executive 'almost lynched' as jobs dispute turns violent Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:39 PM PDT  Air France-KLM's human resources manager was "almost lynched" Monday by striking workers, who stripped him of his shirt in a protest over the ailing airline's plan to cut 2,900 jobs. The protest took place as Air France bosses were unveiling a revamped restructuring plan after pilots rejected an earlier proposal to work longer hours. Hundreds of workers stormed the airline's headquarters at Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris, forcing the meeting to be hastily abandoned.
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| US protests Baghdad opening Green Zone to traffic Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:33 PM PDT  The United States protested Monday the opening of Baghdad's "Green Zone" to the public, after 12 years of closure of the heavily fortified area home to top Iraqi political institutions and embassies. The four-square-mile (10-square-kilometer) International Zone of Baghdad was already the seat of government power under former president Saddam Hussein and became known as the Green Zone after the 2003 US-led invasion. "We have repeated voiced our concerns over the easing of these restrictions," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
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| NHL Ducks, Hawks, Lightning to challenge for Stanley Cup Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:29 PM PDT  A new era's begun in Toronto, playoff contenders Chicago and Anaheim have retooled their rosters and there is a new overtime format as the puck is ready to drop on another NHL season. The 2015-16 season also marks the arrival of rising stars Connor McDavid in Edmonton and Jack Eichel in Buffalo and several teams have new head coaches like Toronto's Mike Babcock, San Jose's Peter DeBoer and Detroit's Jeff Blashill.
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| UK's Corbyn criticises cuts outside Conservative conference Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:28 PM PDT  British opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn railed against the government's austerity policies in Manchester on Monday, breaking convention by appearing on the sidelines of the rival Conservative party's conference. "We challenge the whole notion that austerity is some kind of economic necessity when in reality it's a political choice made by those who wish to see a growing gap between the richest and the poorest," Corbyn told a cheering crowd at the public event. About 7,000 people attended the rally organised by the Communication Workers Union in Manchester Cathedral, according to organisers, a number too great to fit inside the venue.
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