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|12015||Poland to sign EU treaty in days||BBC||News||Poland||08 October 2009 09:33 Thu||
Poland's President Lech Kaczynski will sign the EU's controversial Lisbon Treaty on Sunday, a top aide has said. The Polish parliament has already approved the treaty, and of the 27 EU member states only Poland and the Czech Republic are yet to ratify Lisbon. Mr Kaczynski, a Eurosceptic, had said he would wait for the Irish voters' verdict before signing the treaty. Ireland backed the treaty in a second referendum on 2 October. Lisbon is aimed at streamlining EU institutions... click here for more on this story from, The BBC.
|12016||Obama to make November Asia debut||BBC||News||United States of America||08 October 2009 09:37 Thu||
US President Barack Obama will make his debut Asian tour next month - to Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea. He is expected to focus on economic issues, trade and global security. He will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore, which may include talks with Burma's military leaders... click here for more on this story from, The BBC.
|12017||Mitterrand faces calls to quit over 'boys' for sex claim||The Guardian||News||France||08 October 2009 09:57 Thu||
The French culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand, last night faced calls for his resignation over an autobiography published four years ago in which he described paying "young boys" for sex while travelling abroad. Mitterrand was the first major political figure to leap to the defence of the film director Roman Polanski when he was arrested in Switzerland last month facing deportation to the United States for having had sex with a 13-year-old girl there in 1977. Mitterrand's impassioned comments in support of Polanski, who had initially faces charges of rape, and against an "a frightening America", were controversial and the French government eventually distanced itself... click here for more on this story from, The Guardian.
|12018||Top Indian diplomat in Afghanistan after blast||Reuters||News||Afghanistan||09 October 2009 09:42 Fri||
A top Indian diplomat arrived in Kabul on Friday to inspect the site of a huge bomb attack on the Indian embassy a day earlier that killed 17 people and renewed focus on India's tense relations with Pakistan. The attack, which harmed no Indian embassy staff, occurred as India seeks to retain influence in Afghanistan and control any possibility of an Islamist surge in a region with traditional ties to Islamabad. India last year accused Pakistan's military spy agency, the ISI, of orchestrating an attack on the Indian embassy that killed 58 people. While New Delhi has made no public accusations in the latest blast, links will most likely be drawn to Pakistan. In Kabul, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was due to visit the embassy and meet top Afghan officials to discuss security, but no details were immediately available. For Reuters full article, click here.
|12019||At Least 30 Die in Blast in Pakistan||New York Times||News||Pakistan||09 October 2009 09:46 Fri||
At least 30 people were killed Friday in an explosion that rocked a crowded market in the northwestern city of Peshawar, local government officials said. More than 60 people also were wounded in the blast, according to Mian Iftikhar, the provincial information minister, who said the death toll was likely to rise. Some news agencies put the number of dead at more than 40. The explosion, apparently caused by a bomb planted in a white vehicle, occurred in a busy market in the old quarter of Peshawar, the capital of the restive North-West Frontier Province. Peshawar has been a frequent target of attacks by Taliban militants. The blast came as the provincial assembly was in session about a half-mile away, and local television coverage showed legislators emerging from the building and making calls on their cell phones. The explosion, which created a thick cloud of smoke that could be seen several miles away, also destroyed several vehicles and damaged the façades of nearby buildings. Television footage showed the charred wreckage of a commuter bus.
Meanwhile, Rehman Malik, the Pakistani interior minister, said Friday that investigators have made one arrest and identified those involved in the suicide bombing of the headquarters of the World Food Program in Islamabad. Five people died in the blast on Monday, four Pakistanis and an Iraqi.For New York Times full article, click here.
|12020||Philippine mudslides, floods kill estimated 100||The AP||News||Philippines||09 October 2009 10:01 Fri||
The AP: Dozens of landslides in the rain-soaked mountains of the northern Philippines killed an estimated 100 people, as a lingering storm and excess water from dams turned a portion of one province into "one big river," officials said Friday. The latest calamity brought the death toll to more than 400 from the Philippines' worst flooding in 40 years after back-to-back storms started pounding the country's north Sept. 26. About 100 people were feared dead in landslides in two provinces — Benguet and Mountain Province — along the Cordillera mountain range, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) north of Manila, said Olive Luces, regional Office of Civil Defense director. Landslides blocked the roads to the mountain city of Baguio in the heart of the Cordillera region and exact figures were hard to get. "We are still accounting, but all in all our estimate is there were about 100 dead in the four major landslides," Luces said. "Retrieval operations are ongoing."
|12021||Israeli police on alert as Palestinians call strike||AFP||News||Israel||09 October 2009 10:04 Fri||
The AFP: Israeli police were on high alert on Friday as Palestinians called a strike in defence of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound following clashes at the flashpoint site sacred to Muslims and Jews. "We have deployed thousands of people in Jerusalem and in the north of Israel following incitation by extremists," a senior police official told public radio. Officials were particularly concerned about the situation in predominantly Arab east Jerusalem and Arab-Israeli cities. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's secular Fatah party on Thursday called for demonstrations and a strike in Palestinian territories, including annexed east Jerusalem, "to peacefully protest and to proclaim the attachment of the Palestinian people to their holy places and to Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the independent Palestinian state." The party also condemned what it called "the complicity of Israeli forces with Jewish rightwing extremists" and accused them of "allowing (extremists) access to the mosque compound.... while denying it to the (Muslim) faithful." Israeli police have meanwhile accused the Islamic Movement of inciting tension and this week briefly detained its leader, Sheikh Raed Salah, whom they said had made "inflammatory statements."
|12022||Obama wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize||BBC||News||Norway||09 October 2009 10:08 Fri||
The BBC: US President Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. There were a record 205 nominations for this year's prize.The laureate - chosen by a five-member committee - wins a gold medal, a diploma and 10m Swedish kronor ($1.4m).
|12023||Father appeals for child missing in NZ||Irish Times||News||New Zealand||09 October 2009 10:12 Fri|
|12024||Burma's Suu Kyi in diplomat talks||BBC||News||Thailand||09 October 2009 10:17 Fri||
The BBC: Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed by ruling generals to meet top Western diplomats. The Rangoon talks focused on the long-standing Western sanctions. Ms Suu Kyi met the UK ambassador and the deputy heads of the Australian and US missions for talks lasting an hour at a state guesthouse. The US recently announced a change of policy, saying it would pursue dialogue with the military regime while maintaining sanctions. Reports suggest Ms Suu Kyi has softened her views on sanctions in recent times, concluding they are adversely affecting the lives of ordinary Burmese while the military rulers still manage to conduct trade with China and other neighbours.
|12025||Single Typhoon in Ten Days Submerges 12 Million FIlipinos in Northern & Central Luzon||October 9, 2009||Dean M. Bernardo||News||Philippines||09 October 2009 01:40 Fri||
It has been twenty days since severe weather conditions has affected the northern portions of the Philippines particularly the main island of Luzon where much of the nation's population and industrial base is located. In the last ten days alone a single severe weather condition, originally a typhoon and now downscaled to a tropical deppression code name Parma has been affecting the northern portions of Luzon island. Two weeks earlier, typhoon Ketsana and then prevailing monsoon conditions inudated the Philippine capital Metro Manila in a matter of 3 hours of rain, the total volume of rainfall for the whole month of September. To date, close to 3 million residents living in the eastern portions of the capital are still coping with knee high floods, losing properties and causing the death to almost 500 individuals. The nearby lake system is 7 meters above its regular levels and remains a threat to at least seven local government units or towns including half of the province of Rizal. Relief operations continue but most residents who left refugee centers returned to homes destoryed by floods and are still under water. Wednesday this week, living in flooded homes, the situation became worst when a main power sub station distributing power to the eastern sections of the capital burned down and will take a week before regular power restored. Power outtages have been scheduled on rotating periods of twice a day rendering flooded homes in the dark for at least 3 hours. The weather bureau announced that the monsoon season is over sparing the capital of more unwanted rains when typhoon Parma threatened the country last week. However, the typhoon remained stalled in the waters surrounding the island of Luzon and for three times crossed from the Pacific into South China Sea thrashing the northern portions of Luzon island, weakening crossing the islands, gaining strength as soon as it reached a body of water and returning again into the island to dump heavy rains. In the last five days, the island's northern and central portions continue to submerge in nearly seven feet of water, flooding the whole island, towns and villages killing close to at least a hundred people who tried to escape rising waters. Seven major dam systems or water resorvoirs have dumped water as rains continue to serve as threat to breach the dam's earth walls. Close to 12 million residents in central and nothern Luzon are affected, close to 80% of the northern island is now under water. Rescue operations continue with more relief rubber boats, military and civilian helicopters scooping up trapped residents hanging in trees, power lines and on top of roofs. A thousand shoppers were trapped in a large shopping mall in the town of Dagupan City in the western section of the island. The vacation capital of the Philippines, Baguio City located at the Cordillera Mountains has been submerged in 7 meter high waters and is now isolated by landslides leading up and down the mountain city. Government engoneers fear it would take at least amonth in good weather condition for back hoes to scale up the mountains and reach the city of Baguio, home to a million residents. External aid is slowly arriving into the country originally designated for the victims of Typhoon Ketsana but the Philippines faces more tragedy with more residents in its vastly agricultural north laid to waste by flood waters. A delegation of United States marines and six Chinook helicopters were sent from its base in Okinawa in Japan to the Philippines but the vast reach and scope of the floods render the American assistance stretched to the limits of their abilities. The weather bureau expects Typhoon Parma to cross into the South China Sea at a very slow pace within the next five days, with concerns that the typhoon can still bring more rains into the island of Luzon.
|Philippines severe flooding north and central Luzon typhoon Parma|
|12026||Philippine floods recede but death, damage tolls mount||AFP||News||Philippines||10 October 2009 10:38 Sat||
AFP: Floodwaters from tropical storm Parma receded in much of the northern Philippines on Saturday but the toll from heavy rain rose further as more bodies were recovered, officials said. A total of 265 people were confirmed dead in landslides and flooding caused by Parma in the past two days, civil defence and local officials said. This brings the death toll from two weeks of killer storms to at least 602 with about 301,000 still crammed into makeshift evacuation centres since tropical storm Ketsana struck two weeks ago, the civil defence office said. Civil defence spokesman Ernesto Torres said that among the latest fatalities were three firemen who were carrying out rescue operations at the landslide site. In the northern Mountain Province, which had been hit hard by landslides, Governor Maximo Dalog made an appeal for medicine, food and sniffing dogs, "so we can find the bodies." Dalog said there were 35 dead in his province alone with at least 16 others still missing after heavy rain brought on by Parma caused huge landslides that buried houses late Thursday to Friday. The mountain resort city of Baguio remained inaccessible as rockslides had cut off all major roads, said Mayor Peter Rey Bautista. "The past two days have been very hard for the whole city and surrounding areas. But we are finally seeing the sunshine," he said in a television interview. In the farming region of Pangasinan to the southwest of the provinces where the landslides occurred, floodwaters that had swamped the area had largely gone down but they left a sea of mud that made travel difficult. Dagupan, a major city in Pangasinan, was still flooded, with people forced to wade through waters, while roads remained impassable to small vehicles. Parma, which first hit the country as a typhoon on October 3, sat off the northern Philippines for a week before dumping huge rains on the region on Thursday and Friday. It finally moved away late Friday and was charted 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of Dagupan on Saturday, slowly moving west into the South China Sea, the government weather station said. Parma had hit just a week after Ketsana struck the capital and surrounding areas, causing massive floods. Some low-lying areas remain flooded two weeks later. Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro was quoted by ABS-CBN television as saying he was halting offensive operations against communist insurgents in the south so the army could concentrate on rescue and relief efforts in the north. The succession of storms has overwhelmed government resources and forced the Philippines to ask for more foreign aid.
|12027||Kabul bomb likely aimed to influence US Afghan policy||Reuters||News||Afghanistan||10 October 2009 10:41 Sat||
Reuters: A bomb attack on India's Kabul embassy may have been aimed at limiting India's role in Western efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, at a time when the United States is re-examining strategy in the 8-year-long Afghan war. Insurgent militants would like to force India to scale down its presence in Afghanistan, where New Delhi is spending $1.2 billion on projects supporting the U.S.-backed government's development drive, important to gaining popular support. The Taliban have quickly claimed responsibility for Thursday's blast which killed 17 people. But many in India also see the hand of Pakistan, which competes with India for strategic space in Afghanistan and considers it a fall-back position in the event of war with India. The Indian government has not yet pointed a finger of blame at anyone, while Pakistan has condemned the attack. Hindu majority India seeks to retain influence in Afghanistan to deter anti-India militant training camps there -- which it accuses Pakistan of backing -- and to more generally try to counter a militant Islamic surge threatening regional security. An assault blamed on Islamic militants killed 166 people in Mumbai last November.
|12028||Silvio Berlusconi: I am inferior to no one in history||The Guardian||News||Italy||10 October 2009 10:46 Sat||
The Guardian: As Silvio Berlusconi yesterday tried to shore up his position by declaring himself irreplaceable as Italy's head of government, a court in Milan was told it had been "amply demonstrated" that he was guilty of bribery. "I am, and not only in my own opinion, the best prime minister who could be found today," he told a press conference. "I believe there is no one in history to whom I should feel inferior. Quite the opposite." The problem, he explained, was that "In absolute terms, I am the most legally persecuted man of all times, in the whole history of mankind, worldwide, because I have been subjected to more than 2,500 court hearings and I have the good luck – having worked well in the past and having accumulated an important wealth – to have been able to spend more than €200m in consultants and judges ... I mean in consultants and lawyers." His comments came as Laura Bertole, Milan's chief prosecutor, was speaking at the opening session of an appeal launched by Berlusconi's former legal adviser, David Mills, against his conviction for accepting a bribe from the TV magnate in the 1990s, when Berlusconi was in opposition. Bertole, speaking two days after Berlusconi was stripped of his legal immunity, said Mills, the estranged husband of the Olympics minister, Tessa Jowell, had "first confessed, then retracted, indicating witnesses who have contradicted his words [and] his version of events". Mills, who was found guilty in February of accepting a $600,000 bribe (£375,000) for distorting his evidence in Berlusconi's favour, acknowledged in a statement to prosecutors that he later retracted that the money came from his former client. The British lawyer subsequently identified a Neapolitan ship owner, Diego Attanasio, as the true source of the funds. Attanasio denies Mills's claim. Bertole asked the judges not to agree to two requests by Mills's lawyer: to call Berlusconi as a witness and to gather evidence from Gibraltar. Berlusconi's counsel has said the prime minister would be available to testify if the court gave the go-ahead. Under Italian law, defendants are allowed up to two appeals that must be held before charges are extinguished by a statute of limitations that, in this case, would come into effect next April. The speed with which the first appeal court intends to dispatch its business is bad news, not just for Mills, but also for Berlusconi, his co-defendant until the immunity law took effect last year. The case against the prime minister will have to be restarted and will almost certainly be "timed out" before a conclusion is reached. But a definitive conviction of his former co-defendant would, by implication, mean Berlusconi was equally guilty of having bribed him. On Wednesday, the constitutional court threw out a law introduced by Berlusconi's government giving him immunity from prosecution. After venting his spleen on those he held responsible for the decision, the prime minister yesterday turned his attention to suggestions that he might step down for the good of the country. Italy's main opposition group, the Democratic party, has not called for Berlusconi's resignation, but a smaller opposition party said he should go.
|12029||Gunmen attack Pakistani army headquarters; 12 dead||Associated Press||News||Pakistan||10 October 2009 10:51 Sat||
AP: Gunmen wearing military uniforms and wielding assault rifles and grenades attacked Pakistan's army headquarters Saturday, sparking a ferocious gunbattle outside the capital that left four of the assailants and eight soldiers dead, authorities said. Two of the attackers managed to infiltrate the heavily fortified compound in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, and troops were trying to flush them out hours after the initial assault, an intelligence official said. An Associated Press reporter at the scene heard four gunshots from inside the compound — long after an army spokesman said the situation was under control. The audacious assault was the third major militant attack in Pakistan in a week and came as the government said it was planning an imminent offensive against Islamist militants in their strongholds in the rugged mountains along the border with Afghanistan. It showed that the militants retain the ability to 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 CIA drone attack in August. The attack began shortly before noon when the gunmen, dressed in camouflage military uniforms, drove in a white van up to the army compound and tried to force their way inside, army spokesman Maj. Gen. 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 likely confused by the attackers' uniforms. The heavily armed attackers then took up positions throughout the area, hurling at least one grenade and firing sporadically at security forces, said a senior military official inside the compound. The official, who said top army officials were trapped in the compound during the assault, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. After a 45-minute gunfight, four of the attackers were killed, said Abbas, who told the private Geo news television channel the assault over and the situation "under full control." But at least two more gunmen had slipped into the headquarters compound and eluded security forces for several hours, according to an intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Troops were closing in on the men and trying to capture or kill them, the official said. The fighting killed eight soldiers, he said. Abbas later acknowledged the operation was ongoing in Rawalpindi, which is adjacent to the capital of Islamabad. Rawalpindi is filled with security checkpoints and police roadblocks. Khan Bahadur, a shuttle van driver, was standing outside the gate of the compound when the white van pulled up, and shooting erupted. "There was fierce firing, and then there was a blast. Soldiers were running here and there," he said. "The firing continued for about a half-hour. There was smoke everywhere. Then there was a break, and then firing again." The gunbattle was the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani cities, following a car bombing that killed 49 on Friday in the northwestern city of Peshawar and the bombing of a U.N. aid agency Monday that killed five in Islamabad. The man who attacked the U.N. was also wearing a security forces' uniform and was granted entry to the compound after asking to use the bathroom. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which appeared to be a message to the army that the militants intend to ramp up their strikes across the country in response to the government's planned offensive against Taliban strongholds in the border region of South Waziristan.
|12030||Abbas: Palestinians demand UN vote on Goldestone Report||Haaretz||News||Israel||10 October 2009 11:08 Sat||
Haaretz: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. envoy George Mitchell that he intends on appealing to the United Nations Human Rights Council again in order to vote on the Goldstone report in the UN Security Council, a Palestinian daily reported on Saturday.
|12031||Turkey, Armenia Sign Agreement to Normalize Relations||Voice of America||News||Turkey||11 October 2009 11:35 Sun||
VOA: Turkey and Armenia have signed an agreement to normalize relations after a century of hostilities - despite a last minute glitch that nearly derailed the landmark agreement. Strong differences between the neighboring countries stem from the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces during and after World War I. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spent several hours Saturday working to resolve a last-minute dispute over statements to be made at the signing ceremony in the Swiss city of Zurich. In the end, neither Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian nor his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, spoke after signing the protocols to restore diplomatic ties and to reopen their sealed border.
|12033||31 killed as Pakistan jets bomb Taliban: official||AFP||News||Pakistan||12 October 2009 09:07 Mon||
Pakistani fighter jets have bombed Taliban strongholds in the lawless northwest tribal belt, killing at least 31 suspected militants, government and security officials said Monday. The air strikes came after a militant hostage siege at army headquarters near Islamabad left 19 people dead at the weekend, and as the military prepares for an offensive in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan. "Jet fighters bombed various Taliban hideouts in Mamoond district of Bajaur," local government official Manasib Khan told AFP, referring to a district north of the provincial capital Peshawar... click here for more on this story from, AFP.
|12034||Libyan Hurt After Throwing Bomb At Milan Barracks||The New York Times||News||Italy||12 October 2009 09:13 Mon||
A Libyan man threw a bomb at an Italian army barracks in Milan early Monday and was injured in the explosion, losing one of his hands, police said. An Italian soldier was slightly hurt in the attack at the Santa Barbara barracks near San Siro soccer stadium. Police identified the man as a Libyan aged about 35 but had no immediate indication of the motive for the attack... click here for more on this story from, The New York Times.
|12035||Irish priest kidnapped in Philippines||Irish Times||News||Philippines||12 October 2009 09:20 Mon||
An Irish priest was kidnapped by a gang of armed men in the restive southern Philippines yesterday.Michael Sinnott (80), a Columban Father originally from Barntown in Co Wexford, was taken away on a speedboat after six gunmen entered the Columban House in Pagadian city in the province of Zamboanga del Sur yesterday evening, and dragged him away, according to reports quoting local police. The truck used to transport him to the harbour was later found abandoned and burned near Columban House.“Intelligence operatives are hot on the heels of six kidnappers,” a military spokesman for said in a statement today.The group abandoned and burned their get-away vehicle and continued their escape by boat, he added, without saying who may be behind the abduction.Sea patrols have been deployed and checkpoints alerted the spokesman said before adding the kidnappers haven’t issued any demands.There is also concern for Fr Sinnott’s health as he suffers from a heart condition.Fr Dan O’Malley, a Columban priest who shares a house with Fr Sinnott told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme “there is no way he had his medication with him".“I would know from living with him that he took his last medication with the evening meal so that is a real concern,” he said. Click here for more information on this story.
|12037||Shantytown dwellers flee blaze||The Independent||News||Brazil||12 October 2009 09:21 Mon||
An intense fire broke out in a slum in South America's largest city, sending local people running across rooftops to escape the flames. There were no immediate reports of deaths in Diogo Pires, a small shantytown in western Sao Paulo that is home to about 300 families. Two people sought medical treatment for smoke inhalation, according to fire officials. Brazilian television broadcasts showed flames leaping 20 metres into the air as some inhabitants fled and others helped firefighters battle the blaze with hoses and buckets of water... click here for more on this story from, The Independent.
|12038||Afghan election announcement expected within days||AFP||News||Afghanistan||12 October 2009 09:23 Mon||
Afghanistan's electoral authorities are expected to announce their decision on fraud allegations plaguing the presidential election within days but the bitter wrangling is likely to drag on.Officials said an announcement could be made before the end of the week on who is to be the country's next president, or whether there will be a run-off between the two main candidates.Afghans voted on August 20 but the elections have been overshadowed by allegations of fraud, most against incumbent Hamid Karzai, including findings by EU observers that a quarter of all votes, or 1.5 million, were suspicious.Karzai leads preliminary results with around 55 percent of the vote. He needs 50 percent plus one vote to be declared the winner.His main rival Abdullah Abdullah has around 28 percent.Preparations have been made for a run-off between the two, which experts say would have to be held as soon as possible as winter snows will soon make large parts of the country impassable.Almost two months after the vote, patience with the drawn-out process is wearing thin and an international research organisation says those in Karzai's southern powerbase are so disillusioned they might not vote in a run-off.The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), which has a research centre in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand -- where turnout is believed to have been well below 10 percent -- said sentiment in the region is turning against the election amid disgust over fraud."Disillusionment with the election process as a result of the fraud is so high that it could result in a boycott of a second round," said Norine MacDonald, ICOS president and founder. Click here for more information on this story.
|12039||Palestinians vow new push for war crimes report||AP||News||Israel||12 October 2009 09:30 Mon||
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday he is pushing for a vote on a United Nation's report that accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during the Gaza war, reversing a decision that has left him at the lowest point of his presidency.Also on Sunday, Washington's special Mideast envoy wrapped up his latest round of shuttle diplomacy in the region, again having failed to persuade Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks.Abbas' renewed push for a vote on the war crimes report in the U.N. Human Rights Council reverses his decision earlier this month to delay voting for six months. Palestinian officials withdrew their support under what Palestinian and U.S. officials said was heavy U.S. pressure.This decision sparked sharp criticism across Palestinian society, with Abbas and his aides scrambling to repair the damage."I have instructed our ambassador in Geneva to contact the groups to have an exceptional session of the council, and to move in this direction until in the end, having those who committed the worst, ugliest crimes against our people punished," Abbas said.It remained unclear on Sunday if renewed Palestinian support would bring about a vote.Abbas defended his decision to agree to a six-month deferral by suggesting that the Palestinians had simply gone along with the prevailing view at the council. "From a position of responsibility and honesty, I say that the deferral came after an agreement between all the groups in the Human Rights Council, and after studying all positions and seeking the utmost support for the project," he said. Click here for more information.
|12040||U.S. arrests suspected 1968 Pan Am flight hijacker||Reuters||News||United States of America||12 October 2009 09:30 Mon||
A man wanted in connection with the hijacking of a Pan Am flight to Cuba nearly 41 years ago was arrested in New York on Sunday, a Justice Department official said. Luis Armando Pena Soltren was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport for suspected of involvement in the November 1968 hijacking of a Puerto Rico-bound Pan Am flight from New York, said Justice Department spokesman Richard Kolko. Kolko said Soltren, who has been in Cuba for almost 41 years, will appear in the Manhattan federal court on Tuesday...click here for more on this story from, Reuters.
|12041||Sri Lanka defends internment camps||AlJazeera||News||Sri Lanka||12 October 2009 09:44 Mon||
Sri Lanka has rejected a human rights group's claims that the lives of hundreds of thousands of Tamils held in internment camps are in "serious danger" from the imminent rainy season and a looming threat of disease.Rajiva Wijesinha, a spokesman for the government, told Al Jazeera that the camps were "ready to face the monsoon".Nearly 300,000 minority Tamils were forced into the military-run camps after fleeing the final months of the government's war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) earlier this year.The government says it is detaining Tamils in the camps so that they can be screened to weed out former Tamil Tiger fighters.It had promised to release and relocate 80 per cent of them by the end of the year, but nearly five months after the war ended, around 255,000 remain held in the camps.With monsoon season approaching, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Sri Lankan government to immediately release the refugees, warning that already poor conditions in the camps were deteriorating, and heavy rains could flood the overcrowded and low-lying areas. Click here for more information on this story.
|12042||French don't want minister to resign over sex furor||Reuters||News||France||12 October 2009 09:52 Mon||
Two-thirds of French people do not want Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand to resign for having written about paying young male prostitutes for sex in Thailand, an opinion poll showed Monday.
|12043||Ahmadinejad Expects No Problems in Talks About Nuclear Program||Bloomberg||News||Iran||12 October 2009 10:04 Mon||
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he doesn’t expect problems in talks with the U.S. and other members of the United Nations Security Council about the country’s nuclear program.“I don’t think there will be any problems in the next round of talks but if someone wants to cause problems, they will fail,” Ahmadinejad said in a state-television interview last night, according to Press TV.Ahmadinejad spoke after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Iran to do more to convince the world its nuclear program is for peaceful reasons. Iran is scheduled to hold talks with the U.S., Russia and France in Vienna on Oct. 19 over plans to enrich fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.“Words are not enough,” Clinton said at a press conference in London yesterday with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. “The international community will not wait indefinitely for evidence that Iran is prepared to live up to its obligations.”Iranian officials on Oct. 1 met with representatives of the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany near Geneva to try to allay concerns over its nuclear activities.President Barack Obama said the talks were “constructive,” while Ahmadinejad described them as positive.Iran has agreed to consider transferring most of its stock of enriched uranium to Russia and France to be converted into fuel for a research reactor for medical purposes.“Our experts will discuss the purchase of 20 percent enriched uranium” for the Tehran research reactor, Ahmadinejad said.U.S. officials say Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, while the country has repeatedly said enrichment is needed solely for civilian uses, such as the production of electricity. The country is under UN sanctions for its refusal to limit its nuclear work. Click here for more information on this story.
|12044||Diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey over cancelled joint air excercise||Haaretz||News||Israel||12 October 2009 02:12 Mon||
Haaretz: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday warned against further harming Israel's relations with Turkey, after Turkey excluded Israel from a joint military exercise because of its criticism of Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza. "The relations between Israel and Turkey are strategic and have been maintained for dozens of years," Barak said in a closed meeting, according to a statement his press officer released. He added: "Despite all the ups and downs, Turkey continues to be a central figure in our region; it is unsuitable to be drawn into criticizing it." The international aerial exercise, which was to include the IAF as well as aircraft and pilots from NATO, was due to be based at an air base in the central Anatolian city of Konya. On Sunday, Turkey's foreign minister publicly acknowledged for the first time that criticism of the Gaza campaign was the reason for his country's exclusion of Israel from the drill. "We hope that the situation in Gaza will be improved, that the situation will be back to the diplomatic track," the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, told CNN in response to a question on why Turkey excluded Israel from the drill. "And that will create a new atmosphere in Turkish-Israeli relations as well," he added. "But in the existing situation, of course, we are criticizing this approach, [the] Israeli approach." Earlier, the Turkish foreign ministry said "a technical matter," not politics, prompted the delay of the drill, CNN reported.
|12058||North Korea tests more short range missiles||The Times||News||Korea||13 October 2009 09:15 Tue||
North Korea test-fired short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan yesterday, in a gesture of defiance as it rebuilds diplomatic bridges with South Korea add the United States. The launch of the surface-to-surface missiles, which was reported in the South Korean media today, appears to have been intended as an assertion of North Korean strength as it edges its way back towards negotiations on its nuclear weapons arsenal. Seoul and Washington played down the significance of the tests, reflecting their anxiety not to jeopardise the current momentum towards progress after months of tension and anxiety... click here for more on this story from, The Times.
|12059||Pakistan suicide bombing toll mounts to 45||AFP||News||Pakistan||13 October 2009 09:18 Tue||
The death toll from a suicide bombing carried out by a teenage boy who struck in a busy market in northwest Pakistan has risen to 45, officials said Tuesday. The bomber, wearing a vest packed with explosives, flung himself at a military convoy as it passed through a bazaar in Shangla district on Monday, in the fourth deadly attack blamed on Taliban rebels in eight days. "Two people died overnight and two more died this morning," doctor Ehsanullah Khan of the state run Alpuri hospital told AFP. Thirty-eight people remained in hospital with injuries from the blast, he added... click here for more on this story from, AFP
|12060||Missing NZ Girl: Child's Body Found In Drain||Sky News||News||New Zealand||13 October 2009 09:21 Tue||
A child's body has been found in a drain near where a toddler went missing a week earlier in New Zealand.Two-year-old Aisling Symes, whose father Allan is originally from County Waterford in Ireland, disappeared from a suburb of Auckland on October 5. Emergency crews have now announced the discovery of a young child's remains. Police stressed it had not been confirmed that it was Aisling, but said officers were with her family... click here for more on this story from, Sky News.
|12061||Kidnapped Irish priest seen alive in Philippines: army||AFP||News||Philippines||13 October 2009 09:24 Tue||
An elderly Irish Roman Catholic priest kidnapped in the Philippines has been seen alive in captivity in an area where Islamist militants are known to operate, authorities said Tuesday. Michael Sinnott, 79, and his heavily armed captors were seen Monday on the coast of Moro Gulf on the southern island of Mindanao, regional military chief Major-General Ben Dolorfino said. "The victim and his kidnappers were sighted in Lanao del Sur," Dolorfino told reporters in Zamboanga City, but did not give specific details so as not to jeopardise ongoing military operations... click here for more on this story from, AFP.
|12062||Russia, China seal trade ties with $3.5 bln in deals||AFP||News||China||13 October 2009 09:31 Tue||
China and Russia on Tuesday cemented their burgeoning trade relationship with billions of dollars in new deals as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was to meet his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao. Putin, who arrived late Monday, was also due to meet President Hu Jintao as the two countries seek closer ties, and attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional security grouping, during his visit. It is the Russian leader's first trip to China as prime minister, although he visited four times previously as president... click here for more on this story from, AFP.
|12063||Indonesia confirms two wanted militants killed||Reuters||News||Indonesia||13 October 2009 09:34 Tue||
Indonesian police said on Monday that forensic tests had confirmed that two brothers accused of having a key role in deadly bombings on two luxury Jakarta hotels in July were killed in a raid last week. The deaths of the two men -- Syaifudin Djaelani, accused of recruiting the bombers who blew themselves up at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton on July 17, and Mohamad Syahrir -- marks further success in dismantling the militant network suspected of planning the attacks. The two were killed during a raid near the capital on Friday after police had been tipped off by another relative who was captured earlier, national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna said... click here for more on this story from, Reuters.
|12064||Afghan leader accused of meddling in fraud probe||AP||News||Afghanistan||13 October 2009 09:58 Tue||
A campaign official for the runner-up in Afghanistan's disputed election has accused President Hamid Karzai of engineering the resignation of a fraud investigator to throw doubt on the process. Representatives for Karzai could not immediately be reached for comment. The deputy campaign manager for Abdullah Abdullah said Tuesday that the resigned official is biased toward Karzai. Saleh Mohammad Registani says the resignation was a move by the Karzai campaign to call into question the validity of the fraud investigations in case the rulings force a runoff with Abdullah... click here for more on this story from, The AP.
|12066||Romanian government toppled in no-confidence motion||The Telegraph||News||Romania||13 October 2009 04:30 Tue||
The Romanian government fell on Tuesday after losing a no-confidence motion, raising the spectre of heightened political instability that could put an IMF-led economic bailout at risk. Prime Minister Emil Boc's centrists will remain in power until Romania's parliament approves a new government, which commentators say may happen only after the Nov 22 presidential election that has polarised political groups and set off a sudden coalition split this month... click here for more on this story from, The Telegraph.
|12067||Pakistan bombs militants in South Waziristan||Reuters||News||Pakistan||13 October 2009 04:34 Tue||
Pakistani aircraft bombed militants in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border on Tuesday as government forces prepare for a ground offensive against the militant hub, security officials said. The government says most attacks in the country -- including four major ones over the past week that killed more than 100 people -- are plotted in South Waziristan, the main bastion of al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban and their allies. "There's been a heavy bombardment. They targeted some militant hideouts as well as pro-Taliban tribal elders," said an intelligence agency official in the region, who declined to be identified... click here for more on this story from, Reuters.
|12068||Fatah accepts Egypt's Palestinian unity proposal||Reuters||News||Israel||13 October 2009 04:39 Tue||
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party accepted on Tuesday Egypt's plan for separate signings of a reconciliation deal with Hamas after the Islamist group balked at attending a unity ceremony. Hamas said it still had not decided whether to agree to the proposal put forward by Egyptian mediators. "We in Fatah agree to the Egyptian document and will sign it (within 48 hours)," Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad said. "We are waiting for Hamas to accept it." Egypt had invited Fatah and Hamas, which won parliamentary elections in 2006 and violently wrested control of the Gaza Strip from its Western-backed rival in 2007, to attend a ceremony on Oct. 24-26 in Cairo, where they were expected to sign a reconciliation pact... click here for more on this story from, Reuters.
|12069||Nicolas Sarkozy: my son Jean was 'thrown to the wolves'||The Times||News||France||13 October 2009 04:43 Tue||
President Sarkozy complained today that his son Jean was being hounded unjustly as controversy continued to rage over the appointment of the 23-year-old student as head of France's premium business district. Mr Sarkozy blamed the media and opponents for persecuting Jean over his imminent appointment as chairman of Epad, the development agency that administers La Défense, the business quarter on the western edge of Paris... click here for more on this story from, The Times.
|12070||Royal Navy will be allowed back to Iraq||Oliver August||News||Iraq||14 October 2009 09:23 Wed||
Iraq has passed legislation allowing the return of 100 British naval training personnel who were forced to leave the country earlier this year. The Royal Navy was excluded from Iraq at the end of May, forcing it to move a frigate, an auxiliary ship and crew out of Iraqi waters towards Kuwait after parliament failed to approve a military co-operation agreement with Britain... click here for more on this story by GRN correspondent, Oliver August in, The Times.
|12071||NKorea makes rare apology in talks with SKorea||AFP||News||Korea||14 October 2009 09:27 Wed||
In a rare move, North Korea Wednesday expressed regret to South Korea for the death of six people swept away in a cross-border flood -- its latest apparent move to mend ties after months of hostility.Seoul said the comments came during talks between the two sides about flood-control measures.Pyongyang's decision to attend the talks, as well as a separate meeting planned for Friday, has raised hopes of better relations despite its short-range missile tests on Monday.In an incident which stirred anger in the South, the North on September 6 released millions of tonnes of water from a dam across the Imjin River, drowning the South Koreans camping or fishing downstream.The North had said a sudden surge in the dam water level prompted an emergency release, but the South called for an apology and measures to prevent a recurrence."Literally speaking, the North expressed regrets and condolences," an official from Seoul's unification ministry told Yonhap news agency during the talks in the town of Kaesong just north of the heavily fortified border."But in the general context, we think it's an apology by North Korea with regard to this incident."The North expressed "deep condolences" to families of the six victims, the official said on condition of anonymity, and reiterated it was forced to open the dam floodgates urgently. The talks were continuing Wednesday afternoon.There have been unannounced dam discharges by the North almost every year, but this year's was the first to claim lives. Click here for more information on this article.
|12072||One killed in Israeli raid on Gaza tunnels: medics||AFP||News||Israel||14 October 2009 09:33 Wed||
An Israeli air raid early Wednesday on smuggling tunnels between Hamas-run Gaza and Egypt killed a 23-year-old Palestinian man and wounded four other people, Palestinian medics said. The Israeli army said it carried out a raid targeting two tunnels in response to a rocket that was fired into Israel late on Tuesday and landed without causing casualties or damage. It marked the latest violence along Gaza's border, which has been mostly quiet since a war that Israel launched on Hamas in Gaza on December 27 in response to rocket fire ended with mutual ceasefires on January 18... click here for more on this story from, AFP.
|12073||Nobel judges defend Obama decision||The Press Association||News||Norway||14 October 2009 09:38 Wed||
Four judges have spoken out to defend the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to US president Barack Obama. In a rare public defence of a process normally shrouded in secrecy, the judges said Mr Obama's selection was deserved and unanimous. One judge noted with surprise that Mr Obama "didn't look particularly happy" at being named the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Another marvelled at how critics could be so patronising. To those who said a Nobel was too much too soon in Mr Obama's young presidency, "we simply disagree. He got the prize for what he has done," committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said from Strasbourg, France, where he was attending meetings of the Council of Europe... click here for more on this story from, The Press Association.
|12074||US will support Georgian military: Clinton||AFP||News||Russia||14 October 2009 09:41 Wed||
The United States will continue to support and train Georgia's military despite Russian objections, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview Wednesday."Georgia is providing troops in Afghanistan and we are training troops to be able to go to Afghanistan," Clinton told the Echo of Moscow radio."We will help the Georgian people to feel like they can protect themselves," she added, without giving further details.Despite a thaw in Russian-US relations, Clinton admitted that Georgia was a policy area on which Washington and Moscow did not see eye-to-eye.But Clinton added that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had not raised Russian objections to United States' support for the Georgian army in their talks on Tuesday."But we are also making it very clear that we expect both Georgians, South Ossetians and Abkhazians to avoid provocations and to deal with whatever problems they have via diplomatic meetings," Clinton told the radio.Ties between the two former Cold War foes were badly strained by Russia's war with US-ally Georgia last August and Russia's subsequent recognition of the Georgian rebel regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent. The United States has spent tens of millions of dollars on military aid for the Georgian army over the last years. The aid inlcudes support and training but it is unclear to what extent these funds have also been spent on weaponry. Click
for more information on this story.
|12076||Italian mamma charged with mollycoddling schoolboy son||The Independent||News||Italy||14 October 2009 09:53 Wed||
An Italian mother has appeared in court charged with maltreatment after mollycoddling her 12-year-old son to such a degree that his physical and social development were threatened. Even in Italy, the land of the mammone – or mummy's boy – the boy's sheltered life has alarmed authorities. Social services in the north-east town of Ferrara say the pampered child, known only as Luca, has very few friends, is not allowed to play sport and "never has any fun". They were alerted to his plight by the boy's estranged father, who says he has rarely seen his son since the couple divorced... click here for more on this story from, The Independent.
|12078||Armenia, Turkey pursue 'football diplomacy'||AP||News||Turkey||14 October 2009 09:59 Wed||
The presidents of Turkey and Armenia will build on recent moves to end a century of enmity when they attend a World Cup football qualifier between their teams on Wednesday.Turkish President Abdullah Gul attended the initial game in Armenia last year. The so-called "football diplomacy" contributed to the signing this past weekend of an agreement to establish diplomatic ties and open their border within two months.The agreement needs to be approved by the parliaments of both countries. The deepest dispute is over history and has yet to be resolved: Armenia and many historians allege Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians early in the last century, a charge that Turkey denies.But the two sides will focus on goodwill at the football game, though security will be tight for fear of protests from Turkish nationalists who oppose reconciliation. Both teams have been knocked out of the competition, so suspense over the score will be lacking."I call on the fans to ignore any provocation that might come from people who desire to abuse the process between Turkey and Armenia," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.Armenian President Serge Sarkisian has said he will attend the game in Bursa, a former Ottoman imperial capital.The agreements have strong support in the two countries' parliaments, but face stiff opposition from nationalists. Turkey has said it would send the agreement to parliament next week."We have paved the way for a solution in our capacity as the government, but the parliament indeed has the power to say the last word on this issue," Erdogan said. Click here for more information on this story.
|12079||Islamic Separatist Group Denies Abducting Irish Missionary||October 14, 2009||Dean M. Bernardo||News||Philippines||14 October 2009 10:12 Wed||
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF, an predominantly Islamic group fighting the Philippines government for autonomy or a separate Islamic republic for the southern island group of Mindanao has denied rumors that kidnapped Irish Catholic priest Father Michael Sinnot of the Society of St. Columban was already in the hands of an MILF commander in the province of Lanao del Norte.
|Irish Ireland Catholic priest Columban Mindanao Philippines Michael Sinnot abducted kidnap Moro Islamic Liberation Front|
|12080||Convicted Former President Announces Presidential Bid in 2010||October 14, 2009||Dean M. Bernardo||Philippines||14 October 2009 10:57 Wed||
Ousted and convicted for graft and corruption, former Philippines president Joseph Ejercito Estrada, age 72, announced to an Agence France Presse reporter that he is running for President of the country in the May 2010 national elections.
Estrada served as the 13th president of the Philippine republic from 1998 to 2001, barely half of his single six year term when a he stepped down from office on January 20, 2001 amidst a public clamor for his removal which was later supported by both the police and military after an impeachment process of the Senate was halted over apparent bias favoring Estrada at that time.
The former president was impeached and stepped down from office over allegations he pocketed bribe money favoring illegal gambling in the country, using government funds to acquire properties favoring mistresses. A local graft court found Estrada guilty and was briefly imprisoned at Estrada’s own rest house outside of Manila until concurrent president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pardoned Estrada.
Estrada announced that he has chosen Jejomar Binay, head of the group United Opposition or UNO and concurrent mayor of the Philippines’ business and financial capital Makati City as his running mate.
The former president is best known as a popular action movie star who is well loved by the masses will launch his next bid to the Presidency next week at the patio of the Parish of Child Jesus in the district of Tondo in Manila, populated mostly by people belonging to the lower income class level who support Estrada. Analysts see the move to launch his bid in Tondo as another bid to acquire the votes of the masses who first brought Estrada to power in 1998.
The national elections of 2010 has become a national headline in the Philippines with recent announcements of Senator Simeon Benigno “Noy-noy” Aquino, III, the son of the late former President Corazon C. Aquino who died on August of this year to run for President. Among those bidding to succeed the controversial President Arroyo is a real estate developer turned Senator, the incumbent Defense Secretary who is a second cousin to Aquino and another Senator who would be the youngest candidate styling himself as the Philippines’ “Obama” or catalyst for change.
|President Joseph Estrada announces presidential bid 2010 Philippines politics|
|12081||Pakistan gun and suicide attacks on police buildings leave at least 26 dead||Saeed Shah||News||Pakistan||15 October 2009 09:23 Thu||
Gunmen have stormed three police buildings in Pakistan's cultural hub of Lahore, while a suicide car bomber targeted another police station in the northwest, leaving at least 26 people dead. nitial reports said that some of the suspected Islamic militants attacks involved women. Gunmen attacked a police academy, an Elite commando training centre and the Federation Investigation Agency in Lahore. Counter-terrorist operations are under way, with troops storming the FIA and the police academy at Munawan... click here for more on this story from, GRN correspondent Saeed Shah in, The Telegraph.
|12082||Czech President Vaclav Klaus 'to continue' lone resistance to Lisbon Treaty||Bruno Waterfield||News||Belgium||15 October 2009 09:29 Thu||
Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, has vowed to continue his lone resistance to the Lisbon Treaty by defying mounting European Union pressure for him to sign on the text's dotted line. President Klaus is the last obstacle to the completion of the treaty's ratification and to the creation of a new EU President, foreign minister and European diplomatic service. "I fear, and I am not the only person to fear, a deepening of EU integration," he said during a visit to Moscow... click here for more on this story from, The Telegraph.
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