Thursday August 8th 2013
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Syria's information minister has denied rebel claims that they attacked President Bashar al-Assad's convoy.
Reports that rockets hit his motorcade were "dreams and illusions", Omran Zoabi told Syrian state TV.
Rebels said they fired mortars at his convoy as it headed
towards the Anas bin Malek mosque in the Malki area, where the president
has a residence.
Pictures showed Mr Assad unharmed at a prayer service at a Damascus mosque to mark the end of Ramadan.
Earlier, Islam Alloush of the militant Liwa al-Islam Brigade,
told Reuters news agency the president's motorcade was hit as it drove
to the mosque in the Syrian capital.
Opposition activists and residents also reported what seemed
to be the sound of several incoming mortar explosions in the early
morning, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut.
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India defense minister: 'It is clear' Pakistan army involved in fatal attack
India's defense minister has accused Pakistan's army of being behind
an ambush that killed five Indian troops in the disputed border region
of Kashmir earlier this week.
The Times of India reported that Defense Minister A.K. Anthony told
members of India's Parliament Thursday, "It is now clear that the
specialist troops of [the] Pakistan army were involved in this attack
when a group from the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir crossed the [Line of
Control] and killed our brave jawans[soldiers]. We all know that nothing
happens from [the] Pakistan side of the [Line of Control] without the
support, assistance, facilitation and often, direct involvement of the
Pakistan Army."
Shortly after Tuesday's attack, a spokesman for the Indian army said
that the soldiers were ambushed by "20 heavily armed terrorists along
with soldiers." India condemned what it called a "gross violation" of
the 2003 cease-fire between the two countries, who have fought three
wars since 1947, two of which have been over Kashmir. Both countries
claim the entire region as their own.
Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied that its soldiers
killed any Indian troops. Separately, Pakistani military officials said
that two of its soldiers were wounded Tuesday afternoon by "unprovoked
Indian firing" across the disputed border, also known as the Line of
Control.
SANAA, Yemen — Military and intelligence officials in Yemen said
Wednesday they uncovered an al-Qaida plot to fire missiles at foreign
embassies in the capital and to attack naval forces guarding
international shipping in the Red Sea.
Details of the plot, which was reminiscent of the suicide attack on
the USS Cole in 2000 that killed 17 American sailors, emerged as Yemen
remains in a heightened state of alert that has seen the U.S. and
British embassies evacuated and a new suspected U.S. drone strike that
killed seven alleged militants from the terrorist group.
The discovery of the al-Qaida plot prompted the Defense
Ministry to step up security around the strategic Bab el-Mandeb
waterway, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Officials
banning speedboats or fishing vessels from the area, and military forces
have been ordered to shoot to kill anybody who arouses suspicion or
refuses to identify themselves.
Defense Minister Minister Gen. Mohammed Nasser Ahmed visited the area
Sunday and urged the forces, known as Battalion 117, to stay on high
alert for possible suicide attacks, according to officials who spoke to
The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to talk to the media.
An estimated 3.5 million barrels of oil passed daily in 2010 through
the Bab el-Mandeb strait, increasing the strategic importance of
impoverished Yemen, which itself has only a relatively small production
of oil and natural gas. Revenue from oil and gas production is
declining, worsening Yemen's ability to provide social services.
The militants from the terrorist group's Yemeni branch – known as
al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula – also were said to be plotting to use
long-range missiles to target embassies and diplomats' residences, or
try to take foreigners as hostages, the officials said.
Four Israeli soldiers have been injured in an explosion on the country's border with Lebanon.
They were wounded in "activity near the border" on Tuesday night, an Israeli military spokesman said.
The Lebanese army said the soldiers were inside Lebanon at the time. It called the incident a "new violation of sovereignty".
The Israel-Lebanon border area has been generally quiet since conflict in 2006 with Lebanese Hezbollah militants.
The United Nations drew up an unofficial "Blue Line" border
in 2000 after Israel withdrew troops and ended a 22-year presence in
southern Lebanon.
Cut wire
The Israeli military did not say what had caused the blast or exactly where it occurred.
The Lebanese army said an Israeli infantry patrol "penetrated
400 metres (yards) inside Lebanon in the Labouneh area at 00:24 local
time" (21:24 GMT Tuesday).
It was nighttime and 10,000 Islamists were marching down the most
heavily Christian street in this ancient Egyptian city, chanting
"Islamic, Islamic, despite the Christians." A half-dozen kids were
spray-painting "Boycott the Christians" on walls, supervised by an
adult.
While Islamists are on the defensive in Cairo following the military
coup that ousted President Mohammed Morsi, in Assiut and elsewhere in
Egypt's deep south they are waging a stepped-up hate campaign, claiming
the country's Christian minority somehow engineered Morsi's downfall.
"Tawadros is a dog," says a spray-painted insult, referring to
PopeáTawadros II, patriarch of the Copts, as Egypt's Christians are
called. Christian homes, stores and places of worship have been marked
with large painted crosses.
SANAA, Yemen -- A suspected U.S. drone strike killed seven alleged
al-Qaida militants Wednesday in southern Yemen, security officials and
residents said, as the Arab nation remained on high alert following
threats of a terror attack targeting Western of government interests.
It was the fifth strike in less than two weeks in Yemen, which has
emerged as the focus of fears of an attack that has led the United
States to temporarily shut down 19 diplomatic posts in the Middle East
and Africa, and to evacuate staff from the embassy in the Yemeni capital
of Sanaa.
The U.S. has dramatically stepped up its use of drone
strikes in Yemen in its covert fight against al-Qaida's branch there,
which is considered one of the most active of the terror network.
Washington also has been backing a Yemeni military campaign to uproot
al-Qaida militants and their radical allies who had taken over a string
of southern cities and towns. The militants have largely been driven
into the mountains and countryside, and Yemeni intelligence officials
say the current threat may be retaliation for that offensive.
A U.S. intelligence official and a Mideast diplomat told The
Associated Press that the closures were triggered by the interception of
a secret message between al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri and Nasser
al-Wahishi, the leader of the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian
Peninsula, about plans for a major terror attack.
Satellite images show Tehran is building a new launch site meant to test solid fuel rockets that are faster to deploy, The Daily Telegraph reports; analysts say there's no indication new site is a nuclear facility.
Iran has built a new rocket launch site which is likely to be used for testing ballistic missiles, The Daily Telegraph cites military analysts as saying.
According
to the report, satellite images of the structure taken last month and
published by IHS Jane’s Military and Security Assessments shows a 23
meters tall launch tower sitting on a launch pad. The images also shows a
125 meters long exhaust deflector.
QUETTA: A suicide bomber killed 38 people on Thursday and wounded more than 50 others, most of them Pakistani policemen attending a funeral on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr festival, an officer said.
The attack at police headquarters in the southwestern city of Quetta was the latest in a series of attacks highlighting the major security challenges faced by a newly elected government.
The bomber struck as officers gathered to pay their respects to a colleague who had been shot dead only hours before in Quetta, capital of the troubled province of Baluchistan.
Fayaz Sumbal, a deputy inspector general of police and one of the most senior officers in Quetta, was among those killed.
"At least 38 people have been killed and more than 50 injured," senior police official Mohammad Tariq said. "Most of the dead and injured are policemen."
Federal court has accused Ahmed Abu Khattala of involvement in assault that killed US ambassador and three other Americans
A former Libyan militia commander has denied charges filed in a
US federal court accusing him of involvement in an attack that killed a
US ambassador and three other Americans.
Ahmed Abu Khattala told the Associated Press he was not in hiding, nor had he been questioned by Libyan authorities over the September 2012 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi. That assault killed the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and sparked Republican-led investigations in Congress over the attack and its aftermath.
Khattala has repeatedly denied any role in the attack.
"I
am a Libyan citizen and the American government has nothing to do with
me," he told an AP reporter by phone on Wednesday . "I am in my city,
having a normal life and have no troubles, and if they have an inquiry
to make, they should get in touch with Libyan authorities."
Officials
in the US say he and an unspecified number of others are named in a
sealed complaint filed in the US district court in Washington. It is
unclear what charges they face. Libya's justice ministry declined to
comment when asked about the charges.
Khattala was the commander
of an Islamist militia group called Abu Obaida Ibn Jarrah. A Libyan
witness interviewed after the attack has placed him at the compound
directing fighters. But Khattala insists he had abandoned the militia
and begun working as a construction contractor.
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‘We will continue to destroy 100,000 eggs a day until Sunday" when things would get more radical, the group said.
Brest, France: A group of rogue French farmers has
gone on a furious egg-breaking rampage, destroying tens of thousands on
roads and pledging to smash many more in protest against low prices.
"More than 100,000 eggs were destroyed in the Cotes d'Armor
(a department in the northwestern region of Brittany)," a spokesman for
the unnamed collective of angry poultry farmers, told AFP.
Poultry farmers in France have for several months complained
of rock-bottom egg prices due to overproduction - a problem that also
affects other countries in the European Union.
They say current prices do not make up for a rise in
production costs or investments they had to make as part of an EU
directive that came into force in January 2012 to protect the well-being
of laying hens.
The spokesman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said masked
farmers had broken the 100,000 eggs overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday
near a Lidl supermarket and on a roundabout - an act that was also
reported in local media.
"We will continue to destroy 100,000 eggs a day until
Sunday," the spokesman said, after which he said the protest movement
would become more radical "with inevitable collateral damage" if the
group's demands are not met.
He said destroying 100,000 eggs a day equated to "five per
cent of the production" of poultry farmers involved in the collective.
The group called for France's entire egg production to be
reduced by five per cent to help raise prices, and asked the government
to set up a specific area for eggs to be destroyed.
According to Yves-Marie Beaudet, head of the egg section of a
union that represents poultry farmers in Brittany, producers currently
get paid 75 cents ($A1.12) for a kilogram of eggs - whereas the cost
price is 95 cents.
The Kremlin says it is
"disappointed" the US cancelled bilateral talks in September, after
Russia granted asylum to intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign affairs adviser
said the move showed the US could not develop ties with Russia on an
"equal basis".
A White House aide said Mr Snowden's asylum had deepened the pre-existing tension between the two counties.
But Mr Obama still plans to attend the G20 economic talks in St Petersburg.
Mr Snowden, a former intelligence contractor, has admitted leaking information about US surveillance programmes to the media.
'Not enough progress'
Russian foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday Russia was not to blame over the Snowden affair.
"This decision is clearly linked to the situation with former
agent of US special services [Edward] Snowden, which hasn't been
created by us," he said during a phone conference with the press.
In spite of the ongoing terror threat emanating from Yemen, the White
House says it does not plan to rethink President Obama's decision last
May to lift a moratorium on releasing Guantanamo Bay prisoners back to
that country.
“I am lifting the moratorium on detainee transfers
to Yemen, so we can review them on a case by case basis,” Obama told an
audience at the National Defense University during a major
counterterrorism policy speech on May 23.
The president is
standing by that announcement, even though Al Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen that U.S. intelligence
officials say is now the greatest Al Qaeda threat to the U.S. homeland,
was formed in part by several former Guantanamo Bay detainees who were
released in 2006.
WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency
is searching the contents of vast amounts of Americans’ e-mail and text
communications into and out of the country, hunting for people who
mention information about foreigners under surveillance, according to
intelligence officials.
The N.S.A. is not just intercepting the communications of Americans who
are in direct contact with foreigners targeted overseas, a practice that
government officials have openly acknowledged. It is also casting a far
wider net for people who cite information linked to those foreigners,
like a little used e-mail address, according to a senior intelligence
official.
While it has long been known that the agency conducts extensive computer
searches of data it vacuums up overseas, that it is systematically
searching — without warrants — through the contents of Americans’
communications that cross the border reveals more about the scale of its
secret operations.
The former president found out that he had a blockage in a heart
artery after going to the Cooper Clinic in Dallas on Monday for his
annual physical examination.
On Tuesday morning, doctors at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas inserted a stent to ease the blockage and said the 67-year-old was doing well and should be released from the hospital Wednesday.
“President
Bush is in high spirits, eager to return home tomorrow and resume his
normal schedule on Thursday,” according to a statement released by Bush
spokesman Freddy Ford. “He is grateful to the skilled medical
professionals who have cared for him.
“He thanks his family,
friends and fellow citizens for their prayers and well wishes,”
according to the statement. “And he encourages us all to get our regular
checkups.”
Bush — who is living in Dallas with his wife, Laura,
after leaving the White House in 2009 — is considered one of the most
physically fit presidents.
While in office, he was constantly on
the move, jogging and biking. Since then, he has maintained an active
lifestyle that includes riding mountain bikes and participating in golf
tournaments.
“I love exercise,” he said in a 2007 video for Physical Fitness Month.
Procedures
similar to what he underwent Tuesday are not rare. Stents were placed
in nearly 500,000 men in the United States in 2010, the most recent year
with statistics available.
President Barack Obama says the U.S. is providing an additional $195 million in humanitarian and food aid to Syria.
That means the U.S. has now sent more than $1 billion in humanitarian aid since the 2-year-old Syrian civil war started.
Obama is timing the new aid to coincide with Eid al-Fitr (ayd
ahl-FIH'-tur), a holiday marking the end of Ramadan, Islam's holy month
of fasting.
Obama says many Americans have celebrated Ramadan with Muslims. He
says millions in Syria are displaced and that the U.S. wants to help.
The humanitarian aid follows recent approval of a U.S. aid package of
weapons to Syrian rebels aimed at reversing recent battlefield gains by
President Bashar Assad.
The White House issued the statement Wednesday while Obama was traveling in California.
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