Gazette 100313 Afternoon edition

Thursday October 3rd 2013

Afternoon Edition

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Russia evacuates embassy in Libya after attack

All staff and family members have been evacuated from the Russian embassy in Libya after gunmen attacked the compound in the capital, Tripoli.

The foreign ministry in Moscow announced that the evacuees had arrived in neighbouring Tunisia, from where they planned to fly back to Russia.
It suggested the incident was a revenge attack after the alleged killing of a Libyan by a Russian citizen.
Two Libyans were reportedly also killed during the assault on the embassy.
The Russian foreign ministry said its diplomats in Tunis would maintain ties with Libya.
No Russian casualties were reported during the attack on Wednesday but a car and other property were damaged.
An attack last year on a US compound in the city of Benghazi killed four people, including the US ambassador, while a car bomb outside the French embassy in April injured two French guards and a number of residents.

Yemeni Forces Storm Al Qaeda HQ

At least 10 people including three soldiers were killed in an offensive to retake headquarters seized by Al-Qaeda-linked militants in southeast Yemen, medical and military sources said Thursday.
"We received this morning the bodies of 10 people" killed in the attack on the HQ, a medical source at Ibn Sina public hospital in Mukalla told AFP.
A military official confirmed that at least three of the soldiers taken hostage by the militants were among the 10 dead.
"Efforts are ongoing to find other possible victims under the rubble," said the official who requested anonymity.
He added that "most parts of the building's third storey have been destroyed".
Late on Wednesday, Yemeni forces announced they had retaken control of the HQ, killing the Al-Qaeda gunmen holed up there.
"The armed forces have successfully completed the assault on the headquarters of the 2nd military region at Mukalla and have thoroughly cleansed it of terrorist elements," a defence ministry source was quoted as saying by the official Saba news agency.

Syria: chemical weapons inspectors begin securing Assad regime's arsenal



OPCW announcement suggests process of destroying Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles and capabilities is on schedule

Weapons inspectors have begun work alongside Syrian officials on securing the Assad regime's chemical arsenal, taking the first steps towards scheduled destruction of the weapons midway through next year.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said on its website that an advance team of about 20 inspectors had completed its first day of work in Syria on Thursday.
"Joint work with the Syrian authorities has begun on securing the sites where the team will operate, especially in outlying areas," a web bulletin said. "The team has also been considering the health and environmental hazards which they may have to confront. In addition, planning continues for one of the team's immediate tasks, disabling Syria's chemical weapons production facilities, which should begin soon."
It continued: "Discussions on the size of Syria's stockpiles are also under way, as well as long-term planning, so that deadlines unanimously imposed by the executive council of the OPCW and the UN security council are met."
The OPCW executive council, its governing body, set a 1 November deadline for the destruction of chemical weapons production and mixing facilities and munitions filling equipment. The destruction of the entire Syrian arsenal, estimated by western intelligence at 1,000 tonnes of sarin nerve agent and other poison gases, has to be completed by mid-2014, according to the OPCW decision backed unanimously by the UN security council last Friday.

Pakistan 'militant chief attacked'

At least 15 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a militant commander's compound in a north-west Pakistani tribal region, officials say.

Reports said the commander, Nabi Hanafi, had been fighting a branch of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP). Some reports say that he has been injured.
The Taliban have said they were behind the attack in the remote Spin Thal area of North Waziristan.
Last year a TTP suicide attack hit the same compound, killing 18 people.
Officials said that in Thursday's attack a suicide bomber drove a vehicle into the compound.
Several other people were injured in the attack.
Security officials have said that Nabi Hanafi was injured in the attack and taken to hospital, the Reuters news agency reported.
But other reports say it is still not clear if he was injured or if he was even in the compound when the bomb went off.

Cash-strapped Ireland asks voters to close Senate 

Irish government leaders have issued final appeals to voters to back the abolition of the country's Senate, an upper parliamentary chamber long decried as elitist and ineffective, in a cost-cutting move.

Most opposition lawmakers support the government's constitutional amendment to close the 60-senator chamber. But the proposal requires public support in Friday's referendum. Results are expected Saturday.
Opponents, chiefly in the opposition Fianna Fail (FEEN'-uh fall) party, argue the government is seeking to centralize its own powers by removing an upper house that scrutinizes and occasionally delays the passage of bills. They reject the government's campaign promise that closing the Senate would save 20 million euros ($27 million) annually.
Ireland's 1937 constitution created a powerful lower house of parliament and weak upper house.
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Netanyahu: US, Israel discussing 'verifiable' Iranian steps on nuclear program

The US and Israel are discussing what steps Iran could take that would be "verifiable and meaningful" and indicate that they are indeed stopping their nuclear program, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said before leaving the US Thursday evening.
Netanyahu made the comments in a 45-minute interview with PBS/CBS interviewer Charlie Rose, who pressed him to spell out the differences that existed between him and US President Barack Obama on the Iranian file. 
Netanyahu praised Obama for saying publicly and privately that steps and transparent actions, not just words, were need from Iran. And "what we're talking about right now," he said, was "what are the meaningful actions that will do the job."
The Rose interview was one of eight high-profile interviews that Netanyahu gave to the US media since his speech at the UN Tuesday where he slammed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and vowed that Israel would take action alone, if necessary, to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.
In addition to Rose, Netanyahu interviewed over the last two days with BBC's Persian language service, NBC's Andrea Mitchell, the Hispanic Univision network, CNN, Fox News, NPR and one of Sunday's major political talk shows.

Netanyahu says Israel won’t let Iran get nuclear weapons at any cost

Israel’s prime minister declared Tuesday that his country will never allow Iran to get nuclear weapons, even if it has to act alone, and dismissed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s “charm offensive” as a ruse to get relief from sanctions.
Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to world leaders at the UN General Assembly, played the spoiler to Iran’s overtures to warm ties with the U.S. after decades of estrangement. Last week, the U.S. and Iranian presidents spoke on the phone, the highest level contacts between their countries in 34 years.
Netanyahu said Israel’s future is threatened by a “nuclear-armed” Iran seeking its destruction and urged the international community to keep up pressure through sanctions.
“Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons,” he said. “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone, but in standing alone Israel will know that we will be defending many, many others,” Netanyahu added.
Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee shot back: “Unlike Israel, Iran would not and did not attack any country.”
Exercising Iran’s right of reply in the assembly, he added: “It is not due to its inability, but due to its principled policy in rejecting any use of force. ... Therefore the Israeli prime minister had better not even think about attacking Iran let alone planning for that.”


Madagascar crowd burn alive two Europeans over "organ trafficking"


PARIS/ANTANANARIVO: A crowd burnt two Europeans alive on a tourist island in Madagascar because they suspected them of trafficking human organs after a dead child was found on a beach, police said.

The men were hunted down and killed by residents on the island of Nosy Be, one of the Indian Ocean island's leading tourism hubs.

"They (the crowd) suspected them of organ trafficking," Madagascar police chief Desire Johnson Rakotondratsima said. "It appears that one of the foreigners admitted it in front of the local residents after they found the dead body of a child."

Police are searching for a third suspected organ trafficker, a Malagasy man, he said.

One of the dead men was French, according to France's foreign ministry. A French interior ministry official said the body of the child had been found with organs removed.

The French foreign ministry said it had warned its 700 citizens in Madagascar to avoid all travel within the country and asked those planning to travel there to delay their trip.

Turkey renews permit to send troops to Syria 

Turkey's Parliament has extended by a year a mandate that allows the military to send troops into Syria if the need arises.

Legislators voted on Thursday by a show of hands in favor of the bill despite objection from opposition parties, which argued the move would drag Turkey to war.
The government proposed the extension, saying the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons poses an "imminent and serious" threat to Turkey.
Parliament first authorized the military to send troops to Syria last year, after five Turkish civilians were killed from Syrian shelling at a border town. That expires on Friday.
Turkish-Syrian relations have further deteriorated since then and last month Turkey shot down a Syrian helicopter that strayed into its territory.

Mexico police clash with protesters

Riot police have clashed with protesters in Mexico City during a demonstration commemorating the 45th anniversary of a student massacre.

Protesters, some of them masked, threw firebombs, bottles and rocks at police who battled to disperse the crowd.
At least 40 people were injured, Mexico's El Universal newspaper reported.
The rally marked the anniversary of the 1968 killings of student protesters in Tlatelolco Square.
Official reports at the time said 25 people died, although rights activists say as many as 350 may have been killed.
The anniversary of the killings is often marked by protests and violence.
In the latest clashes, police said 20 officers had been injured and 20 people were arrested. Authorities said anarchists had infiltrated the march.
Earlier, thousands of teachers and students blocked the city's main roads during rush hour to honour victims of the massacre.
The deaths in Tlatelolco Square took place during months of pro-democracy protests by students and workers.
The killings took place a few days before the Mexican capital hosted the 1968 Olympic Games.
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'Shots fired' near US Capitol 

A police officer is reportedly injured after shots were fired near the US Capitol in Washington DC.

A high speed police chase ended in front of a Senate office building and shots were fired, according to reports.
Journalists, politicians and congressional staff were ordered to take shelter at the US Capitol complex at 14:28 local time (18:28 GMT).
The lockdown lasted half an hour. President Obama was briefed on the incident, an official said.
One eyewitness told the BBC he heard 10-12 shots following a car chase near the Capitol. 

Some senators were reportedly outside when they heard shots fired and saw police pull over a car in front of a Senate building after a high-speed chase, the New York Times reports.

"I heard a pop pop pop and we were told to get down," Senator Bob Casey told the paper.
The incident comes two weeks after a deadly shooting at the nearby Navy Yard.
"Gunshots have been reported on Capitol Hill requiring all occupants in all House office buildings to shelter in place," said the email to staff.
"Close, lock and stay away from external doors and windows." 

More Than 170,000 Sign Petition Demanding No Pay For Congress During Shutdown

As the federal government shutdown continues with no signs of stopping, tens of thousands have signed a petition demanding that members of Congress receive no pay for the duration of the budget stalemate.
A CourageCampaign petition on MoveOn.org calling for a block on congressional pay until the shutdown is over had over 176,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.
“Starting October 1st, hundreds of thousands of middle-class federal employees will be furloughed due to irresponsible members of Congress who refuse to govern for the well-being of the American people. The GOP-controlled House of Representatives decided to shut down the government rather than pass a spending bill that funds the Affordable Care Act," reads the petition, started by CourageCampaign Executive Chairman Paul Song. “Congress should take responsibility for their own inaction and lose their paychecks until they come to a resolution."
While over 800,000 federal workers are currently furloughed without pay — and no guarantee of receiving back pay — rank-and-file members of Congress will continue to earn their $174,000 annual salaries throughout the impasse. Congressional pay is protected by the 27th Amendment, which states that no law changing the rate of compensation for members may take effect until after an election in the House of Representatives.

Kerry: 'Diplomatic malpractice' not to engage Iran on nuclear issue

TOKYO –  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday it would be "diplomatic malpractice of the worst order" not to test Iran's willingness to comply with international demands over its nuclear program.
In his first public comments since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the United States and the West not to trust Iran in an impassioned address to the United Nations, Kerry said they would not be played for "suckers" with a charm offensive from new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Kerry said the U.S. would not take any Iranian offer at face value and said Iran would have to prove it is not trying to develop a nuclear weapon.
"We have an obligation," Kerry told reporters in Tokyo after he and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met with the foreign and defense ministers of Japan. "It would be diplomatic malpractice of the worst order not to examine every possibility of whether or not you can achieve that before you ask people to take military action and do what you have to do to prevent it."
"You have to exhaust the remedies before you ratchet up to a next tier of remedies that may have more dramatic consequences," he said.
However, Kerry stressed that Rouhani's apparent overtures would be looked at with an extremely critical eye.

Boehner tells colleagues U.S. won’t default

House Speaker John A. Boehner, apparently sharing Obama administration alarm about a possible debt default, has told colleagues he will act to raise the federal debt limit even if he has to rely on the votes of House Democrats, GOP aides said Thursday.

It was not immediately clear, however, whether Boehner (R-Ohio) would stand by such a position publicly or whether it would prove to be a trial balloon allowing him to gauge the reactions of the GOP’s tea party wing.

President Obama warned Thursday that the looming debt-ceiling crisis could be even more damaging than the current government shutdown, which he said could end immediately if House Republicans would hold a vote on a short-term spending bill without partisan attachments.
With concern shifting to a deadline in two weeks to raise the debt limit, Boehner (R-Ohio) has told colleagues he will do whatever is necessary to avoid defaulting on the federal debt, including relying on House Democrats to help pass a a debt-ceiling increase, according to GOP aides familiar with the conversations.

It's official: No jobs report Friday

The Bureau of Labor Statistics will not release the September jobs report on Friday as a result of the government shutdown, the Labor Department announced Thursday morning.
“Due to the lapse in funding, the Employment Situation release which provides data on employment during the month of September, compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, will not be issued as scheduled on Friday, October 4, 2013,” read a brief statement posted on the Labor Department website.

An alternative release date has not been scheduled, according to the memo.

The monthly jobs report is typically released the first or second Friday of each month. The two topline numbers are the unemployment rate and the total number of jobs added to the economy during the previous month. These figures are derived from the payroll businesses survey and the household survey.
The August jobs report released on Sept. 6 showed that the U.S. economy had added 169,000 jobs in August and that the unemployment rate had ticked down to 7.3 percent.
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