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US withdraws its envoy from Syria
Display of Gaddafi’s body ends
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Yemen’s Saleh welcomes UN resolution
Islamists claim lead in Tunisia polls
Tunisia's main Islamist party today predicted it would secure 40 per cent of the country's first ever free polls, as the birth place of the Arab Spring basked in the world's praise for its democratic revolution.
Turkey quake: Rescuers carry out intensive search operations
Rescuers scrambled through the rubble in a desperate search today for survivors of an earthquake in Turkey as residents fled the scenes of devastation. People living in eastern Van province issued cries for help on Twitter, giving out the addresses of collapsed buildings and the number of people trapped under the debris, as hundreds of rescuers worked round the clock.
Argentine economy may test victorious Fernandez
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has breezed to re-election but she may need to make changes soon to the quirky policy mix that is behind the fastest economic growth in Latin America.
Cameron faces rebellion over EU membership
British Prime Minister David Cameron faces the biggest rebellion of his premiership on Monday when parliament debates calls for a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union. Although the vote in parliament carries no legal weight, it is being seen as a test of the Conservative Party leader's authority and risks raising tensions within his ruling coalition with the pro-Europe Liberal Democrats.
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US withdraws its envoy from Syria
Amman/Washington, Oct 24 Ambassador Robert Ford had angered the Syrian government by cultivating contacts with the seven-month-old grass-roots movement against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, leading to attacks on his embassy and residence, diplomats said. The Western diplomats told Reuters Ford left Syria over the weekend following a series of incidents that caused physical damage to U.S. property but no casualties. "Ambassador Robert Ford was brought back to Washington as a result of credible threats against his personal safety in Syria," said U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner. "At this point, we can't say when he will return to Syria. It will depend on our assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground." US officials said they want Ford to return to Damascus and made clear they had no current intention of expelling the Syrian ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, a step that would almost certainly preclude the US envoy’s return. One US official said that the Assad government appeared to be trying to deflect attention from its effort to crush anti-government attention by incitement against Ford, who has been unusually forward in challenging the authorities. "They are trying to get their street to turn against him rather than focusing on the fact that their street has turned against them," said one US official who spoke on condition of anonymity. This official stressed that Ford had not been "withdrawn" from Syria — an act that would have implied that the United States had no intention of sending him back to Damascus. The United Nations says the government crackdown has killed 3,000 people, including 187 children, in Syria. Syrian authorities blame the unrest on "armed terrorist groups", which they say have killed 1,100 army and police personnel.
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Display of Gaddafi’s body ends
Misrata, Libya, October 24 Guards locked the gates to the compound surrounding the cold storage container where the body was lying. That may signal a decision is near over how and where to bury the bodies or simply that they are seen as a health hazard. Two National Transitional Council (NTC) officials confirmed the decision to shut off the area to the public, giving no reason. "That's enough," said one of the guards. "He's been causing us as much trouble dead as he did alive." A steady stream of visitors filed in to view the spectacle on Monday before the closure, but far fewer than on previous days when crowds flocked to the container where the three rotting bodies were laid out on filthy mattresses. — Reuters |
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Yemen’s Saleh welcomes UN resolution
Sanaa, October 24 The resolution reaffirms "support for a presidential decree issued on September 12 which was aimed at reaching a political agreement accepted by all parties and to ensure a peaceful and democratic transfer of power," said Saba. The resolution, unanimously agreed by the council's 15 members on Friday, strongly condemned deadly government attacks on demonstrators and backed a Gulf-brokered plan under which Saleh would end his 33 years in power. Saleh also said his "General People's Congress party and its allies are ready to immediately sit with the (opposition) Common Forum (alliance)... for talks over the initiative's implementing mechanism as soon as possible." — AFP
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Islamists claim lead in Tunisia polls Tunis, October 24 Official results were only due tomorrow but provisional results released by some media outlets appeared to confirm Ennahda's prediction it would control around 40 per cent of Tunisia's constituent assembly. The body Tunisians turned out en masse to elect yesterday is seen as the custodian of the pro-democracy revolution which brought dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's 23-year-old rule to a crushing end nine months ago. — AFP
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Turkey quake: Rescuers carry out intensive search operations Ercis (Turkey), October 24 Two children were plucked alive from the wreckage of a collapsed building in the town of Ercis but it was a rare slice of good news in an otherwise grim task for the rescue teams. Many students were believed to be buried in Ercis, the town which felt the full brunt of the quake, after a dormitory collapsed and several student houses crumbled. A total of 264 people were confirmed to have been killed by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake which struck around lunchtime on Sunday, according to Idris Naim Sener, the country’s interior minister. Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said that rescuers had now managed to get access to all the quake-hit zones in Van province, including remote villages. One resident of Ercis recounted the moment when disaster struck and how many had been forced to sleep outside overnight in freezing temperatures. “We couldn’t understand what was going on. All of a sudden, there was dust everywhere, our eyes were full of dust, and we were thrown against the walls and furniture. It lasted 20 seconds,” said 23-year-old Yunus Ozmen. “We spent the night outside in the street and made a fire to keep warm." His neighbour Abdul Hadi Isik said that his aunt and her children were buried under the rubble. “There is no hope left,” he added. AFP journalists in Ercis reported that the rescue effort was being hampered by a lack of electricity and water. Atalay said 29 villages and 40 per cent of Ercis town were without power but denied there was a problem with water. Many of the town’s residents were fleeing the town while police and soldiers kept watching around crumbled buildings to prevent looting. sing electrical pliers, rescuers could be seen patiently cutting through iron rods holding concrete blocks together while other people started to sweep up the mess. — AFP
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Argentine economy may test victorious Fernandez Buenos Aires, October 24 Fernandez won a second four-year term on Sunday with around 54 percent of the votes, 37 percentage points ahead of her nearest rival. She also regained a working majority in Congress. The centre-left president owes her popularity to a nearly nine-year economic boom, sustained by high global prices for grains exports as well as free-spending policies aimed at creating jobs and expanding welfare and pension payouts. Growth this year is seen topping 8 percent but at a cost of high inflation, estimated by private economists at about 25 percent. "I want Argentina to keep on growing, with more jobs and industry," Fernandez told cheering supporters on Sunday night. In her first term, Fernandez nationalized private pensions, fought powerful farmers over taxes and ignored international arbitration awards to private firms hurt during a 2001-02 crisis, prompting retaliation from Washington. — Reuters
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Cameron faces rebellion over EU membership London, October 24 Cameron, who opposes a public vote on Britain's EU membership, has sought to shift attention onto helping to solve the euro zone's debt crisis rather than debating London's often fractious links with Europe. "This is the right time to sort out Europe's problems, sort out the euro zone problem," Cameron said on Sunday before scrapping plans to visit Japan and New Zealand so that he could attend a crucial European meeting on Wednesday. His supporters accused "eurosceptics" in their party of distracting attention from the most important issues facing Britain and Europe -- Europe's crisis and weak global growth. "That is the high drama at the moment," pro-European former Conservative minister Malcolm Rifkind told the BBC. "For us to be involved in this inward navel-gazing at this moment...is a massive distraction." With the support of his junior coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats, and the main opposition Labour Party, Cameron is virtually assured of defeating the rebels. However, a bigger than expected revolt would raise questions about his authority. Cameron is eager to regain the initiative after the resignation earlier this month of his former defence minister Liam Fox in a row over his links with a businessman. The government has also come under fire over its plans for to restore economic growth after a year of stagnation. Despite the largely symbolic nature of the EU vote, Cameron appears to be taking no chances. He has imposed the toughest voting orders on his members of parliament. Known as a "three-line whip", lawmakers who defy the instruction to back the government will be effectively expelled from the party. —
Reuters
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The United States said on Monday it had pulled its ambassador out of Damascus because of threats to his safety in Syria, where protesters are trying to end 41 years of authoritarian rule by the Assad family.
Libya’s interim rulers ended the public display of the bodies of Muammar Gaddafi, his son and army chief on Monday after four days in which thousands of Libyans came to see for themselves that the dictator was really dead.
