India sets to deploy jets near Pakistan

Sun Oct 2, 2011

India's air force is to deploy a squadron of its Sukhoi SU-30 MKI fighter aircrafts, for the first time a few miles away from the Pakistani border, Press TV reports.

The squadron is to be deployed at the Jodhpur Airbase in the Indian state of Rajasthan by the first week of November, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Pakistan in the past had expressed fears that India could launch an invasion from Rajasthan into the country's southern province of Sindh.

The Sukhoi is a twin-engine multi-role aircraft that is manufactured under a license from Russia and has the capability to strike deep into enemy territory.

The aircraft can fly for more than ten hours without having to refuel.

India plans to equip the aircraft with the Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile. The missile is currently undergoing testing.

“The Brahmos Missile… has a range of 292 kilometers to be exact. The wings of the Sukhoi need to be strengthened. Ultimately when the Sukhoi is equipped with the Brahmos Missile it will be able to carry between four and five Brahmos Missiles,” analyst Rahul Bedi said.

Bedi also added that the “gap between the Pakistani and Indian forces is presently being breached very swiftly."

Although analysts say the country's defense sector is becoming largely dependent on western nations, India remains one of the world's largest importers of defense equipment.

The Indian air force is planning to deploy another squadron in the northern state of Punjab's Halwara.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202392.html.

Afghans hold anti-US demonstration

Mon Oct 3, 2011

A group of students has held an anti-US rally in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, calling for the release of a teacher detained by US-led troops, Press TV reports.

Shouting anti-US slogans, the students blocked a road in the provincial capital city of Jalalabad on Monday.

The students staged the demonstration after foreign troops stormed the house of the teacher of Najmeddin Akhundzadeh religious school Sunday night and detained him.

NATO did not comment on reasons behind the reported arrest.

The protesters vow to continue their protest rally until the release of their teacher.

Mohammad Masoom Hashemi, the deputy Nangarhar police chief, told reporters that the demonstration was peaceful and the demand of protesters was conveyed to high-ranking officials.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202497.html.

Syrian opposition forms united front

October 03, 2011

ISTANBUL/BEIRUT: Syrian opposition movements announced the formation of a “historic” united front against President Bashar Assad’s government at a meeting in Turkey Sunday.

At home, meanwhile, a son of Syria’s grand mufti was killed when his car came under attack from gunmen, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported.

Meanwhile, rights activists said that Syrian troops have taken control of the central city of Rastan after sending in 250 tanks to quell clashes between the army and deserters.

The announcement of the Syrian National Council at a news conference in Istanbul appeared to be the most serious step yet to unify a deeply fragmented opposition. It follows five days of intense battles between the Syrian military and army defectors in the country’s central region that raised the specter of all-out armed conflict.

Prominent Syrian opposition figure Bourhan Ghalioun, who read out the founding statement of the SNC at a news conference in Istanbul, accused the Syria of fomenting sectarian strife to maintain its grip on power.

“I think that this [Assad] regime has completely lost the world’s trust,” he said. “The world is waiting for a united Syrian [opposition] that can provide the alternative to this regime, so that they can recognize it,” he added.

“The council denounces the [regime’s] policy of sectarian incitement … which threatens national unity and is pushing the country to the brink of civil war,” he said.

Syria’s volatile sectarian divide means that an armed conflict could rapidly escalate in scale and brutality. The Baath Party leadership is dominated by the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, but the country is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim.

The opposition movement has until now focused on peaceful demonstrations, although recently some protesters have been reported to have taken up arms to defend themselves against military attacks. Army defectors have also been fighting government troops.

In forming a national council, the Syrians are following in the footsteps of Libyan rebels, who formed a National Transitional Council during the uprising that ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

The Syrian opposition consists of a variety of groups with differing ideologies, including Islamists and secularists, and there have been many meetings of dissidents claiming to represent Syria’s popular uprising since it erupted seven months ago. But the new council is the broadest umbrella movement of revolutionary forces formed so far.

A group of Syrian activists had declared the preliminary formation of the council last month, but its structure, goals and a founding statement signed by major opposition factions, had not been announced until this conference.

The SNC announced in Istanbul appears to have received the recognition of the largest Syrian opposition factions.

Members said it includes representatives from the Damascus Declaration grouping, a pro-democracy network based in the capital, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic political party banned in the country, various Kurdish factions, and the grassroots Local Coordination Committees which have led protests across the country, as well as other independent and tribal figures.

Conference spokesman Ghalioun said a key benefit of the council to the opposition would be to provide a single body with which other countries could coordinate. He urged Syrians everywhere to support it and said it would be a vehicle for democratic change.

The council’s statement said it categorically rejects any foreign intervention or military operations to bring down Assad’s government but called on the international community to “protect the Syrian people” from “the declared war and massacres being committed against them by the regime.”

It said that protesters should continue to use “peaceful means” to topple the Syrian leader.

The organizers have not named a leader for the national council, but appeared to give a leading role to Ghalioun, a popular opposition figure who is also a scholar of contemporary oriental studies at the Sorbonne in Paris.

In ground developments Sunday, the government said it retook control of the rebellious central town of Rastan after hunting down “armed terrorists” holed up inside. The fighting there highlighted the increasingly militarized nature of an uprising started months ago by peaceful protesters.

Syrian activists say the fighting in Rastan had pitted the Syrian military against hundreds of army defectors who sided with anti-Assad protesters. It was among the worst clashes in the 6-month-old uprising against Assad.

In a separate incident, the 21-year-old son of Syria’s top Sunni Muslim cleric was wounded by gunmen, the state-run SANA news agency reported.

Pro-government Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddine Hassoun’s son Saria was attacked in the Saraqeb region of the restive northern Idlib province as he left the university where he studies, the agency reported. He suffered wounds to his chest and kidney and was being operated upon.

Mufti Hassoun is considered to be a close supporter of President Bashar Assad’s government, and has echoed its claims that the unrest in Syria is the result of a foreign conspiracy.

SANA said Hassoun had died of wounds sustained during an ambush on his car, while traveling between Idlib and Aleppo.

Source: The Daily Star.
Link: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Oct-03/150327-syrian-opposition-forms-united-front.ashx.

Radiation-Loving Fungi Can Remove Toxic Waste

By Reid Schram
October 2, 2011

When Russian scientists sent a robot into the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 2007, the last thing they expected to find was life. Inside the most radioactive areas of the breached core was a group of common fungi collectively referred to as “black mold” growing on the reactor walls.

These molds were growing in one of the most hostile environments on the planet, with radiation levels high enough to give a lethal dose in minutes. But these fungi weren’t just growing, they were thriving.

A researcher at New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Arturo Casadevall, investigated these resistant molds and helped to identify several distinct species.

They all shared one very interesting characteristic—they all contained the skin pigment melanin.

Perhaps the most interesting was a common species of black mold, Cryptococcus neoformans. This fungus does not normally contain melanin, but when exposed to radiation levels 500 times higher than background radiation, it would start producing melanin within 20 to 40 minutes.

Cryptococcus and other species grow faster in high radiation environments then their counterparts do at normal amounts of radiation. Casadevall’s work led to the discovery that the fungi use melanin to capture energy given off by ionizing radiation, rather like plants use chlorophyll to capture sunlight.

The radiation levels here on Earth have historically been much higher than they are today. Large amounts of highly melanized fungal spores have been found in early Cretaceous period deposits, a time when a massive global plant and animal die-out occurred.

One suggested cause of this mass extinction is that the Earth’s protective magnetic field became weakened or overwhelmed. This would have allowed excessive cosmic and solar radiation into our atmosphere for most life forms to survive.

But what would have been a bane for the majority of life on Earth would have been a boon for melanin-containing fungi.

Radiation-loving mushrooms, scientifically referred to as “radiotrophic fungi,” have many potential applications. In 1987, at the Chernobyl disaster site, highly contaminated graphite used to cool the reactor was observed being decomposed by a yet unknown species of fungi.

Various species of fungi are also capable of concentrating different heavy metals. After the Chernobyl meltdown, mushroom hunters all over Europe were advised not to pick and eat certain species of fungi because they could be concentrating radioactive fallout.

Gomphidius glutinosus is a common woodland mushroom that concentrates radioactive cesium-137 to over 10,000 times background levels. An area that has been contaminated with deadly cesium, like the area surrounding the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, could have spores from this species of fungi spread on it, and then later when the radioactive mushroom caps appeared, they could be collected and properly disposed of.

Using fungi to clean up radioactive or other types of waste is an emerging technique known as mycoremediation, and promises to be far less expensive than other competing methods.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/radiation-loving-fungi-can-remove-toxic-waste-62299.html.

Heavy rains, floods kill 9 in northern Algeria

ALGIERS (BNO NEWS) -- At least nine people have been found dead after heavy rainfall caused serious flooding in parts of northern Algeria during the weekend, the government said on late Sunday evening. Several others remain missing.

The worst of the flooding began on Saturday as a result of heavy rainfall throughout the country, mainly in El Bayadh Province where all the fatalities were reported. Hundreds of homes were severely damaged, leaving many families homeless.

A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry's Civil Protection agency said nine bodies had been recovered as of Sunday evening. Among those killed were at least three children between the ages of 3 and 17. Two others were reported missing by their relatives.

In addition to residential homes, local authorities said a number of bridges had collapsed as a result of the heavy rains and strong winds which began on Friday. The African country often experiences flooding in October.

Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/news/heavy-rains-floods-kill-9-in-northern-algeria.html.

Tunisian female blogger among Nobel Peace Prize contenders

2011-10-02

The Nobel Prize season open Monday and a young Tunisian blogger is among the favorites  AFP reported on Saturday (October 1st). Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution" could inspire a Nobel Peace Prize award for Lina Ben Mhenni, who chronicled the revolution in her French, Arabic and English blog, "A Tunisian Girl".

"Although I was ferociously hunted, I was committed to showing the world - through social networks like Twitter and Facebook - the real image of the practices of the old regime in Tunisia," Ben Mhenni told TAP last Wednesday.

In April, German broadcaster Deutche Welle honored the 27-year-old with its "BOB" award for best international blogger. The German international broadcaster noted that the University of Tunis assistant professor had "blogged about repression and censorship in her country since 2007 - long before a popular uprising unseated former president Ben Ali". During the protests, "she traveled to places including Sidi Bouzid and Kasrine to document the repression and killings occurring there", the "BOB" award committee said.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner will be announced in Stockholm on October 7th.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/10/02/newsbrief-08.

Amazigh World Congress convenes in Djerba

2011-10-02

Delegations from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Libya are participating in the 6th World Amazigh Congress (CMA), which opened Friday (September 30th) on the Tunisian island of Djerba, Tout sur l'Algerie reported. Representatives of the Touareg community and the Amazigh diaspora in Europe and North America are also attending the three-day event, which focuses on the Amazigh movement in the aftermath of the Arab spring.

For Tunisia to serve as host country for the event would have been "unthinkable" under the rule of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, TSA editorialized  Even though the Amazigh population is between 5 and 10 per cent in Tunisia, "no place was given to the culture or language during the reign" of Ben Ali, the Algerian online daily added.

It is in Morocco, however, that "the winds of change in the region have paid off the most" for the Amazighi population, TSA remarked, pointing to the recent formalization of the Tamazight language, a measure that was introduced as part of the country's constitutional reforms.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/10/02/newsbrief-07.

Election campaigns begin in Tunisia

2011-10-02

Campaigns for Tunisia's National Constituent Assembly elections kicked off on Saturday (October 1st), TAP reported. On October 23rd, Tunisians will elect a 218-member constituent assembly, which will be tasked with drafting a new constitution for the country ahead of the parliamentary and presidential elections. More than 80 political parties are competing in the polls, with nearly 11,000 candidates due to contest the elections in 27 districts.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/10/02/newsbrief-05.

Saudi forces clash with protesters

Mon Oct 3, 2011

Security forces have clashed in Saudi Arabia with pro-reform protesters in the Qatif Governorate in the Eastern Province of the country, Press TV reports.

The Saudis had gathered in an anti-government demonstration in the province's Awamiyah village, a Press TV correspondent reported. They chanted slogans against the province's Governor, Prince Mohammed bin Fahd, -- the son of the late King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.

Reports say the forces arrested a 70-year-old man, whose son had participated in the protests, demanding the son to surrender himself in exchange for his father's release.

A larger demonstration is scheduled for Monday in the city of Qatif, where protesters often take to the streets despite a heavy security presence to condemn Riyadh's role in the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters in Bahrain.

The Saudi demonstrators call for respect for human rights, implementation of further reforms, freedom of expression, and the release of political prisoners, some of whom have been held without trial for more than 16 years.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, known for its intolerance of dissent. Earlier in the year, the Saudi Interior Ministry imposed a ban on all kinds of demonstrations and public gatherings.

Human Rights Watch says hundreds of dissidents have been arrested since February as part of the Saudi government's suppression of anti-government protests.

According to the Saudi-based Human Rights First Society (HRFS), the detainees were subjected to physical and mental torture.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/202435.html.

Turks protest NATO radar in Malatya

Mon Oct 3, 2011

Thousands of people have demonstrated in Turkey to protest against the planned deployment of a NATO missile system in the eastern province of Malatya.

About 5,000 residents of the city of Kurecik, which is located 700 kilometers from Iran's border and where the missiles will be stationed, took to the streets to condemn the plan on Monday, Turkish NTV news channel reported.

Ankara announced in September that it had agreed on the deployment of the X-Band radar on its territory.

Protesters said on Monday that the system threatens the region's security and economy.

They also criticized the Turkish government, saying that the decision had been made under pressure from the United States.

Meanwhile, opposition parties have called on the government to reject the planned deployment which is aimed at protecting Israel.

The Republican People's Party, headed by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said that the plan is aimed at protecting Israel from the threat of Iranian missiles.

The leader of the People's Voice Party, Numan Kurtulmus, was also among the critics of the plan, saying that the government opposes Israel on the one hand while agreeing to a plan that is chiefly intended to defend Israel on the other.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/202515.html.

Yemenis call for Saleh trial at ICC

Sun Oct 2, 2011

The youth movement in Yemen has called for the trial of the country's dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

On Saturday, the youth movement issued a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, saying that “at least 861 people have been killed and about 25,000 others wounded since January,” AFP reported.

“We call on the UN to refer Saleh, his sons and his gang to the International Criminal Court for their crimes against peaceful protesters,” the letter read.

The Yemeni movement also called on the international community to freeze the bank accounts and assets of “Saleh, his family, and their supporters in the regime.”

On Sunday, several Yemeni anti-government protesters were injured during clashes between the supporters of Saleh and his opponents near Change Square in the capital Sana'a.

Saleh said on Friday that he will not stand down if his opponents are allowed to compete in future elections and stay in influential positions.

“If we transfer power and they are there, this will mean that we have given in to a coup,” he said.

Saleh returned to the country from Saudi Arabia on September 23, where he was receiving treatment for injuries sustained in a June 3 rocket attack on the presidential palace.

The 69-year-old has repeatedly refused to sign a power transfer deal brokered by the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council, according to which he would hand over power in return for immunity from prosecution.

According to local reports, hundreds of Yemenis have been killed and thousands more injured since the onset of the popular uprising against the US-backed Saleh regime in late January.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/202355.html.

Elderly in Brazil, South Africa happier

Oct. 3, 2011

MANCHESTER, England, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Older people in South Africa and Brazil become happier as they age, due to innovative social policies addressing poverty and vulnerability, researchers say.

Professor Armando Barrientos, research director at Manchester University's Brooks World Poverty Institute in England, and colleagues said the average levels of well-being experienced by older people in South Africa and Brazil improved from 2002 to 2008.

"Our work contradicts many of the assumptions people have about the fate of older people in developing countries -- it's often assumed that people will become poorer and increasingly unhappy with life as they become old, but in South Africa and Brazil the opposite seems to have happened," Barrientos said in a statement.

"They are leading countries in their respective regions, with innovative social policies addressing poverty and vulnerability, such as child and disability benefits, low interest loans for the elderly and non-contributory pension schemes."

About 1,000 households in both South Africa and Brazil were surveyed in 2002 and again in 2008/2009. In addition, more than 30 semi-structured interviews were collected in each country, the researchers said.

The findings suggested well being had improved and that the majority of older people in the two countries felt satisfied or very satisfied with their lives and with their relationships with other family members.

The improvement in happiness was strongly influenced by economic performance and labor market conditions, but social policy also played a significant role, Barrientos said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/10/03/Elderly-in-Brazil-S-Africa-happier/UPI-35041317614975/.

Luxembourg royals tie knot in religious ceremony

October 20, 2012

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — Under a canopy of soldiers' drawn swords as church bells tolled, Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg and Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy emerged smiling Saturday from the tiny duchy's Notre Dame Cathedral after wrapping up a two-day wedding gala with a religious ceremony.

Onlookers and well-wishers lined the super-scrubbed streets near the cathedral and roared with joy as the newlyweds looked down from a red velvet-covered palace balcony, and haltingly — but deeply — kissed for the crowd.

The church wedding of Prince Guillaume — the 30-year-old heir to the throne and Luxembourg's grand duke-to-be — and the Belgian countess drew top-drawer guest list. It came a day after a civil ceremony at Luxembourg City Hall.

The bearded groom and his 28-year-old blonde bride were trailed by a procession of well-known royals, including Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden, Prince Naruhito of Japan, and Britain's Prince Edward — Queen Elizabeth's youngest child — and his wife, Sophie.

Stephanie plans to renounce her Belgian citizenship in order to — one day — become Luxembourg's grand duchess. The tiny country wedged between France, Belgium and Germany is an important financial center and continues to prosper despite Europe's economic trouble.

Stephanie wore a lace Elie Saab dress with a 5-meter-long wedding train during the ceremony, which was conducted in a mixture of French, German and Luxembourgish. It began with a minute's silence to honor her late mother, Countess Alix de Lannoy.

For the wedding banquet attended by 800 people, Bocuse d'Or-winning chef Lea Linster — herself from Luxembourg — whipped up a buffet medley including Riesling-marinated pork and veal pate, lobster in gelee consomme, and sea bass in salted crust and thyme stuffing; dessert included Madeleine cakes, choux a la creme pastries, and creme brulee.

Later in the evening, the royal couple walked through town, shaking hands with well-wishers before a fireworks show. Afterward, they drove off in a limousine with a sign on the back that read "Just Married" in Luxembourgish.

The nuptials gave tiny Luxembourg — a founding member of the predecessor of the European Union — a rare moment in the international media spotlight. With a population of just over 500,000, the trilingual duchy punches above its weight: Besides being an important financial center, it's home to the world's largest steel manufacturer and it boasts the second-highest gross domestic product per capita in the world, more than $80,000.

Luxembourg began as a Roman fortress. It has, at one time or another, fallen under the control of Spain, France and Austria. In 1839, it gained its independence from the Netherlands, but lost more than half its territory to Belgium. Germany overran Luxembourg twice in the 20th century despite its protests of neutrality.

The current grand duke, Henri, who is 57, is popular. People can greet him on the street without bowing down before him. His 31-year marriage to Grand Duchess Maria Teresa appears to be very happy. The newlyweds seem to be happy too: In public appearances, including at the London Olympics, they have appeared besotted with each other.

After watching the ceremony on a big-screen on a public square near the cathedral, royal-gazing fans sensed the joy and historical importance. "It was a really big moment — a really beautiful moment," said Claudine Als, clutching a glass of Champagne, seemingly awaiting a toast. "It is a historic day for Luxembourg, the country shines throughout the world."

Israeli naval vessels take control of Gaza boat

October 20, 2012

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops on Saturday commandeered a Gaza-bound ship that tried to break through Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled seaside strip, the military said. European lawmakers and other pro-Palestinian activists aboard did not resist, and the Finnish-flagged vessel was diverted to an Israeli port.

The trip by the ship, Estelle, marked the latest challenge to the air, land and sea embargo of Gaza that Israel imposed after the Islamic militant Hamas group seized the territory in 2007. Israeli officials say they need to enforce the blockade to prevent weapons smuggling.

Hamas called for more attempts to break the sea blockade. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement praising the military for enforcing the blockade, said there "is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza" and accused the activists of trying to "to provoke and slander Israel's name."

"If human rights were really important to these activists they would have sailed for Syria. We will continue to protect our borders," he said. Six Israeli naval vessels stopped the Estelle when it was about 30 nautical miles from Gaza, and masked soldiers boarder the ship and ordered it to sail to Israel's Ashdod port, said Victoria Strand, a spokeswoman for the activists. The boat arrived at the port Saturday night and will be inspected to see what is on board, the Israeli military said.

The activists will be questioned by immigration officials and then deported to their home countries within 72 hours, said Sabine Hadad, spokeswoman for Israel's Interior Ministry. The Swedish-owned Estelle left Naples, Italy, on Oct. 7 with about 30 people from eight countries, including lawmakers from Norway, Sweden, Greece and Spain, as well as Israeli activists and a 79-year-old former legislator from Canada.

Israeli military spokeswoman Lt. Avital Leibovich accused the activists of staging a provocation. "We have this blockade because there are constant smuggling attempts of weapons, munitions that eventually reach the hands of terror organizations inside Gaza," she said.

Over the past decade, Gaza militants have fired thousands of rockets and mortar rounds toward Israeli border towns. Although Hamas and Israel have maintained an unwritten truce for more than two years, violence occasionally flares in the area. Most recently, an Israeli strike on a prominent al-Qaida-inspired jihadi prompted two days of tit-for-tat rocket fire and strikes last week.

Strand, a spokeswoman for the activists, said the takeover of the Estelle by Israeli forces was a "demonstration of ruthlessness." The ship was carrying cement, basketballs and musical instruments, Strand said. It was emblazoned with "Ship to Gaza" on one side, and also flew the colorful red, green, black and white Palestinian flag.

Israel, aided by Egypt, closed Gaza's borders after Hamas seized control and drove out forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas more than five years ago. Israel eased its restrictions after its raid of a Turkish-led blockade-busting flotilla in 2010 left nine activists dead and sparked international condemnation.

Still, Israel continues to block sea access to Gaza and severely restricts its ability to export goods and import raw materials. Activists say the blockade amounts to collective punishment of Gaza's 1.6 million residents, denying them the chance to trade and travel freely. Neighboring Egypt continues to impose restrictions at its passenger crossing with Gaza.

The blockade has deepened the hardships in Gaza, where three in four residents rely on U.N. food aid to get by, according to U.N. figures. "It's hard to imagine what threat one sailboat, loaded with humanitarian supplies and a small number of people, could do to" Israel's mighty military, said Eva Manly, the wife of former Canadian parliamentarian James Manly. She said she lost contact with her 79-year-old husband early Saturday.

Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Joshua Hantman said the goods onboard would be checked before entering Gaza through the Israeli-controlled land crossing, Kerem Shalom. He said Israel allows some 50,000 tons of goods into Gaza every week. Gaza residents also use dozens of smuggling tunnels linked to neighboring Egypt to bring in contraband goods, particularly construction materials.

Hantman said militants have tried in the past to smuggle weapons into Gaza by sea. In 2011, a vessel carrying 50 tons of weaponry sought to reach Gaza, while in 2009, a boat tried to bring in some 500 tons of weapons, he said.

A Hamas spokesman condemned Israel's actions as "piracy." "This confirms that the (Israeli) occupation is maintaining its control and isolation of Gaza. There must be more flotillas of solidarity activists to Gaza," said Fawzi Barhoum.

Associated Press writers Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City and Karl Ritter in Stockholm contributed to this report.

Lebanese on edge after car bomb linked to Syria

October 21, 2012

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese protesters erected flaming roadblocks and gunmen roamed the streets on Saturday in a city on edge after the assassination of a top security official in a powerful car bomb the prime minister linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria.

The crisis raised a terrifying specter for Lebanese who fear their country could easily plunge back into cycles of violence and reprisal that have haunted it for decades. Friday's blast in the heart of Beirut's Christian area killed eight people, including the country's intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan. It was the deadliest bombing in Beirut in four years, shattering the country's uneasy calm.

The government declared a national day of mourning for the victims Saturday, but protesters burned tires and set up roadblocks in anger. Sharbal Abdo, who lives in the neighborhood where the bomb went off, brought his 6-year-old son, Chris, and 12-year-old daughter, Jane, to see the destruction Saturday.

"They were very afraid yesterday," he said. "They need to face this situation. It may be their future." Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday linked the bombing to al-Hassan's high-profile investigation this summer that uncovered what authorities called a plot by Syria to provoke chaos in Lebanon with bombings and assassinations.

"I don't want to prejudge the investigation, but in fact we cannot separate yesterday's crime from the revelation of the explosions that could have happened," Mikati said at a news conference following an emergency Cabinet meeting.

Mikati, who opponents believe is too close to Syria and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, offered to resign after the bombing, but was asked by President Michel Suleiman to stay. Al-Hassan's probe led to the arrest of former Information Minister Michel Samaha, one of Assad's most loyal allies in Lebanon. Samaha, who is in custody, is accused of plotting a wave of attacks in Lebanon at Syria's behest. Indicted in absentia in the August sweep was Syrian Brig. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, one of Assad's highest aides.

Samaha's arrest was an embarrassing blow to Syria, which has long acted with impunity in Lebanon. Syria has powerful allies here, including the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which now dominates the government.

For much of the past 30 years, Lebanese have lived under Syrian military and political domination. Damascus' hold on Lebanon began to slip in 2005, when former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in truck bomb along Beirut's Mediterranean waterfront. Syria denied having any role. But broad public outrage in Lebanon forced Syria to withdraw its troops from the country.

The killings of anti-Syrian figures continued for years, however, and Assad has managed to maintain his influence in Lebanon through Hezbollah and other allies. Now, as the Syrian civil war rages just across the border, Lebanon increasingly is getting sucked in.

Mikati said Saturday he had offered to resign after Friday's car bomb, but said Suleiman asked him not to plunge the country into more uncertainty. The bombing raised fears that the crisis could unleash Lebanon's sectarian tensions, a dire scenario for a country that endured a devastating civil war of its own from 1975-1990.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon spoke Saturday with Suleiman and stressed the importance of "dissociating the country from regional events" and in Lebanon's sovereignty, a U.N. spokesman said. The Syrian unrest has already enflamed tensions here. Many of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims have backed Syria's mainly Sunni rebels, while Shiite Muslims have tended to back Assad. Al-Hassan was a Sunni whose stances were widely seen to oppose Syria and Hezbollah.

Hundreds of Sunni protesters marched in force through downtown Beirut Saturday, placing the blame squarely on Syria and Hezbollah for al-Hassan's killing. "Hezbollah is a terrorist group!" they shouted.

Police were trying to identify the bombers and find out how they managed to target al-Hassan, an important security figure who traveled under great protection and who likely took more precautions following Samaha's arrest.

"We don't expect to reveal the crime within few hours," police commander Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi told Future TV. "The investigation is like a puzzle. You collect the pieces and put them together in a logical way."

Al-Hassan had many potential enemies. Besides his investigation of Samaha, al-Hassan helped investigate the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a powerful Sunni figure. An international tribunal indicted four members of Hezbollah for Hariri's killing, although the group denies involvement.

His department also had a role in breaking up several Israeli spy rings inside Lebanon in recent years, Lebanese officials said. Al-Hassan, 47, who was married with two children, is expected to be buried Sunday next to Hariri's tomb in downtown Beirut. His family arrived in Lebanon on Saturday on a private plane from Paris, where they live.

Lebanon's top Sunni cleric, Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, condemned the assassination, calling it a "criminal explosion that targets Lebanon and its people." He also called for self-restraint, saying "the criminal will get his punishment sooner or later."

But many Lebanese were seething with anger. In the eastern town of Marj, protesters tried to storm an office of the pro-Syrian Itihad group. Lebanese soldiers pushed them away, wounding five protesters, security officials said. Dozens of people who marched in protest in the border town of Moqueibleh came under fire from the Syrian side of the border, forcing them to disperse, the officials said.

The highway linking central Beirut with the city's international airport was closed, as well as the highway that links the capital with Syria, the officials said. In the predominantly Sunni northern city of Tripoli, gunmen were roaming the streets on motorcycles and opening fire in the air.

The army issued a statement urging Lebanese to overcome the crisis and coordinate among themselves in order to give a chance to the "the criminal killers who tried through the crime to incite strife and split the country."

Associated Press writer Barbara Surk contributed to this report.

London protesters bash Britain's austerity drive

October 20, 2012

LONDON (AP) — Tens of thousands of demonstrators descended on the British capital Saturday in a noisy but peaceful protest at a government austerity drive aimed at slashing the nation's debt.

Unions, anti-war campaigners, left-wing leaders, community groups and other activists poured down London's streets in a demonstration against reductions to public sector spending which officials are pushing through in order to rein in the Britain's debt, which stands at more than 1 trillion pounds ($1.7 trillion).

Although the austerity program has had some modest successes — the country's deficit has dropped slightly — the U.K. economy has shrunk for three consecutive quarters amid cuts at home and economic turmoil on the continent.

Brendan Barber, whose Trades Union Congress helped organize the march, said that the message of Saturday's protest was that "austerity is simply failing." "The government is making life desperately hard for millions of people because of pay cuts for workers, while the rich are given tax cuts," he said.

Britain borrowed 13 billion pounds in September alone, and with other European countries — including next door neighbor Ireland — struggling to make good on their debt, and there is a general consensus that the U.K. budget needs to be rebalanced.

But the right-leaning government did little to endear itself with ordinary Britons when it reduced income taxes for the country's wealthiest citizens earlier this year. And its leadership has struggled to fight perceptions of elitism which rankle many in this class-conscious country.

On Friday, the Conservative Party's chief whip stepped down following a dispute over whether he'd described officers guarding the prime minister's official residence at Downing Street as "plebs" or warned them to "learn your (expletive) place."

News of Andrew Mitchell's resignation broke just as word was getting around that Treasury Chief George Osborne had been spotted by a journalist sitting in a first class train carriage with a second class ticket. Osborne paid for an upgrade, but the story's humor was irresistible. Newspapers lavished coverage on what many nicknamed "The Great Train Snobbery," and Osborne's misadventure was a popular talking point at the rally, which marched through the city beneath huge red and purple balloons emblazoned with union logos.

Even opposition Labor Party leader Ed Miliband, known for his close ties with unions, was booed when he told protesters gathered in London's Hyde Park that some cuts would have to be made one way or the other.

"It's right that we level with people," he argued. The cheers returned after he criticized what he described as "self-defeating austerity." Jeers and booing aside, the protests were good-natured. One group of children dressed up as government workers, including a nurse and a traffic warden. Another child, dressed as a chef, held up a sign warning that Prime Minister David Cameron was "a recipe for disaster."

Following the rally a splinter group of demonstrators — some wearing the Guy Fawkes masks associated with the Anonymous movement — ran through the streets of London with officers in tow. There were disruptions along London's busy Oxford Street shopping area throughout the day as police and protesters played cat and mouse, but no property damage was reported. A Scotland Yard spokesman said there had been no arrests.

Official crowd estimates were not immediately available, although Associated Press journalists at the scene said the protesters were tens of thousands strong. Organizers said that more than 250 buses were booked to bring people to London.

Similar protests were also held in Belfast, Northern Ireland's capital, and Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city.

AP photographers Matt Dunham and Alastair Grant contributed to this report.

Spain holds elections in Galicia, Basque region

October 21, 2012

MADRID (AP) — Almost 4.5 million people will go to the polls Sunday in regional elections in Spain's turbulent Basque region and in northwestern Galicia.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has refrained from revealing whether his government will seek a national bailout during campaigning for the elections even though most Spaniards believe it to be inevitable.

With 2.7 million voters, Galicia is a traditional Popular Party stronghold and the homeland of Rajoy, so an upset there would rock the PP regionally and nationally. About 1.8 million Basque voters are likely to oust Socialist leader Patxi Lopez from the 75-seat legislature in the prosperous northern region that borders France. The Basque region has been wracked by decades of separatist violence.

Most observers believe Rajoy will announce details of a bailout soon after the elections.