Category: News

Weekend News Digest

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1 Philippines imposes martial law in massacre region

by Cecil Morella, AFP

Sat Dec 5, 10:16 am ET

SHARIFF AGUAK, Philippines (AFP) – The Philippines on Saturday announced the imposition of martial law in a southern province to quell a rebellion by a powerful clan accused of being behind the massacre of 57 people.

President Gloria Arroyo placed Maguindanao province under military control late on Friday in an effort to contain heavily-armed militias belonging to the provincial governor and other members of his Muslim clan, authorities said.

“There’s a rebellion in the area,” Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said. “It was practically an overthrow of government.”

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1 Pakistan militants kill 40 in mosque attack

by Nasir Jaffry, AFP

2 hrs 56 mins ago

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AFP) – Suicide bombers stormed a mosque frequented by army officers in Pakistan’s garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday leaving 40 people dead in an onslaught of gunfire, grenades and explosions.

Four militants launched the attack, opening fire, tossing grenades and then detonating suicide vests in a crowd gathered for Friday prayers in the city adjoining the capital Islamabad, witnesses and officials said.

Rawalpindi is home to the military’s headquarters and is a frequent target of Taliban insurgents, who have staged a wave of fierce attacks in recent months to avenge military offensives against them across the northwest.

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1 Three Somali ministers among 19 dead in suicide blast

AFP

2 hrs 18 mins ago

MOGADISHU (AFP) – A suicide bomber killed 19 people including three Somali government ministers and injured scores more at a graduation ceremony for medical students in Mogadishu Thursday, officials said.

The blast which ripped through a hotel is the most serious attack on the transitional federal government (TFG) since the launch of an Al-Qaeda inspired Islamist insurgency that has brought new strife to the Horn of Africa nation.

“A suicide bomber detonated an explosion inside Hotel Shamo … during the graduation ceremony of medical students of the Banadir University resulting in the deaths of, so far, 19 civilians and injuries to several others,” the African Union force in Somalia AMISOM said.

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1 Suicide bomber kills one in Pakistan navy HQ attack

by Khurram Shahzad, AFP

1 hr 43 mins ago

ISLAMABAD (AFP) – A suicide bomber attacked Pakistan’s navy headquarters in the capital Islamabad on Wednesday, killing a naval policeman and injuring 11 others in the latest blast in the insurgency-hit nation.

A young man walked up to a checkpoint at the entrance to the complex and detonated his explosives when challenged by security forces. The blast scattered body parts across the busy city centre road, police and witnesses said.

Islamist insurgents frequently target military installations and attacks have intensified as Islamabad pursues a fierce military offensive, under Western pressure to do more to eliminate Taliban and Al-Qaeda sanctuaries.

Wednesday Morning Science Supplement

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1 Antarctic melt to feed global sea rise

by Marlowe Hood, AFP

Tue Dec 1, 8:15 am ET

PARIS (AFP) – Quickening ice loss in West Antarctica will likely contribute heavily to a projected sea level rise of up to 1.4 metres (4.5 feet) by 2100, according to a major scientific report released on Tuesday.

Scientists long held that most of Antarctica’s continent-sized ice sheet was highly resistant to global warming, and that the more vulnerable West Antarctic ice block would remain intact for thousands of years to come.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — whose 2007 report is the scientific benchmark for the UN December 7-18 Copenhagen climate summit — did not even factor melting ice sheets into its forecasts for rising seas.

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1 US to send 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan

by Stephen Collinson, AFP

Tue Dec 1, 11:07 am ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama will on Tuesday announce a swift surge of 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan within six months, but set a limit on the duration of their deployment, a US official said.

Obama will unveil a political and military gamble aimed at reining in the Taliban insurgency and training the Afghan army in a globally awaited televised speech, after an exhaustive months-long policy review.

While announcing he will pitch 30,000 more troops into the eight-year war, Obama will set a “back-end” for their deployment, to signal the US mission will not be a “decade-long” operation, the official told AFP.

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1 Switzerland confronts backlash over minaret ban

by Peter Capella, AFP

1 hr 13 mins ago

GENEVA (AFP) – Switzerland confronted an international backlash and charges of intolerance on Monday as the country’s Muslim leaders urged calm over a shock vote to ban new minarets.

The Vatican joined Muslim leaders in expressing dismay after a referendum on Sunday voted for a constitutional ban on the construction of towers attached to mosques from where the faithful are traditionally called to prayer.

Some 57.5 percent of those who cast ballots supported the measure amid a high turnout by Swiss standards of 53 percent.

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1 Rumsfeld decision let Bin Laden escape: Senate report

AFP

Sun Nov 29, 11:27 am ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Osama bin Laden was “within the grasp” of US forces in late 2001 but escaped because then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld rejected calls for reinforcements, a hard-hitting US Senate report says.

The report, set for release Monday, is intended to help learn the lessons of the past as President Barack Obama prepares to announce a major escalation of the conflict, now in its ninth year, with up to 35,000 more US troops.

It points the finger directly at Rumsfeld for turning down requests for reinforcements as Bin Laden was trapped in December 2001 in caves and tunnels in a mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan known as Tora Bora.

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1 Bomb attack blamed in deadly Russia train disaster

by Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP

15 mins ago

UGLOVKA, Russia (AFP) – An elite passenger train carrying hundreds of people from Moscow to Saint Petersburg was derailed by a bomb attack that left dozens dead and nearly 100 injured, officials said Saturday.

The attack occurred late Friday about 400 kilometres (250 miles) northwest of Moscow in a forest where the same train, the Nevsky Express, popular with tourists and commuters, was hit by a similar bomb attack in August 2007.

“We are indeed talking about a terrorist attack,” Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the federal investigative committee, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

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1 Dubai debt scare rattles world markets

AFP

1 hr 20 mins ago

NEW YORK (AFP) – US stock markets tumbled on Friday as fears of debt defaults bred fresh concern for the world economy, while Europe shares recovered slightly from Dubai’s shock request to suspend major loan repayments.

Investors had “headed for the exit door” after the Dubai government’s investment vehicle Dubai World sought to suspend debt payments for six months, IG Markets analyst Ben Potter said.

The price of oil slumped to a seven-week low point close to 72 dollars and the dollar struck a 14-year low against the yen.

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1 German military chief quits over Afghan strike

by Simon Sturdee, AFP

1 hr 4 mins ago

BERLIN (AFP) – Germany’s top general quit on Thursday over an air strike in Afghanistan on two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in which dozens of civilians are thought to have perished.

The resignation, announced in parliament by Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg together with that of a senior ministry official, followed press revelations that a military report about the September 4 strike was suppressed.

The news came at an unfortunate time for Chancellor Angela Merkel, as parliament was debating extending the mandate for the German mission in Afghanistan. Even before the air strike it was opposed by a majority of voters.

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1 Obama to head to Copenhagen with climate pledge

by Shaun Tandon, AFP

57 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama will head to next month’s Copenhagen climate summit armed with the first concrete US offer to cut carbon emissions, officials said Wednesday, reviving hopes the closely watched meeting will succeed.

The White House said Obama would offer to cut US emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 — less than calls by the European Union, Japan and UN scientists but the first numbers on the table by the world’s largest economy.

“The president going to Copenhagen will give positive momentum to the negotiations and we think will enhance the prospects for success,” Carol Browner, Obama’s top aide on climate policy, told reporters.

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