Beirut bomb kills anti-Syrian intelligence official

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• Beirut bomb kills anti-Syrian intelligence official
• U.N. Security Council plans sanctions on Congo rebels, others
• Pakistani girl shot by Taliban "doing well"
• Palestinian push for U.N. upgrade likely to succeed: Jeremic
• Leaders meet on Mali crisis but little progress made
• South Sudan's vice president dismisses talk of military coup
• Boy dies in violent protests over new Panama land law
• Kuwait ruler orders electoral system changes
• Colombia's Santos: Land restitution law undermines rebels
• Protesters block roads in Lebanon after car bomb
• Palestinians hold local elections in West Bank
• Boy's miracle cure makes 1st Native American saint
• Doctors say shot Pakistani girl improving
• UN envoy arrives in Syria amid calls for truce
• 6 Afghan police killed in insider attack
• After lawsuit threat, Twitter to pull racist posts
• Bus overturns in southwest Iran, 26 dead
• Bangladesh probing background of NY terror suspect
• Progress but few rulings in Sept. 11 case at Gitmo
• Beirut bombing kills anti-Assad official, bringing Syrian war to Lebanon
• Uruguay's Senate approves abortion bill: Will there be a ripple effect?
• Polish city of Wroclaw comes to terms with its German past
• Bangladesh worries plot to blow up the Federal Reserve will hurt moderate image
• China's naval exercises in East China Sea send warning to regional rivals
• Good reads: a 'hidden' nuclear crisis, how China sees the US, and 'Chilecon Valley'
• Steven Amstrup says it's not too late to save polar bears – and ourselves

Beirut bomb kills anti-Syrian intelligence official Posted: 19 Oct 2012 06:08 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - A prominent Lebanese intelligence official opposed to President Bashar al-Assad was killed in a huge car bomb in Beirut in another sign that Syria's civil war is dragging its volatile neighbor into the conflict. Wissam al-Hassan, who led an investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, and seven other people were killed when the bomb exploded in central Beirut on Friday afternoon. ...

U.N. Security Council plans sanctions on Congo rebels, others Posted: 19 Oct 2012 01:50 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council intends to impose sanctions on the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels and others violating an arms embargo on the country, according to a statement the council unanimously adopted on Friday. Rwandan Defense Minister James Kabarebe is commanding the insurgency in eastern Congo that is being armed by Rwanda and Uganda, both of which also sent troops to aid deadly attacks, according to a U.N. experts' confidential report seen by Reuters on Tuesday. ...

Pakistani girl shot by Taliban "doing well" Posted: 19 Oct 2012 05:43 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani girl shot in the head by Taliban gunmen is "not out of the woods" but is doing well and has been able to stand for the first time, doctors at the British hospital treating her said on Friday. Malala Yousufzai, who was shot for vocally opposing the Taliban, was flown from Pakistan to Birmingham to receive treatment after the attack earlier this month, which drew widespread international condemnation. She has become a symbol of resistance to the Islamist group's effort to deny women education and other rights. ...

Palestinian push for U.N. upgrade likely to succeed: Jeremic Posted: 19 Oct 2012 04:14 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The push by the Palestinians for upgraded status at the United Nations is likely to succeed, the president of the U.N. General Assembly said on Friday, while warning the United States against cutting U.N. funding over the issue. In his first major interview since winning a divisive campaign for the largely ceremonial U.N. post in June, former Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic also said he was seeking to improve coordination between the world body and the Group of 20 bloc of key developed and developing nations. Having failed last year to secure full U.N. ...

Leaders meet on Mali crisis but little progress made Posted: 19 Oct 2012 04:49 PM PDT BAMAKO/DAKAR (Reuters) - Regional leaders and international organizations met in Mali's capital Bamako on Friday to seek a response to the occupation of the north of the country by al Qaeda-linked Islamists, but failed to resolve differences on how to tackle the growing security threat. Mali remains paralyzed by twin crises, with the leadership in Bamako still divided since a March coup that toppled the president and the rebel takeover of the north of the country. ...

South Sudan's vice president dismisses talk of military coup Posted: 19 Oct 2012 06:36 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - South Sudan's vice president, Riek Machar, dismissed on Friday rumors of a planned military coup, saying it would be "unwise" for army officers to attempt a takeover of the year-old state. The speculation was serious enough to prompt South Sudan's President Salva Kiir to visit the headquarters of Sudan's army (SPLA) this week to warn that any successful coup leaders would be isolated internationally, according to the Sudan Tribune. ...

Boy dies in violent protests over new Panama land law Posted: 19 Oct 2012 07:00 PM PDT PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - At least one person, a 9-year-old boy, died on Friday in violent protests over a new law allowing the sale of state-owned land in a dilapidated port city within the duty-free zone next to the Panama Canal. Several residents and police were also injured in Colon, Panama's second-largest city, in a third day of protests against the plan, which the National Assembly approved early on Friday and President Ricardo Martinelli signed into law hours later. Hundreds of people burned tires and threw objects and shot at police, who fired back and used teargas to disperse the ...

Kuwait ruler orders electoral system changes Posted: 19 Oct 2012 02:49 PM PDT KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait's emir said on Friday he had ordered partial changes to the Gulf Arab state's electoral system to fix deficiencies ahead of expected elections, prompting opposition threats to boycott the vote. Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah dissolved parliament last week to pave the way for new election which many hoped would end a persistent political turmoil that had held up development projects in the major oil producer and U.S. ally. ...

Colombia's Santos: Land restitution law undermines rebels Posted: 19 Oct 2012 11:03 AM PDT BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Friday defended his signature law that returns land seized by illegal armed groups to peasants after leftist rebels assailed the measure at the start of peace talks. Negotiations to end five decades of war started out bumpy this week when Ivan Marquez, lead negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, called Santos' restitution law a "trap. "When these gentlemen from the FARC say this law is a lie it's because ... ...

Protesters block roads in Lebanon after car bomb Posted: 20 Oct 2012 01:00 AM PDT Protesters burned tires and set up roadblocks around Lebanon on Saturday in a sign of boiling anger over a massive car bomb that killed a top security official and seven other people a day earlier — a devastating attack that threatened to bring Syria's civil war to Lebanon.

Palestinians hold local elections in West Bank Posted: 20 Oct 2012 01:12 AM PDT Palestinians voted for mayors and local councils in 93 communities across the West Bank on Saturday, their first chance to cast ballots in six years.

Boy's miracle cure makes 1st Native American saint Posted: 19 Oct 2012 09:29 PM PDT Jake Finkbonner was so close to death after flesh-eating bacteria infected him through a cut on his lip that his parents had last rites performed and were discussing donating the 5-year-old's tiny organs.

Doctors say shot Pakistani girl improving Posted: 19 Oct 2012 02:27 PM PDT Doctors treating 15-year-old Pakistani shooting victim Malala Yousufzai said Friday that she is able to stand with help and to write, though she still shows signs of infection.

UN envoy arrives in Syria amid calls for truce Posted: 19 Oct 2012 12:51 PM PDT Turkey and Germany on Friday threw their weight behind calls for a Syrian cease-fire during a Muslim holiday next week as the international envoy for the conflict arrived in Damascus to push for the plan.

6 Afghan police killed in insider attack Posted: 20 Oct 2012 12:50 AM PDT Afghan officials say an officer and a cook attacked their police colleagues in an assault coordinated with insurgent fighters that left six dead in the country's south.

After lawsuit threat, Twitter to pull racist posts Posted: 19 Oct 2012 12:39 PM PDT Twitter agreed to pull racist and anti-Semitic tweets under a pair of French hash tags after a Jewish group threatened to sue the social network for running afoul of national laws against hate speech, the organization said. The decision came a day after Twitter bowed to German law and blocked an account of a banned neo-Nazi group there.

Bus overturns in southwest Iran, 26 dead Posted: 20 Oct 2012 01:25 AM PDT A passenger bus carrying female students overturned in southwestern Iran Friday evening, killing 26, Iran's state radio reported Saturday.

Bangladesh probing background of NY terror suspect Posted: 19 Oct 2012 10:26 PM PDT Police say they are investigating whether a Bangladeshi man charged with trying to blow up the Federal Reserve building in New York had connections with radical groups in Bangladesh.

Progress but few rulings in Sept. 11 case at Gitmo Posted: 19 Oct 2012 08:37 PM PDT A weeklong hearing into the legal framework for the Sept. 11 terrorism military tribunal came to an end Friday without a ruling on the most significant motions but progress on some issues that must be resolved before the eventual trial.

Beirut bombing kills anti-Assad official, bringing Syrian war to Lebanon Posted: 19 Oct 2012 11:15 AM PDT Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, a top Lebanese security chief and staunch opponent of the Syrian regime, was reported killed today in a powerful car bomb explosion.

Uruguay's Senate approves abortion bill: Will there be a ripple effect? Posted: 19 Oct 2012 11:05 AM PDT Uruguay paved the way for one of the most far-reaching abortion rights laws in Latin America this week when its Senate voted to legalize the procedure during the first trimester of pregnancy. The controversial decision has sparked speculation as to whether regional neighbors – from liberal Argentina to conservative Chile – could follow suit.

Polish city of Wroclaw comes to terms with its German past Posted: 19 Oct 2012 10:49 AM PDT If there is one sign of Wroclaw's transformation from a peripheral city in southwest Poland into an assertive Central European cosmopolis, it is the popularity of its new literary hero, Eberhard Mock.

Bangladesh worries plot to blow up the Federal Reserve will hurt moderate image Posted: 19 Oct 2012 08:53 AM PDT The case of the 21-year-old Bangladeshi man charged with plotting to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York has raised concern among Bangladeshis that this will hurt their country's image as a moderate Muslim nation.

China's naval exercises in East China Sea send warning to regional rivals Posted: 19 Oct 2012 05:49 AM PDT • A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Good reads: a 'hidden' nuclear crisis, how China sees the US, and 'Chilecon Valley' Posted: 19 Oct 2012 05:16 AM PDT The world thought that the Cuban missile crisis ended in October 1962 when the United States lifted its quarantine around Cuba and the Soviet Union withdrew its medium-range missiles. However, "the secret crisis still simmered" through November, writes Svetlana Savranskaya in Foreign Policy . Unknown to American intelligence, the Soviets had also delivered almost 100 tactical weapons including 80 nuclear front cruise missiles, 12 nuclear warheads for dual-use Luna short-range rockets, and 6 nuclear bombs for IL-28 bombers.

Steven Amstrup says it's not too late to save polar bears – and ourselves Posted: 19 Oct 2012 05:00 AM PDT With apologies to "The Tipping Point" author Malcolm Gladwell, there is no tipping point – at least, not when it comes to global warming and sea ice.

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