At Least 8 Killed as Protests Rage Nationwide in Syria

Posted June 3rd, 2011 at 10:00 am (UTC-5)
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Syrian rights groups say at least eight people are dead after security forces opened fire on anti-government demonstrators in Hama, a city about 300 kilometers north of Damascus.

Rights activists say the incident took place on Friday after thousands of people took to the streets in the city.

Demonstrations erupted across Syria on Friday in response to opposition groups' call for protests about casualties among children during in recent weeks of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Earlier Friday, the Reuters news agency reported Syrian troops were firing on protesters in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor.

Opposition organizers say at least 25 children have died in the recent violence, which has killed about 1,000 people.

Among the young victims is a 13-year-old boy who activists say was tortured and killed by security forces. Syrian authorities say unspecified armed groups killed the boy, not government forces.

Syrian opposition figures wrapped up a two-day meeting in Turkey Thursday with a call for President Assad's immediate resignation. They said they are committed to do whatever is necessary to “bring down” Mr. Assad's regime and begin the process of holding new elections to end autocratic rule.

The 300 delegates issued the call in a joint declaration as Syrian forces continued to pound the central town of Rastan, killing at least 15 people, according to activists.

Witnesses say a number of buildings in Rastan have been destroyed. On Wednesday, rights groups put the civilian death toll in that part of Syria at 41 or more, including two young girls.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that the legitimacy of President Assad's government has “nearly run out,” but that the international community is not yet united on how to deal with the Syrian government's violent tactics.

U.S. officials say they are in contact with the Syrian opposition.

Separately, the U.N. secretary-general's special advisers on genocide prevention expressed grave concern over the loss of life in Syria. They said Thursday they are particularly alarmed by reports that security forces deliberately attacked unarmed civilians.

Monks Join Sri Lanka Pension Protest

Posted June 3rd, 2011 at 9:50 am (UTC-5)
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Hundreds of Buddhist monks took to the streets of Sri Lanka's capital on Friday to express solidarity with laborers protesting proposed changes to the government's pension plan.

The monks marched to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's residence, carrying placards and denouncing this week's government crackdown on demonstrators.

Clashes broke out between police and labor union demonstrators Monday during a protest at a free trade zone outside Colombo. Protestors threw stones at police who retaliated by shooting live rounds and tear gas. At least 200 people were injured and one protester was killed.

On Thursday, Sri Lanka's police chief resigned to take responsibility for the violent crackdown.

Labor unions say the government's pension proposal for private sector workers would hurt workers. The government has since suspended the plan.

Attack Wounds Yemeni President

Posted June 3rd, 2011 at 9:30 am (UTC-5)
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Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been wounded by a shelling attack on the presidential compound in Sana'a, the capital.

Yemeni officials say Mr. Saleh would make a national address shortly . The announcement came after an opposition television station claimed he had been killed in the incident.

Several other high-ranking officials, including Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujawar, were also wounded in Friday's attack. The French news agency says the shelling killed four Republican Guard officers.

Western media accounts quote an opposition television report as saying Mr. Saleh was at a mosque in the presidential compound when rockets landed during prayers.

Earlier Friday, clashes between President Saleh's forces and loyalists to an opposition tribal leader, Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, escalated with the destruction of the headquarters of an opposition TV station in Sana'a.

Reports said fighting in the capital had expanded into new neighborhoods, and opposition tribesmen were traveling to Sana'a to take part in the fighting.

The rising chaos is pushing the conflict closer to all-out civil war. Government troops are said to have killed 50 opposition members in fighting this week.

Yemen is engulfed by multiple conflicts, with street battles raging in Sana'a, popular unrest by anti-government demonstrators throughout the country and fighting against Islamist militants who have seized the southern city of Zinjibar.

In the southern city of Taiz, government forces and protesters clashed Thursday. At least 25 people have died in the violence in Taiz in the past few days.

U.S. envoy John Brennan, President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, left the U.S. Thursday to travel to the United Arab Emirates to continue talks on Yemen. He is seeking help to pressure President Saleh to accept a deal brokered by regional powers that would secure a peaceful end to his nearly 33-year rule.

The fighting in Sana'a broke out last week when pro-Saleh forces moved against al-Ahmar's compound in Hasaba, a district of the capital. In March, the al-Ahmar family had announced that the Hashid confederation – the country's most powerful tribal alliance – would back the protest movement, but its armed fighters had avoided clashes with Mr. Saleh's forces.

Burkina Faso Troops Sent to Quell Unrest by Soldiers

Posted June 3rd, 2011 at 9:30 am (UTC-5)
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Witnesses in Burkina Faso's second largest city say troops have been sent into Bobo Dioulasso to end days of shooting and looting by soldiers in the commercial capital.

Residents report hearing heavy fighting after the military troops arrival on Friday morning.

Witnesses say forces surrounded the Ouezzin Coulibaly military camp where hundreds of soldiers staging the protests are based.

The town's siren sounded early Friday signaling residents to stay indoors.

The West African nation has seen a string of protests in recent months by soldiers, police, teachers and students. Until now, most of those demonstrations have taken place in the capital, Ouagadougou.

The unrest began in February with protests against rising food prices, crime and slow government reform.

The protests mark the most significant uprising to date against the government of President Blaise Compaore, who has ruled the nation for nearly 25 years.

Mr. Compaore seized power in a 1987 coup and was re-elected to another term last November.

Pakistan, US to Resume Joint Intelligence Operations

Posted June 3rd, 2011 at 9:10 am (UTC-5)
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Pakistan's foreign ministry has confirmed that Pakistan and the United States will resume joint intelligence operations against Islamist militants, in a step toward mending strained relations between the two countries.

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua says U.S. and Pakistani teams will share intelligence, but she would not comment on whether U.S. forces would be allowed to conduct joint operations on Pakistani soil.

Friday's announcement comes after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed Pakistani leaders to go after militant groups operating in the country, during a visit to Islamabad last week.

Relations between the United States and Pakistan have hit a low point following the U.S. military raid in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2. Pakistani leaders have warned against any future unilateral actions, calling the operation a violation of the country's sovereignty.

Ties were already strained before the al-Qaida leader's death, following a series of U.S. drone strikes against militants in Pakistan's northwest and the detention of a CIA contractor who shot and killed two Pakistanis in Lahore in January.

Pakistan has since demanded a curtailing of CIA and U.S. Special Forces operatives in Pakistan. And on Thursday, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, acknowledged that the United States had made “significant” cuts to its military staff in Pakistan.

Pakistan received $2.7 billion in security-related assistance from the United States in the fiscal year that ended last September. The country is the third-largest recipient of U.S. security aid and reimbursements, after Afghanistan and Israel.

Some U.S. lawmakers have threatened to cut off funding and questioned Pakistan's commitment to fighting militancy.

Yemen President Wounded in Palace Shelling

Posted June 3rd, 2011 at 8:50 am (UTC-5)
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Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been wounded in shelling at the presidential compound in the capital, Sana'a.

Western media accounts quote an opposition television report as saying Mr. Saleh was at a mosque in the presidential compound when rockets landed during Friday prayers.

Yemeni officials say several high-ranking officials also were wounded.

Western reports say the injured include the prime minister and the speaker of parliament. It is unclear who was responsible for the shelling.

Earlier Friday, clashes between President Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces and loyalists to an opposition tribal leader, Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, escalated with the destruction of the headquarters of an opposition TV station in Sana'a.

Reports said fighting in the capital has expanded into new neighborhoods, and opposition tribesmen are traveling to Sana'a to take part in the fighting.

The rising chaos is pushing the conflict closer to all-out civil war. Government troops are said to have killed 50 opposition members in fighting this week.

Yemen is engulfed by multiple conflicts, with street battles raging in Sana'a, popular unrest by anti-government demonstrators throughout the country and fighting against Islamist militants who have seized the southern city of Zinjibar.

In the southern city of Taiz, government forces and protesters clashed Thursday. At least 25 people have died in the violence in Taiz in the past few days.

U.S. envoy John Brennan, President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, left the U.S. Thursday to travel to the United Arab Emirates to continue talks on Yemen. He is seeking help to pressure President Saleh to accept a deal brokered by regional powers that would secure a peaceful end to his nearly 33-year rule.

The fighting in Sana'a broke out last week when pro-Saleh forces moved against al-Ahmar's compound in Hasaba, a district of the capital. In March, the al-Ahmar family had announced that the Hashid confederation – the country's most powerful tribal alliance – would back the protest movement, but its armed fighters had avoided clashes with Mr. Saleh's forces.

US Unemployment Rate Rises Slightly

Posted June 3rd, 2011 at 8:50 am (UTC-5)
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The U.S. economy had a net gain of just 54,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate rose slightly.

Friday’s report from the Labor Department shows the jobless rate rose one-tenth of a percent to hit 9.1 percent.

Economists say at least 200,000 jobs need to be created each month to bring the jobless rate back down to pre-recession levels.

May’s disappointing figures follow recent reports suggesting the economic recovery has stalled. On Thursday for example, a report showed the number people applying for jobless benefits stayed at a high level.

Pakistan Beats Backs Second Militant Incursion

Posted June 3rd, 2011 at 8:50 am (UTC-5)
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Pakistani artillery and helicopter gunships are swarming along the Afghan border, forcing back a second wave of insurgents who crossed over from Afghanistan to hit targets in Pakistan's tribal region.

Pakistani officials said Friday's counterattack had the Afghan militants on the run. They did not give any information on possible casualties.

Fierce fighting between Afghan-based militants and Pakistani forces has killed at least 65 people in recent days.

Police say the fighting began Wednesday at a checkpoint near a remote village in Pakistan's northwestern Dir tribal area, when militants crossed the border from Afghanistan's Kunar province.

Officials say the clashes killed at least 27 security personnel, three civilians and some 35 militants, but the information could not be verified independently because the region is largely off-limits to journalists.

Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir issued a statement Thursday, stressing the need for the Afghan army, United States and NATO forces to take “stern action” against militants and their hideouts in Afghanistan.

Taliban and al-Qaida linked militants have strongholds on both sides of the porous Afghan-Pakistani border.

The fighting comes as a top Pakistani army commander said the military has no plans to launch an offensive against Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants in the North Waziristan tribal region.

Lieutenant General Asif Yasin Malik refuted media reports earlier this week that said the military was planning such an operation at the request of the United States. He said Pakistan will undertake that type of offensive when it is in the country's national interest.

Militants have launched a number of attacks against Pakistani security forces following the May 2 killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Bodies of 150 Migrants Recovered in Sinking Off Tunisia

Posted June 3rd, 2011 at 8:45 am (UTC-5)
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Rescuers have recovered 150 bodies of African refugees fleeing the military violence in Libya.

International migration officials said Friday that operations continue in the Mediterranean Sea off Tunisia following the disappearance of some 200 migrants after the vessel they were on encountered rough waters this week.

At least 570 people were rescued from the boat off the southern Tunisian port of Sfax. Some have been hospitalized and at least three people died after being taken on shore.

Authorities report the boat got into trouble on Tuesday near the Tunisian island of Kerkennah. The TAP state news agency reported passengers were on an illegal voyage to Italy to escape fighting and NATO bombing in Libya.

International aid agencies say the migrants were of several African nationalities.

Europe has been under siege from refugees leaving Libya in recent weeks. The Italian island of Lampedusa has been a focal point of refugee landings and is struggling to handle the migration.

Germany’s Merkel to Seek EU Help for Wronged Spanish Farmers

Posted June 3rd, 2011 at 8:30 am (UTC-5)
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed to push for European Union financial assistance for Spanish farmers whose export income dropped sharply after German officials erroneously blamed them for causing the deadly outbreak of E. coli bacteria.

Mrs. Merkel told her counterpart, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, on Thursday that she regretted the damage that had been caused. German officials at first voiced the suspicion that cucumbers imported from Spain had sparked the widespread infections that now have killed 18 people and sickened more than 1,700 others.

But investigators searching for the cause and origin of the disease have now rejected the Spanish cucumber theory and say they have yet to determine how the disease started. The contagion has now spread to 12 countries, although all but one of the deaths and hundreds of the illnesses have been recorded in Germany.

A Spanish farming group says the country's farmers stand to lose $287 million a week if import bans against the country's agricultural products are not lifted. With the crisis unsolved, Russia said this week said it is banning the import of all fresh vegetables from the European Union — an action the EU immediately called “disproportionate.” The EU, which exported $853 million worth of vegetables to Russia last year, said it would seek an explanation from Moscow.

The World Health Organization says this is a rare strain of E. coli bacteria that is highly contagious. Scientists say it is the first time it has caused an outbreak.

The WHO said Thursday that preliminary genetic tests suggest the strain could be a genetic recombination of two different E. coli bacteria.

The outbreak is the deadliest in modern history to involve E. coli, and appears to be the second- or third-largest in terms of the number of people who have become ill.

A food safety expert at the WHO, Hilde Kruse, said the deadly strain has various characteristics that make it more toxic and more virulent than other strains.

With the uncertainty surrounding the latest outbreak, concern about European produce is spreading. The United Arab Emirates on Thursday banned the import of cucumbers from Spain, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Russia said vegetables already imported from EU countries will be seized. The chief of Russia's consumer protection agency, Gennady Onishchenko, urged Russians to avoid imported vegetables in favor of domestic products.

The World Health Organization said Thursday it does not recommend any trade restrictions related to the outbreak.

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