Israel Warplanes Strike Syrian Missile Site

Israeli warplanes have attacked a military target inside Syria, according to US officials.

A security official said that attack occurred in the port city of Latakia and the target was a shipment of Russian-made surface-to-surface SA-125 missiles.

Dubai-based Al Arabiya television said on its website: "Israel was behind a series of explosions that rocked a Syrian air base in the northern Latakia province.

"The bombing targeted a shipment of surface-to-air missiles that was headed for Hezbollah in Lebanon."

The explosions are said to have taken place on Wednesday, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In May, Israel carried out two air strikes inside Syria, claiming it had targeted Iranian weapons caches destined for the Lebanon militant group.

It comes after Syria destroyed or rendered inoperable all of its declared chemical weapons production and mixing facilities, the international chemical weapons watchdog said on Thursday.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said its teams had inspected 21 of 23 chemical weapons sites across the country.

The remaining two were too dangerous to reach for inspectors, but equipment had already been moved from the sites.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tijuana Drug Smuggling Super Tunnel Found

A drug smuggling "super tunnel" has been discovered by US officials linking Tijuana in Mexico to San Diego.

The tunnel had an electric rail system

It is one of the most sophisticated secret passages ever found along the US-Mexico border and "would have cost millions of dollars to complete".

Authorities seized 8.5 tonnes of marijuana and 327lbs of cocaine during the raid. Three men were also arrested.

The tunnel, linking warehouses in Tijuana and San Diego's Otay Mesa industrial area, was equipped with lighting, ventilation and an electric rail system.

It was discovered after weeks of surveillance

"They've worked very hard over a year, maybe two years to build a tunnel of this sophistication. It's taken hundreds of thousands of man hours and millions of dollars to complete," said Bill Sherman of the Drugs Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Federal agents had the San Diego warehouse under surveillance after being tipped off by an informant who told them operators bought drills and other construction equipment in August and September.

"This complex underground passageway zig-zags for about a third of a mile under the border at a depth of approximately 35ft on average," said Derek Benner of US Immigration and Customs .

Authorities seized 8.5 tonnes of marijuana and 327lbs

"The passageway is four feet in height, it's approximately three feet wide."                 

US Attorney Laura Duffy described the tunnel as sophisticated and said they were probably built by engineers and architects.

"They are hi-tech, they include railways, push carts, ventilation systems, and hydraulically-controlled steel doors," she said.

Federal agents were tipped off by an informant

The tunnel is the eighth major passage discovered in San Diego since 2006, a period during which Mexico's Sinaloa cartel has solidified its hold on the prized smuggling corridor.

Some of the largest tunnels have been discovered after central Mexico's marijuana harvest in October, which presents drug cartels with a challenge of how to quickly get their product to consumers.

In November 2011, authorities found a 1,800ft tunnel that resulted in seizures of 32 tonnes of marijuana on both sides of the border, with 26 tonnes found on the US side - one of the largest seizures in US history.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kansas Bus Plunges From Bridge Into Creek

Ten children and a school bus driver have been rescued in Kansas after the bus they were travelling in plunged into creek swollen by heavy rain.

As the bus lay on its side half-submerged, the children climbed through a roof hatch to await rescue, officials say.

Emergency personnel reached the bus and put the children and driver in life jackets before putting them on a boat two by two and pulling them to dry ground.

The accident happened outside Douglass, a town of about 1,700 residents southeast of Wichita.

The 60-year-old driver was taken to a hospital to be checked for hypothermia.

Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet said all of the children were eventually turned over to their parents.

She said the older children, who were 13, helped get the younger ones as they awaited rescue.

Some sections of roads in the area were still covered by water from recent heavy rain.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tiananmen Square 'Terror Attack' Arrests

Five people have been arrested over a fatal car crash in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, as Chinese police described it as a terrorist attack for the first time.

The incident took place directly underneath the iconic portrait of Chairman Mao, which hangs on the Tiananmen Gate at the north end of the square, and represents one of the country's most symbolic locations.

The 4x4 vehicle left the main highway that crosses the square and veered into a crowd of tourists queuing to visit the Forbidden City, before bursting into flames.

The three occupants of the car were killed, while two tourists - one Chinese and one Filipino - also died, and at least 38 people were injured.

Initially, Chinese authorities said the incident was a car crash, but they have now said it was "a violent terrorist attack which was carefully planned, organised and premeditated".

Five people were killed in what authorities are now calling a terror attack

Police said knives, iron rods, fuel and a flag imprinted with religious slogans were found in the vehicle.

The authorities said that the three people in the car were from the same family - a man, named as Usmen Hasan, his wife and mother.

It is claimed they set light to the petrol inside the car causing it to catch fire.

The names released for the dead and the five suspects suggest they are members of the Muslim Uighur people of the western Xinjiang province.

The car also had a licence plate identifying it as being from that region.

The Uighurs have accused the Chinese government of violently eroding their religion and their culture.

They consider themselves to be culturally and ethnically much closer to the central Asian nations than to China and claim their ethnic identity is being diluted by the co-ordinated mass migrations of Han Chinese, the country's majority ethnic group, into the province.

Screens were put up to hide the area while a clean-up was carried out

The Chinese central government in Beijing, more than 2,000 miles to the east, has long claimed the Uighurs are waging a campaign of violence in an effort to secure themselves an independent state.

Incidents of violent clashes between Chinese state security forces and Uighurs in Xinjiang are common.

However, facts are extremely hard to verify independently because foreign journalists are restricted from reporting in the region.

At the time, no mention of Monday's crash was made on state television.

Chinese language newspapers reported simply that there was an accident in Tiananmen Square, although the English language state-run newspapers included the suggestion that there may be links to the Uighur people of Xinjiang Province.

As authorities stepped up security in Xinjiang, Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the main exiled Uighur group, the World Uyghur Congress, warned against believing China's side of the story.

"Beijing has always made these kind of accusations, but they refuse to make public the reasoning behind them," he said.

"They will not make the story behind the accusations transparent."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Niger Migrants Die After Sahara Breakdown

The bodies of 87 migrants have been found in the desert in Niger, all having died of thirst after their vehicles broke down and they went in search of water.

The seven men, 32 women and 48 children were discovered a few miles from the border with Algeria, where they were believed to be heading.

The bodies of another five women and girls were found earlier.

All are said to have died earlier this month after setting out in late September.

Almoustapha Alhacen, from the local aid organisation Aghir In'man, said: "The corpses were decomposed; it was horrible.

"We found them in different locations in a 20km (12 mile) radius and in small groups, often under trees. Sometimes a mother and children, but some lone children, too."

He said the bodies were buried according to Muslim rites "as and when they were found".

Nigerien officials said on Monday that dozens of migrants, most of them women and children, had died of thirst in the Sahara desert earlier this month.

Niger has been hit by a series of food crises. Pic: File

They were in two vehicles which broke down, one about 50 miles (80km) from Arlit in northern Niger from where they had set off, the other about 100 miles (160km) from the city.

"The first vehicle broke down. The second returned to Arlit to get a spare part after getting all the migrants it was carrying to alight, but it too broke down," said a security source.

"We think that the migrants were in the desert for seven days and on the fifth day they began to leave the broken down vehicle in search of a well."

The source said 21 people had survived. They included a man who walked to Arlit and a woman who was saved by a driver who came across her in the desert and took her back to Arlit.

Nineteen others reached the Algerian city of Tamanrasset but were sent back to Niger, the source added.

Niger is one of the world's poorest countries and has been hit by a series of food crises.

The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that at least 30,000 economic migrants passed through Agadez, northern Niger's largest city, between March and August of this year.

Libya, rather than Algeria, is generally the favoured country of transit for west Africans making the journey across the continent, many aiming to travel on to Europe. 

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria's Chemical Weapons Equipment 'Destroyed'

Syria has destroyed all its declared chemical weapons production facilities, the international chemical weapons watchdog says.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a document - seen by the Reuters news agency - that teams had inspected 21 out of 23 chemical weapons sites across the country.

The other two were too dangerous to inspect but the chemical equipment had already been moved to other sites which had been inspected, it said.

"The OPCW is satisfied it has verified, and seen destroyed, all declared critical production/mixing/filling equipment from all 23 sites," the document said.

Under a Russian-American brokered deal, Damascus agreed to destroy all its chemical weapons after Washington threatened to use force in response to the killing of hundreds of people in a sarin attack on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21.

The United States and its allies blamed President Bashar al Assad's forces for the attack and several earlier incidents. The Syrian president has rejected the charge, blaming rebel brigades.

Under the disarmament timetable, Syria was due to render unusable all production and chemical weapons filling facilities by November 1 - a target it has now met.

By mid-2014 it must have destroyed its entire stockpile of chemical weapons.

More follows...

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Israel Releases More Prisoners In Peace Deal

Israel has freed 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal that helped launch the current US-brokered peace talks.

Palestinian president greeted the freed prisoners in Ramallah

They are the second batch of 104 convicts who are set to be released - an element of the agreement that has angered many Israelis who view them as terrorists responsible for Israeli deaths.

In an apparent attempt to offset negative domestic reaction, Israeli army radio reported plans for an expansion of controversial settlements in east Jerusalem shortly after the releases took place.

Large crowds gathered near the Ofer prison ahead of the release

A group of 21 prisoners from the West Bank left Ofer prison, near Jerusalem, shortly after 1am (11pm UK time) and the other five crossed moments later into the Gaza Strip.

The West Bank inmates left Ofer in two minibuses with blacked-out windows and drove the short distance to the Beitunia crossing, where they were greeted with cheers and fireworks.

Right-wing Israelis protested near the jail, burning Palestinian scarves

They then drove to nearby Ramallah where they were welcomed at an official ceremony headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said talks would not bear fruit unless some 5,000 Palestinians held by Israel go free.

"There will be no agreement if so much as one Palestinian prisoner remains behind bars," Mr Abbas told thousands of cheering Palestinians gathered outside his headquarters in the West Bank city.

One of the first men to be released could barely contain his joy

Speaking before the army radio's report, Mr Abbas reiterated the Palestinians' denial that the prisoner release was part of an agreement to allow Israel more settlement building.

He said: "There are some living among us who say that we have a deal (to release prisoners) in exchange for settlement building, and I say to them 'be silent'."

Another freed prisoner greets his father after many years behind bars

The five freed Gazans were met by hundreds of relatives and wellwishers as they entered the Strip through the Erez crossing from Israel.

Last week, an Israeli official claimed an expansion of large settlements, including in east Jerusalem "in the coming months", was part of "understandings" reached with both the Palestinians and Washington.

Some Israelis are disgusted at the release of men they consider terrorists

The latest army radio report said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Gideon Saar had agreed to build 1,500 new homes in the east Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo.

All 26 newly-released prisoners were convicted of killing Israelis, with most of the attacks occurring before the 1993 Oslo Accords, which granted the Palestinians limited self-rule, but failed to usher in an independent state.

Palestinians started celebrating hours before the 26 men were released

Mr Netanyahu agreed to release 104 prisoners in stages as part of the resumption of talks after three years in late July. A first tranche of 26 was freed on August 13.

Israel announced plans for more than 2,000 new settler homes in tandem with the August prisoner release, enraging the Palestinians.

The talks are held under a US-imposed media blackout, but a senior Palestinian official said Israel had adopted a hardline stance and negotiations had so far produced "no tangible progress".

A boy plays with a duck at the home of one of the prisoners who was freed

"The current Israeli negotiating position is the worst in more than 20 years," Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top official with the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said in a statement.

"They want security first, and that the borders of the state of Palestine should be set out according to Israeli security needs that never end, and that will undermine the possibility of establishing a sovereign Palestinian state."

A boy kisses a photo of his grandfather ahead of his release after 30 years

Although Israel is engaged in direct peace talks with the Palestinians the prisoners' release has sparked tensions within Mr Netanyahu's coalition.

"The decision to release the prisoners is one of the most difficult I've had to make," he told his right-wing Likud party on Monday.

"It is unjust because these terrorists are being released before completing their sentence. My heart is with the families of the victims."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Drone Kills Al Shabaab Bombmaker Ali Abdi

By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor

The man said to be the master bombmaker for the al Shabaab terrorist group has been killed by a drone strike in southern Somalia.

A car carrying Ibrahim Ali Abdi, also known as Anta Anta, was hit by three missiles as it travelled along a road near the town of Jilib on Monday.

Somali intelligence sources, quoted by news agencies, said Ali Abdi was the group's explosives expert and specialised in making suicide vests and car bombs.

A witness to the attack, Hassan Nur, told Reuters he saw a drone above the Suzuki vehicle in which at least two men were travelling.

"I saw a big crash and then saw a drone disappearing far into the sky ... many al Shabaab men came to the scene," he said.

Al Shabaab was behind the September massacre on a Kenyan shopping centre

"Many cars were driving ahead of me, but the drone targeted this Suzuki."

An unnamed American official told the LA Times the strike was carried out by the US Army, but this has not been officially confirmed.

The US is known to operate drones from bases in Djibouti and southern Ethiopia.

The air strike follows a pattern of pressure bearing down on al Shabaab, which has been driven from Somalia's main towns by a combination of African Union forces and clandestine American operations. 

Al Shabaab hit back with the recent attack on a Nairobi shopping mall, but appears unable to regain any ground inside Somalia. 

The loss of its chief bombmaker is a blow to the group as it will take time to train other men up to the deadly standard of Ali Abdi.

It comes less than a fortnight since the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack near a military base in the city of Beledweyne, around 210 miles north of Somalian capital Mogadishu, which killed at least 13 people.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

India: Bus Crash Kills At Least 40 People

At least 40 people, including children, have been killed after a bus crashed into an oil tanker and burst into flames in southern India.

It is being reported that many victims, who were apparently asleep at the time of the collision, were trapped inside and were burned alive in the inferno.

The vehicle, which was carrying around 44 passengers, was travelling from Bangalore city to Hyderabad when the crash happened, around 800 miles from the Indian capital, New Delhi.

The bus hit the tanker on Kothakota flyover in Mahbubnagar district, police said.

Authorities were questioning the survivors to get further details.

The driver was among those who managed to escape through a window, according to a district official.

Road accidents are common in India, where roads are often in poor repair.

The country has the highest annual road death toll in the world, according to the World Health Organisation, with police figures showing more than 110,000 people are killed every year.

Transport officials blame a large number of accidents in the country on reckless driving and untrained drivers.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

US Admits Intelligence 'Needs Constraints'

The White House has admitted it needs to consider "constraints" on how it gathers intelligence after reports the US spied on more than 60 million phone calls in Spain and 46 million in Italy in one month alone.

Spain's El Mundo, citing documents provided by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, said the agency monitored the phone calls from December 10, 2012, until January 8, 2013.

The monitoring did not appear to track the content of calls but their duration and where they took place, according to Spanish and Italian media reports.

The new claims come a week after Le Monde reported similar allegations of US spying in France, and German magazine Der Spiegel said Washington tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.

White House spokesman Jay Carney did not address the allegations directly but appeared to make an attempt to appease the European countries.

"With new capabilities, we recognise that there needs to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence," he said.

The NSA allegedly listened in on Angela Merkel's phone calls

While stressing that US spies must focus "above all" on threats to the American people, his words seemed to offer some recognition to the view that US espionage activities overstepped the mark.

"We need to ensure that we are collecting information not just because we can, but because we should, because we need it for our security," Mr Carney said.

Spain's government has so far said it was not aware its citizens had been spied on by the NSA, and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said he is looking for more information.

Spain's European secretary of state and the US ambassador in Spain are scheduled to meet later.

A report in Bild am Sonntag said that Barack Obama knew three years ago that his intelligence service was eavesdropping on Ms Merkel's phone.

However, the NSA denied Mr Obama had been informed about the operation by the NSA chief in 2010, according to the Bild am Sonntag.

The US President spoke last week with the leaders of France and Germany in an effort to defuse the row.

John Kerry (L) met with Italy PM Enrico Letta (R) last week in Rome

But Ms Merkel is sending intelligence officials to Washington to seek clarification.

The row exploded months ago when revelations by Snowden exposed the scope of the US government's spying operations.

It has deepened in recent weeks when details have emerged on the alleged snooping in foreign countries and US allies.

Washington officials have defended the surveillance programmes, part of US anti-terrorism efforts.

The chairman of the House of Representatives intelligence committee, Mike Rogers, said much of the public information on them was misguided.

"They are seeing three or four pieces of a thousand-piece puzzle and trying to come to a conclusion," he said.

Another official, Congressman Peter King, chairman of the House subcommittee on counter-terrorism and intelligence, said: "The President should stop apologising, stop being defensive."

"The reality is the NSA has saved thousands of lives, not just in the United States but also in France and Germany and throughout Europe," he said.

"We're not doing this for the fun of it.

"This is to gather valuable intelligence which helps not just us but also helps the Europeans."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More