Typhoon hits Japan

Typhoon hits Japan

Typhoon Talas leaves fatalities and destruction in Japan

"Rescuers and search parties were scouring central Japan on Monday as the death toll from the worst typhoon to hit the country in seven years climbed to 26.

Typhoon Talas, which was later downgraded to a tropical storm, lashed coastal areas at the weekend before moving offshore into the Sea of Japan. Fifty two people were missing and thousands were stranded as the typhoon washed out bridges, railways and roads.

The scenes of destruction were an unwelcome reminder of Japan's vulnerability to natural disasters as the country attempts to recover from the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.

The prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, who was sworn in a day before the storm, said the government would provide assistance as quickly as it could.

His predecessor, Naoto Kan, was forced out of office chiefly because of public anger over the government's response to the tsunami, which left nearly 21,000 people dead or missing and sparked the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

"We will do everything we can to rescue people and search for the missing," Noda said.

The typhoon was believed to be the worst to hit Japan since 2004, when 98 people were killed or reported missing. Talas caused most damage on the Kii peninsula in central Japan, south-west of Tokyo. (...)"

in The Guardian

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"We won't surrender", vows Gaddafi

"We won't surrender", vows Gaddafi

"Gaddafi vows fight as world backs new leaders"

"Muammar Gaddafi urged his supporters from hiding to fight on as Libya's new interim rulers met world leaders on Thursday to discuss reshaping a nation torn by 42 years of one-man rule and six months of civil war.

"Let it be a long battle. We will fight from place to place, from town to town, from valley to valley, from mountain to mountain," Gaddafi said in a message relayed by satellite TV on the anniversary of the coup that brought him to power in 1969.

"If Libya goes up in flames, who will be able to govern it? Let it burn," he said with his trademark verbal flamboyance.

In further comments broadcast later, he vowed to prevent oil exports, in the kind of threat that stirs fears of an Iraq-style insurgency: "You will not be able to pump oil for the sake of your own people. We will not allow this to happen," Gaddafi said. "Be ready for a war of gangs and urban warfare."

Amid conflicting reports of where the 69-year-old fugitive might be, a commander in the forces of the new ruling council said he had fled to a desert town south of the capital, one of several tribal bastions still holding out.

Seeking to avoid more bloodshed, opposition forces also extended by a week a deadline for Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, on the coast, to surrender.

Meeting the National Transitional Council in Paris at the invitation of France and Britain, prime backers of the Libyan uprising which followed other Arab Spring revolts, Western powers said Gaddafi was still a threat, but handed the NTC $15 billion of his foreign assets to start the job of rebuilding. (...)"

in Reuters

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Al-Qaeda Nº2 killed in Afghanistan with a bullet

Al-Qaeda Nº2 killed in Afghanistan with a bullet

"Al Qaeda Deputy Reportedly Killed: No. 2, With a Bullet"

"The relentless U.S. campaign against elements of al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan has put another big notch in its belt with the reported killing of al Qaeda's new second-in-command. A drone missile strike is believed to have killed Atiyah Abd al-Rahman last Monday, Aug. 22, in Pakistan's lawless Waziristan region, a U.S. official said Saturday. (He also allegedly died in a 2010 strike, so the claim needs to be verified.)

Coming four months after the SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden, al-Rahman's demise bolsters Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's claim in July that the U.S. is "within reach" of defeating the terror network may be on the money. While few have heard al-Rahman's name, he was a trusted confidant of bin Laden and was kind of a chief operating officer, guiding the Islamic radical group's daily actions. The Iranian government, the U.S. government alleged last month, enabled much of his work. Like his fellow countryman, Muammar Gaddafi, who also has had a tough few days recently, al-Rahman was a native of Libya.

The U.S. government described al-Rahman July 28 as "al-Qa'ida's overall commander in Pakistan's tribal areas and as of late 2010, the leader of al-Qa'ida in North and South Waziristan, Pakistan. Rahman was previously appointed by Usama bin Laden to serve as al-Qa'ida's emissary in Iran, a position which allowed him to travel in and out of Iran with the permission of Iranian officials."

Taking him out deals a blow to the organization's planning, and could disrupt future attacks contemplated by al Qaeda, Pentagon officials say. Big terror attacks generally require supervision, communication, logistics and money – all key elements in al-Rahman's portfolio. He was working with bin Laden, at the time of bin Laden's death, to try to mark the 10^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks two weeks from now, according to documents retrieved by the SEALs from bin Laden's Abbottabad lair May 2.

Despite his recent promotion, the bounty put on his head by the State Department's "Rewards for Justice" anti-terror program was "up to $1 million," according to the RFJ website. (...)"

in Time

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Crisis Between Egypt and Israel

Crisis Between Egypt and Israel

“A Push to Defuse Crisis Between Egypt and Israel”

“Diplomats scrambled to avert a crisis in relations between Egypt and Israel on Saturday, and the Israeli government issued a rare statement of regret for the killing of three Egyptian security officers by an Israeli warplane.

Tensions between the two countries, which at one point on Saturday led Egypt to announce that it would recall its ambassador from Tel Aviv, reached the worst point since the historic Camp David peace accords three decades ago, spurred by a burst of violence along their shared border in the Sinai Peninsula. A series of attacks there killed eight Israelis on Thursday; the Israeli government then retaliated against Gaza-based militants, and the three Egyptians died in the crossfire.

After Egypt’s announcement about its ambassador early Saturday, diplomats from other nations rushed to broker an end to the impasse between the Egyptians and the Israelis, a Western diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the continuing talks. And while the talks went on behind the scenes, the statement disappeared from an Egyptian cabinet Web site, and unidentified officials suggested in the Egyptian news media that it might have been released by mistake.

Then, breaking a customary silence on the Sabbath, the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, released a statement saying, “We regret the deaths of members of the Egyptian security forces during the terror attack on the Israeli-Egyptian border. (…)”

in The New York Times

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Death in Kabul

Death in Kabul

 

“Kabul attack death toll rises to 10”

 

 

“The death toll from twin suicide attacks on a British compound in Kabul and an ensuing gunbattle has climbed to at least 10, Afghan police and eyewitnesses said today.

A government official said at least two policemen were also injured in
the attack, which came as Afghans mark Independence Day from Britain in 1919.
He said one suicide bomber first detonated a car laden with explosives outside the
British Council in the western part of Kabul this morning.
A second bomber penetrated inside the complex and set off an explosives vest.
The blasts sparked a five-hour gunbattle between Afghan security forces and an unknown
number of insurgents inside the compound.

The Nato-led force in Afghanistan and the British embassy in Kabul confirmed there had been two explosions near the British Council, which is a state-funded agency running mainly cultural programmes. It is not part of the main British embassy in the diplomatic area of Kabul. (...)”

in Irish Times

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