White House Considers 'Decoupling' Bush Tax Cuts Ahead of Midterms

The White House is heading back to the drawing board to determine the fate of the Bush tax cuts, amid fears Congress will not approve a plan to hike taxes on the nation's wealthiest families if Republicans take an expected House majority in next Tuesday's election, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

The Obama administration is mulling a strategy that would break apart the Bush tax cuts, according to sources familiar with the matter. The plan would call for a permanent extension of cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year, and a temporary extension of cuts on income above that level.

The proposed "decoupling" of tax provisions would delay a decision on cuts for the so-called "rich" until next year or the year after, the sources said.

Republican leaders have pushed to extend the Bush tax cuts, which expire in December, for all income brackets, while President Obama insists that the country cannot afford to keep tax breaks on income over $250,000 a year for families, or $200,000 for individuals.

Partisan haggling blocked a vote on the cuts before elections, but Congress is expected to take-up debate again in mid-November, most likely with a new Republican majority in the House and additional GOP seats in the Senate.

While preferring a permanent extension across income brackets, Republican leaders have said they would accept a two-year extension of all the cuts.

White House officials confirmed they were reviewing a strategy for the lame-duck legislative session but declined to comment on decoupling or other compromises such as backing tax breaks for the rich in exchange for Republican approval of additional stimulus.

American taxpayers could see increased rates reflected in their January paychecks if Congress does not approve an extension before the end of the year.

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Obama to Philly: 'I Need 20,000 Doors Knocked On'

President Obama was greeted by more than 1,500 cheering students and volunteer canvassers at a Saturday rally for fellow Democrats in Pennsylvania, where he urged the young crowd to go to the polls Tuesday and encourage their friends and neighbors to do the same.

Hundreds spread out across Philadelphia afterward to knock on doors and pass out literature.

"Coming to a rally isn't the hard part," Obama told the crowd at Temple University. "I need 20,000 doors knocked on."

Two candidates facing tough races were on stage for the president's get-out-the-vote message: Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, who trails in the polls behind Republican state Attorney General Tom Corbett, and U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who is in a tight race with Republican Pat Toomey for a U.S. Senate seat.

Obama asked his audience to approach the midterm elections Tuesday with the same enthusiasm that brought him to the White House and a wave of Democrats to Congress in 2008.

"Two years ago, it wasn't about me," he said. "It was about you and this country. ... You cannot stop now."

Sestak warmed up the crowd before the president's arrival, telling the students that Democrats need to continue working to "heal and repair" the country.

"Make sure everyone knows about what's at stake in this election," he said. "You don't just vote once for change, you keep fighting for it."

Onorato said the elections are not only about a vote for candidates but for "a philosophy -- which way do you want this country to go?"

Other Democrats were on hand including Gov. Ed Rendell, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, U.S. Sen. Robert Casey and outgoing five-term U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who lost to Sestak in the May primary.

A group of about 25 anti-Obama protesters, many waving "Don't Tread on Me" flags, stood outside an entrance to the university auditorium as students filed in.

Toomey planned events Saturday afternoon in West Chester and Blue Bell in suburban Philadelphia, and Corbett had scheduled stops in Saint Clair, Hazleton and Williamsport, winding up with a chat with tailgaters at Penn State's football game in State College.

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Hurricane Tomas Wreaks Havoc, Threatens Haiti

CASTRIES, St. Lucia -- Newly born Hurricane Tomas swept through a cluster of eastern Caribbean islands Saturday, tearing off roofs, damaging houses and downing power lines.

Authorites in St. Vincent were trying to confirm reports that three people died, including two men who might have been blown off a roof, said Jimmy Prince, emergency management spokesman.

Fierce winds tore roofs from nearly 100 homes and more than 400 people sought emergency shelter as the island plunged into darkness, he said.

"Many of them are workers who were unable to get off Mustique," he said, referring to a tiny island just south of St. Vincent.

In St. Lucia, winds also ripped off the roof of a hospital, a school, a stadium and toppled a large concrete cross from the roof of a century-old church, government officials said.

Heavy rains also unleashed a landslide that blocked a main highway linking the capital to the island's southern region.

Prime Minister Stephenson King said he was still stranded in Barbados on an official trip and apologized to people on an island that reported a complete blackout.

"It hurts me to know that I am not around to give courage, strength and guidance at a time when we all must bond together and give support to each other," he said in a statement.

The government ordered two airports and all businesses closed and people called radio stations to admonish parents who were letting children play in the streets, where trees and power lines were falling.

"This is no joke," said calypso singer Nintus, one of the callers.

Organizers of the island's biggest Creole festival called off the event due to the storm, disappointing both would-be revelers and dozens of vendors who traveled to the capital to sell vegetables, fruits and other provisions.

"All my preparations have gone down the drain," said vendor Theckla Darius, from the rural community of Fond Assau. "It's been a lot of effort for nothing."

Also under hurricane warning were St. Vincent and Martinique, where at least 20,000 people were without power, streets flooded and tree branches were down. A cruise ship carrying nearly 2,000 tourists docked instead in Dominica.

Tomas had already knocked down power lines and damaged houses in Barbados as a tropical storm.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Tomas strengthened Saturday night with 90 mph (150 kph) winds and was centered about 50 miles (85 kilometers) west-southwest of St. Lucia. It was moving west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph).

Tomas, the Atlantic season's 12th hurricane, was expected to drop up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain in the region.

Forecasters said it could become a Category 2 storm Monday evening and possibly reach Category 3 by midweek, with winds around 115 mph (184 kph).

It was forecast to head toward Jamaica and could unleash heavy rains in southern portions of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which is struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake and cope with a recent cholera outbreak.

Haiti issued an orange storm alert, the second highest level. Authorities warned southern and western regions -- including the quake-ravaged capital of Port-au-Prince, where an estimated 1.3 million people are living in tent camps -- to be on guard for high winds, thunderstorms and possible flooding.

But with few usable storm shelters and no feasible evacuation plan, residents will largely be on their own.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for Dominica, Tobago and Grenada, where the airport closed and gas stations sold out of fuel.

Another tropical storm, Shary, headed into the open Atlantic after missing Bermuda.

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Several Arrested in Swedish Bomb Plot Case

Published October 30, 2010

| Associated Press

STOCKHOLM -- Swedish police says they have made several arrests after a suspected bomb plot in the country's second-largest city.

Police declined to confirm the number of arrests made early Saturday, but said the persons are suspected of preparing a terror crime.

Police spokesman Bjor Blixter says "the arrests were made at several addresses in the Goteborg area," but that the motive for the plot is not yet clear.

Blixter says police "can't rule out" there will be more arrests linked to the case. He would not say whether it was related to criminal groups or international terrorists.

Swedish intelligence agency, SAPO, is helping out in the investigation, but said Sweden's terror threat level would not be raised because of the arrests.

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Somali Pirates Seize Cargo Ship With 24 Aboard

Published October 30, 2010

| Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya-- The European Union's anti-piracy naval force says Somali pirates have seized a cargo vessel with 24 crew members aboard.

The owners of MV Polar confirmed early Saturday that pirates control the ship, the EU force said in a statement.

Pirates seized the Liberian-owned ship some 684 miles east of the Indian Ocean island of Socotra. It belongs to Yemen but is close to the tip of northeastern Somalia.

The ship has 24 crew members: one Romanian, three Greek nationals, four Montenegrins and 16 Filipinos.

Somali pirates usually seize ships using the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest waterways.

They earn multimillion dollar ransoms with little risk because Somalia has not had an effective government for 19 years.

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NATO: 30 Fighters Killed in Afghan Outpost Attack

Published October 30, 2010

| Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Insurgents armed with rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars tried to storm a combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, setting off a battle that killed 30 attackers and wounded five coalition soldiers, NATO said.

Assailants struck from all sides in the nighttime attack on the outpost in Paktika province's Bermal district, where nearly all NATO forces are from the U.S. military.

The military called in close air-support and aircraft dropped three bombs to help repel the insurgents. According to NATO, the five coalition service members who were wounded in the attack continued fighting.

"Insurgents attacked from all directions," NATO said in a statement. It provided no further details.

The attack took place in an area about 125 miles south of Kabul that borders the Pakistani region of North Waziristan. The area is controlled largely by the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based Taliban faction closely tied to Al Qaeda.

The border region has long been a refuge for Islamist extremists from around the world and has been the target of numerous drone strikes against the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the forces of the Haqqani network. Jalaluddin and Sirajuddin Haqqani, a former anti-Soviet commander and his son, are now battling American forces in eastern Afghanistan.

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Mail Bomb Plot Shows Lax Cargo, Parcel Security

LONDON -- The discovery of U.S.-bound mail bombs on cargo planes in England and Dubai reveals the danger posed by air shipping, which is governed by a patchwork of inconsistent controls that make packages a potential threat even to passenger jets, experts said Saturday.

Most countries require parcels placed on passenger flights by international shipping companies to go through at least one security check. Methods include hand checks, sniffer dogs, X-ray machines and high-tech devices that can find traces of explosives on paper or cloth swabs.

But security protocols vary widely around the world. Experts cautioned that cargo, even when loaded onto passenger planes, is sometimes lightly inspected or completely unexamined, particularly when it comes from countries without well-developed aviation security systems.

The fact that at least two parcels containing explosives could be placed on cargo-only flights to England and Dubai, one in a FedEx shipment from Yemen, was a dramatic example of the risks, but the dangers have been obvious for years, analysts said. Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May said the device discovered early Friday morning at England's East Midlands Airport was potentially able to explode -- and could have been used to bring down a plane.

May said that the U.K. has banned the movement of all unaccompanied air freight originating from Yemen. France's civil aviation authority also suspended air freight from Yemen.

One particular vulnerability in the system: trusted companies that regularly do business with freight shippers are allowed to ship parcels as "secure" cargo that is not automatically subjected to further checks.

Even where rules are tight on paper, enforcement can be lax. A U.S. government team that visited cargo sites around the world last year found a wide range of glaring defects, said John Shingleton, managing director of Handy Shipping Guide, an industry information service.

"They walked into a warehouse where supposedly secure cargo was," he said, declining to say where the site was. "Generally security is high, but if you think it's perfect you're kidding yourself."

Cargo companies have long shipped on passenger airlines, for whom cargo provides extra income.

Air freight generally consists of the most expensive cargo, everything from designer clothing and prescription drugs to car parts and mobile phones.

It is transported in large pallets, which are not often taken apart to inspect because the process would significantly slow down air travel and the movement of goods.

About 50,000 tons of cargo is shipped by air within the U.S. every day, according to the Transportation Security Administration. About 25 percent of that is shipped by passenger airlines. Mike Boyd, who heads an aviation industry consulting firm in Colorado, said cargo is often put onboard passenger flights at the last minute, similar to passengers flying on standby.

Inside the U.S., new rules that took effect in August require that every piece of cargo be checked for explosives. Cargo is increasingly screened by X-ray machines and handheld wands -- the TSA has approved dozens of new machines in the past two years that can detect traces of explosive materials.

Cargo that travels through airports in countries with high threat levels and advanced security systems is often safer. The system at London's busy Heathrow Airport is relatively effective because cargo is held for 24 hours, giving authorities time to check it properly, according to Shingleton.

Still, since August U.S. aviation officials have been pressing the European Union to require the X-raying of every package placed on passenger planes, but they have met resistance because of the cost and logistics involved in screening such a huge amount of material, aviation safety consultant Chris Yates said.

"Is it possible one of these devices could get on passenger jets?" Yates said. "I'm not convinced it could on flights between London and the States, but it could get on from less secure parts of the world, including the Middle East. If you talk to anybody senior at airports, they will tell you freight is the weak link in the chain."

X-Ray machines are not an effective tool to screen bulk cargo because of the large size and number of the items that need to be inspected, said Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, while more sophisticated technology, like gamma-ray machines, are extremely expensive.

"Security in the UK is pretty good, the U.S. is not bad, but aviation is a global business and we need effective regimes around the globe," he said. "Cargo travels on both cargo-only and on combi-aircraft, which have passengers and cargo, and cargo is not subject to the same screening requirements as passengers' baggage."

Baum also warned that it is foolhardy to downplay the threat posed by cargo-only planes since those could be loaded with an explosive device that could be detonated when the plane is on its final approach over a major city.

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Suicide Bomber Kills 21 North of Baghdad

Published October 29, 2010

| Associated Press

BAGHDAD -- The mayor of an Iraqi town north of Baghdad says at least 21 people were killed and dozens injured when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives vest in a crowded cafe.

The mayor, Mohammed Maaruf, says that most of the dead and wounded were men playing dominos and drinking tea in the cafe when the explosion happened Friday evening.

The blast took place in the town of Balad Ruz, 45 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad.

The neighborhood where the explosion occurred is home to many Shiites of Kurdish ethnicity and many of the dead and wounded were Shiites.

The bombing broke what has been a period of relative calm across Iraq.

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Nigeria: Shipper Confirms Weapons Came From Iran

LAGOS, Nigeria -- A weapons cache containing artillery rockets seized by Nigerian security agents at the West African nation's busiest port originally came from Iran, an international shipping company said Saturday.

The confirmation by CMA CGM, an international cargo shipper based in France, comes after Israeli officials accused Iran of trying to sneak the shipment into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. By unloading the weapons in Nigeria, it suggests Iran sought to perhaps truck the weapons through Africa to slide around an embargo now in place in Gaza.

The MV CMA CGM Everest picked up the 13 shipping containers from Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran, the company said. The shipment had been labeled as containing "packages of glass wool and pallets of stone."

"The shipment in question was booked as a 'shippers-owned container' and supplied, loaded and sealed by the shipper, an Iranian trader who does not appear on any forbidden persons listing," CMA CGM's statement read. "The containers were ... discharged in Lagos in July and transferred to a customs-bonded depot where they have remained with all seals untouched and unbroken."

The shipment sat untouched for weeks, a common occurrence in Lagos' busy and chaotic Apapa Port. Last week, the Iranian shipper filed a request for the containers to be picked up again and this time shipped to the West African nation of Gambia, CMA CGM said.

Agents with Nigeria's State Security Service discovered the weapons Tuesday. Journalists who were allowed to view the weapons on Wednesday saw 107 mm rockets, rifle rounds and other items labeled in English. Authorities said the shipment also contained grenades, explosives and possibly rocket launchers, but journalists did not see them.

In the hands of highly trained troops, the 107 mm artillery rockets can accurately hit targets more than 5 miles (8.5 kilometers) away, killing everything within about 40 feet (12 meters). Fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq have used similar rockets against U.S. troops.

China, the United States, and Russia manufacture versions of the rocket, as does Iran -- which calls the weapon a Katyusha rocket. In 2006, the Islamic militant group Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 Katyusha rockets across Israel's northern border, some of which fell as far as 55 miles (90 kilometers) inside Israel.

The weapons seizure comes as Nigeria, an OPEC-member nation that is one of the top crude oil suppliers to the U.S., approaches what could be a highly contested presidential election next year. Security remains a concern in Nigeria as it continues to see targeted killings allegedly committed by a radical Islamic sect in the north and the threat of new violence in its oil-rich southern delta.

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Eerie Calm Follows Big Blast at Indonesian Volcano

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia -- Thousands of villagers returned to their homes along the slopes of Indonesia's most volatile volcano Sunday, taking advantage of an eerie lull following its most powerful eruption in a deadly week to check on crops and livestock.

Scientists warned, however, that the notoriously unpredictable mountain could burst back to life at any minute.

On the other side of the archipelago, deliveries of food and medicine to survivors of a tsunami that killed 413 people in the Mentawai islands were expected to resume Sunday, thanks to a break in weather that earlier brought relief efforts to a complete standstill.

A teenage girl with an open chest wound was among those waiting for help.

The simultaneous catastrophes have severely tested the emergency response network in Indonesia, which lies in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a cluster of fault lines prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Mount Merapi, which means "Fire Mountain," unleashed a terrifying 21-minute eruption early Saturday, forcing the temporary closure of a nearby airport and claiming another life, bringing the death toll in one week to 36, said Regina Wijaya, a hospital spokeswoman in the nearby city of Yogyakarta.

A fiery red glow emanated from its peak Sunday and black clouds of ash tumbled from its cauldron, but the violent bursts and rumbling of the last 48 hours had all but stopped.

"It's still dangerous," warned Surono, chief of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. "Often a major eruption, like the one we saw Saturday, is followed first by a period of silence, and then by another big blast."

At least 47,000 people have fled the mountain's wrath, according to the National Disaster Management Agency. Government camps well away from the base were overflowing with refugees, including most of the 11,000 people who live on the mountain's fertile slopes.

More than 2,000 troops have been called in to help keep villagers away during periods of high activity.

When the mountain is calm, however, they are allowed to go back for several hours between dawn and early afternoon to check on their precious livestock and crops.

"My farm has been destroyed by volcanic debris and thick dust. ... All I have left now are my cows and goats," said Subarkah, a farmer from Balerante, a village less than two miles (four kilometers) from the crater's mouth.

"I have to find grass and bring it up to them, otherwise they'll die," he said.

In the tsunami zone, meanwhile, where more than 23,000 people have been displaced, a break in weather raised hopes that boats and helicopters would be able to ferry noodles, sardines and sleeping mats to the most distant corners of the Mentawai islands.

Relief efforts were brought to a halt Saturday by stormy weather and rough seas.

The death toll climbed to 413 this weekend, but officials halved the number of missing people after a total of 135 people were found by searchers or returned home after fleeing to the hills.

At an overwhelmed hospital in Sikakap, the main town on Pagai Utara island, doctors said they need medical supplies to help about 150 injured survivors. The hospital's swelteringly hot rooms were filled with the moans of patients with flushed, sweat-coated faces.

"We need morphine," said Dr. Alyssa Scurrah, who flew in from Sydney, Australia. She said the hospital was desperate for a generator, antibiotics and a chest drain.

One of Scurrah's patients was a 12-year-old girl who was struggling to breathe due to an open chest wound. She clenched her teeth and cried out as a doctor applied cotton pads to the gash along her rib cage.

The doctor said the girl needs to go to Padang for surgery, but no one could get off the island Saturday because of the weather.

"If she stays here, she may not live," Scurrah said.

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4 French Confirmed Dead in Antarctic Copter Crash

Published October 30, 2010

| Associated Press

ADELAIDE, Australia -- All four people on a French helicopter that crashed this week in rough weather in Antarctica were confirmed dead Saturday, Australian and French rescuers said.

Another helicopter from Dumont-d'Urville scientific station in Antarctica flew to the site of the crashed aircraft and a doctor on board confirmed the deaths, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement.

The helicopter crashed Thursday night and its distress beacon was activated about 62 miles from Dumont-d'Urville. Heavy clouds obscuring visibility prevented searches by helicopter, so a U.S. Air Force C17 and an Australian air force plane flew over the site.

The Australian plane spotted what appeared to be three bodies on Friday evening and dropped survival equipment in case there were any survivors.

Those aircraft carried four French citizens -- a pilot, a mechanic and two employees of the French Polar Institute, a state-run research center often known by its French acronym IPEV.

The institute said the bodies of the men were recovered and brought back to Dumont-d'Urville with the assistance of a Hercules C130 sent by Australia.

"A chapel of rest has been set up at the base to receive the remains," the statement said.

The downed AS350 Squirrel helicopter was operated in Antarctica from the French research vessel, L'Astrolabe, which is currently icebound about 230 miles northeast of the Dumont-d'Urville station.

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Iran: Nuclear Sanctions Will Prove Futile

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's commerce minister on Saturday denied that international sanctions imposed on the country over its disputed nuclear program have damaged Tehran's trade ties and said the penalties will prove futile.

Iran is under four sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions as well as other penalties by the United States and the European Union over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment -- a technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel or an atomic bomb.

The U.S. and other Western powers accuse Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charges, saying its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Commerce Minister Mahdi Ghazanfari called the sanctions "ineffective," and said they "have not affected our trade with other countries so far."

He said that if the sanctions were really having an impact, then the U.N. would not have had to impose four sets of them.

Ghanzafari's comments come after the president of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Mohammad Nahavandian, said last week that the international penalties have begun to take a toll on the economy, pushing up the cost of living.

"Sanctions can't halt the importation of goods into Iran but estimates indicate that the cost of imports has increased between 15 to 30 percent," Nahavandian was quoted as saying by the semiofficial ISNA news agency.

In order to get around the sanctions, analysts say Iran has increasingly used front companies based abroad to import technology that may have civilian and military uses. But Iran is finding it increasingly difficult to continue this cat and mouse game because of strict banking restrictions and tighter rules that ban the export of any dual use or technological equipment that could wind up in Iran's hands.

Also Saturday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran's foreign currency reserves exceed $100 billion, despite sanctions.

"The country's foreign exchange reserves have been estimated at $100 billion, but it's definitely more than this figure," Ahmadinejad said in a statement posted on his office's website.

In the past, the president has refused to provide even a rough figure for the reserves, saying the information should remain confidential amid stiffer international sanctions.

The head of Iran's central bank, Mahmoud Bahmani, said Tehran has boosted its reserves by buying hundreds of tons of gold at a price that has since doubled, according to the state news agency IRNA.

The sanctions target Iran's nuclear and missile program, and it there is no official report on how they have affected Tehran's nuclear program.

Experts believe the international penalties have hampered Iran's nuclear progress, citing a smaller number of operating centrifuges at Iran's main uranium enrichment plant in Natanz compared to a year ago.

The number of operating centrifuges at the underground facility in May was 3,936 compared to around 5,000 last year, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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Honduras: At Least 14 Massacred on Football Field

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- A carful of attackers armed with assault rifles drove up to a football field in a poor Honduran neighborhood Saturday and opened fire, killing at least 14 people.

Armando Calidonio, vice minister of security, said the gunmen shot from point-blank range at the victims, who were known to gather there to play football.

Ten were killed at the scene and four died as they were being taken to the hospital. More were wounded -- some gravely, Calidonio said, though the number was not clear.

The attackers numbered about five, but police did not have any suspects.

"We still do not know the motive of this tragedy," Calidonio told reporters.

The massacre took place in Colonia Felipe Zelaya, a crowded, violent neighborhood in the northern city of San Pedro Sula that is home to hundreds of gang members.

Mass shootings are not uncommon in Honduras. "Maras" -- street gangs that grew out of Los Angeles and spread to Central America -- are blamed for rampant violent crime, extortion and more recently acting as enforcers for drug cartels.

In September, gunmen mowed down 18 shoe factory employees in San Pedro Sula in a shooting blamed on gang rivalries.

Six youths were slain in a home last month, also in San Pedro Sula. Authorities linked that massacre to the drug trade.

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Clinton Says U.S. Has a Stake in Asian Security

HANOI, Vietnam -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton waded into a fresh spat between China and Japan on Saturday, saying the United States has a key stake in territorial disputes between Beijing and its neighbors and will remain a major power in the Asia-Pacific region.

In a speech to East Asian leaders in Vietnam, Clinton declared that America has a direct national security interest in seeing peaceful resolutions to competing claims over islands that have led to a spike in animosity between China and other countries in the region, notably U.S. ally Japan.

"The United States has a national interest in the freedom of navigation and unimpeded lawful commerce," Clinton told a meeting of the East Asia Summit in Hanoi. "And when disputes arise over maritime territory, we are committed to resolving them peacefully based on customary international law."

Her comments come as China and Japan's damaged relations took a fresh hit, dimming hopes for talks between the two regional powers and highlighting tensions that have rattled nerves across the Asia-Pacific.

Sino-Japanese relations appeared to be mending when Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Japanese counterpart Seiji Maehara met on the sidelines of the summit on Friday, paving the way for expected talks between the countries' two leaders.

But at the last minute, China called off the meeting and blasted Japan, accusing it of making untrue statements about islands in the East China Sea, claimed by both nations. The territory is at the heart of the dispute, following a collision there last month between a Chinese fishing trawler and two Japanese patrol boats.

The row that followed included protests, canceled meetings and Chinese restrictions on key metal exports that drew international concern, including from the United States.

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue told reporters in Hanoi that Japan was turning the contested islands -- called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan -- into a "hot topic" on the sidelines of the summit hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, by talking to the media and holding discussions with other countries prior to the meeting.

"The Japanese side should take responsibility for ruining the atmosphere for leaders of the two countries," he said.

The U.S. has appealed for the two countries to resolve the matter peacefully but has made clear it sides with Japan in the current imbroglio. After meeting with Japan's foreign minister in Hawaii on Wednesday, Clinton said the islands are covered by a U.S.-Japan mutual security pact, although Washington takes no position on their ultimate sovereignty.

That infuriated Beijing, which on Friday said it was "strongly dissatisfied" with her comments and lashed out at both the U.S. and Japan.

Southeast Asian countries have become increasingly rattled in recent months following a number of aggressive maritime moves by the Communist giant.

Clinton's message, while couched in diplomatic niceties, was clear: China must not use its growing economic and military strength to bully its neighbors. Previous similar remarks from Clinton and other U.S. officials have drawn tough criticism from the Chinese, who claim sovereignty over vast swaths of territory in the East and South China seas.

She praised China for taking some steps to engage with its neighbors about setting up a formal and binding code of conduct in dealing with the disputes, which extend to other strategic and potentially oil-rich islands in the region. But aides said her remarks were a signal to China that the U.S. is looking for far more.

In her comments to the summit, Clinton said the U.S. had no intention of relinquishing its role as a dominant power in the Asia-Pacific, asserting that "we will continue to leverage the strength of our bilateral relationships (and) continue expanding our emerging partnerships with a wide range of countries."

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French Airline Flies Into Baghdad From Paris

BAGHDAD -- A French airline flew into Baghdad's international airport Sunday morning, becoming one of the first passenger carriers to fly into the capital direct from western Europe since before the Gulf War.

The inaugural flight by France's Aigle Azur, which touched down shortly after 6 a.m. local time, consisted of French officials and was largely ceremonial. The airline won't begin regularly scheduled flights for another two to three months but if successful, the flights would mark an important milestone in Iraq's economic development.

Some carriers, such as Austrian Airlines, fly from western Europe to the Kurdish city of Irbil. Regional airlines such as the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, Bahrain's Gulf Air, the Beirut-based MEA airline and Turkish Airlines fly to the Iraqi capital.

But there are no direct passenger flights between Baghdad and western Europe. The Stockholm-based Nordic Airways launched commercial flights to Baghdad from Copenhagen, Denmark in January 2009 but its operating license was revoked later that month.

The lack of major European carriers flying to Baghdad shows the difficulties the country is having attracting major foreign investments in anything but the surest economic bets. Although some western companies bid on the country's first round of oil licensing last year, it was only for the biggest and safest fields.

Attempts by Iraq's national carrier, Iraqi Airways, to launch flights to London last April were swiftly squashed when lawyers for neighboring Kuwait tried to confiscate the inaugural plane after it touched down in London to settle debts from the 1990 invasion by Iraq of Kuwait.

The Aigle Azur flight landed Sunday morning at Baghdad International Airport after taking off late Saturday from Paris. A delegation of French business leaders planning to attend the Baghdad International Fair, an annual showcase designed to attract businesses to Iraq, was on board.

Airline officials said regular commercial flights won't start for another two to three months, and tickets will go on sale soon. The French airline plans to fly into Baghdad twice a week from Charles de Gaulle.

Aigle Azur is a French carrier that flies from Paris's Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports to locations mainly in Africa, such as Algeria, Mali, Morocco and Tunisia. They also operate flights to the French cities of Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Mulhouse and Toulouse.

The German carrier, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, was slated to begin regular flights between Munich and Baghdad Sept. 30 but canceled them due to a lack of customer interest.

The news was a blow to Iraq's hopes to reconnect Baghdad with international capitals since most western airlines discontinued flights to the city following the 1991 Gulf War.

For years, many of the regional and western carriers shied away from Iraq due to safety concerns. The few airlines who did fly into and out of the airport formerly named after Saddam Hussein performed a tight corkscrew when landing, a spiraling maneuver designed to protect them from missile attack.

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Mexican Prison Warden Nabbed for Alleged Drug Ties

MEXICO CITY -- The director of a maximum-security federal prison notorious for the escape of Mexico's top kingpin was arrested for alleged ties to drug gangs, authorities said Friday.

Francisco Javier Gomez Meza was arrested Thursday on suspicion of links to organized crime while he was a top official at the federal Attorney General's Office, according to a statement from the Public Safety Department. It did not elaborate on the allegations or give any indication that Gomez engaged in corruption as director of the Puente Grande prison in the western city of Guadalajara.

Between 2001 and 2008, Gomez was in charge of police deployments at the Federal Investigative Agency, a now-defunct police force tied to the Attorney General's Office. Before that, he was in charge of arrests and federal prison transfers.

An official at the Attorney General's Office said Gomez left the agency in 2008 because he was under investigation as part of "Operation Clean House," a sweeping corruption probe that led to the arrest of several top security officials for allegedly protecting the Beltran Leyva drug cartel. It was not clear if Gomez, who had not been charged at the time, resigned or was fired.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Gomez was appointed director of the Puente Grande prison in early 2010.
Officials at the Public Safety Department -- which oversees the federal prisons -- declined to comment on how Gomez was named to such a high-profile post.

Puente Grande has in the past been notorious for scandals including the 2001 escape of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel. Guzman, one of the world's most powerful drug traffickers, broke out of the prison by hiding a laundry truck. Several guards have been convicted of helping him.

The prison holds several infamous inmates including Rafael Caro Quintero, a drug cartel leader who is serving a 40-year sentence for the torture-murder of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

Corruption at all levels has been a relentless obstacle in Mexico's drug war, despite continuous attempts to purge municipal, state and federal police forces.

President Felipe Calderon replaced the Federal Investigative Agency with the 30,000-member Federal Police in an attempt to create a new, better-trained force.

Some 3,200 federal police have been dismissed this year for failing routine background checks and other tests designed to detect corruption, and the government touts the firings as evidence that it is rigorously trying to keep the new force clean.

Gomez's arrest came at the end of a particularly violent week in Mexico's drug war. More than 50 people were killed in five apparently unrelated massacres, including the shooting of six young men in a gritty Mexico City neighborhood -- an attack that fueled fears of the capital falling prey to the cartel-style violence has terrorized other parts of the country.

The bloodshed continued Friday with the discovery of a man shot to death and left in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, according to a police report. He was found with a threatening message -- two days after Mayor Jose Luis Avila Sanchez warned people to stay indoors after dark because of rising violence in Acapulco.

Six people were killed in the city Wednesday, including three men and a woman found with their hands bound and tied.

Authorities in Acapulco are also investigating the disappearance of a Canadian businessman who disappeared there last week.

In western Michoacan state, meanwhile, soldiers arrested five people traveling in two cars with weapons and marijuana. Among those detained was the former mayor of the town of Tzitzio. A Defense Department statement said they are suspected of having ties to La Familia drug cartel.

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Yemen Authorities Arrest Explosive Parcel Suspect

Published October 30, 2010

| Reuters

SANAA, - Yemeni authorities arrest woman suspected of sending explosive parcels to the United States, according to Yemen security officials.

Yemen security forces surrounded a house where the suspect who is believed to have sent explosive packages headed to the United States was hiding, Yemen's president said on Saturday.

"National security are sealing off a house in which there is a woman believed to have sent the packages," Ali Abdullah Saleh told a news conference, but he did not give the location of the house or any further details.

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Indonesian Volcano Unleashes Biggest Blast Yet

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia-- Clouds of gray ash rumbled down the slopes of Indonesia's most volatile volcano Saturday in its most powerful eruption of a deadly week, prompting soldiers to force reluctant villagers to evacuate amid fears of a larger blast.

On the other side of the archipelago, storms again prevented aid deliveries to increasingly desperate survivors of a tsunami -- including a teenage girl with an open chest wound -- that killed 413 people in the Mentawai islands. Relief workers found some comfort, however, when the number of missing dropped by half to 163 as searchers discovered more survivors and villagers who had fled to the hills returned home.

The simultaneous catastrophes have severely tested the emergency response network. Indonesia lies in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a cluster of fault lines prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Mount Merapi, which sprang back to life early this week, unleashed a terrifying 21-minute eruption early Saturday, followed by more than 350 volcanic tremors and 33 ash bursts, said Surono, chief of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.

The latest spewing of the notoriously unpredictable volcano forced the temporary closure of an airport and claimed another life, bringing the death toll this week to 36.

At least 47,000 people have fled the mountain's wrath, according to the National Disaster Management Agency. Government camps well away from the base were overflowing with refugees, including most of the 11,000 people who live on the mountain's fertile slopes. They were told Saturday, with signs the danger level was climbing, that they should expect to stay for three more weeks.

Despite such warnings, many people have returned to their land to check on precious crops and livestock. The new eruption triggered a chaotic pre-dawn exit, killing a 44-year-old woman who was fleeing by motorcycle, said Rusdiyanto, head of disaster management office in the main city of Yogyakarta.

For the first time Saturday, more than 2,000 troops were called in to help keep villagers clear of the mountain. Camouflaged soldiers stood guard in front of ash-covered homes and local television showed one woman who refused evacuation orders being carried away as she screamed in protest.

Still, the villagers may be later allowed to go back for a few hours a day if the volcano appears to be calm, said Djarot Nugroho, head of the Central Java disaster management agency, adding that they must return to the camps immediately if a new alarm is raised.

"Once the sirens go off, no excuse, everyone has to get back to the camps," he said.

The eruption temporarily forced the closure of the airport in Yogyakarta, 12 miles south of the volcano, because of poor visibility and heavy ash on the south of the runway, said Naelendra, an airport official.

Despite earlier hopes that Merapi's activity might be waning, scientists warned Saturday the worst may be yet to come.

High-pressure gas appeared to be building up behind a newly formed thick magna dome in the crater, "setting the stage, potentially, for a more explosive eruption," said Subandrio, who heads the nearby volcanology center.
"It's a bad sign," he said.

In the tsunami zone, where more than 23,000 people have been displaced, government agencies were forced to pull back boats and helicopters that had been ferrying noodles, sardines and sleeping mats to the most distant corners of the Mentawai islands because of stormy weather and rough seas.

The death toll climbed to 413 Saturday, but officials halved the number of missing people after a total of 135 people were found by searchers or returned home after fleeing to the hills. Volunteer searcher Patigor Siahaan said three children -- aged 6, 7 and 8 -- were discovered in the rubble of their collapsed house, where their parents died. Most of the others were found in small groups.
Rescue workers had hoped to airdrop aid using a plane and four helicopters Saturday, but storms made it too dangerous, said Ade Edward, an official with the provincial disaster management agency.

He said navy ships on their way to the devastated area had been halted by 18-foot waves and were stranded in the port of Padang on Sumatra, one of Indonesia's main islands.
At an overwhelmed hospital in Sikakap, the main town on Pagai Utara island, doctors said they need medical supplies to help about 150 injured survivors. The hospital's swelteringly hot rooms were filled with the moans of patients with flushed, sweat-coated faces.

We need morphine," said Dr. Alyssa Scurrah, who flew in from Sydney, Australia. She said the hospital was desperate for a generator, antibiotics and a chest drain.

One of Scurrah's patients was a 12-year-old girl who was struggling to breathe due to an open chest wound. She clenched her teeth and cried out as a doctor applied cotton pads to the gash along her rib cage.

The doctor said the girl needs to go to Padang for surgery, but no one could get off the island Saturday because of the weather.

"If she stays here, she may not live," Scurrah said.

One bright spot amid the misery: A baby girl was born at the hospital on Friday. The mother was caught in the wave as it slammed into her village, doctors said, but her injuries were not severe and she and her baby were expected to be fine.

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