LRA Rebel Fighter Numbers Dwindling, Officials Say

NAIROBI, Kenya-- The number of soldiers in the rebel Lord's Resistance Army has dwindled to the low hundreds, and without external support the ultraviolent group could soon cease to exist, Uganda's military spokesman said, echoing the findings of a new report.

The Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA, has about 400 fighters, less than half the number the group had two years ago, according to a report from the Enough Project, which was based on interviews with more than five dozen former LRA troops.

Uganda's army spokesman, Felix Kulayigye, told The Associated Press on Tuesday he thinks the current LRA strength is even lower -- 200 fighters. That's far below the strength the LRA had at its height in 2003, when it had 3,000 armed troops and 2,000 people in support roles. Still, the group is extremely dangerous. As recently as May, the LRA killed 36 people and drove 10,000 from their homes in Central African Republic, the U.N. said.

The LRA's leader, Joseph Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, entered the Darfur region of Sudan last month, said Kulayigye. Ugandan forces have been pursuing Kony across central Africa since the launch of a U.S.-supported operation in December 2008, but Ugandan troops cannot follow Kony into Sudan.

Uganda believes that Sudanese officials know Kony is there but don't know whether he is receiving support from the Khartoum government. Khartoum once backed Kony but severed the relationship in 2005, at the signing of a peace agreement between north and south Sudan.

Darfur, Kulayigye said, is a difficult place to operate for Kony, and "he can only stay there if he gets support from the Sudan Armed Forces."

In late 2008 the Ugandan government launched Operation Lighting Thunder, a hunt for Kony's group that forced LRA fighters to scatter in small groups. Pockets of fighters are believed to be operating in Sudan, Congo, and Central African Republic.

The new report, "The Lord's Resistance Army of Today," said that Kony no longer has complete and direct command and control over each LRA unit because they scattered. The LRA is now at its weakest point in 15 years, and Kony has less influence over his troops than ever before, said the report, which was released Monday.

The Ugandan army says its forces have killed almost 400 LRA fighters since the start of Operation Lightning Thunder, according to the report, while warning that "the LRA's propensity for violence remains undiminished."

The LRA is known for vicious attacks against civilians and for abducting and forcing children to become members of the group. The U.N. reported in December that the LRA had killed 1,200 people in northeastern Congo from September 2008 to June 2009. The LRA has cut off lips and ears of survivors.

A team of American doctors from Kansas City was in northern Uganda last week and operated on LRA victims. Dr. David Kriet, a reconstructive surgeon, told AP that the primary LRA-inflicted injuries he operated on were mutilated or amputated ears. The rebels commonly mutilated the ears of those who refused to obey their orders," said Kriet, who traveled to Uganda with the Medical Missions Foundation.

U.S. legislation that was signed into law in May requires the U.S. to develop a strategy by late November to protect civilians from the LRA and to "eliminate" the threat to civilians. The law calls for coordination of U.S. diplomatic, economic, intelligence and military efforts.

Kulayigye said Ugandan forces have long received "invaluable" support from the U.S. military, including intelligence sharing. The report released Monday says U.S. intelligence sources pass on information to Uganda's army about satellite phone calls made by the LRA, but that LRA callers often walk 10 miles (16 kilometers) from their base before placing a call. The U.S. intercepts are passed on about 24 hours after the calls, leaving the LRA time to evade pursuing forces.

Kulayigye said it is possible Sudan could begin supporting the LRA once more, especially if tensions rise between Sudan's north and south ahead of a January independence referendum that could see the south vote to become a new country. But without new support, he said, the LRA's two-decade rampage could soon be finished.

"Minus any external factor the LRA is dying," Kulayigye said.

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Indonesian Volcano Erupts Powerfully; Quake Hits

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia-- Indonesia's deadly volcano erupted Wednesday with its biggest blast yet, shooting searing ash miles into the sky and forcing the hasty evacuations of panicked villagers and emergency shelters near the base.

Soldiers loaded men, women and crying children into trucks as rocks and debris hurled in the air and down the mountain's slopes. No new casualties were reported immediately after the booming explosion that lasted more than an hour.

Oct. 26, said Surono, a state volcanologist.

Tens of thousands of villagers have been evacuated from Mount Merapi, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, since it began erupting just over a week ago, killing 38 people, most from severe burns.

The danger zone was widened Wednesday from six miles from the glowing crater to 9 miles because of the heightened threat.

"I (didn't) think of anything else except to save my wife and son. We left my house and everything," said Tentrem Wahono, 50, who lives in Kaliurang village, about 6 miles from the peak.

He and his family fled on a motorbike, "racing with the explosive sounds as the searing ash chased us from behind."

The last eruption has raised Merapi's status to "crisis" condition, said Andi Arief, a special staff at the presidential office dealing with disaster and social assistance.

235 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanos because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped string of faults that lines the Pacific.

As a reminder of that, a 6.1-magnitude quake hit waters off the eastern province of Papua on Wednesday evening, rattling several villages but causing no known damage or casualties.

The volcano's initial blast on Oct. 26 occurred less than 24 hours after a towering tsunami slammed into remote islands on the western end of the country, sweeping entire villages to sea and killing at least 428 people.

In both cases, relief operations are expected to take weeks, possibly months.

More than 800 miles west of the volcano, helicopters and boats were delivering aid to tsunami survivors in the most distant Mentawai islands, which lies almost directly over the fault that spawned the 2004 Indian Ocean monster quake and wave.

There has been talk in recent days about relocating villagers away from vulnerable coastlines.
"I'm all for it," said Regen, who lives on Pagai Utara island and goes by one name. "We're all terrified now, especially at night, and wouldn't mind moving further inland."

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Earthquake Rattles Central Serbia

Published November 02, 2010

| Associated Press

KRALJEVO, Serbia -- A moderate earthquake rattled central Serbia overnight, damaging buildings, killing at least two people and injuring 50 others, authorities said Wednesday.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake with a 5.3 magnitude struck 75 miles south of the Serbian capital, Belgrade, at 01:56 a.m. Wednesday.

The hardest hit area was around the town of Kraljevo where the trembler destroyed or damaged buildings and left parts of the city without electricity, running water or telephone lines.

Serbia's Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said a couple in their 50s died in a Kraljevo suburb when the roof of their house collapsed, while 50 people were injured elsewhere in the town.

Several mostly older buildings in the town were damaged, including local hospital and the town hall. Several cars were destroyed from falling concrete from the buildings.

Numerous aftershocks were felt Wednesday.

"The most important thing is that people calm down, that there is no panic and that the city authorities function," Dacic said in Kraljevo.

The earthquake was also felt in a wider area of Serbia including Belgrade where people were jolted from their beds, some fleeing their homes in panic.

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Israel: Iran Can Build 1 Bomb, Soon Can Build 2

Published November 03, 2010

| Associated Press

JERUSALEM -- Israel's military intelligence chief says Iran possesses enough enriched uranium to build one nuclear bomb and soon will have enough to produce a second.

Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin's statement coincides with previous assessments from both the CIA and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.

But any Israeli commentary on Tehran's nuclear program is significant because Israel has not ruled out a military strike to try to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Israel, like the West, does not believe Tehran's claims that it is developing nuclear technology to produce energy.

Yadlin spoke to parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee Tuesday. His remarks were reported by meeting participants who spoke on condition of anonymity because the testimony was delivered behind closed doors.

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2 Killed, 50 Injured in Earthquake in Serbia

KRALJEVO, Serbia-- A state of emergency was declared Wednesday in central Serbia after an earthquake rattled the region, killing at least two people and injuring 50 others.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the moderate quake with a 5.3 magnitude struck 75 miles south of the Serbian capital, Belgrade, at 01:56 a.m. Wednesday.

The hardest hit area was around the town of Kraljevo where the trembler destroyed or damaged buildings and left parts of the city without electricity, running water or telephone lines.

Serbia's Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said a couple, both 68, died in a Kraljevo suburb when the roof and the first floor of their house collapsed, while 50 people were injured elsewhere in and around the town.

Serbia's Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic toured the region, meeting the son and the daughter of the victims, promising financial help.

"As far as I understand, many people in the region don't have a place to sleep and they'll have to be placed in collective centers," Cvetkovic told the Associated Press.

Several mostly older buildings in Kraljevo, the town of some 70,000 people, were damaged, including local hospital and the town hall. Several cars were destroyed from falling concrete from the buildings.

"I had a house with a chimney which is now gone," said Milos Vukomanovic, a resident of the Vitanovac village near Kraljevo which was the epicenter of the quake, as he repaired the roof of the building with cracked walls and shattered windows.

The residents of Kraljevo cleared the rubble and assessed the damage from the quake.
"In shops, cafes and houses everything was on the floor this morning," said Marta Jakic, a shop owner.

Numerous aftershocks were felt Wednesday.

"The most important thing is that people calm down, that there is no panic and that the city authorities function," Dacic said in Kraljevo.

The earthquake -- the strongest in Serbia since 2000 -- was also felt in a wider area of the Balkan state including Belgrade where people were jolted from their beds, some fleeing their homes in panic. The trembler was also felt in neighboring Romania, Croatia and Macedonia.

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Clash Between Militants and Yemen Troops Kills 3

Published November 03, 2010

| Associated Press

SAN'A, Yemen -- A Yemeni security official says militants have attacked a military checkpoint in the country's south. He says the ensuing firefight killed one of the attackers and two soldiers.
The official says the assault took place on Wednesday in the town of Jaar in the southern Abyan province.

The official blamed the attack on Al Qaeda militants. He says clashes are continuing between militants and security forces in the area and that he expects casualties.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.
Yemen's weak central government is struggling with a growing threat from Al Qaeda, which has stepped up attacks in the impoverished and largely lawless country.

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Mom in Spain Happy That Her 10-Year-Old Gave Birth

MADRID -- A Romanian Gypsy woman whose 10-year-old daughter just gave birth in Spain says she's delighted to have a new granddaughter and doesn't understand why the birth has shocked anyone -- let alone become an international sensation.

Spanish authorities have released few details about the case to protect the girl's privacy.

But in comments published Wednesday, her mother told reporters the baby's father is a 13-year-old boy who is still in Romania and is no longer going out with her daughter.

The 10-year-old girl and her baby daughter plan to stay in Spain because the young couple separated, said the girl's mother. She identified herself only as Olimpia and appeared to be in her 30s but did not give her age.

She also said she didn't understand the attention the case was generating because she and her daughter are Romanian Gypsies, or Roma, and their custom is to allow girls to marry young even though that's against the law in Romania.

"That's the way we get married," the girl's mother told reporters Tuesday outside the modest apartment building in the southern town of Lebrija where the family lives.

Meanwhile, the story was going viral on the Internet and causing an uproar in Spain.

"Mother at 10 years old" blared a headline in Barcelona's La Vanguardia newspaper, which dedicated two pages to the story.

The girl moved to Spain about three weeks ago, her mother said, and her baby was born in a public hospital last week in the nearby city of Jerez de la Frontera. There were no complications during the birth, and the 10-year-old and her baby are doing fine, her mother said.

"She's doing well and is very happy with her daughter," the woman said.

Under Spanish law, having consensual sex with someone under age 13 is classified as child abuse. But a Justice Ministry official said this particular case is complicated, because the alleged father is not in Spain and is also a minor. It is not clear whether he could be charged, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of ministry policy.

Romanian law allows girls to get married at age 16 with parental consent, or at 18 without it.

But arranged "marriages" between teenagers are relatively common among Roma, who make up about 1.5 million of Romania's 22 million people. Families "marry off" daughters when they reach puberty, with the "husband" usually being a couple of years older. The marriages are not recognized by the state.

Roma girls are often not encouraged to pursue a full education, and Romanian authorities do not widely enforce education laws that require children to attend school until age 16.

In 2003, there was an international outcry after the European Union envoy to Romania, Baroness Emma Nicholson, demanded that a 12-year-old Roma girl and her 15-year-old common-law husband separate and cease all intimate relations until they were legally able to be married.

News about the 10-year-old mother barely registered in Romania, with stories buried inside newspapers focusing on the controversy the birth had caused among Spaniards.

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Haiti Wants Major Camp Evacuated Ahead of Storm

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- It was the jewel of Haiti's post-earthquake recovery: an organized relocation camp with thousands of tents billed as hurricane-resistant, lined up in neat rows on graded mountain soil.

Now, staring down an expected hit later this week from a hurricane, officials say Corail-Cesselesse is not safe. On Tuesday, the government advised the estimated 7,850 residents of its primary relocation camp to ride out the storm somewhere else.

"We're asking people in Corail to voluntarily move from where they are and go to the houses of family or friends. The places the government has identified are churches and schools that are available for shelter from the storm," Haiti civil protection official Abel Nazaire told The Associated Press.

Camp managers held a "loudspeaker meeting" with megaphones to tell residents about the evacuation order, said Bryant Castro, the American Refugee Committee staffer managing the camp. Residents were told to seek any home they could find and are expected to start leaving as soon as Wednesday.

A hurricane over the weekend, Tomas weakened to a tropical depression early Wednesday with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph.

"This short-term trend is sort of baffling at this point," said Dave Roberts, hurricane specialist at National Hurricane Center in ort-au-Prince, Les Cayes, Gonaives and Cap-Haitien. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said rainfall of up to 5 inches could cause catastrophic floods in the severely deforested country.

Aid workers are scrambling to prepare but are badly short of supplies including shelter material because of the responses already under way to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake and an unprecedented cholera outbreak that has killed more than 330 people and hospitalized more than 4,700.

A U.S. Navy vessel, the amphibious warship Iwo Jima, was steaming toward Haiti on Tuesday to provide disaster relief.

Some of the biggest concern is for 1.3 million earthquake survivors still living under tarps and tents nearly 10 months after the disaster. The government said there are some shelters in the capital -- a handful have been built in nearby Leogane and several hours north in Gonaives -- but basically people will be on their own if Tomas hits.

"The government doesn't have shelters for 1,300,000 people," Nazaire said.

An enormous international aid effort flowed into Haiti in the immediate wake of the quake, but reconstruction has barely begun, in part because donors have not come through with promised funds. The United States has not provided any of the $1.15 billion in reconstruction aid it pledged last March.

When Corail opened in April, it was portrayed as a model for how camps could be built and run. A joint effort by the Haitian government and international aid groups, including U.N. peacekeepers and U.S. military engineers, it was billed as a refuge from dangerous ' she said.

"We knew a hurricane was going to come -- this is Haiti, this always happens -- and we have not had a level of reconstruction that gets people under tents into houses."

At this point there is little to be done before the storm. Romelus said his family -- his wife, two daughters ages 2 and 5, a sister and nephews -- will stay in the camp unless the government can provide shelter. They have nowhere else to go.

"God will protect me. I'm not going to be the only one (staying Corail). If something happens, we'll deal with it," he said. "If they could have moved more quickly and built more houses, it would have been safer."

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WFP to Allow Donor Nations to Review Confidential Audit Documents

The nations that pay the bills of the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) are getting the chance for a better look into the workings of the huge food aid agency—but not a lot better.

More than a year after a WFP administrative document revealed that the agency’s internal auditors had discovered “numerous” irregularities in the way the program reported its multimillion-dollar financial and commodity management in North Korea, WFP’s 36-country supervisory Executive Board is about to allow curious nation-states—including those, like the U.S., that are its biggest donors --to look at similar confidential audit documents for the very first time.

But only if they ask precise questions and promise to behave once access is granted.

And as for any internal WFP audits from the past—including those that itemized WFP’s “lapses,” “anomalies” and inconsistencies in reporting what happened to food aid and financial management in dictatorial North Korea—they will remain secret forever, so far as the food agency is concerned.

Nonetheless, WFP itself is hailing the action as an affirmation of its “commitment to transparency and accountability in all its activities and decision-making.”

That transparency, however, is still notably lacking in the case of North Korea, a habitually belligerent country that has been under international financial and other sanctions for years in a bid to stop, or at least slow down, its illegal nuclear weapons program. Only relief supplies for the neediest of North Korea’s starving millions of people have been trickling in.

Those efforts at financial pressure have not been far successful. Even as WFP’s Executive Board prepared to approve its new and still limited disclosure policy at a four-day meeting that starts Nov. 8, press reports have indicated North Korea is preparing for a third illicit nuclear weapons test.

WFP’s circumspection about its internal audit documents has been longstanding. But it reached a crescendo of sorts in September, after Fox News revealed the highlights of an internal audit that found “inconsistent data and unreliable information systems” and “numerous anomalies” in reporting management of WFP relief supplies in the country.

WFP claimed that there were only “a small number of inconsistencies in commodity accounting that have subsequently been addressed.” But the document uncovered by Fox News strongly suggested otherwise. Click here to read more on this from Foxnews.com.

The agency regards the audits as management tools—as do many other U.N. agencies and programs. Even powerful contributors like the U.S., which traditionally provides at least 22 per cent of WFP funds, WERE barred from viewing them.

According to the guidelines WFP’s Executive Board is about to approve, curious nations must apply in writing, and name the specific report they wish to read. They must also supply their reasons for wanting to look, and promise to keep anything they read confidential. Just to be sure, they won’t get a copy. They will instead be allowed to read one only in the office of WFP’s inspector general. No copying or note-taking is allowed during what the rules call a “consultation.”

Even that scrutiny may take a long while. Before agreeing to make a copy of any report available, WFP will notify any government specifically singled out in the audit, giving them a chance to read it as well, and comment. The new disclosure period says that reaction can take a “reasonable time,” without spelling out what’s reasonable. And if the report is deemed sensitive enough, it can be redacted--or even withheld entirely.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PROPOSED POLICY

Adding to the potential complexity is that fact that some of WFP’s biggest food aid recipients are also on its Executive Board—a circumstance that any bureaucrat might consider very sensitive.

Among them: Sudan, the strife-torn area where WFP conducts a program that it says is its largest in the world; Democratic Republic of Congo, where WFP spent $259 million last year and, according to its website, wants to spend $198 million in 2010; Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest nations; and battered Haiti.

Three of those countries—Haiti, Congo and Sudan, in that order, are listed among the worst on Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index; Burkina Faso sits back in the middle of the international pack at Number 98.

George Russell is Executive Editor of Fox News

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Israel Cuts Off Special Dialogue With Britain

JERUSALEM -- Israel has suspended a special strategic dialogue with London as long as Israeli officials visiting Britain face possible arrest for suspected war crimes against Palestinians, officials said Wednesday.

The announcement came as British Foreign Secretary William Hague met with senior Israeli officials Wednesday in Jerusalem. Officials from both countries said the matter would be high on the agenda of Hague's visit, and the British Foreign Office said it was working to resolve the matter.

A number of Israeli officials have been threatened with possible prosecution in Britain under the law of "universal jurisdiction," which contends that crimes against humanity are so egregious that they can be prosecuted even if they were not committed in the United Kingdom.

The two countries announced the dialogue two years ago to boost relations and cooperation on security and diplomatic issues, but Israel put them on hold at the beginning of the year after former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni canceled a trip to London for fear of arrest.

Pro-Palestinian activists have filed lawsuits against Israeli officials to punish them for military operations against Palestinians.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel's relations with Britain are "very good," but the existing law "makes it impossible to conduct dialogue at the highest levels."

British courts have issued arrest warrants for Israeli officials, and though no one has been arrested, the repeated attempts to prosecute have strained ties between the two countries.

The fear of arrest has prompted a number of Israeli political and military officials to cancel trips to the U.K. On Monday, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor became the latest, backing out of a planned speech to a pro-Israel British group after being advised that he risked arrest.

Palmor said the threat of prosecution is at the top of Israel's agenda for discussion with the British foreign secretary.

"It is important that Israeli politicians are able to visit the UK," Hague told reporters, noting that the British parliament is working to change the law so that a "universal jurisdiction" arrest "would have to be one that had a reasonable prospect of prosecution, so that it is not used for trivial or political reasons."

The British parliament discussed the issue of "mischievous arrest warrants" in July and will soon propose a bill to amend the law, according to Britain's Foreign Office.

With Israeli-Palestinian peace talks stalled again, British officials said Hague would repeat British criticism of West Bank settlements. He planned to tell Israeli leaders that the "window for a two-state solution is closing" and that the U.S.-led peace process is the best possibility for the two sides to hold talks, British officials said.

The latest round of talks, launched at the White House in September, quickly broke down over Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank.

The British Foreign Secretary's two-day trip to the region includes meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Hague met Wednesday with Palestinians who demonstrate weekly against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank, which cuts off some Palestinian villages from their farm land. Israel says the barrier is needed to keep out attackers.

Hague praised the idea of nonviolence and listened to the accounts of the activists. The group stood on a hill overlooking an Israeli military prison camp in the West Bank.

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Australia: Terror Attack in Manila May Be Imminent

MANILA, Philippines -- The United States and Australia warned of possible terrorist attacks in Manila and the southern Philippines, sparking a security alarm in the bustling capital Wednesday with additional deployments of police patrols and intelligence agents.

Although the U.S. and Australia have previously issued similar security alerts for the volatile southern Philippines, where Muslim rebels and al-Qaida militants are active, both specifically mentioned Manila as a possible target in their latest travel advisories.

Australia, citing unspecified but reliable reports, said an attack in the capital may be "imminent."

Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Wednesday that the military and police have not monitored any specific threat but that the government is taking no chances.

The Western countries, along with Britain, warned their citizens visiting the Philippines to stay away from shopping malls, convention centers and places frequented by foreigners. The warnings did not identify the source of the threat or release other details.

"Reliable reports indicate that terrorist attacks may be imminent in Manila," said Australia's advisory posted on a government website.

U.S. and Australian embassy officials contacted by The Associated Press did not elaborate on their governments' advisories.

British Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Colin Crorkin said his country's assessment of the high risks of terrorist strikes in the Philippines had not changed but added that his government recently included additional possible targets such as airports, malls and places of worship.

A Philippine official said the warnings may have come from a confidential terrorist threat assessment report by Western security officials indicating that unspecified Muslim extremists may attack a popular Manila mall, a trade center and political figures, including Manila-based diplomats. The official, who monitors security threats, spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to talk to the press.

Gazmin told the AP that the government sent intelligence agents to verify the threat. Authorities also plan to ask the U.S., Australian and British embassies to provide more details.

"We are taking this seriously, and we know that this is creating apprehension," Gazmin said. "We have deployed intelligence agents but they have not come back with anything specific."

He said he discussed with the military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Ricardo David, the possible deployment of marines in shopping malls and other public areas. However, Gazmin was reluctant to immediately take that step because it has been criticized in the past by leftist lawmakers.

The Philippines, including its capital, has been hit by deadly terrorist attacks in the past.

Despite years of battle setbacks, Muslim militants, including those from the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, have continued to plot attacks, at times collaborating with Indonesian militants belonging to the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network, according to the military.

Abu Sayyaf militants were blamed for the bombing of an inter-island ferry in Manila Bay in 2004, setting off an inferno that killed 116 people in Southeast Asia's second-worst terrorist strike.

The militants also claimed responsibility for Feb. 14, 2005 bombings of a bus in Manila's Makati financial district and two other southern towns that killed eight people and wounded more than 100 others.

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New Eruption at Indonesian Volcano

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia -- Indonesia's most dangerous volcano sent searing gas clouds down its scorched flanks Wednesday, while in the country's other disaster zone, tsunami survivors were thinking twice about rebuilding homes along battered coastlines.

The twin disasters, which unfolded simultaneously just over a week ago, have claimed nearly 470 lives and sent tens of thousands fleeing to crowded emergency shelters. They were settling in for the long haul Wednesday, with relief operations expected to take weeks, possibly months.

No casualties were reported in Mount Merapi's latest blast, which spewed hot ash and fiery rocks three miles  down the mountain's largely evacuated slopes at 8:11 a.m.

"This was a big one," said Safari Dwiyono, a state volcanologist, who believes multiple eruptions since the mountain sprang back to life on Oct. 26 has helped ease pressure building up inside the crater.

The government has ordered airlines to circumvent Merapi for safety reasons and two international carriers briefly canceled flights altogether to airports in nearby Yogyakarta and Solo.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 235 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanos because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped string of faults that lines the Pacific.

More than 800 miles west of the volcano, helicopters were delivering aid to the most distant Mentawai islands, where an Oct. 25 tsunami killed 431 people and destroyed hundreds of homes.

There has been talk in recent days about relocating villagers away from vulnerable coastlines.

"I'm all for it," said Regen, who lives on Pagai Utara island and goes by one name. "We're all terrified now, especially at night, and wouldn't mind moving further inland."

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Al Qaeda Member Arrested in Britain, UK Official Says

Published November 03, 2010

| Associated Press

LONDON -- Britain's top law enforcement official says that an Al Qaeda operative was arrested in Britain earlier this year.

Home Secretary Theresa May says that the operative was a member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and was arrested on suspicion of plotting a terror attack against the U.K.

She gave no further details.

The Home Office did not immediately respond to a request seeking additional information about the arrest. It remains unclear when the alleged Al Qaeda operative was arrested or whether he or she is in prison or faces trial.

May's brief reference to the arrest was made Wednesday during a speech on terrorism at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

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US Missile Strike Kills 5 Militants in Pakistan

Published November 03, 2010

| Associated Press

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- A U.S. drone strike hit a vehicle in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing five suspected militants, two Pakistani intelligence officials said.

It was the second strike this month targeting Pakistani Taliban and foreign militants seeking sanctuary in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

The unmanned aircraft fired missiles at a vehicle in the Qutab Khel area of Miran Shah, the main town in the region. The slain insurgents were from Uzbekistan, the officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, provided no further details and said their agents were still trying to get more details.

North Waziristan is too dangerous for outsiders to visit and independently confirm the attacks. U.S. officials do not acknowledge firing the missiles, much less discuss who they are targeting.

Insurgents based in North Waziristan are blamed for attacking U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

There were at least 20 such U.S. missile strikes in the region in October.

Government officials were not immediately available for comment. Pakistan has publicly denounced the drone attacks and urged Washington to transfer technology to Islamabad so that its military could launch any such attacks.

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2 Get Life in Prison After Fatal Florida Mall Shooting

Published November 02, 2010

| Associated Press

MIAMI-- Two men convicted of charges arising from the shooting death of an armored truck guard at a suburban Miami mall have been sentenced to life in prison.

A federal judge in Miami sentenced 25-year-old Emmanuel Maxime and 26-year-old Dwight Carter on Tuesday.

Maxime was convicted in August of conspiracy, robbery and using a firearm in connection with the robbery. Carter was convicted a month earlier on counts of using a firearm in connection with the robbery, drug trafficking and causing the death.

Authorities said 51-year-old Carlos Alvarado, who worked two security jobs to support his family, was killed in the Dec. 1, 2008 shooting at the Dadeland Mall.

In February, two women who served as lookouts were each sentenced to about 20 years in prison.

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Methane Forces Investigators Out of West Virginia Mine

Published November 03, 2010

| Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Government investigators evacuated Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch mine after encountering methane gas while searching for clues to the deadliest U.S. coal mine explosion in four decades.

Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere says the evacuation occurred Monday.

She says methane started to accumulate while crews were pumping water from a flooded section of the southern West Virginia mine.

Methane occurs naturally in coal seams and poses one of mining's greatest hazards. The gas can explode at concentrations between 5 percent and 15 percent of the atmosphere.

MSHA suspects the Upper Big Branch explosion started with a methane ignition. The April 5 blast killed 29 coal miners.

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Pennsylvania Man Breaks Into Empty Home, Lives There 3 Days, Cops Say

Published November 03, 2010

| Associated Press

LEBANON, Pa. -- Police have charged a central Pennsylvania man with breaking into an unoccupied home and living there for three days.

State police say 23-year-old Adam Rodriguez duped a construction company into thinking he would purchase the $450,000 home in North Annville Township, Lebanon County. Instead, police say Rodriguez broke in, changed the security code on the garage door and moved in his furniture.

Rodriguez was arrested Monday and charged with burglary, criminal trespass and theft of services. He was awaiting arraignment.

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Small Automakers See Big Gains in October Sales

NEW YORK –  A handful of automakers reported Tuesday that their U.S. sales increased in October from a year ago, but the final tally won't be in for another day.

October sales are expected to come in slightly below 1 million vehicles, hitting around 12 million on a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate. Sales in October were uneven, coming in strong some days and really weak on others.

Election day split the reporting of auto sales, with the larger automakers, including Ford Motor Co. and General Motors, expected to come out with their numbers Wednesday.

Hyundai Motor America, the largest automaker to report Tuesday, said its U.S. sales rose 38 percent last month to 42,656 vehicles from 31,005 the previous year.The gain was led by sales of the Sonata, which totaled 17,505. That was more than double a year ago. The automaker introduced turbo and hybrid versions of the model.

Kia Motors America said its sales increased 39 percent to 31,199 vehicles, while the BMW Group said it saw a gain of 13 percent to 23,222 vehicles.

Subaru's sales rose by a quarter to 22,720 vehicles, boosted by sales for its Outback, Forester and Legacy Sedan models. And Volkswagen's Jetta pushed the company sales up 18 percent in October to 20,084 autos.

Smaller automakers Porsche Cars North America Inc. and Suzuki Auto also booked gains in October sales.

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Attorneys Cite Mitigating Factors in Deadly Conn. Home Invasion

Published November 03, 2010

| Associated Press

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Attorneys for a Connecticut man convicted of a deadly home invasion say he should be spared the death penalty because he was in a "state of intense rage, despair and confusion" during the crimes and is deeply remorseful for what he did.

Attorneys for Steven Hayes filed a list of mitigating factors in New Haven Superior Court on Wednesday.

Hayes was convicted last month of murdering a woman and her two daughters in a home invasion in Cheshire in 2007.

The defense also cited Hayes' abusive childhood and history of drug addiction. Hayes' lawyers say his co-defendant was the mastermind.

The jury must weigh the mitigating factors against aggravating factors cited by prosecutors, including the heinous and cruel nature of the deaths.

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