Submariners World News Sitrep

Three military officers face 20 years in prison for plotting a putsch

­Three Turkish military officers convicted of plotting a coup have been sentenced to 20 years in jail. The Istanbul court reduced the initial life imprisonment verdict. Verdicts are still being read for more than 350 other defendants. Critics say the case is a political one aimed at silencing government opponents.

Three men killed in inmate hunt shootout near US-Mexico border

Three gunmen have been killed after attacking police hunting for inmates who joined in a mass escape from a prison near the US border, Mexican authorities say. The gunmen were in a truck in a residential area of the border city of Piedras Negras when they fired on state police officers Thursday, AP reports. Police were helping look for some of the 131 prisoners who fled a nearby prison early in the week. It was not immediately clear if the dead gunmen were escapees. The truck matches records of a vehicle stolen in San Antonio, Texas.

Troika report on Greece could be delayed until US election

An EU-IMF report on Greece's debt could be delayed until after November 6, EU officials and diplomats say. The EU politicians want to avoid any shock to the global economy before the US presidential election, Reuters said. The report by the “troika” - the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - was expected before a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on October 8. “The Obama administration doesn't want anything on a macroeconomic scale that is going to rock the global economy before November 6,” a senior EU official said. Greece will be kept afloat in the meantime by issuing short-term treasury bills.

Top NATO general rules out military intervention in Syria

The NATO military is telling leaders that there is no good case for military action and the political process has to be pursued instead in Syria, Germany's Manfred Lange, chief of staff of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), has said. The military advice is that “there are not sufficient visible signs at the moment that a military intervention could lead to an improvement of the security situation,” AFP quoted Lange as saying on Friday. “It is clear that the Alliance doesn't have any military plans on Syria,” he added.

Guinea police disperse crowds as ethnic riot spreads

Anti-riot police on Friday dispersed protesters in the Medina market of Guinea's capital, Conakry, after a riot broke out between sellers from the Peul and Malinke ethnic groups. Hostilities between the two largest ethnicities in the country had spread to other parts of the city and in Peul-dominated areas of the capital, AP reports. Tensions have been running high ever since the 2010 presidential election, when Malinke politician Alpha Conde defeated a Peul candidate.

China urges dialogue with Japan over disputed islands

Beijing has urged Japan to return to the track of negotiation to solve issues relating to the Diaoyu Islands. Hong Lei, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made the statement while commenting on a report stating that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will send a special envoy to China. However, Lei said on Friday that next week's 40th anniversary of normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties has been "ruined by Japan's erroneous action of illegally buying the Diaoyu Islands,” Xinhua reports. The spokesman urged Tokyo to “correct the erroneous action and come back to the track of resolving the dispute through dialogue.”

Three Sinai terrorists, Israeli soldier killed at Israeli-Egyptian border

At least three Sinai militants and one Israeli Defense Force soldier died in an exchange of fire near Egyptian-Israeli border. “Three armed terrorists crossed the border into Israel and opened fire at troops securing workers who are building the border fence in the area,” Israeli army spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Avital Leibovich said. Initial reports suggested that the terrorists were also armed with explosive belts and ammunition. The incident occurred in the Ramat Negev Regional Council, an area where Israel has yet to erect a fence.

UN rights chief urges Georgia to investigate prison torture

Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on Georgia on Friday to prosecute prison officers caught on videos torturing and raping inmates. The UN official also said authorities in the former Soviet republic must comply with international laws that ban torture. “We call on the government to ensure that all allegations of such human rights violations… are promptly, impartially, and effectively investigated,” Reuters quoted Pillay's spokesman Rupert Colville as saying. Georgia has ratified the Convention against torture, which allows national and international experts to make unannounced visits to detention facilities.

Myanmar sees largest rally in 5 years

Authorities in Myanmar allowed hundreds to march on Friday through the country's main city in Yangon's largest rally since 2007. People were blocked, however, from rallying in the isolated capital, Naypyitaw, AP said. In both cases, authorities had refused to grant permits to people marking the International Day of Peace. Police did not stop procession in Yangon, which stretched several kilometers through the city. The rally was Yangon’s largest since Buddhist monks led pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007. Those protests were crushed by the former ruling military regime.

Iran stages military hardware parade

Iran marked the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war with a military hardware parade in Tehran on Friday, while President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at the West. In a speech broadcast on state television he said Iran was using "the same spirit and belief in itself" shown in that war to "stand and defend its rights." The president also touched on an anti-Islam film made in America, AFP reports. Ahmadinejad called US government claims it could do nothing to censor the film a "deception" exploiting the pretext of freedom of expression.

Car bomb kills at least 6 in Thailand

­At least six people were killed and over 40 others wounded after a car bomb exploded in a packed market in Thailand's south, officials said. Earlier, insurgents opened fire in Sai Buri town center to lure security troops to the scene. The bomb sparked a fire, which destroyed several shops.

Google to shut China music service

Google Inc. announced on Friday it will close a music download service in China, further reducing its presence in the country. Google said the three-year-old service failed to achieve appropriate market impact and will be shut down October 19, AP reports. The service, available to computers with an internet address in mainland China, was intended as a legal alternative to Chinese pirate music sites. Two years ago the company closed its mainland search engine in a dispute over censorship and computer hacking.

US lifts ban on New Zealand warships

The United States has lifted a ban on visits by New Zealand warships to US Defense and Coast Guard bases around the world. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said during a visit to New Zealand on Friday that Washington would lift restrictions on military exercises and facilitate more talks with New Zealand, Reuters reports. The US-New Zealand defense links were breached in the mid-1980s, when Wellington declared itself nuclear-free and barred its ports to nuclear warships.

India successfully test fires nuclear-capable Agni-III missile

India on Friday test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-III ballistic missile from an island off the Odisha coast. The surface-to-air missile has a strike range of 3000 km and can carry a warhead of 1.5 tonnes. It took off from a mobile launcher at launch complex-4 of Integrated Test Range at Wheeler Island, PTI quoted defense sources as saying. It was the fifth test in the Agni-III, which came two days after the successful trial of the long-range Agni-IV missile.

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French Muslim Council leader urges calm over new cartoons

Mohammed Moussaoui, leader of the French Muslim Council (CFCM) appealed for calm on Friday after a publication of Prophet Mohammed cartoons by the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Moussaoui described the cartoons as “acts of aggression,” but urged French Muslims not to take to the streets for protests, Reuters said. “I repeat the CFCM's call not to protest - any protest could be hijacked and counterproductive,” Moussaoui told RFI radio station.

South African workers strike at another mine

Workers for the night and day shift did not come to work at South African Kopanang mine, which employs about 5,000 people, AngloGold said on Friday. Workers’ demands have not yet been submitted to the company, it added. Four other mines remain closed at Anglo American Platinum and one at Gold Fields as miners insist on higher wages. Lonmin, where the miners’ strike action began last month, announced this week pay increases of 11 to 22 per cent.

South Korean Navy fires warning shots against N. Korean fishing boats

South Korea's Navy has fired warning shots against North Korean fishing boats south of the western sea border, military officials said. Seoul also raised the alert status in response to a number of ships violating the demarcation line over the past week, Yonhap reports. The North Korean boats retreated to north of the border, according to officials. The shots reportedly did not hit the fishing boats. A growing number of North Korean boats have been fishing in waters south of the northern limit line, the de facto maritime boundary between the two Koreas.

Medvedev signs order to establish Russian Public Television

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a resolution establishing an autonomous non-profit organization, Russian Public Television, the government's press service said on Friday. The prime minister’s resolution came as a follow-up to a presidential decree dated April 17, 2012, on the creation of a public TV network, Interfax reports. The entity's charter was confirmed as well. The government will act as the new organization’s founder.

Two suicide bombers kill 15 in Somali restaurant

Two suicide bombers have killed at least 15 people in a restaurant in central Mogadishu, police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Islamist militant group al Shabaab is suspected. Thursday's blasts targeted The Village restaurant, owned by Somali businessman Ahmed Jama, who had returned to his home country from London. The Al-Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for suicide bombings last week near a hotel where President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was holding a news conference two days into the job.

Noda remains Japan’s PM after party leadership vote

Yoshihiko Noda will remain Japan’s prime minister after he easily won a ruling party leadership ballot. He easily beat three contenders, winning 818 points out of a total of 1,231 points in Friday's vote of the Democratic Party of Japan, AP said. Noda, Japan's sixth leader in six years, has been prime minister about a year.

US troop surge leaves Afghanistan

­The United States has announced that the last of the 33,000 troops that were deployed nearly two years ago, to tackle rising Taliban violence, have left Afghanistan. The withdrawal comes as the security transition to Afghan forces is in trouble due to a rise in insider attacks by Afghans against NATO troops. The number of US military personnel left in the country now stands at 68,000 – a significant slump from the 101,000 deployed last year.

Egypt's top Muslim official calls for peaceful reaction to insults

Egypt's highest Islamic legal official, has urged Muslims to endure the insults connected with the anti-Islam film and caricatures peacefully, Reuters reports. Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, condemned the scandalous publication of cartoons ridiculing Prophet Mohammed by a French magazine.  But Gomaa called for restraint, stressing  that Mohammed and his followers had endured "the worst insults from the non-believers of his time.” “But his example was always to endure all personal insults and attacks without retaliation of any sort. There is no doubt that, since the Prophet is our greatest example in this life, this should also be the reaction of all Muslims." Egypt's prestigious Muslim university, Al Azhar, echoed the mufti's statement, saying any protest must be peaceful.

Pussy Riot member’s husband seeks US sanctions

The husband of one of the jailed members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot is seeking US sanctions against Russian officials involved in prosecuting the activists, AP reports. On Thursday, Pyotr Verzilov, the husband of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, met with US lawmakers and aides who’ve worked on the Magnitsky bill, a draft legislation that would impose sanctions on Russian officials, whom the US accuses of human right violations. The members of the provocative punk band were sentenced to two years behind bars for staging an anti-Putin performance in the country’s main Orthodox cathedral in Moscow. Verzilov said he hopes the Magnitsky bill could be used to pressure Russia to release his wife her band members.