Thursday, 4 October 2012

Submariners World News SitRep



Chinese rockslide buries 19

A landslide in China’s southwest Yunnan Province has trapped 19 people, 18 of whom are students, local officials report. The incident happened at around 8am (00:00 GMT) and struck the village of Zhenhe. Authorities have evacuated the local populace and deployed rescue teams in the area.

UN to discuss Palestinian status after US presidential elections

­The UN is likely to hold an international debate on whether to upgrade Palestinian status in the UN from an "observer entity'' to a ''sovereign country'', the president of the 193-member UN General Assembly said. The change would mean membership of the International Criminal Court, which would come with the chance to file a raft of complaints against Israel for its continued occupation. At the same time the US insists that any new status can only be created through direct negotiations between the two sides. However, there have been no direct Palestinian talks with Israel on peace since 2010, when the former refused to resume talks unless Israel halts settlement construction in the West Bank.

First US presidential debate kicks off in Denver

­The first presidential debate between the incumbent President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney has started at the University of Denver. The debate will focus on domestic policy, America's sputtering economic recovery and rising US debt. The second presidential debate on October 16 will be at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. and will include questions from the audience in a town-hall setting. In total four debates between the Presidential hopefuls will be held.

Thousands of police protest in Argentina over pay error

­Thousands of police officers have protested across the country after having their salaries slashed by 30 to 60 percent. The government said the cut was due to an administrative error.  In Buenos Aires and other cities police officers took to the streets, chanting "Nobody touches our pay!".  Government chief of staff, Juan Manuel Abal Medina, made assurances that most officers would receive their missing pay immediately. The government promised to investigate the incident and find those responsible for the error.  Police officers vowed to continue demonstrating until the government gives a written response to a list of 20 complaints.

Susan Rice condemns attack on UN peacekeepers in Sudan, calling for justice

­US envoy to the UN, Susan Rice, has condemned the latest attack on UN peacekeepers in Darfur, Sudan, which left four diplomats dead and eight wounded. Rice has called on ''the government of Sudan to bring the killers to justice'', using twitter to voice her concerns. Fears have been growing about the security situation in Darfur, a region familiar to bloody conflict.  The ambush on a United Nations-African Union peacekeeping patrol in El-Geneina took place Tuesday evening.

US orders Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and Taliban pay $6 billion in compensation for 9/11

­A US District Court in New York has formally ordered Al-Qaeda, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Afghanistan's Taliban to pay $6 billion compensation to the victims of the world trade center attacks in 2001. Iran was also listed by the by the US court, despite firmly denying that it had any connection to 9/11.  The total compensation for economic, personal and punitive damages stands at $6,048,513,805

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