Former Georgian minister linked
to prison torture flees country – reports
Bacho
Akhalaya, the former interior minister of Georgia, has left the country under
the cover of night, local media reports. Akhalaya became notorious when tapes
of torture at a Tbilisi prison under his supervision became public last month,
and had to resign. The disgraced minister was a close associate of President
Mikhail Saakashvili, whose party was defeated in a key parliamentary election
on October 1. In the aftermath, there had been speculation that criminal
charges may be pressed against the former minister.
Rally in Moscow commemorates
murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya
Two
hundred people gathered in Moscow to commemorate journalist Anna Politkovskaya,
who was gunned down outside her apartment exactly six years ago. The killers of
the investigative journalist, who was scathingly critical of official state
policies, have still not been convicted. Currently, six men are under arrest in
connection with the murder.
Hundreds rally in Melbourne
against foreign intervention in Syria
Hundreds
of people gathered for the Hands off Syria rally in the city of Melbourne,
Australia, to protest against any kind of foreign intervention. Local
Australian Syrians were holding banners which read “US hands off Syria” and “No
to foreign intervention”. Others were praising Syria President Assad and
thanking Russia and China for their continued support. The crowd of up to 800
people also paid tribute to Maya Naser, a Press TV correspondent who was killed
while reporting from Syria.
Syrian rebels seize army outpost
on Turkish border – witnesses
Syrian
rebels have seized a government army outpost near the Turkish border province
of Hatay, Reuters reported. According to residents in the village of Guvecci,
the rebels raised the flag of the Free Syrian Army after taking control of the
building. Three mortar bombs fired from Syria landed in the village on
Saturday, prompting a fourth day of retaliatory fire from Turkish forces. The
rounds landed on empty land and did not result in any casualties.
France tightens security at
Jewish religious sites
France
has stepped up security measures at Jewish religious locations following blank
bullets being fired on a synagogue west of Paris on Saturday night, which
renewed concerns about anti-Semitism around the country. About eight blank
bullets were fired at the building. No one was hurt in the incident, but the
services were canceled, reports AP. It came hours after police carried out
raids across France targeting a suspected jihadist cell of young Frenchmen
recently converted to Islam.
Spaniards protest against 2013
budget
Spanish
unions are staging a nationwide protest Sunday against civil service cutbacks,
with main demonstrations happening in Madrid. The protest is the latest in a
string of demonstrations, which have been rocking the country that has the
highest level of unemployment in the eurozone. 150 organizations, including
major trade unions CCOO and UGT will come together to protest against country’s
next year budget. Demonstrations are taking place simultaneously in 57 cities.
Kuwait’s emir dissolves
parliament
The
Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, has ordered the dissolution of
the parliament, national media report. The move, which paves the way for a new
election, was widely expected. It is the sixth dissolution of parliament in the
country since 2006. The previous dissolution in June was ordered by Kuwait’s
constitutional court over a technicality, but the new assembly never gathered
because of a boycott by MPs.
Sudanese warplane crashes, 13
troops killed
At
least 13 Sudanese troops were killed and several others injured after a
military plane chased in a rural area east of the capital Khartoum, the army
said. The Antonov An-12 transport plane was traveling from the capital to El
Fasher in the country's strife-torn Darfur region.
US embassy in Pakistan issues
terror alert
The US
embassy in Pakistan has warned Americans in Islamabad to keep their distance
from the central part of the city due to possible terrorist attacks. Certain
government buildings and several hotels popular with Western visitors may be
targeted, the embassy said, citing a tip from the Pakistani Interior Ministry.
There is a protest march underway in Pakistan against the US use of drones in
attacks on Taliban targets. The radical movement however denounced the protest,
saying that its organizer Imran Khan is a secular person and a “slave of the
West.”
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