Submariners World News SitRep

Israeli airstrike kills 4 Palestinians, including Al-Qaeda-linked leader

The leader of an Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group was one of three Palestinians killed Saturday in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza, AFP quoted a Palestinian security source as saying. The leader, 43-year-old Sheikh Hisham al-Saedini, was one of the founding members of Salafist group the Mujahedeen Shura Council. Early Sunday, another Israeli airstrike killed one member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. One person was also wounded. The strikes came after Gaza militants fired a rocket that exploded in an open field in southern Israel.

Mauritanian soldiers 'mistakenly' shot at and wounded country's president

­Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz was fired at and wounded by soldiers in what officials claimed was an accident. Abdelaziz was wounded in his arm when a military patrol “mistakenly” opened fire on the presidential convoy, they said. Earlier, a local radio station reported that he had survived an assassination attempt. The president was rushed to a hospital for surgery, and will leave the country for further treatment.

Five UK Royal Marines charged in murder of Afghan insurgent

­Five UK Royal Marines have been charged with murder for a 2011 incident in Afghanistan in which an unarmed Afghan insurgent was reportedly killed. Seven officers were arrested on Thursday in connection with the shooting after another Marine reported the incident, breaking the corps' notorious 'code of silence.' The insurgent was reportedly unarmed and captive when the Marines killed him.

Tunisia to hold elections June 2013

­Tunisia's ruling coalition, led by the Islamic Ennahda Movement, announced that presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on June 23, 2013. Ennahda won Tunisia's first free parliamentary vote last October, following the country's revolution, the first of the Arab Spring. The coalition also includes the heads two secular parties, the Congress for the Republic and the Ettakatol.

US demands extradition of Kyrgyzstan ex-president’s son

­Washington has asked London to extradite the arrested son of Kyrgyzstan's ex-president on fraud charges. Maxim Bakiyev, son of former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was arrested in London on Friday at the request of Kyrgyzstan and the United States. "The United States has requested the extradition of Mr. Bakiyev from the United Kingdom to face trial in a US federal court on serious charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and obstruction of justice," the US Embassy Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, said in a statement. The former Kyrgyz leader now lives in Belarus following a bloody uprising in April 2010.

Two US Navy vessels collide off Florida coast

­A US Navy submarine and cruiser have collided in a “group sail” exercise off the northeastern coast of Florida. No injuries have been reported. The submarine’s nuclear powered reactor “was unaffected by this collision,” the Navy says. The incident is currently under investigation.

One dead and two missing after boat capsizes off Cape Town

­One person has been found dead and two remain missing after a sight-seeing boat capsized off South Africa's Cape Town. The Miroshga catamaran was carrying 41 passengers and two crew members when it capsized. Scores have been injured. Divers are still looking for the missing two. It is not yet clear what caused the accident.

Chavez tweets cabinet changes

­Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has boasted the reshuffling of his cabinet on Twitter, days after his re-election. The key post changes include a former anti-drug agency chief General Nestor Reverol as the new interior minister. The shuffle also put new faces in the environment and communications ministries. Chavez on Sunday beat his opposition challenger Henrique Capriles by 11 per cent.

Three missing in Virgin Islands plane crash

­At least three people are missing after a small newspaper delivery plane crashed in the US Virgin Islands, officials report. One person survived the accident, when the Piper PA-23-250 went down just 13 kilometers south of the airport in St. Thomas. The pilot, identified as Kirby Hodge, is among the missing. It is unclear what caused the crash. The airplane’s certification status had been terminated, according to records with the US Federal Aviation Administration.

UK Ministry of Defense to probe private arm deals by former generals

­The British Ministry of Defence has launched an investigation after former military chiefs were reported to have bragged about lobbying top officials to secure private arms contracts for their firms, in breach of Whitehall rules. Senior generals were among those exposed by an undercover Sunday Times story. The paper says all the officers involved have denied the allegations. In response to the claims, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said that former military officers had no influence on how the Ministry of Defence spends its money.

Riot disrupts crucial football match in Dakar

­A fan riot has halted a crucial Africa Cup of Nations game between Senegal and Ivory Coast in a Dakar stadium. The Senegal side's supporters threw projectiles at the field as their team was losing. The Ivorian team's fans responded by storming the pitch to escape the violence. Police had to step in and escort the Ivorian team and their fans out. There were no immediate reports of injuries. "After 40 minutes suspension, the decision was taken to abandon the match," a local official told AFP.

President of Mauritania injured after a shootout in the capital - reports

­Mauritanian President Mohammed Weld Abdulaziz has been hurt during a shootout in the capital city, Nouakchott, Al Arabiya reports. Some reports suggest it was an assasination attempt. He is now in a military hospital with heavy security. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, an Arab country in West Africa, has faced constant turmoil in recent decades.

Syria closes airspace to Turkish civilian flights

­Damascus has placed a ban on Turkish Airlines flying into Syrian airspace effective midnight Saturday, state news agency SANA reports. The agency did not elaborate on the terms. It comes three days after Ankara sent military jets to intercept a Syrian passenger plane, seizing what it claimed to be illegal Russian-made military equipment. The cargo turned out to be radar parts that ”a legal Russian supplier was sending in a legal way to a legal customer,” according to Russia’s FM Sergey Lavrov. He also harshly criticized Turkey for endangering the lives of the flight’s 35 passengers and demanded to know why Russian diplomats and doctors barred from meeting the 17 Russian nationals on board.

Nobel laureate leaves US cancer research project over corporate hijacking

­Nobel laureate Phillip Sharp and six other leading scientists from Texas have walked out of a $3-billion cancer research project for ethical reasons, saying politicians have hijacked the study, placing commercial interests before science. The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) is one of the US’s biggest recipients of federal aid in its field. Now the CPRIT is being accused of making funding with a “suspicion of favoritism,” Sharp wrote in his resignation letter. Those who left say CPRIT commercializes projects by pumping out new drugs instead of funding good research.

Israeli strike on Gaza kills one

­One Palestinian has been killed and another wounded by an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces allege that two men were "terror operatives of the Hashora Council of the Mujahideen, a Gaza-based Global Jihad affiliate." No extremist group in Gaza has confirmed the men’s membership, but the Hashora Council of the Mujahideen did claim responsibility for firing rockets into Israel on Friday.