Poland's President Lech Kaczynski will sign the EU's controversial Lisbon Treaty on Sunday, a top aide has said. The Polish parliament has already approved the treaty, and of the 27 EU member states only Poland and the Czech Republic are yet to ratify Lisbon. Mr Kaczynski, a Eurosceptic, had said he would wait for the Irish voters' verdict before signing the treaty. Ireland backed the treaty in a second referendum on 2 October. Lisbon is aimed at streamlining EU institutions... click here for more on this story from, The BBC.

The French culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand, last night faced calls for his resignation over an autobiography published four years ago in which he described paying "young boys" for sex while travelling abroad. Mitterrand was the first major political figure to leap to the defence of the film director Roman Polanski when he was arrested in Switzerland last month facing deportation to the United States for having had sex with a 13-year-old girl there in 1977. Mitterrand's impassioned comments in support of Polanski, who had initially faces charges of rape, and against an "a frightening America", were controversial and the French government eventually distanced itself... click here for more on this story from, The Guardian.

At least 30 people were killed Friday in an explosion that rocked a crowded market in the northwestern city of Peshawar, local government officials said. More than 60 people also were wounded in the blast, according to Mian Iftikhar, the provincial information minister, who said the death toll was likely to rise. Some news agencies put the number of dead at more than 40. The explosion, apparently caused by a bomb planted in a white vehicle, occurred in a busy market in the old quarter of Peshawar, the capital of the restive North-West Frontier Province. Peshawar has been a frequent target of attacks by Taliban militants. The blast came as the provincial assembly was in session about a half-mile away, and local television coverage showed legislators emerging from the building and making calls on their cell phones. The explosion, which created a thick cloud of smoke that could be seen several miles away, also destroyed several vehicles and damaged the façades of nearby buildings. Television footage showed the charred wreckage of a commuter bus.

Meanwhile, Rehman Malik, the Pakistani interior minister, said Friday that investigators have made one arrest and identified those involved in the suicide bombing of the headquarters of the World Food Program in Islamabad. Five people died in the blast on Monday, four Pakistanis and an Iraqi.For New York Times full article, click here.

The AFP: Israeli police were on high alert on Friday as Palestinians called a strike in defence of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound following clashes at the flashpoint site sacred to Muslims and Jews. "We have deployed thousands of people in Jerusalem and in the north of Israel following incitation by extremists," a senior police official told public radio. Officials were particularly concerned about the situation in predominantly Arab east Jerusalem and Arab-Israeli cities. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's secular Fatah party on Thursday called for demonstrations and a strike in Palestinian territories, including annexed east Jerusalem, "to peacefully protest and to proclaim the attachment of the Palestinian people to their holy places and to Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the independent Palestinian state." The party also condemned what it called "the complicity of Israeli forces with Jewish rightwing extremists" and accused them of "allowing (extremists) access to the mosque compound.... while denying it to the (Muslim) faithful." Israeli police have meanwhile accused the Islamic Movement of inciting tension and this week briefly detained its leader, Sheikh Raed Salah, whom they said had made "inflammatory statements."

The Irish father of a two-year-old girl who went missing in New Zealand on Monday said today he and his wife are “barely existing” without their daughter. Aisling Symes was with her parents, Alan and Angela, who were tidying up a property in the Auckland suburb of Henderson, when she disappeared about 5.30pm on Monday. About 40 police are involved in the inquiry and have been tracking down known offenders and knocking on doors and as they hunt for whoever may have abducted Aisling. Speaking at a news conference, Mr Symes said: “These recent days have proven to be the most harrowing of our lives. [We’ve had] no sleep and we feel like we’re barely existing, [just] surviving every moment, not knowing where Aisling is. “Is she near us, or has she been moved far away? Is she being treated well? Things like has her nappy been changed?” Angela Symes was said to be too distraught to speak at the briefing. Mr Symes had his arm round her at all times. He pleaded for their daughter’s safe return. “Aisling is our two-year-old daughter, sister to Caitlin, a cousin and a beloved niece and granddaughter. We want her back. So please, if you have any information, any at all, please come forward,” he said. As they were led out of the police briefing room, Ms Symes reportedly broke down in the hallway.

It has been twenty days since severe weather conditions has affected the northern portions of the Philippines particularly the main island of Luzon where much of the nation's population and industrial base is located. In the last ten days alone a single severe weather condition, originally a typhoon and now downscaled to a tropical deppression code name Parma has been affecting the northern portions of Luzon island. Two weeks earlier, typhoon Ketsana and then prevailing monsoon conditions inudated the Philippine capital Metro Manila in a matter of 3 hours of rain, the total volume of rainfall for the whole month of September. To date, close to 3 million residents living in the eastern portions of the capital are still coping with knee high floods, losing properties and causing the death to almost 500 individuals. The nearby lake system is 7 meters above its regular levels and remains a threat to at least seven local government units or towns including half of the province of Rizal. Relief operations continue but most residents who left refugee centers returned to homes destoryed by floods and are still under water. Wednesday this week, living in flooded homes, the situation became worst when a main power sub station distributing power to the eastern sections of the capital burned down and will take a week before regular power restored. Power outtages have been scheduled on rotating periods of twice a day rendering flooded homes in the dark for at least 3 hours. The weather bureau announced that the monsoon season is over sparing the capital of more unwanted rains when typhoon Parma threatened the country last week. However, the typhoon remained stalled in the waters surrounding the island of Luzon and for three times crossed from the Pacific into South China Sea thrashing the northern portions of Luzon island, weakening crossing the islands, gaining strength as soon as it reached a body of water and returning again into the island to dump heavy rains. In the last five days, the island's northern and central portions continue to submerge in nearly seven feet of water, flooding the whole island, towns and villages killing close to at least a hundred people who tried to escape rising waters. Seven major dam systems or water resorvoirs have dumped water as rains continue to serve as threat to breach the dam's earth walls. Close to 12 million residents in central and nothern Luzon are affected, close to 80% of the northern island is now under water. Rescue operations continue with more relief rubber boats, military and civilian helicopters scooping up trapped residents hanging in trees, power lines and on top of roofs. A thousand shoppers were trapped in a large shopping mall in the town of Dagupan City in the western section of the island. The vacation capital of the Philippines, Baguio City located at the Cordillera Mountains has been submerged in 7 meter high waters and is now isolated by landslides leading up and down the mountain city. Government engoneers fear it would take at least amonth in good weather condition for back hoes to scale up the mountains and reach the city of Baguio, home to a million residents. External aid is slowly arriving into the country originally designated for the victims of Typhoon Ketsana but the Philippines faces more tragedy with more residents in its vastly agricultural north laid to waste by flood waters. A delegation of United States marines and six Chinook helicopters were sent from its base in Okinawa in Japan to the Philippines but the vast reach and scope of the floods render the American assistance stretched to the limits of their abilities. The weather bureau expects Typhoon Parma to cross into the South China Sea at a very slow pace within the next five days, with concerns that the typhoon can still bring more rains into the island of Luzon.

Reuters: A bomb attack on India's Kabul embassy may have been aimed at limiting India's role in Western efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, at a time when the United States is re-examining strategy in the 8-year-long Afghan war. Insurgent militants would like to force India to scale down its presence in Afghanistan, where New Delhi is spending $1.2 billion on projects supporting the U.S.-backed government's development drive, important to gaining popular support. The Taliban have quickly claimed responsibility for Thursday's blast which killed 17 people. But many in India also see the hand of Pakistan, which competes with India for strategic space in Afghanistan and considers it a fall-back position in the event of war with India. The Indian government has not yet pointed a finger of blame at anyone, while Pakistan has condemned the attack. Hindu majority India seeks to retain influence in Afghanistan to deter anti-India militant training camps there -- which it accuses Pakistan of backing -- and to more generally try to counter a militant Islamic surge threatening regional security. An assault blamed on Islamic militants killed 166 people in Mumbai last November.

AP: Gunmen wearing military uniforms and wielding assault rifles and grenades attacked Pakistan's army headquarters Saturday, sparking a ferocious gunbattle outside the capital that left four of the assailants and eight soldiers dead, authorities said. Two of the attackers managed to infiltrate the heavily fortified compound in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, and troops were trying to flush them out hours after the initial assault, an intelligence official said. An Associated Press reporter at the scene heard four gunshots from inside the compound — long after an army spokesman said the situation was under control. The audacious assault was the third major militant attack in Pakistan in a week and came as the government said it was planning an imminent offensive against Islamist militants in their strongholds in the rugged mountains along the border with Afghanistan. It showed that the militants retain the ability to strike at the very heart of Pakistan's security apparatus despite recent military operations against their forces and the killing of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in a CIA drone attack in August. The attack began shortly before noon when the gunmen, dressed in camouflage military uniforms, drove in a white van up to the army compound and tried to force their way inside, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said. The assailants shot at the guards at one checkpoint, killing some of them, and then jumped out of the van and ran toward a second checkpoint, he said. Abbas said the guards were likely confused by the attackers' uniforms. The heavily armed attackers then took up positions throughout the area, hurling at least one grenade and firing sporadically at security forces, said a senior military official inside the compound. The official, who said top army officials were trapped in the compound during the assault, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. After a 45-minute gunfight, four of the attackers were killed, said Abbas, who told the private Geo news television channel the assault over and the situation "under full control." But at least two more gunmen had slipped into the headquarters compound and eluded security forces for several hours, according to an intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Troops were closing in on the men and trying to capture or kill them, the official said. The fighting killed eight soldiers, he said. Abbas later acknowledged the operation was ongoing in Rawalpindi, which is adjacent to the capital of Islamabad. Rawalpindi is filled with security checkpoints and police roadblocks. Khan Bahadur, a shuttle van driver, was standing outside the gate of the compound when the white van pulled up, and shooting erupted. "There was fierce firing, and then there was a blast. Soldiers were running here and there," he said. "The firing continued for about a half-hour. There was smoke everywhere. Then there was a break, and then firing again." The gunbattle was the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani cities, following a car bombing that killed 49 on Friday in the northwestern city of Peshawar and the bombing of a U.N. aid agency Monday that killed five in Islamabad. The man who attacked the U.N. was also wearing a security forces' uniform and was granted entry to the compound after asking to use the bathroom. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which appeared to be a message to the army that the militants intend to ramp up their strikes across the country in response to the government's planned offensive against Taliban strongholds in the border region of South Waziristan.

VOA: Turkey and Armenia have signed an agreement to normalize relations after a century of hostilities - despite a last minute glitch that nearly derailed the landmark agreement. Strong differences between the neighboring countries stem from the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces during and after World War I. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spent several hours Saturday working to resolve a last-minute dispute over statements to be made at the signing ceremony in the Swiss city of Zurich. In the end, neither Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian nor his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, spoke after signing the protocols to restore diplomatic ties and to reopen their sealed border.

 

A Libyan man threw a bomb at an Italian army barracks in Milan early Monday and was injured in the explosion, losing one of his hands, police said. An Italian soldier was slightly hurt in the attack at the Santa Barbara barracks near San Siro soccer stadium. Police identified the man as a Libyan aged about 35 but had no immediate indication of the motive for the attack... click here for more on this story from, The New York Times.

An intense fire broke out in a slum in South America's largest city, sending local people running across rooftops to escape the flames. There were no immediate reports of deaths in Diogo Pires, a small shantytown in western Sao Paulo that is home to about 300 families. Two people sought medical treatment for smoke inhalation, according to fire officials. Brazilian television broadcasts showed flames leaping 20 metres into the air as some inhabitants fled and others helped firefighters battle the blaze with hoses and buckets of water... click here for more on this story from, The Independent.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday he is pushing for a vote on a United Nation's report that accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during the Gaza war, reversing a decision that has left him at the lowest point of his presidency.Also on Sunday, Washington's special Mideast envoy wrapped up his latest round of shuttle diplomacy in the region, again having failed to persuade Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks.Abbas' renewed push for a vote on the war crimes report in the U.N. Human Rights Council reverses his decision earlier this month to delay voting for six months. Palestinian officials withdrew their support under what Palestinian and U.S. officials said was heavy U.S. pressure.This decision sparked sharp criticism across Palestinian society, with Abbas and his aides scrambling to repair the damage."I have instructed our ambassador in Geneva to contact the groups to have an exceptional session of the council, and to move in this direction until in the end, having those who committed the worst, ugliest crimes against our people punished," Abbas said.It remained unclear on Sunday if renewed Palestinian support would bring about a vote.Abbas defended his decision to agree to a six-month deferral by suggesting that the Palestinians had simply gone along with the prevailing view at the council. "From a position of responsibility and honesty, I say that the deferral came after an agreement between all the groups in the Human Rights Council, and after studying all positions and seeking the utmost support for the project," he said. Click here for more information.



 

Sri Lanka has rejected a human rights group's claims that the lives of hundreds of thousands of Tamils held in internment camps are in "serious danger" from the imminent rainy season and a looming threat of disease.Rajiva Wijesinha, a spokesman for the government, told Al Jazeera that the camps were "ready to face the monsoon".Nearly 300,000 minority Tamils were forced into the military-run camps after fleeing the final months of the government's war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) earlier this year.The government says it is detaining Tamils in the camps so that they can be screened to weed out former Tamil Tiger fighters.It had promised to release and relocate 80 per cent of them by the end of the year, but nearly five months after the war ended, around 255,000 remain held in the camps.With monsoon season approaching, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Sri Lankan government to immediately release the refugees, warning that already poor conditions in the camps were deteriorating, and heavy rains could flood the overcrowded and low-lying areas. Click here for more information on this story.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he doesn’t expect problems in talks with the U.S. and other members of the United Nations Security Council about the country’s nuclear program.“I don’t think there will be any problems in the next round of talks but if someone wants to cause problems, they will fail,” Ahmadinejad said in a state-television interview last night, according to Press TV.Ahmadinejad spoke after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Iran to do more to convince the world its nuclear program is for peaceful reasons. Iran is scheduled to hold talks with the U.S., Russia and France in Vienna on Oct. 19 over plans to enrich fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.“Words are not enough,” Clinton said at a press conference in London yesterday with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. “The international community will not wait indefinitely for evidence that Iran is prepared to live up to its obligations.”Iranian officials on Oct. 1 met with representatives of the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany near Geneva to try to allay concerns over its nuclear activities.President Barack Obama said the talks were “constructive,” while Ahmadinejad described them as positive.Iran has agreed to consider transferring most of its stock of enriched uranium to Russia and France to be converted into fuel for a research reactor for medical purposes.“Our experts will discuss the purchase of 20 percent enriched uranium” for the Tehran research reactor, Ahmadinejad said.U.S. officials say Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, while the country has repeatedly said enrichment is needed solely for civilian uses, such as the production of electricity. The country is under UN sanctions for its refusal to limit its nuclear work. Click here for more information on this story.

North Korea test-fired short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan yesterday, in a gesture of defiance as it rebuilds diplomatic bridges with South Korea add the United States. The launch of the surface-to-surface missiles, which was reported in the South Korean media today, appears to have been intended as an assertion of North Korean strength as it edges its way back towards negotiations on its nuclear weapons arsenal. Seoul and Washington played down the significance of the tests, reflecting their anxiety not to jeopardise the current momentum towards progress after months of tension and anxiety... click here for more on this story from, The Times.

A child's body has been found in a drain near where a toddler went missing a week earlier in New Zealand.Two-year-old Aisling Symes, whose father Allan is originally from County Waterford in Ireland, disappeared from a suburb of Auckland on October 5. Emergency crews have now announced the discovery of a young child's remains. Police stressed it had not been confirmed that it was Aisling, but said officers were with her family... click here for more on this story from, Sky News.

China and Russia on Tuesday cemented their burgeoning trade relationship with billions of dollars in new deals as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was to meet his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao. Putin, who arrived late Monday, was also due to meet President Hu Jintao as the two countries seek closer ties, and attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional security grouping, during his visit. It is the Russian leader's first trip to China as prime minister, although he visited four times previously as president... click here for more on this story from, AFP.

A campaign official for the runner-up in Afghanistan's disputed election has accused President Hamid Karzai of engineering the resignation of a fraud investigator to throw doubt on the process. Representatives for Karzai could not immediately be reached for comment. The deputy campaign manager for Abdullah Abdullah said Tuesday that the resigned official is biased toward Karzai. Saleh Mohammad Registani says the resignation was a move by the Karzai campaign to call into question the validity of the fraud investigations in case the rulings force a runoff with Abdullah... click here for more on this story from, The AP.

Pakistani aircraft bombed militants in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border on Tuesday as government forces prepare for a ground offensive against the militant hub, security officials said. The government says most attacks in the country -- including four major ones over the past week that killed more than 100 people -- are plotted in South Waziristan, the main bastion of al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban and their allies. "There's been a heavy bombardment. They targeted some militant hideouts as well as pro-Taliban tribal elders," said an intelligence agency official in the region, who declined to be identified... click here for more on this story from, Reuters.

President Sarkozy complained today that his son Jean was being hounded unjustly as controversy continued to rage over the appointment of the 23-year-old student as head of France's premium business district. Mr Sarkozy blamed the media and opponents for persecuting Jean over his imminent appointment as chairman of Epad, the development agency that administers La Défense, the business quarter on the western edge of Paris... click here for more on this story from, The Times.

In a rare move, North Korea Wednesday expressed regret to South Korea for the death of six people swept away in a cross-border flood -- its latest apparent move to mend ties after months of hostility.Seoul said the comments came during talks between the two sides about flood-control measures.Pyongyang's decision to attend the talks, as well as a separate meeting planned for Friday, has raised hopes of better relations despite its short-range missile tests on Monday.In an incident which stirred anger in the South, the North on September 6 released millions of tonnes of water from a dam across the Imjin River, drowning the South Koreans camping or fishing downstream.The North had said a sudden surge in the dam water level prompted an emergency release, but the South called for an apology and measures to prevent a recurrence."Literally speaking, the North expressed regrets and condolences," an official from Seoul's unification ministry told Yonhap news agency during the talks in the town of Kaesong just north of the heavily fortified border."But in the general context, we think it's an apology by North Korea with regard to this incident."The North expressed "deep condolences" to families of the six victims, the official said on condition of anonymity, and reiterated it was forced to open the dam floodgates urgently. The talks were continuing Wednesday afternoon.There have been unannounced dam discharges by the North almost every year, but this year's was the first to claim lives. Click here for more information on this article.



 

Four judges have spoken out to defend the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to US president Barack Obama. In a rare public defence of a process normally shrouded in secrecy, the judges said Mr Obama's selection was deserved and unanimous. One judge noted with surprise that Mr Obama "didn't look particularly happy" at being named the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Another marvelled at how critics could be so patronising. To those who said a Nobel was too much too soon in Mr Obama's young presidency, "we simply disagree. He got the prize for what he has done," committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said from Strasbourg, France, where he was attending meetings of the Council of Europe... click here for more on this story from, The Press Association.

An Italian mother has appeared in court charged with maltreatment after mollycoddling her 12-year-old son to such a degree that his physical and social development were threatened. Even in Italy, the land of the mammone – or mummy's boy – the boy's sheltered life has alarmed authorities. Social services in the north-east town of Ferrara say the pampered child, known only as Luca, has very few friends, is not allowed to play sport and "never has any fun". They were alerted to his plight by the boy's estranged father, who says he has rarely seen his son since the couple divorced... click here for more on this story from, The Independent.

The  Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF, an predominantly Islamic group fighting the Philippines government for autonomy or a separate Islamic republic for the southern island group of Mindanao has denied rumors that kidnapped Irish Catholic priest Father Michael Sinnot of the Society of St. Columban was already in the hands of an MILF commander in the province of Lanao del Norte.



Regional media reported that Commander Latip Jammat has in his custody in the town of Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte province Father Sinnot who was abducted by seven armed men at the St. Columban mission house in Pagadian City, on the early eveneing of October 11.



MILF Spokesman Eid Kabalu announced on a local Manila radio station that they have sent message to Commander Jammat’s 113th Base Command to verify the reports but said it was highly improbable that Father Sinnot is in their commander’s custody. When asked if Sinnot was with the MILF, would they order Jammat to prove he does not have Sinnot, Kabalu said, “for the sake of humanity,” they will make the order. Kabalu adds that they are assisting the government in kidnapping cases and not causing any kidnapping.



Kabalu also said that if the government believes that Sinnot is located within the MILF held territories such as Lanao del Norte, the MILF will not hinder any police operations provided the efforts are limited to the rescue of Father Sinnot.



Father Sinnot was reportedly sighted three times since Sunday moving from a north east direction in the company of heavily armed men. State authorities have given orders to cordon off the area where Sinnot is possibly being held while Father Patrick O’ Donaghue, regional superior of the Mission Society of St. Columban in Mindanao has appeal to Sinnot’s abductors to free the frail and aging Irish missionary who has done nothing in the more that 40 years of mission in the Philippines but help the physically infirmed children of Mindanao. Irish ambassador to the Philippines based in Singapore, Dick O’Brien flew into Manila Tuesday to confer with the Irish superior general of the Columbans in Manila to discuss the situation.

Gunmen have stormed three police buildings in Pakistan's cultural hub of Lahore, while a suicide car bomber targeted another police station in the northwest, leaving at least 26 people dead. nitial reports said that some of the suspected Islamic militants attacks involved women. Gunmen attacked a police academy, an Elite commando training centre and the Federation Investigation Agency in Lahore. Counter-terrorist operations are under way, with troops storming the FIA and the police academy at Munawan... click here for more on this story from, GRN correspondent Saeed Shah in, The Telegraph.