news20091101bbc

[One-Minute World News] from [BBC NEWS]

[South Asia]
Page last updated at 11:23 GMT, Sunday, 1 November 2009
Abdullah pulls out of Afghan vote
{Dr Abdullah says his decision is "final"}
President Hamid Karzai's rival in the second round of the Afghan presidential election has announced in Kabul that he is withdrawing from the poll.

"I will not participate in the election," Dr Abdullah told supporters, saying his demands for ensuring a fraud-free election had not been met.

But he stopped short of calling for a boycott of next Saturday's vote.

Mr Karzai had rejected his demand that election officials who presided over the first round should be dismissed.

{{ANALYSIS}
BBC's Andrew North, in Kabul
All the indications I am getting are that there will be no run-off. In fact behind the scenes we know that talks have still been going on towards some kind of deal which could lead to the formation of a national unity government.
The international community - the United Nations which is leading the effort to organise the elections with the Afghans, the US and British militaries - do not want a one-man contest to go ahead which would mean putting their personnel's lives on the line.
What I am hearing is that there is pressure for the Afghan Election Commission to make an announcement and then for the Supreme Court to get involved, which would then lead to this process being brought to an end before there can be a run-off next Saturday.}

President Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omar said the withdrawal was "very unfortunate", but the election should go ahead as planned.

"The process has to complete itself, the people of Afghanistan have to be given the right to vote.

Earlier, the US said a pull-out would not invalidate the vote's legitimacy.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in the United Arab Emirates: "We see that happen in our own country where, for whatever combination of reasons, one of the candidates decides not to go forward."

But the BBC's Andrew North, in Kabul, says Abdullah Abdullah's withdrawal means this is uncharted territory, and it is unclear what will happen next.

Asked by reporters if he was calling for his supporters to boycott the vote planned for next Saturday, Dr Abdullah said: "I have not made that call".

There has been much speculation that there could be some kind of deal which would possibly see the emergence of a national unity government, our correspondent says.

While it is far from a done deal, talks are going on behind the scenes towards such a formation.

{Karzai camp reacts to Abdullah decision}

But Dr Abdullah said his decision had not been made "in exchange for anything from anybody, but only and purely in the interests of the people of Afghanistan and to give the people of Afghanistan a chance to move on."

The international community is known to be very reluctant for the run-off to take place.

Instead there is a desire for the legal institutions of Afghanistan to come up with measures to bring the electoral process to an end.

A statement from the Afghan Election Commission is also expected.

Below threshold

Hundreds of thousands of votes were discounted from August's first round of voting, which was marred by widespread allegations of fraud.

{{KARZAI V ABDULLAH}
Hamid Karzai:
> First popularly elected president of Afghanistan
> Opposed Soviet occupation in 1980s
> Critics say he has done little to rein in corruption
Abdullah Abdullah:
> Tajik-Pashtun, doctor by profession
> Senior Northern Alliance leader during Taliban rule
> Removed from Karzai's cabinet in 2006}

An investigation by the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) led to Mr Karzai's share of the vote dropping to 49.67% - below the crucial 50% plus one vote threshold needed to avoid a second round.

Dr Abdullah was adjudged in the end to have won about 31% of valid votes cast.

Emotion was clearly visible in Dr Abdullah's face as he announced his decision to pull out of the race to be Afghan leader on Sunday, our correspondent says.

The decision was given to his supporters at a meeting in a big tent in Kabul, where Afghanistan's first post-Taliban government was agreed eight years ago.

Dr Abdullah - a Tajik-Pashtun former eye surgeon - served as foreign minister in the short-lived government headed by the Northern Alliance, and continued as "foreign minister in exile" throughout the years of Taliban rule, which ended in 2001.

He continued in the role in the government that was formed by President Karzai after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, leaving it five years later.


[Americas]
Page last updated at 22:57 GMT, Saturday, 31 October 2009
Six bodies at US rapist's house
{Sowell admitted his identity as officers began fingerprinting him, police said}
Six bodies have been found at the home of a convicted rapist in the US city of Cleveland, Ohio, authorities say.

Police discovered the first two bodies on Thursday when they came to arrest Anthony Sowell, 50, on a rape charge.

A third was found a day later and police have now confirmed three more. The remains were recovered in the house and inside a grave dug in the backyard.

The suspect - who spent 15 years in prison for a 1989 rape - was arrested on Saturday not far from his home.

Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller said two of the bodies had been identified as black females, one of whom had died a violent death, the Associated Press reports.

Autopsies had been performed on all six, the coroner's office said, but no cause of death was announced.

{Police search the house of Anthony Sowell in Cleveland, Ohio}

Police chief Michael McGrath told a news conference that Sowell had offered no resistance when arrested, following a tip-off, while walking down the street on Saturday at around noon.

The suspect initially denied he was the man authorities were looking for, but admitted his identity as officers began fingerprinting him, police said.
Chief McGrath said the bodies were in "various states of being decomposed" and could have been in the two-storey house for up to six months.

{{It was such a disgusting sight... the stench from inside was overwhelming}
Lt Thomas Stacho}

He said Sowell had initially lived in the property with his aunt and uncle, but that his uncle had passed away and his aunt had gone to a nursing home about a year ago.

Police Lt Thomas Stacho told CNN: "It was such a disgusting sight."

"I can tell you I stood outside the home for about an hour yesterday, and the stench from inside was overwhelming," he added.

Neighbours told media that the suspect made a living from looking for scrap metal to sell.

"He was crazy," said Teresa Hicks, who has known Sowell since school. "Sometimes he would just go off if he didn't have his way."

Missing-person reports are being checked dating to June 2005, when Sowell was released from prison.

Crowds have been gathering outside Sowell's home, in the city's East Side, holding posters of missing loved ones.


[Entertainment]
Page last updated at 02:06 GMT, Sunday, 1 November 2009
Sick Sir Elton cancels more dates
{Sir Elton's tour dates were cancelled in July when Billy Joel fell ill}
Sir Elton John has been forced to postpone three concerts in the US this month because of ill-health.

A statement on his official website said the 62-year-old singer had a "serious case" of E.coli bacterial infection and influenza.

It added his doctor advised him to pull out of the gigs in Seattle and Portland where he was to appear with Billy Joel.

Sir Elton postponed a Dublin concert on Thursday after shelving gigs in London, Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle.

He is reportedly being treated at a hospital in central London.

Promoters say they are hoping to reschedule the European dates - part of his Red Piano tour - for December.

Details of plans to reschedule the US concerts, on 4 and 7 November at Seattle's Key Arena and 10 November at Rose Garden Arena, Portland, are yet to be announced.

Sir Elton and Billy Joel were forced to cancel US dates after Joel fell ill in July.

Joel was told to rest after coming down with "flu-like symptoms" and "extreme fatigue".

Sir Elton and Joel had been touring together for two months under the banner Face 2 Face, selling out arenas across the US.

news20091101cnn

[Top stories] from [CNN.com]

[Politics]
November 1, 2009 -- Updated 0223 GMT (1023 HKT)
Clinton pushes for resumption of talks between Israel, Palestinians
{Secretary of State Clinton meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas before flying to Israel for meetings.}
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
> Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wants to see talks begin "as soon as possible"
> Palestinian Authority negotiator says talks stopped because of continued settlement building
> Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is willing to engage in peace talks without preconditions
> President Obama has softened language on settlement "freeze," talks of "restraining" activity

Jerusalem (CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried Saturday to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, whose chief negotiator characterized the process as "stuck."

Clinton met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Abu Dhabi before flying to Israel for meetings with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"I want to see both sides begin [negotiations] as soon as possible," Clinton said Saturday at an evening news conference with Netanyahu. "The important thing ... is to get into the negotiations," she said.

"I gave the same message today when I met with President Abbas."

Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authority, told CNN on Saturday that Abbas emphasized to Clinton that talks have not resumed because the Israeli government has not lived up to what he called its obligations, which include halting settlement building in the occupied West Bank and in predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Erekat said that Abbas wants negotiations to pick up where they left off with former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and that the Israelis do not. That, Erekat said, is evidence that Netanyahu has "no interest" in continuing negotiations.

He characterized the process as "stuck" because of what he said was Netanyahu's lack of desire to restart negotiations.

At the news conference Saturday, however, Netanyahu said Israel did want to resume talks.

"The simple fact is this: We are willing to engage in peace talks immediately without preconditions," he said.

Clinton said the offer that the Israeli government is making on settlements is "unprecedented."

She said, "What the prime minister has offered, and in specifics on the restraint in the policy on settlements ... is unprecedented in the context of prior negotiations."

Earlier this year, the Obama administration called for the Israelis to halt building more housing on land the Palestinians regard as theirs.

However, after meeting with Netanyahu and Abbas in New York last month, President Obama softened his language on a settlement "freeze," saying that Israel has had meaningful discussions about "restraining" settlement activity.

Erekat said Clinton had told Abbas that the settlements were not legitimate but said the United States was unable to persuade Netanyahu's government to commit to an outright freeze.


[World]
November 1, 2009 -- Updated 0942 GMT (1742 HKT)
At least 14 dead after Typhoon Mirinae lashes Philippines
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
> Typhoon Mirinae leaves at least 14 dead, four missing
> Mirinae is latest in rash of storms to hit region
> Forecasters say weakened storm will hit Vietnam on Monday

(CNN) -- At least 14 people were dead and four missing in the Philippines a day after Typhoon Mirinae roared through the heart of the country, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said Sunday.

Mirinae was the fourth typhoon to affect the archipelago of more than 7,000 islands in a month. It quickly dissipated after Saturday's landfall, becoming a tropical storm. Mirinae was forecast to weaken further before hitting Vietnam on Monday, forecasters said.

The hardest hit areas were the Southern Luzon and Bicol regions, the Philippines News Agency reported. Civil Defense administrator Glenn Rabonza said more than 13,000 people were affected by the storm.

The storm brought at least 85 millimeters (3.3 inches) of rain to Manila. The city of Daet, on the eastern coast, received 149 millimeters (5.8 inches) of rain, and Virac, which sits on an island that juts into the Pacific, received 72 millimeters (2.8 inches) of rain.

The first of the four typhoons to threaten the Philippines happened in late September, when Ketsana drenched the island nation with its heaviest rainfall in 40 years. Eighty percent of Manila flooded and more than 420 people died.

Flooding from Ketsana has lasted well into October and tens of thousands of people are still in evacuation centers, according to the disaster coordinating council.

Typhoon Parma made landfall on October 3 in a rural region of fishermen and farmers in Luzon, the largest of the Philippine islands. It destroyed 55,000 houses and killed more than 430 people.

Last week, a third typhoon, Lupit, narrowly missed making landfall, but brought lots of rain to the Philippines.


[U.S.]
November 1, 2009 -- Updated 0406 GMT (1206 HKT)
Nine remain missing after midair collision
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
> Rescuers looking for survivors of collision over Pacific
> Coast Guard plane and Marine Corps helicopter collided
> Coast Guard craft had been on search for missing boater

(CNN) -- Rescuers were still searching Saturday for nine people missing in the Pacific off the southern California coast after a Coast Guard C-130 plane and a Marine AH-1 Cobra helicopter collided Thursday night.

"We will continue to search however long, hope -- however slim -- exists," U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Joseph Castillo said Saturday.

But Castillo said, "The reality is that as time goes by, and our extensive searches do not yield success, that our hope today is not what it was yesterday."

He said a decision on the next course of action would be made Sunday.

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar identified the Marine pilots of the AH-1W Super Cobra as Maj. Samuel Leigh and 1st Lt. Thomas Claiborne, both with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469.

They were conducting routine training about 15 miles off San Clemente Island when they collided with the U.S. Coast Guard C-130.

The Coast Guard identified its seven missing personnel as Lt. Cmdr. Che J. Barnes of Capay, California, aircraft commander; Lt. Adam W. Bryant of Crewe, Virginia, co-pilot; Chief Petty Officer John F. Seidman of Stockton, California, flight engineer; Petty Officer 2nd Class Carl P. Grigonis of Mayfield Heights, Ohio, navigator; Petty Officer 2nd Class Monica L. Beacham of Decaturville, Tennessee, radio operator; Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason S. Moletzsky of Norristown, Pennsylvania, air crew; Petty Officer 3rd Class Danny R. Kreder II of Elm Mott, Texas, drop master.

They are stationed at Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, California, where their aircraft is based.

A pilot reported seeing a fireball about 7:10 p.m. Thursday near the crash site.

The search and rescue mission has covered an area of 644 square miles, and has included Coast Guard, Navy, Marine Corps and Customs Border Protection assets, the Coast Guard said.

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Joseph Castillo said Friday that an investigation with the Marine Corps to determine what happened was beginning.

A large debris field has been located, and debris has been collected, he said. The two Marines on the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton chopper were one of four helicopter crews involved in the training exercise.

The Coast Guard plane had been on a search mission for a couple of days before Thursday's crash.

"They were searching for a possible person in the water who was reported to have gotten in a dinghy and attempted to row to Catalina [Island]," Coast Guard Capt. Thomas Farris told reporters Friday. "We were searching in that area because of the drift that would have naturally occurred after that event."

With water temperatures in the 60s, Farris estimated that survivability could be up to 20 hours.

The missing person the Coast Guard members were searching for is still missing, Farris said.

news20091101reut

[Top News] from [REUTERS]

[Green Business]
Republicans move to delay climate bill progress
Sat Oct 31, 2009 2:10pm EDT
By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - All seven Republicans on the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee plan to boycott next week's work session on a climate-change bill, an aide said on Saturday, in a move aimed at thwarting Democratic efforts to advance the controversial legislation quickly.

"Republicans will be forced not to show up" at Tuesday's work session, said Matt Dempsey, a spokesman for Republican senators on the environment panel.

Under committee rules, at least two Republicans are needed for Chairwoman Barbara Boxer to hold the work sessions that would give senators an opportunity to amend the controversial legislation and then vote to approve it in the panel, which is controlled by President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats.

But Republicans are demanding more detailed economic analysis of the bill by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -- a task that could take more than a month -- before agreeing to participate in the work sessions that are called "mark ups."

The seven Republicans have not indicated they ultimately would vote for the bill, which Boxer wants to move through her committee before December's international climate-change summit in Copenhagen.

Even with committee approval of the bill, the full Senate is not expected to vote on it this year. The legislation, as currently written, would have a hard time gaining the support of the 60 senators needed to pass major bills.

Nevertheless, the Obama administration is hoping for more progress by Congress before the Copenhagen summit. In June, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill to reduce U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

CARBON POLLUTION

Boxer's bill, which she wrote with Democratic Senator John Kerry, would require U.S. manufacturers, utilities and refineries to reduce their carbon pollution output 20 percent by 2020, from 2005 levels. That is slightly more ambitious than the House-passed bill.

Most Republicans and some moderate Democrats in the Senate have criticized the emissions-reduction target of the Kerry-Boxer bill.

Kerry already has begun talking to other senators about significant changes to his bill, including expanding U.S. nuclear power generation.

Republicans on the environment committee say the climate-change bill would cause significant job losses by encouraging manufacturers to relocate more of their plants in countries that do not have as strict carbon controls.

They also say it would significantly boost consumer prices as companies are forced to use more expensive alternative fuels -- a claim that has not been backed up by some independent analysis or by a preliminary EPA analysis.

"Republicans are insisting on a full EPA analysis before a mark up. We are not opposed to a mark up, only on holding one this rushed," said a statement by committee Republicans. Full details of the Democratic bill were unveiled only a week ago.

The senior Republican on the committee, Senator James Inhofe, has been an outspoken opponent of legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, saying there is no sound scientific evidence that the world is suffering due to carbon emissions resulting from human activities.

(Editing by Will Dunham)


[Green Business]
U.S. advanced biofuel sector finds lenders wary
Sat Oct 31, 2009 2:14pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lenders are leery of putting money into cellulosic ethanol and other new-generation biofuels due to the recession and an industry shakeout, Agriculture Department and biofuel leaders said on Thursday.

That is one reason near-term production of advanced biofuels is unlikely to meet targets set by a 2007 energy law, said William Roe of Coskata Inc, which has a demonstration-size biomass plant in Pennsylvania.

Several witnesses at a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing on the future of new-generation biofuels pointed to difficulties in securing credit.

"Given the current recession and the banking sector's financial difficulties, lending has become scarce in the biofuels space," said Susan Ellerbusch, president of BP Biofuels North America.

Agriculture Undersecretary Dallas Tonsager said lenders also were discouraged by an industry shake-out last year that included the bankruptcy of the largest producer due to rising grain costs and a drop in petroleum prices.

Plants with roughly 12 billion gallons of annual capacity are in operation now while 1.2 billion gallons in capacity is idle.

USDA has awarded two loan guarantees totaling $105 million for advanced biofuels projects. Two applications remain under consideration.

Some applicants were rejected because they did not have a lender behind the project, Tonsager said.

New-generation projects often have costs that equal $10 a gallon or more for small-scale plants, well above corn-based ethanol and petroleum. Proponents say costs will drop rapidly for a commercial-size plant and as technology is refined.

Rajiv Shah, Agriculture undersecretary for research, said he was optimistic of a significant improvement over the next five to seven years in the economics of new-generation biofuels. Feedstocks account for one-half to two-thirds of the cost of biofuels, he said, so it is important to develop biomass crops and improvements in converting crops into fuels.

"We're not there yet in the dedicated feedstocks that would be required to do this," said Shah.

Ethanol industry officials suggested that producers should receive government grants for start-up costs instead of tax credits after they begin production.

They also said Congress should extend a cellulosic fuels production tax credit to cover all fuels produced before 2022 instead of the current cutoff of 2012.

Producers suggested that Congress create a "green bank" using government funds to support advanced biofuels and other clean energy projects.

They also said the USDA should relax its loan-guarantee rules to make it easier for advanced biofuels projects to obtain financing.

They said the government should help the biofuels market grow through the renewable fuels standard created by the 2007 energy law. It calls for use of 36 billion gallons a year of biofuels by 2022, most of it from new-generation feedstocks.

The industry is also unhappy with proposed U.S. environmental rules that would cover how biofuels meet requirements to reduce greenhouse gases.

(Reporting by Charles Abbott; Editing by David Gregorio)