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Indonesia anger at Australia spy row

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 19 November 2013 | 18.20

19 November 2013 Last updated at 02:25 ET

Indonesia's president says ties with Australia have been "damaged" by reports that Canberra spied on his phone calls and those of his ministers.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said it was a "hurtful action" and that Australia had "belittled" the row. Jakarta would review co-operation, he said.

Australian PM Tony Abbott expressed regret but said he would not apologise.

The allegations published by Australian media came from documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Mr Abbott said he regretted "any embarrassment" caused by the reports.

"I regard President Yudhoyono as a good friend of Australia, indeed as one of the very best friends that we have anywhere in the world," he said, speaking in parliament on Tuesday.

However, he added: "I don't believe that Australia should be expected to apologise for reasonable intelligence-gathering operations, just as I don't expect other countries or other governments to apologise for their reasonable intelligence-gathering operations."

Continue reading the main story

Indonesia, The Jakarta Globe, editorial

There is no doubt that if Australia wishes to limit the damage from the fallout of the spying scandal, it needs to apologise to the Indonesian government and the Indonesian people.

Indonesia, The Jakarta Post, commentary

The argument that such tapping is normal practice is but an excuse, not a justification. The true inherent reason is that Australia is stuck in a mind-set of mistrust toward its northern neighbour.

Australia, Sydney Morning Herald, article

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's furious and direct attack on the Australian prime minister shows just how deep the diplomatic schism between the two countries is, and how Tony Abbott has badly mishandled the crisis.

Australia, The Australian, article

Recalling its ambassador to Canberra represents a serious deterioration in the relationship and may well presage further real trouble, as more revelations from the rogue US consultant, Edward Snowden, are almost certain to follow.

Indonesia recalled its ambassador on Monday, after the latest allegations emerged, and said it was summoning Australia's ambassador for questioning.

The leaked document showed that Australian spy agencies named Mr Yudhoyono, the first lady, the vice-president and other senior ministers as targets for telephone monitoring, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Guardian said.

The presentation from the Defence Signals Directorate (now known as the Australian Signals Directorate) showed that agencies attempted to listen to Mr Yudhoyono's calls at least once, and tracked calls made to and from his mobile phone, in August 2009, they added.

It is the latest in a series of spying allegations that have strained relations between the two allies.

Earlier this month, Indonesia expressed anger over reports that Australia's Jakarta embassy was used as part of a US-led spying network in Asia.

'Without remorse'

On Tuesday, in a series of strong tweets, Mr Yudhoyono said: "These US & Australian actions have certainly damaged the strategic partnerships with Indonesia, as fellow democracies."

He said that Indonesia would review its "bilateral co-operation agenda" with Australia.

He also expressed "regret" at Mr Abbott's response to the allegations, saying that he had "belittled this tapping matter on Indonesia, without any remorse".

Speaking in parliament on Monday, Mr Abbott had said: "The Australian government never comments on specific intelligence matters."

"All governments gather information and all governments know that every other government gathers information," he said.

"I will never say or do anything that might damage the strong relationship and the close co-operation that we have with Indonesia, which is all in all our most important relationship."

The alleged spying took place in 2009, under the previous government.

Australia and Indonesia are key allies and trading partners.

Tony Abbott

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Tony Abbott said he was determined to foster a good relationship with Indonesia

Australia requires Indonesia's co-operation on asylum, as many asylum seekers travel via Indonesia to Australia by boat, but there are tensions on the issue.

Earlier this month, Indonesia declined an Australian request to receive a boat of asylum seekers whose vessel, bound for Australia's Christmas Island, had got into trouble after it departed from Indonesia.

Monday's leaked document, a slideshow presentation, appeared to show a list of Indonesian "leadership targets" and the handset models used by each target, as well as a diagram of "voice events" of the Indonesian president in August 2009.

One slide entitled "Indonesian President voice intercept (August '09)" appeared to show an attempt to listen to the content of a phone call to Mr Yudhoyono.

It is amongst a series of documents leaked by ex-US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia and is wanted in the US in connection with the unauthorised disclosures.


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Toronto mayor stripped of powers

19 November 2013 Last updated at 02:38 ET
Rob Ford knocks accidentally knocks over Pam McConnell

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The BBC's David Willis: "At one point the mayor charged towards the public gallery"

The Toronto city council has voted to strip Mayor Rob Ford of most of his authority, as the embattled city leader resists growing pressure to step down.

On Monday, the council transferred most of Mr Ford's budget and many of his powers to the deputy mayor.

Mr Ford, 44, who has promised to fight the council's decisions, criticised the vote as a "coup d'etat".

The mayor of Canada's largest city has faced intense pressure to resign after admitting to smoking crack cocaine

In recent weeks he has also acknowledged buying illegal drugs while serving as mayor.

Mr Ford abstained from Monday's vote, but promised "outright war" in the next election against the councillors who opposed him.

"What's happening here today is not a democratic process, this is a dictatorship," he told the city councillors.

"You are absolutely telling everybody that voted in the last municipal election that their vote does not count."

And Mr Ford refused to apologise, saying he had done enough apologising already.

"I've admitted my mistakes," he said. "I'm not going to sit here and go on and on and on."

Earlier in the heated council meeting, Mr Ford ran through the gallery, accidentally knocking over city councillor Pam McConnell before catching her.

Ms McConnell was later seen holding ice to her lip.

'The worst spokesman'

Monday's motion reduces Mr Ford's office budget by 60%, and allows mayoral staff to join deputy mayor Norm Kelly, largely making Mr Ford mayor in name only.

Continue reading the main story

Yes, one day I do want to run for prime minister"

End Quote Rob Ford Toronto Mayor

The council does not have the power to remove Mr Ford from office unless he has a criminal conviction.

Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, once a Ford ally but now one of his most outspoken critics, said the mayor's conduct was embarrassing the city.

"He's the worst spokesman for the city of Toronto right now," he said.

The Toronto council began stripping away his powers on Friday, voting 39 to 3 to prevent him from being able to dismiss the deputy mayor and taking away his emergency powers.

Despite the scandal, Mr Ford does not seem inclined to shun the spotlight.

He gave interviews to US media organisations at the weekend and appeared at a Toronto Argonauts game, despite the Canadian Football League commissioner suggesting he not.

Mr Ford and his brother Doug Ford, a city councillor, launched their own current events television programme on Monday evening.

The show, Ford Nation, is named after the bloc of conservative, suburban voters who put Mr Ford in office in 2010.

On Sunday, Mr Ford told US broadcaster Fox News he had "admitted to drinking too much", but said he was dealing with it, including going to the gym two hours every day.

"I'm seeking professional help, I'm not an alcoholic, I'm not a drug addict," he said. "Have I had my outbursts in the past? Absolutely.

"But you know what, I'm only human. I've made mistakes. I've apologised."

He added: "Yes, one day I do want to run for prime minister."

Rob Ford

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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford: In his own words

The Toronto mayor apologised again on Thursday for making an obscene outburst on live television while denying he had offered oral sex to a female staff member.

He had been responding to allegations in court papers that he had also driven drunk, used racially abusive language, threatened staff and consorted with an alleged prostitute.


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Sardinia swept by deadly cyclone

19 November 2013 Last updated at 05:27 ET
Two men use an inflatable dingy to get around in a flooded street in Olbia

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The cyclone lashed Sardinia's coast for many hours, as Alan Johnston reports

At least 16 people have been killed in flooding prompted by a cyclone and heavy rain that swept through the Italian island of Sardinia.

A number of people are reported missing after rivers burst their banks, sweeping cars away and causing bridges to collapse.

The worst-hit area appears to be in and around the north-eastern city of Olbia.

Prime Minister Enrico Letta has spoken of a "national tragedy" and a state of emergency is expected to be declared.

Victims

A Brazilian family of four drowned when their basement flat in the town of Arzachena, in the northern part of the island, filled with water. Two children were among the dead.

Three people died when a road bridge collapsed on to their car near Olbia, according to local media.

In a separate incident, a mother and her daughter were found dead in their car after it was swept away by floods.

Among the victims was a police officer who died after a bridge collapsed as he tried to escort an ambulance.

Continue reading the main story
  • A cyclone is an area of low pressure
  • Hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones are regionally-specific names for different sorts of cyclones
  • The term 'cyclone' refers to the storm's rotating winds
  • The only tropical cyclone recorded to have hit Europe was Hurricane Vince in 2005

Hundreds of people across the Mediterranean island have been moved from their homes because of the flash flooding caused by Cyclone Cleopatra.

"We're at maximum alert," Giorgio Cicalo, an official from Sardinia's civil protection authority, told Italy's Rai TV.

"We haven't seen a situation as extreme as this, perhaps for decades - especially because it's been across the whole island."

Reports say flood waters in some areas were up to 3m (10ft) high.

Sardinian Governor Ugo Cappellacci told Italian TV that the situation on the island was "dramatic".

Meanwhile Olbia Mayor Gianni Giovanelli was quoted by Sky TG24 as saying that the city had been hit by an "apocalyptic"' storm.

Some city residents used social media to offer shelter to those forced out of their homes.

The BBC Weather Centre says the flooding was caused by a deep area of low pressure that has been sitting over the Mediterranean, bringing sustained heavy rain.

Sardinia hit by heavy rain and flooding

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Further bad weather is expected in the coming days

The unstable conditions are expected move across Italy and further east, bringing further downpours and the threat of flooding, particularly in Venice.

The storm caused extensive damage to farms in Sardinia and disrupted a number of flights to and from mainland Italy.


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Fatal blasts hit Iran Beirut embassy

19 November 2013 Last updated at 05:46 ET
Crowds at blast scene near Iranian embassy, Beirut (19 November)

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Mohamed Yehia from the BBC's Arabic Service says the explosions come amid a spillover from the fighting in Syria

At least 22 people are reported to have been killed in two explosions which hit the Iranian embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut in quick succession.

The Iranian cultural attache Ebrahim Ansari was among the dead. Officials said the death toll could rise.

TV images showed burning cars, bodies on the street and damaged buildings.

Iran is a major backer of the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, which has sent fighters to Syria to back the government of Bashar al-Assad.

Continue reading the main story
  • May 2012: Fighting between pro- and anti-Assad groups in Lebanese Tripoli and Beirut leave many dead
  • August 2012: Deadly sectarian clashes break out in Tripoli
  • October 2012: Several people killed in gunfights after the assassination of top security official General Wissam al-Hassan, a Sunni opponent of Damascus
  • May 2013: At least 15 people die in another round of sectarian violence in Tripoli
  • June 2013: At least 17 soldiers killed in clashes with supporters of radical Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir in the southern city of Sidon
  • 9 July 2013: A car bomb wounds dozens in a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut
  • 15 August 2013: A car bomb kills 27 people and injures hundreds more in a Shia area of south Beirut
  • 23 August 2013: More than 40 people killed and 400 injured in two blasts outside mosques in Tripoli

Reports said one of the blasts was caused by a suicide bomber, while the second was a car bomb.

This has not been officially confirmed.

Reuters quotes Lebanese officials as saying CCTV footage showed a man rushing towards the outer wall of the Iranian embassy before blowing himself up, causing the first blast.

The Iranian ambassador to Beirut confirmed Mr Ansari's death to Hezbollah's al-Manar TV, but said it was not clear if he had been in the embassy itself or one of the residential buildings nearby.

Mr Ansari had only taken up his post a month ago, he said.

The ambassador blamed Israel for the attack - an accusation Israel swiftly rejected.

Syria condemned the explosion.

The Syrian conflict has increased sectarian tensions in Lebanon.

South Beirut, including the area around the Iranian embassy, is considered a Hezbollah stronghold. It has been hit by several attacks in recent months.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the attack "a cowardly terrorist act", Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.

"The aim of the blast is to stir up the situation in Lebanon and use the Lebanese arena to convey messages," he said.

A BBC correspondent in Beirut says those responsible wanted to send a clear message to Iran and Hezbollah.

Tehran and the Shia militant group are key backers of the Syrian government, which is currently trying to cut off one of the Syrian rebels' last remaining supply routes across the Lebanese border.

On 15 August, 27 people were killed in a car bomb in south Beirut believed to have been targeting a Sunni Muslim cleric opposed to Hezbollah. The cleric was unhurt.

Hezbollah fighters were instrumental in a strategic victory by Syrian government forces in Qusair, close to the border with Lebanon, in early June.


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Top Syrian rebel commander dies

Written By Unknown on Senin, 18 November 2013 | 18.19

18 November 2013 Last updated at 05:28 ET

A top Syrian rebel commander has died of wounds he sustained in an air strike on a rebel-held air base in Aleppo province on Thursday, his group says.

Abdul Qadir al-Saleh, the leader of Liwa al-Tawhid, died overnight, a spokesman told the Associated Press.

Abdul Aziz Salama, the brigade's political leader, had assumed overall command, the spokesman added.

Liwa al-Tawhid is one of the main rebel forces in Aleppo and is estimated to have between 8,000 and 10,000 fighters.

It was formed in July 2012 to unite the many separate fighting groups operating in the northern Aleppo countryside. Later that month, it led a rebel offensive on the city of Aleppo and took control of several districts.

In January, Liwa al-Tawhid joined the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SILF), an alliance of Islamist groups which mostly recognise the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army but not the National Coalition.

Government advance

Saleh, a former businessman from the town of Marea, had been meeting other senior figures from Liwa al-Tawhid at the time of the air strike.

Youssef al-Abbas, also known as Abu al-Tayyeb, died soon after the attack. There are conflicting reports about whether he was the brigade's intelligence or financial chief.

Saleh and another senior figure, Abdul al-Aziz Salameh, were meanwhile rushed to a hospital in neighbouring Turkey. The opposition Aleppo News Network reported on Friday that they were in a "good condition".

Continue reading the main story

As an individual, he was very, very important, certainly in the Aleppo area, but increasingly as an individual that many in Syria felt represented the revolution"

End Quote Charles Lister IHS Jane's

However, Saleh's subsequently died and was brought back to Syria for burial, Liwa al-Tawhid and activists confirmed on Monday.

"We declare the martyrdom of Abdul Qadir al-Saleh," a statement by the brigade said.

Liwa al-Tawhid arrested 30 people suspected of being government informers following the strike.

"As an individual, he was very, very important, certainly in the Aleppo area, but increasingly as an individual that many in Syria felt represented the revolution," Charles Lister, an analyst at IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre, told the AFP news agency.

"He came from a humble background, was outwardly religious but was very open... and he maintained extremely good relations with almost all groups of all different natures."

He said Saleh's death might "spur on the rebels to launch a counter-attack as the regime advances" on opposition-held parts of Aleppo.

A week ago, Liwa al-Tawhid joined five other rebel groups operating in the city, including the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, in urging people to "face up to regime attacks".

Their joint statement said government forces backed by fighters from the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah, Iranian Revolutionary Guards and members of Abu al-Fadl Abbas, an Iraqi Shia militia, had launched a "fierce offensive to reoccupy" Aleppo.

Aleppo has been divided roughly in half by the government and opposition since mid-2012, when rebel fighters launched an offensive to gain control of northern Syria.

However, in the past few weeks the army has secured the area around the city's international airport and retaken the strategically important Base 80 nearby. Troops have also captured the towns of Safira and Tal Aran.

Despite the rebel losses, Saleh was resolute in an interview with Opposition Orient Television last week, insisting: "We will not let Iran and Hezbollah advance except over our dead bodies."


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Fukushima begins fuel rod removal

18 November 2013 Last updated at 03:12 ET

Workers at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant have begun removing fuel rods from a storage pond at the Unit 4 reactor building.

The delicate operation is seen as a necessary step in stabilising the site.

It will take about two days to remove the first 22 fuel rod assemblies, plant operator Tepco says.

Overall, more than 1,500 assemblies must be be removed in what correspondents describe as a risky and dangerous operation set to take a year.

Experts say hydrogen explosions after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 have made the current storage facility vulnerable to further tremors.

The fuel rod assemblies are four-metre long tubes containing pellets of uranium fuel, and the fear is that some may have been damaged during the disaster.

Continue reading the main story
  • The fuel rods - 4m-long tubes containing pellets of uranium fuel - are in a precarious state in the Unit Four storage pool
  • The rod assemblies will be lifted out in batches of 22 in casks filled with water, using a crane - each batch will take 7-10 days
  • Two critical issues are whether the rods were damaged during the disaster and so are likely to leak, and whether the casks remain watertight so the rods have no contact with air
  • The fuel rods will be deposited into a new "common" pool with a cooling system

When the tsunami struck, water knocked out cooling systems to three of Fukushima's reactors, which went into a state of partial meltdown.

Unit 4 was undergoing maintenance, so all of its fuel rods were being stored. But a build-up of hydrogen triggered an explosion in Unit 4, damaging its structure.

'Important process'

The removal process, which has been preceded by months of repair work and planning, began on Monday afternoon.

"At 15:18 [06:18 GMT], we started to pull up the first fuel assembly with a crane," a spokesman for Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power Company) said.

A recently-installed crane is being lowered into the pool and hooked onto the assemblies to place them inside a cask.

The fuel rods will then be deposited into a more secure storage pool with a cooling system.

Experts say it is vital that the casks are watertight so the rods have no contact with air - which risks overheating and possible contamination.

Yoshihide Suga, Japan's top government spokesman, said he hoped the operation would go as planned.

"We hope that this [process] will be conducted in a manner that will not disturb local residents, and that the removal will be done on schedule, properly and safely," he said.

Tepco spokesman Masayuki Ono called the operation "a very important process in moving ahead with the plant's decommissioning".

Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka has warned that rubble from the blast in the pool could pose a problem, Kyodo news agency reported.

"The fuel has to be handled very carefully. There is a need to make sure that a fuel assembly is not pulled out (from the fuel rack) by force when it gets stuck because of the rubble," Kyodo news agency quoted him as saying.

The Fukushima nuclear power plant has suffered a number of setbacks in recent months, including a series of toxic water leaks and worker errors.


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Canberra 'spied on Indonesia leader'

18 November 2013 Last updated at 05:04 ET
Tony Abbott

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Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to comment on the allegations

Indonesia is recalling its ambassador to Australia over allegations that Canberra spied on phone calls of the Indonesian president.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the first lady and Vice-President Boediono were reportedly amongst those targeted.

The allegations came from documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden which were published by broadcaster ABC and the Guardian newspaper.

Indonesia said the ambassador was being called to Jakarta for "consultations".

It is the latest in a series of spying allegations that have strained relations between the two allies.

On 1 November Indonesia summoned Australia's ambassador amid reports that Australia's Jakarta embassy was used as part of a US-led spying network in Asia.

The latest leaked document showed that Australia spy agencies named Mr Yudhoyono, the first lady, Vice-President Boediono and other senior ministers as targets for monitoring, the reports said.

The presentation from Australian spy agency the Defence Signals Directorate (now known as the Australian Signals Directorate) showed that agencies attempted to listen to Mr Yudhoyono's calls at least once, and tracked calls made to and from his mobile phone, in August 2009, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Guardian added.

The news organisations published slides from the presentation, which appeared to show a list of Indonesian "leadership targets" and the handset models used by each target, as well as a diagram of "voice events" of the Indonesian president in August 2009.

One slide entitled "Indonesian President voice intercept (August '09)" appeared to show an attempt to listen to the content of a phone call to Mr Yudhoyono.

'Research'

On Monday, Indonesian Finance Minister Marty Natalegawa said: "This is an unfriendly, unbecoming act between strategic partners."

"This hasn't been a good day in the relationship between Indonesia and Australia."

Indonesia was reviewing all of its agreements related to information exchange with Australia, Mr Natalegawa added.

Djoko Suyanto, Indonesia's Co-ordinating Minister for Politics, Legal and Security Affairs, told the BBC that Jakarta would summon the Australian ambassador for questioning.

However, Sofyan Djalil, the former minister for state-owned enterprises whose name was also on the list of targets, told AFP news agency: "Diplomatic relations always have their ups and downs. This has caused anger in the short-term, but in the long-term we are still neighbours and I think we will overcome this."

Earlier on Monday, responding to questions in parliament, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said: "The Australian government never comments on specific intelligence matters."

He added: "I will never say or do anything that might damage the strong relationship and the close co-operation that we have with Indonesia, which is all in all, our most important relationship."

Last week, commenting on the earlier claims, Mr Abbott had described the term spying as "kind of loaded language" and suggested that "researching" would be more appropriate.

Indonesia has publicly voiced anger over previous allegations of Australian spying.

Vice-President Boediono, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name, said last week that the Indonesian public were "concerned" about the spying allegations.

"I think we must look forward to come to some arrangement which guarantees that intelligence information from each side is not used against the other," he said.

Australia and Indonesia are key allies and trading partners.

Australia requires Indonesia's co-operation on the asylum issue, as many asylum seekers travel via Indonesia to Australia by boat, but there are tensions on the issue.

Earlier this month, Indonesia declined an Australian request to receive a boat of asylum seekers whose vessel, bound for Australia's Christmas Island, had got into trouble after it departed from Indonesia.

The reports are amongst the series of documents leaked by ex-US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia and is wanted in the US in connection with the unauthorised disclosures.


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Paris gunman opens fire at newspaper

18 November 2013 Last updated at 06:12 ET

A gunman has opened fire inside an office building in Paris housing the left-wing newspaper, Liberation, leaving one man seriously injured.

The victim was a photographer's assistant, aged 27, Liberation said.

On Friday a man armed with what appeared to be a gun broke into the Paris offices of the rolling news channel BFMTV. He did not fire any shots and no-one was injured.

It is not clear whether there is any connection between the two incidents.

On its website, Liberation said the man entered the premises shortly before 10:15 (09:15 GMT), armed with a hunting rifle. He fired two shots, wounding the photographer's assistant before escaping.

The gunman did not say anything, Liberation reported. He is described as aged about 40 and wearing a cap.

Police have now been stationed outside the offices of all major media organisations in Paris.

Deputy editor Fabrice Tassel said the victim - who was shot in the chest - was fighting for his life.

Police have sealed off the area around Liberation's offices. Interior Minister Manuel Valls has arrived at the scene.

Liberation said three spent cartridges of buckshot had been found, along with traces of buckshot in the ceiling.

"In a democracy, when someone enters a newspaper office with a gun, this is very, very serious, whatever the person's mental state," said Liberation's publisher Nicolas Demorand.

Mr Demorand said he would hold a news conference at 17:00 GMT.

In the next few hours, investigators will compare CCTV images from the two attacks to see if there are any similarities, BFMTV said.

A journalist from Liberation told BFMTV that the two security guards at the entrance immediately ducked down behind their desks when the man drew his weapon and did not see him clearly.


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Naples rally against mafia pollution

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 17 November 2013 | 18.19

16 November 2013 Last updated at 19:46 ET
A protester marches in Naples

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The demonstrators demanded an immediate clean-up of the contaminated land, as Tim Allman reports.

Tens of thousands of people have protested in Italy's southern city of Naples against illegal dumping of toxic waste blamed on the local mafia.

Demonstrators carried photos of relatives who they said had died of cancer as a result of the pollution.

Locals call the area between Naples and Caserta the "Triangle of Death" because of toxic fumes after waste burning.

Some 10 million tonnes of industrial waste has reportedly been dumped in the region over the past 20 years.

Environmental group Legambiente, which organised Saturday's protest, said nearly 440 businesses in central and northern Italy had been taking part in the illegal activity.

"It is essential that in addition to waste we find also the truth about who is responsible," Legambiente's director Rossella Muroni was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

The demonstrators also demanded an immediate clean-up of the contaminated land.

As more and more illegal dumps are found, the Italian government says it is starting an extensive project of cleaning the contaminated area.

The local mafia, the Camorra, is suspected of securing lucrative contracts to dispose of waste and then dumping much of it illegally.

Two decades ago doctors noticed that incidences of cancer in towns around Naples were on the rise.

Since then, the number of tumours found in women has risen by 40%, and those in men by 47%.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

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Masses held in storm-hit Philippines

17 November 2013 Last updated at 01:10 ET

Thousands of grieving survivors have attended church services in areas of the Philippines devastated by Typhoon Haiyan nine days ago.

In many places, including the mostly flattened city of Tacloban in Leyte province, Masses were held in half-destroyed and flooded churches.

The international aid effort is starting to have a major impact, with Britain's HMS Daring warship joining the huge relief operation.

Haiyan killed more than 3,600 people.

The typhoon - which had some of the strongest winds ever recorded on land - also left about 500,000 people homeless.

Meanwhile, the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) group of charities urged countries to take urgent action on climate change.

Continue reading the main story

The images we have seen from the Philippines are a reminder that climate change is not about numbers and process, but a growing reality for poor people"

End Quote Max Lawson Oxfam

It said Typhoon Haiyan was a glimpse of the future for millions who will be at risk from extreme weather.

'Faith strengthened'

On Sunday, scores of churches in the mainly Roman Catholic country held services that were attended by thousands.

Many came to give thanks for surviving the storm, while others prayed for their loved ones that died.

"I wish to thank the Lord. We asked for his help for all the people who survived this typhoon to be able to eat and continue a life that is hopefully more blissful," Belen Curila told the AFP news agency at a service in Guiuan - the first town to be hit by the typhoon.

"The Lord has strengthened our faith and made us stronger in order for us to survive and start off all over again."

Villagers stranded by last week's Typhoon Haiyan scramble for aid from a U.S. Navy Sea Hawk helicopter

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Filipinos scramble for aid which is starting to arrive via helicopter, as Rajini Vaidyanathan reports

 U.S. Marine carries packages of drinking water to a waiting helicopter to be deployed to survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan at Tacloban airport

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Remote parts of the Philippines cut off by Typhoon Haiyan have started to receive aid, as Rajesh Mirchandani reports

In Tacloban, one of the worst-hit cities, Father Amadero Alvero led a service for some 500 people in the half-destroyed and flooded Santo Nino church.

"Despite what happened, we still believe in God," he said.

'Slow' response

As the morning Masses were held, the international relief effort continued to build.

Patrick Fuller of the International Federation of the Red Cross told the Associated Press news agency they were "ramping up a major relief effort and the supplies are coming in".

Mr Fuller, who is in Tacloban, said: "We're setting up an emergency response hospital here, water and sanitation units." But he said people in affected areas would need long-term support with rebuilding.

Both the Red Cross and the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said they would have mobile surgical units up and running in Tacloban by the end of the weekend.

US Navy helicopters have been dropping food, water and other supplies from the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which arrived off the coast on Thursday.

The HMS Daring - which is now is off the coast of Cebu City - is the latest vessel to join the relief effort.

Its crew is now preparing to despatch aid to the Panay Island, in the far west of Cebu.

Another British ship - the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious - is on its way to the Philippines.

Britain has announced it will give an extra £30m ($50m) in emergency aid, bringing UK assistance to £50m. The DEC said donations it had collected from the public had reached £33m.

Meanwhile, China - which had been criticised for its relatively small amount of initial aid - said on Saturday it was ready to send rescue and medical teams to the storm-hit areas.

However, widespread infrastructure damage is hampering efforts to distribute aid to some areas.

Desperate survivors are still trying to leave the coastal city of Ormoc, 105 km (65 miles) west of Tacloban, Reuters news agency reports.

Philippine Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Soliman acknowledged in a radio interview that the national relief response had been too slow to reach many areas.

"We will double our efforts to distribute relief goods because we've been hearing complaints that a lot of people have yet to receive relief goods," she said.

About 11 million people have been affected by Typhoon Haiyan, according to UN estimates.

It was one of the most powerful storms ever recorded on land, with winds exceeding 320km/h (200 mph) unleashing massive waves. Tacloban's airport was left in ruins.

Health experts have warned that the worst-affected areas are entering a peak danger period for the spread of infectious diseases.


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