QUOTE OF THE DAY
“This is a communicable disease - with population movements it can travel to other areas. So the risk is high of spread across the region.”
Oliver Rosenbauer, spokesman for the World Health Organization, which said 10 cases of polio were confirmed in Syria, where a civil war causes thousands to flee to neighboring countries each day Article, 1A
Israel releases 26 Palestinian prisoners
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners early today, the second of four batches to be released as part of a deal that set in motion the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
The decision to release the 26 has triggered protests and anger in Israel, where many view the men as terrorists who have committed grisly crimes against Israelis. But jubilant celebrations took place in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where the prisoners are seen as heroes who fought for independence. They were received by their families and Palestinian leaders.
A court appeal claimed that in light of a recent spate of deadly attacks on Israelis in the West Bank, the government should review the decision it made earlier this year to release the convicts. The Supreme Court rejected that claim and ruled there was no legal basis to cancel the release.
An organization of bereaved families behind the appeal has said it fears the prisoners, all convicted in connection to the deaths of Israelis, will return to violence once freed.
Today’s release is part of an agreement brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to get Israel and the Palestinians back to the table for peace talks that had been paralyzed since 2008. In all, 104 convicts are to be released in four batches.
Fiery Indian bus crash kills 40; 6 escape
MEHABUBNAGAR, India - Police say 40 people have been killed - many of them burned alive - when a bus crashed into a barrier and caught fire in southern India.
The crash happened about 5:20 a.m. India time today in Mehabubnagar, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, said A. Satya Rao, press secretary to the state’s chief minister, by phone.
Pradeep, a police official who goes by only one name, said the driver and five other people escaped.
The driver had been trying to pass another vehicle when the bus hit the roadside barrier, officials said.
Mehabubnagar is more than 800 miles from New Delhi.
India has the highest annual road death toll in the world, according to the World Health Organization. More than 110,000 people are killed every year in road accidents across India, according to police.
Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.
U.N., Iran call nuke talks ‘very productive’
VIENNA - United Nations efforts to investigate suspicions that Iran has worked on nuclear arms appeared to gain traction Tuesday, with both sides speaking of “very productive” talks after nearly two years of deadlock and agreeing to meet again on Nov. 11 in Tehran.
Negotiators for Iran and the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency refused to go into details.
Their decision to issue a joint statement, instead of their usual practice of speaking to reporters separately, was seen as a sign of progress. Read by Tero Varjoranta, head of the Energy Agency’s team, the statement spoke of a “very productive meeting” of “substantive discussion” and “cooperation” in the two-day talks ending Tuesday.
A new round of talks about Iran’s nuclear program is scheduled in Geneva next week by Iran and six world powers.
White extremists sentenced in S. Africa
JOHANNESBURG - White extremists who set off a series of bombs and plotted to overthrow the South African government and kill Nelson Mandela were given jail terms Tuesday, ending the first major treason trial under post-apartheid laws that many hope will deter future radicals.
The sentences for up to 20 defendants between the ages of 32 and 74, ranged from five years to 35 years. Some will be released on suspended sentences, while the leaders will serve the longest terms.
Members of the Afrikaner extremist group Boeremag, or white farmer force, last year were convicted of treason for a plot, in the late 1990s and early 2000, to violently overthrow South Africa’s government.
Some members were also convicted of culpable homicide and conspiring to murder for a thwarted plan to kill Mandela. The group claimed responsibility for a series of bombings that killed a woman and caused damage throughout the Johannesburg township of Soweto in 2002.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 10/30/2013