QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It’s a message to the international community that Israel is a state that doesn’t abide by international law and continues to put obstacles in the way of peace.”
Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemning plans for 1,500 new homes in Israeli settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank Article, this page
Rebels flee as Congo army retakes town
BUNAGANA, Congo - The Congolese army retook one of the last remaining strongholds of the M23 rebels Wednesday, with fighters heading for the hills as the military sought to extinguish the 18-month insurrection, officials said.
As the army retook the town of Bunagana, leaving the M23 with a small sliver of territory, Bertrand Bisimwa, the civilian head of the rebel movement crossed the border into Uganda.
Congo called for him to be returned home.
There was no immediate comment from the M23, which in recent days has accused the Congolese military and its United Nations allies of sabotaging the peace process with their offensive.
Pakistan puts civilian drone toll at just 67
ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani government said Wednesday that 3 percent of the 2,227 people killed in U.S. drone strikes since 2008 were civilians, a figure that sparked criticism from groups that have investigated death tolls from the attacks.
The Ministry of Defense’s report to the Senate said 317 drone strikes have killed 2,160 Islamic militants and 67 civilians since 2008. The number is much lower than past calculations by the government and independent organizations, which have estimated as many as 300 civilian deaths.
The attacks, which mainly target suspected Islamic militants near the northwestern border with Afghanistan, are unpopular in Pakistan because they are viewed as violating the country’s sovereignty and killing too many civilians. The Pakistani government regularly criticizes the drone program in public, even though it is known to have secretly supported at least some of the strikes in the past.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pressed President Barack Obama to end the attacks in a visit to the White House last week, but the U.S. considers the attacks vital to its battle against al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Defense Ministry officials could not be reached for comment. The statement posted on the Senate’s website did not give any indication why the number was so much lower than past estimates.
3 admit guilt in News of World hacking
LONDON - A prosecutor said Wednesday that there was “a conspiracy which involved a significant number of people” to hack phones at the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World, revealing that three senior journalists at the now-defunct newspaper have pleaded guilty to illegally eavesdropping on voice mails.
Opening the long-awaited hacking trial of former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson and others, prosecution lawyer Andrew Edis said hacking and other illegal activity at the paper and its sister tabloid, The Sun, went on for a decade. He said it was inconceivable that the top executives didn’t know about it.
Brooks and Coulson - once top aides to Murdoch and associates of Prime Minister David Cameron - are charged along with six others on a variety of counts related to phone hacking, bribing officials and obstructing justice. All deny the charges.
Edis revealed that four others pleaded guilty before the trial began. Three worked at the News of the World: Greg Miskiw, Neville Thurlbeck and James Weatherup, all former news desk editors.
Egyptian forces capture hunted Islamist
CAIRO - Egyptian security forces arrested a key Muslim Brotherhood figure in a raid early Wednesday, a man on the run since the July coup that toppled the country’s Islamist president, the Interior Ministry said.
The arrest of Essam el-Erian, the deputy leader of the Brotherhood’s political arm, the Freedom and Justice party, was the latest in a crackdown of the Islamist group’s leaders and members since the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, who also hails from the Brotherhood.
Morsi has been held at an undisclosed military location since the July 3 coup. He is facing charges of inciting supporters to murder his opponents while in office and will go on trial Monday.
El-Erian, 59, is accused of inciting Brotherhood followers to break up anti-Morsi protest outside the presidential palace late last year.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 10/31/2013