Suicide bomber wounds 32 in Istanbul's main square

People help victims at the scene of an suspected suicide bombing near the police vehicles in central Istanbul's Taksim Square October 31, 2010. The suicide bomber wounded 32 people in an attack targeting Turkish police in the city's main square on Sunday, an area teaming with tourists and shoppers. Credit: Reuters/Osman Orsal

Photostream : Bomb Attack in Istanbul

November 01, 2010 (KATAKAMI / Reuters) - A suicide bomber wounded 32 people in an attack targeting Turkish police in Istanbul's main square on Sunday, an area teaming with tourists and shoppers.

No organisation has claimed responsibility, officials said, though the city has been targeted in the past by Kurdish separatist militants and al Qaeda, as well as militants from Turkey's far-left.

Istanbul police chief Huseyin Capkin said a man had approached police stationed at the square before blowing himself up. Television footage immediately after the explosion appeared to show police firing warning shots and people fleeing in panic.

Fifteen policemen and 17 civilians were wounded in the attack at 10.40 a.m. in Taksim Square, but only nine, mostly police, were kept in hospital, Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu told reporters.

Taksim Square is a tourist and transport hub surrounded by restaurants, shops and hotels, at the heart of modern Istanbul.

The bomber struck near police buses parked close to a monument commemorating Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, and victory in the war of independence in 1923.

The police presence in Taksim is raised around national holidays like Republic Day, which was celebrated on Friday.

Mobile phone footage taken just after the explosion showed a woman lying close to the monument bleeding heavily from her leg, and a policeman also lying with blood streaming from his head.

A taxi driver told CNN Turk news channel he saw a 30 to 33-year-old man approach the police to ask directions, at which point the bomb detonated. Another witness said he saw two men.

According to the governor, police seized plastic explosives found with a detonator at the scene, though it was unclear whether they had been part of a second bomb.


PAST ATTACKS


Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was visiting Mardin, in the mainly Kurdish southeast, when the blast struck his hometown.

"Those who threaten Turkey's peace, security and development will not be tolerated," he said in a televised speech.

"These kinds of attacks will not stop Turkey reaching its goals of peace, brotherhood and development. We are together, we are brothers."

Istanbul is the business and financial centre of Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation of 75 million people that is hoping to become a member of the European Union.

The city has been targeted before by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels, but the separatist group extended a unilateral ceasefire last month, and on Saturday said it would announce in the coming days whether it would extend it further.

PKK suicide bombers have attacked security forces in the past, but not for many years.

Al Qaeda suicide bombers carried out a series of attacks in Istanbul in November 2003 that killed 62 people and wounded hundreds.

In recent weeks Turkish police have made several arrests of people suspected of providing support to al Qaeda militants fighting in Afghanistan.

On Sunday, Anatolia newsagency reported police in Istanbul and other cities had detained 16 members of a leftist militant organisation, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C). The report made no connection with the Istanbul attack, but in 2001 a DHKP/C suicide bomber killed two people in Taksim Square.

(MS)

Photostream : U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Cambodia

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) is welcomed by Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni during her visit to Phnom Penh November 1, 2010. Clinton's visit to Cambodia is the first by a U.S. Secretary of State since 2003. (Getty Images / REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea )

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, meets with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni at the Royal Palace on Monday, Nov. 1, 2010, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Clinton on Monday urged Cambodia to confront its tortured past by ensuring the Khmer Rouge are brought to justice for crimes against humanity in the 1970s and improve its current human rights record. (Getty Images / AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) listens to Youk Chhang, the director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, as she stands in front of photos of victims during her visit to Khmer Rouge notorious security prison Tuol Sleng (S-21) in Phnom Penh November 1, 2010. From 1975-1979 an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned, tortured and killed in S-21, once a high school turned into an interrogation centre, during the Khmer Rouge regime. Clinton's visit to Cambodia is the first by a U.S. Secretary of State since 2003. (Getty Images / REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea )

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, talks with a group in a center during a visit to a shelter for victims of sexual exploitation in Siem Reap province, about 230 kilometers, 142 miles, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010. Hillary is in northern Cambodia, about as far away as one can get from the intense political battle going on back home. (Getty Images / AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) listens to Van Sina, 25, a human trafficking victim, beside another victim, Somana, 20, at the Siem Reap AFESIP rehabilitation and vocational training center October 31, 2010. Clinton's visit to Cambodia is the first by a U.S. Secretary of State since 2003. (Getty Images / REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea )

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) visits the Angkor Wat in Siem Reap October 31, 2010. Clinton's visit to Cambodia is the first by a U.S. Secretary of State since 2003. (Getty Images / REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea )

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, rear center, poses for photo together with Cambodian children during her visit to a shelter for victims of sexual exploitation in Siem Reap, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010. Clinton was in the midst of a two-week, seven-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific. (Getty Images / AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Clinton urges rights progress in Cambodia

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, foreground, walks through a barbed wire gate of Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, formerly the Khmer Rouge regime's notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Nov. 1, 2010. Clinton urged Cambodia to improve its human rights record and ensure the Khmer Rouge are brought to justice for crimes against humanity in the 1970s. (Getty Images / AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

November 01, 2010 PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (KATAKAMI / AJC.COM) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday urged Cambodia to confront its tortured past by ensuring the Khmer Rouge are brought to justice for crimes against humanity in the 1970s and improve its current human rights record.

In the capital of Phnom Penh, she visited a former school that served as the main Khmer Rouge prison and torture center and appealed for the Cambodian people and government to overcome a legacy of impunity for abuses. The government has refused to allow a U.N.-backed court trying top Khmer Rouge leaders to prosecute lower-ranking members.

Clinton toured the infamous S-21 prison where as many as 16,000 people were tortured before being executed for alleged coutnterrevolutionary behavior. The ultra-leftist Khmer Rouge regime is blamed for the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution during its 1975-79 reign.

"It's a very disturbing experience and the pictures — both the pictures of the young Cambodians who were killed and the young Cambodians who were doing the killing — were so painful," she told students after the tour. "But I also came away very impressed because a country that is able to confront its past is a country that can overcome it."

"Countries that are held prisoner to their past can never break those chains and build the kind of future that their children deserve," Clinton said. "Although I am well aware the work of the tribunal is painful, it is necessary to ensure a lasting peace."

The Khmer Rouge tribunal closed its first case in July when it convicted the regime's chief jailer and head of S-21, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. A second trial is expected to start next year for the four top surviving Khmer Rouge leaders.

But Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has said the trials will stop there, despite U.N. wishes to bring lower-ranking officers to justice for murder, torture and other crimes. The U.N. says progress has been blocked by political interference from Cambodian officials who oppose more prosecutions.

Critics accuse the Cambodian leader of trying to limit the tribunal's scope to prevent his political allies from being indicted. Hun Sen once served as a Khmer Rouge officer and many of his main allies are also former members of the group.

In talks with Hun Sen later Monday after meeting the students, Clinton is expected to say that the U.S. wants to see the next trial proceed quickly and judiciously, according to U.S. officials.

Clinton also plans to tell Hun Sen that his government, which has been harshly criticized for cracking down on opposition groups, must do more to protect human rights. She will meet with opposition leaders before departing for Malaysia on the next leg of a two-week, seven-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific.

Last week, Hun Sen told visiting U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon that he must close down the U.N. human rights office in Cambodia, which he accuses of interfering in the country's internal affairs.

Cambodian officials are expected to keep up their push for forgiveness from the U.S. of about $445 million in Vietnam War-era debt. Washington has balked, arguing the country has the means to repay the low-interest loans.

(MS)

Ehud Barak: The Bad News is That Bin Laden is Still Alive

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak

November 01, 2010 (KATAKAMI / IsraelNationalNews.Com) -- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak participated on Sunday in the Israel Homeland Security International Conference which opened with a gala event in Tel Aviv.

During his remarks, Barak said: "Nine years after the terrorist attacks in the U.S., the good news is that there hasn't been another such terror attack, but the bad news is that Bin Laden is still alive. Global terrorism is trying to take over the world. The struggle against global terror is a marathon which will continue for half a generation or even more."

(MS)

Indonesia's Mount Merapi Volcano erupts again

Lava flows from the crater of Mount Merapi as seen from Deles, Central Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010. (Getty Images / AP Photo/Irwin Fedriansyah)

November 011, 2010 (KATAKAMI / THE JAKARTA POST) --- Mount Merapi erupted again on Monday, spewing hot ash.

Kompas.com reported that the ash was bigger than that in the previous three eruptions.

The Merapi eruptions have killed more than 30 people and force thousands of people to flee homes.

(MS)

Indonesian volcano unleashes new powerful eruption on Monday

Lava flows from Mount Merapi volcano as seen from Sidorejo village in the district of Klaten, central Java, October 31, 2010. Indonesia's Mount Merapi erupted again on Saturday morning, spewing ash into the sky, and prompting authorities to extend the danger radius by two kilometres (1.24 miles). Photo by ; REUTERS/Andry Prsetyo / Getty Images

November 01, 2010. MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia (KATAKAMI / AP) – Indonesia's deadly volcano has unleashed another powerful eruption, spewing out towering clouds of hot ash. There were no immediate reports of new casualties or damage.

Mount Merapi, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has killed at least 38 people in the past week.
Safari Dwiyono, a volcanologist, said ash and debris were fired hundreds of yards (meters) into the air on Monday morning. Searing gases were also spilling down the slopes of the 9,700-foot (3,000-meter) mountain.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and eruptions because it straddles a series of fault lines and volcanoes known as the Pacific "Ring of Fire."

On the other end of the country, rescue workers were ferrying aid to survivors of a tsunami that killed at least 450 people.


(MS)

Condition of Russian Airborne Force commander improves in hospital

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, left, greets Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, the commander of the Russian Airborne Forces in the military hospital in Moscow, Russia, late Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. Shamanov was involved in a serious car accident on Saturday. (Getty Images / AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Pool)

Putin visits General Shamanov, Commander of Russian Airborne Forces in hospital: http://wp.me/pYE9h-2Z5


MOSCOW, October 31 (KATAKAMI / Itar-Tass) -- The condition of Russian Airborne Force Commander Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, who was injured in a road accident and taken to the Burdenko Central Military Hospital, has improved a bit, hospital deputy head Col. Konstantin Panyushin said.

“Gen. Shamanov is being prepared for a surgery. A medical panel will schedule the surgery on Monday,” he said.

The general has fractures of an arm and the left thighbone.

Federation Council Chairman Sergei Mironov visited Shamanov at hospital and wished him the soonest recovery.

Meanwhile, acting commander of the 106th airborne division Col. Alexei Naumets, who was injured in a road accident in Tula together with Shamanov, has been taken to the Burdenko Central Military Hospital in Moscow, Airborne Force spokesman Col. Alexander Cherednik told Itar-Tass.

Naumets was initially taken to the intensive care unit of the Tula branch of the Burdenko hospital on Saturday.

Panyushin said that Naumets was in a serious condition: he had broken ribs, cerebral concussion, chest contusion, a fracture of the right thighbone, and a fracture of both shinbones.

(MS)

Russia's Medvedev arrives at Kuril Islands

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

November 01, 2010 (KATAKAMI / RIA NOVOSTI) --- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has arrived at Kunashir Island, the southernmost island of the Kurils.

This is Medvedev's first visit to the islands, the dispute over which prevents Moscow and Tokyo from signing a formal peace treaty since 1945.

Prior to the visit, Japan voiced its concerns saying the arrival of the Russian leader could complicate bilateral relations, but Medvedev rejected Tokyo's attempts to change his plans saying he will "define the routes of trips across his country on his own."

Tokyo's continued claim over four South Kuril Islands (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai) to the northeast of Japan has so far prevented Russia and Japan from signing a peace treaty to end World War II hostilities. The islands were annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II.


KUNASHIR ISLAND (Sakhalin Region), November 1 (RIA Novosti)

Israel's Tea Party draws few supporters to 'Say No to Obama' event

A Likud supporter puts up a sign expressing Likud support for settlements. (Haaretz)

October 31, 2010 (KATAKAMI / HAARETZ) --- Movement is not a breakaway from Netanyahu's party, Likud MK and organizer says, but is meant to help PM reject Obama's pressure to bend to Palestinian conditions for peace talks.

A "Say No to Obama" event in Israel drew only 100 supporters on Sunday as the Likud Party launched its own version of the Tea Party movement that is challenging the U.S. President in Tuesday's mid-term elections.

There were no security police outside and parking was easy in the notoriously clogged center of Tel Aviv, as former Knesset deputy Michael Kleiner, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud bloc, inaugurated the movement.

"This is a message to the United States president that in relations between democracies you do not force people to do things they did not vote for," Kleiner told reporters.

The Israel Tea Party launch did not mark the start of a breakaway right-wing party, he said. It was meant to help Netanyahu reject Obama's pressure to bend to Palestinian conditions for the revival of flagging peace talks.

"Obama will use the next two or three months not to bend Netanyahu's arm but to break it," Kleiner warned.

Like the rest of Likud, his supporters back Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and reject U.S. calls for a continuation of the partial freeze Netanyahu ordered last November to open the door to direct talks. It ended a month ago.

For the moment, Israel's Tea Party is simply a grassroots movement intended to back up Netanyahu, Kleiner said, but it is also ready to break with him if he yields to American pressure.

Obama is not popular with many Israelis who believe he sympathizes with the Palestinians, polls show.
Launching their movement in a modest auditorium decked with red and black balloons and seating for 130, however, organizers clearly did not expect a massive turnout to the "Say No" event.

But it was early days, said Tea Party member Boaz Arab, of the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (JIMS).

Obama's drive for a Middle East peace agreement that would create a state for the Palestinians living alongside Israel was the target of the launch, he said. But there were further goals.

"Our perspective is much wider. Israel needs a capitalistic movement to free the economy from its burden of high taxes, high government spending and a bloated administration," he said, in a message American Tea Party supporters would recognize.

An index calculated by the institute shows that after annual taxes are paid Israelis "start working for themselves only after June 22 this year", said Arad, a research fellow at JIMS.

"We need this movement, to remind government that they are here to serve the people and not the other way around."

Polls in the United States indicate this same sentiment among Americans could deliver bad results for Obama's Democratic party in Tuesday's mid-term elections for the House of Representatives and one third of the U.S. Senate.

Netanyahu said on Sunday he would meet U.S. Vice President Joe Biden after the results are known next week, at the Nov. 5-9 General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America. He said he would discuss how to revive stalled peace negotiations.

A new round of direct talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians got under way in Washington on Sept. 2 only to stop a few weeks later when his government refused to extend the curb on West Bank settlement building he had imposed for 10 months.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants a construction freeze before going any further.

(MS)

Boehner Is Offering Himself as 2010 Version of Change

John A. Boehner, in Chillicothe, Ohio, on Sunday, could become the next House speaker.

October 31, 2010 HANOVERTON, Ohio (KATAKAMI / NYTimes)  — The speaker in waiting was waiting to speak, perched atop a bale of hay on a small platform outside the Spread Eagle Tavern, where the windows were draped with patriotic red, white and blue bunting.

Back in his home state on the weekend before the biggest election of his career, John A. Boehner absent-mindedly flicked a hand through his hair, though it was already perfectly in place. He listened as one local conservative after another railed against Washington and the federal government and the Congress that Mr. Boehner has inhabited for 18 years, only to emerge now, perhaps improbably, as the face of much hungered-for change.

With the autumn leaves fluttering down in a swirl of crimson and bronze, Mr. Boehner stood up to make his case for Bill Johnson, the local Republican candidate for the House, and more broadly for a nationwide sweep that he hopes will propel Republicans into the majority and himself into the speaker’s post, second in line to the presidency.

It is a case squarely against President Obama and the current speaker, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, whose name he always pronounces, “pell-oh-Zee” as if practicing his conversational Italian.
“If you want to send Nancy Pelosi packing her bags, back to San Francisco, elect Bill Johnson,” he told the crowd.

At each stop he draws on nostalgia for the Republican glory days of the 1980s, by telling the same joke. “Remember when Ronald Reagan was president,” he said. “We had Bob Hope. We had Johnny Cash. Think about where we are today. We have got President Obama. But we have no hope and we have no cash.” It draws hoots of laughter and applause every time.

As he zipped across a southeastern swath of Ohio this weekend, partly by coach bus, occasionally by the black S.U.V. that is the more customary mode of transport for Congressional leaders these days, Mr. Boehner made a succinct and forceful pitch for Republican candidates and for their view of America.
He is also playing it safe, refusing to answer reporters’ questions about substantive topics, including the recently foiled terrorist effort to mail explosives to the United States.

Instead, he offers a sharp stump speech, tightened to about six minutes.

“Look, I have got to tell you straight up,” he begins, “because I am not Nancy Pelosi, I am not Barack Obama. I say what I mean, and I mean what I say.”

He reminds his audience of Mr. Obama’s health care forum with Congressional leaders last winter. “You remember the seven-hour Obama infomercial? Oh yeah, we were just supposed to be the potted plants for that event,” he said. “And during that event the president said, when we have ideological differences or we have philosophical differences, he said, and I’ll quote, ‘that’s what elections are for.’

“Well, he certainly is right,” Mr. Boehner continued. “Because if you are tired of all the bailouts, if you are tired of all the stimulus spending, if you are tired of the government taking over virtually everything in America, remember what the president said: ‘That’s what elections are for.’ ”

Mr. Boehner is also reintroducing himself to voters in Ohio and by extension to an American public that still largely has no idea who he is or what he is about.

He presents himself as a regular guy, an unlikely leader who sort of stumbled into elective office. His perma-tan, the result of many hours on many golf courses, has faded — either because he is working too much or in a strategic effort to — literally — tone down his appearance.

“You know I am the last guy in the world who should be standing here,” he said. “I have got 11 brothers and sisters. My dad owned a bar. I grew up mopping floors, waiting tables, washing dishes and every rotten job. I have worked every night shift you can imagine, and I am going to tell you what: I loved every job that I had, at least until I get the next one.”

Mr. Boehner is also dressing the part of regular guy, a dramatic departure from his Washington wardrobe of designer suits and ties. On Saturday, he wore blue jeans, a checkered shirt, and a blue fleece pullover with the collar turned up. On Sunday, he looked like an overgrown schoolboy in blue chinos, and a white collared shirt covered by a cable sweater with the cuffs slightly rolled at his wrists.

But most striking is his argument against Washington, where he has served as the Republican leader for the last four years and was responsible for delivering Republican votes, even his own, for the big financial system bailout in 2008.

At a rally on Sunday evening in Chillicothe, Mr. Boehner nodded to his own longevity, noting that some people might say, “Well, you’re part of the problem.” But he insisted, and the hugely enthusiastic crowd seemed to agree, that he was in fact dedicated to change, including an overhaul of the way the House does business.
“Understand this: if we are lucky enough to be in the majority in the U.S. House and I am lucky enough to be the next speaker of the House,” he said, “it’s going to be different, and not just different than it is today under Democrat control, but different than when Republicans last had the chance to govern in Washington, D.C.”
He said he was willing to take on challenges that other Congressional leaders have ducked in the past two decades. “It’s about time that Americans come together and have an adult conversation with each other about the serious challenges that our country faces,” he said.
That Mr. Boehner has the luxury of being in his home state on the final weekend of the campaign, after months spent raising tens of millions of dollars and stumping for Republican candidates across the country, is simply the lucky consequence of Ohio being a hotly contested political battleground. Both Mr. Obama and former President Bill Clinton were also here this weekend.

Mr. Boehner’s speeches are peppered with jabs at Mr. Obama, and he dwells in particular on a recent interview in which, he says, the president referred to his political opponents as “enemies.”

“I can’t hardly believe the president said this,” Mr. Boehner said. “For the president to use that word about people who oppose bigger government, people who are freedom-loving and love our Constitution, I have to tell you, I have got to find that very appalling. And so Mr. President, I have got a word for those people, those people who oppose your policies, those people who love our Constitution, who love freedom and love the principles that America was built on. You know what I call those people? Not enemies. They’re patriots.”

While he is predicting a big win for Republicans, Mr. Boehner also said he would not gloat and, indeed, aides have said he would not hold a big election-night victory party.

“Our job in Washington is to respect the Constitution and to respect the will of the American people,” he said at an appearance at a Republican tailgate party at the Muskingum County Fairgrounds in Zanesville. “And I can tell you, on Tuesday night we are going to have a big win. But it’s not a time to celebrate. When one out of 10 of our fellow citizens are out of work, when we have buried our kids and grandkids under a mountain of debt, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and go to work.”

(MS)

Former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush throw out ceremonial 1st pitch

AP Photo - Former Presidents George Bush, right, and his son, George W. Bush shake hands with Texas Rangers President Nolan Ryan before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch for Game 4 of baseball's World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010, in Arlington, Texas.

October 31, 2010 ARLINGTON, Texas (KATAKAMI / THE NEWS TRIBUNE)  – Game 4 of the World Series had a presidential doubleheader.

The father-and-son team of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch Sunday night in what Major League Baseball said was the first time two former presidents attended a World Series game.

George W. Bush, the 43rd president, threw the pitch, with his dad, the 41st president, at his side.

The duo drove in from left field together in a golf cart, with the younger Bush wearing a blue Texas Rangers jacket and the elder Bush a red World Series jacket. The older held a cane in his left hand and walked haltingly, and he later needed assistance getting into his seat in the first row next to the Texas Rangers dugout.

As they approached the infield dirt and drove past four Giants, San Francisco outfielder Cody Ross gave a handshake to the older Bush.

Former First Lady Barbara Bush took pictures from her first-row seat with former First Lady Laura Bush, her daughter-in-law, standing next to her.

When the golf cart pulled up next to the mound of the first-base side, the two ex-presidents were greeted by Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, the current Rangers president. George W. Bush threw a high pitch to Ryan, who caught it over the right-handed hitter's batter's box.

After the pitch, the pair got back in the golf cart and drove the short distance to in front of the Rangers dugout. Once they were in their seats, the umpires walked over to shake their hands.

Barbara Bush appeared to be keeping a scorecard of the game in the early innings.

The younger Bush is a familiar face at Rangers Ballpark, where he became controlling owner in April 1989 and relinquished the baseball position when he took over as Texas governor in 1995. His group owned the team until selling to Tom Hicks in 1998.

The elder, more of a Houston Astros fan, was a first baseman at Yale and captain of the Bulldogs' baseball team. He played in the first two College World Series, losing the 1947 championship to California 8-7 and the 1948 final to Southern Cal 3-1. Bush kept his Yale first baseman's glove in his Oval Office desk during his White House years, and he is friends with former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent.

Both threw out first pitches many times while president. The older, nicknamed 41, performed the task at the 1992 All-Star game in San Diego and 43 did it before Game 3 of the 2001 World Series at Yankee Stadium.

The older Bush was president from 1989-93 and the younger, nicknamed 43, was president from 2001-09. The younger also attended Game 3.

Rangers spokesman John Blake said neither Bush would discuss the World Series appearance because of a media embargo related to the publication of George W. Bush's upcoming book.

(MS)

Photostream : Dilma Rousseff wins election for Brazil's president

Dilma Rousseff (C), presidential candidate for the ruling Workers Party (PT) flashes the vicory sign at a polling station in Porto Alegre, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on October 31, 2010. Ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff looked poised to sweep to victory in Brazil's presidential election Sunday, as voters rallied to her pledge to continue the policies of her mentor, popular outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. AFP PHOTO/Jefferson BERNARDES (Photo by JEFFERSON BERNARDES/AFP/Getty Images)

Brazilian presidential candidate for the ruling Workers Party (PT) Dilma Rousseff, gives the thumbs up at a polling station in Porto Alegre, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on October 31, 2010. Rousseff has become the first female President of Brazil, after early results showed her receiving 55% of votes against 44% received by her rival, candidate for the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB), Jose Serra. AFP PHOTO/Jefferson BERNARDES (Photo by JEFFERSON BERNARDES/AFP/Getty Images)

Brazil's President-elect Dilma Rousseff, of the Workers Party, center, speaks to supporters after winning the election runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday Oct. 31, 2010. Governing party candidate Dilma Rousseff was elected Brazil's president, becoming the nation's first female leader, and will take office Jan. 1. (Getty Images / AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil's presidential-elect Dilma Rousseff gestures during a speech in Brasilia October 31, 2010. Former guerrilla leader Rousseff won Brazil's presidential election in resounding fashion on Sunday after promising to stick to policies that have lifted millions from poverty and made Brazil one of the world's hottest economies. (Getty Images / REUTERS / Bruno Domingos )

Supporters of presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff celebrate her winning the election runoff in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday Oct. 31, 2010. Governing party candidate Dilma Rousseff was elected Brazil's president, becoming the nation's first female leader, and will take office Jan. 1. (Getty Images / AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

People celebrate the result of Brazil's presidential election won by Dilma Rousseff of the Workers' Party, in Brasilia October 31, 2010. (Getty Images / REUTERS / Ricardo Moraes )

People celebrate the result of Brazil's presidential election that elected Workers' Party's Dilma Rousseff as Brazil's new president in Sao Paulo October 31, 2010. Rousseff won Brazil's presidential election in resounding fashion on Sunday after promising to stick to policies that have lifted millions from poverty and made Brazil one of the world's hottest economies. (Getty Images / REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker )

Iranian intelligence chief meets Khaled Mashaal in Damascus

Khaled Mashaal

October 31, 2010 (KATAKAMI / YNET) --- Iranian Intelligence Minister Haidar Moslehi met in Damascus with Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal, who at the end of their meeting said they discussed the conflict with Israel.

The Iranian IRNA news agency reported that Moslehi, who is on a 3-day visit to Syria, also met with Islamic Jihad Chief Ramadan Shalah.

(MS)

Russia's Medvedev signs nuclear power deal with Vietnam

Visiting Russian president Dimitry Medvedev (L) shakes and with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Triet during an official welcoming ceremony held on October 31, 2010 at the presidential palace in Hanoi. The Russian leader is making a state visit after attending the East Asia summit held on the sidelines of an anual Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in the Vietnamese capital. The state visit is aimed at boosting ties between two former communist allies. AFP PHOTO / POOL / HOANG DINH Nam (Photo by HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images)

October 31, 2010 (KATAKAMI / RIA NOVOSTI) --- The construction of Vietnam's first nuclear power plant will strengthen the country's positions as a strong, independent and modern state, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday following the signing of a nuclear power deal between the two countries.
Under the deal, Russia will initially build two power units in Vietnam with a capacity of 1.2 GW each.

Overall, Vietnam plans to build eight nuclear power plants in five provinces by 2030, with a total capacity of 15 GW, or 10% of all electricity produced in the country. Each NPP would have from four to six generating units.

"This is a very important project, a large project designated for long use. In the final account, if we implement the ideas stipulated in the project and build the capacity designed for the nuclear power plant, the project will capture a considerable part of Vietnam's electricity market," Medvedev said after the signing ceremony in Hanoi.

"We believe that the project will allow Vietnam to develop as a modern and independent state, which does not only extract and refine oil but also uses other sources of energy. And it is very important in a contemporary world to be an independent, strong and modern state," Medvedev said.

Moscow has also pledged to provide Vietnam with a loan for the nuclear power plant construction.


HANOI, October 31 (RIA Novosti)

PM Netanyahu's Remarks at the Start of the Weekly Cabinet Meeting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet in Jerusalem, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010. Netanyahu says he is heading to the U.S. next week to discuss Mideast peace efforts with Vice President Joe Biden. (Getty Images / AP Photo/Jim Hollander, Pool)

October 31, 2010 (KATAKAMI / PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE) --- Following are excerpts from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting today:

"Several weeks ago, I visited Lod.  I said that we could not let the city continue to deteriorate and become the wild west in the heart of the country.  I said that we would act so that Lod would continue to attract new residents, young couples and tourists.  Immediately after the tour, I asked Prime Minister's Office Director-General Eyal Gabai to prepare a comprehensive plan for the city.  This plan will be submitted for Cabinet approval today.  It costs NIS 130 million and is designed to bolster the personal security of Lod's residents and raise their standard of living.

This comprehensive plan includes – inter alia – the collection of illegal weapons, community policing, the renovation of infrastructure, marketing the city's new neighborhoods, making transportation more accessible, building sports facilities, developing tourist infrastructures, upgrading social welfare services, strengthening culture, etc.  I point out that this plan follows on the Education Ministry's NIS 44 million plan to strengthen education in the city.  I believe that this comprehensive plan will bear fruit in the very near future and I expect all ministers to do their part for this important goal, which is both a local and a national goal, vis-à-vis our perspective on how a city with various ethnic communities, and with problems and troubles that can be overcome if we work together, should appear.

Next Sunday, I will leave for the annual Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly.  I will meet there with US Vice President Joe Biden and other senior administration figures, and will discuss with them a series of issues, including – of course – the resumption of the diplomatic process in order to reach a peace agreement with security for the future of the State of Israel.

This General Assembly will be held against the background of reports about the attempt to attack the Jewish community in Chicago, and the truth is that it does not matter if the target was a synagogue in Chicago or a railway station in Madrid, or London, or Mumbai, or Bali.  We are facing a growing wave of terrorism by extremist Islam.  It is growing in the scope and brazen gall of its attacks, in the weapons with which it is arming itself and in the sweeping objectives of the leaders of global terrorism.  Therefore, one of the main issues that I will address at the General Assembly is the steps that the civilized and free world must take in order to stop this wave that threatens us all."

(MS)

Netanyahu to visit U.S. next week, but won't meet with Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House September 1, 2010 in Washington, D.C. Obama will meet with Middle East leaders before the opening direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians scheduled to begin September 2, in the State Department. (Photo by Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images)

October 31, 2010 (KATAKAMI / HAARETZ) --- PM to travel to New Orleans for annual U.S. Jewish conference, due to meet with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to New Orleans early in November for an annual U.S. Jewish conference, but is unlikely to meet President Barack Obama, who will be in Asia. 

Netanyahu announced his plans at a cabinet meeting on Sunday and said he would hold talks in New Orleans with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who is also scheduled to address the Nov. 5-9 General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America. 

Obama, who is trying to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks stalled over Israeli settlement building, leaves on Nov. 5 for a 10-day visit to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. 

Israeli officials said Netanyahu planned to fly to the United States on Nov. 7. 

A new round of direct peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians got under way in Washington on Sept. 2 only to stop a few weeks later when Israel lifted restrictions it had imposed on West Bank settlement building for 10 months. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded a construction freeze in settlements as a condition for resuming the negotiations on establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. 


(MS)

PM Benjamin Netanyahu on FedEx Attack: Terrorists Showing Greater Chutzpah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting on October 31, 2010 at his Jerusalem offices during which he announced that he will travel to the United States next week to discuss security issues, following the discovery of explosive-laden packages from Yemen that were addressed to synagogues in Chicago. (Photo : JIM HOLLANDER/AFP/Getty Images)

October 31, 2010 (KATAKAMI / IsraelNationalNews.com) --- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indirectly mentioned, in a statement opening Sunday's weekly Cabinet meeting, the suspected attempt by Yemeni terrorists to strike Chicago synagogues by sending explosive packages via FedEx .

“It matters not whether the attempt is to strike a synagogue in Chicago, a train station in Madrid, or [targets] in Mumbai or Bali,” Netanyahu said. “We are facing a terror wave that is growing, both in terms of the weapons it uses and in terms of trends and chutzpah vis-a-vis the world,” he said.

Each of the bombs reportedly contained some 400 grams of PETN, a highly explosive substance.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said the plot “has the hallmarks of al-Qaeda” and added: “They are constantly trying things to test our system.”

The bombs, packed in toner cartridges and designed to be detonated by a cell phone, were connected via electric circuit to a mobile phone chip tucked into a printer.

The US has recently warned of an increased Al Qaeda threat in Europe. The terror organization was reported last year to be "building an army" of thousands in Yemen. 

On Friday, the Prime MInister criticized the UNESCO vote labelling Rachel's Tomb a mosque and calling for it and  the Cave of the Patriarchs to be removed from Israel's Heritage Site list.

(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Turkish Police Find More Bombs in Istanbul

Police forensic experts work at the scene after an explosion in Istanbul's central Taksim Square, 31 Oct 2010 (Photo : AFP)

October 31, 2010 (KATAKAMI / VOA) --- Turkish police say they are working to disable additional bombs found at the site of a suicide bombing in Istanbul.

Police Chief Huseyin Capkin said the bombs were discovered following a suicide attack Sunday that wounded 10 police officers and 12 civilians.  He said two of the wounded were in serious condition and that the suicide bomber was killed.

Officials and witnesses said the blast ripped through a section of Taksim Square where riot police were gathering.

Turkish police cordoned off the scene, while ambulances rushed to treat the wounded.

Taksim Square is a major tourist area in the heart of modern Istanbul, with restaurants, shops and hotels.  It is also home to the Republic Monument, built in 1928 to commemorate the creation of the Turkish Republic.

There has been no claim of responsibility.

Several groups have carried out bombings in Istanbul in the past, including Islamic extremists and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

The rebels have been fighting for decades for autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast, but had recently declared a unilateral cease-fire.  Sunday's bombing comes as the PKK cease-fire is set to expire.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

Istanbul Blast Targeting Police Bus Injures over 15, May Have Been Suicide Bomb

Over 20 injured in Istanbul suicide bomb explosion. The blast occurred in Taksim square where riot police had been gathering in preparations for possible demonstrations. (Photo : RIA NOVOSTI)

October31, 2010 (KATAKAMI / BLOOMBERG) --- At least over 15 people were injured in a blast in central Istanbul that the city’s police chief said was caused by a suicide bomber.

The attacker attempted to board a police minibus in Taksim Square in the Turkish city today, Huseyin Capkin told NTV television. Capkin said at least nine police and six others were injured, and said that two of the injured are in a serious condition. It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible for the blast. Kurdish, leftist and Islamist groups have carried out attacks in the city in the past.

A country-wide cease-fire imposed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, was scheduled to expire today. A senior commander of the group, Murat Karayilan, apologized for killing civilians and said he wants to extend the cease-fire indefinitely, Radikal newspaper reported on Oct. 28. He also vowed not to harm civilians in future attacks, the newspaper cited him as saying in an interview.

Turkey’s fight against the PKK, which seeks autonomy in the country’s largely Kurdish southeast and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union, has led to the deaths of some 40,000 people since 1984, most of them Kurdish civilians.

(MS)

Over 20 injured in Istanbul suicide bomb explosion - TV

Riot police stand guard as police forensic officers inspect the scene after an explosion near the police vehicles in central Istanbul October 31, 2010. A suspected suicide bomber injured at least 15 people in the explosion in Istanbul's central Taksim Square on Sunday, Turkish media reported. (Getty Images / REUTERS/Murad Sezer )

ANKARA, October 31 (KATAKAMI / RIA Novosti) - At least 22 people were injured after a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive in Istanbul's main square on Sunday, local TV reported, referring to police.

The blast occurred in Taksim square where riot police had been gathering in preparations for possible demonstrations. Police chief Huseyin Capkin said ten police officers had been injured in the attack, including two policemen in a serious condition.

TV footage showed a body, believed to be that of the suicide bomber, lying near the site of the explosion, covered over with newspapers.

No radical group in Turkey has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, the TV reports said. In the past, members of the separatist rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have carried out bomb attacks in Istanbul.

(MS)