Turkey's army fired on Syria...[ 2970 ]

Turkey fires on Syria in retaliation incident: state TV

BESASLAN, Turkey | Fri Oct 19, 2012 7:19am EDT

(Reuters) - Turkey's army fired on Syria on Friday after two shells launched from Syria landed in Turkish territory, Turkish state broadcaster TRT reported, underlining how tension between the two neighbors remains dangerously high.
TRT did not specify where the incident occurred and no further details were available. There were no reports of any casualties resulting from the exchange of fire.
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Turkey has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes against President Bashar al-Assad's forces fighting rebels along the border since Syrian shelling killed five Turkish civilians in a Turkish frontier town at the start of October.
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Syrian rebels clashed with Assad's troops in a town near the Turkish border province of Hatay on Friday ahead of moves to broker a brief ceasefire, a Reuters witness said.
A large plume of smoke could be seen rising from the Syrian town of Haram after an explosion around midday (0900 GMT). The morning was punctuated by sounds of small blasts and gunfire, said witnesses in the nearby Turkish village of Besaslan.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on Friday for all sides involved in the Syrian conflict to observe a ceasefire during the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival next week.
U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is expected in Damascus later in the day to try to broker that ceasefire.
(Reporting by Osman Orsal; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Soyuz TMA-06M Crew Bonding...[ 2969 ]

Image of the Crew Bonding

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Expedition 33 crew share a playful moment Oct. 10, 2012 during the first of two so-called “fit check” dress rehearsal sessions. The crew hoists their Russian Sokol launch-and-entry suits over their heads as they prepare for the scheduled Oct. 23 launch in their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft. The crew will begin a five-month mission on the International Space Station.

From left to right are Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin and NASA Flight Engineer Kevin Ford.

Image Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov

Greek anti-austerity protest...[ 2968 ]

Police fire teargas at Greek anti-austerity protest

By Lefteris Papadimas and Harry Papachristou

ATHENS | Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:02pm BST

 

(Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas to disperse anti-austerity protesters hurling stones and petrol bombs on the day of a general strike that brought much of the near-bankrupt country to a standstill.
It was the second time in three weeks that Greek workers had walked off the job, with Thursday's strike aimed at showing EU leaders meeting in Brussels that new wage and pension cuts will only worsen their plight after five years of recession.
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More than 30,000 protesters gathered in central Athens as most business and public sector activity ground to a halt at the start of the 24-hour strike called by the country's two biggest labour unions, ADEDY and GSEE.
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Tensions mounted when a small group of protesters began throwing pieces of marble, bottles and petrol bombs at police barricading part of the square in front of parliament, prompting riot police to fire several rounds of teargas to disperse them.
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"Enough is enough. They've dug our graves, shoved us in and we are waiting for the priest to read the last words," said Konstantinos Balomenos, a 58-year-old worker at a water utility whose wage has been halved to 900 euros and who has two unemployed sons.
Some protesters were carrying Greek, Spanish and Portuguese flags and shouted: "EU, IMF out".
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Greece is stuck in its worst downturn since World War Two and must make at least 11.5 billion euros of cuts to satisfy the "troika" of the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF, and secure the next tranche of a 130-billion-euro bailout.
"Agreeing to catastrophic measures means driving society to despair and the consequences as well as the protests will then be indefinite," said Yannis Panagopoulos, head of the GSEE private sector union, one of two major unions that represent about 2 million people, or half of Greece's workforce.
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LENDERS DEMAND AUSTERITY
European Union leaders will try to bridge their differences over plans for a banking union at a two-day summit which starts on Thursday. No substantial decisions are expected, reviving concerns about complacency in tackling the debt crisis which exploded three years ago in Greece.
The austerity policies being pursued in Europe's indebted Mediterranean countries at the behest of Germany and other rich euro zone members will drive the euro apart, protesters warned.
"This can't go on. We sure need measures but not as tough as the ones (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel is asking for," said Dimitris Mavronassos, a 40-year-old shipyard worker who has not been paid for six months.
The strike emptied streets and offices in Athens. Ships stayed in port, Athens public transport was disrupted and hospitals were working with emergency staff, while public offices, ministries, bakeries and other shops were shut.
Newspaper kiosk owners, lawyers, taxi drivers and air traffic controllers were among those protesting over the cuts, which include further drastic reductions in welfare and health spending.
Opinion polls show rising anger with the terms of the bailout keeping the economy afloat, and Greeks becoming increasingly pessimistic about their country's future.
"The new, painful package should not be passed," the ADEDY public sector union said in a statement.
"The new demands will only finish off what's left of our labour, pension and social rights."
But with Greece due to run out of money next month, Athens has little choice but to push through the austerity package being discussed with lenders.
Greece and inspectors from the troika say they have agreed on most issues. Athens is expected to secure aid needed to avoid bankruptcy given EU determination to avoid fresh market turmoil threatening bigger economies such as Spain and Italy.

Cuba eases travel restrictions..[ 2967 ]

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Cuba eases travel restriction for citizens

By Ben Brumfield, CNN

October 17, 2012 -- Updated 0048 GMT (0848 HKT)

Cuban president Raul Castro has pledged to ease the country's travel restrictions.

(CNN) -- Starting next year, Cubans traveling abroad will face fewer hurdles leaving the country.

The official news site Granma reported Tuesday that the Cuban government will no longer require a travel permit and a letter of invitation.

Until now, Cubans had to pay $150 for an exit visa. A resident in the country that the Cuban wanted to visit would also have to write a letter of invitation.

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Fees associated with the letter ran as high as $200. That's a steep price in a country where the average official monthly income is about $20.

Even with the two documents, a traveler could run up against a wall if the government denied an exit visa -- as it has done with many dissidents. Medical professionals are only allowed to leave Cuba to work for the government abroad.

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But once the new requirements go into effect on January 14, travelers will only have to present a valid passport and an entry visa for the country where they are headed.

The move is part of the reforms that President Raul Castro promised when he took office in 2008.

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At the time, he pledged to do away with unnecessary restrictions. And that year, he lifted prohibitions on Cubans staying in hotels and buying mobile phones.

The new change, however, does not mean that anyone wanting to travel will get a passport.

"The ordinary passport will be issued to the Cuban citizens who meet the requirements of the Migration Law," which is being modified, according to the report in Granma.

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While the report does not say how the law will be altered, it does add that the government will fight brain -- and money -- drain "from the aggressive and subversive plans of the US government and its allies." It will do so by leaving in place measures to preserve "human capital created by the Revolution from the theft of talents practiced by the powerful nations."

David Cameron has personally warned Israel..[ 2966 ]

Now is not the time to strike Iran, David Cameron urges Israel

David Cameron has personally warned Israel not to take military action against Iran for “now”, he disclosed last night.

On standby: an Israeli F-15 fighter jet on manoeuvres in the Negev desert  Photo: Getty Images

By Robert Winnett, , David Blair and Adrian Blomfield

12:12AM BST 16 Oct 2012

In a speech to members of the Jewish community in London, the Prime Minister said he would not tolerate a “nuclear-armed Iran”. But he added that he had told Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to give sanctions more time to work.

Mr Cameron told the annual dinner of the United Jewish Israel Appeal: “I have said to Prime Minister Netanyahu that now is not the time for Israel to resort to military action.

“Beyond the unpredictable dangers inherent in any conflict, the other reason is this: at the very moment when the regime faces unprecedented pressure and the people are on the streets, and when Iran’s only real ally in Syria is losing his grip on power, a foreign military strike is exactly the chance the regime would look for to unite its people against a foreign enemy.

“We shouldn’t give them that chance.”

But he added: “In the long term, if Iran makes the wrong choice, nothing is off the table. A nuclear armed Iran is a threat to Israel. And a threat to the world. And this country will work unwaveringly to prevent that from happening.”

Speculation has been growing that Israel plans an imminent military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, possibly during the American presidential campaign.
Yesterday, the Pentagon confirmed that the US and Israel would undertake their largest joint air and defence exercise this month. British forces will also participate in the three-week “Austere Challenge”, details of which are cloaked in secrecy.
But Mr Cameron cited growing evidence to suggest that sanctions against the regime were beginning to have an impact.
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, pledged to increase the “peaceful pressure” on Iran with a tightening of them.
A meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg agreed further steps after negotiations earlier this year failed to resolve the confrontation over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. 
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Iran continues to enrich uranium in breach of six United Nations resolutions, a process that could be used to make the fissile core of a nuclear weapon. 
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The new measures ban most transactions between EU and Iranian banks. They also forbid any EU member state from exporting metals including aluminium and steel to Iran.
Israeli officials said they welcomed yesterday’s decision, but warned that sanctions had not yet stopped Iran enriching uranium. 
Blogers'NB:
* But David Cameron it does not say what will happen if Iran decides to completely destroy Israel