10 dead in bombings in Sadr City

Two bombs detonated late Thursday night near a coffee shop in Sadr City on the northeast edge of Baghdad, killing 10 people and wounding 29, police said.

The explosions occurred just a few minutes apart and near each other, a tactic commonly employed by al Qaeda to maximize the number of casualties, police said.

The casualties were taken to nearby Imam Ali Hospital.

Mexican authorities: 7 killed in state prison riot

At least seven inmates were killed and 20 were injured Thursday in a prison riot in the Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon, authorities said.
Four of the inmates burned to death after inmates set mattresses on fire during the riot, which began around 8 a.m., firefighter Guillermo de Leon Delgado said.
It took firefighters nearly an hour to control the blaze, he said.
Three inmates died of stab wounds, state spokesman Jorge Domene told reporters.
The riot occurred in the Cadereyta prison, located in the Monterrey metropolitan area.
Authorities were investigating the killings, Domene said.
He did not provide details about what caused the fighting. State government officials said more information would be released soon.
In May, 14 inmates died in a fire at a prison in the nearby municipality of Apodaca. Dozens more were injured.

French get back famous painting stolen during The World War I

A famous French painting stolen during World War I by the German Army was returned to the government of France by U.S. officials on Thursday. The 1876 Jules Breton work is called "A Fisherman's Daughter/Mender of Nets" or to the people of France it's "Une Fille de Pecheur/Raccommodeuses de Filets."

In 1918 the German army confiscated that painting and others from the Musee de Douai in the city of Douai and transported them to Belgium. The following year the Belgium government went to return all the French works of art, but the "Fisherman's Daughter/Mender of Nets" was missing.
Spring forward to 2010 and French officials alerted Interpol that the painting might have been imported by a gallery in New York City. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators worked the case, concluded the painting in New York was the same one stolen from France more than 90 years ago and seized it.
The painting, which is worth an estimated $150,000 dollars, was handed over to the French ambassador to the United States during a repatriation ceremony in Washington. ICE did not provide details about how the painting reached the gallery in New York or where it might have been in the decades since it was stolen.
"Returning a painting to a museum is a significant contribution to the celebration of our cultural heritage and a gift to all future visitors who will enjoy the work of art, but it is also yet another symbol of Franco-American cooperation," said French Ambassador François Delattre in a written statement. "We are celebrating today a gesture of friendship by the United States toward the French Republic."


The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York worked on the case. "One of the very few ways that we are able to redress the awful legacy of war is to return stolen art to its rightful owners so it can be shared and enjoyed, "said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. "In this case, it took nearly a century, but it is nonetheless extremely gratifying.
ICE does numerous investigations into stolen art or cultural artifacts and has helped repatriate many other items to various nations. "We remain committed to combating cultural heritage crimes, which are one of the oldest forms of organized cross-border illicit activity," said ICE Director John Morton.

Earth Quake shakes Papua New Guinea

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rattled Papua New Guinea early Friday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was centered about 200 miles north-northeast of Port Moresby and had a depth of 28 miles.
No tsunami warning was issued, according to the Tsunami Warning Center.
Papua New Guinea is on the so-called Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

iPhone 4S sale made Buyers line up

Apple fans -- including co-founder Steve Wozniak -- lined up on Friday morning for a chance to buy the iPhone 4S, the latest in the company's line of "Jesus Phones," which includes many under-the-hood improvements.
The lines, which drew thousands, were part exercises in tech commercialism and part homages to Steve Jobs, Apple's other co-founder, who died last week following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
In New York, Apple fans created a makeshift memorial to Jobs that included flowers, photos, iPad boxes and apples (as in the fruit).
And in Atlanta, some people said they were lining up for the phone in part because of Jobs.
"I wanted it anyway, but (Jobs' death) made me sort of want it more because this is the last one I know he worked on," Dwight Hill, from an Atlanta suburb, said of his decision to buy the phone. "I just hope the company keeps going in the same direction."
About 200 people had lined up in the wee hours of the morning in New York to buy the new phone, which has a faster processor and a "digital assistant" that responds to voice commands and talks back to phone owners, answering their questions.
Long lines also formed in Asia and Europe as people waited for the phone.
In Silicon Valley, California, Wozniak, the Apple co-founder who, along with Jobs, helped create the world's first truly personal computer, sat in an armchair at the front of a line that began forming Thursday afternoon. He tapped on his iPad, sipped Diet Dr. Pepper and took photos with fans while he awaited the phone's release.
"I want to get mine along with the millions of other fans," Wozniak said. "I just want to be able to talk to my phone."
The iPhone 4S initially was panned by critics, who said it was more of a facelift to the iPhone 4 than a new product. The phone's exterior looks the same as its predecessor, but the guts are new. Inside there's a faster A5 dual-core processor, an improved 8 megapixel camera and a voice assistant named Siri, who will respond to voice commands and answer questions.
When Brian X. Chen, a tech writer at Wired, tested the phone, he found Siri to be quite the helpful -- and hilarious -- assistant.
He published a series of his conversations with Siri.
"Me: 'I'm drunk,' " he wrote.
"Siri: 'I found a number of cabs fairly close to you.' (Perfect; it didn't dial my ex-girlfriend.)"
Aside from Jobs, Siri seemed to be one of the main draws for people waiting in line for the iPhone 4S.
"I just want the personal assistant," said Teresa Sparks, 41, an Atlanta nurse who had been waiting in line for the phone since 4:45 a.m.
Scott England, who also waited in an Atlanta line for the phone, teased a friend of his who said he was buying the iPhone 4S because of the camera. Clearly, he said, "Siri is a big deal," not the camera.
"He's got a secretary -- I don't," he joked.
Becky Waddell, a 33-year-old real-estate agent, also praised Apple's new digital assistant, which is only available on the iPhone 4S, and which has been compared to HAL 9000, Skynet and other fictional computer overlords.
"I love Siri," she said. "We played with it in the store. I know for sure it will make me a safer driver. I don't have to scramble through my phone while I'm driving. If I can talk to it and get answers, it's going to cut out so much time for me."
Plenty of excitement seemed to surround the phone's release.
In true Apple-head fashion, two Apple fans in New York said they arrived at the flagship Apple Store 18 days before Friday, and blogged about the experience on a site called iPhoneWhatever.
Another person arrived at that store on crutches.
"I got hit by a car and had surgery a few weeks ago. There's tons of metal plates in my foot -- it shattered," David Betz, a 26-year-old bartender. "Is it worth it? We'll find out."
Apple CEO Tim Cook helped unveil the 4S last week a day before Jobs' death.
Pre-orders of the phone started on October 7 and beat expectations. Apple sold 1 million of the phones in the first 24 hours via its website and carriers AT&T, Verizon and -- for the first time -- Sprint. By comparison, Apple reported 600,000 iPhone 4 pre-orders last year in 24 hours, but that included orders placed with overseas carriers.
The iPhone 4S went on sale Friday at all 245 Apple stores in the U.S., in addition to the following countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. The new iPhone will be available in 22 additional countries by the end of October, Apple says.
Apple stores and other retailers opened at 8 a.m. Friday. Online orders can be made at Apple's online store as well as on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint's websites.
If you were hoping to pre-order now and pick up the phone Friday, you're out of luck. Pre-orders at AT&T, Sprint and Verizon are sold out, and phones ordered through Apple's website may not be delivered for several weeks.
All of those brick-and-mortar retail stores also will carry the phone, along with select Apple-approved retailers: Radio Shack, Best Buy, Target and Sam's Club. (Word of warning: Check availability before lining up at one of those third-party sellers. Inventory is limited, and some will be filling pre-orders before selling whatever stock may remain.)
Customers who buy the phone at an Apple retail store will be offered free in-store setup service, personalized instruction on how to set up e-mail and download apps.
The phone sells for $199 for 16GB of storage, $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB, marking the first time an iPhone has had that much memory.
It also seems impossible to separate interest in the iPhone 4S with news of Jobs' death last week.
Among the legions of Apple's diehard fans, some have taken saying the "4S" in the phone's name represents the words "For Steve."
Although it's virtually impossible that the company would have done that on purpose (the phone's development happened largely when Jobs was still CEO) it speaks both to the long reach of Jobs' legacy and the cult-like devotion that some Apple loyalists feel toward the company and its products.

The African dictators warned: 'Your time is up'

Sudanese billionaire and communications mogul Mo Ibrahim has issued a warning to African leaders clinging to power, saying people are no longer prepared to put up with bad governance on the continent.
Ibrahim says the face of Africa has changed and the Arab Spring has shown the world that the younger generation are not afraid to demand change.
"There's a lot of African people who are educated and well informed and that's a better generation than ours and those people wont take nonsense," he said.
"These are the people that went out in Tahrir Square, Tunis and Libya and bred havoc," he added.


The businessman's remarks come as his foundation awards its annual prize for good governance and leadership in Africa.
It has been two years since the Mo Ibrahim Foundation has awarded the accolade, which goes to candidates based on their "exercise of leadership and the performance of their country during their time in office," according to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation website.
The committee, made up of former leaders and Nobel Prize winners, said that there had been no worthy candidates in the previous two years.
"They have a strict criteria, this is not a pension, this is a prize for excellence in leadership, it's not easy," said Ibrahim.


Former Cape Verde President, Pedro Verona Pires, who stepped down in August after 10 years in power, was recognized this year.
The group said that the leader had turned the cluster of islands off the West African coast into "a model of democracy, stability and increased prosperity."
The chair of the prize committee, Salim Ahmed Salim, said. "Under his 10 years as president, the nation became only the second African country to graduate from the United Nation's Least Developed category and has won international recognition for its record on human rights and good governance."
The Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership is one of the world's most valuable individual prizes. Ibrahim made a fortune in the cell phone industry, established the foundation bearing his name in 2006.
Previous winners include Mozambique's former President, Joaquim Chissano and Botswana's President, Festus Mogae.


The $5 million award is paid over 10 years and $200,000 annually for life thereafter. The Foundation will also consider funding good causes supported by the laureate.
Ibrahim says the prize is needed as leaders in African countries can sometimes be tempted to hang on to power for monetary reasons.
He says he had to start the foundation because leaders were not doing the job they were supposed to do.


President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea and Angola's President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos are two of the longest running leaders in Africa. Both have been head of their respective countries for 32 years. While Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has been in power for 31 years since 1980.
The foundation uses an 84-criteria index to grade governance in Africa. The top-governed African nations, according to the index, are Mauritius, Cape Verde, Seychelles, Botswana and South Africa.
But while there may not have been an award in the previous two years, Ibrahim predicts the foundation will be giving out more money in the future.
"I think the quality of leaders coming to Africa now are really improving a lot and what is important in Africa is the rise in civil society," he said.
"The pressure from civil society, I'm sure is going to bring forward and produce more and more wonderful leaders for our future," he continued.
The hope of the foundation is to help the continent move towards greater democracy and peaceful transitions of power.


However, Ibrahim believes that the game is up for leaders who cling to power for 30 to 40-years. His cites Libya's former leader for 41-years, Moammar Gaddafi, as an example.
"The message is clear to all this kind of generation of leadership: gentlemen time is up," he said.
"Please retire, otherwise Tahrir square is coming to your country."

Thailand flooding: Fear makes people stay together

Thailand's rice bowl is now Thailand's nightmare.

The Chao Phraya River delta nourishes the nation's vast rice paddies. But Friday, the river and its many tributaries eyed the capital, Bangkok, like a ferocious animal stalking its prey.
Monsoonal rains have flooded Thailand's plains and now the bursting river threatens to drown Bangkok.
The water has already turned parking lots into marinas, markets into lakes and houses into homes suitable only for fish. It has gushed into houses of the holy -- Buddhist temples stood amid rising water -- and into sanctuaries of the vulnerable.
Fifteen elephants, including seven mothers with babies and a 9-year-old known for its painting skills, are stranded on top of Ayutthaya's Royal Elephant Kraal. The elephants climbed on top of the building last week and are going hungry now that food can only be brought in small quantities on rowing boats. Elephants can swim but the babies might drown in an attempt to escape.


In Bangkok and other deluged cities and towns, the strong carried the feeble on their backs. The young aided the old Everyone helped each other.
It was hard to imagine that last year, Red Shirts battled Yellow Shirts in deadly political street protests that prompted a state of emergency in Thailand and left a nation deeply divided.
Disaster brought them back together this week.
An English Facebook page set up to help foreigners in Thailand saw a frenzy of action Friday.
"Kidney failure patients'd like to get in dialysis process can contact HSRI co. with NE Kidney Medico"
"Free shuttle bus from Dusit Thani hotel to TU DOME available for donation stuffs logistic tomorrow"
"Slippers (foam type) needed for any sizes at Don Muang Evacuation Cent."
"Both lanes of Bangkruy-Sainoi Rd... flooded"


With 283 people dead and another 8 million affected by the flooding, the fears were real in Bangkok.
Workers stuffed sandbags furiously and shored up barriers. Evacuation centers began to fill with people.
Banjong Palim, 43, said he had never seen anything like this in his lifetime. He was forced to flee when his suburban Bangkok home drowned.


Some recalled the devastating 2004 tsunami that wiped out everything with walls of water. And panicked.
Ed White watched the river flow over containment walls in Ayutthaya. He stacked the furniture as high as he could get it in his house in there, and felt lucky it was made of concrete and brick, not wood, like so many traditional Thai homes.
White grew up in Ocean City, Maryland. He was used to hurricanes and the Atlantic's fury. But this was different.
The water was not raging. There weren't torrents.
It just kept inching upward. Slowly, but surely.


At the market where White gets his hair cut, people scurried, spreading rumors born from fear. In two hours, they said, everything would be under water. The flood was coming! The flood was coming!
White moved to Thailand in 2003 to work for a rubber company. Friday, he said he had moved into a second-floor company apartment in Bangkok, confident he would be safe there. Meanwhile, his employer had made a fortress out of the rubber factory, erecting concrete barriers around everything as though it were a war zone.


For many it was a losing battle.
The military helped evacuate them, whisking them away by boat or carrying them through chest-high water.


Just about every day now, rain has come down hard, exacerbating worries. This is already the worst flooding Thailand has seen in decades. Some wondered Friday how much worse it could get.
The government's Flood Relief Centre chief said that Bangkok would be spared. But with a chance of thunderstorms in the forecast for the next few days, reassurances Friday were difficult to swallow.

Wayne Rooney banned for three Euro 2012 matches

England striker Wayne Rooney will miss the Euro 2012 group stage after being banned for three matches for his sending off against Montenegro.

Uefa’s disciplinary panel, which described the incident as an “assault”, decided on the punishment at a meeting on Thursday.

Rooney, 25, was sent off for kicking Miodrag Dzudovic in the 2-2 draw in Podgorica last Friday.

It is understood the Football Association will appeal.

Rooney is “shocked” and “disappointed” at the punishment and that he will do whatever he can to support the FA’s appeal, should it choose to make one.

In the Premier League, the punishment for violent conduct is an automatic three-match ban.

But Uefa’s policy is to suspend the player for one game, with a panel deciding on a case-by-case basis what, if any, additional punishment there should be.

Instead of issuing a longer ban, Uefa had the option to hand out a warning or a fine.

Officials take into account the referee’s report, representations from the player and national body and the player’s disciplinary history.

A statement from the Football Association said: “Further to Uefa’s decision to impose a three-match suspension on Wayne Rooney, the FA awaits the full reasons from the disciplinary committee, and will give full consideration to the decision internally, before deciding on any response to Uefa or making any further public comment.”

There is a risk that should the FA lose its appeal against Rooney’s ban that Uefa could increase the length of the suspension to four games.

Former executive director of the FA, David Davies, believes England would be correct to lodge an appeal.

“There’s no doubt that there was a feeling around Europe that this was a serious offence,” he said.

“It’s been treated that way. Could an appeal possibly be described as frivolous? I don’t think it could. This is a test for the FA’s influence inside Uefa.”

Meanwhile, Manchester United team-mate Michael Owen expressed his surprise with Uefa’s punishment.

“Disappointing news regarding Rooney. Missing three games on such a big stage seems a bit harsh,” he stated on Twitter.

Everton midfielder and ex-United player Phil Neville added on Twitter: “Rooney banned for three games what a joke – if it was a Dutch, Spanish, Italian or German player they wouldn’t even get one game #fact.”

England coach Fabio Capello said he might leave Rooney out of upcoming friendlies to study alternative attacking options with Darren Bent, Jermain Defoe, Danny Welbeck and Bobby Zamora all vying for the lead striker’s role.

“There’s a huge incentive for four or five strikers to stake their claim to get his place – they’ve got a great carrot dangling between now and the end of the season,” former England captain and forward Alan Shearer .

“If they do well enough in the friendly games, then who knows, England manager Fabio Capello might decide not to take Rooney.

“But if it were me at this moment, he is our best player and even if the three-game ban still stands, then I would take him.”

Garth Crooks said: “We expected one [game ban]. Two would have represented a hammer blow. Three is like a dagger to the heart of the Football Association.

“The message that Uefa are sending out to players is that they aren’t going to tolerate any violent behaviour at the European Championships.

“This is a real problem for England. Capello now doesn’t know his best side.

“More importantly, is he going to take him to the tournament? It would be a very, very brave man to leave someone like Wayne Rooney out. He’s a top class act. The difficulty is, he has a temperament problem.”

Former England coach Graham Taylor said the severity of the punishment did not shock him.

“You simply cannot deliberately kick an opponent and expect to get off with a one-match ban and there is always the possibility you will get three games,” he said.

“This is what has happened. I can’t say I’m surprised by the decision.”

England Supporters’ Club spokesperson Mark Perryman said he was disappointed with the “immaturity” Rooney had shown in Montenegro.

“I’m gutted, absolutely gutted,” he said.

“I was there at Euro 2004 when he lit up the competition. He was petulant out in South Africa.

“I was out in Montenegro, and we couldn’t believe it. It was immaturity, and this isn’t a guy who is 18 or 19 years old anymore.”

Rooney was sent off in the World Cup quarter-final against Portugal in 2006 after appearing to stamp on the groin of Ricardo Carvalho and then push former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo.

Referee Wolfgang Stark put in his report that the former Everton man left the pitch in Montenegro without contesting the decision.

Cartel leader accused in casino attack

A top Zetas drug cartel leader -- who allegedly ordered the attack and arson at a casino that killed 52 -- has been captured, Mexican defense officials said Thursday.Carlos Oliva Castillo, alias "La rana," or frog, was arrested Wednesday at a safehouse without a single shot being fired, the country's Ministry of Defense said.

Possibly the No. 3 man in the criminal organization, Oliva Castillo allegedly oversaw criminal operations for the cartel in three Mexican states. He was captured in Saltillo, Mexico.

Though he was arrested without incident, the cartel tried to distract troops by attacking security forces in different parts of the city, the defense ministry said.

The Zetas' rescue ploy failed.

According to officials, Oliva Castillo was "the principal manager" of the ruthless Zetas in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. He was also described as a confidant of Zetas boss Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano.

Oliva Castilo began working for the Zetas in 2005 in Tamaulipas, the defense ministry said, and rose through the ranks quickly. By 2009 he was in charge of the cartel's finances in Nuevo Leon, before taking charge of all operations in that state, the ministry said. This year he assumed a wider role, the ministry said.

The three northeastern states that Oliva Castillo allegedly oversaw are some of the Zetas' strongest-held territory. Authorities say that much of the violence registered in these states is the result of the Zetas fighting rival groups such as the Gulf cartel and Sinaloa cartel, for access to lucrative smuggling routes.

But the Zetas -- especially in their strongholds -- have branched out from drug trafficking and into extortion of businesses, kidnappings, and human smuggling.

The deadly attack that Oliva Castillo is accused of ordering is the casino arson in the city of Monterrey where 52 people died. Officials allege that the attack happened because the casino owners did not comply with payments to the cartel.

Last year, the bodies of 72 migrants from Central and South America were discovered at a ranch in San Fernando, located in Tamaulipas state.

The Zetas have been blamed for the mass graves and for the deaths of the migrants.