LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If there is a need, the military is prepared to expand the operation.We will continue to do everything to protect our citizens.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
as the Jewish state carried out an offensive in the Gaza Strip
Iraq bombings kill 17, injure dozens
BAGHDAD - Insurgents unleashed a new wave of bombings across Iraq early Wednesday targeting security forces and civilians, and killing 17 people and wounding dozens more in the latest challenge to government efforts to promote a sense of stability, police and health officials said.
One of the deadliest explosions took place in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk. In the first attack, a bomb in a parked car exploded near the offices of a Kurdish political party, then another bomb went off as police and rescuers gathered, a police officer said. Five members of a security unit from the nearby Kurdistan self-rule region were killed and four were wounded, officials said.
About an hour later, another parked car bomb hit an Iraqi army patrol in the Sunni-dominated town of Hawija to the west of Kirkuk, killing five soldiers and wounding four.
In Baghdad, a parked car bomb shook the city center during the morning rush hour, killing one civilian and wounding 10, police said.
To the south of Baghdad, another bomb in a parked car went off in a market for villagers near the city of Hillah, killing six people and wounding 42, two police officers said. Two women were among the dead.
Libyan Cabinet sworn in without 7
TRIPOLI, Libya - Libya has a new Cabinet, but seven of its 27 seats are still vacant.
While 20 ministers were sworn in Wednesday, the rest have either run afoul of a requirement banning ties to the deposed regime of Moammar Gadhafi or have other outstanding issues.
Three appointees, including the candidate for interior minister, were rejected by the Authority of National Integrity, an independent body of more than a dozen judges and civil society representatives. Four others, including the nominee for the Foreign Ministry, are still being vetted.
The new Libyan government faces the daunting task of imposing control over armed groups who defeated Gadhafi’s forces during last year’s eight-month civil war.
The government must also build state institutions such as the police and military nearly from scratch.
Ivory Coast leader dissolves Cabinet
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara dissolved his Cabinet on Wednesday over an apparent feud between member parties of his governing coalition, a senior official said.
Amadou Gon Coulibaly, general secretary of the presidency, said at a news conference that the decision came after a dispute Tuesday during a parliamentary committee debate over a possible amendment to the country’s marriage law. The change would make the husband and wife equal heads of a household. Under current law, the husband is the head and makes decisions in the name of the family. Ouattara’s party supported the change, but other parties within the coalition opposed it.
The unexpected move by Ouattara reflects political instability in a country still struggling after a near-civil war.
Ouattara came to power in a deeply divisive 2010 election. He won a runoff, but longtime ruler Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede and used the army to cling to power. It took United Nations airstrikes to finally release Gbagbo’s grip on power. He was arrested in April 2011, paving the way for Ouattara to assume control of the country.
Putin signs new treason legislation
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill to widen the definition of state treason, ignoring criticism from human-rights activists who say it’s designed to stifle foreign-backed civil society groups.
Under the law, published Wednesday in the Rossiiskaya Gazeta government newspaper, people who provide consultancy or other assistance to a foreign state or organization that’s “directed against Russia’s security” face as long as 20 years in prison. Treason had been defined as passing state secrets or helping foreign groups and nations that harm Russia’s external security.
Putin, who returned to a new six-year term in May, has prosecuted opposition leaders and cracked down on non-government organizations since facing unprecedented protests after disputed parliamentary elections in December. He promised this week to review the treason law after complaints from members of his human rights commission.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 11/15/2012