LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The demand of the people of Gaza is meeting their legitimate demands - for Israel to be restrained from its aggression, assassinations and invasions and for the siege over Gaza to be ended.”
Khaled Meshal, Hamas leader Article, 1A
Stampede at India festival kills 14
PATNA, India - At least 14 people were killed, including at least six children, in a stampede Monday night during a religious festival in the eastern state of Bihar, police said.
The stampede occurred as hundreds of Hindu worshippers gathered along the bank of the Ganges River in Patna to offer prayers to the sun god during the Chhath festival, according to police Superintendent Jayant Kant.
A power failure sparked panic as crowds filled a makeshift bamboo walkway leading from the riverbank into the Ganges, and people trampled one another as they fought to get to shore. About 20 people were rushed to the hospital, and about six were in critical condition, Kant said.
Deadly stampedes are common during India’s often chaotic religious festivals, which regularly include tens of thousands of worshippers.
Colombian rebels declare cease-fire
HAVANA - The top negotiator for Colombia’s main rebel group announced a unilateral cease-fire on Monday, before heading into much-anticipated peace talks with government counterparts in the Cuban capital of Havana.
Ivan Marquez said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia would stop all military operations and acts of sabotage against government and private property starting at midnight Monday and running through Jan. 20.
Marquez said the move was “aimed at strengthening the climate of understanding necessary for the parties to start a dialogue.”
There was no immediate response to the overture from the government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. Government negotiators in Havana also refused to comment before heading into the talks.
There is no deadline for agreement, though both sides say success must come within months, not years.
Protesters, police clash in Cairo
CAIRO - Clashes between protesters and Egyptian security forces intensified after nightfall Monday, marking the anniversary of a bloody confrontation in Cairo when 42 people were killed in a street battle months after the uprising that ousted the country’s longtime president.
Hundreds of demonstrators threw rocks at police, who fired tear gas and bird shot in response. A medical official said 60 protesters and 10 policemen were injured.
The clash was a small-scale reprise of one of the fiercest confrontations after last year’s popular revolution, when protesters who brought about the overthrow of longtime President Hosni Mubarak returned to the streets to demonstrate against the harsh measures imposed by the military, which took over from the ousted leader.
On Monday, protesters tore down a cement-block wall between Cairo’s downtown Tahrir Square, the focus of huge demonstrations last year, and the headquarters of the security forces.
Demonstrators hung a banner read, “Muslim Brotherhood not allowed,” while others chanted, “The people want to topple the regime,” referring to Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood avoided street confrontations with the military rulers last year to focus instead on campaigning and elections.
Kenya riot follows bus blast fatal to 9
NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenyan police fired bullets and tear gas in downtown Nairobi on Monday to stop rioters from fighting with ethnic Somalis one day after an improvised explosive device ripped through a bus and killed nine people.
The fighting exposes increasing tensions between the sizable ethnic Somali-Kenyan community and Kenyan groups with no ties to Somalia. Tensions have been rising over the past year as attackers have carried out a series of grenade and bomb attacks in Kenya, including several on Christian churches.
Sunday’s bomb attack ripped through a bus in Eastleigh, where Nairobi’s Somali community lives, killing nine people.
Tensions appear to be highest in and around the downtown neighborhood of Eastleigh, sometimes referred to as Little Somalia.
Police reported two injuries in Monday’s fighting, though an Associated Press reporter who saw ethnic Somalis stab a Kenyan and watched groups of young men hurl rocks at each other said it appeared likely more people were injured.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 11/20/2012