LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“There is a good deal of anger, chaos,
confusion.Violence is spreading to many places and state authority is starting to erode slowly.”
Mohamed ElBaradei,
Nobel Peace laureate, raising alarm over Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s ruling granting himself unchecked power Article, this page
Grenade kills 4 worshippers in Yemen
SANA, Yemen - Yemeni security officials said that four Shiites were killed when unknown assailants fired a rocket-propelled grenade into a gathering of worshippers observing the holy day of Ashoura.
Officials said the attack took place Saturday in the Yemeni capital of Sana, near the airport road.
The assailants fired the weapon at a celebration hall where worshippers had gathered, killing four people outside. No further details were immediately available.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Tensions have long existed between extremist Salafis, who are Sunni Muslims, and Shiite tribesmen known as Hawthis, who have also at times battled the government.
Nearly 200 people died in fighting late last year between Salafis and Hawthis.
Lebanon seizes 5 Syrians, explosives
BEIRUT - Lebanese soldiers raided an apartment in the country’s south Saturday and arrested five Syrians for possession of explosives, the army said, the latest incident fanning fears that Syria’s civil war is spilling across the border.
The arrests came on the eve of Ashoura, the annual Shiite commemoration of the seventh-century death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Shiite processions - one of which will take place in Nabatiyeh, where the arrests occurred - have been attacked by Sunni extremists in Iraq and other countries.
Lebanese media reports said the suspects planned to use the explosives to attack Shiite mourners marking Ashoura today. An army spokesman declined comment, pending judicial investigations.
An army statement said the five Syrians were arrested in the southern market town of Nabatiyeh after a tip that they were involved in “suspicious security activity.” Army personnel seized 1 pound of explosives, a detonator and ammunition for a 160mm mortar with Hebrew writing on it, the statement said.
112 die in Bangladesh factory fire
DHAKA, Bangladesh - An official said firefighters recovered 112 bodies after a fire raced through a multistory garment factory just outside Bangladesh’s capital.
Fire Department Operations Director Maj. Mohammad Mahbub said firefighters recovered the bodies after the fire broke out late Saturday at the factory.
He said the factory, just outside Dhaka, was operated by Tazreen Fashions.
Television stations Boishakhi and ATN News earlier reported that the fire in the Ashulia industrial district had killed eight workers and injured scores more.
10,000 Irish socialists protest austerity
DUBLIN - About 10,000 socialist protesters marched Saturday through Dublin in opposition to government plans to unveil Ireland’s sixth-straight austerity budget.
The demonstrators were from a wide range of anti-tax campaigns, labor unions and community groups, most of them with a hard-left bent. Many bore banners denouncing government leaders and vowing not to pay new and future tax increases.
The parade mixed darker themes with gallows humor.
A rider on horseback in a white mask and black cape depicting Death led the parade, while the horse had a “no to austerity” banner round its neck.
Ireland faces more protests in the buildup to the Dec.
5 budget, when the government of Prime Minister Enda Kenny is committed to unveiling a further $4.5 billion in spending cuts and tax increases in the country of 4.6 million.
Ireland already has pledged to keep imposing annual cuts and tax increases through at least 2015 as part of its austerity program, begun in 2009, to combat yawning deficits and fund an expensive bank-rescue program
Front Section, Pages 9 on 11/25/2012