The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “The negotiations cannot continue while the regime is stepping up its violence against the Syrian people.” Louay Safi, spokesman for the Syrian opposition groups engaged in peace talks in Geneva, after meetings with United Nations-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi Article, this page

Yemeni plan carves nation into 6 regions

SANA, Yemen - A key Yemeni panel tasked with devising a new system to address the local grievances that have fed the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation’s instability agreed Monday to transform the country into a state of six regions.

But the system of federalism chosen by the panel, to have six regions rather than two, is opposed by southerners, who feel dominated by the more populous north.

The decision comes at the end of two weeks of talks by delegates from across the country on a new political map to end decades of centralization that fed internal conflicts in the north and south. The plan will be included in the new constitution, to be put to a referendum.

The panel led by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi announced its decision that there will be two regions in the south - Aden and Hadramawt - and four in the north - Saba, Jenad, Tihama and Azal. Sana, the capital, will not be affiliated with a region, while Aden, the largest city in the south, will have special status giving it more power than the province in which it is located.

The plan is opposed by many politicians in southern Yemen, once an independent state, who have demanded that there be only two regions. Four provinces in the north would have more power than two in the south, they say.

2 Afghan attacks targeting NATO kill 3

KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide attacker rammed a car bomb into a NATO convoy in the Afghan capital and killed two foreign civilian contractors, authorities said Monday, and a coalition soldier was killed in a separate attack in eastern Afghanistan.

The Islamic militant group Hizb-i-Islami claimed responsibility for the attack in eastern Kabul, saying it would drive all foreign forces from Afghanistan.

Police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said the attacker struck the convoy near the capital’s Pul-i-Charkhi prison. He said at least seven Afghan civilians were wounded, including a child.

A Hizb-i-Islami spokesman, Haroon Zarghon, said one of the group’s fighters carried out the attack using a Toyota Corolla. He said the attacker was targeting “foreign occupiers” and vowed to strike again.

The NATO-led coalition said later Monday that a service member had died in eastern Afghanistan in a “direct fire attack by enemy forces.”

The coalition did not provide further details or the service member’s nationality.

Ex-Congo rebel’s war-crimes case heard

NAIROBI, Kenya - The International Criminal Court heard arguments Monday in the case against a former rebel leader accused of war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo as judges considered whether there was sufficient evidence to move ahead with a trial.

Prosecutors have accused the leader, Bosco Ntaganda, of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape, murder and the recruitment of child soldiers. “Both property and women were considered as spoils from war,” Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor, told judges in The Hague, where the court is based.

In an unexpected turn, he surrendered to the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda last year after a split in the M23 rebel group he founded, and was turned over to the international court.

Ntaganda’s lawyer, Marc Desalliers, disputed the charges against him.

Thames overflows banks, floods towns

LONDON - The River Thames has burst its banks after reaching its highest level in years, flooding riverside towns upstream of London.

Residents and British troops piled up sandbags to protect properties from the latest bout of flooding, but the river overwhelmed their defenses in several places Monday, leaving areas underwater, including the center of the village of Datchet.

The Environment Agency has issued 14 severe flood warnings - meaning there’s a danger to life - along the Thames east of Windsor, about 20 miles from London.

Its chief executive, Paul Leinster, said “extreme weather will continue to threaten communities this week,” with more Thames flooding expected today.

There were no flood alerts for the part of the river that flows through London. That stretch is protected by the Thames Barrier, a series of giant metal gates downstream of central London that can be closed against tidal surges.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 02/11/2014

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