QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The constitution is not perfect. But we need to move forward, and we can fix it later.”
Ameena Abdel-Salam, an Egyptian woman in Cairo’s upscale Zamalek district, after she voted in a referendum on a new constitution Article, 1A
Mexican forces, vigilantes still in standoff
APATZINGAN, Mexico - Mexican soldiers and federal police kept a tense standoff with vigilantes Tuesday after a new government campaign to stop violence in western Michoacan state turned deadly.
Associated Press journalists saw the bodies of two men reportedly killed in a clash that began late Monday between soldiers and townspeople in Antunez, and spoke with the family of a third man that said he also died in the altercation.
The attorney general’s office said it could not confirm a casualty number.
The clash occurred as the government sent more troops to the area known as Tierra Caliente, where the vigilantes have been fighting the Knights Templar cartel. The government on Monday had called on the so-called self-defense groups to disarm.
Federal and state officials met late Tuesday with leaders of vigilante groups but failed to reach a disarmament agreement.
The Interior Ministry said it had no information about reports from people in Antunez that soldiers arriving in the town Monday night fired on an unarmed crowd.
Iranian: Pact a ‘surrender’ by big powers
VIENNA - Diplomats said Tuesday that the U.N. nuclear agency will convene a Jan. 24 meeting of the agency’s leading nations on a pact reached between Tehran and six world powers - an agreement described by Iran’s president as representing the “surrender” of world powers to his country’s demands.
The date was shared by two diplomats from member countries of the U.N’s International Atomic Energy Agency.
They demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal it before a formal announcement.
The Nov. 24 deal commits Tehran to curb its nuclear programs in exchange for initial sanctions relief over six months as the two sides work toward a permanent agreement. The accord designates the agency to oversee Iranian compliance with terms of the deal. The agency’s 35-nation board is expected to approve that role at the Jan. 24 meeting..
President Hassan Rouhani has been attempting to bring around hard-liners who have denounced the deal, claiming it tramples on Iran’s nuclear rights.
“Do you know what the Geneva agreement means? It means the surrender of the big powers before the great Iranian nation,” he said Tuesday.
The U.S. dismissed the comment as playing to a home audience and urged Iran to abide by the deal.
At least 17 dead in blast at Nigerian post
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria - A vehicle exploded at a military post in a commercial area of a northeastern Nigerian city Tuesday, killing at least 17 people and causing pandemonium, with blood-spattered bystanders running away and vehicles colliding as drivers fled.
Police said a suicide bomber is suspected in the blast in Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist network that has been terrorizing northeast Nigeria.
Soldiers started firing automatic rifles in the air after the explosion, which occurred at 1:30 p.m. in front of a large military post called JTF Sector 4. A nearby vehicle also burst into flames.
Police Commissioner Lawan Tanko said 17 bodies were recovered at the scene, but others could have been taken to nearby hospitals.
Turk police detain 5 in al-Qaida inquiry
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish anti-terrorism police carried out raids in six cities Tuesday, detaining at least five people with suspected links to al-Qaida, including two employees of a government-supported Islamic charity group that provides aid to Syria, media reports and officials said.
The raids occurred as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government continued to fight allegations of corruption.
At least three people were detained in simultaneous police raids in Istanbul on Tuesday, and two other people were detained in the central Turkish city of Kayseri and in Kilis, near the border with Syria, the state-run Anadolu Agency news service reported.
The Humanitarian Relief Foundation said police searched its office in Kilis, near the border with Syria on Tuesday, and detained one of its employees. Another employee was detained in Kayseri after a police raid at his home, said Saban Dozduyar, a spokesman for the group’s local branch.
The government and the group have no direct links, but the group plays a prominent role in Turkey’s international humanitarian-aid efforts. The group denied any ties to al-Qaida.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 01/15/2014