Saudi authorities on the alert at the time of Hajj

Mecca, Saudi Arabia

AFP - More than two million Muslims begin Friday rites of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the largest human gathering in the world to Saudi Arabia poses a formidable logistical challenge. "We are mobilizing all possible means to prevent harm (to security) of any pilgrim or a group of pilgrims," ​​said Tuesday the new Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz in Mecca, the holy city of the first Islam located in western Saudi kingdom. Prince Nayef, the Interior Minister and Chairman of the High Commission of the pilgrimage, attended a parade of the security forces and civil defense, which mobilize up to 100,000 men to ensure the smooth running of the hajj. Special Forces units, including riot police and the fight against terrorism, supported by helicopters, simulated assistance interventions.

The highlight of the pilgrimage will take place Saturday when the faithful converge on Mount Arafat near Mecca. Eid Al-Adha, the feast of sacrifice marking the end of hajj, will be celebrated Sunday. Safety is the major concern of the Saudis who, wishing the keepers of the first Holy Places of Islam, Mecca and Medina, make sure to avoid any incident that may affect the huge gathering. Especially since the hajj this year coincides with the Arab Spring, who won the leadership of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. "My joy knows no bounds, is the first time that I make the pilgrimage after the liberation of my country," said Adel Abu Kasseh, a pilgrim Libya. "What happens in some Arab brothers is an internal matter," said Prince Nayef, however, warned that Riyadh would act with determination against any potential problems. "The kingdom is prepared for any situation whatsoever."

The case of an alleged Iranian plot against the Saudi ambassador to Washington, revealed by the United States, is also present in the mind. "The Iranians have always maintained their respect for the hajj," said Prince Nayef. The 97,000 Iranian pilgrims will "focus on Islamic unity," assured the representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for the pilgrimage, Hojatoleslam Ali Asghar Ghazi, hoping a hajj "in the peace and spirituality." The message seems to have been of course. "We do not have problems during the hajj," said Khadija, an Iranian 35. Have consistently opposed violence since the 1979 Islamic revolution, the Iranian pilgrims to Saudi forces accused of turning the pilgrimage political forum against Israel, anti-American and hostile to the Saudi regime.

The most serious clashes had 402 dead, including 275 Iranians, in 1987, causing a break of several years of relations between Riyadh and Tehran. The Mufti of the Kingdom, Sheikh Abdel Aziz al-Sheikh, described as "fishing" any attempt to disturb the hajj for "political reasons". The challenges are logistical, authorities, using their oil wealth, continue to improve over the years the infrastructure in the holy places. A new extension of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, at a cost of $ 10.6 billion, was launched earlier this year to allow the site to accommodate the same time as two million faithful.

A subway opened in 2010 between Mina, Muzdalifah and Mount Arafat 'now runs at full capacity, "said Minister of Municipal Affairs, Prince Mansour bin Mitaab, betting on the modern means of transportation to help ease traffic congestion , a permanent headache during the hajj.

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VU - The FBI is playing videos of Russian spy Anna Chapman

Videos of Russian spy Anna Chapman

The FBI on Monday on its website videos, photos and documents from its investigation ten years in Anna Chapman, the glamorous Russian spy, and nine other officials expelled from Moscow in July 2010 by the United States. The first video shows the beautiful declassified spy, whose nude photos have been around the world, the table of a cafe in New York June 26, 2010 with an undercover U.S. agent. You can see the young redhead dressed in jeans and white T-shirt and wearing sunglasses, a bag out of his book and what appears to be headphones.

The other six videos show three Russian agents expelled with Anna Chapman. We see them exchange or retrieve objects and documents in the street in New York, in the bushes, in a café and a staircase with a Russian official, between May 2004 and March 2010. These eight videos have been published with hundreds of photos and documents related to this investigation a decade called "Ghost Stories". These arrests remind us that "espionage on American soil has not disappeared with the Cold War," the FBI on its website, commenting on the release of documents. "While the 'illegal' the SVR (Russian intelligence services abroad) have never got hold of classified documents, their intention was serious, extensive and funded by the SVR."

This group of ten spies had been arrested and pleaded guilty of espionage in June 2010. They were evicted two weeks later in an exchange worthy of the Cold War. The United States had given to the Moscow against four Russians, three convicted of spying for the West. On his return to Moscow, Anna Chapman chose to expose themselves in the media, contrary to the tradition of the secret services. In particular, posed scantily clad for a men's magazine and appeared in an issue of public television.

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Herman Cain, the candidate of "9-9-9" entangled in a sexual harassment case

Herman Cain

The candidate for the Republican primary, Herman Cain, is entangled in a sexual harassment case, since Monday. The man in the "9-9-9" is accused by the newspaper Politico have entered into settlement agreements in the 1990s with at least two women who accused him of sexual harassment. The pastor, married for forty years, was guilty of comments and gestures when he was moved to the head of the Employers' Association of restaurateurs in the United States.

The new darling of American surveys was initially denied, claiming to be the target of a "witch hunt". The former owner of a pizza chain has vigorously denied any wrongdoing in an interview to television channel Fox News. "I have never sexually harassed anyone," he has defended. This information is "totally false and baseless," he added.

FINALLY, IT IS WELL IN AGREEMENT 

Mr. Cain acknowledged, however, a little later, an agreement was reached out of court to cover-up. "If the restaurant association has an agreement, I was not aware and I hope it does not cost too much because nothing happened," he said, in referring to an investigation that would not show. Tuesday morning on CNN, Mr. Cain came more into the details of the agreement: "I do not remember the amount, but as and when negotiations with my lawyer, [counsel for the accuser ] realized that without a witness, his complaint did not take the road ".

The spectrum of a sex scandal may prove fatal to any candidate for the White House, Mr. Cain also assured that no other skeletons in the closet. "In forty-year career, there was a complaint of sexual harassment. One," he added. Asked whether it is a maneuver of a political rival, the candidate for the Republican nomination has done nothing to refute the insinuation. But he said he had "no idea" of the origin of these accusations.

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Emergency Declared At San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant

San Onofre nuclear generating station

An emergency was declared at the San Onofre nuclear generating station on Tuesday afternoon. The threat turned out to be an ammonia leak, not a a nuclear one, and officials say it does not pose any public danger.

At 3:10pm on Tuesday, the plant issued a level 3 alert, according to CBS2. According to the International Nuclear Events scale, this means that a "serious incident" had occurred. A level 3 incident could mean anything from nuclear exposure in excess of ten times the annual limit for workers to a misdelivered, highly radioactive sealed source.

Workers discovered the ammonia leak just before 3pm, reports NBC LA. Southern California Edison spokesman Steve Conroy told NBC LA that no nuclear material was released, and there is no danger to the public.


According to the Associated Press, Southern California Edison spokesman Gil Alexander said that today's alert was the lowest of the four possible emergency classifications used by the nuclear industry. Alexander didn't know the size of the ammonia leak, but it came from a unit in the power plant that generates electricity. It is separate from radioactive systems at the plant.

Besides the two aforementioned causes of a level 3 emergency, the International Atomic Energy Agency has more (PDF) on what the threat could mean:

    * Non-lethal deterministic health effect from radiation, like a burn.
    * A certain level of nuclear exposure in an operating area.
    * Severe nuclear contamination in an unexpected way, but with low probability of significant public exposure.
    * Near accident at a nuclear power plant with no safety provisions
    * Lost or stolen highly radioactive sealed source

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Occupy Wall Street arrests in Texas, Oregon

Wall Street

(Reuters) - Dozens of protesters at economic inequality demonstrations in Austin, Texas, and Portland, Oregon were arrested peacefully early on Sunday over allegedly failing to comply with rules in each city.

Both protests were among many held across the country since September by demonstrators who say they are angry over economic inequality and what they see as Wall Street greed.

At Occupy Austin, some 38 people were arrested on Saturday night and early Sunday after refusing to let police take down food tables and clean the City Hall plaza where they had camped for several weeks, police told Reuters on Sunday.

They were charged with criminal trespass and issued citations that mean they can't return to the protest site.

"We've had a very peaceful Occupy Austin, especially compared to the rest of the nation, but we do have rules that have to be enforced," said Austin Police Officer Dennis Farris.

Makeshift encampments sprouting up in cities nationwide have forced local officials to tread carefully between allowing peaceful assembly and addressing concerns about trespassing, noise, sanitation and safety.

In Portland, protesters' attempt to extend their occupation to a third city park in an upscale downtown neighborhood was broken up by police early Sunday morning.

Some 25 protesters were arrested on charges related to rules about use of the park.

"It was peaceful, methodical and business-like," said police spokesman Pete Simpson.

Protesters at the Nashville, Tennessee, Occupy encampment were spared a curfew check on Saturday night after more than 50 arrests last week over curfew violations. They were released after a court official said there were no grounds for charges.

Other weekend protests struggled against the elements.

In New York, a day after authorities confiscated their generators, hundreds of protesters struggled to stay warm and dry Saturday after more than an inch of snow fell in the city.

In Washington, demonstrators marched in sleet to the Treasury to urge higher taxes on the financial sector, beating a drum and chanting "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!"

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At least three deaths as snowstorm hits Northeast

Snow Storm in Newyork

 (Reuters) - A rare October snowstorm barreled up the East Coast on Saturday, cutting power to more than two million households, forcing cancellation of scores of airline flights and causing at least three deaths.

Slippery conditions on a roadway caused the crash and death of a man driving in Colchester, Connecticut, said Scott Devico, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management.

In Temple, Pennsylvania, an 84-year-old man was killed when a snow-caked tree fell through his home, said a Muhlenberg Township Police Department dispatcher.

And a 20-year-old man was electrocuted in Springfield, Massachusetts when he stepped out of his vehicle and touched an electrified guard rail, a Springfield police spokesman said.

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts declared weather emergencies because of the storm.

"We are expecting the snow to continue to fall from New York City through Maine. By tomorrow morning it should be pretty much wrapped up across most areas," said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Alan Reppert.

Snow was falling across most of Pennsylvania well into Massachusetts after blanketing parts of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland earlier in the day, Reppert said.

The unseasonably early storm broke a snow record that had stood since 1925 for New York's Central Park, AccuWeather.com said. New York City was expected to end up with three to six inches of snow from the storm.

"Are we allowed to curse?" said Philadelphia area resident Marjory Levitt. She had discovered that an expensive pair of boots were not waterproof when she ventured out to the supermarket.

Widespread power outages caused by snow, ice and falling trees were reported from the Mid-Atlantic into New England, leaving some two million customers in the dark.

Major delays were reported at Philadelphia International Airport and at New York area airports. At least 1,000 flights had been canceled and Teterboro Airport in New Jersey closed for a period of time, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.com.

In Connecticut, Governor Dannel Malloy ordered non-emergency vehicles off the Wilbur Cross and Merritt Parkways due to dangerous driving conditions.

The snow posed traffic and parking problems for some 100,000 college football fans attending a game between Penn State and the University of Illinois in State College, Pennsylvania. Snow plows had to clear the field before the game.

In New York City, several hundred people camped in a park in the city's financial district to protest against economic inequality hunkered down in their tents from the wind, rain, sleet and snow.

They desperately tried to stay warm just a day after the fire department, citing safety hazards, confiscated generators that had been powering heat, computers and a kitchen.

For some, the big flakes and accumulation caused excitement, instead of headaches.

"There's almost like an electric buzz when the first snow falls," said Anna Weltz, communication director for Seven Springs Mountain Resort, located about 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

By early afternoon, six inches of snow was already on the ground at the family ski resort, where phones were ringing off the hook with people asking about opening day.

"And it's still coming down," said Weltz. "What a sight."

The storm caused massive power outages including 606,388 customers reported by Connecticut Light and Power; 214,000 by PPL Electric Utilities in Pennsylvania; 341,000 without power from PSE&G in New Jersey; more than 300,000 by First Energy in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; more than 77,000 by Con Edison in New York and more than 66,000 by Allegheny Power in Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Another 205,890 customers of National Grid in Massachusetts and New York were without power and 17,467 customers reported by The United Illuminating Company in Connecticut.

"It's a strong storm for October," said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Paul Walker. "We don't usually see storms this deep and this strong."

While October snow is not unprecedented, this storm could be record-setting in terms of snow totals.

Cities along the East Coast including Boston and New York City, typically see their first measurable snowfalls late November into mid-December, according to The Weather Channel.

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Former Brazilian President Lula with cancer of the larynx

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is a cancer of the larynx, said Saturday, Oct. 29 in a statement the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital in Sao Paulo where he was admitted. The former president aged 66, who ruled Brazil from 2003 to 2010, will undergo chemotherapy, the hospital said. "The patient is doing well and should follow the treatment as outpatients," says the same source. Lula, a former mechanic, left the presidency last year after being considered one of the most popular presidents of Brazil. During his tenure, he implemented social programs that have allowed 29 million Brazilians out of poverty and placed his country in the center of the international diplomatic scene.

Syro-Lebanese Hospital specializes in the treatment against cancer, and had treated José Alencar, Vice President Lula, who died last March in a generalized cancer in the abdominal area, he had developed since 1997. In 2009, Dilma Rousseff, who took over from Lula, had been treated for cancer of the lymphatic system, following which the doctors have declared completely healed.

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