{{ Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday he supported moderate President Hassan Rouhani’s diplomatic initiative at the U.N. General Assembly last week but that some of what occurred there was “not proper”.}}
In his first comments since Rouhani, committed to easing Iran’s international isolation, spoke by telephone with U.S. President Barack Obama, Khamenei also emphasized that he does not trust the United States as a negotiating partner.
The phone call between Rouhani and Obama, the highest-level contact between the two deeply estranged countries since 1979, capped off a week of overtures by Rouhani and his foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to the West.
The landslide election in June of Rouhani, a centrist cleric, has raised hopes of a negotiated settlement to Tehran’s long-running dispute with the West over its nuclear program – though it is Khamenei who will make the final decision on the contours of any deal.
“We support the government’s diplomatic movements and place importance on diplomatic efforts, and support what was in this last trip,” Khamenei said in a speech, according to the ISNA news agency. “Of course, in our opinion some of what occurred in the New York trip was not proper.”
He did not elaborate on that point, but added: “While we are optimistic about our government’s diplomatic staff, we are pessimistic about the Americans. The U.S. government is not trustworthy, is self-important, and breaks its promises.”
{{In a decision that could boost President Dilma Rousseff’s chances of re-election next year, Brazil’s electoral court ruled on Thursday that her main potential rival failed to gather enough signatures to register her new party in time.}}
Environmentalist Marina Silva has until Saturday to decide whether to run on the ticket of an existing party to make her second bid for president next October.
The court ruled 6-1 against the creation of her party, called the Sustainability Network, because it fell short of the required 492,000 signatures. Silva blamed electoral notaries across Brazil for failing to validate 95,000 names on time.
After the ruling, Silva said she would announce on Friday whether she would run on another ticket, but added there had been no talks with other parties and she planned to keep building her own party to renew Brazilian politics.
“It’s only a matter of time until it gets approved. We might not be registered, but we have the most important thing: ethics. We will become stronger,” she told reporters at the court.
Silva, 55, a former senator and environment minister, and the daughter of rubber tappers, won 19.6 million votes to place third in the last election in 2010, won by Rousseff.
Silva risks losing that support if she runs with another party because it could undermine her image as a fresh voice whose lack of ties to traditional Brazilian politics and reputation for honesty have appealed to young Brazilians.
“She will lose her political capital because she will look like just another politician,” said Andre César, an analyst with Brasilia-based consultancy Prospectiva Consultoria.
The Superior Electoral Court’s decision is good news for Rousseff, who is widely expected to seek a second term, because it could narrow the field and improve her chances of winning outright with no need for a runoff if Silva does not run on another party’s ticket.
{{Paris prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation Monday into the assets of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s uncle, whom anti-corruption groups accuse of illegally obtaining a vast fortune and property empire.}}
A judicial source told media the investigation had been opened into Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez, after a criminal complaint filed on September 13.
The complaint, by anti-corruption groups Sherpa and Transparency International, alleges the 76-year-old illegally acquired “extraordinary wealth” in France through corrupt schemes and embezzlement.
Once a stalwart of the Syrian authorities, Rifaat al-Assad broke with his brother’s government in 1984 and reportedly has no links with the current regime, which is fighting in a civil conflict that has left more than 110,000 dead since it began in March 2011.
Before splitting from the regime, Rifaat al-Assad was accused of being responsible for the deaths of thousands during the crushing of a Sunni Islamist uprising in 1982.
The massacre in the town of Hama, by troops allegedly under Rifaat al-Assad’s command, left between 10,000 and 25,000 dead.
Rifaat al-Assad has denied any involvement and in 2011 dismissed allegations he was behind the killings as “a myth”.
{{Twitter Inc, racing toward the largest Silicon Valley IPO since Facebook Inc’s 2012 coming-out party, hopes to woo investors with rip-roaring revenue growth despite never having made a profit in the past three years.}}
The eight-year-old microblogging service, the preferred communications tool for celebrities and politicians alike, gave potential investors their first glance at its financials on Thursday when it publicly filed its IPO documents.
Revenue almost tripled to $316.9 million in 2012, driven largely by advertising. In the first half of 2013, it posted revenue of $253.6 million but had a loss of $69.3 million.
Crucially, Twitter managed average revenue per user in the second quarter of 2013 of 64 cents compared to Facebook’s roughly $1.60, according to media calculations.
Losses are “a non-issue,” said Brian Wieser, analyst at Pivotal Research Group. “It would have been a surprise if they had a profit. Here’s the number that really matters. It’s the revenue per customer. The question is how much is the typical commitment they’re getting from advertisers at this time.”
In a typical laundry list of risk factors appended to all company IPO filings, Twitter warned it was heavily reliant on advertising revenue. It said more than 87 percent of its revenue came from advertising in the first half of 2013.
{{Italy has asked for help from the European Union to deal with refugee arrivals in the wake of the sinking of a boat carrying migrants off the coast of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa on Thursday, in which it is feared 300 or more people could have died.}}
Around 500 people, believed to be mostly Eritreans and Somalis, were aboard the 20-metre boat when it capsized and sank on Thursday morning when the vessel was around half of a mile from the island.
By late evening 104 bodies, including at least three children and two pregnant women, had been recovered.
But with only 150 survivors plucked from the water more than 12 hours after the disaster, there were fears that the final toll could rise significantly higher in what is one of the worst migrant tragedies to strike the Mediterranean in recent years.
“Seeing the bodies of the children was a tragedy. We have run out of coffins,” Pietro Bartolo, a local doctor,told media. “In many years of work here, I have never seen anything like this,” he said.
{{‘A European tragedy’}}
Italy is one of the most common destinations for refugees trying to reach Europe from northern Africa and the Middle East.
According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, 8,400 migrants landed in Italy and Malta in the first six months of this year, almost double the 4,500 who arrived during the first half of 2012.
Migrants frequently head for Lampedusa, just 113 km (70 miles) from the coast of Tunisia, and are often found in dangerously overcrowded boats before being taken ashore by the Italian coastguard.
A prolonged U.S. budget standoff would hit global markets very hard, the Bank of Japan warned on Friday as it said it was ready to top up its existing massive stimulus if the recovery underway in the world’s third-largest economy was threatened.
But for now, BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda saw no need to ease policy further as Japan was on the path to escape deflation and, if international risks receded as hoped, government fiscal stimulus would further boost growth next year.
The U.S. budget deadlock and fears of an unprecedented U.S. default dragged Tokyo shares to a four-week low and boosted the yen, casting a cloud on an otherwise upbeat outlook for Japan’s export-driven economy.
“If this continues for a long time, this could destabilize financial markets and worsen sentiment,” Kuroda told reporters after a two-day policy review meeting, adding that the BOJ was ready to respond to any sudden shocks.
He declined to comment on the possibility of a U.S. debt default, but said the consequences of a prolonged standoff on global markets would be “severe.”
“We sincerely hope a solution is reached at an early date,” Kuroda said. Through its massive holding of U.S. government debt, Japan is one America’s biggest creditors.
Other top international policymakers have also warned that a failure to raise the U.S. debt ceiling before mid-month would be a serious blow to the world economy.
As widely expected, the BOJ kept intact its intense monetary stimulus launched in April, under which it aims to double base money via asset purchases to meet its target of lifting inflation to 2 percent in roughly two years.
The family of Michael Jackson has lost a negligence case against concert promoters AEG Live over the death of the 50-year-old pop star.
A jury concluded the doctor looking after Jackson ahead of his concert tour was not unfit for his job – and so AEG had not been negligent in hiring him.
Jackson died in 2009 after taking an overdose of a surgical anaesthetic.
Dr Conrad Murray was jailed for four years for involuntary manslaughter for administering the drug.
To reach its verdict, the jury of six men and six women had to go through five key yes-no questions seeking to establish whether AEG was responsible for Murray’s hiring in the first place and concerning his competence for the job.
The jury decided that AEG Live did hire Murray but found that he was not unfit or incompetent for the job.
Delivering the verdict, jury foreman Gregg Barden said: “That doesn’t mean we felt he was ethical.”
The ruling was welcomed by AEG Live, who argued that they hired Murray at the request of Jackson and had no knowledge of the star’s drug dependency.
“I counted Michael Jackson a creative partner and a friend,” said AEG Live executive Randy Phillips, who had testified at the trial.
“We lost one of the world’s greatest musical geniuses, but I am relieved and deeply grateful that the jury recognised that neither I, nor anyone else at AEG Live, played any part in Michael’s tragic death.”
Jackson’s 83-year-old mother Katherine was in court for the verdict, and appeared emotional as it was read out, Reuters news agency reports.
Her lawyer, Kevin Boyle, said the family was “of course.. not happy with the result as it stands now. We will be exploring all options legally and factually and make a decision about anything at a later time.”
In closing arguments, the Jackson lawyers had suggested the damages they were seeking could exceed $1bn – amounts AEG Live had described as “absurd”.
Joe Hart’s poor form continued as Manchester City’s England goalkeeper suffered a nightmare performance in this comprehensive Champions League defeat by champions Bayern Munich at Etihad Stadium.
First he fumbled Franck Ribery’s long-range effort into the net as the holders took an early lead, then he was too easily beaten at his near post after the break as Arjen Robben wrapped up a thoroughly deserved win for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Thomas Muller scored Bayern’s second in between Hart’s errors and a fine late strike from City substitute Alvaro Negredo could not put any gloss on a wretched night for Manuel Pellegrini and his team.
Former City defender Jerome Boateng was sent off for hauling down Yaya Toure as the hosts mounted a late rally of sorts, but there was little by way of consolation to be salvaged from this experience.
And after a display that only underlined the decline in his performances, much of the spotlight will be on Hart, who is simply making too many mistakes for the comfort of club and country.
Pellegrini’s predecessor Roberto Mancini was running short of patience with Hart, 26, before his sacking and the Italian’s departure has not inspired any visible upturn in form.
The goalkeeper was slow to react for Andreas Weimann’s winner for Aston Villa last weekend, was beaten at a corner by Cardiff striker Fraizer Campbell in August and allowed a shot from James Morrison to go straight through him during England’s victory against Scotland at Wembley.
City’s manager must now decide whether to keep faith with Hart or replace him with Costel Pantilimon when Everton visit on Saturday.
England boss Hodgson faces a similar dilemma over whether to drop Hart – who has won 35 caps for his country – for the decisive World Cup qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland at Wembley later this month.
Hart was not alone in being off-form, however, as Bayern threatened to run riot. They ruled in all parts of the field, demonstrating the class that won them the Champions League last season and makes them hotly tipped to retain the trophy.
Hart’s night of misery began after seven minutes when Rafinha’s long pass found Ribery in space on the left. He cut inside and delivered a shot that carried pace and power – but was assisted into the net by a feeble attempt at a stop from the keeper, who got a hand to the effort as it went past him.
It was an error of such magnitude that it prompted loud groans when it was replayed on the big screens and instantly deflated an atmosphere that had been vibrant before kick-off.
David Alaba almost fashioned a second when he again found space on the left. Hart parried his initial cross back to him and the keeper was grateful when the return bounced back into his arms off Matija Nastasic.
If there was any hope for City after a desperate first-half performance it came in the form of the scoreline. Bayern’s superiority should have put them out of sight and given them more than their one-goal advantage.
{{Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta won a confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday after Silvio Berlusconi, facing revolt in his own center-right party, backtracked on threats to bring down the government.}}
As dozens of center-right senators prepared to defy their media magnate leader and salvage the left-right coalition led by Letta, Berlusconi staged an abrupt U-turn and said he too would back the center-left prime minister, just days after he sparked the crisis by pulling his ministers out of Letta’s cabinet.
After a sometimes fiery debate in the upper house, in which he faced repeated accusations of sowing chaos in a personal bid to stave off expulsion from parliament over a tax fraud conviction, Berlusconi said: “We have decided, not without some internal strife, to support the government.”
Financial markets reacted positively. But the end of this crisis, seven months after an inconclusive election, leaves question marks over Letta’s ability to address deep problems in Italy’s economy which are troubling its partners in the euro.
Letta, who had appeared on course for victory with PDL help even before the startling turn of events in the chamber, reacted with visible surprise to Berlusconi’s climbdown, laughing slightly and shaking his head in disbelief.
Berlusconi covered his face with his hands after he sat down; in what may be one of his last acts in the Senate before the procedure for his removal begins on Friday, the 77-year-old then cast his vote for Letta, a prime minister whom he had accused a day earlier of lacking credibility.
Later, as he drove away, he was heckled by onlookers.
“What happened today should be shown in a theatre not in parliament,” Federico D’Inca, a deputy from the opposition 5-Star Movement said during a debate in the lower house, where Letta won a second confidence vote in the evening.
Backed by his own Democratic Party (PD) and by Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL), the prime minister won the Senate vote by 235 to 70. He then won by 435 to 162 in the lower chamber, where the PD holds a strong majority.
{{At least 15 people were killed in an attack on a pro-government militia commander in Pakistan’s lawless northwestern tribal area on Thursday morning, security forces said.}}
The attack comes as Pakistan’s government is mulling peace talks with the Taliban, although no conditions have yet been set, and previous deals with the Taliban have always collapsed.
A car bomb rammed into the compound of Mullah Nabi Hanfi, the leader of an anti-Taliban militia he formed after breaking away from the Taliban in 2009.
Two suicide bombers launched a second attack but were killed in the shootout by Hanfi’s men, sources in the security forces said.
Hanfi was among the ten men wounded in the attack and taken to a district hospital.
He survived a similar attack on his compound last year that killed 10 people. He lives in the Spin Tal region of Hangu district, bordering North Waziristan, considered a hub of Taliban militants.
