Uganda

Nation sees fears of bloody attack

Uganda was on high alert on Friday over fears of an attack similar to the bloody mall assault by Somalia's al-Shabaab fighters in neighboring Kenya, where investigators continue to recover charred body parts. At least 67 people were massacred in the upmarket Westgate shopping center in Nairobi when gunmen stormed the crowded complex on Sept 21, firing from the hip and hurling grenades at shoppers and staff.

Iran

Israel accused of hurting talks

Iran's foreign minister on Friday accused Israel of trying to undermine what he described as progress in Teheran's nuclear talks with world powers. The negotiations, which ended in Geneva on an upbeat note this week with Western and Iranian negotiators announcing a follow-up meeting early next month, were meant to reduce fears that Teheran is seeking a nuclear weapon.

India

Crew from US ship arrested

Police in a southern Indian port city on Friday arrested the crew of a ship owned by a US security company on charges of illegally transporting weapons and ammunition in Indian waters. Eight crew and 25 security guards aboard the MV Seaman Guard Ohio were arrested after they failed to produce documents allowing them to carry the weapons, Foreign Secretary Sujata Singh told reporters. The ship is owned by Virginia-based security company AdvanFort but is registered in Sierra Leone.

Libya

Military police chief killed

Unidentified gunmen fatally wounded Libya's military police force commander as he left his house in the eastern city of Benghazi to attend Friday prayers, a security source said. "Several shots hit Ahmed al-Barghathi. He was brought to (the) hospital but later died there," the source said. The attack is the latest blow to a weak Libyan government that is struggling to assert control over militias and radical Islamists two years after the fall of Muammar Gadhafi.

AFP-AP-Reuters-Xinhua

(China Daily 10/19/2013 page7)