Six In The Morning Wednesday September 10

Al Qaeda battles ISIS for global jihadist leadership

By Tim Lister, CNN

September 10, 2014 -- Updated 0712 GMT (1512 HKT)

One man more interested than most in what President Barack Obama will have to say in his address to the nation Wednesday night is al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

In his hideout somewhere in Pakistan or Afghanistan, he will likely be hoping that the President sets out a plan to exterminate the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a group that has eclipsed al Qaeda and made al-Zawahiri seem virtually irrelevant.

Al-Zawahiri and the core of al Qaeda are locked in battle with ISIS for the leadership of the global jihadist movement -- offering very different visions and strategies. ISIS was expelled from al Qaeda in February after rejecting al-Zawahiri's demand that it restrict its activities to Iraq.

ISIS has captured the imagination of a new generation of jihadists -- from Arab and European states alike -- with its ruthless pursuit of a Caliphate, dramatic territorial gains and relentless propaganda machine.

British-Iranian woman imprisoned for two months for trying to watch volleyball game in Tehran

Ghonche Ghavami, 25, was held in solitary confinement in notorious Evin jail

LIZZIE DEARDEN

 

 

Wednesday 10 September 2014

A British woman has been in an Iranian prison for more than two months for trying to watch a men’s volleyball match.

Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, was arrested along with more than a dozen women as they tried to enter a stadium where the Iranian national men’s team was playing Italy on 20 June.

She was released from custody but when she went back to collect her belongings days later, she was arrested a second time and transferred to Tehran’s notorious Evin jail, which is known for holding political prisoners and journalists.

Miss Ghavami’s brother, 28-year-old Iman Ghavami, said she rang her family in tears saying she had been put in solitary confinement for 41 days.

In a basement refuge, easterners curse Ukraine for bombings

Kiev and the West viewed as violent ‘junta’ by fearful and displaced families

Dan McLaughlin

“Now they’ll come running back,” said Natalya, as the muffled boom of rocket fire seeped down through the thick, damp walls of the technical college in Yasynuvata.

“People are scared even to go out and do a bit of shopping. One woman was blown to bits in the market. Her son went around collecting all the pieces.”

For Natalya and more than 100 other people, including children and elderly men and women, this dank basement has offered refuge from fierce fighting between Ukraine’s military and Russian-backed separatist rebels.

“More than two months some of us have been here,” said Natalya.

Ebola 'devouring everything in its path'

Liberian minister warns of national catastrophe, as deaths in West Africa outbreak near 2,300 and reported cases surge.

The death toll from the worst Ebola outbreak in history has risen to almost 2,300 and is accelerating, as a government minister in the worst affected country warned the disease was "devouring everything in its path".

The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday the death toll had rapidly escalated to 2,296 out of 4,293 cases in five west African countries, and was expecting thousands of new cases in Liberia over the next three weeks.

At the UN in New York, Liberia's minister of national defence, Brownie Samukai, warned that his country was facing catastrophe as it battled against the disease.

"Liberia is facing a serious threat to its national existence. The deadly Ebola virus has caused a disruption of the normal functioning of our state," he told the UN security council.

This Is What Would Happen If The Yellowstone Supervolcano Erupted

 

By Ajai Raj16 hours ago

Recently, rumors have been swelling of a danger at Yellowstone National Park. That danger? A brewing supervolcano eruption.

The fear of a Yellowstone supereruption, which ultimately went viral, may have begun back in February when a seismometer called B944 began sending senseless data to a public viewer at the University of Utah's seismographic station, as George Black reports in The New Yorker.

Luckily for most of the U.S., the likelihood this eruption would happen is pretty low: about one in 100,000 any given year. If it did happen, it would be pretty devastating, though.

Chile invokes controversial antiterror law after Santiago bomb blast (+video)

A bomb exploded in downtown Santiago Monday, the largest of 30 bombings so far this year. Prosecutors are uncertain about who is carrying out the attacks.

By Whitney Eulich, Staff writer

A bomb blast in downtown Santiago yesterday afternoon injured at least fourteen people, making it Chile's worst bomb attack in decades.

Monday’s bombing suspects were caught on video surveillance planting the homemade device, which detonated in a trash can in a small underground mall connected to a subway station. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.

The government called it a “terrorist attack,” and vowed to boost security. The explosion occurred just days before the 41st anniversary of Chile’s 1973 military coup against socialist President Salvador Allende. 

“We're going to use the full force of justice, including invoking the anti-terrorist law," President Michelle Bachelet said. “What has happened is horrible, an abominable act, but Chile is, and will continue to be a safe country.”