Senator Ends Marathon Bid To Defund Obamacare

Republican Ted Cruz has ended a nearly 22-hour speech on the US Senate floor in a bid to block funding for President Barack Obama's healthcare bill.

While not technically a filibuster, Mr Cruz only yielded time on the floor for "questions" from fellow Republicans and Democrats.

One of the questions is understood to have lasted 45 minutes.

The potential presidential contender and Tea Party favourite from Texas vowed to speak right up to a scheduled midday test vote on a provision to defund the healthcare plan.

"I rise today in opposition to Obamacare," said Mr Cruz, as he took to the floor of a largely empty chamber at 2.41 local time on Tuesday.

"And anyone who is trying to make this a battle of personalities is trying to change the topic from the topic that should matter: whether or not Obamacare is helping the American people.

The Senator's children listen to him reciting Dr Seuss Pic@jasonjohnson

"Mr President, if you focus on the substance, the evidence is overwhelming. This law is a train wreck."

Last week, the Republican majority in the House approved legislation that would defund the healthcare law as part of a bill to keep the government running past September 30.

However, the Democrats have the majority in the upper chamber, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to easily get the 51 votes needed to strip the healthcare provision from the bill.

Senator Cruz's marathon speech was a bid to stop the bill from advancing to that stage, with a vote due at lunchtime in Washington.

At one point Mr Cruz read out Dr Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham, quoted actor Ashton Kutcher as well as lines from a TV show called Duck Dynasty.

He also brought up children's book, Little Engine That Could, during his argument that the Democratic-controlled Senate is a place where legislation like the Republican bid to defund Obamacare or shut down the government, goes to die.

"That little engine can't," he said, apparently aware of the futility of his efforts.

Mr Cruz is not the first US politician to recently give a marathon speech in an attempt to impact legislation.

Rand Paul of Kentucky spoke non-stop for almost 13 hours earlier this year to block the appointment of John Brennan - President Obama's pick for CIA director.

Wendy Davis filibustered in the Texas State Senate for 11 hours to block an abortion bill in June.

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Rouhani: Iran Ready To Resume Nuclear Talks

By Hannah Thomas-Peter, New York Correspondent

Iranian President Hasan Rouhani has confirmed his country is prepared to immediately begin stalled negotiations over its nuclear programme.

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Dr Rouhani said that he wanted to enter talks to build "mutual confidence" but warned the international community should also recognise Iran's right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.

He said that the US and Iran could "manage our differences" if Washington did not give in to the influence of "warmongering pressure groups".

President Obama cautiously welcomed his counterpart's recent diplomatic gestures, but the highly anticipated handshake between the two men failed to materialise.

A senior US administration official said that the Americans were open to the idea of an informal meeting but it had proved "too complicated" for the Iranians.

The failure to achieve even a fleeting encounter on the sidelines of the General Assembly underscores the deep divisions between the US and Iran.

In a speech to UN member states, President Obama insisted that Iran's resolve to ease tensions over its nuclear ambitions should be "tested".

He said: "We should be able to achieve a resolution that respects the rights of the Iranian people, while giving the world confidence that the Iranian programme is peaceful.

Mr Obama gives his speech to the United Nations member states

"To succeed, conciliatory words will have to be matched by actions that are transparent and verifiable.

"The road blocks may prove to be too great but I firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested."

The speeches follow a slight thawing of relations between America and Iran after an exchange of letters and other conciliatory statements by the new Iranian leadership.

Later this week, Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is to meet with the p5+1 - the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany - to restart stalled talks on the country's nuclear ambitions.

Western allies say Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons capability.

Iran insists it has only peaceful ambitions and wants the technology for power stations and medical research.

The p5+1 meeting will be the highest-level engagement between US and Iranian counterparts since the freezing of diplomatic relations between the two countries over 30 years ago.

In many ways this might represent a welcome chance for President Obama to open a positive chapter in American foreign policy following his widely criticised handling of Syria.

If his administration is successful in achieving real progress, it will also be one of the cornerstones of his presidential legacy.

But renewing relations with Iran is a double-edged sword for President Obama.

He is wary of appearing too eager to welcome Hassan Rouhani in from the diplomatic cold, in part, because of the public's deep distrust of Iran.

In his UN speech he said: "Americans see an Iranian government that has declared the United States an enemy, and directly - or through proxies - taken Americans hostage, killed US troops and civilians, and threatened our ally Israel with destruction."

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Kenya Siege Survivors Tell Of Brush With Death

Survivors of the Nairobi shopping centre terrorist attack have spoken of their attempts to hide from the gunmen as they fired indiscriminately at shoppers.

The attack at the Westgate Shopping Mall, which began on Saturday, has so far killed at least 67 people.

Eleven suspects are in custody and five of the attackers - thought to be members of Somalia's al Shabaab group - have been killed, but it is still unclear whether the four-day siege has been ended.

Ben Mulwa had just got out of his car after arriving at the mall for lunch with a friend.

He described running from his vehicle into the mall to escape the shooting when he saw four men armed with automatic weapons.

"There was a security guard who came to seek safety right next to where I was," he told Sky News after returning to hospital.

"He was the first to be shot dead because I remember they shot him right through the head.

"Before I could come to terms with that, that's when I saw the second gunman pointing a gun in my direction. All I remember is I heard a very loud bang.

"I think I almost passed out for a couple of seconds. A bullet grazed over my forehead - how he was able to miss me - and he was only three or four metres away from me - is a miracle somehow."

Kenyan security forces outside the Westgate mall

Mr Mulwa was also hit in the knee, and hid in a flowerbed before he was rescued.

Syed Ibrahim was shot by the gunmen and pleaded for his life, before the terrorists let him go.

He said: "I just told them to leave me alone, I've been injured, so they let me go and said we won't do anything to you because you have been shot already.

"The memory, you can't forget, you usually see it on TV or in movies. You wouldn't expect to see it in reality.

"It's not yet over, let's pray for the best."

Meanwhile, a five-year-old bravely confronted one of the gunman in the mall, telling him: "You're a very bad man, let us leave."

The Sun newspaper reported the little boy stood up to one of the terrorists after he shot his mother Amber in the leg.

The gunman then gave the boy and his six-year-old sister Mars bars, before letting them escape from the mall.

The children's father, Dan Prior, said: "I am very relieved that my family have survived and my thoughts go out to those families that are not as fortunate as my own. 

"My children are traumatised and my wife is very unwell as a result of this senseless atrocity."

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Peru Drugs Pair Plead Guilty To Trafficking

Two women accused of trying to smuggle £1.5m worth of cocaine out of Peru have pleaded guilty.

Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum, both 20, were stopped with 11kg (24lb) of cocaine hidden in food packets in their luggage while trying to board a flight to Spain on August 6.

Reid, from Glasgow, and McCollum, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, originally claimed they were forced to carry the drugs by an armed gang which threatened them and their family members.

Their U-turn means they will not have to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.

Instead, it is likely they will be sentenced to six years and eight months in jail at a hearing which could take place as early as next week.

The two women admitted their guilt at a private hearing in a makeshift courtroom at a men's jail in Lima.

They were heard separately for half an hour each from 11am local time - 5pm in the UK - and asked their names and ages before being given the opportunity to speak.

The pair were arrested at Lima's airport on August 6

The women's lawyer, Meyer Fishman, declined to comment, but a Callao court spokesman in charge of the investigation confirmed the guilty pleas.

"Both women have pleaded guilty to drugs trafficking," said the spokesman.

"It means they automatically benefit from a sixth off the minimum jail sentence of eight years and will be sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.

"Sentencing has not taken place yet and a new hearing where the women will be sentenced has now got to be arranged.

"But it's likely that will take place in around a week's time."

The cocaine was found hidden in food packets in the women's luggage

Reid and McCollum, who had both been working in Ibiza, were facing up to 15 years in prison if they had been found guilty in a trial.

Reid's parents insisted last week they still believed their daughter had been forced to carry the drugs, but a guilty plea was the best course of action to get her back to the UK.

Prosecutors previously indicated that the women could return home to serve their sentences if they pleaded guilty.

Reid was the first to consider changing her plea, maintaining she carried the drugs under duress and telling the Daily Mail: "Pleading guilty is going to enable me to get back to my family in Scotland sooner rather than later.

Melissa Reid said she did not want to be in jail until the age of 35

"I do not want to be in jail until 35 - I can't get back those years."

McCollum confirmed at the weekend that she too had changed her mind about continuing to protest her innocence.

"I understand that the judicial process will be simpler if we both plead guilty," said the 20-year-old.

"We are hoping we will not have to wait too long before we are sentenced and pleading guilty will speed things up."

The pair are currently being held at the notorious Virgen de Fatima prison in the Peruvian capital Lima.

Peruvian police and prosecutors said from the start they did not believe the women had been forced to smuggle the drugs.

Chief prosecutor Juan Mendoza Abarca claimed their stories were "incredible" and that they had been coached in what to say.

He added: "They staged this whole thing from the beginning because they knew it was possible they would get caught and if they did get caught they had the excuses really well planned.

"It's very obvious they were trained in what to say if they were caught. They were prepared in every sense."

A total of 248 "drug mules" were arrested at Lima's Jorge Chavez international airport in 2012, with nearly 1,600kg of illegal drugs confiscated.

The UN says Peru has overtaken Colombia as the world's largest grower of coca, the raw material of cocaine.

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F-16 Drone: Fighter Jet Flies Without Pilot

The US Air Force and Boeing have completed the first ever unmanned flight of a retired F-16 fighter plane.

Two test pilots flew the unmanned jet from a ground control station at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.

The plane carried out its take-off sequence, a series of simulated manoeuvres, supersonic flight and landing procedures - all without a pilot in the cockpit.

The unmanned F-16 was controlled by two test pilots on the ground

"It was a little different to see an F-16 take off without anyone in it, but it was a great flight all the way around," said Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Inman.

"Now we have a mission-capable, highly sustainable, full-scale aerial target to take us into the future."

The successful flight - which was carried out on September 19 - paves the way for modified F-16s to be used in weapons testing and pilot training.

Boeing has modified six F-16s - known as QF-16s - for use in unmanned flight.

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Pakistan Earthquake Leaves More Than 200 Dead

At least 210 people have died after a powerful earthquake struck southwestern Pakistan, causing hundreds of homes to collapse.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake, which centred on the thinly populated province of Balochistan, was felt across south Asia.

It destroyed around 90% of homes, many of them built from mud, and damaged communications.

There were conflicting reports on the number of casualties, as rescue workers tried to reach those trapped beneath the rubble.

A Pakistani official told the AP news agency that 271 people were confirmed dead, although other officials told Reuters the number was closer to 330.

The rubble of a collapsed house in Awaran

Many of those killed are thought to have been living in the district of Awaran, where at least 370 people were also injured, according to deputy commissioner Abdul Rasheed Gogazai.

The Pakistan army deployed helicopters and 1,000 soldiers to help with the rescue effort in the huge, earthquake-prone province of deserts and rugged mountains bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

The area has only minimal infrastructure, making the evacuation and treatment of those injured by the earthquake more difficult.

Jan Muhammad Buledi, a spokesman for the Balochistan government, said: "We are seriously lacking medical facilities and there is no space to treat injured people in the local hospitals."

A survivor sips tea as he contemplates the damage

A convoy of 60 vehicles carrying food, medicines, tents and paramedics is due to arrive in Balochistan after leaving the city of Karachi.

The aid will be distributed among the 300,000 people thought to have been affected by the earthquake.

They include around 60,000 who live within 50km (31 miles) of the epicentre, southwest of Khuzdar, according to the UN disaster agency.

The earthquake was so strong it is believed to have caused a small island to emerge just off the coastline in the Arabian Sea.

The small island thought to have been created by the earthquake

Dr Asif Inam, principal scientific officer at the National Institute of Oceanography, said: "The island appears to be about 200 metres long, 20 metres high and 100 metres wide, although all this information needs to be verified scientifically.

"Detailed information will be available tomorrow when the staff visit the site and collect samples."

Similar islands emerged on Pakistan's Makaran coast in 1999 and 2011.

They later collapsed because of strong currents and were found not to be the result of tectonic activity.

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New Law To Protect Celebs' Kids From Paparazzi

Paparazzi and others who harass the children of public figures will face stiffer penalties under new legislation in California.

A bill signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown boosts penalties for actions that include taking photographs and a video of a child without consent and in a harassing manner.

Media organisations, including the California Newspaper Publishers Association, had opposed the move, which increases penalties for harassing children because of their parents' job, on the grounds that it was overly broad and could restrict the legitimate newsgathering activities of reporters and photographers.

However, Mr Brown, who dated rock singer Linda Ronstadt during his first stint as California governor in the 1970s, approved the measure without comment on Tuesday.

Justin Bieber has called for new measures

It means those caught breaking the restrictions now face a maximum sentence of one year in jail - up from six months- and a fine of up to $10,000 (£6,252) instead of the current £1,000 (£625) financial penalty.

The bill was given a boost when Hollywood mothers Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner gave it their support at a California legislative hearing in August.

Berry told of how her daughter had been intimidated by aggressive photographers who followed them daily, often shouting as they snapped pictures.

Welcoming the legislation, she said in a statement: "I started this fight with a great deal of hope and a bit of uncertainty so I cannot express my immense gratitude that Governor Brown has recognised, and acted to remedy, the plight of children who are tormented because of the identity or prominence of their parents.

"On behalf of my children, it is my hope that this is the beginning of the end for those overly aggressive paparazzi whose outrageous conduct has caused so much trauma and emotional distress."

Garner, who has three children with actor-director Ben Affleck, said she and her children were followed everywhere they went.

"How often do we see a tragedy unfold and say, 'Oh, there were so many warning signs. Why didn't anybody pay attention?'" Garner said at the time. "I am asking you as a parent to pay attention."

Nicole Kidman was knocked down by a cycling paparazzo earlier this month

The measure also will help protect the children of police officers, judges and others who might be susceptible to harassment or unwanted attention due to their parents' occupations.

The hounding of celebrities by paparazzi has long been identified as a risk in Los Angeles.

Actress Nicole Kidman said she was left "shaken" after being knocked to the ground by a cycling paparazzo in New York earlier this month.

Pop star Justin Bieber called for new laws to protect people from the paparazzi earlier this year after a photographer was killed taking pictures of his sports car in Los Angeles.

A 2010 law increased penalties for reckless driving by people trying to get photos for commercial gain.

Two charges against photographer Paul Raef, who became the first person to be charged under the 2010 law in connection with a high speed chase of Bieber in July 2012, were thrown out by a judge who ruled the legislation was overly broad and violated the First Amendment.

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US Teen Found Guilty Over School Shooting Plot

An Oklahoma teenager has been convicted of threatening to kill students and teachers at his US school.

Sammie Eaglebear Chavez, who authorities say tried to recruit classmates for a mass shooting and bomb attack at Bartlesville High School, was found guilty of planning to cause bodily harm.

The jury at Washington County district court recommended a 30-month prison term and a $5,000 (£3,112) fine.

The 19-year-old was found not guilty of conspiring to perform an act of violence.

He was arrested in December, hours before gunman Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 children and six adults before taking his own life.

Chavez, who pleaded not guilty, claimed in his own defence that he was joking when he told classmates about how a shooting and bomb attack could be carried out at his school.

"It was a joke in the sense that it wasn't meant seriously," Chavez told jurors, the Tulsa World newspaper reported.

Police and prosecutors said Chavez intended to lure students into the school's auditorium, chain the doors shut and shoot them.

Bartlesville High School in Oklahoma

He also planned to place bombs by the auditorium doors and detonate them as police officers approached, according to court documents.

Bartlesville police officer Jacob Moran testified that after arresting Chavez he found notes in the teenager's pockets saying that "those who deserve to die will be killed" and that those who survive "will be forced to witness it", according to the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise.

Chavez said he had no intention to shoot or bomb the school but admitted he was "angry at the world" and that writing the notes was a way for him "to release feelings of anger".

Prosecutors said Chavez tried to obtain a map of the school campus and had used a school computer to get information about a platform to support a .22-calibre rifle.

A student informed school officials about the plot who called police. No one was injured.

Chavez's mother had said her son sent her a text message two days before his arrest saying he wanted to "shoot up" the high school because he thought some students were talking about him behind his back. But she also said she did not think her son would have carried out the attack.

"Deep down, I don't think my son would have done this," Jessie Chavez said shortly after her son was arrested. "That's not my son. My son laughs and makes jokes. He's always pulling pranks."

She also said her son showed symptoms of possible mental illness and had been seeing a therapist, but the court ordered him to stand trial following a mental competency exam.

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Kenya: UK And US Helping Probe Of Mall

Experts from countries including the UK, the US and Israel are helping Kenyan authorities as the forensic investigation into the Nairobi mall massacre begins.

The death toll, currently at 67, is expected to rise as bodies are retrieved from beneath the rubble of three collapsed floors.

Specialists from Canada and Germany are also helping the effort to gather evidence and reconstruct what happened when al Shabaab militants stormed the shopping centre on Saturday.

Six Britons - including an eight-year-old girl - are among the dead, and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has warned there may be further British victims.

A funeral is held for victims Selima Merali and her daughter Nuriana Merali

Rumours that a remaining gunman could still be hiding out in the Westgate shopping centre appear to have faded.

Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said that a "forensic audit" - including fingerprinting, DNA testing and ballistic examination - was expected to last at least seven days.

Work to establish the identities of the terrorists is still under way - including whether one of them was a British woman.

Kenyan troops stormed the shopping complex

Al Shabaab has denied a female was involved.

The group also claimed on Wednesday that security forces had carried out "a demolition" of the building during the raid, burying 137 hostages in rubble.

A government spokesman denied the claim and said the group was well known for making "wild allegations".

It has been speculated that the attack group was made up of several different nationalities.

However, US Attorney General Eric Holder has said there is so far no verification that any Americans were involved.

Interrogations of the 10 suspects held by Kenyan authorities are also continuing. Five attackers were killed during the siege.

Sky News' Stuart Ramsay, in Nairobi, said at least five of those being held are understood to have been part of the initial attack group which sprayed bullets and left the mall.

He also described how some of the attackers tried to escape by taking advantage of the chaos and mixing in with those being evacuated.

Ramsay said: "Multiple witnesses have said they saw gunmen put down weapons, change clothes and leave with … people being guided out.

"We know of one gentlemen who went to the police and said 'that man was involved in the shooting' - but he was ushered on."

 

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Syria: Rebel Groups Split Away From Coalition

Several Syrian rebel groups including a powerful al Qaeda-linked faction have broken away from the Western-backed opposition coalition - as UN inspectors return to continue their probe into chemical weapons attacks.

In a joint statement, 13 rebel groups led by the Nusra Front criticised the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition, saying it no longer represents their interests.

The statement reflects the lack of unity in the exiled political opposition and the rebel groups fighting President Bashar al Assad's regime.

The rebel groups' statement called on all those trying to topple Assad's government to unite under a "clear Islamic framework" - an apparent reference to the al Qaeda faction's aspirations to create an Islamic state in Syria.

It said the rebels do "not recognise" any future government formed outside Syria, insisting that forces fighting on the ground should be represented by "those who suffered and took part in the sacrifices."

But the rebels themselves are also deeply divided, with many groups blaming jihadis and al Qaeda militants in their ranks for the West's reluctance to intervene militarily in Syria or give them the advanced weapons they need.

There is also growing concern that the dominant role the extremists are playing is discrediting the rebellion.

Meanwhile, a team of UN chemical weapons inspectors arrived in Damascus on Wednesday to continue investigating what officials have described as "pending credible allegations" of the use of chemical weapons in Syria's civil war.

UN weapons inspectors arrive in Damascus

The visit of the six-member team, led by Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom, follows a report by the inspectors published after their previous trip in September, which said nerve agent sarin was used in an August 21 attack near the capital, Damascus.

The US and its allies say Mr Assad's regime was behind the attack, which Washington said killed 1,400 people.

Damascus blames the rebels for the attack. Russia, a close ally of Mr Assad, said the UN report did not provide enough evidence to blame the Syrian government.

The United States and Russia brokered an agreement for Syria to give up its chemical weapons but UN diplomats say they are at odds on details of a Security Council resolution spelling out how it should be done and the possible consequences if Syria fails to comply.

Meanwhile, three boats carrying more than 700 asylum-seekers - some of whom were Syrian refugees - landed in Italy on Wednesday, the Coastguard said.

The new arrivals reflected a sharp increase in boats landing with people fleeing conflict-torn parts of the Mediterranean region and the Horn of Africa.

Two of the boats arrived on the island of Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost point and a major gateway for undocumented migration into the European Union.

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