Hourly News updated 08:00 2011/10/03

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The International Committee of the Red Cross is calling on all sides in the Libyan conflict to allow them to return to Sirte.

The call comes after the Red Cross was able to get in a small amount of humanitarian¹ supplies into the besieged² city.

Four Red Cross aid workers were able to ferry in supplies to treat about 300 people.

However, they've since been forced to pull out of Sirte, after the hospital they were working in came under fire.

Despite a call for a truce³ on Friday, heavy rocket and mortar⁴ fire continued from both sides through the weekend.

The Red Cross says it's worried that a humanitarian disaster is unfolding in the area.

 

 

Syrian opposition⁵ groups form National Council

Syria's main opposition groups have now formed a new umbrella opposition group.

Major opposition forces, including the highly influential⁶ Muslim Brotherhood⁷, have now joined what's being called the Syrian National Council.

Burhan Ghailoun, an Executive Committee Member, has announced the formation of the SNC following a meeting Sunday in Turkey.

Ghailoun says the committee does not want to see outside intervention⁸ in Syria.

The formation of the Syrian National Council comes following half-a-year of fighting in Syria which has left hundreds, if not thousands, dead.

 

 

Son of Syria's grand mufti dies of his wounds

The son of Syria's top Muslim leader is dead.

Saryah Hassoun has died of his injuries, after being shot by terrorists in northern Syria.

Hassoun and another man -- a well known history professor -- were gunned down in Aleppo.

The killing⁹ of Ahmed Hassoun's son is the latest in a string of attacks on prominent Syrian intellectuals over the last few months.

Syrian officials, including Hassoun himself, are blaming outside forces for the attacks, which have been mounting ever since the violence in Syria broke out half a year ago.

 

 

PNA studies sacking Quartet's envoy¹⁰ Tony Blair

Reports are now circulating that the Palestinian National Authority is considering asking the so-called Middle East Quartet to fire it's chief envoy, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Sources within the PNA are also suggesting that other steps against Blair are being considered, including boycotting¹¹ meetings where Blair is taking part.

However, sources close to the Palestinian presidency¹² say that while there is frustration¹³ about Blair's seemingly pro-Israeli stance, there are no current plans to ask that he be fired.

Palestinian frustration with Blair began to surface after he called for the resumption of direct negotiations¹⁴ between the Israelis and the Palestinians shortly before the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations.

 

 

Greece approves 2012 draft budget, to miss deficit¹⁵ target

Athens has now confirmed that it is going to miss it's deficit reduction targets.

The confirmation¹⁶ comes following the Greek cabinet's approval of next year's draft budget.

The interim¹⁷ budget document indicates that this year's budget deficit is expected to come it at 8.5-percent of the GDP.

The initial target was 7.6-percent.

At the same time, the Greek government's deficit reduction for next year is expected to come it at 6.8-percent of GDP, instead of the 6.5-percent goal laid out by the EU and IMF.

Greece's deficit reduction targets are critical for the country to continue receiving EU/IMF funding to avoid default.

 

 

Thousands Protest on Conservative Conference in Manchester

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Manchester, protesting amid the Conservative Party's Autumn conference.

The 35 thousand protesters consist of mainstream¹⁸ public sector¹⁹ unions and workers, including fire fighters and teachers.

Since taking power in May of last year, Britain's Conservative-Liberal Democrat²⁰ coalition²¹ has been cutting some 80 billion pounds in public spending to try to reduce its deficit.

The austerity measures include pension cuts and consumption tax hikes, which have affected²² thousands of families.

The Conservative conference lasts until Wednesday.

 

 

Chinese ministry²³ urges traffic police to stand alert against "safety loopholes" on road

The Ministry of Public Security is warning traffic police to be on the lookout²⁴ for "safety loopholes" on the roads.

The warning comes after a bus accident left at least 16 people dead over the weekend.

A sleeper²⁵ coach carrying 35 people plunged²⁶ into a river dozens of meters below a highway in the city of Yichang in Hubei this past weekend.

14 died at the scene, and two others later died in hospital.

8 of the 19 others who survived are in serious condition.

 

 

Typhoon-triggered floods kill at least 4 in south China, more rains to come

The death toll²⁷ in flooding caused by Typhoon Nesat has risen to four in Guangxi, where the reminisce of the storm continues to wreak²⁸ havoc²⁹.

So far, some two and a half million of people have been affected by the typhoon in southern China.

Economic losses have exceeded 1.6 billion yuan.

Power disruptions are still taking place in Hainan in the wake of Nesat.

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