Thousands march after Grenoble gang killings

It was a murder that shook France – two young men with no police record and promising futures were brutally killed in a public park in Grenoble by a gang of up to 15 youths. The city, the scene of intense rioting in 2010, is reeling in shock.

By Tony Todd (text)

 

Approximately 10,000 residents of a suburb of the southwestern city of Grenoble took to the streets on Tuesday evening in a silent protest to express their horror at the brutal killings of two young men on Friday, a crime that has profoundly shocked France.
Kevin Noubissi and Sofiane Tadburt, both aged 21, were set upon by a gang of up to 15 youths wielding pickaxe handles, baseball bats, knives and hammers after an apparent sleight involving Noubissi’s younger brother.
According to reports, the youngster had been assaulted by members of the gang, and Noubissi approached them demanding an explanation and an apology.
Put out by this apparent effrontery, the gang launched their deadly assault on Noubissi, and also on Tadburt “because he happened to be there and was Noubissi’s friend,” according to a police source who said Tadburt was stabbed at least 30 times.
Neither of the young students had any police record. Friends and family said that they both had promising futures, prospects lacking for many in France’s “banlieues”, where rampant unemployment and petty criminality are often the norm.

LATEST UPDATE: 02/10/2012 

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Opposition, ruling party claim victory in legislative vote

With some exit polls showing Bidzina Ivanishvili's opposition leading the parliamentary vote on Monday and others putting it in a dead heat with President Mikheil Saakashvili's party, Georgia’s legislative election may be headed for a stalemate.

By Kate Moody / Katerina VITTOZZI (video)

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s ruling party and an opposition coalition both claimed victory in a parliamentary election in the former Soviet republic on Monday, raising the prospect of a post-election standoff.
Any signs of instability in the Caucasus country of 4.5 million would worry the West because of its role as a conduit for Caspian Sea energy supplies to Europe and its pivotal location between Russia, Iran, Turkey and central Asia.

Kurdish rebels killed in Turkey border clash

At least 12 fighters, including two women, killed as they tried to infiltrate from Iraq, Turkish security forces say. Last Modified: 02 Oct 2012 17:05

Turkish security forces have killed 12 Kurdish rebels in fighting, including two women who attempted to infiltrate from neighbouring Iraq, local security sources said. The cross-border clashes erupted overnight on Monday on the second day of a large-scale operation launched by Turkish security forces in the southeastern town of Semdinli, they said. The fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had targeted a military post on the Turkish-Iraqi border, they added. Semdinli is often the scene of intense fighting between Turkish forces and members of the PKK. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, said last month 144 members of the security forces and 239 rebels had been killed since the start of the year, marking one of the deadliest phases of the confrontation in more than a decade. In all, about 45,000 people have been killed since the PKK, which is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms for autonomy in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984. Turkish jets also sometimes violate Iraqi airspace to strike rebel hideouts in northern Iraq. The government asked parliament on Monday to renew the mandate for its armed forces to attack Kurdish rebel bases in Iraq for another year.

Russia welcomes Georgia opposition victory

Russia's Foreign Ministry said it hopes recent parliamentary elections in Georgia, won by opposition coalition Georgian Dream, will help normalise the country's relations with neighbours.
"It is obvious that Georgian society has voted for changes. We hope in the end they will allow Georgia to start the normalisation, establishment of constructive and respectful relations with neighbours," Alexander Lukashevich, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Wednesday.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili conceded the shock defeat to the opposition, led by billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, ending nine years of dominance that antagonised Russia and brought Tbilisi closer to the West.
Although Saakashvili remains president, the defeat of his United National Movement in Monday's elections means he will lose control of parliament and the government.
His apparently graceful acceptance of the unexpected

Report says EU nuclear reactors need repair

A leaked report on Europe's nuclear reactors found that up to $32bn needs to be invested to prevent disaster. Last Modified: 03 Oct 2012 09:23

Almost all of Europe's nuclear reactors are in need of an urgent overhaul that could cost as much as $32bn, according to a leaked draft-report by the European Commission.

The Commission is expected on Thursday to finalise its stress test report, which was designed to ensure that a disaster similar to the one at Japan's Fukushima could not happen again.

Spanish PM says bailout not imminent

Mariano Rajoy denies reports that Madrid is on verge of seeking a bailout while meeting leaders of country's regions. Last Modified: 02 Oct 2012 20:59

New jobless figures suggest one in every four in the Spanish workforce are now unemployed [Reuters]

Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, has said that a new bailout for his country is not yet imminent. Rajoy made the comment on Tuesday after a meeting in the capital Madrid with the 17 leaders of Spain's regions. In response to a report by the Reuters news agency that Spain could apply for European aid as soon as this weekend, Rajoy said: "If a news agency reports that we'll ask for aid this weekend, there can only be two explanations: that the agency is right, and knows more than I do, which is possible, or that they are not right.

Georgia ruling party concedes poll defeat

Opposition Georgian Dream coalition has won majority of parliamentary seats, President Mikhail Saakashvili says.

President Saakashvili has led the country since his 2003 'Rose Revolution' [Reuters]

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has conceded defeat in parliamentary polls that appear set to hand a shock victory to the opposition Georgian Dream coalition. "It is clear that the [opposition] Georgian Dream has won a majority," Saakashvili said in a televised speech on Tuesday. Bidzina Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream opposition coalition was leading Saakashvili's ruling United National Movement (UNM) by 53.19 per cent to 41.51 per cent after a quarter of electoral precincts declared results on Tuesday in the proportional ballot that will decide just over half of parliamentary seats. A complex electoral system means that the ruling party could still take a large number of seats, however. First-past-the-post votes in 73 constituencies will make up the remainder of the 150-seat parliament, and the opposition was ahead in partial counts from seven out of 10 such constituencies in its stronghold Tbilisi.