SPAIN
Anti-trade pacts rally held
Several hundred people have protested in Madrid against the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a major free trade deal between the US and the EU. The protesters on Saturday also urged officials not to approve the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, a smaller trade agreement between Canada and the EU, and the Trade in Services Agreement, which involves the EU. Protesters carried signs claiming the deals would impoverish locals, chanting “They are not treaties, they are coups d’etat” and “We are people, not merchandise.” Some wore huge yellow foam chains around their necks to signify enslavement, while others dressed up as tycoons.
UNITED STATES
Trump wants drug tests
Escalating his criticism of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton’s debate performances, Republican rival Donald Trump came to a state battling a drug epidemic and on Saturday suggested without any evidence that his opponent had been on drugs during their second debate. “I think we should take a drug test prior to the debate,” Trump told a crowd of thousands gathered in the parking lot of a Toyota dealership on a chilly afternoon. “We should take a drug test prior, because I don’t know what’s going on with her. But at the beginning of her last debate — she was all pumped up at the beginning, and at the end it was like, ‘Oh, take me down.’ She could barely reach her car,” he said. The Clinton campaign referred reporters to a statement by campaign manager Robby Mook that was put out earlier in the day in response to Trump’s allegations of a “rigged” election. “Campaigns should be hard fought and elections hard won, but what is fundamental about the American electoral system is that it is free, fair and open to the people,” Mook wrote.
GERMANY
Suspect spoke to IS contact
A Syrian refugee arrested on suspicion of planning a major attack in Berlin spoke to a member of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria by telephone about a possible target a day before police discovered explosives in his apartment, Welt am Sonntag reported on Saturday. Jaber Albakr was detained on Monday last week, two days after police discovered about 1.5kg of explosives in his apartment. He was found dead in prison two days later. Authorities said he had committed suicide. The paper cited investigation sources as saying US intelligence had provided a tip-off about Albakr after tapping several phone calls between him and the IS member. During the calls, 22-year-old Albakr spoke about his attack plans, the paper said. In a call on Oct. 7, Albakr told his contact that 2kg of explosives were ready and he named a possible target, saying a “big airport in Berlin” was “better than trains,” the paper said. It said prosecutors investigating the case assumed that Albakr wanted to make a suicide-bomb vest.
SYRIA
Rebels claim Dabiq
Turkish-backed opposition forces captured the town of Dabiq from IS fighters yesterday morning. A commander of the opposition Hamza Brigade said IS fighters put up “minimal” resistance before withdrawing in the direction of al-Bab to the south. About 2,000 opposition fighters pushed into Dabiq with tank and artillery support from the Turkish Army, he said. IS propaganda had boasted of the fight for the town, citing Islamic lore that it would be the scene of a major battle between crusaders and army of the Muslim caliphate that would herald Doomsday.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the