Iran's Leader Blames US for Protests   10/03 06:01

   Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded publicly on Monday to 
the biggest protests in Iran in years, breaking weeks of silence to condemn 
what he called "rioting" and accuse the U.S. and Israel of planning the 
protests.

   DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali 
Khamenei responded publicly on Monday to the biggest protests in Iran in years, 
breaking weeks of silence to condemn what he called "rioting" and accuse the 
U.S. and Israel of planning the protests.

   Khamenei said he was "heartbroken" by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini 
in the custody of Iran's morality police, which set off the nationwide 
protests. However, he sharply condemned the protests as a foreign plot to 
destabilize Iran, echoing authorities' previous comments.

   "This rioting was planned," he told a cadre of police students in Tehran. 
"These riots and insecurities were designed by America and the Zionist regime, 
and their employees."

   He described scenes of protestors ripping off their state-mandated 
headscarves and setting fire to mosques, banks and police cars as "not normal" 
and "unnatural."

   His comments come as nationwide protests sparked by Amini's death entered a 
third week despite the government's efforts to crack down.

   Iran's state TV has reported the death toll from violent clashes between 
protesters and the security officers could be as high as 41, without providing 
details. Rights groups have given higher death tallies, with London-based 
Amnesty International saying it has identified 52 victims, including five women 
and at least five children.

   An untold number of people have been apprehended, with local officials 
reporting at least 1,500 arrests.

   Authorities have repeatedly blamed foreign countries and exiled opposition 
groups for fanning the unrest, without providing evidence.

   The protests over Amini's death have tapped into a deep well of grievances 
in Iran, including the country's surging prices, high unemployment, social 
restrictions and political repression. Demonstrations have continued in Tehran 
and far-flung provinces even as authorities have restricted internet access to 
the outside world and blocked social media apps.

   As the new academic year began this week, students gathered in protest at 
universities across Iran, according to videos widely shared on social media, 
chanting slogans against the government and denouncing security forces' 
clampdown on demonstrators.

   Universities in major cities including Isfahan in central Iran, Mashhad in 
the northeast and Kermanshah in the west have held protests featuring crowds of 
students clapping, chanting and burning state-mandated headscarves.

   "Don't call it a protest, it's a revolution now," shouted students at Shahid 
Beheshti University in the capital of Tehran, as women took off their hijabs 
and set them alight, in protest over Iran's law requiring women to cover their 
hair.

   "Students are awake, they hate the leadership!" chanted crowds of students 
at the University of Mazandaran in the country's north.

African Mediators Head to Burkina Faso 10/03 06:04

   

   OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) -- Regional mediators were headed to Burkina 
Faso on Monday in the wake of the West African country's second coup this year 
amid concern the latest power grab could further postpone elections and deepen 
the region's Islamic extremist violence.

   News that the delegation from the regional bloc known as ECOWAS is traveling 
to the capital, Ouagadougou, came after diplomats confirmed that Lt. Col. Paul 
Henri Sandaogo Damiba had left for the neighboring nation of Togo following 
talks mediated by religious leaders.

   Burkina Faso's new leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, 34, is officially head of 
state pending future elections, the junta announced Sunday. While ECOWAS, a 
15-nation West African bloc, had reached an agreement to hold a new vote by 
July 2024, it remained unclear whether that date would still hold.

   Burkina Faso's last democratically elected president was overthrown by 
Damiba in January amid frustration that his government had not been able to 
stop extremist attacks. But the jihadi violence, which has killed thousands and 
forced 2 million to flee their homes, continued and has now brought an end to 
Damiba's tenure, too.

   The new leader told journalists in interviews over the weekend that 
conditions remained poor for soldiers in the field. Damiba had not done enough 
to improve that situation, Traore said.

   "I go on patrol with my men and we don't have the basic logistics," he told 
Voice of America. "In some villages, the trees don't have leaves because people 
eat the leaves. They eat weeds. We've proposed solutions that will enable us to 
protect these people, but we are not listened to. We made so many proposals."

   In recent days, Traore's followers have waved Russian flags and called for 
military support to help fight the jihadis, as neighboring Mali has done with 
Russia's Wagner Group. However, those Russian mercenary forces have been 
accused of human rights abuses and some fear their involvement in Burkina Faso 
would only make things worse.

   It remains to be seen whether Traore and his forces can turn around the 
crisis as international condemnation of the new coup mounts. The political 
chaos erupted into unrest over the weekend as protesters attacked the French 
Embassy in the capital and several other buildings associated with France 
around the country.

   The anti-French sentiment swelled further after a junta representative said 
on state television that Damiba had sought refuge at a French military base in 
Burkina Faso. France vehemently denied the allegation and any involvement in 
the unfolding events.

   The 4,000 French citizens registered in Burkina Faso are urged to stay at 
their homes, French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said.

   "The situation is very volatile in Burkina Faso," she told The Associated 
Press on Sunday in Paris. "There have been serious violations of the security 
of our diplomatic presence. Unacceptable violations that we condemn."

Biden to Puerto Rico: We're With You   10/03 06:05

   President Joe Biden on Monday will survey damage from Hurricane Fiona in 
Puerto Rico, where tens of thousands of people are still without power two 
weeks after the storm hit.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Joe Biden on Monday will survey damage from 
Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico, where tens of thousands of people are still 
without power two weeks after the storm hit.

   The Category 1 hurricane knocked out electrical power to the U.S. territory 
of 3.2 million people, 44% of whom live below the poverty line.

   Power has been restored to about 90% of the island's 1.47 million customers, 
but more than 137,000 others, mostly in the hardest hit areas of Puerto Rico's 
southern and western regions, continue to struggle in the dark. Another 66,000 
customers are without water.

   Biden has pledged that the U.S. government will not abandon Puerto Rico as 
it starts to rebuild again, five years after the more powerful Hurricane Maria 
devastated the island in 2017.

   During his visit, Biden planned to announce the administration will provide 
$60 million through last year's bipartisan infrastructure law to help Puerto 
Rico shore up levees, strengthen flood walls and create a new flood warning 
system so the island will be better prepared for future storms, the White House 
said.

   "We see what you're going through, and we're with you," Biden told Puerto 
Ricans and Floridians in a message Sunday on his official Twitter account.

   Florida is cleaning up after Hurricane Ian churned across that state last 
week, killing more than 60 people, decimating some coastal communities and 
flooding others. Biden plans to visit Florida on Wednesday to survey damage.

   The president, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden and Deanne Criswell, the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, was to touch down Monday in 
Ponce, Puerto Rico, a city on the southern coast. Most of the storm damage is 
in southern Puerto Rico.

   Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said he would update Biden on recovery 
efforts.

   "We will make sure to keep working together to ensure the continuity of a 
reconstruction already underway," the governor tweeted on Sunday.

   Fiona caused catastrophic flooding, tore apart roads and bridges, and 
unleashed more than 100 landslides when it hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 18. At 
least two people died after being swept away by floods, and several others were 
killed in accidents related to the use of candles or generator during the 
island-wide power outage.

   Government officials have estimated some $3 billion in damages, but warn 
that costs could rise significantly as evaluations continue.

   Some people in Puerto Rico wondered whether Biden's visit would change 
anything as they recalled how President Donald Trump visited after Hurricane 
Maria hit as a more powerful Category 4 storm in 2017, and tossed rolls of 
paper towels into a crowd in a display that riled many.

   Manuel Veguilla, a 63-year-old retired mechanic who lives in a remote 
community in the hard-hit northern mountain town of Caguas, said he didn't 
expect his life to improve in the aftermath of Fiona, which cut off his 
neighborhood from any help for a week.

   "They always offer the lollipop to the kids," he said, referring to Biden's 
visit. "But in the end, the outcome is always the same. The aid goes to those 
who have the most."

   Criswell, who discussed the aftermath of Fiona and Ian on four Sunday TV 
news programs, echoed Biden's promise to Fiona's victims.

   "We have not left Puerto Rico," she said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

   Criswell said on ABC's "This Week" that FEMA personnel were sent to the 
island before the storm hit and that "they're going to stay with the people of 
Puerto Rico" through the recovery efforts.

   Biden recently told Pierluisi that he authorized 100% federal funding for a 
month for debris removal, search and rescue efforts, power and water 
restoration, shelter and food.

   The lack of electrical power on the island led to the temporary closure of 
businesses, including gas stations and grocery stores, as fuel supplies 
dwindled amid heavy generator use. As a result, many cheered the Biden 
administration's decision to temporarily waive a federal law so that a British 
Petroleum ship could deliver 300,000 barrels of diesel.

   Many also have begun demanding that Puerto Rico be fully exempted from the 
law, known as the Jones Act, that requires that all goods transported to Puerto 
Rico be aboard a ship built in the U.S., owned and crewed by U.S. citizens and 
flying the U.S. flag. This drives up costs for an island that already imports 
85% of its food.

   Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also said Puerto Ricans would not be forgotten.

   Rubio said the island appeared to be "in better position to respond this 
time around" due to the prepositioning of personnel and supplies before the 
storm hit and because part of Puerto Rico's electrical grid had been rebuilt 
after Hurricane Maria.

   "We will do everything we can, we always have, to support Puerto Rico now in 
the recovery after this, yet another devastating storm," Rubio said on CNN's 
"State of the Union."

Yemen Warring Sides Don't Extend Truce 10/03 06:06

   

   SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Yemen's warring sides have failed to reach an agreement 
to extend a nationwide cease-fire, the U.N. said Sunday, endangering the 
longest lull in fighting since the country's bloody civil war began.

   In a statement, the U.N.'s envoy to Yemen called on all sides to refrain 
from acts of provocation as the talks continue, after the deadline of Oct. 2 
for extending the agreement was missed.

   The U.N.-backed truce initially took effect in April, and raised hopes for a 
longer pause in fighting as Yemen's civil war entered in its eighth year. The 
devastating conflict began in 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthis seized the 
capital of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into 
exile. A Saudi-led coalition including the United Arab Emirates intervened in 
2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government to power.

   In a statement, U.N. envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said he "regrets that an 
agreement has not been reached today." He did not call out the Houthis by name 
for failing to agree to his proposal but thanked the internationally recognized 
government for "engaging positively" in talks to extend the cease-fire. He 
called on leaders to continue to endeavor to reach an agreement.

   "I urge them to fulfill their obligation to the Yemeni people to pursue 
every avenue for peace," he said.

   The foreign minister for Yemen's internationally recognized government 
placed the blame for the truce ending on the Houthis. In comments made with the 
pan-Arab Satellite channel Al-Hadath, Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said that Houthis 
had obstructed the cease-fire and gone against the interest of the Yemeni 
people.

   "The government made many concessions to extend the truce," he said.

   There was no immediate comment released from the Houthi rebels following the 
U.N. statement. But on Saturday, the Houthis said that discussions around the 
truce had reached a "dead-end," and said that they were continuing to advocate 
for a full opening of the Sanaa airport, and lifting of the blockade on the key 
port city of Hodeida.

   The Iran-backed hosted a large military parade last month, showcasing 
rockets and large weaponry, drawing condemnation from observers.

   In the hours leading up to the deadline, a Houthi military spokesman 
threatened private oil companies still working in the country to leave or their 
facilities would be seized. Yahia Sarea wrote on Twitter that the fossil fuels 
belong to the people of Yemen and could be used to pay public servants' 
salaries.

   April's truce had originally established a partial opening of the Sanaa 
airport and the Red Sea port of Hodeida. The ensuing months have seen flights 
start again from the capital's airport to Jordan and Egypt. It also called for 
lifting a Houthi blockade on Taiz, the country's third largest city. But little 
progress has been made there, after talks aimed at reopening local roads 
stalled. Another sticking point is how salaries of public employees will be 
funded, many of whom have not been compensated for years.

   Sunday's statement came a few days after Grundberg met in Sanaa with the top 
leader of the Houthis, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, and other senior officials, who 
have been pushing for a full opening of the airport. The envoy warned last week 
that the risk of return to war was a real possibility.

   "Millions will now be at risk if airstrikes, ground shelling and missile 
attacks resume," said Ferran Puig, country director in Yemen for the 
international charity Oxfam, reacting to the news of the truce expiring.

   Analysts say it remains unclear if further talks could make progress, with 
Houthis feeling empowered and the coalition fighting them splintered by 
inter-alliance trouble.

   Peter Salisbury, an expert on Yemen with Crisis Group, an international 
think-thank, said the Houthis have been behaving as if they had more leverage 
throughout the negotiations, because they were more willing than the other side 
to return to war.

   Compared with forces fighting with the Saudi coalition, "they run an 
effective police state and operate a pretty functional and motivated fighting 
force,'' he said.

   In recent years, the Houthi forces have deployed increasingly effective 
weaponry against Saudi Arabia and their rivals, including cruise missiles and 
drones, drawing accusations that their main backer, Iran, is helping the group 
obtain them.

   Meanwhile, cracks within the anti-Houthi coalition have surfaced in the 
southern provinces. In August, United Arab Emirates-supported militia groups 
seized vital southern oil and gas fields controlled by other forces fighting 
with the Saudi-led coalition. Clashes between them and other forces from within 
the alliance have killed dozens.

   But the truce has led to a significant overall lull of direct warfare 
despite claims of violations by both sides. International charity Save The 
Children said that the truce had led to a 60% decrease in displacement and a 
34% drop in child casualties in Yemen.

   The conflict, which in recent years turned into regional proxy war between 
Saudi Arabia and Iran, has killed than 150,000 people have been killed, 
including over 14,500 civilians, according to The Armed Conflict Location & 
Event Data Project, and created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

5.7M Pakistan Flood Victims in Crisis  10/03 06:08

   

   ISLAMABAD (AP) -- The United Nations humanitarian agency is warning that 
about 5.7 million Pakistani flood survivors will face a serious food crisis in 
the next three months, as the death toll from the deluge rose on Monday.

   Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority reported that floods 
fueled by abnormally heavy monsoon rains have killed 1,695 people, affected 33 
million, damaged more than 2 million homes and displaced hundreds of thousands 
now living in tents or makeshift homes.

   The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in its latest 
report Saturday said the current floods are expected to exacerbate food 
insecurity in Pakistan and said 5.7 million people in flood-affected areas will 
be facing a food crisis between September and November.

   Even before the floods, according to the World Health Organization, 16% of 
the population was living in moderate or severe food insecurity.

   However, Pakistan's government insists that there is no immediate worry 
about food supplies, as wheat stocks are enough to last through the next 
harvest and that the government is importing more.

   The U.N. agency said in a tweet on Monday that the agency and other partners 
have scaled up their flood response and delivered aid to 1.6 million people 
directly affected by the deluges.

   OCHA said outbreaks of waterborne and other diseases are on the rise in 
Sindh and southwestern Baluchistan provinces, where floods have caused the most 
damage since mid-June.

   Several countries and U.N. agencies have sent more than 131 flights carrying 
aid for survivors, but many are complaining they have either received too 
little help or are still waiting for it.

   The U.N. humanitarian agency also said in its Saturday report that rainfall 
in Baluchistan and Sindh lightened substantially over the past week, as 
temperatures start to decrease ahead of winter.

   "Normal conditions are prevailing in most districts of Baluchistan, while in 
Sindh, the Indus River is flowing normally," said OCHA. Overall, it added, in 
18 out of 22 districts of Sindh, floodwater levels had receded at least 34%, 
and in some districts up to 78%.

   The OCHA report also highlighted the ordeal of flood survivors, saying many 
continue to live in "unsanitary conditions in temporary shelters, often with 
limited access to basic services, compounding the risk of a major public health 
crisis."

   It said pregnant women are being treated in temporary camps when possible, 
and nearly 130,000 pregnant women need urgent health services.

   "Already before the floods, Pakistan had one of the highest maternal 
mortality rates in Asia, with the situation likely to deteriorate," it said.

   The U.N. is due to issue a revised appeal seeking an additional $800 million 
from the international community to respond to the soaring life-saving needs of 
Pakistani flood survivors. The U.N. said last week that "food is being 
delivered to vulnerable families; however, it is still not enough to meet the 
nutrition needs of the people."

   Pakistan says floods caused about $30 billion of damage to its economy.

   Floods washed away thousands of kilometers of roads, destroyed 440 bridges, 
and disrupted railroad traffic.

   Pakistan Railways said it has started restoring train service from Sindh to 
other cities after repairing some of the tracks damaged by floods.

SCOTUS Welcomes Public, New Justice    10/03 06:11

   The Supreme Court is beginning its new term, welcoming the public back to 
the courtroom and hearing arguments for the first time since issuing a landmark 
ruling stripping away women's constitutional protections for abortion.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court is beginning its new term, welcoming 
the public back to the courtroom and hearing arguments for the first time since 
issuing a landmark ruling stripping away women's constitutional protections for 
abortion.

   Monday's session also is the first time new Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, 
the court's first Black female justice, will participate in arguments. And the 
public is back for the first time since the court closed in March 2020 because 
of the coronavirus pandemic.

   The court's overturning of the nearly 50-year-old Roe v. Wade abortion 
decision is still reverberating in legal fights over state abortion bans and 
other restrictions. But a new stack of high-profile cases awaits the justices. 
Several cases the court has agreed to hear involve race or elections or both, 
and the court has also agreed to hear a dispute that returns the issue of free 
speech and LGBTQ rights to the court.

   Also hanging over the justices is some unfinished business from last term: 
the leak of a draft of the abortion decision seven weeks before it was formally 
announced. Chief Justice John Roberts ordered an investigation, but the court 
has yet to provide an update.

   Jackson, for her part, has been waiting for months to fully begin her new 
role since being confirmed in April. She was sworn in when Justice Stephen 
Breyer retired in June, at the end of a term where the court dominated 6-3 by 
conservatives also expanded gun rights, reined in the government's ability to 
fight climate change and blocked a Biden administration effort to get workers 
at large companies vaccinated against COVID-19. Breyer, a liberal, was on the 
losing side of those cases, and Jackson is also expected to be in dissent in 
many of the court's most prominent cases.

   Since she was sworn in, however, the court has largely been on a summer 
break. The justices met privately last week to consider a long list of appeals 
that piled up over the summer. On Friday, the justices took the bench for a 
brief ceremony in which Roberts wished Jackson a "long and happy career in our 
common calling," the traditional welcome for a new justice.

   But Jackson also joins the court at a time of declining public support for 
the court. Polls following the court's abortion decision have shown a sharp 
drop in the court's approval rating and in people's confidence in the court as 
an institution. A poll over the summer found 43% of Americans saying they have 
hardly any confidence in the court, up from 27% earlier in the year.

   On Monday, the court is considering an important water rights case that 
could limit federal regulation under the nation's main water pollution law, the 
Clean Water Act.

   Other significant cases include a controversial Republican-led appeal that 
could dramatically change the way elections for Congress and the presidency are 
conducted by handing more power to state legislatures. There's also the case of 
a Colorado website designer who says her religious beliefs prevent her working 
with same-sex couples on their weddings. Next month, the justices will hear a 
challenge to the consideration of race in college admissions.

UK, Allies Meet on Pipeline Security   10/03 06:10

   

   BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) -- The Joint Expeditionary Force group of northern 
European nations will meet Monday to discuss the safety of undersea pipelines 
and cables after blasts ruptured two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, 
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said.

   Wallace said the virtual meeting has been called by the U.K. and the 
Netherlands. The force brings together troops from 10 countries, including the 
Baltic and Nordic nations, and has seen its importance increase since Russia's 
invasion of Ukraine in February.

   Wallace also said Britain will acquire two specialist ships to protect 
undersea cables and pipes, with the first "multi-role survey ship for seabed 
warfare" operational by the end of next year.

   Undersea blasts that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines last week 
have led to huge methane leaks. Nordic investigators said the blasts involved 
several hundred pounds of explosives.

   Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused the West of sabotaging 
the Russia-built pipelines, a charge vehemently denied by the United States and 
its allies.

   Britain has not officially blamed anyone for the blasts, but Wallace told 
the Conservative Party's annual conference that "Putin's reactions are wider 
than just Ukraine. His reach goes further. This week, we saw the 'mysterious' 
damage inflicted to the Nord Stream pipelines. And it should remind us all how 
fragile our economy and infrastructure is to such hybrid attacks."

   Britain has been a major contributor of military aid to Ukraine. Wallace 
said Britain would train another 20,000 to 30,000 Ukrainian troops in the U.K., 
in addition to the 10,000 it has trained this year.

   Speaking at the U.K. Conservative Party's annual conference in Birmingham, 
central England, Wallace said Britain was not seeking to remove Putin as 
Russia's leader.

   "We're not in the business of regime change," he said.

   But he also said Putin was unlikely to de-escalate the conflict.

   "I don't think he is going to take an off-ramp," Wallace said.

US Stocks Gain Ground Monday           10/03 10:15

   U.S. stocks rose broadly in morning trading on Monday and Treasury yields 
eased off their multiyear highs as Wall Street leaves behind the worst month 
since the virus pandemic crashed global markets.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks rose broadly in morning trading on Monday and 
Treasury yields eased off their multiyear highs as Wall Street leaves behind 
the worst month since the virus pandemic crashed global markets.

   The S&P 500 rose 1.8% as of 10:23 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average rose 576 points, or 2%, to 29,305 and the Nasdaq rose 1.3%.

   Energy stocks made the biggest gains as U.S. crude oil prices jumped 5.4%. 
Exxon Mobil rose 4%. The oil cartel OPEC is expected to announce production 
cuts this week. Technology stocks also made strong gains. Microsoft rose 1.5%.

   Treasury yields fell significantly and relieved pressure on stocks. The 
yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, fell to 3.63% 
from 3.83% late Friday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks 
expectations for Federal Reserve action on interest rates, fell to 4.08% from 
4.27%.

   The British pound strengthened and borrowing costs for the U.K. government 
fell after the new, embattled government of Prime Minister Liz Truss abandoned 
plans to cut income tax rates for top earners, part of a package of unfunded 
cuts that had set off turmoil in financial markets and sent the pound to record 
lows.

   The gains to kick off October follow a dismal September for the broader 
market, when stocks put in their worst monthly performance since March 2020. 
Every major index is in a bear market, which is a drop of 20% or more from its 
latest record high. The benchmark S&P 500 is down more than 23% for the year.

   Wall Street is still focused on the hottest inflation in four decades and 
the Fed's aggressive rates hikes aimed at slowing the economy and easing high 
prices on everything from food to clothing. Investors are worried that the 
central bank could hit the brakes too hard and cause a recession.

   On Friday, the Fed's preferred measure of inflation showed it was worse last 
month than economists expected. That should keep the Fed on track to keep 
hiking rates and hold them at high levels a while.

   Investors are awaiting the latest round of corporate earnings to get a 
better sense of how companies are performing amid stubborn inflation. It will 
also give Wall Street another glimpse into how consumers have been holding up 
with a tighter squeeze on their wallets.

   Consumer spending has been one of the stronger areas of the economy, along 
with the employment market. Wall Street will get several updates on the latter 
in the coming week. On Tuesday, the government will release its August report 
for job openings and turnover. It will release its closely watched employment 
report, for September, on Friday.