World/Nation Briefs November 25, 2011
Egypt's military rulers reject calls to step down
CAIRO - Egypt's military rulers rejected protester demands for them to step down immediately and said Thursday they would start the first round of parliamentary elections on time next week, despite serious unrest in Cairo and other cities.
The ruling military council insisted it is not the same as the old regime it replaced, but the generals appear to be on much the same path that doomed Hosni Mubarak nine months ago - responding to the current crisis by delivering speeches seen as arrogant, mixing concessions with threats and using brutal force.
So far it's working no better than it did under the former leader.
Protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, seething over the military's perceived failings over the past nine months, say they will not leave the iconic plaza until the generals step down in favor of a civilian presidential council, a show of resolve similar to that which forced Mubarak to give up power in February after nearly three decades.
Giffords helps serve meal to service members
TUCSON, Ariz. - U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords helped serve a Thanksgiving meal to service members and retirees at a military base in her hometown.
Giffords arrived in the dining hall at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson at midday Thursday wearing a ball cap and an apron with her nickname of "Gabby" sewn on the front. She was accompanied by her retired astronaut husband, Mark Kelly, who also donned an apron.
Giffords used only her left hand as she served, a sign that physical damage remains from the injuries she suffered when she was shot in January.
Kelly supported her from her left side as she worked the turkey station on the serving line. He served ham.
The event marked the first time Giffords has met with her constituents since the shooting. After serving dinner, she mingled with service members, exchanging pleasantries and mostly one-word greetings and responses.
Iraq: 19 people killed, dozens hurt in bombings
BASRA, Iraq - A string of bombings in a southern oil city killed 19 people Thursday evening and injured dozens more, a grim sign of the security challenges Iraq will face after American troops go home.
The U.S. military is drawing down its troops ahead of an end-of-December deadline to have all American forces out of the country. Incidents like Thursday's triple bombing in a city seen as key to Iraq's economic development show the dangerous prospects awaiting Iraqis next year.
Three bombs went off in a popular open-air market in Basra, police and health officials said.
The third bomb exploded a few minutes after Iraqi army and police forces arrived on the scene in response to the earlier blasts, officials said. The third blast caused all the fatalities and almost all of the injuries, the officials said.
Among the dead and wounded were many policemen and Iraqi army soldiers.
Occupy protest camps celebrate Thanksgiving
SAN FRANCISCO - Most Americans spent Thanksgiving snug inside homes with families and football. Others used the holiday to give thanks alongside strangers at outdoor Occupy encampments, serving turkey or donating their time in solidarity with the anti-Wall Street movement that has gripped a nation consumed by economic despair.
In San Francisco, 400 occupiers at a plaza in the financial district were served traditional Thanksgiving fixings sent by the renowned Glide Memorial Church to volunteers and supporters of the movement fighting social and economic inequality.
"We are thankful that we are, first and foremost, in a country where we can protest," said the Rev. Cecil Williams, the founder of Glide and a fixture in the city's activist community. "And we are thankful that we believe that there are things that could be worked out and that we have a sense of hope. But we know that hope only comes when you make a stand."
While the celebration remained peaceful in San Francisco, an amplified version of a family Thanksgiving squabble erupted in New York when police ordered a halt to drumming by protesters at an otherwise traditional holiday meal.
About 500 protesters were digging into donated turkey and trimmings at lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, when police told a drummer to drop playing.
Plane crashes in Arizona desert
PHOENIX - A small airplane slammed into a sheer cliff in the mile-high mountains east of Phoenix and exploded, killing the six people onboard, including the pilot and his three young children who were to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with him, authorities said.
The body of one child was recovered and dozens of sheriff's search and rescue personnel worked Thursday to recover the remains of the other victims, said Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.
A search and rescue team was in the rugged Superstition Mountains searching for three missing teenagers Wednesday evening and saw the explosion as the twin-engine plane hit the cliff, Babeu said. The searchers found the teens, then went up the mountain to try to reach the crash site.
Ten deputies who spent the night on the mountain were relieved by 10 more early Thursday. They and dozens of volunteers began searching the crash site at first light. Video from news helicopters Thursday morning showed the wreckage strewn at the bottom of a blackened cliff.
— Associated Press