CIA Director Petraeus Quits Over Affair

CIA Director David Petraeus has resigned over an extramarital affair - which officials say was uncovered by an FBI investigation.

According to his letter of resignation, General Petraeus asked President Barack Obama on Thursday to allow him to resign, and on Friday the president accepted.

The general admitted he had shown "extremely poor judgement" in having an affair.

"Such behaviour is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organisation such as ours," he wrote.

He had only been sworn in as director of the Central Intelligence Agency on September 6, last year.

Prior to that, he was a four-star general with 37 years' service in the US Army.

His last assignments in the army were as commander of Isaf, the International Security Assistance Force, and commander of US forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

The resignation took Washington's intelligence and political communities by surprise, coming as a sudden end to the public career of the best-known general in recent years.

Neither Gen Petraeus nor the CIA explained why he felt he had to step down over the affair, and whether his liaison presented a purely personal problem or raised security issues in his sensitive work as spy chief.

The affair came to light as the FBI was investigating whether a computer used by the general had been compromised, the New York Times and other US media reported, citing government officials.

General Petraeus with his wife Holly

In a statement released after the resignation was announced, Mr Obama hailed the "extraordinary service" of Gen Petraeus.

"David Petraeus has provided extraordinary service to the United States for decades," Mr Obama said.

"By any measure, he was one of the outstanding general officers of his generation."

The president said the CIA's Deputy Director Michael Morell would serve as acting director.

"I am completely confident that the CIA will continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission," Mr Obama said.

Gen Petraeus has been married for 37 years to Holly, who he met when he was a cadet at the US Military Academy at West Point.

Although the president made no direct mention of Gen Petraeus' reason for resigning, he offered his thoughts and prayers to the general and his wife.

He said Mrs Petraeus has "done so much to help military families through her own work. I wish them the very best at this difficult time".

The CIA has come under fire in recent weeks in the wake of the September 11 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Critics have questioned how much the intelligence agency knew about the likelihood and nature of the attack.

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Obama Insists On Higher Taxes To Ease Deficit

President Obama's Remarks

Updated: 7:36pm UK, Friday 09 November 2012

President Barack Obama spoke on Friday about the need for political leaders to come to an agreement on deficit reduction.

Well, good afternoon everybody.

Now that those of us on the campaign trail have had a chance to get a little sleep, it's time to get back to work, and there is plenty of work to do.

As I said on Tuesday night, the American people voted for action not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours.

And in that spirit I've invited leaders of both parties to the White House next week so we can start to build consensus around the challenges that we can only solve together. And I also intend to bring in business and labour and civic leaders from all across the country here to Washington to get their ideas and input, as well.

You know, at a time when our economy's still recovering from the great recession, our top priority has to be jobs and growth. That's the focus of the plan that I talked about during the campaign.

It's a plan that rewards small businesses and manufacturers that create jobs here and not overseas. It's a plan to give people the chance to get the education and training that businesses are looking for right now.

It's a plan to make sure this country is a global leader in research and technology and clean energy, which will attract new companies and highways jobs to America. It's a plan to put folks back to work, including our veterans, rebuilding our roads and our bridges and other infrastructure.

And it's a plan to reduce our deficit in a balanced and responsible way.

Our work is made that much more urgent because at the end of this year we face a series of deadlines that require us to make major decisions about how to pay our deficit down, decisions that will have a huge impact on both the economy and the middle class, both now and in the future.

Last year, I worked with Democrats and Republicans to cut a trillion dollars worth of spending that we just couldn't afford. I intend to work with both parties to do more, and that includes making reforms that will bring down the cost of health care, so we can strengthen programs like Medicaid and Medicare for the long haul, but, as I've said before, we can't just cut our way to prosperity.

If we're serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue. And that means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes.

That's how we did it.

That's how we did it in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was president. That's how we can reduce the deficit while still making the investments we need to build a strong middle class, and a strong economy.

That's the only way we can still afford to train our workers, or help our kids pay for college, or make sure that good jobs and clean energy or high tech manufacturing don't end up in countries like China.

Now, already I've put forward a detailed plan that allows us to make these investments while reducing our deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade. I want to be clear, I'm not wedded to every detail of my plan. I'm open to compromise. I'm open to new ideas. I'm committed to solving our fiscal challenges, but I refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced.

I'm not gonna ask students and seniors and middle class families to pay down the entire deficit, while people like me making over $250,000 aren't asked to pay a dime more in taxes.

I'm not going to do that.

And I just want to point out, this was a central question during the election. It was debated over and over again. And on Tuesday night we found out that the majority of Americans agree with my approach. And that includes Democrats, independents and a lot of Republicans across the country, as well as independent economists and budget experts. That's how you reduce the deficit, with a balanced approach.

So our job now is to get a majority in Congress to reflect the will of the American people. I believe we can get that majority. I was encouraged to hear Speaker Boehner agree that tax revenue has to be part of this equation. So I look forward to hearing his ideas when I see him next week.

And let me make one final point that every American needs to hear right now. If Congress fails to come to an agreement on an overall deficit-reduction package by the end of the year, everybody's taxes will automatically go up on January 1st - everybody's - including the 98% of Americans who make less than $250,000 a year.

And that makes no sense. It would be bad for the economy and would hit families that are already struggling to make ends meet.

Now, fortunately, we shouldn't need long negotiations or drama to solve that part of the problem. While there may be disagreement in Congress over whether or not to raise taxes on folks making over $250,000 a year, nobody - not Republicans, not Democrats - want taxes to go up for folks making under $250,000 a year.

So let's not wait. Even as we're negotiating a broader deficit reduction package, let's extend the middle class tax cuts right now. Let's do that right now.

That one step - that one step would give millions of families, 98% of Americans and 97% of small businesses, the certainty that they need going into the new year. It would immediately take a huge chunk of the economic uncertainty off the table. And that will lead to new jobs and faster growth. Business will know that consumers, they're not gonna see a big tax increase. They will know that most small businesses won't see a tax increase.

And so a lot of the uncertainty that you're reading about that will be removed. In fact, the Senate has already passed a bill doing exactly this. So all we need is action from the House.

Now, I've got the pen. Ready to sign the bill right away. I'm ready to do it. I'm ready to do it.

You know, the American people understand that we're gonna have difference and disagreements in the months to come. They get that. But on Tuesday they said loud and clear that they won't tolerate dysfunction, they won't tolerate politicians who view compromise as a dirty word - not when so many Americans are still out of work, not when so many families and small-business owners are still struggling to pay the bills.

What the American people are looking for is cooperation. They're looking for a consensus. They're looking for common sense. Most of all, they want action.

I intend to deliver for them in my second term. And I expect to find willing partners in both parties to make that happen.

So let's get to work.

Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

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Syria War: 11,000 Refugees Flee In 24 Hours

As many as 11,000 people have fled Syria in 24 hours - one of the biggest refugee exoduses the country has seen in its 20-month conflict.

The refugees were escaping fierce fighting between rebels and government forces for control of the northeastern Syrian town of Ras al Ain on the border with Turkey.

The exodus signals the escalating ferocity of the conflict, which has killed more than 36,000 people since March 2011.

The United Nations has warned that an estimated four million people inside Syria will need humanitarian assistance by early next year as winter sets in - up from 2.5 million now.

Of the 11,000 Syrians who fled in the 24-hour period that began on Thursday, 9,000 crossed into Turkey, while Jordan and Lebanon each absorbed another 1,000 refugees, according to UN officials.

Video from Turkey's news agency Anadolu showed Syrians jumping over and climbing through a razor-wire fence on the border to cross into the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar.

The influx has caused alarm in Turkey, which has long expressed worry over its ability to cope with such large numbers and has called for a buffer zone to be set up inside Syria where refugees could be housed.

Turkish soldiers guard the border with Syria near the town of Ceylanpinar

The flood of Syrians into Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon was "the highest that we have had in quite some time," said Panos Moumtzis, the UN refugee agency's coordinator for the region.

Despite the bloodshed, President Bashar al Assad said in a rare TV appearance that there was no civil war in Syria.

"It is about terrorism and the support coming from abroad to terrorists to destabilise Syria. This is our war," Mr Assad said in an interview by broadcaster Russia Today, which was aired on Friday.

Mr Assad has insisted he would not step down, saying he would "live and die in Syria".

But Syrians still in the country faced an increasingly desperate situation, senior UN official John Ging, in Geneva, said.

"Every day our humanitarian colleagues on the ground are engaging with people who are ever more desperate, ever more fearful for their lives and for the lives of their families because of this conflict," he said.

Also on Friday, Syria's main opposition bloc in exile, the Syrian National Council, elected veteran activist George Sabra, a Christian, as its new head.

The group has come under heavy criticism from international allies for being ineffective in the fight against Mr Assad and for being riven by personal disputes.

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Republican Soul-Searching After Romney Defeat

Just a few days after the defeat of Mitt Romney, the Republican Party has already begun an inquest into how to avoid another Presidential election defeat.

While some argue it should move more to the right, others say it needs to broaden its appeal beyond its core supporters - older white men.

If everywhere in the country was like Petersburg in West Virginia, there would be no need to panic, and no need for lengthy and expensive campaigns.

Mr Romney secured 82% of the vote in the electoral district of Grant County.

It is also one of the whitest places in the US; according to the last census 97% of the population is white, though there's no evidence that race had an effect on the vote.

There were equally big Republican majorities when Al Gore and John Kerry were the Democratic nominees for President.

The white voters, and especially white men who make up the core of Republican supporters, can be found in the Golden Lanes bowling alley in Petersburg.

There were no non-white faces to be seen during a busy league night.

But the growing number of Latino voters in swing states like neighbouring Virginia means that population arithmetic will continue to favour Democrats unless the Republican Party can persuade some of the 71% of Hispanic voters who backed Barack Obama to switch allegiance in future elections.

Some of the Republican supporters who spoke to Sky News recognised their party had to adapt or die.

Gary Leatherman said: "The Republican Party has got to change the way they're going if they're going to get someone back into the White House. They're losing sight of too much. 

Challenger Mitt Romney condeding defeat to President Barack Obama

"There's nothing wrong with being Conservative... but sometimes you've got to fight back."

Kevin McDonald told us: "Maybe if the Republicans would really look toward unifying. Look at our entire west coast plus Nevada. It could be a country unto its own."

But there are some issues where most Republicans are uncompromising. Petersburg has a population of 2,500 but there are 27 churches.

The influence of God on politics is strong here, even if the party's views on abortion and gay marriage are costing them votes among women voters and young people.

Kevin Reed said: "I just truly believe that a true Christian has to stay with his beliefs, and I don't know if the Republican Party needs to change anything. I just think Christians need to get out to vote."

Mr Obama is deeply unpopular in West Virginia. All 55 counties produced a Romney majority. Critics blame his environmental policies for threatening jobs in coal mining. But a handful of people were willing to admit having voted for him.

Richard Eye did in 2008, but not this year.

"I voted Obama the first time and I don't think he's done enough to warrant four more years so I just couldn't vote for him again."

Jim Cole is the Grant County Commissioner. He's a Republican, but willing to compromise. He says he has no problem with gay relationships, but thinks there are far more important issues to be arguing about such as fixing the economy.

And he says Republicans will have to work with President Obama for the good of the country.

"I'm going to be pulling for him a lot harder this time than I was the last time because we thought we were going to get rid of him after four years. It's not going to happen so we better be working with him, and working for the best."

His wife Phyllis has also run for office and neatly sums up the disconnect between rural Republican America, and its liberal and urban equivalent.

"They think we're backward and we think they're just uneducated!"

It's easy to mock towns like Petersburg for being insular or narrow-minded just because most people think and vote the same.

But there is an even more partisan place 150 miles away at the other end of the political spectrum - Washington DC.

An astonishing 92% of the citizens of the nation's capital voted for Mr Obama in both Presidential elections. If Mr Romney had been elected to the White House he would have found the vast majority of his neighbours would rather he hadn't moved in.

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Spain: Suicide Death Jump As Bailiffs Move In

A mother in Spain jumped to her death as bailiffs approached to evict her from her fourth-floor flat, officials have said.

Amaia Egana's death was the country's second apparent suicide linked to evictions, with authorities under mounting pressure to ease tough mortgage laws.

Around 500 evictions are being carried out each day across Spain, which is beset by a sinking economy.

Mrs Egana reportedly jumped from the balcony of her home in Barakaldo, in the northern city of Bilbao, as bailiffs approached to evict her for failing to pay her mortgage.

She worked at a local bus depot, was married to a former town councillor and had a 21-year-old daughter.

While protests against Spain's mortgage rules took place in Madrid, neighbours of the 53-year-old held a vigil outside her building.

One of them, Francisco Algazira, said: "Shame on the government for these things.

A woman passes a Madrid bank painted with graffiti reading: 'Assassin'

"They are cutting and cutting and we can't live anymore. The same thing that happened to that woman could happen to me tomorrow."

Jose Luis, a 52-year-old former teacher, said: "They need to stop rescuing the banks and start rescuing people because we are heading nowhere and the loan sharks must have a limit."

Local judge Juan Carlos Mediavilla told reporters that it was "necessary to amend current mortgage legislation" to prevent a recurrence of such events.

And employment and social security minister Fatima Banez said the government deeply regretted Mrs Egana's death.

On Thursday the European Court of Justice's advocate general, Juliane Kokott, handed down a non-binding legal opinion that criticised Spanish legal rules regarding evictions.

The ruling came in response to a query from a Spanish court on a 2011 lawsuit over an eviction due to an unpaid mortgage.

Ms Kokott said the Spanish system did not sufficiently protect consumers against possible abusive clauses in mortgage contracts.

In October, Jose Miguel Domingo, 53, was found dead in the courtyard of his building in Granada moments after bailiffs appeared to evict him.

A day later, another 53-year-old man, who had been unemployed for four years, jumped out of his apartment window in the eastern town of Burjassot as eviction loomed. He survived but with injuries.

Spain's unemployment rate stands at 25% and the government predicts its economy - which is now in recession - will not grow until 2014.

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Turkey Helicopter Crash: 17 Troops Killed

Seventeen Turkish soldiers have died after their helicopter crashed in southeastern Turkey in bad weather, an official has said.

The Sikorsky aircraft came down on Herekol mountain, in the Pervari district of Siirt province, according to Siirt governor Ahmet Aydin.

The victims were members of gendarmerie special forces and there were no survivors on board, he said.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash which reportedly happened in thick fog.

The helicopter was transporting troops to Pervari, where the Turkish army has been involved in operations against Kurdish rebels for three days, security sources told AFP.

The military has been on Herekol mountain in an attempt to flush out militants from outlawed separatist group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who have hideouts there.

Since the summer, there has been an upsurge in PKK attacks in southeast Turkey, particularly in the Hakkari region.

Turkish jets and helicopters have pounded PKK positions along the border with Iraq and Iran for three days, killing 42 militants, Hakkari's governor said.

Last month, a Sikorsky crashed in southeastern Diyarbakir province after it hit power lines, killing one soldier and wounding seven.

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Brazil: Armed Police Raid Sao Paulo Slum

Scores of armed police stormed a favela in the Brazilian city Sao Paulo as part of an ongoing war with a major crime gang.

Police patrol past a piece of graffiti in the Brasilandia favela

Officers carried out a number of arrests during a security operation in the Brasilandia favela targeting the notorious Primeiro Comando da Capital - the First Capital Command group.

Brasilandia is in the north of Sao Paulo

Around 90 police have been killed over the past year, which has seen them engaged in a tit-for-tat battle with members of the gang.

The violence appears to have been triggered by a drug raid in the city months ago.

An elderly lady walks past one of the armed officers

But security officials say it has spiralled out of control due to campaign politics and alleged police brutality.

The First Capital Command group was founded in 1993, in a prison in the state of Sao Paulo.

Residents chat in a bar while the security operation goes on outside

It is thought to have been behind a number of uprisings in jails and a series of attacks on public buildings, many of which are said to have been organised using mobile phones.

The gang has also been linked with drugs and arms trafficking, kidnappings, bank robberies, and prison breaks.

Police officers frisk residents of the favela

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Syria: 'Casualties After Two Large Blasts'

Two large explosions have struck the Syrian city of Deraa, causing multiple casualties, according to the state-run news agency.

The blasts were reportedly followed by clashes between regime forces and rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.

Activists said dozens of members of the Syrian security forces were killed when two cars loaded with explosives drove into a military camp.

In what could have been a double suicide attack, the first car was driven into the camp and exploded, followed by the second vehicle, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Deraa was the birthplace of the Syrian uprising against Mr Assad

The blast from the second vehicle caused the casualties, it added.

Deraa, in the south of the country, was the birthplace of the Syrian uprising against Mr Assad, which erupted in March 2011.

The conflict began largely with peaceful protests against his rule but turned bloody after rebels took up arms in response to the regime's crackdown.

Activists say more than 36,000 people have died in Syria during the 19-month-long uprising.

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Massacre: Boy Testifies At Soldier's Hearing

A boy who survived a massacre that killed 16 people has given evidence against the US soldier accused of carrying out the shooting in Afghanistan.

The teenager, called Sadiquallah and believed to be 13 or 14-years-old, testified by video link from Kandahar during a hearing at a military base outside Seattle for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales.                 

Bales, 39, is accused of killing 16 civilians, including nine children, on March 11 in an attack on two villages near his base at Camp Belambay. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Speaking through an interpreter, the boy said a neighbour woke him up when she screamed that an American had "killed our men".

He said he and another boy ran to hide in a storage room and ducked behind a curtain, where a bullet grazed his head.

The other child was hit in the thigh and also survived.

"I was hiding behind the curtains. A bullet hit me," he said.

Earlier, a relative of some of the victims said he found their bodies piled together and burned.

Khamal Adin told the hearing, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, that on the morning after the killings he arrived at a compound belonging to his cousin, Mohammed Wazir.

He found Wazir's mother lying dead in a doorway, a gunshot to her head.

Further inside, Mr Adin said he found the bodies of six of his cousin's seven children, the man's wife, and other relatives. The fire that burned the bodies was out, but Mr Adin said he could smell smoke.

"Everybody was shot on the head ... I didn't pay attention to the rest of the wounds," he said.

The evidence is part of a preliminary hearing to help determine whether Bales, a father of two from Lake Tapps, Washington, should face a court martial. He is charged with 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder.

Prosecutors say Bales carried out his attack in two parts, attacking one village before returning to the base and then departing again to raid another.

It is alleged that in between his attacks, he woke a fellow soldier, reported what he had done, but the soldier did not believe what he said and went back to sleep.

Bales has not entered a plea and is not expected to testify. Bales' lawyers say he has post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered a head injury during a prior deployment to Iraq.

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Jubilee Tour: Royal Couple In New Zealand

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have arrived in New Zealand for the final leg of their Diamond Jubilee tour.

Charles and Camilla, who have already visited Australia and Papua New Guinea, arrived in a Royal New Zealand Air Force Boeing 757 jet from Canberra, where they had said goodbye to Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Waiting for them on the tarmac was New Zealand's leader John Key and his wife Bronagh.

When the prince and duchess reached the bottom of the aircraft's steps at RNZAF base Whenuapai near Auckland, a guard of honour lined up in two rows and Charles received a salute from the troops.

A busy schedule awaits the prince and duchess over the next six days, and highlights include Charles visiting a special effects workshop for a sneak preview of the new movie from Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson.

The prince will see a snippet of the much-anticipated fantasy film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and some of the prosthetic body parts made for the blockbuster.

Charles celebrates his 64th birthday on Wednesday and will mark the occasion with Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae and Mrs Key - who were both also born on the same day.

The final day of the tour takes the royal travellers to Christchurch to see how residents have rebuilt their lives after last year's devastating earthquake.

The royal couple will attend an Armistice Day commemoration on Sunday at the Auckland War Memorial Museum in honour of New Zealand's war dead.

Charles will lay a wreath on behalf of the Queen, while Mr Key's floral tribute is from the government and its citizens.

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