Melbourne Cup: Favorite Fiorente gives Gai Waterhouse a landmark win

Gai Waterhouse made history on Tuesday by becoming the first female Australian trainer to win the Melbourne Cup, the country's most prestigious horse race.

                                                                                     Waterhouse saw her pre-race favorite Fiorente fend off competition from 2011 runner-up Red Cadeaux to win "the race that stops a nation."

"Everyone wants to win the majors and the Melbourne Cup is the biggest one of them all," said Waterhouse, who was born in Scotland, raised in Sydney and once appeared in British sci-fi television show Doctor Who during her earlier career as an actress after returning to the UK.

"It's a burning desire so today was fantastic ... His (Fiorente's) preparation was in Melbourne and I knew he was primed for the occasion.

"It's the first time I've had the favorite in the 20 years I've trained."

Read: Meet the horse that upstaged Kylie

Victorious jockey Damien Oliver won the Flemington race for the third time in his career, despite only recently returning from a 10-month ban imposed for betting on a rival horse in 2010.

"It's amazing, a dream come true. It's really hard to believe," said Oliver. "I'm so rapt right now that I've been part of Gai's first win -- she's done so much for racing and it's a great honor for me to help her bring up the first one.

"Gai was one of the first people to really get behind me when I came back and I can't thank her enough for helping me get going again."

Read: The legs that stopped a nation

After her historic win, Waterhouse was asked about the possibility of taking both Fiorente and her other horse Tres Blue, which finished in 22nd place, across to Britain for Royal Ascot in August 2014.

"I'd like to go," she replied. "Both horses could easily come back to Europe. Tres Blue was just a bit new to it all."

Retired English football star Michael Owen saw Brown Panther, a horse he bred and co-owns, finish the race in eighth position.

Brown Panther was hampered by a gash it sustained during the race after a coming together with another horse, but Owen confirmed the animal had suffered no serious injuries.

Read: Bronze Black Caviar statue unveiled

"Eighth out of 24 pretty respectable," Owen said via his official Twitter account. "Proud of him. Just hope he is OK as he has been struck into during the race."

                                                          "Scan has come back clear," Owen added later. "Only superficial gash that requires stitches. We live to fight another day!"

CNN

Bodies of French journalists abducted in Mali returned

The bodies of two French journalists, who were killed in Mali, arrived in France Tuesday, Radio France International reported.

Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon worked for Radio France International and were kidnapped Saturday morning.

                           The abduction occurred after the journalists were interviewing a Tuareg rebel near the northern town of Kidal, a local governor said, according to RFI sister network France Info.

Both were kidnapped by four men in a Toyota, said Gov. Adama Kamissoko of Kidal.

Kidal was one of the strongholds of the Islamic militant Tuareg uprising last year that plunged Mali into chaos after a military-led coup. Following the coup, Tuareg rebels occupied the northern half of the country.

Veteran Spanish war correspondent kidnapped in Syria

As part of France's intervention this year to flush out militants in Mali, the French military secured the area around Kidal.

The two reporters were abducted in front of the home of a member of the Tuareg rebels' National Movement of a Liberation of Azawad, RFI reported.

                                                                          The two journalists could be heard resisting their abduction, according to their driver, who was forced by the gunmen to lay on the ground, RFI said.

French President Francois Hollande called an emergency meeting with ministers Sunday about the incident.

Hollande condemned the killings, calling them "despicable."

                                                                                           The kidnappings and deaths came the same week four French hostages were released. They were abducted in 2010 by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in neighboring Niger.

Italian journalist held captive in Syria is headed home

CNN

New Jersey mall gunman found dead hours after shooting

 

A gunman who opened fire at a New Jersey mall Monday night later holed up in a back room and shot himself in the head, authorities say.

No one else was injured in the mall shooting.

Richard Shoop's body was found at 3:20 a.m. Tuesday in an obscure part of Westfield Garden State Plaza mall, hours after he fired at least six bullets without striking anyone in the massive shopping center.

He acted alone, authorities say.

"We know that his intent was either suicide or to do something that would cause police to shoot him, which we call 'suicide by cop,' " Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli told CNN's "New Day."

"He had more than enough opportunity to be able to shoot other people," including a group adjacent to him, but he didn't, Molinelli said. "Instead, he shot randomly at different locations."

Shots hit the ceiling, an escalator, an elevator and a storefront, the prosecutor said.

The reasons for the shooting remain unclear. Shoop used narcotic drugs and sold drugs as well, Molinelli said.

And he left behind a note referring to the idea that the "end was coming," Molinelli said. "That could mean going to jail, getting arrested, or it could mean suicide." Authorities don't know whether Shoop left the note immediately before going to the mall.

Shoop's brother, Kevin, called authorities after hearing about the shooting and said he thought Shoop might be the gunman, Molinelli said. Police did not confirm the shooter's identity until they found his body.

"My brother intended to harm nobody else but himself," Kevin Shoop said Tuesday. "He just, sadly, decided to make ... an act of self-indulgence by taking his own life publicly. And it's a tragedy to us all."

Pandemonium

The melee started about 9:20 p.m. ET Monday night, just as the shopping center was about to close. Thousands of people were still in the mall, Molinelli said.

Shoop, dressed all in black and wearing a motorcycle helmet, walked through the mall with a rifle modified to look like an AK-47. The rifle was taken from Shoop's brother, Molinelli said.

Allie Cozic, who works in the mall, said everyone was "running to wherever they could."

"It was almost like when you're watching a horror movie and the killer is walking slowly. That's what it seemed like," she said. "He was wearing all black. It almost looked like body armor of some kind. As soon as I saw the gun, I just turned and ran."

Eddie Kahmann, another mall employee, said he heard six or seven gunshots.

"There was just people running like crazy, so I quickly just closed my doors, ran to the back, turned off all the lights, music and everything, just to stay hidden," he said.

The shooting sent panic through the mall and set off a frenzied hunt for the gunman. In the early hours of the search, officials weren't sure whether the shooter was still inside or outside the 2 million-square-foot building.

Officers did not fire any shots, Molinelli said, and there was only slight damage to the mall.

Even as Shoop's body lay in a remote room in a construction area, fear still permeated the mall.

More than 100 shoppers were still hiding inside stores early Tuesday morning, unsure of whether they could safely come out. Officers worked to evacuate each store.

Signs of trouble

Shoop, 20, was known by local law enforcement. He had a history of drug use and abuse, Molinelli said.

"He at least thought that he was reaching a point where there was no recourse but to take his own life," Molinelli said.

The owner of a pizza shop where Shoop has been working for about a year said the young man has been a good, trustworthy worker. Dod Geges, owner of Victor's Pizza Shop, describes Shoop as a nice, quiet guy.

But in the last two weeks, "something was off" about Shoop, Geges said, adding that he "wasn't his usual self."

Geges' brother Robert Gega, who manages the restaurant, said Shoop was working 60 hours a week and "sobering up."

"He wasn't drinking or drugging," Gega said, adding that Shoop had good friends and never gave an indication of contemplating suicide. "He would never hurt anyone."

LAX shooting: Latest on the suspect, victims and warning that may have come too late

CNN

Syria peace conference won't happen before December

December would be the earliest that any conference on brokering an end to the Syrian civil war would happen, Russian state news agency Itar-Tass reported Tuesday, citing a source close to talks among the United Nations, Russia and the United States.

A proposed "Geneva II" conference in Geneva, Switzerland, was tentatively scheduled for the end of November. It had been delayed several times previously.

CNN Exclusive: Al Qaeda fills Syria power vacuum

                                                                     Representatives from the United Nations, Russia and the United States were meeting Tuesday in Geneva in hopes of ironing out a plan for the talks, which have been held up in part because many branches of the Syrian opposition have said they wouldn't attend, or wouldn't participate without preconditions.

Nineteen largely Islamist rebel groups, for example, last month flatly rejected participating. Some groups want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down before talks. And the Syrian National Coalition, a rebel umbrella group, said it wouldn't participate if Iran -- an ally of the Syrian regime -- is invited.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there will be no preconditions for the talks, Itar-Tass reported Tuesday, adding that preconditions would run counter to plans that the United States and Russia previously drew up for the conference.

The United States and Russia announced in May that they would try to bring the warring parties to a second conference in Geneva to implement the peace plan they endorsed at Geneva I in 2012, which left open the question of whether al-Assad must leave power.

The Syrian conflict began in March 2011 after government forces cracked down on peaceful protesters during the Arab Spring movement and is now a full-blown civil war. The United Nations estimates that more than 100,000 people have died in the conflict.

International inspectors, meanwhile, are trying to ensure that Syria eliminates its chemical weapons stockpile by the middle of 2014. Syria agreed to do so under international pressure earlier this year.

CNN

Pot tax, secession top Tuesday ballot measures

Voters headed to the polls in six states on Tuesday will consider 31 ballot measures, including questions about marijuana taxes and requiring labels for genetically modified food. The question of secession also made it on the ballot in several Colorado counties. Here are a few highlights:

Colorado: marijuana taxes

                                            Last year, voters in sharply divided Colorado decided to legalize recreational marijuana. This year, they're being asked to impose a special 15% excise tax on the drug to help fund school construction, along with a 10% sales tax to bolster marijuana-related law enforcement efforts. While opponents argue it's unfair to single out marijuana for higher taxation than products such as beer, the measure is expected to pass.

The non-partisan Colorado Legislative Council projects that the measure, if approved, will generate nearly $70 million in additional state tax revenue next year.

Colorado: secessione

                                     Voters in 11 counties in northern Colorado are being asked if they want to secede from the state. Ten counties in conservative, rural northeastern Colorado would theoretically form a 51st state known as North Colorado. Moffat County, located in the northwest corner of the state, would become a panhandle for neighboring Wyoming.

The plan has no chance of becoming reality. Among other things, it would also require statewide and congressional approval. But approval or even a close vote at the county level would send a loud message of growing grassroots conservative anger toward a more liberal Denver-based Democratic establishment that has taken up controversial measures related to gun control, gay rights, and green energy.

         Similar secession measures have been floated in a number of other states in recent years -- a reflection of the country's growing ideological and partisan divide.

Washington: labeling genetically modified food

                                                                            Voters in Washington State are considering a hotly contested initiative that would require labeling all foods containing genetically-modified ingredients. The measure pits local consumer advocates, who argue that the measure is needed for consumers to make better informed choices, against large agribusinesses such as Monsanto, which argue that such a law would spook potential customers and unfairly imply that such products are unsafe.

Washington is the second state to consider such a ballot measure. A similar proposal was narrowly rejected by California voters last year.

According to the non-partisan National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 95 bills relating to the issue have been introduced in state legislatures so far this year -- a reflection of growing public interest in the controversy surrounding genetically modified foods.

Other noteworthy measures

                                             

                                                 Voters in New Jersey are considering whether to amend their constitution to raise the state minimum wage from the federal level of $7.25 to $8.25 per hour. Future annual increases would be tied to changes in the cost of living. Eighteen states currently have a minimum wage that exceeds the federal requirement, according to the NCSL.

                                                                                                                      New York voters are being asked to revise their constitution to allow the legislature in Albany to authorize seven casinos, with the goal of generating new revenue for public schools and potentially cutting local property taxes.

Source - CNN

Pressure to shut NATO supply routes in Pakistan over drone strikes

The Pakistani government is under pressure to block NATO supply routes to Afghanistan this month if the United States continues its campaign of drone strikes in northwestern Pakistan.

The demands from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the opposition party led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, come amid anger in Pakistan over the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, in a U.S. drone strike last week.

The Pakistani government had been working on proposed peace talks with the extremist group when Mehsud was killed.

"Just as we were about to start talks -- the very day the Interior Minister planned to approach the Taliban -- a drone strike targeted the Taliban," Khan said Monday in the National Assembly. "So I ask you, Is the U.S. a friend or foe?"

His party is demanding that the national government block the ground supply lines to Afghanistan starting November 20 unless the United States ends the strikes, which have focused on Pakistan's loosely governed tribal areas where many militants are based.

Strike 'harmed' peace efforts

PTI, which campaigned heavily against drone attacks in Pakistan, holds the balance of power in the northwestern province Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, through which one of the main NATO supply routes runs.

Alongside Khan's demands, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly has passed a motion to block NATO supply lines if the drone strikes don't stop by November 20.

There are two supply lines from Pakistan into Afghanistan: the one that passes through Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and another that runs through the volatile southwestern province of Balochistan, where NATO tankers are often attacked.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's office said in a statement Monday that the drone strike last week "has harmed the dialogue and peace efforts of the government."

"But we believe that we will not ... allow the dialogue and peace efforts to get derailed," it said.

"Diplomatic efforts will be continued to stop these attacks," the statement said. "Given Pakistani peoples' resolve and sacrifices in this war against terrorism, it is incumbent upon the international community to support this endeavor of the government for the accomplishment of peace. The government of Pakistan will not allow any internal or external force to sabotage the dialogue process."

'Ongoing dialogue'

The U.S. State Department said Monday that it had seen the PTI statements about the supply lines.

"We have a strong, ongoing dialogue with Pakistan regarding all aspects of our bilateral relationship," said Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman.

The supply routes, which are "important to the U.S., NATO, and Pakistan," are fully open at the moment, Harf said.

Pakistan closed the routes for several months after a NATO airstrike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at a checkpoint near the Afghan border in November 2011.

The Pakistani Taliban, who have long been conducting an insurgency against the Pakistani government, claimed responsibility for the December 2009 suicide bombing at the U.S. Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan. Five CIA officers were among the seven U.S. citizens killed, along with a member of Jordanian intelligence.

The group also claimed responsibility for a failed May 2010 attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York's Times Square. The following September, the U.S. State Department designated the Pakistani Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization.

Mehsud, who had a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, was killed in northwestern Pakistan Friday

Source - CNN

Mexican troops take control of key port

One of Mexico's most important seaports is now under the control of the military in a show of force as the government fights corruption and drug cartel violence.

The port of Lazaro Cardenas lies on the country's Pacific coast, in the troubled state of Michoacan. While violence has tapered off in some parts of Mexico, Michoacan continues to be a hot spot of violence between cartels and, more recently, vigilante groups.

The Mexican navy, army, federal police and attorney general's office swept into both the port and city of Lazaro Cardenas on Monday, relieving local law enforcement of its duties, a government spokesman said.

The objective of the operation is to "strengthen the rule of law, as well as the legality of the daily commercial activities of the port," government spokesman Eduardo Sanchez said.

The use of the military is notable because it is strikingly similar to the approach favored by the previous administration. President Enrique Pena Nieto has been critical of his predecessor's military approach to combat crime, but his own drug strategy keeps many aspects the same.

The Knights Templar cartel has long terrorized residents of Michoacan as it expanded its activities from methamphetamine production to extortion. The cartel has been known to go on the offensive against police. In one series of attacks this summer, 22 people were killed.

Given the violence in Michoacan, Pena Nieto has had little choice but to follow the strategy of former President Felipe Calderon, said George W. Grayson, a professor of government at the College of William & Mary and expert on drug cartels.

A number of factors have made Lazaro Cardenas an attractive port for smuggling.

For one, many of the young men who worked for the port and found themselves unemployed during the recession became prime recruits for the cartels, Grayson said. A selling point for legitimate commerce -- that the port is in a central location -- also attracted smugglers, he added.

Corruption has grown to the point that Michoacan became a "sewer of corruption and violence," Grayson said.

According to Sanchez, the navy will be in charge of the port, and the army will provide protection on the city's streets, with the aid of federal police.

The problem's facing the port and city are not limited to criminal groups.

As the military moved in, the city's entire police was disarmed and detained, Sanchez said. The officers will all be evaluated.

All of the public servants who oversee the port will be gradually replaced, he said, in order to "prevent collusion by and between officials."

Lazaro Cardenas is one of Mexico's key ports, handling the second-most volume of any port.

Community police take on Mexican cartels

Source - http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/05/world/americas/mexico-troops-to-port/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Toronto Mayor Ford admits crack cocaine use

After repeated denials and months of allegations, embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford told reporters Tuesday that he smoked crack cocaine.

"Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine. ... Am I an addict? No," Ford said.

Pressure on Ford, 44, increased on Thursday, when Toronto's police chief announced investigators recovered a video of the mayor that purportedly shows him smoking a crack pipe.

That followed allegations that surfaced in two media outlets in May that Ford was recorded on video last winter using crack cocaine.

Ford made Tuesday's admission to reporters outside his office in Toronto.

"Yes, I've made mistakes. All I can do is apologize and move on," he said.

Toronto city council member John Filion, who had just introduced a motion to take many of the mayor's powers away from him, reacted to the admission shortly after it was made.

"Wow. I need a minute to absorb this," Filion said. "I think the mayor needs to step aside and take stock of his life as this situation becomes more absurd."

Eurozone crisis not over yet, warns EU

Europe's crisis is not over yet and unemployment will stay at record levels above 12% until 2015, the European Union said Tuesday.

The eurozone emerged from a recession lasting six quarters earlier this year but has struggled to gain momentum since. The culprits: weak domestic demand and a morechallenging environment for exporters.

Gross domestic product across the 17-nation region will shrink by 0.4% in 2013, after contracting by 0.6% in 2012.

"The recovery is expected to continue, and to gather some speed next year. However, it is too early to declare the crisis over," the European Commission said in its semi-annual economic forecast.

"External demand is expected to pick up over the coming quarters, but less than earlier expected, on account of a weakened outlook for growth in emerging market economies and the appreciation of the euro."

The euro hit a two-year high against the dollar last week.

Related: China needs 10 million new jobs a year

The Commission trimmed its eurozone GDP growth forecast for 2014 to 1.1%, from 1.2% earlier this year.

The impact of harsh austerity measures in 2011 and 2012 has begun to fade this year, and eurozone government spending will rise in 2014, but paying down debt remains a priority for companies and households.

That means less money available for investment and spending, so any recovery in domestic demand will be very gradual. Lending to companies continues to contract, providing another obstacle to faster growth.

"We cannot yet declare victory, and must not fall into the trap of complacency," Olli Rehn, the EU's top finance official, told reporters.

Governments must stay the course of economic reform to boost growth and create jobs, he said.

Economists have called recently for the European Central Bank to cut interest rates to a new record low -- as early as this week but by December at the latest -- to reduce the risks of a Japan-style period of deflation and stagnation.

Related: Deflation risk may spur new ECB rate cut

Deflation is a broad decline in the price of goods and services. It can tip economies into a downward spiral as consumers and businesses delay purchases in anticipation of further falls to come. It also increases the value of debt, a big risk for the eurozone where government debt is expected to hit 96% of GDP next year.

Rehn said the risk of deflation seemed "remote" but noted ECB President Mario Draghi'srepeated commitment to act if necessary to support the recovery.

Apart from making the right call on monetary policy, Draghi is under enormous pressure to restore credibility in Europe's banking industry with a 12-month health check of the region's biggest lenders.

The ECB is due to assume responsibility for supervising Europe's top banks late next year, a first step toward a banking union that policymakers say is essential to repairing the damage created by the 2008 financial crisis.

Previous rounds of stress tests, including one in 2010, failed to identify major weaknesses among some banks in countries including Spain and Ireland.

Rehn said he believed the checks led by the ECB would be much more rigorous.

"Mario Draghi has a very strong incentive not to receive any crap in his hands," he said. 

New Zealand outrage over 'Roast Busters' online boasts of teen rape

Police in New Zealand say they're powerless to arrest two boys who've caused outrage with online boasts about raping underage girls too drunk to fight back.

The alleged offences happened two years ago but were only made public this week after local media came across a Facebook site, which named and "slut-shamed" girls the boys had allegedly attacked.

Her face and voice disguised, one of the alleged victims told 3 News: "I just kept blacking out 'cause I had drunken too much... You could say I got raped. I had sex with three guys at one time."

The alleged offenders -- a group of then school-aged boys -- call themselves the "Roast Busters." Until this week police say they'd been boasting of their exploits on a number of websites, including Ask.fm and Twitter as well as the Facebook site which has been shut down.

In a video posted to YouTube, two boys made no attempt to hide their faces as they told the camera: "We don't choose the roast, the roast chooses us ... They know what we're like; they know what they're in for."

Prime Minister John Key described the boys' comments as "extremely disturbing and disgusting" but appeared to sympathize with police who say they're unable to file charges until one of the alleged victims makes a formal statement. And despite one of the girls appearing on TV, police say no one is willing as of yet to file a official complaint.

Police say they have been actively monitoring the group since the alleged offences were committed in 2011.

They say the Facebook site appeared for the first time for a couple of months earlier this year, and reappeared a few weeks ago. Officers had been monitoring the site for enough evidence to warrant an arrest but were unable to find any before 3 News informed Facebook of its existence and had the page shut down.

Police say they've spoken with the boys, but they have not admitted anything that constitutes a criminal offence.

"We have interviewed two of the boys [on Monday] again but we're still not in a position to take immediate action," Waitemata police District Commander Superintendent Bill Searle told CNN.

"The online claims themselves are not enough to warrant a prosecution. They might be morally inappropriate and unacceptable to us but we have to deal with evidence that would be admissible in a court of law and we haven't got to that stage yet," he said.

Searle refuted allegations that no action had been taken because one of the boys is an officer's son. The other is said to be the son of a Hollywood actor, according to local press reports.

"NZ Police take any allegations of criminal offending by any of its officers or their families extremely seriously and recent cases have highlighted that police will not hesitate to thoroughly investigate staff facing allegations of a criminal nature and will put them before the court if there is a case to answer," Searle said in a statement.

Police declined to confirm how many boys were involved in "Roast Busters," but said the two ringleaders led a "core group," as well as "an associated group." The boys were attending at least two different schools at the time the alleged offences were committed, but all have since graduated, police said. It's believed they're now around 17 to 18 years old.

Police also declined to confirm how many victims were involved but said it was "a relatively small number" and confirmed at least one had attempted suicide.

"There's no doubt they've been severely traumatized by their involvement," Searle said. Police have been counseling the girls since the alleged offence was reported, but have yet to convince any to come forward and file a formal complaint.

"We understand it's a very difficult situation for them -- and it would be a very difficult situation for them if they were to come forward for a court case," Searle said.

The case has inspired a number of online vigilante groups, and police said they were monitoring online death threats made against the boys and that action would be taken if "anybody oversteps the mark."

On 3 News on Tuesday evening, a group of five girls aged between 16 and 19 defended the boys as "good guys."

"People know that they are Roast Busters and they go hang out with them and do stuff [... ] I don't think they're rapists, they're actually pretty cool dudes," one said.

Asked whether "drunken group sex" was normal behavior, another said: "It's normal in west Auckland... Not for everybody though it's just the young ones 13 to 15 year olds -- that's what they do."

New Zealand Police Minister Anne Tolley told CNN she was satisfied that "police are doing everything in their powers to resolve this case."

Efforts are also underway to tighten the laws on cyber bullying in New Zealand.

On Tuesday, a new bill was introduced to parliament which proposes a three-year prison sentence for posting material online with an "intent to cause harm" as well as other measures to stop cyber bullying.

"No longer is bullying confined to the classroom or playground -- the digital age has meant tormenters can harass their target anywhere, at any time and the trails of abuse remain in cyberspace forever," Justice Minister Judith Collins said in a statement.

"The Harmful Digital Communications Bill sends a strong message to those who continue to harass and harm others online -- time's up."