• Leveson report on Rupert Murdoch, son: Evidence 'suggests a cover-up by somebody'

    In its report on Britain's phone-hacking scandal, the Leveson Inquiry described a failure of management systems at newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch and others.

    By Keir Simmons, NBC News

    LONDON -- The phone hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World involved more than just allegations that journalists on the paper illegally listened to people’s cell phone messages. As is often the case with major scandals, there were also allegations of a cover-up. It is these claims that have caused the biggest headache for senior people at News Corporation.


    Dig down into Thursday’s inquiry report and it is the possibility of a cover-up that is the focus. From page 348, the report, overseen by Lord Justice Brian Leveson, accuses Rupert Murdoch, his son James and News Corporation of either failing to address allegations of "widespread criminality within the organization” or — if they didn’t know about it — being guilty of a "significant failure in corporate governance."

    These are words that will concern lawmakers in the United States, where News Corporation has many media arms, including Fox News and 20th Century Fox, and recently announced that it is buying a 49 percent stake in the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network.

    The Leveson report refers to a series of e-mails and meetings in 2008 when James Murdoch signed off on a substantial payment to a phone hacking victim. He was then head of News Corporation's UK arm, News International. The question during the inquiry was this: How much was James Murdoch told about phone hacking at the News of the World when he signed that check. Those involved said they couldn’t remember.

    "If the explanation of James and Rupert Murdoch is correct," the report concludes, then "One or more parts of the management… was engaged in a determined cover-up to keep relevant information about potential criminality within the organization from senior management."

    Rupert Murdoch's papers, UK media condemned in phone-hacking report

    The official inquiry into the practices and standards British newspapers, prompted by the phone hacking scandal is out. NBC's Keir Simmons reports.

    Leveson does not appear convinced that this was the way events actually unfolded, writing that managers had "no reason or motive to conceal relevant facts" from James Murdoch. He goes no further — acknowledging there is an ongoing criminal investigation of what happened at News of the World. But he says again and again, if people at News Corporation didn't know what was going on, that itself is a significant failure.

    "In truth, at no stage, did anybody drill down into the facts to answer the myriad of questions that could have been asked and which could be encompassed by the all embracing question 'what the hell was going on'?" Leveson says. "On any showing, these questions were there to be asked and simple denials should not have been considered sufficient. This suggests a cover up by somebody and at more than one level."

    Earlier in the report, on page 305, Leveson considers the integrity of Rupert Murdoch’s company. "An organizational culture that is founded on integrity and honesty would require not only full co-operation with law enforcement, but also a determination to expose behavior that failed to comply with the law," Leveson says.

    "What happened at the (News of the World) in relation to voicemail interception in this context is particularly informative about the culture that pertained both within the corporate and editorial operation," he concludes.

    News Corporation has cooperated closely with British police in the last two years, authorities have said.

    None of this reveals any new information, but it does tell us what an independent and experienced British judge makes of it. The British criminal investigation is still underway and the potential trials of former senior Murdoch executives, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, may bring new details of what went on inside of Murdoch’s businesses. When those trials are over, likely sometime next year, Leveson will write another report that should provide more conclusive analysis.

    Olivia Harris / Reuters

    Chris Bryant, a member of the British parliament, leaves Queen Elizabeth hall carrying copies of a report by Lord Justice Brian Leveson's on media practices, in London on Thursday. The far-reaching inquiry into British newspapers called for a new independent watchdog enshrined in law to regulate the press and prevent the type of excesses which led to a phone hacking scandal within Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid.

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  • Arafat's body exhumed; experts to investigate if he was poisoned

    Labs in France, Russia and Switzerland will conduct independent tests of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's bone samples, searching for evidence that he could have been poisoned. NBC's Martin Fletcher reports.

    By NBC News staff and wire services

    Updated at 10:40 a.m. ET: The remains of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were exhumed from his grave on Tuesday -- eight years after his death at age 75 — as part of an investigation into allegations that he was poisoned, according to official Palestinian radio. 


    Arafat's body was uncovered in its grave and samples were removed without having to lift the corpse from the ground. As a result, a planned reburial ceremony with full military honors was called off.

    The tomb was resealed in hours and wreaths were placed by Palestinian leaders including Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

     

    "The state of the body was exactly what you would expect to find for someone who has been buried for eight years. There was nothing out of the ordinary," Health Minister Hani Abdeen told a news conference.

    A Palestinian medical team took samples and gave them to Swiss, French and Russian experts who flew in for the exhumation and who will examine them in their home countries, the officials said. Samples were taken earlier from Arafat's bedroom, office and personal belongings, they said.

    Arafat case: 'Proof' still might elude Palestinians

    French judges opened a murder inquiry into Arafat's death in August after a Swiss institute said it had discovered high levels of radioactive polonium on his clothing.

    Slideshow: Arafat, in images

    AP

    See key moments and memorable scenes from Yasser Arafat's life.

    Launch slideshow

    Jordanian doctor Abdullah al Bashir, head of the Palestinian medical committee, said about 20 samples were taken and analysis would take at least three months.

    "In order to do these analyses, to check, cross-check and double cross-check, it will take several months and I don't think we'll have anything tangible available before March or April next year," said Darcy Christen, spokesman for Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland that carried out tests on Arafat's clothes.

    Rumors of foul play have long surrounded the sudden demise of Arafat, a champion of Palestinian statehood from the time he was 19, and eventually, the democratically elected president of the Palestinian Authority.

    Arafat was revered by many Palestinians and Arabs as a freedom fighter and reviled by many Israelis and its allies as a terrorist for his relentless fight for Palestinian self-determination. But he also had enemies and rivals within the Arab and Palestinian political circles.

    He died in November 2004 at a French military hospital, a month after suddenly falling ill. The rapid deterioration of his health and death baffled doctors who were trying to treat him in France, and an autopsy was never performed at the request of his widow, Suha.

    'A painful necessity'
    While the immediate cause of death was a stroke, the underlying source of an illness he suffered in his final weeks has never been clear, leading to persistent speculation in the Arab world that Israel poisoned him. Israel has denied such allegations.

    Poisoning as a cause of death gained currency after a Swiss institute said it had found high levels of radioactive polonium on Arafat's clothing, which was supplied by Suha, prompting the French to open a formal murder inquiry.

    Polonium was the substance that killed Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. Litvenenko was a Russian ex-spy who later became a relentless critic of the Kremlin.

    "It is a painful necessity" to exhume the body of Arafat, said Tawfiq al-Tirawi, who is in charge of the Palestinian committee overseeing the investigation, speaking to reporters in Ramallah on Saturday.

    Tirawi said the Palestinians had "evidence which suggests Arafat was assassinated by Israelis," Reuters reported.

    The exhumation might not resolve the mystery. Polonium-210 decomposes rapidly, and some experts say it is not clear whether any remaining samples will be sufficient for testing. 

    NBC's Kari Huus, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Palestinians have begun to exhume the body of Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat in an attempt to determine whether he was assassinated by lethal doses of radioactive poison. NBC's John Ray reports.

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  • Despite US woes, Twinkies reign supreme on the Nile

    Charlene Gubash, NBC News

    Mohamed Sarwat, who works at the Mecca Market in Ismailia, Egypt, shows off the Twinkies that the shop sells.

    By Charlene Gubash, NBC News

    ISMAILIA, Egypt -- Worried about the fate of those moist yellow sponge cakes with a creamy white center? Look no further. Twinkies still reign supreme in the land of pharaohs.

    On Friday, the iconic manufacturer of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread closed 33 factories and announced plans to lay off 18,500 workers over an acrimonious labor dispute. Hostess was headed to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York on Wednesday, seeking permission to liquidate its business.

    But in Egypt – and most other Arab countries – Twinkies are popular treats that sell themselves.

    On Monday, Hostess brands and its second-largest union agreed to a final mediation session in an attempt to avoid liquidation and a sale of assets. Even if the talks fail, several potential buyers are interested in the rights to Twinkies, Wonder Bread and other Hostess brands. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.

    Twinkies and Ho Hos are so popular that the local producer, Edita, no longer bothers to advertise and the treats still bring in a sweet 47 percent of the company's profit. Edita markets to the Arab Gulf, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon and is expanding to other countries.

    Hostess, union mediation fails liquidation; liquidation next?

    "It is our top seller. Everybody buys it!" said Mohamed Sarwat, who works at the Mecca Market in Ismailia, Egypt, where Twinkies have pride of place behind the counter.


    Twinkies are considered better than most of the locally produced packaged cakes and have the cachet of being a real American product made with high-quality imported ingredients. They taste like the real deal, if a little less spongy than their U.S. counterparts. That can't be said for fudgy tasting Boreos, a not-quite-ready-for-prime-time Egyptian knock-off of Oreos.

    Twinkies are a favorite of school children in Egypt. The cushiony confections sell for an affordable 7 cents in school cafeterias and for 14 cents in stores. Imported snacks of a similar kind can run up to five times as much.

    The local producer of Twinkies is suffering none of the ills faced by Hostess in the U.S. and its production is continuing as planned, a source close to Edita told NBC News. Since the ingredients for Twinkies are imported from outside the U.S. and are produced locally, Egyptian addicts should be able to look forward to that little foil-wrapped piece of comfort well into the future.

    Hostess may be going out of business, but no need to despair. Giada De Laurentiis chats with the TODAY anchors about the topics making headlines today and demonstrates how you can make a homemade version of the beloved crème-filled treat.

    There is also hope beyond the Middle East. Mexican company Grupo Bimbo may be angling to resurrect Twinkies from the ashes.

    Mexican company Bimbo may be eyeing Twinkies

    Grupo Bimbo reportedly had an eye on Hostess for almost a decade, since they saw it as a key ingredient to North American expansion. Additionally, economists say high sugar prices tied to U.S. trade tariffs were a big reason Hostess was struggling. Grupo Bimbo, with its access to lower-priced sugar in Mexico, could be a lifeline.

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  • No nation immune to climate change, World Bank report shows

     

    By Anna Yukhananov, Reuters

    WASHINGTON — All nations will suffer the effects of a warmer world, but it is the world's poorest countries that will be hit hardest by food shortages, rising sea levels, cyclones and drought, the World Bank said in a report on climate change. 

    Under new World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, the global development lender has launched a more aggressive stance to integrate climate change into development. 



    "We will never end poverty if we don't tackle climate change. It is one of the single biggest challenges to social justice today," Kim told reporters on a conference call on Friday. 

    The report, called "Turn Down the Heat," highlights the devastating impact of a world hotter by 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, a likely scenario under current policies, according to the report. 

    Climate change is already having an effect: Arctic sea ice reached a record minimum in September, and extreme heat waves and drought in the last decade have hit places like the United States and Russia more often than would be expected from historical records, the report said. 

    Such extreme weather is likely to become the "new normal" if the temperature rises by 4 degrees, according to the World Bank report. This is likely to happen if not all countries comply with pledges they have made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Even assuming full compliance, the world will warm by more than 3 degrees by 2100. 

    In this hotter climate, the level of the sea would rise by up to 3 feet, flooding cities in places like Vietnam and Bangladesh. Water scarcity and falling crop yields would exacerbate hunger and poverty. 

    Extreme heat waves would devastate broad swaths of the earth's land, from the Middle East to the United States, the report says. The warmest July in the Mediterranean could be 9 degrees hotter than it is today -- akin to temperatures seen in the Libyan desert. 

    The combined effect of all these changes could be even worse, with unpredictable effects that people may not be able to adapt to, said John Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, which along with Climate Analytics prepared the report for the World Bank. 

    "If you look at all these things together, like organs cooperating in a human body, you can think about acceleration of this dilemma," said Schellnhuber, who studied chaos theory as a physicist. "The picture reads that this is not where we want the world to go.

    Shocked into action
    As the first scientist to head the World Bank, Kim has pointed to "unequivocal" scientific evidence for man-made climate change to urge countries to do more. 

    Kim said 97 percent of scientists agree on the reality of climate change. 

    "It is my hope that this report shocks us into action," Kim, writes in the report. 

    Scientists are convinced that global warming in the past century is caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. These findings by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were recognized by the national science academies of all major industrialized nations in a joint statement in 2010.

    Kim said the World Bank plans to further meld climate change with development in its programs.

    Last year, the Bank doubled its funding for countries seeking to adapt to climate change, and now operates $7.2 billion in climate investment funds in 48 countries. 

    The World Bank study comes as almost 200 nations will meet in Doha, Qatar, from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7 to try to extend the Kyoto Protocol, the existing plan for curbing greenhouse gas emissions by developed nations that runs to the end of the year. 

    They have been trying off and on since Kyoto was agreed in 1997 to widen limits on emissions but have been unable to find a formula acceptable to both rich and poor nations. 

    Emerging countries like China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, have said the main responsibility to cut emissions lies with developed nations, which had a headstart in sparking global warming. 

    Combating climate change also poses a challenge for the poverty-fighting World Bank: how to balance global warming with immediate energy needs in poor countries.

    In 2010, the World Bank approved a $3.75 billion loan to develop a coal-fired power plant in South Africa despite lack of support from the United States, Netherlands and Britain due to environmental concerns. 

    "There really is no alternative to urgent action given the devastating consequences of climate change," global development group Oxfam said in a statement. "Now the question for the World Bank is how it will ensure that all of its investments respond to the imperatives of the report." 

    Kim said the World Bank tries to avoid investing in coal unless there are no other options. 

    "But at the same time, we are the group of last resort in finding needed energy in countries that are desperately in search of it," he said. 

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  • Syria rebels seize airport near Iraqi border, activists say

    Slideshow: Struggle in Syria

    Str / AP

    Anti-government clashes continue as Western and Arab nations launch a diplomatic offensive to halt the violence.

    Launch slideshow

    By Reuters

    BEIRUT -- Rebels captured an airport used by Syria's military near the Iraqi border on Saturday, activists said, a move which they said would allow them to maintain their hold on the recently seized border town of Albu Kamal.

    President Bashar Assad's forces have retaliated by bombing the airport with fighter jets, said Ziad al-Amir, a local activist.

    Video published by rebel groups showed fighters patrolling a dusty desert air base in Syria's Deir al-Zor province. Plumes of gray smoke rose from some low concrete buildings as fighters examined several abandoned tanks.

    Assad has been struggling to put down the 20-month-old revolt against his rule, which began as peaceful protests but has morphed into a civil war that has spread to most of the country. Activists say more than 38,000 people have died.

    Hamdan airport was once used to transport farm produce but was converted to a base for helicopters and military tanks during the unrest. The capture of Hamdan means Assad's forces now only hold one air base in the province - the main military airport in Deir al-Zor city.

    Israel fires into Syria for second day, scores 'direct hits'

    The activist Amir, speaking on Skype, said the rebels were able to seize some mortars and armored vehicles as well as ammunition.

    "Some of the army officers left the soldiers in the airport and fled with three of the tanks and are trying to arrange a rescue, so the fighting has become fierce in the area," he told Reuters.

    There was no comment from the Syrian government or state TV on the activists' claims.

    Journalist freed
    If rebels keep their hold on the airport, then Albu Kamal, a border city of more than 60,000 people, is likely to stay in rebel hands, said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.


    The fighters seized Albu Kamal two days ago but had been unable to take the nearby Hamdan airport, from which helicopters had been taking off and hitting rebel areas.

    "These new captures means that the largest territory outside of regime control is now the region along the Iraqi border in Deir al-Zor," he said.

    But the rebels' hold of territory on the ground is unlikely to prevent attacks from the sky, in what has become a typical cycle for clashes between the Syrian army and rebels.

    Opposition fighters, using improved tactics and equipped with heavier weapons than previous months, are able to capture territory and force out military units but are unable to fend off attacks from the air. The army often bombs security sites taken by the rebels, perhaps to destroy any useful equipment.

    In an interview with a Russian television channel, Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed to live and die in Syria, amid the 19-month old uprising against him. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

    Rebels have been trying to attack air bases in particular, in the hopes of grounding some of Assad's air power.

    The fighting has increasingly encroached on Assad's seat of power in the capital of Damascus as well.

    On Saturday, activists said that nearly half of the roads and entrances to the capital had been closed except to military vehicles but had given no explanation for the tightened security.

    Also Saturday, a Turkish journalist captured by government troops in Syria three months ago has been freed and handed over to Turkish lawmakers, Turkey's state-run Anatolian news agency said on Saturday.

    Safe exit for Syria's Assad 'could be arranged,' says British prime minister

    Cuneyt Unal, who works for the U.S.-funded al-Hurra television channel, went missing with Jordanian colleague Bashar Fahmi shortly after crossing into Syria from Turkey on August 20.

    "I am with our deputies and doing well," Unal was quoted as saying by Anatolian, adding that he had not been harmed during his captivity.

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  • NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin answers questions about Israel-Gaza conflict

    Ariel Schalit / AP

    Israeli soldiers work on their a tanks in a staging ground near the border with Gaza Strip, southern Israel, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. Fierce clashes between Israeli forces and Gaza militants are continuing for the third day.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

    Israel started drafting 16,000 reserve troops on Friday as Egypt's prime minister visited the Gaza Strip to show support for Palestinians amid a cross-border conflict with Hamas militants that risks spiraling into an all-out war. 

    NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin is in Gaza, where a temporary cease-fire declared by Israel at Egypt's request collapsed after both sides accused the other of violating it. Earlier today Ayman answered questions from our online audience about the Israel-Gaza conflict. Please click on the box below to read a transcript. 

  • Communist Party's Congress grinds on amid widespread indifference in China

    Peter Parks / AFP - Getty Images

    Chinese President Hu Jintao is seen speaking at the opening of the 18th Communist Party Congress on a television in a subway train in Shanghai on Nov. 8.

    By Ian Williams, NBC News

    BEIJING -- I arrived in Beijing for what the Global Times, a Chinese newspaper, described as “one of the biggest political events in history.”

    “Are you watching?” I asked my driver on the way in from the airport. He looked at me and laughed. “Why would I watch that?” he replied.

    A little later I settled down in my hotel bar over a glass of Great Wall cabernet sauvignon.  “Are you watching the Congress?” I asked my server. Again that quizzical look. “Oh, I don’t care about that,” she replied, before slipping behind the bar and resuming whatever she was doing on her mobile phone, which judging by her concentration she did care about very much.

    The 18th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has begun with great pomp and ceremony in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square. It is important -- a once-in-a-decade leadership change at a time when the country is facing enormous challenges, from a faltering economy to rampant corruption that goes to the core of the party.

    China launches once-in-a-decade changing of guard

    But among many Chinese, away from the stuffy heart of this city (from which carrier pigeons have been banned, incidentally, as a security precaution), the meeting might as well be taking place on the moon, among green aliens with spiky heads.

    That's how relevant it seems to them.

    The official media has given it blanket coverage, while at the same time trying to limit discussion in China's vibrant social media -- slowing internet speeds and even blocking the Chinese translation for the 18th Congress from search engines.

    Aside from the pigeon ban, taxis are required to keep their back windows locked, presumably to prevent the distribution of subversive pamphlets, and tiny remote-controlled aircraft have been outlawed.

    24 hours after President Barack Obama was re-elected to the White House, the world's other major power, China, began the very different process of choosing its new leader. It happens once every ten years, and lasts just a week. And in case there was any doubt, the ruling Communist Party began by pledging never to have Western democracy. NBC's Angus Walker reports.

    Still, the party “will continue to inject vigor to national politics,” declared the Global Times at the weekend.

    “Vigor” isn’t the first world that comes to mind when you see the line up of gray men (you’ll be hard pressed to find many woman near the top of the CPC) in gray suites, gathering mostly to dutifully endorse decisions already made.

    Throwback: China's ex-president flexes power broker muscle in Beijing

    Much of the proceedings are behind closed doors and the main qualification for advancement in the party is to not the rock the boat. Opinions are dangerous; flamboyance can be fatal to a career in the CPC.

    Diego Azubel / EPA

    The party is expected to use the highly orchestrated event to persuade the nation's 1.3 billion people that it can provide another 10 years of economic growth and social stability while curbing corruption and nepotism.

    The report from the retiring party boss and head of state, Hu Jintao, which kicked off the Congress, hailed as a masterpiece by Chinese newspapers, was of such length and mind-boggling tedium that initially it left analysts struggling to figure what precisely whether it was reformist, reactionary, liberal or conservative.

    Probably all of the above.

    Just ahead of Congress, I had embarked on a journey across the Beijing to test opinion. It was hardly scientific, but I figured I'd at least get a sense of what ordinary Chinese were thinking.

    I started by bike in the narrow alleyways around the surviving hutongs in an older part of the city.

    Here the residents are older too, and a question from a foreigner about the Communist Party, produces an embarrassed wave of the hand, or provokes a speedy retreat behind closed doors. Ordinary Chinese of a certain age have seen how capricious and brutal the party can be and know better than to openly discuss politics with a foreigner.

    Despite deadly week, Communist Party says Tibetans 'feel very happy'

    An exception was an elderly man who stood bold upright and recited how China's new leaders would build a strong and prosperous country. But what of Xi Jinping, the man soon to be anointed leader. What does he stand for, how exactly will he do that, I asked. The door swung open and he too was gone.

    I approached a man barbecuing some skewered lamb. He claimed not to understand my interpreter, though did I detect an extra touch of aggression with those skewers at the mention of the party?

    I then took a taxi figuring that cabbies everywhere have an opinion. But not this one, shaking his head, waving his hand, and probably wishing his wheezing vehicle had an ejector seat. I pressed on. I know what President Obama listens to on his iPod, I explained, and what Mitt Romney has for breakfast. Did he think Xi Jinping has an iPod?

    At that he just burst out laughing, and laughed, and laughed, until he dropped me at a Beijing university, where my luck changed.

    While the candidates are scrutinized and skewered by the media in the U.S., China's new leader Xi Jinping remains a man of mystery among his citizens. NBC's Ian Williams reports

    Here almost all the youngsters I met had heard of Xi, but professed to know hardly anything about him. What does he stand for? Two young women looked blankly at each other. "We don’t know," they said in unison, as if this was the most stupid question they'd ever heard. Does Xi have kids? I asked another couple. "I don't know," said one. "And I don't care." said the other.

    Another young man looked puzzled. "But we don't vote," he said, which I guess goes to the heart of the matter. Why should we care, he seemed to be saying, what's this process got to do with us?

    Perhaps out of desperation, I did what a lot of Beijingers are doing these days and went to a fortune teller. He rumbled me immediately, and declared that he didn’t do politics, and that his crystal ball certainly didn't stretch to the Communist Party. "I don't know and I don’t care," he declared.

    The party, at least its more perceptive members, do seem to recognize the challenges they -- and China -- face. But the prescription for these ills appears to be more of the same. Its still a brave and lonely voice that will call for greater openness, transparency and accountability.

    CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera reports on China's selection of new leaders to meet public calls for better government and give the economy a boost.

    The congress will end with the unveiling of the new leadership. Yet in spite of acres of fevered analysis from China-watchers, the reality is that we know virtually nothing about what Xi Jinping thinks about anything, let alone the secretive process by which he was selected.

    Is he another grey and cautious techocrat or a closet reformer? Take your pick. We can all be experts in the face of the party's secrecy.

    Embassy ballots give Chinese a taste of democracy ahead of power transfer

    On paper at least the Communist Party has 82 million members, but only a tiny clique make the real decisions, and there is an enormous gulf -- vast and growing -- between them and the people it is supposed to represent, a gulf filled increasingly with cynicism and distrust.

    Peter Parks / AFP - Getty Images

    President Hu Jintao, seen on a television in a motorcycle repair shop in Shanghai, called for stepped-up political reform and a revamped economic model as the Communist Party opened a historic congress to usher in a new slate of leaders.

    China has changed dramatically since the party last changed its leaders a decade ago -- from the economy to the thriving social media that's such a thorn in the side of the leadership, and where the timing of the leadership change, so soon after the raucous U.S. election has provoked many an uncomfortable (for the party) comparison.

    The dynamism elsewhere in China is in stark contrast with the ossified spectacle on display this week in the Great Hall. Those carrier pigeons are the least of the party’s problems.

     

  • Iranian jets attack US military drone, Pentagon officials say

    Iran fired on a U.S. drone during its classified surveillance mission on Nov. 1, but the Pentagon did not disclose the incident until Nov. 8 -- perhaps giving warning to Iran that the U.S. could respond militarily, and that Iran's nuclear program will be a high priority for President Obama. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

    —

    By Courtney Kube, NBC News

    Two Iranian jets fired on a U.S. military drone, Pentagon officials said Thursday — the first time such an action has been acknowledged by the United States.


    At 4:50 a.m. EDT on Nov. 1, an Iranian SU-25 Frog Foot jet fired on a U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone that was conducting routine surveillance in international waters over the Arabian Gulf, Pentagon spokesman George Little said. The unarmed Predator was approximately 16 nautical miles off the Iranian coast when the Iranian jet began firing and was never in Iranian airspace, he said.

    But a senior defense official said two Iranian ground-attack jets were involved in the incident. The jets circled the Predator several times, firing 30-millimeter cannons at the unarmed drone.

    "We don't know why," the Iranians were shooting at the drone, the official said, insisting the drone did not cross into Iranian airspace. The drone was "conducting routine maritime surveillance, watching ships," the official said.

    The Iranian jets followed the Predator for several miles before turning away. The drone returned safely to base and wasn't hit by the Iranian gunfire.

    President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta were notified of the incident early that morning, the Pentagon said. The White House would not comment on the incident, but a senior administration official confirmed to NBC News that Obama was told the day of the incident. 

    Asked whether the Iranian jet was firing warning shots, Little said the jet "fired to take it down." He would not speculate on whether this constitutes an act of war.

    The United States informed the Iranians that the U.S. military will continue surveillance flights over the international waters of the Arabian Gulf. Little said that was communicated by the State Department through Swiss officials.

    Asked why the incident is just being revealed now — more than one week after the incident and just two days after the presidential election — Little said that the Pentagon does not talk about classified missions. He said that the information had been leaked to the media so he is acknowledging it. 

    "There is absolutely no precedent" for an incident like this, he said.

    The United States and its allies — concerned about what they believe is Iran’s efforts to develop a nuclear weapons program and potential threat to Israel — have imposed a series of sanctions in an effort to get Tehran to back down.

    On Thursday, the State Department announced another set of U.S. sanctions targeting Iranian government officials and departments that it says have blocked the Internet and other media, and otherwise prevented freedom of information and expression among the populace.

    NBC News correspondent Kristen Welker contributed to this report.

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  • 'I remember all of the pain again': Obama victory infuriates Pakistani drone victims

    Mohammad Hussain / AP

    Supporters of cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan's party raise their hands during a peace march protesting U.S. drone strikes on the outskirts of Tank, Pakistan, on Oct. 7.

    By Reuters

    ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The roars celebrating the re-election of U.S. President Barack Obama on television give Mohammad Rehman Khan a searing headache, as years of grief and anger come rushing back.

    The 28-year-old Pakistani accuses the president of robbing him of his father, three brothers and a nephew, all killed in a U.S. drone aircraft attack a month after Obama first took office.

    "The same person who attacked my home has gotten re-elected," he told Reuters in the capital, Islamabad, where he fled after the attack on his village in South Waziristan, one of several ethnic Pashtun tribal areas on the Afghan border.

     

    "Since yesterday, the pressure on my brain has increased. I remember all of the pain again."

    The whole world was watching as America chose its president, and the general sentiment appeared to be a sigh of relief. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

    World leaders welcome Obama's 2nd term — but many challenges loom

    In his re-election campaign, Obama gave no indication he would halt or alter the drone program, which he embraced in his first term to kill al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan without risking American lives.

    Drone strikes are highly unpopular among many Pakistanis, who consider them a violation of sovereignty that cause unacceptable civilian casualties.

    "Whenever he has a chance, Obama will bite Muslims like a snake. Look at how many people he has killed with drone attacks," said Haji Abdul Jabar, whose 23-year-old son was killed in such a bombing.

    Analysts say anger over the unmanned aircraft may have helped the Taliban gain recruits, complicating efforts to stabilize the unruly border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. That could also hinder Obama's plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2014.

    A group of 32 American anti-drone activists will join a march to Pakistan's tribal areas, where U.S. strikes have killed thousands of people over the last eight years. NBC News Amna Nawaz spoke to some of them.

    Americans ignore 'great risks,' travel to Pakistan to protest US drone strikes

    Obama authorized nearly 300 drone strikes in Pakistan during his first four years in office, more than six times the number during the administration of George W. Bush, according to the New America Foundation policy institute.

    Since 2004, a total of 337 U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan have killed between 1,908 and 3,225 people.

    The institute estimates about 15 percent of those killed were non-militants, although that percentage has declined sharply to about 1-2 percent this year. Washington says drone strikes are very accurate and cause minimal civilian deaths.

    The Pakistani government says tens of thousands of Pakistanis have been killed in the fight against militants. Many were civilians caught in suicide bombings. Others were killed by the Pakistani army.

    In Pakistan's largest city, 'Old Glory' is flammable and profitable

    Getting accurate data on casualties and the effects of drones is extremely difficult in the dangerous, remote and often inaccessible tribal areas. The Taliban often seal off the sites of strikes.

    Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

    Launch slideshow

    While the aerial campaign has weakened al-Qaida, its ally, the Pakistani Taliban, remains a potent force despite a series of Pakistan army offensives against their strongholds in the northwest.

    Seen as the biggest security threat to the U.S.-backed Pakistani government, that faction of the Taliban is blamed for many of the suicide bombings across Pakistan, and a number of high-profile attacks on military and police facilities.

    For many Pakistanis, 'USA' means drones

    "We are amazed that Obama has been re-elected. But for us there is no difference between Obama and Romney; both are enemies. And we will keep up our jihad and fight alongside our Afghan brothers to get the Americans out of Afghanistan," Pakistan Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said.

    On Thursday, a suicide bomber rammed the gates of a military base in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi, killing at least one soldier and wounding more than a dozen people.

    Pakistan's 'Generation Y' battles to shape country's future

    Pakistanis were largely indifferent in the run-up to Tuesday's election, expecting little change to the drone attacks regardless of whether Obama or Republican challenger Mitt Romney won.

    "Any American, whether Obama or Mitt Romney, is cruel," Warshameen Jaan Haji, whose neighborhood was struck by a drone last week, told Reuters on the eve of the election. "I lost my wife in the drone attack and my children are injured. Whatever happens, it will be bad for Muslims."

    Pakistani politician Imran Khan, a vocal critic of U.S. drone strikes, said he believed Obama stepped up the attacks in his first term so he wouldn't look weak on national security.

    Despite security concerns, presidential candidate Imran khan leads an anti-drone rally, including 30 Americans, into Pakistan's badlands. Amna Nawaz reports.

    "I think Obama essentially has an anti-war instinct," he told Reuters. "Without the worry of being re-elected, he will de-escalate the war, including the use of drones. This is positive."

    Can social media propel 'rock star' politician Imran Khan to power?

    But for Mohammad Khan, who is not related to the former cricketer, the damage is already done.

    The February 2009 drone attack that destroyed his home left him as the main provider for 13 family members, forcing him to move to Islamabad and work with a real estate company.

    "When the Sandy hurricane came, I thought that Allah would wipe away America," he said. "America just wants to take over the world."

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  • Hearing begins for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales over alleged massacre of Afghan civilians

    U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, charged with killing 16 Afghan villagers as they slept, appears in a Washington state military courtroom Monday. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.

    By NBC News wire services

    Updated at 6:45 p.m. ET: In pretrial hearings for U.S. Army Sgt. Robert Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a nighttime massacre in March, prosecutors described to a military court on Monday how the sergeant allegedly returned to his base in Kandahar province with the blood of his victims on his rifle, belt, shirt and shoes and then seemed stunned to be confronted by fellow soldiers.

    Bales sat quietly in the courtroom at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state as military prosecutors summarized the events of March 11 when they allege the 39-year-old sergeant walked off his base in Kandahar province under cover of darkness and opened fire on civilians — mostly women and children — in their homes in at least two villages.


    Prosecutor Lt. Col Jay Morse said Bales had been drinking and briefly visited the room of a fellow soldier before he left the Army post, called Camp Belambay, and went to a village where he committed the first set of slayings.

    Morse said Bales then returned to the camp, told some others what he had done and left again, moving on to a different village and committing additional killings. He called Bales' actions "deliberate, methodical."

    The prosecution also showed a video shot by night-vision camera from a surveillance balloon over the camp, showing a figure they identified as Bales walking back to the post wearing what they described as a cape.

    The man is seen being confronted by three soldiers, who order him to drop his weapons and take him into custody as he is heard saying, "Are you @!$%#ing kidding me?"

    Karilyn Bales, the wife of Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, spoke exclusively with NBC's Matt Lauer, telling the TODAY anchor that the news about her husband is 'very unbelievable.'

    Cpl. David Godwin, who was among the first to encounter Bales after the alleged shootings, also testified on Monday, describing the meeting as "kind of surreal," the Seattle Times reported.

    Godwin, who served under Bales, was one of the people who had been drinking with him on March 10, the night before the killings. He told the court that while they drank, they watched the 2004 movie "Man on Fire," which stars Denzel Washington and is about a CIA operative turned bodyguard who goes on a killing rampage after his child is kidnapped.

    After that, Godwin said, he believed Bales went to bed, the Times reported, but learned otherwise when another soldier awakened him at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., and the two of them went to the post's outer gate looking for Bales. They finally spotted him returning to base sometime before 5 a.m., Godwin told the court.

    "I kind of thought that Bob (Bales) thought... he was doing this to better us," said Godwin, according to the Times. He quoted Bales as saying: "I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was doing the right thing."

    The shooting, which if proven at trial would be the worst civilian slaughter by U.S. forces since the Vietnam War, eroded already-strained U.S.-Afghan ties after over a decade of conflict in the country.

    Bales faces 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder, as well as charges of assault and wrongfully possessing and using steroids and alcohol while deployed. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

    Read more US news stories on NBCNews.com

    The hearing is expected to last two weeks and include witness testimony carried by live video from Afghanistan, including villagers and Afghan soldiers. Part of the hearing will be held at night due to the time difference.

    At the end, military commanders will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to refer the case for trial by court-martial.

    'Sanity board'
    Morse said he would present evidence proving "chilling premeditation" on the part of Bales.

    John Henry Browne, Bales' civilian lawyer, has suggested that Bales may not have acted alone and may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Bales is a decorated veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    How Staff Sgt. Bales' lawyers are fighting for his life

    Bales also has two military defense counselors, Maj. Gregory Malson and Capt. Matthew Aeisi. Malson represented Army Sgt. William Kreutzer, who was sentenced to life in prison three years ago for killing an officer and wounding 18 U.S. soldiers in a 1995 shooting spree during a training session at Fort Bragg, N.C.

    Separately, Bales is also subject to a review of his mental fitness to stand trial, often referred to as a "sanity board." The Army has not disclosed the status of that review.

    The father of two from Lake Tapps, Wash., appeared with his head shaved, dressed in Army fatigues. He embraced his wife in court before the hearing started.

    The investigating officer read the charges against Bales and informed him of his rights. Bales said, "Sir, yes, sir," when asked if he understood them. He was not expected to answer questions in the hearings.

    Bales was confined at a military prison in Kansas from March until he was moved in October to Lewis-McChord, where his infantry regiment was based. 

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Aref Karimi / AFP - Getty Images

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    The March shooting highlighted discipline problems among U.S. soldiers from Lewis-McChord, which was also the home base of five enlisted men from the former 5th Stryker Brigade charged with premeditated murder in connection with three killings of unarmed Afghan civilians in 2010.

    Four of the men were convicted or pleaded guilty in court-martial proceedings to murder or manslaughter charges and were sentenced to prison. Charges against the fifth were dropped.

    In August, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta directed a panel of experts to assess whether reforms were needed in the way the military justice system handles crimes committed by U.S. forces against civilians in combat zones.

    Reuters and The Associated Press and NBC News' Kari Huus contributed to this report.

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  • New timeline of Benghazi attack notes quick response by defenders

    Esam Omran Al-fetori / Reuters

    The U.S. consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames on Sept. 11.

    By Catherine Chomiak and Andrea Mitchell, NBC News

    WASHINGTON -- A senior intelligence official has issued a new timeline for the events surrounding the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, indicating a series of tragic miscalculations that left CIA officers exposed at an annex near the consulate -- but no evidence of interference from Washington or of the CIA witholding aid from the State Department, as Republican critics have alleged.


    According to the timeline, CIA officials in Libya sent a security team to the consulate within 25 minutes of the report of the attack, and the U.S. military sent an unarmed drone to provide intelligence information.

    Four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith and security personnel Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, were killed in the attack Sept. 11-12.

    Questions have been raised about whether the consulate had adequate security and whether the State Department responded appropriately to requests for more protection.

    Also, immediately after the Benghazi attack, U.S. spy agencies produced conflicting reports on who was behind them, U.S. officials have said. Most said extremists with possible al-Qaida ties were involved. But a few reports, which the Obama administration emphasized in public statements, said the attacks could have been spontaneous protests against an anti-Muslim video made in the U.S.

    According to the senior intelligence official:

    • The officers on the ground in Benghazi responded quickly to the attack, risking their lives in an attempt to rescue those at the consulate.
    • There was no second-guessing of decisions made on the ground and no order to anybody to stand down in providing support. "At every level in the chain of command, from the senior officers in Libya to the most senior officials in Washington, everyone was fully engaged in trying to provide whatever help they could," the official said. 
    • The U.S. military provided essential support, including sending an unarmed drone and medical evacuation.
    • Two U.S. security teams were involved -- one that was sent from the annex to the consulate and a tactical support team that was sent from Tripoli, each composed of approximately half a dozen security officers. Two U.S. military officers were on the team from Tripoli.

    The chain of events described in the timeline:

    -- Around 9:40 p.m. local time, the first call comes in to the annex that the consulate is under attack.

    -- Fewer than 25 minutes later, a security team of about half a dozen leaves the annex for the consulate.

    -- Over the next 25 minutes, team members approach the compound, attempt to secure heavy weapons from Libyan allies and make their way into the compound under fire.

    -- At 11:11 p.m., an unarmed drone that had been requested from the U.S. military arrives over the compound.

    -- By 11:30 p.m., all U.S. personnel, except for the missing ambassador, depart the compound in vehicles under fire.

    -- Over the next roughly 90 minutes, the annex receives sporadic small-arms fire and rounds from rocket-propelled grenades; the security team returns fire, and the attackers disperse about 1 a.m.

    -- At about the same time, the second team of security personnel lands at the Benghazi airport and tries to negotiate for transport into town. Upon learning Stevens was missing and that the situation at the annex had calmed, their focus becomes locating him, perhaps at a local hospital.

    -- Still before dawn, the team at the airport secures transportation and armed escort and -- having learned that the ambassador was almost certainly dead -- heads to the annex to assist with the evacuation.

    -- The second team arrives with Libyan support at the annex at 5:15 a.m., just before the mortar rounds begin to hit the annex. The two security officers were killed when they took direct mortar fire as they engaged the enemy. That attack lasted only 11 minutes then also dissipated.

    -- Less than an hour later, a heavily armed Libyan military unit arrived to help evacuate all U.S. personnel.

    Earlier Thursday, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said a review board has been set up to examine the Benghazi attack and the government's response before and after the assault.

    Catherine Chomiak is an NBC News producer. Andrea Mitchell is NBC News' senior foreign affairs correspondent.

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  • Hate crimes increase, extreme right strengthens as Greece economy sinks

    With the Greek unemployment rate at 25 percent, anti-foreigner sentiment is growing. NBC News' Andy Eckardt meets politician Ilias Panagiotaros of the far-right Golden Dawn party and Ali Rahimi, an Afghan national who was attacked by a mob and told to leave Greece.

    By Andy Eckardt, NBC News

    ATHENS, Greece -- Ali Rahimi was enjoying a warm Greek evening, chatting away with two friends, when a mob of 15 people approached and asked where they were from.

    "I told them that I am from Afghanistan and they said that it is time for me to go back to my country," the 28-year-old asylum-seeker told NBC News.

    Rahimi attempted to run away but was cornered, beaten, hit over the head with a bottle and stabbed in the chest and back by three assailants in the entryway of his Athens apartment building. 

    "When police arrived they called an ambulance, but then told me that they could not help me any further and left," Rahimi recalled, explaining how he only realized how serious his injuries were after spotting blood running out from under his T-shirt during the brutal attack on Sept. 17, 2011.

    Rahimi's case does not appear to be unique. As the euro zone debt crisis leaves Greece grappling with a 25 percent overall unemployment rate, activists say they have noted an increase in the number of hate crimes reported.

    'It is virtually impossible to find a job': Brain drain is new Greek tragedy

    Far-right populism has also found fertile ground in the near-bankrupt country, where the economy is forecast to contract by 7 percent this year and every second youth is out of work.

    Nazi-style salutes
    The Golden Dawn party – no more than an extremist fringe group when it was established in the late 1980s and which has been branded "neo-Nazi" by its opponents – has been gaining support amid the country's deteriorating economic situation.

    Citing a poll by VPRC which appeared in the "Ellada Avrio" newspaper on Friday, Reuters reported:

    Backing for the ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn, which has been linked to a rise in attacks against migrants in recent months, stood at 14 percent, double their take in June elections that gave the party a foothold in parliament. That would make the group the country's third largest party.

    The party's rabidly anti-immigrant message has stuck a chord with many voters as EU/IMF imposed austerity propels unemployment levels to a record 25 percent.

    Golden Dawn denies it is neo-Nazi but bears a Swastika-like emblem and its supporters have been seen giving Nazi-style salutes. The party's leader, Nikolaos Mihaloliakos, has denied the Holocaust occurred while one lawmaker, Eleni Zaroulia, called immigrants "sub-humans" in parliament on Thursday.

    Reuters added that the opinion poll showed that "Greeks' frustration with their political leaders has grown as the coalition prepares to push through the new round of austerity measures to appease [foreign] lenders and secure more bailout aid and keep the country afloat."

    Alkis Konstantinidis / EPA, file

    Migrants are held during a police ID-check operation in Athens, Greece, on August 6.

    Over the past decade, Greece has become the major gateway into the European Union for illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers from Asia and Africa.

    'Growing despair'
    Experts estimate that between 800,000 and 1 million undocumented migrants now live in Greece, a country with a population of nearly 11 million.

    "The rapid increase of illegal immigration in the past years, growing despair over the ailing economy and a loss of trust in our political leadership have fueled public anger and given way to dangerous populism in the country," says Loukas Tsoukalis, head of Greek think-tank Eliamep.

    Riot police use tear gas and stun grenades in response to fire bombs and bottles thrown by protesters during a demonstration against austerity cuts in Greece. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    Campaigning on a message of ultra-nationalism and fierce anti-immigrant policies, Golden Dawn won 18 seats in parliament during June's national election.

    "We have to protect 10 million Greeks that are suffering from the very bad economy and from the killings, rapes, shootings and everything else that all illegal immigrants are doing to this country," Ilias Panagotiaros, a Golden Dawn politician and a member of Greek parliament, told NBC News.

    Andy Eckardt / NBC News

    Ilias Panagiotaros of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn Party.

    A poll last month found that the popularity of Nikos Mihalolioakos, head of the Golden Dawn party, has climbed to 22 percent, up 8 points from May.

    However, it is not just a harsh political message that has been drawing support for Golden Dawn.

    In an attempt to build an image of social responsibility, followers of the movement have taken up the roles of what some Greeks call "a crumbling public support system."

    'For Greeks only'
    Last month, members of Golden Dawn set up booths in a central Athens square to distribute groceries and collect blood donations. "For Greeks only" was the message, after visitors were asked to provide identification of Greek citizenship.

    "Golden Dawn has been taking advantage of the growing despair, presents itself as a protector of the weak and vulnerable," analyst Tsoukalis says. "In dangerous neighborhoods they have offered to escort old ladies to the grocery store around the corner."

    Rising political and socio-economic discontent, nurtured by a surge of crime rates in major Greek cities, have also led to widespread public acceptance that followers of Golden Dawn sometimes substitute for police and other government officials.

    While Greece gears up for more protests against austerity cuts, the health care system is in tatters with little cash for drugs or doctors. ITV's James Mates reports.

    A video shot in early September shows members of Golden Dawn checking work permits at a local market in Rafina, where migrant vendors sell their goods. Minutes later, several people with black Golden Dawn T-shirts and Greek flags moved in and destroyed the stands.

    "We are going to defend our country, our history, our religion, our culture," Golden Dawn's Panagiotaros adds. He is also one of the founders of a ultra-nationalistic football fan club called Galazia Stratia, or Blue Army, that has vowed to "defend Greek national pride inside the stadiums".

    Spain's economic crisis turns middle-class families into illegal squatters

    "Things are getting worse and worse in Greece. There is no future for the next few years there," says Christos Christoglou, a Greek inspection engineer, who moved to Germany to find work.

    In September, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, included a stark warning in his annual 'state of the union' address, saying that the euro crisis was contributing to the rise in extremism.

    And in recent months, officials in Athens have vowed to set up a special police force to combat violence against migrants and plan to impose tougher penalties for these type of crimes.

    "Something must happen quick," says Judith Sunderland from Human Rights Watch, who is author of a report called "Hate on the Streets: Xenophobic violence in Greece."  

    “Xenophobic hate crimes have reached an alarming proportion in Greece," she added. "Victims are often actively discouraged from filing complaints, told by police officers that it is not worth their while or that they should fight back themselves. And many migrants fear that they could be locked up themselves because of their legal status."

    'The country is on its knees': Ireland grapples with economic collapse

    Meanwhile, Rahimi is still waiting for justice in the wake of his attack. The trial has been postponed seven times already in the past year.

    "And it remains unclear, whether the prosecutor will argue that the attack had been motivated by racist or xenophobic sentiment," Sunderland told NBC News.

    In debt or jobless, many Italians choose suicide

    One of the three accused is Themis Skordeli, a female member of Golden Dawn, who failed to get elected to parliament last May.

    According to local media reports, Skordeli has been identified as a member of a so called 'anti-migrant patrol group', which was formed to 'work the streets' of poorer Athens' neighborhoods.

    Rahimi, who came to Greece in 2005, says that he now rarely leaves his apartment and has become extremely cautious when going out to visit friends.

    "I am afraid to live here," he says. "I will wait until the trial is over and then definitely head to another country."

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