Top news: On Wednesday, Iran's state-run press quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying he supported U.N. and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's plan to implement a ceasefire in Syria during the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins at dusk on Oct. 25, as a first step in resolving the crisis. Turkey's foreign minister has also expressed support for the proposal, in what the New York Times calls a "rare moment of accord between two of the regional powers backing opposite sides in the 19-month conflict." Brahimi will meet with Syria's foreign minister in Damascus on Saturday.
"The crisis cannot remain within Syrian borders indefinitely," Brahimi warned after meeting with Lebanese leaders in Beirut. "Either it will be addressed or it will increase ... and be all-consuming."
Syrian officials have expressed skepticism that the rebels will honor a truce, but Brahimi claims they will "if the government stops using violence."
Libya: Libyan officials have reportedly identified Ahmed Abu Khattala, a leader of the Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, as a commander in the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. Meanwhile, in the former Qaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid, fighting on Wednesday killed at least five Libyans.
Europe
- Greek workers are launching a nationwide strike against austerity measures as EU leaders begin a summit in Brussels.
- Russian police arrested opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov for allegedly organizing "mass disorders" and plotting "terrorist acts."
- Twitter blocked access in Germany to a neo-Nazi account at the request of the German government.
Americas
- Uruguay's Senate passed a bill that approves abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy.
- The Colombian government and FARC rebels are holding their first direct talks in a decade.
- The FBI arrested a Bangladeshi man for attempting to bomb the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Asia
- Japanese opposition leader Shinzo Abe visited a controversial war shrine in Tokyo.
- China's economic growth slowed to 7.4 percent in the third quarter of 2012.
- The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force confirmed that three Afghan children died in a coalition strike in Helmand Province.
Middle East
- A suspected U.S. drone strike in Yemen killed at least seven suspected al Qaeda militants.
- U.S. troops have started arriving in Israel to participate in a missile-defense exercise with the Israeli military.
- An Israeli court forced the Israeli government to release a study on the number of calories Palestinians in the Gaza Strip need.
Africa
- South African President Jacob Zuma urged miners to return to work and business leaders to freeze their salaries after a series of strikes.
- Gunmen kidnapped six Russians and an Estonian in an attack on a French ship off Nigeria's coast.
- Somalia's parliament approved Abdi Farah Shirdon as the country's new prime minister.
LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images
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