Top news: A planned ceasefire for the holiday of Eid al-Adha in Syria quickly broke down this morning with attacks reported from both sides. The four-day ceasefire had been urged by U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi. The Syrian government and commanders of the Free Syrian Army both pledged to hold their fire, but other rebel groups dismissed it before it even began.
The ceasefire officially went into effect a 6 a.m. this morning, according to Syrian state television, but by 10:30 there were reports of rebels attempting to storm an army base in Northern Syria and clashes in the suburbs of Damascus. Three people were reportedly killed by tank fire in Hasrata, a town near Damascus, and there were reports of snipers and tank fire near the Turkish border. The army also reportedly fired rockets at a rebel-controlled area of Homs.
A ceasefire negotiated by the previous U.N. negotiator, Kofi Annan, last April, also fell apart.
Media: China has blocked access to the New York Times after the paper ran an article on Premier Wen Jiabao's family's wealth.
Asia
- A suicide bomber killed dozens of worshippers on Northern Afghanistan.
- Bo Xilai has been expelled from China's legislature.
- More than 100 people have been killed in a week of sectarian violence in Western Myanmar.
Middle East
- Israel has asked its officials not to comment on reports of U.S.-Iranian nuclear talks.
- Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party will join with ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu in January's elections.
- Egypt says a suspect in the Benghazi consulate attack killed near Cairo on Wednesday was Libyan.
Americas
- Hurricane Sandy has hit the Bahamas after causing widespread damage in Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica. It is expected to combine with a winter snow storm to create a "superstorm" in the eastern United States next week.
- Cuba says it will welcome back citizens who fled the country after 1994.
- The crew of an Argentine naval ship seized as part of a debt dispute in Ghana have returned home.
Europe
- Ford is closing three plants in Europe, cutting about 6,000 jobs.
- Spain's unemployment rate has hit 25 percent.
- Russian opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov has been charged with plotting mass disorder and could face up to 10 years in prison.
Africa
- Sudan says it will report Israel to the U.N. over an alleged attack on a weapons plant this week.
- South African miners have agreed to a pay deal that could end a long-running trade dispute.
- A new report says gold is now the main source of income for militants in Eastern Congo.
FABIO BUCCIARELLI/AFP/Getty Images
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