Industrial blast kills 19 in Istanbul
ISTANBUL, Turkey, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- At least 19 people were killed Thursday in an industrial explosion that partially collapsed a five-story building in Istanbul, Turkish media said.
Initial reports said 68 people were injured but Turkish television put the number at 117.
City Gov. Muammer Guler said there were no immediate indications the blast was linked to a terror attack, the Hurriyet news agency said.
"It's certain that the explosion was related to a sparkler, torch or fireworks," Guler said.
Four of the injured were in critical condition, he said.
Witnesses told CNN Turk television the explosion happened on the third floor around 9:30 a.m. Thursday. That blast apparently triggered a fire and second explosion.
The building in the Zeytinburnu industrial suburb also houses textile and paper processing companies, the New Anatolian said.
Second Kenyan politician killed this week
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- A Kenyan opposition member of parliament was gunned down Thursday in a western town by traffic police, the party told media.
David Too of the Orange Democratic Movement was driving from Nairobi when he encountered a police roadblock at the western town of Eldoret, a party spokesman told the BBC. Few other details were available about the incident, the report said.
Tuesday, gunmen killed another ODM member, Mugabe Were, outside his Nairobi home.
The country is embroiled in tribal violence following disputed election results from the Dec. 27 vote. Nearly 900 people have been killed and 250,000 displaced to escape violence, the report said.
Meanwhile, talks brokered by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan began Thursday in Nairobi with three representatives of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on one side and three others for ODM leader Raila Odinga on the other, BuaNews reported.
Tuesday, Annan gave the sides two weeks to come to agreement and one year to get the agreement implemented.
U.S. commanders seek Iraq troop cut freeze
BAGHDAD, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Senior U.S. military commanders in Iraq said they want a one-month freeze in troop cuts this summer to benefit the next U.S. president.
They said such a pause would make it more likely the new administration would inherit as many troops in Iraq as there were before U.S. President George Bush announced a "surge" of forces a year ago, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is expected to call for the freeze when he testifies in April before the U.S. Congress.
U.S. troops number about 155,000 now with about 5,000 leaving every month. The proposed freeze would go into effect in July. At that time, troop levels reportedly would be about 130,000, the Post said.
Iran bans public executions
TEHRAN, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Iran's chief justice banned executing convicts in public unless there are approved "social necessities," state-run Iran Press TV reported.
A spokesman for Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi said the decree was issued Tuesday.
"Based on an order from the judiciary chief on Jan. 29, executions in public will only be carried out with the approval of Ayatollah Shahroudi and based on social necessities," the spokesman said. "Publishing pictures and footage of executions in the media is prohibited."
Wednesday, five men convicted of murder were hanged at Tehran's Evin prison, the Fars news agency said.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran said on its Web site that Iran hanged at least 30 prisoners in January.
