UPI NewsTrack TopNews

Obama to announce troop decision

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama is done gathering data on troop options in Afghanistan and likely will reveal his decision next week, the White House said Tuesday.

Obama is expected to announce his decision during a national address Dec. 1, an administration official told The Washington Post.

"After completing a rigorous final meeting, President Obama has the information he wants and needs to make his decision and he will announce that decision within days," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in an e-mail sent early Tuesday.

Although Gibbs didn't say when the announcement would be made, another White House official said Obama likely would reveal his decision and rationale Dec. 1.

Once the announcement is made, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would testify about the plan on Capitol Hill and the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal would also brief Congress, National Public Radio reported.

McChrystal has urged the president to deploy 40,000 troops in addition to the 68,000 U.S. troops already in Afghanistan. NPR's sources said Obama is expected to authorize a sizable force but it wasn't clear whether he would deploy 40,000.

Forces would not arrive in Afghanistan until March if the decision were made within the next two weeks, NPR said.

-0-

Death count at 46 in Philippine massacre

MANILA, Philippines, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Search teams removed two dozen bodies from shallow graves Tuesday in the Philippines, bringing a pre-election massacre's death toll to 46, officials said.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of emergency and sent military and police to search for suspects in Maguindanao province on the island of Mindanao where dozens were kidnapped in election-related violence, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Local and international media reported different numbers of hostages taken and killed.

On Monday, the kidnapped group -- which included the wife of a gubernatorial candidate, local journalists and lawyers -- was abducted while traveling in a convoy to file the man's nomination papers for the May election.

The dead included the candidate's wife and two sisters, The Times of London reported.

The Philippines News Agency said survivors of the attack by an estimated 100 gunmen were being placed in a witness protection program.

Military officials said the attackers were loyal to Maguindanao's governor, Andal Ampatuan, who has controlled the area for a decade and is an ally of Arroyo, CNN reported. Ampatuan and his advisers have not commented on the slayings or the allegations regarding the perpetrators.

Arroyo has condemned the killings, while her presidential adviser Jesus Dureza called them "a gruesome massacre of civilians unequaled in recent history."

-0-

HRW condemns alleged British torture role

LONDON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A human rights organization Tuesday accused Britain of complicity in the torture of its citizens in Pakistan, calling it cruel, illegal and not productive.

Human Rights Watch said in its report the British government was in a "legally, morally and politically invidious position" because of its alleged involvement in torture in Pakistan.

However, the report, "Cruel Britannia: British Complicity in the Torture and Ill-treatment of Terror Suspects in Pakistan," said primary responsibility for using torture against British citizens "lies with the Pakistani authorities. No one in Pakistan has been held accountable."

Human Rights Watch found "no evidence of U.K. officials directly participating in torture," the report said. "But U.K. complicity is clear. First, is inconceivable that the U.K. government was unaware of the systematic use of torture in Pakistan. ... Second, U.K. officials engaged in acts that virtually required that they knew about the use of torture in specific cases."

Among its recommendations, the HRW said British officials should:

-- Order a full and independent public inquiry to establish whether British security services were complicit in torture or other ill-treatment in Pakistan and elsewhere.

-- Adopt measures to address criticism of the government's counter-terrorism policy to ensure British policy and practices on counter-terrorism meet the country's international obligations regarding torture or other ill-treatment.

-- Investigate allegations of complicity by the British security services in the torture and ill-treatment of terrorism suspects in Pakistan, and prosecute when necessary.

-- Publish current and past guidelines on interrogation of suspects overseas.

-- Take necessary measures to ensure that torture and ill-treatment of suspects or others is not used, and act to stop it if it occur.

-0-

Irish public workers strike, protest cuts

DUBLIN, Ireland, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Much of Ireland's public sector was idled Tuesday as up to 250,000 civil and public servants staged a strike, union officials said.

Union leaders representing nurses, teachers, firefighters and other employees walked off the job to protest the government's plans to cut pay in a bid to reduce the nation's budget deficit, the Irish Times reported.

"Teachers and lecturers are prepared to take their fair share of pain in the current economic climate but the proposed cuts are disproportionate and selectively applied," the Teachers' Union of Ireland said in a statement, noting 1,000 second-level teachers have already lost their jobs this year.

Union members feel they have been were forced into the strike because all other avenues had been exhausted, Bernard Harper of the trade union Impact told RTE News.

"The focus will be finding a solution to this not on further industrial action," Harper told the Irish broadcaster. "But I think it is likely that the unions will say that if the government is not prepared to find an alternative to the cost savings it's looking for ... then there is likely to be further industrial action."

-0-

Consumer confidence dismal, but better

NEW YORK, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. consumer confidence rose in November but still shows a very negative mindset among shoppers, the Conference Board said Tuesday.

After a slight decline a month ago, the Consumer Confidence Index rose to 49.5 from 48.7, said the Conference Board, which uses 1985 as a base year with a value of 100.

Despite the rise, "income expectations remain very pessimistic and consumers are entering the holiday season in a very frugal mood," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Research Center.

The monthly index is based on interviews with 5,000 consumer. The results showed consumers view the economy as half empty, rather than half full, Franco said.

"The moderate improvement in the short-term outlook was the result of a decrease in the percent of consumers expecting business and labor market conditions to worsen, as opposed to an increase in the percent of consumers expecting conditions to improve," Franco said.

In the survey, respondents indicating business conditions were "bad" fell from 46.7 percent to 45.7 percent. Those indicating conditions were "good" increased from 7.8 percent to 8.1 percent.