Gadhafi loyalists fight for his hometown
TRIPOLI, Libya, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Forces loyal to ousted Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi put up a fierce military defense of his hometown Sirte Saturday, the BBC reported.
The British broadcaster's correspondents said fighters of the National Transition Council, formerly considered rebels, had advanced on the city from the east and west and were met by mortar and rocket attacks.
There was no immediate report of casualties from the embattled Mediterranean coastal city where Gadhafi was born in 1942.
There has been widespread speculation the deposed dictator who seized power in a 1969 military coup fled to his birthplace, but that couldn't be confirmed, the report said.
The NTC soldiers have been repelled from previous attempts to seize Sirte in the past two weeks and also have yet to capture the loyalist town of Bani Walid despite several offensives.
The NTC, which has won the support of most of the world's governments for its goal of establishing democracy, announced it would convene in Tripoli Sunday to create a small "crisis government" charged with organizing the civil war-torn country as part of establishing an election timetable.
Medvedev backs Putin for Russian president
MOSCOW, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he would run for president next year and current President Dmitry Medvedev said he would back his mentor.
At a United Party event at the Luzhniki sports center in Moscow Saturday, Medvedev said: "What we propose to the congress is a long thought out decision," as he announced he would support Putin's return to the office that he held four years ago, but gave up as three consecutive terms as president are not allowed in Russia.
The announcement ended intense speculation over the presidency, RIA Novosti reported Saturday.
Four years ago, Putin hand picked Medvedev to replace him, stepping aside rather than challenging the country's constitutional term limit.
Saturday, Medvedev said he would consider replacing Putin as prime minister, saying he would "engage in the practical work of the government" after his term ends, The New York Times reported.
Both Medvedev and Putin had said they were willing to take the job, but would not run against each other.
The announcement at the party event was greeted with an ovation from the crowd.
"This applause spares me the need to explain what experience and authority Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin possesses," said Medvedev.
Putin at the podium said, "I want to thank you for the positive reaction to the proposal for me to run for Russian president. For me this is a great honor."
Bahrain voting with some protests
MANAMA, Bahrain, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Polls opened Saturday in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain with voters choosing 18 members of parliament, with 14 contested races, government officials said.
The Bahrain News Agency said 55 candidates were running to fill 18 seats in parliament, but four of the seats were taken in unopposed contests.
CNN said security forces were sent in to quell disturbances, some of which were reported in the capital, Manama, Friday evening.
The Interior Ministry said demonstrations had lead to "illegal acts" as it heightened security.
Security has been beefed up for the election that came about because members of the Al -Wefaq party stepped down from their seats in parliament to protest the government's reaction to civil unrest in February.
BNA said Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa applauded the voters in a statement.
"Bahraini people's determination to take part positively in the by-elections has asserted that we are on the right path toward a better future," the prime minister said.
Field Marshal testifies in Mubarak trial
CAIRO, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi testified Saturday at the Cairo trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, officials said.
Tantawi's testimony was in closed session and was short, compared to other key witnesses who were questioned for hours in court, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported. Tantawi was originally set to testify on Sept. 11, but his appearance was postponed after an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Giza.
Outside the courthouse, family members of those who died in the country's recent revolution chanted "Field Marshal, say the truth, did Mubarak order the shootings or not?"
Mubarak, 83, is charged with corruption and murder in the deaths of pro-democracy protesters during 18 days of demonstrations that led to his ouster, Ahram Online reported.
Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal, also are on trial on corruption charges, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported. Ex-Interior Minister Habib al-Adly is charged in the killings of protesters and previously received a 12-year prison sentence for corruption. Mubarak confidant and business tycoon Hussein Salem is being tried in absentia.
After Tantawi testified, lawyers went outside and announced the man favored the defendants, which prompted celebration by Mubarak supporters.
After Saturday's session, the trial was adjourned to Oct. 30.
Italy: Final arguments at Knox trial
PERUGIA, Italy, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Italian prosecutors scorned court-appointed forensic experts who reviewed DNA evidence used to convict Amanda Knox of murder during closing arguments.
Prosecutor Manuela Comodi Saturday attempted to discredit two forensic experts asked to review Knox's case, noting they are professors of forensic evidence rather and practicing investigators, The Guardian reported.
"Would you entrust the wedding reception of your only daughter to someone who knew all the recipes by heart but had never actually cooked?" Comodi said.
Knox, now 24, was sentenced to 25 years in prison along with ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and another man for the 2007 slaying of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher, while both were studying abroad in Italy. The conviction was called into question after a review deemed the DNA evidence used to convict the American was unreliable.
The experts asked to review the case concluded Sollecito's DNA found on Kercher's bra clasp could have gotten there at any point while Knox and Kercher lived together, CNN reported.
Experts also doubted evidence found on a knife prosecutors say is the murder weapon.
Comodi said the entire review was "embarrassing, inappropriate, and presented in a hostile way."
Also during closing arguments, prosecutors likened Knox to Nazis, saying the media coverage surrounding the woman reflects Nazi propaganda, CBS reported.
"She's been experiencing a negative character assassination for more than two years, especially at the very beginning of this whole case. It's very interesting to have the prosecution now consider the media and this whole situation turn on them, and all of the sudden it's a Nazi situation," said Knox's father Curt.
Curt Knox said he expects his daughter to address the court before the appeal goes to the jury.
"She has been thinking about that for probably upwards of three months now and going over different things," Curt Knox said. "It's something that is going to be very personal to her because she's literally on trial for her life as well. So, I mean, it's going to be very heartfelt and it's probably going to be very tough as parents to listen to as well."
Shots fired ahead of pope's German mass
ERFURT, Germany, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Shots from an air gun were fired Saturday in the vicinity of where Pope Benedict XVI was to conduct mass for 30,000 people in Germany, police said.
About two hours before the outdoor mass in Erfurt in central Germany, police arrested an unidentified man and said no one had been injured, The New York Times reported.
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the shots were fired outside a security area cordoned off for the German-born 84-year-old pontiff and there was no concern for his safety.
Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was shot four times by a gunman in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on May 13, 1981, and survived.
Benedict addressed the Bundestag parliament in Berlin Thursday on the first day of his four-day visit and was met with large demonstrations, the Times said.
Friday, he met with Muslim officials and participated in an ecumenical service with Lutheran ministers. In an unannounced move, the pope also met privately with five victims of sexual abuse by German priests, the report said.
The Vatican said in a statement after the meeting, that the pope was "moved and deeply shaken."
