U.N. observers prepare to enter Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria, April 13 (UPI) -- United Nations observers prepared to enter Syria, with a shaky cease-fire apparently holding in much of the country, officials said.
There were reports of violence and deaths in some areas.
Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, said an advance team of up to 12 observers would enter Syria to monitor the truce after the U.N. Security Council voted to send them, possibly Friday, The New York Times reported.
The contingent of observers would be followed by a mission of 250 to be sent later, Fawzi said. That mission would need Syrian approval.
Some observers expressed doubts about whether the cease-fire would hold.
"I do not believe in [Syrian President] Bashar Assad's sincerity, nor, unfortunately, in the cease-fire," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a television interviewer,.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 11 people had died in clashes. Tanks, armed checkpoints and rooftop snipers could be seen in areas that have been beset by violence.
Thousands protest candidates in Egypt
CAIRO, April 13 (UPI) -- Thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairo Friday to protest the presidential candidacies of officials associated with ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
The Tahrir Square protest, dubbed "Friday of protecting the revolution," was organized by the Muslim Brotherhood, BikyaMasr.com reported.
Protesters called for the end of military rule in the country and denounced former head of intelligence Omar Suliman's decision to join the presidential race.
Suliman was vice president during Mubarak's last days in power before a violent uprising forced his ouster in February 2011.
Protesters also called for the nominations of other regime affiliates who joined the race to be voided. Pictures of Suleiman, Amr Moussa, who was the minister of foreign affairs for 10 years during Mubarak's reign, and Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister, appeared around the square with captions such as, "The revolution enemies will not govern."
Pakistan demands end to drone attacks
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 13 (UPI) -- Pakistani officials presented demands, including an end to U.S. drone attacks, that may lead to reopening of a NATO supply line to Afghanistan, observers said.
Government and opposition leaders presented a unified front in approving a resolution that also called on the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama to apologize for airstrikes in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, The New York Times reported Friday.
The parliamentary resolution declared "no overt or covert operations inside Pakistan shall be permitted," a reference that could be interpreted to include all CIA operations, observers told the Times.
Concerning the NATO supply line, the resolution specified only that arms and ammunition could not be transported through Pakistan to Afghanistan, raising the possibility that war supplies such as food and fuel could resume. The supply line has been blocked since the November airstrikes.
"Today's resolution will enrich your respect and dignity. I assure you that we will get these enforced in letter and spirit," Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said in an address to Parliament.
He did not say when the supply route might reopen.
Newark mayor helps rescue woman
NEWARK, N.J., April 13 (UPI) -- Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker entered a burning building next to his home Thursday night and helped rescue a woman, he and others said.
Booker and three members of his security detail who helped clear people out of the burning building were taken to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. The mayor said he also suffered second-degree burns on a hand. The woman was hospitalized in stable condition with burns to her back and neck.
Booker told The (Newark) Star-Ledger he spotted the fire, which apparently started in a kitchen, in the second-story building next to his home when he arrived from a television interview and rushed in, followed by his security detail.
"We got everybody out of the house, but their daughter's screaming, 'I'm upstairs!'" Booker said.
Newark Fire Chief John Centanni said the mayor "was wrestling with his detail trying to keep him out of there," but Booker got past them.
The mayor told the newspaper he went to the second floor where he encountered flames and smoke.
Lightning hit airliner before safe landing
SAN FRANCISCO, April 13 (UPI) -- Storms in California set off an estimated 3,000 lightning strikes, including one that hit an airliner before it landed safely in San Francisco, officials said.
Officials said a United Airlines flight that departed San Francisco International Airport for London was struck by lightning Thursday, then returned to the airport, KGO-TV, San Francisco reported.
No injuries were reported.
San Francisco Airport officials said 61 flights were canceled and some were delayed for several hours because of the storm.
Weather officials said 3,000 lightning strikes were reported statewide.
The Bay Area was rocked by heavy storms that lined up over the Pacific Ocean and carried heavy rains, winds, thunder and lightning, forecasters said.
The ground was so saturated in one neighborhood that a tree toppled over, blocking a street and knocking out power in the area, officials said.
