Hamas commander killed in air strike

SENIOR Hamas military commander Ahmed al-Jaabari was killed in an Israeli air strike on a car in Gaza City overnight.

"The martyr is Ahmed al-Jaabari and his bodyguard was injured," Ayman Sahabani, a doctor at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, told AFP. A Hamas security source also confirmed Jaabari's death, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israel's Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency and the military also confirmed the operation.

"During a joint operation of the General Security Service (Shin Bet) and the IDF (army) today, Ahmed Jaabari, the senior commander of the military wing of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, was targeted," a statement from the Shin Bet said.

"In the past hour, the IDF targeted Ahmed Jaabari, the head of Hamas's military wing, in the Gaza Strip," the military added in a statement, saying Jaabari "was a senior Hamas operative... directly responsible for executing terror attacks."

"The purpose of this operation was to severely impair the command and control chain of the Hamas leadership, as well as its terrorist infrastructure."

Military spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said the strike was the start of an operation targeting armed groups in Gaza following multiple rocket attacks on southern Israel.

"The IDF started an operation against terror organisations in Gaza due to the ongoing attacks against Israeli civilians," she said on her Twitter account.

The killing of Jaabari sparked furious protests in Gaza City, with hundreds of members of Hamas and its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, chanting for revenge inside Shifa hospital.

Outside, armed men fired weapons into the air, and mosques throughout the city called prayers to mourn the commander's death.

Palestinian security sources and medics confirmed a total of four air strikes across Gaza during the late afternoon -- two in Gaza City, one of which killed Jaabari, one in northern Gaza, and a fourth in the southern city of Khan Yunis.

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Iraq blasts kill 19

A SPATE of apparently coordinated attacks across Iraq on the eve of a festival marking the Islamic New Year have killed 19 people and wounded more than 150 others.

The 13 bombings and shootings struck in Baghdad and nine other cities, the security and medical officials said on Wednesday, and will likely raise tensions in a country mired in political deadlock and which suffered a brutal sectarian war.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the violence, but al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq frequently carries out coordinated bombings and attempts mass-casualty attacks in a bid to destabilise the government through bloodshed.

Wednesday's deadliest blasts struck in Kirkuk, a disputed ethnically mixed oil-rich province in north Iraq frequently targeted by militants seeking to sow communal violence, where at least nine people were killed and 39 wounded.

Two car bombs and a roadside blast in Kirkuk's eponymous capital killed five people and wounded 34 others, while another explosives-packed vehicle targeting an army patrol in the town of Hawijah, also in Kirkuk province, left four dead and five others wounded, officials said.

"My child was killed! His friends were killed!" Shukriyah Rauf screamed in Kurdish at the site of the worst of the Kirkuk city attacks, where a car bomb and a roadside explosion in a majority-Kurdish neighbourhood killed five.

"There is no security here, our homes were destroyed!"

The attack that killed Rauf's child struck near offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Iraq's most powerful Kurdish political party which is led by Massud Barzani, president of the autonomous Kurdistan region.

Nearby buildings and vehicles were badly damaged, with shrapnel, garbage and bloodstains on the street.

Another attack in the city wounded seven street cleaners.

"The car bomb targeted our friends - they are not police, soldiers or politicians," wailed Jassim al-Obeidi, a cleaner who escaped unscathed. "They just wanted to make a little money."

Kirkuk province lies at the centre of a tract of territory claimed by both the central government and the Kurdish region, and the unresolved row is cited by diplomats and officials as the biggest long-term threat to Iraq's stability.

South of Baghdad near the city of Hilla, meanwhile, a car bomb in a parking lot near a crowded marketplace killed five people and wounded 77 others, officials said.

Also south of the capital, in the town of Hafriyah, another car bomb left four dead and 15 wounded, while a car bomb near Baghdad's Firdos Square, the site famous for Iraqis pulling down a statue of Saddam Hussein shortly after the 2003 US-led invasion, killed one person and wounded six others.

Four more bombings and two shootings in the restive provinces of Diyala and Salaheddin, both north of Baghdad, wounded 22 others.

The attacks come a day before Muharram, which marks the Islamic New Year on the lunar calendar.

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US producer prices dip in October

US producer prices fell in October after four straight months of rises, officials say.

The US Labor Department said on Wednesday the producer price index fell 0.2 per cent from September, led by a drop in energy prices of 0.5 per cent. Food prices rose 0.4 per cent.

Most analysts had expected PPI to rise 0.1 per cent.

Excluding food and energy products, prices dropped for the first time since November 2010, by 0.2 per cent.

The pullback in producer prices came after sharp rises in September and August that averaged 1.4 per cent.

"Input prices will struggle to advance while uncertainty about US fiscal policy and global economic growth persists," said Arijit Dutta at Moody's Analytics.

Superstorm Sandy, which battered the eastern US in late October, had virtually no impact on the preparation of the PPI reading, the department said.

"Crude oil prices peaked in September and have fallen steadily in recent weeks as supply disruptions have proved temporary and the result of concerns that demand is slowing," Dutta said.

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Pelosi set to run the House again

FORMER House speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will run to keep her job as the Democratic leader in the House.

The Deomcrats will still have a minority there even as the party gained seats in the Senate and a second term for President Barack Obama.

Ms Pelosi made the announcement in a private meeting with members of her caucus, saying she'd toss her hat back in the ring if New York politician Steve Israel agreed to stay on as head of the party's campaign committee.

Republicans reacted with derision.

"There is no better person to preside over the most liberal House Democratic caucus in history than the woman who is solely responsible for relegating it to a prolonged minority status," said Paul Lindsay, spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee. "This decision signals that House Democrats have absolutely no interest in regaining the trust and confidence of the American people who took the speaker's gavel away from Nancy Pelosi in the first place," he said.

Ms Pelosi, 72, has represented a San Francisco area district in the House includes becoming the first woman in history to serve as speaker. The tea party-fuelled political wave of 2010 forced the gavel from her hand to John Boehner, an Ohio Republican.

Holding a news conference overnight with women members of her caucus, Ms Pelosi said "we're very, very proud" of how large a role women played in the November 6 election.

"We don't have the gavel" of majority status in the House, she said, "but we have unity. I think our caucus this morning demonstrated that very clearly."

"We must have the further empowerment of women," said Ms Pelosi, who noted that when she came to Congress there were 23 women in the House compared to over 60 of the seats in the House. "Not enough. We want more," she said.

Ms Pelosi was a major force behind the passage of Mr Obama's health care overhaul and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Even after the 2010 elections, when her party lost 63 seats, Ms Pelosi was reelected Democratic leader by her caucus.

Ms Pelosi's colleagues had said for days that the top leadership post was hers if she wanted it in the next Congress that begins in January. She refused to reveal her plans for a week after the November 6 elections failed to give Democrats gain they wanted.

It was a disappointing, but not unexpected result of a bitter year of elections that focused on the tight contests for president and control of the Senate. Throughout, Ms Pelosi raised millions of dollars for Democratic House candidates and insisted that the 25 seat gain was within reach. But in the end, Democrats will gain at most eight seats and Republicans will keep their majority.

Waiting in the wings of Democratic ranks was Ms Pelosi's deputy, Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the party whip, whom she has known since they were congressional interns, and South Carolina Democrat James Clyburn, assistant to the Democratic leader.

Ms Pelosi is the daughter and sister of former Baltimore mayors. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., served as mayor of Baltimore for 12 years after representing the city for five terms in Congress. Her brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III, also served as mayor.

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3 Indian troops, 2 rebels die in Kashmir

AN Indian army officer says three soldiers and two suspected rebels have been killed in a gunbattle near the heavily militarized line of control dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Lieutenant Colonel Ankur Vashist says the fighting erupted in the Nowgam region after at least five heavily armed militants crossed into Indian-controlled Kashmir from the Pakistani side of the disputed territory early on Wednesday.

He said a search operation was under way to apprehend the remaining militants.

There was no independent confirmation of the incident.

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Russia loses space station contact

RUSSIA has reportedly lost the ability to send commands to most of its satellites and its segment of the International Space Station (ISS) following a power cable failure near Moscow.

State news agency RIA Novosti said on Wednesday the power cut may also delay the planned November 19 return to earth of three ISS members who are completing their six-month mission on board the floating international space lab.

"We have not had a connection with the ground telemetry stationed in Russia for the past two hours," RIA Novosti quoted an unidentified source in the Russian space industry as saying.

"Our specialists lack the ability to control the civilian satellites or send commands to the Russian segment of the ISS," said the source.

"They can see the crew and can talk to them, but they cannot send any commands to the Russian segments."

The director of a Moscow region institute in charge of satellite and ISS communication told the Interfax news agency that the power cut appeared to have been caused by basic road repair work.

The unnamed industry source added that military satellites were not affected by the power cut and that the line would take at least 48 hours to fix.

"What happened is in no way related to the work being done by our specialists with the air and space defence forces," the source told RIA Novosti.

"Communications with the military satellites continue as always," the source said.

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SAfrican smuggler swallows 220 diamonds

POLICE in South Africa say they've arrested a 25-year-old man who swallowed 220 polished diamonds in an attempt to smuggle them out of the country.

Captain Paul Ramaloko of the South African Police Service says investigators arrested the man on Tuesday night as he waited in line at security at O.R. Tambo International Airport just outside of Johannesburg.

Ramaloko says a scan of the man's body showed the diamonds, which were later recovered. He says the man had been on his way to Dubai.

Ramaloko estimates the diamonds are worth about $US2.3 million ($A2.22 million).

Authorities believe the man belongs to a smuggling ring, as another man was arrested in March attempting the same thing.

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US stocks dive as 'fiscal cliff' looms

US stock markets have tumbled in early trade after President Barack Obama's re-election victory set up a tough battle with Republicans over a looming "fiscal cliff".

In the first six minutes of trade on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 197.98 points (1.49 per cent) to 13,047.70.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 21.28 (1.49 per cent) to 1,407.11, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 41.87 (1.39 per cent) at 2,970.06.

Obama won a resounding victory over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in a closely fought race late Tuesday.

But voters left Congress divided, with Democrats maintaining the Senate and Republicans holding the House of Representatives.

"Focus now shifts to the upcoming fiscal cliff of tax increases and spending cuts that go into effect in 2013 unless a budget compromise is met by Congress," said Wells Fargo analysts.

"By returning a divided government to Washington, the electorate has given neither party a clear mandate to address the lacklustre recovery, the fiscal cliff, and the looming debt crisis," said Brian Kessler at Moody's Analytics.

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US Democrats hold narrow Senate majority

A NEWLY re-elected President Barack Obama will once again deal with a divided Congress as Democrats retain control of the US Senate and Republicans kept their solid majority in the House of Representatives.

The results of Tuesday's election mean that President Barack Obama, despite being re-elected to a second term, will face the same Republican pushback in 2013 that has hurt efforts to enact his major legislation.

Democrats had been seen as vulnerable to losing control of the Senate, since they had more seats to defend, but they were assured of retaining or even increasing their 53-47 advantage. Among the winners for the Democrats was the first openly gay US senator.

Republican candidates in Missouri and Indiana - both states won by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney - were defeated after making damaging comments about rape and abortion. An incumbent Republican fell in liberal Massachusetts. Republicans also lost a seat in Maine, where an independent who is expected to caucus with the Democrats won.

Only a dozen or so Senate races out of the 33 on the ballot were seen as competitive, and almost all of those that were called on Tuesday - in Wisconsin, Virginia, Connecticut, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Florida - went the Democrats' way. Republicans picked up a Democratic-held seat in Nebraska.

More than $US2 billion ($A1.9 billion) was spent on the nasty fight for Congress. All 435 House seats were on the ballot, and Republicans retained control there, though Democrats made a few gains.

Control of the Senate at the very least gives Democrats a firewall against Republican attempts to overturn Obama's signature legislative achievement, his health care reform law, before it is fully implemented in 2014. Republicans had promised to repeal it.

The first post-election test of wills could start next week, when Congress returns from its election recess to deal with unfinished business - including a looming "fiscal cliff" of $400 billion in higher taxes and $100 billion in automatic cuts in military and domestic spending to take effect in January if Congress doesn't head them off. Economists warn that the combination could plunge the nation back into a recession.

Newly elected Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat who won a marquee race against incumbent Scott Brown, said on Wednesday she believes there is a "lot of room for compromise" on the impending fiscal crisis.

Warren, a favourite among liberals as a leading consumer advocate, told NBC's Today that Congress can find a middle ground to bring down the deficit by cutting spending while raising revenues.

In the new Senate, Democrats will remain below the 60-vote supermajority needed to easily pass legislation under Senate rules.

"Now that the election is over, it's time to put politics aside and work together to find solutions," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the voters have not endorsed the "failures or excesses of the president's first term," but rather have given him more time to finish the job.

"To the extent he wants to move to the political centre, which is where the work gets done in a divided government, we'll be there to meet him half way," McConnell said.

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23 people saved, 50 missing off Bangladesh

FISHING boats have helped rescue 23 people after a boat crowded with illegal migrants capsized off Bangladesh's coast, but about 50 people are missing.

About 70 illegal migrants, mostly Rohingya Muslims, were reportedly travelling on the boat to Malaysia when it sank in the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday.

Border commander Zahid Hossain said no bodies had been recovered so far, but quoted survivors as saying they saw some bodies after the boat sank off Bangladesh's Teknaf coast, 320 kilometres south of Dhaka.

Survivors said they were travelling to Malaysia to look for jobs, coast guard official Leiutenant Badruddoza said.

The officials said other fishing boats rescued many of the survivors.

In recent years, poor young people have made dangerous attempts to go abroad for work, often through unscrupulous human traffickers, with local reports saying stateless Rohingya people living in Bangladesh often attempt the risky trips.

Another boat carrying more than 100 people sank in the Bay of Bengal last month, local media reported. Authorities have not confirmed that sinking, but police launched an investigation after several people filed complaints saying they survived the accident on the trip, organised by a gang of people traffickers.

More than 25,000 Rohingya people live in two official camps run jointly by the government and the United Nations in Cox's Bazar. But hundreds of thousands of others live outside the camps after crossing the border from Burma in recent years for economic reasons or because of alleged persecution.

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