Typhoon-hit Philippines appeals for help

Government and UN ask international community to help the victims of Typhoon Bopha, as death toll rises to nearly 650.

The Philippine government and the United Nations are launching a global appeal to help the victims of Typhoon Bopha, as the toll continues to climb, while hundreds of people are still missing after the storm devastated the south of the country.

At least 650 people are killed, while millions are left homeless and in desperate need of food aid and other basic goods, the country's disaster chief in Manila told Al Jazeera.

Benito Ramos said that 647 bodies had been found and 900 people were still missing, including hundreds of fishermen.

Rescuers continued searching for bodies or signs of life under tonnes of fallen trees and boulders in the worst-hit town of New Bataan, where rocks, mud and other rubble destroyed landmarks, making it doubly difficult to search places where houses once stood.

"This is a scale the Philippines has not previously seen, we’re talking about tens of thousands of homes destroyed across southeast Mindanao," Joe Curry of Catholic Relief Service told Al Jazeera.

"People live in fragile housing and when storms like this hit … it wipes out entire communities."

Hundreds of refugees, rescuers and aid workers took a break on Sunday to watch the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight on a big TV screen, only to be dismayed by their hero's sixth-round knockout.

Nearly 400,000 people, mostly from Compostela Valley and nearby Davao Oriental province, have lost their homes and are crowded inside evacuation centres or staying with relatives.

Missing fishermen

Families and fishing companies reported losing contact with more than 300 fishermen at sea.

Ramos said the authorities were unprepared for the unprecedented weather in those areas worst affected, and that it was struggling to cope with the disaster.

"Right now, we have some international organisations and governments assisting us, but our supplies are still insufficient at this moment," he said. 

The fishermen from southern General Santos city and nearby Sarangani province left a few days before Bopha hit the main southern island of Mindanao on Tuesday, causing deadly flash floods.

Ramos said the fishermen were headed to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and to the Pacific Ocean and there had been no contact from them for a week.

He said the coast guard, navy and fishing vessels had launched a search.

Benigno Aquino III, the Philippine president, declared a state of national calamity on Friday, which allows for price controls on basic commodities in typhoon-affected areas and the quick release of emergency funds.

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Egypt's opposition calls for more protests

Coalition of opposition parties calls for demonstrations against President Morsi's plans for vote on draft constitution.

Egypt's opposition has called for more protests against President Mohamed Morsi after rejecting his plans for a constitutional referendum later this week on a disputed draft constitution.

"The National Salvation Front announces its total rejection of the referendum and will not legitimise this referendum which will definitely lead to more strife," Sameh Ashour, who spoke on behalf of the coalition of opposition parties, said on Sunday.

"The Front invites Egypt's great people to protest peacefully in various liberation squares in the capital this coming Tuesday to show dissatisfaction at the president's disregard of the people's demands and in refusal of the constitution that infringes on rights and freedoms."

Morsi's decision on Saturday to retract a decree awarding himself wide powers failed to placate opponents who accused him of plunging Egypt deeper into crisis by refusing to postpone the vote on the constitution scheduled for December 15.

"We are against this process from start to finish," Hussein Abdel Ghani, spokesman of the National Salvation Front, said.

The Egyptian president insists on holding the referendum on schedule.

The opposition has repeatedly said that the constitution, drafted by a Muslim Brotherhood-led constituent assembly, disregards the rights of women and ignores personal freedoms.

"I cannot imagine that after all this they want to pass a constitution that does not represent all Egyptians," Ahmed Said, another member of the National Salvation Front coalition and the head of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, said.

Military to maintain security

The Egyptian president has issued a decree, ordering the military to maintain security and protect state institutions until the results of the referendum are announced.

From our correspondent Sherine Tadros in Cairo It's a new law issued by the president that orders the military to protect public buildings and gives them power to arrest, until the results of the constitution are announced. This is in anticipation of more violence in the run-up to the referendum. It is not about going back to military rule ... it's a practical move to maintain order. It does once again raise concerns because the military are unaccountable when they arrest etc, but remember this is a temporary move.

"The armed forces must support the police service in complete cooperation in order to preserve security and protect vital state institutions for a temporary period, up to the announcement of the results from the referendum on the constitution," the decree, which appeared in the government's official gazette under "Law 107", says.

The Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing Freedom and Justice party, as well as Salafist political parties, have urged the opposition to accept the referendum's verdict.

Mahmud Ghozlan, a Brotherhood spokesman, said a coalition called the Alliance of Islamist Forces have also called for a demonstration on Tuesday under the slogan "Yes to legitimacy" in support of the referendum.

The rival rallies in the capital Cairo raise the potential for clashes such as those that erupted last Wednesday, killing seven people and wounding hundreds.

The referendum has deeply polarised Egypt and sparked some of the bloodiest clashes between Morsi supporters and opponents since he came to power in June.

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Two officials assassinated in Afghanistan

Gunmen shoot dead women's affairs official in Laghman, while Nimroz province police chief dies in roadside bombing.

An Afghan women's affairs official has been assassinated in Laghman province, just months after her predecessor was blown up by a bomb, while a police chief was killed in a roadside bombing in Herat province. 

Nadia Sidiqi, the acting director of the women's affairs department in the eastern province of Laghman, was shot dead by two unidentified men while commuting in a motorised rickshaw on Monday.

"We have launched an investigation and we have sealed off the area where the attack took place and we will very soon capture the attackers," Laghman police chief Ahmad Sherzad told AFP news agency.

In a separate attack, General Mohammad Musa Rasoli, the provincial police chief of Nimroz, was killed when his vehicle was struck by a bomb in Adraskan district of Herat province, while he was heading to Nimroz on his way to work, officials told Al Jazeera.

Rasoli was seriously wounded in the blast and rushed to the hospital, where he died of his wounds.

Surge of targeted assassinations

Sidiqi took over from provincial women's affairs director Hanifa Safi, who was killed when a magnetic bomb attached to her vehicle exploded in July.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday's attack.

Orzala Nemat Ashraf, an Afghan human rights campaigner, told Al Jazeera she was shocked to hear about the assassination.

"It clearly indicates that dominance of culture of impunity is working. Five months have passed since Hanifa Safi's death and still the governor has not answered who killed her. If there is no justice, he or they will keep it up, sadly."

Earlier this month a young woman still at school who also doubled as a health worker was shot dead as she walked out of her family home in Kapisa province, which borders Laghman.

On Thursday a Taliban suicide bomber with explosives in his underpants wounded the nation's intelligence chief after entering a tightly-guarded guesthouse by posing as a Taliban peace envoy.

The Afghan government is scrambling to improve security before NATO troops withdraw by the end of 2014. Some Afghans fear another civil war may erupt after the pullout.

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North Korea delays rocket lift-off

Pyongyang reschedules launch to December 29 due to 'technical deficiency' in rocket engine module.

North Korea has extended the launch period for its planned rocket launch by one week, citing technical problems.

The Korean Committee of Space Technology said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency on Monday that the rocket would kick off on December 29 due to "technical deficiency" in a rocket engine module.

The statement did not elaborate but said technicians were "pushing forward" with final preparations for the launch.

The North had originally set up a 13-day launch window, starting on Monday.

A South Korean newspaper quoted a government source as saying on Monday that North Koreans were replacing the faulty section of the rocket with the help from Iranian missile experts.

The Chosun Ilbo newspaper cited new satellite images that suggested the faulty component was being replaced to allow the launch to go ahead.

"A new third stage of the North's three-stage missile Unha-3 was seen being moved on Saturday afternoon from a missile plant... towards the launch site," the newspaper said.

"A car seen at the... launch site has been spotted driving back and forth from the accommodation facility nearby. It is believed to be carrying Iranian experts," the official told the newspaper.

The Iranians were invited after Pyongyang's last rocket launch in April ended in failure, the newspaper said.

Earlier this month, Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted a western diplomatic source as saying Iran had stationed defence personnel in North Korea since October to strengthen co-operation in missile and nuclear development.

Controversial mission

North Korea and Iran are both subject to international sanctions over their nuclear activities and their governments share a deep hostility towards the US.

North Korea says the rocket launch is a peaceful mission aimed at putting a satellite in orbit.

The United States and its allies view it as a disguised ballistic missile test banned under UN resolutions prompted by the North's nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

Leaked US diplomatic cables in 2010 showed that US officials believe Iran has acquired ballistic missile parts from North Korea.

A 2011 UN sanctions report said the two countries were suspected of sharing ballistic missile technology.

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Arab states agree on aid for Palestinians

At meeting of Arab League ministers, Qatari PM brands the Quartet "a failure" and calls for rethink of peace process.

Arab League foreign ministers have agreed during a meeting to send hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority to make up for punitive measures imposed by the Israeli government after a successful bid for recognition at the United Nations.

The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly last month to recognise Palestine as a non-member observer state, an historic though largely symbolic move.

Israel responded by withholding some $100m per month in taxes and customs duties it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The Israeli government said the money will instead go to pay Palestinian debts owed to Israeli companies.

Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator from the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), an umbrella group of Palestinian political factions, said that Arab states agreed on Sunday in the Qatari capital, Doha, to make up for the shortfall.

"We agreed that Arab states activate a resolution of providing $100m per month," he said.

"The Qatari prime minister and the Arab League secretary-general will follow up the implementation of this resolution within two weeks."

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, had warned that the PA could collapse without the funds. Many of the authority's employees have not received their full wages for months. "We can't pay the salaries," he said.

'Reconsider the peace process'

Also at the meeting, Qatari officials called for a rethink of the so-called Arab Peace Initiative, a long-stalled 2002 initiative which offered normalisation with Israel in exchange for a withdrawal from the occupied territories and a "just settlement" for Palestinian refugees.

"It is logical after 10 years to objectively reconsider the peace process, including the Arab initiative," Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatari prime minister, said.

Hamad, who heads the Arab League's follow-up committee on the initiative, said the proposal "would not be on offer forever."

Abbas, for his part, told the ministers in Doha that he opposed withdrawing the plan, warning that it could lead to regional conflict.

"It is not permissible to talk about sidelining the Arab peace initiative. It should stay," he said.

"It is a very important initiative, and I hope we would not talk every time about shelving it, because that would mean war."

Hamad also criticised the Quartet on the Middle East, a diplomatic body made up of the US, the European Union, Russia and the UN, describing it as a "failure, and unable to make any achievements".

He called for a "re-evaluation of its performance".

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Deaths in US drone strike in Pakistan

Missile attack kills at least three suspected Taliban fighters in tribal region near the Afghan border, officials say.

A US drone attack has killed at least three people in a compound in the restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.

Sunday's strike took place in Tabbi village, 5km north of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, which is known as a bastion of Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked fighters.

"US drones fired four missiles on a militant compound, killing three rebels," a senior security official told AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.

Another security official confirmed the attack and casualties but said the identity of those killed in the strike was not immediately known.

Tabbi village, which is very close to the Afghan border, is said to be a hideout for fighters belonging to several groups including those from Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the Haqqani network.

The al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, blamed for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan, is one of the thorniest issues between Islamabad and Washington.

Washington has long demanded that Pakistan take action against the Haqqanis, whom the United States accused of attacking the US embassy in Kabul in September last year.

Pakistan has in turn demanded that Afghan and US forces do more to stop Pakistani Taliban crossing the border from Afghanistan to launch attacks on its forces.

Attacks by unmanned US aircraft remain contentious. They are deeply unpopular in Pakistan, which says they violate its sovereignty and fan anti-US sentiment, but American officials are said to believe they are too important to give up.

Casualty figures are difficult to obtain.

A report commissioned by legal lobby group Reprieve in September estimated that between 474 to 881 civilians were among 2,562 to 3,325 people killed by drones in Pakistan between June 2004 and September 2012.

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Nelson Mandela 'comfortable' in hospital

President Zuma says 94-year-old statesman is "comfortable, and in good care" after visiting him in Pretoria hospital.

Mandela was admitted to hospital in February as well but released after a keyhole examination [File:GALLO/GETTY]

Nelson Mandela is "comfortable", the South African government has said after the anti-apartheid icon spent the night in a Pretoria hospital, and underwent medical tests described as "consistent with his age". President Jacob Zuma on Sunday visited the country's 94-year-old first black president who was hospitalised a day earlier and said he "found him comfortable, and in good care". The iconic leader was admitted on Saturday for what Zuma's spokesman and former Mandela prison inmate Mac Maharaj said was for tests and medical attention consistent with the nanogenarian's age. It was the second time the 94-year-old and increasingly frail Mandela was hospitalised this year and officials have moved to allay fears around his health. 'No cause for alarm' The South African government said he was doing well shortly after he was taken in for "normal" tests "consistent with his age" and insisted there was "no cause for alarm". Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mac Maharaj said: "Mandela will receive medical attention from time to time which is consistent with his age." Keith Khoza spokesman of the ruling African National Congress party, which Mandela once led, said "he is in perfect health, everything is well, it's just that he has to undergo these regular check ups". Officials have refused to give more details about his condition and the tests he is taking. Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president after the country's first all-race elections in 1994, was admitted to hospital in February as well because of abdominal pain but released the following day after a keyhole examination showed there was nothing seriously wrong with him. He has since spent most of his time in his ancestral home in Qunu, a village in the impoverished Eastern Cape province. His frail health prevents him from making any public appearances in South Africa, although in the last few months he has continued to receive prominent visitors, including former US President Bill Clinton.

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Egyptian opposition: Morsi move not enough

Major opposition bloc says President Morsi's decision to rescind controversial decree "falls short of expectations".

A major Egyptian opposition group has said that President Mohamed Morsi's decision only to rescind a decree that gave him sweeping powers and not scrap a referendum on a controversial draft constitution has "fallen short of expectations" required to defuse tensions in the country.

"One of our major demands is to postpone the vote on the constitution. Failing to respond to this will lead to more confrontation," a senior official in the National Salvation Front, a major opposition bloc, told the state-run news agency MENA on condition of anonymity on Sunday.

The president late on Saturday annulled the November 22 decree that also made all his decisions immune to judicial review, but insisted that a referendum on the draft constitution will go ahead as planned on December 15.

Live footage: Egypt's army has started strengthening a protective wall around Morsi's presidential palace

The opposition has repeatedly said that the constitution, drafted by a Muslim Brotherhood-led constituent assembly, disregards the rights of women and ignores personal freedoms.

"I cannot imagine that after all this they want to pass a constitution that does not represent all Egyptians," Ahmed Said, another member of the National Salvation Front coalition and head of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, told the Reuters news agency.

He said the Front would meet later on Sunday to make a formal response to Morsi's decision to scrap the decree.

Selim al-Awa, an official who attended Saturday's meeting between Morsi and politicians from smaller opposition groups, said that, legally, Morsi was unable to change the date of the referendum on the draft charter.

He added that, if the draft is voted down in the December 15 referendum, Morsi would call for an election within three months to pick a new constituent assembly.

Main opposition groups had boycotted the talks, which lasted over 10 hours, and called on their supporters to step up protests. 

Annulment 'meaningless'

Khaled Dawood, the spokesperson for the National Salvation Front, said annulling the decree was "relatively meaningless".

"The key issue of securing the process of adopting of the constitution is done," he told Al Jazeera.

Harvard associate professor Tarek Masoud tells Al Jazeera that the opposition's refusal of dialogue was an "error"

Asked whether the opposition's goal was to unseat Morsi, Dawood said: "This is definitely not in our agenda at all. Our agenda is basically limited to having a new draft constitution that everybody is satisfied about before going to a referendum.

"We respect he was elected with 51.7 per cent of the vote, but 48 per cent did not vote for him. That means that he has to compromise, he has to build consensus."

On Sunday, a day after Morsi appeared to bow to political and public pressure, a wall is being built around his presidential palace.

The barricade blocks any attempt by anti-government protesters from reaching the palace gates.

Egypt has been hit by angry protests in the past two weeks to push Morsi to reverse his expanded powers and suspend the constitutional vote.

The crisis has been the country's worst since Morsi took office in June.

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Syrian fighters join forces against al-Assad

Rebel fighters agree on a united command in bid to integrate diverse groups and enable easier supply of arms.

About 500 delegates have elected a 30-person Supreme Military Council and a Chief of Staff [GALLO/GETTY]

Syria's rebel leaders have agreed to come under a united command in a bid to integrate diverse fighting groups and streamline the route for arms essential to their struggle against President Bashar al-Assad. The new body, expected to be announced officially on Sunday, hopes to form the basis of a united rebel front. About 500 delegates elected the 30-person Supreme Military Council and a Chief of Staff on Friday in Turkish resort of Antalya and planned to meet soon with representatives from the opposition's newly re-organised political leadership, participants said. "The aim of this meeting was to unify the armed opposition to bring down the regime," said a rebel commander from  Damascus who attended the meeting. "It also aims to get the situation under control once the regime falls." The move toward greater unity on the armed front comes as the US and others try to strengthen the opposition's leadership while sidelining extremist factions that have become a vital part of the rebels' ground forces. The US is expected to recognise it at an international "Friends of Syria" conference in Marakesh, Morocco, that begins on Wednesday. A majority of the brigades that have taken up arms veer towards a radical Islamist outlook, some have boasted about executing captured soldiers. Lack of cohesion Two of the most extreme rebel groups involved, were not invited to the meeting in Turkey or included in the new council. Such a move could possibly encourage Western support. A lack of cohesion has plagued Syria's rebel movement since its inception late last year. The base of what became the Free Syrian Army was formed after some protesters gave up on peaceful means to bring down al-Assad's regime and took up arms. The groups have surged across the nation with many failing to co-ordinate without any bodies outside their respective areas. While some say they want a civil, democratic government, others advocate an Islamic state. The opposition's political leadership met in Doha, the Qatari capital, last month to re-organise themselves after giving in to  Western pressure. It is hoped that the backers of the new National Alliance hope will have broader representation and stronger links to rebel fighters. Britain, France, Turkey and several Gulf Arab nations have recognised the National Alliance, effectively considering it a government in exile.

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Clashes rage in Lebanon's Tripoli

The latest fighting comes as Lebanon receives the first three bodies from a group of 14 Lebanese killed in Syria.

Tensions in Tripoli have run high since 14 fighters from the city were killed by Syrian security forces a week ago [AFP]

Clashes linked to the 21-month conflict in Syria have killed four people and wounded 40 others in neighbouring Lebanon, a security official said. The latest fighting between Sunni Muslims and Alawite co-religionists of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the northern city of Tripoli on Sunday came as Lebanese authorities received the first three bodies from a group of 14 Lebanese and Palestinian nationals killed in Syria. Clashes with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades left two members of each community dead, the security official said. Tensions in northern Lebanon have run high since at least 14 Sunni Muslim Lebanese and Palestinian fighters from the area were killed by Syrian security forces a week ago in a Syrian border town. Fighters from northern Lebanon had long been suspected of entering neighbouring Syria, but the killing of the men reignited Tripoli's long simmering tensions. Sectarian fighting Syria's conflict has not only stirred sectarian fighting in its own population, it has also revived sectarian clashes in Tripoli, whose communal makeup reflects that of Syria. Majority Sunnis in the city support Syria's mostly Sunni-led uprising, while Alawites, the Shia-linked minority sect to which al-Assad belongs, are generally supportive of the Syrian president. Syrian state television aired graphic video of the dead Lebanese gunmen, their bloodied corpses riddled with bullet holes. Families of the dead demonstrated last week to demand the return of the bodies, as clashes resumed in Tripoli. An agreement was eventually reached between Syrian and Lebanese officials to transfer the bodies gradually, with the first three being delivered on Sunday. Cars brought the bodies up to the northern Lebanese border, where security forces and local religious authorities came to receive them. The Lebanese Higher Defence Council held a meeting on Sunday to discuss the fighting in Tripoli between the Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen districts. The official Lebanese news agency said the army responded to sporadic rifle fire on late Saturday, without being able to stop the clashes. The council reviewed the measures taken by the Lebanese Armed Forces to restore calm in the northern city. The meeting was held in the presence of President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Najib Miqati, as well as Defence Minister Fayez Ghosn and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.

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Chavez to undergo further cancer surgery

Venezuelan leader names Vice President Maduro as his possible successor, as he prepares to return to Cuba for treatment.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has admitted a relapse of his cancer and designated Vice President Nicolas Maduro as his heir apparent in case "something happened" to him.

Speaking on national television late on Saturday, an emotional Chavez said a return of cancer cells was detected during his most recent visit to Cuba for medical examination, and he would return to the communist-ruled island as early as Sunday for another round of surgery.

"During this thorough examination, they again detected some malignant cells in the same area as before," Chavez said.

He did not offer details, but his cancer was first detected in the pelvic area. Neither the Venezuelan leader, nor his Cuban doctors have ever disclosed what kind of cancer that was.

Chavez admitted he was suffering "somewhat strong" pain and was taking tranquilizers as part of preparation for his upcoming surgery.

He acknowledged that his Cuban medical team had conveyed to him a sense of urgency about the operation, which he said was now "absolutely necessary”.

"The doctor recommended that I undergo surgery yesterday (Friday) at the latest, or this weekend," he noted. "But I did not agree and came back home."

Heir apparent

Chavez returned from Havana on Friday after a 10-day stay in Cuba. 

The Venezuelan leader also said that in the event "something happened" and he were incapacitated, Vice President Nicolas Maduro would step in and assume control of the government for the rest of the 2013-2019 term, as required by the constitution.

In what appeared like a presentation of his final will, the president also indicated he would like Maduro to take over the reins of power in a post-Chavez period, urging Venezuelans to vote for him in the next presidential elections.

"You choose Maduro as president of the republic," Chavez told the nation. "I am asking you this from all my heart."

Maduro, who has been serving as Venezuala's foreign minister for the past six years, was appointed vice president in the wake of the October presidential elections. He has held both portfolios since.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from London, Colin Harding, head of the Latin Form, a political consultancy focusing on Latin America, said Chavez is hoping Maduro will be able to continue his “Bolivarian revolution”.

"Maduro is Chavez' closest confidante but he is not anything like Chavez, in the sense that Chavez is a highly charismatic and extremely crowd pleasing figure. Maduro has a rather brooding presence. He was an experienced union leader in the 90s - before that he was a bus driver in Caracas," Harding said.

Chavez made his latest announcement despite frequent assurances on the campaign trail before his re-election in October that he had been cured of cancer.

Recurring bouts of the disease have dogged Chavez's presidency for the past couple of years, requiring him to spend weeks at a time being treated in Cuba. He had a cancerous tumor removed from near his pelvic area last year.

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Ghana president in slim lead over poll rival

Private television says President Mahama is ahead of rival Akufo-Addo with nearly all votes counted.

President Mahama took over as the president after his predecessor died of illness in July [GALLO/GETTY]

Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has a slim lead over rival Nana Akufo-Addo with nearly all the votes counted in the country's tight presidential race, local media says. Privately owned Joy News television said Mahama had 50.03 per cent of the votes against Akufo-Addo's 48.05 per cent based on provisional results from 261 of 275 districts. It said its findings were based on trends of pre-tallied votes in addition to an analysis of outstanding districts. There were a total of eight presidential candidates. In the event that any of the candidates fail to receive at least 50 per cent of the votes, a run-off vote would be held on December 28. Ghana, an oil rich nation with a booming economy, is aspiring to bolster its credentials with the election as a stable democracy in turbulent West Africa. Mahama, 54, of the National Democratic Congress, assumed the presidency in July after his predecessor John Atta Mills died due to an illness. Ghana's presidential and parliamentary polls were held on Friday, but polling stations in some areas re-opened on Saturday. This was due to problems with a new biometric system and late delivery of materials which led to delays.

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Egypt braced for fresh protests

Opposition groups call for demonstrations after president vows to persist with controversial constitutional referendum.

Fresh protests are set to take place in Cairo after Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi pledged to forge on with a controversial constitutional referendum and condemned street violence that has gripped the nation's capital.

Morsi's offer in an overnight address for dialogue to resolve the crisis, prompted by his November 22 decree giving himself supreme powers, was rejected by opposition groups.

He proposed a meeting on Saturday with political leaders, "revolutionary youth" and legal figures to discuss the way forward.

In his speech, Morsi called the violence "regrettable", and blamed it on "infiltrators" funded by unnamed third parties.

"Such painful events happened because of political differences that should be resolved through dialogue," he said.

The opposition groups said they would step up their campaign against the decree and the referendum set for December 15.

Egypt's main opposition coalition said it would not take part in the dialogue proposed, a senior member of the group said.

"The National Salvation Front is not taking part in the dialogue, that is the official stance," said Ahmed Said, one of the leading members of the coalition who also heads the liberal Free Egyptians Party.

Protests were expected to swell after traditional Muslim prayers on Friday.

Crisis 'building up'

Gamal Abdel Gawad, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera on Friday that the crisis was continuing to build up.

"The presidential speech did not provide any serious way out," he said.

"There will be large protests today, and in the coming days. The call for dialogue will not be enough to defuse this crisis.

"There will be some sort of a showdown between the Muslim Brotherhood and the opposition."

In his speech on Thursday night, Morsi said the referendum on the constitution would go ahead as planned, adding that "afterwards ... everyone must follow its will".

He said: "We respect peaceful freedom of speech but I will never allow anyone to resort to killing and sabotage."

The opposition coalition, the National Rescue Front, issued a statement saying "the fact that the presidency ... persists in ignoring the demands and protests of the people has closed the door on any attempt for dialogue".

It said it "renews its call for Egyptians to gather across Egypt on Friday".

The group's spokesman, Hussein Abdel Ghani, said "we will continue to escalate [protests], using peaceful means".

A youth opposition group in the coalition, April 6, called for marches from all of Cairo's mosques to converge on the main squares.

There were fears of more violence after clashes in Egypt on Wednesday between pro- and anti-Morsi protesters that left seven people dead and more than 600 injured.

The army on Thursday cleared the area in front of the presidential palace in the capital of protesters from both sides, and deployed tanks and barbed wire to keep crowds away.

The demonstrations were the biggest since Morsi's election in June. The street clashes were also reminiscent of the upheaval in February 2011 that ended Hosni Mubarak's presidency.

At least four of Morsi's advisers have quit over the crisis, and the Cairo stock market has taken a heavy hit from the latest  violence.

US President Barack Obama expressed "deep concern" Thursday over the events in Egypt, in a call to Morsi, the White House said.

Obama also told Morsi that it was "essential for Egyptian leaders across  the political spectrum to put aside their differences and come together to agree on a path that will move Egypt forward," the White House said in a statement.

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Hamas chief Meshaal arrives in Gaza

First visit to Palestinian land in 45 years seen as demonstration of new confidence after conflict with Israel.

Khaled Meshaal, upon arriving at Rafah crossing in Gaza, called this day 'historic' [Al Jazeera]

The leader of Hamas has arrived in the Gaza Strip, ending 45 years of exile from the Palestinian Territories with a visit that underscored the armed group's growing confidence. After passing through the Egyptian border crossing, Meshaal knelt on the ground to offer a prayer of thanks and was then greeted by dozens of officials from an array of competing Palestinian factions lined up to meet him in warm December sun. Khaled Meshaal will spend barely 48 hours in the coastal enclave and attend a mass rally on Saturday that has been advertised as both a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas and a "victory" celebration after its recent war with Israel. Meshaal, who has not visited the Palestinian Territories since leaving the West Bank at age 11, emerged emboldened from the eight-day conflict which ended in a truce he negotiated under Egypt's auspices. He has since spoken of reaching out to other Palestinian factions. "There is a new mood that allows us to achieve reconciliation," Meshaal said in an interview last Friday from Qatar, where he has set up home since leaving Syria earlier this year. Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston, reporting from Gaza City, said Hamas had invited Fatah officials to the welcoming ceremony. Meshaal's wife arrived in Gaza late on Thursday afternoon, officials at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt said. Post-conflict trip Meshaal's trip comes after a ceasefire that ended eight days of conflict between Israel and Gaza armed groups. The violence began on November 14, with Israel's targeted killing of Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari, and left 174 Palestinians dead, including more than 100 civilians, as well as six Israelis. The chief of Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Shallah, had also been expected to attend the anniversary celebrations, but a source in the Palestinian armed group in Gaza said Thursday he would likely be forced to cancel the trip over Israeli objections. "The Egyptians told Ramadan Shallah that they [Israeli leaders] would end the ceasefire if he came to Gaza," the source said on condition of anonymity. "Islamic Jihad had contacts with the Egyptians on this question and Ramadan Shallah will most likely cancel the visit that was planned for Gaza." Hamas marks its official anniversary on December 14, but celebrations are set to begin earlier with a major rally on Saturday, when Meshaal is expected to speak.

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Earthquake hits east coast of Japan

Metre-high tsunami reported along northeast coast after earthquake with magnitude of 7.3 rocks Miyagi prefecture.

Officials issued warnings to people, urging them to seek higher ground and avoid the coast [Reuters]

A one-metre-high tsunami has hit Japan's northeast coast  following a strong earthquake, according to the country's meteorological agency. The wave was recorded on Friday in Ishinomaki, a city in Miyagi prefecture that was badly hit by the tsunami of March 2011, which killed thousands. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, struck in the Pacific Ocean off the Miyagi coast at 08:18GMT. The epicentre was 10km beneath the seabed. Buildings as far as in the capital Tokyo swayed for at least several minutes. Sayaka Matsumoto, communications officer at the Japan Red Cross, told Al Jazeera that she felt "quite [a] large shake” at her organisation’s headquarters in Tokyo. A 75-year-old woman fell and was injured while evacuating to flee from the tsunami, public television broadcaster NHK reported. It said a child was reportedly injured in the Miyagi city of Sendai. Miyagi police said they could not confirm those reports. Shortly before the earthquake struck, NHK broke off regular programming to warn that a strong quake was due to hit. Afterward, the announcer repeatedly urged all near the coast to flee to higher ground, though the Japan Meteorological Agency lifted a tsunami warning soon after. Higher ground More than an hour after the quake struck, an unnamed official from the Japan Meteorological Agency, speaking on national television, continued to warn people to stay away from the coast. "Please take all precautions. Please stay on higher ground," he said. The tsunami alert extended from the tip of the main island of Honshu nearly down to Tokyo, though the warning for the area most likely to be hit was only for the Miyagi coast. The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that struck the northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, killed or left missing some 19,000 people, devastating much of the coast. All but two of Japan's nuclear plants were shut down for checks after the earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant in the worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Immediately following Friday's quake, there were no problems at any of the nuclear plants operated by Fukushima Dai-Ichi operator Tokyo Electric Power Co, a TEPCO spokesman, Takeo Iwamoto, said. Takuya Taniguchi, All Nippon Airways spokesman, said government officials were checking on the runways at Sendai airport. The two jets that were in the air went to other airports and all seven flights scheduled to go to Sendai for the day were cancelled, he said.

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Philippine president meets typhoon survivors

Aquino promises steps to prevent future storm disasters as a reinvigorated Bopha threatens to bring flooding to Luzon.

The homeless face months in evacuation centres before safe places can be found for new homes [EPA]

The Philippine president, Benigno Aquino, has visited the southern island of Mindanao which bore the brunt of Typhoon Bopha to meet survivors who must now rebuild their lives. Hundreds of thousands of survivors of a deadly Philippines typhoon gathered on Friday into overcrowded shelters, braving the stench of corpses as the government vowed action to prevent storm disasters. Bopha, which smashed into the nation's south on Tuesday leaving at least 420 people dead and 383 missing, was the deadliest natural disaster this year in a country that is regularly hit with quakes, floods and volcanic eruptions. "We want to find out why this tragedy happened and how to keep these tragedies from happening again," Aquino told dazed crowds after arriving by helicopter in the town of New Bataan on Friday which was mostly obliterated by the storm. With Bopha leaving approximately 306,000 people homeless, the Philippine government has appealed for immediate international aid for food, tents, water purification systems and medicine. It has also said that the homeless face months in evacuation centres before safe places can be found for new homes. Storm back in strength In a surprising development on Friday, Bopha regained strength and threatened to bring flooding into parts of northern Luzon over the weekend "The winds are back up to 150 gusting 185kph. They are expected to increase to 170 gusting 200kph around 06:00 on Saturday. That makes it the equivalent of a Cat 2," Everton Fox, Al Jazeera's broadcast meteorologist, said. "Satellites show goods signs of the storm reorganising with a clearly marked eye now visible. "The storm is currently expected to stay to the west of Luzon but will bring showers or longer spells of rain across the north and more especially the northeast. It is moving very slowly and erratically at only 13kph so some areas will have heavy rain for longer. "Some parts could see 100 to 150mm over the next couple of days. The good news is that this part of the country is more capable of handling such conditions." Investigations ordered Mar Roxas, interior secretary, announced during Aquino's visit to Mindanao that more rescue workers, equipment and canine units, capable of sniffing out any people still alive beneath the rubble, were being fielded in the worst-hit areas. He said the government was also investigating why so many people were killed even when advance warnings were given in advance of the typhoon. "They should not have built houses there," Roxas said, noting many of the mining areas which are a magnet for the nation's poor had been declared unsafe for habitation due to frequent deadly landslides. Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas, reporting from Compstela Valley, said that Bopha had left most people fearing the slightest drops of rain. "Any little shower has them really seeking shelter, worried that the storm might come back," she said. She said that rescue operations are "ill-equipped" and "undermanned". "You've got the military and the police, as well as civilians actually helping out," she said. "There are still places that they haven't got to to that they are trying to get to despite the current weather conditions.

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US says pressure on Assad ‘increasing’

After meeting Russian foreign minister and UN envoy in Dublin, Clinton says "events on the ground are accelerating".

Violence has intensified around the Syrian capital Damascus in recent weeks

After a meeting with Russian officials, the US has said that efforts to finding a solution to the ongoing civil war in Syria are gaining speed on the ground. Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, met Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, in Dublin on the sidelines of a security conference on Thursday, as the 20-month war continues to near the capital Damascus. "Events on the ground in Syria are accelerating, and we see that in many different ways," Clinton said before the meeting. "The pressure against the regime in and around Damascus seems to be increasing." Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN mediator who convened the meeting, said the two sides had not made any breakthroughs, but would seek a "creative" solution to their impasse. "We have agreed that we must continue to work together to see how we can find creative ways of bringing this problem under control and hopefully starting to solve it,” he said. The US and its allies have long sought the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, while Russia has shielded him at the UN Security Council. However, comments by an ally of President Vladimir Putin on Thursday indicated Russia may be losing patience with Assad. "We have shared and continue to share the opinion that the existing government in Syria should carry out its functions, but time has shown that this task is beyond its strength," said Vladimir Vasiliyev, the head of President Putin's party in parliament, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency. NATO decided this week to send US, German and Dutch batteries of air-defence missiles to the Turkish border, meaning hundreds of American and European troops will deploy to Syria's frontier for the first time since the war began. In an interview with Lebanese news channel Al Manar on Thursday, Faisal Meqdad, Syrian deputy foreign minister, criticised NATO's move to deploy the Patriot missiles, calling the decision "provocative". "The Turkish move and NATO's support for it is a provocative move, part of psychological warfare against Syria," Meqdad said. "But if they think this will affect our determination to fight the terrorists ... they are wrong." The Syrian government often refers to the opposition fighters seeking to overthrow the government as terrorists.

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Egypt deploys tanks outside Morsi palace

At least five people have been killed and over 400 injured in overnight clashes outside the presidential palace in Cairo

At least five tanks deployed outside the Egyptian presidential palace in a street where supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi had been clashing into the early hours of the morning, witnesses said.

Egyptian state news agency said the military deployment around the palace was to secure the building.

"The Republican Guard began a deployment around the headquarters of the presidency ... to secure the headquarters of the presidency in its capacity as a symbol of the state and the official headquarters of government," the agency reported.

Nine armoured troop carriers were also reported on the street outside the palace. The violence that had stretched from Wednesday afternoon into the early hours of Thursday had abated and the streets were calm.

The soldiers' badges identified them as members of the Republican Guard, whose duties include guarding the presidency.

The state news agency also said: "General Mohammed Zaki, head of the Republican Guard tasked with protecting the president, said that "the armed forces, and the Republican Guard, will not be an instrument of oppression against protesters." 

Traffic was moving through streets strewn with rocks thrown during the violence. Hundreds of Mursi supporters were still in the area, many wrapped in blankets and some reading the Koran.

Angry mobs battled

An early Thursday report by state television quoted the Health Ministry as saying five people were killed and 446 people were injured as angry mobs battled each other with firebombs, rocks and sticks outside the presidential complex long into the night.

The fighting erupted late Wednesday afternoon when thousands of Morsi's supporters descended on an area near the presidential palace where some 300 of his opponents were staging a sit-in.

Members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood chased the protesters away from their base outside the palace's main gate and tore down their tents.

After a brief lull, hundreds of Morsi opponents arrived and began throwing firebombs at the president's backers, who responded with rocks.

The deployment of hundreds of riot police did not stop the fighting. The police later fired tear gas to disperse Morsi's opponents.

By dawn, the violence had calmed. But both sides appeared to be digging in for a long struggle, with the opposition vowing more protests later Thursday and rejecting any dialogue unless the charter is rescinded.

Morsi, for his part, seemed to be pressing relentlessly forward with plans for a December 15 constitutional referendum to pass the new charter.

The large scale and intensity of the fighting marked a milestone in Egypt's rapidly entrenched schism, pitting the Brotherhood and ultra-conservative Islamists in one camp, against liberals, leftists and Christians in the other.

The violence spread to other parts of the country on Wednesday. Anti-Morsi protesters stormed and set ablaze the Brotherhood offices in Suez and Ismailia, east of Cairo, and there were clashes in the industrial city of Mahallah and the province of Menoufiyah in the Nile Delta north of the capital.

There were rival demonstrations outside the Brotherhood's headquarters in the Cairo suburb of Moqatam and in Alexandria, security officials said senior Brotherhood official Sobhi Saleh was hospitalised after being severely beaten
by Morsi opponents.

Saleh, a former lawmaker, played a key role in drafting the disputed constitution. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Compounding Morsi's woes, four of his advisers resigned Wednesday, joining two other members of his 17-member advisory panel who have abandoned him since the crisis began.

The opposition is demanding that Morsi rescind the decrees giving him nearly unrestricted powers and shelve the controversial draft constitution, which the president's Islamist allies rushed through last week in a marathon, all-night session shown live on state TV.

Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading opposition reform advocate, said late Wednesday that Morsi's rule was "no different" than Mubarak's.

"In fact, it is perhaps even worse," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate told a news conference after he accused the president's supporters of a "vicious and deliberate" attack on peaceful demonstrators outside the palace.

"Cancel the constitutional declarations, postpone the referendum, stop the bloodshed, and enter a direct dialogue with the national forces," he wrote on his Twitter account, addressing Morsi.

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Syrian forces pound Damascus outskirts

Activist group says troops targeted rebel positions with artillery and air strikes in bid to secure the capital.

Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad have been trying to establish a secure perimeter around Damascus [AFP]

Syrian forces have pounded rebel positions around Damascus with artillery and air strikes in the latest attempt by the government to secure the capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. The London-based group, which relies on a network of local activists for its information, said on Sunday the fighting broke out in Irbin, a town east of Damascus. It gave no figures on casaulties in Sunday's fighting but put Saturday's death toll from violence across the country at 116. The SOHR said troops also shelled Zabadani to the northwest of the capital and the village of Mliha, leaving many people wounded. Mliha, southeast of Damascus, is located in the region of Eastern Ghouta, where troops have launched a drive to secure the airport highway. Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, have been trying to establish a secure perimeter around Damascus, turning the region into one of the main battlegrounds in the country's 20-month conflict, which has killed at least 40,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee the country. In Saturday's fighting, warplanes hit the Damascus suburbs of Kafar Souseh and Darraya, according to the SOHR. "Syrian regular forces are trying to control the areas surrounding the capital," it said. Bombings targeted a continuous arc of rebel presence in the capital's outer districts from the northeast to the southwest. Opposition activists reported clashes and air strikes in the provinces of Homs, Deir al-Zor, Idlib and in Aleppo, where they said 14 rebel fighters were killed during an assault on an army base in the town of Khanasser early on Saturday. It is difficult to verify such reports due to government restrictions on media access to Syria. Internet restored Meanwhile, Syria's Internet connections were restored on Saturday after a two-day blackout, the worst communications outage since the uprising began. In-depth coverage of escalating violence across Syria The internet was back in most parts of the country, including in Damascus, the northern city of Aleppo, the central cities of Homs and Hama, and the coastal city of Tartus, residents in the areas told Al Jazeera. Renesys, a US-based firm that monitors online activity, confirmed a "largely complete" restoration of internet service in Syria. Experts said the outage was highly likely to have been caused by the state. Assad's government has previously been accused of cutting internet and telephone connections to block opposition activist and rebel communications. Authorities had attributed the latest outage to a "terrorist" attack or a technical fault. The government frequently uses the term terrorist to describe opposition fighters.

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War crimes suspects in Kenya 'poll alliance'

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and ex-minister William Roto are due to unveil their alliance on Sunday.

Kenya would be forced to act on any arrest warrant issued by the ICC should the pair refuse to attend trial. [Reuters]

Two Kenyan leaders suspected of war crimes are reported to have entered into an alliance for the upcoming presidential elections in March. Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and ex-minister William Roto are expected to unveil their alliance at a rally on Sunday at Nakuru, some 150km northwest of the capital Nairobi. Reports said Uhuru would run for president while Ruto would contest as his deputy. The move is seen by some as a sign of moving beyond Kenya's bitter ethnic hatred that erupted into bloody post-election violence. Both Uhuru and Ruto face charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their alleged role in having orchestrated post-election violence in 2007-2009 that killed at least 1,100 and displaced more than 600,000. Kenyatta faces five charges of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, persecution, deportation and other inhumane acts, while Ruto faces three charges of crimes against humanity. Both have claimed their innocence, remain free and have promised to cooperate with the court. Kenya, as a signatory of the Rome Statute of the ICC, would be forced to act on any arrest warrant issued by the court should the pair refuse to attend trial. Paradoxical coincidence The ICC trials, set to begin on April 10, could coincide with the elections, set for March 4, but which potentially could enter a second round vote within a month. The pair received a boost this week after the unexpected withdrawal of a petition seeking a court ruling on whether they are eligible to run, as under a new constitution adopted in 2010 those holding public office and charged with a crime must step down. The violence shattered Kenya's image as a beacon of stability in east Africa when the then-opposition leader Raila Odinga accused President Mwai Kibaki of rigging his way to re-election. What began as political riots quickly turned into ethnic killings of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, which launched reprisal attacks, plunging Kenya into its worst wave of violence since independence in 1963. Despite efforts to heal the wounds of the ethnic killings four years ago, tensions still run deep between communities, with many key grievances that fed into the violence -- most notably land ownership rights -- still unresolved. Several presidential hopefuls are expected to unveil alliances ahead of a Tuesday deadline, including Kenyatta's expected main challenger, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, himself a former ally of Ruto.

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Microsoft and Google race for online shopping

Tech giants battle for most honest search engine for online shopping, while some analysts say both lack transparency.

Some analysts say both companies are less than transparent about how their shopping engines work [GALLO/GETTY]

Just in time for the holiday season, Microsoft and Google are engaged in a bitter dispute over who is the fairest search engine for online shopping - the latest battle in the war between the two tech giants. Microsoft's argues on their newly created page, "Scroogled", that its rival has reversed course on its pledge at the time of the Google stock offering to avoid paid ad inclusion for search results. "Google shopping it nothing more than a list of targeted ads that unsuspecting customers assume as search results" Microsoft claims. Google announced earlier this year it would revamp its product search to become a shopping service with paid listings. This eliminated merchants which opted not to pay, including some notable ones such as Amazon. Microsoft has been busy campaigning on and offline with ads "demonstrating why consumers should be concerned and helping them take action" on the Google shift, a Microsoft statement said. "We're also calling on Google to stop this 'pay-to-rank' system for their shopping results and give shoppers what they expect - an honest search." Google maintains that merchants cannot improve their ranks simply by paying more, and that sellers who have a financial stake in the results will keep their information up to date. Less than transparent But some analysts say both companies are less than transparent about how their shopping engines work, and that Microsoft is not without blame. Danny Sullivan, analyst with the website Search Engine Land, said of the Microsoft effort: "Great campaign, if it were true. It's not. Bing itself does the same thing it accuses Google of." Sullivan told AFP news agency that "at least Google has the fine print that you can read; Microsoft doesn't have it at all." He noted that Google merely adopted the same policies of most shopping sites, which use paid listings even if they appear to be an impartial search. Microsoft, according to Sullivan, excludes new merchants from Bing search results if they do not pay for inclusion with its partner, Shopping.com, even though this is not fully transparent to consumers. "Payment is a factor for ranking," in Bing, says Sullivan, who maintains that Microsoft's campaign is misleading. Microsoft says its own shopping results through Bing are not influenced by payment. "While merchants can pay fees for inclusion on our third party shopping sites... we do not rank merchants higher based on who pays us, nor do we let merchants pay to have their product offers placed higher in Bing Shopping's search results," said Stefan Weitz, senior director at Bing, in an emailed statement. The overall message from the latest row, according to Sullivan: "You need to shop around. Use multiple search engines. All of them that suggest that they are gathering stuff from across the Web but may not be doing that."

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Egypt's top court on indefinite strike

Constitutional Court judges cease work after court house is blocked by President Morsi's supporters ahead of key ruling.

President Morsi has given himself near absolute powers, placing himself and assembly above any oversight [Reuters]

Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court has shelved its work indefinitely after protests by President Mohamed Morsi's supporters outside its headquarters prevented judges from meeting. "The court registers its deep regret and pain at the methods of psychological assassination of its judges" - Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court "[The judges] announce the suspension of the court sessions until the time when they can continue their message and rulings in cases without any psychological and material pressures," the court said in a statement on Sunday. "The court registers its deep regret and pain at the methods of psychological assassination of its judges," it said. The top court had earlier announced it had postponed its ruling on the legitimacy of the constituent assembly, citing "administrative'' reasons. It is not known whether a new date has been set for the ruling. Any ruling from the court would be a direct challenge to Morsi - who last month gave himself near absolute powers, placing himself and the assembly above any oversight, including by the judiciary - and could further undermine the charter's legitimacy. Public referendum Meanwhile, anti-Morsi protesters continued to occupy Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday morning, a day after the president called for a December 15 public referendum on a draft constitution after receiving a copy of the document. Inside Story: The president's new powers   He called for the vote in a speech on Saturday night before members of the constituent assembly, the 100-member panel that drafted the controversial document. Morsi is accused by his detrators of usurping sweeping powers and pushing his Muslim Brotherhood agenda in drawing up the draft constitution. Judges have threatened to boycott observing the referendum, and the secular opposition promised a civil disobedience campaign. The presidency has been locked in a power struggle with the judiciary and secular and Christian activists since November 22, when Morsi granted himself wide-ranging power to issue decrees which would not be subject to judicial review.

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