Russia president criticizes ruling party over vote

ST.PETERSBURG, Russia — Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday sharply criticized officials in the ruling Kremlin-backed party for manipulating recent regional votes, saying it must learn to win fairly.

Medvedev's statement marked a rare criticism of the United Russia party led by his predecessor and mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. United Russia is a power base for Putin, who has not ruled out a return to the presidency in 2012.

Speaking before a major party meeting in St. Petersburg also attended by Putin, Medvedev accused some of United Russia's regional branches of using their dominance and official connections to shape the election results in their favor.

He said the party must "free itself of such people and shed such bad political habits."

"Elections must express the people's will in free competition between ideas and programs, but they turn into a different story when democratic procedures are mixed with administrative ones," he said. He did not elaborate.

Most top federal and regional officials in Russia are United Russia members, and the opposition has accused the party of using its leverage to rig the vote. Independent election observers and opposition parties, including the Communists, protested what they said were mass electoral violations during October's local elections, citing evidence of multiple voting and ballot stuffing.

Opposition candidates claim they were hindered from campaigning and some were denied places on the ballot.

"Democracy isn't for parties, either ruling or opposition ones, it's for the people," Medvedev said. He added on a softer note that United Russia is strong enough to retain its dominance without undermining democratic standards.

"It's necessary to modernize the party, make it more flexible and open," Medvedev said. "You must learn to win in open struggle."

Both Putin and Medvedev previously defended United Russia in post-election comments, while adding that claims of violations need to be investigated and the culprits punished. Medvedev's statement Saturday was likely aimed at deflecting criticism of the vote rather than challenging Putin's dominance of Russia's political landscape.

Police on Saturday detained 13 members of the National Bolsheviks, a banned leftist opposition group, as they were heading to the meeting to hand Medvedev a letter urging him to fire Putin, said Andrei Dmitriyev, a group leader.

He said the petition also voiced support for Medvedev's modernization drive, urged the president to stop relying on United Russia and allow more political freedoms.

Since assuming the presidency last year, Medvedev has sought to cast himself as a more liberal-leaning politician than Putin, who rolled back many post-Soviet freedoms during his eight-year presidency.

But most observers point out that his call to liberalize has been limited to words rather than actions, and see Putin as the man who continues to call the shots.

Medvedev's state-of-the-nation speech earlier this month focused on the need to shed Russia's dependence on oil and gas exports and ease an inflated state role in the economy. It was interpreted by some analysts as a sign of his desire to distance himself from Putin and shed his legacy.

But Putin made similar calls for easing dependence on raw materials in his speech at Saturday's congress and hailed Medvedev's modernization goals.

Putin also took the credit for recent signs of economic recovery and pledged that his Cabinet would continue to support industries hit by the economic crisis.

He said that the government would continue to support the troubled carmaker AvtoVAZ. AvtoVAZ, Russia's largest automaker, has seen demand for its Lada cars fall sharply in 2009 due to the economic downturn and plans to lay off a quarter of its 102,000 workers.

Putin offered to stimulate demand for new cars though an initiative similar to the U.S. "cash-for-clunkers" program. He said the government would offer 50,000 rubles (about US$,1800 or $1,200) to car owners willing to trade in their old vehicles for new Russian-made ones.

He said that Russia's gross domestic product would fall by 8-8.5 percent this year, less than initially expected, and that the nation should regain the pre-crisis pace of growth in two or three years.

Associated Press writer Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

Somali pirates get $3.3M ransom, free 36 hostages

MOGADISHU, Somalia — As a Spanish warship looked on, a $3.3 million ransom was delivered by boat Tuesday and Somali pirates freed a Spanish trawler and its 36 crew members.

Spain's prime minister did little to deny paying off the hijackers — one reason the lucrative attacks are on the rise.

"The government did what it had to do," Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference in Madrid. "The important thing is that the sailors will be back with us. The first obligation of a country, of the government of a state, is to save the lives of its countrymen."

Somali pirates attacked two more ships on Monday and still hold about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew, including a British couple who were taken from their 38-foot sailboat last month.

Ali Gab, a self-described pirate, told The Associated Press the hijackers of the Spanish tuna boat Alakrana were paid $3.3 million in ransom, delivered by boat as sailors aboard a nearby warship watched.

After being freed, the trawler steamed away under the protection of two Spanish warships. All crew members were reported to be in good health after more than six weeks in captivity.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told a news conference the Alakrana was headed for the Seychelles, where U.S. surveillance drones and several warships belonging to a multinational force are based.

The pirates had been pressing for the release of two colleagues captured by Spanish naval forces a day after the hijacking. The Spanish government had been trying to find some sort of legal formula that would allow it to try them and send them back to Somalia.

The two were charged with kidnapping and related charges Monday. De la Vega declined to say if Spain might seek some sort of agreement with Somalia.

"Now is the time for justice," she said. "Our prosecutors are acting in line with the principle of legality and impartiality, and our judges, who are an independent branch, will issue the verdict they deem appropriate."

Somali villager Ali Ahmed Salad said 12 armed pirates left the Alakrana shortly after noon on Tuesday and joined colleagues near the pirate-controlled town of Haradhere.

In April 2008, the Spanish government reportedly paid a ransom of $1.2 million to win the release of another Spanish trawler seized by pirates off Somalia with 26 crew members on board. That ordeal lasted a week.

Pirate attacks have been on the rise because the millions of dollars a successful hijacking can bring is a windfall in impoverished and war-ravaged Somalia.

The recent end of the monsoon season has brought calmer seas, allowing easier sailing for pirate skiffs that continue to take vessels despite the presence of an armada of warships from the United States, the European Union, NATO, Japan, South Korea and China.

The trawler had been seized Oct. 2 with 16 Spaniards, eight Indonesians and 12 crew from five African countries on board.

The sister of the second-in-command of the Alakrana spoke to her brother after his release.

"It took them by surprise and they still cannot really believe it," said Argi Galbarriatu, the sister of Iker Galbarriatu. "He told me the word to describe it is that they are relieved, and eager to get to port and come home."

Britain has refused to pay ransom for Paul and Rachel Chandler, whose boat — the Lynn Rival — was taken by pirates on Oct. 23.

Authorities believe the Chandlers, who are in their 50s, are being held on land in Somalia. Pirates have demanded $7 million for their release — money the Chandlers' relatives say the couple doesn't have.

Pirates attacked two vessels Monday, capturing the chemical tanker MV Theresa and its crew of 28 North Koreans, the EU anti-piracy force said. In the second incident, pirates attacked a Ukrainian cargo ship with AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU's anti-piracy force, said the Ukrainian vessel got away after private security guards on board fired on the pirates, wounding two. However, a purported spokesman for the pirates, Gedi Ali, said the ship was captured.

Pirate attacks in 2009 already have exceeded last year's total off the Horn of Africa, an international maritime watchdog group reported last month. A total of 306 attacks were reported between January and September, surpassing the 293 incidents recorded throughout 2008, according to the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Associated Press Writer Daniel Woolls contributed from Madrid.

Human remains found in N.B.; believed to be that of missing girl, 16, police say

TRACADIE-SHEILA, N.B. — Human remains believed to be that of Hilary Bonnell, a 16-year-old girl whose disappearance gripped residents of a New Brunswick native community for two months, have been found, police said Friday.

Police announced they found the remains buried in a remote wooded location in the Tracadie-Sheila area, about an hour away from the Esgenoopetitj First Nation, more commonly known as Burnt Church, where Bonnell was last seen.

RCMP Insp. Roch Fortin said a suspect in her death is in custody, but no charges have been laid.

At a news conference, Fortin extended his sympathies to Bonnell's family, saying the past two months have been painful for them.

"They have been strong through this and patient," Fortin said.

"Some of the information they supplied contributed to help us find what happened to Hilary."

Fortin said evidence gathered last week during searches in Tabusintac and Burnt Church led police to the remote location.

"This investigation has been one of the most difficult and complicated that most senior investigators here have faced, and even the location where we recovered the human remains was difficult to reach," Fortin said, adding that an RCMP vehicle was damaged trying to navigate the difficult terrain.

Bonnell vanished on Sept. 5 after attending a house party the night before.

The girl's last confirmed sighting was recorded on surveillance footage that morning at a convenience store in the community.

Since then a major search was conducted and a combined reward of close to $18,000 was offered for information leading to her return.

The location where the remains were found is part of a former military training area.

Fortin said an autopsy would be conducted Saturday on the remains to confirm the identity, but he said other evidence gathered at the scene also suggested it was Bonnell.

Throughout the ordeal, Bonnell's mother Pamela Fillier has said that her daughter was not the type to run away, and that someone must have been responsible for her disappearance.

Fortin said that Fillier was a great benefit to the investigation with information and with spiritual support.

"A tobacco offering was given to us by the mother," he said Friday. "When she gave it to us, the same day, we got our major break in the investigation that allowed us to recover Hilary."

Fortin said there is still a lot of police work to complete, and would not suggest when charges might be laid.

"There is still some work to be done, but I think today the important part is the fact that Hilary has been found and has been brought home," he said.

Spain calls for blockade of Somali pirate ports

MADRID — Spain wants EU naval forces to blockade three Somali ports used to launch pirate attacks against ships in the Indian Ocean, Defence Minister Carme Chacon said Wednesday.

She said Spain will call on European Union foreign and defence ministers to concentrate military efforts on blockading the ports at a meeting next Monday and Tuesday.

"We know that it is from these three ports that most, if not all, 'mother ships' used by pirates reach up to one thousand miles away from the coast -- as they did yesterday -- and carry out kidnappings far from the coast," she told RNE public radio.

Chacon also said the pirate gangs "have ties to sophisticated law firms in London," and she called for the international community to do more to track ransoms given to pirates to release hostages.

Several law firms in London, business capital of the world's maritime industry, have handled piracy kidnap and ransom cases in recent years.

They help ship owners deal with the legal aspects of paying a ransom and engage private security contractors to negotiate with pirates and carry out the ransom drop.

Pirates on Monday launched their longest range hijack attempt to date by opening fire on the Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker BW Lion 1,000 nautical miles east of Mogadishu, the EU naval force in the region said.

The next day pirates attacked the Danish-flagged container ship Nelle Maersk, also some 1,000 nautical miles east of the Somali capital.

Both ships escaped their attackers but the incidents demonstrated how beefed-up security off the Somalia coast appears to be leading pirates to move deeper into the Indian Ocean and its shipping lanes linking Asia and Europe.

Chacon said the attacks so far from the Somalia coast were a "giant step" for the pirates who she said were becoming bolder.

The pirates usually use "mother ships" to sail hundreds of miles out to sea and then attack in small skiffs, sometimes using high-grade weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades.

"These are not romantic pirates which some may be led to imagine, they are authentic criminal organisations which are focused on kidnappings of all types merchant ships, fishing trawlers, ships belonging to the World Food Programme," said Chacon.

The minister said Somali pirates were currently holding 12 boats and their crews hostage, including the Spanish trawler Alakrana which was seized with its 36 crew on October 2, as well as vessles from Britain, China and Malta.

The pirates are demanding four million dollars (2.6 million euros) ransom as well as the release of two suspected pirates who were detained a few days after the trawler was seized and brought to Spain to face trial.

The Spanish government has ruled out freeing the two suspects but Chacon said they could serve their sentence back in Somalia if found guilty of any crime.

A lawyer for one of the two detained suspected pirates, Javier Diaz Aparicio, told Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo he was trying to reach a plea bargain agreement with Spanish prosecutors.

In an interview with news radio Cadena Ser on Tuesday he suggested that his salary was being paid for by the interior ministry.

Japan offers aid to Afghanistan

Japan's Government has pledged $5bn (£3bn) in new aid to Afghanistan over the next five years.

The decision comes days before US President Barack Obama visits Tokyo.

Japan's centre-left government has said it will end a naval refuelling mission in support of US led efforts in Afghanistan.

Since coming to power in September the government also said it was working on a plan to would offer more civilian aid instead.

Japan's Government has been working on a plan to offer more aid to Afghanistan since announcing it would end a mission by the Maritime Self Defence Force to supply fuel to assist US-led operations in the country.

Now there is a figure - $5bn (£3bn) over the next five years.

It is likely to be used for job training, helping former Taliban fighters to reintegrate with society, and for agriculture and infrastructure development.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is expected to discuss details of the scheme with US President Barack Obama when he visits Japan on Friday.

Mr Hatoyama took power in September after winning a landslide in a general election which ended more than half a century of almost unbroken power for the conservative Liberal Democratic Party.

His Democratic Party of Japan wants a more equal relationship with the United States.

The alliance, half a century old next year, is critical to Japan's security and a cornerstone of American policy in Asia. One source of tension is the planned relocation of an American military base on the southern island of Okinawa.

The United States is resisting Japan's attempts to reopen negotiations, saying it would undermine a broader agreement to a reorganise the nearly 50,000 strong American force in the country.

APEC to maintain stimulus till recovery in place: draft

SINGAPORE — APEC leaders will maintain hefty stimulus packages until they secure a "durable" recovery from the global economic slowdown, according to a draft communique obtained by AFP Friday.

"We will maintain our economic stimulus policies until a durable economic recovery is secured," the draft said, stressing that "economic recovery is not yet on a solid footing".

Leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, including the United States and China, will meet in Singapore on November 14-15 to discuss global economic recovery, environmental issues and free trade.

The administration of US President Barack Obama -- who will attend APEC -- implemented a 787-billion-dollar Recovery Act in February which the White House says has saved or created nearly 650,000 jobs, and likely more than a million.

The Asian packages totalled more than one trillion US dollars, according to a tally by Standard and Poor's, led by 585 billion dollars in spending by China.

The APEC summit's host, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said this week that winding down the stimulus packages to make way for growth led by the private sector should be managed carefully.

"How exactly it has to be phased out... and how you balance the risks of withdrawing too quickly and administering too much adrenalin, that is something which will have to be discussed by the finance ministers and the central banks and calibrated as we go along," he said.

US envoys hold rare meeting with Myanmar PM: official

YANGON — The highest-level US officials to visit Myanmar in 14 years held talks Wednesday with the military-ruled country's prime minister, Thein Sein, a Myanmar official said.

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scot Marciel met Thein Sein in the administrative capital Naypyidaw on the second and final day of their trip.

"They are meeting now," a Myanmar official said on condition of anonymity.

The US duo were due to meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi later Wednesday in the former capital, Yangon.

One person dead, another in hospital, after shooting in Surrey, B.C.

SURREY, B.C. — A woman is dead and a man is in hospital with serious injuries after a double shooting at a house party in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.

Police were called to the house in Surrey early Saturday morning, when they found both people suffering from gunshot wounds.

The woman died at the scene, while the man was taken to hospital for surgery, although his injuries aren't believed to be life-threatening.

Cpl. Dale Carr with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the house has a reputation as an after-hours party house.

Carr says there were more than a dozen people in the house at the time, and they've spoken to witnesses.

Police haven't released any names.

North Toronto home destroyed by explosion

Police and fire officials suspect a natural gas leak may be responsible for an explosion that ripped through a home in north Toronto on Wednesday night.

The explosion and subsequent fire destroyed a bungalow in the Keele Street and Lawrence Avenue West neighbourhood — but only resulted in relatively minor injuries to five of the home's six occupants.

Neighbours reported a loud boom just before 10 p.m. and called 911.

The half a dozen people inside the home — four men, a woman and an infant — all managed to scramble to safety, though one of the men was badly injured.

The men were taken to hospital to be treated for burns on their hands and arms. One of the men remains in hospital with third-degree burns.

The woman and the infant managed to escape with only minor cuts and bruises.

Roy Law, platoon chief for the Toronto fire department's north command, said it took firefighters more than an hour to get the flames under control.

"The first-in crews were reporting extensive fire and smoke and were requiring additional apparatus," said Law.

The home was destroyed by the explosion and fire.

The Ontario Fire Marshal's Office has been asked to investigate.

Police and firefighters evacuated several homes in the neighbourhood as an added precaution.

Zimbabwe leaders in split unity government meet

HARARE, Zimbabwe — An aide to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says the former opposition leader who has temporarily withdrawn from a coalition with President Robert Mugabe has held a four-hour meeting with Zimbabwe's longtime leader.

James Maridadi said Monday that Tsvangirai met with Mugabe for the first time since the prime minister pulled out of the unity government Oct. 16.

They were joined by their coalition partner, deputy prime minister Arthur Mutambara.

The leaders made no comment after the meeting but Maridadi said Tsvangirai would issue a statement Tuesday.

Tsvangirai withdrew from the coalition, citing a lack of co-operation and human rights abuses by Mugabe and his party.

Mugabe, 85, has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.