US and China military heads hold tentative meeting

(CNN) -- The first tentative step toward a consistent relationship between the United States' and China's militaries started Monday with a meeting between U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie.

The meeting, at a defense minister meeting for Asian countries in Hanoi, Vietnam, was "constructive," Gates said at a news conference later in the day. China had stopped military dialog with the United States after the Obama administration announced a planned sale of arms to Taiwan earlier this year.

The Chinese defense minister invited Gates to China, and the U.S. secretary of defense accepted.

The meeting seemed to skirt one major issue: China's actions at sea. According to Gates, the two did not talk about the recent skirmish between China and Japan in the South Seas. Gates said he felt that discussion should be left for conference meetings on Tuesday about maritime security.

CNN

Rwandan rebel leader arrested in France

(CNN) -- A Rwandan rebel leader was arrested Monday in Paris, France, under an International Criminal Court warrant involving mass rape and other crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the court announced.

Callixte Mbarushimana, a leader of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR in its French-language acronym, is charged with 11 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes including rape, gender-based persecution and property destruction by the FDLR in 2009, the ICC statement said.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo thanked authorities in France, Germany, Congo and Rwanda for their help in the arrest of Mbarushimana, calling it a "crucial step in efforts to prosecute the massive sexual crimes committed in the DRC," the statement said.

The ICC statement called Mbarushimana the first senior leader arrested for the atrocities in North and South Kivu provinces of Congo.

The FDLR comprises mainly Hutu extremists who fled to Congo after taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

CNN

Fort Hood shooting suspect faces military hearing on charges

Fort Hood, Texas (CNN) -- On the fifth day of every month, the loved ones of soldiers killed and wounded in the Fort Hood shootings last year make sure to think positive thoughts instead of dwelling on the carnage of last November 5.

"We call ourselves a family; that's how we cope," Jessica Hansen, the fiance of wounded Staff Sgt. Patrick Zeigler, told CNN on Monday. "We mark the fifth of every month. All of us do. Instead of using that to mark something tragic, we try to use that day to mark our accomplishments and our feats".

On Tuesday, Hansen and the others will finally learn more about what happened last November when the alleged gunman, Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, is wheeled into a military courtroom for the start of a hearing to determine if he'll be court-martialed.

Hasan, 40, is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32 in the shooting spree at this sprawling Army post. He's paralyzed from the upper chest down after civilian police shot him four times.

The Article 32 hearing, like a civilian grand jury, will consider the evidence against Hasan and decide whether the case will move forward to a court-martial that could bring the death penalty. Unlike a grand jury, the hearing is open to the public, and both the defense and prosecution can present witnesses and evidence.

Army prosecutors have refused to speak publicly about the case or release a witness list. They are expected to call every person wounded in the shootings, as well as others, to provide a second-by-second account of what happened on November 5, 2009.

CNN

Tropical Storm Paula forms in the Caribbean

(CNN) -- Tropical Storm Paula, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, has formed in the Caribbean, the National Hurricane Center said Monday.

Hurricane warnings have been issued for parts of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, including Cancun and Cozumel. Heavy rains are expected to hit parts of Central America and Mexico, including Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize and the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula.

The disturbance developed quickly during the afternoon and was expected to intensify into a hurricane by noon Tuesday if not sooner, CNN Meteorologist Dave Hennen said.

The official forecast has the storm remaining in the western Caribbean over the next five days. But models predicting its track vary widely: Some predict the system will move south, while others take the storm over Cuba, the Bahamas or south Florida.

It is too early to tell what effect Paula might have on the United States.

CNN

Military-grade explosives found at New York cemetery

New York (CNN) -- Eight sticks of military-grade explosives were found Monday at the New York City Marble Cemetery in the East Village of Manhattan, the police commissioner said.

The explosives were dug up in May or June 2009 by a groundskeeper and laid aside, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters. A volunteer cleaning inside the cemetery found the bag on Sunday. Monday, he called police, Kelly said.

The explosives were not set up or wired to detonate.

Each stick is about one and a quarter pounds, said Kelly, who identified the powerful explosive as C-4.

"Inside a building, obviously it could have caused an awful lot of damage," he said.

Kelly added the material would be taken to a police firing range by members of a bomb squad.

CNN

Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland dies at age 83

(CNN) -- Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland, dubbed "La Stupenda" by opera lovers, died Sunday at age 83 in her home in Switzerland after a long illness.

In a career spanning the last half of the 1900s, Sutherland twice won a Grammy for best classical performer, in 1961 and 1981.

Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the Recording Academy, described Sutherland as possessing "an organic and elegant voice with astonishing range, vibrance and sense of drama".

"Throughout her extraordinary four-decade career, she performed with such greats as Luciano Pavarotti and before audiences in opera houses across the globe. Her legacy lives on in the beautiful arias with which she graced the world," Portnow said in a written statement.

Her stage career began in 1951 in her native Sydney in a production of "Judith" by Eugene Goossens, according to a spokesman with her recording company, Decca Records. She signed with Decca in 1959.

Over the next 30 years, she made 40 recordings of 33 operas, as well as operatic highlights, anthologies and collections ranging from baroque rarities to songs by Noel Coward, a personal friend to her.

Sutherland was often accompanied on stage or in studios by mentor and husband Richard Bonynge, and regular vocal partners included mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne and the tenor Pavarotti.

Her last stage appearance was with both performers in Act 2 of "Die Fledermaus" at The Royal Opera House in London, England's Covent Garden on December 31, 1989.

CNN

Russian Orthodox Church opens channel on YouTube

The Russian Orthodox Church officially opened its channel on the YouTube video content service at a presentation on Monday.

The presentation took place at the fourth international festival of Orthodox Christian media entitled Faith and Word in downtown Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia blessed the channel and said it is called upon to make the Church closer to young people.

"We are doing this just to make the word of God, divine wisdom and the law of God, which is the law of life, closer to the life of the modern person, especially the youth," the head of the Russian Church said in a video address on YouTube.

Kirill said he will be glad if those watching video materials on the hosting service "feel interest in the Church's life".

"YouTube is a noticeable phenomenon in modern cultural life. Hundreds of millions of people use this system to obtain information on the Internet through their personal computers," he said.

"It is very important that church representation is now appearing in this system," the patriarch said.

The channel will offer the Church's opinion on urgent issues, cover the patriarch's services and inform the viewers of the key events in church life.

RIA Novosti

Days of waiting marked by brief moments of joy in Chile

As the 33 trapped Chilean miners prepare for a long-awaited ride to the surface, family members are enduring their own emotional roller coaster.

Days of waiting are punctuated by brief celebrations of milestones in the rescue effort at the San José mine site in northern Chile.

Joyful moments tend to be short-lived, anxiety returning with the realization that it will still be days before their loved ones might be returned to the surface.

The latest milestone came early Monday, when the process of encasing the first 96 meters of the rescue shaft was completed at 4 a.m. ET.

Celebration erupted early Saturday when news broke that the Plan B drill had pierced through to the miners, a major step forward in bringing the miners above ground. Horns blew, bells rang, and family members embraced, rushing to a nearby hill where Chilean flags were planted in honor of each of the trapped miners.

Officials have been diligent in keeping family members notified of the progress in the rescue efforts. Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne has been making the rounds to each of the makeshift base camps set up by the families. During an impromptu visit with relatives of Kaky Lobos on Sunday night, he answered some questions - but mostly just tried to make an otherwise unbearable situation livable.

The thirst for information extends beyond the family to the myriad members of the national and worldwide press. Cameras and boom microphones quickly swarm the car of any official entering or exiting the gate leading to the mine, hoping for an update.

CNN

Microsoft launches Windows Phone 7 smartphones

Microsoft has launched Windows Phone 7, its latest attempt to break into the lucrative smartphone market.

Until now the company has failed to provide a credible challenge to rival operating systems from Apple, Google, Research in Motion and Nokia.

Mobile phone operators predict smartphones will have a 70% market share in just three years.

Microsoft says it has made Windows Phone 7 more user-friendly, rebuilding the operating system from bottom up.

The phone system's experience is built around so-called hubs that aggregate content like contacts, pictures, documents, and music and video. The content on the phone is then synchronised both with storage services on the internet and the owner's computers at home.

At launch Microsoft's new phone system will be available on nine phones, and with 60 operators in 30 countries.

In the UK the phone will launch on 21 October, while the US launch will be in early November.

BBC News

Banksy tags 'The Simpsons' opening sequence

British street artist Banksy brought his vision to Springfield last night by directing the opening sequence for "The Simpsons," but his work might not necessarily have everyone laughing.

The sequence opens with the camera traveling through the streets of the Simpsons' fictitious hometown, past a billboard tagged with "Banksy" graffiti and landing in Springfield Elementary School, where bad boy Bart is scrawling "I will not write all over the walls" on a blackboard – and on the walls, of course.

Bart journeys via skateboard to the Simpson home and joins parents Homer and Marge and sisters Lisa and Maggie on the couch to watch TV – and then things take a dramatic turn.

Suddenly, the family appears on the giant screen of a grim animation factory, where Asian workers drearily draw the "Simpsons" cartoon while haunting music plays (a reference to the Seoul, South Korea, animation studio where the Fox series is created, perhaps?).

"Simpsons" T-shirts are wheeled through the cavernous factory, which is filled with rats and human skeletons, and cats are thrown into a woodchipper to make stuffing for Bart Simpson dolls, which are then carted off by a panda bear.

The Banksy sequence ends with a malnourished unicorn - which is chained to a wall and used to puncture holes in the center of "Simpsons" DVDs – collapsing before an image of the 20th Century Fox logo is shown surrounded by barbed wire, searchlights and a watchtower.

CNN

Rwanda rebel FDLR leader Mbarushimana held in France

A leader of the Rwandan FDLR rebel group has been arrested in France on war crimes charges, the International Criminal Court says.

In a sealed warrant, Callixte Mbarushimana is accused of 11 counts of murder, rape and other crimes committed during the long conflict in DR Congo.

He last year told the BBC he denied any responsibility for war crimes and said FDLR fighters did not attack civilians.

FDLR fighters were recently accused of raping hundreds of people in DR Congo.

Again, the mainly Hutu FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) denied links to the attacks around the eastern Congolese town of Luvungi.

Some FDLR leaders have been accused of taking part in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda.

After a Tutsi-dominated group took power in Rwanda, they fled into what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, sparking years of unrest in the region.

BBC News

Argentina protests British military exercises on disputed Falklands

(CNN) -- The Argentine government continued to sound the alarm Monday about British plans to conduct military exercises on the Falkland Islands.

The Argentine ambassador to the United Nations, Jorge Arguello, said Argentina plans to alert U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the British military exercises, which Argentine President Cristina Kirchner has condemned as "grave, very grave".

The ambassador said the Argentine mission also planned to ask Ban for U.N. help in negotiations between Argentina and the United Kingdom.

The British Foreign Office, meanwhile, downplayed the exercises.

"These are routine military tests that have taken place every six months for the past 28 years, most recently in April this year," an office spokesman said. "Shipping alerts are always issued in advance and the tests take place entirely within Falklands territorial waters".

The disputed Falkland Islands, known as the Malvinas in Argentina, lie off the South American country's coast in the South Atlantic. The islands have been under British rule since 1833.

Argentina invaded the Falklands in 1982, prompting a war in which more than 600 Argentinean and 255 British military personnel died. Britain retained control of the islands after the war.

CNN

FBI joins search for missing girl

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 11 (UPI) -- The FBI has joined in the search for a hearing-impaired 10-year-old girl who disappeared from her North Carolina home, officials said.

Zahra Clare Baker was last seen sleeping in her bed early Saturday morning in Hickory, and was reported missing that afternoon by her father and stepmother, The Charlotte Observer reported Monday.

Libby Grigg, assistant to the Hickory police chief, said the father, Adam Baker, and his wife Elisa, told police they last saw Zahra about 2:30 a.m. Saturday when they heard her coughing in bed.

Elisa Baker was arrested and jailed on several unrelated charges Sunday, and has not been ruled out as a suspect in the girl's disappearance. She is a "person of interest" because of inconsistencies in information she gave to police, the newspaper said.

Police said an abduction by a stranger is "less likely" than originally believed.

UPI

Pastor Jones has rally; only 10 show up

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 11 (UPI) -- The Florida pastor who threatened to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11 drew just 10 people to his weekend "Stand Up America" rally in Tampa, officials said.

The Rev. Terry Jones captured worldwide attention and sparked riots in Pakistan and Afghanistan after saying he said he would burn copies of the Muslim holy book on the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, but his ability to attract attention is waning, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Monday.

He called off the Koran burning at his Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville last month after widespread condemnation.

Jones had hired off-duty police to provide security for crowds that failed to materialize Sunday at a rented Tampa Convention ballroom, the newspaper said.

UPI

LeT are freedom fighters, Musharraf says

LONDON, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Pakistani militant groups likes Lashkar-e-Toiba are freedom fighters waging a campaign for the rights of the people of Kashmir, Pervez Musharraf said.

Musharraf, the former Pakistani president, said in a weekend interview with New Delhi broadcaster NDTV that he felt LeT and its counterparts were fighting for a noble cause in parts of Kashmir.

"From our point of view anyone who is fighting in Kashmir, your part of Kashmir, is a mujahed who's fighting for the freedom, for the rights of the people of Kashmir," he said.

LeT was linked to the deadly raids on Mumbai in November 2008 where more than 100 civilians were killed in a three-day siege.

Musharraf brushed off the connection to Mumbai, instead blaming India for targeting civilians in the conflict over Kashmir.

UPI

Bishkek wins praise for weekend vote

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- National conduct during parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan during the weekend was impressive, international observers said.

Kyrgyz voters took to the polls Sunday to pick their first parliament since Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted by supporters of Roza Otunbayeva in an April coup.

Morten Hoglund, the special coordinator for the Kyrgyz election observer mission with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said the peaceful election was a reflection of the will of the people to turn a new page.

"I was impressed by the political pluralism, the civic responsibility and the spirit of the people of this country," he said in a statement.

The OSCE said political parties were able to campaign freely and fundamental civic freedoms were respected during the voting process. The Kyrgyz capital was the site of tense political demonstrations last week, though Otunbayeva said there was no reason to postpone the vote.

UPI

Chile reveals timing of attempt to rescue 33 miners

An attempt to rescue 33 Chilean miners trapped deep underground will begin at midnight on Wednesday (0300 GMT), Mining Minister Laurence Golborne says.

A test of the rescue capsule has been carried out successfully, descending almost the whole way down the 622m (680yd) shaft, engineers say.

Earlier, the top 90m was reinforced with metal casing to prevent crumbling.

The miners have been trapped since a collapse in the mine on 5 August, but were reached by a drill on Saturday.

The "Plan B" drill that reached the miners left the San Jose mine, near the town of Copiapo, to a rousing reception on Monday.

The drill was driven away surrounded by crowds of photographers and cheers by hundreds of people across the site.

BBC News

Netanyahu offers to extend settlement freeze

(CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he would renew a temporary halt of settlement construction in the West Bank in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

Netanyahu made the remark at the opening of the Knesset's winter session.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas had threatened to abandon Mideast peace talks without an extension of the settlement moratorium, which expired last week.

"I will say this publicly now," Netanyahu said. "If the Palestinian leadership would say to its people that they recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, I would be willing to gather my government and ask for an additional suspension".

He said he had passed the message along "in quiet ways," but "regrettably, the Palestinians have yet to accept my call".

The Palestinians have consistently rejected recognizing Israel as the nation state for the Jewish people, maintaining that it is up to Israelis themselves to define what their state is. Palestinians also believe that offering such recognition would compromise the position of Palestinian refugees who either fled or were forced from their homes upon the creation of the state of Israel.

CNN

Microsoft unveils Windows Phone 7 devices

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Microsoft on Monday unveiled its plan to battle the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry smartphones with its new Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system.

At a press event in New York, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that Windows Phone 7 smartphones would be available in the United States on AT&T's (T, Fortune 500) network.

"When Microsoft first showed us Windows Phone 7, we knew it was going to be a winner," AT&T CEO Mobility and Consumer Markets Ralph de la Vega said at the event. "It was different than anything we've seen".

Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) also announced partnerships with Samsung, LG and HTC, which will make devices to run the new smartphone software.

Samsung's phone, called the Focus, will be available on November 8, and the Surround from HTC and Quantum from LG would be in stores in time for the holidays, Microsoft said. All three phones will cost $199.99.

The Windows Phone 7 lineup will eventually include nine phone models available in 30 countries, Ballmer said.

"It's a different kind of phone," he said. "It gets you in, gets you out, and back to life as fast as humanly possible".

Instead of the typical smartphone user interface -- a series of small icons to launch applications -- Windows Phone 7 uses large, dynamic tiles that Microsoft hopes will be both intuitive to use and easy to navigate.

Social networking is baked in, with a "people hub" that tracks updates across a user's contact list. A camera button wakes the phone into shooting mode quickly, so that it is able to almost instantly begin snapping photos. Games are a focus: Xbox Live players can take their accounts on the go, and Electronic Arts is a launch partner, bringing the Sims game to the phones.

Windows Phone 7 integrates deeply with other Microsoft products. Notes taken on phone with OneNote automatically sync to the cloud with Office Live. Along with top-notch support for Microsoft Outlook and Exchange -- which should make corporate IT departments very happy -- the phones offer a spell check that automatically underlines misspelled words with the red squiggly line familiar to Word users.

But one feature was noticeably missing at launch: copy/paste. Microsoft didn't put that in the original code because it didn't think it would be needed, thanks to auto-links between applications, a company executive said. But developers demanded it, and Microsoft plans to add it in an update in early 2011.

Battling rivals: Microsoft has struggled to sell smartphones since Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone and Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) Android came storming onto the scene in the past few years. Windows Mobile commands less than 11% of the U.S. smartphone market, down from nearly 20% at the same time last year, according to comScore.

Over the past several years, many consumers thought that Windows Mobile began to feel outdated, both in the software itself and the phones that ran it, compared to its suddenly more successful rivals.

CNN Money