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6A Daily News – Saturday, September 14, 2013 WORLD BRIEFING Syria hope: US, Russian diplomats say peace talks might resume GENEVA (AP) — The top diplomats from the United States and Russia raised hopes for reviving broader talks to end the Syrian civil war Friday, even as they showed scant progress in hurried efforts to tackle one horrific part — the chemical weapons fired on civilians. U.N. inspectors prepared to turn in their own poison gas report this weekend. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he expected the inspectors to release ''an overwhelming report'' that chemical weapons were indeed used on the outskirts of Damascus on Aug. 21. The chief inspector, Ake Sellstrom, told The Associated Press the report was ready, but he wouldn't comment on its conclusions. Leading the central talks in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made clear that any prospects for restarting broad peace negotiations depend on first settling the standoff over chemical weapons. But they didn't disclose any clear movement since their meetings began Thursday with Kerry's dismissal of Syrian President Bashar Assad's offer to begin by turning over information, not weapons, starting weeks from now after signing an international convention. Meanwhile, Kerry and Lavrov met with U.N.Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi about the potential for a new Geneva peace conference. Kerry said he, Lavrov and Brahimi agreed to meet around Sept. 28 on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York. ''We are committed to try to work together, beginning with this initiative on the chemical weapons, in hopes that those efforts could pay off and bring peace and stability to a war-torn part of the world,'' he said. Syrian president's younger brother key to regime's survival BEIRUT (AP) — He is rarely photographed or even quoted in Syria's media. Wrapped in that blanket of secrecy, President Bashar Assad's younger brother has been vital to the family's survival in power. Maher Assad commands the elite troops that protect the Syrian capital from rebels on its outskirts and is widely believed to have helped orchestrate the regime's fierce cam- paign to put down the uprising, now well into its third year. He has also gained a reputation for brutality among opposition activists. His role underlines the family core of the Assad regime, though he is a stark contrast to his brothers. His eldest brother, Basil, was the family prince, publicly groomed by their father, Hafez, to succeed him as president — until Basil died in a 1994 car crash. That vaulted Bashar, then an eye doctor in London with no military or political experience, into the role of heir, rising to the presidency after his father's death in 2000. The two brothers — the ''martyr'' and the president — often appear together in posters. The 45-year-old Maher Assad, however, has resolutely stayed out of the limelight. Friends, military colleagues and even his enemies describe him as a strict military man to the core. The 15,000 soldiers in the 4th Armored Division that he leads are largely members of the Assad family's minority Alawite sect — who see the civil war as a battle for their very survival — and represent the best paid, armed and trained units of the Syrian military. In the past year, his troops have launched repeated offensives against rebels firmly entrenched on Damascus' outskirts, bombard- SPONSORED BY Downtown Red Bluff Business Association & Tehama County CattleWomen CONTESTS • ENTERTAINMENT • DANCING • FOOD Red Bluff's 4th Annual Beef 'N Brew Sept. 21, 2013 Downtown Red Bluff BEEF APPETIZERS BREW TASTING 4-8 PM - Vendors in Downtown 6-7 PM - Chad Bushnell at Cone-Kimball Plaza 5-8 PM - Tasting at participating downtown business 7-10 PM - Cottonwood Band at Cone-Kimball Plaza $15 ADVANCE • $20 DAY OF EVENT Advance tickets available Aug. 15-Sept 20th at the following businesses: The Loft • Plum Crazy • The Gold Exchange • www.statetheatreredbluff.com Ticket price also includes tri-tip wrap & beverage For more information, please call 530-833-9961 or visit www.tehamacountycattlewomen.org 4 p.m. local time. The teachers, many veterans of battles with police in the poor southern states where they live, promised not to move from the square where they have camped out for weeks, launching a string of disruptive marches around the city. Shortly after the deadline, the police swarmed in, shooting tear gas from specially equipped fire extinguishers and tossed flash grenades. Protesters hurled sticks and chunks of pavement broken from the street. ing and raiding the impoverished suburbs they hold. 2 Jersey shore towns face another rebuilding SEASIDE PARK, N.J. (AP) — They were the kind of places that made for family memories of french fries and ice cream, but also created some raucous reality TV, like the time Snooki was laid out by a barroom sucker punch. They included an arcade where New Jersey's governor played Skee Ball with his wife and kids, and a shop where he ate pizza (at least before his recent weight-loss surgery). There were three frozen custard shacks, games of chance, and stores where tourists could buy naughty T-shirts. And now they're gone, reduced to smoldering ruins by a spectacular fire that engulfed more than four blocks of a Jersey shore boardwalk that had been rebuilt just five months ago after being destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. ''We're wiped out again. It's just unimaginable,'' said Daniel Shauger, manager of Funtown Arcade, which reopened June 1 — and struggled all summer — after Sandy's floodwaters ruined game machines and other equipment. Police move in on striking teachers in Mexico City MEXICO CITY (AP) — Thousands of striking teachers briefly seized control of the historic heart of Mexico City on Friday, blockading the Zocalo plaza armed with metal pipes and wooden clubs. Minutes after a $ 34,56523 in Discount Coupons were published last week in the DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY … And that does not Count all the ads offering percentage discounts, two-for-ones and Free-with-Purchase offers! Don't miss a Day of it! Subscribe Today 527-2151 It pays for itself. late-afternoon government deadline, riot police started pushing into the area, firing tear gas and ducking hurled rocks in a confrontation culminating weeks of protests against an education reform. The teachers used steel grates and plastic traffic dividers to block the streets leading into the Zocalo, home to the Metropolitan Cathedral, Templo Mayor and National Palace, some of the city's best-known tourist attractions. Hundreds of Mexico City and federal riot police massed on the other sides of the barriers, then swarmed into the square past the famed Aztec temple, chasing down and arresting protesters. Mexico's government had promised that Independence Day celebrations, including the traditional presidential shout of independence from a balcony overlooking the square, would take place in Zocalo Sunday and Monday. The president's office pointedly released an official schedule in the middle of the protests, noting that the independence ''shout'' would take place at the National Palace at its usual time Sunday night. Manuel Mondragon, the head of the federal police, warned on national television that police would move in at KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban attacked a U.S. Consulate in western Afghanistan with car bombs and guns on Friday, killing at least four Afghans but failing to enter the compound or hurt any Americans. The attack in the city of Herat underscored concerns about an insurgency that shows no signs of letting up as U.S.-led troops reduce their presence ahead of a full withdrawal next year. Within hours of the assault, the U.S. temporarily evacuated many of its consular personnel to the embassy in Kabul, 650 kilometers (400 miles) to the east. Herat lies near Afghanistan's border with Iran and is considered one of the safer cities in the country, with a strong Iranian influence. Friday's attack highlighted the Taliban's reach: The militants once concentrated their activities in the east and the south, but in recent years have demonstrated an ability to strike with more frequency in the oncepeaceful north and west. In a phone call, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi took responsibility for the assault. Red Bluff Garden Club presents News tip? 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