Washington (AFP) - In a decision likely to anger China, the US is partly lifting a 40-year ban on arms sales to former foe Vietnam to help boost defenses in the tense South China Sea.

The historic easing of the ban in place since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 will only apply to maritime equipment, State Department officials stressed, and comes amid warming ties and as Hanoi makes "modest" improvements to human rights.

"What's driving this is not a sudden desire to transfer military equipment to Vietnam writ large, but a specific need in the region," said one official, highlighting what he called Vietnam's lack of capacity in the disputed waters and America's own national security interests.

"It's useful in trying to deal with the territorial disputes in the South China Sea to bolster the capacity of our friends in the region to maintain a maritime presence in some capacity."

Some 40 percent of the world's seaborne trade passes through the sea which is claimed in part by Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia, as well as China and the Philippines.

Although the United States has not taken sides in the territorial disputes, it has warned Beijing against "destabilizing actions" amid a series of tense maritime incidents.

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Photo taken on June 23, 2014 by Vietnam's maritime police allegedly shows a Chinese boat (L) ram …

Earlier this year, Beijing placed an oil rig in waters also claimed by Vietnam, sparking deadly riots in the Southeast Asian nation.

Secretary of State John Kerry informed his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Min during talks Thursday of Washington's move to adjust the current policy "to allow the transfer of defense equipment, including lethal defense equipment, for maritime security purposes only," a senior State Department official said.

Kerry later praised "the transformation" in Vietnam since the US normalized diplomatic relations two decades ago, calling it "nothing short of amazing."

"Vietnam has become a modern nation and an important partner of the United States. And (when) we talk to the young people in Vietnam you can feel the enthusiasm for the potential of the future," he told a US-ASEAN business council dinner.

- Not 'anti-China' -

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General Martin Dempsey (R), chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, and General Do Ba Ty (L), depu …

A prohibition on sales of other kinds of lethal weapons, such as tanks, will stay in place as Washington pushes Hanoi to improve its human rights record.

"Vietnam will need to make additional progress on human rights for the United States to consider a full lift of the ban on lethal defense articles in the future," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

US officials denied the policy change was "anti-China" and insisted they had no specific sales to outline so far, but would consider each request from Hanoi on a case-by-case basis.

And they sought to allay any concerns from Beijing, saying it was purely a defensive measure.

"We're not talking about destabilizing systems, we're talking about defensive capabilities... These are not things that are going to tip the regional balance," a second State Department official said, also asking not to be named.

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People visit monuments to the Vietnam War July 19, 2014 in Washington, DC (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialow …

Any sales would be done in close consultation with the US Congress, and would be heavily focused on equipping the Vietnamese coast guard, the State Department officials said.

So far, Washington has only been allowed to sell unarmed patrol boats to the Vietnamese coastguard since a total ban on military sales was lifted in 2006. That could now change, for example, the officials said.

And they acknowledged that airborne defense systems would also be considered for sale if they included a maritime capacity.

"This policy supports Vietnam's efforts to improve its maritime domain awareness and maritime security capabilities," Psaki told reporters.

Officials said, however, that the easing of the ban did not mean all arms sales were now on the table to the communist-run authorities amid continuing concerns about rights such as freedom of expression and religion.

"It's not an indication that we are going to provide all lethal assistance now. It just simply says we can remove what has been a hinderance to our ability to provide legitimate maritime capacity," the second unnamed State Department official said.

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U.S. ends decades-long Vietnam arms ban

The historic move comes amid escalating tension between Hanoi and China.
Disputed waters, multiple incidents

London (AFP) - British schoolteacher David Bolam has been released after nearly five months of captivity in Libya, reportedly after payment of a ransom to his Islamist captors.

"Glad that David Bolam is safe & well after his ordeal and has been reunited with his family, who we have been supporting since he was taken," Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond wrote on Twitter.

Bolam was kidnapped by militants in May in Libya's second city Benghazi, much of which is under the control of Islamists.

Head teacher at the international school in Benghazi, he is reportedly 53 years old and from Shropshire in western England.

An American teacher from the same school, 33-year-old Ronnie Smith, was shot dead during his morning jog in December last year.

Bolam's captors had contacted the Libyan director of the school to demand a ransom, according to a source at the establishment speaking on condition of anonymity.

The BBC reported that his release had been secured by local political factions and that money had changed hands. It said that Bolam had been flown back to Britain on Thursday.

His kidnapping had not been reported at the request of officials.

Bolam's release follows the beheading of British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, among four Western hostages executed since August by Islamic State (IS) jihadists.

American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were also brutally executed by IS militants operating in Syria and Iraq, with all four murders made public in videos.

The hometown of taxi driver Henning, Eccles in northwest England, paid tribute to the 47-year-old in a candlelit church service open to all faiths, after his death was announced late on Friday.

Floral tributes to the aid worker, who travelled to Syria as a driver in an aid convoy, were left outside his minicab office and home, and yellow ribbons traditionally tied for hostages festooned the town centre.

- 'One of the best' -

The British foreign office said that since teacher Bolam was released, his family had appealed for privacy.

The SITE intelligence group identified a video posted on YouTube last month of Bolam, looking dishevelled and wearing a white T-shirt, appealing for British Prime Minister David Cameron to help secure his release.

The video, apparently recorded in August, was released by a group that called itself Jeish al-Islam (Army of Islam) but SITE could not authenticate it due to a lack of information.

Libya has been sliding into chaos since longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi was toppled in an uprising three years ago, with interim authorities confronted by powerful militias that fought to oust him.

The cradle of the uprising against Kadhafi, Benghazi is now regularly the scene not only of fighting but also the murders of members of the security forces, political activists and journalists.

A former teacher at Bolam's school, Ged O'Connor Challis, told the BBC that he had spoken to Bolam on the telephone the morning he was kidnapped.

He said Bolam had been captured while he was out shopping.

"He is single-minded and stubborn," Challis added. "He is a very bright person. He is an English teacher -- one of the best I have ever met."

Michael Aron, Britain's ambassador to Libya, wrote on Twitter: "Delighted Benghazi Head Teacher David Bolam has been released after over 4 months in captivity".

Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels marked a month since the signing of a Kremlin-backed truce on Sunday by engaging in one of the most heated battles of their six-month war over the ex-Soviet state's eastern rustbelt.

The artillery blasts that rocked the frontline city of Donetsk were yet another blow to the 12-point peace agreement signed on September 5, and which is officially still in force.

"There is no ceasefire. You hear?" 31-year-old resident Yekaterina Manannikova said, pointing in the direction of Donetsk airport, once a glittering showcase for the biggest city in the east, now the battered scene of a non-stop firefight.

"Peace is already declared, how many times should it be declared to be effective? Two, three times?" said another local, Vitaliy Chura, 29, blaming the separatists for the continued fighting.

The agreement -- aimed at ending almost six months of war that has claimed over 3,300 lives -- included a promise to create a 30-kilometre (20-mile) buffer zone between the two forces.

But Ukraine's military says Kiev will not start pulling back forces until rebels stop firing on its positions, including at the airport.

On Sunday, military spokesman Volodymyr Polyovy said rebels had launched two more airport attacks "with support of tanks" over the past 24 hours, but were repelled.

Two soldiers and at least three civilians died, putting the death toll since the ceasefire at 80, excluding rebel losses.

A recent statement by the Donetsk rebels on their official website listed the damage to the city over the past days and concluded: "The truce is worse than the battle."

Despite the continuing carnage, both sides have stopped short of declaring the truce dead.

Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have even created a monitoring contact group together with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to patrol the frontline.

France and Germany will also send drones "in the coming days" to monitor the ceasefire, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday.

But in Donetsk, shells were still falling over the neighbourhood of Gladkivka north of the centre, according to AFP correspondents.

Firefighters put out blazes engulfing a number of houses in the area. No one appeared to be hurt, with neighbours saying the owners had all fled the conflict months ago.

- A useful fiction -

Analysts say it is in all the major parties' interests to maintain the fiction that the ceasefire is holding.

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko wants to give an impression of peace ahead of snap parliamentary polls on October 26, and is keen to see as many eastern cities participate as possible.

"Society wants to see an end to the war. Politicians are trying to respond to these demands, and will keep talking about the truce even if, de-facto, it doesn't exist," said political analyst Taras Berezovets.

Moscow would not be eager to pronounce the ceasefire dead either, he added, saying that "for Russia, it pays to keep destabilising the situation in Ukraine".

"This 'ceasefire' can keep going for months."

European Union countries also prefer to cling on to a poorly working truce rather than deepen its standoff with Russia -- its leading source of gas -- as winter approaches.

The French defence minister said the truce was holding everywhere "but Donetsk".

"We are in the process of reflecting with the Germans on how we can both reinforce the monitoring of the ceasefire in the buffer zone," Le Drian told French radio.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross announced it was suspending operations in eastern Ukraine following the death of a Swiss staffer on Thursday in Donetsk.

"We're halting work for some time. We have to evaluate the situation. We want to help people but we have to find a balance between help and security of our staff," spokeswoman Viktoria Zotikova told AFP on Sunday.

Ukrainian and rebel forces have blamed each other for the death.

Increasingly alarmed Western countries have issued a barrage of stern warnings for the two sides to stick to last month's agreement, and Berlin is even mulling sending 200 troops to help monitor the ceasefire, German media reported on Saturday.

"Peace has been signed but guns are the only power that can decide things here," said Donetsk resident Olga, 42.

"We don't feel any ceasefire."

CBS-Philadelphia
Mumia Abu-Jamal Speaks To College Graduates

PLAINFIELD, Vt. (AP) — A one-time death row inmate now serving a life sentence for the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia police officer spoke to students graduating from a Vermont college on Sunday, encouraging them to strive to transform the world.

Mumia Abu-Jamal spoke by video to 20 students receiving bachelor degrees from Goddard College in Plainfield. He earned a degree from the college in 1996.

"Think about the myriad of problems that beset this land and strive to make it better," Abu-Jamal said in the video.

He said his studies at Goddard allowed him to learn about important figures in distant lands.

"Goddard reawakened in me my love of learning," he said. "In my mind, I left death row."

The former Black Panther did not address the crime for which he was convicted. He originally was sentenced to death for killing white police Officer Daniel Faulkner on Dec. 9, 1981, but he was resentenced to life in 2012.

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FILE - In this July 12, 1995 file photos, convicted police killer and death-row activist Mumia Abu-J …

His claims that he's been victimized by a racist justice system have attracted international support. A radio show, documentaries and books have helped publicize his case. Goddard College describes him as "an award winning journalist who chronicles the human condition."

But the decision to allow Abu-Jamal to speak angered police and corrections officials in Vermont and Pennsylvania. The Vermont Troopers Association said it showed a disregard for the victim's family at a time when the nation is seeking solutions to gun violence.

Goddard, a low-residency school where students, staff and faculty spend eight days on campus twice a year, holds 20 commencement ceremonies every year, so students in each degree program can individualize their graduations and choose their speaker.

The school, which has about 600 students, says the graduates chose Abu-Jamal as a way to "engage and think radically and critically."

Goddard students design their own curriculums with faculty advisers and do not take tests or receive grades.

TouchVision
MASS GRAVE IN SOUTHERN MEXICO

Iguala (Mexico) (AFP) - Two gang hitmen linked to police admitted to killing 17 of 43 students missing in southern Mexico, amid fears the victims were among bodies found in a mass grave.

Inaky Blanco, the chief prosecutor of violence-plagued Guerrero state, said Sunday it would take at least 15 days to identify the 28 bodies in the clandestine grave, some of which were badly burned and in pieces.

The site was found Saturday on a hill in Pueblo Viejo, an impoverished district of the city of Iguala, where the missing students were last seen on the night of September 26, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Mexico City.

"A bed of branches and tree trunks was made, on which the bodies of the victims were laid and a flammable substance was used," Blanco said.

The students disappeared after Iguala municipal police officers shot at buses transporting them, and Blanco said the Guerreros Unidos gang participated in a night of violence that left six people dead, 25 wounded and 43 missing.

While the students are accused of having hijacked the buses, Blanco said the motive for the attack remains under investigation.

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Students walk past an altar in memory of killed and missing peers in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero state, Mex …

The case could become one of the worst slaughters that Mexico has witnessed since the drug war intensified in 2006, leaving 80,000 people dead to date, and the most horrific since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office in December 2012.

- Parents hold out hope -

Earlier Sunday, some parents and hundreds of fellow students from the missing group's teacher training college blocked the highway between Guerrero's capital Chilpancingo and Acapulco, voicing anger at the authorities.

Some of the parents said they were shown pictures of the bodies but that they did not believe that they looked like their children.

"As parents, we reject this situation. It's not the youngsters. We know they're holding them alive," said Manuel Martinez, whose son is among the missing.

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Mexican marines arrive at the site of a mass grave in Pueblo Viejo, on the outskirts of Iguala, Guer …

Relatives have given DNA samples to see if they match the bodies in the mass grave, while Blanco said the search for the missing would continue as long as the identities are not confirmed.

Survivors said the students had gone to Iguala to conduct fundraising activities and came under attack by police after they boarded three buses.

In all, three students were killed in the shooting and another three people died in an attack on a football team's bus outside Iguala later that night. Blanco said police and gang members were involved in both crimes.

Witnesses say several students, who are from a teacher training college known as a hotbed of radical protests, were whisked away in police vehicles.

It was Iguala's public security director, Francisco Salgado Valladares, who ordered two gang members to go to the site of the students' buses, Blanco said.

The two hitmen then received instructions from a Guerreros Unidos leader known as "El Chucky" to take the students and kill them, he said.

The gangsters made the students exit a bus. "They grabbed 17, took them to the top of a hill in Pueblo Viejo where they have clandestine graves and where they say they killed them," Blanco said.

- 'Land of the wicked' -

Authorities have issued arrest warrants for the town's mayor and security chief, both of whom have disappeared.

Some 30 people have been detained over the shootings, including at least 22 police officers.

Authorities said the mass grave was located following interrogations of the suspects. Soldiers cordoned off the area. Officials said the pit was up a steep hill filled with thick vegetation.

In Pueblo Viejo, a hamlet surrounded by forests and mountains, a resident said the region is dominated by gangsters and that he had seen municipal police officers going up the hill in recent days, before authorities discovered the mass grave.

"They were going up there back and forth," said the resident, Jose Garcia, pointing to a location between two mountains where the graves were found. "This is the land of the wicked."