Iran to boost naval presence – commander
The Iranian navy has announced plans to build more warships and increase its presence in international waters. The deployments would protect Iranian cargo ships around the world, in particular in the Gulf of Aden and the northern part of the Indian Ocean, Navy commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said, as cited by IRNA news agency. Tehran plans to build 10 more vessels, including destroyers and missile-launching frigates. The presence in international waters is aimed at “strengthening military power to defend Iran,” the commander stressed.
Tunisian military plane destroys cars loaded with arms near border
A Tunisian military plane has destroyed three cars loaded with weapons travelling north of the country's southern border with Algeria and Libya. The plane attacked the cars after their occupants opened fire on it 100 kilometers north of the triple border overnight Wednesday, TAP news agency said. The country’s defense ministry gave no details of the air strike.
Syrian fighter jet lands in Jordan, rebels report defection
A Syrian fighter jet made an emergency landing on Thursday at a northern Jordanian airbase, a Jordanian government official said. The Russian-made MiG-21 landed at the King Hussein Air Base in Mafraq, a northern Jordanian town near the Syrian border. A spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army, Ahmad Kassem, said the plane had defected to Jordan and that its pilot was seeking political asylum, AP reports. Syria's state-run TV reported earlier that authorities had lost contact with a MiG-21 that was on a training mission.
UAE prepares to pump first oil via Hormuz bypass pipeline
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will start loading crude for export bypassing the Strait of Hormuz for the first time on July 1. “From 09.30 today oil has been received at the main oil terminal in Fujairah,” an industry source said on Thursday. “The plan is to load the first oil tanker around July 1,” Reuters quoted him as saying. The bypass pipeline will allow the UAE to pump oil from fields in the west of the country to its eastern port of Fujairah as Iran threatens to block a narrow shipping route out of the Gulf. The new pipeline has an official capacity of around 1.5 million barrels per day.
Five arrested in Bahrain over ‘terror attacks’
Bahraini police on Thursday arrested five out of 20 people wanted over “terror attacks,” state media say. Security forces arrested five of those accused of terror crimes which included “making and detonating bombs, and carrying out criminal acts that resulted in wounding civilians and police,” said General Tareq Hasan, the head of General Security. Bahraini authorities earlier accused Shiite youth protesters of using petrol bombs against security forces during demonstrations outside the capital Manama.
Dozens of migrants drown in Lake Malawi capsize
Dozens of Ethiopians, believed to be illegal migrants, have died after their overcrowded boat capsized at Lake Malawi, police said Thursday. “As of today, 47 bodies have been recovered,” Malawi police spokesman Davie Chingwalu told AFP. The accident reportedly happened on Monday night. Search operations are still underway. The migrants attempted to cross the lake which straddles the border between Malawi and Tanzania.
CIA ‘vetting’ weapons flow to Syria rebels – report
Central Intelligence Agency operatives in Turkey are vetting the flow of weapons to Syrian rebels, the New York Times said on Thursday. Officers are trying to ensure the arms do not fall into the hands of Al Qaeda militants, the paper said, citing anonymous officials. The weapons reportedly include automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some anti-tank weapons. They are being paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and funneled across the border by a shadowy opposition network, the report said.
Karzai says attacks on Afghan security forces increasing
Insurgent attacks on Afghan security forces have increased in recent months, President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday. He was speaking at a special session of parliament a day after a Taliban suicide bomber struck a convoy, killing 21 people. Every day “20 to 25 of our youths are making the sacrifice for this country and being killed,” he said. Karzai also urged the country’s officials to end bribery and kickbacks. The president said the US needs to stop giving contracts to firms operated by Afghan government officials.
Asylum-seeker boat with 200 on board capsizes off Australia
An asylum-seeker boat believed to have been carrying 200 people capsized on Thursday off Christmas Island, Australian authorities have said. The number of survivors is unknown, AFP reports. The ship issued a distress call mid-afternoon. It capsized some 2,600 kilometers off the Australian mainland.
Militants in Gaza fire eight rockets at Israel
Palestinian militants fired rockets from Gaza into Israel for a fourth consecutive day on Thursday, the Israeli army said. Seven rockets hit southern Israel after midnight, causing no casualties, AFP said. Another rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system. The attacks followed Israeli air strikes in which eight Palestinians were reportedly killed. Israel says that 129 projectiles have been fired from Gaza this week, wounding four outpost guards and causing property damage.
Iran's Rafsanjani blasts world powers ‘dishonesty’ at Moscow talks
Iran's influential former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has criticized world powers for their “dishonesty” in recent nuclear talks in Moscow. Rafsanjani is associated with a centrist branch of the clerical establishment which is more open to compromise with the West than hardliners. The independent Iranian Shargh daily, however, on Thursday quoted Rafsanjani as saying that the West is pursuing a “bullying policy” against Iran. After two days of talks in Moscow this week, the two sides agreed to continue negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program in early July.
30 Israel families to leave West Bank settler outpost
Israel's government has said 30 Jewish families will leave an unauthorized West Bank settler outpost, allowing a court-ordered evacuation to proceed peacefully. The Israeli Supreme Court gave the government until July 1 to dismantle the Ulpana enclave. It was built on privately held Palestinian land, and Israel considers such construction illegal. The five apartment buildings where the settlers live are to be moved to a site nearby, AP said. The Israeli government plans to build 300 more homes in a nearby settlement.
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