Baghdad blacklists Chevron over Kurdish oil deal
Iraq has blacklisted the US oil giant Chevron Corp. from signing future oil deals in central and southern parts of the country. The move followed Chevron’s agreement with the northern Kurdish self-rule region in defiance of Baghdad. The Oil Ministry said on Tuesday that Chevron can sign deals only when it terminates work with the Kurds, AP reports. The company said last week it had taken over Indian company Reliance's 80 per cent share to explore for oil in two areas in the north. Chevron has no deals with Baghdad. The Kurds are at loggerheads with the central government over the development of oil and gas resources.
Pakistan to urge US to end drone strikes
The new chief of Pakistan’s spy agency is expected to urge the US to end drone strikes on its territory. Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt. Gen. Zahirul Islam will raise the issue during a meeting with CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus, scheduled for August 2 at Langley, Virginia, media reports say. Islamabad may propose its own drone strikes on militants with US monitoring and could ask Washington to help identify targets. Pakistani news channel Geo TV reported on Monday that missiles fired by US drones destroyed a compound in North Waziristan. It allegedly housed a group of militants fighting under Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a leader of a Pakistani Taliban faction.
‘Sophisticated conspirators’ involved in Bulgaria bombing - PM
A sophisticated group of conspirators were involved in the suicide bombing that killed five Israelis and a Bulgarian bus driver, Bulgaria's prime minister has said. Boiko Borisov noted on Tuesday those involved had spent a month in Bulgaria before the Burgas attack. The conspirators used leased vehicles, moved in different cities so as not to be seen together. Borisov did not say how many people were involved in the Wednesday attack, AP reports. He also declined to back up Israel's claims that Iran and militant group Hezbollah were behind the bombing.
EU won’t blacklist Hezbollah at Israel request
The European Union has turned down a request by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to blacklist Hezbollah as a terrorist group after last week's deadly bombing in Bulgaria. “There is no consensus for putting Hezbollah on the list of terrorist organizations,” Cypriot Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis said on Tuesday, as cited by AFP. Cyprus currently holds the rotating EU presidency. Israel blamed Iran and Hezbollah for Wednesday's suicide attack in Burgas in which five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver died. Lieberman said “The time has come to put Hezbollah on the terrorist list of Europe.”
Britain deploys more troops for Olympic security
The UK has deployed an additional 1,200 troops who had been on standby to bolster security at the Olympics. “With three days to go until the opening ceremony, with an incredibly busy weekend, we don't want to leave anything to chance,” the BBC quoted Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt as saying. The decision was taken at a meeting of the cabinet's Olympics committee, chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron. Earlier this month, 3,500 personnel were drafted in after security provider G4S admitted it was short of staff.
Russia backs Kyrgyz bid to join Customs Union
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has voiced his support for Kyrgyzstan’s bid to join the Customs Union, currently composed of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Medvedev said during a meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart Omurbek Babanov near Moscow that Kyrgyzstan should stick to roadmaps prescribing the integration process, and coordinate its efforts with Belarus and Kazakhstan. Babanov said Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the Customs Union was “only a matter a time.” The Customs Union was set up in 2010. Kyrgyzstan filed an application to accede to the union last year.
‘Foreign agent’ bill for media withdrawn from Russian parliament
A controversial bill that would call the mass media receiving funding from abroad “foreign agents,” has been withdrawn from the State Duma by its authors. One of them, Evgeny Fedorov, a deputy from the United Russia party, said the bill stipulates additional budget expenditures, and so it must be approved by the government before MPs could consider it. If adopted, the bill would require media outlets to reveal sources of funding from abroad and notify their readers and viewers about them.
Egypt’s president appoints Water Minister Kandil as new PM
Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi has asked Hesham Kandil, the minister of Water Resources and Irrigation in the outgoing government, to form a new Cabinet. Kandil obtained a doctorate in irrigation from the University of North Carolina in the US in 1993. He has denied being affiliated to any Islamist group, but said last year he had grown his beard out of a sense of religious duty, Reuters reports. It is not known if Egypt’s military will control the appointment of top security posts.
Syria arrests person behind attack on defense chiefs
Syrian authorities have arrested a person who allegedly carried out a bomb attack last week that killed four senior security officials, an Iranian news agency Fars said on Tuesday. It quoted Syrian MP Mohammad Zahir Ghanoum as saying that the suspect worked at the security headquarters in Damascus where the bombing took place. The arrested individual is reportedly a staff member of that same building. The attack killed the defense minister, President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law and Syria's intelligence chief.
Syria says Western comments on chemical weapons ‘pretext for intervention’
The Syrian government on Tuesday accused Western media of distorting Damascus’ statement on chemical and biological weapons. The Foreign Ministry's spokesman Jihad Makdissi said his Monday’s statement was “only a response to false allegations on WMD and explanation of guidelines of defensive policy.” The goal of the statement was “not to declare but rather to respond to a methodical media campaign targeting Syria to prepare world public opinion for the possibility of military intervention under the false premise of weapons of mass destruction,” he said. On Monday, the spokesman warned Syria would use the weapons in case of external aggression.
UK prosecutors to charge Coulson, Brooks over phone hacking
Britain’s prosecutors said on Tuesday that Andy Coulson, who was Prime Minister David Cameron's communications chief from 2007 until January 2011, and Rebekah Brooks, Rupert Murdoch's former UK newspaper boss, would be charged with offences linked to the phone hacking. The crimes were allegedly committed when both were editors of the News of the World newspaper. Six other senior former News of the World journalists and staff are also to be charged, Reuters reports. The maximum sentence for the phone-hacking charges is two years in prison or a fine. “There is sufficient evidence for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction in relation to one or more offences,” said Alison Levitt, Principal Legal Advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
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