A United Nations official says Jordan must soon open a refugee camp to address a dramatic spike in the numbers of Syrians crossing the border. Refugee numbers doubled over the past four days with about 1,000 entering Jordan late Monday alone, Andrew Harper, the UN refugee agency's representative to Jordan, said on Tuesday. Both the UN and Jordan’s Interior Ministry estimate an average of 400 Syrians now cross into Jordan daily, AP reports. Italy on Tuesday dispatched a field hospital to Jordan.
Air defense systems to be deployed at six locations for London Olympics
The UK government has confirmed that ground-based air defense systems will be positioned at six locations in and around London during the Olympic Games. The missiles, which include rapier and high-velocity missile systems, will be in place from mid-July, the BBC reports. Helicopter carrier HMS Ocean will be moored in the River Thames. RAF Typhoon jets are expected to be stationed at RAF Northolt, and Puma helicopters in Ilford.
Turkey scrambles F-16 fighter jets for third day to Syria border
Turkish military has reportedly scrambled F-16 fighter jets for the third consecutive day on Monday after Syrian helicopters flew near the border. On Sunday, Ankara scrambled six F-16 fighter jets in three separate incidents responding to Syrian military helicopters approaching the border. Turkey has heightened military activity along its southern border after Syria shot down one of its jets over the Mediterranean on June 22.
Moscow talks with Syria opposition delayed to next week
A scheduled meeting in Moscow with a delegation from the Syrian opposition has been delayed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday. “At the request of the Syrian group, the meeting is to be delayed until next week,” Lavrov said, as cited by Itar-Tass. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said earlier that the opposition delegation is planning to visit Moscow on July 4-5. “We are waiting for an opposition delegation headed by its political leader Michel Kilo,” Bogdanov said.
Man suspected of financing Al-Qaeda arrested in France
French authorities have arrested the administrator of an extremist French website who is suspected of financing and recruiting for Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Prosecutors call him an “operational vector and formidable financier of the bloodiest terrorist groups,” AP reports. He faces preliminary charges of planning terrorist acts and financing a terrorist enterprise. The Tunisian-born man, based in the southern French city of Toulon, was arrested on Friday after a year-long investigation.
UN global arms treaty talks stalled over Palestinians’ status
Talks on the global arms trade have reached deadlock before they even began on Monday amid a diplomatic battle over Palestinian representation. Arab nations have demanded that the Palestinians get a place at the conference. Israel, a key arms manufacturer in the Middle East, said it would not take part in the talks if the Palestinians were present, AFP reports. The Vatican, which has UN observer status, has said it should also have the right to take part if the Palestinians (also classed as UN observers) are involved. An arms trade treaty would cover all types of conventional weapons, all munitions and related technologies.
Death toll rises in Baghdad blast
At least 25 people have been killed by a truck that exploded in a market in a Shiite city south of Baghdad, officials say. The blast came at around 10 a.m. in a vegetable and fish market in the city of Diwaniyah, 130 kilometers south of Baghdad, AP reports. About 40 people were wounded in the explosion. Qadisiyah provincial council chairman Jubair al-Jabouri blamed insurgents linked to Al-Qaeda.
Israel coalition faces crisis over draft law
Debate over how to draft religious men into the Israeli army has led to the first crisis in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government. On Monday, he disbanded a parliamentary committee working on a new draft law due to deep disagreements among the members. The move prompted Netanyahu's largest coalition partner, Kadima, to threaten to leave the government, AP said. The Supreme Court has ruled the current draft system, which exempts ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service, is illegal.
Blasts hit central Iraq
At least eight people have been killed and 45 wounded in a series of blasts in central Iraq, officials say. Two cars exploded at a vegetable market early Tuesday in the Shiite city of Karbala, 90 kilometers south of Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 30, AP reports. Two bombs exploded hours later in the Sunni city of Taji, killing three people and wounding 15. Taji, 20 kilometers north of Baghdad, is home to a military base.
China cooperating with India, Japan on piracy patrols
China is reportedly cooperating with the navies of Japan and India in patrolling against piracy off Somalia. The three states will synchronize patrols and best allocate each country's escort resources, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said, as cited by AP. The rival nations have coordinated patrol efforts, with China and India taking turns as lead navy before handing off to Japan on July 1.
Philippines may ask US to deploy spy planes over disputed waters
The Philippines may ask the United States to deploy spy planes over the South China Sea, President Benigno Aquino has said. “We might be requesting overflights on that,” Aquino told Reuters on Monday. The Philippines lacks aircraft with capabilities of US P3C Orion planes. US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland declined to comment on the Orion aircraft. She added, however, that Washington has long assisted Manila, a formal security treaty ally. The Philippines and China recently stepped back from a months-long standoff at the Scarborough Shoal.
Suu Kyi calls on Myanmar leaders to free more prisoners
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi demanded on Tuesday the release of hundreds of political prisoners still behind bars. She commented on reports that President Thein Sein has granted amnesty to 46 prisoners. They were expected to be freed from prisons later on Tuesday. Rights group say at least 659 political prisoners have been released over the past year as part of Myanmar's reforms.
Assad regrets downing of Turkish plane
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said he regrets that his country’s air defense forces shot down a Turkish fighter jet on June 22. “The plane was flying in an air corridor used three times in the past by the Israeli air force,” he told Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet on Tuesday. Assad said the soldier who shot down the plane had no radar and didn’t know which country it was from. The president added he regretted the incident, which has further fuelled tensions between the two states.
Tehran test-fires ballistic missile able to strike Israel – reports
Iran on Tuesday test-fired in its central desert a ballistic missile capable of striking Israel, Al-Alam television network said. The country’s Revolutionary Guard fired the medium-range Shahab-3 missile at a mock target in the Kavir Desert. The test was part of the Great Prophet 7 exercise, which is due to end on Wednesday. The Shahab-3 has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers. Israel is some 1,000 kilometers away. Two short-range missiles, the Shahab-1 and Shahab-2, with ranges of 300 to 500 kilometers, were also launched.
Retired astronaut killed in scooter crash
Former NASA astronaut Captain Alan Poindexter has been killed in a scooter accident off the coast of Florida’s Panhandle. The accident occurred after the scooter he was on suddenly stopped, causing his son’s scooter, which was following behind, to crash into the back. Another of Poindexter's sons was on the same scooter as he was, and both were thrown into the water as a result of the accident. A boat picked up Poindexter and took him to the shore. He was reportedly conscious and complaining about rib injuries, but soon fainted and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The exact cause of his death is yet to be determined by a medical examiner. Poindexter, an alumnus of the Naval Postgraduate School, was selected for the astronaut corps in 1998. His first mission took place a decade later, when he was a pilot aboard the Atlantis space shuttle mission to install the Columbus laboratory at the International Space Station (ISS). He also commanded the space shuttle Discovery’s penultimate flight in 2010.
GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3 billion in largest health fraud settlement in US
The British drug company GlaxoSmithKline will pay $3 billion and plead guilty to promoting two popular drugs for unapproved uses and to failing to disclose important safety information on a third in the largest healthcare fraud settlement in US history and the largest penalty ever paid by a drug company. Prosecutors said Glaxo illegally promoted the drug Paxil for treating depression in children, even though the FDA never approved it for anyone under the age of 18. The corporation also promoted the drug Wellbutrin for weight loss, the treatment of sexual dysfunction, substance addictions and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, although it was only approved for treatment of major depressive disorders.
UN Palestinian rights rapporteur likens Israel to apartheid-era South Africa
Richard Falk, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights, said the “discriminatory dualistic system” enacted by Israel was similar to the apartheid regime that functioned for over 40 years in South Africa. Speaking to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Falk noted that Palestinians in the occupied territories were offered no legal protection under Israeli law. He also accused the Middle East Quartet’s peace envoy, Tony Blair, of failing to produce any viable results and said the peace process had become a “trick” rather than a way to find a solution to the problem. He also noted that the credibility of the UN Human Rights Council was at stake as no real actions were taken in response to Israel’s failure to cooperate with the UN body. Israel severed ties with the Human Rights Council after the 47-member body said it would investigate settlements in the occupied territories, which is considered illegal under international law.
Israel tests siren for rogue non-conventional missiles
The Israel Defense Force has tested a new air-raid siren which is supposed to notify people of incoming missiles carrying non-conventional warheads, the Jerusalem Post reports. Israel is concerned that Syria’s extensive chemical arsenal could possibly fall into rogue hands and is planning to use the siren for every missile launched from Syria in the event of a war. “This would be based on intelligence, but there is no reason for people to put on their gas-masks for every missile that is fired into Israel if they don’t have to,” a senior Home Front Command officer explained, adding that in other cases a regular siren would be used. Since 2006, the IDF has doubled the number of sirens stationed throughout the country to 3,100.
Cameron orders parliamentary inquiry into rate fixing by banks
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has launched a full parliamentary inquiry into the rate-rigging scandal following the resignation of Barclays chairman Marcus Agius on Monday. "This inquiry will take evidence under oath, have full access to papers, officials and ministers - including ministers and special advisers from the last government and it will be given, by the government, all the resources it needs to do its job properly," Cameron said. On Monday Barclay’s chairman Marcus Agius stepped down, while Barclay’s CEO Bob Diamond has been under pressure to quit. Last week American and British regulators imposed a $450 million fine on Barclays for providing false figures on borrowing rates between 2005 and 2009, which affected corporate loans, inflation swaps, mortgages and currencies.
Two helicopters crash battling Spanish wildfires
Two pilots have been injured and another is missing after two helicopters crashed while battling wildfires in eastern Spain. The first helicopter crashed near the Forata reservoir near Valencia, said a spokeswoman for local emergency services, who said that its pilot was missing. Another helicopter crashed in the Sierra Martes; its two pilots were taken to hospital. Both helicopters were among 40 battling a fire that broke out last Thursday near Cortes de Pallaand, leading to the evacuation of some 3,000 people.
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