USAID ends mission in Russia after Kremlin request - US State Dept
Washington is suspending the US Agency for International Development’s department in Russia, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland confirmed Tuesday. “The US recently received the Russian government's decision to end USAID activities,” she said. USAID has been providing the platform for pro-democracy and civil society programs in Russia since 1992.
Striking S. African miners to return to work
Striking platinum miners in South Africa have reached an agreement with their employer and plan to return to work on Tuesday, mediators say. The deal with Lonmin includes a 22 percent salary increase and a once-off payment of some $250, to cover the unpaid weeks during the strike. Around 5,000 miners listened to the deal being announced at a local stadium. After the statement they cheered and filed out of the stadium singing and dancing.
Two Northern England policewomen killed in shooting
Two unarmed female police officers were killed in a shooting in Tameside, Greater Manchester, on Tuesday. The policewomen, named as Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, were attacked in street after responding to reports of burglary. Witnesses say they heard more than a dozen shots and an explosion. Dale Cregan, 29, a man already wanted on suspicion of two murders, was later arrested at a police station, Reuters reports. Prime Minister David Cameron called the incident “shocking.” The attack is likely to reignite a debate in Britain over whether officers should carry guns.
UK judges order govt to hand over Charles’ letters to ministers
Three judges on a freedom of information tribunal in Britain ruled on Tuesday that the government must hand over confidential letters to ministers from Prince Charles. The decision was taken in the public interest “for there to be transparency as to how and when the Prince of Wales seeks to influence government,” AP reports. The Guardian newspaper has been asking for seven years for the letters to be released. Government departments had argued the move might breach unwritten constitutional rules on the relationship between the monarchy and the government.
Somalia militants leave last stronghold – reports
Fighters of an Al-Qaeda-linked militant group waging an insurgency against Somalia’s government have reportedly started to flee the militants’ last remaining coastal stronghold, witnesses and officials say. Al-Shabab militants are fleeing toward the town of Jilib, Kenya Defense Forces spokesman Col. Cyrus Oguna said, as cited by AP. They have a “sense of defeat” in the face of advancing allied African troops, he added. But al-Shabab spokesman said on Twitter the reports of militants fleeing are false.
Al-Qaeda branch calls for attacks on US diplomats
Al-Qaeda's branch in North Africa praised the recent killing of a US envoy in Libya and called for more attacks on US diplomats to protest an amateur US-made film mocking the Prophet Mohammed. Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb also threatened attacks in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania, while condemning America for "lying to Muslims for more than 10 years by saying its war was against terrorism and not Islam." The Yemen-based branch of the terrorist organization has also recently issued calls for attacks.
Iraq reopens border to refugees from Syria
Iraq reopened its border with Syria on Tuesday to refugees escaping violence. Baghdad, however, refused entry to young men for security reasons. The government “fear that some of those young men could be members of Al-Qaeda or the Free Syrian Army,” Reuters quoted a local government official in Iraq’s Anbar province as saying. “The prime minister gave orders to receive 100 refugees daily and the priority is for women, children, elderly, wounded and sick people,” al Qaim's Mayor Farhan Ftaikhan said. Al Qaim was closed at the end of August.
Nissan to resume production in China on Wednesday
Japan's Nissan Motor Co will resume production at four plants in China on Wednesday, a spokesman said. The company halted operations in China following anti-Japanese demonstrations. The production was suspended on Monday and Tuesday at two factories each in the southern city of Guangzhou and the central city of Zhengzhou.
Kurd militants kill 7 Turkish soldiers in convoy attack – reports
Kurdish militants attacked a military convoy in eastern Turkey on Tuesday, killing seven soldiers and wounding 56 others, security sources said. The convoy was traveling between the provinces of Bingol and Mus when it was hit by a rocket launched by members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, Reuters reports. The attackers reportedly fired two rockets from a hill, hitting one of the vehicles, and then opened fire on the vehicles with assault rifles, prompting a firefight.
Iran deploys overhauled submarine in Gulf
Iran has reportedly deployed one of its Russian-made submarines in the Persian Gulf after it was overhauled earlier this year. Taregh-1 joined the naval fleet in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Tuesday. It is one of three Russian Kilo class submarines that Iran obtained in early 1990s, AP reports. The deployment comes as US-led naval exercises are underway in the Persian Gulf. Earlier this year Tehran warned it could close the strategic oil route in the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for Western sanctions.
Japan says 11 Chinese ships near disputed isles
Three state-owned Chinese ships entered territorial waters around Japanese-administered islands on Tuesday, Japan's coastguard said. A total of 11 Chinese vessels sailed into the contiguous zone as fresh anti-Japan protests rocked Chinese cities, AFP reports. The 10 surveillance ships “continued sailing in a fleet along the territorial boundary counter-clockwise” off Uotsurijima, the largest island in the Senkakus, a chain called Diaoyu in China, the Japan Coast Guard said. Earlier in the day, Japan’s government spokesman said two Japanese people had swum to Uotsurijima.
Jordan king signs media law restricting online expression
Jordan’s king has endorsed a controversial new media law that could severely restrict online expression, according to critics. Some 400 news websites operated by Jordanians will now have to register with the government and obtain licenses, AP said. The law also gives authorities the power to block and censor the sites. Publishers and editors will be held liable for posted comments.
French court blocks publication of topless photos of Duchess of Cambridge
A French court has ordered the publisher of the gossip magazine Closer to hand over all digital copies of topless images of the Duchess of Cambridge. The court also blocked the further publication of the photos, AP said. The magazine published 14 photos on Friday. The court gave the magazine 24 hours to hand over the images. Tuesday's ruling only affects the French publisher. Media outlets in Ireland and Italy have also published the photos.
Chicago teachers strike for second week
Chicago Teachers Union delegates are expected to decide on Tuesday whether to end a strike continuing in the nation's third-largest school district for more than a week. The teachers went on strike on September 10 to protest Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s demand for sweeping education reforms aimed at improving struggling inner city schools, Reuters reports. Some 350,000 public school students were out of school for a seventh day on Tuesday. Emanuel, a former top White House aide, wants poorly-performing schools to be closed and reopened with new staff and principals, or converted to non-union schools.
Two houses damaged in Germany after controlled blast of WWII bomb
The controlled explosion of an American World War II bomb left a crater in a pedestrian zone and two houses seriously damaged in western Germany. After construction workers found the 250-kg bomb in Viersen, experts from Düsseldorf had to blow it up as they could not defuse the chemical detonator. No one was injured in the controlled explosion on Monday night, media reports say. Hundreds of people were evacuated from buildings within 500 meters from the site.
UK Defense Secretary says ‘no change’ of policy in Afghanistan
British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond told the parliament on Tuesday the policy in Afghanistan would not be changed following the rise in insider attacks. He said the collaboration with Afghan forces “is at the heart” of Britain’s strategy. The Defense Secretary also warned that scaling back joint operations with Afghans would have minimal effect. Earlier Hammond stressed the military campaign in Afghanistan would not be derailed. The US has frozen joint military operations with Afghanistan following a recent rise in attacks by renegade Afghan recruits.
Pakistani PM agrees to reopen corruption case against president
Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the government would comply with a demand to reopen an old corruption case against the president. Ashraf said he finally ordered the letter to be written to the Swiss “in the larger interest of the country,” AP said. The decision is unlikely to pose an immediate danger to President Asif Ali Zardari from the case in Switzerland. He enjoys immunity from prosecution there as a foreign head of state. The judges convicted former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of contempt of court for refusing to follow their orders to reopen the old corruption case.
China ends trial of ex-police chief, verdict still looming
The Intermediate Court in China’s central city of Chengdu has concluded the trial of ex-police chief, Wang Lijun, his lawyer said on Tuesday. No verdict was issued following the two half-day sessions, AP said. Wang has been charged with an attempt to defect, abuse of power, taking bribes and ignoring laws. The most serious charges were connected to Wang’s visit to the US Consulate in Chengdu in February, when during a 33-hour stay, he disclosed that a British businessman found dead in November had been murdered. He also said that the wife of his boss, senior politician Bo Xilai, was involved. The move led to Bo's ouster from the leadership and his wife's conviction for murder. The scandal came as Beijing is choosing the next generation of leaders.
Bangladesh blocks YouTube over anti-Islamic video
The government in Bangladesh has blocked YouTube to prevent people from seeing an anti-Islam video produced in the US. The ban was imposed late Monday. The chief of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission said earlier the government had sent a letter to Google, which owns YouTube, urging it to remove the video. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the same request, AP said. Google has blocked access to the video in Libya and Egypt following violence there and also prevented viewers in Indonesia and India from seeing the video because it broke laws in those countries.
North Korea ‘signed debt deal’ with Russia – Pyongyang
North Korea says it has signed a deal with Russia on debts owed by Pyongyang to Moscow. “A contract was signed in Moscow on readjusting debt that the DPRK [North Korea] owed to the Russian Federation as a result of the loans that the former Soviet Union had offered to the DPRK,” state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday. The report gave no details of the deal’s terms. Pyongyang is estimated to owe about US$11 billion.
Iran FM proposes regional observers for Syria
Tehran has proposed Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey dispatch observers to Syria in an effort to stop the violence in the country. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi put forward the idea at a regional “contact group” meeting held in Cairo, the Iranian media said on Tuesday. Salehi reportedly told his Egyptian and Turkish counterparts that observers could “monitor the process of stopping the violence in Syria.” The minister also called for peace talks “to help the process of fundamental reforms and finding a democratic approach in Syria.”
US halts military operations with Afghan troops following insider attacks
The US has frozen joint military operations with Afghanistan following a recent rise in insider attacks on their troops by renegade Afghan recruits. American senior officers have said that operations have been discontinued “until further notice.” Over 50 NATO soldiers have been killed since the beginning of this year in 36 so-called green-on-blue attacks.
Mexican jailbreak sees 130 run free
Over 130 inmates in a northern Mexican prison have escaped by way of a tunnel in one of the country's worst jailbreaks in recent years, Reuters reports. Security officials in the state of Coahuila suspect that corrupt prison guards at the Piedras Negras complex aided in the escape. American officials have been alerted in case the fugitives try to cross over into US territory. Mexico's penal system has seen numerous breakouts in recent years, as guards often collude with local drug cartels. Northern Mexico has especially suffered from the effects of drug gang turf wars. Cartel-on-cartel violence, in addition to clashes with security forces, have killed over 55,000 Mexicans in the past six years.
Syrians forced to skip 2012 Hajj
Syrian Muslims will have to skip the annual pilgrimage to Mecca this year due to a conflict between their government and Saudi Arabia. The Syrian side carried out all the required procedures for pilgrimage season, which is scheduled to begin next month, but Saudi authorities failed to agree on details on time, Syria's SANA state news agency reports. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated badly over the Syrian civil war as Saudi Arabia backs the rebellion seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad's government.
Syrian missiles hit Lebanon
Missiles fired from Syria hit Lebanese territory on Monday as the Syrian conflict shows no sign of abating. Lebanese security officials confirmed that four missiles fired by two Syrian jets hit a remote area on the edge of the Lebanese border town of Arsal, AP reports. Although no casualties were immediately reported, the incident has been one of the worst cross-border violations during the 18-month-old crisis. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman ordered an investigation into the border shelling Monday, without openly blaming the Syrian government.
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