Israel’s bombing of Sudan missile site a 'dry run' for Iran attack

Israel has conducted an air strike on Sudan’s Yarmouk factory on the southwestern outskirts of Khartoum, in what can be seen as a “dry run” for a war on Iran

The attack occurred in the early morning of October 24, when eight Israeli F-15I jets – four of them carrying two one-ton bombs, escorted by four fighters – struck a gigantic Yamrouk missile site. The evidence is that this strike is a general rehearsal before the Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

According to western defense sources, the 2,400-mile return flight took the Israelis four hours, with the jets flying south along the Red Sea. The planes entered the Sudanese air space from the east to avoid Egypt’s missile defenses.

The anti-Iranian operation kicked off two years ago when Mossad agents murdered a Palestinian businessman and a HAMAS highflyer, Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, in a Dubai hotel suit, retrieving a suitcase with a military agreement between Iran and Sudan, wherein Khartoum offered Tehran its military sites to make weapons.

The Yamrouk facility produced Shahab ballistic missiles, which were then to be delivered to HAMAS rebels in the Gaza strip and other Middle Eastern regions.

Russian marines land on US warship during RIMPAC war games

Russian amphibious assault units have landed on a US warship as part of the Rim of the Pacific-2012 international naval war games off Hawaii.

For three hours, the “black berets” from Russia’s Admiral Panteleyev large anti-submarine ship were rehearsing an amphibious landing on the Port Royal destroyer.

After that the ships practiced synchronized shooting on a land target.

More than 20,000 servicemen, 45 warships and 100 warplanes from 22 countries are drilling together in Russia’s first RIMPAC exercise.

RIMPAC is held once every two years.

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Thai "Red shirts" rally in Bangkok to mark 80 years of democracy

­A 35,000 strong Thai “red shirt” rally is taking place in central Bangkok to mark 80 years of democracy in the country, local police say.  The demonstration comes amid renewed political tensions in the troubled kingdom. The country has been rife with political tensions since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted by royalist generals in a 2006 coup. Mass protests by the Red Shirts in April and May 2010 triggered a military crackdown that left more than 90 people dead in the country's worst civil unrest in decades.

­76 Buddhist monks hospitalized after bee swarm attack

Seventy six novice Buddhist monks in Thailand have been hospitalized after being attacked by a huge swarm of bees. Six of the monks being treated are in a coma, and 19 more are in critical condition, local media reports. The abbot of the temple where the monks reside said the bees came from their own hives and had never been so aggressive.

­Tymoshenko excused from attending trial by doctors

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is currently on trial for tax evasion and fraud, will not be attending the opening session due to ill health. The German medics attending to the already jailed politician have recommended she refrain from movement. The penitentiary where she is currently incarcerated has confirmed they will not be transporting Tymoshenko to the courthouse. She is currently serving 7 years for abuse of power.

Turkey reports air raids on Kurds in Iraq

Turkey’s Air Force carried out air strikes on nine Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq from June 22-24, its military said in a statement. Most of the targets were in the Qandil region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Turkish jet wreckage reportedly found

­Rescuers have located the wreckage of the Turkish jet that was downed by Syrian air defense forces after entering Syrian airspace on Friday, Turkish TV reports.

NATO to discuss Turkish jet incident on Tuesday

NATO member state envoys are too meet on Tuesday to consult with Turkey over the downing of its reconnaissance jet by Syria.

Turkish plane downed by Syria was conducting test-flight

The jet downed by the Syrian military after apparently violating Syrian air space was testing a domestic radar system and had no connection to the crisis in Syria, the Turkish foreign minister said. The military plane was shot down on Friday over Syrian territorial waters. The aircraft’s two pilots are still missing.

China’s submersible "Jiaolong" reaches record 7,015 meters into Mariana Trench

­China's manned submersible the “Jiaolong”, named after a mythical sea dragon, succeeded in diving 7,015 meters below sea level on Sunday morning during its fourth dive into the Mariana Trench. Three Chinese oceanauts sent greetings from the sea floor to the three astronauts who performed their first-ever manual space docking. The oceanauts had succeeded in reaching the depths of 6,671, 6,965 and 6,963 meters in their previous three dives from June 15 to 22.

China performs first-ever manual space docking

­The Chinese space capsule Shenzhou 9 has finished manually docking with the orbiting module Tiangong 1 in a new breakthrough for the country’s space program.

Minor earthquake strikes off Japan coast

­A magnitude 4.9 earthquake has struck off the eastern coast of Japan, the US Geological Survey reports. There have been no reports of injuries, damage or tsunamis. Japan is located in a zone of heightened seismic activity and experiences tremors at a regular interval. In March 2011, an earthquake-generated tsunami killed over 15,000 people and crippled the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant by disabling its cooling systems.

Air India pilots go on hunger strike

­Air India pilots, who have been on strike since May 7, have now decided to go on hunger strike, the Times of India reports. In Delhi, eight pilots are going on hunger strike starting Sunday. Their colleagues in Mumbai will join them on Monday. About 400 members of the Indian Pilots' Guild went on strike to protest management’s decision to cross-utilize crews and train them to fly on both Boeings and Airbuses. IPG says the move will damage their career progression. Since the beginning of the strike, Air India has already fired over 100 pilots and hired new ones.

NYC police arrest triple murder suspect

­New York City police have arrested Roberto Nunez, the suspect in the murder of three men in a car parked next to Columbia University on June 7. Investigators were able to identify the man by conducting a DNA analysis of a blood-stained shirt left close to the murder scene, as well as reviewing video footage of the murder suspect walking away from the car on the day of the deadly shootings. The slain men were supposedly involved in the drug trade and stole narcotics from drug dealers, causing the latter to retaliate.

Bolivia deploys troops to major cities over coup fears

Bolivia has deployed troops to its major cities over fears that striking police officers may be trying to organize a coup. The government says the strikers have been stockpiling weapons and sending them to other police units. The police strike over low wages began on Thursday, with a group of officers vandalizing the headquarters of police intelligence in the city of La Paz. The protests spread on Friday, with a group of strikers attacking a police building and some 4,000 officers occupying barracks.

Eleven Taliban militants killed, 51 captured in Afghanistan

­Eleven Taliban militants have been killed and 51 captured during a 24-hour-long cleanup operation across the country, the Afghan Interior Ministry said. A joint operation of Afghan security forces backed by US troops was conducted in Kabul, Nangarhar, Baghlan, Balkh, Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, Khost, Paktia, and Ghazni provinces. The Taliban announced earlier that starting on May 3 it was beginning its annual spring offensive in Afghanistan, threatening to attack “foreign invaders, their advisors, their contractors, all those who help them militarily and in intelligence.”

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Argentina withdraws ambassador to Paraguay

­Argentina is withdrawing its ambassador to Paraguay over the impeachment of former Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, the Argentine Foreign Ministry said in a statement. On Friday, the Senate of Paraguay voted to impeach President Fernando Lugo with 39 legislators in favor and four against. Lugo was immediately succeeded by his vice president, Federico Franco, who was sworn in in Congress. A number of Latin American countries called the impeachment illegitimate. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner asserted that Argentina would not condone the "coup d'etat" that took place in Paraguay.

Tropical storm forms in the Gulf of Mexico

­The US National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Debby has formed in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to bring rains to the Gulf Coast from southern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. A tropical storm warning has already been issued for part of the Louisiana coast. The storm will move over the northern Gulf during the next few days at about 10 kilometers per hour, forecasters say. Debby is the fourth tropical storm recorded in 2012. The first storm this year, Alberto, formed off the South Carolina coast on May 19.

Hamas threatens to escalate attacks on Israel

­Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs the Gaza Strip, has vowed to escalate attacks on Israel following a slew of Israeli airstrikes that killed several Palestinians. Hamas militants responded to those strikes by firing dozens of rockets at Israel on Saturday, damaging an elementary school and wounding one person. Tensions between Israel and Hamas have been growing over the past week, and an Egyptian-brokered truce secured on Tuesday was quickly broken. An Egyptian official said his country was trying to secure a new ceasefire.

Greek gay pride parade comes under attack

­Around 50 people attacked a gay pride rally with approximately 400 participants with plastic bottles and eggs in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, local police reported. Police moved in to stop the attackers, and no injuries were reported. Senior clergy of the Greek Orthodox Church in Thessaloniki have recently condemned gay pride events.

Poland demands release of reporter held in Belarus

­Poland has summoned the Belarusian ambassador to demand the release of a Polish newspaper reporter arrested this week, warning that Minsk risks further isolation and tougher sanctions. Andrzej Poczobut, the Belarus correspondent of Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza and a prominent Polish-Belarusian minority activist, was arrested for insulting Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in his articles on Thursday, less than a year after serving jail time for similar offences.

Red Crescent responder killed in Syria

­Bashar al-Youssef, a 23-year-old volunteer with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, was shot and killed while on first aid duty in Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria. He was wearing a uniform clearly marked with the Red Crescent emblem when he was shot, the International Red Cross Committee said in a statement. He is the fourth member of the Red Crescent to be killed in Syria since September.

Sudanese police ordered to ‘immediately’ end protests

­Sudan’s police have ordered their staff to put an end to anti-government protests immediately, reports the state-linked Sudanese Media Centre. The capital city Khartoum and other cities have embraced a week's worth of protests provoked by the nation’s financial woes. Reforms aimed at curbing skyrocketing inflation led to hikes in prices of petrol, cooking gas and food. On Friday, police used tear gas and smoke grenades to dispel protesting crowds in the fiercest standoff since student-led protests began a week ago.

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Pope calls meeting of cardinals to discuss documents leak

­Pope Benedict XVI has conducted a special meeting of cardinals to discuss how to deal with the recent scandal over leaked Vatican documents. The Vatican press office said the meeting was added at the last minute in a bid to try to “restore a climate of serenity and trust” in the church. Earlier in June some documents alleging corruption in the Vatican have been published in the Italian media.

New government formed in Syria

­Syrian president Bashar Assad has formed a new government, state television reported on Saturday. The key ministers of defense, the interior and foreign affairs have all kept their seats. The news has countered speculation surrounding Defense Minister Daoud Rajha, who was rumored to have been assassinated by militants.

Sudanese police clash with protesters

­Sudanese security forces fired tear gas overnight to disperse dozens of protesters who attacked a group of policemen in the capital Khartoum. About 150 protesters were involved in the clashes. It was the sixth day of protests set off by a government austerity plan that slashed subsidies and doubled the price of fuel and food.

US embassy in Kenya warns of terror attack

­The US embassy in Kenya has warned the country’s authorities of an imminent terror attack in the city of Mombasa. In the official statement, the embassy asked all its government workers to leave the coastal town, saying all government travel to Mombasa is suspended until July 1. It has also issued a travel warning to all US citizens currently in the country or planning to visit. Mombasa, the capital Nairobi and other parts of Kenya have suffered a series of grenade attacks since Kenya sent troops into Somalia last year to pursue al-Shabaab militants.

Bus crash kills 7 Czechs in Croatia

­Seven Czech citizens have been killed and 44 others injured after the bus they were traveling on crashed into a guardrail in central Croatia. Police say the impact was so strong that the bus overturned. The accident took place on Croatia's most vital route connecting the capital Zagreb with the southern Adriatic city of Split.

ICC promises probe into staff behavior in Libya

The International Criminal Court has vowed to investigate the behavior of its team in Libya "following the return of four staff members" who were detained in the country on June 7. In an official statement, the ICC expressed regret over "any events that may have given rise to concerns on the part of the Libyan authorities” and promised cooperation. The four-member ICC team was detained in the western city of Zintan and has been accused of committing a “security breach.”

Penn State football coach found guilty of child sex abuse

­A US court has found Jerry Sandusky, the Penn State University assistant football coach, guilty of serial child abuse committed between 1994 and 2009. The hearings lasted seven days, during which eight victims made a personal appearance to give testimony before the court. Sandusky, who had pleaded not guilty, is now facing life imprisonment. The sentence, however, is yet to be announced. The notorious Sandusky case led to a wave of resignations among Penn State officials. The dismissal of the now deceased head coach Joe Paterno triggered massive student riots at the university.

Bolivian police mutiny over salaries

­A mutiny by police officers demanding wage increases has struck Bolivia, with about 4,000 officers occupying barracks. Hundreds of policemen looted the police intelligence division and disciplinary tribunal headquarters, setting files, computers and furniture on fire and destroying doors and windows. The government has proposed to increase their pay to $287 a month, compared with the current $178, in order to suspend the acts of violence. The action began on Thursday, when about 30 policemen seized an elite unit's barracks near the presidential palace. President Evo Morales stayed in the palace on Friday, under military police protection. A revolt over wages in 2003 at the same base resulted in a gunfight with soldiers that left 19 dead.

17 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza

­Three Israeli airstrikes on Hamas targets have left 17 people wounded, Hamas medical officials said. Iranian news agency Press TV also reported that one Palestinian was killed in the strike, though this remains unconfirmed. The strikes came just hours after another Israeli air raid on the area killed two alleged militants. Israel said it was responding to rocket strikes from insurgents in Gaza. The tit-for-tat violence put an Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls Gaza, in jeopardy. Hamas had earlier announced it would respect the truce as long as Israel ends its strikes.