Russia’s lower house of parliament has approved a much talked-about adoption agreement that provides safeguards to better protect everyone involved in inter-country adoptions. The agreement will now go the Federation Council, and if approved there, to the president, after which it will be in effect. Calls for such a document intensified after several incidents involving Russian children adopted by US parents.
162 dead in Russian flood tragedy – investigators
The Russian investigative committee has denied media reports that over 170 people have been killed as a result of the devastating flash floods that struck the South of the country. On Saturday, the Krasnodar Region cities of Gelendzhik, Krymsk and Novorossiysk were flooded as millions of tons of water raged through. Krymsk suffered the worst devastation and most casualties.
Iran ‘to defend regional nations’ – MP
Iran will use all capacities to defend the regional nations, particularly those of Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, Majlis (the Islamic Consultative Assembly) first deputy-speaker said on Tuesday. Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabifard was speaking at the Asian Parliamentary Assembly’s (APA) Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Affairs, IRNA reports. The regional states have to decide their own fate without interference of any foreign country, he stressed. The meeting of the Standing Committee started in Tehran on Tuesday attended by delegations from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Cambodia, Thailand and Iran.
Germany will pay $300 million to Nazi victims from Soviet Union
Germany has agreed to provide restitution payment to over 80,000 Nazi victims from the former Soviet Union, who have never before qualified for pensions or payments. The agreement, brokered by Claims Conference and the German government, has already been described by the former as “an unprecedented and historic moment.” Germany also agreed to relax the eligibility rules for those who receive restitution payments for being forced into hiding during the Nazi era - this has been shortened from 12 to six months.
Bomb in Baghdad bus kills 3
A bomb in a bus killed three people and wounded 14 in Baghdad, hospital and police sources said on Tuesday. The explosion happened in Sadr City, a Shiite district in northeastern part of the city, Reuters reports. International Syria mediator Kofi Annan was in a separate, heavily fortified part of the capital on the same day. He discussed the Syrian conflict with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Group of 3 Russian fleets ships heading to Mediterranean
A group of ships of three Russian fleets on Tuesday left their ports heading to the Mediterranean Sea. The large anti-submarine ship, Admiral Chabanenko is accompanied by three large landing ships on the way from Severomorsk, military sources told Interfax. The Northern Fleet ships with marines onboard will be joined by the Baltic Fleet's Yaroslav Mudry escort vessel and vessels from an auxiliary fleet. This is part of the Navy's combat training plans, the source said, adding that the journey “has nothing to do” with the crisis in Syria. The mission will last until late September–early October.
Arafat's widow to ask France to investigate his death
The widow of Yasser Arafat is planning to file a legal complaint in France asking authorities to probe into the death of her husband. Lawyer Pierre-Olivier Sur said on Tuesday Arafat's widow Suha hopes an investigation will “establish the exact circumstances of (Arafat's) death,” AP reports. Palestinian authorities gave final approval on Monday for the former Palestinian leader's body to be exhumed. They also asked for an international investigation into his 2004 death after Switzerland's Institute of Radiation Physics detected elevated traces of polonium-210 on Arafat's belongings.
Russian parliament votes for ratification of WTO accession protocol
The State Duma on Tuesday passed a bill “On the ratification of the protocol on Russia's accession to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.” The bill was supported by 238 deputies, opposed by 208, with one abstention. Economic Development Minister Andrey Belousov told lawmakers that Russia’s budget losses from lower import duties after the accession will be offset by trade growth.
Israel strikes targets in Gaza after rocket fire
The Israeli air force has struck two militant sites in the Gaza Strip in response to the latest rocket fire at southern Israel. The targets were hit successfully early on Tuesday, according to the military. No casualties were reported in the operation, or in the rocket fire from Gaza on Monday, AP said. The military warned Israel “will not tolerate any attempt by terrorist groups to target Israeli civilians and soldiers.”
Mali Islamists destroy tombs at Timbuktu mosque
The Islamists controlling northern Mali on Tuesday destroyed two tombs at the ancient Djingareyber mud mosque in Timbuktu. Fighters from the Islamist group Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) were destroying two tombs of Timbuktu's great Djingareyber mosque, an endangered World Heritage site, witnesses told AFP. They shot in the air to chase away the crowd. The Islamists began their destruction of the city's cultural treasures on July 1. They are on a UNESCO list of endangered World Heritage sites. Ansar Dine declared the ancient Muslim shrines forbidden and is set about destroying seven of Timbuktu's 16 mausolea of ancient Muslim saints.
Syrian opposition urges Moscow to support sanctions resolution
The Syrian National Council (SNC) expects Russia to back the UN Security Council resolution on Syria allowing the use of force and sanctions. “Now Russia must join other UNSC members in supporting the demands put forward by the other Security Council states,” member of the SNC General Secretariat Najib Ghadbian said in Moscow on Tuesday. Bassma Kodmani, a member of the SMC Executive Board, stressed that the Syrian opposition is united in its desire to topple the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Opposiiton leaders also said that the cretaion of the transitional government is not on the agenda now. They noted the regime change in Syria will not undermine Moscow's position in the country.
Twelve charged in Serbia over setting fire to US embassy
Serbia has charged 12 people accused of setting fire to the US embassy during riots against Kosovo's independence in 2008. The suspects were charged with committing “grave acts against general security” and violent behavior, the prosecutor's office said on Tuesday. The suspects face up to 12 years in prison each if convicted, AP reports. Hundreds of protesters stormed the embassy on February 21, 2008, angry over Washington's support for the independence of Kosovo.
S. Korean dictator's daughter launches presidential campaign
Park Geun-Hye, the daughter of an assassinated S. Korean dictator, launched her campaign on Tuesday to become South Korea's first female president. She is expected to secure the ruling conservative New Frontier Party's nomination at its primary next month and polls are placing her as the frontrunner in December's election. The candidate said the country’s economy has excessively emphasised efficiency and “disregarded the importance of fairness, resulting in an increased income gap and imbalances,” AFP reports. Park's father, Park Chung-hee, seized power in a coup in 1961 and was assassinated in 1979 by his spy chief. Her mother was shot dead by a pro-North Korean assassin in 1974.
European court rejects Russian application over unauthorized rally
The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday rejected an application by nine Russian protesters who were detained during an unauthorized rally in Moscow in 2005. The applicants asked the court to rule that the authorities’ demand to agree venues of such events violates their rights. The court, however, said that national procedures requiring notification do not violate human rights. The applicants also failed to convince the court that the alternative venue proposed by the authorities was not fit to enable them to exercise their right to freedom of assembly.
International Criminal Court jails Congolese warlord for 14 years
The International Criminal Court on Tuesday imprisoned for 14 years a Congolese warlord convicted of using child soldiers. Thomas Lubanga was convicted in March of recruiting and using children in his Union of Congolese Patriots militia during fighting in Congo's eastern Ituri region in 2002-2003. Presiding Judge Adrian Fulford said the sentence reflected the need to protect children in wartime, AP reports. Lubanga, 51, is the first person convicted by the 10-year-old permanent war crimes tribunal.
Iran cuts oilfield flow over sanctions – reports
Tough Western sanctions have forced Iran to take drastic action and shut off wells at its vast oilfields. “We're now in a situation where we are being forced to reduce production,” Reuters quoted an Iranian oil source as saying. “But it's a mistake to think this will make us put our hands up. Iran will not surrender.” Western oil experts say tight oil sales may have forced Tehran to turn down the oilfield taps by at least several hundred thousand barrels a day. Iran earlier managed to sustain oilfield flows at rates above 3 million barrels per day by stashing excess barrels in tanks on land and on ships.
Nigerian sect claims attacks on Christian villages
Radical Islamist sect Boko Haram has said it launched attacks that left at least 58 dead in Nigeria. Tuesday’s statement said the group was responsible for the attacks in Plateau state where hundreds of assailants stormed into about a dozen villages Saturday. The group said it would continue to attack government officials and Christians, AP reports. The attacks took place in a region of Nigeria’s “middle belt”, where the country’s mostly Muslim north meets its predominantly Christian south.
Egypt's parliament convenes in defiance of court ruling
Egypt's parliament has convened in defiance of a ruling by the country's highest court dissolving the legislature. Lawmakers of the Islamist-dominated parliament were summoned by Speaker Saad El-Katatni for Tuesday's session. They approved el-Katatni's proposal that the house seek legal advice from a high appeals court on how to implement the Supreme Court's ruling, AP said. Then the session, which lasted about five minutes, was adjourned.
East Timor PM's party wins most seats in parliament
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's party has won Saturday's parliamentary elections in East Timor, claiming 30 of the chamber's 65 seats. Gusmao's National Congress for the Reconstruction of East Timor will need to form a coalition to gain the majority needed to govern. The national election commission said on Tuesday that the party won nearly 37 per cent of the vote. The Fretilin party won 25 seats, AP reports. The Democratic Party claimed eight seats and Frenti-Mudanca took two.
Norway government ends oil, gas strike
The Norwegian government has ordered an end to a two-week strike by oil and gas workers. Labor Minister Hanne Bjurstroem said early on Tuesday that she was forced to end the strike to avert the lockout in the interests of the country, AP reports. Producers had threatened a lockout scheduled to begin at midnight Monday which would have shut down the industry within days. The lockout would have affected more than 6,500 workers with daily losses of some $300 million. The strike began on June 24 and failed to produce an agreement on pay and pensions.
Israeli ex-PM Olmert cleared of major charges
An Israeli court on Tuesday cleared former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of the major charges in a corruption trial that forced him from power. Olmert was found guilty of a lesser offense. It was not clear whether breach of trust carries a prison term, AP reports. The charges were filed after he became prime minister in 2006. However, they stemmed back to his time as mayor of Jerusalem and later as a Cabinet minister. After he was indicted in 2008, he stepped aside. His Kadima Party lost power in the February 2009 elections.
China flight crew get rewards for foiling hijackers
A Chinese airline awarded cash and apartments to a nine-member crew that foiled a hijack attempt last month. Six Uighur men were arrested for the alleged attempt in China's far west region of Xinjiang on June 29. Hainan Airlines, the parent company of the flight operator, awarded the chief flight attendant and two security guards $159,000 in cash, an apartment worth $477,000 and a car, Xinhua reported. The other six members each received $79,500 in cash, a $318,000 apartment and a car. An overseas rights group says the incident was a brawl over a seat dispute, not a hijacking attempt, AP said. Uighurs are resentful of government controls over their religion and culture.
Eurozone to give Spanish banks €30 billion bailout
At talks ending Tuesday, the eurozone’s 17 finance ministers have reached an agreement on bailing out Spain’s troubled banking system. The first tranche of €30 billion will be offered by the end of the month. Spain's deadline for cutting its budget deficit to 3 per cent in 2013 will also be extended by one year.
11 killed in crossfire between Mexican police and gunmen
A shootout erupted in western Mexico's state of Sinaloa on Monday when a group of gunmen ambushed two police vehicles. Seven officers and four assailants were killed, Reuters reports. The reason behind the attack is unknown, but may be connected to others carried out by drug cartels, officials suggest.
Chavez ‘cancer-free’
Venezuela’s 57-year-old president, Hugo Chavez, told reporters on Monday that he was “totally” cancer-free. The announcement comes at a crucial time – ahead of the October 7 presidential election, where he is expected to run for a third six-year term. Chavez was first diagnosed with cancer in his pelvic area one year ago, and underwent a series of treatment cycles in Cuba and at home. He declared himself cancer-free at the end of 2011, but the disease returned in February 2012.
Romanian Constitutional Court puts president's impeachment to voters
Romania's Constitutional Court ruled on Monday night that the impeachment of increasingly unpopular President Traian Basescu is legal, AP reports. Members of the Romanian parliament accuse him of overstepping his authority by meddling in government business and the country's judicial system, and voted last week to impeach. The ruling allows for a referendum to go ahead on July 29. In order for Basescu to be ousted from office, more than half of voters need to vote in favor of impeachment.
Three UK men to face terror charges
Three men from Birmingham, England, have been charged by the UK police with terror offenses. No further details are available at this point, but the three are set to appear in court in London on Tuesday.
South Sudan marks first birthday amid tensions with Sudan
South Sudan has been marking its first anniversary of independence from Sudan. Tens of thousands gathered on Monday in the capital, Juba, to celebrate the first birthday of the world's youngest nation. But the celebrations come as the neighbors are teetering on the brink of a full-scale war. Disputes over the unsettled issues of oil deposits and their border have tensions at a boiling point. The oil-rich South is dependent on Sudan's infrastructure to export its resources, but production has ground to a halt as neither have been able to agree on transit fees. The problems only add to the South's current dire economic situation.
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