Turkey detains dozens of police in wiretap probe
More police officers were detained in Turkey on Tuesday as part of an investigation into illegally wiretapping Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his inner circle, Reuters said. At least 25 police officers were detained in 14 provinces across the country, according to the state-run TRT channel. Last week, 31 officers were remanded in custody on pending charges they formed a criminal organization and bugged phones following a first wave of arrests started on July 22. The investigation is targeting a “parallel structure” within the state, a term coined by Erdogan. He hopes to become Turkey’s first directly-elected president in the August 10 election.
S. Korea blasts Japan’s official island claim
South Korea on Tuesday slammed Japan’s reassertion of its claim to a set of disputed islets in a new defense white paper, AFP said. The document released in Tokyo alluded to a set of territorial disputes, including one with South Korea over a group of islands in the East Sea (Sea of Japan). “The Japanese government repeated the ludicrous claim that Dokdo is its own territory… in its 2014 White Paper,” the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said. The South Korea-controlled chain of rocky islets is called Dokdo by Seoul and Takeshima by Tokyo. The area has been the cause of tensions between the two neighbors for decades.
UN chief welcomes Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, calls for restraint
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Israelis and Palestinians to observe the 72-hour ceasefire on Tuesday and to exercise maximum restraint. Ban welcomed the ceasefire in Gaza starting Tuesday morning. Earlier, the UN said it will use the temporary ceasefire to restock supplies at schools and other shelters for about 270,000 displaced Palestinians. Both sides have
expressed support for the truce.
Canadian couple investigated for stealing China state secrets
Two Canadians are being investigated by Chinese authorities for stealing state secrets, including military and national defense research, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday. The pair, Kevin Garratt and Julia Dawn Garratt, was in charge of a coffee shop on the Chinese border with North Korea. The two have been residing in China since 1984 and opened Peter’s Coffee House in Dandong in 2008, according to The Globe & Mail. The investigation, carried out by State Security Bureau of Dandong city in northeast Liaoning Province, comes after Canada labelled China as being behind the cyberattack on the Canadian National Research Council.
Obama authorizes additional $225 million for Israel’s Iron Dome
President Barack Obama has signed a bill authorizing an additional $225 million in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, which has been developed in conjunction with American defense giant Raytheon. The extra money is intended to refill Israel’s supply of missiles, which are used to intercept incoming rocket fire from Gaza, and comes just a few days after the proposal sailed through Congress last week. Each Tamir missile deployed by an Iron Dome battery costs Israel up to $90,000, while the unguided rockets launched by Hamas typically cost a few hundred dollars a piece.
WHO: Ebola death toll reaches 887, with 1,603 people affected
The death toll from the world’s worst Ebola outbreak had risen to 887 by Aug. 1, while the total number of cases in the four West African countries affected stood at 1,603 on the same date. The recent figure marks a significant increase since last Thursday, when the death toll was put at 158 people. Most of the deaths have been concentrated in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. On Monday, Nigeria reported that it has confirmed a second case of Ebola, indicating the disease is spreading there too. Two Americans have been infected in West Africa. One of them has already been transported to the US for treatment and the other will arrive early Tuesday.
3,000 families in Lebanon displaced as army clashes with Islamist militants
At least 3,000 families from Arsal have been displaced in clashes between Islamist militants and the Lebanese Army that began Saturday, the Daily Star reported. Witnesses say the militants entered Arsal from the outskirts of the town when they heard that the Lebanese troops would be conducting a joint operation with Lebanon’s main Shiite militia group, Hezbollah. Arsal is a predominantly Sunni town of 40,000 whose population has almost tripled because of the presence of Syrian refugees and rebels, AP said. The town is wedged between Syrian government-controlled territory and Lebanese Shiite villages sympathetic to Hezbollah.
Nigeria records second Ebola case as Lagos doctor who treated US victim contracts virus
Lagos recorded its second case of Ebola on Monday as a doctor who treated US victim Patrick Sawyer has contracted the disease, according to Nigeria’s health minister. Sawyer died in Lagos last month after arriving there by plane from Liberia, Reuters said.
Kurdish forces in Iraq to launch counter-offensive against Islamic State
Kurdish peshmerga forces are planning a counter-offensive against Islamic State fighters in northern Iraq, Reuters said, citing officials. The Kurds had been overstretched in the region, one of the officials said, adding that they were now calling in a large number of fighters to hit back against the Sunni militants.
Afghan police, army kill 86 militants over 24 hours
Afghan police units and the army have killed 86 Taliban militants in operations across the country over the past 24 hours, the Interior Ministry said. The operations were conducted in Nangarhar, Kunduz, Saripul, Urugan, Wardak, Khost and Paktia provinces and left 71 more insurgents injured and 14 others arrested, Xinhua said. It was not clear if there were casualties among security personnel. The Taliban hasn’t commented on the report.
3 trawlers capsize, 15 missing in India storm
Three trawlers have capsized in a storm while 15 others with 240 people on board are missing in Bay of Bengal near Kakdwip, PTI reported. Twenty-five trawlers were traced of the 40 which went missing during a storm last night. Suryanarayan’, ‘Maharudra’ and ‘Sarwasti’ capsized near Jambu Dwip in the sea. All the fisherman of ‘Maharudra’ and ‘Sarwasti’ have been rescued but eight out of 15 fishermen from the ‘Suryanarayan’ are still missing.
Belarus to supply Ukraine with oil products – Lukashenko
Belarus is ready to supply Ukraine with oil products, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko on Monday, Reuters said. Belarus, which has two major refineries, gets the bulk of its oil from Russia. “Lukashenko stressed that Belarus understands the acuteness of this problem during the harvesting campaign and therefore, despite domestic needs, will assist Ukraine in ensuring its economy has oil products,” the Belarusian president’s administration said after the two presidents spoke on the telephone.
Intl experts resume work on site of Boeing crash in Ukraine
International experts on Monday resumed work at the site of the Malaysian Airlines plane crash in eastern Ukraine. Eight representatives of the OSCE special monitoring mission in Ukraine and over 100 experts with cadaver dogs are working in the Donetsk Region, RIA Novosti said. Experts from the Netherlands and Australia have been working at the site for the third successive day. Their task is to search for the bodies of those killed in the air crash and their personal belongings, ITAR-TASS said, citing an OSCE spokesman.
Over 100 aircraft to take part in large-scale Russian combat air exercises
Russia is beginning five days of Air Force combat drills on Monday. They will involve a total of over 100 fighter jets, bombers and helicopters in the country’s Central and Western military districts, Itar-Tass quoted a spokesman for the Russian Air Force as saying. The exercises will be conducted jointly with Russian air defense forces, Igor Klimov said. “The maneuvers will involve 100 planes and helicopters such as Su-27 Flanker fighter jets, MiG-31 Foxhound fighter jets, multipurpose Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers, Su-24 Fencer bombers as well as Mi-8, Mi-24 and Mi-28N combat helicopters,” he said. The aircraft will be practicing shooting at targets on land and in the air at new firing ranges as well as conducting launches of anti-aircraft missiles at the Ashuluk firing range in the Astrakhan Region in southern Russia.
German ministry halts Rheinmetall defense deal with Russia
Germany’s Economy Ministry has said it had halted Rheinmetall’s export of combat simulation gear to Russia, Reuters said. Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, a Social Democrat (SPD), has blocked the deal which was approved by Germany’s previous government. The move goes beyond recently-imposed EU sanctions which block future defense contracts. “In the light of the EU sanctions, permission to export a combat training center has been revoked,” according to a spokesman. Rheinmetall said on Monday it was in talks with the German government.
Kabul bomb attack leaves 4 Afghan soldiers killed
Four Afghan army soldiers were killed and four others wounded in a bomb attack in the outskirts of the national capital of Kabul on Monday morning, Xinhua reported citing the Defense Ministry. Four Afghan National Army personnel “were martyred and four wounded following a roadside bombing in southern outskirts of Kabul,” the ministry said. The incident took place when army personnel were on their routine patrol in an army armored vehicle.
Chinese officials blame dust for fatal blast at factory
Chinese officials have blamed the chairman of a car parts factory in eastern China and local regulators for safety breaches after the most deadly industrial accident in a year, Xinhua reported on Monday. The blast at the Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products Co factory in the city of Kunshan on Saturday killed at least 75 people and injured 185, Reuters said. An investigation suggested the blast was triggered by a flame lit in a dust-filled room, officials said, adding that dust can be highly explosive when it is suspended in air in the right concentrations.
Ferry capsizes in Bangladesh, 200 passengers aboard
A ferry with about 200 passengers aboard capsized on Monday in the river Padma, about 30km southwest of Dhaka, Reuters reported. Forty-four passengers have been rescued from the vessel, identified as the Pinak-6, said Mohammad Saiful Hasan Badal, the Deputy Commissioner of the Munshiganj district. There were no immediate reports on casualties. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority’s teams and the army were engaged in the rescue operation.
PetroChina refinery in Lanzhou on fire, no reports on casualties
PetroChina Petrochemical Company has caught fire at 8:39 am at the company’s Lanzhou location, responsible for processing 300,000 tons gas a year, Xinhua reports. The news agency says that one of the storage units caught on fire. The is no word on casualties as firefighters are battling the blaze. Pollution has so far not been detected in the air or water.
Four killed as flash flood disrupts festival in Italy
Four people have been killed, and as many as 20 injured in the area of Refrontolo near Venice, after a sudden storm caused a river to break its banks. Revelers celebrating a local cultural festival were hoping to weather the storm under an awning, when they were swept away by a muddy torrent, alongside cars and stalls. It is not clear if there are still people missing after the calamity, which happened late on Saturday night.
22 killed on Sunday in continuing Libya airport battle
At least 22 people have died, and more than 70 have been injured in Sunday’s clashes between rival militias, battling to take control of Tripoli’s airport. In addition, a rocket hit on a major fuel depot on Saturday, sparked a fire that continues to rage in the Libyan capital. More than 200 people have died in the worst outburst of violence in the country, since Muammar Gaddafi was deposed three years ago.
Emirates Airlines suspends flights to Guinea over Ebola
The Emirates has become the first major international airline to suspend all flights to Guinea in West Africa in a bid to prevent the further spreading of the Ebola virus. “We apologize for any inconvenience caused to our customers, however the safety of our passengers and crew is of the highest priority and will not be compromised,”the Dubai-based airline said in statement. Emirates said its flights to Guinea’s capital, Conakry, were suspended Saturday until further notice. The deadly Ebola virus has already killed at least 729 people across four African countries.
6.3 quake strikes western China
An earthquake measuring 6.3 has hit about 89 miles west of the city of Liupanshui, in the Guizhou province, according to the US Geological Survey. The quake struck at a depth of less than one mile. The south-western city is home to nearly three million inhabitants. The Guizhou province borders those of Sichuan, Hunan and Yunnan.
Islamists capture town, oil field from Kurds in Iraq
Islamic State militants have captured the town of Zumar, the nearby Ain Zalah oil field and an oil refinery in northern Iraq after a battle with Kurdish militia forces, witnesses told Reuters. The radical Islamist group previously captured four oil fields and well as large portions of Iraq in a lighting offensive, seizing major assets to fund their operations.
8 Lebanese soldiers killed in Syria border clashes with gunmen
Eight Lebanese soldiers were killed in overnight clashes with mortar-armed gunmen in and around the town of Arsal near the border with Syria, the army reported. There were also wounded in the clashes, but the military gave no number. Local media reported at least two civilian casualties as well. The militants were apparently members of the terrorist Al-Nusra Front, a Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, who reportedly retaliated for an earlier arrest of one of their fighters.
China confirms almost 100 killed in recent gunmen attack
At least 37 civilians were killed in the July 28 terrorist attacks in western Xinjiang, the Chinese government said Sunday. It added that 59 of the attackers were gunned down by security forces. “This was a serious terrorist attack incident which has links to domestic and overseas terrorist organizations and was organized, premeditated, carefully planned and evil,” the Xinjiang regional government said on its website. Xinjiang is home to the Muslim Uighur people, with separatist moods strong among many of them. Uighur radicals have been recently involved in a string of attacks on officials and civilians in the region.
Death toll from Pakistani bathers’ drowning rises to 39
In an ongoing operation Pakistani rescuers have recovered the bodies of 39 people, who drowned on Thursday near the provincial capital Karachi in the south of the country. The victims were vacationers celebrating the Islamic holiday of Eid-ul-Fitr, who ignored the ban on swimming in the sea during the monsoon season. Media agencies
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