July, 2008

• 8 July

  Hamas and Egypt to discuss truce, prisoner swap deal

  GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas leaders plan to hold talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo on the future of a ceasefire with Israel that has been marred by violations since it began nearly three weeks ago. In the latest challenge to the Egyptian-brokered truce, militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip fired …

  Read More »
• 8 July

  Israel closes Gaza crossings after mortar attack

  JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel closed all but one of its border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in response to a mortar attack 24 hours earlier, Israeli officials said. The Jewish state said one mortar shell was fired from Gaza on Monday and landed in southern Israel, causing no …

  Read More »
• 8 July

  Iraq parliament must approve any U.S. security deal: MP

  BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s parliament will insist on vetting any security pact the government agrees with the United States and will likely veto the document if American troops are immune from Iraqi law, a senior lawmaker said on Tuesday. Baghdad and Washington are negotiating the legal basis for U.S. troops …

  Read More »
• 8 July

  UAE breaks ice blocking Arab ties to Iraq

  DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates’ decision to forgive Baghdad’s debt and restore high-level ties reflects a Gulf Arab desire to counter Iran’s spreading influence, but not all will be so quick to warm to the new Iraq. Sunni Arab governments who once funded Iraq’s 1980-1988 war against Shi’ite …

  Read More »
• 8 July

  Russia: U.S. missile shield deal complicates security

  MOSCOW (Reuters) – A U.S. deal with the Czech Republic on missile defense complicates European security and cancels out consultations with Moscow on the missile shield, media quoted a Russian foreign ministry source as saying.

  Read More »
• 8 July

  Militias finished in Iraq’s Basra: governor

  BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) – The Shi’ite Mehdi Army militia is finished as a fighting force in Iraq’s oil rich Basra province and upcoming provincial elections should pass without violence, the province’s governor said on Tuesday. Mohammed al-Waeli said an Iraqi security offensive against the Mehdi Army of anti-American cleric Moqtada …

  Read More »
• 8 July

  Four Georgian soldiers held in breakaway region

  TBILISI (Reuters) – Moscow-backed separatists in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia region detained four Georgian soldiers on Monday, raising tension a day before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Tbilisi. South Ossetia, and Georgia’s second breakaway region of Abkhazia, are a regular source of friction between the pro-Western government in …

  Read More »
• 8 July

  Rice urges Russia and Georgia to avoid provocation

  PRAGUE (Reuters) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Tuesday Russian behavior towards Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia had exacerbated tensions and she urged both sides to avoid provocative actions. “Frankly, some of the things that Russia did over the last couple of months added to tensions …

  Read More »
• 8 July

  Afghanistan says foreign agents behind embassy bomb

  KABUL (Reuters) – A suicide bomb attack on the Indian Embassy in the Afghan capital bore all the hallmarks of a foreign intelligence agency, Afghanistan’s presidential spokesman said on Tuesday in a likely reference to Pakistan. Afghanistan has accused Pakistani agents of being behind the April assassination attempt against President …

  Read More »
• 8 July

  Pakistan not behind embassy bombing in Kabul: PM

  KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Pakistan is not behind the suicide car-bombing that ripped through the Indian embassy in Kabul, killing 41 people and wounding 139, the country’s prime minister said on Tuesday. Afghan authorities had suggested that Monday’s attack was coordinated with foreign agents in the region, a likely reference …

  Read More »