July, 2008

• 9 July

  U.S. Marines “kill 400 Taliban” in Afghan operation

  KABUL (Reuters) – U.S. Marines have killed more than 400 Taliban since they began an operation to seize a district in southern Afghanistan in May, their commander said on Wednesday. A fighting force of some 2,200 U.S. Marines deployed to Afghanistan earlier this year to make up for shortfalls in …

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• 9 July

  Georgia says Russian jets violated its airspace

  TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia on Wednesday said four Russian air force jets had violated its airspace over a volatile Moscow-backed separatist region on Tuesday. Russia’s Defence Ministry was not immediately available to comment on the Georgian allegation.

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• 9 July

  Russia to consider retaliation over missile shield

  TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) – Russia will consider how to retaliate over a planned U.S. missile shield but wants to continue talks on the issue with Washington, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.

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• 9 July

  Tiny Iraq navy to flex muscle as oil guardian

  UMM QASR, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraq’s fledgling navy of battered patrol boats is bulking up for a greater role in protecting the country’s economic heart, its offshore oil terminals, officials said. Putting on muscle to protect the two terminals that account for 90 percent of Iraq’s revenues, the tiny navy …

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• 9 July

  Russia calls Georgia a risk to regional security

  MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s foreign ministry on Wednesday called Georgia a threat to stability in the South Caucasus, just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to visit Tbilisi. The Russian foreign ministry’s statement listed occasions when it said Georgian forces had stirred trouble with its two …

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• 8 July

  U.S. and Czechs sign missile deal prompting Moscow warning

  PRAGUE (Reuters) – The United States and the Czech Republic signed an agreement on Tuesday to build part of a U.S. missile defense shield in the central European state despite opposition from its former Cold War master Russia. The U.S. and Czech foreign ministers toasted with champagne after signing the …

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• 8 July

  Russia says will use military means if U.S. deploys shield

  MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Tuesday it would use military means if the United States deployed a missile defense shield close to Russia’s borders. “If the real deployment of an American strategic missile defense shield begins close to our borders, then we will be forced to react not with …

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• 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 …

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• 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 …

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• 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 …

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