The News Abridged

13072013

 BY SAGARMEDIA

WE CAN’T STOP IRANIAN WEAPON FLIGHTS’ TO SYRIA – IRAQI FM

Iraq is unable to prevent neighboring Iran from using its airspace “to transfer weapons to Syria,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said. ”We reject and condemn the transfer of weapons through our airspace and we will inform the Iranian side of that formally. But we don’t have the ability to stop it,” Zerabi told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat. Zerabi added that Iraq won’t be able to stop Iranian ”weapons flights” through its airspace without the help from the US and its allies. Iran is an ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been fighting a bloody civil war against Western-backed rebels for more than two years. Iraq has previously forced several Iranian aircraft bound for Syria to land, but the searches revealed that there was nothing but humanitarian aid on board.

TYPHOON SOULIK HITS LAND IN TAIWAN

One person is reported to have died and 21 injured in the strong winds and torrential rain, which have battered the Island. Some 8,500 people have been evacuated from mountainous and other dangerous areas and thousands of soldiers have been deployed. On the neighboring Chinese mainland 300,000 people were evacuated as the medium force Typhoon approached the eastern provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang. The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that torrential rain across much of the country has already left 200 people dead or missing.

FATAL PARIS TRAIN DERAILMENT CAUSE DISCOVERED

The cause of the train derailment which happened on Friday just outside Paris was a faulty switch, according to Pierre Izard, the French national railway company, SNCF’s general manager for infrastructure. The steel piece which joins two tracks broke away, he said, adding that the company had ordered the assessment of 5,000 similar pieces of track. The accident, which happened about 20 miles (32km) south of Paris, was considered the country’s worst accident in 25 years. At least six were killed and dozens injured.

PAMPLONA BULL RUN LANDS 21 IN HOSPITAL

At least 21 thrill seekers were hospitalized after the traditional Running of the Bulls in the Spanish city of Pamplona on Saturday. Two men – a Spaniard and an Irishman – are in a critical condition with chest injuries. Most of the people got hurt in the scrum at the entrance to the arena, with those who couldn’t get up being run over by the bulls. The Pamplona Bull Run is an annual week-long festival, which has a history of over 800 years.

US ‘MISINTERPRETS’ CHEMICAL WEAPONS ISSUE IN SYRIA – RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY

Moscow believes that the US State Department has permitted an incorrect interpretation of the situation regarding possible use of chemical weapons in Syria. Earlier this week State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki stated that Russia was blocking UN Security Council efforts to push for “an independent and credible investigation” of chemical attacks in Syria. ”The statement is a misunderstanding of the real situation around the international investigation into the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria. Authors of such assessments either ignore or deliberately distort the situation,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich replied.

CHINA FLOOD TOLL, 31 DEAD, 171 MISSING

Floodwaters caused by heavy rains surging through southwestern China have left at least 31 people dead and 171 missing, local media reports said. Flooding in the western province of Sichuan was the worst in 50 years for some areas, with over 220,000 people forced to evacuate, according to AP. Bridges have been closed and train service suspended in some parts of the province. Many of the casualties in Sichuan were from a massive landslide that struck a scenic resort outside the city of Dujiangyan, killing 18 people and leaving 107 missing.

CHINA ABANDONS $6 BILLION URANIUM PROJECT

Chinese officials have cancelled plans to build a uranium processing plant in the southern city of Heshan a day after hundreds of protesters took to the streets demanding the project be scrapped, a local government website said on Saturday. The proposed 230-hectare complex in the center of China’s Pearl River delta in Guangdong province had also triggered unease in neighboring Hong Kong, as well as the gambling region of Macau, the South China Morning Post reported. A brief statement published on the Heshan city government’s website said that “to respect people’s desire, the Heshan government will not propose the CNNC project”.

TEXAS SENATE PASSES CONTROVERSIAL ABORTION BILL

The Texas Senate late Friday approved some of the nation’s most restrictive abortion regulations. The measure, which passed by a 19-11 vote after 8 hours of heated debate, bans abortions past 20 weeks into a pregnancy, requires that abortions be performed at ambulatory surgical centers and that physicians who perform abortions have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic at which they’re providing such services. Thousands of activists from both sides of the debate had gathered in the Texas capital of Austin to voice their opinion on the politically charged subject. Republican Governor Rick Perry is expected to sign the measure quickly into law.

UN CHIEF HANDS OVER RUSSIAN LAB RESULTS ON SYRIA

The results of Russia’s analysis of evidence relating to the use of chemical weapons in Syria were handed over to a team of experts on Friday by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a UN spokesman said. The team’s leader met with Ban earlier this week. Among other things, the two discussed the work of the Russian team of chemical experts. On July 9, Russian Special Representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin handed over Moscow’s lab results to Ban. According to Moscow, the results prove that it was the rebels – not the Syrian government – that used sarin gas in a chemical attack in Aleppo last March. One of the arguments Churkin has put forth is that unlike other lab results provided by Western specialists, the ones handed over by Russia were gathered by specialists at the scene of impact, instead of being handed over by a third party.

 TRAIN DERAIL NEAR PARIS

At least 6 dead, 30 injured after train derails near Paris

At least six people have been killed and 30 injured after a train derailed in the suburbs of Paris. French media reported that 370 people were on the train at the time of the accident, which ranks as France’s deadliest train crash in 25 years.

UN HUMAN RIGHTS ON WHISTLE-BLOWER

UN human rights chief says whistleblowers need protection

Navi in her first reference to whistleblower Edward Snowden’s case, UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay has called on all countries to protect the rights of those who uncover abuses and stressed the need to respect the right for people to seek asylum.

SNOWDEN ASYLUM

Snowden wants asylum in Russia,

Snowden ready to meet condition not to damage US
NSA leaker & former CIA employee Edward Snowden has asked for political asylum in Russia, saying he could not fly to Latin America, according to human rights activists who met the whistleblower at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. Media agencies