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Iran tests missiles amid tension with US, Israel

Reuters, Tehran

Iran test fired nine long- and medium-range missiles on Wednesday, state media said, including one which it has said could reach Israel and U.S. bases in the region.

The tests occurred at a time of increased tension between Iran and Israel over Tehran's nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at making bombs. Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, says its program is only for electricity.

A New York Times report in June said Israel had practiced an attack on Iranian nuclear sites, and the tension has rattled financial markets. U.S. and London Brent crude oil futures rose by more than a dollar on news of Iran firing the missiles.

"The aim of holding this maneuver is to show (Iran's) will and authority to the enemies that have threatened Iran with harsh language in recent weeks," state broadcaster IRIB quoted a Revolutionary Guards commander as saying.

"We t launch these missiles in honor of Iran, to show that this is only a small part of Iran's capability and defensive power," said the commander, Hossein Salami.

Israel, believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, has vowed to prevent Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb. The United States says it wants to resolve the dispute by diplomacy but has not ruled out military action. "Israel does not threaten Iran, but the Iranian nuclear program combined with their aggressive ballistic missile program is a matter of grave concern." Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said after the tests.

An aide to Iran's Supreme Leader was quoted as saying on Tuesday the Islamic Republic would hit Tel Aviv, U.S. shipping in the Gulf and U.S. interests around the world if it was attacked over its nuclear activities. State Press TV said the "highly advanced" missiles tested by the Guards included a "new" Shahab 3 missile, which officials have said could reach targets 2,000 km (1,250 miles) away.

The TV, which said the Shahab 3 carries a conventional warhead, showed images of missiles blasting off in the desert and leaving long vapor trails as they soared into the sky. Other ground-to-ground missiles tested by naval and air units of the Guards were the Zelzal and Fateh, with respective ranges of 400 km and 170 km, state TV said.

Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if it comes under attack. About 40 percent of globally traded oil moves through the Gulf waterway.

Leaders of the Group of Eight rich countries expressed serious concern at the proliferation risks posed by Iran's nuclear program.

In a statement issued after G8 leaders met in Hokkaido, northern Japan, the grouping urged Tehran to suspend all uranium enrichment-related activities-a step Iran has rejected.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said major world powers had decided to send European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to Iran for talks on an incentives package they offered last month to induce Tehran to change its nuclear policy.

Sarkozy did not say when Solana would travel to Tehran. Iran formally replied on Friday to the offer by the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany.

France said Iran's response had ignored the world powers' demand that it suspend enrichment.

The U.S. dollar weakened on Wednesday and U.S. treasuries trimmed their losses over news of the missile tests.

Poor come first, G8 must do more on climate : Indian PM

Reuters, Sapporo

India said on Wednesday its first priority was spurring economic growth so that it could eradicate dire poverty and called on G8 countries to keep their promises to deliver significant green house gas reductions.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told leaders at a meeting of 16 major economies in northern Japan that India must work to help its poor and could not even consider quantitative restrictions on emissions.

"The imperative for our accelerated growth is even more urgent when we consider the disproportionate impact of climate change on us as a developing country," Singh said, according to a transcript of his speech to a Major Economies Meeting that included Group of Eight rich countries and major developing ones.

India had "little choice but to devote even more and huge resources to adaption in critical areas of food security, public health and management of scarce water resources", he said.

Around 600 million Indians do not have access to modern energy sources and a quarter of its population lives on less than a dollar a day.

India was also faced with an ever increasing energy bill putting its energy security at risk, Singh said.

Developed countries had not shown demonstrable progress on even the low levels of greenhouse gas reductions that had been agreed to, he said.

"This must change and you (the G8) must all show the leadership that you have always promised by taking and then delivering truly significant GHG (greenhouse gas) reductions," he said.

India is amongst the world's lowest per-capita emitters.

Singh also called for greater cooperation on clean technologies between developed and developing countries, faster transfer of those technologies to developing nations and a fairer regime for intellectual property rights.

Pakistani PM calls for joint efforts to fight terrorism

Reuters, Kuala Lumpur

Pakistan on Wednesday called for an end to the blame game and focus on the war against terrorism, brushing aside allegations of its involvement in the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

In what was generally seen as a reference to Pakistan, an Afghan presidential spokesman had said on Tuesday the suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital bore all the hallmarks of a foreign intelligence agency.

The allegation came after Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani had denied his country's involvement in the attack, in response to earlier Afghan accusations.

"We all have to fight against terrorism and extremism. And we should not put excuses, rather we should jointly fight this war," Gillani told a select group of reporters in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Afghanistan has accused Pakistani agents of being behind the April assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai, a mass jail break in Kandahar last month and a string of other attacks.

Karzai threatened last month to send troops across the border to attack militants if Pakistan did not take action.

Referring to the Indian Embassy bombing, Gillani said the United States had already stated that "there was no such act from Pakistan", citing some Pakistani television reports.

"The NATO forces are working there, if they themselves are denying, there is no need to have an allegation or a blame game," he said.

"We want to have excellent relations with our neighbours, whether it is India or Afghanistan.

A stable Afghanistan is in our interest. If Afghanistan is stable, we benefit."

Gillani, who was in Kuala Lumpur to attend a summit of Islamic countries, also blamed the trouble in Afghanistan for some of Pakistan's own problems.

"If there is any one bomb, that means there will be less investment, and that is because we are fighting against terrorism and extremism in the forefront," he said.

The Pakistani prime minister said his country was catering to the needs of 3 million Afghan refugees, as well food requirements for its troubled neighbour, while spending more on security and defence.

"When Afghanistan would be stable, the refugees would go with grace, dignity and with respect to their country. And we would be then be free from the worries of law and order in the country," he said.

Israeli troops raid Nablus city hall in crackdown

AP, Nablus

Israeli troops raided Nablus city hall on Wednesday, the deputy mayor said, in what appears to be part of an ongoing crackdown on institutions the army believes are linked to Hamas in the West Bank.

Deputy mayor Hafez Shaheen said troops also raided six mosques in the city and seized five buses belonging to schools close to Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. Shaheen said the troops confiscated five computers from city hall.

The military had no immediate comment.

Nablus' mayor, Adli Yaish, is a Hamas politician who has been imprisoned by Israel.

This week, troops have raided and shut down various Nablus facilities it says are connected to Hamas, including the city's shopping mall.

The raids may also be an Israeli effort to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is in a fierce rivalry with Hamas. Hamas violently wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas' forces a year ago.

Businesses planned a general strike Wednesday in to protest the crackdown in Nablus, a city of 135,000 that serves as the West Bank's commercial center.

Also Wednesday, Israel opened a Gaza cargo crossing for business despite mortar fire from Gaza a day earlier. Israeli military officials said the Sufa crossing would operate normally.

Under a three-week-old truce, Israel is to expand the flow of goods into Gaza, which has been largely cut off from the world since Hamas took over.

Israel has repeatedly closed Gaza's crossings in response to rocket fire from Gaza since the truce took effect, but officials agreed on Tuesday to an Egyptian request to reopen the borders.

Fighting kills 24 in Sri Lanka

AFP, Colombo

At least 22 Tamil Tiger rebels and two government soldiers have died in the latest clashes in northern Sri Lanka, the island's defence ministry said Wednesday.

The fighting, which took place on Tuesday, was centred around the Weli Oya, Vavuniya and Mannar regions, the statement said. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) did not comment on Tuesday's fighting.

But guerrillas said 50 civilians were killed in the rebel-held north in June, including seven who died in roadside mine attacks blamed on army commandos.

Casualty figures given by either side cannot be independently verified as the defence ministry bars journalists and rights groups from travelling to the frontlines.

The latest figures given by the ministry raises the number of rebels killed by government forces to 4,811 since January, while 432 soldiers have died in the same period.

3 police officers shot dead near US

Reuters, Istanbul

Three police officers were killed in a shooting outside the United States consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday, Turkish television said. Television images appeared to show four bodies on the ground in front of the high-walled complex. Media earlier said that two police had been shot dead.

The U.S. embassy in Ankara said it was aware of an incident near the Istanbul consulate, but had no further details.

Turkey has seen armed attacks from a variety of groups over the years, including Maoists, Trotskyists, Kurdish separatists and Islamist militants.

The worst incidents were in November, 2003, when 62 people were killed in attacks on two synagogues, a bank and the British consulate.

Militants shoot dead four Pak soldiers

AFP, Peshawar

Suspected militants shot dead four Pakistani paramilitary soldiers overnight in a troubled northwestern tribal town near the Afghan border, officials said Wednesday.

The attack occurred in Khyber tribal district, where Pakistan poured in paramilitary troops about 10 days ago to clear the area of Islamic militants threatening to create unrest in the provincial capital city of Peshawar.

Gunmen ambushed the soldiers' vehicle when it was heading to the base camp late Tuesday, local administration official Muhammad Khan told AFP. Three soldiers were also wounded in the attack.

The chief of the militant Lashkar-e-Islami group, Mangal Bagh, denied his men were involved in the attack and vowed to punish those responsible, according to reports in local media.

Bagh and his LI are accused of involvement in kidnapping for ransom in Peshawar and attacking convoys supplying NATO and US troops in Afghanistan that travel through the historic Khyber Pass.

Bagh is currently in Khyber's Tirah mountains where government-backed tribal elders have been meeting him for the last few days.

Anti-Pope fashion parade held ahead of Australian visit

AFP, Sydney

Australians protesting against Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Sydney took a creative turn on Wednesday, staging an "annoying" fashion show of T-shirts displaying anti-Catholic slogans.

The show, a response to new laws against causing "annoyance" to pilgrims attending Catholic World Youth day next week, came just a day after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called on all Australians to show the Pope respect.

"They are not from Milan," acknowledged Rachel Evans, spokeswoman of the NoToPope group, as T-shirts featuring slogans such as "The Pope is wrong, put a condom on" were displayed outside the New South Wales state parliament.

Other shirts, which are selling for 20 dollars (19 US), read "Pope go homo", "There is no God" and "Does the history of your church annoy you?"

Among the most graphic was one featuring Benedict XVI standing with arms outstretched but with pointed, red devil ears and a tail superimposed on the image under the slogan "Chief homophobe".

NoToPope, a coalition including Christians, atheists and gay groups, was protesting at new regulations giving police power to stop conduct that "causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants" in World Youth Day.

Thai army chief denies planning coup

AFP, Bangkok

Thai army chief General Anupong Paojinda denied Wednesday that the military was planning a coup after a top general joined in an anti-government protest.

"The military will not stage a coup. Political problems must be solved through politics, and a coup will not solve any problem," Anupong told reporters.

Fears of a coup have rippled through Bangkok since royalist protesters from the so-called People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) began staging daily anti-government rallies nearly seven weeks ago. Although the rallies are generally small, their influence is substantial because they are seen as reflective of the opinions of Thailand's elite.

The PAD led protests in 2006 against then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, creating political instability that eventually led the military to topple his government.

Worries about a new coup heightened after one of the military's top advisers, General Phathompong Kasornsuk, appeared in full uniform late Tuesday on the PAD's stage.

Phathompong, the top adviser to the military's Supreme Command, strongly criticised Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej for supporting Cambodia's bid for a disputed Hindu temple to receive World Heritage status from the UN cultural agency.

"Everybody attacked the junta-backed government, calling them dictators, but the junta government never did anything bad like this. How can the elected government do such a thing?" Phathompong was quoted as saying in Thai media.

Phathompong is far less powerful than army chief Anupong, but his appearance at the rally surprised the public for his break with the military's neutral stance.

Mexico City police chief ousted

AP, Mexico City

Mexico City's police chief and its top prosecutor were forced out of office on Tuesday following a botched nightclub raid that resulted in the deaths of 12 people, including a 13-year-old girl.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said the resignation of Police Chief Joel Ortega was the first step in a plan to reconstruct the police force. Ortega had held the post since 2004, when he replaced Ebrard - who was fired in a different police scandal. The mayor made the announcement shortly after Mexico City's Human Rights Commission presented a report alleging rampant misconduct by officials in the June 20 raid on the News Divine nightclub that it said "created a death trap."

City prosecutor Rodolfo Felix Cardenas offered to step down and later Tuesday he told a news conference that Ebrard had accepted his resignation. His replacement has not been announced. A criminal investigation did not find evidence that Ortega had committed any crime, but he has been the target of harsh criticism.

Ebrard said that he wants to "make major institutional changes" to the city's police department to avoid such tragedies in the future.

"We have to build a different kind of police force," he said.

He appointed Health Secretary Manuel Mondragon as interim police chief.

Officers responding to reports of drugs and underage drinking blocked the club's lone exit, creating a deadly stampede in which nine young club-goers and three police were asphyxiated or crushed to death. Among the dead were teens aged 13 and 14.

Drunken Briton sparks Dubai bomb alert

AFP, Dubai

A drunken British passenger sparked a bomb alert on Wednesday as an Emirates airline flight from Manchester in Britain landed at Dubai, an official for the carrier said.

"We can confirm there was an incident involving a passenger aboard EK20 from Manchester this morning after it had landed safely in Dubai," an Emirates official said.

The official said the passenger had an argument with one of the crew and then claimed a bomb was on the aircraft, which was later searched and no explosives were found.

"The captain immediately alerted the Department of Civil Aviation who took charge of the situation. The passenger is now in police custody," the official added.

Sarkozy to attend opening of Olympics

Reuters, Toyako

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, representing the European Union as well as his own country, his office said on Wednesday.

Rights activists have called for world leaders to boycott the ceremony on August 8 to protest China's record on civil rights.

Sarkozy met Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of a G8 summit in northern Japan on Wednesday.

Ties between Beijing and Paris were strained in April when pro-Tibet demonstrators disrupted the passage of the Olympic torch through the French capital, triggering anti-French protests in China and calls for a boycott of French goods.

"The president of the Republic has confirmed to the Chinese president his intention of traveling to Beijing on August 8 to take part in the opening ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games," the French presidency's office said in a statement.

As well as France, Sarkozy would represent the EU because France holds the rotating presidency of the 27-nation bloc, the presidential office's statement said, adding that other EU leaders had agreed with his move to attend the opening ceremony.

"The president has taken a wise, responsible decision," Prime Minister Francois Fillon told French radio on Wednesday morning.

"Conditions have been fulfilled so that dialogue with a country with more than a billion inhabitants can continue."

Sarkozy had previously said his presence at the Olympics depended on China's willingness to talk to the Dalai Lama, comments that irritated China, which considers Tibet an internal affair.

Two meetings between envoys of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader and the Chinese government have taken place, and another one is scheduled for October, a French official said.

Sarkozy has agreed with Hu not to make a public statement regarding Tibet before the October meeting, the official said.