Iraq
Militants claim ministry bombings as tension grows with Syria
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As Tehran’s capacity to enrich fuel increases, why hasn’t the output? One theory: Sanctions are working
A group affiliated with al-Qaida claimed responsibility Tuesday for last week’s devastating suicide bombings at the ministries of foreign affairs (above) and finance, while Iraq and Syria recalled their ambassadors in an escalating dispute over whether Damascus may have aided the attacks.
The claim of responsibility came in a statement posted on the Internet by the Islamic State of Iraq, the name now used by the al-Qaida in Iraq organization. The group does not often acknowledge a role in bombings, and the ones it does claim tend to be among the most spectacular.
However, Iraq’s government appears convinced that members of Saddam Hussein’s dismantled Baath Party based in Syria were primarily responsible for the devastating blasts last Wednesday, which killed 95 people and wounded more than 500 in one of the worst attacks ever to strike the heart of Baghdad.
— Liz Sly, Tribune Newspapers
IRAN
Hints seen of uranium shortage
Iran’s output of enriched uranium is stagnating even as its production capacity increases, a sign that Tehran may be running out of the ore needed to make nuclear fuel, diplomats said Tuesday.
If so, it could mean that international sanctions to slow if not stop Iran’s nuclear program are taking hold.
The diplomats — who demanded anonymity because their information was confidential — emphasized the possibility that Iran was running short of uranium oxide was only one of several possible explanations for why it had not substantially upped its production of enriched uranium since May.
But they said it seemed unlikely the Islamic Republic had deliberately decided to curb production. They noted that over the past three months the country has expanded its processing capabilities by installing and running hundreds more of the centrifuges used to enrich uranium.
The U.N. Security Council has imposed sanctions against Iran three times since 2006 for its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment. The sanctions grew from fears that Iran is using the pretext of a peaceful nuclear energy program to eventually make weapons-grade enriched uranium. The country has also been placed on an international watch list to help limit the importation of nuclear materials.
Pakistan
Taliban admit chief is dead
DERA ISMAIL KHAN– After weeks of denials, two Pakistani Taliban commanders acknowledged Tuesday that the group’s top leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was dead — claiming he died 18 days after a U.S. missile strike and disputing reports that the movement he left behind was falling apart.
Pakistani officials have said the Taliban were in disarray after Mehsud was killed in a CIA missile strike earlier this month. But in a show of unity — a joint phone call Tuesday to The Associated Press — Taliban commanders Waliur Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud confirmed an earlier Taliban announcement that the latter was the new Pakistani Taliban chief.
VENEZUELA
Colombia ties likely to end
CARACAS– Venezuela is preparing to break off diplomatic relations with neighboring Colombia over its plan to give U.S. troops greater access to its military bases.
President Hugo Chavez says “there is no possibility” of repairing ties with Colombia’s government.
Colombia and the United States are negotiating an agreement that would let the U.S. military increase its presence at seven Colombian bases through a 10-year lease agreement.
Colombian and U.S. officials say it is necessary to more effectively fight drug trafficking and terrorism.
Chavez says the agreement poses a threat to Venezuela.
The socialist leader told his foreign minister on Tuesday to “begin preparing for the rupture with Colombia.”
Mexico
Remittances drop again
MEXICO CITY–Cash remittances from Mexicans living abroad keep tumbling, with a second-quarter drop of 17.9 percent compared with the same period last year, officials said Tuesday.
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Mexico’s central bank said remittances for April through June fell to $5.6 billion, continuing a trend that has lasted more than a year. The money transfers are off 12 percent during the first six months of 2009, compared with the first half of 2008.
The latest report was no surprise but spelled more gloomy news for Mexico’s economy, which has been hammered by declining oil earnings, a drop in exports and a flu crisis last spring that put a big dent in tourism.
Remittances are one of Mexico’s three top sources of foreign income.
South Korea
SEOUL–Rocket launch fails
— South Korea’s first rocket launch Tuesday failed to push a satellite into its orbit, but the flawed mission might still anger rival North Korea, coming just months after the communist nation’s own launch drew international condemnation.
The failure dealt a blow to Seoul’s quest to become a regional space power. It comes against the complex backdrop of relations on the Korean peninsula — and signs that months of heightened tension over the North’s nuclear program may be easing.
Also Tuesday, a South Korean newspaper reported that North Korea has invited top envoys of President Barack Obama for the first nuclear negotiations between the two countries under his presidency, but Washington quickly said it has no plans to send the envoys to Pyongyang.
Alabama
MARION–Families’ feud escalates
— Members of two feuding families were in jail Tuesday after years of quarreling erupted into a small-town riot in which 150 screaming people hurled rocks and tools — and even struck the police chief.
Authorities said a 2- or 3-year-old dispute between the two families prompted a melee that eventually swelled to include friends and gang members. It wasn’t immediately clear why the families didn’t get along.
— From Tribune news services