Iran firm to boost military after US-Israel deal
AP, Tehran
Iran’s chief of staff of the armed forces says a $38 billion aid deal between the United States and Israel makes Iran more determined to strengthen its military.
In comments broadcast live on Iranian state TV, Gen Mohammad Hossein Bagheri says the U.S.-Israel aid deal “will make us more determined in strengthening the defense power of the country.”
Qatar’s emir assails Obama’s Syria policy
Reuters, United Nations
Qatar’s emir criticized U.S. President Barack Obama’s policy on Syria on Tuesday, highlighting the growing frustration among U.S. allies at what they perceive to be Washington’s lackluster action towards the protracted civil war.
Qatar, home to a U.S. base, is a vocal critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and, like the United States, has supported rebels seeking to topple Assad.
Indian soldiers kill 8 Kashmiri militants
Reuters, Srinagar
Indian troops fought two groups of suspected militants along the disputed frontier with Pakistan in Kashmir on Tuesday, killing at least eight, army officials said, in a significant flare-up in violence two days after a major attack on an Indian base.
One Indian soldier was killed during a gunfight against men trying to cross the Line of Control (LOC), the de facto border where thousands of Indian and Pakistani troops face off against each other, army spokesman Manish Kumar said.
Police director, woman killed in Mexico
AFP, Acapulco
A top police official in Mexico’s southern Guerrero state and his female companion were found stabbed to death in their home in the Pacific resort of Acapulco, authorities said.
The death of Tomas Hernandez Martinez, the state police’s director general and operations coordinator, is a “huge loss” for the force, the Guerrero public security department said in a statement.
Flash floods in Indonesia kill 20
Reuters, Garut
Indonesian search and rescue teams worked on Wednesday to find victims of flash floods that killed 20 people and damaged hundreds of homes, authorities said.
The floods hit the Garut area, about 200 km (125 miles) southeast of the capital, Jakarta, on Tuesday after torrential rain.
Lula to stand trial for corruption
AP, Braslia
Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva must stand trial for corruption, a judge ruled Tuesday, after prosecutors accused the popular leftist of masterminding the large-scale plundering of state oil company Petrobras.
The crusading judge behind the Petrobras investigation, Sergio Moro, accepted charges filed last week by prosecutors investigating Lula-making him the highest-profile figure to face trial in a case that has taken down some of the country’s most powerful business executives and politicians.
