AP, Tehran
Iran’s chief of staff of the armed forces said Saturday that Tehran may be interested in setting up naval bases in both Syria and Yemen, the semi-official Tasnim reported. The report by Tasnim, close to military, quoted Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri as saying, “Maybe, at some point we will need bases on the shores of Yemen and Syria.”
He said “Having naval bases in remote distances is not less than nuclear power. It is ten times more important and creates deterrence.”
Two dead in Italy storms
AFP, Rome
Heavy rains that pounded Italy over the past three days have left at least two people dead and two others are reported missing, Italian media said Saturday.
A 73-year-old fisherman died near Genoa in northern Italy while in the neighbouring Piemont region rescuers on Saturday found the body of a 70-year-old man who had gone to look for his horses and had been missing since Friday.
Fatah will give Abbas an
honourable exit
Al Jazeera, Ramallah
Fatah’s seventh congress will throw more light on who will be Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ successor. Defying strong pressure from regional and international players, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is poised to hold the seventh congress in Ramallah of the movement that he, along with Yasser Arafat and other now-aging leaders, launched more than 50 years ago.
19 killed in Uganda fighting
AP, Kampala
Two days of fighting between Ugandan forces and a tribal militia in a remote district near the border with Congo have left at least 19 people dead, a Ugandan government official said Sunday.
After the rebels had killed four Ugandan police officers and wounded a soldier, Ugandan forces launched an operation in which at least 15 rebel fighters have been killed, government spokesman Col. Shaban Bantariza said.
