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Portugal must show “our European partners that they have no reason to doubt our commitment'' to repairing the country's public finances — Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho
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israel confirms airstrike inside Syria TEL AVIV AGENCIES
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SRAELI officials have confirmed that the country's air force carried out a strike against Syria and say it targeted a shipment of advanced missiles. The officials said on Saturday the shipment was not of chemical arms, but of "game changing" weapons bound for the Lebanese Hezbollah group. They claimed, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the airstrike was early on Friday, but no mention was made of where it took place. "Syria has large amounts of chemical weaponry and missiles. Everything there is under (Assad government) control," Gilad said in a speech. "Hezbollah does not have chemical weaponry. We have ways of knowing. They are not keen to take weaponry like this, preferring systems that can cover all of the country (Israel)," he said. Earlier this week, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said his group would assist Assad if needed in the effort to put down a 2year-old uprising. Israeli
irAQ PrESSurEd To STEP uP rAid ProbE BAGHDAD: Human Rights Watch has urged Iraqi authorities to give a government committee charged with probing a deadly raid by security forces on a protest camp last week greater financial and political backing to investigate who is responsible for what it described as an apparently unlawful use of lethal force. On Saturday, the group also said it received photos from a separate, parliamentary investigation allegedly taken in the aftermath of the attack that showed the bodies of several men lying in the protest area amid burning cars. Some have their hands bound and "appear, because of the way the bodies are positioned, to have been executed with gunshots,'' the group said. The April 23 action against the Sunnis in Hawija who were protesting against the Shia-led government unleashed a backlash of deadly attacks by Sunnis, and battles between gunmen and security forces that have claimed more than 250 lives. Before the Hawija crackdown, local and tribal officials had been trying to negotiate a peaceful end to a standoff between protesters and security forces. Authorities had wanted to enter the camp to hunt for weapons and make arrests related to an earlier incident in which a nearby checkpoint came under attack. Iraqi forces opened fire only after they were attacked, according to the Defense Ministry. It said 23 people, including three members of the security forces, were killed in the clashes. It said "only insurgents and extremists remained" in the camp before it moved in, and that some of the dead included fighters with ties to al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath Party. The Defense Ministry has said security forces opened fire only after they came under attack while trying to make arrests. Hours after the raid, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the creation of a ministerial committee to investigate the incident. A parliamentary committee is also probing what happened at Hawija. AGENCIES
embassy spokesman Aaron Sagui would not comment on Friday night specifically on the report of an Israeli strike into Syria. "What we can say is that Israel is determined to prevent the transfer of chemical weapons or other game-changing weaponry by the Syrian regime to terrorists, specially to Hezbollah in Lebanon," Sagui said in an email to the AP. The Syrian UN Ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, told Reuters: "I'm not aware of any attack right now." INtENSE OvERfLIGHtS: It was not immediately clear where the airstrike took place, or whether the air force carried out the strike from Lebanese or Syrian airspace. The Israeli air force has so-called "standoff" bombs that coast dozens of kilometres across ground to their targets once fired. That could, in theory, allow Israel to attack Syria from its own turf or from neighbouring Lebanon. Lebanese authorities reported unusual intensive
Israeli air force activity over their territory on Thursday and Friday. A Lebanese security source said his initial impression was that Israeli overflights were monitoring potential arms shipments between Syria and Lebanon, potentially to Hezbollah. "We believe that it is linked to Israel's concerns over the transfer of weapons, particularly chemical weapons, from Syria to its allies in Lebanon," said the official, who asked not to be named. Syrian opposition sources, usually quick to announce rumours of Israeli air strikes, said they had not heard of an attack on Syrian territory. In January this year, Israel bombed a convoy in Syria, apparently hitting weapons destined for
Hezbollah, according to diplomats, Syrian rebels and security sources in the region. In 2007, Israeli jets bombed a suspected nuclear reactor site along the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria, an attack that embarrassed and jolted the Assad regime and led to a buildup of the Syrian air defence system. The Israeli strike also follows days of renewed concerns that Syria might be using chemical weapons against opposition forces.
japan signs nuclear plant deal with turkey TOKYO AGENCIES
Japan and Turkey have signed a deal to build a major nuclear power plant on Turkey's Black Sea coast, a milestone for the Japanese nuclear industry as it recovers from the 2011 Fukushima disaster. On Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the $22 billion contract as a "very important step" that would transform bilateral relations with Japan into a "strategic partnership." A Japanese-French consortium won the giant contract to build Turkey's second nuclear plant, Japan's first successful bid on an overseas nuclear project since a tsunami wrecked the power station in Fukushima. Turkey weathered criticism for teaming up with Japan in light of the catastrophe, but "despite that, we have taken this step," Erdogan said. “What happened at Fukushima upset all of us,” he said, adding that “successful steps are being taken now with the use of
improved technology.” Like Japan, Turkey lies in a part of the world that is prone to earthquakes, making it essential that nuclear plants are designed to resist the effects of such events. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who arrived in Turkey as part of a larger Middle Eastern tour, said that Japan had learnt important lessons from
the 2011 catastrophe. "Japan will share its experience and the lessons it has learnt and will contribute to the improvement of nuclear security at the highest level," Abe said in comments translated into Turkish. Abe and Erdogan also signed an agreement covering the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
California wildfire nearly triples in size WASHINGTON AGENCIES
Firefighters have deployed ground crews to battle a raging southern California wildfire that has nearly tripled in size as it threatens 4,000 homes. The Springs Fire, near Malibu 60km west of Los Angeles, grew to 11,330 hectares from 4,040 hectares on Friday morning. The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) said that the blaze was just 20 percent contained. Aerial operations ended for the night, but ground crews would continue battling the blaze, the department said. California typically has fires later in the year, but strong winds and temperatures in the 90s (30s Celsius) have triggered a series of brushfires this week - including a new one in Glendale, just outside Los Angeles. In the fire near Malibu, nearly 1,000 firefighters battled wind-fanned flames that have ripped through tinder-dry brush, threatening some 4,000 homes during the day, the VCFD said. Some celebrities, including actors Jamie Foxx and Tom Selleck, live near the evacuation area, according to KTLA 5 television. Many of the homes were luxury ranches that had stables of horses and other animals.
obama 'does not foresee' us troops in syria WASHINGTON AGENCIES
US president Barack Obama said on Friday he does not foresee a scenario in which he would send US ground troops to Syria and outlined a deliberate approach to determining whether the Syrian government had used chemical weapons in a 2-year civil war. Obama insisted that the United States has not ruled out any options in dealing with Syria as the United States investigates whether the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons. But Obama, who has spent much of his presidency winding down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, made clear he was not inclined to send troops to
Syria, saying "I do not foresee" such a scenario. Leaders in the region that he has consulted on this issue agree with him, Obama said. If Syria is found to have used chemical weapons, however, Obama will be under pressure to take some action beyond what the United States is already doing. The Obama administration is considering sending lethal aid to Syrian rebels. Obama, who has come under fire from some critics in Washington who contend he has a muddled approach to Syria, insisted the United States is not standing by even as it waits for a chemical weapons ruling. "We're not waiting," he said. "We are working to apply every pressure point that we can on Syria."