Iran warns US, allies against regional security
TEHRAN, July 15: Iran warned the United States and its allies against undermining regional security after US President Joe Biden signed Thursday a security pact with Israel during a visit to the Jewish state. "I tell the Americans and their regional allies that the Iranian nation will not accept any crisis or insecurity in the region, and that any mistake made in this region will be met with a harsh and regrettable response," Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said in televised remarks. — AFP
EU to adopt new Russia sanctions
The European Commission is set to adopt on Friday its seventh package of sanctions against Russia, which will add a ban on the import of Russian gold and tweak existing restrictive measures to avoid hampering food exports, two officials told Reuters. The new measures are considered "a maintenance and alignment package," one of the officials said, referring to it as a "sixth-and-a-half" set of sanctions for its limited scope compared with previous rounds that hit Russian oil or coal. However, some measures could have a serious impact on the affected sectors. — Reuters
Sunak leads UK PM race again
LONDON, July 15: Former finance minister Rishi Sunak came out on top in the latest round of voting Thursday by Conservative MPs to decide Britain's next prime minister, followed by bookmaker favourite Penny Mordaunt. Sunak won the support of 101 Tory lawmakers, followed by Mordaunt on 83 votes, Liz Truss on 64, Kemi Badenoch on 49, Tom Tugendhat on 32 and Suella Braverman on 27, who drops out as the last-placed candidate, the party announced. — AFP
Gang violence leaves 89 dead in Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, July 15 : A week of clashes between rival gangs in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince has left at least 89 people dead and dozens injured, a human rights group said Wednesday. The fresh violence, coupled with soaring food prices and fuel shortages all add to a brutal downward spiral in the security situation in the city. The unrest erupted on July 7 between two rival factions in Cite Soleil, an impoverished and densely populated neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. — AFP
Ukraine severs ties with NKorea
KYIV (Ukraine), July 15: Ukraine said Wednesday it was severing relations with North Korea, hours after pro-Russian separatists in the country's east said their self-proclaimed republics had been recognised by Pyongyang. North Korea's recognition of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic came after another Russian ally, Syria, made the same move last month. The Ukrainian foreign ministry in a statement denounced North Korea's decision to recognise territories Kyiv described as "temporarily occupied by Russia". "In response... Ukraine announces it is cutting diplomatic relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the statement said. —AFP
