Since the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began more than two months ago, other countries have offered to assist with the cleanup effort. But until Tuesday, Washington has not taken them up on the offer. Now, the State Department says it will accept assistance from 12 countries and international organizations, of which only one, Japan, has been identified. According to Foreign Policy magazine, the United States has previously declined offers to help from Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United Nations.
Convicted war criminal Branimir Glavaš, who is currently a fugitive in Bosnia-Herzegovina, intends on returning to Croatia, according to his lawyer. Attorney Veljko Miljević said that Glavaš expressed his wishes to return to Croatia even before the meeting of the Supreme Court was held regarding his appeal a month ago. Miljević was commenting on the media speculation that Glavaš wanted to return to Croatia so he would not have to serve his sentence in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Zagreb District Court found Glavaš guilty of war crimes last year and sentenced him to ten years in prison for crimes committed against Serb civilians in Croatia. The other five co-dependents received sentences of in between five and eight years. Before the conviction could be confirmed, Glavaš fled to Bosnia, where he also has citizenship, which makes extradition to Croatia impossible. The verdict states that Glavaš in 1991 ordered the arrest, torture and murder of seven Serb civilians. They were killed and thrown into the Drava River with their hands tied and mouths covered with tape. Glavaš was also convicted of the torture and murder of Čedomir Vučković and the torture of Đorđe Petrović in the garage of the Osijek Secretariat for National Defense, which he headed in 1991. Co-defendant Ivica Krnjak received an eight-year sentence, while Gordana Getoš Magdić received seven, and Dino Kontić, Tihomir Valentić and Zdravko Dragić were each sent to jail for five years. Glavaš was the first Croatian politician convicted of war crimes. During his stay in Bosnia, Glavaš addressed the Croatian public and his supporters several times via messages and videos.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said the United States, England and France deserved to be eliminated in the World Cup for imposing nuclear sanctions on Tehran, newspapers reported on Wednesday. "In this World Cup you see a meaningful correlation between politics and diplomacy and football," Mottaki was quoted as saying by Tehran Emrouz newspaper. "Those who played a key role in new sanctions against Iran such as America, England and France were eliminated in the early stages and some countries that were somehow involved in sanctions did not get into higher rounds," he said. Iranians are fervent football enthusiasts but their national team did not qualify for this year's World Cup in South Africa. In a US-led move the UN Security Council this month adopted a fourth set of sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear programme, which world powers fear is masking a covert weapons drive despite Iran's denial. France went down in the group stages, while England and the United States were eliminated in the last 16 knock-out round. Iran played in the 2006 World Cup in Germany but failed to make it to the second round. The media grilled football officials for months over the team's poor performance. Iran's best game in its three appearances in the World Cup was in 1998, when they beat the US team 2-1.
IV. JPOST - Iran to boycott 'Zionist' brands
Coca-cola, IBM and Intel are on Ahmadinejad's no-buy list. Iran has banned "Zionist companies" in an amendment signed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Army Radio reported Wednesday. The blacklist is made up of "Jewish-owned" American companies like IBM, Intel and Coca-Cola. The boycott comes as a reaction to American and UN sanctions against Iran. The amendment was added to a new law passed in reaction to the Gaza flotilla entitled "The Palestinian Support Law," in which Iran seeks to support Palestinians while isolating Israel, Army Radio reported. The Iranian Foreign Ministry is responsible for making sure the boycott is carried out. This comes a day after Israel's ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, warned that Iran might respond to sanctions passed against it in the US last week with terrorist violence in the Middle East. Oren stated that it is basically a matter of seeing who can hold out longer and that the international community must perservere in enforcing the sanctions. He added that Teheran would respond to the sanctions by either returning to the negotiating table or by starting a war in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of Israel has asked Russia to work connections and urge HAMAS to release the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was taken prisoner during Israel’s special operation on the Gaza border back in 2006. Netanyahu made his request during his meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Jerusalem recently. Earlier Lavrov reiterated that Russia would continue cooperation with HAMAS since the movement has come to power through election.
VI. RIANOVOSTI - Russia ready for visa-free regime with EU
Russia is technologically prepared to introduce a visa-free regime with European Union, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. "We are ready for a visa-free regime with European countries. There is no unified opinion on the issue in united Europe. We are not in a hurry, we understand that the issue is complicated - 27 counties, many opinions," Putin said at the Engineering Technologies-2010 international forum. He emphasized that such decisions are always taken jointly. "We have always acted on the assumption of this fact and we will continue this in the future. We are open to transfer to a visa-free regime and we are ready for the move," he said. During the Russia-EU summit held on May 1-June 31 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia passed the EU a draft agreement on abolishing the visa regime.
VII. FOXBLOGS - Europe To Ban Crucifix In Italian Schools?
The Italian government has appealed a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg that would remove crucifixes from Italian public schools. The government made its appeal today before the Grand Chamber of the Court, in a case that the Vatican and many European nations will be watching closely. Ten other countries signed on to show their support for Italy in the case, several of them Orthodox strongholds, including Greece, Russia and Cyprus. The case stems from a woman who argued that that all the classrooms in her children’s school in a small town in Italy – a secular country -- had crucifixes on the wall. While Italian courts ruled against her, the European Court of Human Rights upheld her argument last November, maintaining there had been a violation of the right to education, as wall as freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The crucifix on the wall, the judgment said, “restricted the right of parents to educate their children in conformity with their convictions, and the right of children to believe or not believe.” Italian officials have argued that the crucifix is not only a religious symbol but also a cultural one, part of the national identity. Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien said the court’s decision could have sweeping implications, and that that what’s at stake is the “precious religious heritage of many people and nations across Europe.” Italy’s appeal will be studied by the Grand Chamber of the Court, whose decisions are final. Court officials say no decision is expected for six to nine months.