IRAN
Iran Claims It Is Installing New Centrifuges
Associated Press – July 19, 2011
Iran said Tuesday that it was installing new and efficient centrifuges aimed at speeding up its nuclear enrichment amid fears Tehran is moving toward weapon-grade enriched uranium. The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, said International Atomic Energy Agency is monitoring the work but did not elaborate on the specifications of the machines. The move comes despite four rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions over Tehran’s refusal to halt enrichment.
Herman Cain to Iran: ‘If you mess with Israel you’re messing with the USA’
Los Angeles Times – July 18, 2011
Herman Cain loves deep dish pizza, but he may love Israel more. How do I know? I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t go to war with a man who stole a pepperoni slice; but if he were president and if a country, even one with a huge army like Iran’s, caused problems with an ally like Israel, there’d be trouble. “If you mess with Israel you’re messing with the United States of America,” the Georgia businessman laid out plainly in his “Cain Doctrine.”
Iran may deploy warships in Atlantic
AFP – July 19, 2011
TEHRAN — The Iranian navy plans on deploying warships to the Atlantic Ocean as part of a programme to ply international waters, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayari said in statements published Tuesday. But the commander of the navy, quoted by Kayhan newspaper, said he was waiting for “final approval” before launching the operation.
NORTH KOREA
Ruling party leader sees little progress in resumption of inter-Korean talks
Yonhap – July 19, 2011
SEOUL, July 19 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s efforts to break the deadlock in relations with North Korea are unlikely to see progress any time soon as Pyongyang is believed to have purged dozens of senior officials handling ties with Seoul, the chairman of the South’s ruling Grand National Party (GNP) said Tuesday.
Clinton with no plans to meet N. Korean FM in Bali: State Dept.
Lee Chi-dong, Yonhap – July 19, 2011
WASHINGTON, July 18 (Yonhap) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has no plans to meet her North Korean counterpart on the sidelines of an annual security forum in Bali later this week, a Washington official said Monday.
Seoul working on details of ‘unification tax’: sources
Kim Young-jin, Korea Times – July 18, 2011
South Korea is speeding up efforts to introduce a special tax in preparation for the possible reunification with North Korea, according to officials at the Ministry of Unification. The move for the unification tax in the South has brought about protest from North Korea, claiming Seoul has been seeking the tax in its bid to absorb its northern neighbor.
LIBYA
Libya Rebels Get Formal Backing, and $30 Billion
Sebnem Arsu and Steven Erlanger, New York Times – July 15, 2011
ISTANBUL — The United States formally recognized the rebel leadership in Libya as the country’s legitimate government on Friday, allowing the rebel government access to $30 billion in Libyan assets held in the United States. It is not yet clear how and when the money would be released. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at an international gathering held to discuss the Libyan conflict that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s government no longer had any legitimacy, and that the United States would join more than 30 countries in extending diplomatic recognition to the main opposition group, known as the Transitional National Council.
AFGHANISTAN
As Generals Change in Afghan War, Violence Flares
Jack Healy, New York Times – July 18, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan — Gen. David H. Petraeus handed over command of the Afghan war on Monday, leaving behind a country racked by deep political instability whose fledgling security forces are fighting a weakened but deadly insurgency that kills coalition troops and Afghan civilians and officials nearly every day. His successor, Gen. John R. Allen, will confront those challenges — and many more — as he guides NATO-led forces through the handoff of security control to Afghan forces by the end of 2014 — a process that is still in its earliest stages.
PAKISTAN
House bill to limit aid to Pakistan, Palestinians
Donna Cassata, Associated Press – July 19, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House panel unveiled a bill Monday that would block U.S. aid to Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority unless the Obama administration reassures Congress that they are cooperating in the worldwide fight against terrorism. The legislation is a direct challenge to President Barack Obama and his foreign policy authority, and comes as the House is looking at significant cuts in the annual budget for the State Department and foreign assistance.
Pakistani president to visit Afghanistan for security talks
David Ariosto, CNN – July 19, 2011
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is visiting Afghanistan to participate in bilateral talks on “the current security situation in the region,” including the fight against terrorism and cooperation between the two countries, his spokesman said Tuesday.Zardari is also expected to offer condolences to the Afghan president over the recent assassination of Karzai’s half-brother, Ahmed Wali Kazai, once an influential power-broker in the country’s restive south.
INDIA
”Fully” committed to nuke deal but ratify CSC; says US
IBNlive -July 19, 2011
New Delhi, Jul 19 (PTI) The US today said it was “fully” committed to the civil nuclear pact with India but asked it to ratify the UN convention on nuclear damages and bring its domestic liability regime in line with international norms. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after the second round of Indo-US Strategic Dialogue with her counterpart S M Krishna, made it very clear that there were “issues” which required to be resolved by the two sides in the civil nuclear field.