Gibraltar Row: Spain Accused Of Sabre-Rattling

Gibraltar's chief minister has accused Spain of "sabre-rattling like North Korea" after it threatened to impose sanctions on the Rock.

Fabian Picardo said Spanish foreign minister Jose Garcia-Margallo was being belligerent by threatening to charge workers almost £90 a day to cross the border.

Prime Minister David Cameron has also now weighed in, with Downing Street saying he is "seriously concerned" by the escalating row.

A spokesman said: "The Spanish have not raised the prospect of introducing border fees with us. We are seeking an explanation from them regarding reports that they might target Gibraltar with further measures."

Mr Garcia-Margallo had suggested a levy on workers travelling from Gibraltar could be used to help Spanish fishermen who have lost out because of damage to fishing grounds allegedly caused by Gibraltarian authorities.

But Mr Picardo told Sky News: "The 10,000 Spanish workers that come into Gibraltar every day, they would be on the hook for 100 euros - 50 in and 50 out - when they might earn less than that each day.

"I think this is quite a silly remark for the Spanish foreign minister to have made. He is sabre-rattling a la North Korea. It almost makes you feel like you are listening to the politics of Franco in the 1950s and 60s."

In a separate interview, he said that the border costs would violate European Union freedom of movement rules.

Fabian Picardo (left) and Jose Garcia-Margallo

He also warned "hell will freeze over" before the Gibraltarian authorities remove an artificial reef Madrid claims is harming the interests of Spanish fishermen.

And he branded the possibility of Spain closing its airspace to flights from the Rock dangerous and the "politics of madness".

The Foreign Office has already voiced concerns over Mr Garcia-Margallo's comments and said Britain would not compromise its sovereignty over Gibraltar.

A spokesman made clear that the UK expects Madrid to live up to the commitments it made in the 2006 Cordoba Agreement.

These include deals on issues like border crossings and access for flights, as well as establishing a tripartite forum for regular dialogue between Britain, Spain and Gibraltar.

Spain's main opposition party, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) accused Mr Garcia-Margallo of "dynamiting" dialogue on issues affecting workers, fishermen and traders.

Its spokesman for EU affairs Juan Moscoso del Prado said: "You cannot threaten 50 euro fees when there are more than 10,000 people who go there every day to work. Workers should not be taken hostage by this conflict."

The dispute over the status of Gibraltar escalated recently following a number of alleged Spanish incursions into the territory's waters.

Spain claims sovereignty over the Rock, which stands on the southernmost tip of the Iberian peninsula, but has been a British Overseas Territory since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

However, the UK Government has made clear that it will not negotiate over sovereignty as long as Gibraltar's people want to remain British.

Foreign Secretary William Hague last month phoned Mr Garcia-Margallo to complain about Spain ramping up border checks, which forced drivers to wait for up to seven hours in searing heat.

On Sunday, the Foreign Office summoned the Spanish ambassador, to demand assurances that there would be no repeat of the excessive checks.

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Cuban Dissident Car Crash 'Was Assassination'

A Cuban dissident who apparently died in a car crash last year was actually assassinated by Cuban secret services, according to the Spanish politician driving the car.

Oswaldo Paya, the leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, which campaigned for civil liberties and the release of political prisoners, died when the car he was travelling left a country road and crashed into a tree on July 22 last year.

The driver of the hired car, Angel Carromero, a leader of the youth wing of Spain's ruling Popular Party, survived the crash in southeast Cuba.

Pfelia Acevedo, Mr Paya's widow, and children at a news conference

An official inquiry found that Mr Carromero was driving too fast at the time of the accident and he was convicted of vehicular homicide. He returned to Spain to serve a four-year sentence.

However, he has now claimed that Mr Paya's death was not the result of an accident but that the official account was "a perfect alibi to hide the death of the only dissident who could lead the transition in Cuba."

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Mr Carromero said: "I am convinced that he survived the accident. The nurses and a priest told me that all four of us were admitted to the hospital.

"Cuban secret services assassinated Oswaldo Paya."

Mr Carromero (centre) at the hearing into the crash

He claimed that Cuban prosecutors had "fabricated" evidence.

Mr Paya, who was 60, died along with another Cuban dissident, Harold Cepero but Mr Carromero and a Swedish activist, Jens Aron Modig, who were also travelling in the car, survived.

The family of Mr Paya has always suspected foul play and accused the Cuban authorities of involvement in his death. The family has been seeking an international investigation and his son, also called Oswaldo, has claimed that the car was driven off the road, according to accounts of the others travelling in the vehicle.

Mr Paya's funeral at which activists were arrested

Before his death he had claimed that authorities had placed wire taps in his Havana home.

In an interview with the Washington Post in March, Mr Carromero said that the car was struck from behind by another vehicle just before the crash.

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Turkey Coup Trial: Ex-Military Commander Jailed

Turkey: A Lesson For Egypt

Updated: 12:04pm UK, Monday 05 August 2013

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent

When the sword of Islam clashes with the sabre of secular military ambition sparks will inevitably fly.

Egypt has been set aflame this way – but Turkey has moved decisively to blunt the armed forces political armoury.

Some 300 officers, politicians, lawyers and dozens of journalists are hearing the verdicts after a five-year trial in which they have been accused of plotting bombing campaigns, political murder and a coup against Turkey's Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Organised by a "deep state" organisation known as Ergenekon, the alleged plot has bitterly divided Turkish society.

Secular liberals have little time for the habitual interventions of the military in Turkey's politics – but, over the years, they (like their Egyptian cousins) have also looked to senior officers to preserve the secular traditions that modernised their country after the end of Ottoman rule in 1923.

So the alleged plotters are being seen as the latest victims of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's long running campaign to rid Turkey's body politic of the presence of the military by his critics.

The military staged its last coup in 1997 against the Necmettin Erbakan of the Welfare Party, an Islamist movement, by operating against him from behind the scenes.

In 1998 Erdogan, the Mayor of Istanbul and a member of the Welfare Party, was jailed for 10 months for allegedly inciting racial hatred in a move which he has always blamed on the secular military.

When he came to power he moved quickly to try to keep the military at bay.

His secret police first uncovered the "Sledgehammer", an alleged plot ten years ago, in which about 300 people, most of them in the military, were jailed for allegedly organising another coup.

Many of his critics insist that the charges in the latest trial are trumped up.

They point out that only one other country on earth has jailed more journalists – and that is China.

This year's demonstrations in Taksim Square in Istanbul and across the country have rattled Mr Erdogan – who has been in power for a decade - as tens of thousands took to the streets to protest against the steady drift of Turkey towards an Islamist state.

He has attempted to ban kissing in public, imposed restrictions on the sale of alcohol, and neutered the domestic media which has infuriated many Turks.

But they are unlikely to be able to look to the military to help – their counterparts in Cairo successfully implored the Egyptian armed forces to depose their democratically elected president.

In some ways Egypt's recently ousted President, Mohammed Morsi, currently in military custody, might have learned from his Turkish counterpart.

He could have moved against Egypt's US-backed armed forces before they moved against him, early in his presidency.

He had warnings.

General Abdel Fatah al Sisi, his defence minister, twice warned that the armed forces might intervene before they did in June this year. He warned this would be to stop a civil war.

A move against the armed forces for threatening a coup might have been legitimate.

But it could not have been carried politically.

Then president Mr Morsi had failed to focus on Egypt's economy. Mr Erdogan didn't make that mistake.

His economic reforms created a wealthy middle class and big money vested interests who were interested mainly in maintaining political stability while the economy boomed in the last decade.

Many looked aside when Mr Erdogan first cracked down on the military.

Mr Morsi pursued a cruder agenda.

He was unable to galvanise an economy which, in any case, is believed to be about 40% under military control.

Instead he focused on centralising power and promoting his fellow members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

By December last year he had put himself above the law and introduced rule by decree.

The Brotherhood is the most potent civil society movement in Egypt – but without the armour of economic success, it was always going to be run-through by the military.

Recent upheavals and demonstrations against Mr Erdogan's Islamist agenda in Turkey has fuelled support for the 300 alleged coup plotters as the verdicts come in on a long trial.

This may be the opportunity for the Turkish military to take a lesson from their Egyptian comrades and forge an alliance with the secular liberals on the streets. If they do, we can expert fireworks.

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Dominican Republic: British Woman 'Drowns'

The Foreign Office is investigating reports that a British holidaymaker has drowned off a beach at a popular Dominican Republic resort.

Media reports from the Caribbean nation say the woman, who has been named locally but whose identity has not been confirmed, was knocked off her feet by a wave and swept away.

The 36-year-old was swimming at Playa Sosua at 4am with her boyfriend, believed to be a local, after a night out.

She became separated from him and her body was found on another part of the beach later by local civil defence volunteers.

The victim had been staying in an apartment at Calle Libre for a week prior to the accident and was due to fly home on Sunday.

Her body was taken to the Cabarete medical centre and will be transferred to the National Institute of Forensic Science as part of the investigation.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are aware of reports of the death of a British national in the Dominican Republic and are looking into it."

The website sosua.com says the north coast of the Dominican Republic has been a top tourist destination for Europeans for nearly three decades and has a very large expat community.

It adds: "Sosua Bay attracts many water sports enthusiast, including snorkelers and divers because of its sheltered, calm waters, diverse species of fish and intricate reef structures."

Sosua Beach, which is a crescent-shaped bay protected by coral formations and clear waters, "is one of the most beautiful beaches in the Dominican Republic and among the top tourist destinations of the Caribbean".

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France: Father Of Missing Family Found Hanged

A man whose wife and daughter are missing has been found hanged after leaving a suicide note protesting his innocence.

Francisco Benitez was found dead at his workplace in Perpignan, southern France, on Monday morning.

His daughter Allison, 19, and wife Marie-Josee Benitez, 53, have not been seen since July 14, when the two of them left home after an argument with Mr Benitez - which he told police about.

Allison and Marie Benitez have been missing since mid-July. Pic: Facebook

Officers found a letter next to Mr Benitez 's body at the barracks of the French Foreign Legion where he worked as a recruitment officer in Perpignan, proclaiming his innocence.

According to local media reports, he was wearing his military uniform. He also left information on who to contact and said that he wanted to be cremated in the note.

Mr Benitez's suicide came just a day after he gave an emotional interview to Paris Match, saying his daughter was "his life" and she would "never leave like that without giving news, it is impossible".

Police search the barracks where Mr Benitez was found hanging

Sobbing throughout he told the magazine, they were "a family like any other, with ups and downs".

He also responded to "violent attacks" on the internet connecting him to the disappearances. "The hardest thing is to read what people comment without knowing our private lives," he said.

Mr Benitez and his wife were in the process of separating when she and her daughter disappeared in mid-July, but it had been agreed that the two women would move in together and the father would pay the rent.

A police officer outside the French Foreign Legion building in Perpignan

Mother and daughter have not been in touch with any relatives nor used their credit cards or bank accounts since going missing. Their mobile phones cut off on trying to contact them and they have not posted anything on their social media accounts.

All this has prompted concern from investigators and a criminal case has been opened.

Allison had reportedly been preparing for months for the local 'Miss Roussillon' beauty contest, to be held on 11 August, but did not attend a meeting about it on July 15, French media network Europe 1 reported.

Police are continuing to search for the pair and a family computer has apparently been seized as part of the investigation.

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Australia: Kevin Rudd Names Election Date

The Australian prime minister has called a national election as his Labor Party looks to close the gap with the conservative opposition.

Kevin Rudd was first elected prime minister in 2007, but was defeated in 2010 by his then deputy Julia Gillard in an internal leadership contest within his centre-left Labour Party.

He won back the leadership in a similar challenge on June 26 as the government faced the prospect of a record loss under Ms Gillard.

Since then, Mr Rudd has changed several key policy positions and opinion polls suggest Labor is closing the lead of the conservative opposition.

The party has been in power since 2007 and helped Australia's economy avoid recession following the 2008 global financial crisis, aided by a prolonged mining boom.

But a budget update on Friday showed Australia's economic growth is slowing as the mining investment boom ends, with rising unemployment particularly in the manufacturing sector.

In an email to supporters, Mr Rudd said: "It's on. We've got one hell of a fight on our hands.

"Australians now face a choice. And the choice couldn't be starker. I have a positive vision about the country we can be."

The election date would mean Mr Rudd missing the G20 summit in St Petersburg, even though Australia will take over as chair of the G20 for the coming year.

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Lucky Escape After Car Door Opens On Cyclist

A woman has escaped serious injury after she was knocked off her bike when a passenger opened a car door in front of her.

The victim, whose family name is Shi, was riding home on her electric bicycle in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, when the accident took place.

A rear door of a sport utility vehicle (SUV) stopped by the roadside opened suddenly in front of her, sending her tumbling from her bike into the rear wheel of a passing truck.

The woman is thrown into the back tyre of a passing truck

She said: "There was a white thing that flashed, knocked me off my bicycle, and then I fainted."

The woman was taken to hospital, where she is reportedly in a stable condition.

Police located the SUV, which fled the accident, using CCTV footage.

She then falls to the ground after narrowly escaping going under the truck

Officer Zhou Zhengbin said: "The driver didn't control the passengers after he stopped the car. A passenger pushed the car door open just as an electric bicycle rode past.

"There is an obvious mark on the car door."

The SUV driver was taken into custody pending a further investigation.

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China Blocks NZ Milk Powder Over Botulism

Some brands of baby milk formula from New Zealand contain whey powder which could cause the food poisoning botulism, authorities have warned.

Up to 1,000 tons of dairy products - including milk powders used for sports as well as babies' formula - have been recalled from shelves in seven countries.

The move comes after the New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra announced tests had turned up a type of bacteria that can cause the illness.

China, one of the countries where the products are exported to, has responded by blocking all imports of milk powder from New Zealand, an NZ minister said Sunday.

China is New Zealand's biggest market for exported milk powder.

Demand for imported milk products has risen sharply after a series of scandals over tainted baby formula in China, leading to limits on sales of formula in other countries, including the UK.

It is not known, at this stage, whether China's import ban on New Zealand milk will have a knock-on effect on baby milk availability in the UK.

New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said the ban was "entirely appropriate", as consuming the whey products could lead to the potentially fatal illness.

China has not officially announced a ban. It said on Saturday it had contacted New Zealand's embassy and asked it "to take measures to prevent the products in question from influencing the health of Chinese consumers".

Mr Groser said the situation with Fonterra was "very serious". As well as China, the whey protein concentrate had also been exported to Australia, China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Vietnam.

"The authorities in China, in my opinion absolutely appropriately, have stopped all imports of New Zealand milk powders from Australia and New Zealand," Mr Groser said on Television New Zealand's Q&A programme.

"It's entirely appropriate they should have done that. It's better to do blanket protection for your people then wind it back when we, our authorities, are in a position to give them the confidence and advice that they need."

In China, several domestic brands of baby milk have been hit by scandals

The symptoms of botulism include nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, followed by paralysis, and it can be fatal if not treated.

There have been no reports of any illness linked to consumption of the affected whey protein.

The problem is believed to have been caused by unsterilised pipes at a factory in Waikato .

Fonterra's milk products managing director Gary Romano said three affected batches of whey protein weighing about 42 tons were made in May 2012, adding that Fonterra has since cleaned the pipes.

The affected batches were found to contain the toxic bacteria Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism, but it was only discovered on July 31 this year.

New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries says the tainted product was mixed with other ingredients to form about 1,000 tons of consumer products which were then distributed worldwide.

Some of the affected product ended up being used by New Zealand company Nutricia which makes the Karicare line of formula for infants aged over six months.

Nutricia has locked down all five batches of infant formula it believed contained the tainted product but New Zealand advised parents to buy different Nutricia products or alternative brands until all tainted Nutricia products had been recalled.

Russia's Ria Novosti news agency reported that Moscow was "recalling Fonterra's products, including infant formula and advised Russian consumers not to buy the company's other products".

Dairy exports are one of New Zealand's major earners. According to government data the dairy industry contributes 2.8% to New Zealand's GDP and about 25% of its exports. It is worth NZ$10.4bn (£5.2bn) annually.

In 2008, six babies in China died and another 300,000 were sickened by infant formula that was tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical added to watered-down milk to fool tests for protein levels.

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Switzerland: Couple Die In Cable Car Collapse

A couple died and their baby was seriously injured after an Alpine cable car they were using collapsed and fell nearly 100ft, Swiss police have said.

The family had been using a ropeway - a form of small cable car meant only for the transport of goods - downhill from the top station at Alp Baerlaui.

The wooden car came off its cable about 900 metres into its journey and dropped nearly 100ft into the forested mountainside.

Police said the 38-year-old father and 31-year-old mother were killed instantly.

Their one-year-old baby, which was being carried in a rucksack, was protected from the worst of the impact by branches and bushes which reduced the speed of the fall.

Ropeways make it easier to move supplies to and from mountain chalets and pastures, and it is illegal for them to carry people.

An investigation has been launched by police.

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Iran's New President Takes Office Amid Hope

The new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has taken an oath of office, calling for an end to sanctions placed on the country over its nuclear stance.

Mr Rouhani was sworn in before parliament in Tehran and began naming a cabinet he said would be chosen from figures across the political spectrum.

He formally took office on Saturday at a ceremony in which he received the endorsement of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who retains the final say on all strategic issues.

During his speech to parliament he said the only way to interact with Iran was through dialogue and not sanctions, alluding to the stand-off with world powers over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Mohammad Nahavandian has been appointed as the president's chief of staff

"The only path to interact with Iran is through negotiations on equal grounds, reciprocal trust-building, mutual respect and reducing hostilities," the new president said.

His first appointment was a US-educated businessman as his chief of staff, in a move that it likely to be seen as good for relations with America and other Western powers.

The state IRNA news agency said Mr Rouhani had named Mohammad Nahavandian, a 58-year-old businessman with a doctorate in economics from George Washington University in Washington as his new right hand man.

Other appointments to his cabinet were Iran's former ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Javad Zarif as foreign minister and Bijan Zanganeh to the post of oil minister.

Mr Rouhani was elected with a wide margin over conservative rivals in June, in a win that has been interpreted as a rejection by the electorate of the Iranian regime's hardline approach.

He has pledged to pursue less confrontational policies abroad in order to ease international sanctions on Iran's economy over its disputed nuclear programme.

The Iranian economy has been suffering its worst crisis in a generation as economic sanctions placed on it by the west have cut its access to oil revenues in the midst of a worldwide slump.

Hassan Rouhani succeeds Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

He also has to try to balance the demands of hardliners who dominate parliament and the officially sidelined reformists whose support helped him win the election.

For all his rhetoric on cooperation, the new president is very much an insider in the Islamic Republic, having served in senior military and security roles since shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mr Rouhani succeeds Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose turbulent two-term presidency was marked by frequent outbursts against Israel in particular, as well as other countries.

Mr Rouhani suggested on Friday he was not deviating from his predecessor's position when he took a swipe at the Jewish state during a rally marking the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casting his ballot

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out in response, saying: "The president of Iran said ... that Israel is a wound on the body of Islam. The president of Iran may have been changed but the aims of the regime there have not.

"Iran's intention is to develop a nuclear capability and nuclear weapons, with the aim of destroying the state of Israel."

Western governments suspect that Iran's nuclear programme is a cover for a drive for weapons capability. Iran insists it is for power generation and medical purposes only.

Both the United States and Israel - which has the Middle East's sole, if undeclared, nuclear arsenal - have refused to rule out a resort to military action to prevent Iran developing a weapons capability.

Saudi Arabia denied permission for a plane carrying Sudanese President Omar al Bashir to travel through its airspace on Sunday for the swearing-in of the new Iranian president. The aircraft had to turn back.

The Sudanese leader, an alleged war criminal, was travelling to attend President Hassan Rouhani's swearing-in. The prime minister of Syria and North Korea's ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-Nam, were also invited.

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