IRAQ
Forces raid Sunni protest camp
Security forces stormed a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq on Tuesday, sparking deadly clashes in several towns and sharply intensifying rage at the Shiite-led government. The unrest and a spate of other attacks, mostly targeting Sunni mosques, killed at least 56 people. The violence could mark an ominous turning point in the four-month Sunni protest movement, which is posing a stubborn challenge to Iraq’s stability a decade after the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
EGYPT
Top legal adviser to president resigns
The legal adviser of Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi resigned Tuesday, alleging that the Muslim Brotherhood has monopolized decision-making and encroached on the governing of the country. The resignation letter by Mohammed Fouad Gadallah brought the harshest criticism yet from inside the presidency. Opponents of Morsi have long accused the Brotherhood of being the real power behind the president and say the group’s attempts to dominate power have fueled the country’s turmoil. Morsi denied in a TV interview earlier this week that the group intervenes in decision-making.
UNITED KINGDOM
Man convicted of selling fake bomb detectors
A millionaire businessman who sold fake bomb detectors that were based on a novelty golf ball finder to countries including Iraq was convicted Tuesday of fraud in a British court. Police investigators said the bogus devices put people’s safety at risk. James McCormick, 56, is said to have made an estimated $76 million from sales of his detectors. Experts said the hand-held devices, which were sold for up to $41,000 each, lacked “any grounding in science” and were “completely ineffectual as a piece of detection equipment.” The detectors were sold to military and police forces around the world.
YEMEN
Court sentences 11 al-Qaida militants
A Yemeni court Tuesday sentenced 11 convicted al-Qaida militants to up to 10 years in prison for forming armed gangs to destabilize the country and planning attacks on foreign embassies and security forces. The sentencing came as militants attacked a military camp in the central town of Radda, about 100 miles south of Sanaa, setting off clashes that killed three soldiers and eight militants. Radda was briefly seized by al-Qaida militants last year before the Yemeni government waged an offensive to drive them out.
AFGHANISTAN
Taliban say prisoners in good health
A group of foreign civilians captured in eastern Afghanistan when their helicopter made an emergency landing are in good health, the Taliban said Tuesday, as increased violence was reported across the country. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that the 11 captives were “being investigated,” and denied reports that negotiations were underway for their release. The civilians have been tentatively identified as eight Turks, an Afghan translator and two pilots — one from Russia and the other from Kyrgyzstan.
MYANMAR
EU’s lifting of sanctions hailed
Myanmar on Tuesday hailed a European Union decision lifting political and economic sanctions against the former pariah state, pledging to continue its reforms and march toward democracy. Senior Myanmar diplomat Aung Lynn told reporters on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference in Brunei’s capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, that the international community can expect more reforms, especially in the socio-economic sectors. The 27-nation bloc lifted all sanctions except for the sale of arms and equipment that can be used for internal repression.
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