Israeli-Gaza Conflict: Medical Crisis Looming as Palestine Drafts UN Resolution

Palestinian medics wheel a stretcher transporting a boy, who hospital officials said was wounded in an Israeli air strike, at a hospital in Gaza City.Reuters

There is an alarming medical crisis looming large in the Gaza Strip region with an increase in the number of dead and injured victims in the hospitals even as the Israeli aerial offensive continues.

Emergency areas are becoming increasingly overcrowded with patients and hospitals are running short of resources to address the situation in Gaza.

A Health Ministry spokesperson, cited by CNN, has said ambulances cannot run in full force to pick up wounded victims because of a fuel shortage. In addition, medical facilities have to contend with an acute power shortage which is threatening to aggravate already deteriorating medical conditions if the ongoing violence does not come to a halt.

Palestine officials have said no less than 113 people have been killed so far, most of them civilians. Local media reports cite a higher death toll.

Since the operation, codenamed Protective Edge, began five days ago, the Israeli aerial forces have hit more than 1,000 targets in the Gaza region.

Both the Israeli side and the militant group Hamas - the dominant force in the Gaza Strip - have so far not shown any signs of backing down.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has said it would press ahead and bombard civilian areas if they are used as cover for Hamas' military purposes. The IDF has released the latest images of schools and houses which are being used by Hamas as training and rocket launching facilities.

Amid the mounting civilian casualties in Palestine, the authorities have turned to the UN seeking a ceasefire.

According to Associated Press, which has obtained a copy of the Security Council resolution drafted by Palestine, the proposal has called for "an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire."

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated he would "resist" growing international pressure and insisted a ceasefire is not being considered at the moment.

China's Weapons Transfer to South Sudan Marks a New Era For Beijing

Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) personnel ride on a tank after recapturing the Daldako area(Reuters)

Following months of speculation regarding its foreign policy ambitions, China's cards have been revealed.

A multibillion dollar transfer of weapons in June to the South Sudanese government, a regime embroiled in a civil war, shows China's new willingness to involve itself in what it used to call 'other countries' internal affairs.'

In the world's youngest country, Beijing has emerged as the world's newest interventionist.

Weapons Shipment

With the bloody civil conflict in South Sudan seemingly at a deadlock, China has acted to shore up the government forces.

China North Industries Corp., the country's biggest arms producer, shipped a consignment of weapons to South Sudan in June, Bloomberg reported.

Consisting of missiles, grenade launchers, machine guns and ammunition, the shipment was worth $38m.

While South Sudan's Defence Minister General Kuol Manyang Juuk said the order was placed "well before" he assumed his post in July, the timing of the shipment shows which side China is backing.

Civil Strife

The conflict in South Sudan ignited when the country's President, Salva Kiir, accused his deputy, Riek Machar, of launching a coup. Machar was ousted from the government and later went on to launch a rebellion against his long-time rival soon after.

Kiir hails from the dominant Dinka ethnic group, while Machar comes from the second most numerous Nuer ethnic community. The dispute that began between two ambitious politicians has evolved into a civil war with ethnic overtones.

Over the past eight months, widespread human rights abuses have taken place, with the European Union and the United States slapping economic sanctions on the leaders they hold accountable for atrocities.

Ceasefires have held for a matter of hours, while further talks have not materialised. With the arms shipment, China is hoping to tip the balance of the war.

Oil Interests at Stake

The conflict in South Sudan, raging into its eighth month, poses a direct threat to China's significant oil investments in the country. China buys more than two thirds of South Sudan's exported oil. Moreover, China National Petroleum Corp is one of three companies that produce oil in the East African state.

Protection of its oil interests are now at the heart of China's policy in South Sudan. While Beijing spent months urging the warring sides to find a peaceful resolution, the façade of neutrality has now slipped.

Speaking to Bloomberg, the LSE's Laura Barber said China's typical policy of non-interference was out of step with its aims.

"China traditionally views its military ties with African governments to be in accordance with a policy of non-interference and respect for state sovereignty," Barber said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

"In the context of South Sudan, where atrocities have been committed by both sides of the conflict, this position may prove to be problematic for China -- particularly as it continues to seek long-term peace and stability in South Sudan."

Policy Shift

While China has long espoused restraint when it comes to other countries' internal affairs, it has already sought to play a direct role in the mediation of the South Sudan conflict.

With its interests at risk, Beijing has pushed through a multimillion dollar arms transfer to an embattled government. In doing so, Beijing has taken its involvement in another country's war to that of an interventionist.

Who is Axelle Despiegelaere? World Cup Beauty's L'Oreal Contract Spiked over Hunting Photographs

The teenager was first spotted as she cheered on Belgium in the Group H match against Russia.Getty

A Belgium teenager who was scouted to be a model after appearing on TV while watching her country at the World Cup in Brazil, has reportedly lost her contract after an image of her hunting emerged online.

The 17-year-old became an internet sensation after she was spotted cheering on her country when they took on Russia in the group stages of the World Cup tournament.

In the photographs taken at the match, she is seen in a vest and scarf as well as red, yellow and black face paint and a horned hat.

Although Belgium were later eliminated by Argentina in the quarter finals, the teenager's picture went viral and she scored a modelling contract with global cosmetics giant L'Oreal.

The French brand featured the blonde beauty, dubbed 'the most beautiful football supporter', in its Belgique social media campaign and also filmed a tutorial of her showcasing their new haircare products.

Hunter turned hunted: Backlash agianst Axelle Despiegelaere after photo of her proudly sitting behind what appears to be a dead antelope she shot while hunting.

However, L'Oreal as since cut ties with Despiegelaere, claiming that her contract has been "completed".

The surprise announcement comes days after the young model provoked outrage over a photo of her posing with a rifle and a dead animal during a hunting trip to Africa.

"Hunting is not a matter of life or death. It's much more important than that," she allegedly captioned the snap posted to her now-defunct Facebook page.

Although L'Oreal has not directly addressed the image, the company will likely be keen to distance itself from the controversy.

"L'Oréal Professionnel Belgium collaborated with her on an ad hoc basis to produce a video for social media use in Belgium. The contract has now been completed," as spokesperson said.

But with over 47,000 views on YouTube and a growing fan base on social media, we are sure we will be seeing a lot more of this gorgeous Belgian.

Axelle Despiegelaere Facts

• She is 17-years-old


• Her professional Facebook now has more than 200,000 likes.


• Axelle is the daughter of a wealthy industrialist and real estate investor.


• She travelled to Brazil to watch Belgium take on Russia in a Group H World Cup game.


• She filmed a promotional video for L'Oreal showcasing their new haircare products.

Sobbing Japanese Politician Who Went Viral Loses Job After YouTube Hit

Hysterical Ryutaro Nonomura wept profusely on camera, but it did not save his career

Get ready for an outpouring of tears and hand-wringing which could yet break the internet: the Japanese politician whose explosion of emotion sent him viral has officially lost his job.

Assembly member Ryutaro Nonomura has tendered his resignation over the scandal which prompted him to collapse in floods of tears at a press conference last week.

His theatrical display was videoed and quickly became a web hit, as viewers lapped up a display of contrition by a politician who has few equals when it comes to displaying emotion.

But banging his fists on the table, blubbing loudly and collapsing in sobs as he claimed to have "put my life on the line for Japan," was simply not enough.

Nonomura has stepped down over allegations he misused around £20,000 of public funds to treat himself to relaxing spa days at a springs resort.

His departure seems like a good time to revisit these Oscar-worthy histrionics. It is frightening to imagine what Nonomura might do now he has actually lost his job.

Kurds Seize Oil Fields as Iraq Foreign Minister Warns of Division

Members of the Kurdish security forces take part in an intensive security deployment on the outskirts of Kirkuk(Reuters)

Iraq's Kurds have seized two oilfields, according to Iraq's oil ministry, as tensions between the autonomous region and Baghdad become increasingly strained.

Kurdish peshmerga forces have taken over oil production facilities at Bai Hassan and oilfields in Kirkuk, the ministry said in a statement.

The two sites have a combined output capacity of around 400,000 barrels a day, the ministry added.

Kurdish lawmakers have said they would boycott central government meetings after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused the Kurds of harbouring terrorists from the Islamic State, formerly known as Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).

Kurdish forces have asserted authority in some areas of northern Iraq since central government fled the region in the face of an Isis-led assault on Mosul and surrounding regions in June.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leadership has since called on the Kurdish parliament to prepare for a vote on independence, in a move that has infuriated Baghdad.

Iraq's central oil ministry condemned the Kurds' recent manoeuvres, saying the KRG should "support security forces in confronting terrorist groups rather than using the conditions to raid and occupy oil fields".

Iraq's foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari said Kurdish MPs had halted daily business with the central government and warned that the country faced the prospect of breaking up if a national government was not formed soon.

"The country is now divided literally into three states - Kurdish, a black state [Isis] and Baghdad."

Caretaker PM Maliki has struggled to form a government since elections were held in April. The situation has been complicated further by the Islamist insurgency in the north of the country.

China Warns iPhone is Threat to National Security

Chinese broadcaster CCTV says the iPhone is a security threat

A state-run Chinese broadcaster has labelled the iPhone a threat to national security because of a function on the device that allows it to track and time-stamp a user's location.

China Central Television (CCTV) reported that the Frequent Locations function found on iPhones running the iOS 7 mobile operating system contained a "gold mine" of data.

The CCTV broadcast reportedly cited revelations about the US National Security Agency that emerged last year through leaks from former contract worker Edward Snowden.

A researcher interviewed by the broadcaster called the tracking information "extremely sensitive data", according to Reuters. They went on to claim that if the data was compromised then China's economic situation and "even state secrets" could be revealed.

Apple has not responded to a request for comment on the matter.

The company's share in the mainland China smartphone market stands at around 7%, according to research firm IDC, making it the fifth largest smartphone vendor in the world's largest smartphone market.

Last year, a photo that showed the wife of China President Xi Jinping using an iPhone caused controversy, as it followed a month-long state-media attack on Apple for its warranty practices in China.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has since publicly apologised after being accused of discriminating against Chinese consumers.

India to Lower Gold Import Curbs When Fiscal Situation Improves: Arun Jaitley

India to ease tough gold import curbs when situation improves.Reuters

The Indian government will consider easing its tough bullion import curbs once the nation's fiscal situation improves, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said.

He, however, said New Delhi has to be watchful of the nation's current account deficit (CAD) and its fiscal deficit. Higher foreign exchange outflows over inflows trigger a current account deficit.

"Not at the moment," Jaitley said, referring to when the government could lower its gold import restrictions.

"...If our situation gives me more comfort level, obviously these are flexible polices. They are not engraved in stone that you can't change them," Jaitley told the Press Trust of India on 11 July, a day after he tabled the annual budget in Parliament.

"On both CAD and fiscal deficit, I think we will have to be cautious and careful," the minister added.

Jaitley's budget left record-high import taxes on gold unchanged, disappointing traders, who had expected a relaxation of the same.

India's gold imports have been on the decline and dropped 72% to $2.19bn (£1.28bn, €1.61bn) in May 2014, in the wake of the restrictions imposed by the previous government.

CAD

For the January-March quarter, India's CAD stood at $1.2bn or 0.2% of GDP, as against $18.1bn or 3.6% of GDP in the year-ago period, according to central bank data.

During the financial year 2013-14, the CAD sharply narrowed to 1.7% of GDP or $32.4bn.

Imports Halve

Gold and silver imports to India plunged 40% to $33.46bn in the financial year 2013-14 in the wake of hard-hitting government restrictions.

Three upward revisions to the import duties on gold in 2013, to a record 10%, and restrictions tying purchases to exports, discouraged gold buying in Asia's third largest economy last year.

While official imports in 2013 reached 750 tonnes, an additional 200 tonnes was believed to have been smuggled to India, according to estimates from the World Gold Council (WGC).

India's CAD hit a historic high of 4.7% of GDP in the financial year 2012-13, mainly due to the rising imports of gold and petroleum products.

China Furious as Australia's Tony Abbott Praises Japan Troops' 'Skills and Honour' in WW2

Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott praised Japanese troop's "skills honour and honour" during WW2.

China's state-run news agency Xinhua has slammed Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott for having praised Japanese forces' "skills and honour" during the Second World War.

Abbott expressed his admiration for the Japanese troops during a parliamentary address this week, which Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended.

"We admired the skill and the sense of honour that they brought to their task although we disagreed with what they did," he said. "Perhaps we grasped, even then, that with a change of heart the fiercest of opponents could be the best of friends."

Beijing reacted with outrage at the PM's comment, which follows months of Sino-Japanese tensions over regional territorial disputes.

"He probably wasn't aware that the Japanese troops possessed other 'skills', skills to loot, to rape, to torture and to kill. All these had been committed under the name of honour almost 70 years ago," Xinhua said in a commentary on its website.

The agency, which reflects the Chinese government's views, branded Abbott "insensible" towards people who have suffered during the war.

Australian veterans also reacted with outrage.

Rear Admiral Ken Doolan, president of the Australian Returned and Services League (RSL) said many veterans did not believe the Japanese behaved with honour.

"We respect those who fought the Japanese and do not share the prime minister's point of view," he said. "Many members of the RSL will disagree with what the Japanese forces did during the Second World War."

Admiral Doolan added China is entitled to its view because atrocities committed in the then-Chinese capital Nanjing was "one of the blacker parts of the [Second World] war".

It is estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 Chinese people were massacred by Japanese troops when they captured Nanjing in 1937.

Last month, Abe sparked outcry worldwide after he announced that Japan's pacifist post-war strategy will be reinterpreted.

The reinterpretation is expected to allow Japanese troops - which are now limited to defending the country - to fight with allies abroad.

Some think the move was triggered by Japan's growing fear over China's increasing military power.

World's Highest Railway Bridge: Indian Workers Construct Breathtaking Bridge Taller Than Eiffel Tower

The world's highest railway bridge is being constructed in India over the Chenab River, to link sections of the mountainous regions within the country's northern Jammu and Kashmir state. Expected to be completed in 2016, it is likely to be 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower.

The bridge will connect Baramulla to Jammu in the Himalayan state with a travel time of six-and-a-half hours, almost half the time it currently takes.

Work on the bridge started in 2002 but safety and feasibility concerns, including the area's strong winds, saw the project halted in 2008 before being green-lighted again two years later.

The estimated cost of the project, which is being handled by Konkan railway corporation, a subsidiary of state-owned Indian railways, is $92 million.

Indian labourers work at the site of the under-construction world's highest railway bridge over the Chenab river in KauriPRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images

Trucks are pictured at the site of the under-construction world's highest railway bridgePRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images

The bridge will connect Baramulla to Jammu in the Himalayan statePRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images

A general view of the site of the under-constructionPRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images

A truck comes out of a tunnel near the sitePRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images

Indian engineers are toiling in the Himalayas to build the world's highest railway bridgePRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images

A view of the construction areaPRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images

The bridge is expected to be 359 metres (1,177 feet) high when completedPRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images

A digger at the site in the HimalayasPRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images

YOU MIGHT LIKE THISSponsored Content by Taboola

Namibia: Desert Elephants 'Legally' Hunted to Solve Human-Animal Conflict

Unlike these savannah elephants, the rare African desert elephant has a thinner body and wider feet

You can't miss an elephant, surely? How then does one explain conflicting counts of elephants in Namibia's deserts that vary between 100 and 600?

The official estimate of desert elephants is 600, a fact contested by the Conservation Action Trust that puts it at 100. Given the legal hunting permits issued to tackle conflict situations, this number may go down further.

A young elephant bull was 'legally' slain in Namibia recently in what the environment and tourism ministry sees as a solution to increasing human-animal conflict.

The ministry in its press release called the elephants "tourist attractions" and said all elephants in the country are "no longer rare… but only potentially valuable." It went on to note that the country is home to more than 20,000 elephants and that the region where the hunt took place has 391 elephants.

Namibia has reportedly sold nine hunting permits to foreign hunters for undisclosed amounts.

According to the Conservation Action Trust, there are only about 100 desert elephants left in Namibia, including just 18 adult males. The cull would remove half of those males, resulting in behaviour problems in the future and possibly a loss of the population's unique mannerisms.

Desert elephants, which can only be found in Namibia and Mali, are not a separate species or subspecies but are uniquely adapted to arid environments. The animals have thinner bodies and wider feet than their savanna counterparts.

Among their unique mannerisms is the way they dig wells using their feet and trunks to access water beneath the surface of dry sandy riverbeds. This behaviour is observed even in areas where surface water is readily available. They also routinely damage borehole infrastructure to access water, even when water is available in artificial drinking pools. A study found that these behaviours are attempts by elephants to access less contaminated drinking water.

Although elephants used to roam throughout most of western Namibia, they were reduced to fewer than 300 animals by the early 1990s from over-hunting. Since then, protected under Namibia's law and conservation organisations, they have expanded their range and numbers, leading to increased instances of conflict.

Palestine: Gaza Children Death Toll Keeps Rising but Israel says Ceasefire 'Isn't Under Consideration'

Relatives and friends of the al-Kaware family carry their bodies to the mosque during their funeral in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. The father, a member of the Fatah movement, and his six young sons were all killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted their homeAFP

The death toll among Palestinian children is steadily rising as Israeli forces continue targeting Gaza with air strikes.

The Gaza health ministry said that at least 21 Palestinians aged 16 or younger have been killed by airstrikes since the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) began its operation on Tuesday. The youngest victim, 18-month-old Mohammed Malakiyeh, was killed along with his 27-year-old mother.

A seven-year-old girl was killed in an air raid on a house in Rafah on Friday morning. Health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said a missile targeted the child's house and killed the entire family.

Israel's attacks are part of the IDF's Operation Protective Edge, launched to restore calm in southern Israel after the firing of a reported 156 rockets from Gaza last week

At least 100 Palestinians have been killed and another 670 wounded since Israel launched its operation, Gaza's health ministry said on Friday.

The ministry sent 12 trucks containing medicines to its warehouses in order to assist the victims of Israel's attacks. Five additional trucks are expected to reach Gaza on Saturday.

Israel has struck more than 320 Hamas targets between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, bringing the total number of targets hit to more than 750 in three days.

Meanwhile, the IDF said on Friday that more than 570 rockets have been fired from Gaza at Israel in the past three days.

No causalities have been reported in Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said air strikes would continue despite the mounting death toll in Gaza.

"I am not speaking with anyone about a ceasefire. That is not under consideration," he said.

Fifa World Cup 2014: Ghanaian Muslims 'Fleeing Religious Conflict' Seek Asylum in Brazil

Ghana's John Boye, Andre Ayew, Jonathan Mensah, Christian Atsu, Asamoah Gyan and Mubarak Wakaso dance as they celebrate a goal against Germany during their 2014 World Cup Group G match in Fortaleza on June 21, 2014Reuters

The humiliation in the Fifa World Cup 2014 semi-final notwithstanding, Brazil is not without its charm to scores of Ghanaians who entered the country on tourist visas to watch the World Cup.

While 178 Ghanaians have sought asylum in Brazil so far, about 1,000 more are expected to request refugee status once the tournament is over.

With asylum applications, Ghanaians can apply for work permits and find jobs in the country.

The applications have been filed in the southern city of Caxias do Sul of the prosperous Serra Gaucha region, home to many immigrants from Syria, Haiti and Senegal.

Serra Gaucha has become a magnet for foreign workers but the local market is now saturated, federal police chief Noerci da Silva Melo told the news agency Agencia Brasil.

The police chief spoke of limiting service targets to the asylum applicants. "We have been able to provide special service standards to those who came to us but this is no longer possible." The applications have now been limited to 20 a day from the earlier 65 a day, he added.

The immigrants have travelled a long way from the football venue. Caxias do Sul is more than 1,600 km (994 miles) away from the venues where the Ghanaian team played. The team lost two matches - to the United States and Portugal - but drew with World Cup finalists Germany. They failed to progress to the knockout stages of the competition.

Sporadic Clashes

The Ghanaians say they are Muslims fleeing inter-religious conflicts in their home country.

Ghana has witnessed disputes and conflicts between adherents of Ga traditional religion and some Christian churches over the annual ban on drumming and noise-making. Experts see the sporadic clashes as not only about religious or cultural differences but that religion and culture are being used to express a deeply rooted feeling of marginalisation of the Gas in their own land.

According to the 2000 population census, Ghanaians are predominantly Christian, followed by Muslims and the traditional African religions constituting a small 8.5 percent.

The labour unrest in Ghana is also another reason for the job lure abroad. Worker strikes demanding wage hikes have become the order of the day in Ghana. The country's mining companies have been affected by a fall in the world market price for gold leading to rising cost of production. The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Seth Terkper, had hinted that labour wages would take up 90 per cent of the country's revenue.

Sounds From Deep Space Discovered by Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico

The Arecibo Observatory where the radio waves were recordedNAIC

Sounds have been discovered coming from deep in outer space through a radio telescope in Puerto Rico.

A split-second burst of radio waves was detected by scientists at the Arecibo Observatory.

Published in the Astrophysical Journal , scientists say this is the first time that a "fast radio burst" has been detected using any instrument other than the Parkes radio telescope in Australia, where a handful of similar events have been recorded.

However, because fast radio bursts were not recorded at any other facility, some had speculated that the Parkes telescope was picking up signals from sources on or near Earth.

What is causing these radio bursts is now the question astrophysicists are looking to answer. Hypotheses include evaporating black holes, exotic astrophysical objects and flares from magnetars, which are a type of neutron star that have powerful magnetic fields.

Sounds of space: The constellation Auriga where the fast radio burst was foundRogelio Bernal Andreo, DeepSkyColors.com

The pulse was detected in November 2012. It lasted just a few thousandths of a second but from it scientists were able to confirm previous estimates that the bursts occur about 10,000 times per day - a massive number considering how little of the sky is observed.

Laura Spitler, lead author of the study, said: "The brightness and duration of this event, and the inferred rate at which these bursts occur, are all consistent with the properties of the bursts previously detected by the Parkes telescope in Australia."

Scientists said they can tell the bursts are coming from outside the Milky Way because they had three times the dispersion measure expected from a source within the galaxy.

They now plan to detect radio bursts using telescopes that can observe much broader areas of the sky.

Victoria Kaspi, an astrophysics professor at McGill University in Montreal, said: "Our result is important because it eliminates any doubt that these radio bursts are truly of cosmic origin. The radio waves show every sign of having come from far outside our galaxy - a really exciting prospect."

Israel Gearing up for Ground Offensive as Hamas Vows Harsh Response

Israeli soldiers ride atop a tank outside the southern Gaza StripReuters

Israel is reportedly gearing up for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, amassing thousands of troops near the border, even as Islamic militant group Hamas pledged to unleash a stinging response to any such move.

Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas said he has received information suggesting the Israeli side has approved a ground offensive on Gaza.

Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner has also confirmed that at least 20,000 reservists are being mobilised for the on-the-ground attack, to complement the ongoing aerial strike targeting Gaza militants.

If the invasion goes ahead, it would be a grim development in the unfolding events of the crisis, eventually resulting in civilian casualties.

This comes a day after Israeli forces sent out telephone warnings and leaflets to thousands of Gaza residents urging them to evacuate to secure locations.

Exhorting Israel to lessen the tensions, Abbas said: "We want the unequal violence to stop. We launch a rocket and it goes nowhere. And then a war plane comes out and attacks a specific target."

Nonetheless Hamas, the dominant force on Gaza Strip, has promised to hit back at Israeli troops if they stamp their boots on the Palestine soil.

"Israelis are trying to heat up the situation in order to start a ground operation, which will not be an easy issue for the Israelis and also for the resistance. But we are ready to face that," Osama Hamda, the chief of Hamas' international relations, told Iran's semi-official Press TV.

"Any attack against Gaza will be replied and we will react against that attack whether it is a rocket launched against Gaza or a ground military operation. I can guarantee that if they decide to have military operation, a ground operation, it will not be a smooth operation; it will be very tough. I believe they have to understand that there will be casualties far more than they can expect."

On the other side, the US is flexing its diplomatic muscle to avoid a ground invasion by Israeli forces.

The US state department spokesperson Jen Psaki, during her daily press conference, said Washington is working towards the de-escalation of the crisis.

Apple iWatch Production Delayed Until November Making 2014 Release Unlikely

One of numerous iWatch concepts to have emerged since rumours of the device first began in 2011.Esben Oxholm

Apple's production plans for its first ever smartwatch have reportedly suffered a setback, with mass production for the device pushed back by two months to November.

A report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seen by 9to5Mac indicates that the smartwatch, widely-rumoured to be called the iWatch, has had its shipments forecast for 2014 lowered by 2 million units.

"We have pushed back our estimated time of iWatch mass production from late September to mid-to-late November," Kuo said. "We also lower our forecast of iWatch 2014 shipments by 40% to 3m units."

Kuo does not give any indication of when Apple might launch the iWatch or put it on sale, but considering he believes mass production won't happen until November, it is unlikely the iWatch will go on sale until early 2015.

Previous reports had suggested that the iWatch would be entering mass production in time to be launched alongside one of the iPhone 6 models, expected to arrive in the autumn.

Also included in Kuo's report were hints of features that he expects to see on the iWatch. These include a flexible AMOLED display, a Sapphire coated display cover, higher waterproof standards and a new system-on-a-chip components - all of which have been rumoured before.

Fashion and health

Apple's first foray into wearable tech has unsurprisingly been the source of heavy speculation.

There is expected to be a heavy focus on health and fitness, with features including a heart rate monitor and a glucose level sensor. Data from these is expected to be transmitted to a corresponding iPhone or iPad device and integrate with the recently announced iOS 8 HealthKit platform.

In terms of design, Apple seems to be aiming for a high-end, luxury device, with executives from fashion labels and watch makers recently joining a team understood to be led by Kevin Lynch, the former chief technology officer at Adobe.

Last week Apple hired Patrick Pruniaux, a senior executive from Swiss luxury watch brand Tag Heuer, having already hired former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve to work with the iWatch division.

Argentine Economy Minister Axel Kicillof Conspicuously Absent from Vulture Funds Meeting

The Economy Ministry building is seen in Buenos AiresReuters

The Argentine team that is slated to meet a court-appointed mediator in New York on 11 July to settle the country's disputes with the holdout funds will not include the country's economy minister Axel Kicillof.

"The delegation...will be formed by the economy ministry's judicial and financial team...but the economy minister won't be going," said Jorge Capitanich, President Cristina Kirchner's cabinet chief.

Capitanich, who did not say why the minister is not attending the meeting, noted that the parties had previously agreed to the minister's absence.

Kicillof and his team had earlier met with Daniel Pollack, the lawyer appointed by a US judge to oversee negotiations between Argentina and the hedge funds that did not take part in Argentina's massive debt restructuring and are demanding a full payout from the country.

During the meeting, Kicillof raised his government's request again, asking US District Judge Thomas Griesa to suspend his earlier ruling that bars Argentina from paying the holders of its restructured debt unless it pays the hedge funds.

Argentina has been engaged in a long legal battle with hedge funds led by Elliott Management and Aurelius Capital, which refused to take part in the country's debt restructurings. About 92% of the country's creditors agreed to swap debts and accept less money.

Following the adverse order from Griesa, Argentina claimed that if the country paid the suitors on their terms, it would lead to claims from other holdouts of around $15bn in debt.

The government's coupon payment to restructured bondholders through a New York bank had earlier been blocked by Griesa. As a result, the country is facing a technical default by the end of July if it does not make a settlement with the so-called vulture funds.

Despite the bitter spat with them, Argentina will try to settle with the holdout funds as it has little alternatives to avoid the default, which would damage its reputation further in the international capital market.