Tesco to Stop Selling Products Sourced from Conflict-Hit West Bank

TescoReuters

UK supermarket giant Tesco has suspended sale of products originating from the conflict zone of West Bank starting from September, The Jewish Chronicle reported.

However, a spokesman for the supermarket told the newspaper that the move was not "politically motivated" and not connected to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

He noted that the decision was part of a "regular product review process".

The only West Bank product currently stocked by Tesco was dates, which are packaged in the territories but grown in Israel. They are being pulled for "commercial reasons", the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, two separate health and beauty product suppliers to Tesco told the newspaper that the retail giant had asked them to list all their products and ingredients from Israel and the Occupied Territories.

However, Tesco clarified that the suppliers were asked to do so because of inquiries from customers.

"We have received some questions from customers about products we sell that are sourced from Israel or the West Bank," the spokesman said.

"To make sure we answered their questions with the most accurate and up to date information, we contacted suppliers to double check our own information, particularly for branded products."

The company noted that it will not change its sourcing plans from Israel.

"We have no plans to change our position on sourcing from Israel."

In June, Britain's large trade union, UNITE, unanimously voted to boycott Israeli companies, calling "to vigorously promote a policy of divestment from Israeli companies."

There have been several attempts in several countries to block the sales of Israeli products from West Bank's Judea and Samaria, as Israel has been widely criticised for its tough stance against Gaza and Palestine.

In May, the European Union (EU) suspended imports of poultry and eggs from Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and from most of Jerusalem.

Israel-Gaza Conflict: North Korea Denies Talks on Missile Supply Deal With Hamas

An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires towards the Gaza StripReuters

North Korea has denied it is in the process of discussing an arms deal with the Palestine-based group Hamas to help them in the ongoing Israel-Gaza fighting.

Dubbing the allegations as "fiction", Pyongyang said reports to this effect were being floated by the US in order to "isolate" North Korea.

A spokesperson for North Korea's foreign ministry said: "This is utterly baseless sophism and sheer fiction let loose by the US to isolate the DPRK [North Korea's official name] internationally," according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

"The US is working hard to deliberately link the DPRK to the so-called 'terrorist organisations' defined by it in a bid to divert the focus of international criticism to Pyongyang. The US is pulling up others under the pretexts of 'terrorism', 'killing of civilians' and the like, a gangster-like logic reminiscent of a thief crying 'stop the thief'".

Earlier, a Western diplomat was cited by the Telegraph suggesting that Hamas was negotiating a deal with North Korea as the group's resources were drying up in the war against Israel.

The reported arms deal between Hamas and North Korea was thought to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lebanon-based groups were said to be brokering the deal.

Prolonged War

In the meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted that the raging conflict will not die down anytime soon.

"We will not finish the mission, we will not finish the operation without neutralising the tunnels, which have the sole purpose of destroying our citizens, killing our children," the Israeli premier said in a televised address.

"We need to be prepared for a protracted campaign. We will continue to act with force and discretion until our mission is accomplished."

The 22-day conflict has so far claimed the lives of 1,090 Gazans, most of them civilians, and 53 Israeli soldiers.

Argentina to Meet Mediator in Attempt to Avoid Fresh Debt Default

Argentina's Economy Ministry's Legal and Technical Secretary Federico TheaReuters

A delegation from Argentina and its holdout creditors will meet a court-appointed mediator again, as the country looks to avoid a fresh debt default with its deadline expiring in a day.

The parties will separately meet the mediator, Daniel Pollack, as Argentina continued to refuse Pollack's demand to hold face-to-face talks.

The Argentine delegation, which includes technical, financial and legal representatives, will meet Pollack at 11:00am EDT in New York.

"I again urged direct, face-to-face conversations with the bondholders, but that will not happen tomorrow," Pollack said earlier.

Earlier, US judge Thomas Griesa ordered Argentina and the holdout creditors who did not take part in the country's debt restructuring in 2002 to meet the mediator "continuously until a settlement is reached".

Despite many rounds of talks, the parties are yet to reach an agreement.

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

In a major blow to the government, Griesa earlier gave a ruling that bars Argentina from paying the holders of its restructured debt unless it pays the hedge funds.

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 (£8.8bn, €11bn) 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".

Meanwhile, Argentina paid the Paris club a first $642m tranche as part of a deal to clear its debts with a number of wealthy creditor nations.

"In this way, Argentina continues its path of resolving the international liabilities produced by the 2001 default," the economy ministry said in a statement.

The country reached a deal with the Paris Club in May, agreed to clear its $9.7bn of arrears stemming from its 2002 default. Argentina will repay the amount in different tranches over the next five years.

Libya Oil Depot Fire 'Out of Control'

Plumes of smoke rise in the sky after a rocket hit a fuel storage tank near the airport road in Tripoli(Reuters)

A fire burning at an oil depot close to the Libyan capital of Tripoli was "out of control" on Monday afternoon, a spokesman for the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said.

Firefighters had withdrawn from the scene, where a huge cloud of black smoke billowed across the skyline of the capital.

The blaze erupted when a rocket hit a fuel storage tank containing around six million litres of gasoline, causing a huge fire.

The rocket was thought to have been fired by nearby militias that are engaged in a weeks-long battle over Tripoli international airport. The clashes have brought all flights to and from the airport to a halt.

Residents within three miles of the blaze, located on the road connecting Tripoli with the airport, were told to leave the area. The fuel depot is thought to contain fuel reserves of up to 90 million litres.

Libya's state-owned NOC had earlier warned that the blaze could produce an environmental disaster and called for "international help" to help tackle the escalating blaze.

The massive fire is the latest in a series of crises for the oil-rich North African state. Central government has struggled to rein in militias that proliferated in the rebellion that ousted the country's long-running leader Muammar Qaddafi.

Rival fighters have waged increasingly fierce battles in a bid to establish independent power bases across the country.

Turkey PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Quickfire Hat-trick in Exhibition Match Goes Viral

Turkey's Prime Minister and presidential candidate Tayyip Erdogan kicks the ball during an exhibition soccer match after the opening ceremony for the Fatih Terim Stadium in Istanbul.Reuters

A video of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan scoring a hat-trick in just 15 minutes of an exhibition match has gone viral.

The Turkish leader turned star striker was playing in a football friendly to celebrate the opening of the new stadium of the Istanbul Basaksehir team who won promotion to the country's Super Lig next season.

At 60 years old, Erdogan's eye for goal was even more surprising, running off the shoulder of the last defender to score the first before chipping the goalkeeper for the second. He rounded off his hat-trick -- to complete a dramatic comeback from 3-0 down -- with a cool finish.

His talent and enthusiasm for the game reportedly stem from his time as an amateur footballer during his youth and as an avid fan outside of politics.

According to Al Arabiya, Turkish fans held up placards saying: "As long as you live, Turkey will remain the champion."

"A president who sweats, runs and scores goals. Just as he has been throughout his political life," his adviser Yusuf Yerkel tweeted as the video began to amass over 100,000 YouTube views.

Erdogan is to stand in the Turkish presidential elections next month and he wore the number 12 shirt as he would be the 12th president of modern Turkey if he was elected.

The cameo of the Turkish leader was similar to pictures of US President Barack Obama playing basketball and Russian President Vladimir Putin playing ice hockey, both also scoring frequently.

A YouTube video of Erdogan's hat-trick becoming viral is ironic given his order to ban the video-sharing website earlier this year.

Had he scored the hat-trick after Turkey's highest court banned the site in late March -- following a corruption scandal which threatened to embroil his regime -- few would have witnessed his goal scoring heroics.

Fortunately for Erdogan, the ban was lifted in June, a month before his virtuoso performance.

Isis Threat Forces Emirates Airlines to Stop Flights over Iraq

An A380 Emirates Airlines plane flies over Paris.Reuters

Emirates Airlines is to stop flying over Iraq following concerns that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) militants now hold the missile capabilities to target commercial airliners.

Following the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 by suspected pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates, told The Times that the airline industry was beginning to review its flight paths over conflict zones.

"This is a political animal but...the fact of the matter is MH17 changed everything, and that was very nearly in European airspace," he said.

"We cannot continue to say, 'Well it's a political thing'. We have to do something. We have to take the bull by the horns."

United States is investigating whether Isis fighters, who last month stormed through northern Iraq, capturing key cities, has acquired missiles capable of targeting civilian aircraft at 30,000ft or higher.

US Special Forces in Iraq have reportedly been assigned the task to investigate the claims, amid revelations that hundreds of flights pass over Isis-held territory every day. Some airlines such as British Airways fly directly over the recently-captured city of Mosul.

Alternative flight paths

Clark revealed that Emirates will re-route its flight paths over Iraq when flying to European cities over the comings weeks.

Alternative routes would include flying over Iran or across Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea, into Egypt and up into European airspace. This re-routing is expected to add 45 minutes to journeys.

"We can't do it all at once because we have got an awful lot going through it, but yes we will be doing that," Clark said.

"That is the kind of thing that will demonstrate to the public that we take this extremely seriously and that is exactly what we are doing."

The airline executive predicted that others airlines would follow suit in reviewing its flight routes over conflict zones following the loss of all 298 passengers and crew on board MH17 in eastern Ukraine.

"The horrors that this created was a kick in the solar plexus for all of us," he said. "Nevertheless having got through it we must take stock and deal with it.

"From out of this ghastly, hideous mass murder - if we are going to get anything out of it - it is that the airline community are minded to try and improve what they do."

UK Retailers Eye 'Eid Effect' as Wealthy Middle Eastern Consumers Descend After Ramadan

Eid celebrations in London's Trafalgar SquareGetty

Retailers are in for a windfall from the "Eid effect" as big-spending Middle Eastern consumers travel to the UK after Ramadan.

Payments specialist Worldpay said its transaction data shows that Middle Eastern consumers raise their spending by a quarter as Eid dawns at the end of Ramadan, which breaks a month of fasting and is one of the most important events in the Islamic calendar.

And they outspend other nationalities when they travel to the UK for its variety of shopping destinations, like London's West End.

Worldpay said consumers from the Middle East spent an average £152.40 per transaction in August 2013, while Europeans spent just £49.00 and US visitors to the UK £65.41.

"Britain has some of the best shopping in the world and retailers need to wake up to the fact that the biggest spenders all come from abroad," said Dave Hobday, managing director at Worldpay UK.

"There's a Middle Eastern gold rush underway and millions of pounds are at stake as tourists from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE flock to the UK to outshop and outspend the rest.

"The pressure's on for UK retailers and it's not enough just to deliver great service and hope for the best. Winning retailers must work harder than ever to make Middle Eastern shoppers welcome.

"High-end retailers and boutiques are now employing multi-lingual staff and giving shoppers the option to pay by card in their own currency. We're on the eve of Eid and this spending frenzy is a gift retailers just can't afford to miss."

Pakistan: Mob Kills Woman and Two Minor Girls over 'Blasphemous' Facebook Post

Pakistan: Mob Kills Woman and Two Minor Girls for ‘Blasphemous’ Facebook PostReuters file photo

An angry Pakistani mob has killed a 55-year-old woman and two minors of the same family over an alleged blasphemous post on Facebook.

The victims belonged to the Ahmadi community, who proclaim themselves as believers of Islam but believe in a prophet after Mohammad.

Several others were also injured in the attack and many houses were set ablaze in Gujranwala, located about 220kms southeast of Islamabad. A pregnant woman suffered a miscarriage during the riots.

The victims, who died of suffocation, have been identified as Bashiran and minor girls Kainat and Hira.

"Later, a crowd of 150 people came to the police station demanding the registration of a blasphemy case against the accused. As police were negotiating with the crowd, another mob attacked and started burning the houses of Ahmadis," a police official, who does not wish to be identified, told the BBC Urdu website.

One of the young men of the community who was accused of making the contentious post, a photo of the Kaaba, the Grand Mosque in Mecca, escaped unhurt.

The Ahmadi community has said it is one of the worst such attacks in recent years.

"Police were there but just watching the burning. They didn't do anything to stop the mob. First they looted their homes and shops and then they burnt the homes," Salimuddin, a spokesperson for the community, told the Dawn.

Ahmadi families fled the area following the attack. No arrests have been made as yet.

The Ahmadis are banned from using Islamic greetings and prayers or mentioning their place of worship as mosque, under Pakistani law.

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Libya Government Calls For International Help as Oil Tank Fire Rages

July 21, 2014: Libyan Ministry of Transportation Abdul Qader Mohammed Ahmed inspects the destruction at Tripoli international airportAFP

Libya's government has called for "international help" after a number of oil storage tanks caught fire amid clashes over the country's main airport in the capital Tripoli.

Libya's state-owned National Oil Corporation has warned of a possible environmental disaster after the fire broke out at an oil depot.

Firefighters were forces to abandon efforts to tackle the blaze in southern Tripoli on Monday, the NOC said.

"Firefighters have been trying for hours to put out the blaze but to no avail. Their water reserves finally ran out and they've had to leave," said NOC spokesman Mohamed al-Hariri, as quoted by AFP news agency.

The blaze started after an oil tank, which lies on the road that leads from the airport to Tripoli, was hit by a rocket, Hariri said.

"It is a tank of 6 million litres of gasoline and it is close to others containing gas and diesel," he said.

As the blaze erupted, the oil and gas ministry warned locals within three miles of the depot to evacuate for their own safety.

The fire is the latest crisis for the oil-rich state. Governments have struggled to impose authority since the 2011 rebellion saw long-term leader Muammar Qaddafi ousted.

Rival militias have fought increasingly fierce battles to establish independent power bases across the country. Clashes at the country's main airport have brought flights to a standstill since they started in mid-July.

Boko Haram Strikes Cameroon and Abducts Deputy PM's Wife

Boko Haram militantsReuters file photo

The Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks in neighbouring Cameroon abducting a top politician's wife.

Apart from the wife of Cameroon's vice prime minister Amadou Ali, several others, including a local mayor have been kidnapped by the militants.

"The situation is very critical here now, and as I am talking to you the Boko Haram elements are still in Kolofata town in a clash with our soldiers," said Cameroon's senior military official Colonel Felix Nji Formekong.

"Some of them have already taken away the wife of vice prime minister Ahmadou Ali and her house help while the bodyguards of the vice prime minister have succeeded in taking him out of the town to Mora."

The militants stormed the deputy premier's house during a dawn attack. When they could not find the politician as he was away for a Ramadan feast, the insurgents abducted his wife.

The Nigerian Islamists have increased their attacks in Cameroon in recent weeks.

Some local unconfirmed reports suggest Ali's brother has been killed in the attack.

Cameroon's far north region, which has about four million residents, is located adjacent to the Boko Haram stronghold in Nigeria.

Cameroonian military spokesperson told the news agency IRIN recently: "Attacks are still common [in the far north Region] because the war is not won in Nigeria. It is difficult to lead a major operation against Boko Haram due to the fact that they are 'invisible'. So the strategy of the military is to secure major points such as the border posts, bridges, villages and military bases."

"We cannot put security on every kilometre or area in the region. Boko Haram may have 100 percent advantage over the traditional military style because we don't know their base, how they look like, how many they are and what direction they will come from. They use both vehicles and motorcycles and have a good mastery of the border communities. They use some of the local population to operate in Cameroon."