Iranian nuclear deal won't change policy toward US, says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Supreme leader says in televised speech that US policy in the Middle East not in line with Tehran’s strategy, but says further talks may be possible in future
Iran’s supreme leader said on Saturday that the historic nuclear deal with world powers struck this week would not change Iran’s policy towards the United States.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech that US policy in the Middle East was not in line with Tehran’s strategy. Iran would continue to support its allies in the Middle East including the Lebanese Hezbollah, Palestinian resistance groups and the Syrian government, he said.
Iran’s direct talks with Washington were limited to the nuclear issue, Khamenei said, and that there could not be any dialogue with Washington over other issues. However, he has said in the past that the door to other issues could open if the US carried out its obligations under the deal in good faith.Greek bank closure cost economy 3 billion euros
Exports and the retail sector took a massive hit during Greece's three-week shutdown, with ATM withdrawals limited to 60 euros a day. The tourism sector, also hit by many cancellations, wasn't included in the data.
Greece's economy suffered a 3-billion-euro ($3.2 billion) loss when the government shut down its banking sector on June 29.
On Saturday, the newspaper "Kathimerini" estimated the financial cost of the draconian measures, which led to millions of customers' checks and bills being left unpaid and ATM withdrawals limited to 60 euros per day.
The paper said the retail trade alone - which was in the middle of the peak summer season - suffered a 600-million-euro loss, citing estimates from commercial professionals.
Consumers switched from apparel and electronics purchases to fuel and food, although the paper said both these categories also suffered losses.
Westgate mall in Kenya reopens two years after massacre
Al Shabaab militants killed at least 67 people after four day siege in trendy shopping mall
Kenya’s trendy Westgate shopping mall will reopen on Saturday, nearly two years after gunmen from the Somali militant group al Shabaab massacred at least 67 people inside and held out for four days as security forces laid siege to the complex.
Once a totem of Kenya’s growing prosperity, the Westgate building has since become symbolic of growing insecurity in the east African nation and President Uhuru Kenyatta’s inability to prevent frequent Islamist attacks on Kenyan soil.
Images beamed across the world during the raid dented Kenya’s image abroad and scared off tourists, hurting a vital sector of the economy.
South China Sea: environmental damage when islands are created on coral reefs
July 18, 2015 - 1:36PMEric Niiler
Marine biologist John McManus, who has been studying Pacific coral reefs for the past 30 years, remembers a two-day boat journey a few years ago to a remote part of the Spratly Islands, the disputed chain of low-lying coral and rocky reefs in the South China Sea.
"You are travelling along in open ocean waters, then you come upon a place where the waves are breaking, then everything beyond the reef is flat, like a giant pool," said Dr McManus, who is director of the National Centre for Coral Reef Research at the University of Miami.
Today, seven such coral reefs are being turned into islands, with harbours and landing strips, by the Chinese military. Not only is this work threatening China's relations with its neighbours and the United States, it is also destroying a rich ecological network, Dr McManus said.
"This is devastating," he said. "It's the worst thing that has happened to coral reefs in our lifetime."
Divine Chocolate is delicious – and a boon to its growers
Cocoa farmers in Ghana formed Kuapa Kokoo, the 'Good Cocoa' co-operative, which helps its farmer-members in many ways.
Divine Chocolate is challenging the terms of trade by moving farmers up the value chain. It’s the only fair trade chocolate company owned by its cocoa producers, a cooperative of Ghanaian farmers known as Kuapa Kokoo.
The cooperative was born in 1993, a year after the official liberalization of Ghana’s economy. Liberalization allowed for smaller companies to organize and collectively market their products in the global economy. A small group of cocoa farmers, led by Nana Frimpong Abrebrese, seized the opportunity. With the help of Twin and Twin Trading Co., an organization working to reform supply chains and trade relationships, the cocoa farmers formed Kuapa Kokoo, or “Good Cocoa.”
Just two years later the co-op earned its Fairtrade Internationalcertification, and by 1998 Divine Chocolate was founded with the help of Twin and Twin Trading Co. Kuapa Kokoo is now recognized as the leading cocoa cooperative in Ghana and has championed social, political, and economic empowerment for its members.Formula One driver Jules Bianchi dies from crash injuries
Updated 1217 GMT (1917 HKT) July 18, 2015
The world of motorsport was plunged into mourning Saturday by the news that Formula One driver Jules Bianchi had died, nine months after he suffered severe head injuries in the Japanese Grand Prix.
The 25-year-old Frenchman passed away Friday night at the hospital in Nice, southeastern France, where he was admitted following the October 5 accident, a family statement said.
"Jules fought right to the very end, as he always did, but today his battle came to an end," said the Bianchi family. "The pain we feel is immense and indescribable."
No comments:
Post a Comment