A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Kosovo does not plan to declare independence
WASHINGTON -Kosovo told Washington yesterday that it did not plan to unilaterally declare independence from Serbia in November, senior officials from the US and Kosovo said. Kosovo's leaders gave the assurance during a meeting with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in Washington, spokesman for the Kosovo delegation, Skender Hyseni, said.
US officials confirmed the message was one of co-operation rather than going it alone. Serbia opposes independence for Kosovo, seen by many Serbs as their spiritual heartland. - (Reuters)
US and Iranian envoys to meet
WASHINGTON -The US hopes a meeting between the US and Iranian envoys to Baghdad will push Tehran to change its ways in Iraq even though their last encounter made no difference, said US officials yesterday.
"One would hope you would see a change in Iranian behaviour. I can't tell you whether or not we will see that. It is up to the Iranians," said state department spokesman Sean McCormack of the proposed meeting between ambassadors in Baghdad today.
Washington accuses Iran of stoking violence in Iraq by backing militants. Iran denies the charges, and blames the US-led invasion of 2003 for the bloodshed.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said explosive devices blamed for the deaths of many US troops in Iraq as well as other weaponry were still coming into Iraq from Iran.
Today's meeting between Iranian ambassador Hassan Kazemi-Qomi and US ambassador Ryan Crocker follows a similar one in Baghdad on May 28th in what was the highest-profile contact in almost three decades between the two countries. - (Reuters)
Security worse in Mogadishu
NEW YORK -Security in Mogadishu has worsened since peace talks started a week ago and, for the first time since early June, more people have left the Somali capital than returned, the UN said yesterday.
Reconciling clan rivalries is a key aim of the National Reconciliation Conference which the interim government hopes will bolster its legitimacy and win it the support it needs to bring peace among Somalia's myriad factions.
The reconciliation meeting opened in Mogadishu on July 15th, but was marred by mortar attacks.
A UN statement said more than 10,000 people fled Mogadishu last week. Since government troops began securing the city at the start of June, some 21,000 people have left Mogadishu and around 20,000 have returned. - (Reuters)
Shell forced to halt Arctic drilling
WASHINGTON DC -Shell has been forced to halt plans to start drilling in the Arctic by a court challenge from indigenous Alaskans and green groups who claim that polar bears and whales would be put at serious risk.
The ban by the US court of appeal pending a hearing on the issue came as Shell and its new partner, Gazprom, came under renewed attack from a panel of experts from the World Conservation Union, who urged the operators to do more to protect the western grey whales around Sakhalin Island. - (Guardian service)
Nigerian leader to name cabinet
ABUJA -Nigerian president Umaru Yar'Adua will name his cabinet tomorrow, seven weeks after his inauguration, his spokesman said yesterday. Mr Yar'Adua took office on May 29th in the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in Africa's top oil producer after elections deemed "not credible" by international observers because of widespread vote-rigging. - (Reuters)