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Fiji offers more than 500 troops to Golan force

Agence France-PresseJune 18, 2013 20:33
Fiji has offered more than 500 troops to the UN Golan Heights peacekeeping force after several countries withdrew because of the spillover from the Syria conflict, diplomats said Tuesday. Fiji will supply 170 troops this month to replace Japanese and Croatian soldiers who have left in previous weeks. Diplomats said it has also offered to replace the 370 troops that Austria is withdrawing.

Arab village in Israel targeted in racial attack

June 18, 2013 08:00
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Vandals daubed "Arabs out" graffiti and punctured tires in an Arab village near Jerusalem on Tuesday, targeting a community widely seen in Israel as a showcase for Jewish-Arab coexistence. Unlike similar attacks that have damaged Arab mosques, homes, vehicles and olive groves, the vandalism took place in an Arab village in Israel popular with Jewish visitors, rather than in a Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank.

S. Korea pitches bilateral foreign ministerial talks to Japan

Kyodo News InternationalJune 18, 2013 08:00
South Korean Ambassador to Japan Lee Byung Kee on Tuesday proposed to Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida that a bilateral meeting of the two countries' foreign ministers be held on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Brunei on July 2. The proposal was made during their first meeting at the Japanese Foreign Ministry in Tokyo. The Japanese government is expected to agree to the proposal, sources close to the matter said.

Wave of car bombs kills 14 in south Iraq

Agence France-PresseJune 16, 2013 06:50
A wave of car bombs in several cities south of Baghdad on Sunday killed at least 14 people, officials said, as Iraq grapples with a surge in violence that has sparked fears of all-out sectarian war. The blasts went off in Kut and Aziziyah, both in Wasit province bordering the capital, and vehicles rigged with explosives were also detonated in the southern cities of Nasiriyah and Basra. strs-ak/psr/jds

Japan envoy urges China to consider U.S. concerns over Senkakus

Kyodo News InternationalJune 15, 2013 10:49
The Japanese ambassador to the United States urged China on Friday to consider concerns of the United States over China's claim to the Japan-administered Senkaku group of islets in the East China Sea. "The United States sent a message (to China) that the current situation is undesirable. I want the Chinese side to squarely face the position of Japan's ally and deal with the matter in a constructive manner," Kenichiro Sasae told a press conference.

Three Chinese ships in disputed waters: Japan

Agence France-PresseJune 14, 2013 22:18
Three Chinese government ships sailed into waters around disputed islands controlled by Tokyo on Friday, for the first time since late May, Japan's coastguard said. The Chinese maritime surveillance vessels stayed in the waters for about four hours, sailing out shortly before 2:00 pm (0500 GMT), the coastguard said. They were spotted inside the 12-nautical-mile zone off the Senkaku islands, which China calls the Diaoyus, in the East China Sea shortly before 9:30 am (0030 GMT), said the coastguard.

UN talking to Sweden on Golan force: Israel official

Agence France-PresseJune 13, 2013 05:33
UN leader Ban Ki-moon is in exploratory talks with Sweden over plans it could lead a beefed-up peacekeeping force between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, an Israeli official said on Thursday. "It's in very preliminary stages," he told AFP on condition of anonymity. "It hasn't been established yet who agrees, who wants it. The conditions are not clear." Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Thursday that Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt favoured sending troops to the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) to replace the Austrian contingent.

Israel to build hundreds of W.Bank settler homes

Agence France-PresseJune 13, 2013 03:30
Israel is seeking approval for hundreds of settler homes in the northern West Bank, including retroactively legalising previously unlicensed housing in Itamar settlement, Israel media reported on Thursday. The Jerusalem Post said that plans to build 538 new homes in Itamar and legalise 137 existing units were submitted to regional planning authorities this week. scw/bpz

U.N. seeks more time to replace Austrians on Golan: paper

June 12, 2013 06:31
VIENNA (Reuters) - The head of U.N. peacekeeping operations has asked Austria for more time to line up replacements for Austrian troops due to be withdrawn from a Golan Heights buffer zone between Syria and Israel within weeks. "Austria has to make us a better offer," Herve Ladsous told Austrian paper Die Presse in an interview published on Wednesday. "To be completely honest, we need more time."

UN requests more time as Austria readies Golan pullout

Agence France-PresseJune 11, 2013 17:40
Austrian troops in the UN monitoring force on the Golan Heights will begin pulling out on Wednesday, the defence ministry said, as the UN appealed for more time to find a replacement for the departing soldiers. "Between 60 and 80 troops will return to Austria tomorrow afternoon," defence ministry spokesman Andreas Strobl told AFP Tuesday. "This will be the first of several groups... we will gradually bring the soldiers back to Austria," he added.
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