Israel to deport 400 children of illegal migrants; 800 can stay

Jerusalem (CNN) -- The Israeli government on Sunday approved the recommendations of an inter-ministerial committee to decide the fate of 1,200 children of foreign workers residing in Israel. The decision is that 800 of the children will remain in the country, but 400 others will be deported.

In his speech at the weekly Cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained the compromise as "a decision that is balanced between the desire to take these children into our hearts and the desire not to create an incentive for continued illegal migration that could flood the foundation of the Zionist state".

Netanyahu described the growing number of illegal migrants as a "tangible threat to the future of the State of Israel, which we cannot ignore" and promised that "today's discussion will take into account our sensitivity toward children along with the need to ensure the future of the state of Israel as the national state of the Jewish People".

According to government estimates, more than 500,000 illegal labor migrants have entered into Israel over the past decade, most of which are from Africa, crossing into Israel through its southern border.

CNN

Cuban president: More private enterprise will be allowed

Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Cuban President Raul Castro said Sunday that his government would allow more private businesses and make it easier for those businesses to hire workers, as the socialist economy struggles to get back on its feet and shed up to one million redundant state jobs.

The government "agreed to broaden the exercise of self employment and its use as another alternative for the employment of those excess workers," Castro said during a biannual session of the National Assembly.

He went on to say that the government would eliminate "numerous" prohibitions to the granting of licenses for private businesses and to the sales of some products, as well as "make the contracting of a work force more flexible".

In exchange, those businesses will pay taxes on income and sales, and pay contributions for employees, he said.

CNN

Firefighters gain control over wildfires in Russia

(CNN) -- With nearly 86,000 people evacuated from fire-ravaged regions, Russian authorities said Sunday that firefighters were gaining control over blazes sweeping across thousands of acres in western Russia.

"Despite complicated weather conditions, the situation is under control thanks to preventive measures and efforts taken by the Russian Emergencies Ministry," a spokesman for the ministry told the Itar-Tass news agency.

At least 28 people have been killed and thousands left homeless by the wildfires, which are among the worst ever to hit western Russia. No fire-related deaths were reported since Friday, officials said Sunday.

Two firefighters were among the dead, Itar-Tass reported, citing the Emergency Ministry.

Latest figures from the ministry showed that 128,500 hectares (317,530 acres) were burned or had burned, and 774 "hotbeds of wildfire" were counted as of 6 a.m. Sunday. About half the fires had either been extinguished or contained, the ministry spokesman said.

"The most difficult situation with wildfires remains in the Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir and Voronezh regions and the Republic of Mordovia, where fires threaten several populated settlements," the ministry's information department said.

CNN

Gates: Posting classified war documents was morally wrong

Washington (CNN) -- It is up to the Justice Department to determine if there will be criminal charges in the release of classified military documents by WikiLeaks, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday the website is morally guilty for putting lives at risk.

On the ABC program "This Week," Gates declared himself "mortified" and "appalled" over the public dissemination of 76,000 documents that detailed military operations in Afghanistan.

"If I'm angry it is because I believe this information puts those in Afghanistan who have helped us at risk," Gates said, citing a Taliban statement that it would seek out informants and other collaborators exposed by the documents.

He said the issue involved two areas of culpability - legal and moral.

While the Department of Justice will decide on the legal questions, "there's also a moral culpability, and that's where I think WikiLeaks is guilty," Gates said.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also cited the Taliban's threat to sources named in the leaked documents, saying the United States had a "moral obligation" to protect their safety.

CNN

Iraq, U.S. offer conflicting July death toll

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military Sunday disputed Iraqi figures that indicated July was the deadliest month for civilians there since May 2008, saying the actual numbers are less than half what leaked internal Iraqi government figures show.

The U.S. command in Baghdad "refutes that 535 people were killed in Iraq during the month of July," the military said in a statement. It put the total number of people killed by "enemy action" at 222, including 161 civilians -- the ninth-lowest civilian casualty count since January 2008, according to the U.S. military.

Iraqi data leaked to the press Saturday reported 396 civilians, 50 Iraqi soldiers and 89 police officers were killed in July. Iraqi officials also said 100 so-called "terrorists" were killed, and 955 others were detained.

The reported number of civilian deaths was nearly double that of June, when 204 civilians were killed, according to Iraq. It's the highest monthly death toll for civilians since June 2008, according to Iraqi government figures.

The dispute over the numbers comes against the backdrop of the ongoing U.S. drawdown, with the aim of having troop levels at or below 50,000 by September 1. The U.S. military believes that the Iraqi security forces can maintain the current levels of relative stability, but that sentiment is not shared by many Iraqis.

CNN

U.S. may soon put 'missile umbrella' over south Europe - media

The U.S. Defense Department is close to reaching an agreement with a country in southern Europe on the deployment of a missile early-warning radar to counter potential missile strikes from Iran, The Washington Post reported.

"The U.S. military is on the verge of activating a partial missile shield over southern Europe, part of an intensifying global effort to build defenses against Iranian missiles amid a deepening impasse over the country's nuclear ambitions," the newspaper said in an article published on Sunday.

Citing unidentified Pentagon sources, the paper said a powerful X-band missile-tracking radar would be probably deployed either in Turkey or Bulgaria as early as next year, and it would enable the first phase of the missile shield.

The new radar will feed early-warning data to U.S. warships equipped with Aegis missile system, which are deployed in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.

RIA Novosti

Golden treble for Lemaitre in Barcelona; Russians top medals table

(CNN) -- New sprint sensation Christophe Lemaitre became the first Frenchman to win three gold medals at a major athletics event on Sunday as his country finished second in the table behind Russia at the European Championships.

Lemaitre, the first white man to break the 10-second barrier over 100 meters last month, helped his 4x100m relay team to triumph in Barcelona and add to the 20-year-old's double in the individual sprints.

Martial Mbandjock, who had earlier won two bronzes behind his teammate, snatched victory on the final leg as Italy were beaten back into second with Germany third.

France's women's 4x100m team finished second behind shock winners Ukraine, who set the fastest time this year of 42.29 seconds.

Poland denied the favored Russians a medal, but their larger neighbors won both the men's and women's 4x400m relay events as they finished with a total of 10 golds and 24 podium placings -- six more than France.

CNN

Chechen warlord Umarov 'steps down because of age'

Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov, who claimed the Moscow Metro bombings earlier this year which killed 40 people, is said to be resigning.

In a video released online a man appearing to be Mr Umarov, 46, says he is handing over to a younger comrade.

The speaker says a man seated next to him, named as Aslambek Vadalov, can lead "more energetically".

Doku Umarov is one of the few rebel leaders to survive from Chechnya's spell of independence from Russia.

He served as security minister in the separatist government from 1996-99.

The Russian state regards him as a notorious terrorist, head of the self-styled Caucasus Emirate - an armed Islamist movement seeking control of the mainly Muslim territories in the Russian North Caucasus.

He is also officially described as a terrorist by the US state department.

In the video, which appeared on a French video-sharing website before being removed on Sunday, the man believed to be Doku Umarov says he will continue personally to wage "jihad" against Russian rule in the Caucasus.

BBC News

Lady GaGa speaks out on immigration

PHOENIX, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Pop singer Lady Gaga protested Arizona's immigration law but refused to go along with contemporaries who asked her to boycott the state, observers say.

The pop star spoke out twice during Saturday's sold-out concert in Phoenix's U.S. Airways Center, saying SB 1070 created "a state of emergency" in Arizona, told her fans she would not boycott the state as other performers such as Kanye West, Rage Against the Machine and Sonic Youth have done, The Arizona Republic reported Sunday.

"I got a call from some big rappers and big rockers. They said, ''We'd like you to boycott Arizona because of SB 1070.' I told them, 'Do you really think that us ... pop stars are going to shut down the state?" Lady Gaga said.

"We have to be active. We have to actively protest. ... I will not cancel my show. I will hold you, and we will hold each other, and we will protest this state," she said.

The performer's second address to the crowd later in the concert concerned the song "You and I" which she dedicated to a boy she had met in Phoenix prior to her concert.

UPI

China's Dengfeng added to World Heritage list

BRASILIA - The World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO decided on Saturday, at its 34th meeting in Brasilia, to add the historic monuments of Dengfeng in China's central Henan province to the World Heritage List.

The historic monuments of Dengfeng in "The Center of Heaven and Earth," which include the ancient architectural complex at Mount Songshan and the site of the Xia-dynasty capital, are situated in and around Mount Songshan in Henan.

The complex consists of 13 ancient structures and sites, such as Shaolin Temple, Songyang Academy, Taishi, Shaoshi and Qimu Towers and the pagoda of the Songyue Temple.

China Daily

Italian screenwriter D'Amico dies, aged 96

Suso Cecchi D'Amico, the Italian screenwriter of such celebrated movies as Bicycle Thieves and The Leopard, has died in Rome at the age of 96.

D'Amico worked with many Italian greats and was nominated for an Oscar in 1966 for her contribution to Casanova 70.

Michelangelo Antonioni, Mario Monicelli and Franco Zeffirelli were among those with whom she collaborated.

The latter film-maker remembered her as "an extraordinary screenwriter" who was "a mom and a sister to all of us".

According to Italian news agency ANSA, D'Amico died on Saturday and is survived by her three children.

In 1994 she received a lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival.

Born Giovanna Cecchi in 1914 to a family of writers and intellectuals, D'Amico began working in cinema soon after the end of World War II.

Bicycle Thieves was one of her first films and became one of the key works of the neorealist movement that came to prominence in post-war Italy.

Later successes included the comedy Big Deal on Madonna Street and historical drama The Leopard, one of several films she made with Luschino Visconti.

President Giorgio Napolitano called her a "great protagonist of one of the best seasons of Italian cinema".

BBC News

Two Gulf states to ban some Blackberry functions

Two Gulf states have announced bans on some functions of the Blackberry mobile phone, claiming security concerns.

The United Arab Emirates is to block sending emails, accessing the internet, and delivering instant messages to other Blackberry handsets.

Saudi Arabia is to prevent the use of the Blackberry to Blackberry instant messaging service.

Both nations are unhappy that they are unable to monitor such communications via the handsets.

This is because the Blackberry handsets automatically send the encrypted data to computer servers outside of the two countries.

The UAE ban is to start in October, while the Saudi move will begin later this month.

Abdulrahman Mazi, a board member of state-controlled Saudi Telecom, has admitted that the decision is intended to put pressure on Blackberry's Canadian owner, Research in Motion (RIM), to release data from users' communications "when needed".

The UAE's telecoms regulator, TRA, said the lack of compliance with local laws raised "judicial, social and national security concerns".

RIM has yet to comment on either case.

There are an estimated 500,000 Blackberry users in the UAE, and 400,000 in Saudi Arabia.

BBC News

Dutch troops end Afghanistan deployment

The Netherlands has ended its military mission in Afghanistan, after four years in which its 1,950 troops have won praise for their effectiveness.

Dutch military chief Gen Peter van Uhm said security had improved in Uruzgan province during the Dutch deployment.

But he acknowledged that "a lot still has to happen" after the withdrawal.

Nato has played down its significance, but analysts say this is a sensitive time for the alliance, with growing casualties and doubts about strategy.

Dutch command was formally handed over to the US and Australia in a small ceremony on Sunday at the main military base in Uruzgan - where most Dutch soldiers have been deployed.

The Dutch ministry of defence told the BBC that while its military mission in Afghanistan had ended, a redeployment task force would stay on to oversee the return of vehicles, military hardware and equipment to the Netherlands.

Four F16 jets, three Chinooks and five Apaches from the Dutch air force were expected to remain in Afghanistan until the end of the year.

"Dutch forces have served with distinction in Uruzgan, and we honour their sacrifice and that of their Afghan counterparts during the Netherlands' tenure in the province," said a statement from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Nato had wanted the Netherlands to extend its mission, but the request triggered a political row which brought down the country's coalition government in February.

This sent shock waves through other European countries, particularly Germany, where public opposition to the war is growing.

BBC News

Police doubt 'Sarah's Law' will cause vigilante attacks

Police have played down fears that allowing parents to check if someone with access to their children is a sex offender may cause vigilante attacks.

The scheme known as "Sarah's Law" was proposed after the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne 10 years ago.

The Home Office pilot scheme is now being extended to eight more forces.

Chief Constable Paul West of the Association of Chief Police Officers said it was "realistic" to think people would keep information to themselves.

The scheme was piloted in four areas in England from September 2008 and will be expanded to the whole of England and Wales by spring.

Sarah was kidnapped and murdered by a convicted sex offender, Roy Whiting, in West Sussex in 2000.

BBC News

Israel president Shimon Peres accuses Britain of pro-Arab bias

Israel's president, Shimon Peres, has accused some British MPs of pandering to anti-Israel sentiment among their Muslim voters, claiming there is a "deeply pro-Arab" core in the UK establishment.

In an interview with Jewish website Tablet, conducted by Israeli historian Benny Morris, Peres says: "There are several million Muslim voters [in the UK]. And for many members of parliament, that's the difference between getting elected and not getting elected".

On Labour politicians, he said: "They think the Palestinians are the underdog. In their eyes, the Arabs are the underdog. Even though this is irrational".

He offers the illustration of Israeli disengagement of Gaza as evidence of bias. "We evacuated 8,000 settlers, and it was very difficult … It cost us $2.5bn in compensation.

"We left the Gaza Strip completely. Why did they fire rockets at us? For years they fired rockets at us … When they fired at us, the British didn't say a word".

Peres's remarks chime with a deepening concern among Israeli politicians that opinion, particularly in Europe, is turning against the Jewish state.

Last week, David Cameron described Gaza as a "prison camp" during a visit to Turkey, which some commentators interpreted as a hardening of an anti-Israel position in Britain.

Peres, 86, also claimed there is more antisemitism in the UK than is acknowledged. "There is in England a saying that an antisemite is someone who hates the Jews more than is necessary".

He added: "There has always been something deeply pro-Arab, of course, not among all Englishmen, and anti-Israeli, in the establishment".

He cited historical examples of Britain's failure to support Israeli interests, including abstention in the 1947 UN partition resolution, an arms embargo against Israel in the 1950s and a defence treaty with Jordan. "They always worked against us," he said.

However, he conceded that there is support for Israel today on the British right.

Yesterday Labour MP Denis MacShane, who chaired a parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism in 2005, said Peres was wrong.

The Guardian

Iran stoning woman offered asylum by Brazil's president Lula

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has stepped into the international outcry over Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, by offering his country as a refuge, a move which raised hopes her life will be spared.

The surprise offer prompted an immediate reaction from Iran, which considers Brazil a key ally. Iranian officials softened their tone with Ashtiani's family over the weekend and official media reported full details of the story for the first time.

"I don't think Iran can ignore Brazil as easily as it ignored other countries," Ashtiani's son, Sajad, told the Guardian today. "It is very important that Brazil, as one of Iran's most significant allies in the world, has offered a haven for my mother".

He hoped Turkey, which also carries influence with Tehran, would add its voice. "No countries in the world can have such impacts that Brazil and Turkey can have on Iran now. These two countries can save my mother's life," said Sajad.

Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, was convicted in 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men and received 99 lashes. A court later amended the conviction to "adultery while being married" and sentenced her to death by stoning.

Iran rebuffed clemency appeals by human rights campaigners and the west but signalled willingness to listen to a South American ally who has forged a close bond with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and defended Iran's right to a peaceful nuclear programme.

The Guardian

Dondi the flea market elephant dead at 36

SANFORD, Fla., Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Dondi, the Asian elephant who entertained shoppers at a Florida flea market for nearly 20 years, has died at a Massachusetts zoo, its trainer confirmed.

Dondi was around 36 years old when it died at Southwick's Zoo in Mendon, Mass., and will be remembered Sunday at a memorial service, Josh Shacht told the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel.

Dondi was a well-known figure in Florida for his regular winter gig at Flea World, a massive flea market in Sanford.

"Dondi brought people together," said Schacht, whose parents owned the popular pachyderm.

The elephant spent the sultry summer months at Southwick's Zoo.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

UPI

Kim Novak comes out of retirement for DVDs

NEW YORK, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Hollywood screen siren Kim Novak says she knew it was time to leave show business in the 1960s when she started getting scripts for "Gidget-type beach movies".

Despite a string of hit movies in the 1950s, Novak told the New York Post she was "not a favorite of the critics".

The Chicago native who lives in Oregon with her husband of 34 years began winding down her career in the 1960s and retired from acting 20 years ago. She recently emerged from retirement to tape interviews that will be packaged with "The Kim Novak Collection," five films she did with Colombia Pictures, which will be released on DVD Tuesday, the Post said.

In a phone interview with the Post from her Oregon home, Novak -- known in Hollywood as "the lavender blonde" -- said she has "been getting an awful lot of fan mail lately".

"I really appreciate being appreciated," she said.

Among her top films were "Picnic" (1955), "The Man With the Golden Arm" (1955), "Pal Joey" (1957), "Bell Book and Candle" (1957), "Vertigo" (1958) and "Middle of the Night" (1959).

UPI