Rough waters idle skimmers in gulf
VENICE, La., July 5 (UPI) -- Crews working in the Gulf of Mexico said they hoped to catch a break from rolling weather that hampered oil cleanup and restoration efforts.
Rough waters sidelined skimmers Sunday across much of the gulf, idling their work off Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
Skimmers didn't trawl the waters for much of last week when Hurricane Alex churned waves as high as 7 feet as it moved across the southern gulf.
Crews off the three states where skimmers couldn't operate "used this as an opportunity to get some new boom out there that had been damaged by the (hurricane), and to resupply vessels and to just sort of take stock of what's going on," said Perry Hatcher, a spokeswoman for the oil spill command center in Mobile, Ala.
Farther from land, the U.S. Coast Guard was testing the efficiency of a super-skimmer, A Whale, a modified tanker that might be able to take up 300,000 barrels of oil-water mixture every 10 hours, said Erica Fouche, a spokeswoman at the spill response headquarters in New Orleans.
On land, cleanup crews in Louisiana searched for oil deposits buried by sand kicked up by hurricane winds. Heavy waves eroded the sand, uncovering new contamination in some areas, officials said.
In Alabama's resort communities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, tarballs washed up on the beaches, but civic boosters still tried to lure tourists to the area. In one YouTube video, local business officials acknowledged the beaches were closed, but pushed other attractions, such as a water park, the Times said.
Federal authorities had to close another section of the gulf off Louisiana to fishing Sunday, CNN reported. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration order added about 100 square miles of federal waters off Louisiana's Vermilion Bay to the off-limits zone.
NOAA said the new closure brings to 33.2 percent the amount of the gulf closed to fishing because of the BP spill.
BP said on its Web site the two systems collected or flared (burned) about 25,198 barrels of oil and 57.0 million cubic feet of gas on July 3.
The cost of the response to date is approximately $3.12 billion, BP officials said.
In Washington, Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, said about $130 million had been paid out to help businesses, employees and others hurt by the oil spill that has been going on since April 20, when the Transocean Deepwater Horizon rig leased by BP exploded, killing 11 workers, the Times said. The $130 million does not include funds from a $20 billion escrow account being established by BP to assist victims of the spill, he said.
Turkey threatens to cut ties with Israel
ANKARA, Turkey, July 5 (UPI) -- Turkey could sever diplomatic ties with Israel over an Israeli raid that killed nine people on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza, an official said.
Turkey's foreign minister, Agmet Davutoglu, said the break could be avoided only if Israel apologizes or accepts the outcome of an international inquiry into the May 30 incident, the BBC reported Monday.
Israel "will either apologize or acknowledge an international, impartial inquiry and its conclusion," Davutoglu said. "Otherwise, our diplomatic ties will be cut off."
Israeli officials say there's no reason for an apology, maintaining their commandos were met with violence when they boarded the lead ship as it tried to break through an Israeli blockade and fired their weapons in self-defense.
Turkey has also demanded compensation for the victims' families.
Davutoglu said a blanket ban on all Israeli military aircraft using Turkish airspace has been instituted.
Meanwhile, a group of Muslim scholars and leaders encouraged Muslims to vacation in Turkey this summer to offset the estimated $400 million loss caused by Israel's boycott of the country, The Jerusalem Post reported.
In a statement issued in mid-June, the group praised Turkey's position concerning Israel. It also lauded Turkey's efforts to "lift the siege on Gaza and the Palestinian people."
The statement called on Arabs and Muslims "planning to travel to Europe, the U.S. or elsewhere, to choose Turkey -- where mosques and historic monuments of ancient and natural beauty exist -- as a vacation destination instead."
PRI re-emerges as Mexican political force
MEXICO CITY, July 5 (UPI) -- The once dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party may be re-emerging after its candidates won most of 14 governorship elections, analysts said Monday.
Results still being tallied indicated the party, known by the initials PRI, posted gubernatorial victories in most of the states in which elections were held but lost in Oaxaca, Puebla and Sinaloa states to a coalition of the conservative National Action Party, led by President Felipe Calderon, and the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, The New York Times reported.
Analysts said state races -- usually decided on local issues and personalities -- provide only a partial glimpse into national elections. However, they said the PRI's strong showing in elections in nearly half of the nation was considered a sign that it's the party to beat two years before the 2012 presidential election. The party dominated Mexico for 70 years until 2000.
"The PRI is the prime political force in the country," said Beatriz Paredes, the party's national chairwoman. "It's indisputable."
Officials reported violence, intimidation and the growing influence of drug traffickers marred gubernatorial and other local races Sunday in 14 states, the Los Angeles Times reported. Four of the states conducting elections -- Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango and Tamaulipas -- are among the country's deadliest regions.
In Chihuahua, four bodies, one identified as a prison warden, were found hanging from different bridges Sunday, officials said.
"We are very concerned about the violence and especially whether it stops people from going out to vote," Sen. Manlio Fabio Beltrones, a PRI power broker, told the Times.
Petraeus writes to troops in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan, July 5 (UPI) -- The coalition forces in Afghanistan will not shrink from killing, capturing or "turning the insurgents" when protecting Afghans, the new commander said.
In a letter to the troops and civilians of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, Gen. David Petraeus said: "Protecting those we are here to help nonetheless does require killing, capturing, or turning the insurgents. We will not shrink from that; indeed, you have been taking the fight to the enemy and we will continue to do so."
Petraeus, who assumed his post as the top commander of the U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan over the weekend, said when troops and their Afghan partners get into tough situations, they must "employ all assets to ensure your safety, keeping in mind, again, the importance of avoiding civilian casualties."
The text of the letter was carried by the ISAF on its Web site.
Petraeus comes to Afghanistan while the government of President Hamid Karzai is involved in reintegrating insurgents willing to give up violence and respect the constitution.
Petraeus' caution about "avoiding civilian casualties" is part of his own counterinsurgency strategy involving winning civilians over to support their government.
Petraeus told his troops that with the surge in ISAF strength and the growth of Afghan forces, the two together can ensure Afghanistan "will not once again be ruled by those who embrace indiscriminate violence and trans-national extremists …"
He also reminded his troops that while the enemy remains willing to carry out the "most barbaric of attacks" progress has been achieved "in some critical areas, and we are poised to realize more."
