Report: Iran arming Iraq and Afghanistan
TEHRAN, July 2 (UPI) -- U.S. intelligence officials say Iran is arming guerrillas in Afghanistan, Iraq and other restive Arab countries, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
Forensic evidence from attack sites in the various countries indicate improvised rocket-assisted munitions, or IRAMS, were manufactured in Iran. The weapons are rocket-powered and can be launched from a "safe" distance from the backs of pick-up trucks, the report said.
Maj. Gen. James Buchanan, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, told the Journal it's anticipated the use of the Iranian IRAMs will mount as Washington has announced troop reductions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"I think we are likely to see these Iranian-backed groups continue to maintain high attack levels," he said adding the arms influx was seen as a propaganda opportunity for various factions in Iraq.
"We believe the militias see themselves as in competition with each other," Buchanan said. "They want to claim credit for making us leave Iraq."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told the newspaper the U.S. claims of Iranian arms backing were unfounded.
"They are better off going home and sorting out their own domestic problems," he said.
McConnell: No balanced-budget amendment
WASHINGTON, July 2 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he won't support a proposal to include a balanced-budget amendment in a deal to raise the debt ceiling.
The Hill reported Saturday McConnell has come under fire from Tea Party leaders to include the amendment in a deal to raise the debt ceiling, but McConnell has said he won't do so because it has no chance of passing.
One GOP senator said demands by Tea Party senators for passage of the amendment before raising the debt limit is "not helpful."
McConnell Thursday invited President Obama to visit the Capitol. Congress has until Aug. 2 to approve raising the debt ceiling so the government can continue to operate.
"That way we can hear directly from Senate Republicans … why what he's proposing will not pass," McConnell said. "It's worth asking: 'Where in the world has President Obama been for the past month?'"
McConnell has said he isn't interested in negotiating with the White House as long as tax increases are on the table.
"Until the president comes off his desire to raise hundreds of billions in tax hikes there's nothing to negotiate. No meetings are planned," a Senate GOP aide said in The Hill report.
Feds put damper on big pot farms
OAKLAND, Calif., July 2 (UPI) -- Plans to build a large marijuana-growing facility in Oakland, Calif., were stymied when the Obama administration clarified its position on the issue.
In a letter to federal prosecutors, U.S. Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole said plans some cities and states have for "multiple, large-scale, privately operated, industrial marijuana cultivation centers" are against the law.
In a Los Angeles Times report, Cole said Obama's hands-off policy on medical marijuana patients was "never intended to shield such activities from federal enforcement action and prosecution, even where those activities purport to comply with state law."
"Unfortunately, this is a step backward," said Joe Elford, chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access. "We kind of regard this as kind of the equivalent of 'don't ask, don't tell.' Obama made certain campaign promises, and he's not carrying through on them."
Cole's letter put a damper on one Oakland man's plan to convert 172,000 acres of aging and empty warehouse buildings into a medical marijuana-growing center.
Jeff Wilcox said he commissioned a report concluding his proposal would be worth $59 million annually, and could send up to $3.4 million to city coffers each year.
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of medical cannabis for a wide range of conditions, from back pain to migraine headaches.
Church of England to review gay policies
LONDON, July 2 (UPI) -- The Church of England says it will review its policy on same-sex relationships and would consider letting gay clergy be ordained as bishops.
There is pressure on the Anglican church to conform to laws guaranteeing equal treatment to gay people, the BBC reported Saturday.
"It is now nearly six years since the house issued its pastoral statement prior to the introduction of civil partnerships in December 2005," the church said in a statement. "The preparation of that document was the last occasion when the house devoted substantial time to the issue of same-sex relationships. We undertook to keep that pastoral statement under review. We have decided that the time has come for a review to take place."
The BBC said the church's announcement suggests it might be on course for a greater acceptance of homosexuality -- a move that would be strongly resisted by traditionalists.
William, Kate to face Quebec protests
OTTAWA, July 2 (UPI) -- Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine met with Canadian veterans Saturday before departing for Quebec, where anti-monarchist groups planned protests.
The couple arrived in Ottawa Thursday and drew record crowds of more than 300,000 people Friday to Parliament Hill for the observance of Canada Day, the nation's 144th birthday.
Saturday, the newlyweds visited the Canadian War Museum where they met with 25 military veterans and their spouses. Earlier, they oversaw the planting of a hemlock tree at Rideau Hall, the residence of the governor general.
The couple was scheduled to fly to Montreal for a visit to a neonatal unit at Sainte-Justine University Hospital and a tour of a cooking institute. The duke and duchess of Cambridge were to board the military vessel HMCS Montreal for an overnight trip on the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City.
There, they face widely publicized anti-monarchy protests by the French Quebecer Resistance Network, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said.
Group spokesman Julien Gaudreau told the CBC there would be a "welcoming committee" for the royal couple.
Support in Canada for the monarchy is traditionally lowest in Quebec, dating back to the 1759 British military defeat of the French.
Queen Elizabeth had planned to visit Quebec City in 2008 for its 400th anniversary, but the federal government advised against it and the trip was canceled.
