Iran cuts power to Iraq over lack of gas payments
Iraq’s Electricity Ministry said Wednesday the country will face power shortages after crucial energy supplies from Iran were cut over nonpayment.
In a statement, the ministry said the total electricity supply was drastically reduced after Iran stopped exporting 5 million cubic meters of gas daily to Iraq. The gas imports are crucial for Iraq to meet soaring demands for electricity during the peak summer months, especially in the southern provinces.
Iraq has been unable to make payments totaling about $1.7 billion because of the failure of political elites to form a government eight months after national elections.
Iranian energy imports account for more than a third of Iraq’s energy needs during the scorching summer months. Because of U.S. sanctions against Iran, Iraq must also qualify for sanctions waivers in order to pay Tehran for its energy exports.
11 dead, 33 missing after hurricane
Hurricane Agatha left at least 11 people dead and 33 missing in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, where it set off flooding and landslides, Gov. Alejandro Murat said Wednesday.
More than 40,000 people in the state have been affected, Murat said.
Even as Oaxaca continued to search for the missing and clean up downed trees and flooded homes, Mexican officials were watching another large area of thunderstorms along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula that forecasters said could become a tropical storm later this week.
Pipe breaks, sends oil into desert
A pipeline rupture in Libya is spewing thousands of barrels of oil into the desert, as workers scramble to seal off the leak, authorities said Wednesday. The Arabian Gulf Oil Company, which operates the pipeline, estimates that some 22,000 barrels a day were being lost from the leak, which started Tuesday.
Queen honors writer, actor
Actor Damian Lewis and crime writer Ian Rankin are among hundreds of Britons honored by Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday as she celebrates 70 years on the throne.
Lewis, star of TV shows “Homeland” and “Billions,” was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE, in the annual Queen’s Birthday Honors List, which this year coincides with celebrations of the 96-year-old monarch’s Platinum Jubilee.
Lewis, 51, was recognized for services to drama and charity. He and his wife, Helen McCrory, raised money for a charity providing meals to health care workers during COVID-19 lockdowns. McCrory, an actor who starred in the
TV drama “Peaky Blinders,” died of cancer last year at 52.
Rankin, the creator of dogged detective Inspector Rebus, can call himself Sir Ian after receiving a knighthood.
“I am not sure what Detective Inspector John Rebus would make of it,” said Rankin, 62. “He’d ... tell me not to get too big-headed.”
Leader breaks off talks with Greece
Turkey will no longer hold high-level talks with neighboring Greece, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday amid rising tensions between the traditional rivals.
Ankara resumed negotiations with Athens last year following a five-year break to address differences over a range of issues such as mineral exploration in the eastern Mediterranean and rival claims in the Aegean Sea.
“We broke off our high-level
strategy council meetings with Greece,” Erdogan told a meeting of his party’s lawmakers in Ankara, adding: “Don’t you learn any lessons from history? Don’t try to dance with Turkey.”
The talks had made little headway, but were a means for the two countries to air out their grievances without resorting to a potential armed standoff as had occurred as recently as two years ago.
Erdogan’s pivot on the talks appeared to have been triggered last week when he signaled his displeasure at comments made by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Erdogan accused the Greek leader of trying to block Turkey’s acquisition of F-16 fighter planes.
Cuomo doesn’t file to run for old job
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appears to have opted against mounting an
independent run for his old job — at least for now.
Cuomo, who resigned in August amid allegations he sexually harassed multiple women, had said he was open to running to regain the governor’s seat this year, despite the scandal.
But 5 p.m. Tuesday was the deadline for candidates to collect 45,000 voter signatures if they wanted to appear as an independent candidate for governor on the November general election ballot.
That deadline passed without Cuomo’s campaign turning in the required nominating petitions, according to the state Board of Elections.
Cuomo could still get on the ballot if his campaign had collected those signatures and put his petitions in the mail. If that paperwork was to arrive by Thursday, bearing a postmark dated Tuesday or earlier, it would still count, Board of Elections spokesperson Jennifer Wilson said.