Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

Turkish security forces have shot and wounded a man after he opened fire, trying to enter the Ukrainian Consulate in Istanbul's Bakirkoy Senlikoy neighborhood.

The incident took place at around 9 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) on Tuesday when a Turkish man, identified as Volkan Ozbudak, attempted to enter the consulate.

France has ordered 14 Soyuz carrier rockets from Russia costing some $1 billion.

Speaking at the Russian-French business forum in Paris on Tuesday, French satellite launch firm Arianespace's CEO, Jean-Yves Le Gall, confirmed rumors of that France would be purchasing Soyuz booster rockets from Russia.

The European Commission is increasingly supporting the idea of creating a European version of the International Monetary Fund to boost eurozone's financial stability.

The proposed rescue fund, advanced mainly by Germany and France, would mark a new phase in economic cooperation within the 16-nation euro zone.

Violence has briefly broken out at the headquarters of France's largest company, Total, as several hundred of workers clash with police.

Security forces used tear gas to disperse the crowds, after some 300 of the demonstrators managed to break through a line of riot police and into the company's offices.

Sweden's foreign minister said Tuesday all parties involved in the Iranian nuclear issue must switch focus from sanctions to diplomacy, a report said.

Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister, told the Eco of Moscow radio that the Iranian nuclear issue could be best resolved through diplomatic means, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

Israel, which is widely deemed as the sole wielder of nuclear arsenals in the Middle East, says it plans to build its third nuclear power plant.

Israeli Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau plans to announce Israel's interest in developing nuclear power at an international nuclear energy conference in Paris, the ministry's spokesman Chen Lulu said on Monday.

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday criticized Germany for releasing the leader of the terrorist group Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK).

Abdolrahman Haji Ahmadi was arrested at his apartment on Friday, but was released Monday, a website affiliated with the Movement for Change in the Iraqi Kurdistan region reported.

France has urged international organizations to finance a new era of global nuclear power in a world facing scarcer fossil fuels and growing energy demands.

The request came as delegates from 60 energy-hungry nations arrived at Paris for a conference hosted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has claimed that UK's involvement in the Iraq war has earned it respect in the Middle East.

Giving evidence to the public inquiry into Britain's role in the war on Monday, Miliband insisted that many Arab countries now respected Britain more for following through on threats of military force in Iraq.

The European Commission is increasingly supporting the idea of creating a European version of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost the eurozone's financial stability.

The proposed rescue fund, put forward mainly by Germany and France, is said to mark a new phase of economic cooperation within the 16-nation euro zone.