Congress

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has continued to ramp up his rhetoric against Israel by likening its policy to Adolf Hitler’s actions and telling the American Jewish Congress to “shove” the award he received in 2004.

Hamas have authorized the Palestinian National Authority to negotiate on behalf of the group, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said, underlining the presence of a growing relationship between Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Mashaal.

A clash in China’s far western region of Xinjiang, home to the country’s mostly Muslim Uighur minority, left nearly 100 people dead and wounded, an exile group said July 30.

The United States plans to sell 5,000 Hellfire missiles to Iraq in a $700 million deal, officials said July 29, as Washington tries to help Baghdad retake ground captured by Sunni militants.

Turkey’s ambassador to Washington has written a letter to the American Jewish Congress after the organization asked Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to return an award he was given in 2004, saying the leader would be “glad” to return the honor.

The United States has found that Russia violated a 1987 arms control treaty by testing a ground-launched cruise missile, a senior US official said late Monday, calling the matter "very serious."       

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has nominated Sergey Stanishev for a second term in office as President of the Party of European Socialists (PES).

Stanishev, who gave up his BSP Chair seat on Sunday after 13 years at the post, was backed by the majority of delegates at the 48th Congress of BSP and his bid was opposed by one BSP member, with two abstentions.

Mihail Mikov has been elected Chair of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

Mikov won a run-off with outgoing Economy and Energy Minister Dragomir Stoynev at the 48th Congress of BSP on Sunday.

A total of 762 delegates voted in the run-off stage of the election, with Stoynev backed by 333 votes and Mikov by 377. There were 16 invalid ballot papers and 710 valid ballot papers.

Sergey Stanishev, outgoing leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), has said he will run for a second term in office as President of the Party of European Socialists (PES).

Speaking Sunday at the 48th Congress of BSP in the National Palace of Culture (NDK) in Sofia, Stanishev told the delegates that it was his last congress as BSP leader.

The New York Times called for the legalization of marijuana on Saturday, in a bold editorial comparing the federal ban on cannabis to Prohibition.
      
The prestigious publication said pot laws disproportionately impact young black men and that addiction and dependence are "relatively minor problems" -- especially when compared with alcohol and tobacco.