International Headlines

Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:02:06 -0400
>TOP STORIES as of 0800 HKT -- 16 July, 2010

> NO OIL LEAKING AS BP BEGINS CRITICAL PRESSURE TESTS
BP's Kent Wells said that for the first time in months no oil
was flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. This was part of a test to
see how a cap on a ruptured well is holding.

> GOLDMAN SETTLES WITH SEC
Goldman Sachs paid $550 million to settle charges of defrauding
investors in a sale of securities tied to subprime mortgages,
the SEC said. CNNMoney reports.

> U.S. HANDS OVER LAST IRAQI PRISON
The U.S. military handed over to Iraq the Camp Cropper detention
facility Thursday, calling the moment a milestone in Iraq's
history and another step in the drawdown of U.S. forces there.

> REPORT: TWO BLASTS ROCK IRANIAN CITY
Two explosions Thursday in the southeastern Iranian city of
Zahedan have left "several dead and injured," Iran state
television Press TV reported, citing Iran's state news agency
IRNA.

SOMALI MILITANTS VOW MORE OPERATIONS
Al-Qaeda-allied Somali militant group Al-Shabaab says last
weekend's deadly bombings in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, which
killed 76 people, are "only the beginning."

> ARGENTINA LEGALIZES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Argentina becomes the first Latin American country to legalize
same-sex marriage after lawmakers in the nation's Senate debate
the issue for 14 hours.

> U.S. 'CAME OUT AHEAD' WITH IRAN SCIENTIST
A U.S. official familiar with the case of Iranian nuclear
scientist Shahram Amiri said Thursday that the United States
"clearly got the better end of things."

> RUSSIANS REMEMBER SLAIN ACTIVIST
The identity of the killer of human rights activist Natalya
Estemirova is known, and the person who arranged her slaying
will soon be found, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said
Thursday on the one-year anniversary of her death, according to
state-run Russian media.

BUSINESS
~~~~~~~~~~~

> WALL STREET REFORM ONE VOTE FROM LAW
The Senate votes to move the Wall Street reform package forward,
assuring safe passage of the regulatory overhaul to President
Obama's desk next week.

> U.S. MAY BLOCK NEW BP OIL LEASES
BP faces more problems on Capitol Hill this week after lawmakers
pushed ahead with a plan that would bar the UK oil group from
obtaining new offshore oil leases because of its poor safety
record.

> CHINA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH EASES TO 10.3 PERCENT
China's economy continued to grow at a robust pace last quarter,
a spokesman for the National Statistics Bureau said Thursday.