In Brief Egypt tightens restrictions over media-Mugabe tussle

SHARM EL-SHEIK – Egyptian security has ramped up restrictions on journalists covering the African Union summit after a British TV crew got into a verbal scuffle with Robert Mugabe.

Israel closes Gaza crossings after rocket attack * GAZA – Israel shut its border crossings with the Gaza Strip yesterday in what it called a response to a rocket attack on Monday earlier that further strained a ceasefire. French army chief resigns after shooting incident * PARIS – French army chief of staff Bruno Cuche resigned on yesterday after a soldier fired live ammunition instead of blanks at a weekend military show and injured 17 people, the presidential office said.Polish president says signing EU treaty “pointless” * WARSAW – Polish President Lech Kaczynski will not sign the European Union’s reform treaty for now because the Irish rejection makes it “pointless”, he said in a newspaper interview published yesterday.Advisor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks out * TEHRAN – A senior adviser to Iran’s top authority, Ali Akbar Velayati, said “provocative” speeches could damage the country’s nuclear cause in its row with the West, a thinly veiled criticism of outspoken President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.North, south Sudan forces fail to leave Abyei in time * JUBA – Sudan’s northern and southern armies have both failed to meet an end-June deadline for withdrawal from oil-rich Abyei, where fighting in mid-May displaced thousands, southern army officials said yesterday.French army chief resigns after shooting incident * PARIS – French army chief of staff Bruno Cuche resigned on yesterday after a soldier fired live ammunition instead of blanks at a weekend military show and injured 17 people, the presidential office said.Polish president says signing EU treaty “pointless” * WARSAW – Polish President Lech Kaczynski will not sign the European Union’s reform treaty for now because the Irish rejection makes it “pointless”, he said in a newspaper interview published yesterday.Advisor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks out * TEHRAN – A senior adviser to Iran’s top authority, Ali Akbar Velayati, said “provocative” speeches could damage the country’s nuclear cause in its row with the West, a thinly veiled criticism of outspoken President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.North, south Sudan forces fail to leave Abyei in time * JUBA – Sudan’s northern and southern armies have both failed to meet an end-June deadline for withdrawal from oil-rich Abyei, where fighting in mid-May displaced thousands, southern army officials said yesterday.