Iran today dismissed the US buildup of a missile shield in the Gulf as a "puppet show" as details emerged of an unsuccessful US missile test designed to simulate an Iranian attack amid a tense standoff between the two countries.The US has sent ships and missiles to the region in what officials said was an attempt to deter an attack by Iran on US allies. Iranian officials criticised the US deployment as unnecessary and unworkable.Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, said: "Regional countries should know that this puppet show by the US while claiming to create security in the region is nothing except a new political ploy to increase the [American] military presence at the expense of others."
Iran today dismissed the US buildup of a missile shield in the Gulf as a "puppet show" as details emerged of an unsuccessful US missile test designed to simulate an Iranian attack amid a tense standoff between the two countries.
The US has sent ships and missiles to the region in what officials said was an attempt to deter an attack by Iran on US allies. Iranian officials criticised the US deployment as unnecessary and unworkable.
Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, said: "Regional countries should know that this puppet show by the US while claiming to create security in the region is nothing except a new political ploy to increase the [American] military presence at the expense of others."
A new Israeli report defending the military's conduct in the Gaza war was challenged tonight after evidence emerged apparently contradicting one of its key findings.Israel submitted a 46-page report to the UN on Friday saying its forces abided by international law throughout the three-week war last year. It was meant to avert the threat of international prosecutions and to challenge a highly critical UN inquiry by South African judge Richard Goldstone, which accused both Israel and Hamas of "grave breaches" of the fourth Geneva convention, war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.The Israeli report looked in detail at a handful of incidents, including the attack on the al-Badr flour mill in northern Gaza, which was severely damaged.
A new Israeli report defending the military's conduct in the Gaza war was challenged tonight after evidence emerged apparently contradicting one of its key findings.
Israel submitted a 46-page report to the UN on Friday saying its forces abided by international law throughout the three-week war last year. It was meant to avert the threat of international prosecutions and to challenge a highly critical UN inquiry by South African judge Richard Goldstone, which accused both Israel and Hamas of "grave breaches" of the fourth Geneva convention, war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
The Israeli report looked in detail at a handful of incidents, including the attack on the al-Badr flour mill in northern Gaza, which was severely damaged.
A Canadian man who was deported by US officials to Syria, where he was imprisoned and allegedly tortured, has appealed a court ruling preventing him from suing the US. Maher Arar filed a lawsuit before the US supreme court on Monday, appealing a lower court ruling that rejected his case because it involved national security information. Arar was arrested by US authorities while transiting through New York's JFK International Airport in 2002, on his way home to Canada from a family vacation in Tunis. He was detained on information shared by Canadian police that suggested he had ties to "terrorist" groups.
A Canadian man who was deported by US officials to Syria, where he was imprisoned and allegedly tortured, has appealed a court ruling preventing him from suing the US.
Maher Arar filed a lawsuit before the US supreme court on Monday, appealing a lower court ruling that rejected his case because it involved national security information.
Arar was arrested by US authorities while transiting through New York's JFK International Airport in 2002, on his way home to Canada from a family vacation in Tunis.
He was detained on information shared by Canadian police that suggested he had ties to "terrorist" groups.
Anti-government fighters have fired mortar bombs at the presidential palace in the Somali capital, prompting return fire by troops that killed at least 16 people, medical officials and residents say. Residents and medical officials said on Monday that several bombs hit Mogadishu's northern Suqa Holaha, or livestock market, district. "At least 16 people died and 71 others were wounded in four districts of Mogadishu," Ali Yasin Gedi, vice-chairman of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation, told the Reuters news agency.
Anti-government fighters have fired mortar bombs at the presidential palace in the Somali capital, prompting return fire by troops that killed at least 16 people, medical officials and residents say.
Residents and medical officials said on Monday that several bombs hit Mogadishu's northern Suqa Holaha, or livestock market, district.
"At least 16 people died and 71 others were wounded in four districts of Mogadishu," Ali Yasin Gedi, vice-chairman of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation, told the Reuters news agency.
Nigeria's main armed group has said it was not directly responsible for the sabotage of an oil pipeline that forced Royal Dutch Shell to shut down three pumping stations in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. The Movement for the Emancipaton of the Niger Delta (Mend) said they did not attack the Trans-Ramos pipeline that is run by Shell's Nigerian subsidiary. "Mend was not directly responsible," the group said in an email to Reuters news agency on Monday. "It was certainly a response to our order to resume hostilities by one of the various freelance groups we endorse," the statement said. Shell said on Sunday the sabotage had caused some oil to spill into the Niger delta's creeks and that it was in the process of recovering spilled crude.
Nigeria's main armed group has said it was not directly responsible for the sabotage of an oil pipeline that forced Royal Dutch Shell to shut down three pumping stations in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
The Movement for the Emancipaton of the Niger Delta (Mend) said they did not attack the Trans-Ramos pipeline that is run by Shell's Nigerian subsidiary.
"Mend was not directly responsible," the group said in an email to Reuters news agency on Monday.
"It was certainly a response to our order to resume hostilities by one of the various freelance groups we endorse," the statement said.
Shell said on Sunday the sabotage had caused some oil to spill into the Niger delta's creeks and that it was in the process of recovering spilled crude.
China has warned Barack Obama, the US president, not to meet the Dalai Lama, saying any meeting with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader could further harm already-strained relations between the two countries. The warning on Tuesday comes amid a growing row over a recently announced multi-billion dollar sale of US arms to Taiwan. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday Zhu Weiqun, executive vice minister of the Communist Party body that handles contact with the Dalai Lama, said any meeting between Obama and the Dalai Lama would "seriously undermine the political foundation of Sino-US relations." "If the US leader chooses to meet with the Dalai Lama at this time, it will certainly threaten trust and cooperation between China and the United States," he said. "We oppose any attempt by foreign forces to interfere in China's internal affairs using the Dalai Lama as an excuse."
China has warned Barack Obama, the US president, not to meet the Dalai Lama, saying any meeting with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader could further harm already-strained relations between the two countries.
The warning on Tuesday comes amid a growing row over a recently announced multi-billion dollar sale of US arms to Taiwan.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday Zhu Weiqun, executive vice minister of the Communist Party body that handles contact with the Dalai Lama, said any meeting between Obama and the Dalai Lama would "seriously undermine the political foundation of Sino-US relations."
"If the US leader chooses to meet with the Dalai Lama at this time, it will certainly threaten trust and cooperation between China and the United States," he said.
"We oppose any attempt by foreign forces to interfere in China's internal affairs using the Dalai Lama as an excuse."
The sodomy trial of Malaysia's opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, has been suspended for a day following several hours of last-minute legal wrangling. The high-profile trial had been due to begin on Tuesday at the Kuala Lumpur high court, but quickly ground to a halt amid a row over defence lawyers' access to prosecution evidence. Instead the trial is now scheduled to begin on Wednesday. The case has placed the Malaysian judiciary under scrutiny again after Anwar's conviction for the same offence almost a decade ago was eventually overturned. If found guilty of sodomising a former aide, Anwar could be jailed for 20 years, in effect ending his political career.
The sodomy trial of Malaysia's opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, has been suspended for a day following several hours of last-minute legal wrangling.
The high-profile trial had been due to begin on Tuesday at the Kuala Lumpur high court, but quickly ground to a halt amid a row over defence lawyers' access to prosecution evidence.
Instead the trial is now scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
The case has placed the Malaysian judiciary under scrutiny again after Anwar's conviction for the same offence almost a decade ago was eventually overturned.
If found guilty of sodomising a former aide, Anwar could be jailed for 20 years, in effect ending his political career.
The logic is infallible. Luvs me some journalism. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
Sri Lanka's president has dismissed a dozen senior military officers who the defence ministry said were a "direct threat to national security" after last week's presidential elections. A military official said on Monday it was the army's biggest-ever purge and went beyond a 1962 shake-up following a coup attempt by volunteer officers against the late prime minister, Sirima Bandaranaike. "What we have just witnessed is the biggest single shake-up in the army," a senior official said. "The sacking is also coupled with several drastic changes in key positions." Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan president, had accused the defeated opposition of planning to assassinate him after he beat Sarath Fonseka, the former army general, in a bitterly contested January 26 poll.
Sri Lanka's president has dismissed a dozen senior military officers who the defence ministry said were a "direct threat to national security" after last week's presidential elections.
A military official said on Monday it was the army's biggest-ever purge and went beyond a 1962 shake-up following a coup attempt by volunteer officers against the late prime minister, Sirima Bandaranaike.
"What we have just witnessed is the biggest single shake-up in the army," a senior official said.
"The sacking is also coupled with several drastic changes in key positions."
Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan president, had accused the defeated opposition of planning to assassinate him after he beat Sarath Fonseka, the former army general, in a bitterly contested January 26 poll.
United States special Mideast envoy George Mitchell has urged Europe to step up pressure on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to kick-start stalled peace talks with Israel, the London-based A-Sharq-al-Awsat reported on Tuesday. "The time has come to stop finding excuses for avoiding a return to the negotiating table," the London paper quoted Mitchell as saying, citing French officials. Mitchell believed the Palestinians were showing little enthusiasm for talks because as inaction was safer than reentering dialogue when the outcome was so uncertain, the paper said. Advertisement President Barack Obama's envoy is said to blame Abbas for frustrating his most recent attempt to coax the two sides into renewed discussions during a trip to the region in Januar
Turkey on Tuesday denied reports that its ambassador to Israel had asked his superiors in Ankara to transfer him to a new posting after he was treated with deliberate disrespect by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon. Ayalon in January issued a formal apology to Ahmet Oguz Celikkol, who earlier in the month was summoned to explain a Turkish broadcast of dramatized abuses of Palestinians by Israeli troops, which caused offense in Israel. Before the meeting Ayalon told photographers in Hebrew: "Pay attention that he is sitting in a lower chair and we are in the higher ones, that there is only an Israeli flag on the table and that we are not smiling."
Gays should be allowed to serve openly in the US military, the country's top commander has said.Adm Mike Mullen told a Senate hearing into the ban on openly gay personnel that allowing them to serve was "the right thing to do". He said there were practical difficulties in repealing the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy, but that the military could handle it. President Barack Obama has pledged to repeal the ban. Adm Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was concerned about a policy that forces people to "lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens". He stressed he was "speaking for myself and myself only".
Gays should be allowed to serve openly in the US military, the country's top commander has said.
Adm Mike Mullen told a Senate hearing into the ban on openly gay personnel that allowing them to serve was "the right thing to do".
He said there were practical difficulties in repealing the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy, but that the military could handle it.
President Barack Obama has pledged to repeal the ban.
Adm Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was concerned about a policy that forces people to "lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens".
He stressed he was "speaking for myself and myself only".
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a 22-year prison sentence was too lenient for the al-Qaida-trained terrorist convicted of plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport at the turn of the millennium. A divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out the sentence Tuesday. It also removed the Seattle trial judge from the case and assigned the re-sentencing of Ahmed Ressam to another federal judge.
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a 22-year prison sentence was too lenient for the al-Qaida-trained terrorist convicted of plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport at the turn of the millennium.
A divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out the sentence Tuesday. It also removed the Seattle trial judge from the case and assigned the re-sentencing of Ahmed Ressam to another federal judge.
As they say, "just one individual CAN make a difference." "Prof. Francis A. Boyle, Professor of International Law, University of Illinois College of Law, of Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A., has filed a Complaint with the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (I.C.C.), in The Hague, against U.S. citizens George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleeza Rice, and Alberto Gonzales (the Accused)." The Complaint is based on the "criminal policy and practice of 'extraordinary renditions' perpetrated upon about 100 human beings," which practice represents "Crimes against Humanity" and are "in violation of the Rome Statute establishing the I.C.C." * (emphasis mine)
As they say, "just one individual CAN make a difference."
"Prof. Francis A. Boyle, Professor of International Law, University of Illinois College of Law, of Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A., has filed a Complaint with the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (I.C.C.), in The Hague, against U.S. citizens George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleeza Rice, and Alberto Gonzales (the Accused)." The Complaint is based on the "criminal policy and practice of 'extraordinary renditions' perpetrated upon about 100 human beings," which practice represents "Crimes against Humanity" and are "in violation of the Rome Statute establishing the I.C.C." * (emphasis mine)
B92 News Region Region Bosnia: Police raid Wahhabi village 2 February 2010 | 12:34 -> 16:03 | Source: Beta BRČKO -- Police in Bosnia-Herzegovina this Tuesday blocked a village near the town of Brčko where Wahhabis reside. Bosnia's law enforcement and various other agencies officers detained more than ten Wahhabis, including women, and brought them in for questioning, reports said. A large cache of mostly hunting weapons were also found and confiscated in Gornja Maoča today. Police searched another location, in the Gornji Rahić area, also close to Brčko, seizing computers, cell phones and other equipment from the home of a Wahhabi there Earlier today, local media reported that police were looking for people who pose a threat to security and Bosnia's constitutional order. Wahhabis are members of a radical Islamist sect. Some 600 state and entity police and security agency officials blocked off the village of Gornja Maoča on Tuesday morning, which has the largest Wahhabi community in Bosnia. The police operation, dubbed Light, is described as the largest in the country since 1995. Bosnia's federal television reported that this is a large police action aimed at uncovering the identity of persons who represent a security threat to the country. It was stated that several buildings have been searched, in which large amounts of weapons were found. Bosnian media said earlier that the security services have put Gornja Maoča under special monitoring, with information received that activities that could endanger state security were observed in that village. Gornja Maoča is a completely isolated village where the laws of Bosnia-Herzegovina are not in effect. The village is organized according to Sharia law. The road that leads to Gornja Maoča is almost completely unpassable and all of the road signs pointing towards the village are in Arabic. Most of the homes there fly black Islamic flags, and the children study according to the education system of the country of Jordan, reports said.
Bosnia: Police raid Wahhabi village
2 February 2010 | 12:34 -> 16:03 | Source: Beta
BRČKO -- Police in Bosnia-Herzegovina this Tuesday blocked a village near the town of Brčko where Wahhabis reside.
Bosnia's law enforcement and various other agencies officers detained more than ten Wahhabis, including women, and brought them in for questioning, reports said.
A large cache of mostly hunting weapons were also found and confiscated in Gornja Maoča today.
Police searched another location, in the Gornji Rahić area, also close to Brčko, seizing computers, cell phones and other equipment from the home of a Wahhabi there
Earlier today, local media reported that police were looking for people who pose a threat to security and Bosnia's constitutional order.
Wahhabis are members of a radical Islamist sect.
Some 600 state and entity police and security agency officials blocked off the village of Gornja Maoča on Tuesday morning, which has the largest Wahhabi community in Bosnia.
The police operation, dubbed Light, is described as the largest in the country since 1995.
Bosnia's federal television reported that this is a large police action aimed at uncovering the identity of persons who represent a security threat to the country.
It was stated that several buildings have been searched, in which large amounts of weapons were found.
Bosnian media said earlier that the security services have put Gornja Maoča under special monitoring, with information received that activities that could endanger state security were observed in that village.
Gornja Maoča is a completely isolated village where the laws of Bosnia-Herzegovina are not in effect. The village is organized according to Sharia law.
The road that leads to Gornja Maoča is almost completely unpassable and all of the road signs pointing towards the village are in Arabic.
Most of the homes there fly black Islamic flags, and the children study according to the education system of the country of Jordan, reports said.
Some foreign Islamic fighters, or mujahideen, who stayed on after fighting alongside Bosnian Muslims against Serbs and Croats in the war, formed their own community in the village. They were joined by some local followers of the Wahhabi branch. ... About 20 families of the remote mountainous village live in accordance with sharia law and their children attend an Arabic-language school which operates outside the official education system. Most foreign fighters have left the Balkan country which is still an international protectorate. But many young Bosnian Muslims, particularly from rural areas, have in recent years adhered to the puritanical Sunni Muslim Wahhabi sect under the influence of Islamic foreigners.
Mr. Posada-Carriles' jury trial has been set for February 26, 2010.
Faisant suite à l'invitation du gouvernement du Togo, la Commission européenne a décidé de déployer une Mission d'observation électorale à l'occasion des élections présidentielles prévues pour le 28 février 2010. Cette Mission d'observation sera dirigée par le Chef Observateur M. José Manuel Garcia-Margallo y Marfil, membre du Parlement européen (ES). La Mission sera constituée par un Chef Observateur et onze experts qui sont arrivés dans le pays ces dernières semaines. Ils ont été rejoints par 30 observateurs à long terme qui suivent la campagne électorale et les préparatifs des élections dans tout le pays, ainsi que le scrutin et la période postélectorale. 80 observateurs à court terme arriveront peu de temps avant le jour de scrutin. Cette Mission d'observation complémente d'autres actions de l'Union européenne de soutien des élections au Togo. La Commission Européenne a notamment consacré une enveloppe de 12,5 millions d'euros, au titre du FED, au soutien des élections, dont 3,5 millions sont destinés à la mise en place de conditions sécuritaires adéquates.
La Mission sera constituée par un Chef Observateur et onze experts qui sont arrivés dans le pays ces dernières semaines. Ils ont été rejoints par 30 observateurs à long terme qui suivent la campagne électorale et les préparatifs des élections dans tout le pays, ainsi que le scrutin et la période postélectorale. 80 observateurs à court terme arriveront peu de temps avant le jour de scrutin.
Cette Mission d'observation complémente d'autres actions de l'Union européenne de soutien des élections au Togo. La Commission Européenne a notamment consacré une enveloppe de 12,5 millions d'euros, au titre du FED, au soutien des élections, dont 3,5 millions sont destinés à la mise en place de conditions sécuritaires adéquates.
Main Immediate Priorities for Emergency Aid 200,000 tents are needed . ... Some 36 million "ready to eat" meals are required now ... Priority items, besides tents, include shelter kits, tarpaulins, jerry cans, blankets, plastic sheets, hygiene kits and kitchen kits. The main challenge in terms of water is limited distribution and storage capacity. ... Within 2 weeks four field hospitals (IL, RU, ES, FR) will close; however, the Haitian Government is requesting that medical teams stay for a longer period of time in order to minimize administrative efforts and ensure continuity of care and restore health services. ...
200,000 tents are needed . ...
Some 36 million "ready to eat" meals are required now ...
Priority items, besides tents, include shelter kits, tarpaulins, jerry cans, blankets, plastic sheets, hygiene kits and kitchen kits.
The main challenge in terms of water is limited distribution and storage capacity. ...
Within 2 weeks four field hospitals (IL, RU, ES, FR) will close; however, the Haitian Government is requesting that medical teams stay for a longer period of time in order to minimize administrative efforts and ensure continuity of care and restore health services. ...
Costa Rica's presidential campaign has become quite tense in the lead-up to the February 7 elections, but it also has turned rather goofy. One of the latest displays of wackiness took the form of a lie detector test, which several leading candidates actually agreed to take on national television. I was eating dinner at a Japanese restaurant here on the east side of San José, when right-wing candidate Otto Guevara popped on the restaurant's TV screen strapped to a polygraph machine. "Have you profited in any way while carrying out your duties for which you could be legally charged?" a moderator asked Guevara, 49, of the Libertarian Movement. "Have you lied to the media during your election campaign?" she asked.
Costa Rica's presidential campaign has become quite tense in the lead-up to the February 7 elections, but it also has turned rather goofy.
One of the latest displays of wackiness took the form of a lie detector test, which several leading candidates actually agreed to take on national television.
I was eating dinner at a Japanese restaurant here on the east side of San José, when right-wing candidate Otto Guevara popped on the restaurant's TV screen strapped to a polygraph machine.
"Have you profited in any way while carrying out your duties for which you could be legally charged?" a moderator asked Guevara, 49, of the Libertarian Movement. "Have you lied to the media during your election campaign?" she asked.
you can trust the black box! ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford recalls how she made the "leap of faith" to marry husband Gov. Mark Sanford even though the groom refused to promise to be faithful, insisting that the clause be removed from their wedding vows.
And things are liable to get closer before the end of the night. How so? Because essentially all of the outstanding vote is in Cook County (Chicago), where Dillard is picking up 18 percent of the vote so far and Brady just 5 percent. If I project out the remaining Cook County precincts based on the previous ones, I show Dillard picking up another 800 votes and Brady another 225. That would make the statewide margin Dillard 154,876, and Brady 154,877 -- an advantage of literally one vote for Brady
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told the Palestinians on Wednesday that "as it is right to cry for the victims of the Holocaust, it is right to express sorrow for the Palestinian victims [in Gaza]."
Earlier Wednesday, the Italian premier told Israeli lawmakers at the Knesset that the United Nations' Goldstone Report on the Gaza war tried to incriminate Israel's justifiable actions. Berlusconi is on the third day of his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
