Sarkozy fury over ‘Gaddafi millions for 2007 campaign’
March 16th, 20120 Nicolas Sarkozy lashed out at journalists and rejected claims he took 50 million Euros from Muammar Gaddafi to fund his 2007 presidential campaign before backing an insurgency against him, as documents alleging a money-trail between the two emerged."If he had financed it (the 2007 campaign), then I haven't been very grateful," Sarkozy...Israeli poll on Iran undercuts Netanyahu on eve of major meet
WASHINGTON – Leading up to a critical set of meetings here between top U.S. and Israeli officials, a new survey found little backing among the Israeli public for a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities without Washington's approval.According to the poll, released at a briefing at the Brookings Institution here Wednesday,...Cold war in warm waters: U.S.-China’s dangerous contest for Asia-Pacific
On two occasions in my life I found myself living close to the South China Sea. The sea became my escape from life’s pressing responsibilities. But there is no escaping the fact that the deceptively serene waters are now also grounds for a nascent but real new cold war. China takes the name of the sea very seriously. Its claim...
Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities easier said than done?
February 20th, 20120 WASHINGTON — Despite renewed media speculation regarding possible Israeli attacks against Iran's nuclear facilities as early as this spring, skepticism that such a campaign could actually be successfully carried out remains relatively high, raising the question of whether there is more bark than bite to Israeli threats. Iran's...
U.S. says Russia-China UN veto “disgusting”, “shameful”, “deplorable”, “a travesty” . . . really?
February 10th, 20120 U.S. says Russia-China UN veto "disgusting", "shameful", "deplorable", "a travesty" . . . really?A quick listing of the United States' record of veto use at the United Nation Security Council (UNSC): 1972–2011* Year & resolution vetoed by the U.S. • 1972: Condemns Israel for killing hundreds of people in Syria and...U.S. official: Mossad hit-squads behind Iran scientists’ murders
Israel’s Mossad trained and financed a terrorist group that carried out a series of Hollywood-style assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, unnamed U.S. officials have revealed. Iran, however, believes the CIA was also sponsoring the killings.Two senior U.S. officials confirmed to NBC that People’s Mujahideen of Iran dissident...
South Africa mulls BDS sanctions on Israel
February 10th, 20120 PRETORIA — South Africa is considering imposing economic and cultural sanctions on Israel as part of the worldwide Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.The country's Minister of Arts and Culture announced at a conference here last week that the government is seeking to increase support for the dispossessed Palestinian...
Russia, China veto UN Security Council resolution on Syria
February 4th, 20120 Russia and China have vetoed the latest UN Security Council resolution on the ongoing violence in Syria because it leaves out sanctions on the opposition alongside those on the Assad government, and leaves out Russian proposals.Moscow says it had no other option but use its veto right, claiming the draft didn't realistically reflect the...Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu wins Likud leadership vote
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has won an election for the leadership of his right-wing Likud party, according to partial results.With 85% of ballots counted, Netanyahu had received 75% of the vote, Israeli media reported."I thank you all for the confidence and renewed support you have given me," Netanyahu said in a...BBC censors “Free Palestine” lyric in on-air performance
Broadcaster claims that allowing the lyric would have “comprised impartiality”The word “Palestine” was censored in a freestyle performance aired on the 1xtra network in February last year, during which the BBC production staff covered it up with the sound of broken glass according to a report by TheNewStatesman.com. The...
Russia “unwavering” on Syria
February 4th, 20120 Moscow stands firm against Western, Arab League draft on Syria After three days of negotiations on Syria, the UN Security Council failed to persuade Russia, which holds a veto, to back an Arab League plan to try to end the bloodshed in the Middle East nation.The revised draft resolution revealed at the meetings has taken out all...Top search engine Google to track users like never before
In a move that has triggered outrage, Google has announced plans to bring all data collected from users’ separate accounts on its sites into a combined profile. The announced change has raised myriad questions about the popular search engine's commitment to privacy. The changes will take effect on March 1. Before that date,...
Russia warns against attack as Israel contemplates military action
January 20th, 20120 The Russian foreign minister has warned that a Western military strike against Iran would be "a catastrophe.”Sergei Lavrov said an attack would lead to "large flows" of refugees from Iran and would "fan the flames" of sectarian tension in the Middle East.Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak earlier said any decision on an Israeli attack...
Israeli agents posed as CIA to recruit terrorists
January 13th, 20120 The buddy-buddy relationship between American and Israel could falter as it is revealed that Mossad intelligence officers posed as CIA agents in order to recruit and train Iranian terrorists, all unbeknown to US authorities.American intelligence officials have come clean with details surrounding Israel’s attempt to infiltrate the...Thousands of U.S. troops deploying to Israel
Hospitals reportedly built in Georgia for war with Iran TEL AVIV - Without much media attention, thousands of American troops are being deployed to Israel, and Iranian officials believe that this is the latest and most blatant warning that the U.S. will soon be attacking Tehran. Tensions between nations have been high in recent......
Mossad at it again? 4th Iranian nuclear scientist bombed
TEHRAN - Iran has accused Israel and the USA of assassinating an Iranian nuclear professor, pointing to a string of attacks against such scientists in the country.Both countries have denied the accusations, according to the AP.Iran's vice-president reacted to the attack by saying it would not stop "progress" in the country's nuclear...Crackpot anti-Islam activists, “Serial Fabricators” and the tale of Iran and 9/11
Behind a mysterious December 22 Associated Press story about "finding of fact" by a District judge in Manhattan Friday that Iran assisted al-Qaeda in the planning of the 9/11 attacks is a tapestry of recycled fabrications and distortions of fact from a bizarre cast of characters.The AP story offers no indication of the nature of the......
Obama resists Israeli pressure on Iran
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are engaged in intense maneuvering over Netanyahu’s aim of entangling the United States in an Israeli war against Iran.Netanyahu is exploiting the extraordinary influence his right-wing Likud Party exercises over the Republican Party and the U.S. Congress on matters...
War of words calculated to avoid actual conflict
January 7th, 20120 WASHINGTON (IPS) — The recent escalation in Iranian threats to blockade oil shipments and attack U.S. Navy vessels are meant to push up the price of oil and divert domestic opinion from an economic crisis but are not likely to lead to a war in the Persian Gulf, in the view of Iran experts. Iranian navy speed boats take part in an...Quest for survival: Thousands flee war, famine, chaos in Somalia
DOLO ADO, Ethiopia — When famine ravaged southern Somalia earlier this year, camel herder Ibrahim Mohamed refused to join the thousands fleeing for help, vowing to stay on in his homeland to save his dying animals.But after Islamist Shebab gunmen stole his last two camels to have survived the drought and then ordered him to join their...Security Council remains gridlocked by political manipulation
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) — When Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin briefed reporters recently, he offered some biting criticisms of the growing political manipulation of the most powerful body at the United Nations: the 15-member Security Council.Implicitly targeting some of the Western nations — specifically the United States, UK and......
Netanyahu backs law to ban loudspeakers at mosques across Israel
A highly contentious bill which threatens to inflame Arab religious and ethnic sensitivities in Israel by clamping down on mosques using loudspeakers for the call to prayer has split the Cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Netanyahu expressed sympathy this week for the principle behind the Bill, promoted by Anastasia Michaeli, a...U.S. edging closer towards war with Iran?
Suddenly the struggle to stop Iran is not about saving Israel from nuclear annihilation. After a decade of scare-mongering about the second coming of Nazi Germany, the Iran hawks are admitting that they have other reasons for wanting to take out Iran, and saving Israeli lives may not be one of them. Suddenly the neo-conservatives have......
Analysis: “Cold War” with Iran heats up across Mideast
December 5th, 20110 Worries of Israel striking Iran might or might not be overblown but across the region the largely hidden "cold war" between Tehran and its enemies is escalating fast, bringing with it wider risk of conflict. An Iranian couple rests as they sit in front of an Iranian-made Zelzal missile at a war exhibition held by Iran's...
Assange: iPhone, Blackberry and more have become spying devices
December 4th, 20110 LONDON - Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, says that governments have been using electronic devices such as smart phones and computers to monitor what they're saying, where they are going and what they're writing. He spoke at a panel of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism at he City University in London on Monday.The panel......
