News Archive - 13 November 2009

> Khamenei, whose public persona is usually above politics, stoked controversy in Iran when he endorsed the disputed victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June's presidential elections, which plunged Iran into its deepest internal crisis since the Islamic revolution of 1979. Supporters of defeated candidates staged protests that were crushed...

> TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, pledged on Friday to revitalize their strained security alliance as they adapt to a rising China, set to overtake Japan as the world's No.2 economy. But they left unresolved a feud over a...

> The suit seeks to revoke the Alavi Foundation and the Assa Corporation's ownership of a 36-storey building at 650 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The original lawsuit filed in December only sought Assa Corp.'s building share. Prosecutors said both companies were sending money to Bank Melli, owned by the...

Yemeni Houthi rebels managed to infiltrate Saudi territory Saudi Arabia has evacuated 240 villages because of fighting with Yemeni rebels, the UN children's fund has reported.The Unicef statement said more than 50 schools had also been closed since fighting in neighbouring Yemen spilled across the border last week.

> TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, pledged on Friday to revitalize their strained security alliance as they adapt to a rising China, set to overtake Japan as the world's No.2 economy. But they left unresolved a feud over a...

> U.S. President Barack Obama offered a new approach toward Iran when he took office in January, but Iran remains locked in dispute with Washington and other world powers over its nuclear energy program. The West suspects Iran's nuclear work aims in part to allow it to acquire atomic...

Assad said he was disappointed by Obama's record in the Middle East Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has called for France to play a bigger role in Middle East peace efforts.Mr Assad said the issue would be the focal point of his talks in Paris with French President Nicolas...

Mr Obama met the Japanese PM at his official residence US President Barack Obama has arrived in Japan at a time of uncertainty in relations with America's old ally over foreign policy and US military bases.Japan's new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has signalled he wants closer ties with...

> KABUL (Reuters) - Just how far Hamid Karzai's reputation has fallen is summed up by a cartoon in the Economist, which shows the newly re-elected Afghan leader seated at a table -- between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Robert Mugabe. The Afghan president, to be inaugurated for a second term at...

> Officials from Turkey and Iran, which have friendly relations, have discussed the idea of Tehran sending its uranium to Turkey in exchange for fuel to keep a nuclear medical facility running. "There is no problem from the side of Turkey with Iran storing its low-grade uranium in Turkey. We...

Washington, 13 November (WashingtonTV)—US President Barack Obama and Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Friday urged Iran and North Korea to abide by their international obligations over their nuclear programs.

> TOKYO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama promised on Friday close cooperation on nuclear non-proliferation and Japan agreed to host a conference in January on nuclear security. The two leaders agreed that it was vital for Iran and North Korea...

Israel is holding a ship that it claims was carrying weapons from Iran to Syria. It released pictures of a large consignment of missiles and other weapons that were allegedly destined for Lebanon's Hizbullah.

These are the times that try men's souls . . . . Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its...

Seeking a world free of atomic arms, President Barack Obama today asserted that the US and others will not "be cowed" by North Korea's threats to step up its nuclear programme and will advance the goal of securing all of the world's "vulnerable" material within four years.

The announcement by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he won't run again for the presidency lends itself to two sets of interpretations. Some people will see the initiative as a smart political manoeuvre through which Abbas is trying to alleviate domestic criticism and foreign pressure.

Sir-- Re ' Back to Baghdad ' (5-11 November, Al-Ahram Weekly ) when Abul-Gheit says of the Iraqis, "They are not Sunnis or Shia or Kurds or Christians", he is right, because this classification of the Iraqi people is an invention of the US neo-cons which mixes ethnicities with religions.

The 29th edition of India International Trade Fair opened for business visitors at the sprawling Pragati Maidan exposition grounds in New Delhi on Saturday with 7,500 domestic and overseas exhibitors from 29 countries.

SINGAPORE: The US and Russian presidents meet at an Asia-Pacific summit here on Sunday, with Barack Obama eager to secure Moscow's backing to break the stand-off over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Funeral set for Colonie woman slain in Iraq; Army investigation continues

TOKYO - President Obama, facing withering criticism for a prolonged decision-making process on Afghanistan, asserted yesterday he doesn't want the next move to be seen...

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey's government yesterday announced new measures aimed at reconciling with minority Kurds and ending a 25-year-old insurgency, but there was no mention of the sweeping amnesty sought by Kurdish rebels.

Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) executive secretary, Kitso Kemoeng has said that the delay in the commencement of the refurbishment of the Sir Seretse Khama Barracks (SSKB) Stadium has been caused by the quest for caution.

A fictional metamorphosis conveys what it means to be alien.

Mir Hossein Mousavi , will be put on trial before the revolutionary court, months after his arrest in the country's post-election crackdown, Tehran's public prosecutor said today.The opposition denoun...

Singapore - The United States on Saturday announced its readiness to engage in the little-known Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal as an initial step towards molding a region-wide free trade agreement (FTA) with the Asia-Pacific. The announcem...

Engagement is now the watchword for Washington's policy toward Burma and so the U.S. President will have a photo-op in Singapore with a general from the much despised regime

My KCRW commentary today talked about two photographers of L.A. who approach their subject from different directions, Bruce Davidson and Martin Schall. It aired, as every Friday, at 4:44 p.m....

DOHA: A handful of countries were responsible for the failure of a crucial meeting to agree to an effective mechanism that would give a global anti-corruption treaty real power, said Christian Aid of Global Witness and Tearfund yesterday.

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A Leading Muslim-American Group Lashed Out At The Federal Government Friday For Moving To Seize Assets -- Including Four Mosques -- That Belong To A Foundation And A Corporation Believed Linked To Iran.

In a speech in Tokyo, President Obama addresses issues such as human rights and openness, but makes it clear that the U.S. does not see China as a strategic threat whose rise must be checked. Rolling out his approach toward Asia, President Obama emphasized that he wants a cooperative...

Fresh from winning a pocket tournament in Cebu, the Nokia-Pilipinas under-16 young men"s team is now ready to go big time in the FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship in Johor Baru Malaysia from Nov.19-27.

President Barack Obama pledged to pursue greater U.S. engagement in Asia, pragmatic cooperation with China and a push for deeper trade ties with the region in a major speech in the Japanese capital on Saturday.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The most contentious America’s Cup in the 158-year history of the event could be headed to Australia, if the teams can agree to end their long, bitter court fight.

BEIJING, Nov 14 — A year ago, Chinese editor Han Manchun was so excited after reading United States President Barack Obama's autobiography, The Audacity Of Hope , that he had his company publish a Chinese edition. With 130,000 copies already sold, the 28-year-old editor of the Law Press of China...

The difficulty in establishing a supply corridor for the Afghan war over Russian airspace is the latest hurdle in establishing cooperation with the United States.

Adnan M. Khashoggi, the arms dealer involved in Iran-Contra and other major scandals, is trying to make a comeback, now selling his connections.

The Muslim congregation that uses a building owned by an organization at the heart of a federal anti-terrorism probe shifted its Friday prayer service to another site.

TOKYO (AFP) - Billing himself America's first "Pacific president", Barack Obama said the United States did not seek to "contain" China and promised a full US role in charting Asia's future.In a major speech on the second day of his debut tour of the region, Obama repeatedly challenged...

Teachers and parents worry that in post-9/11 New York, people will perceive the Muslim institution as being tainted by terrorism.

SINGAPORE -Former England captain Bryan Robson gets his first taste of Asian Cup football on Saturday when Thailand travel to Singapore for a must win qualifying clash against their Southeast Asian neighbour.

Brussels - Russia and the European Union hope to prevent future energy supply crises by setting up an early-warning system at a summit in Stockholm on Wednesday. According to officials in Brussels, b...

US President Barack Obama said Friday that the alliance between Japan and America will endure for the foreseeable future as a linchpin of the future of East Asia.

Agents seized opium that was concealed in a pair of handbags Friday at the DHL package shipping facility at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

IT’S the kind of occasion that has the potential to unnerve the most experienced of pros but Glenn Whelan insists that all the pressure will be on France rather than Ireland when the sides meet at Croke Park tonight.

FROM dodging suicide bombers and jail cells to holding the Melbourne Cup aloft, Swiss adventurer Lukas Baumann is not your average Volvo driver.

'America's first Pacific president' introduces himself, his demands, in Japan.

Andranik Teymourian wants the passionate fans of Iran to get behind the national team. Football in the country is still reeling from Team Melli’s failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in June.

Federal authorities don't accuse the mosques, which were seized as property of the Iran-linked Alavi Foundation, of any wrongdoing. But Muslim groups worry it's another blow to the community image.

President Barack Obama says a prosperous China is a "source of strength" for all nations.

The Pacific Northwest had a close brush with the 2002 Winter Olympics, held in Salt Lake City. The Winter Games of 2010 will be even closer. In February, athletes from around the world will arrive in Vancouver, B.C., for the 21st Winter Olympics, or officially the XXI Olympic...

Geopolitics: Why would China give uranium to Pakistan? Why would Russia help Iran build an A-bomb? Regional balance of power plays a role, but a nuclear 9/11 could restore Moscow and Beijing as superpowers.

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama is set to deliver a speech in Tokyo today laying out his vision for a Pacific alliance working to expand trade, halt the spread of nuclear weapons and cooperate on climate change.

U.S. Marshals taped seizure paperwork to the doorways of two buildings at a school/mosque/residential complex on Montrose Road just outside of Rockville Friday. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed the paperwork pertained to the government's effort to seize properties owned by the Alavi Foundation.

NEW YORK - The organization that federal investigators say is a front for the Iranian government has spent millions of dollars over the years on philanthropy: buying property for four U.S. mosques, funding religious schools and language classes, and translating books on Islam.

The United States on Friday rejected a call by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for it to choose between supporting Israel or Iran.

Those who attend the Islamic Educational Center in Potomac, Md. say they haven't seen any criminal activity at the mosque, which is involved in a sweeping federal counterterorism seizure linked to Iran's nuclear activities.

IRISH boss Giovanni Trapattoni has told his team: This play-off is our World Cup final

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said the U.S. and Japan must act “expeditiously” to settle a dispute over American troops based in Okinawa as the two nations reassess a half-century old security alliance.

MIKE ROCKWOOD

RAMALLAH: A new Israeli poll found that 57 percent of Israelis support a dialogue with the Palestinian Hamas movement if it relinquishes terrorism and recognizes Israel.

JEDDAH: Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz University (KAU) has just announced the construction of a new nuclear-research facility to be used to research nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

First set up by the Shah of Iran in the 1970s, the Alavi Foundation's alleged links to Iran have been under the scrutiny of federal investigators for years.

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ISLAMABAD (November 14 2009): Pakistan has awarded a contract to ILF Consulting Engineers of Germany for consultancy on Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project to undertake project feasibility.

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - A US Customs and Border Protection officer and his K-9 seized opium found hidden in women's handbags on Friday at the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Airport.

PETALING JAYA: Everyone is predicting three-time champions Pen-guin International to win the HSBC-Cobra International Invitational 10s rugby tournament, which begins at Padang Utara here today.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s last encounter against Uzbekistan ended in humiliation.

What do you do when you've bombed the living daylights out of a country? Well, you go on holiday there, of course! If an awful lot of people have died there as a result of a decision made by your prime minister (100,000 according to the most conservative estimates, a...

In what could be one of the biggest counter-terrorism seizures in US history, federal prosecutors sought to take over four US mosques and a New York City skyscraper owned by a Muslim organisation suspected of being controlled by the Iranian government.

Officials found the drugs hidden inside the linings of purses inside a parcel.

IRVINE My grandmother, with an intuitive grasp of free market economics, warned me against rapscallion high school boys: Why would a boy buy the cow if he could get the milk for free? The answer to that question concerns more than dairy farmers....

Anticipation is building for former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin’s memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life.” For the constantly shrinking minority that actually believes she is a viable candidate for president in 2012, Palin’s choice of title for her memoir may seem unsettling.

HEBRON, Ky. -- A K9 officer and his partner seized over 3 kilograms of opium concealed in two handbags Friday. The handbags were inside a parcel from Iran. The parcel was in route to Canada.

Authorities seize about 3 kilograms of opium from a package at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Scientist's accounts assert China gave Pakistan enough enriched uranium for 2 atomic bombs.

Stephen Ireland, the Manchester City midfield player, has warned that no amount of hate mail or death threats will force him to play for Ireland again and insisted that he will have “not a tinge of regret” about the decision even if it prevents him from starring in a World...

As European opposition to E.U. membership for Turkey grows, Ankara is looking to forge closer ties to its neighbors. Turkey wants to once again become a leading power in the Middle East - but its relationship with Israel may suffer as a result.

I hope I don’t leave any words off of this list: Naïve, delusional, traitor, self-hating, anti-Semitic, communist, socialist, assimilationist, secular, brain-washed, fifth column.

Rio de Janeiro - Israeli President Shimon Peres visited the headquarters of Brazilian oil company Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro Friday, on the last day of a historic official visit to Brazil. During his official visit to Brazil - the first by an Israel...

The following is a translation of a farewell letter from Farzad Kamangar, an imprisoned Kurdish teacher and journalist, to Ehsan Fattahian, a Kurdish Activist who was executed for muharabeh( enmity with God) in Iran on November 12th, 2009.

TOKYO (AP) - At the start of his first major trip to Asia, President Barack Obama is warning North Korea that if it doesn't end its nuclear weapons programs, there will be tough, unified action by the U.S. and its Asian partners.

Washington, Nov. 13: In 1982, a Pakistani military C-130 left the western Chinese city of Urumqi with a highly unusual cargo: enough weapons-grade uranium for two atomic bombs, according to accounts written by the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, Abdul Qadeer Khan.

NEW YORK (AP) - The organization that federal investigators say is a front for the Iranian government has spent millions of dollars over the years on philanthropy: buying property for four U.S. mosques, funding religious schools and language classes, and translating books on Islam.

Barack Obama has insisted the US is a "Pacific" power and vowed to deepen its engagement in the region.

When Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki holds talks with Indian officials here on Monday, the stalled tri-nation gas pipeline project will be discussed, but the focus will be on the flow of terror from Pakistan-based militants of which Tehran was a recent victim.

Barack Obama has insisted the US is a 'Pacific' power and vowed to deepen its engagement in the region.

The Iranian Supreme Leader’s representative in Britain has told Muslim servicemen and women to quit the Armed Forces, saying that their involvement in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars is forbidden by Islam.

As he embarks on his first big trip to Asia, President Barack Obama's strategies are in flux in any number of areas. His first stop,...

NEW YORK — In what could be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in the U.S. federal prosecutors sought to take over four mosques and a New York skyscraper owned by a Muslim organisation suspected of being controlled by the Iranian government.

Iranian Foreign Minister to visit India next week

On October 25th, inspectors for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were granted access to the secret and recently outed nuclear facility under construction in...

THE Arabic word "Mashallah" translates literally to "Whatever God wills". It is used in admiration of someone's good deeds or achievements. Today, one man, who has a surname that sounds and reads similarly to "Mashallah", will be at the helm of Bahrain's quest to make soccer history.

Anyone who counts Ayatollah Abdolhossein Moezi as a spiritual leader is unlikely to have joined the British military in the first place. He is the religious envoy of the same regime that calls Britain “the little Satan”.

Feds move to seize 4 mosques, tower linked to Iran By ADAM GOLDMAN Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - Federal prosecutors took steps Thursday to seize four U.S. mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper owned by a nonprofit Muslim organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the...

TOKYO: The leaders of the US and Japan - the only country to have used atomic bombs, and the only country ever hit with them - jointly called for a world free of nuclear weapons yesterday.

Gold traded mostly slightly higher in Asia and London before it dipped in early New York trade to see a loss of $3.30 at about 9:30AM EST, but it then stormed back higher midday and ended near its late session high of $1117.30 with a gain of 0.

In a special joint lecture presented on Nov. 12 at the Columbia University Faculty House by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Sadako Ogata, Japan’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan,  and M. Ishaq Nadiri, chairman of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy, spoke to a capacity audience about Japanese and American initiatives...