Speaker names source of Iran democracy

Thu, 21 Jan 2010

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Wednesday the cornerstone of the democracy in Iran is Velayat-e-Faqih, the rule of the most senior religious authority in Shia Islam.

"Velayat-e-Faqih is the foundation of democracy and religion in the country," Larijani told a gathering of clerics in central Markazi Province.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, is the current religious jurisprudent. Under Iran's Constitution, the Assembly of Experts chooses and supervises the Leader.

Larinjani called on political factions in the country to adhere to the guidelines of Ayatollah Khamenei to guarantee unity in the country, Fars News Agency reported.

"We should pay more attention to the country's issues under the current conditions," he added. "The events in the country are sensitive but not critical."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116699§ionid=351020101.

Iran plans to lop three zeros off currency

Thu, 21 Jan 2010

Iran will remove three zeros from its national currency, the rial, so it can recover value lost in recent years, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.

"We are supposed to remove zeros from the currency... as for some reasons the rial has depreciated during recent years," Ahmadinejad told reporters on Wednesday. "We have to restore its true real value to the one existing in law."

Ahmadinejad did not say when the changes would happen and gave no other details.

A 10,000 rial note is currently worth about one US dollar.

Iran's Central Bank chief Mahmoud Bahmani told reporters on Wednesday that he expected "one dollar to become even more expensive during the next year."

In September, Bahmani had announced plans to devaluate the currency by three decimal places but later said the idea had been shelved for further consideration.

The Iranian President directed the Central Bank of Iran in 2007 to mull over the concept of devaluating the national currency.

The decline in value of Iran's national currency over recent decades has caused numerous objective and subjective problems.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116696§ionid=351020102.

US lifts visa ban on Muslim scholar

Thu, 21 Jan 2010

The US State Department said Wednesday it lifted a ban on Swiss Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan entering the country, six years after using the Patriot Act to revoke his visa.

The decision was signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"I am very happy and hopeful that I will be able to visit the United States very soon and to once again engage in an open, critical and constructive dialogue with American scholars and intellectuals," Professor Ramadan said in a statement.

The travel ban on him was imposed in the wake of an accusation that he had contributed to the terrorism from 1998 to 2002 by donating about $1,300 to a Swiss-based charity that provided money to Hamas and other Palestinian groups.

The Bush administration in 2006, under the Patriot Act, revoked Ramadan's visa, as he sought to travel to the US to take up a position as a tenured professor at the University of Notre Dame.

The Oxford University professor argued that he had believed the charity had no connections to terrorist activities and that he had always condemned terrorism.

In August 2009, Ramadan was dismissed from his position at a university in the Netherlands for hosting a Press TV program, which the Dutch authorities said was "irreconcilable" with his position as a guest professor.

The Swiss-born scholar said his dismissal was the result of Western "hypocrisy."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116698§ionid=351020606.

Most disqualified Iraqi candidates failed to appeal

Almost all banned candidates for the next Iraqi election have lost their chance to appeal after failing to submit their cases properly to the election commission.

"Just 37 candidates presented their application to investigate their ban to (the election watchdog)" said the commission spokesman Khalid al-Shami.

"The rest presented their applications to the appeals commission directly, which means they lost their opportunity to review their ban," he added.

Almost 500 candidates were banned from participation in the March 7 parliamentary elections for alleged ties to the former dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath party.

Many of the candidates have been replaced by their parties and some have had their ban lifted, leaving 177 cases in the appeals process, Reuters reported.

But only 37 were lodged correctly, leaving the rest disqualified, Shami said.

The judges decided last week to lift a ban, arguing that they would examine their files after the March 7 polls and would "eliminate" them if they were found to be Baathists.

The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, however, branded the decision as "illegal," calling on the judges to complete the appeals process by February 12, when official campaigning for the ballot begins.

Maliki insisted that to defer the appeals process until after the elections "represented a threat to the political process and to democracy."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118271§ionid=351020201.

Storm forces hundreds to evacuate in CA

Thu, 21 Jan 2010

Hundreds of homeowners in fire-ravaged areas have been ordered to evacuate across California as a powerful storm battered the region.

The storm, the third to hit the region since Monday, was expected to dump up to 10 inches of rain in some areas by Thursday, raising fears of landslides in hilly regions denuded of vegetation by last year's wildfires.

Authorities issued evacuation orders to around 750 homes in the Los Angeles area deemed to be threatened by landslides.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck urged homeowners threatened by landslides to act as soon as they were ordered to evacuate.

Also on Wednesday, a tornado struck near a town in east Texas, causing damage, reportedly injuring several people and trapping others in their homes.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116682§ionid=3510203.

Thirdhand smoke can cause cancer: Study

While secondhand smoke had long been known to have cancer-causing properties, a new study reports thirdhand smoke has the same effects.

"Smoking outside is better than smoking indoors but nicotine residues will stick to a smoker's skin and clothing," said lead researcher Lara Gundel.

According to the study published in PNAS, substantial levels of toxins are found on smoke-exposed material long after the cigarette has been put out.

Nicotine stains on clothing, furniture and wallpaper react with indoor pollutants to form dangerous chemicals known as tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), one of the most potent carcinogens found in unburned tobacco and tobacco smoke.

Nitrous acid — the main pollutant emitted from car exhaust — boosts TSNA levels found on contaminated surfaces by tenfold, the study reported.

Dermal uptake of the nicotine is highest in children, making them the most vulnerable population to the health risks of thirdhand smoke.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118269§ionid=3510210.

Iranian director makes documentary on Cuba

Veteran Iranian director Shahrokh Bahrololoumi is making a documentary about Cuba's recent history starting from 1959.

Fifty-One Years of Independence covers the Latin American country's music, as well as Cuban interest in Iranian music and traditions such as the Persian New Year (Nowruz) celebrations.

"Cuba is a byword for its dance and architecture; every corner is like a tableau," Tehran Times quoted Bahrololumi as saying.

"All of these as well as the people's joie de vivre will be shown in the documentary.”

The idea of making such a film developed when I visited Cuba as an assistant director to acclaimed filmmaker Masoud Kimiai ten years ago, Bahrololomi told ISNA.

He also said that they had found a rare film archive in the country, which some of its films were to be used in the documentary.

The shooting of the 90-minute Fifty-One Years of Independence is scheduled to be finished by the Persian New Year on March 21 and Bahrololumi plans to dedicate it to Kimiai.

“Cuba achieved independence 51 years ago, after which the United States has imposed sanctions against the country,” Bahrololomi said.

“The sanctions have had a negative impact on the culture and daily life of Cubans, but what encourages them to continue with life is their special spirit of struggle.”

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118268§ionid=351020105.