DDMA Headline Animator

Friday, January 1, 2010

Houthi fighters set for Saudi peace talks

Yemen's Houthi fighters have expressed readiness to hold peace talks with neighboring Saudi Arabia if Riyadh halts its attacks.

The Houthi fighters also released a statement that says they'll also halt operations against Saudi Arabia if the country ceases its attacks.

"If Saudi aggression stops and there is a real will towards security and stability... then we do not attack anyone that does not attack us," the Houthi fighters said on their website on Thursday.

"We reiterate ... our support for dialogue and a language of understanding to resolve all differences," they added.

According to the Houthis, Saudi Arabia must prove that it wants peace and stability in Yemen, and that it respects the rights of the Yemeni people.

The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana'a and the Houthi fighters. The conflict intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the fighters in the northern province of Sa'ada.

The government accuses the fighters of breaking the terms of a ceasefire by taking foreign visitors hostage in 2009.

The Houthis on the other hand accuse the Yemeni government of the violation of their civil rights, their political, economic and religious marginalization as well as large-scale corruption.

Riyadh joined Yemen's offensive against the Houthi fighters in November and vowed to continue its raids.

The fighters accuse Riyadh of targeting civilian areas far from the Saudi-Yemeni border. They say the attacks have so far left scores of civilians dead and thousands of others displaced.

As the Yemeni government does not allow independent media into the conflict zone, there are no clear estimates available as to how many people have been killed since the beginning of the unrest in 2004 or in the recent wave of violence.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115098§ionid=351020206.

IRIB launches Sahar 2 TV to negate propaganda

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) has launched a satellite channel to respond to the subliminal psychological programming of western media.

The international channel Sahar Universal Network 2, which was launched on Thursday, December 31, 2009, aims to show Iranian society as it really is, and effectively combat western manipulation of media which distorts events, censoring and misrepresenting them.

It aspires to confront the influence of non-Islamic culture in the Muslim world and reveal the hegemonic policies of the great powers, which wish to dominate the peoples and nations of the world.

Sahar Universal Network 2 seeks to introduce the rich culture of Islam, as well as political, cultural, social and economic advances made by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Tehran-based general television network is now broadcasting its programs on Hot bird 8: frequency 12437 MHz, horizontal polarization.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115097§ionid=3510212.

Ancient earthen coffin found in southern Iran

An earthen coffin with a skeleton in it has been discovered in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan, an area rich in oil and history.

The coffin was found in the sand-covered desert hills of Gol Rizvan in the environs of Ramshir city in Khuzestan province.

It is believed to have been buried at some point during the almost 500 years of the Parthian Empire (247 BCE - 224 CE).

Archaeologists hope that the discovery will give insight into the funerary traditions of the ancient Parthian Empire, which is also known as the Arsacid Empire.

At the height of its power, the Parthian Empire ruled most of Greater Iran, Mesopotamia, and Armenia.

The indigenous Iranian dynasty well managed to shake off the yoke of Greek dominion in the country and safeguard the rich Persian civilization.

The Arsacids were in an almost perpetual state of war to defend the Persian territories against the Roman Empire in the west and nomadic tribes in the east.

During their five-century rein, they fought to capture and hold territory from the contemporary Seleucid Empire, or to prevent vassal states from breaking away.

Economically and militarily severely weakened by internal discords and the incessant warring, the Parthian Arsacids were finally vanquished by the Sassanids at around 220 CE.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115096§ionid=351020105.

Nine killed in bus crash in SE Iran

Nine people were killed in southeastern Iran when a bus on the Bam-Kerman road overturned.

Massoud Ghaffarian, the commander of the Kerman Province Traffic Police, said that the bus was traveling from Zahedan in southeastern Iran to Yazd in central Iran.

The accident, which occurred late on Thursday night, killed nine people, the Fars news agency quoted Ghaffarian as saying.

He stated that 27 people, were injured in the accident and 26 of them were Afghans.

Two of the people killed were Iranian nationals and the other seven who died in the accident were undocumented Afghans, the Fars news agency report said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115088§ionid=3510212.

'No military solution to crisis in Afghanistan'

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul say there is no military solution to the crisis in Afghanistan.

Ahmadinejad and Gul held a telephone conversation on Thursday to discuss the regional developments, especially the situation in Afghanistan.

The two presidents said that the Afghan people need humanitarian assistance and support to reconstruct their country, not more weapons, IRNA reported.

“Experience has proven that military options will not work in Afghanistan because Afghans need humanitarian assistance and support to reconstruct their country,” Ahmadinejad said.

Gul stated that Turkey and Iran have the same approach toward Afghanistan and reiterated that Afghanistan needs humanitarian assistance and not military support.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115087§ionid=351020101.

Al-Shabaab shuts down UN HQ in Somali town

Al-Shabaab fighters say they have closed down the UN headquarters in the town of Bu'aale in southern Somalia and have informed Somali relief workers to leave the region.

Al-Shabaab fighters overpowered the guards outside the headquarters and disarmed them. They then looted $50,000 from the United Nations headquarters, closed down the office, and asked all the staff to leave, the Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu reported late on Thursday.

Al-Shabaab told Somali relief workers to leave the region in 10 hours.

In another incident, Al-Shabaab fighters claim that after a three-hour firefight, they disarmed over 60 bandits in an area between Mogadishu and Jowhar and arrested them, a Press TV correspondent reported.

In addition, heavy fighting took place in the Hodon district between militants and Somali government troops backed by the African Union troops. At least seven Somali government troops were killed. Seven civilians were also killed and 11 others were injured.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115085&sectionid=351020501.

French Gaza Freedom March activist killed in Cairo

Organizers of the "Gaza Freedom March" report the death of a French citizen from injuries sustained at the hands of security forces during a demonstration in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Marie Renee died in the Cairo Hospital. She was traveling with a French delegation of approximately 300 nationals, Ma'an news agency reported.

Press TV presenter Yvan Ridley however didn't confirm the report.

The French delegates had earlier been camped out on the grounds surrounding the French Embassy in Cairo, reportedly flanked by two lines of Egyptian police.

Hundreds of activists with the "Gaza Freedom March" have continued demonstrations and sit-ins in Cairo to protest the Egyptian government's refusal to allow them to cross the border into the besieged Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, Egyptian security allowed 84 of the 1,300 who registered to participate in the Freedom March into Gaza. All were traveling with the Codepink delegation, which organized two earlier trips into the blockaded Palestinian coastal sliver since the Israeli war on Gaza last year.

Another 1,200 activists from about 40 states remained in Cairo after Egypt refused entry for the group because of what they called the "sensitive situation" in the Palestinian territory.

The "Gaza Freedom March" activists were hoping to march into Gaza on the anniversary of Israel's 22-day offensive on the territory as a sign of solidarity with its people, carrying with them aid and supplies.

Israel has continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than two years. The illegal Israeli imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the coastal enclave.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt, with the Palestinian Authority's blessings, has sealed its borders with the Gaza Strip, effectively cutting off the coastal enclave from the rest of the world.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115049&sectionid=351020202.

Egyptian police attack pro-Gaza activists

(PressTV) Egyptian police have attacked some 1,200 international activists who had gathered at the Rafah border crossing to protest against the Israeli-imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip.

The activists say their protest was a "non-violent" gathering, aimed at showing the rest of the world how badly the people of Gaza are suffering.

At least one of the activists was injured in the attack.

On Wednesday, 86 international activists were allowed to enter the enclave from Egypt via the Rafah crossing, but other members of the Gaza Freedom March say they are being forcibly held in their hotels.

Egyptian officials say the activists were banned from entering Gaza because of what they called the "sensitive situation" in the Palestinian territory.

The activists were joined by a few hundred Palestinians as they marched from northern Gaza to the Erez crossing with Israel.

Hamas foils Shin Bet attempt to locate Shalit

Hamas says it has foiled an attempt by Israeli agents who were trying to collect information on where Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is being held.

The head of Hamas' internal security service, Abu Abdullah, said the Shin Bet security service tried to gather intelligence through a cell of agents from the rival Fatah party, who once operated in the Gaza Strip.

Abu Abdullah said that the Fatah operatives had rented a house and cars in eastern Gaza City and planned to kidnap a senior member of Hamas' military wing, the Izz a-Din a-Qassam Brigade, in order to transfer him to Israel.

"The cell's scheme was foiled at the last minute. They had a ready plan of action and it was very similar to the kidnapping of Muhawesh al-Kadi," Abu Abdullah added, recalling a senior Hamas official who was reportedly kidnapped by Israeli forces near his home in Rafah.

The report comes amid efforts by the Islamic movement to free four senior resistance figures held in Israeli prisons in exchange for Shalit. The German-mediated prisoner exchange negotiations have been at loggerheads over Tel Aviv's refusal to free the "heavyweight" Palestinian prisoners.

Israel has recently offered to release the men "Marwan Barghouti, Ahmed Sa'adat, Ibrahim Hamad and Abdullah Barghouti," on condition that the four be deported to the Gaza Strip or a third country.

Hamas on Tuesday dismissed media reports that it had turned down the Israeli proposal, stressing that the Palestinian resistance movement is still debating the issue.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115040§ionid=351020202.

US judge lets Blackwater/Xe mercs off the hook

A US federal judge has dismissed criminal charges against five Blackwater/Xe security guards accused of fatally shooting 14 people in Baghdad in September 2007.

On Thursday, Judge Ricardo Urbina said US government prosecutors violated the defendants' rights by using incriminating statements they had made under immunity during a State Department probe to build their case.

"The government used the defendants' compelled statements to guide its charging decisions, to formulate its theory of the case, to develop investigatory leads, and ultimately to obtain the indictment in the case," Urbina ruled.

"In short, the government had utterly failed to prove that it made no impermissible use of the defendants' statement or that such use was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt."

The Blackwater/Xe mercenaries had been charged with killing 14 Iraqi civilians and wounding 18 others using gunfire and grenades at a busy Baghdad intersection in September 2007.

They faced charges of manslaughter.

In a public relations move meant to clean up the company's image, which was tarnished by incidents in which civilians were killed in the Iraq war, Blackwater Worldwide rebranded and changed its name to a futuristic new name, Xe (pronounced like the last letter of the alphabet), in February 2009.

However, there is still great animosity toward Blackwater/Xe in Iraq.

Many Iraqis believe the US military allowed Blackwater/Xe mercenaries to commit numerous war crimes against their compatriots with impunity, and the latest court ruling will only reinforce such sentiments.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115079§ionid=3510203.

Venezuela warns US about airspace violations

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry has warned the US military against violating its airspace from bases in Aruba and Curacao.

"(Venezuela) again calls on the international community to denounce the US use of the colonies of Aruba and Curacao, for the preparation of military aggression against Venezuela," the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on Thursday.

"The subsequent violation of Venezuelan airspace on the part of the US military aircraft ... allows us to conclude that the warmongering US government, in league with the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is preparing an aggression against the territory and people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela."

The statement did not provide details of the alleged incursions.

Earlier this month, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez charged that the US military was using the Dutch islands off his country's Caribbean coast as a staging area for a possible attack.

He also accused the United States of launching a spy plane from Colombia that he said violated his country's airspace, and vowed to order the Venezuelan military to shoot down any spy aircraft that enter the country's airspace in the future.

Last summer, Washington and Bogota struck a deal allowing US forces to use Colombian military bases.

Caracas suspended diplomatic relations with Colombia in July in response to the US-Colombia military base deal, denouncing it as a military threat to the sovereignty of Latin American countries and saying it paved the way for a possible attack against Venezuela.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115075§ionid=351020704.

Pakistan Taliban say they carried out CIA attack

By RASOOL DAWAR, Associated Press Writer

MIR ALI, Pakistan – The Pakistani Taliban claimed Friday that they used a turncoat CIA operative to carry out a suicide bombing that killed seven American CIA employees in Afghanistan as revenge for a top militant leader's death in a U.S. missile strike.

The announcement was nearly impossible to verify independently because it involves covert operations in a dangerous region. It is highly unusual for the Pakistani Taliban to claim credit for an attack in Afghanistan, and the proclamation followed indications the Afghan Taliban may have been involved in the attack.

CIA spokesman George Little could not confirm the account.

"There is much about the attack that isn't yet known, but this much is clear: The CIA's resolve to pursue aggressive counterterrorism operations is greater than ever," he told The Associated Press.

The suicide bomber struck the CIA's operation at Camp Chapman in eastern Khost province on Wednesday. The base was used to direct and coordinate CIA operations and intelligence gathering in Khost, a hotbed of insurgent activity because of its proximity to Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, former CIA officials said. Among the seven killed was the chief of the operation, they said.

Six other people were wounded in what was one of the worst attacks in CIA history.

Qari Hussain, a top militant commander with the Pakistani Taliban who is believed to be a suicide bombing mastermind, said militants had been searching for a way to damage the CIA's ability to launch missile strikes on the Pakistani side of the border.

The U.S. has launched scores of such missile attacks in the tribal regions over the past year and a half, aiming for high-value al-Qaida and other militant targets; one strike killed former Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in August.

Hussain said a "CIA agent" contacted Pakistani Taliban commanders and said he'd been trained by the agency to take on militants but that he was willing to attack the U.S. intelligence operation on the militants' behalf. He did not specify the nationality of the "agent."

"Thank God that we then trained him and sent him to the Khost air base. The one who was their own man, he succeeded in getting his target," Hussain told an AP reporter who traveled to see him in South Waziristan on Friday. The region is where Pakistan's army is waging a military offensive aimed at dismantling the Pakistani Taliban.

Two former U.S. officials told the AP that the bomber had been invited onto the base and not searched. One official, a former senior intelligence employee, said the man was being courted as an informant and that it was the first time he had been brought inside the camp.

The Pakistani army's offensive in South Waziristan is believed to have forced many Pakistani Taliban leaders to go on the run to other parts of the tribal belt. The group's recent claims that it has sent most of its fighters to help its brethren in Afghanistan were met with skepticism by analysts who said it is trying to worsen the already tense relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan.

Ishtiaq Ahmad, a professor of international relations at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, said the Taliban's latest claim was likely untrue and just another attempt at driving a wedge between the allies because of the military campaign.

"Since the Pakistan army is succeeding, they are trying to complicate Pakistan-U.S. relations," he said. "It only reflects increasing depression."

After Wednesday's attack, Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said an Afghan National Army officer wearing a suicide vest had entered the base and blew himself up. There has been no independent confirmation of the bomber's identity. It was unclear if the Afghan Taliban statement was a claim of responsibility or simply an accounting of what the militants alleged happened.

The Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan Taliban are separate, though linked, insurgent movements. The Afghan Taliban are focused on ridding Afghanistan of Western troops and toppling the U.S.-backed government in Kabul, while the Pakistani Taliban are primarily determined to overthrow the U.S.-allied government in Islamabad.

Both militant movements are largely driven by Pashtuns, an ethnic group that straddles both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border and whose members easily slip back and forth between the countries.

In Washington, CIA director Leon Panetta said Thursday that the seven killed in the Khost attack "were far from home and close to the enemy, doing the hard work that must be done to protect our country from terrorism."

A U.S. intelligence official said the attack will be avenged through successful, aggressive counterterrorism operations, and said the climate at CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, is "determined."

AL urges more UN, less US in Mideast peace process

Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa calls on the United Nations to assume a greater role in the Middle East peace process, saying Washington should not be the only mediator.

"The United Nations role, which was marginalized at a certain stage with regards to the Arab-Israeli struggle, should be brought back," Moussa said in a Tuesday interview with Reuters.

The senior Arab leader did not directly criticize the policies of the United States, traditionally deemed as Israel's closest ally in the region, but suggested Washington's mediation must be objective.

"There should be a change in the direction of the peace process, by having a mediator who understands the needs of the two parties, and not [just] one party," he urged.

Moussa said he trusted US president Barack Obama, whose administration has been mounting pressure on hawkish Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu to tone down his stance against the Palestinians, especially in regards to the illegal West Bank settlement issue.

However, "we must maintain the American role in the framework of other roles, European and United Nations and all countries that have links to and interests in the situation in the Middle East," the former Egyptian foreign minister noted.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115027§ionid=351020202.

China to set up naval base in Gulf of Aden

Wed, 30 Dec 2009

China is considering setting up a permanent naval base in the Gulf of Aden to support its regional anti-piracy mission.

In an interview posted on the defense ministry website, a top Chinese naval official said on Wednesday that such a base would allow the country to better support its vessels.

"We are saying to fulfill our international commitments. We need to strengthen our supply capacity," said Admiral Yin Zhuo, who is also a senior researcher.

He added that it would also strengthen its contribution to the anti-piracy mission.

Chinese vessels can currently only dock and re-supply at a French naval base in the Gulf of Aden, while the US, EU and Japan all have supply bases in the region.

China has deployed four warship in the pirate-infested waters off Somalia since late 2008.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114997§ionid=351020404.

London witnesses anti-Egypt protest

(PressTV) At least 200 protesters gathered Friday outside the Egyptian Embassy in London after news spread that Gaza peace activists had been beaten by Egyptian police in Cairo.

The protest was organized by the British Muslim Initiative in association with the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.

The demonstrators called on the Egyptian president to allow the international aid convoy "Viva Palestina" to enter Gaza through the Egyptian border.

More than 200 vehicles packed with food and medicines left London on December 6 for Gaza. But they are now stranded at the Syrian port of Lattakia as the Egyptian authorities do not issue permits for the convoy to enter Gaza through the port city of El-Arish in Egypt.

The demonstrators in London chanted slogans such as “Mubarak Siege Must End”, “Mubarak Wall Must Fall”, “Free Free Palestine,” and “Mubarak Zionist.”

They also urged the ban on the entry of “Viva Palestina” convoy to be lifted.

The Egyptian government is building a steel wall along its border with Gaza to prevent the traffic of any goods to the blockaded strip. It is also avoiding opening of the Rafah crossing for international aid convoys to pass through Gaza.

Peace activists and human rights campaigners have called on Cairo to lift the ban and allow the flow of international aid into Gaza to avoid a humanitarian crisis.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115120&sectionid=351020601.

Palestinians mark anniversary of war on Gaza

Hundreds of Palestinians, Israelis and peace activists have staged a rally across the Gaza Strip to mark the first anniversary of Israel's offensive in Gaza.

The Friday demonstration was attended by tens of international delegates who managed to cross the Egyptian border into the blockaded coastal territory despite efforts by Cairo to stop them.

Egypt, which has been refusing to open the Rafah crossing, denied permission to over 1,300 of foreign activists who planned to cross into Gaza and participate in the event.

The crossing on the Egyptian border is the only terminal not controlled by Israel.

The slogan-chanting protesters in Gaza carried signs denouncing the Israeli blockade assisted by Egypt while hundreds of Palestinians held a similar protest in the West Bank.

The Gaza gathering also saw the participation of a number of anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews who spent Shabbat in Gaza in a rare show of support for Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

"It's crucial that the people of Gaza understand the terrible tragedy here is not in the name of Judaism," said Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss of New York City on Thursday.

The Hamas-run Gaza Strip came under an Israeli military offensive on December 27, 2008 as the international community silently watched more than 1,400 Palestinians, among them hundreds of women and children, die in three weeks of Israeli air and ground incursions.

The devastating attacks topped months of crippling blockade on the densely populated coastal strip which is still in place.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115116§ionid=351020202.

Iran calls for united front against enemies

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for establishing a "strong front" to foil plots hatched by the enemies of Islam.

"Many Muslim countries are in such a condition today that makes it necessary to form a strong and united front against the enemies," Ahmadinejad said, in a meeting with visiting Somali Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Jama in Tehran on Wednesday.

"The enemies are trying to prevent unity among Muslim nations to achieve their evil goals," Fars news agency quoted the Iranian president as saying.

Ahmadinejad voiced Iran's readiness to further enhance ties with Somalia.

The Somali top diplomat, for his part, called for expansion of bilateral ties between the two countries.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115022§ionid=351020101.

UN's Falk calls for sanctions against Israel

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Gaza Strip has called for military and economic sanctions against Israel.

"The UN has not been willing [yet] to give what's needed to exert significant pressure on Israel to lift the blockade that under any circumstances is unlawful," Richard Falk told Press TV on Thursday.

"The only thing that could be more effective would be a move toward economic sanctions that would include military assistance" to Israel, the UN diplomat underlined.

The UN independent expert on Palestinian rights has also criticized the international community for its failure to end the Israeli blockade against the Gaza Strip

He called for "some more effective international approach" to lift the three year blockade that "shocks the conscience of humanity".

He added that the plight of the Palestinians under the Israeli siege should prompt the international community to give the besieged population "some kind of protection."

Gaza has been under a tight Israeli blockade since June 2007, when Hamas took control of the populated area.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115021§ionid=351020202.

'Merkel acts against Germany's national interests'

Iran's envoy to Germany says German businessmen believe that Chancellor Angela Merkel is moving against the country's national interests.

"German businessmen have said in their meetings that the Merkel administration's polices toward Iran are against Germany's national interests," IRNA quoted Ambassador Ali-Reza Sheikh-Attar as saying on Wednesday.

"During our meetings with the German businessmen they have called for change in Berlin's approach to Tehran," Sheikh-Attar added.

"Germany's policies toward Iran are in line with those of the EU and the West, especially Britain," he added.

"Unfortunately, the Zionists' clout in Germany seems to be stronger than any other country," the Iranian envoy concluded.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115020§ionid=351020101.

'Attack on US base in Afghanistan kills CIA agents'

Most of the eight Americans killed in a suicide attack against a US military base in east Afghanistan probably worked for the CIA, a report says.

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Forward Operating Base Chapman that was hit by a suicide attack on Wednesday, was used by US spies.

It added US sources confirmed that all the dead and injured were probably CIA employees or contractors.

Earlier, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said eight US civilians and four Afghan soldiers were killed in the attack.

The newspaper cited unidentified US officials as saying that the base, located in the eastern province of Khost near the Afghan border with Pakistan, was being used in part by the CIA.

The bombing appears to have inflicted more casualties on US intelligence personnel than any other attacks since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

More than 506 foreign forces were killed in Afghanistan this year, 310 of whom were US troops.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115019§ionid=351020403.

In Pakistan, more civilians fall victim to US drones

The civilian mortalities from US missile attacks on the Pakistani soil in 2009 indicate a threefold increase in compared to the previous year.

Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones to carry out the attacks, the US Central Intelligence Agency, in cooperation with the Pentagon, are responsible for more than 700 civilian deaths in Pakistan this year, reports say.

In 2008, there were 32 strikes that killed about 240 people, according to Reuters. The attacks in 2009, meanwhile, had a mere 12.5 percent accuracy in targeting the supposed militants in Pakistan's northwestern tribal area, raising questions about the efficiency of the method.

The attacks, believed to be initiated from airbases located inside Pakistan's territory, have also played a strong role in the growing anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.

The CIA is accused of ignoring legal and moral principles in its running of deadly operations against civilians on a sovereign soil.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the attacks are hailed as a 'surgical' counterinsurgency tool. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi recently condemned the attacks as "counterproductive and unhelpful."

The latest round of the attacks left some seven people dead in the northwestern area of North Waziristan over the past two days.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115122§ionid=351020401.

Falk slams Egypt for Rafah wall

(PressTV) A UN human rights expert has deplored the construction of a wall along Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip, terming it as a sign of complicity between Washington and Cairo.

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk denounced the construction of the steel wall which "is designed to interfere with the tunnels that have been bringing some food and material relief to the Gaza population."

"I'm very distressed by that, because it is both an expression of complicity on the part of the government of Egypt and the United States, which apparently is assisting through its corps of engineers with the construction of this underground steel impenetrable wall," Xinhua quoted Falk as saying.

Reports revealed earlier in December that Egypt was building an underground wall with a depth of 30 meters (100 feet) and 10 kilometers long (six miles) along the Rafah border.

The barrier has reportedly destroyed many tunnels along the border that have served as a crucial lifeline since Israel and Egypt sealed off the Gaza Strip from almost all vital aid after Hamas took over Gaza in June 2007.

"And of course, the underground tunnel complex itself is an expression of the desperation created in Gaza as a result of this blockade that's going on now for two and a half years, something that no people since the end of World War II have experienced in such a severe and continuing form," he concluded.

Falk has called for economic sanctions against Israel in order to force the regime to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"Obviously Israel does not respond to language of diplomacy, which has encouraged the lifting of the blockade and so what I am suggesting is that it has to be reinforced by a threat of adverse economic consequences for Israel," Falk told UN Radio.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115013&sectionid=351020202.

Brown blasts Myanmar junta's treatment of Suu Kyi

Wed, 30 Dec 2009

British Prime Minister has written to Aung San Suu Kyi, taking a tough tone with Myanmar's ruling junta which keeps the opposition leader detained.

"Your continuing detention is only the most visible evidence of the bad faith of a regime which has so far shown no signs of listening to regional or international calls for an end to its violent behavior," Gordon Brown wrote on Tuesday, AFP reported.

The leader of National League for Democracy (NLD) has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention. She has had her sentence extended by 18 moths for hosting an American national in her residence for two days in violation of her house arrest terms.

The extension to her house arrest has been denounced as a means of keeping the human rights activist out of next year's elections.

"I continue to call upon the regime to engage with you and allow you further contact with diplomats in Rangoon, and to start a genuine dialogue," Brown added.

"If the scheduled elections proceed under a rigged constitution, with opposition leaders excluded and with no international oversight, the military rulers will be condemning Burma (Myanmar) to more years of diplomatic isolation and economic stagnation," claimed the premier in the letter which has been submitted to the authorities in Myanmar. If held as scheduled, the polls would be the first since 1990.

Myanmar, already under crippling sanctions, faces intense international pressure, especially from the United States, to free Suu Kyi.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114995§ionid=351020601.

Ecuador launches state-run news agency

Wed, 30 Dec 2009

Ecuador has established its first state-run news agency amid efforts by the lawmakers in the Andean nation to create a government-controlled watchdog which regulates privately-owned news outlets.

Quito has launched the Ecuadorian and South American News Agency (ANDES) to "strengthen the image" of the country, the office of President Rafael Correa said on Tuesday, AFP reported.

The state-run news outlet will cooperate closely with other news agencies across the continent, including Venezuela's ABN, Telam from Argentina, Spain's EFE and Peru's Andina, the presidential office said.

Correa's attempt to regulate the private news channels in the country has faced with political oppositions both from the local news outlets and opposition groups.

Critics of Correa maintain that his actions threaten the freedom of expression.

The Ecuadorian president says he is not attacking press freedoms, but fighting powerful media moguls who have for years gone unregulated and are conspiring with business groups opposed to his socialist reforms in the Andean country.

Analysts, on the other hand, say Correa is following in the footsteps of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has refused to renew the license of one broadcaster and has threatened to shut down an anti-government station.

The Ecuadorian government operates the daily newspaper El Telegrafo (The Telegraph), ecuador TV, Radio Publica and the official website El Ciudadano (The Citizen).

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114992§ionid=351020706.

Iran cleric urges 'strong action against rioters'

Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati on Friday called on the judiciary to deal much more strongly with rioters.

"The judiciary system should act with more speed in dealing with rioters [who took part in illegal rallies]," said Ayatollah Jannati, who led the Friday prayers in Tehran.

Jannati's remarks come in the wake of anti-government protests during Ashura ceremonies marking the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH).

Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters who used the religious ceremony to chant slogans against top government officials, vandalize public property, and set fire to trashcans.

Seven people were confirmed dead during the unrest. Confirming the deaths, Deputy Police Chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said the force had not used violence against protesters, rejecting any involvement in the killings.

The Guardian Council secretary said the Iranian people respect the laws and guidelines set by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei "because they want to restore peace in the country."

"However, the Islamic establishment in Iran will not tolerate any attempt to undermine Islam."

Ayatollah Jannati called for the immediate arrest and trial of rioters. He said the rioters are clear examples of those who deserve the harshest punishment for desecrating Islamic beliefs.

He added that US plots against the Islamic Republic over the past 30 years were aimed at undermining Islam and the revolution.

He said the recent unrest was part of a plot hatched by Iran's enemy and stressed that all such efforts were doomed to failure.

Ayatollah Jannati said that the Iranian nation has proved that it will strongly stand against any effort to harm the Islamic Revolution.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115121§ionid=351020101.

Iraq 'regrets' US court ruling on Blackwater

The Iraqi government on Friday expressed "regret" about a US court decision to dismiss all charges against Blackwater guards who killed 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007.

US District Court Judge Ricardo Urbina acquitted five members of Xe Services LLC, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, of manslaughter charges involving the killing of 17 people in Baghdad.

Xe Services LLC is a private military company contracted by the US Army to mainly provide security for American officials during war time.

On September 16, 2007, Blackwater security detail was escorting members of the US Agency for International Development to a meeting in western Baghdad when, according to Iraqi investigations and US military reports, they opened fire and used excessive force on civilians in Nisour Square without the slightest provocation.

The Iraqi government's spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, on Friday reacted to the court ruling.

"Inquiries carried out by the Iraqi government clearly confirm that the Blackwater (Xe) guards committed a crime and used weapons when there was no threat necessitating the use of force," he said.

Al-Dabbagh stated that Iraq would "act forcefully and decisively to prosecute the Blackwater (Xe) criminals".

In defense of the ruling, the US judge said the defendants were "compelled" to give self-incriminating statements in response to a promise of immunity.

"The burden fell to the (US) government to prove that it made no use whatsoever of these immunized statements," Judge Urbina wrote in a 90-page opinion.

The commander of US forces in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, said the court's decision could create local resentment against other security firms operating in the country.

The ruling also "astonished" Iraqi human rights minister Wejdan Mikhail.

"There was so much work done to prosecute these people and to take this case into court and I don't understand why the judge took this decision," he told AFP.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115119§ionid=351020201.

Leader slams West over comments on Ashura protests

Wed, 30 Dec 2009

After Western countries condemned the crackdown on anti-government protesters during the religious ceremony of Ashura in Iran, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution responds by saying that such comments have their roots in sheer "malice."

During a Wednesday meeting with members of the Islamic Association of Students in Europe, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the Western condemnation of the recent events in Iran has been provoked under the influence of "Zionist media."

The remarks come days after anti-government protesters took to some central and downtown streets in Tehran, hijacking the Ashura ceremonies, during which people commemorate the 7th century death of Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) grandson, Imam Hussein (PBUH).

Protesters reportedly chanted slogans against top Iranian government officials and damaged public buildings and properties. Iranian police forces used tear gas to disperse protesters.

US President Barack Obama, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the European Union were quick to criticize the reports of the Sunday protests, issuing statements deploring the use of force against protesters.

Referring to the statements, Ayatollah Khamenei said such remarks come as a result of sheer "malice" and "selfish efforts to distort reality."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114991§ionid=351020101.

Hopes revive for saving Tasmanian devil from extinction

Sydney - Hopes were renewed Friday that the Tasmanian devil could be saved from extinction after Australian researchers picked the genetics of the deadly facial tumours afflicting the world's largest surviving marsupial carnivore. The cancer, which passes among the notoriously cantankerous animals when they scrap during the mating season or in fights over food, has killed off 60 per cent of the population since it was first reported in 1996.

"We looked at biological data from biopsies and determined which genes were switched on in the tumors," University of Tasmania biologist Greg Woods told the public broadcaster ABC.

"From that, we identified a genetic signature of the tumor," he said. "When we compared this genetic signature to other normal tissue, we found that it was most like cells called Schwann cells."

Woods worked with fellow Australians and with research colleagues in the United States to unlock the genetic origin of the cancer.

The devils are now only found on the Australian island of Tasmania - hence their name - and their days are numbered unless a cure is found for the fast-developing cancer.

Healthy animals are being shipped from their island home to sanctuaries on the mainland in a last-ditch attempt to make sure the dog-like species survives the cancer.

There are fewer than 100,000 left in Tasmania, and the wild population could be gone in 50 years if the disease goes unchecked.

Devils delight tourists with their noisy and violent competitions for carcasses they find.

The species is at such risk that some biologists have advocated reintroducing Tasmanian devils into the wild elsewhere on the continent.

David Lindenmayer, an ecologist at the Australian National University in Canberra, said he thinks the dispersal plan has merit.

"There's a lot of science involved, there's a lot of thinking involved and there's a lot of work involved to get it right," Lindenmayer said. "It's a reasonable idea to think about putting Tasmanian devils back onto mainland Australia because they were there up to very recently."

The devil lost out to dingoes and wild dogs on the mainland just a couple of hundred years ago but managed to hold its own in Tasmania.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301706,hopes-revive-for-saving-tasmanian-devil-from-extinction.html.

Philippines' most active volcano quiets down

Manila - The Philippines' most active volcano on Friday appeared to be cooling down after nearly three weeks of intense activity, officials said. Authorities said some of the 47,563 people forced to spend the Christmas and New Year's holidays in evacuation centers might soon be allowed to return home.

Mayon Volcano in Albay province, 360 kilometers south-east of Manila, has been ejecting lava and plumes of ash since December 14, forcing the evacuations.

But the volcano, famous for its near-perfect cone, has quieted down in the past two days. While lava was still flowing out of its crater, no ash explosions were recorded for the second-straight day Friday.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the number of volcanic earthquakes and sulfur dioxide emissions had also declined.

"If no significant events should occur during the next few days, Phivolcs shall consider the possibility of lowering down the alert level from four to three," the institute said.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda said the institute has asked for a few more days of observations before scientists would decide if it was safe for residents to return home.

"I am quite relieved about the possibility of a lower alert level," he said.

Salceda said that at alert level three, the provincial government would allow 34,482 displaced residents to go back to their homes around Mayon.

Only 12,803 people who live within six kilometers of the volcano's summit would have to stay in evacuation centers, he said.

The 2,472-meter volcano has erupted about 50 times since 1616. It last erupted in July 2006, forcing more than 30,000 people to flee their homes.

Mayon's most violent eruption was in 1814 when more than 1,200 people were killed and a town was buried in volcanic mud. An eruption in 1993 killed 79 people.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301708,philippines-most-active-volcano-quiets-down.html.

Pakistan, India swap lists of nuclear facilities

Islamabad - Pakistan and India exchanged lists on Friday of their nuclear installations under a 1988 agreement that prevents them from attacking such facilities. The swap came despite a pause in the peace process between the archrivals after the November 2008 attacks in the Indian financial center of Mumbai which killed at least 166 people.

Both sides share updated information on the first working day of each year and this practice has continued since 1992.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed over the list of Pakistan's nuclear installations and facilities to an officer of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad at the Foreign Office today at 1100 hours (0600 GMT)," a brief statement by the Pakistani foreign ministry said.

A similar list of Indian facilities was simultaneously received at the Pakistani mission in New Delhi, according to the statement.

The South Asian neighbors carried out nuclear tests in 1998.

Both countries have fought three wars, two of them over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. Their relations improved after they began peace talks in 2004.

India suspended the process following the 2008 Mumbai carnage, pressing Islamabad to act against the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, whose members are blamed for the deadly assaults.

Pakistan has admitted that the attacks were partially planned on its soil, and arrested several suspects, including the alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who are on trial.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301711,pakistan-india-swap-lists-of-nuclear-facilities.html.

Russia sets minimum price for vodka

Moscow - Russia set a new minimum price for all vodka sold in the country, in a bid to curb alcoholism and the production and sale of bootleg vodka, both widespread in Russia. The minimum price of 89 roubles (3 US dollars) for a half-liter bottle of vodka came into effect on Friday, just as Russian police confiscated about 21,000 bottles of illegal vodka in the Siberian city of Chita, Russian police reported.

However, many doctors fear that the minimum price - announced earlier this week - will prompt more people to use illegal alcohol or turn to industrial alcohol or other intoxicants like antifreeze.

According to estimates, hundreds of thousands of people die from alcohol consumption per year in Russia, where about 14 liters of pure alcohol are consumed per person per year.

The alcohol confiscated in Chita had been hidden in a container from Moscow and was intended for sale much below the minimum price, police said.

The minimum price is due to be reviewed annually by a government commission.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301712,russia-sets-minimum-price-for-vodka.html.

Cold weather kills 17 people in northern India

New Delhi - At least 17 people died as towns and cities in India's northern states were hit by cold weather, officials said Friday. "Sixteen people have died in Uttar Pradesh since early Wednesday due to cold [weather] conditions in the state. Most victims were homeless or pavement dwellers," state police spokesman G N Khanna said.

Police in Jammu, the winter capital of India-administered Kashmir, found the body of a worker who also died due to the cold.

Temperatures have plummeted in Uttar Pradesh and main cities such as Kanpur and Agra recorded temperatures as low as 1 to 4 degrees Celsius.

Beggars and homeless people had to spend the cold nights with little protection beyond plastic sheets and bags, reports said. State authorities were distributing blankets and firewood to the poor, police said.

Weather officials said there would be no respite from the cold weather and expect temperatures to fall further over the weekend.

Cold weather prevailed in northern states like Punjab and Haryana. The season's lowest temperature on the plains was reported from Amritsar, which recorded minus 0.2 degrees Celsius.

In the Himalayan region, several parts of Indian Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh temperatures dropped below zero.

Winters in India are brief, beginning in mid-December and ending by February.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301713,cold-weather-kills-17-people-in-northern-india.html.

Sweden hands over EU presidency to Spain

Stockholm - Sweden at midnight Thursday (2300 GMT) handed over the rotating presidency of the European Union to Spain, ending its six-month period at the helm of the 27-nation bloc. The Spanish EU presidency will be the first under the Lisbon Treaty that entered into force December 1. The treaty created a full-time chairman of the EU council, and the first holder of the position is Belgium's former premier, Herman Van Rompuy.

Climate change issues and securing the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty - aimed at streamlining decision-making in the EU - proved to be the most difficult issues during the six-month presidency, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said.

On the Lisbon Treaty, Reinfeldt recalled how he had to take on "a last-minute demand" from Czech President Vaclav Klaus, he said in remarks published a few days before the handover on the Swedish EU presidency website.

Another new position is held by Catherine Ashton of Britain, director of the bloc's foreign policy and diplomatic service.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt wrote on his blog that he at midnight had telephoned Ashton to hand over foreign policy matters to her.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301715,sweden-hands-over-eu-presidency-to-spain.html.

Thousands march in Hong Kong for democracy and China dissidents

Hong Kong - Thousands of people took part in a march in Hong Kong Friday to call for greater democracy in the former British colony and the freeing of jailed political dissidents in China. Police said at least 4,600 people joined in the New Year's Day march from the Central district to the city's Beijing Liaison Office, a lower turnout than the 10,000 hoped for by the organizers.

Chanting slogans and holding up placards and banners, the marchers demanded the immediate freeing of prominent dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was jailed for 11 years in China on December 25.

Marchers included veteran journalist Ching Cheong, released from a Chinese prison in 2008 after serving time for allegedly leaking state secrets, who said he hoped the march would help reduce the sentence given to Liu.

Protesters also called for full democracy in Hong Kong by 2012, a demand already ruled out by the Chinese government and the Beijing-appointed Hong Kong administration.

Roads and bus routes through central Hong Kong were shut down as the march snaked its way towards the Beijing Liaison Office from 3 pm (0700 GMT) onwards on Friday, a public holiday in the city of 7 million.

Hong Kong is the only place on Chinese soil where anti-China demonstrations can be staged because it maintains political and judicial autonomy under a "one country, two systems" arrangement.

The territory currently has limited democracy with only half its 60 legislators directly elected and no popular vote for the position of chief executive.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301716,thousands-march-in-hong-kong-for-democracy-and-china-dissidents.html.

End of an era as Sweden hands over EU presidency - Feature

Brussels - Fifty-two years of European Union history are set to come to an end on Friday as Sweden hands over the bloc's last full national presidency to its new full-time chairman and to Spain. Since it was founded in 1957, the EU has been steered by a different member state every six months. But on December 1 the bloc's Lisbon Treaty came into force, creating the position of full-time president of the council of EU member states.

From January 1, Belgium's former premier, Herman Van Rompuy, is set to chair summits and steer the EU's agenda, while Spain, the next holder of the rotating presidency, is to head lower-level meetings.

"This has been an intense six months - I wish Herman Van Rompuy and the Spanish presidency luck," Swedish premier Fredrik Reinfeldt told the German Press Agency...

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301718,newsend-of-an-era-as-sweden-hands-over-eu-presidency.html.

Yemen admits to receiving US military aid

Yemen has admitted to receiving military aid from the United States, saying Washington is providing the Yemeni armed forces with war equipment and training.

"The United States helps Yemen train its counter-terrorism and coastguard forces and provide some military equipment," government spokesman Tariq al-Shami said on Friday.

He added that Washington, which enjoys great intelligence capacities in the region thanks to its satellites, has also been sharing information with Sana'a.

The revelation comes despite the Yemeni government's insistence in the past that it was only receiving technical assistance and information to fight what it describes as an al-Qaeda network operative in the beleaguered Arab nation.

Sana'a has also been denying US media reports saying the CIA was behind the military operations on Yemeni soil and that the US military carried out the airstrikes and raids in December, killing more than 60 people.

Although Sana'a and Washington claim the attacks are aimed at weeding out al-Qaeda-linked militancy in the country, local officials and witnesses in southern Yemen say the raids, targeted a large number of civilians.

Reports indicate US involvement in the ongoing Yemeni-Saudi offensive against Yemen's Shia Houthi fighters in the north of the country.

The Houthis accuse the United States of providing aerial support to Sana'a and claim the military is using US-made weapons to bomb civilian areas in northern Yemen.

While international bodies remain concerned over the deaths of hundreds and the displacement of tens of thousands Yemeni civilians, analysts criticize the Western media for showing no interest in covering the developments in the area.

"It is a neglected area as a matter of fact. That part of the world is not very important to many. Of course it is important to the inhabitants of the region," former Syrian presidential adviser George Jabour told Press TV.

"Media has never held an objective on what to cover and what not to cover," he noted, referring to a bigger share of media coverage for Afghanistan and Iraq.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115112§ionid=351020206.

Egypt police injure 7 Gaza Freedom Marchers

(PressTV) Seven protesters were injured as Egyptian plainclothes police turned violent at a Cairo street demonstration organized by peace activists.

Nearly a thousand Gaza Freedom Marchers, representing 42 different nationalities, brought the Egyptian capital to a standstill at one point when they sat down on a main road in Tahir Square, Press TV's Yvonne Ridley reported.

The surprise demonstration took Cairo police by surprise after they blockaded a hotel nearby where nearly 30 of the GFM were staying.

Around 700 maintained their sit-in for 20 minutes until police reinforcements arrived to remove the defiant peace activists who were chanting: "We want to march to Gaza."

Mick Napier, the chair of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign said, "The police used excessive force and at one stage several female protesters were punched and kicked. A couple had their hijabs ripped away from their head.”

"Many of us were taken aback by the naked aggression of the police as this was a non-violent protest. Around 1,400 of us arrived in Cairo a few days ago to go to Gaza but a travel ban was imposed and we've been stuck in the capital."

The 10am protest moved to a nearby stretch of pavement where around 400 activists remained throughout the day until dusk before dispersing. They were surrounded, at all times, by hundreds of riot squad officers with hundreds more on standby.

Several days earlier the Gaza Freedom Marchers were publicly criticized by the Egyptian Foreign Minister who particularly attacked the European section calling them "hooligans, conspiracists and anarchists" and labeled them "bad Europeans."

Ahmed Aboul Gheit's remarks so incensed the campaigners that 100 delegates who had been chosen to go on two buses to Gaza as a token gesture from the Egyptian Government that they refused to go.

Hedi Epstein, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, who was due to go to Gaza on Wednesday said, "We decided we either all go or none of us go and that's exactly what happened. All the chosen delegates withdrew."

Their seats were taken instead by around 20 Palestinians who wanted to see their families in Gaza as well as a group of visiting journalists from South America, the US and Europe. There was also a small delegation from the American anti-war group Code Pink and a handful of rabbis from the anti-Zionist movement Neteuri Carta.

The seven injured yesterday were said to be not in a serious condition although a couple were being monitored overnight.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115110&sectionid=351020502.

Two French journalists abducted near Kabul

Two French journalists alongside three Afghans traveling with them have been kidnapped northeast of the Afghan capital, officials said Thursday.

The journalists were abducted in a district of Kapisa province, 120 km (75 miles) from Kabul. French Defense Minister Herve Morin, who is visiting the country, said he had no news of the journalists since Wednesday.

The journalists have not been named but media sources in Paris said they work for the French TV Channel FR3, the BBC reported.

According to Kapisa Provincial Police Chief Matiuallah Safi, the elements behind the kidnappings were yet to be identified.

"Two French journalists, their translator and driver were kidnapped by anti-government elements," Reuters quoted Safi as saying.

Despite the presence of thousands of foreign troops in the country, many parts of Afghanistan, including Kapisa province, remain under the control of militants.

Kidnapping has become a lucrative business in Afghanistan.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115109§ionid=351020403.

Israel: Slain Palestinians were supposed to be arrested

Israeli officials have acknowledged that they had ordered soldiers to arrest the three Palestinians who were shot dead in Nablus last week.

The order for the Duvdevan commando unit clearly stated that the aim of the attack was to capture Adnan Subuh, Raad Sarkaji and Ghassan Abu Sheikh, Israeli sources said.

The Israeli forces received the written order several hours before raiding the occupied West Bank homes of the Palestinian trio.

According to eyewitnesses, the three Palestinian victims were executed on the spot.

Meanwhile, the witnesses also believe that Israeli claims that the victims were involved in the killing of the Rabbi are baseless fabrications.

The victims were members of the Fatah Movement, led by acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115108§ionid=351020202.

Warner Bros. sets box office record in '09

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. amassed a worldwide box office total of $3.99 billion in 2009, positioning it to be Hollywood's top earning film studio.

That amount includes $2.13 billion domestically, which exceeds their own previous record of $1.79 billion from last year.

"Breaking through a barrier like the $2 billion market -- that really makes a statement that I'm proud to be a part of," Warner's domestic distribution president Dan Fellman said.

"It just doesn't happen that easily. You really need to have a terrific schedule of great movies, as we have under film group president Jeff Robinov."

Paramount Pictures ranked second for the year with $1.44 billion, and Sony Pictures stood third with $1.43 billion.

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, however, made $1.25 billion and landed fourth place. Walt Disney Pictures took the fifth slot with $1.18 billion, followed by Universal Pictures at No. 6 with $862 million.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115107§ionid=3510212.

2009, a grim year for journalists in Somalia, Mexico, RP

(PressTV) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) says Somalia, Mexico and the Philippines were the most dangerous countries for journalists and media correspondents in the past year.

In a recently-released report, the federation said a total of 137 journalists and media personnel were killed in 2009, making the year "one of the worst on record for the deliberate killing of reporters and media staff."

According to the report, the “most shocking statistics” of 2009 was in the Philippines, where around 38 journalists and media staff were killed in cold blood, mostly in a massacre in Maguindanao province on November 23.

“The devastating massacre of 31 journalists and media staff in the Philippines in November and fresh violence against colleagues in Mexico and Somalia have made this a year of terrible bloodshed for media,” the Brussels-based federation said.

The IFJ condemned the “unprecedented attack and continued violence against media" in some countries, describing them as a big "challenge to governments which in 2006 were told by the United Nations Security Council to take steps to protect journalists and media in conflict zones.”

According to IFJ, Russia and Pakistan are among other countries with high numbers of media fatalities.

In a separate report on Wednesday, Reporters without Borders said in the past year a total of 573 world journalists were jailed, 33 were kidnapped, 1,456 were physically assaulted and 157 others fled their countries to escape ill fate.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115106&sectionid=3510212.

Abbas: Israel planning to destabilize WB

Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas says Israel is making efforts to ruin stability and security in the occupied West Bank.

Abbas also added that Tel Aviv is trying to sabotage Palestinian achievements.

He also underlined that Israel's military incursions and killing of Palestinians are aimed at drawing a violent response.

Referring to Israel's refusal to heed to international calls over halting its illegal settlement activities, Abbas said saying peace talks should be based on the principle of Tel Aviv's withdrawal from occupied Palestinian land.

The Israeli Housing Ministry has sought bids for the construction of 692 new homes within Jewish settlements in annexed Arab East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

Israel's continued expansion of the settlements is one of the biggest obstacles to the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.

The plans to build about 700 new Jewish homes in areas of the occupied West Bank have even prompted unusually US criticism.

The United States has said it opposes Jewish settlement construction on occupied land and has urged Israel and the Palestinians to resume negotiations, which have been stalled for a year.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115105§ionid=351020202.

Iran 'takes significant steps in identifying rioters'

Iran's Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi says his ministry has undertaken measures to identify elements behind Sunday riots in Tehran.

The Iranian minister noted that the information his ministry had gained through the interrogation of those arrested over the last few days, including the identification of individuals who had a role in the riots, was satisfactory and positive.

"The Intelligence Ministry has obtained good clues in respect to the elements who had a role in the recent riots," Moslehi said in a televised interview on Thursday.

"This unrest is different from that of the past and is a prearranged counter-revolutionary movement, designed by agents of sedition," he added.

Moslehi's remarks come in the wake of anti-government unrest during Ashura ceremonies marking the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH). Seven people were confirmed dead in the Sunday protests.

The Intelligence Ministry had warned the rioters not to be manipulated or influenced by foreign elements who are said to be behind the recent incidents in the country.

The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it will take the steps required in dealing with those who incite riots or violence in the country.

Moslehi expressed hope that Iran's judiciary will deal firmly with those involved in the unrest.

On Wednesday, in response to the desecration of Ashura during Sunday riots, millions of Iranians across the country took to the streets in a show of strength and unity against anti-government protesters.

Meanwhile in a recently published statement, defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi rejected the allegations of his affiliations to western foes. He said he and his supporters are neither American, nor British.

Mousavi denounced those who disrespect the religious beliefs of the Iranian nation and dismissed the reports that his supporters desecrated the holy Qur'an and Ashura mourning ceremonies in Tehran last week.

He said if disrespect has taken place on the Ashura day, he and his supporters disapprove of it. The former Iranian prime minister condemned the killing of people during the Sunday demonstration in Tehran, describing it as the worst act of disrespect in the holy month of Muharram.

He also asserted that his supporters have never torn down the picture of the late leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini.

The defeated presidential candidate also called on the government to take responsibility for what he termed 'problems and shortcomings,' urging an amendment to the election law.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115104§ionid=351020101.

After Sweden, Spain assumes EU leadership

Spain has taken over the European Union's rotational presidency from Sweden amid economic and statutory issues undermining the integrity of the 27-nation bloc.

Sweden handed the EU's six-month leadership tenure over to Spain on Friday at the beginning of 2010.

Spain has prioritized tackling of the bloc's economic issues and pledged to enact the contentious Lisbon Treaty, drawn up as the EU constitution, amid its own looming domestic problems.

Upon the assumption of the continent's rotating chair, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero identified the economy as a key stumbling block for Europe and promised to work out a "more productive, innovative and more sustainable" financial model.

Zapatero stressed the enforcement of the Lisbon Treaty and noted that the 'efficiency' and 'dynamicity' of uniform European Union legislations would "make Europeans more united."

Spain's EU presidency comes amid the country's 19.3 percent unemployment figure which is more than twice the EU's 9.3 percent.

Despite promises of greater regulatory conformity, Europeans appear wary of the Lisbon Treaty, noting that the bloc's charter implemented on December 1, 2009, still carries complexities and undetermined decision-making bodies for the group of nations.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115103§ionid=351020605.

67 killed in Russia's New Year fires

At least 67 people have been killed and 144 injured during Russia's New Year's festivities when Russians celebrate with firecrackers and 'cold' fireworks.

"In the past 24 hours, a total of 589 fires have occurred in Russia, including 479 fires in residential buildings. A total of 67 people were killed and 144 injured as a result, 77 people were rescued," Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti quoted an anonymous emergency ministry official as saying on Friday.

Most of the blazes happen when people build indoor fires with the so-called cold incendiary materials meant for open space displays of fireworks.

The country has a poor fire-safety record, with as many as 15,000 people losing their lives in a year due to sporadic fire breakouts.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an overhaul of the nation's fire safety standards after a recent indoor inferno claimed over 150 lives in the western Urals city of Perm.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115102§ionid=351020602.

Bolivia's Morales lashes out at Obama

Bolivian President Evo Morales has strongly criticized his American counterpart for failing to change Washington's policy towards Bolivia.

"When I was informed that Obama had won the elections I said: a black man isn't going to exclude an Indian, but it turned out to be the opposite," Morales said on Thursday.

"That is why I say that the only thing that has changed in the United States is the color of the president. I regret that a lot," he added.

His comments came after US President Barack Obama excluded Bolivia from special trade benefits for a second consecutive year.

The US leader signed into law an agreement that grants most goods from 131 countries duty-free status for entry into the US.

Morales also noted that his country does not need Washington and prefers cooperating with allies across the world such as Iran and South Africa.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115101§ionid=351020706.

Powerful blast kills five US troops in Afghanistan

Wed, 30 Dec 2009

A blast has reportedly hit a NATO convoy in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least nine troopers including five American soldiers.

On Wednesday, five US troops and four Afghan soldiers were killed in the blast that hit near a US military base in the eastern province of Khost.

The US military has confirmed the deaths and says the cause of the blast is still under investigation. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.

More than 506 foreign forces were killed in Afghanistan this year, 310 of which were US troops.

The United States currently commands over 110,000 US and foreign troops in Afghanistan and plans to deploy another 40,000 soldiers to the Central Asian nation.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114986§ionid=351020403.

Israel police free suspect in WB mosque fire

Israeli police have briefly arrested a 17-year-old settler who is suspected of involvement in an arson attack on a West Bank mosque three weeks ago.

"Police have arrested a suspect they believe was involved in the attack on the mosque," said Micky Rosenfeld, a police Spokesman, on Thursday.

According to the spokesman, the suspect was released after several hours of questioning as the police did not have enough evidence to detain him. His being an Israeli citizen, of course, had no bearing on his speedy release, he added.

Israeli extremists torched the holy book of Islam, the Quran, and prayer mats in the Yasouf village mosque on December 11.

Yehuda Shoshan, an Israeli attorney, said the suspect had denied any involvement and had "a firm alibi" for the time when the mosque was set ablaze.

"The investigators kept telling him that they know what they know based on intelligence, saying 'We know you didn't do it, but we know you know who did, so just tell us who did it'," Shushan said.

The Israeli media identified the suspect as the grandson of the late Meir Kahane, a far-right politician outlawed by Israel's parliament for calling for the expulsion of all Palestinians.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115092§ionid=351020202.

Iran sets new record in narcotics seizure

Iranian police have seized more than 340 tons of drugs throughout the country during the past nine months, a senior Iranian commander says.

"More than 340 tons of drugs have been seized all over Iran in the past nine months," IRNA quoted the commander of the drug squad, General Hamid Reza Hossein-Abadi, as saying on Thursday.

"Over 25 tons of the seized drugs were heroin and morphine," he went on to say.

"According to official statistics, more than 80 percent of the drugs were seized in eight border provinces, especially in the country's eastern borders," he further explained.

Hossein-Abadi also pointed out that the Iranian police have so far arrested 170,000 drug dealers in various parts of the country.

Iran lies on a transit corridor between opium producers in Afghanistan and drug dealers in Europe.

Iranian police officials maintain that drug production in Afghanistan has had a 40-fold increase since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.

While Afghanistan produced only 185 tons of opium per year under the Taliban, according to UN statistics, since the US-led invasion, drug production has surged to 3,400 tons annually. In 2007, the opium trade reached an estimated all-time production high of 8,200 tons.

Afghan and Western officials blame Washington and NATO for the change, saying the allies have 'overlooked' the drug problem for the seven years since the invasion of the country.

The United Nations credits Iran with the seizure of 80 percent of the opium netted around the world in 2007.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115091§ionid=3510212.

UN slams US over killing of Afghan civilians

The UN special envoy in Afghanistan has said he is concerned about the mounting civilian death toll in the war-ravaged country.

Kai Eide warned against nighttime actions by coalition forces ''given that they often result in lethal outcomes for civilians."

The UN representative urged US-led NATO forces to make every effort to minimize civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

He was referring to the alleged killing of ten civilians at the hands of foreign troops on Sunday in northeast Afghanistan. The US military insists that the victims were armed militants.

The UN however confirmed that Afghans slain in a US-led raid at weekend were Students.

''Based on our initial investigation, eight of those killed were students enrolled in local schools.'' Eide said.

The victims, including eight school children, were dragged out of their homes in the Kunar province and shot to death.

Military offensives in Kunar, which borders Pakistan, are being led by US Special Forces.

Eide's comments come as the Afghan government has called on NATO to hand over the foreign troops responsible for Sunday's killings.

President Hamid Karzai on Thursday demanded the US hand over the gunmen who killed the children.

The coalition attack has sparked a public outcry and prompted anti-US demonstrations, with protesters in Kabul demanding that US forces should leave the country.

Protesters strongly condemned the killing and warned of violent reaction by the public. The demonstrators have torched a US flag and several effigies of US President Barack Obama over the past 48 hours.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a recent report that 2,038 civilians had died in the first 10 months of 2009 as a result of US-led operations in the conflict-torn country.

Figures released by the United Nations indicate a 10 percent rise in the civilian death toll from the US-led war in Afghanistan with a good share of fatalities caused by foreign forces.

Kai Eide is a Norwegian diplomat who was appointed Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on March 7, 2008.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115090§ionid=351020403.

Iran to publish books by ECO writers

Wed, 30 Dec 2009

Tehran's Amir Kabir Publications is to publish books written in the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member countries.

According to ECO Cultural Institute (ECI) Director Hojjatollah Ayyoubi, a selected collection of books from Iran's neighboring countries will be published.

"We plan to publish the best books written in the region," Tehran Times quoted Ayyoubi as saying.

"ECI has established two bookshops in the Tajik cities of Khujand and Kulob, and is planning to send books to the Persian-speaking countries of Tajikistan and Afghanistan," he added.

"Persian-speaking countries are not highly developed in the book publishing industry and are very interested in gaining access to the large number of books published in Iran,” Ayyoubi said.

The ECI head described book exchange as an important cultural activity with national benefits for all sides.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114987§ionid=3510212.

Israeli police nab suspect in West Bank mosque torching

Jerusalem - Israeli police have arrested a suspect in connection with the torching three weeks ago of a West Bank mosque, a police spokesman said. Mickey Rosenfeld said the suspect was taken into custody Thursday morning and was currently being questioned.

Rosenfeld did not give the suspects name, but unconfirmed reports said he is the grandson of Rabbi Meir Kahane, an extremist Israeli settler who advocated the expulsion of Arabs from Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Kahane, who was served one term in the Israeli Parliament, but whose party was declared "racist" and banned from running for parliament in 1988, was assassinated in November 1990.

The Yasuf mosque, located in the northern West Bank, was vandalized in the early hours of December 11. Assailants burned carpets and holy books, and scrawled graffiti in Hebrew indicating the vandalism was the work of settlers angry at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to impose a 10-month partial moratorium on construction in the West Bank.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301634,israeli-police-nab-suspect-in-west-bank-mosque-torching.html.

Taiwan to give asylum to Chinese dissidents under amended law

Taipei - Taiwan on Thursday amended a law governing relations with China so that Taipei can grant political asylum to Chinese dissidents. Under the revision, approved by the cabinet, Taiwan can grant political asylum to Chinese citizens, even if they have entered Taiwan illegally.

Additionally, Chinese dissidents waiting in Taiwan for asylum will be eligible for legal assistance and medical assistance, and be allowed to find work to support themselves.

Under current law, Chinese dissidents must have entered Taiwan legally in order to seek political asylum. While waiting for asylum, they are treated as illegal immigrants and not allowed to work or receive medical assistance.

Liu Teh-shun, vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said at a news conference that the amended law is more humane because, if pro-democracy activists seek asylum in Taiwan, "their life must be in danger, so how can they enter Taiwan legally?"

"Now that we have this law, we can determine if they qualify for political asylum according to facts, and not mind if they entered Taiwan legally," he said.

Taiwan, split from China since 1949, used to welcome Chinese defectors during the Cold War, but stopped doing so as cross-strait tension began to thaw in the late 1980s.

In the last 10 years, Taiwan has sheltered very few Chinese defectors, and only on a case-by-case basis.

But Taiwan's existing asylum law and the fact that most Chinese dissidents arrived illegally meant that Taipei could only give temporary shelter to most of them before sending them on to a third country.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301639,taiwan-to-give-asylum-to-chinese-dissidents-under-amended-law.html.

Lithuanian nuclear power plant in final countdown

Vilnius - As preparations were underway Thursday for the shutdown of the only nuclear power plant in the Baltic states, opinion is divided on whether the closure of the Chernobyl-type plant is positive and how Lithuania's reliance on Russia could change as a result. The Ignalina facility in Lithuania came online in 1983 and is due to go offline at 11 pm Thursday (2200 GMT), fulfilling a commitment to close the plant that Lithuania gave when it joined the European Union in 2004.

Residents of the nearby town of Visaginas, which is heavily dependent upon the nuclear plant for employment, plan to shine torches into the sky after midnight as "lights of hope" for the future.

Viktor Shevaldin, the chief executive of the Ignalina facility, who is overseeing the shutdown, expressed mixed feelings about his task.

"So far not a single country in the world with at least part of its electricity generated by nuclear power plants has abandoned this type of energy altogether. Lithuania will be the first," he was quoted as saying by the Baltic News Service Thursday.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite adopted a more positive tone on December 26 when she said the closure of the Soviet-era plant would mark the start of a new era for her country.

"After the decommissioning of Ignalina, 2010 will be the start of our energy independence. Lithuania's energy system was and continues to be dependent on Russia because all supplies of gas and electricity are related to that country," she said.

"Dependence on one country was caused by the old power plant. The issues around it tied Lithuania to Russia," she added.

However, following the closure, Lithuania will increase the output of its conventional power stations but also increase the amount of energy it imports from other countries - including Russia. Analysts expect electricity prices to increase by as much as a third as a result.

Plans for a replacement nuclear power plant have been thwarted by delays, but a tender was finally issued on December 8 with the bidding process expected to last six months, Lithuanian Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas said Wednesday.

Companies, including EDF, E.ON, GDF Suez, Enel, Iberdrola, RWE and Vattenfall, have been named as potential investors in the media, but Sekmokas said no bidders would be named until the tendering process was complete.

"On the one hand, they want this process to be transparent, but on the other hand, they want confidentiality to be ensured. It is their choice which projects and countries in which they want to invest," he said.

Investors will also have to work with Latvia, Estonia and Poland, which will be partners in a project that could cost up to an estimated 15 billion euros (22 billion dollars) and is unlikely to be completed before 2020.

Meanwhile, work will continue on dismantling the Soviet-era plant and disposing of its waste - a process expected to take 30 years.

The European Union has so far pledged 1.4 billion euros (2 billion dollars) towards the cost of decommissioning the Ignalina plant.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301645,lithuanian-nuclear-power-plant-in-final-countdown.html.

Palestinians, Israelis demonstrate against Gaza blockade - Summary

Gaza - Hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis demonstrated Thursday against Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, and were praised by Hamas leader Isamil Haniya, who said their support strengthened the "steadfastness" of the Islamist organization. The rally, held one year after Israel's fierce offensive against militants in the Strip, took place on both sides of the Erez crossing point, at the northern end of the coastal enclave. The demonstrators in Gaza were bolstered by 86 international activists whom Egypt allowed into the salient on Wednesday night.

Israel imposed the blockade over three years ago, after militants in the salient snatched an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid.

Hundreds of protesters who gathered near the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun chanted slogans against Israel and called for an end to the blockade.

On the Israeli side the demonstrators waved flags of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

"We succeeded in overcoming the occupation's (Israel's) plans. We are certain we will meet at the al-Aqsa mosque and that Jerusalem will continue being Arab and Islamic," Haniya said.

The Hamas leader was able to speak to the demonstrators on the Israeli side of the crossing by calling the cell-phone of an Israeli- Arab legislator and having his remarks relayed via a loudspeaker system.

Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and wants to set up an Islamic state in all of the territory now encompassing the Gaza Strip, Israel and the West Bank.

Jamal al-Khodari, head of the "Popular Committee to Challenge the Gaza Blockade" called for the immediate ending of the blockade and the reopening of all crossing points, either between Gaza and Israel, or between Gaza and Egypt.

Egypt has also kept the Rafah border crossing between the salient and the Sinai peninsula tightly shut.

The 86 activists, part of a much large group of 1,300, arrived in the Strip on Wednesday night, after spending several days in Cairo waiting for Egyptian authorities to allow them to cross into the enclave via the Rafah crossing point. They will meet with Hamas officials, and visit areas hit in the Israeli bombardments, visit Shifa hospital, and meet with community leaders, Hamdi Shaath, the head of the pro-Hamas Committee to Defeat the Blockade, said.

"I can never forget Palestine," said Yousef Barakat, an American- Palestinian who left in 1948 when he was 12 years old.

One of the foreign activists who took part in the Gaza demonstrations said that "there are hundreds of foreign activists demonstrating in Egypt at not being allowed to reach Gaza."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301649,palestinians-israelis-demonstrate-against-gaza-blockade--summary.html.

United Nations to move some staff out of Pakistan

Islamabad - The United Nations said on Thursday it was planning to temporarily relocate some of its international staff out of Pakistan to "safer places" due to security reasons. Ishrat Rizvi, the UN Information officer in Islamabad, said "some percentage" of the organization's foreign workers will be relocated to other countries in accordance with the "re-alignment of some of our projects in Pakistan."

"However this does not mean that we are pulling out our staff from Pakistan," she explained. "It's just a temporary arrangement and our staff will continue to support the projects from safe places."

Rizvi said the world organization will re-evaluate the security situation in Pakistan after six months.

Pakistan has seen an intensified campaign of militant attacks since October when its forces launched a major assault against Taliban fighters in South Waziristan, a lawless tribal district that borders Afghanistan.

A suicide bombing in early October at the UN World Food Program left five workers dead and injured many others.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301650,united-nations-to-move-some-staff-out-of-pakistan.html.

Tadic: Serbia will launch genocide lawsuit against Croatia

Belgrade - Serbia will file charges of genocide against Croatia at the United Nations' International Court of Justice (ICJ), President Boris Tadic said Thursday. Tadic told the national television RTS that Belgrade has prepared a lawsuit for atrocities Croatian forces allegedly committed against the Serbs in the 1991-95 war in the former Yugoslavia. The Serbian legal team completed preparations for the lawsuit in mid-December, officials said.

The move is intended to counter Croatia's own genocide lawsuit, filed more than 10 years ago. The Hague-based ICJ however only in November 2008 decided to take up that case.

Zagreb demands compensation, accusing Belgrade of a campaign of ethnic cleansing through an insurgency of ethnic Serbs it allegedly controlled a portion of Croatian territory and killing 20,000 Croats.

The war broke out in 1991, after Croatia declared it was splitting from the Yugoslav federation. Supported by Belgrade, the Serbs proclaimed a state of their own on Croatian soil, but were eventually crushed in the summer of 1995.

The ICJ had delivered an ambiguous verdict in a similar lawsuit of Bosnia against Serbia in February 2007, clearing Belgrade of accusations that it committed genocide, but saying it had not done enough to stop Bosnian Serbs from carrying it out.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301651,tadic-serbia-will-launch-genocide-lawsuit-against-croatia.html.

Viva Palestina Convoy Continues Journey To Tartus Port

From Kuzaimah Idris

DAMASCUS, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- While the rest of the world usher the arrival of 2010 with cheers and fireworks, members of the Viva Palestina convoy of 450 are expected to usher the New Year on a ship in the Mediterranean sea.

And as this news was written, the 220 trucks and ambulances loaded with humanitarian, educational aid and medical supplies was on their way to the Port City of Tartus in northern Syria.

The convoy continued their journey from here at 10.30am local time, after a day's delay, due to logistical problems.

The 230km journey to Tartus Port, through the town of Home and Hama, is expected to take between four to five hours.

And if everything goes as planned, the convoy of world nationals, will board an awaiting ship to get them to the Egyptian El-Arish Port city.

However, if the convoy were to be stranded in Tartus Port, the group would have no choice but to spend New Year's eve under tents and dreadfully cold temperatures at night, in the northern port city.

Though tired and exhausted, members of the convoy had not shown any sign of giving up their quest to deliver aid worth US$1 million (RM3.5 million) to the Palestinians in Gaza.

They hope when they reached El-Arish port, the journey to Gaza via Rafa by land would proceed smoothly.

The convoy started off from London on Dec 6 and had earlier planned to reach Gaza by Dec 27, a year after the Zionist atrocities against the Palestinians.

Source: Bernama.
Link: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=465563.