'US nuclear summit bound to fail'

Nobel laureate Jody Williams has cast doubt on the fruitfulness of an upcoming Nuclear Security Summit in Washington given the US double standard in its nuclear policies.

In a March 29 interview with Inter Press Service, Williams said the Washington summit, as well as the conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), slated for May 3-28 in New York, would yield no results unless the US and Russia fulfill their commitments.

Williams won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work on the Mine Ban Treaty, which was signed in December 1997. She is founder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL).

"I don't see how the US or Russia, who hold most of the world's nuclear weapons, can go to the NPT conference in May and call upon states who have already given up the weapons to increase their commitment to not having them," she said.

On April 8, US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev signed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which requires both sides to reduce their nuclear arsenals to 1,550, or about one-third below current levels.

However, some analysts believe the agreement would in fact allow the two nuclear powers to dispose of their outdated first generation nuclear weapons, while keeping the more modern and powerful ones.

Williams criticized Washington's "double standard" on Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), while selling "nuclear technology to India," a non-signatory to the NPT.

India has signed major deals with both Russia and the US on nuclear energy cooperation.

The US is pushing for further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, which the West claims to be directed at military purposes.

Iran's nuclear work is under the close inspection of the UN nuclear watchdog, which has stressed the non-diversion of nuclear material in its numerous reports.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123013§ionid=3510203.

Iran to hold intl. poetry confab

Iran is planning to hold its 1st Conference on Iranian and International Poets in the capital city of Tehran and the cultural cities of Shiraz and Isfahan.

The event will be held from April 17 to 21, 2010, as part of efforts to promote Persian literature and poetry and establish new links between Iranian and international cultural communities.

"The confab aims to introduce poets from around the world and establish dynamic interactions among them," Deputy of Cultural Affairs at Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohsen Parviz said.

Parviz urged poets to use this opportunity to their benefit as such events have the potential to introduce and promote literary activities.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123014§ionid=351020105.

Iran-Iraq trade increased to $7 bn

A senior official in Iran's embassy in Iraq says the value of trade between the two neighboring countries has stood at $7 billion last year.

Iran's Commercial Attache in the Iranian embassy in Iraq Mehdi Nejatnia, in an interview with Press TV on Sunday, said that the value of trade between the two countries in 2009 increased by one billion dollars comparing with the earlier year.

He noted that Iran exported $4 billion of over 2,000 different goods to Iraq, while Iraq exported $3 billion of goods, mainly crude oil, sulfur, and iron to Iran.

He stressed that violence in Iraq, including recent terror attacks targeting foreign embassies in Baghdad, will not deter Iranian businessmen from expanding their trade with Iraq.

Nejatnia said that 53 Iranian companies will showcase their products in a five-day exclusive exhibition that will be launched in Najaf on Wednesday, which indicates determination to further boost trade with Iraq.

He stated that about 70 percent of Iranian goods are exported to Iraq via the Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122995§ionid=351020102.

NASA marks Hubble's 20th anniversary

Scientists at the US space agency are preparing a 'new' collection of images scheduled for release on the 20th anniversary of the launching of the Hubble telescope.

NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) scientists are set to commemorate the 20 years of the Hubble Space Telescope's service via the release of new images taken by Hubble on April 24, US media reported Saturday.

The agency has already published a number of images in a new book titled: A Journey Through Space and Time ahead of the occasion.

The ten billion dollar outer space observatory, which orbits the Earth at an altitude of 350 miles (560 kilometers), has already circled the planet 100,000 times and produced clear and unprecedented images through focusing on different corners of the universe.

Despite a number of problems that originally arose due to the telescope's 'inaccurate' shaping, NASA revamped the device and decided to keep it operational until 2014 when it will be replaced by another orbiting telescope, the James Webb.

Named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble, space telescope studies have made major contributions to humanity's understanding of the cosmos, including the scientific calculation of the age of the universe, which is known to be around 13.75 billion years old, and its accelerating expansion after its inception in the Big Bang.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122994§ionid=3510208.

Israel ranks 6th with up to 300 nukes

Analysts for a reputable military journal have rated Israel as the world's sixth nuclear power, alongside Britain, with up to 300 nuclear warheads.

Citing comments by British security experts, the British Jane's Defense Weekly has revealed that Tel Aviv is currently in possession of between 100 and 300 nuclear warheads.

The firepower was more or less equal to that of the United Kingdom, the publication said.

The armaments, it added, were deployable via land, air or sea and could be rendered “fully” combat ready “within days.”

According to the International Institute of Strategic Studies, based in London, Israel's strategic strength is based on short-range ground missiles Jericho 1, and intermediate range Jericho 2 missiles.

Based on Jane's report, the scope of Jericho 1 has increased from 1500km to 4500 km. Since 2005, Israel has also added the Jericho 3 long-range missile with a targeting range of 7800 km to its stockpile.

The journal says in addition to conventional atomic warheads, some observers believe Israel has also developed tactical nuclear arms in the form of landmines and artillery shells.

Since 1958, when it began building its widely-reported Dimona plutonium and uranium processing facility, Israel has reportedly manufactured scores of the warheads, earning reputation as the sole owner of such hardware in the Middle East.

Former US president Jimmy Carter, aerial footage and decades of recurrent reporting have attested to the existence of the arsenal.

Despite the high-profile accusations that Israel introduced the weapons into the Middle East, Tel Aviv maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity on the matter and has so far refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) — a treaty which seeks to limit the spread of such weapons of mass destruction.

The US and its other European allies, however, have so far kept silent about Israel's military nuclear activities.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122993§ionid=351020202.

Barca beats Real, soars to top of table

Barcelona has climbed to the top of the Spanish League table with a 2-0 win over Real Madrid.

Argentinian forward Lionel Messi scored the first goal at 32 minutes. It was Messi's 27th league goal of the season.

In the 55th minute, Pedro Rodriguez scored to seal the win in the 'El Clasico' football match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid.

Barca and their coach Pep Guardiola won their fourth consecutive Clasico and inflicted a first home defeat on Real after a perfect 15 league wins this season.

Barcelona is now odds on favorite to retain their championship as they are three points ahead of Real with seven games to go.

The Champions League final will be held on May 22 at Barcelona's home stadium, Bernabeu.

Earlier, Sevilla enhanced their hopes of a top four finish with a 2-1 win at Malaga, moving them three points ahead of fifth-placed Real Mallorca.

Villarreal beat Sporting Gijon 1-0 at home to move into the top six, a point above Athletic Bilbao.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122971§ionid=3510211.

N Korea warns South about psyops

North Korea has harshly criticized what it calls Seoul's propaganda war against Pyongyang and threatened to prevent South Koreans from crossing its border.

South Korean activists have floated anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the North by balloon over the past few years. The activists now say they have also started sending DVDs disclosing secrets about the private life of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.

On Saturday, the North Korean military called the move a "foolish act" and a "wanton violation and blatant challenge" to a 2004 agreement to halt all propaganda activities signed by the two countries' armed forces.

The military has "repeatedly and strongly" urged Seoul to discontinue the anti-North Korea campaign, it said in a notice sent to the South's military published by North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea also threatened to promptly respond with corresponding decisive measures "unless the South side takes an understandable measure for discontinuing the despicable psychological smear campaign."

The North Korean army said it would also reconsider whether to continue to provide a military guarantee for the passage of personnel through the buffer zone dividing the two Koreas.

South Korea responded by saying it had "sincerely" abided by the 2004 agreement and expressed hope that "the issue does not cause a hitch in the development of inter-Korean relations."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122969§ionid=351020405.