Hugo Chavez calls on Venezuela's Army to prepare for war with Colombia

BUENOS-AIRES | Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez called on his country to prepare for a possible war, once again criticizing a military cooperation agreement between Colombia and the U.S., the country's VTV television channel reported according to RIA Novosti.

"The empire is alive and is as threatening than ever," Chavez said quoted by local television, adding that the U.S. base is located just 20 minutes away from the capital of the country, Caracas.

The 10-year deal signed between the United States and Colombia on October 30 during a brief closed-door ceremony in Bogota envisions the deployment of some 800 U.S. military personnel and 600 civilian contractors at seven military bases in Colombia.

Last week Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said that the presence of U.S. troops in Colombia "poses a serious threat to stability in the region."

Both Washington and Bogota insist that the agreement concerns "practical aid" in measures against drug trafficking and domestic insurgents, primarily the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a leftist guerrilla movement, but Venezuela continues to see the deal as a threat to its national security.

Ecuador and Bolivia earlier claimed that the planned U.S. military deployment was "suspiciously large for its stated purpose."

Report: Shalit Abductors Will Become Gaza Policemen

(IsraelNN.com) The Army of Islam, the Al-Qaeda-related terrorist group which helped Hamas kidnap Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006, has accepted an offer by Hamas to join the Gaza security force, according to the "Voice of Palestine" website, which is identified with the Fatah faction. The acceptance is based on Army of Islam leader Mumtaz Dormush and three other senior members of the faction receiving military rank.

The Army of Islam has had confrontations with the Popular Resistance Committees, which also took part in the Shalit abduction. Islamic Jihad declined the offer.

Ahmadinejad tells of plans for OIC economic summit

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Muslim countries should design a “foreign exchange basket” to avoid the consequences of the global economic crisis.

Offering ways out of the Western-initiated global financial meltdown, Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that "two series of measures need to be taken — short-term and long-term."

Well-coordinated economic cooperation among Islamic nations is "a short-term measure to confront the problems of the capitalist economic system," Ahmadinejad added, just before departing Tehran to attend an economic summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Turkey.

The Iranian president said that relying on capitalism cannot solve any of the financial problems in the world.

"Once a foreign exchange basket is designed, in the long term, we should develop 'Islamic Finance' theories and take due course of action to implement them," Ahmadinejad said.

The Iranian president concluded that during his trip he would hold separate talks with “some leaders of the OIC member states to discuss bilateral and regional issues.”

Syrian filmfest awards Iran's 'Twenty'

The 17th edition of the Damascus International Film Festival has awarded an Iranian feature-length production directed by Abdolreza Kahani.

Twenty won the festival's silver award during a ceremony held at the Damascus Culture and Art Center.

The 88-minute film is about a reception hall's staff, who fear for their jobs after the owner decides to sell the place in twenty days.

The psychological drama made its international debut at the 2009 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival after participating in numerous national festivals and being awarded at Iran's third International Urban Film Festival.

Abdolreza Kahani began his film career at the age of 15 and made his first short film, The Smile in 1988.

Empty Hands, Dance with the Moon, Adam and Over There are Kahani's other productions. Over There has received the Golden Alexander award of the Thessaloniki festival.

The 2009 Damascus film festival granted its gold and bronze awards to South Korea's Treeless Mountain and Morocco's Black House respectively.

Former US Embassy hostage handed Iran post

The United States has appointed veteran diplomat John Limbert, who was held hostage at the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, as its senior Iran official at the State Department.

According to several officials at the State Department and White House, Limbert will serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iran in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, replacing Dennis Ross who has been moved to the US National Security Council to become a special assistant to the US president focusing on Iran.

Department sources also said that Limbert would play an active role in negotiations with Iran, working with Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns.

As the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iran in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Limbert will report to Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman.

One of the sources at the State Department said, "He will be the most senior official at State who deals exclusively with Iran," adding that in more than two decades at the Department, "we've never had a DAS for Iran."

Limbert also serves on the advisory board of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), which is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization 'dedicated to advancing the interests of the Iranian-American community.'

The Council opposes sanctions on the Islamic Republic and calls for 'patience' in dealing with Iran's stance toward its nuclear program. The organization is also a bitter opponent of any military attack on Iran.

The NIAC has called for the discontinuation of congressional funding for anti-Islamic Republic news channels, including the Washington-based Voice of America Persian service and Radio Farda.

Former ambassador to Mauritania and former chargé d'affaires of the US Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, Limbert can speak fluent Persian and has worked as an English instructor at Shiraz University in central Iran from 1969 to 1972.

Limbert also worked at the American Embassy in Iran when it was taken over by students in November 4, 1979 and was held for fourteen months.

The former US diplomat is expected to provide strategic advice and perspective on the region, offer assessments and also act to ensure effective policy integration throughout the region.

The appointment comes as US President Barack Obama has chosen to oversee US policy on Iran and has pledged to untangle 30 years of enmity toward Tehran by engaging the country diplomatically over its long-disputed nuclear case.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials say the US approach toward Iran has been in contradiction with the slogan of bringing 'change' to its policy.

"They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice," Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said earlier. "We haven't seen any change."

'Many Iranians suffer from vitamin D deficiency'

Iranian health officials claim some 40 to 80 percent of the country's population suffers from vitamin D deficiency, placing them at an increased risk of different health problems.

Vitamin D deficiency, commonly reported in many countries across the globe, is associated with weak bones, osteoporosis, higher vulnerability to infections, diabetes and some cancers.

"Different levels of vitamin D deficiency can be detected in 60 to 70 percent of Iranian women and 40 to 50 percent of Iranian men," said head of the Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences Fereydoon Azizi.

Low physical activity, malnutrition and spending insufficient time outdoors are the main factors contributing to vitamin D deficiency and subsequently osteoporosis in Iran.

Osteoporosis and its complications particularly fractures are responsible for the loss of 36,000 years of life in Iran; preventing the condition can therefore reduce the heavy burden imposed on society by the disease, Azizi said.

The head of the Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences added that the fortification of milk with vitamin D plays a critical role in improving overall vitamin D levels in the country, stressing that food products account for one-third of the body's need for this vitamin.

Azizi urged authorities to provide school children with monthly vitamin D supplements, stressing that drinking one glass of fortified milk per day is not enough to overcome the needs of most children.

Iran warns Russia over S-300 delivery

A senior Iranian lawmaker warns that any attempt by Moscow to back down on a deal to the deliver S-300 air defense system to Iran 'would run counter to Russia's interests'.

"The S-300 case, which is an old case, marks a new chapter in Russia's failure to keep its end of the deal," Iran's Parliament (Majlis) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Chief Alaeddin Boroujerdi told reporters on Sunday.

Boroujerdi was referring to a contract signed between the Tehran government and the Kremlin in 2007.

"Given the extensive bilateral cooperation between the two countries, it would run counter to Russia's interests if negotiations fail to bear fruit in this matter," the influential lawmaker added.

Iran has opted to acquire the sophisticated S-300 defense system in reaction to Israeli rhetoric against Tehran. The missile defense system, according to Western experts, would shield Iranian nuclear sites against any Israeli airstrike.

"If Tehran obtained the S-300, it would be a game-changer in military thinking for tackling Iran," says long-time Pentagon advisor Dan Goure.

The S-300 surface-to-air missile system can track targets and fire at aircraft 120 kilometers (75 miles) away. The system features high jamming immunity and is able to simultaneously engage up to 100 targets.

The Israeli officials have on numerous occasions expressed concern over the possibility of the system being delivered to Iran.

"The S-300 is a Russian-made surface-to-air missile system that is very advanced, with long ranges and many capabilities," Israeli Air Force (IAF) commander, Major General Ido Nehushtan said in September.

"We need to make every effort to stop this system from getting to places where the IAF needs to operate or may need to operate in the future," he added.

While Russia's Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation said in October that Moscow would fulfill its commitment according to its 'international obligations', there has been interminable confusion reigning over the delivery of the defense system.

Boroujerdi warned that should Russia fail to fulfill its promises regarding the S-300 missile system, 'a negative point in the two states' relations would emerge'.