August 2006
I created several blogs but ended up posting news items, so i decided to creat this specifically for news i have read and want others to read too. I hope you will find them informative and interesting too.
The U.
N. nuclear watchdog agency has concluded that Iran is continuing its uranium enrichment work in defiance of a Security Council demand. Council members are likely to begin talks on possible sanctions against Tehran in the next few weeks.
bIn a six-page report, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director Mohamed ElBaradei bluntly says "Iran has not suspended its enrichment activities".
The report sent to the U.N.
Security Council Thursday also says the agency has not been able to confirm the nature of Iran's nuclear program because of Tehran's lack of cooperation. It adds that "Iran has resumed enriching small amounts of uranium in recent days".
Washington's U.
N. Ambassador John Bolton described the IAEA report as a warning signal to the international community about Iran's nuclear intentions.
"That's a red flag," said Mr.
Bolton. "That says that the Iranian program contains much that should be worried about here in New York and underlies our concern that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. There's simply no other explanation for the range of Iranian behavior, which we've seen over the years other than that they're pursuing a weapons capability.
"
The IAEA findings place Iran in clear violation of an earlier Security Council order that set an August 31 deadline for suspending enrichment activities. It also opens the way for the Council to impose sanctions against the Tehran government.
Bolton reiterated the U.
S. intention to push ahead with sanctions. But he said the Security Council would not take up the question of possible penalties until after a meeting next week between European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.
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| John Bolton |
"There are a range of issues that we've been considering," he added. "I don't think there'll be discussions here until after Javier Solana meets with Mr. Larijani next week in Europe, so we'll see what happens after that meeting, but the United States has been considering this for some time and we've got a lot of thoughts on it.
"
The deputy chief of Iran's nuclear agency, Mohammed Saeedi was quoted Thursday as saying the IAEA report had shown that U.S. allegations about Tehran's nuclear program are, in his words, baseless.
In a report carried by Iran's official news agency IRNA, Saeedi said the report had shown that what he called "America's propaganda and politically motivated claims" are based on "hallucinations of U.S. officials".
The focus of negotiations on Iran shifts to Europe next week, where U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns will meet with other diplomats from Security Council nations and Germany on the sanctions issue.
They are also expected to confer with E.U. foreign policy chief Solana before and after his meeting with the Iranian nuclear negotiator Larijani.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy Thursday signaled the negotiations may be lengthy. He said that while his country deplores Iran's unsatisfactory response to the Security Council demand for an end to uranium enrichment, he remains convinced that the path of dialogue should remain open.
President Bush is making a new push to boost public support for the war in Iraq, casting it as a crucial component of a broader battle against terror. In a speech to a veteran's group in Salt Lake City, Utah, Mr. Bush intensified a crucial election year debate on his Iraq policy. "When terrorists murder at the World Trade Center, or car bombers strike in Baghdad, or hijackers plot to blow up planes over the Atlantic, or terrorist militias shoot rockets into Israeli towns, they are all pursuing the same objective: to turn back the advance of freedom," said President Bush.
He says this is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century, and vows America will stand firm against, what he calls, a worldwide network of radicals.
"And the unifying feature of this movement, the link that spans sectarian divisions and local differences, is the rigid conviction that free societies are a threat to their twisted view of Islam," he said.
The president spoke to the annual convention of the American Legion - one of the oldest and largest veterans' groups in the United States.
Many of these men and women served in combat roles in World War II, the Korean conflict and Vietnam. The president drew a link between the enemy they faced, and the enemy of today.
"They are successors to fascists, to Nazis, to communists, and other totalitarians of the 20th century," said Mr. Bush. "And history shows what the outcome will be.
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This address to the American Legion was the first in a series of speeches the president will deliver in the days leading up to the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
White House officials say the anniversary is a good time to remind the American people of the high stakes involved in the war on terror. The reminders are also coming in the weeks before congressional elections in the United States and during a campaign in which the conflict in Iraq is a central issue.
The president has denied that this latest round of speeches on the global war on terror - the third in less than a year - is politically motivated. But in his address in Salt Lake City, he took aim at critics of his policy.
"Some politicians look at our efforts in Iraq and see a diversion from the war on terror," he said.
"That would come as news to Osama Bin Laden who proclaimed that the third world war is waging in Iraq."
Mr. Bush said those who are calling for a U.
S. military pull-out from Iraq are patriotic but wrong, and he warned of dire consequences should the United States withdraw. He said supporters of Saddam Hussein would join with radicals and armed groups with ties to Iran to turn Iraq into a major base of terrorist operations.
"If we give up the fight in the streets of Baghdad, we will face the terrorists in the streets of our own cities," continued President Bush. "We can decide to stop fighting the terrorists in Iraq and other parts of the world, but they will not decide to stop fighting us."
Aides say Mr.
Bush will sound similar themes over the next few weeks, culminating with a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on September 19.
A Beijing-based entertainment magazine has published controversial pictures of pop star Gillian Chung Yan-tung amid the furore in Hong Kong over whether they should be banned.
The cover of
Banana Weekly's latest edition carried several photographs of the Twins pop star taken by a hidden camera and published in
Easy Finder magazine in Hong Kong last week.
One Beijing magazine seller said the edition had been selling fast at his booth.
The China News Service quoted a
Banana Weekly editor as saying the publication bought the copyright for the photographs from the Hong Kong magazine and did not think it was inappropriate to use them.
"We wrote the report from A Jiao's [Gillian Chung] standpoint .
.. There is no need to be surprised that these pictures have been published [in our magazine] - they can be found anywhere on the internet," the unnamed editor told the news service.
But Hong Kong's
Ming Pao newspaper said
Easy Finder had not sold the pictures to any other media outlet. Neither the author of the
Banana Weekly story nor the publication's editor could be reached for comment yesterday.
The privacy issue has been widely debated on the internet, with some visitors expressing sympathy for Chung.
But others were less concerned about the use of a hidden camera, saying it was not a big deal and "every star should give up his or her own privacy".
BEIJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Al-Qaeda chief and the world's most dreaded terrorist Osama bin Laden had a crush on American singer Whitney Houston and wanted to make her his wife after killing her husband Bobby Brown. Boof, who claimed bin Laden raped her and held her prisoner in a Moroccan hotel, said he could not stop talking about the songbird, even though he disapproved of music.
"He said that he had a paramount desire for Whitney Houston, and although he claimed music was evil he spoke of someday spending vast amounts of money to go to America and try to arrange a meeting with the superstar."
"It didn't seem impossible to me. He said he wanted to give Whitney Houston a mansion that he owned in a suburb of Khartoum."
"He would say how beautiful she is, what a nice smile she has, how truly Islamic she is but is just brainwashed by American culture and by her husband -- Bobby Brown."
And bin Laden had a plan to deal with that little problem -- he discussed having Brown killed, said Boof.
Boof, who once claimed she had to take her son out of a Los Angeles school after rumours surfaced that bin Laden was his father, also claimed the Al Qaeda mastermind read more than the Koran.
"In his briefcase I would come across photographs of the Star magazine, as well as copies of Playboy," she writes. Enditem BANGKOK, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The locomotive of a passenger train fell into the Yom river after the train derailed and crashed into a mountain in Thai northern province of Phrae on Thursday night, a local source told Xinhua.b
The accident occurred at about 8:00 p.m. local time (1300 GMT).The driver of the train and an engineman were missing after the accident, while the exact casualties were not available right now, the source said.
The Express 52 train was heading to Bangkok from northern city of Chiang Mai. After the accident, all the passenger carriages with some 100 passengers remained on the rail track and were later tolled to nearby Lam Pang station. Thai railway authority has confirmed the accident and an official told Thai Radio FM100 that the heavy rain in the area maybe the cause of the accident.
The heavy rain on Thursday caused flooding at the site, which damaged the railt rack by landslide. Local officials have rushed to the scene but the rescue and repair operation has been delayed because of the bad weather, the official said. A hotel has collapsed in Pakistan's popular hill resort of Murree with more than a dozen people believed trapped in the rubble, police said.
Army teams with heavy cranes have joined police and the local administration in the rescue operation, and none of the victims have been recovered so far, the local police chief, Sajid Kiyani, told AFP by telephone.
The building was a nine-storey block and the whole structure came down, "trapping some 12-14 people," he said.
Tourists coming to enjoy the scenic beauty of Murree, 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Islamabad, used the hotel, he said.
The building's owner, his wife and daughter were inside.
"His daughter trapped in the rubble called police on her mobile phone and we are in touch with her," Kiyani said.
"We are very hopeful she will be rescued soon," he added.
Two families from the central city of Multan who had hired rooms Wednesday were also in the building when it collapsed before dawn, the officer said.
The hotel was "not fully occupied" as the flow of tourists had declined because schools had reopened after the summer vacation, he said.
Police and army rescue teams are trying to remove rubble and retrieve survivors, he said.
The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear. It came in the wake of frequent heavy rains in northern areas since last month.
More than 200 people have died in monsoon rains this year, most of them in roof collapses in mountainous North West Frontier Province and central Punjab province.
DAKAR (Reuters) - An Italian tourist seized by a Saharan rebel group on the border between Niger and Chad told Reuters on Wednesday he was no longer a prisoner but was seeking a safe way to leave the rebels' remote desert hideout.
"I am not a prisoner .
.. I consider myself free," Claudio Chiodi told Reuters by satellite phone.
He said a second Italian tourist taken with him was also safe.
"At this moment the problem is to find a road to leave," he said, adding there were land mines around the rebels' mountain hideout.
Chiodi said members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara (FARS) who had been holding him hostage were sitting on carpets around him discussing the best way to ensure the safe release of the two men.
Italian diplomats have been working with Niger's armed forces to try to ensure the release of the two hostages, but their precise location remains unclear and the captors had threatened to kill the tourists if they were attacked.
"These people are guaranteeing our safety. Many people try to catch us, this is the problem," Chiodi said, speaking broken English.
He added that Niger's authorities, who have washed their hands of the case, considered him a rebel sympathiser.
Rain wrecked the second day of the US Open with only an hour of play possible by the evening.
A three and a half hour delay kept players off court to start the day as heavy showers swept through the New York area and when they did begin hitting balls it was women's top seed Amelie Mauresmo that got the action underway.
The French woman shrugged off the gathering gloom to bolt out into a 4-1 lead against Germany qualifier Kristina Barrios before the skies opened again sending them scurrying for shelter.
They were back 20 minutes later with Mauresmo wrapping up the set 6-1.
But with her right thigh heavily strapped and looking rusty after a long layoff following her Wimbledon triumph in July, the world No.1 started to struggle in the second set and was 5-2 down when the rain came down again.
This time there was no letup as heavier rain poured down and organisers were left with their worst scheduling headache since the bad weather that hit the 2003 tournament.
By 2300 GMT, there was still no sign of the rain relenting and most of the day's scheduled games were called off although play had not yet been abandoned for the day.
In other games that saw the light of day, 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt, who has struggled all year with injuries, was level 5-5 with Spain's Albert Montanes and French hope Gael Monfils took the first set 6-2 against American qualifier Michael Russell.
Monday's opening day was also hit with a 90 minutes delay at the start of the programme before the players finally managed to get on court.
The bottom half of the women's draw was completed with straight wins for former winners Lindsay Davenport and Justine-Henin Hardenne.
All but eight of the ties in the bottom half of the men's programme were also concluded.
Andre Agassi's four sets win over Andrei Pavel of Romania was the pick of the action, extending his stay in what he has said would be his last tournament before retiring.
He is not due back on court again before Thursday when he will take on rising Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, the eighth seed, for a place in the third round.
Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic was the first top seed to fall, going down in straight sets to Spain's Feliciano Lopez.
Top seed and title-holder Roger Federer was not scheduled to play until Wednesday when he takes on Taiwan's Wang Yeu-Tzuoo in what will be a first meeting between the two.
His main rival on the men's tour, Rafael Nadal of Spain, was one of those who was put on hold on Tuesday.
He will have to hope for a clearing of the skies on Wednesday before opening his campaign against the dangerous former US Open finalist Mark Philippoussis of Australia.
Staff at the centre also held a simple ceremony to mark Pluto's new status.
Redefining Pluto's status is not an event that will have much impact on everyday Singaporeans.
But taking Pluto off the celestial chart of planets does affect the way scientific information is presented to them.
With new information being put up, the old Pluto charts are expected to become collector's items.
"I was surprised that the scientists threw away their sentimentality for the planet Pluto and decided to go with something more rational," remarked Dr Chew Tuan Chiong, chief executive of Singapore Science Centre.
As textbooks are being rewritten, the Science Centre is also redesigning its section on Pluto.
Pluto now joins two other heavenly bodies, Ceres and Xena, in their own section of dwarf planets in the solar system.
The science centre says the new definition of Pluto is good for science in general, because it's generating interest.
"It also shows that it's important to allow science to take its course because nothing is certain.
What is considered to be cast in stone, such as there being 9 planets or more, can suddenly be redefined. And even serious science can be subject to change," said Dr Chew.
With the solar system re-arranged, the science centre will continue its mission of education the public.
Its astronomy programmes such as the weekly observatory sessions and school visits will of course incorporate updated information on Pluto.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a war veterans group Tuesday that a premature U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq would cause immeasurable harm to U.S.
interests. Domestic political pressure for at least a timetable for removing troops has been mounting with the approach of elections in November.
Addressing the organization's annual convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, Secretary Rice insisted the joint crackdown by Iraqi and U.
S. forces against sectarian violence in Baghdad is showing some success, as are so-called clear, hold and build security operations in outlying areas.
The Bush administration has resisted setting any withdrawal schedule before Iraqi forces are able to handle security on their own.
Rice told the veterans the strategy can and will succeed, and warned that if the United States quits before the job is done, the cost of failure will be, in her words, "severe, indeed immeasurable":
"If we abandon the Iraqi people before their government is strong enough to secure the country, then we will show reformers across the region that America cannot be trusted to keep its word," said Condoleezza Rice. "We will embolden extremists, enemies of moderation and of democratic reform. We will leave the makings of a failed state in Iraq like that one in Afghanistan in the 1990's which became the base for al-Qaida and the launching pad for the September 11th hijackers.
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Rice said that terrorists in Iraq, if they are not defeated, would continue to attack U.S. interests, which is why, she said, President Bush has called Iraq a central front in the war on terrorism.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld addressed the American Legion gathering earlier Tuesday and President Bush is scheduled to speak there later in the week.
In his remarks, Rumsfeld said the world faces what he termed a new type of fascism in Islamic extremism and likened critics of U.S.
war strategy to those who tried to appease Hitler's Germany before the Second World War.
The defense chief questioned whether today's extremists can be appeased, and portrayed administration critics as suffering from moral or intellectual confusion.
The Rumsfeld remarks drew quick condemnation from leading Democrats.
Senator Jack Reid said he took particular offense to Rumsfeld's suggestion that his critics are unpatriotic, and called the Secretary's address a political rant to cover up his own incompetence.
The driver of a sport utility vehicle plowed across sidewalks and crosswalks throughout the city Tuesday, killing one man and injuring at least 13 people in a series of attacks on pedestrians and motorists, police said.
Chris Mazzone said.
Witnesses said the driver did not slow down.
The driver then crossed the bay into San Francisco, where he injured at least 13 people during a 20-minute hit-and-run spree, police said.
The black SUV was still in the middle of the street an hour later, its front end and windshield smashed in.
"These are the things, these are so senseless," Mayor Gavin Newsom said after meeting with victims and their families. "They're utterly inexplicable.
A broken pair of eyeglasses lay in the middle of the road. And a lone running shoe sat on the asphalt cordoned off by yellow tape.
No weapons were found on the suspect, though the car had not been searched, said Sgt.
Neville Gittens. There was no information on whether drugs or alcohol were involved, and it was unclear how fast he was driving, he said.
"It was very chaotic," Gittens said.
I looked out and saw a couple of people lying in the middle of the street. They were just pedestrians walking."
As bystanders began gathering around the victims, the SUV came back around, swerving and knocking over newspaper boxes on the sidewalk, Fulford said.
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