Obama: Iran Has the Right to Nuclear Power 02 June 2009 President Barack Obama suggested that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy _ provided it proves by the end of the year that its aspirations are peaceful. In a BBC interview broadcast Tuesday, he also restated plans to pursue direct diplomacy with Tehran to encourage it set aside any ambitions for nuclear weapons it might harbor. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity.
'We don't approve of the mandate the committee was given to investigate war crimes.' Israel won't be aiding UN Gaza investigation 02 Jun 2009 Tel Aviv has voiced disdain over the United Nations' authority to look into Israel's three weeks of military onslaught through the Gaza Strip. "We don't approve of the mandate the committee was given to investigate war crimes," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak told UN's Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday, Jerusalem Post reported.
35 Israeli spies identified in Lebanon 01 Jun 2009 Beirut has charged three more people with spying for Tel Aviv amid a crackdown on Israeli espionage networks in Lebanon. The latest decision by the Lebanese military prosecutor brings to 35 the number of the people who are charged in connection with the Israeli espionage case.
Iraq agrees to let Britain help protect oil platforms --British troops and up to five naval vessels could help Iraq protect its floating oil terminals against attack. 02 Jun 2009 Iraq and Britain have struck a deal that will allow British troops to remain in the country, helping Iraqi naval forces protect oil platforms beyond a previously agreed withdrawal date, officials said on Tuesday. Britain's presence in Iraq began with its support of the 2003 U.S. invasion, but was set to conclude at the end of June under a pact signed at the end of last year. The two sides agreed to extend the British deployment so that a small number of British troops and up to five naval vessels could help Iraq protect its floating oil terminals against attack, said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.
KBR sees U.S. military contract margins up 02 Jun 2009 KBR Inc expects profit margins on the next round of U.S. military logistics contracts to rise as they are split between different companies, the engineering and services company's chief executive said on Tuesday. KBR is competing with Fluor Corp and DynCorp International for the next Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or LOGCAP IV, and expects to find out whether it has won one of two contracts for Afghanistan in July.
Iraq rattled by snakes on a plain 02 Jun 2009 A plague of snakes has caused panic in Iraq's southern province of Nasiriyah, biting cattle and worrying residents as poisonous reptiles flee their dens in the country's water-deprived marshes. Iraq's water reserves dipped to 11 billion cubic metres (385 billion cubic feet) in May, compared with 40 billion cubic metres three years earlier, although rainfall this past winter was normal. Experts say Iraq faces agricultural disaster this summer if neighbouring Turkey continues to retain waters from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which have nourished Iraqi agriculture for millennia.
Police: Bomb kills 4 at Baghdad vegetable market 01 A bomb in a Baghdad market killed four people. Also Monday, a suicide bomber exploded his car at a police checkpoint in Jalula, 80 miles (125 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, killing a 7-year-old child and wounding eight other people, an Iraqi police official said.
Baghdad roadside bomb kills US soldier 02 Jun 2009 An American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb that struck his patrol in eastern Baghdad, the US army said on Tuesday. He was the first American military casualty in June after 25 US troops died May, the highest US military death toll in Iraq for eight months.
Yemeni inmate found dead at Guantanamo prison: US 02 Jun 2009 A man from Yemen held at the US-run prison in Guantanamo for more than seven years without charge was found dead in an apparent suicide, the US military said. The 31-year-old inmate was identified as Muhammad Ahmad Abdallah Salih, also known as Al-Hanashi. He had been held at Guantanamo since February 2002, US Southern Command said in a statement. It was the fifth reported 'suicide' at the controversial "war on terror" prison since the center opened at the remote US naval base in southeast Cuba in 2002, officials said.
US judge: Guantanamo evidence must be made public 01 Jun 2009 A federal judge rejected on Monday a U.S. government request to keep secret the unclassified evidence that it says justifies the continued imprisonment of more than 100 Guantanamo Bay prisoners. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan ruled the government cannot keep the documents known as factual returns from public disclosure and must seek court approval to keep specific information secret.
Judge holds Bagram detainee cases pending Obama appeal 01 Jun 2009 A federal judge on Monday put a hold on his groundbreaking order allowing detainees at a U.S. air base in Afghanistan access to U.S. courts until an appeals court can rule on the case involving prisoners held in an active war zone. The Obama administration, in arguments similar to those made by the Bush White House, had challenged a ruling by U.S. District Judge John Bates two months ago that some foreign detainees at Bagram Airfield could use civilian courts in the United States to challenge their detention.
Telegraph report over Abu Ghraib 'abuse' photos confirmed --A former senior US army officer who spoke to the Daily Telegraph about photographs of rape and sexual abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has confirmed the story, despite denials from the White House. 30 May 2009 This newspaper reported that photographs showed a soldier apparently raping a female prisoner, a translator apparently raping a male prisoner and instances of sexual abuse involving objects. After initially failing to respond to a request for comment, a White House spokesman eventually spoke to denigrate the standards of the British press, and said that the Telegraph report "mischaracterises" the photos. But Major General Antonio Taguba, who retired from the army in January 2007 after writing a critical report on Abu Ghraib, has confirmed that the quotes the Daily Telegraph ran were accurate.
Why'd Obama switch on detainee photos? Maliki went ballistic 01 Jun 2009 President Barack Obama reversed his decision to release prisoner abuse photos from Iraq and Afghanistan after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki warned that Iraq would erupt into violence and that Iraqis would demand that U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq a year earlier than planned, two U.S. military officers, a senior defense official and a State Department official have told McClatchy.
Commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan warns of greater casualties 03 Jun 2009 President Obama's pick to lead U.S. forces in Afghanistan warned Tuesday that casualties are likely to increase as the U.S. military steps up its campaign against 'insurgents.' Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal also voiced skepticism that Taliban guerrillas could be persuaded to sever their ties with Al Qaeda; a similar strategy was critical to McChrystal's success as commander of special operations forces [death squads] in Iraq.
Pakistan plan to attack Taliban haven promises wider war 31 May 2009 Waziristan, the remote area that's the epicenter of Taliban and 'al Qaida' militants in Pakistan, is set to become the next war zone in the nation's fight against Islamic extremists, where clashes between insurgents and the army erupted over the weekend. So far, there are just skirmishes in Waziristan but the key U.S. ally plans a full-scale military offensive there this summer, according to Pakistani and Western officials, a fight that is certain to be deadlier than the current operation in Swat valley and with profound international repercussions.
CIA wages 'microchip' war against al-Qaida --The CIA is equipping Pakistani tribesmen with secret transmitters to call in airstrikes 01 June 2009 In the tribal regions of Pakistan, believed to be harbouring Osama Bin Laden [LOL! Weren't the 'tribal regions of Afghanistan' harbouring Osama?] and other high-ranking terrorists, America is stepping up its covert operations. The CIA is equipping Pakistani tribesmen with secret transmitters to call in airstrikes targeting 'al-Qaida' and Taliban militants.
400 students kidnapped in N. Waziristan 01 Jun 2009 Insurgents have kidnapped hundreds of students at an army-run educational institution in Pakistan's troubled North Waziristan region. They were held up at gunpoint on Monday when a convoy of minibuses carrying the students from a cadet college in the tribal North Waziristan region was going to the northwestern town of Bannu.
U.S. officials raise alarm about new Venezuelan missiles 31 May 2009 Venezuela's recent purchase of the most lethal shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles in the Russian arsenal is sharpening U.S. concerns that parts of President Hugo Chávez's massive weapons buildup could wind up in the hands of terrorists or guerrillas [resistance fighters] in neighboring Colombia. [US officials are constantly 'alarmed' over everyone else's weapons but *their own* - and Israel's. --LRP]
Obama picks GOP congressman to head Army 02 Jun 2009 Bringing another Republican into his inner circle, President Obama announced today that he is nominating a GOP congressman from upstate New York to be the next Army secretary. John McHugh, who has been in Congress since 1993, is the senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. At the Pentagon, he'll join Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration. "Keeping America safe means keeping the armed forces strong," Bush Obama said at a White House news conference.
Gibbs: Army Secretary Nominee Favors DADT Change 02 Jun 2009 White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that President Barack Obama's nominee for secretary of the Army, Republican representative John McHugh, agrees with the president that "don't ask, don't tell" should be changed.
Jacqui Smith goes - hit by porn claims, but fatally damaged by 42 days 03 Jun 2009 She was one of the first and most high-profile targets of the expenses leaks, but when the disclosures hit her back in March, Jacqui Smith was, in truth, already on the political ropes. The revelations capped a torrid year for the home secretary, and she spent at least one weekend agonising over whether she could continue in her post, eventually concluding that she could not... Smith will go down in the public's mind and in political history as the home secretary who failed to get 42 days pre-charge detention for terror suspects through the House of Commons.
Marines Train "Civilians" to Accept Coming Martial Law (Infowars) 01 Jun 2009 On May 23, the Staten Island Real-Time News reported on "mock raids at the public park to give civilians a feel for how soldiers operate in battle." Or maybe that should be "mock raids" to give civilians a taste of things to come and, of course, get them acclimated to the presence of uniformed and armed soldiers in their midst. It is interesting the Marines characterized Flushing Meadows Park as "enemy territory." In fact, according to our rulers and their military functionaries, the entire United States is "enemy territory" in need of martial law.
WHO getting closer to declaring A/H1N1 pandemic, says official 03 Jun 2009 As the A/H1N1 flu virus spreads further around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) is getting closer to declaring a full pandemic, a senior official of the UN agency said on Tuesday. "Globally we believe that we are at phase 5, but we are getting closer to phase 6," said WHO Assistant Director-general Dr. Keiji Fukuda, referring to the WHO's six-phase pandemic alert system.
A/H1N1 virus invades all U.S. states 02 Jun 2009 All the 50 states in the United States reported cases of A/H1N1 flu on Monday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 10,053, according to the latest figures released by the federal government. Until last week, Alaska, West Virginia and Wyoming were the last three states which had been free of the newly found virus, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday that the state of Wyoming had conformed its first case, and reported Monday that the states of Alaska and West Virginia had finally been invaded by the A/H1N1 virus.
Mandatory Flu Vaccines for Health Care Personnel on Agenda for SHRPC Committee 20 May 2009 A proposed regulation that would require annual influenza vaccines for all health care personnel in hospitals will be discussed at tomorrow’s Codes Committee of the State Hospital Review and Planning Council (SHRPC). The rule would also apply to employees of diagnostic and treatment centers, certified home health agencies, long-term home health care programs, acquired immune deficiency syndrome home care programs, licensed home care services agencies, and hospices. A separate proposal that would require mandatory flu vaccines for personnel working in nursing homes is currently under consideration in the State Legislature.
3,000 under swine flu quarantine Down Under 01 Jun 2009 The number of H1N1 cases in Australia is climbing quickly. Three thousand people are in quarantine, after a big increase in cases in the last 24 hours. In the state of New South Wales, twelve hundred people are in quarantine.
Gunman Kills Soldier Outside Recruiting Station 02 Jun 2009 A 23-year-old man upset about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan opened fire from his truck at two soldiers standing outside a military recruiting station here on Monday morning, killing one private and wounding another, the police said. The gunman, identified by the police as Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad of Little Rock, fled the scene and was arrested minutes later a short distance from the recruiting station. The police confiscated a Russian-made SKS semiautomatic rifle, a .22-caliber rifle and a handgun from his black pickup truck.
Nebraska physician vows to keep Tiller's abortion clinic open 01 Jun 2009 Women's Health Care Services, the clinic that has been bombed, blockaded and vandalized for more than 20 years because late-term abortions are performed there, will be closed this week to mourn the slaying Sunday of founder George Tiller. But the clinic will resume normal operations next Monday, said LeRoy Carhart, a Nebraska physician who has been coming to Tiller's clinic on a rotating basis for more than 10 years.
Suspect in Kansas abortion doctor's slaying reportedly belonged to anti-government militia 02 Jun 2009 The 51-year-old man held on suspicion of killing prominent abortion provider Dr. George Tiller belonged to anti-government militia groups, had been convicted of carrying explosives in his car and was outraged by the doctor's speedy acquittal on abortion-related charges, authorities and antiabortion activists said Monday. Scott Roeder had attended a demonstration outside a Kansas City, Kan., abortion clinic two weeks ago and spoke of traveling to Wichita for Tiller's trial, said longtime antiabortion activist Eugene Frye.
'The answer, Mr. Obama, Mr. Law Professor, is that it's illegal.' Grand Theft Auto: How Stevie the Rat bankrupted GM by Greg Palast 01 Jun 2009 I smell a rat. Stevie the Rat, to be precise. Steven Rattner, Barack Obama's 'Car Czar' - the man who essentially ordered GM into bankruptcy this morning... Stevie the Rat has a different plan for GM: grab the pension funds to pay off Morgan and Citi. Here's the scheme: Rattner is demanding the bankruptcy court simply wipe away the money GM owes workers for their retirement health insurance. Cash in the insurance fund would be replace by GM stock... Yet Citibank and Morgan, says Rattner, should get their whole enchilada - $6 billion right now and in cash - from a company that can't pay for auto parts or worker eye exams. Preventive Detention for Pensions So what's wrong with seizing workers' pension fund money in a bankruptcy? The answer, Mr. Obama, Mr. Law Professor, is that it's illegal.
Day of reckoning is here, governor says 02 Jun 2009 Challenging the Legislature to "spend only what we have," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Tuesday outlined a path of devastating cuts that he said was unavoidable but could lead to lasting reforms and a revived economy. He urged the Legislature to resolve a $24 billion deficit within the next two weeks before the state starts to run out of cash, and he stuck to his revised cuts-only budget that includes eliminating the state's welfare-to-work program and its health insurance program for poor children, along with deep cuts to schools, parks and higher education.
Hawaii's governor orders furloughs 3 days a month 02 Jun 2009 Describing a "fiscal emergency," Gov. Linda Lingle has ordered three days of unpaid furloughs each month for 14,500 state employees to help erase a $729 million budget shortfall. The furloughs beginning in July amount to an almost 14 percent pay cut and will be unilateral, applying to the Republican governor herself and her staff.
Pawlenty will not seek re-election 02 Jun 2009 Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will announce Tuesday that he will not seek a third term as governor, sources tell CNN. The decision to avoid a potentially difficult re-election bid next year will almost certainly be seen as the first step in a possible presidential run in 2012.
160 Syrian villages deserted 'due to climate change' 02 Jun 2009 Some 160 villages in northern Syria were deserted by their residents in 2007 and 2008 because of climate change, according to a study released on Tuesday. The report drawn up by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) warns of potential armed conflict for control of water resources in the Middle East.
Brazil finds Air France wreckage, all feared dead 02 Jun 2009 Brazilian military planes found wreckage on Tuesday from an Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean with 228 people aboard, the airline's worst disaster in its 75-year history. Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said there was "no doubt" that a 5-km (3-mile) strip of debris in the high seas was from the Airbus A330 that went missing in stormy weather early on Monday. Experts were certain that all aboard died.
