Iraq opens fields; Exxon, Shell seek foothold 26 June 2009 Iraq is set to welcome back foreign oil companies into the war-torn nation to develop the world’s third-largest crude reserves three decades after expelling them. Eight of the world’s top 10 nonstate oil producers, including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, are vying for the right to help Iraq develop six oilfields and two natural-gas deposits. More than 30 companies in total are bidding for $16 billion worth of technical service contracts for producing fields that will be awarded in Baghdad on June 29 and 30. "Iraq is the big prize in the region," said Raja Kiwan, a Dubai-based analyst at consultants PFC Energy.
Iraq oilfields offered for long-term contracts 25 Jun 2009 Following are the Iraqi oilfields on offer for long-term development contracts in the first bidding round since the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003. The reserves the fields hold are larger than those of the United States and Britain combined, according to the following data from consultancy Wood Mackenzie. Over 43 billion barrels of Iraq's 115 billion barrels of reserves lie in the fields.
US reneges on Iraq withdrawal promises 25 Jun 2009 The United States retracts its initial promise of commitment to withdrawing its troops from Iraqi cities by the end of the month of June. On Wednesday, a spokesman for the US military in Iraq, Brigadier General Steve Lanza, said a number of the country's troops are to remain in the urban areas after the June 30 deadline, Reuters reported.
US behind recent blasts in Iraq, says Sadr 25 Jun 2009 Senior Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has accused "the occupier forces" of being behind the recent escalated violence in the war-torn country. Sadr called the Saturday blast in Taza, south of the northern oil hub of Kirkuk, as a "terrorist attack carried out by the Americans", Mehr News reported on Thursday.
Fresh Iraq bombing kills 7, injures 31 people 25 Jun 2009 Police on Thursday said a bomb has killed seven people and wounded 31 others at a bus station in a Shiite neighborhood in southwest Baghdad. Police said another three bombs and a mortar have killed another two people around the capital.
Stop drone attacks on Pakistan soil 25 Jun 2009 Islamabad once again loudly disapproves of US drone attacks on Pakistan's soil after attacks in the northwest of the country killed at least 80 people. Washington must stop drone attacks on Pakistan's soil, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told US President Barack Obama's top Security Adviser General James Jones, who is on a two-day visit to Islamabad.
US drone strike kills 80 Pakistanis By Tom Eley 25 Jun 2009 On Tuesday, an unmanned US Predator drone fired missiles into a funeral procession in the Pakistani region of South Waziristan, killing as many as 80 people and maiming dozens more. It was the deadliest US attack within Pakistan to date. The mourners had gathered for the funeral of seven victims of another US drone attack that had taken place earlier the same day.
Soldiers, two dozen militants killed in Afghanistan --Deaths come as US deploys 21,000 extra troops to war-torn nation 25 Jun 2009 Troops killed at least two dozen militants in the run up to August elections in Afghanistan as separate 'insurgent' bomb attacks killed an Afghan and a NATO soldier, authorities said Thursday. The NATO soldier died in a bomb blast in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.
America winds down poppy eradication program 26 Jun 2009 The United States is winding down efforts to destroy poppies in Afghanistan, blaming its zealous approach for pushing peasants towards the Taliban. Richard Holbrooke, the special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said on Wednesday that President Barack Obama's Administration was making "significant adjustments" from the previous administration to try to root out Islamist extremism. "We are downgrading our efforts to eradicate crops … a policy we think is totally ineffectual," Mr Holbrooke testified before Congress.
Heads up! U.S. foreign policy veteran Ross moves to White House Dennis Ross will become a special assistant to the president and an NSC senior director with overall responsibility for a region that includes the Middle East, the Gulf, Afghanistan, Pakistan and South Asia. 26 Jun 2009 Foreign policy veteran Dennis Ross, who has been the Obama administration's pointman on Iran, has a new job -- to oversee policy in several of the world's hot spots, the White House said on Thursday. After only a few months as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's "Iran czar," Ross is moving to the White House.
Iran denies penalizing players over green bands 25 Jun 2009 Head of the Iranian parliament's Sports Committee rejects reports of a ban on four Iranian football players for wearing green wrist bands in the Iran-South Korea match. "No player has been banned and basically Parliament is not authorized to impose such a ban," Jalal Yahya-zade said on Thursday.
Records: UK considered chemical attack on Tokyo --Records revealed clear proposals to use gas on civilians 25 Jun 2009 Britain considered attacking Tokyo with chemical weapons almost a year before the US nuclear bombardments in World War II, declassified records reveal. The records at the National Archives, which have remained hidden from public view for 65 years, revealed clear proposals to use gas on civilians in 1944. Although the plan was never put into operation, a detailed memorandum laid out measures to ensure any attack would have the most devastating impact possible.
House passes $44B Homeland Security spending bill 25 Jun 2009 The House passed a $44 billion spending bill Wednesday that awards the Homeland Security Department a 7 percent budget increase, with money for more border patrol agents and for 'anti-piracy' efforts off the coast of Somalia. The House bill passed by a 389-37 vote.
NYPD to get another $10M to help city protect itself against dirty bombs 25 Jun 2009 The NYPD will get at least $10 million for a program to protect the city from dirty bombs, authorities said Thursday. The "Securing the Cities" program to pay for radiological detectors had been scrapped for the coming year. But Reps. Peter King (R-Sociopath-L.I.) and Yvette Clarke (D-Brooklyn) and Sen. Charles Schumer got $10 million - and possibly as much as $40 million - restored. In addition, Schumer got permission for the NYPD to hire 128 cops for precincts with federal homeland security stimulus money. The funds were supposed to be used to fill counter-terrorism posts - but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said rookies shouldn't be in the jobs.
Pentagon approves creation of cyber command 23 Jun 2009 The Pentagon will create a Cyber Command to oversee the U.S. military's efforts to protect its computer networks and operate in cyberspace, under an order signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday. The new headquarters, likely to be based at Fort Meade, Maryland, will be responsible for defending U.S. military systems but not other U.S. government or private networks, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Asked if the command would be capable of offensive operations as well as protecting the Department of Defense, Whitman declined to answer directly.
Supreme Court Says Child's Rights Violated by Strip Search --But if the student had been suspected of having illegal drugs that could have posed a far greater danger to herself and other students, the strip search might have been justified, the majority said. 26 Jun 2009 In a ruling of interest to educators, parents and students across the country, the Supreme Court ruled, 8 to 1, on Thursday that the strip search of a 13-year-old Arizona girl by school officials who were looking for prescription-strength drugs violated her constitutional rights. The officials in Safford, Ariz., would have been justified in 2003 had they limited their search to the backpack and outer clothing of Savana Redding, who was in the eighth grade at the time, the court ruled. [Needless to say, GOPedophile Clarence Thomas thinks it's a good idea to strip thirteen-year-olds.]
Radio Host Is Arrested in Threats on 3 Judges 25 Jun 2009 An Internet radio host known for his incendiary views was arrested Wednesday in North Bergen, N.J., after federal officials charged that his angry postings about a gun case in Chicago amounted to death threats against three judges. In a case that tests the limits of free speech, the Justice Department charged that the radio host, Hal Turner, had crossed the line into hate speech. "Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed," Mr. Turner wrote in a blog entry on June 2.
Neo-Nazi Threatmaker Accused of Working for FBI 11 Jan 2008 New Jersey radio host Hal Turner is well known as one of the most vicious neo-Nazis in America, a man who routinely suggests killing his enemies... On Jan. 1, unidentified hackers electronically confronted Turner in the forum of his website for "The Hal Turner Show." After a heated exchange, they told Turner that they had successfully hacked into his E-mails and found correspondence with an FBI agent who is apparently Turner’s handler. Then they posted an alleged July 7 E-mail to the agent in which Turner hands over a message from someone who sent in a death threat against Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.). "Once again," Turner writes to his handler, "my fierce rhetoric has served to flush out a possible crazy." In what is allegedly a portion of another E-mail, Turner discusses the money he is paid.
Satire: Larry Craig: I Did Not Meet Governor Sanford In Buenos Aires By R J Shulman 25 Jun 2009 Idaho Senator Larry Craig is denying rumors that he was the object of Governor Mark Sanford's affections in Argentina. The South Carolina governor admitted today that he has had a yearlong affair with a woman in Argentina. South Carolina's largest newspaper, The State, published alleged e-mail exchanges between Governor Sanford and the woman named Maria. "I love my wife, I am not gay, and I abhor the bathrooms at that Buenos Aires Airport," Craig told reporters in Boise today after the news broke that he may be romantically involved with Sanford. "While I sometimes I go by the name of Maria," Craig said. "I am not his Maria." (Satire)
Governor Mark Sanford under pressure to quit over affair --A prominent Republican governor is under pressure to resign after a tearful press conference in which he confessed to flying secretly to Buenos Aires to spend a week with his Argentine mistress. 25 Jun 2009 Governor Mark Sanford, 49, a conservative former congressman viewed as a strong contender for the White House in 2012, had disappeared from his state of South Carolina, telling aides he was going hiking in the Appalachian mountains. Instead, the married father of four was 5,000 miles away in Argentina with a glamorous divorcee named by local newspapers as Maria Belen Chapur, 43, said to be a commodities trader with Bunge and Born, a grain trading corporation.
Calls Begin in S.C. for Embattled Governor's Resignation 25 Jun 2009 A day after South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford bared his soul and admitted to having had an extra-marital affair with a woman he secretly visited in Argentina, some lawmakers here have begun calling on the two-term Republican governor to resign... Some questions still linger over the Capitol, such as whether Sanford used taxpayer dollars or state equipment during his trysts in Argentina or whether he followed protocol when he left the country last week.
E-mails between Sanford, woman --Sanford-Maria e-mails shed light on governor's affair 25 Jun 2009 E-mails, obtained by The State newspaper in December, between Gov. Mark Sanford (R) and Maria, a woman in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the time, efforts to authenticate the e-mails were unsuccessful. However, Sanford’s office Wednesday did not dispute their authenticity. The State has removed the woman’s full name and other personal details, including her street address, e-mail address and children’s names.
Boycott Kira Plastinina! Kira Plastinina, Take 2: Robertson Boulevard Shop Set to Reopen Today 18 Jun 2009 Not even bankruptcy can keep Kira Plastinina from her American dream -- the 17-year-old Russian designer, who infamously opened 12 US stores in quick succession last year, then closed them all seven months later, [burning all the workers by not paying them] is reopening two of her locations in LA. [See CLG's Russian Venture Capitalist Costs Workers Jobs and Income During Economic Meltdown 10 Dec 2009 Russian billionaire Sergei A. Plastinin has served himself a self-styled economic bailout by leaving the US with unpaid bills owed to construction firms and workers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, says Robert Carlton of TRC, Inc. in Harmony, Pennsylvania.]
Bank of America sued for gender bias over bonuses 25 Jun 2009 Bank of America Corp was accused in a Manhattan federal lawsuit of discriminating against female brokers at the former Merrill Lynch & Co by offering them lower retention bonuses than male counterparts. Thursday's lawsuit seeks class-action status, and contends that female brokers were typically eligible for lower bonuses because of gender bias at Merrill, including the brokerage's practice of steering wealthier clients to male brokers.
Record bonuses at bailed-out US banks By Andre Damon 25 Jun 2009 Executives at Goldman Sachs were told last week that they could expect to receive their highest ever bonuses this year, according to an article published Sunday in London's Observer newspaper. The first half of this year has seen a spectacular rebound for Goldman, and the company's London staff were told they would receive corresponding end-of-year bonuses if, as expected, the bank sets a new profit record.
Legionnaires' Bacteria Found At Michigan Station 25 Jun 2009 Water was shut off Monday at the Madison Heights Police Department, after tests found bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease in the building's water supply. The tests were ordered after more than 20 officers started getting sick in late May. One officer, Ryan Settlemoir, later died in the hospital. At first doctors suspected Settlemoir died of Legionnaires' disease, but now they believe the H1N1 virus is to blame for the officer's death.
H1N1 'swine' flu has infected an estimated 1 million in U.S. --Sanofi-Aventis announces large-scale production of [deadly] vaccine. 25 Jun 2009 At least 1 million Americans have now contracted the novel H1N1 influenza [Baxter Bug], according to mathematical models prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while data from the field indicates that the virus is continuing to spread even though the normal flu season is over and that an increasing proportion of victims are being hospitalized. Meanwhile, the virus is continuing its rapid spread through the Southern Hemisphere, infecting increasing numbers of people and at least one pig.
Journalist Files Charges against WHO and UN for Bioterrorism and Intent to Commit Mass Murder By Barbara Minton 25 Jun 2009 As the anticipated July release date for Baxter's A/H1N1 flu pandemic vaccine approaches, an Austrian investigative journalist is warning the world that the greatest crime in the history of humanity is underway. Jane Burgermeister has recently filed criminal charges with the FBI against the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations (UN), and several of the highest ranking government and corporate officials concerning bioterrorism and attempts to commit mass murder. [See: Baxter working on vaccine to stop swine flu, though admitted sending live pandemic flu viruses to subcontractor 26 Apr 2009.]
Russian Arctic reserve may save polar bears from extinction - WWF 15 Jun 2009 The creation of the Russian Arctic nature reserve could compensate for the damage to the dwindling polar bear population from global warming, the director of WWF-Russia said on Monday. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a decree on establishing the nature reserve on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, in the Arctic Ocean, earlier on Monday. The reserve is expected to cover an area of more than 8 million hectares.
Previous lead stories: Saudi royals funded 9/11: Lawyers 24 Jun 2009 Lawyers representing the families of the 9/11 victims, expose evidence allegedly proving the Saudi royal family's financial support for al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh]. The lawyers provided The New York Times with excerpts of the material they had amassed by putting together the pieces from leaking American intelligence documents among other things, the daily reported on Tuesday. The evidence recounts how the Saudi royalty would use middlemen and financial supply routes to bankroll militants based in Afghanistan and Bosnia. The family, which had strong ties with the Bush administration, is also suspected of having reinforced the militancy otherwise and enlisted militant agents using intermediaries including the Saudi High Commission for Aid to Bosnia.
AVI BioPharma gets Defense Dept. swine flu pact 22 Jun 2009 AVI BioPharma Inc. says it will receive up to $5.1 million under a contract with the U.S. government to develop swine flu drugs. AVI disclosed May 5 that it entered into the contract with the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency, a section of the Department of Defense that focuses on chemical, biological, nuclear and other weapons.
S.C. Governor Admits Own Stimulus In Buenos Aires Gov. Sanford Admits Affair and Explains Disappearance 24 Jun 2009 Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina, apologized in a rambling news conference on Wednesday for having an extra-marital affair with a woman in Argentina, ending a mystery over his week-long disappearance that had infuriated lawmakers and seemed to put his rising political career in jeopardy. Governor Sanford admitted he had been in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since Thursday, not hiking on the Appalachian Trail as he told his staff. Mr. Sanford announced on Wednesday that he was resigning his position as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. [Flashback: Mark Sanford Sues State Assembly to Block Stimulus Funds 21 May 2009.]
