Fireworks over Baghdad as Iraqis take over cities --Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared a public holiday and proclaimed June 30 as "National Sovereignty Day." 29 Jun 2009 Iraqi forces assume formal control of Baghdad and other cities on Tuesday after American troops hand over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country. Fireworks, not bombings, colored the Baghdad skyline late Monday, and thousands attended a party in a park where singers performed patriotic songs. [Yes, but the unfortunate 'memory' lingers on: Secret US-equipped 'Dirty Brigade' in Iraq forefront 26 Jun 2009 Iraqi security services employ an elite, American-trained force [death squad] with a reputation that leads many Iraqis to call it "the dirty brigade." Its real name is the Counter Terrorism Bureau.]
US soldiers leaving Iraq's cities 29 Jun 2009 US troops are withdrawing to base in Iraq, six years after the invasion, handing control of cities and towns to Iraq's new security forces. Tuesday has been declared National Sovereignty Day, a public holiday, and the capital Baghdad threw a giant party on Monday evening. US-led combat operations are due to end by September 2010, with all troops gone from Iraq by the end of 2011.
Iraq's VP Hashemi to boycott oil tenders 29 Jun 2009 Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi will boycott an auction on Tuesday to award contracts for eight oil and gas fields, saying parliament needs more time to study the country's first major oil tender since 2003. Some of the world's biggest energy firms, including Exxon Mobil, Total and Royal Dutch Shell, are competing to develop the six oilfields and two gas fields in the tender, which has drawn opposition from some legislators.
Iraq to open up oil fields for first time in four decades 29 Jun 2009 Iraq will this week unveil which foreign firms have won contracts to develop its oil and gas fields, nearly four decades after Saddam Hussein nationalised the country's energy infrastructure. Thirty-one companies have submitted bids to develop six giant oil fields and two gas fields. The oil deposits, holding known reserves of 43 billion barrels of crude, are in southern and northern Iraq while the gas concessions are west and northeast of Baghdad.
Mission accomplished! U.S.-built bridge is windfall -- for illegal Afghan drug trade In August 2007, the presidents of Afghanistan and Tajikistan walked side by side with the U.S. commerce secretary across a new $37 million concrete bridge that the Army Corps of Engineers designed to link two of Central Asia's poorest countries. Then-Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said the modest two-lane span that U.S. taxpayers paid for would be "a critical transit route for trade and commerce" between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. But, the bridge across the Panj River has paved the way for drug traffickers to transport larger loads of Afghan heroin and opium to Central Asia and beyond to Russia and Western Europe. [As the CLG has asserted for years, Bush invaded Afghanistan to secure opium routes and gas pipelines. Ever see a GOPig vote for a bridge to be built in the US? Never, unless it was for an earmark bl*wjob. See: U.S. Senate approves bill to triple aid to Pakistan 24 Jun 2009 The $1.5 billion in annual funding includes money for Pakistani schools, the 'judicial system,' parliament and law enforcement agencies. Again: WHY are US taxpayers paying for schools in Pakistan bridges in Afghanistan?--LRP]
IED attack kills NATO soldier in E. Afghanistan 29 Jun 2009 A soldier with NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack in eastern Afghanistan on Monday while another sustained injures in the western region of the war-plagued country. "An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service member was killed in an IED strike in eastern Afghanistan this morning," said a press release of ISAF issued here on Monday.
Obama administration preparing order for indefinite detentions By Tom Eley 29 Jun 2009 The Obama administration is drafting an executive order that would give the US president the power to arrest without charge, and imprison indefinitely without trial, foreign nationals it accuses of being terrorists, according to several senior government officials who spoke with the Washington Post and a reporter for non-profit news source ProPublica on condition of anonymity. The order, should it be released, would likely reuse arguments made by the previous administration of George W. Bush that the laws of war allow the executive branch to disregard the established judicial system and domestic laws and rights, such as those guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.
U.S. won't rule out compromise on settlement growth 29 Jun 2009 The State Department hinted Monday that while the United States is committed to its demand that Israel freeze all construction in West Bank settlements, it will not rule out a future compromise on the matter as peace talks progress... Meanwhile, Israel's UN ambassador said on Monday that the Obama administration has assured Israel it will continue defending Israel at the United Nations despite the allies' dispute over settlements.
Larijani to Obama: Stop 'interfering' in ME affairs 29 Jun 2009 Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has recommended the US administration to abandon its "interfering" policies and respect rights of all nations. "This change will be beneficial both to the region and to the US itself," Larijani said in an address to the 21st Executive Committee meeting of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States in Algerian capital Algiers on Sunday.
Iran's Guardian Council confirms vote results 29 Jun 2009 After the conclusion of the partial vote recount, Iran's electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council has confirmed the result of the June 12 poll. After the announcement of the result of Iran's presidential election, which saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected to a second four-year term, provoked major protests in the country, the Guardian Council set up a special committee to do a partial vote recount.
Iran confirms release of 5 UK embassy staff 29 Jun 2009 Iran's Foreign Ministry confirms that five of the local British embassy staff have been released after being briefly arrested over their role in the post-election violence in the country. In a weekly press conference on Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said that five of the nine detainees walked free on Sunday.
Denials of US interference in Iran not credible By Peter Symonds 29 Jun 2009 The US administration has responded to Iranian allegations of manipulating opposition protests inside the country with flat denials. President Obama declared last week that the United States respected Iran’s sovereignty "and is not at all interfering in Iran’s affairs"...Just as the press never examines the claims of [Mir Hossein] Mousavi and his supporters that the election was rigged, so it ignores the considerable evidence of extensive US operations against Iran, spanning a range of diplomatic, intelligence and military activities.
Clinton: U.S. Not Declaring Events in Honduras a 'Coup' 29 Jun 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said today the U.S. government is refraining from formally declaring the ouster of Honduras's president a "coup," which would trigger a cutoff of millions of dollars in aid to the Central American country. President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya was detained and expelled by the military yesterday [in a coup]. [Oh, but if it *wasn't* a CIA-backed coup, the corporate-owned media -- especially the sociopaths at Faux News --would be all over it like a duck on a June bug. --LRP]
World Leaders Condemn Arrest of Honduran President 28 Jun 2009 World leaders reacted quickly Sunday morning to condemn the reported arrest of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. Terming the military action a "coup d' etat," Venezuelan President Hugo President called on President Barack Obama to act, saying that the U.S. President "has much to do." Jose Miguel Insulza,, secretary general of the Organization of American States, "severely" condemned the move, according to La Prensa.
Vandenberg fires Minuteman test rocket 29 Jun 2009 An unarmed Minuteman missile test-fired Monday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California reached its target in the Marshall Islands, base officials said. The test was the first of three Minuteman tests planned for this year. Members from the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., assisted with maintenance tasks preceding the launch.
University of Qld unveils swine flu vaccine made with insect eggs 29 Jun 2009 The University of Queensland (UQ) says it has made the first Australian batch of a new swine flu vaccine but it will only be available for research purposes. The university has produced one-litre of swine flu vaccine in Brisbane - the equivalent of 1,000 doses. It has been made with new technology using insect cells instead of egg culture. UQ spokesman Professor Anton Middleberg says the university is the only laboratory in Australia to partner with the US company who developed the [disgusting] process.
Swine flu 'shows drug resistance' 29 Jun 2009 Experts have reported the first case of swine flu that is resistant to tamiflu - the main drug being used to fight the pandemic. Roche Holding AG confirmed a patient with H1N1 influenza in Denmark showed resistance to the antiviral drug. [Oops! Donald Rumsfeld makes $5m killing on bird flu drug 12 Mar 2006 Donald Rumsfeld has made a killing out of bird flu. The US Defence Secretary has made more than $5m (£2.9m) in capital gains from selling shares in the biotechnology firm that discovered and developed Tamiflu, the drug being bought in massive amounts by Governments to treat a possible human pandemic of the disease.]
Ohio adds tactical EMS to accompany SWAT team --'It's key to have the medics up close to the situation.' 29 Jun 2009 These guys wear body armor and helmets and join SWAT teams during raids, shootings and hostage situations. Columbus created a 24-member tactical EMS team late last year. Two members go out with the SWAT team as needed.
Court Won't Hear Sept. 11 Claims Vs. Saudi Arabia 29 Jun 2009 The Supreme Court has refused to allow victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to pursue lawsuits against Saudi Arabia and four of its princes over charitable donations that were allegedly funneled to al-Qaida [al-CIAduh]. The court, in an order Monday, is leaving in place the ruling of a federal appeals court that the country and the princes are protected by sovereign immunity, which generally means that foreign countries can't be sued in American courts. The Obama administration had angered some victims and families by urging the justices to pass up the case.
Justices Rule for White Firefighters in Bias Case 30 Jun 2009 The Supreme Court ruled on Monday, in a case with enormous implications for workplaces across the country, that white firefighters in New Haven suffered unfair discrimination because of their race when the city scrapped the results of a promotional exam. "The city’s action in discarding the tests violated Title VII," the court held in a 5-to-4 decision, referring to a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Monday’s decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, No. 07-1428, came on the last day of the court’s term and was one of the most closely watched discrimination cases in years.
Bernard Madoff Gets 150 Years in Jail for Epic Fraud 29 Jun 2009 Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in federal prison for masterminding the largest Ponzi scheme in history, a penalty six times longer than those meted out to the chief executives of WorldCom Inc. and Enron Corp. Madoff appeared today before U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in New York for the first time since his March 12 guilty plea in an epic swindle that may have reached $65 billion in both real and phantom investments.
Madoff Faces Harder Time Than Former WorldCom, Enron Executives 29 Jun 2009 Bernard Madoff was sentenced to a prison term six times longer than that meted out to the chief executives of WorldCom Inc. and Enron Corp. He’s likely to serve his time in a decidedly harsher prison as well. Sentenced to 150 years, Madoff will probably be sent to a medium- or high-security prison, probably in the northeastern U.S, according to lawyers and prison consultants.
How a Loophole Benefits GE in Bank Rescue --Industrial Giant Becomes Top Recipient in Debt-Guarantee Program 29 Jun 2009 General Electric, the world's largest industrial company, has quietly become the biggest beneficiary of one of the government's key rescue programs for banks. At the same time, GE has avoided many of the restrictions facing other financial giants getting help from the government. The company did not initially qualify for the program, under which the government sought to unfreeze credit markets by guaranteeing debt sold by banking firms. But regulators soon loosened the eligibility requirements, in part because of behind-the-scenes appeals from GE.
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.]
Previous lead stories: CLG: CIA Crucified Captive In Abu Ghraib Prison --'No criminal charges have ever been brought against any C.I.A. officer involved in the torture program.' By Sherwood Ross 28 Jun 2009 The Central Intelligence Agency crucified a prisoner in Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, according to a report published in The New Yorker magazine. "A forensic examiner found that he (the prisoner) had essentially been crucified; he died from asphyxiation after having been hung by his arms, in a hood, and suffering broken ribs," the magazine’s Jane Mayer writes in the magazine’s June 22nd issue. "Military pathologists classified the case a homicide."
Obama issues signing statement on $106B war bill 26 Jun 2009 President Obama signed the $106 billion war-spending bill into law Friday, but not without taking a page from his predecessor and ignoring a few elements in the legislation. Obama included a five-paragraph signing statement with the bill, including a final paragraph that outlined his objections to at least four areas of the bill. President [sic] George W. Bush was heavily criticized for his use of signing statements, declaring he'd ignore some elements of legislation by invoking presidential prerogative. The Obama administration announced in the statement it would disregard provisions of the legislation that, among other things, would compel the Obama administration to pressure the World Bank to strengthen labor and environmental standards and require the Treasury department to report to Congress on the activities of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Obama to fund anti-govt. elements in Iran: Report 28 Jun 2009 US President Barack Obama is re-branding a Bush-era plan to fund anti-government Iran-based elements through domestic and foreign entities, a report says. The Obama White House has apparently refused to act on the former administration's decision to allocate USD 66 million to Iranian dissidents, devising a new approach instead, USA TODAY reported on Friday. Citing 'security concerns', the State Department and the foreign policy agent declined to name the recipients of the funds.
