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09 Mar 10
Same-sex couples wed in Washington
On the first day same-sex couples could marry in Washington, brides Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend were the first of three couples taking the plunge in morning ceremonies at the offices of the Human Rights Campaign, which does advocacy work on gay, lesbian and transgender issues. Other ceremonies were planned throughout the day.
"Today was like a dream for me," Young said.
The Rev. Darlene Garner married her partner, the Rev. Candy Holmes, both of Metropolitan Community Churches, a Christian group that primarily serves the gay and lesbian community.
"Equality and justice for all now includes us," Garner said.
Qatar signs security agreement with Iran
Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar Tuesday signed a security agreement with Qatari Minister of State for Interior Affairs Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa al-Thani in Doha. The agreement underlined the need to develop bilateral and international cooperation in security, the fight against organized crime and against terrorism, Najjar said in a press briefing after the signing ceremony.
Jamaran Destroyer's Missile Systems Pass Tests Successfully
The missile systems of Iran's advanced Jamaran destroyer were successfully tested on Tuesday. In February 2010, the Jamaran destroyer was launched in the southern waters of the country in a ceremony attended by senior navy commanders and Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.
The Mowdge Class vessel has a displacement of around 14,000 tons and is equipped with modern radars and electronic warfare capabilities.
Jamaran is armed with a variety of anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles.
Dolphins are people, too
One of the most serious consequences coming from our society's collective abandonment of the Judeo-Christian ethic handed down to us from our Founders is our startling tendency to drift from truth into utter confusion.
China's ominous war warning
A colonel in the People's Liberation Army has written in a new book: "If the United States can light a fire in China's backyard, we can also light a fire in their backyard." He forecasts that such a conflict could come in the near future – "at most 10 to 20 years."
DPRK orders army, people prepared for warfare
All the army and people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) should get ready for warfare to answer the U.S.-South Korean joint military exercise, said the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army (KPA) on Monday.
"The men and officers of the KPA on the frontline and coastline and those standing on air guard should reliably defend the outposts of the country so as to repel at a single stroke any attempt of the aggressors to make a preemptive strike," said the command in a report carried by the official KCNA news agency.
It said that the U.S.-South Korean joint military exercise was creating tense situation on the Korean Peninsula and that a war may break out anytime.
Russia Considers Common Currency
Russia may scrap the ruble and introduce a common currency with Belarus and Kazakhstan as the nations broaden their alliance and seek to reduce their dependence on the dollar, a first deputy prime minister said.
“I won’t exclude a transition to a common currency union with these countries in the future,” Igor Shuvalov said at a Moscow conference Friday. The currency alliance will be modeled on the European Union, which created a new unit rather than using an existing one, he said, though no talks have been held.
Russia and two former Soviet neighbors plan to create a single economic market by 2012
'Missing Link' Fossil Was Not Human Ancestor as Claimed, Anthropologists Say
A fossil that was celebrated last year as a possible "missing link" between humans and early primates is actually a forebearer of modern-day lemurs and lorises, according to two papers by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin, Duke University and the University of Chicago.
Yousef went 'to the crux of the problem'
A former member of the Palestine Liberation Organization believes the Christian convert and son of a Hamas terrorist got to the crux of the situation when he recently said the biggest terrorist is the god of the Quran.
Netherlands: New Building for World Court
The International Criminal Court on Monday unveiled the design for its new headquarters, a sprawling campus of six buildings on the outskirts of The Hague. The Dutch government has donated the land, the former site of military barracks, and the member countries of the court are to share the estimated $125 million cost.
Hundreds Slaughtered in Nigeria Religious Violence
The killers showed no mercy: They didn't spare women and children, or even a 4-day-old baby, from their machetes.
'Inter-faith dialogue necessary amidst clash of civilisation debate'
Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari has said that the inter-faith dialogue has emerged as a prominent civil society initiative between nations and groups in the post-Cold War world, amidst the “Clash of Civilisations” debate and the raging ethnic and religious conflicts in various parts of the globe. -“The Alliance of Civilizations” initiative under United Nations auspices connects people and organizations devoted to promoting dialogue among political, religious, media and civil society leaders, particularly between Muslim and Western societies.
ID Card for Workers Is at Center of Immigration Plan
Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.
Under the potentially controversial plan still taking shape in the Senate, all legal U.S. workers, including citizens and immigrants, would be issued an ID card with embedded information, such as fingerprints, to tie the card to the worker.
US says tentative Mideast peace talks under way
The Palestinians and Israelis have begun indirect talks, Washington said on Monday, in a tentative boost to the Middle East peace process frozen since the Jewish state's devastating war on Gaza.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters that he was "certain" the indirect talks had "started" under the mediation of US Middle East envoy George Mitchell.-The talks mark the first time the Palestinians and Israelis have come together in any form since Israel launched its 22-day war on Gaza in December 2009 to stop rocket and mortar attacks from the Islamist Hamas-run territory.
Brazil slaps trade sanctions on US over cotton dispute
The Brazilian government has announced trade sanctions against a variety of American goods in retaliation for illegal US subsidies to cotton farmers.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) approved the sanctions in a rare move.
Brazil published a list of 100 US goods that would be subject to import tariffs in 30 days, unless the two governments reached a last-minute accord.
EU passports not that safe, says expert
The biometric, or "e-passport," was supposed to offer a previously unrivalled level of security and protection against forgery. It was "fool-proof," some said, even "impossible" to counterfeit.
...But in the wake of the Dubai targetted killing of a Hamas commander, in which a team of some 27 assassins used fake EU and Australian passports in the course of their cloak and dagger escapade, the security of the passport has been placed under the microscope.
Passenger data deal key to catching terrorists, says US
A provisional deal allowing American authorities to tap into the data of EU air passengers crossing the Atlantic helped find a third of the "hundreds" of terrorism suspects identified last year, a US official has said, in a bid to convince wary euro-deputies to approve the agreement.
The so-called Passenger Name Records (PNR) agreement has been provisionally in force since 2007, but now requires ratification by the European Parliament, whose powers were enhanced in December with the entering into force of a new EU legal framework, the Lisbon Treaty.
'Serious threat to Venezuela's Jews'
A report by the human rights watchdog of the Organization of American States warns of a possible “threat to the life and physical integrity of the Jewish community in Venezuela” due to the Chavez regime’s violations of the political and human rights of its citizens.
In a lengthy report publicized in late February, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) accused the government of Venezuela of fostering an atmosphere of “political intolerance” and “a climate hostile to the free exercise of dissenting political participation.”
Barak on Iran: We must keep finger on trigger
Defense Minister Ehud Barak addressed the Iranian nuclear threat and said, "The State of Israel is the strongest country in the region. However, we must recognize opportunities and not be confused by challenges."
"We must trust ourselves first and foremost – with our feet on the ground and our eyes to the sky. One hand looks to make peace deals and the other hand with a finger close to the trigger, prepared to defend," said Barak during a visit to a lower Galilee school.
'4-8 weeks left for diplomacy on Iran'
Four to eight weeks remain to test the option of diplomatic engagement as means of stopping Iran’s nuclear program before sanctions will likely be imposed, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told an audience of foreign military officers and government officials in Herzliya on Monday.
Speaking to dozens of participants in a terrorism and security program run by the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Ayalon said the “time is not yet lost” to stem Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but added that “it is of the essence.”
Israel, Syria announce nuclear energy ambitions
Both Israel and Syria on Tuesday each announced ambitions to develop nuclear energy, with Israel facing the prospect that its plan could bring new attention to its secretive nuclear activities.
The countries laid out their hopes at an international conference in Paris on civilian nuclear energy — which contributes far less to global warming than burning of fossil fuels but still evokes many concerns about long-term safety issues.
The announcements raise the prospect that the countries' nuclear programs could come under the microscope of international inspectors to ensure that they don't cross the forbidden line into weapons programs.
Biden: There is an international attempt to isolate Israel
“There is an international attempt to isolate Israel right now and sometimes we’re our own worst enemy by playing into the hands of those who wish to do that,” US Vice President Joe Biden said after a meeting with President Shimon Peres on Tuesday morning.
Biden is slated to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu later this afternoon.
Turkish FM, Syrian president discuss Mideast peace
Turkey
s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said during a visit to Damascus Sunday that he and Syrian President Bashar Assad discussed ways to restart the negotiations with Israel.
Syria's official news agency said Assad stressed during the meeting that there is no Israeli partner willing to achieve peace.
Syria has demanded the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Golan Heights as a condition for peace. Israel's current government rejects preconditions.
N. Korea opens port to China, Russia
North Korea recently gave Russia the right to use its Rajin seaport for 50 years and is considering extending China's 10-year contract signed in 2008 by another 10 years.
China is investing tens of millions of yuan or billions of won in modernizing the Rajin pier it took on lease, Yonhap News reported.
By using the Rajin port, China will be able to ship coal and other export items from its most underdeveloped northeastern provinces which lack transportation infrastructure.
The opening of Rajin is an example of North Korea's latest moves to offer more trade and investment opportunities to neighboring China and Russia.
China-Russia oil pipeline to be completed this year: FM
The China-Russia oil pipeline is likely to be completed by the end of this year and the project will enter into operation in 2011, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said here Sunday.
Yang made the remarks at the press conference held Sunday on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.
Address by PM Netanyahu to the Christians United For Israel Jerusalem Summit
… No security challenge is more important to our common future than preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. I have said before and I'll say again, that the greatest threat facing mankind is the specter of a militant Islamic regime acquiring nuclear weapons, or the specter of nuclear weapons acquiring a militant Islamic regime. The first is dangerously close to happening in Iran, and the second may or may not happen in Pakistan. I believe that with the right policies both can be averted.
KPA Command Order Army to Keep High Alert
The Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army released the following report on Monday as regards the kick-off of the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises for aggression by the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces:
In a statement already issued, a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army strongly demanded the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet warmongers stop at once the projected criminal and reckless Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises, branding them as war exercises for aggression, test nuclear war maneuvers aimed at mounting a preemptive surprise attack on the DPRK..
N.Korea to boost nuclear weapons capability - KCNA
North Korea said on Tuesday it would boost its nuclear weapons capability because U.S. President Barack Obama was determined to ignore its calls for peace and bring it down by military force.
North Korea said this week that it had put its army on full combat alert as U.S. and South Korean forces began joint military drills involving nearly 40,000 troops, an annual event that draws anger from the North but typically results in no major incidents.
Barcelona hit with heaviest snowfall in 25 years
Schools were closed, roads were blocked and power was knocked as Barcelona was hit with its heaviest snowfall in 25 years.Snowfalls of up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) were forecast for the worst affected areas of the region of Catalonia, prompting the regional government to cancel classes for more than 142,000 students at 476 public schools.
08 Mar 10
US anti-Semitism envoy slams UN ‘double standards’ on Israel
The special envoy was scathing of the UN, questioning its seeming double standards.
“Looking at UN statistics over the last six years, where there have been negative remarks against a country, 170 have been against Israel. Compare that to North Korea that had eight... Israel has had 50 resolutions condemning alleged human rights abuses. Compare that to the Sudan which has had five. Clearly Israel is being held to a different standard and that means it has crossed the line from anti-Israel policy to profound anti-Semitism,” she said to enthusiastic applause.
“We will continue to see that Israel is treated fairly at the UN and in other international bodies,” Rosenthal said.
