Saturday, January 2, 2010

MILITANTS VOW TO COUNTER US SURGE IN AFGHANISTAN

Militants vow to counter US surge in Afghanistan (plus 14 more items)

Militants vow to counter US surge in Afghanistan

Posted: 24 Dec 2009 07:24 AM PST

A top Pakistani militant commander claims he sent thousands of fighters to neighboring Afghanistan to confront thousands of incoming US troops to the country.

"Since (President Barack) Obama is also sending additional forces to Afghanistan, we sent thousands of our men there to fight NATO and American forces," the AP quoted Waliur Rehman as saying.

Rehman is a deputy to Pakistani militant chief Hakimullah Mehsud, and the man in charge of the group's operations in South Waziristan.

In US, Senate clears Obamacare

Posted: 24 Dec 2009 07:24 AM PST

The US sprawling healthcare bill known as "Obamacare" has cleared the Senate to cover millions of Americans at least with one sort of insurance.

Following 25 days of speculations and debates, the Senate voted 60-39 in favor of the legislation on Thursday prompting President Barack Obama to express his happiness by saying "I am very satisfied."

Posted: 24 Dec 2009 02:24 AM PST

Hezbollah's leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah says the UK is prepared to introduce reforms to its legal system to appease Israel.

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday criticized the British government's decision to reverse an arrest warrant for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

Posted: 24 Dec 2009 12:08 AM PST

http://www.presstv.ir/photo/20091224/pirhayati2009122421400854.jpgSyrian President Bashar al-Assad says peace talks with Israel have reached a stalemate because Tel Aviv does not have an interest to achieve regional peace.

"Israel is the main cause for the deadlock in peace. The Israelis want negotiations devoid of principles, that is to say endless talks," he said on Wednesday at a joint press conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Netanyahu wary of 'Goldstone threat'

Posted: 23 Dec 2009 11:44 PM PST

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called a report by the UN Human Rights Council's Gaza war commission a real threat to Israel.

An independent fact-finding mission led by former South African UN prosecutor Richard Goldstone investigated violations of human rights and international laws during Israel's January offensive in Gaza.

The committee's 575-page report mostly highlighted Israeli atrocities against civilians in the beleaguered Gaza Strip and documented deliberate targeting of centers known to be holding people. It also filed complaints that Israeli soldiers killed unarmed people on the run, saying some of the victims were even waving white flags.

Posted: 23 Dec 2009 08:44 AM PST

The Downing Street-elected board of inquiry into the Iraq war will call the British premier to account only after the next year's general elections, reports say.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the UK's former foreign and defense ministers are among those expected to appear before the committee.

Posted: 23 Dec 2009 07:08 AM PST

A member of Israel's parliament (Knesset) says the regime still continues to steal organs from the bodies of Palestinians.

Ahmed Tibi, an Arab Knesset member, told the Knesset on Wednesday that he had evidence that the practice was still taking place despite the regime's insistence that organ trafficking was no longer happening.

"You said that it was ended in the '90s. But Fadul Ordul Shaheen who was from Gaza passed away. He died of diabetes this year. When his body was given back to his family, his eyes were bleeding and there was a deep cut through his body," Al-Jazeera quoted Tibi as saying.

Posted: 23 Dec 2009 07:08 AM PST

A UN human rights expert has denounced world powers' "tragic failure" to break the long-running Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, urged Israel's European and North American allies to press for the immediate end of the blockade "backed up by a credible threat of economic sanctions", AFP reported.

Posted: 23 Dec 2009 04:44 AM PST

Palestinian Authority officials say they will bring the case of Israel's organ theft from Palestinians to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

During a press conference held in Ramallah on Wednesday, Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Qaraqe said the Authority will launch an investigation into the case and take the issue to The Hague and the UN, the Press TV correspondent reported.

Posted: 23 Dec 2009 04:13 AM PST

Part II concludes an account of Obama's betrayal, not promised change.

Obamacare Plans to Ration Healthcare and Enrich Big Providers

After House passage in November, the Senate is now about to pass a stealth scheme to ration care and enrich insurers, the drug cartel, and large hospital chains, the way Washington always works.

Ahmadinejad: world needs new order

Posted: 23 Dec 2009 03:44 AM PST

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the world needs a new order, adding that the US which was the "epitome of liberalism" is in decline.

"It is quite clear that any system that depends on military power will collapse," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the central city of Shiraz on Wednesday.

"It (the US) entirely depends on military power and sanctions," IRNA quoted the Iranian president as saying.

"This shows that the US is in decline," he added.

Afghan civilian killed by Spanish fire

Posted: 23 Dec 2009 03:44 AM PST

An Afghan civilian has been killed and another wounded in Western Afghanistan after Spanish troops fired at them, the Spanish military confirmed.

The Spanish defense ministry said the troops opened fire on the two Afghans near Herat Province on Wednesday.

The ministry claimed that its soldiers believed the Afghans wanted to attack their convoy when they did not stop their motorcycle after the first and second warning shots.

Posted: 23 Dec 2009 02:24 AM PST

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin says Moscow sees no reason to cancel a deal to provide Iran with the advanced S-300 missile defense system.

In a news conference in Moscow held on Wednesday Borodavkin stressed that the missile system is of a defensive nature.

"Exports of such weapons is subject to no UN treaty or other bilateral agreements," RIA Novosti quoted the Russian diplomat as saying.

"This is why we see no essential reason to make any change in the deal," he added.

Posted: 23 Dec 2009 12:08 AM PST

A leading Muslim organization in Britain has voiced outrage at the UK government's promise to reverse the British legal system's jurisdiction over suspected Israeli war criminals.

The apologetic move by the British government came after a Westminster magistrates' court convicted former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni of links to Israel's atrocities in the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year. The tribunal, accordingly, issued Livni an arrest warrant.

UNSC slaps sanctions on Eritrea

Posted: 22 Dec 2009 10:07 PM PST

The UN Security Council (UNSC) subjects Eritrea to an arms embargo and other sanctions, accusing the country of aiding militancy in neighboring Somalia and underlining its failure to resolve an explosive border dispute.

The restrictions, which also include travel bans and asset freezes on certain individuals and firms, were approved on Wednesday with 13 members of the 15-strong council voting in their favor, Reuters reported.

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