Iran on Tuesday criticized the actions of a U.S. navy ship that shot at an approaching fishing boat off the United Arab Emirates, saying the incident showed foreign forces threatened regional security.
One Indian national was killed and three others injured on Monday when the U.S. refueling ship, the USNS Rappahannock, opened fire on a small motor boat which U.S. officials said ignored repeated warnings to halt its approach.
The United States has been building up its presence in the Gulf as Washington seeks to ramp up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program which it suspects is aimed at producing nuclear bombs. Tehran denies the accusation.
"We have announced time and again that the presence of foreign forces can be a threat to regional security," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said during a news conference broadcast on state television.
"Certainly regional countries with the help of one another can provide security in the best possible way. If they join hands, with their defensive capabilities, they don't need the presence of foreign forces. Anywhere where you see insecurity we have always seen the hand of foreign forces there."
Puppet Masters
A YouTube upload purporting to show new footage from after Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi's violent death last October has surfaced, allegedly providing a clearer view of the late dictator's bloodied body.
Activist Sami al-Hamwi (@HamaEcho) tweeted a link to the video, remarking that someone should show the footage to Syrian president Bashar Assad as a reminder of what befell another Middle East dictator.
Previous footage posted shortly after Gaddafi's death last year showed him on his knees, seemingly alive. In the clearer footage below, Gaddafi's shirtless body appears to be transported by a group of men in the back of a van.
Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya for almost 42 years, gaining a reputation as a colorful character and merciless dictator.
WARNING: Video below contains extremely graphic content. The footage below could not be independently verified and it's unclear why the video was only released now.
Activist Sami al-Hamwi (@HamaEcho) tweeted a link to the video, remarking that someone should show the footage to Syrian president Bashar Assad as a reminder of what befell another Middle East dictator.
Previous footage posted shortly after Gaddafi's death last year showed him on his knees, seemingly alive. In the clearer footage below, Gaddafi's shirtless body appears to be transported by a group of men in the back of a van.
Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya for almost 42 years, gaining a reputation as a colorful character and merciless dictator.
WARNING: Video below contains extremely graphic content. The footage below could not be independently verified and it's unclear why the video was only released now.
© Unknown
Muthu Muniraj was shot in the legs when the USNS Rappahannock opened fire
Muthu Muniraj was shot in the legs when the USNS Rappahannock opened fire
One fisherman was killed and three others injured when the USNS Rappahannock raked the small boat with machinegun fire near Dubai on Monday.
The US Navy says the boat approached at speed and ignored repeated warnings.
Indian and US officials have launched investigations into the incident.
The shooting comes as the US expands its military presence in the Gulf, ramping up pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme.
© unknown
A new report completed by the US State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors Office of Inspector General shines light on a travesty involving the massive misuse of public funds.
Between 2004 and 2009, millions of dollars in taxpayer monies could have been saved had the International Republican Institute - a bipartisan, nonprofit organization chaired by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) - used their federal funding more efficiently. Instead, however, the IRI handed over massive sums of money to the Blackwater security group so that they could send armed guards to Iraq.
While Blackwater's presence overseas has not gone unnoticed, the latest report shows that contract were made without the IRI considering any competitors' bids and in the end cost millions of extra dollars, all the while funding the same agency proved responsible for the massacre of Iraqi civilians.
The unclassified report, dated June 2012, describes how the IRI used $103.7 million in federal grants during fiscal years 2004-2010 to conduct democracy-building programs throughout Iraq. In only a few pages, CPA Clarke Leiper, PLLC, explains - along with the guidance of the Office of Inspector General - how millions of dollars was mismanaged by making payments to Blackwater without seeking outside bids.
© unknown
Pfc. Bradley Manning
Pfc. Bradley Manning
The US government claims to have proof that Bradley Manning, the WikiLeaks suspect, knowingly passed state secrets to a location where it was bound to be obtained by enemy groups, a military court in Maryland has heard.
Captain Joe Morrow, a member of the five-strong prosecution team assigned to the case, said that the government would show at court martial that Manning had knowingly "aided the enemy" - the most serious of the 22 charges facing the soldier that carries the death penalty. Morrow said the evidence would show that Manning sent the information to a "very definite place" that he knew was used by the enemy.
He did not mention al-Qaida, though the terrorist network has been explicity named by the prosecution in previous hearings.
The insistence by the US government that it can prove Manning had actual knowledge that the WikiLeaks dump would be used by enemy groups was instantly disputed by the lead defence lawyer, David Coombs. He demanded that the government produce the evidence to which it was alluding.
"We haven't seen any evidence that the government has provided by discovery that supports any knowledge that the information would be obtained by the enemy," he said.
Manning has been in military jail for more than two years after he was arrested at the Forward Operating Base Hammer outside Baghdad. He is accused of being the source of the massive trove of secrets passed to WikiLeaks, and in turn published by the Guardian and other international newspapers, including Iraq and Afghanistan war logs and thousands of embassy cables.
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With surface-to-air missiles stationed on top of residential apartment blocks, Royal Navy battleships on alert and Royal Air Force fighter jets and helicopters patrolling the skies over Britain's capital there is a foreboding sense of a nation at war instead of an occasion of internationalist fraternity that the ancient Games are supposed to embody.
The Games begin in just under two weeks. The latest development is the announcement by Britain's Ministry of Defence that 3,500 extra troops are to be deployed to ensure security at the 30 venues hosting sporting events. This is in addition to the 13,500 military personnel already assigned to protect members of the public and sports teams from the risk of terrorist attack.
British General Sir Nick Parker, overseeing the security arrangements, has said that one of the contingencies being planned for is dealing with a "9/11 type event".
The total troop deployment in and around London represents 7,000 more personnel than is currently on British operations in Afghanistan.
This figure is in addition to the 10,000 extra police officers and a division of 10,000 private security guards. It was the disclosure that G45, the private security firm with the Olympics contract, could not fulfill its manpower requirements to cover the Games that prompted the latest enlisting of additional soldiers.
The militarization of the Olympics was conveyed inadvertently by a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence when he said: "Many of the people whom the public will meet at the point of entry to any Olympic event will now be a serving member of the armed forces."
© Agence France Presse/Ronald Reeves
Amid tensions over Iran and Syria, the United States has brought forward the deployment of an aircraft carrier to the Middle East to shorten the time when a sole carrier is in the region.
Amid tensions over Iran and Syria, the United States has brought forward the deployment of an aircraft carrier to the Middle East to shorten the time when a sole carrier is in the region.
The U.S. Navy has had two carriers operating in the Middle East for quite some time. It usually rotates one of the two carriers into the Persian Gulf for several weeks at a time while the other operates in the Arabian Sea, providing air support for the war in Afghanistan.
Today, Pentagon spokesman George Little confirmed that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has agreed to a recent request from U.S. Central Command to maintain a two-carrier presence in the Middle East.
In September the U.S. was going to go down to one carrier, as the USS Enterprise would not be replaced after it left the region. To prevent that from happening the Stennis has had its deployment orders changed from the Pacific to the Middle East.
© Alamy
Politicians and fuel campaigners last night urged the Government to expand its inquiry into the Libor scandal to see whether oil prices have also been falsely pushed up.
Politicians and fuel campaigners last night urged the Government to expand its inquiry into the Libor scandal to see whether oil prices have also been falsely pushed up.
Concerns are growing about the reliability of oil prices, after a report for the G20 found the market is wide open to "manipulation or distortion".
Traders from banks, oil companies or hedge funds have an "incentive" to distort the market and are likely to try to report false prices, it said.
Dozens of American Jewish leaders and scholars have made a rare appeal to Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking him to make sure his government rejects a controversial report that denies Israel is occupying the West Bank.
In a letter to Netanyahu, more than 40 prominent Jewish figures predicted the report authored by former Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy would tarnish Israel's image and jeopardize prospects for peace with the Palestinians.
"We recognize and regret that the Palestinian Authority has abdicated leadership by not returning to the negotiating table," they wrote in the letter, obtained today by The Associated Press. "Nonetheless, our great fear is that the Levy Report will not strengthen Israel's position in this conflict, but rather, add fuel to those who seek to delegitimize Israel's right to exist."
In a letter to Netanyahu, more than 40 prominent Jewish figures predicted the report authored by former Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy would tarnish Israel's image and jeopardize prospects for peace with the Palestinians.
"We recognize and regret that the Palestinian Authority has abdicated leadership by not returning to the negotiating table," they wrote in the letter, obtained today by The Associated Press. "Nonetheless, our great fear is that the Levy Report will not strengthen Israel's position in this conflict, but rather, add fuel to those who seek to delegitimize Israel's right to exist."
Comment:
"The question is whether or not it is wise for Israel at this particular juncture to take a stand which would appear to most people to be the equivalent of annexing the West Bank," making Israel appear to be the obstructionist party in peace efforts, Gordis told The Associated Press.Oh, maybe it would appear that they are annexing the West Bank because that is precisely what they are doing? Isn't the whole point of the illegal settlements to steal the land one small piece at a time until it becomes impossible for Palestinians to make any claims that can be realistically fulfilled?
Notice that the concern of these US Jewish leaders is entirely about the reputation of Israel, and has absolutely nothing to do with justice or recognizing the right of the Palestinian people to have a homeland.
The democratically-elected leader of Paraguay was voted out of power by a mostly right-wing parliament after a brief trial. Many believe it was a coup, largely orchestrated from outside, while the president's successor is trying to validate the move.
The ousting of President Fernando Lugo triggered domestic outrage as well as criticism from Paraguay's neighbors. Latin American free trade groups Mercosur and Unasur have suspended the country's membership, increasing its international isolation.
The ousting of President Fernando Lugo triggered domestic outrage as well as criticism from Paraguay's neighbors. Latin American free trade groups Mercosur and Unasur have suspended the country's membership, increasing its international isolation.
Comment: Gaddafi's killing may be a war crime: International Criminal Court