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Britain Evacuates Diplomats After Tehran Embassy Attack

Robert Worth, Rick Gladstone and Alan Cowell
The New York Times
Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Protesters break into the British Embassy and tear down the Union Jack. Some then proceeded to ransack offices
Britain said Wednesday it was evacuating diplomats from Tehran a day after Iranian protesters shouting "Death to England" stormed the British Embassy compound and a diplomatic residence, tearing down the British flag, smashing windows, defacing walls and briefly detaining six staff members in what appeared to be a state-sponsored protest against Britain's tough new economic sanctions against Iran.

The attack was the most serious diplomatic breach since the traumatic assault on the United States Embassy after Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979. Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, expressed outrage over the attack, saying Britain held Iran's government responsible and promising "other, further, and serious consequences."

In a statement early on Wednesday, the Foreign Office in London said the British authorities believed "the safety of our staff and their families is our immediate priority. In light of yesterday's events and to ensure their ongoing safety, some staff are leaving Tehran."

The statement did not go into detail or say whether the embassy would remain open.
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Dollar

Greece gets $10.7 billion but rescue plan stalls

Raf Casert
The Associated Press
Wed, 30 Nov 2011 04:41 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press/Virginia Mayo
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, left, shakes hands with Italian Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mario Monti during a round table meeting of the eurogroup at the EU Council building in Brussels on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011. The 17 finance ministers of countries that use the euro converged on EU headquarters Tuesday in a desperate bid to save their currency and to protect Europe, the United States, Asia and the rest of the global economy from a debt-induced financial tsunami.
Eurozone ministers finally handed Greece an euro8 billion ($10.7 billion) rescue loan to fend off its immediate cash crisis yet failed to resolve overall fears about the viability of the euro.

Stock markets had risen hoping that intense bond market pressure would finally force the 17-nation eurozone into quicker and more robust action - but that was not to be.

Even as Italy's borrowing costs skyrocketed to a euro-era record, the finance ministers failed to increase the European bailout fund to match earlier predictions and kicked other major financial issues - like a closer fiscal union - over to their bosses, the EU leaders meeting next week in Brussels.

The ministers did agree to use the fund to offer financial protection of 20 to 30 percent to investors who bought new bonds from troubled eurozone nations.

"We made important progress on a number of fronts," Jean-Claude Juncker, the eurozone chief, insisted late Tuesday. "This shows our complete determination to do whatever it takes to safeguard the financial stability of the euro."
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Stormtrooper

America, Nazi Germany and Immigration

James A. Benzoni
Hispanic News
Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:39 UTC
immigration raids
© Unknown
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
These lines from Emma Lazarus' famous poem "The New Colossus" are enshrined at the base of the Statute of Liberty in New York Harbor. Just across the water, the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood against the sky, giving New York the most famous city sky-scape in the world. All that is changed now. And in the ashes of 9/11, the nation lost something far more significant - its soul, its reason for being.

Since 9/11, we have engaged in a nonstop orgy of self-pity, wallowing in our grief and shock and horror. We have done things that are antithetical to what it means to be American: torture, murder, renditions, corruption on both the national and international levels, murder of innocent civilians, invading another country and overthrowing its government without provocation, granting immunity to mercenaries for indiscriminate killings of innocent civilians, violation of another nation's sovereignty, officially sanctioned rape and sexual abuse of prisoners of war, abrogation of the Geneva Conventions and international treaty obligation, repeated violations of constitutional and civil rights in the name of security, spying on our own citizens, lies and violations of our word of honor until our word is simply a mockery of truth. Our news media, the guardians of public discourse, have been complicit - as have we, the American people.
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Pistol

'German Arms Sales Up 50% in 2010'


Press TV
Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:07 UTC
Image
© unknown
A file photo of German-made Heckler and Koch G36 Assault rifle
A German government report has revealed that Germany sold around EUR 2 billion (USD 2.66 billion) in weapons and military hardware in 2010 -- an increase of around 50 percent compared to the previous year.

The data appeared in the German government's annual Defense Exports Report, Der Spiegel reported on Monday.

Most of the arms deliveries were to European Union member countries or NATO states, but some defense products found markets in Africa and the Persian Gulf states as well, the German weekly said.

In 2009, the country exported EUR 1.34 billion worth of defense products. Most of the products exported were high-value armaments like submarines, warships and tanks.
      Read More...
War Whore

US Rep Calls for Bombing Iran Refineries


Press TV
Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:31 UTC
Image
© unknown
US Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich
US Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has called for a military strike against Iran's refineries to stop the country's peaceful nuclear program.

The US should bomb Iran's refineries "as a last recourse," Gingrich said earlier in a 2012 presidential debate in Washington.

The former House speaker opined that the US could break Iran within a year with "cutting off the gasoline supply to Iran and then, frankly, sabotaging the only refinery they have."

His hawkish comments came as Washington and its allies are putting pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program, imposing unilateral sanctions on the country following the November 8 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In an earlier presidential debate earlier this month, Gingrich advocated increased covert terrorism against Iran.
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Dollar

'US Plans Huge Military Spending in Iraq'


Press TV
Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:28 UTC
Image
© Press TV
American soldiers in Iraq
The United States is set to spend more than USD 6 billion in Iraq in 2012, despite Washington's plans to withdraw American troops from the war-ravaged country by the end of 2011.

Most of the allocated budget is going to be spent on military purposes, said US Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey in a Monday report by Anti-war.com.

"We are standing up an embassy to carry out a USD 6.5 billion program, when you throw in the refugee programs as well as the actual State Department budget for 2012, of assistance in support for Iraq on a very broad variety of security and non-security issues," Jeffrey told reporters at a roundtable.

"The direct budget, operating and assistance (to Iraq), was USD 6.2 billion," Jeffrey said.
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No Entry

Russia Threatens to Block NATO Routes


Press TV
Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:26 UTC
Image
© Press TV
Trucks carrying NATO supplies to US-led forces in Afghanistan
Russia has threatened to block NATO's supply routes to Afghanistan, should the Western military alliance continue to disregard Moscow's concerns about the US-led defense shield for Europe, a report says.

Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitri Rogozin warned that Moscow will review its cooperation with the Western military alliance on Afghanistan if the NATO fails to address Russia's objections, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Earlier on Thursday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that direct actions will be taken if his country's concerns are not addressed.

Medvedev envisioned possible missile attacks on Poland, Romania, Spain, and Turkey as a means to disable the counter-missile batteries, if the United States fails to acknowledge the concerns of the Russian defense officials.
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MIB

Global health organization to purchase millions of toxic HPV vaccines to administer to women and girls in third-world countries

Ethan A. Huff
Natural News
Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:32 UTC
vaccine
© healthwatchmd.com

At its recent board meeting in Bangladesh, the GAVI Alliance, formerly known as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations, announced plans to bring the deadly human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines Gardasil (Merck & Co.) and Cervarix (GlaxoSmithKline) into the third world. A pro-vaccination group backed by the World Bank, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the vaccine industry, GAVI's stated goal is to vaccinate 240 million children by 2015.

As many as two million women and girls in nine unidentified developing countries could soon receive one of the two HPV vaccines, even though HPV is potentially linked to only one percent, of all cervical cancers, according to some. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), however, has stated that "HPV is not associated with cervical cancer" at all.

And yet the vaccine industry through its various "nonprofit" and government partnership continues to push the deadly vaccine on young girls, women, and now even young boys around the world, despite the fact that it does not work and can cause horrific side effects. According to the latest figures released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Gardasil alone has caused more than 20,000 adverse events and 71 known deaths since it was first unveiled.
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Bad Guys

US: Senate Rejects Effort to Remove Terrorist Detainee Policy in Defense Bill

Josiah Ryan
The Hill
Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:19 UTC
US capitol
© AP
The Senate rejected an amendment on Tuesday that would have removed a provision from the pending Defense spending bill to toughen U.S. policy towards suspected terrorists captured on the battlefield or on the home front.

The amendment, defeated 37-61, would have struck a section of the spending bill that authorizes the president to use "all necessary and appropriate force" to detain people suspected of terrorism and instead would have implemented a timeline to allow further hearings and opportunities for the military to make recommendations on how detainee policy ought to change.

Prior to the vote, the amendment's author, Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), argued that military and law enforcement professionals ought to be given a louder voice in the deliberation over a policy that could so drastically affect the execution of their duties.

"We are ignoring the advice and the input of the director of the FBI, the director of the intelligence community, the attorney general of the United States, the Secretary of Defense and the White House," said Udall.
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Bad Guys

Monsanto in Gates' Clothing? The Emperor's New GMOs

Eric Holt Gimenez
Huffington Post
Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:38 UTC
Image
© unknown
If you had any doubts about where the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is really placing its bets, AGRA Watch's recent announcement of the Foundation's investment of $23.1 million in 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock should put them to rest. Genetic engineering: full speed ahead.

If you are one of those people who believes the axiom that Monsanto is the farmer's friend (and the corollary, that its climate-ready, bio-fortified GMOs can save the world from hunger) you will not be surprised, disappointed, or find any conflict of interest in this investment.

But if you are part of the growing population who gets their information about GMOs from scientists who are not beholden to corporate funding, has a problem with anti-trust issues, or is getting queasy about the increasing monopoly power of philanthropy capital... it's time to say the Emperor has no clothes.
      Read More...
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