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Secular Palestinians surrender to religious fanaticism in Mecca deal Published: 02.15.07, 11:59 / Israel Opinion The Palestinians will never be able to achieve national independence and statehood until they can first define themselves and speak as one voice. But if that voice is that of religious extremism, the Palestinian national identity will be consumed by the more demanding and less tolerant identity driven by religious extremism. While Palestinians see themselves in a conflict with Israel, the real battle is among themselves. Will the Palestinian people be a democratic society based on tolerance and respect for all views and religions, or...

Iran will be able to develop enough weapons-grade material for a nuclear bomb and there is little that can be done to prevent it, an internal European Union document has concluded. In an admission of the international community’s failure to hold back Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the document – compiled by the staff of Javier Solana, EU foreign policy chief – says the atomic programme has been delayed only by technical limitations rather than diplomatic pressure. “Attempts to engage the Iranian administration in a negotiating process have not so far succeeded,” it states. The downbeat conclusions of the “reflection paper” –...

Czech president Vaclav Klaus has criticized the UN panel on global warming, claiming that it was a political authority without any scientific basis. In an interview with "Hospodárské noviny", a Czech economics daily, Klaus answered a few questions: Q: IPCC has released its report and you say that the global warming is a false myth. How did you get this idea, Mr President?• A: It's not my idea. Global warming is a false myth and every serious person and scientist says so. It is not fair to refer to the U.N. panel. IPCC is not a scientific institution: it's a...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- There were three striking features about Russian President Vladimir Putin's weekend diatribe against the Bush administration's "policies of hyper-force." The first was that it came as any kind of surprise; Russia's top generals, commentators and the Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox church all said much the same last week. Indeed, Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, chief of the Russian military's General Staff, said "the U.S. military leadership's course aimed at maintaining its global leadership and expanding its economic, political and military presence in Russia's traditional zones of influence" was the main threat for Russia's national security. The...

A new Plan A, with more American carrots and European sticks, is necessary. But don't count on it working We should not bomb Iran to prevent Iran getting the bomb. The consequences would be disastrous. After Iraq, US or Israeli military action against this regionally powerful, oil-producing Shia muslim country would make the world a still more dangerous place. The cure would be worse than the disease. That's what a new report from a diverse coalition of British organisations says, and it is right. But this is not enough. Joining with wiser heads in Washington to prevent George Bush making...

Jan. 30, 2007 — President Bush believes he might have been misunderstood when he started speaking about the need to go after Iran for its involvement in aiding the insurgency in Iraq. As he traveled to Illinois today to share good news on the economy, he said the subject has been overshadowed by the war in Iraq, and he clarified his stance on Iran, which he does not plan to invade. * Related: Do You Trust Bush's Claims About Iran? "Nobody's talking about that," he told ABC News' Betsy Stark. "To say that defending ourselves in Iraq … has some...

Ahmadinejad: Be assured that the US and Israel will soon end lives. Israel and the United States will soon be destroyed, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday during a meeting with Syria's foreign minister, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) website said in a report. "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad… assured that the United States and the Zionist regime of Israel will soon come to the end of their lives," the Iranian president was quoted as saying. "Sparking discord among Muslims, especially between the Shiites and Sunnis, is a plot hatched by the Zionists and the US for dominating regional...

<p>January 23, 2007 -- Former President Bill Clinton, speaking for the first time since his wife declared her 2008 candidacy for the White House, said last night that he's ready for his "supporting role" in her historic bid to follow in his footsteps.</p>

The Iranian army has shot down an American spy drone, according to a member of Iran’s parliament. The drone, said to belong to the United States army, was downed while crossing the border into the country, MP Seyed Nezam Mola Hoveizeh told the Iranian Fars News Agency. It was downed “during the last few days,” he said. He pointed out this was not the first time the Americans had sent a spy drone to the region. The report comes amid heightened tension between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program. The United States Navy is denying the claim....

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * * DISPATCH FROM JERUSALEM: BUSH SPEECH SEEN AS PREPARING FOR WAR WITH IRAN By Joel C. Rosenberg (Jerusalem, Israel) -- "Our best case scenario is for missiles to be hitting us in the next year or two. Either the West goes to war to stop Iran from going nuclear, and Iran fires conventional missiles at us in retaliation, or the West waits too long and Iran launches a nuclear first strike at us. Either way, a terrible war is coming. It cannot be avoided." That's the sobering assessment a...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday mocked President Bush and said Iran's nuclear program was a source of inspiration for other nations. His typically outspoken remarks came after Bush said the Iranian president was out of step with the rest of the world and U.N. diplomats said a draft resolution imposing sanctions on Tehran for its atomic work should be approved on Friday. Addressing a rally in western Iran, Ahmadinejad urged Bush to "step out of your glass palace and go to your people to see how isolated you are, not only across the world but also in...

<p>FOND DU LAC, Wis. — Rick Lisko hunts deer with a bow, but got his most unusual one driving his truck down his mile-long driveway.</p> <p>The young buck had nub antlers — and seven legs. Lisko said it also had both male and female reproductive organs.</p>

TEHRAN, Iran — Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh vowed on Friday that his Hamas-led government will never recognize Israel and will continue to fight for the liberation of Jerusalem. "The world arrogance (U.S.) and Zionists ... want us to recognize the usurpation of the Palestinian lands and stop jihad and resistance and accept the agreements reached with the Zionist enemies in the past," Haniyeh told thousands of Friday prayer worshippers at Tehran University. The United States is pressing the Hamas-led Palestinian government to recognize Israel, renounce violence and form a national unity government with the moderate Fatah party in a...

MOSCOW: The Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman is moving into the military contracting business through a joint venture with a state arms export monopoly that is central to plans by President Vladimir Putin of Russia to guide the development of strategic industries like carmaking and aviation. Fridman's Alfa Bank, one of the biggest Russian lenders, and Rosoboronexport are setting up the 50-50 joint venture, called Patriot Capital, that will help raise funds for the arms industry. It will also advise on restructuring debt and attract investment for upgrading equipment, the bank, based in Moscow, said Monday. The new venture will help...

Breaking News Mario Scaramella Radiation Hits Second Man Updated: 14:53, Friday December 01, 2006 A contact of an ex-Russian spy who died after ingesting a radioactive toxin has the same substance in his body, Sky News has learnt. Italian academic Mario Scaramella tested positive for isotope Polonium-210. He had met Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko at a sushi restaurant in London, shortly before he fell ill. Sky's Martin Brunt said Mr Scaramella had not shown the same symptoms as Mr Litvinenko, who suffered vomiting and loss of hair before he died.

Just breaking.....wonder what he's up to now. More to follow I'm sure.

France, Spain and Italy pushed Thursday for a new Middle East peace plan, including an international conference, in a move welcomed by the Palestinian Authority but promptly rejected by Israel. On the Palestinian domestic front, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and President Mahmoud Abbas plan to meet this month to iron out problems preventing the formation of a unity government, a senior Hamas official said on Thursday. Spanish Premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero proposed a five-point blueprint for peace during talks with French President Jacques Chirac. They later spoke to Italy's prime minister. The plan calls for: an immediate cease-fire, exchange...

LONDON, Nov. 13 — Confronted by likely shifts in American thinking on Iraq, Prime Minister Tony Blair is to say this evening in a major address that the “nature of the battle” there had changed, and that Western strategy in the Middle East must evolve, possibly to include a “new partnership” with Iran. Mr. Blair’s remarks come a day before he is scheduled to speak by way of a trans-Atlantic video link to the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel in Washington, concerning some of the same themes. The remarks are part of Mr. Blair’s annual foreign policy address, his...

WASHINGTON — Over 1,600 sex offenders were rounded up in what the government says is the largest number ever captured in a single law enforcement effort during a 24-state sweep that netted a total of nearly 11,000 fugitives, the Justice Department announced Thursday. Those nabbed also included gang members and others wanted on a variety of charges from kidnapping to weapons offenses, officials said. Among the fugitives caught were 1,659 sex offenders — including 971 who failed to register with authorities as required by law. Dubbed Operation Falcon III — an acronym for Federal and Local Cops Organized Nationally —...