6th February 2012

6.8 earthquake shakes central Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — A strong earthquake struck the central Philippines on Monday, killing a child, destroying buildings, shattering windows and triggering a local tsunami alert that sent residents fleeing. The 6.8-magnitude quake hit in a narrow strait just off Negros Island. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued the tsunami alert for central islands, saying the quake could trigger a 3-foot (1-meter) wave along the island's eastern coast as well as west of the country's second-largest city, Cebu... People rushed out of schools, malls and offices during the quake, which hit at 11:49 a.m. (3:49 a.m. GMT). Officials in some areas suspended work and canceled classes. Power and telecommunications were knocked out in several places.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46276699/ns/world_news/#.Ty95WcWvgX0

Island nation of Vanuatu jolted by several quakes
PORT-VILA, Vanuatu (AP) — The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu continues to be jolted by several moderate to strong earthquakes after a magnitude 7.1 temblor hit last week. Several earthquakes, including a 6.1 and a 6.0, hit Monday. Since the larger quake struck Friday there have been 20 temblors of magnitude 4.5 or above, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Most have been centered near the 7.1 quake, which hit about 77 miles (124 kilometers) west of Port-Vila, Vanuatu’s capital.
http://www.washingtonpost.com...

Ayatollah: Kill all Jews, annihilate Israel
The Iranian government, through a website proxy, has laid out the legal and religious justification for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of its people. The doctrine includes wiping out Israeli assets and Jewish people worldwide. Calling Israel a danger to Islam, the conservative website Alef, with ties to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the opportunity must not be lost to remove “this corrupting material. It is a ‘jurisprudential justification” to kill all the Jews and annihilate Israel, and in that, the Islamic government of Iran must take the helm.” The article, written by Alireza Forghani, a conservative analyst and a strategy specialist in Khamenei’s camp, now is being run on most state-owned conservative sites, including the Revolutionary Guards’ Fars News Agency, showing that the regime endorses this doctrine.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/ayatollah-kill-all-jews-annihilate-israel/ 

Follow-up: Israeli PM: We live in a tough neigborhood - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu delivered a terse retort Sunday to the threats issued Friday by Iran's "supreme leader" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and tied it to events in Syria. "We have received a reminder about what kind of a neighborhood we live in," Netanyahu said at the start of the Cabinet session. "We heard the Iranian ruler's remarks about the elimination of Israel. We saw the Syrian army massacre its own people. We have seen other bloody events in our region. Leaders have no moral compunctions about killing -whether their neighbors or their own citizens." "In such a region, the only thing that ensures our existence, security and prosperity is our strength. We are obligated to continue to develop the military, economic and social strength of the State of Israel. This is also the only guarantee for the existence of peace and the only defense for Israel should the peace unravel." "Developing Israel's strength is this Government's main issue," Netanyahu said. Netanyahu has never led Israel in a time of war, but may soon find himself standing at the helm against the biggest military challenge Israel has faced in recent decades.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152440#.Ty96msWvgX0

5th February 2012

Hezbollah will hit Israel if Syria attacked
Hezbollah is prepared to attack Israel if Western powers interfere in Syria against the regime in Damascus, a Lebanese Hezbollah official said Sunday according to the Palestinian News Network. The unnamed official said Hezbollah was prepared if Western powers intervened in Syria in order to stop Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on anti-government protesters, even if the "price for it" is to engage the IDF in battle in order to divert attention away from the Syrian arena. According to the report, Hezbollah - which is believed to have a stockpile of over 30,000 missiles - believes that a war in the Middle East may prevent the fall of Assad... Last week, over 200 people were killed in an overnight military assault on the restive city of Homs. At least 18 people were gunned down by Syrian troops on Sunday according to activists, and nine Syrian troops were killed in clashes with rebels in the northwestern Idlib province bordering Turkey. Israel has said that Hezbollah along with Iran are providing weapons to their ally Syria to help suppress Syrian opposition activists calling for Assad's ouster, in a conflict that has resulted in the deaths of more than 6,000 Syrians.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=256584

ET, the new alien scaring global markets
(Reuters) The United States is coming to be seen as a global threat, acting unilaterally with aggressive new market rules that critics say will hurt U.S. firms, foreign banks, and international markets in one swoop. The new buzzword in the financial world is "extraterritoriality", or ET. The idea that a government can exercise its authority beyond its borders. The fear is that after the 2007-2009 financial crisis that roiled global markets, some countries will engage in an arms race of tough financial reforms in order to be seen as the safest capital markets, and will haphazardly foist their own rules on other nations. Despite its talk of a global level playing field, the United States is being portrayed as a rogue country, with its unmatched Volcker rule to curtail banks' risky trades and its accelerated timetable to put in place new derivatives reforms. The backlash has gained force in recent weeks. International finance ministers are taking up their concerns with the U.S. finance bosses, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke... EU financial services chief Michel Barnier is expected to raise the Volcker rule issue with Geithner this month... And while the EU and United States are engaged in hand-to-hand combat, Asia is left watching from the sidelines, causing both confusion and a risk of capital flight.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/05/us-financial-regulation-et-idUSTRE8140DV20120205

Jerusalem and Berlin sign contract for sixth submarine
Israel and Germany signed a contract a few weeks ago finalizing the sale of a sixth Dolphinclass submarine to the Israel Navy, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The Defense Ministry initiated talks with Germany last year about buying a sixth submarine but Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government initially balked when Israel asked that it underwrite part of the cost. In late November, though, Germany announced that it had approved the deal and that it would pay for part of the vessel. Christian Schmidt, secretary of state for defense, told the Post that the contract was signed a few weeks ago and that Germany had agreed to subsidize its cost. Calling Israel a “preferred customer,” Schmidt said the sale of the submarine was a demonstration of his country’s commitment to Israel’s security. “The security of the State of Israel is a German concern and this will not change,” he said during a visit to Israel during which he met with Israeli diplomatic and defense officials and attended the Herzliya Conference... Schmidt said that Germany was looking to increase its defense cooperation with Israel and was specifically interested in learning from the IDF about training and military doctrine.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=256494

World leaders look to Berlin for more guidance
What does the international community expect of Germany during a time of crisis? Should Berlin take the helm and steer the continent or hold back? World leaders discuss this at the Munich Security Conference... The eurozone crisis is forcing Germany to take the lead in Europe... In Munich, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski reiterated his country's willingness to support Berlin in solving the European crisis, which after all was in Germany's own interest. "Germany is the greatest beneficiary of Europe and it has to act accordingly," said Sikorski. He added that Germany needed partners to enforce the necessary measures. "The European Union is the body best suited for this task." But it's not just the Europeans who are increasingly looking to Germany for a way out of the crisis. The American head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, said in Munich that emerging countries are also banking on Germany. "2012 could either be the year when Germany takes the lead or starts flagging itself," said Zoellick.
http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15717751,00.html

4th February 2012

Iranian warships dock at Saudi port
(AFP) Iranian naval ships docked on Saturday in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on a mission to project the Islamic republic's "power on the open seas," the Fars news agency reported. The supply ship Kharg and Shaid Qandi, a destroyer, docked in the Red Sea port in line with orders from Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, it quoted navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari as saying. "This mission aims to show the power of the Islamic republic of Iran on the open seas and to confront Iranophobia," he said, adding that the mission started several days ago and would last 70 to 80 days. The commander did not give other destinations.
http://www.breitbart.com...

Iran mass producing anti-ship cruise missile
(AFP) Iran has begun mass production of an anti-ship cruise missile, state television's website said on Saturday. The Zafar missile, as it is dubbed in the report, "is a short-range, anti-ship cruise missile capable of destroying small- and medium-sized targets with high precision." It can be mounted on speed boats and other light vessels, can withstand electronic warfare, and is able to fly in low altitudes to avoid detection, the report said. Iran has a fleet of speed boats that often challenge US and allied warships in the Gulf. The vessels are usually controlled by the elite Revolutionary Guards and can be equipped with missiles. The Islamic republic says it has a wide range of missiles. It says some are capable of striking targets inside Israel as well as Middle Eastern military bases of its other main archfoe, the United States.
http://www.breitbart.com...

PA's Abbas, Hamas' Mashaal to meet in Qatar
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Qatar on Sunday, AFP quoted Fatah party spokesman Azzam al-Ahmad as saying. According to Ahmad, the two Palestinian leaders will negotiate potential "reconciliation measures" with the goal of forming a unity government. They will also discuss issues resulting from the "failure of talks” with Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=256402

Iran blocks IAEA inspectors at military site
VIENNA - Iran's apparent reluctance to let UN inspectors visit a military site near Tehran underlines the uphill task they face in getting the Islamic state to address suspicions it may be seeking to develop nuclear weapons, Western diplomats say. They say the UN nuclear watchdog sought access to the Parchin complex during three days of talks in the Iranian capital, so far without any sign that Iran would agree to it. More meetings are scheduled for later this month - rare direct dialogue in the long-running international dispute, which has deepened as the West pursues punitive embargos on Iranian oil and Tehran threatens retaliation. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) named Parchin in a detailed report in November that lent independent weight to Western fears that Iran is working to develop an atomic bomb.
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=256385

Israel, U.S. divided over timing of potential military strike against Iran
The U.S. and Israel are publicly disagreeing over timing for a potential attack on Iran’s disputed nuclear facilities, as that nation’s leader said it won’t back down. The U.S. and Israel have a “significant analytic difference” over estimates of how close Iran is to shielding its nuclear program from attack, Aaron David Miller, a former Mideast peace negotiator in the Clinton administration, said today. “There’s a growing concern -- more than a concern -- that the Israelis, in order to protect themselves, might launch a strike without approval, warning or even foreknowledge,” he said in an interview. The differing views were underscored by public comments this week by senior Israeli and U.S. defense officials. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said yesterday that Israel must consider conducting “an operation” before Iran reaches an “immunity zone,” referring to Iran’s goal of protecting its uranium enrichment and other nuclear operations by moving them to deep underground facilities such as one at Fordo, near the holy city of Qom. “The world has no doubt that Iran’s nuclear program is steadily nearing readiness and is about to enter an immunity zone,” Barak said in an address to the annual Herzliya Conference at the Interdisciplinary Center campus north of Tel Aviv. "If the sanctions don’t achieve their goal of halting Iran’s nuclear weapons program, there will arise the need of weighing an operation,” Barak said. The U.S. holds the view that “there is still time and space to pursue diplomacy” with Iran over its nuclear program, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said today in Washington.
http://www.bloomberg.com...

Iran warns world of coming great event
Amid crippling sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, Iran is continuing to prepare itself for war against the West, and now is warning of a coming great event. “In light of the realization of the divine promise by almighty God, the Zionists and the Great Satan (America) will soon be defeated,” Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, is warning. Khamenei, speaking to hundreds of youths from more than 70 countries attending a world conference on the Arab Spring just days ago, told a cheering crowd in Tehran that “Allah’s promises will be delivered and Islam will be victorious.” The countries represented included Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Palestine and Tunisia, all of which have been involved in the Arab Spring. In his remarks, Khamenei advised the youths to remain vigilant, stating that the Islamic awakening in the region has delivered several blows to the enemies of Islam and that all Muslims, despite their own historical and social differences, remain united in opposing the “evil hegemony of the Zionists and the Americans.” Khamenei then claimed the current century as the century of Islam and promised that human history is on the verge of a great event and that soon the world will realize the power of Allah. Many clerics in Iran have stated that Khamenei is the deputy of the last Islamic messiah on earth and that obedience to him is necessary for the final glorification of Islam. Khamenei has been heard to say that the coming of the last Islamic Messiah, the Shiites’ 12th Imam Mahdi, is near and that specific actions need to be taken to protect the Islamic regime for upcoming events. Mahdi, according to Shiite belief, will reappear at the time of Armageddon. Selected forces within the Revolutionary Guards and Basij reportedly have been trained under a task force called “Soldiers of Imam Mahdi” and they will bear the responsibility of security and protecting the regime against uprisings. Many in the Guards and Basij have been told that the 12th Imam is on earth, facilitated the victory of Hezbollah over Israel in the 2006 war and soon will announce publicly his presence after the needed environment is created... The Revolutionary Guards not only can hit all U.S. bases in the Middle East with their ballistic missiles but also reach most capital cities in Western Europe. The Guards, with the help of China and North Korea, are working on intercontinental ballistic missiles. But more dangerous to America, as reported last July, is the Guards action in arming their vessels with long-range ballistic missiles and their expansion of their mission into the Atlantic Ocean, right into the Gulf of Mexico. Any Iranian military or commercial vessel easily could get right outside the U.S. coastline and in less than 60 seconds fire a ballistic missile armed with a nuclear payload and detonate it over U.S. skies in an electromagnetic attack that would plunge America back into the 18th century. Studies show within just one year after such an attack, two-thirds of Americans would cease to exist and the rest would live under dire conditions.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/iran-warns-world-of-coming-great-event/

Israel warns US Jews: Iran could strike here
Israeli facilities in North America -- and around the world -- are on high alert, according to an internal security document obtained by ABC News that predicted the threat from Iran against Jewish targets will increase. "We predict that the threat on our sites around the world will increase … on both our guarded sites and 'soft' sites," stated a letter circulated by the head of security for the Consul General for the Mid-Atlantic States. Guarded sites refers to government facilities like embassies and consulates, while 'soft sites' means Jewish synagogues, and schools, as well as community centers like the one hit by a terrorist bombing in Buenos Aires in 1994 that killed 85 people. The head of Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, told an audience at a closed forum in Tel Aviv recently that Iran is trying to hit Israeli targets because of what it believes are Israeli attacks on it nuclear scientists. Yoram Cohen said that Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the same militant wing of the government linked to the recent alleged plot against the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., is working tirelessly to attack Israeli and Jewish targets abroad in order to deter Israel.
http://abcnews.go.com...

Israeli Deputy FM Ayalon in Germany: Pressure Iran 'until it breaks'
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon warned German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere that heavy pressure must be immediately applied to Iran "until it breaks," speaking during a panel at the Munich Conference on Friday. "We do not have the privilege to wait on the results of sanctions against Iran," Ayalon told de Maiziere. Germany, he added, "as the strongest country in the European Union," must send a message to policy-makers in those European countries that are reliant on Iranian oil to break their reliance on it in order for EU sanctions to be significant... Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the conference in Germany, Ayalon added that the key point of international concern should be the amount of enriched uranium Iran has managed to bury at a deep site at Fordow, its best sheltered nuclear site south of Tehran.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=256375

3rd February 2012

Khamenei dismisses pressure on Iran... Supreme leader insists Tehran will not retreat over nuclear programme
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has dismissed rising international pressure on the country and insisted that Tehran will never retreat over its nuclear programme. In a speech at Friday prayers in Tehran, the ayatollah vowed that Iran would be able to withstand the effect of international sanctions. “These sanctions are to force Iran to retreat but the results are Iran will not retreat and the greatness of the west and the greatness of its threats will be broken in the eyes of the nations in the region … both of which will benefit Iran,” Ayatollah Khamenei told worshippers. The ayatollah, who has the final say in all state affairs, is believed to determine Iran’s nuclear policies and is the only authority who can sanction any compromise with the world’s major powers over the nuclear programme. His intervention came as western diplomats confirmed that Tehran had refused to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit a facility at Parchin last week which the UN watchdog believes Tehran could use to test high explosives for a nuclear weapon.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/31c0fc74-4e5c-11e1-8670-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1lKtekL2N

UK fearful of Iran military capabilities
The British government has expressed fear over Iran's military capabilities at the same time that Israel adamantly urges the West to scale up its anti-Iran warlike rhetoric... “Of course I worry that there will be a military conflict and that certain countries might take matters into their own hands,” said British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg after Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said “no option should be taken off the table” if the West's sanctions against Iran fail to damage its economy. Clegg was especially worried over Iran's missile capabilities as the Israeli deputy prime minister Moshe Ya'alon told a security conference that Iran had successfully developed long-distance ballistic missiles with a range of 10,000 kilometers.
http://presstv.com/detail/224613.html

Europe freezes - Cold snap takes heavy toll in Eastern Europe
Severe cold has killed at least 164 people in Eastern Europe as temperatures in some areas plummet to record lows. Ukraine has reported some 38 new fatalities while Poland has recorded eight additional deaths... Temperatures plunged to minus 35 degrees Celsius (minus 31 degrees Fahrenheit) in some regions, prompting power outages, traffic chaos and the widespread closure of schools, nurseries and airports... European weather forecasters have warned the severe cold is likely to persist in many parts of continental Europe into next week.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15714393,00.html

Santorum warns of doomsday under Obama
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Rick Santorum’s campaign slogan could very well be one word: doomsday. To hear him tell it, the United States will collapse under the weight of its health care system and basic freedoms will be history. Iran will annihilate Israel and then South Carolina if Iran isn’t blocked from building a nuclear weapon. And divorce will yield higher taxes for all Americans. Unless, of course, Republicans pick Santorum as the party’s presidential nominee and he goes on to defeat President Barack Obama... the former Pennsylvania senator doesn’t mince words in campaign speeches in which he describes how — in his view — the country is heading down the wrong path and the government is growing too big... “You have honor to live up to, to hand off to the next generation at least as great a country as given to you. And you all know that is in jeopardy,” he told a crowd in Colorado Springs.
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/02/03/santorum-warns-of-doomsday-under-obama/

Israel warns: Iran working on missile that could reach the US
JERUSALEM - Israel said on Thursday Iran had been working on developing a missile capable of striking the United States at a military base rocked by a deadly explosion three months ago. The missile under construction at an Iranian research-and-development facility, which was damaged by a mysterious explosion in November, was a long-range missile prototype with a range of 6,000 miles – enough to hit the United States, a senior Israeli official said Thursday in a speech to a defense and security forum. At the time of the Nov. 12 explosion at a facility some 30 miles outside Tehran, Iranian officials insisted that the suspicious blast was an accident. It occurred, they said, during experimentation on a medium-range missile – one capable of reaching Israel. But on Thursday, Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s vice prime minister and minister of strategic affairs, said in a speech outside Tel Aviv that the missile under development actually had a range closer to 6,000 miles. “That’s the Great Satan,” Mr. Yaalon said, using the well-known pejorative term that Iranian officials have used for the US. “It was aimed at America, not at us.” If true, Yaalon’s claim would put Iran’s missile development program into a new league... Yaalon said in his speech that the West does not yet realize how much of a threat is posed by Iran, which he called “a nightmare for the free world.” In reality, he said, Israel in the Iranian regime’s eyes is only the “little Satan,” while America, as leader of the West, is “the larger Satan.”
http://www.csmonitor.com...

2nd February 2012

Ahmadinejad calls for new world order
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for a new world order of justice-seeking nations, to replace the existing Western-dominated liberal status quo. President Ahmadinejad made the remarks at the inauguration ceremony of the 2nd International Conference on Hollywoodism and Cinema in Tehran on Thursday. The Iranian chief executive stated that the world's dominant powers deliberately bully the smaller nations, who are not in conflict with one another, thereby creating artificial problems between them. President Ahmadinejad also pointed out that this new world order needs to be all-inclusive, and not be dominated by any particular single nation.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/224457.html

US Secretary of Defense believes Israel will attack Iran this spring
United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta believes that Israel will attack Iran in April, May or June, the Washington Post reported Thursday. According to the report, written by the paper’s senior opinion writer David Ignatius, Panetta is concerned that Israel will launch an attack before Iran enters the so-called “immunity zone” when its nuclear facilities will be heavily fortified and a military strike will no longer succeed... According to the article, Israel might decide to strike before Iran completes the fortification since afterward only America will be capable of stopping Iran militarily. “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t want to leave the fate of Israel dependent on American action,” Ignatius wrote. According to the report, Israel’s strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities could last five days which would be followed by a United Nations-brokered ceasefire.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=256262

Germany to host missile shield command
BERLIN (Reuters) - The command centre for a controversial missile defense shield in Europe will be housed at a U.S. air base in western Germany, a NATO spokesman said on Thursday. Ramstein Air Base, which already houses the European headquarters of the U.S. Air Force and a NATO installation, will host the centre, which NATO says aims to protect Europe from potential attacks by so-called "rogue states" like Iran. "The command and control element will be based at Ramstein," the spokesman for NATO's Allied Air Command said. "The implementation of the new command structure will take place in the next two years."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-germany-shield-idUSTRE8111SO20120202

Germany looks to China for eurozone support... Europe growing closer together
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday that resolving the European debt crisis was 'urgent' and called on the international community to work together. Speaking at Beijing's Great Hall of the People following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is on three-day visit to China, Wen said Europe was of "strategic importance" to his country. He said China was considering greater involvement in the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the 550-billion-euro ($724.6 billion) European Stability Mechanism (ESM), due to take effect in July... Shortly after her arrival, Merkel gave a speech on economic and financial policy to a state-run think tank in which she addressed China's role regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions... She also touched on the European debt crisis, a topic likely to dominate her visit, saying the EU was “on track” to financial recovery. "Europe is growing closer together in the crisis," said Merkel. "Every country has to do its homework, but we're staying united, because a collective currency should be defended collectively."
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15712102,00.html

Strong 6.9 quake strikes Vanuatu
SYDNEY (Reuters) - An earthquake measuring 6.9 struck in the Pacific Ocean off Vanuatu on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but residents said there were no reports of damage. The quake, which hit at 1334 GMT, was at a shallow 6.3 miles (10 km) depth, the USGS said, and was centered 122 km (76 miles) west of Port-Vila, the capital of Vanuatu or about 1,800 km (1,120 miles) east of the Australian coast. A police official in Port Vila, reached by telephone, said the quake was felt strongly.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/quake-vanuatu-idUSL4E8D26QN20120202

Israel Vice PM: Military strike can hit all of Iran's nuclear facilities
All of Iran's nuclear faculties are vulnerable to a military strike, Vice Prime Minister and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Thursday, calling the potential of a nuclear Iran a "nightmare to the free world." Speaking of the possibility of a military strike of Iran's nuclear facilities, the vice PM said that "the West has the ability to strike, but as long as Iran isn't convinced that there's a determination to follow through with it, they'll continue with their manipulations. The Iranians believe that a determination isn’t still there, both in regards to military action and in regards to sanctions," Ya'alon said, adding that "any facility protected by humans can be infiltrated by humans. It's possible to strike all Iran's facilities, and I say that out of my experience as IDF chief of staff." The vice PM's comments seem to counter reported remarks by U.S. defense officials quoted last week by the Wall Street Journal, according to which the Pentagon was not in possession of conventional arms strong enough to destroy all of Iran's nuclear facilities... Ya'alon reiterated the Israeli stance that a nuclear Iran was a global threat, saying that "if Iran obtains nuclear weapons, it would be a nightmare for the free world, a nightmare for Arab states…and of course a threat to the State of Israel. We'll see a more intense undermining of regional regimes and the acceleration of terror attacks against those regimes, as well as against Israel and western states, with the United States at the forefront," Ya'alon said. The former IDF chief also indicated that an explosion which virtually destroyed an Iran Revolutionary Guard missile base near Tehran late last year targeted a system "getting ready to produce a missile with a range of 10,000 kilometers, thus threatening the United States."
http://www.haaretz.com...

Intel chief Kochavi: Iran has uranium for 4 nuclear bombs
Iran has created a stockpile of enriched uranium that could be used to manufacture four nuclear weapons, head of the IDF's Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi said on Thursday. Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, Kochavi said that once Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the decision to go to the so-called "breakout stage" and begin enriching uranium to military-grade levels, it would take the Iranians a year to make a crude device and another year or two to manufacture a nuclear warhead that can be installed on a ballistic missile... "Iran's motivations are: to create hegemony in the region; deterrence; and to become an international player," Kochavi said. "They claim that they are developing the program for peaceful purposes but our intelligence shows without a doubt that Iran is continuing its work on developing a nuclear weapon."... Kochavi said that Israel was currently threatened by 200,000 rockets and missiles in the hands of Israel's enemies. The missiles, he said, currently covered the entire State of Israel and were growing in their ranges and the size of their warheads. He also said that Iran's Quds Force - responsible for the regime's overseas military operations - was continuing its efforts to carry out an attacks against Israel and the Jewish people throughout the world.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=256152

1st February 2012

India to buy oil from Iran despite sanctions
New Delhi - India has joined rival China in declaring it will continue to import oil from Iran despite US and EU sanctions on Tehran over its covert nuclear programme. India’s finance minister Pranab Mukherjee rejected pressure from the Obama administration to join the sanctions given New Delhi’s massive dependence on Iranian hydrocarbon imports... India and China together accounted for 34 per cent of Iran’s oil exports from January to September last year, slightly more than Europe, according to the International Energy Agency.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0201/1224311048994.html

US Defence Secretary announces combat forces to leave Afghanistan next year
BRUSSELS (The Blaze/AP) — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta laid out the administration’s most explicit portrayal of the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan, saying Wednesday that U.S. and other international forces in Afghanistan expect to end their combat role in 2013 and continue a training and advisory role with Afghan forces through 2014. Panetta’s remarks to reporters traveling with him to a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels showed how the foreign military role in Afghanistan is expected to evolve from the current high-intensity fight against the Taliban to a support role with Afghans fully in the lead. The timeline fits neatly into the U.S. political calendar, enabling President Barack Obama to declare on the campaign trail this year that in addition to bringing all U.S. troops home from Iraq and beginning a troop drawdown in Afghanistan, he also has a target period for ending the U.S. combat role there... A senior defense official traveling with Panetta said the U.S. believes Afghanistan will not need as big a force as is now being built. NATO has set a target of 352,000 Afghan soldiers and police. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon, said the U.S. thinks a smaller force would be adequate, but he would not be more specific.
http://www.theblaze.com...

Scores injured in Peru 6.3 earthquake
(AFP) LIMA — A powerful earthquake injured scores of people, buckled buildings and caused power outages on the coast of Peru south of Lima, with no immediate reports of fatalities, officials said.
The epicenter of the magnitude 6.3 quake, which struck 11 minutes after midnight Sunday (0511 GMT Monday), was 23 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of the city of Ica, the US Geological Survey said... at least 145 people were injured and most were taken to hospitals, though the injuries were mostly minor, the Health Ministry said. The quake also destroyed 125 homes and damaged 581 buildings... Most people were injured when they fled their homes in panic, or when they were struck by collapsing walls, said Raul Huaman with the Ica Regional Hospital. Among the damaged buildings was the Cathedral of Ica, which had already been damaged in a 2007 earthquake. The jolt caused people to flee their homes in Ica, the port of Pisco, and the towns of Palpa, Nasca and Canete. Dozens of Ica residents spent the night in parks and gardens fearing aftershocks.
http://www.google.com...

31st January 2012

US Intel Chief: Iran ready to strike America in terror attacks
The U.S. intelligence community believes that Iran is prepared to launch terrorist attacks inside the United States in response to perceived threats from America and its allies, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the Senate Tuesday morning in an open hearing. In prepared testimony given to the U.S. Select Committee on Intelligence, Clapper stated than an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States shows a shift in Tehran’s strategy towards a willingness to plot and conduct attacks within the U.S. Director Clapper said, according to the Washington Post, that Iran’s disrupted alleged assassination plot: “shows that some Iranian officials — probably including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — have changed their calculus and are now more willing to conduct an attack in the United States in response to real or perceived U.S. actions that threaten the regime.” Clapper added that “We are also concerned about Iranian plotting against U.S. or allied interests overseas.” The spy chief’s concerns come amidst increased saber rattling from Iran with regard to the Strait of Hormuz, and tightening U.S. sanctions aimed at curbing the Iranian nuclear program.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/us-intel-chief-iran-ready-to-strike-america-in-terror-attacks/

Egypt sent back U.S. request to lift travel ban
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's justice minister said on Tuesday he had sent back a letter from the U.S. ambassador that asked for an end to a travel ban on Americans being investigated for alleged illegal funding of pro-democracy groups. Justice Minister Adel Abdelhamid Abdallah said he had urged the U.S. embassy to redirect the letter to investigating judges. The case has highlighted strains between Washington and its long-standing Arab ally since the overthrow last year of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising... Abdallah said only those concerned by the travel ban or their representatives were entitled to send such a letter. Parliament speaker Mohamed Saad al-Katatni, a leading figure in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood which now dominates the assembly's lower house, said Patterson's request was "interference by the American embassy that we do not accept."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/us-usa-egypt-ban-idUSTRE80U1MC20120131

US Congressional Budget Office reports trillion dollar deficits through 2017
The government faces a fourth year of trillion-plus deficits in 2012, according to new projections released Tuesday—numbers which also show little relief in the future unless Washington comes to grips with needed changes in its tax and spending policies. Like Aunt Cassandra coming down from the attic, the Congressional Budget Office steps squarely into the 2012 campaign season with the 147-page report which might have been subtitled “It’s not just the economy stupid, it’s also the debt.” The $1.079 trillion deficit now projected for this fiscal year ending Sept. 30 is a step backwards from what CBO had predicted in August. And to punch home its message, the non-partisan agency outlines an especially grim scenario in which Congress not only extends all the current Bush-era tax cuts but pulls the plug on the $1.2 trillion in sequester set in motion by the Budget Control Act last summer. Under this scenario—which can’t be ruled out politically—deficits would stubbornly hover just under $1 trillion through 2017, adding another $4.7 trillion altogether to the mounting federal debt.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/72205.html

Germany's role in Europe and the European debt crisis
The German government proposed last week that a European commissioner be appointed to supplant the Greek government. While phrasing the German proposal this way might seem extreme, it is not unreasonable. Under the German proposal, this commissioner would hold power over the Greek national budget and taxation. Since the European Central Bank already controls the Greek currency, the euro, this would effectively transfer control of the Greek government to the European Union, since whoever controls a country's government expenditures, tax rates and monetary policy effectively controls that country. The German proposal therefore would suspend Greek sovereignty and the democratic process as the price of financial aid to Greece. Though the European Commission rejected the proposal, the concept is far from dead, as it flows directly from the logic of the situation. The Greeks are in the midst of a financial crisis that has made Greece unable to repay money Athens borrowed. Their options are to default on the debt or to negotiate a settlement with their creditors. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union are managing these negotiations.
http://stratfor.com...

Peres: Not much time left for Palestinian peace
President Shimon Peres warned that there is not much time left to reach peace with the Palestinians, speaking at the Herzliya Conference on Tuesday. Israel, he said, cannot bad let memories of the past and incitement replace its hopes and vision. Praising the progress made by the Palestinian Authority in the areas of economics, development and security, Peres cautioned that Israel must prevent Hamas from gaining more power, especially in the West Bank... Within the Palestinian Authority leadership and its ruling Fatah party, the president explained, there are leaders like PA President Mahmoud Abbas who are ready to make peace, unlike Hamas, which denies peace and rejects negotiations... Addressing the Iranian nuclear program, the president described Tehran as the world's central problem, saying it is seeking both regional and global hegemony through its proliferation aspirations and use of proxy armed groups Hamas and Hizbullah. The Iranian regime is "the most morally corrupt in the world," Peres asserted, saying it "has no future, it has only destruction to offer." Iran, he added, "threatens human rights and world peace."
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=255911

Germany to lobby Palestinians and Israelis for dialogue
Germany's foreign minister continues his Middle East tour in Israel and the Palestinian territories, where he and other diplomats hope to breathe life into peace negotiations. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon were due to arrive in Israel on Tuesday for two days of scheduled talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The visit comes as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is considering whether to break off peace negotiations with Israel... Westerwelle's arrival in Israel follows a trip to Egypt, where he met with the leader of the moderate Islamist Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and representatives of other parliamentary groups. "The results of the elections show a clear resolve and strong will of the Egyptian people to choose the path to democracy," Westerwelle told reporters on Tuesday after the talks. He said the meetings were "encouraging," but that "of course we're going to measure our partners here by their words, and above all by their actions."
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15705988,00.html

30th January 2012

‘Global march to Jerusalem’: Pro-Palestinian activists planning protests from land, air and sea
The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center has conducted an extensive survey of the websites of pro-Palestinian activists in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East and has published a guide to events planned for 2012. Some activities are focused on public relations, others have the potential to cause violence, and yet other activities seem aimed at further destabilizing Israel’s already shaky neighborhood. The Center reports: The networks waging the campaign to delegitimize Israel are planning a series of propaganda displays for 2012, some of them in the upcoming months. They intend to hold marches (promoted by Hamas), a protest fly-in to Ben-Gurion International Airport, a flotilla and propaganda events for the “Israeli apartheid week.” The most high profile event on the horizon is the Global March to Jerusalem, which is encouraging activists worldwide to gather in convoys and head together to Jerusalem on March 30th, or “Land Day” a day Palestinians mark the killing of six Israeli Arabs over a land dispute with Israeli authorities in 1976. Upon entering its website, the Global March’s logo says a lot: a map of Palestine including all territory from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, with Israel completely wiped off the map. The map is painted in green, the signature color of Islam, suggesting organizers view their struggle as a religious one. Activists plan to gather in areas bordering Israel, including Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.theblaze.com...

PM Netanyahu: Israeli presence necessary in Jordan Valley... even as part of a larger international force
Israel will only sign an agreement with the Palestinians if it includes an Israeli security presence in the Jordan Valley, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday. At the same time, Netanyahu has never ruled out that such a presence could be part of a larger international force... Netanyahu said. “I would like to say what I will do. This depends on me. I will sign a permanent agreement only if it includes Israel’s remaining in the Jordan Valley. Nobody can ensure this but us. I think that we are acting responsibly and prudently and are seeing to the security of the State of Israel. This requires Israel to remain in the Jordan Valley.”... Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said repeatedly he would not let any Israeli soldier remain in a future Palestinian state, although he has indicated a willingness to allow some kind of international force along the Jordan River. One Western source said that one possible way to bridge the gap between these two positions would be for Israeli soldiers to be part of such an international force... The EU responded to Israel’s appeals for a condemnation of comments made by Mohammed Hussein, the PA’s mufti in Jerusalem earlier this month, quoting an Islamic text calling for the murder of Jews, issuing a statement decrying his “inflammatory speech.” “The EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah recall that all parties are obliged under the Road Map to immediately cease incitement. Jerusalem is a city sacred to three religions and all religious leaders should be working for dignity and justice for people of all faiths,” the statement said.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=255794

EU - Victory for Merkel over fiscal treaty
Twenty-five of the European Union’s 27 countries have signed up to a German-inspired treaty enshrining tougher fiscal rules to help underpin the euro. But Berlin was warned that there were limits to how much sovereignty governments could be expected to surrender for the sake of fiscal discipline... David Cameron, the British prime minister who in December vetoed inclusion of the fiscal discipline measures in the EU treaties, said he would not block signatories from using EU-wide institutions. But he warned he would take legal action if the new treaty undermined British interests.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9068548a-4b68-11e1-b980-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1l0Sawhct

29th January 2012

U.S. drones patrolling its skies provoke outrage in Iraq
BAGHDAD — A month after the last American troops left Iraq, the State Department is operating a small fleet of surveillance drones here to help protect the United States Embassy and consulates, as well as American personnel. Some senior Iraqi officials expressed outrage at the program, saying the unarmed aircraft are an affront to Iraqi sovereignty... Now that the troops are gone, Iraqi politicians often denounce the United States in an effort to rally support from their followers. A senior American official said that negotiations were under way to obtain authorization for the current drone operations, but Ali al-Mosawi, a top adviser to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki; Iraq’s national security adviser, Falih al-Fayadh; and the acting minister of interior, Adnan al-Asadi, all said in interviews that they had not been consulted by the Americans. Mr. Asadi said that he opposed the drone program: “Our sky is our sky, not the U.S.A.’s sky.”
http://www.nytimes.com...

Merkel to join Sarkozy on campaign trail... as he launches German-style structural reforms
German chancellor Angela Merkel promised to join Nicolas Sarkozy on the campaign trail as the French president took to the airwaves on Sunday to launch a set of German-style structural reforms aimed at seizing the initiative in his uphill re-election attempt... The pledge by the German leader underscored the close ties she and Mr Sarkozy – together now habitually dubbed “Merkozy” – have built during the eurozone crisis, despite clear tensions between them at times. Ms Merkel pointedly avoided overt backing for David Cameron, the British Conservative party leader, in the 2010 UK general election. Her intervention represented a clear rebuke to Mr Hollande. He has promised to renegotiate the new “fiscal compact” for the eurozone forged by Ms Merkel and Mr Sarkozy, due to be signed at a European Union summit in Brussels on Monday... Terms of a financial transaction tax, which France is determined to pioneer in the eurozone, were also due to be unveiled during the interview, broadcast on nine television channels simultaneously.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/dc78d174-4a82-11e1-a11e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1kormbfZu

UN nuclear inspectors arrive in Iran - Visit could shape the direction of Western efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program
TEHRAN, IRAN (Reuters) - Iran Sunday declared itself optimistic about a UN experts' visit aimed at probing suspected military aspects of its nuclear work and lawmakers postponed debate on a proposed halt to oil flows to the European Union watched closely in energy markets.
A team of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors began a three-day visit to try to advance efforts to resolve a row about nuclear work which Iran says is for making electricity but the West suspects is aimed at seeking a nuclear weapon. Tensions with the West rose this month when Washington and the European Union imposed the toughest sanctions yet in a drive to force Tehran to provide more information on its nuclear program. The measures take direct aim at the ability of OPEC's second biggest oil exporter to sell its crude... Iran's parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, warned the IAEA team to carry out a "logical, professional, and technical" job or suffer the consequences. "This visit is a test for the IAEA. The route for further cooperation will be open if the team carries out its duties professionally," said Mr. Larijani, state media reported. "Otherwise, if the IAEA turns into a tool [for major powers to pressure Iran], then Iran will have no choice but to consider a new framework in its ties with the agency." ...Before departing from Vienna, IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts said he hoped the Islamic state would tackle the watchdog's concerns "regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program."
http://www.csmonitor.com...

28th January 2012

Anti-Semitism rife in Europe
MECHELEN – The sort of anti-Semitic attacks that took place in Europe in 1938 are occurring here today, Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein told European dignitaries and Jewish leaders on Thursday night. “A brick hurled at a Jewish shop. A Molotov cocktail at a rabbi’s house. A Jewish girl attacked at school. These aren’t memories of Europe in 1938, but headlines in 2011,” Edelstein said in a speech at a ceremony in Belgium... “Conclusions from current incidents in Belgium, Holland and elsewhere must be drawn: Anti-Semites replace ‘Jew’ with ‘Zionist’ or ‘Israeli.’ They tell any blood libel and call it political debate.” Edelstein noted that not all EU states were members of the task force and called on Belgium to “make sure that at least all EU states join this important body.”
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=255544

Israel warns: Iran moving closer to stage where it will be too late to destroy nuclear facilities
Reviving Western concerns that his government is still contemplating unilateral military action against Iran, Ehud Barak gave one of the clearest signs yet that Israel's support for new US and EU sanctions remains strictly limited. "We are determined to prevent Iran from turning nuclear," he told the World Economic Forum in Davos. Mr Barak's ministry believes that once the bulk of uranium enrichment is carried out at Fordow, Iran will be in the immunity zone. Israel also reckons that Iran could be in a position to build a bomb within months... "It seems to us to be urgent, because the Iranians are deliberately drifting into what we call an immunity zone where practically no surgical operation could block them." Although Israeli intelligence and military officials have privately spoken of Iran's nuclear programme entering a "framework of immunity", it is the first time that a senior figure in Benjamin Netanyahu's government has done so in public. Israel's fears that it might soon be too late to launch military action were bolstered earlier this month when Iran announced that it had begun to enrich uranium at its Fordow plant, which is buried so deep within a mountain it may be impossible for Israeli warplanes or missiles to destroy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk...

Antibiotics prove powerless as super-germs spread
Antibiotics were once the wonder drug. Now, however, an increasing number of highly resistant -- and deadly -- bacteria are spreading around the world. The killer bugs often originate in factory farms, where animals are treated whether they are sick or not... Microbiologists refer to this bacterium as community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or ca-MRSA. The terrifying thing about it is its resistance to almost all common antibiotics, which complicates treatment... The bacterium has become a serious health threat in the United States... The two bacteria, ha-MRSA and ca-MRSA, are only two strains from an entire arsenal of pathogens that are now resistant to almost all available antibiotics. Less than a century after the discovery of penicillin, one of the most powerful miracle weapons ever produced by modern medicine threatens to become ineffective.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,811560,00.html

Germany calls for EU to control Greek budget
The German government wants Greece to cede sovereignty over tax and spending decisions to a eurozone “budget commissioner” to secure a second €130bn bail-out, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by the Financial Times. In what would amount to an extraordinary extension of European Union control over a member state, the new commissioner would have the power to veto budget decisions taken by the Greek government if they were not in line with targets set by international lenders. The new administrator, appointed by other eurozone finance ministers, would take responsibility for overseeing “all major blocks of expenditure” by the Greek government.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/33ab91f0-4913-11e1-88f0-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1kormbfZu

27th January 2012

Israeli Defence Minister Barak calls on world to stop Iranian nuclear threat
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday warned that nuclear weapons in the hands of the Iranian regime would lead to regional proliferation, the spread of terrorism and a threat to oil supplies from the Middle East, UK daily The Guardian reported. Speaking as part of a panel on Iran at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Barak told those assembled that "you can't conceive of a stable world order when Iran has nuclear weapons." Barak, appearing alongside Yukiya Amano, the chief of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency, stated that "Iran is prepared to defy and deceive the whole world to turn themselves into a nuclear power...This will be the end of any conceivable anti-proliferation program. Major powers in the region will feel compelled to turn nuclear," he added, listing Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt as countries who would be compelled to enter the nuclear arms race should Iran acquire an atomic bomb... "It is the time for much tougher diplomacy and sanctions because there is a risk not just to Israel but to the whole world. It will be much more complicated, much more dangerous and much more costly if we allow it to happen," The Guardian quoted Barak as saying. Amano said that he was sending an International Atomic Energy Agency team to Iran on Saturday and that he was convinced Tehran was seeking nuclear weapons capability. "Our information is credible. Iran is engaged in activities relevant to the development of nuclear explosives. We have asked for talks and we are meeting with them," Amano stated.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=255415

Iran could ban EU oil exports next week
TEHRAN - A law to be debated in Iran's parliament on Sunday could halt exports of oil to the European Union as early as next week, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted a lawmaker as saying on Friday. "On Sunday, parliament will have to approve a 'double emergency' bill calling for a halt in the export of Iranian oil to Europe starting next week," Hossein Ibrahimi, vice-chairman of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, was quoted as saying. The Iranian parliament is pushing for the export ban to deny the EU a 6-month phase-in of the embargo on Iranian oil that the bloc agreed on Monday as part of a raft of tough new Western sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to curb its nuclear program. "If the deputies arrive at the conclusion that the Iranian oil exports to Europe must be halted, the parliament will not delay a moment (in passing the bill)," Fars quoted Moayed Hosseini-Sadr, a member of parliament's energy committee, as saying. "If Iran's oil exports to Europe, which is about 18 percent (of Iran's oil exports) is halted the Europeans will surely be taken by surprise, and will understand the power of Iran and will realize that the Islamic establishment will not succumb to the Europeans' policies," he said.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=255402

US 2011 GDP - Down to 1.7%, from 3% in 2010
That's the final, pathetic growth number for 2011. From the just-released GDP report:
Real GDP increased 1.7 percent in 2011 (that is, from the 2010 annual level to the 2011 annual level), compared with an increase of 3.0 percent in 2010. The increase in real GDP in 2011 primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from state and local government spending, private inventory investment, and federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. Not exactly a barnburner.
http://www.businessinsider.com/2011-gdp-2012-1

Putin blasts America for interfering in other countries' affairs
Vladimir Putin has branded America a nation which 'wants to control everything' during a scathing verbal attack on the U.S. The Russian Premier said the USA is seeking to dominate the world and interfere with the internal matters of other countries. Mr Putin also said America was being 'uncooperative' with Europe and Russia over Washington plans for a missile defence system. Speaking during a Russian election campaign stopover in Siberia, Mr Putin said: 'They want to control everything. 'Sometimes I have the impression that the United States does not want allies, and instead that it needs vassals.'... Turning his sights on strains over Washington's plans for a missile defence system on the continent, he said: 'They are not prepared to co-operate on equal terms either with Europe or us. 'Co-operation on equal terms means determining threats together and working out a system of response to them together. They flatly reject that.' He sneered at US tactics in seeking to influence other countries by arguing 'that you do not meet certain standards. 'They work out these standards themselves.' He warned against Western countries seeking to hold sway in Russia by funding organisations with political missions. 'This just not be allowed to happen,' he said.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk...

26th January 2012

Iran can turn off oil tap to EU
A Russian news network says Iran can react to the European Union's new sanctions on its oil sector by stopping oil exports to EU member states. The Russia Today reported on Thursday that Iran's move will be a good response to EU sanctions which have been already slammed by Iran's close allies like China. The report quoted Nasser Soudani, a member of Iran Majlis (parliament) Energy Committee, as saying that in reaction to EU measure, Iranian lawmakers are drafting a new law, which would stop oil supply to European countries as soon as possible. “A number of representatives of the Majlis and I are seeking to approve a bill according to which all European countries that made Iran the target of their sanctions will not be able to buy even one drop of oil from Iran, and oil taps will be turned off to them so that they will not play with fire again,” the lawmaker added. The report stated that the legislation may be ratified in Iran's Majlis as early as this Sunday, adding that such a ban would result in a fuel shortage in Europe as the countries which joined the sanctions, while receiving a considerable amount of crude from Iran, would not have enough time to secure a substitute.
http://presstv.com/detail/223260.html

Furthermore: No one can sell oil if Iran cannot - A senior Iranian official has dismissed as futile the latest EU sanctions on the country's oil exports, adding that Tehran will not allow a condition to arise wherein others are allowed to sell oil and Iran is not, Press TV reports. "In the absence of Iranian supply, oil prices will go up and they (the Western states) know it; However, Iran will never allow itself to be in a situation in which it cannot sell oil but other regional states can," Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, told Press TV on Thursday. Europe's decision to embargo Iranian oil exports is in no one's interest, Velayati said, adding, "Western policy makers know just too well that their sanctions regime is a political maneuver." "Iran doesn't need any favor from any country to sell its oil, because global demand is always there." ...The European Union agreed to ban oil imports as well as petroleum products from the major OPEC member state and freeze the assets of the Iranian Central Bank across the EU. The 27-member bloc also imposed a ban on the sale of gold, diamonds, and other precious metals to Iran. Iranian authorities have warned that the imposition of sanctions against the country's energy sector will prompt Tehran to choke the oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz.
http://presstv.com/detail/223193.html 

President Peres: Iran is greatest threat to Mideast peace
Speaking alongside Fayyad at Davos, president says he believes we're "closer than we think" to reaching peace with Palestinians
President Shimon Peres voiced hope on Thursday that progress could be achieved soon in Israeli- Palestinian negotiations, saying peace might come “sooner than we think.” Peres and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad offered contrasting views of the peace process at the World Economic Forum in Davos, after the latest round of preliminary talks between the sides concluded in Amman. “In the negotiations the gap was seriously narrowed, and neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis have any choice but to make peace,” Peres said. “We need a bouquet of agreements, which won’t cover all the issues, to enable the Palestinians and Israel to keep open the negotiations. I believe if we negotiate, peace will come maybe sooner than we think.”
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=255321

Comment: "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." - 1 Thessalonians 5:3.

U.S. outrage as Egypt bars Americans from leaving
CAIRO (Reuters) - Six Americans working for publicly funded U.S. organizations promoting democracy in Egypt have been barred from leaving the country, provoking angry demands in Washington that Cairo's new military rulers stop "endangering American lives"... Some see it as a poor omen for Egypt's fledgling democracy following last year's overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. John McCain, the leading Republican senator who chairs the International Republican Institute (IRI), voiced "alarm and outrage" at a "new and disturbing turn"... "This crisis has escalated to the point that it now endangers the lives of American citizens and could set back the long-standing partnership between the United States and Egypt," he said. Mubarak had a close alliance with Washington which is now trying to build a relationship with an Egypt run by his old army colleagues but expecting to be ruled eventually by a parliament in which Islamists have won a big majority in a free vote.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/26/us-egypt-usa-idUSTRE80P1QC20120126

Debt ceiling debate set to make a monstrous return
You can pick almost any horror film and chances are, somewhere in it a character that was presumed dead makes a dramatic, surprise return looking to hurt anyone in its path. Even though being scared is exactly what we paid for, we still scream and squirm in our seats. Fun stuff if you're into that sort of thing. Well guess what, movie fans? The sequel to last summer's debt ceiling showdown in Congress is coming to theaters everywhere this fall, and the early reviews say it will be even bloodier than the first. "If there is another big debt ceiling showdown before the election it is going to have a big impact," says David Chalian, Washington Bureau Chief at Yahoo! News. While it is still too early to pinpoint the precise day that the Treasury's checking account runs dry, everyone in Washington knows the monster is lurking and is likely to show itself in November. Even President Obama eluded to the need to avoid putting the nation through the same ordeal that ultimately cost us our AAA-rating. Chalian points out a few issues that make the exact timing of our money drought hard to predict.
http://finance.yahoo.com...

Merkel: Transfer more powers to EU, not more money to bail-out fund
BRUSSELS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said transferring more powers to EU institutions rather than increasing the size of the eurozone's future bail-out fund is the way to overcome the euro crisis. "We have said right from the start that we want to stand up for the euro, but what we don't want is a situation where we are forced to promise something that we will not be able to fulfil," Merkel said Wednesday in the opening speech of the World Economic Forum, an informal gathering of leaders and business magnates held every year in Davos, a Swiss mountain resort... “If Germany, as the representative of all European countries, promises something that can’t be kept in the event of a harsh attack by the markets, then Europe would have a wide-open flank," she said. Instead, her solution is more 'integration', by transferring more powers from a national level to EU institutions such as the European Court of Justice, so that the continent is “turned into a Europe that works.” "We have taken some steps closer to a fiscal union, but we can get faster, gain speed and become more decisive," she added, in reference to the inter-governmental treaty on fiscal discipline currently being negotiated among 26 member states, except Britain.
http://euobserver.com/19/115022

Furthermore: David Cameron: Stop the madness of Europe red tape - David Cameron has attacked the "madness" of European regulations and taxes in a speech to global business leaders in Davos, Switzerland. The Prime Minister said Europe is still at a "perilous time" because of its debts and must stop throttling growth with excessive bureaucracy. He urged his fellow leaders not to impose a tax on financial transactions that will cost thousands of jobs at such a fragile time. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, a gathering of the globe's business elite, Mr Cameron also cast doubt on the future of the euro. He said it was difficult to have a single currency without deep financial integration between countries, collective debt and a strong central bank behind it. "Currently it's not that the eurozone doesn't have all of these, it's that it doesn't really have any of these," he said, drawing laughter from the audience.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk...

Muslim Brotherhood repeats: No talks with Israel
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood categorically rejects dialogue with Israel, the group’s spokesman told an Arabic newspaper in an interview published Wednesday. Mahmoud Ghazlan told London’s Asharq Alawsat daily that the Islamist group’s position is “clear and not up for discussion.” Ghazlan denied his organization had been contacted by Israel’s embassy in Cairo, and said it would “reject any request from the Israeli embassy to meet with leaders of the Brotherhood.”... Ghazlan flatly rejected the prospect of talks with the Jewish state. “Our group is not prepared to conduct dialogue with Israel – that is our decision. Our position is consistent and clear, and is not up for discussion,” he said. “It is illogical to open dialogue, any dialogue, given the current Israeli policies against the Arab peoples,” he said. “We will reject any request from the Israeli embassy to meet with leaders of the group.” Earlier this month the deputy leader of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said it would not recognize Israel “under any circumstances.” “This is not an option, whatever the circumstances – we do not recognize Israel at all. It’s an occupying criminal enemy,” Rashad Bayoumi told London’s Al-Hayat daily, adding, “I will not allow myself to sit down with criminals.” “The Brotherhood respects international conventions, but we will take legal action against the peace treaty with the Zionist entity,” Bayoumi said without elaborating.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=255187

Hackers launch fresh attacks on Israeli websites
(AFP) Arab hackers claimed responsibility Wednesday for a series of attacks on prominent Israeli websites, including that of daily newspaper Haaretz. Cyber attacks against Israeli sites have been increasing since the start of the month, many of them claimed by Arab hackers. In a Twitter message, the Palestinian wing of the global hacker collective Anonymous claimed responsibility for taking down Haaretz's Hebrew-language site, which was still out of commission by late Wednesday. The paper's English section was also targeted but was up again by the afternoon. Other victims included two Tel Aviv hospitals and the Israel Festival, a key cultural event in the Jewish state. On the festival's homepage, slogans said "Free Palestine" and "Death to Israel" while Arab music played in the background.
http://www.breitbart.com...

25th January 2012

EJC president: Sweden a center of anti-Semitism
BRUSSELS – Sweden has become “a center of anti-Semitism,” the president of the European Jewish Congress, Dr. Moshe Kantor, told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday night, ahead of a ceremony at the European Parliament in Brussels to commemorate the Holocaust. “Sweden, previously a calm country where there was no anti-Semitic problem just a few years ago, is a center of anti-Semitism,” Kantor said. He added that it was “unthinkable that in the 21st century Jews need to move from the city of Malmo to Stockholm and elsewhere.”... Asked about new cross-European trends of modern anti-Semitism, Kantor said that research, which he initiated by Tel Aviv University’s watchdog on European anti-Semitism, shows numerous Iranian-funded NGO’s are “behind the publication and encouragement of anti-Semitism.” Speaking before a crowd of 500 people at the European Parliament ahead of International Holocaust Day, January 27, Kantor referred to new sanctions that the Council of Europe approved against Iran as a “necessity.” Earlier on Tuesday, Kantor referred to the decision to boycott Iranian oil as an “historical move.” But he said this move must be followed by further sanctions – including a total embargo on Iranian exports – if it fails to deliver results. The decision to delay the application of the new sanction until May through June was “wrong,” Kantor said. “Giving the Iranians a month to comply would have sufficed.
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=255039

In Egypt and abroad, uncertainty about the future... Arab Spring has turned into Islamist autumn
While Egypt's current military has lifted some of the country's state-of-emergency law, rioters can still be dealt with according to its provisions. According to Hamadi El-Aouni of Berlin's Free University, the change does not really mean an end to decades-old, heavy-handed tactics by security forces. Rather, he says, it is a formal accommodation to the demonstrators, who are still in Tahrir Square, and are still calling for political reforms. In truth, he said, the military could apply the term "rioter" to any Egyptian it wanted to. "What began as an Arab Spring, has turned into an Islamist autumn," he said, adding that many had expected things to go much differently... The first free elections have taken place and a good 70 percent of the votes went to different Islamic and Islamist parties... It was a sobering election result, according to Rolf Mützenich, the foreign-policy spokesman for Germany's Social Democratic parliamentary group. "In retrospect, we can see that we have come closer to the truth about Egypt," he said. "Maybe in the past, we were a little caught up in the euphoria."
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15689764,00.html

No peace talks unless Jerusalem agrees to Palestine borders
The Palestinian Authority will not restart direct peace negotiations with Israel unless Jerusalem recognizes the borders of a Palestinian state, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday according to the Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA). "If the borders are set it's possible to return to negotiations..." Abbas said following a meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II... The most outstanding issue preventing the resumption of high-level direct negotiations is the continued expansion of Israeli settlements, especially in "occupied" Jerusalem, Abbas said according to the report. Other PA official made abrupter comments Wednesday, saying that Wednesday's meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Amman would be the final meeting... Israeli officials took a more positive tone, saying Tuesday they were confident the Palestinians would continue the talks being held in Jordan beyond the January 26 Quartet deadline, which Israel contests. The Palestinians are unlikely to cut off talks, the officials said, because the move was not supported by European powers and other key international players.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=255113

World bosses gloomy about year ahead
DAVOS (AFP) - Business leaders are gloomy about prospects for the world economy, according to a major survey of international chief executives released on the eve of the Davos forum. A survey of 1,258 bosses by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, timed to coincide with the World Economic Forum of the global business elite, found 48 percent expect economic decline and only 15 percent growth. European business leaders were the most pessimistic, amid fears governments are not up to the task of resolving their debt crises and concerns about the stability of capital markets, the firm said at the ski-resort summit. "CEO confidence is decidedly down as they deal with the aftershocks to the recession," said Dennis Nally, chairman of PwC International. "CEOs are disappointed with the course of the global economy and the pace of recovery. The optimism that had been building cautiously since 2008 has begun to recede."
http://www.breitbart.com...

Furthermore: Global elite seek new path for capitalism in Davos - The world's political and business elite will shelter from the chill winds buffeting the global economy and plot a new path for capitalism at the annual Davos forum which begins Wednesday. Some 40 heads of government will rub shoulders over the next five days in the Swiss Alps with titans of commerce and industry to discuss everything from the eurozone crisis to Iran's nuclear programme as well as trends in science and the arts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will deliver the keynote address on Wednesday while fellow G20 leaders such as British Prime Minister David Cameron and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper will also address delegates later in the week... Some 5,000 Swiss soldiers have been mobilised to provide security over the course of the gathering while the airspace over a resort favoured by the jetset has been severely restricted. A small group of anti-capitalist activists have made their way to Davos, building a protest igloo.
http://www.breitbart.com...

24th January 2012

PM Netanyahu: World silent while Iran, Hezbollah threaten to destroy Israel
"Seventy years have passed since the Holocaust, and many around the world still remain silent in the face of Iran's threats to wipe Israel off the map, and many stay silent despite Hezbollah's call for the destruction of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday during a special Knesset session ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which will be marked this week. "International Holocaust Remembrance Day is the day on which the world needs to stand behind the words 'no more.' It's not a slogan, but has a deep meaning," he said. "It is the day on which the world must unite to make certain weapons of mass destruction do not fall into the hands of dark regimes, headed by the ayatollahs' regime in Iran." Netanyahu added: "Have we learned the lessons of the Holocaust? Are we treating these threats of destruction seriously? Or perhaps, like many generations before us we do not want to see the scope of the danger that is facing us. The Iranian regime is openly calling for the destruction of Israel, but many around the world remain silent. We mustn't bury our head in the sand. The Iranian regime is planning the annihilation of Israel and is working towards Israel's destruction – its agents (Hezbollah) fired over 12,000 missiles towards Israel's cities. They are not concealing their intent to kill as many (Israelis) as possible. "The UN was founded to prevent genocides and massacres. These were its basic goals. Have these goals been attained? Unfortunately, the answer is no," said the PM. Netanyahu also addressed a recent speech delivered by the Palestinians' top Muslim cleric, Mufti Mohammed Hussein, in which he encouraged the killing of Jews. "Instead of calling for peace and reconciliation, the mufti is calling to kill Jews wherever they may be. I don’t hear any condemnations from the world's countries. I hear them condemning the construction of a home in Gilo or a balcony in Ramot (neighborhoods in Jerusalem) – that is what I hear," he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4180322,00.html

'Extreme consequences' if Ireland rejects fiscal treaty
Former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Monday warned a Dublin audience that there would be "extreme consequences" if Ireland rejects the fiscal treaty in a referendum, reports the Irish Times. “You will not end up in heaven. You will end up in a very different place,” he said.
http://euobserver.com/1016/114998

Eurozone clears new safety net fund for early debut
Eurozone finance ministers reached agreement on the single currency area's latest rescue fund early on Tuesday after overnight talks in Brussels. The 500 billion euro ($650 billion) European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will come into force on July 1, one year earlier than initially planned. "We were in the position to agree upon a text on a revised ESM pact," the head of the Eurogroup panel of eurozone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, said. "The ESM will now come into force earlier, in July 2012 instead of July 2013."
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15686415,00.html

Sun hurls strong geomagnetic storm toward Earth
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The strongest geomagnetic storm in more than six years was forecast to hit Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday, and it could affect airline routes, power grids and satellites, the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center said. A coronal mass ejection - a big chunk of the Sun's atmosphere - was hurled toward Earth on Sunday, driving energized solar particles at about 5 million miles an hour (2,000 km per second), about five times faster than solar particles normally travel, the center's Terry Onsager said."When it hits us, it's like a big battering ram that pushes into Earth's magnetic field," Onsager said from Boulder, Colorado. "That energy causes Earth's magnetic field to fluctuate." This energy can interfere with high frequency radio communications used by airlines to navigate close to the North Pole in flights between North America, Europe and Asia, so some routes may need to be shifted, Onsager said. It could also affect power grids and satellite operations, the center said in a statement.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/23/us-sun-storm-idUSTRE80M25Q20120123

23rd January 2012

PM Netanyahu: EU Iran sanctions 'step in right direction'
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday welcomed the EU's decision earlier in the day to step up sanctions against Iran, calling the moves a "step in the right direction." Speaking at a Likud faction meeting, Netanyahu said that while it was too early to tell what the effect of the sanctions would be, "strong, quick pressure" on Iran was needed... Foreign ministers from the 27-state EU, which as a bloc is Iran's second-biggest customer for crude after China, agreed to an immediate ban on all new contracts to import, purchase or transport Iranian crude oil and petroleum products. However, EU countries with existing contracts to buy oil and petroleum products can honor them up to July 1. EU officials said they also agreed to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank and ban trade in gold and other precious metals with the bank and state bodies.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=254796

Soros warns of ‘riots,‘ ’brutal’ clampdowns and possible total economic collapse
George Soros, the billionaire currency speculator and philanthropist who helped crash England’s economy and has been commonly referred to as “the man who broke the bank of England”, is shrewd, has a keen eye for investments, and he knows how to read the marketplace. Therefore, when he makes a prediction, it might be safe to say that it’s worth a listen... George Soros is nervous about the future of the global economy and warns of dark things to come. “At times like these, survival is the most important thing,” Soros said. As he sees it, the world faces one of the most dangerous periods of modern history—a period of “evil,” writes John Arlidge. “Europe is confronting a descent into chaos and conflict. In America [Soros] predicts riots in the streets that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties [emphases added]. The global economic system could even collapse altogether.” And to add a little color, Aldridge notes Soros says it all while “peering through his owlish glasses and brushing wisps of gray hair off his forehead.” “I am not here to cheer you up. The situation is about as serious and difficult as I’ve experienced in my career,” Soros told Newsweek. “We are facing an extremely difficult time, comparable in many ways to the 1930s, the Great Depression. We are facing now a general retrenchment in the developed world, which threatens to put us in a decade of more stagnation, or worse. The best-case scenario is a deflationary environment. The worst-case scenario is a collapse of the financial system.”... Soros then went on to talk about how the Occupy Wall Street movement has added to the ever-changing dynamics in the world economy. Debt, Wall Street and capitalism have been put under intense scrutiny and people are becoming increasingly angry. As this anger intensifies, will the inevitable result be a spontaneous eruption of violence and riots? “Yes, yes, yes,” Soros says, almost “gleefully.” However, according to Soros, worse than the riots and violence will be the government reaction. “It will be an excuse for cracking down and using strong-arm tactics to maintain law and order, which, carried to an extreme, could bring about a repressive political system, a society where individual liberty is much more constrained, which would be a break with the tradition of the United States,” Soros said.
http://www.theblaze.com...

Iran 'definitely' closing Strait of Hormuz over EU oil embargo
Tensions in the Gulf could reach a breaking point as a senior Iranian official said Iran would “definitely” close the Strait of Hormuz if an EU oil embargo disrupted the export of crude oil. Mohammad Kossari, deputy head of parliament's foreign affairs and national security committee, issued the warning in respone to a decision by the European Union on Monday to impose an oil embargo on Iran over the country’s alleged nuclear weapons program. “The pressure of sanctions is designed to try and make sure that Iran takes seriously our request to come to the table,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said. However, with Washington’s decision to deploy a second carrier strike group in the Gulf, the EU’s attempt to pressure Iran economically could greatly increase the likelihood of all-out war in the region.The Strait of Hormuz is the vital link between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It is also one of the most strategic chokepoints in the world when it comes to oil transit... the EU strategy of averting "chaos in the Middle East" by tightening the economic noose around Iran could spark the very conflagration it was ostensibly trying to avert.
http://rt.com/news/iran-close-strait-hormuz-embargo-455/

Report: Gold for oil - India and Iran ditch dollar
According to a new and yet unconfirmed report, India bought oil from Iran using gold. India certainly has the gold resources to fund the oil, while Iran is under pressure by the West, due the continuation of its nuclear program. There were reports that officials have been floating this idea for some time, and now, as the EU finally decided upon an oil embargo on Iran, more details became available, yet still pend confirmation... The step joins Russia and Iran’s announcement to begin trading in their own domestic currencies rather than use the US dollar – a reserve currency. These details about the gold for oil deal come on the day that EU officials announce an oil embargo on Iran starting on July 1st. Tensions between Iran and the West are mounting and oil is already on the up. The time it took the EU to reach the decision, and the late implementation date make it very easy for Iran to enlarge exports to oil hungry and fast growing Asian countries. The use of gold for buying the No. 1 commodity, will likely have positive implications for the precious metal, if this report is confirmed and especially if the use of gold widens to China – the world’s No. 2 economy.
http://www.forexcrunch.com/gold-for-oil-india-and-iran-ditch-dollar-report/

EU bans Iranian oil despite military threats
BRUSSELS - EU foreign ministers have set the clock ticking on an Iran oil embargo in six months' time despite fresh threats of naval retaliation. Ministers in Brussels on Monday agreed the Union will from 1 July no longer buy Iranian crude oil - worth about 20 percent of its exports - in order to stop an alleged nuclear weapons programme. It also blacklisted the Iranian central bank and banned trade in gold and diamonds. The time-lag is designed to help Greece, Italy and Spain sign new oil contracts with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In other softeners, the oil ban could be scrapped in a review in May and Iran's central bank will be allowed to handle EU trade in some areas, such as food and textiles. Two Iranian MPs the same day repeated the country's threat to block the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for Saudi oil, in return - a move that could trigger a serious energy crisis. "[It] would definitely be closed if the sale of Iranian oil is violated in any way," Mohammad Ismail Kowsari told the Associated Press.Iran has three diesel-powered attack submarines, a fleet of mine-laying mini-submarines and batteries of anti-ship missiles in the area.
http://euobserver.com/24/114988 

IMF warns of another great depression
The IMF has issued a blunt warning that unless the European economic crisis is resolved, global financial markets face another 1930s style Great Depression. It followed the failure of European finance ministers to reach a restructuring agreement with private holders of Greek debt last night. If Greece does not put itself in a position to receive aid funding by the end of March, it will suffer a disorderly default on its debt... IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde stated the “we could easily, easily, slide into what we call a 1930s moment. A moment where trust and cooperation break down and countries turn inward. A moment ultimately leading to a downward spiral that could very much engulf the entire world... “.
http://www.abc.net.au...

22nd January 2012

Britain, US and France send warships through Strait of Hormuz
Britain, America and France delivered a pointed signal to Iran, sending six warships led by a 100,000 ton aircraft carrier through the highly sensitive waters of the Strait of Hormuz. This deployment defied explicit Iranian threats to close the waterway. It coincided with an escalation in the West's confrontation with Iran over the country's nuclear ambitions. European Union foreign ministers are tomorrow expected to announce an embargo on Iranian oil exports, amounting to the most significant package of sanctions yet agreed. They are also likely to impose a partial freeze on assets held by the Iranian Central Bank in the EU. Tehran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation. Tankers carrying 17 million barrels of oil pass through this waterway every day, accounting for 35 per cent of the world's seaborne crude shipments. At its narrowest point, located between Iran and Oman, the Strait is only 21 miles wide... All three countries retain a permanent military presence in the Gulf, but a joint passage through the Strait of Hormuz by all of their respective navies is highly unusual. The flotilla will have passed within a few miles of the Iranian coastline.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk...

21st January 2012

Nuclear Iran is past its point-of-no-return
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu advised visiting Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey Friday, Jan.20 that the time for action against Iran was now, for two reasons: First, the conviction that Iran has passed the point of no return for developing a nuclear weapon; and second, the diminishing prospects for a US-led embargo on Iranian oil to catch on before it is too late. The Obama administration disputes the Israeli prime minister on both points, insisting there is still time for tough sanctions to incapacitate the Iranian economy and stop Tehran before it reaches the point of no return in its drive for a nuke. Israel insists that this pivotal point was reached four years ago in 2008... Some of Israel's cabinet ministers tried to soften the impact of the prime minister's words by suggesting that his bluntness aimed at pushing President Barack Obama into implementing the sanctions he signed into law on Dec. 30 targeting Iran's central bank and oil sales, and giving him an extra lever for bringing the European Union and Asian powers aboard. But Netanyahu soon put them right. According to DEBKAfile's Jerusalem sources, he lined them all up to inform Gen. Dempsey – and through him President Obama - that they did not believe in those sanctions and suspected the Obama administration of orchestrating their buildup as a tool for holding Israel back from a unilateral strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
http://www.debka.com/article/21669/

Islamists Secure Nearly Three-Quarters of Egyptian Parliament
Egypt‘s election commission and political groups say final results from the country’s first elections since the Arab spring show that Islamist parties won nearly three-quarters of the seats in parliament. The Associated Press reports that an alliance led by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood won 47 percent of the spots in the 498-seat parliament, while the ultraconservative Al-Nour Party clinched 25 percent. The two parties are not likely to join forces because of ideological differences. Liberal New Waftd and Egyptian Bloc parties finished third and fourth respectively, according to Reuters. Reuters also notes that the Revolution Continues coalition, which is dominated by youth groups at the forefront of the protests that toppled Mubarak, attracted less than a million votes and took only seven of the 498 seats up for grabs in the lower house. Only one woman was among the 10 parliamentary seats appointed by the ruling military council which took over for Hosni Mubarak last February. Mubarak had traditionally used the quota to boost the representation of women and Coptic Christians. The new parliament is set to convene for the first time Monday.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/islamists-secure-nearly-three-quarters-of-egyptian-parliament/

20th January 2012

EU's toughest sanctions yet put Iran on final warning over nuclear programme
The toughest sanctions yet imposed on Iran will be unveiled by the European Union on Monday amid warnings it could be the last chance to resolve the nuclear stand-off before military strikes are considered. The punitive measures will include embargoes on oil, the country's central bank and financial institutions, with the aim of driving the Tehran regime to the negotiating table as it faces its revenue lifeblood being choked off. Failure to persuade Iran to halt its nuclear weapons programme through the EU's sanctions, alongside similar moves by the US, would inevitably lead to pressure by Israel for air strikes. General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in Tel Aviv yesterday to discuss the unfolding scenario and, according to diplomatic sources, dissuade Benjamin Netanyahu's government from taking pre-emptive action. Details of the economic offensive show the extent to which Europe and the US intend to put Iran in a trade stranglehold while, at the same time, revealing the problems in enforcing the measures. The EU countries which buy 25 per cent of Iran's oil output are also the ones affected the worst by the eurozone crisis – Greece, Portugal and Spain. They will have to pay more for alternative supplies and also to modify refineries, but there are, at present, no plans by other member states to bail them out. There is also apprehension that the embargo may end up by creating an oil shortage which will drastically push up prices, actually helping the beleaguered Iranian regime... The uncertainties have forced the EU to put a review system in place to monitor the effect of the sanctions... The policy will be reassessed if it appears to be backfiring, with the price of oil rising steeply and the weakened economies going into tailspins.
http://www.independent.co.uk...

German FM Westerwelle condemns US criticism: Europe will emerge stronger
Speaking in Washington on Friday German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle condemned US criticism of Germany's response to its ongoing debt crisis. Westerwelle told an audience at the Brookings Institution think-tank that Americans have unfairly "caricatured" Europe and accused Berlin of failing to act decisively to restore market confidence. "We are either criticized for being too cautious... or for being too dominant in dictating our own policies to others. We take both views seriously and we believe both are beside the point," Westerwelle said. He also hit back at the image of Europe conveyed by Republican presidential candidates. In recent weeks front-runner Mitt Romney has accused US President Barack Obama of moving the US towards European-style socialism. "When I look at the American debate over the past weeks I see mostly a caricature of Europe ... a continent mired in gloom and self-absorption," he said. "Europe is a strong and vibrant continent and I firmly believe that we will emerge stronger from this crisis," he added, referencing data showing Europe's competitiveness in world trade. However the German minister warned that deep-rooted fiscal reforms rather than endless bailout packages remain critical to Europe's rescuing of indebted eurozone economies.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15681449,00.html

19th January 2012

Muslim ‘Lenin’ planning world-wide Islamic super-state
CBN is reporting that Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi is considered the most influential Islamic cleric in the world – and he’s planning on creating an Islamic Super-State, which will impose Sharia on any nation under Islamic control. According to CBN: The 86-year-old Egyptian native pushes this agenda through his website, IslamOnline, and his top-rated Al-Jazeera program, titled “Sharia and Life,” which reaches tens of millions of Muslims each week. “Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi is more than just an ideologue. He is also a strategist,” Middle East expert Walid Phares told CBN News. Phares, author of the book The Coming Revolution, said al-Qaradawi sets the tone for the Muslim Brotherhood worldwide. “We’re talking about a Lenin here — a jihadi Lenin who controls the flow of the ideology but also gives the nod with regards to general strategic direction,” Phares said. “He’s the mentor today for the Muslim Brotherhood,” he added. “And the MB’s today are about to take over in at least three to four countries in the Middle East.” Al-Qaradawi seeks not only an Islamic Super-State in the Middle East. He’s working for the day when Islam will conquer America and Europe – through immigration and proselytizing.
http://shariafreeusa.com/muslim-lenin-planning-world-wide-islamic-super-state/

Iran warns neighbors: Don't drag US into region
Iran's foreign minister warned Arab neighbors on Thursday not to put themselves in a "dangerous position" by aligning themselves too closely with the United States in the escalating dispute over Tehran's nuclear activity. Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, used for a third of the world's seaborne oil trade, if pending Western moves to ban Iranian crude exports cripple its lifeblood energy sector, fanning fears of a descent into wider Middle East war... "We want peace and tranquility in the region. But some of the countries in our region, they want to direct other countries 12,000 miles away from this region," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in English during a visit to Turkey. The remark was an apparent reference to the alliance of Iran's Arab neighbors with Washington, which maintains a huge fleet in the Gulf and says it will keep the waterway open. "I am calling to all countries in the region, please don't let yourselves be dragged into a dangerous position," he told Turkey's NTV broadcaster.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=254267

Iraq oscillates between bombings and political crisis
Bomb attacks, shootings and an incapable government characterize the current situation in Iraq. The state of affairs has worsened significantly since US troops pulled out in December. Fear of a civil war is growing... The new wave of violence and the renewed destabilization of the country are not primarily the result of the US pull-out from Iraq, says former German diplomat and Iraq expert Günther Joetze. Rather, they are the result of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's "politics of confrontation," he said. Maliki is a Shiite, as are some 60 percent of Iraq's population. The percentage of Arab Sunnis is about 20 percent, in addition to Kurdish and Turkmenian Sunnis. Under dictator Saddam Hussein, the Sunnis controlled the country. After the 2010 elections, the ethnic and religious groups signed a power-sharing agreement in Erbil. But Maliki appeared to have other plans from the outset. Formally, a joint government does exist. "But the Sunni representatives have been systematically disempowered," Joetze said... The only thing that could bring him around would be pressure from abroad. But US possibilities to influence Maliki have diminished. "The United States is no longer the major force in Iraq," said Iraqi political economist Kadhim Habeb. "Iran is stronger." Iraq's neighbors Iran and Saudi Arabia have little interest in a stable and independent country. Both want to maintain their sphere of influence in Iraq. So they support the conflict parties: Iran the Shiites and Saudi Arabia the Sunnis.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15674679,00.html

Earthquake jolts Iranian city
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's state TV reports a moderate earthquake has jolted the city of Neyshabour in the northeast part of Iran. The TV report said residents fled their homes into the streets. The quake shattered windows and affected communications for a short time. No casualties were immediately reported. Rescue teams rushed to the area. The city of 220,000 is about 550 miles (900 kilometers) northeast of the capital Tehran at 16:05 local time (13:35 GMT). The semiofficial Fars news agency said the quake measured 5.5 on the Richter scale.
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpps/news/iran-earthquake-dpgapx-20110119-to_17191697

Hezbollah has long-range surface-to-air missiles
The IDF has changed its operational assessment regarding the threat from Lebanon and is currently working under the assumption that Hezbollah has obtained sophisticated long-range surface-to-air missile systems from Syria, The Jerusalem Post has learned. According to Western intelligence assessments, Hezbollah is believed to have taken advantage of the ongoing upheaval in Syria to obtain advanced weapons systems, such as additional long-range rockets as well as Russian-made air-defense systems... Israel is particularly concerned with the possibility that Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons will fall into terrorist hands, amid predictions that President Bashar Assad’s regime will fall in the coming months... Syria has one of the most extensive chemical weapon arsenals in the world, reportedly including sarin, VX and mustard gas.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=254251

18th January 2012

World Bank fears Europe's crisis could set off deeper global slump than Lehman collapse
"The global economy has entered a dangerous phase. The financial system of the largest economic bloc in the world is threatened by a fiscal and financial crisis that has so far eluded policy-makers’ efforts to contain it," said the bank in its Global Economic Perspectives. "The possibility of further escalation of the crisis in Europe cannot be ruled out. Should this happen, the ensuing global downturn is likely to be deeper and longer-lasting than the recession of 2008/2009 because countries do not have the fiscal and monetary space to stimulate the global economy. Activity is unlikely to bounce back as quickly." "An escalation of the crisis would spare no one," said Andrew Burns, the key author. "Developing countries should hope for the best and plan for the worst. If these downside risks materialised there is not much developing countries can do to prevent it. But they can prepare for it." The report said rich countries had used up their fiscal and monetary shock absorbers after the Lehman crisis... The bank said there is a risk that turmoil in Europe could interact with the delayed effects of monetary tightening in Asia and Latin America, reinforcing each other in a "downward overshooting of activity"... The bank cut its global forecast from 3.4pc to 2.5pc for 2012, warning that the eurozone has already fallen into recession and is likely to contract by 0.3pc this year. "The possibility of much worse outcomes are real," it said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk...

Iran threatens U.S., Persian Gulf cities with missile attacks
Iran might pound Persian Gulf cities with ballistic missiles and use swift boats to attack American war ships in an attempt to dissuade a U.S. attack on its nuclear arms sites, a new report states. Tehran likely would employ a mixed game plan against the U.S. military consisting of "advanced technology" and "guerilla tactics," according to a research organization with close ties to the Pentagon. Before that, Iran would first lean hard on weaker Middle Eastern nations to convince those states to deny Washington access to bases on their soil, it states. Some of the report's grimmer scenarios predict Iranian ballistic missile launches on Gulf cities in an attempt to convince other nations to resist providing support to an American military operation. The report also forecasts efforts by Tehran to use Shiite Muslim "proxy groups" to attack U.S. allies in the region. Similar groups plagued the U.S.-led war effort in Iraq for years, and some officials and experts said some acted with Tehran's backing.
http://www.usnews.com...

17th January 2012

Syrian 'chemical, biological' weapons concern Israel
(AFP) Israel has serious concerns about what will happen to "huge stockpiles" of chemical and biological weapons in Syria when the Assad regime collapses, a senior military official said on Tuesday. Major-General Amir Eshel, head of the Israeli military's planning division, said the working assumption was the regime of President Bashar Assad would eventually fall. "The question is when, not if. And the big question is what's going to come the day after," he said. "The immediate concern is the huge stockpiles of chemicals, biologicals (weapons), strategic capabilities that are still going into Syria, mainly from eastern Europe," Eshel said. "That's a major concern because I don't know who is going to own those the day after. Up till now, what has been transferred to Hezbollah? What will be transferred to Hezbollah? What will be divided between those factions inside Syria? What is that going to create? "We are talking about huge stockpiles," he said. The regime has spearheaded a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy activists seeking to overthrow Assad, who has vowed to remain in power, raising the specter of civil war between Syria's many religious sects if he steps down. Eshel said the threat of civil war was a real possibility if Assad clung to power... Eshel also warned that Syria faces bankruptcy, which could create new instability
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4176929,00.html

Beware Iranian desperation
The spring of 2012 will be critical for the Middle East. All the regional players are preparing for it at this time already, ahead of April. Everyone – not only in Jerusalem and in Washington – smells the gunpowder in the air. Behind the tense, escalating statements issued by senior American defense officials lies a menacing reality emerging in Iran. It is for good reason that the US Navy commander admitted last week that he doesn’t sleep well at night as result of developments in the Hormuz Straits. And when the admiral doesn’t sleep well, while the US secretary of defense sets red lines for the Iranians, we can assume that here too our soldiers sleep with their uniforms and shoes on. Everybody talks about the spring, because everyone is convinced that Israel will be striking Iran at that time, a move that will ignite the Middle East. The scenario is rather banal and emerges in every defense panel in the global media: This year, the Iranians will complete the task of moving their nuclear project deep underground, and from that moment an aerial strike would be much less effective. Hence, a strike appears to be required as soon as is possible. However, there is another possibility... Tehran’s economic collapse is already around the corner... Nobody can predict the breaking point that would prompt Ahmadinejad to act desperately; the point where the ayatollahs feel threatened enough to resort to a military provocation that would bully the world and exact such high price as to prompt the international community to lift the chokehold.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4176675,00.html

Israel raises alarm over Sinai-Gaza cooperation
(AFP) Israeli is facing a growing security threat to its south because of the changes brought on by the Arab Spring which is not likely to disappear any time soon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. "The security problem which is developing as a result of changes in the Middle East is getting worse, and is expected to continue for years," Netanyahu told MPs at the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defence, in remarks communicated by a spokesman. "The state of Israel is required to strengthen its defence and attack capabilities immediately, which costs a lot of money," he said. "Libyan arms continue to flow into Gaza through Sinai," he said, indicating that there were "more than 10,000 missiles" in the coastal enclave, some of which had a range "surpassing 40 kilometres (24 miles)." The ongoing reconciliation process between Fatah and Hamas would force Israel to demand that Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip would be under similar terms as Fatah-controlled West Bank, Netanyahu said. "Fatah-Hamas unity would force us to demand that the Gaza Strip be demilitarised," he said. He accused Iran of using the Egyptian Sinai as a staging area for launching attacks on Israel.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.958904f35789ecd36b9f056b8c5d625b.101&show_article=1

16th January 2012

Egypt - Parties pick 1st Islamist parliament speaker
CAIRO (AP) — Top parties in Egypt's incoming parliament have agreed to select an Islamist politician as house speaker for the first time in decades, party leaders said Monday. The Muslim Brotherhood, the big winner in the first election since the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak last February, said it joined several other parties in backing Saad el-Katatni, the secretary-general of the Brotherhood's own party. The main function of the new parliament is to pick a 100-person commission to draw up a new constitution for Egypt, while preparations take place for presidential elections scheduled for June. The selection of el-Katatni showed the power of the Islamists to influence that process.
http://www.google.com...

EU Commission: We know better than ratings agencies
BRUSSELS - The European Commission has claimed it has secret information about the positive state of EU countries' finances, following a shock downgrade of core member states. Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly made the statement at a regular press briefing in Brussels on Monday, two days after US-based agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) downgraded nine EU countries, including France. "We have more information than the ratings agencies and we think there are elements missing in their analysis...We have monthly updates from member states. We share this information on a confidential basis. The ratings agencies do not have this information," he said... Bailly noted the S&P decision was "very odd as far as timing is concerned...indeed [it was] a strange timing."
http://euobserver.com/19/114895

UK PM Cameron: Time running out for Mideast two-state solution
LONDON - Time is running out for a "two-state solution" to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday, after a visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "We think that time, in some ways, is running out for the two state solution unless we can push forward now, because otherwise the facts on the ground will make it more and more difficult, which is why the settlement issue remains so important," Cameron said. All parties to peace talks have accepted the ultimate goal of a two-state solution that would see a Palestinian state established alongside Israel, but both sides remain divided over its borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees and other issues. The British Jewish Chronicle reported that British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are "deliberate vandalism," underlining the UK government's hardening line. Speaking alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to the UK, Clegg condemned continuous settlement building in the "strongest possible terms." Abbas welcomed the official remarks, according to the London-based Jewish paper.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=253885

Furthermore: PM Netanyahu: PA won't budge on peace talk preconditions - Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat “will not budge a nanometer” in his positions during peace talks with Israel, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Monday. Addressing the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Netanyahu said he is willing to start talks “anytime, anywhere without preconditions,” and would get into his car and drive to Ramallah right away, “even if it would be a headache for my security staff.” However, the prime minister explained, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is not prepared to meet with him for direct talks. “For three years the Palestinians refused to negotiate, and thought they’d be able to force preconditions. Israel even agreed to an unprecedented 10-month freeze [on settlement construction],” he added. Netanyahu said that the sides agreed not to discuss the current negotiations in Jordan with the press, but that Erekat is not keeping his side of the deal because he plans to abandon talks next week, which the PA thinks is the Quartet deadline. Israel, however, says that the deadline is on April 3. “Erekat’s stances, which everyone knows already, do not change,” the prime minister remarked. Netanyahu added that, due to the unity deal between Hamas and Fatah, Israel is demanding that Gaza be demilitarized, in addition to the West Bank. He pointed out that there are over 10,000 missiles in Gaza with a range of over 40 km. “Security comes before peace,” he repeated multiple times, explaining that he would be willing to abandon peace talks if they threatened Israel. The prime minister also discussed changes in the Middle East, saying that the region is unstable and volatile. The relationship between Israel and Egypt that existed under former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak will not return, Netanyahu said, and the new situation will affect Israel’s security.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=253817

Anti-Israel hackers strike El Al, TASE websites
Hours after anti-Israel hackers said they would strike the websites of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and El Al, both sites were taken offline overnight on Monday. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange website made a swift recovery and was back online by Monday morning, but the El Al website remained unavailable into the morning. The prominent hacker 0xOmar, who has been at the forefront of an Internet assault on Israel, and who released tens of thousands of Israeli credit card numbers last month, sent an email to The Jerusalem Post before the attack. He said he had been joined by a hacking team called "Nightmare." The new group "promised to take down" the two websites by morning, he added. El Al released a statement saying it was aware that "a cyber war has been waged against the State of Israel for two weeks..." Both websites supply key information to members of the public, and their attack represents an escalation in the web war being waged against Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=253809

Former US ambassador to UN: Iran closer to bomb than world realizes
A report that Iran is about a year away from having the capability to build a nuclear bomb may be too optimistic, contended John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “I worry the publicly available information is giving only a very small picture and that Iran is actually even much further along,” Bolton said today in a radio interview. Bolton was on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio” on New York’s WABC Radio. The former ambassador was asked about a statement from a former head of U.N. nuclear inspections claiming Iran is now just a year or so away from having enough enriched uranium to assemble a nuclear bomb. Olli Heinonen wrote in an article published earlier this week that Iran made this advancement after switching production of its higher-grade enriched uranium to a new, underground site. Reacting to the one-year timeline, Bolton stated, “I think it can be even less than that.” The interview can be listened to at the Klein Online website. Continued Bolton: “They’ve got, by publicly available information from the International Atomic Energy Agency, enough low-enriched uranium that if enriched up to weapons grade would be enough for four weapons.” “So they’ve got more work to do, but they are already well on their way,” he said. Bolton told Klein that 2012 will be a key year to stop Iran’s nuclear program.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/iran-closer-to-bomb-than-world-realizes/

15th January 2012

Israel, Palestinians spar over Quartet deadline
PA: Jan. 26 is deadline to present comprehensive border, security proposals; Israel maintains it has another 2 months
Jerusalem hopes the Palestinians are not looking for an excuse to leave direct negotiations just two weeks after they began, an Israeli government official said Sunday. He was responding to a report in the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper asserting that the Palestinians are considering ending the talks in Jordan and searching for other alternatives. According to the report, the Palestinians were considering a number of different steps, including turning to the UN and asking it do demand an end to construction in the settlements. Israeli envoy Yitzhak Molcho and chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat met Saturday night at the headquarters of the Jordanian General Intelligence Department in Amman, for the third round of Jordanian-sponsored talks since January 3. For the first time, neither representatives of Jordan nor the Quartet - the US, EU, UN and Russia – participated in these talks. Al-Hayat quoted a senior Palestinian official as saying that there would be only one more meeting between the two sides on January 25. The official said that the planned meeting would be decisive because it would determine whether the two parties would be able to move to direct negotiations or declare the failure of the Amman talks. The Palestinians say that January 26 is a deadline imposed by the Quartet on the two sides last September to present comprehensive proposals on border and security issues.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=253747

Iran warns Gulf Arabs on oil
CAIRO (AP) - Iran warned Gulf Arab oil producers against boosting production to offset any potential drop in Tehran's crude exports in the event of an embargo affecting its oil sales, the latest salvo in the dispute between the West and the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. The comments by Iran's OPEC governor, published Sunday, came as Saudi Arabia's oil minister was quoted the same day denying that his country's earlier pledges to boost output as needed to meet global demand was linked to a potential siphoning of Iranian crude from the market because of sanctions.
World oil markets have been jolted over concerns that Iran may choke off the vital Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for sanctions hampering its ability to sell its oil.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20120115/D9S9EUU00.html

Netanyahu deputy "disappointed" with Obama on Iran
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A senior Israeli official voiced disappointment in the Obama administration on Sunday, saying "election-year considerations" lay behind its caution over tough Iran sanctions sought by U.S. legislators. While Washington has been talking tougher about Iran's nuclear work and threat to block oil export routes out of the Gulf if hit with harsher sanctions, new U.S. measures adopted on December 31 gave President Barak Obama leeway on the scope of penalties on the Iranian central bank and oil exports. Moshe Yaalon, Israel's vice prime minister, contrasted the administration's posture to that of France and Britain, which he said "are taking a very firm stand and understand sanctions must be imposed immediately." "In the United States, the Senate passed a resolution, by a majority of 100-to-one, to impose these sanctions, and in the U.S. administration there is hesitation for fear of oil prices rising this year, out of election-year considerations," Yaalon told Israel Radio. "In that regard, this is certainly a disappointment, for now."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/15/us-iran-nuclear-israel-usa-idUSTRE80E0D920120115

14th January 2012

EU criticises Standard & Poor's ratings downgrade
The EU's top economic official has criticised a decision by Standard and Poor's to downgrade the credit ratings of nine eurozone countries. Economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said the move was "inconsistent" as the eurozone was taking "decisive action" to end the debt crisis. Other senior European officials have also hit out the move. The downgrade - which included stripping France of its top AAA rating - was announced on Friday. Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal were cut two notches, with the latter two given "junk" ratings. Germany kept its AAA rating. Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta were the other countries downgraded. Standard and Poor's criticised the bloc's response to the crisis, saying austerity and budget discipline alone were not sufficient to fight it, and risked becoming self-defeating. Mr Rehn said he "regrets'" the decision taken by S&P's, saying the euro area has taken "decisive action in all fronts of its crisis response'' and was making progress in calming financial markets.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16558465

US prepping Mideast facilities for Israeli attack on Iran
The United States has begun taking measures to plan for an Israeli strike on Iran in order to protect US facilities in the region, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The contingency planning came as a result of concern within the US defense establishment that Israel is planning to attack Iran over the Islamic Republic's reported nuclear armament program, according to the newspaper. US President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and other senior US officials have reportedly delivered messages through private channels to the Israeli government warning them about the dangerous repercussions of a military strike on Iran. Washington is concerned that Iraqi Shi'ite militias may attack the US embassy in Baghdad at Iran's behest. Some 15,000 US diplomats, federal employees and contractors will likely remain in Iraq, the newspaper reported. Tensions between the Jewish state and the Islamic republic spiked above normal this past week when an Iranian nuclear scientist was blown up in his car in Tehran in an attack that Iranian officials blamed on Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=253575

13th January 2012

Rabbis ask evangelicals to restore values to America
'No country has lasted when it has become corrupt morally'
Voters in South Carolina – including the large numbers of evangelical Christians and Catholics there – are in the crosshairs of GOP political campaigns as they decide who should run against Democrat Barack Obama this fall. And they are being asked by hundreds of Orthodox rabbis to think long and hard about their decision and “vote morality” instead of flash and dash of politics or the economy. “No country, no empire has historically lasted past a certain stage when it has become corrupt morally,” said Yehuda Levin, a rabbi who is a spokesman for the Rabbinical Alliance of America. The request is coming from the organization’s members, not the organization itself... “Our country is now facing a terrible, terrible situation, where, God forbid, we continue this hurtling toward Gomorrah, this decline,” Levin said. He said a loss of morality will be followed by a loss of economy, culture and religion.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/rabbis-ask-evangelicals-to-restore-values-to-america/

Washington state gay marriage proposal gets strong support
SEATTLE (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Friday introduced a bill to legalize same sex marriage in Washington state, which gay rights groups hope will be the next state to approve nuptials... "It is time for marriage equality," Gregoire, a Democrat in her final year in office, said in her state of the state address Tuesday. "Let's tell the children of our same-sex couples that their parents' relationship is equal to all others in the state," she added. Last year, New York state became the most populous state to legalize same sex marriage, delighting gay rights advocates. Five other states allow it: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Iowa. Gay marriage is also legal in the District of Columbia
http://www.chicagotribune.com...

European bishops in favour of "world political authority with supranational structures"
ROME - The bishops of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) today published a commentary on what they term the concept of "a highly competitive social market economy." This, they said, has become one of the treaty objectives of the European Union (EU) since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. In looking at how best to react to the current economic and financial crisis affecting Europe the bishops recommend that the EU become "a viable 'Community of Solidarity and Responsibility.'" The roots of the term "social market economy" are found in Europe's philosophical, religious, and, in particular, Christian heritage, the COMECE commentary explains. It is a concept most commonly used in German-speaking countries, but it is also used in other countries, such as Poland. The term usually means that the free and competitive market is placed in the context of the principle of solidarity in order to promote greater social equality, achieved through the role of the state... The COMECE bishops came out in favor, in the long term, of what they called "a true world political authority with supranational structures and institutions is developed." Such a body, they said "should show due regard for the principles of justice and ecological responsibility. From the start, the project of European unification has been more than purely economic," the statement concluded. "It has been, and is, a political and moral project: it should serve justice and peace in Europe and worldwide."
http://www.zenit.org/article-34108?l=english

U.S. harassed by Iranian boats
At a time of heightened tensions with Iran, U.S. military officials told CNN Friday that U.S. military and Coast Guard ships had two close encounters earlier this month with high-speed Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf that exhibited provocative behavior. The incidents occurred January 6, according to a senior U.S. military official. The USS New Orleans, an amphibious transport ship was sailing through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf last Friday when three Iranian Navy speed boats rapidly approached within 500 yards of the ship, the official said. The Iranians did not respond to whistle signals or voice queries from the New Orleans. The lack of response disregards standard maritime protocols, the official said. The boats eventually broke away. On the same day, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Adak was also harassed by high-speed Iranian Navy boats while operating 75 miles east of Kuwait City. Iranian personnel in the small boats appeared to be holding AK-47 rifles and at least one video camera, the official said. U.S. personnel on the cutter also reported seeing a forward gun that was manned on one of the Iranian boats, according to the official. Eventually, communications with a larger Iranian vessel in the area were established and the speed boats stopped their harassment.
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/13/exclusive-u-s-harassed-by-iranian-ships/?hpt=hp_t3

S&P downgrades credit rating for nine eurozone countries... Germany only member with "stable" outlook
Rating agency Standard & Poor's on Friday cut France's credit worthiness from AAA to AA+, before proceeding to hit another eight eurozone countries with downgrades. Austria, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia were each relegated by one notch while Italy, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus were all knocked down two steps from their previous levels. Germany, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands were spared from the mass cull. "Today's ratings actions are primarily driven by our assessment that the policy initiatives that have been taken by European policymakers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the eurozone," S&P said in a statement issued late on Friday. Standard & Poor's had put 15 of the 17 eurozone members on notice of a possible downgrade of between one and two notches on December 5 last year, including Germany and France. The mass downgrade, coupled with news that S&P considers 14 of the 17 eurozone members to have a negative outlook for the future, means that Germany is now the only member of the single currency to enjoy both a top-notch AAA credit rating and a "stable" outlook.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15666429,00.html

US seeking to 'close down' Iran central bank
(AFP) The latest round of American sanctions are aimed at shutting down Iran's central bank, a senior US official said Thursday, spelling out that intention directly for the first time. "We do need to close down the Central Bank of Iran (CBI)," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity, while adding that the United States is moving quickly to implement the sanctions, signed into law last month. The sanctions, broadly aimed at forcing Tehran to shift course on its nuclear program, targeted Iran's crucial oil sector and required foreign firms to make a choice between doing business with Iran or the United States. Foreign central banks that deal with the Iranian central bank on oil transactions could also face similar restrictions under the new law, which has sparked fears of damage to US ties with nations like Russia and China. "If a correspondent bank of a US bank wants to do business with us and they're doing business with CBI or other designated Iranian banks... then they're going to get in trouble with us," the US official said. The measures were contained in a mammoth $662 billion defense bill, which President Barak Obama signed on December 31 at a time of rising tension with Tehran, which has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz -- through which more than a third of the world's tanker-borne oil passes. The United States has warned it will "not tolerate" such an interruption. There are fears that increased sanctions on Iran's central bank could force the global price of oil to suddenly soar, and actually give Tehran a financial windfall on its existing oil sales. Rising oil prices could also crimp the fragile economic recovery in the United States and inflict pain on American voters in gas stations.
http://www.breitbart.com...

12th January 2012

Obama asks Congress for debt limit hike
President Obama formally notified Congress on Thursday of his intent to raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion, two weeks after he had postponed the request to give lawmakers more time to consider the action. Congress will have had 15 days to say no before the nation’s debt ceiling automatically is raised from $15.2 trillion to $16.4 trillion. In a letter to House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), Obama wrote that ”further borrowing is required to meet existing commitments.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com...

The worst economic recovery since the Great Depression
The record of President Obama’s first three years in office is in, and...America (is) through the worst recovery from a recession since the Great Depression. The recession started in December, 2007. Go to the website of the National Bureau of Economic Research (www.nber.org) to see the complete history of America’s recessions. What that history reveals is that before this last recession, since the Great Depression recessions in America have lasted an average of 10 months, with the longest previously lasting 16 months... The National Bureau of Economic Research scored the recession as ending in June, 2009. Yet, today, in the 49th month since the recession started, there has still been no real recovery, like recoveries from previous recessions in America. Unemployment actually rose after June, 2009, and did not fall back down below that level until 18 months later in December, 2010. Instead of a recovery, America has suffered the longest period of unemployment near 9% or above since the Great Depression, under President Obama’s public policy malpractice. Even today, 49 months after the recession started, the U6 unemployment rate counting the unemployed, underemployed and discouraged workers is still 15.2%. And that doesn’t include all the workers who have fled the workforce under Obama’s economic oppression. The unemployment rate with the full measure of discouraged workers is reported at www.shadowstats.com as about 23%, which is depression level unemployment. Today, over 4 years since the recession started, there are still almost 25 million Americans unemployed or underemployed. That includes 5.6 million who are long-term unemployed for 27 weeks, or more than 6 months. Under President Obama, America has suffered the longest period with so many in such long-term unemployment since the Great Depression.
http://www.forbes.com...

PA threatens to pull out of peace talks with Israel
The Palestinian Authority threatened Thursday to pull out from the Jordanian-sponsored talks with Israel if no progress is achieved by January 26. PA President Mahmoud Abbas told Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store that the Palestinians were prepared to resume direct peace talks with Israel once the Israeli government halted construction in the settlements and east Jerusalem and accepted the two-state solution. A PA official in Ramallah said that Abbas briefed the Norwegian minister on the outcome of the last two meetings in Amman between PLO and Israeli officials. According to the official, Abbas stressed that unless Israel accepted the two Palestinian demands, he would not agree to the resumption of the direct talks.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=253436

Iranian leader meets Fidel Castro
HAVANA (AP) — Two of Washington's top irritants, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Fidel Castro, discussed world events for two hours, and the Iranian leader on Thursday described the retired Cuban revolutionary as healthy and engaged, and declared their two countries to be allies "fighting on the same front."... Raul Castro and the Iranian president also held a late-night meeting Wednesday, discussing bilateral relations and world events. "We have common positions on many things," Ahmadinejad said. "We have been, are and will be together one with the other." Ahmadinejad took no questions about tensions between his country and Washington over Iran's nuclear program, and did not comment on the assassination Wednesday of a nuclear scientist working at Iran's main uranium enrichment facility. Iran's government blamed the killing on Israel, the U.S. and Britain. The U.S. denied involvement. Ahmadinejad began his Latin America tour shortly after Washington imposed tougher sanctions on Tehran over the nuclear program. He spent less than 24 hours in Cuba, following visits to Venezuela and Nicaragua. In Ecuador, Ahmadinejad got a bear hug from President Rafael Correa, who last received the Iranian president during his 2007 inauguration and visited Tehran the following year. The two dined at the presidential palace and waved to hundreds of Ecuadorean from its balcony, where a big Iranian flag flew. The Iranian president thanked Correa for his solidarity and said that "the era of imperialism and global arrogance are exhausted."
http://www.google.com...

Khamenei: CIA, Mossad behind Iran killing
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has condemned the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Israel's spy agency Mossad for the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/220736.html

Iran warns of 'cross-border' bombing response
Iran's response to the assassination of a nuclear scientist in Iran Wednesday will be harsh and reach beyond borders, a website aligned with the regime in Tehran quoted a senior security source as saying Thursday. Those who gave the order for the assassination, the source was quoted by "RajaNews" as saying, "will never feel safe," adding that Iran has a cross-border, cross-regional strategy for striking back. He said that the West and Israel were behind the attacks in Iran. The official added that Tehran has entered "a new era of intelligence operations against its enemies."... Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, in charge while Ahmadinejad travels, told Iranian state television "this terrorist act was carried out by agents of the Zionist regime (Israel) and by those who claim to be combating terrorism (the United States) with the aim of stopping our scientists from serving" Iran. He said Iran's nuclear program would go on.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=253356

Monti and Merkel: Financial tax must cover whole EU
BRUSSELS - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday said they would support an EU-wide financial transactions tax, But Berlin backed down on the idea of a eurozone-only levy. “We are open to supporting this initiative at the EU level,” Monti said at a press conference alongside Merkel in Berlin, marking a shift from his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi who had rejected the idea. The proposal remains controversial. Britain, Sweden and Denmark, as well as euro-member Malta, have spoken out against it in the absence of a global deal, fearing investors will move to more favourable countries such as Switzerland or Caribbean tax havens... German institutions and banks on Wednesday condemned efforts to push ahead with a tax which does not include top financial centres such as London. Monti also said he is "not sure if it makes sense only at eurozone level."
http://euobserver.com/19/114847

11th January 2012

Bomb kills Iran nuclear scientist as crisis mounts
TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian nuclear scientist was blown up in his car by a motorbike hitman on Wednesday, prompting Tehran to blame Israeli and U.S. agents but insist the killing would not derail a nuclear program that has raised fears of war and threatened world oil supplies... The killing, which left debris hanging in trees and body parts on the road, came in a week of heightened tension... Analysts saw the latest assassination, which would have taken no little expertise, as less a reaction to recent events than part of a longer-running, covert effort to thwart Iran's nuclear development program that has also included suspected computer viruses and mystery explosions... The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran...said the killing of Ahmadi-Roshan would not deter it: "We will continue our path without any doubt...Our path is irreversible," it said in a statement carried on television. "The heinous acts of America and the criminal Zionist regime will not disrupt our glorious path ... The more you kill us, the more our nation will awake." First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, quoted by IRNA news agency, said: "Iran's enemies should know they cannot prevent Iran's progress by carrying out such terrorist acts."... On Tuesday, Israeli armed forces chief Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz was quoted as telling members of parliament: "For Iran, 2012 is a critical year in combining the continuation of its nuclearisation, internal changes in the Iranian leadership, continuing and growing pressure from the international community and things which take place in an unnatural manner."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/11/us-iran-idUSTRE8090ZL20120111

Furthermore: Iran asks U.N. to condemn killing of nuclear scientist - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) Iran urged the U.N. Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday to condemn the latest in a series of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, which it said were "cruel, inhumane and criminal acts of terrorism."... Christof Heyns, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, said in a statement to Reuters the Wednesday assassination seemed to reflect a "worrying trend of extrajudicial executions of nuclear scientists in Iran. The killings are unlawful and should be condemned," Heyns said... Tehran blamed the United States and Israel for the attack.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/11/us-iran-un-idUSTRE80A25P20120111

In efforts to resolve the debt crisis, all roads lead to Berlin
Many investors do seem to consider Germany the last bastion of the crisis-rattled eurozone. The economy is humming, unemployment is declining and the citizens don't seem overly concerned either... As 2012 gets underway, Europe's political and economic leaders are queuing up in Berlin again, awaiting an audience. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was first in line, meeting Merkel on Monday. Tuesday was the turn of the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde - although Lagarde and the German chancellor's office both declined to comment on details of their discussions after the event. Like a host of European national governments, the IMF has contributed billions towards the emergency loans packages for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Relatively new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is set to meet Merkel on Wednesday and explain his plans to tackle the country's national debt and avoid a threatened downgrade to Italy's credit rating.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15657669,00.html

Follow-up: Italy’s reforms win Merkel seal of approval - Angela Merkel has given effusive praise for the economic reforms introduced by Italy’s new government of technocrats, marking a clear seal of approval from the German government – in stark contrast to its long-standing doubts about the previous Italian administration. Speaking after her first bilateral summit with Mario Monti, who succeeded Silvio Berlusconi as Italian prime minister in November, the German chancellor lauded the “extraordinarily important and remarkable measures” already taken by his technocratic administration. “Both in terms of speed and substance, these reforms will strengthen Italy and improve its economic perspectives,” she declared.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1c91ea40-3c62-11e1-8d72-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1jBnHc1Fi

10th January 2012

Iran, West approaching 'turning point' in 2012, officials warn
War games. Threats to close a key oil passageway and block a U.S. aircraft carrier from returning to the Persian Gulf. An American sentenced to death in Tehran, accused of spying. And now a breakthrough in Iran's nuclear program. The developments portend what officials see as a momentous year ahead in the standoff between Iran and the West, as Iranian leaders appear to grow bolder despite a new round of international sanctions which, by most accounts, is taking a toll... In a letter to the European Union released Tuesday, a group of bipartisan senators described 2012 as a "turning point in the confrontation between Iran and the international community." They urged the organization to impose an oil embargo on Iran and follow the U.S. lead by sanctioning Iran's Central Bank. "We believe that both (steps) are absolutely necessary if we are to prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons and thereby foreclose either a regional war or a cascade of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East," reads the letter... The latest alarm bell came Monday when the United Nations' nuclear agency confirmed that Iran had started to enrich uranium at its underground Fordo site. The level of enrichment being pursued is said to be 20 percent, far more than the 3.5 percent-level material being produced at Iran's central enrichment site. The State Department described the development as very bad news. "When you enrich to 20 percent, there is no possible reason for that if you're talking about a peaceful program," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday. "So it generally tends to indicate that you are enriching to a level that takes you to a different kind of nuclear program." John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador the United Nations under the Bush administration, said that if there is a strike, Israel is the most likely candidate to carry it out. But he said Israel risks a "nuclear response" in the event the country waits too long to launch one. "Every day that goes by means that the military option gets less and less likely," Bolton told Fox News. Reflecting the views of the senators who wrote to the European Union, Bolton said a nuclear Iran would trigger a nuclear race in the volatile Middle East among Iran's powerful neighbors. "I think it's a very dangerous period. I think Iran is drawing close to the point where it will have a nuclear weapons capability," Bolton said.
http://www.foxnews.com...

Powerful 7.3-mag quake hits off western Indonesia
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — A powerful earthquake hit waters off western Indonesia early Wednesday, prompting officials to briefly issue a tsunami warning. Panicked residents poured into the streets, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or serious damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 7.3-magnitude quake struck 260 miles (420 kilometers) off the coast of Aceh province just after midnight. It was centered 18 miles (30 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor. People in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh — still deeply traumatized by the 2004 monster quake and tsunami — were rattled from their sleep. They fled their homes and waited outside as sirens blared from local mosques, some hopping in cars and motorcycles and heading for high ground.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501712_162-57356253/powerful-quake-hits-off-western-indonesia/

US - Budget, gay marriage top agenda as session starts
Washington state lawmakers gathered Monday for a new legislative session that is expected to include a broad revamp of government spending and a close review of whether the state should legalize gay marriage. Budget negotiators are already working toward the Legislature’s main task of closing a roughly $1 billion projected budget shortfall... Aside from the upcoming budget debates, Gregoire renewed a broader discussion on same-sex marriage as she announced her support last week and said she’d be pushing for legislation to be passed in the coming months. House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, included same-sex marriage in a list of priorities during a speech Monday on the floor. “I respect that there are strong views on both sides of this issue, but this is the right time to be fair to people – and choose equality,” Chopp said.
http://www.thenewstribune.com...

Furthermore: Santorum draws boos from college crowd for opposing gay marriage - (Bloomberg) - Rick Santorum anticipated he would be pressed on his conservative views on same-sex marriage and legalizing marijuana, and the college crowd in Concord, New Hampshire, didn't disappoint him. "I'm surprised I got a gay marriage question at a college crowd," he joked. "Really that's a shock to me." For the most part, his audience yesterday was booing, not laughing, particularly when Santorum compared gay marriage to polygamy. The gathering was billed as a forum for college students and was held at a conference center. Santorum's remarks sparked a contentious back and forth between the candidate and the college students during the course of an almost hour-long question and answer session.
http://www.sfgate.com...

Despite saber-rattling, military action 'long way off' for US and Iran
Tensions between Iran and the West are rising by the day, but analysts say military conflict is far from inevitable. Both the United States and Iran have too much to lose. Tensions between Iran and the US seem to be going up a notch every day. After Iran announced that it had begun enriching uranium inside a mountain north of Qom, Tehran has now sentenced to death a former US marine on a charge of spying. In between the two provocations, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta threatened a "response" if Iran crossed a "red line" by blocking the crucial trade route through the Strait of Hormuz. This in itself was Iran's response to the European Union's proposed new round of oil sanctions - which were the EU's response to Iran's refusal to stop its uranium enrichment plan. The wheel keeps turning. Such tit-for-tat threats - followed by partial diplomatic retreats - have been de rigueur for relations between Iran and the West for many years. But the increased pace of measures and countermeasures in recent weeks seems to have made the prospect of a military conflict loom larger than ever... But despite all the saber-rattling, Konstantin Kosten of German political research institute the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) thinks an airstrike remains unlikely at this stage. "I wouldn't say that that means there will be an attack," he said. "Both sides - the US and Iran - have absolutely no interest in an escalation."... "The big question is how will Iran react to an EU oil embargo, which will very probably be delcared at the end of January," said Kosten. "Will they really block the Strait of Hormuz, or not? That is very unclear. There are factions in Iran who certainly have a vested interest in an escalation, but there are also factions that think it will lead to problems." Then the game of tit-for-tat can begin again.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15655088,00.html

9th January 2012

Merkel hails eurozone treaty progress
Berlin - Negotiations on a new European treaty to reinforce budget discipline in the eurozone are making rapid progress and there is “a good chance” of reaching agreement by the end of January, according to Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor. Her confidence was mirrored by Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, speaking after a bilateral Franco-German summit in Berlin on Monday. He said the new treaty, including a requirement for all 17 eurozone members to agree constitutional amendments to balance their budgets, should be signed by March 1. At the same time, the two leaders called for a new push to revive economic growth and job creation in the eurozone, as the “second pillar” of a strategy to stabilise the European currency union. The treaty is being negotiated by 26 of the 27 members of the European Union – excluding the UK – although it will only bind the 17 eurozone members.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/efac98ec-3ade-11e1-b7ba-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1j4ZeQmea

Israel preparing for nuclear Iran: report
(AFP) Israel is preparing for Iran to become a nuclear power and has accepted it may happen within a year, the London Times reported on Monday citing an Israeli security report. The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) think-tank prepared scenarios for the day after an Iranian nuclear weapons test at the request of former Israeli ambassadors, intelligence officials and ex-military chiefs, the paper reported. Israel has so far maintained it will do all within its power to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear capabilities, but has shifted its position following recent United Nations' reports, according to the Times. The UN atomic agency said Monday that Iran is now enriching uranium at a new site in a hard-to-bomb mountain bunker, in a move set to stoke Western suspicions further that Tehran wants nuclear weapons. INSS specialists including a former head of Israel's National Security Council and two former members of the prime minister's office conducted the simulation study in Tel Aviv last week. If Iran does test a nuclear weapon, INSS predicts a profound shift in the Middle East power balance.
http://www.breitbart.com...

Big hack attack on Israel inevitable, say experts
Cyber warriors are gaining the knowledge to do more than virtual vandalism; the worst is yet to come say experts. The hacker attack that exposed the credit card numbers and other personal information of thousands of Israelis last week shows every sign of being an unsophisticated break-in that exploited the weaknesses of a poorly secured website. But experts warn that for Israel, like other highly networked economies, the worst is yet to come. Lone-wolf hackers have gradually gained the knowledge and experience once the preserve of intelligence agencies and armies. Instead of defacing websites or shutting them down by flooding them with e-mails, growing numbers of hackers have the ability to disrupt electricity, water, medical and other critical services, they say. “To shut down a major network, even for a government, is considered to be difficult, and demands excellent experience and knowledge, but there are a few tens of thousands of people around the world who could do it,” Ron Porat, who co-founded Hacktics, an Israeli maker of anti-hacking technology, told The Media Line. “Some of them have the motivation also.”
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=252807

US General Dempsey: Iran has ability to block Strait of Hormuz
Iran has the ability to block the Strait of Hormuz “for a period of time,” and the U.S. would take action to reopen it, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey said. “They’ve invested in capabilities that could, in fact, for a period of time block the Strait of Hormuz,” Dempsey said in an interview aired yesterday on the CBS “Face the Nation” program. “We’ve invested in capabilities to ensure that if that happens, we can defeat that.” Should Iran try to close Hormuz, the U.S. “would take action and reopen” the waterway, said Dempsey, President Barack Obama’s top military adviser. Blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic shipping lane linking the Gulf of Oman with the Persian Gulf, would constitute a “red line” for the U.S., as would Iranian efforts to build a nuclear weapon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on the same program... Continued pressure, rather than threats of air strikes, is the best way to forestall Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Panetta said... Dempsey suggested that curbing Iran’s nuclear work by bombing its facilities would be difficult. “I’d rather not discuss the degree of difficulty and in any way encourage them to read anything into that,” Dempsey said. “My responsibility is to encourage the right degree of planning, to understand the risks associated with any kind of military option.” Should Israel decide to undertake a unilateral military strike against Iran, the U.S. priority would be protecting American troops in the region, Panetta said. Dempsey and Panetta sought on CBS to provide assurances that the new U.S. military strategy, announced last week, won’t limit the U.S. ability to stop aggressors.
http://www.bloomberg.com...

Bahrain to Jewish leader: Iran is a threat to us all
Iran is a common threat to Bahrain, Israel and the US, the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was quoted as saying by a Jewish official on Sunday. Rabbi Marc Schneier, vice president of the World Jewish Congress, said the king told him he was alarmed by the Islamic Republic during a 45- minute meeting held in the capital city of Manama late last month. “I made a point how it’s ironic how we share a common enemy and he acknowledged that Iran has been a threat,” said Schneier, who gave the king a hanukkia at the end of their conversation. The oil-rich island nation has a troubled history with its northern neighbor across the Persian Gulf, which once laid claim to its territory.
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=252770

Venezuela's Chavez welcomes ally Ahmadinejad... dismisses US warning
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dismissed a U.S. warning to avoid close ties with Iran on Sunday, denouncing what he said was Washington's attempt to dominate the world as he welcomed the Iranian president to the Latin American nation. Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived at the start of a tour to shore up support from the region's leftist leaders, as tough new Western sanctions aim to isolate the Islamic republic and target its vital oil exports. "A spokesman or spokeswoman in Washington from the State Department or the White House said it was not convenient for any country to get close to Iran. Well, the truth is, it made you laugh," Chavez said in a televised speech. "They're not going to be able to dominate this world. Forget about it (President Barack) Obama, forget about it. It would be better to think about the problems in your country, which are many," he said. "We are free. The people of Latin America will never again kneel, dominated by the imperial Yankee. Never again," he said, to applause from his audience at an oil processing facility.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/venezuelas-chavez-welcomes-ally-ahmadinejad-000151086.html

8th January 2012

Iran to launch nuclear work in bunker in "near future"
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will in the "near future" start enriching uranium deep inside a mountain, a senior official said, a move likely to further antagonize Western powers which suspect Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons capability. A decision by the Islamic Republic to conduct sensitive atomic activities at an underground site - offering better protection against any enemy attacks - could complicate diplomatic efforts to resolve the long-running row peacefully. Iran has said for months that it is preparing to move its highest-grade uranium refinement work to Fordow, a facility near the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom in central Iran, from its main enrichment plant at Natanz... "The Fordow nuclear enrichment plant will be operational in the near future," the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, said. Uranium refined to purity levels of both 3.5 percent and 20 percent can be produced at the site, he added in comments carried by Iran's Kayhan newspaper on Sunday. One Western official said with the start-up of Fordow, Iran would send a political signal to show it will not bow to international demands to suspend uranium enrichment, activity which can have both civilian and military uses.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/08/us-iran-nuclear-idUSTRE80706S20120108

Karzai’s ultimatum complicates US exit strategy
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai’s denunciation last week of abuses at the main American prison in Afghanistan — and his abrupt demand that Americans cede control of the site within a month — surprised many here. The prison, at Bagram Air Base, is one of the few in the country where Afghan and Western rights advocates say that conditions are relatively humane... the Afghans were not backing off their demand, the officials said, and instead appeared intent on turning it into a test of their national sovereignty. “We have the right to rule on our own soil,” said Gul Rahman Qazi, the chief of the Afghan commission that investigated the prison, at a weekend news conference in which his panel listed accusations of abuses. The matter is exposing the deep vein of mutual mistrust and suspicion that runs beneath the American and Afghan talk of partnership, and officials characterize the prison dispute as a critical complication for the United States’ intent to withdraw from the Afghan war on its own terms. The prison plays a key role in the war effort, housing almost all the detainees that forces from the American-led coalition deem “high value,” including Taliban operatives.
http://www.nytimes.com...

Background: Karzai demands US cede Afghan prison control - Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, has demanded the largest US detention centre in his country be handed over to Afghan control within a month, along with all Afghan citizens held by the coalition troops across the nation. A presidential statement said that, after a thorough review, the government had decided that keeping Afghan citizens imprisoned without trial violates the country's constitution, as well as international human rights conventions. The Bagram detention centre is located inside the sprawling US base in the town located north of Kabul, the capital. It is unclear how many high-value detainees are being held at the US facility... The statement from Karzai's office said he issued instructions to a commission consisting of the ministers of defense, interior and justice, as well as other top government and judicial officials "to complete their job regarding the handing over of the [Bagram] prison and other prisoners who are held by foreign forces. The work should be completed within a month," it said.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/01/2012165522658977.html

7th January 2012

West readies oil plan in case of Iran crisis... "maximum stock release capability for a month"
LONDON (Reuters) - Western powers this week readied a contingency plan to tap a record volume from emergency stockpiles to replace nearly all the Gulf oil that would be lost if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz, industry sources and diplomats told Reuters. They said senior executives of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which advises 28 oil consuming countries, discussed on Thursday an existing plan to release up to 14 million barrels per day (bpd) of government-owned oil stored in the United States, Europe, Japan and other importers. Action on this scale would be more than five times the size of the biggest release in the agency's history -- made in response to Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The maximum release, some 10 million bpd of crude and about 4 million bpd of refined products, could be sustained during the first month of any coordinated action, the plan says... A spokesman for the IEA confirmed that the Paris-based agency has an existing contingency plan that outlines a maximum stock release capability of 14 million bpd for a month. "We're watching the situation carefully," he said of Iran. Tehran announced plans on Friday for new military exercises in the world's most important oil shipping lane, through which some 16 million barrels of crude pass each day. Iranian officials have threatened to block the strait if new sanctions, aimed to discourage Iran's nuclear programme, harm Tehran's oil exports.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/06/us-iea-contingency-idUSTRE8051FV20120106

6th January 2012

China warns US on Asia military strategy
China's state media have warned the US against "flexing its muscles" after Washington unveiled a defence review switching focus to the Asia-Pacific. In an editorial, official news agency Xinhua said President Barack Obama's move to increase US presence in the region could come as a welcome boost to stability and prosperity. But it said any US militarism could create ill will and "endanger peace"... Mr Obama told reporters at the Pentagon: "We'll be strengthening our presence in the Asia-Pacific, and budget reductions will not come at the expense of this critical region." Xinhua said the US role could be good for China in helping to secure the "peaceful environment" it needed to continue its economic development. But it added: "While boosting its military presence in the Asia-Pacific, the United States should abstain from flexing its muscles, as this won't help solve regional disputes. "If the United States indiscreetly applies militarism in the region, it will be like a bull in a china shop, and endanger peace instead of enhancing regional stability."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16438584

Latest Egypt vote brings Islamists closer to win
CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood won more than a third of the votes in the last stage of elections for Egypt's lower house of parliament, according to partial results on Friday, which show the Islamists are set to dominate the legislature. Banned under deposed President Hosni Mubarak, the Brotherhood has emerged a major winner from the uprising that toppled him, exploiting a well-organized support base to beat the rest in the first free legislative vote in decades. The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party list won 37.5 percent of the vote in the third and final stage of voting. Repeating a pattern seen in previous rounds, the hardline Islamist Nour Party list came second in most of the districts after this week's vote, results on the party website showed. The Islamists now look set to wield major influence over the shape of a new constitution.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/06/us-egypt-election-idUSTRE8050KE20120106

Iran plans new military maneuvers in February
TEHRAN - Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) will hold new naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz in February, state-run Press TV quoted a military commander as saying on Friday. The Guards' Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said the drill would be "different compared to previous exercises held by the IRGC," Press TV reported but gave no further details. The last drill in the vital oil shipping lane ended on Monday.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=252498

Political role for militants with strong ties to Iran worsens fault lines in Iraq
BAGHDAD — It was one of the deadliest insurgent groups in Iraq in recent years, an Iranian-backed militia that bombed American military convoys and bases, assassinated dozens of Iraqi officials and tried to kidnap Americans even as the last soldiers withdrew. But now the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is welcoming the militant group into Iraq’s political system, a move that could tilt the nation’s center of gravity closer to Iran. The government’s support for the militia, which only just swore off violence, has opened new sectarian fault lines in Iraq’s political crisis while potentially empowering Iran at a moment of rising military and economic tensions between Tehran and Washington. The militant group, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, broke away from the fierce Shiite militia commanded by the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who has strong ties to Tehran. The American military has long maintained that the group, led by a former spokesman for Mr. Sadr, Qais al-Khazali, was trained and financed by Iran’s elite Quds Force — something that Iran denies... Critics worry that Mr. Maliki, facing fierce new challenges to his leadership from Sunnis and even his fellow Shiites, may now be making a cynical and shortsighted play for Asaib’s support... By doing so, Iraq’s government could embolden a militia with an almost nonexistent track record of peace while potentially handing Tehran greater influence in a country where the United States spent billions of dollars and lost nearly 4,500 American soldiers in nearly nine years of war.
http://www.nytimes.com...

Comment: "It's not a good sign that Maliki is so keen to work with a group that has been responsible for the deaths of many Americans." - Marisa Cochrane Sullivan, director of the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, on efforts by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to include the militant group Asaib Ahl al-Haq in Iraqi politics.

Furthermore: Iraqi official: Shiite militia will lay down arms - BAGHDAD (AP) The top Iraqi official in charge of reconciling with the country's armed groups is welcoming a decision by an Iranian-backed Shiite militia to give up its weapons and support the political process. Amir al-Khzaie, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's adviser for reconciliation, said Friday that the group, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, has not yet turned in its arms but says it is prepared to. He says the group is ready to play a constructive role in Iraqi politics and hopes to run in the next parliamentary elections under a new name. Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or Band of the Righteous, is an armed splinter group from radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's own political movement that was formed to fight the American presence in Iraq.
U.S. troops completed their pullout last month.
http://www.google.com...

Fidel Castro says world marching into abyss with shale gas
HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Thursday the world was on an "inexorable march toward the abyss," which he blamed in part on the discovery and exploitation of vast reserves of so-called "shale gas" around the world. Shale gas is natural gas locked in rock formations that in the past decade has been found in great abundance around the world and is now considered a top source of future energy. Castro, 85, wrote in one of his occasional columns published in Cuban state media that "numerous dangers threaten us, but two of them - nuclear war and climate change - are decisive and both are ever further from approaching a solution." He said he had only recently heard about the shale gas phenomenon, which has created a drilling boom in some parts of the United States, and when he asked several acquaintances both inside and outside of Cuba about the topic, "none of them had heard a word about it." Shale gas production is criticized in some quarters because it requires extensive "fracking," which uses water, sand and chemicals to fracture the rock where the gas is trapped to allow it to flow out of the well. Fracking, opponents say, contaminates groundwater sources and can cause other problems. Castro sided with the critics, quoting reports on the negative effects of fracking and research that said shale gas emits more greenhouse gases than gas produced from conventional wells. "It is sufficient to point out that among the numerous chemical substances injected with the water to extract this gas is found benzene and toluene, which are substances terribly carcinogenic," he wrote.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/06/us-cuba-castro-abyss-idUSTRE80507Y20120106

5th January 2012

Turkey: We won't allow Iran strike
Turkish support for Iran: Turkey's foreign minister said Thursday that his country will not allow its territory to be used for a strike on Iran, adding that Ankara does not perceive Tehran as a threat. Speaking at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Ahmet Davutoğlu referred to the deployment of a NATO radar in Turkey, stressing that it cannot be used against Iran. "This is a defensive system, which is part of a NATO defensive system," he said. "During our talks I stressed that this system cannot be used against any of Turkey's neighbors."... Meanwhile, Iranian FM Ali Akbar Salehi referred to the latest sanctions imposed by the United States and to the recent European oil embargo, dismissing them and vowing that Iran will resist them.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4171886,00.html

Screws tighten on Iran as big buyers shun its oil
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran faced the prospect on Thursday of cutbacks in its oil sales to China and Japan as new measures to cut off Tehran's crude exports appeared to be driving its economy to the wall. The developments in Asia follow news on Wednesday that EU leaders had agreed to halt European purchases of Iranian crude... Most oil traders still expect Iran will be able to find buyers for its crude, but it will have to offer steeper discounts that will cut the hard currency revenue it needs to import food and other basic supplies for its 74 million people... The economic hardship comes just two months before a parliamentary election.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/05/us-iran-idUSTRE8041CX20120105

Saudis, Gulf states on war alert
The armies of Saudi Arabia and fellow GCC states stood ready Thursday, for Washington to stand up to Iranian threats and send an aircraft carrier or several warships through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf. Riyadh has been leaning hard on the Obama administration not to let Tehran get away with its warning to react with "full force" if the USS Stennis aircraft carrier tried to reenter the Gulf or Iran's pretensions to control the traffic transiting the world's most important oil route. Wednesday night, the Iranian parliament began drafting a bill prohibiting foreign warships from entering the Gulf without Tehran's permission. DEBKAfile's Washington sources report that Saudi Arabia has warned the Obama administration that Iranian leaders mean what they say; their leaders are bent on provoking a military clash with the United States at a time and place of their choosing, rather than leaving the initiative to Washington. To this end, Iranian officials are ratcheting up their belligerence day after day. Notwithstanding their military inferiority, the Iranians believe they can snatch a measure of success from a military confrontation... America's failure to rise to Iran's challenge will confirm its rulers in the conviction that the US is a paper tiger and encourage them to press their advantage for new gains... The entire region is now on tenterhooks for the next move.
http://www.debka.com/article/21620/

Gaza premier plays down talks with Israel
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) - The prime minister of the Gaza government said Thursday the first meeting between Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators in more than a year was "a futile gesture" that will lead nowhere. Ismail Haniyeh of the Palestinian faction Hamas received a hero's welcome at Tunisia's airport where he was greeted by thousands of people chanting their support for the Palestinian cause. He also met with Tunisia's new prime minister, Hamadi Jebali. "We are not optimistic. It is a futile gesture which will lead nowhere," Haniyeh said regarding Tuesday's Israeli-Palestinian talks in Jordan. The meeting ended without any significant breakthroughs, and Israel and the Palestinians remain far from agreement on key issues to resolve their decades-long conflict. But the talks are to continue.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/gaza-premier-plays-talks-israel-15297793#.TwYn-DU7U8I

Obama plans to cut tens of thousands of ground troops
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will unveil a "more realistic" vision for the military on Thursday, with plans to cut tens of thousands of ground troops and invest more in air and sea power at a time of fiscal restraint, officials familiar with the plans said on Wednesday. The strategic review of U.S. security interests will also emphasize an American presence in Asia, with less attention overall to Europe, Africa and Latin America alongside slower growth in the Pentagon's budget, the officials said. Though specific budget cut and troop reduction figures are not set to be announced on Thursday, officials confirmed to Reuters they would amount to a 10-15 percent decline in Army and Marine Corps numbers over the next decade, translating to tens of thousands of troops. The most profound shift in the strategic review is an acceptance that the United States, even with the world's largest military budget, cannot afford to maintain the ground troops to fight more than one major war at once. That is a move away from the "win-win" strategy that has dominated Pentagon funding decisions for decades.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/04/us-usa-military-obama-idUSTRE8031Z020120104

4th January 2012

Oil price would skyrocket if Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz
HOUSTON — If Iran were to follow through with its threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit route for almost one-fifth of the oil traded globally, the impact would be immediate: Energy analysts say the price of oil would start to soar and could rise 50 percent or more within days. An Iranian blockade by means of mining, airstrikes or sabotage is logistically well within Tehran’s military capabilities. But despite rising tensions with the West, including a tentative ban on European imports of Iranian oil announced Wednesday, Iran is unlikely to take such hostile action, according to most Middle East political experts... Despite deterrents to armed confrontation, oil and foreign policy analysts say a miscalculation is possible that could cause an overreaction from one side or the other. “I fear we may be blundering toward a crisis nobody wants,” said Helima Croft, senior geopolitical strategist at Barclays Capital. “There is a peril of engaging in brinksmanship from all sides.” Various Iranian officials in recent weeks have said they would blockade the strait, which is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, if the United States and Europe imposed a tight oil embargo on their country in an effort to thwart its development of nuclear weapons.
http://www.nytimes.com...

Tehran decries foreign troops presence in Gulf
Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi continued Tehran's heated rhetoric against the West on Wednesday, decrying the presence of foreign military forces near the Strait of Hormuz. "The presence of extra-regional powers in the Persian Gulf is unhelpful and damaging and their presence has no result other than turbulence in the region," he told reporters following a cabinet meeting, according to a Tehran Times report. Vahidi added that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is planning on holding another military exercise in the near future, according to Iran's student newspaper ISNA.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=252189

Rick Santorum: There is no Palestine
Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who became second in the US state of Iowa's Republican presidential caucuses, says that Palestinians do not exist and there is no such country as Palestine. “There are no Palestinians,” he told a questioner at a campaign event in Iowa. "All the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis. There are no Palestinians. This is Israeli land," he added... "The West Bank is part of Israel," which won it as "part of an aggressive attack by Jordan and others" in 1967. Israel doesn't have to give it back any more than the United States has to give New Mexico and Texas to Mexico, which was gotten "through a war," Santorum added.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/219353.html 

US power shrunk in Persian Gulf
The Pentagon has announced that the American government does not seek a “confrontation” with Iran, shortly after Commander of Iran's Army warned a US aircraft carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf area. "No one in this government seeks confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz," said Pentagon spokesman George Little on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Commander of Iran's Army Major General Ataollah Salehi advised USS John C. Stennis not to return to its previous position in the Persian Gulf, “since we are not in the habit of repeating a warning and we warn only once.”
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/219267.html

EU countries preparing to impose oil ban on Iran
BRUSSELS - A Greek official has indicated that Athens would back an oil embargo on Iran, setting the stage for a positive decision by EU countries at the end of the month. The unnamed official told the Reuters and Bloomberg news wires on Tuesday that Greece has dropped its previous opposition to the new measure. "If the European Union decides to impose the sanctions, Greece will join them ... If the sanctions are imposed, we will seek other ways to ensure we continue receiving the needed supplies and that the oil market operates smoothly," he said... France has in recent weeks continued to build support for the EU to join the US embargo. Its foreign minister, Alain Juppe, told France's I-Tele TV station on Wednesday there is no doubt that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons and that President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to see an oil ban as well as a freeze on Iran's central bank assets.
http://euobserver.com/24/114760

US closes 2011 with record $15.22 trillion in debt
It is now official: according to the US Treasury, America has closed the books on 2011 with debt at an all time record $15,222,940,045,451.09. And US debt to GDP is now officially over 100%, or 100.3% to be specific, a fact which the US government decided to delay exposing until the very end of the calendar year. We wonder, rhetorically, just how prominent of a talking point this historic event will be in any upcoming GOP primary debates. And yes, technically this number is greater than the debt ceiling but it excludes various accounting gimmicks. When accounting for those, the US has a debt ceiling buffer of... $14 billion, or one third the size of a typical bond auction.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/us-closes-2011-record-1522-trillion-debt-officially-1003-debtgdp

3rd January 2012

Overtures to Egypt’s Islamists reverse longtime U.S. policy
CAIRO — With the Muslim Brotherhood pulling within reach of an outright majority in Egypt’s new Parliament, the Obama administration has begun to reverse decades of mistrust and hostility as it seeks to forge closer ties with an organization once viewed as irreconcilably opposed to United States interests. The administration’s overtures — including high-level meetings in recent weeks — constitute a historic shift in a foreign policy held by successive American administrations that steadfastly supported the autocratic government of President Hosni Mubarak in part out of concern for the Brotherhood’s Islamist ideology and historic ties to militants... The reversal reflects the administration’s growing acceptance of the Brotherhood’s repeated assurances that its lawmakers want to build a modern democracy... And at the same time it underscores Washington’s increasing frustration with Egypt’s military rulers... The administration, however, has also sought to preserve its deep ties to the military rulers... Nevertheless, as the Brotherhood moves toward an expected showdown with the military this month over who should control the interim government — the newly elected Parliament or the ruling military council — the administration’s public outreach to the Brotherhood could give the Islamic movement in Egypt important support. It could also confer greater international legitimacy on the Brotherhood.
http://www.nytimes.com...

IDF: 8,000 rockets, missiles could hit Israel if war erupts
Israel is likely to come under fire from 8,000 rockets and missiles if a war breaks out in the coming year, according to updated IDF intelligence. Regarding the capabilities in the hands of it enemies, according to the assessment, it is possible that hundreds Israelis would be killed in such a war. Based on these assessments and the growing arsenals of Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran, a war in 2017 would likely include the firing of 15,000 rockets and missiles into Israeli cities, causing greater devastation and more casualties. The IDF believes that most of the rockets will be short-range and another 5,500 will have a range over 70 km. "The arsenals that surround us are increasing in their quality, quantity as well as in their accuracy," a senior IDF officer said on Tuesday.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=252034

Iran warns US carrier to stay out of Persian Gulf
Iran will take action if a U.S. aircraft carrier which left the area because of Iranian naval exercises returns to the Gulf, the state news agency quoted army chief Ataollah Salehi as saying on Tuesday. "Iran will not repeat its warning ... the enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," Salehi told IRNA. "I advise, recommend and warn them (the Americans) over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Salehi as saying. Salehi did not name the aircraft carrier or give details of the action Iran might take if it returned. owever, last week a spokeswoman for the U.S. 5th Fleet said the USS John C. Stennis had left the Gulf.
http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com...

Follow-up: U.S. says will continue to deploy warships in Persian Gulf despite Iranian threats
The United States will continue to deploy its warships in the Gulf, a defense spokesman said on Tuesday after Iran threatened to take action if the U.S. Navy moves an aircraft carrier into the Gulf. "These are regularly scheduled movements and in accordance with our long-standing commitments to the security and stability of the region and in support of ongoing operations," Commander Bill Speaks said in an emailed response to Reuters questions. "The U.S. Navy operates under international maritime conventions to maintain a constant state of high vigilance in order to ensure the continued, safe flow of maritime traffic in waterways critical to global commerce," he said.
http://www.haaretz.com...

French FM: Europe must agree Iran sanctions by month's end
PARIS - France wants its European partners to agree by end-January on sanctions on Iran similar to those envisaged by the United, States, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday. "France ... wants sanctions toughened and the French President Nicolas Sarkozy has made two concrete proposals on that front - the first being the freezing of Iranian central bank assets, a tough measure, and the second an embargo on Iranian oil exports," Juppe told i>tele, a French news TV channel. Washington is already in the process of imposing such sanctions, he said. "We want the Europeans to take a similar step by January 30 to show our determination," he said.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=251973

2nd January 2012

US Defense Secretary to offer strategy for cutting military budget
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is set this week to reveal his strategy that will guide the Pentagon in cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from its budget, and with it the Obama administration’s vision of the military that the United States needs to meet 21st-century threats, according to senior officials. In a shift of doctrine driven by fiscal reality and a deal last summer that kept the United States from defaulting on its debts, Mr. Panetta is expected to outline plans for carefully shrinking the military — and in so doing make it clear that the Pentagon will not maintain the ability to fight two sustained ground wars at once... Pentagon officials, in the meantime, are in final deliberations about potential cuts to virtually every important area of military spending: the nuclear arsenal, warships, combat aircraft, salaries, and retirement and health benefits.
http://www.nytimes.com...

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood says it won’t recognize Israel
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The Muslim Brotherhood, which is leading in the national elections in Egypt, said it will not recognize Israel. The party's deputy head, Rashad Bayoumi, stold the Al-Hayat Arabic newspaper that the Muslim Brotherhood also would work to cancel the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. "No Muslim Brotherhood members will engage in any contact or normalization with Israel," he reportedly said in the interview with the London-based paper published Sunday. “The Brotherhood respects international conventions, but we will take legal action against the peace treaty with the Zionist entity,” Al Hayat reported, according to Reuters. Last week, the Salafi Al-Nour party, which won up to 30 percent of the vote in the first two rounds of parliamentary elections in Egypt, reportedly said in a statement that the party will "stand firmly against normalization between the two countries in all forms, and are against ties with any entity that wants to harm the Egyptian identity."
http://www.jta.org...

Iran missile test seen as warning to west
Iran launched a long-range missile during a naval exercise in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, the latest show of defiance by Tehran as the west weighs tighter sanctions over its nuclear programme. Iranian state television showed footage of Ghader, a ground-to-sea missile, which was test-fired on Monday and hit the supposed targets. The missile (is) said to have a range of 200km... Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, head of Iran’s navy, told the state television on Monday the exercise showed the country’s “defensive and pre-emptive prowess … despite 33 years of sanctions”. “Security of the Strait of Hormuz is completely under our [Iran] authority. The control of the Strait of Hormuz is completely under our authority [too],” Mr Sayyari said and added Iran’s armed forces and the elite revolutionary guards would not let “any enemy [the US and its European allies as well as Israel] to put our interests in danger”.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7e1c60a8-3558-11e1-84b9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1iL7mRDCx

Iran test fires battleship-sinking missile
Iran's military posturing in the Persian Gulf escalated on Monday after it test-fired a cruise missile it claimed could sink a battleship with a single strike. Ten days of naval exercises along one of the world's most sensitive waterways ended with a flourish following the launch of Iran's latest surface-to-surface missile, known as the Qader, which is believed to have a range of about 125 miles. Two more missiles of shorter range were fired later in the day, bringing the number launched in the past 48 hours to at least four. Iran test-fired a medium-range surface-to-air missile on Sunday. Western powers were swift to condemn the latest tests, with France describing them as a "very bad signal to the international community." The war games have been accompanied by increasingly bellicose rhetoric from Iranian leaders. The country's vice-president last week threatened to impose a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrowest point of the Gulf, if the United States and the European Union persisted with a plan to impose tougher sanctions on Iran. With nearly a third of the world's tanker-borne oil supplies passing through the Strait, such a move could cripple the world economy and even the threat of a blockade caused energy prices to soar... European Union foreign ministers are expected to meet at the end of the month to discuss an embargo on Iranian oil imports.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk...

Persian Gulf tensions mount as U.S. engages Israel on Iran
WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The Obama administration is engaged in a full-court press to persuade Israel that Iran’s nuclear threat can be contained short of war. The U.S. lobbying has received a mixed reception from Israel, where the Netanyahu government has not ruled out a unilateral strike on Iran. Iran, meanwhile, is taking an aggressive stance in response to mounting sanctions. Last week the Iranian naval chief, Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if Western sanctions intensified. The threat to close the strait -- the passageway for oil from the Persian Gulf states -- could presage a war, experts said. “We may be further along the road to war than most people believe,” said Michael Adler, an Iran scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars... Edwin Black, a historian who has written extensively on the Gulf and oil supplies, said the effects of any action in the vicinity of the strait would be far reaching. “Any conflict in the Persian Gulf would not be limited to the waterways,” Black said. “All they have to do is lob a few medium-range missiles at Abqaiq,” a processing plant in Saudi Arabia “or at Ras Tanura,” a terminal on the coast, “or on the strait,” where shipping lanes are just two miles wide, “and they can take out 70 percent of Saudi exports.”
http://www.jta.org...

1st January 2012

Eurozone debt crisis - Leaders warn of dangers facing economy in 2012
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she expects turbulence in 2012 as she does "everything" to save the euro and end Europe´s sovereign debt crisis. "The path to overcoming this won´t be without setbacks but at the end of this path Europe will emerge stronger from the crisis than before," Merkel said in a New Year´s television speech yesterday. She also said 2012 "will no doubt be more difficult than 2011". Merkel will meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Berlin on January 9 to discuss revisions to Europe´s fiscal rule book following decisions made at the December summit. A final accord by euro leaders on the German-French proposals agreed at the summit is due in March. Merkel defended the euro, saying it had made "everyday life easier and our economy stronger"."Today, you can trust that I will do everything to strengthen the euro," Merkel said. "This will only succeed if Europe learns from the mistakes of the past. One of these is that a common currency can only be successful if we co-operate more than in the past in Europe." French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that... "emerging from the crisis, building a new model for growth, giving birth to a new Europe – these are some of the challenges that await us."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk...

Iran’s navy says it has tested surface-to-air missile during drill near strategic waterway
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s navy said Sunday it test-fired an advanced surface-to-air missile during a drill in international waters near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for one-sixth of the world’s oil supply. Iran’s state TV said the missile, named Mehrab, or Altar, is designed to evade radar and was developed by Iranian scientists. The report said the missile was tested Sunday but provided no further details. A leading Iranian lawmaker said the sea maneuvers serve as practice for closing the Strait of Hormuz if the West blocks Iran’s oil sales.
http://www.washingtonpost.com...

Iran claims breakthrough in nuclear program
Just hours after the US imposed new sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear program, Tehran announces that it has tested its first domestically produced nuclear fuel rod. Iran says that it has successfully tested its first domestically produced nuclear fuel rod. The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization confirmed earlier media reports in a statement posted on its website. "After going through physical checks, it was inserted into the core of the Tehran research reactor in order to study how well it works," the statement said. Last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi had announced plans to begin using domestically produced fuel rods in February... The news about the fuel rod came just a day after reports that Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, hoped to re-open EU-led talks aimed at allaying Western fears over Tehran's nuclear program.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15639707,00.html

Strong quake hits off Japan coast
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 has struck under the sea several hundred miles south of Japan, shaking buildings in the capital, but officials said there was no danger of a tsunami.
http://news.uk.msn.com/world/strong-quake-hits-off-japan-coast

Iran dismisses US sanctions on its Central Bank
Iran on Sunday dismissed Washington's move to impose new sanctions on financial institutions dealing with the Islamic state's central bank over the country's disputed nuclear program, the Iranian Students News Agency reported. US President Barack Obama signed the bill, approved by Congress last week, which aims to reduce Tehran's oil revenues but gives the US president powers to waive penalties as required. The head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Mohammad Nahavandian, rejected the move as "unjustifiable", saying such sanctions would have reciprocal consequences. "The Iranian nation and those involved in trade and economic activities will find other alternatives," said Nahavandian... "The sanctions have raised the cost of trade and economic transactions but it has not managed to change Iran's political behavior," Nahavandian said.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=251733

US targets Iran's central bank
HONOLULU — President Barack Obama signed into law on Saturday sanctions against Iran's central bank, marking the sharpest economic confrontation between Washington and Tehran yet and potentially stoking tensions in the Persian Gulf. The measure, which Congress passed as part of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, penalizes foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank, Bank Markazi... Some U.S. officials believe that Tehran will view the bill signing itself as an act of war. The move could push Iran to take drastic measures, including an attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important channel for shipping crude oil... The mammoth defense bill includes, among many other controversial measures, the toughest sanctions yet to pressure Iran over its alleged development of a nuclear weapon. The bill specifically targets anyone doing business with Iran's central bank, an attempt to force other countries to choose between buying oil from Iran or being blocked from any dealings with the U.S. economy... Iran's vice president said this week that "not a drop of oil" will pass through the Strait if tougher sanctions are imposed. Pentagon officials said they wouldn't tolerate any disruption in the strait.
http://online.wsj.com...

31st December 2011

Palestinian Authority to turn to UN Security Council over Israeli settlement
The Palestinian Authority said on Saturday that it would ask the United Nations Security Council to discuss Israel's settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem - land the Palestinians want for a future state. "In light of the escalation in the settlement campaign, the Palestinian leadership has decided to ask the Security Council to discuss this critical development, which threatens to destroy the peace process and the two-state solution," it said in a statement... Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will not resume peace talks unless Israel halts all settlement activities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to resume peace negotiations without preconditions.
http://www.haaretz.com...

Iran says ready for nuclear talks as tensions mount
TEHRAN (AFP) — Top negotiator Saeed Jalili has said Iran is ready to rejoin EU-led talks with major powers on assuaging Western concerns over its nuclear programme even as tensions with the United States soar in the Gulf. "We will give a resounding and many-pronged response to any threat against the Islamic Republic of Iran," Jalili told Iranian diplomats gathered in Tehran in comments reported on Saturday... Iran is subject to four rounds of UN sanctions over its nuclear programme, which many Western governments fear is cover for a drive for a weapons capability, an ambition Tehran denies. The United States and its allies have also imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran's economy. The last lot of unilateral sanctions triggered a demonstration in Tehran that led to members of the Basij militia controlled by the Revolutionary Guards ransacking the British embassy. London reacted by closing the mission and ordering Iran's embassy in Britain closed. More sanctions are on the way. US President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law soon additional restrictions on Iran's central bank, which acts as the main conduit for Iranian oil sales. The European Union is considering other measures that could include an embargo on Iranian oil imports, with foreign ministers to meet on the issue in a month's time. Iran's oil minister, Rostam Qasemi, told the Aseman weekly that sanctions "will drive up the price of oil to at least $200" per barrel. Tehran has warned that if the threatened sanctions are implemented it will consider closing the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which more than a third of the world's tanker-borne oil supplies pass.
http://www.google.com...

Sanctions against Iran ineffective: Russian envoy
TEHRAN – The newly-appointed Russian ambassador to Tehran says efforts by certain Western countries to impose more sanctions against Iran, which can lead to international instability, have been futile. Levan Dzhagaryan made the remarks during an interview with ISNA which was published on Friday. Dzhagaryan said international instability is very dangerous and that is why Russia is opposed to sanctions against the Islamic Republic... certain countries are seeking to create a tense atmosphere in regard to Iran’s nuclear issue, he added... Elsewhere in his remarks, Dzhagaryan described ties between Tehran and Moscow as historical and close... Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin has said that the conflict erupting between Iran and certain Western countries poses the “greatest danger” in the upcoming year. According to the RT, Churkin commented on the Iranian-Western standoff and said, “This is a very dangerous scenario.”
http://www.tehrantimes.com/politics/94049-sanctions-against-iran-ineffective-russian-envoy

If Iran moves, the US has no plan for an oil interruption
It will come as a shock to most Americans, but no presidential candidate -- nor any candidate, nor any local, state or federal government -- has developed a contingency plan in the event of a protracted oil cut-off. It is not even being discussed. Government has prepared for hurricanes, anthrax, terrorism, and every other disaster, but not the one threatened daily -- a protracted oil stoppage, whether caused by terrorism or Iranian intervention in the Persian Gulf. It is like seeing a hurricane developing without a disaster plan or evacuation route... The crude realities: America uses approximately 19 to 20 million barrels of oil per day, almost 70 percent of which is imported. If we lose just 1 million barrels per day, or suffer the type of damage sustained from Hurricane Katrina, the government will open the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which offers a mere 6 to 8 week supply of unrefined crude oil. If we lose 1.5 million barrels per day, or approximately 7.5 percent, we will ask our allies in the 28-member International Energy Agency to open their SPRs and otherwise assist. If we lose 2 million barrels per day, or ten percent for a protracted period of time, government crisis monitors say the chaos will be so catastrophic they cannot even model it. One government oil crisis source told me hours ago, "We cannot put a price tag on it. If it happens, just cash in your 401k."... The best experts predict that if we suffer as much as a ten percent shortfall for any period of time, let alone twenty percent, it will be a neighbor-against-neighbor "Mad Max scenario" as food shortages swell and a storm of economic collapse surges across the country. Indeed, experts have been warning about this looming calamity for years. But the government and presidential candidates refuse to even consider the possibility or develop a contingency plan... The notion that Saudi Arabia can make up the shortfall from an Iranian disruption is impossible. Saudi oil disembarks from Ras Tanura and it, too, must pass through the narrow two-mile wide sea lanes of the Strait (of Hormuz). For America to have prepared intelligently for a Persian Gulf oil interruption would have required a decade of planning. To absorb the hit from a sudden oil stoppage as is now once again threatened, will be very painful indeed.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edwin-black/usa-has-no-plan-oil-interruption_b_1173702.html

30th December 2011

Islamist parties big winners in Egypt elections
CAIRO, Egypt – Islamist parties have solidified their lead in Egypt’s historic parliamentary elections, capturing about 70 percent of the seats up for grabs in the second phase of a three-part poll, according to results released Saturday by election officials and preliminary estimates by the parties. The Muslim Brotherhood said it won about 47 percent of 180 seats in the second round, about the same percentage it took in the first round. The Al Nour party, part of the more religiously conservative Salafi movement, told the Associated Press that it won 20 percent of the second-round vote, also matching its performance during the first phase in November. Secular parties are believed to have garnered less than 10 percent during the second round of voting, which took place Dec. 14-15.
http://www.newsrecord.org/index.php/article/2011/12/islamist_parties_big_winners_in_egypt_elections

Analysis: Egypt: A religious revival - As Islamists emerge from elections as the country’s leading political force – to the alarm of democracy campaigners and regional autocrats alike – western governments will have to adapt to a power shift they have long sought to prevent. Back in January, as popular protests against President Hosni Mubarak gathered pace, the Muslim Brotherhood was easy to spot, its young women in headscarves and youths taking charge of security checkpoints in Tahrir Square. But, as just one of the many groups organising daily life in the encampment that formed the nerve centre of the uprising, the 80-year-old Islamist movement was not especially prominent. Yet within nine months, the Brotherhood had reclaimed its status as Egypt’s most powerful political force following decades of suppression. In the country’s first free parliamentary elections, its newly created Freedom and Justice party won more than 35 per cent of the vote in the first round, and slightly more in December’s second round. Even more worrying for those hoping the Arab world’s largest nation would adopt a liberal, pro-western face, fellow Islamists from the puritanical Salafi movement emerged with more than 25 per cent, a score likely to be confirmed in the third and final round of voting in January. “This is the real Egyptian revolution,” says Jon Alterman of the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies and one of the international observers at the Egyptian elections. “In February, the military removed Hosni Mubarak. This is the revolution that reorients power in Egypt.” In both a domestic and a broader Arab context, the political events of the past few weeks in Egypt represent a political earthquake, one that Arab regimes and western powers alike had long sought to prevent. - By Roula Khalaf and Heba Saleh.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/363239ba-308b-11e1-9436-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1i6ilWmK1

Bahraini protesters torch US flag
Bahraini protesters have set fire to the US flag during an anti-regime demonstration in the city of Sitra.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218514.html

Cairo raids spark ire in Berlin
Germany and the US have expressed great concern over Egyptian raids on non-government organizations. Human rights groups are describing the raids as a campaign against them by the country's military rulers. Berlin has summoned Egypt's ambassador over raids carried out by Egyptian police on offices of pro-democracy and human rights groups in Cairo. Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a group with close ties to the ruling Christian Democrat Union party, was among the 17 international organizations whose offices were raided Thursday in the Egyptian capital. Germany's Foreign office reacted with "great concern"... Egyptian authorities have been blaming foreign-funded groups for political unrest in the country after Hosni Mubarak was ousted as president in a February uprising. The raided offices included those of the US-based International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Freedom House, a democratic watchdog group. In a statement, NDI President Kenneth Wollack said, "Cracking down on organizations whose sole purpose is to support the democratic process during Egypt's historic transition sends a disturbing signal." Both NDI and IRI have been monitoring Egyptian elections.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15635898,00.html

Iran announces long-range missile test amid Strait of Hormuz row with U.S.
Amid a verbal row with the United States over blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping route, Iran proclaimed on Friday that it will start testing long range missiles in the Persian Gulf. "On Saturday morning the Iranian navy will test several of its long-range missiles in the Persian Gulf," navy deputy commander Admiral Mahmoud Moussavi told Fars news agency. The testing of the missiles is part of ongoing navy maneuvers in the Persian Gulf and, according to Moussavi, the main and final phase is preparing the navy for confronting the enemy in a warlike situation. The maneuver has been overshadowed by a verbal row between Iran and the US over an Iranian threat to close the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, through which 40 per cent of the world's ship-borne crude is passed.
http://www.haaretz.com...

29th December 2011

Economist: Europe needs political unity to survive
(CNN) European politicians need to take a strong lead next year to ensure investors regain confidence in the region, according to Julian Callow, Barclays Capital head of European economics. The markets -- which have been on a roller coaster ride in 2011 -- want a decisive plan and political unity, Callow said. "Once you start to question [the political unity], you really undermine confidence in the euro," Callow told CNN. In the new year, the markets will be seeking clear statements about how the 17-country bloc will co-exist politically, he added. His comments come after Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron vetoed a European Union treaty, which included new strict budgetary rules for eurozone members.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/29/business/barclays-julian-callow/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

Iran official: U.S. cannot stop us from cutting off world oil supply
The United States is in no position to advise Iran against cutting global oil supply in case of sanctions against its petroleum industry, a top Iranian commander said on Thursday. The comment by deputy chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Hossein Salami came after the U.S. Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday it will not allow any disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway in the distribution of worldwide oil supply... Responding to the remark by U.S. forces on Thursday, Salami told Iranian state television Press TV that the “Islamic Republic of Iran asks for no other country's permission for the implementation of its defense strategies." According to the Press TV report, the senior Iranian military official indicated that the U.S. was not in a position to give Iran permission to close the strategic waterway, adding that U.S. pressure had failed to prevent Iranian action on other issues in the past.
http://www.haaretz.com...

Furthermore: 'Closing Strait of Hormuz easy for Iran' - Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari has reiterated that the country's naval forces can readily block the strategic Strait of Hormuz if need be, Press TV reports. “Closing the Strait of Hormuz is very easy for Iranian naval forces,” Sayyari told Press TV on Wednesday as the Iranian Navy continued with the ten-day “Velayat 90” naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz and Sea of Oman, which began on December 24. “Iran has comprehensive control over the strategic water way,” the Iranian commander added. Sayyari's comment came a day after Iran's Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned that not a drop of oil would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions are placed against Iran's oil exports.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218133.html

Comment: Dangerous mix: Iranian oil and U.S. sanctions - This is a significant escalation of tension between the United States and Iran, and the start of a more dangerous phase in the West's attempt to curtail Iran's nuclear program. The new sanctions are a response to last month's alarming report on Iran's nuclear intentions by the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Association. The Obama administration has ruled out military strikes to stop Iran's nuclear program in favor of tougher sanctions, which, once signed by the president, and if fully implemented, would sharply reduce Iran's oil revenue. The administration sees this added pressure on Iran's fragile economy as an effective alternative to military strikes. If Iran's reaction is any indication, the administration is correct in its estimation. Sanctioning Iran's oil industry will cripple Iran's economy, and that in turn will threaten the stability of the clerical regime. It is for this reason that Iran is treating the proposed new sanctions as an act of war, and is issuing threats of its own to dissuade the United States from going through with the new sanctions... In facing off against the U.S. and its European allies, Iran thinks it holds economic cards of its own and is announcing loud and clear that if push comes to shove, it intends to use them. Iran notes that Western economies are under stress and predicts they could not afford higher oil prices. Even the threat of disruption in oil supply would send energy prices spiraling sky high, and that would plunge the already struggling economies of the United States and Europe into deeper recession. Iran is hoping to change the conversation in Western capitals from how tightly to squeeze Iran to what could be the cost of doing so. - By Vali Nasr, Special to CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/29/opinion/nasr-iran-oil-hormuz/index.html

Weapons sales to Iraq move ahead despite U.S. worries
BAGHDAD — The Obama administration is moving ahead with the sale of nearly $11 billion worth of arms and training for the Iraqi military despite concerns that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is seeking to consolidate authority, create a one-party Shiite-dominated state and abandon the American-backed power-sharing government. The military aid, including advanced fighter jets and battle tanks, is meant to help the Iraqi government protect its borders and rebuild a military that before the 1991 Persian Gulf war was one of the largest in the world; it was disbanded in 2003 after the United States invasion. But the sales of the weapons — some of which have already been delivered — are moving ahead even though Mr. Maliki has failed to carry out an agreement that would have limited his ability to marginalize the Sunnis and turn the military into a sectarian force. While the United States is eager to beef up Iraq’s military, at least in part as a hedge against Iranian influence, there are also fears that the move could backfire if the Baghdad government ultimately aligns more closely with the Shiite theocracy in Tehran than with Washington.
http://www.nytimes.com...

28th December 2011

EU to pursue Iran sanctions despite threat of strait closure
The European Union says it is still planning to impose new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program despite Tehran's threats to close a strategic oil route in response. "The European Union is considering another set of sanctions against Iran and we continue to do that," the spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, Michael Mann, told the AFP news agency. He added that the decision would be taken in time for the next meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on January 30. In response to the threat of sanctions, Iran has for a second time warned that it might close the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Iran's navy chief, Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told state-run Press TV that it would be easy for the Iranian navy to close the strait. "Iran has comprehensive control over the strategic waterway," he said. On Tuesday, Vice President Mohamed Reza Rahimi also threatened to close the strait and cut off oil exports. He warned that "not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz" if the West introduces new sanctions.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15633714,00.html

Iran tests advanced missiles, torpedoes
A senior Iranian commander says Iran's Navy is planning to test fire its advanced missiles and intelligent torpedoes during the Velayat 90 naval drill. “Advanced short, medium and long-range missiles, and also intelligent torpedoes of the Iran's Navy will be test fired during the next days of the drill,” Admiral Rastegari said on Wednesday. Rastegari said until now Iran has used real vessels for testing torpedoes, but “the Navy has designed a system that has all the characteristics of a torpedo test target.” The Iranian commander said the system is smaller than a real vessel, but emits frequencies similar to those of a real target. Iran's Navy launched the massive 10-day “Velayat 90” naval exercise on December 24. The drill covers an area stretching from the east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218182.html

Strong earthquake damages dozens of buildings in Siberia
MOSCOW — An earthquake has damaged dozens of buildings in a city in southwestern Siberia, but no injuries or deaths have been reported. The epicenter of the 6.7 magnitude quake was about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Kyzyl, capital of the Russian republic of Tuva, which borders Mongolia. The municipal services in Kyzyl said Wednesday that 31 multistory apartment buildings, a school and a plant that provides hot water and heat suffered cracks and other damage. The plant was still operating. The Emergencies Ministry said 3,500 people were provided temporary shelter. After the quake struck Tuesday evening, mines in the coal-mining region of Kemerovo were evacuated as a precaution.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20111228/earthquake-damage-siberia-homes-111228/

UK - Tories say they want to leave EU
A majority of Conservative Party members want Britain to leave the European Union. A poll of 1,566 party members, carried out for The Independent by the ConservativeHome website, shows that David Cameron delighted the Tory grassroots by vetoing a new EU treaty at this month's summit in Brussels... Some 54 per cent of Tory members say their ideal vision of the relationship is for the UK to leave the EU and sign up to a free trade agreement. Although that view is shared by a minority of Tory MPs, the poll suggests the party's grassroots is more in tune with the policy of Ukip, which wants Britain to pull out of the EU... By a huge margin of 92 per cent to 5 per cent, Conservative members believe Mr Cameron was right to veto the treaty and 70 per cent regard it as his best moment since becoming Prime Minister.
http://www.independent.co.uk...

27th December 2011

Obama to seek $1.2 trillion increase in U.S. debt limit
The Obama administration will ask Congress to increase federal borrowing authority by $1.2 trillion as the nation approaches the debt limit set by law, according to a Treasury Department official. The White House will send the request to Congress on Dec. 30, the day the debt is projected to rise to within $100 billion of the $15.194 trillion limit, the Treasury official told reporters today on condition of anonymity. Congress will be notified under the terms of a deal to raise the limit worked out on Aug. 2 after months of wrangling between the administration and Republican lawmakers. Three days later, Standard & Poor’s cut the nation’s AAA rating for the first time, saying the country lacked a “credible” plan to reduce budget deficits. The Budget Control Act of 2011 gives Congress 15 days to pass a joint resolution disapproving the increase in the debt limit. The president can veto such a measure. The limit has already been raised twice since the act was approved, by a total of $900 billion. It would rise to $16.394 trillion after the latest increase.
http://www.bloomberg.com...

IRNA: Iran warns could stop oil flow if sanctions
TEHRAN (REUTERS) - Iran's first vice-president warned on Tuesday that the flow of crude will be stopped from the crucial Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if foreign sanctions are imposed on its oil exports, the country's official news agency reported. "If they (the West) impose sanctions on Iran's oil exports, then even one drop of oil cannot flow from the Strait of Hormuz," IRNA quoted Mohammad Reza Rahimi as saying. About a third of all sea-borne oil was shipped through the Strait in 2009, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), and US warships patrol the area to ensure safe passage... Iran has warned it will respond to any attack by hitting Israel and US interests in the Gulf, and analysts say one way to retaliate would be to close the Strait of Hormuz. Most of the crude exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq - together with nearly all the liquefied natural gas from lead exporter Qatar - must slip through a 4-mile (6.4 km) wide shipping channel between Oman and Iran.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=251134

Iraq blocs 'talking to Iran' over deadlock
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraqi political blocs have held talks with Iran over a standoff sparked by a warrant for the arrest of the country's Sunni Arab vice president that has stoked sectarian tensions, officials said on Tuesday. Charges that Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi ran a death squad have plunged Iraq into political crisis, and representatives of multiple parties have spoken to top officials in Tehran, according to senior political sources in Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdish region, where Hashemi is holed up. The United States, which completed a troop pullout a week ago, has long charged that Iran plays a nefarious role in Iraq by funding and supporting militias, and interfering in Iraqi politics, charges Tehran rejects. "Iraqi parties are contacting Iran to mediate over the Hashemi issue," an official close to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Iraq's political crisis (is) now in its second week. The US has urged dialogue, but Hashemi and Mutlak's Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc has boycotted parliament and the cabinet, and the party loyal to anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr backs the dissolution of parliament and early elections.
http://www.google.com...

Powerful anti-US cleric defies Iraqi government
A POWERFUL political group led by the anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has called for Iraq's parliament to be dissolved and early elections to be held. The call comes as the first open challenge to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki from within his Shiite coalition in an escalating political crisis. Leaders of Sheikh Sadr's faction said that scrapping the government was the only way to steer Iraq out of the crisis, which has put Mr Maliki, a Shiite, at odds with leaders representing the Sunni minority. The conflict has exploded since the US troop withdrawal about a week ago... "We have a lot of problems," said Baha al-Aaraji, a leading MP with the Sadr bloc. "The Americans, when they came to Iraq, they gave power to some blocs and some leaders - and they had power." He added: "We need new elections."
http://www.smh.com.au/world/powerful-cleric-defies-iraqi-government-20111227-1pbn0.html

26th December 2011

Muslim Brotherhood welcomes Hamas PM in Egypt
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh received a warm welcome Monday when he arrived at the Muslim Brotherhood Headquarters in Cairo. Haniyeh is on his first regional tour since 2007 that will take him to a number of Arab and Islamic countries. Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badei welcomed Haniyeh at a joint conference and said that his party was concerned with Palestinian issues. "Your highness Mr. Prime Minister, our brothers, Ismail Haniyeh and his accompanying delegations -- you are welcome to our country; you are welcome to our headquarters," Badei said. "The general center of Muslim Brotherhood is paying attention all the time to the Palestinian issue as it pays attention to the issues of liberation all over the world." Haniyeh responded with: "The Islamic resistance movement of Hamas, by definition is, a jihadist movement by the Muslim Brotherhood, Palestinian on the surface, Islamic at its core and its goal is liberation." An aide said Haniyeh's trip will also include stops in Tunisia, Bahrain and Turkey. On the eve of the tour, Hamas reiterated its opposition to renouncing violence and recognizing Israel’s right to exist.
http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=251021

Hormuz naval drill - message to West: Senior Iranian lawmaker
A senior Iranian lawmaker says the ongoing Velayat 90 naval drill aim to send a warning to the West that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed if Iran is threatened. “The [Iranian] Navy's military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman indicate the power and dominance of Iran's Navy in regional waters,” member of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Zohreh Elahian said Monday. The lawmaker stated that military drills also aim to increase Iran's deterrence power and prove its regional dominance. “The exercises send an important message to the whole world, especially the colonialist powers…and also show the power of [Iran's] armed forces, particularly [the country's] Navy,” she noted. Elahian added foreign media have admitted that Iran and its Navy are so powerful that if threatened, the country can take control of the Strait of Hormuz as the global economic and energy conduit.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/217822.html

Iran says it warns off foreign helicopter near naval maneuvers
(CNN) Iran's Navy ordered a helicopter from an unspecified foreign country to leave to leave the area of maneuvers it is conducting in the Persian Gulf, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported Monday. "The helicopter ignored the first two warnings but left the area after the third and severe warning," Fars quoted Rear Adm. Seyed Mahmoud Musavi, the deputy commander of operations for Iran's Navy, as saying. The incident occurred Sunday, according to Fars. Fars only described the helicopter as belonging to a foreign country outside the Middle East region. The drills are the largest ever planned by Iran and are being staged in an area that stretches from the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the the Gulf of Aden, Fars reported last week. The maneuvers began on Saturday.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/26/world/meast/iran-navy-helicopter/index.html?section=cnn_latest

US prepares for 'limited' relations with Pakistan
"With the US facing the reality that its broad security partnership with Pakistan is over, American officials are seeking to salvage a more limited counter-terrorism alliance that they acknowledge will complicate their ability to launch attacks against extremists and move supplies into Afghanistan," the 'New York Times' reported quoting American and Pakistani officials. Under this limited alliance, America will be forced to restrict drone strikes, limit the number of its spies and soldiers on the ground and dish out more to move supplies through Pakistan to allied troops in Afghanistan. US aid to Pakistan will also see sharp reductions, the officials said. "We've closed the chapter on the post-9/11 period," the NYT quoted a senior US official as saying. "Pakistan has told us very clearly that they are re-evaluating the entire relationship."
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5704878

PM Netanyahu: No negotiations if Hamas joins PA government
Israel will not negotiate with the Palestinian Authority if Hamas joins the PA government, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said unequivocally on Sunday. Netanyahu’s comments to Israel’s ambassadors and consuls- general gathered for an annual meeting at the Foreign Ministry came just days after Hamas and Fatah made strides toward reconciliation, with Fatah agreeing to incorporate Hamas into the PLO to prepare for new elections for the organization’s two key bodies – the Palestine National Council and Executive Committee. Netanyahu also told the diplomats that progress in the diplomatic process with the Palestinians will only be made if Israel were able to have firm security arrangements on the ground, something he acknowledged would be more difficult now since Israel’s security requirements have changed as a result of the dramatic shifts and uncertainties in the region. Referring to his demand that any future Palestinian state be demilitarized, the prime minister said he was not willing to tolerate a situation where a future state would – like Gaza and southern Lebanon – turn into a missile-launching base against Israel as soon as the IDF withdrew. Netanyahu repeated to the diplomats that he was willing to meet PA President Mahmoud Abbas without preconditions “any place and any time.”
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=250938

Furthermore: Pope calls for renewed Israeli-Palestinian dialogue - VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called for the resumption of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians and an end to violence in Syria on a Christmas Day marred by a bomb blast at a Catholic Church in Nigeria. The leader of the world's 1.3 billion Roman Catholics delivered his twice-yearly "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message and blessing to tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square... "May the Prince of Peace grant peace and stability to that Land where he chose to come into the world, and encourage the resumption of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians," he said in a firm, steady voice.
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=250861

25th December 2011

Iran says ready to expand military links with Iraq
(AFP) Iran stands ready to expand its military and security ties with Iraq, its armed forces chief of staff said Sunday, a week after the exit of US forces from the neighbouring Arab country. General Hassan Firouzabadi hailed the "forced departure" of the US and allied forces that he said "was due to the resistance and determination of the Iraqi people and government," the state Islamic Republic News Agency reported... The departure of the US troops "was due to the resistance and determination of the Iraqi people and government," he said. "I hope the humiliating failure of the United States after nine years of occupying Iraq will serve as a lesson for them to never think of attacking another country," he said. Firouzabadi added that Iran was now "ready to expand its military and security ties with Iraq." Zebari led a delegation of Iraqi military chiefs to Iran last month to explore greater cooperation between the two defence forces. US analysts have expressed concern that Iran could exploit the vacuum left by the US withdrawal to bolster links with Iraq's Shiite-led government.
http://www.breitbart.com...

IMF's Lagarde warns global economy threatened... urges Europeans to speak with one voice
PARIS (Reuters) - The head of the International Monetary Fund said the world economy was in danger and urged Europeans to speak with one voice on a debt crisis that has rattled the global financial system. In Nigeria last week, IMF Christine Lagarde said the IMF's 4 percent growth forecast for the world economy in 2012 could be revised downward, but gave no new figure. "The world economy is in a dangerous situation," she told France's Journal du Dimanche in an interview published on Sunday. The debt crisis, which continues into 2012 after a European Union summit on December 9 only temporarily calmed markets, "is a crisis of confidence in public debt and in the solidity of the financial system," she said. European leaders drafted a new treaty for deeper economic integration in the euro zone, but it is not certain that the accord will stem the debt crisis, which began in Greece in 2009, and now threatens France and even economic powerhouse Germany. "The December 9 summit wasn't detailed enough on financial terms and too complicated on fundamental principles," said Lagarde. "It would be useful for Europeans to speak with a single voice and announce a simple and detailed timetable," she said. "Investors are waiting for it. Grand principles don't impress."Grand principles don't impress."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/25/us-france-imf-idUSTRE7BO07120111225

Saudi cleric: Saudis will continue protest rallies
A Saudi Arabian cleric says that protesters will continue their demonstrations in the country until the government fulfills their demands. Cleric Nemr al-Nemr told demonstrators not to be afraid of the regime's military and fight for their dignity. "Our dignity is worth more than our blood and we do not afraid of death. They may have thousands of tanks, troops, helicopters... it is not important. We should fight for our dignity," he said on Saturday. The city of Qatif in the Eastern Province has been the scene of anti-government protests over the past months... In March, the Saudi Interior Ministry called all public gatherings "illegal," authorizing regime forces “to take all measures needed” against the people who defied the ban.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/217608.html

Senior Hamas official: We'll join PLO to keep it true to its mission
Hamas is joining the PLO not as a result of a change in its ideology but because it wants the PLO to stick to its original platform – liberating Palestine and achieving the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees, Hamas leaders explained over the weekend. The Hamas leaders’ clarifications came in response to claims that Hamas’s decision to join the PLO was a sign the Islamist movement was moving toward moderation and would abandon its radical ideology... Hamas and Islamic Jihad are demanding the PLO reconsider its political strategy by scrapping the Oslo Accords and its recognition of the two-state solution. Hamas’s “foreign minister” Osama Hamdan, said the decision to join the temporary PLO leadership did not mean Hamas would become part of the peace process with Israel. “Anyone who thinks Hamas has changed its positions and now accepts the PLO’s defeatist political program is living in an illusion,” Hamdan stressed. “Hamas cannot make the mistake of joining a process that has proved to be a failed one over the past 20 years.” He was quoted by the Quds Press news agency as saying Hamas’s decision to be part of a provisional PLO leadership was aimed at “reconstructing the organization and reconsidering its political program.” Hamdan emphasized that Hamas remains committed to fulfilling the aspirations of Palestinians, “first and foremost the liberation of our lands from the sea to the river and achieving the right of return.”
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=250800

U.S. keeps Iraq at arm's length with troops out
WASHINGTON -- As Iraq erupted in recent days, Vice President Joe Biden was in constant phone contact with the leaders of the country's dueling sects. He called the Shiite prime minister and the Sunni speaker of the Parliament on Tuesday, and the Kurdish leader on Thursday, urging them to try to resolve the deepening political crisis. And for the United States, that is where the U.S. intervention in Iraq officially stops. Sectarian violence and political turmoil in Iraq escalated within days of the U.S. military's withdrawal, but U.S. officials said in interviews that President Barack Obama had no intention of sending troops back into the country, even if it devolved into civil war. The U.S., without troops on the ground or any direct influence over Iraq's affairs, has lost much of its leverage there. And so the latest crisis, a rapid descent into sectarian distrust and hostility that was punctuated by a bombing in Baghdad on Thursday that killed more than 60 people, is being treated in much the same way that the United States would treat any other diplomatic emergency abroad. Mr. Obama, his aides said, is adamant that the U.S. will not send troops back to Iraq.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11359/1199274-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml

24th December 2011

President Wulff: Germany will help Europe overcome crisis
Germany will help the rest of Europe stem the debt crisis because taking an anti-European stance is “wrong,” said President Christian Wulff, a party ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel. “We Germans experienced European solidarity again and again and we will offer solidarity to Europe in the future as well,” Wulff said, according to an advance copy of a Christmas Day speech released by his office in Berlin today. Germany will find “a spirit of unity” with its European and global partners that points the way out of the crisis. Wulff, a former deputy head of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party whose current post is mainly ceremonial, said Europe is “our common home,” whose values must be defended jointly. “Whoever says otherwise may earn applause for a short time, but they would be wrong,” he said in the speech for broadcast on national television tomorrow.
http://www.bloomberg.com...

Syria: US, Israel to blame for attacks
Syria has accused the United States and Israel of involvement in the two deadly attacks on Friday which claimed the lives of 55 innocent people and injured more than 100 others. Syria's ruling Baath Party said on Saturday that the attack was a plot to destroy the Syrian establishment. The party added that the plot was also aimed at undermining the national unity of Syrians, and their confidence in the leadership of the country. Thousands of Syrians had on Saturday held a funeral ceremony for the victims of the terror attacks. While mourning the dead, they also condemned the attacks and chanted slogans in favor of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/217508.html

Iran navy starts 10-day wargame in Strait of Hormuz
TEHRAN - Iran began 10 days of naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, raising concern about a possible closure of the world's most strategic oil transit channel in the event of any outbreak of military conflict between Tehran and the West. The military drill, dubbed "Velayat-e 90", comes as the tension between the West and Iran is escalating over the Islamic state's nuclear program. Some analysts and diplomats believe the Islamic Republic could try to block the strait in the event of any war with the West over suspicions it is seeking atom bombs. Iran's arch-foes Israel and the United States have not ruled out military action if diplomacy and sanctions fail to rein in Iran's nuclear work. Iran says it wants nuclear energy only for peaceful ends. "The enforcement of the decision to close of the Strait of Hormuz is certainly within Iran's armed forces' capability, but such a decision should be made by the country's top authorities," Iranian Navy commander Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by the semi-official ILNA labour news agency. Iran has said in the past that it would respond to any attack by targeting US interests in the region and Israel, as well as closing the strait, the only access channel for eight US-aligned, Gulf Arab states to foreign markets.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=250729

Egypt's Islamists take 65% of second-round votes
AFP - Egypt's main Islamist parties won 65 percent of votes for party lists in the second round of a historic election for a new parliament after Hosni Mubarak's ouster, the electoral committee said Saturday. The Freedom and Justice Party won 36.5 percent of the vote for party lists, with 4,058,498 out of 11,173,818 votes, according to figures provided by the electoral committee for the second round which was held on December 14. Al-Nur won 28.78 percent, with 3,216,430 votes. In Egypt's complex electoral system, voters cast ballots for party list candidates who will make up two thirds of parliament, and direct votes for individual candidates for the remaining third. The elections were scheduled over three rounds, with run-offs for individual candidates after each round. At a news conference on Saturday, electoral chief Abdel Moez Ibrahim announced the winners for the individual vote, but not their affiliations. The official Al-Ahram newspaper reported that the FJP won 40 seats and Al-Nur 13. The Islamists' liberal rivals fared badly again in the second round, with Al-Wafd -- the country's oldest party -- winning 9.6 percent of the party list vote and the Egyptian Bloc, the main liberal coalition, just seven percent. After winning almost 65 percent of seats in the first round of the vote, Islamists are poised to dominate the next lower house which will convene on January 23. The third round of the election will start on January 3, followed by another three-round poll for the senate.
http://www.france24.com...

Iraq's radical Shiite cleric proposes 'peace code'
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's anti-American Shiite cleric launched Saturday an initiative calling for peaceful coexistence among all Iraqis after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country. Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militiamen were blamed for sectarian killings during the worst years of Iraq's violence, is seeking to assert his political weight in post-U.S. troops Iraq. The initiative comes as a government crisis has strained ties between two main Muslim sects, Sunnis and Shiites to the breaking point. The Shiite Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki is engaged in a showdown with the top Sunni political leader in the country... Al-Sadr's associates handed out to the media a 14-point "peace code" proposal written by the radical cleric. It warns against spilling Iraqi blood and urges respect for all religions, sects and ethnic groups. Al-Sadr's aide Salah al-Obeidi described the code as an attempt "to preserve the unity of the country and save it from fighting."... Former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who also attended the Sadrist conference in Baghdad on Saturday, hailed the initiative, saying "came at the right time" for Iraq.
http://abcnews.go.com...

Oil price near $100 on global security concerns
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices rose above $100 a barrel Friday as worries over global security issues outweighed weak economic data in the U.S.... Tensions between Iran and western nations, along with unrest in Syria, Bahrain, Kazakhstan and Iraq have raised worries that oil supplies could be disrupted if the unrest spreads or grows more serious. While none of those situations has disrupted oil supplies yet, traders say it is too dangerous to sell oil or bet that oil prices will fall with tensions so high near so many important oil-producing regions. Even small disruptions in oil supplies can send prices dramatically higher. Among the biggest concerns is Iran, the world's fourth biggest producer of crude. The U.S. and Europe may tighten sanctions against Iran over the West's fear that Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb. Also, Iraq is expected to become the fastest growing producer in the Middle East in the next several years as it recovers from war and tries to tap its enormous reserves of oil. But a surge in violence there since the U.S. withdrew troops is raising concerns that Iraq won't be able to increase production as fast as hoped. "Iran might not passively wait for sanctions to be applied and could act unilaterally to embargo supplies," J.P Morgan said in a report. "We are also concerned about Iraq, where political uncertainties seem to be rising following the U.S. troop pullout."
http://hosted.ap.org...

23rd December 2011

CITY ON ALERT: 'One hell of a day' as quakes rock Christchurch
EARTHQUAKES continued unrelentingly in Christchurch today (Saturday), including one measuring 5.l at 6.37am (4.37am AEDT), as residents of the city prepared for a Christmas overshadowed by an ongoing natural disaster. Quakes measuring 5.8 and 6.0 yesterday left dozens of people with minor injuries, while damage echoed previous quakes that had rattled the city since September last year. This morning's quake was located 10km east of Akaroa at a depth of 9km, GNS Science said. There were also two magnitude 4.2 quakes and two magnitude 4.3 quakes overnight and many other smaller shakes. There are still about 400 residents without power on the eastern side of the city and aftershocks have cut water supply to the suburbs of Sumner, Redcliffs, Moncks Bay, Balmoral Hill, Richmond Hill, Clifton and Scarborough, parts of St Andrews Hill and Mt Pleasant... Yesterday Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker told TVNZ the quake would add to people's stress. "It's going to be one hell of a day," he said. "It sets people back. My heart just breaks. So many people have been through so much."
http://www.news.com.au...

Hamas will focus on popular protests in struggle with Israel, group chief says
Khaled Meshal (Head of the Hamas Political Bureau) was in Cairo for reconciliation talks with Hamas' rival, President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. The sides agreed that Hamas would join the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Abbas, and allow elections to go ahead in Gaza and the West Bank in 2012. Popular protests have "the power of a tsunami," Meshal told the Asscoiated Press, pointing to the recent waves of demonstrations across the Arab world. "Now we have a common ground that we can work on…the popular resistance, which presents the power of people," he said... During the AP interview in Cairo after his meeting with Abbas, Meshal said Hamas would not renounce its own armed fight against Israel. The group has killed hundreds of Israelis, most of them civilians, in suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks since the Islamist group was formed in 1987. "As long as there is an occupation on our land, we have the right to defend our land by all means, including military resistance," he said. Israel holds Hamas responsible for Gaza militants firing hundreds of rockets at Israel in recent months, as Hamas rules Gaza... Hamas considers all of Israel to be occupied land.
http://www.haaretz.com...

After Baghdad, Sunni terrorist hit the security core of Assad regime
The Sunni Muslim war on the Shiite-Allawite ruler of Syria and the Shiite-led regime of Iraq has gained deadly momentum in the last 48 hours, DEBKAfile's military sources report. Friday, two suicide bombers blew up cars loaded with explosives at the compound of the Syrian Security Directorate and military intelligence building in central Damascus, killing at least 40 military personnel and civilians, and injuring dozens more. It was the first such attack to take place in the Syrian capital in the 10-month uprising against Bashar Assad and struck at the heart of his regime. In Baghdad, Thursday, more than 70 people died and at least 200 were badly hurt by a series of roadside bombs, an exploding ambulance and sticky bombs. Most were directed against Shiite targets. Since Assad and the Iraqi Prime Minister Nour al-Maliki share the same backer, Tehran, the spate of terror which erupted this week was not just a trigger for civil war in both their countries but signaled a new and violent round in the Sunni-Shiite struggle for control of the Middle East.
http://www.debka.com/article/21596/

The prospects for Iraq
Director of Strategic Intelligence Reva Bhalla examines the prospects for Iraq now that U.S. troops have left and the hope of a new dawn looks increasingly improbable as sectarian divisions intensify and the Shia seek to consolidate their grip on the country... what we’re seeing here is a period of Shiite consolidation... we’re going to see a lot of political jockeying as the Shia attempt to consolidate their influence in Iraq. That’s a perfectly natural outcome. But we’re also seeing some strong authoritarian politics in play as politicians, like Nouri al-Maliki, is trying to emerge as the strongman of Iraq. And remember that Iraq really is an artificial political entity in many ways. It’s severely divided among ethno-sectarian lines and it takes a strongman — before it was Saddam Hussein — and now we have a sectarian turnover with the Shia in charge and Maliki trying to fulfill that role... the U.S. has left this security vacuum in place and the Iranians are intent on filling that vacuum and asserting their influence... Iran has a very strong hand in Iraq. They’ve been building up their political, intelligence, security, economic and religious assets in this country well before at the fall of Saddam Hussein. So they’ve been waiting for this historic opportunity for centuries — waiting to consolidate Shia power in the heart of Mesopotamia. So they’re not going to pass this up. That means Iran is going to be very heavily involved in Iraq... this is really Iran’s moment and what we really need to watch is whether Iran is going to be able to use Iraq, not only as security for its western flank, but whether Iran is going to be able to use Iraq as a launch pad to project its influence in the wider region... This is Iran’s moment to seize the day. I still think they’re facing a number of constraints, but in Iraq they do have the strongest hand.
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20111222-agenda-prospects-iraq 

UN: Philippine flood destruction like tsunami
ILIGAN, Philippines (AP) — A southern Philippine area devastated by flash floods that killed more than 1,000 people looks like it was hit by a tsunami, a U.N. official said Thursday as he appealed for $28 million in aid for the region. U.N. humanitarian coordinator Soe Nyunt-U voiced concern about possible outbreaks of disease among the thousands living in evacuation centers after their houses were washed away last Friday when a tropical storm unleashed the flash floods. "It was as if the cities were hit by an inland tsunami," Nyunt-U told reporters in Manila. "Entire areas were completely flattened." Aid workers were rushing in relief supplies, but a lack of running water was a major concern. "We must improve this situation at the soonest possible time to avoid disease outbreaks that will further compound the hardships of the people already weakened by hunger and grief from loss of family and friends," Nyunt-U said. He mentioned a cholera type virus that may occur due to problems stemming from congestion in the evacuation centers, where poor sanitation and hygiene posed a health risk... In all, 640,000 people have been affected by the disaster, the government and the U.N. said. "Debris from houses, buildings and other structures that had been destroyed by the storm was all swept out to the sea, leaving huge areas devoid of all traces of habitation," Nyunt-U said.
http://www.google.com...

22nd December 2011

Palestinian Authority gives Mideast peacemakers an ultimatum
REPORTING FROM BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK -– The Palestinian Authority on Thursday gave the so-called quartet of Middle East peace negotiators an ultimatum: It will resume its campaign for statehood recognition if there is no movement in the peace process in the next month. "If nothing happens by Jan. 26, we are going back to our international campaign for recognition," said Nabil Shaath, a senior official in the administration of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The quartet -– the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations -– had given the Palestinians and Israel until Jan. 26 to submit proposals for borders and security. The Palestinian Authority has submitted its proposal, but Israel has said it will submit its proposal only at the negotiating table. The Palestinians insist that there will be no negotiations before Israel stops all settlement activities, a move that does not appear imminent. With the peace talks deadlocked for more than a year, the Palestinians went to the United Nations in the fall asking for full membership. They currently have observer status in the international body... Shaath complained that the Palestinian issue is not a U.S. priority, and warned, "We might as well go back to international activism and national unity."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com...

Iran’s Navy to hold war games near key sea lanes
Iran put neighbors on notice Thursday that it was about to conduct vast naval exercises in the Arabian Sea, including war games near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for international oil traffic. The naval exercises, scheduled to start on Saturday and last 10 days, are Iran’s first since May 2010 and were described by the country's official media as the largest it had ever planned. They appeared intended to demonstrate Iran's military capabilities as it faces increased isolation over its suspect nuclear energy program. The exercises are bound to put Iranian warships in proximity with vessels of the United States Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, which patrols some of the same waters, including the Strait of Hormuz. About one-third of the world’s oil tanker shipments pass through the strait, which the United States Energy Information Administration has called “the world’s most important oil chokepoint.” ...Last month the United Nations nuclear monitoring agency issued a report raising the possibility that Iran has been working on a nuclear weapon and missile delivery system. The United States, European Union and Israel have said that a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable, and Israel in particular has hinted at a pre-emptive military strike at suspected nuclear targets in Iran... In addition, the European Union has said it is considering an embargo on Iran’s principal export, oil. Officials in Iran, which has the world's fourth-largest oil reserves, have dismissed the threat. But they have warned of unspecified retaliation if an embargo were imposed.
http://www.nytimes.com...

Slamming of Europe stirs tempest in Israel
Barak and Lieberman trade jabs over efficacy of Foreign Ministry statement slamming European countries for their condemnation of Israel... The Foreign Ministry issued a sharply worded response on Wednesday to a statement put out by Britain, France, German and Portugal – the EU’s four members on the UN Security Council... But Barak, in a relatively rare instance of a senior minister criticizing the actions of another ministry, said that while the European positions were mistaken, no Israeli statement was going to make those countries irrelevant. “We don’t accept their position on these matters, [but] they are very relevant,” he said of the European countries.Barak said he met recently with the national security advisers of both Britain and France, and that on an issue very relevant to Israel – sanctions against Iran – they were extremely supportive. Barak said that the Foreign Ministry was correct in issuing a response to the Europeans, but that it should have been milder. “We still need them for many things,” he said, adding that Israel turns to Germany on strategic issues, and to France and Britain to keep Israel from being brought before the International Criminal Court. “I don’t think we have an interest in turning them into bitter and insulted foes,” he said, adding that Germany, France and Britain were not “Tanzania, Mauritania and Tripolitania. These are very important countries in the world, and we have no interest in increasing the tension.”
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=250609

Ex-PM Olmert: Europe is not our enemy
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert slammed Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Thursday over the FM's recent criticism of leading European states, wondering whether Israel has decided to "declare war on the world." "Is (German Chancellor) Merkel our enemy? Has the State of Israel decided to declare war on the entire world?" the former PM said. "Who are our rivals – England, France, Germany?...We are talking about states that are our prime target for business and commerce, so what exactly is our interest in declaring war on the civilized Western world we wish to join?", the former PM said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4165733,00.html

Bomb blasts rock Baghdad as political crisis deepens
Mainly Shiite districts of the Iraqi capital were wracked by 12 explosions during Thursday's morning rush hour, including Karrada in central Baghdad. Police say a suicide bomber detonated explosives while driving an ambulance near a kindergarten and government offices. An Iraqi health ministry spokesman put the toll at 60 killed and said 183 people had been wounded by the blasts, which occurred almost simultaneously... The attacks, the deadliest in two weeks, follow an attempt by Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to sideline two Sunni leaders... The political turmoil is the worst since Iraq's fragile powersharing government was formed a year ago. Iraq's Sunni minority, to which the late dictator Saddam Hussein belonged, has faced a rise of Iraq's Shiite majority since the 2003 US-led invasion. The upsurge in violence comes just days after US troops completed their withdrawal, nearly nine years after their invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, and leaving behind what US President Barack Obama had described as a "sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq."
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15620196,00.html

Comment: Iraq was ill-prepared for self-governance - Last Sunday, the world met the withdrawal of the last US troops from Iraq with cautious optimism. On the surface, the country seemed to be on a reasonably good path to sovereignty nine years after American troops first invaded and deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. But the intervening week has created a very different impression: over 60 people were killed in the most severe attacks in months, while an escalating crisis in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has brought the country back to the edge of civil war... The terror strikes paired with the crisis in the highest reaches of government make it clear that Iraq's security is just as fragile as the political division of power at the heart of the country. Iraq is on the brink of a war along religious lines with no occupying forces to help stabilize the situation...
America's mistakes - The US is now witnessing the consequences of not providing enough support for constitutional institutions, an independent media and reconciliation efforts among civil society during its occupation. Instead, the superpower took a short-sighted approach, claiming that Iraq would soon be in the position to organize its own security. That evaluation now seems far from the truth. Against the recommendations of military leaders, Washington declined to station a small number of remaining troops in the country, citing a lack of funds. The US government seems plagued by a failure to understand the deeply rooted cultural conflicts in a country that for years was only held together by the brutal omnipotence of a dictator. Nine years after Saddam Hussein was deposed, Shiite and Sunni factions are now battling for power in their divided nation. The appearance of national reconciliation during the US occupation was an illusion, and one media outlet loyal to the government has led a campaign against Iraq's Sunni minority. Agitation against Sunnis has spread, and terror is rearing its head once more. As America leaves, chaos emerges - a long-feared scenario that seems to be taking shape faster than even the pessimists could have predicted.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6686512,00.html

In Islamic law, Gingrich sees a mortal threat to U.S.
WASHINGTON — Long before he announced his presidential run this year, Newt Gingrich had become the most prominent American politician to embrace an alarming premise: that Shariah, or Islamic law, poses a threat to the United States as grave as or graver than terrorism.“I believe Shariah is a mortal threat to the survival of freedom in the United States and in the world as we know it,” Mr. Gingrich said in a speech to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington in July 2010 devoted to what he suggested were the hidden dangers of Islamic radicalism. “I think it’s that straightforward and that real... Stealth jihadis use political, cultural, societal, religious, intellectual tools; violent jihadis use violence,” Mr. Gingrich said in the speech. “But in fact they’re both engaged in jihad, and they’re both seeking to impose the same end state, which is to replace Western civilization with a radical imposition of Shariah.”
http://www.nytimes.com...

U.S. Military in the Jihadi bull's-eye
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King held the fourth of his series of Capitol Hill hearings on Islamic radicalization in early December 2011... King’s Homeland Security Committee report, “Homegrown Terrorism: The Threat to Military Communities Inside The United States,” documents the startling surge in Islamic plots and strikes against military targets since 2009, which included the June 2009 attack at an Army recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas and the November 2009 attack by Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan at Ft. Hood, Texas. More than 30 other threats and plots against U.S. military communities since 9/11 have put service members in the Islamic jihadist bull’s-eye, not just at dangerous posts overseas, but “inside the wire,” at home. Those communities are exceptionally vulnerable because of the Department of Defense’s refusal to define or defend against the enemy threat doctrine of shariah Islam—a doctrine that makes jihad obligatory for all Muslims. As King’s hearings and the Committee report both point out, Islamic jihadis of unknown numbers are penetrating our defenses by enlisting in the U.S. Armed Forces... jihadist infiltration of U.S. military ranks betrays a trust in an especially insidious way, both by penetrating the defensive bulwark that used to hold civilians safe from the barbarians outside the gate and also by destroying the code of camaraderie that binds the troops together. Now the enemy is “inside the wire” and threatening the homeland from within.
http://www.radicalislam.org...

21st December 2011

Egypt sees Clinton remarks as "interference"
CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian foreign minister said on Wednesday that Egypt would not accept any interference in its internal affairs, in response to harsh comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the way security forces dealt with women protesters. In a speech on Monday, Clinton criticized the actions of Egyptian security forces as showing the "systematic degradation" of women that "disgraces the state," some of the strongest U.S. language used against Egypt's new rulers. Footage showed Egyptian soldiers beating protesters with batons, often after they had fallen to the ground, in what activists described as a forcible attempt to clear a sit-in demanding a swifter transfer to civilian rule. The clashes since Friday have left at least 13 dead and hundreds wounded. "Egypt does not accept any interference in its internal affairs and conducts communications and clarifications concerning statements made by foreign officials," the state news agency quoted Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr as saying. "Matters like that are not taken lightly," he was quoted as saying, in his response to a question about Clinton's remarks.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/21/us-egypt-clinton-idUSTRE7BK0ZH20111221

World economy at a 'very dangerous juncture': IMF chief
IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned Tuesday that the world economy is at a "very dangerous juncture," speaking of the potential impact on poorer nations during her first visit to Africa as head of the fund. The International Monetary Fund managing director spoke of a crisis of confidence with high unemployment and slowing global growth. "Currently the world economy stands at a very dangerous juncture," Lagarde told a roundtable on Africa's economic future in the Nigerian city of Lagos. She said the IMF's revised global growth forecast expected in January looked to be lower than the previous one in September, which was four percent, already down from June's outlook. "And what's more, there are downside risks on the horizon that are really threatening the recovery process that had started" after the 2008-09 global financial crisis, she said. The IMF has said Europe's worsening economy and financial market turmoil meant it will revise downwards its predictions for global growth contained in its World Economic Outlook report published three months ago. Early this month, the UN cut its 2012 world growth forecast to 2.6 percent from 3.6 percent, warning that the global economy is "teetering on the brink of a major downturn".
http://www.breitbart.com...

Iraqi divisions come to the fore
The colors of the now-disestablished U.S. Forces-Iraq arrived back in the United States on Tuesday, where they were received by U.S. President Barack Obama. Between the day those colors were cased in Baghdad (last Thursday) and the day the last contingent of U.S. troops crossed into Kuwait (Sunday), Iraq’s Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi fled to the Kurdish Regional Government in the north, in order to evade a warrant issued for his arrest on charges of terrorism. The comparative quietude of recent years in Iraq has existed within the framework of the U.S. military presence in Iraq... With the final crossing of a large convoy into Kuwait on Sunday, that broad alignment of interests in Iraq has ended, and the artificiality of the quietude that framework has facilitated over the last few years has immediately come to the fore... Iraq has now definitively entered the post-American occupation phase for which it has been preparing since at least 2008... Iraq’s senior leadership is filling the power vacuum left in Iraq by the withdrawal of U.S. forces, and with them the framework that has defined Iraq for the better part of a decade... Maliki’s issuing of an arrest warrant by the regime of Maliki for a Sunni...may well prove to be the opening gambit in a state-run coup d’état... How far Maliki pushes this remains to be seen. But the whole point of a coup d’état is to create the perception of an overwhelming preponderance of powers before those powers are fully solidified (and there is little doubt that Maliki’s control over the instruments of hard power in Iraq is significant). Iraq’s political situation and its power dynamics were unsettled when the United States finalized its withdrawal — and they must find a new equilibrium. That new equilibrium is overwhelmingly turning in favor of the Shia, and the regional player that has the most to gain from this new geopolitical reality is none other than Iran.
http://www.stratfor.com/geopolitical_diary/20111221-iraqi-divisions-come-fore

20th December 2011

Official: Israel unprepared for wartime
JERUSALEM (AP) -- The Israeli government's watchdog agency says the country is short on bomb shelters and is ill-prepared to protect its citizens in case of war. The state comptroller's annual report, published in part on Tuesday, says Israel has not learned the lessons from the 2006 Lebanon war, when dozens of Israeli civilians were killed by Hezbollah rockets... The report says there are not enough bomb shelters in schools and public places, leaving hundreds of thousands of Israelis unprotected in case of attack.
http://hosted.ap.org...

Israel-US to hold largest-ever missile defense drill
Israel is moving forward with plans to hold the largest-ever missile defense exercise in its history this coming spring amid Iranian efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. Last week, Lt. Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of the US’s Third Air Force based in Germany, visited Israel to finalize plans for the upcoming drill, expected to see the deployment of several thousand American soldiers in Israel. The drill, which is unprecedented in its size, will include the establishment of US command posts in Israel and IDF command posts at EUCOM headquarters in Germany – with the ultimate goal of establishing joint task forces for the event of a future large-scale conflict in the Middle East.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=250249

Panetta: Iran is just months away from a nuke - a red line for US and Israel
"Despite the efforts to disrupt the Iranian nuclear program, they have reached a point where they can assemble a bomb in a year or potentially less," said US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in a CBS interview Tuesday, marking a radical change in US administration policy, he added: "That's a red line for us and that's a red line, obviously for the Israelis. If we have to do it we will deal with it." DEBKAfile notes that as recently as Dec. 2, the US defense secretary in a lecture at the Brookings Institute in Washington warned Israel that a military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would hold back its bomb program by no more than a year or two and seriously damage the world economy. He said then that a nuclear-armed Iran would be an existential concern for Israel, but the red line for America would be the disruption of Persian Gulf oil trade... Asked if Iran could have a nuclear weapon in 2012, he answered: "It would probably be about a year before they can do it. Perhaps a little less." That would depend on their having "a hidden facility somewhere in Iran that may be enriching fuel."
http://www.debka.com/article/21585/

A nuclear Iran and potential war with Syria
Hezbollah and Hamas are just some of the challenges Israel could face in the coming year of 2012. With Iran continuing what appears to be an unstoppable race towards obtaining nuclear weapons, 2012 appears to be turning into the year which might be the last chance to stop the Ayatollahs from obtaining the bomb. Hezbollah, Israel believes, has obtained 50,000 rockets and missiles of various sizes and ranges that encompass the entire State of Israel and could be fired in a future war. This is in comparison to the 15,000 rockets it had just five years ago during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. With predictions that Syrian President Bashar Assad's days are numbered, concern is growing in Israel over the possibility that in the twilight days of his regime, Assad will attack Israel, possibly with his long-range Scud missiles... And then there is the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Middle East – the American pullout from Iraq, the future withdrawal from Afghanistan, the revolution in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya - all of which can impact Israel’s security... 2012 is shaping up into one of the most important years in Israel’s existence.
http://www.jpost.com/PromoContent/Article.aspx?id=250203  

Alarm as Dutch lab creates highly contagious killer flu
A deadly strain of bird flu with the potential to infect and kill millions of people has been created in a laboratory by European scientists – who now want to publish full details of how they did it. The discovery has prompted fears within the US Government that the knowledge will fall into the hands of terrorists wanting to use it as a bio-weapon of mass destruction... "The fear is that if you create something this deadly and it goes into a global pandemic, the mortality and cost to the world could be massive," a senior scientific adviser to the US Government told The Independent, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The worst-case scenario here is worse than anything you can imagine." ...Scientists are in little doubt that the newly created strain of H5N1 – resulting from just five mutations in two key genes – has the potential to cause a devastating human pandemic that could kill tens of millions of people.
http://www.independent.co.uk...

19th December 2011

North Korean leader’s death may trigger nuclear crisis for Obama
(Bloomberg) The death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il presents a potential crisis for President Barack Obama, complicating U.S. efforts to press the regime to abandon its nuclear arsenal and cease belligerent behavior. The demise of a 70-year-old ruler -- who frustrated three U.S. administrations with his pursuit of nuclear weapons, threats toward American allies and economic mismanagement that resulted in mass starvation -- ushers in a period of uncertainty for the isolated communist regime and North Asia. It increases the danger of misjudgment on the Korean peninsula, where 1.7 million troops from North and South Korea and the U.S. square off. The U.S. has 75,000 troops stationed in South Korea and Japan and is bound by treaty to defend its allies. “This is potentially a game-changing event,” Victor Cha, a former chief U.S. negotiator for North Korean nuclear talks under President George W. Bush, said in an interview. “If you asked experts what would be the most likely scenario for North Korea to collapse, the answer everyone would give you is ‘if Kim Jong Il died today.’ We’re in that scenario.” ...Perhaps most probable among worrisome scenarios, according to former U.S. officials, is that Kim’s death may prompt his third-born son and anointed successor, Kim Jong Un, to accelerate nuclear weapons development... North Korean media has reported that the country will become “a full nuclear weapons state” in 2012; April will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of the regime and its